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Posts published in September 2016

Where China’s top officials go for advice: By Huang Jingjing in Global Times, Sept 28, 2016

Surprise, honor and pressure were what Ke Jinhua felt when she was informed in May of being recruited by the Counselors’ Office of the State Council (COSC), a top think tank that can directly conduct political consultations for the central government. “I felt pressed as I had no idea how the office specifically works and I was uncertain if I could fulfill the commitment,” Ke, 65, a chief editor with the Social Sciences in China…

Chinese villages hotbeds for fake soldier scams: By Yang Sheng in Global Times, Sept 28, 2016

Something funny is going on in Sunzhuang village. Located in Shangcai county, Central China’s Henan Province, the village recently became eligible for poverty alleviation funds from the county to help build up its infrastructure. But residents are far from poor, and visibly so. “They have cars and have built nice houses, and every family has around 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in cash,” a local taxi driver told The Beijing News. What is not so…

More Chinese firms under probe for violating sanctions against North Korea: United States Report in South China Morning Post, Sept 29, 2016

The coordinator for US sanctions policy indicated on Wednesday that more Chinese firms were under US investigation for suspected breaches of sanctions on North Korea and Chinese banks and firms should understand that dealing with North Korea was “risky.” Asked at a congressional hearing if other Chinese firms were under investigation after the United States imposed sanctions on a Chinese industrial machinery wholesale firm on Monday, Daniel Fried, coordinator for sanctions policy at the U.S.…

Pakistan’s Bermuda Triangle: By Wajid Shamsul Hasan in The News, Sept 29, 2016

The author is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan and a veteran journalist. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had a comfortable meeting with the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the side lines of the UNGA. They talked about further promotion of economic co-operation between the two countries including the progress on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and electricity import from Iran and bilateral trade relations. Iranian president also showed keen interest in CPEC. One must give credit to…

Iran border guards fire mortars into Balochistan Report in The Nation, September 28, 2016

QUETTA: Iran’s border guards fired three mortal shells into Pakistani territory in the early hours of Wednesday. A provincial government official told reporters on the condition of anonymity that the mortar shells fired by Iranian border guards landed in the district of Panjgoor. The official added that two of the shells landed near Frontier Corps check post, with the third landing at Killi Karim Dad. No property or human loss was reported in the shelling.…

Why Pakhtun lands have been so volatile for two centuries Timothy Nunan in Herald, September 2016

The quadrant of land bounded by Kabul, Peshawar, Quetta and Kandahar would, at first glance, seem to be an unlikely piece of real estate for international competition. The quadrilateral – populated primarily by the Pakhtuns and split between Afghanistan and Pakistan – remains marginal to the world economy and possesses insignificant energy resources. The drama over Pakhtun self-determination never captured world attention to the same degree as the self-determination of the Palestinians or the cause…

Daesh, Haqqanis &Sanctuaries: By Imtiaz Gul in The Express Tribune, Sept 28th, 2016.

The writer heads the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad Abandoning a project in which the United States and its partners have invested 15 years, billions upon billions of dollars, and thousands of lives with no acceptable outcome in sight is harrowing. Although the United States’ engagement in Afghanistan has not resulted in many of the outcomes it might have preferred, the real failure would be maintaining the current course knowing that doing…

Villains and heroes : Editorial in The News, Sept 28, 2016

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar – best known as part of the US war against the Soviets who intervened in Afghanistan in 1979, and later for the havoc he caused in Kabul between 1992 and 1996 as the civil war began – is back in the limelight after a long period in obscurity. Hekmatyar and his Hizb-e-Islami had appeared to fade away into the sunset with the change in the situation in Afghanistan. Initially a hero, he had…

Taliban splinter group welcomes signing of peace deal by Hezb-e-Islami By KHAAMA PRESS – Tue Sep 27 2016

A splinter group of the Taliban led by Mullah Rasool welcomed the signing of a draft peace agreement between the Afghan government and Hezb-e-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Sources close to Hezb-e-Islami have said Mullah Rasool has endorsed the party’s stance and signing of the draft peace agreement with the Afghan government. The sources further added that the endorsement by Mullah Rasool faction of the Taliban is based on the stance of Hezb-e-Islami to work…

Taliban claims to capture surveillance drone in East of Afghanistan By KHAAMA PRESS – Tue Sep 27 2016

The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan has claimed to capture a surveillance drone in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The group’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the drone was downed in Merano village of Behsud district of Nangarhar province. He claimed that the drone which seems to be of ScanEagle type belongs to the US forces in Afghanistan but the Afghan army also uses the same drone for the surveillance operations. The Afghan forces received several…

U.S.-Backed Effort to Fight Afghan Corruption Is a Near-Total Failure, Audit Finds By ROD NORDLAND and JAWAD SUKHANYAR in The NY Times, Sept 28, 2016

KABUL, Afghanistan — An effort to fight corruption by monitoring the financial assets of top Afghan officials, underwritten by the United States, has been a near-total failure, according to American auditors. Out of 83 senior officials in the past two Afghan governments, only one — the current president, Ashraf Ghani — fully complied with financial disclosure laws, according to a report issued by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction last week.…