July 14, 2016
Branding the US and Japan as "paper tigers" and "eunuchs," China's state media today said that the military should remain ready for "counter attack" if American warships hold exercises near islands claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea to enforce the UN-backed tribunal's verdict.
July 14, 2016
Branding the US and Japan as "paper tigers" and "eunuchs," China's state media today said that the military should remain ready for "counter attack" if American warships hold exercises near islands claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea to enforce the UN-backed tribunal's verdict.
Chinese Navy Holds Live-Fire Drills in South China Sea
An editorial titled 'Blustering US a paper tiger in S China Sea' in the state-run Global Times said that the US has voiced the strongest support for the verdict against China on Tuesday by The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
US has said that the award was legally binding.
"More politicians and congressmen from the House and Senate have also made fiercer remarks, demanding regular challenges to China's excessive maritime claims through naval and air patrols. Japan's stance is precisely the same as that of the US, as if they have discussed their lines," it said.
The tabloid daily said that on the contrary the attitude of the Philippines – which filed the petition against China at the tribunal – is relatively mild as it called for restraint.
Part of the ruling Communist Party publications, the daily is known of its nationalistic rhetoric.
"An old Chinese saying goes 'the emperor doesn't worry but his eunuch does,' meaning the outsider is more anxious than the player. In this case, Washington and Tokyo are the worrying eunuchs," it said.
"The calls for the use of force have only been heard when the US clamored to safeguard the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which mirrors that the US hasn't made the determination to use the arbitration for a showdown with China in the waters."
"The People's Liberation Army should enhance its military deployment in the waters of the Nansha Islands (Spratly islands) and be fully prepared to counterattack if the US makes further provocations," it said.
"We do not wish for any direct confrontation or friction between the military powers… But if Washington insists on doing so, we will never flinch," the editorial said.
It said many Chinese scholars believe that after the final award, the issue will gradually cool down. If there are no big moves from Manila, Washington and Tokyo, the case will "literally become nothing but a piece of paper," it said.
The strongly-worded editorial came as China asserted that it would not abide by the verdict, which quashed its claims on parts of the South China Sea on the basis of historic rights.
China yesterday flew two civilian aircraft to assert its claims to the artificial islands built in the disputed area.
It successfully tested two new airfields on the disputed islands with civil flights a day after an international tribunal struck down Beijing's claims over the region.
With this the number of airfields open to civil aircraft has gone up to three, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea over which the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have rival claims.
Another state-run newspaper 'China Daily' called the verdict a "travesty of international justice". "Washington has been so uneasy, and eager to contain China's rise. All the fanfare stirred up in the South China Sea, in essence, is part of that strategy," it said.
Ahead of UP polls, Brahmins have become darlings of key political parties
he Brahmins of Uttar Pradesh are having a gala time. With assembly elections in the politically-crucial state scheduled to take place early next year, the caste Brahmins are wooed by all major political parties. In last two decades, since the emergence Mulayam-Mayawati politics, Brahmins were never given so much of importance.
Last month, Shiv Pratap Shukla, former member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Gorakhpur was sent to Rajya Sabha by the BJP high command. Shukla, who was Cabinet minister during the Kalyan Singh government was in political exile since 2002, when he was defeated by Gorakhpur MP Mahanth Yogi Adityanath-backed Radha Mohan Das Agrawal.
His sudden political resurrection is seen as an attempt by the BJP to appease upper caste Brahmins, who according to party insiders had been feeling neglected for some time. On 13 June, the BJP announced a jumbo state executive in which Shukla was retained.
On Thursday afternoon, when Congress veteran Sheila Dikshit was named the Congress party's chief ministerial candidate for next year's Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, it became even more evident how important the Brahmin factor has become for all the contenders in the upcoming elections.
Dikshit's appointment should not have come as a surprise as weeks ago Congress' poll strategist for Uttar Pradesh, Prashant Kishor mooted the idea to choose a Brahmin face for the upcoming elections.
Dikshit is the daughter-in-law of prominent Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, Uma Shankar Dikshit, who was a Brahmin face and had served as a union minister and governor for a long time. She had also between 1984 and 1989, represented Kannauj Parliamentary constituency of Uttar Pradesh.
The erstwhile manuwadi-hating BSP supremo Mayawati too is making all efforts to woo Brahmin votes. In the recently-concluded Rajya Sabha elections, Mayawati fielded a Brahmin as one of her party's two candidates. Not to be left behind, the Samajwadi Party has fielded three upper caste candidates out of seven.
The recent love for the Brahmin caste when put across the contempt, inherent in the slogans of BSP supremo till recent years, assumes a comical expression.
From "Tilak, Traju aur Talwar- inko maro jute char" (beat the Brahmins, Banias and Thakurs with shoes) to "Hathi nahin Ganesh hai, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh hai", Brahmins have become the darlings of all major political parties in Uttar Pradesh.
After 17 years of unstable governments in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati won with a full majority in 2007. The credit for the clear mandate was given to 'social engineering', initiated by Mayawati, which brought Brahmins within its fold, by fielding many Brahmin candidates in the 2007 Assembly elections.
While in 2007, it was Mayawati who grabbed the Brahmin vote through her 'social engineering' formula, in 2012, it was Akhilesh Yadav who used the same Brahmin card as a catalyst to not only to grab more vote share, but also capture the narrative through interesting caste equations. This time also, Samajwadi Party making all efforts to ensure 2012-like victory.
Brahmins, who constitute 10 percent of the population, are a necessary factor for any party to win the elections with a clear mandate. Post-poll surveys after the 2007 election made it clear that only 17 percent Brahmins had voted for the BSP, and that too at those places only where BSP had fielded Brahmin candidates.
This reality of indispensability of the upper caste is understood by all parties and hence the sudden liking for Brahmins and the search for a credible Brahmin face.
Courtesy: PTI
