Word: china
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Russia and the Rest There are some bright spots on the peacemaking horizon, of course. North Korea has agreed to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program, for example, although progress will depend more on China than on the President of the United States. And President Obama has made concrete progress on peacemaking in that traditional Cold War discipline of arms control with Russia. He's done that, in part, by jettisoning the post-Cold War hubris of his predecessors who acted as if Russia's strategic interests, and its nuclear arsenal, no longer mattered. Instead, the progress...
...Moscow and Beijing have wielded their influence among Central Asia's authoritarian governments to ensure that radical strains of political Islam get largely quashed. Uighur dissidents in exile have also repeatedly rejected any connection with terrorist activity and argue that, despite a few incidents of bombings and attacks in China, China exploits the specter of a terrorist threat to further repress Uighur rights. Al-Qaeda's recent statement does their cause few favors. "China could use it to shine a light on the Uighurs," says Sanderson, "and say, 'Look what you have brought upon...
...while al-Qaeda's support may not be welcomed by many Uighurs, no other nations in the Muslim world beyond Turkey - whose people see the Uighurs as a kindred community - have offered much solidarity. As China's economic ties to the Middle East grow stronger, few governments can risk Beijing's ire. Its traditional image in the region as a remote and non-interfering member of the third world is shifting toward that of a more influential power, but it remains far from generating the kind of animosity and suspicion that the U.S. attracts. Instead, "China is perceived...
...Outside the halls of power, most Arabs regard China with little apprehension. In his book, Simpfendorfer points to the growing population of tens of thousands of Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni and other Arab merchants now permanently settled in sourcing and supply hubs in China. Their presence in East Asia has led to an influx of Chinese products in their home countries. This booming trade has "effectively raised the purchasing power of the average Arab household," says Simpfendorfer. To many Arabs, he suggests, China is less a geo-political bogeyman and more just a purveyor of cheap and handy goods...
...analysts believe there will be a tipping point. With its vast stake in the region, China inevitably will have to pronounce clearer positions on a whole sticky set of conflicts - from the massacres in Sudan that Beijing has so far studiously ignored to the Israel-Palestine conflict to tensions between Iran and its neighbors. Missteps could fan popular anger and play into the hands of groups like al-Qaeda, ever eager to channel the discontent of the street. And with what many perceive as the steady decline of U.S. power and influence, China will only cast a longer shadow...