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Siddharth Malik sidmalik85@gmail.com Xxxx – deletions ; yyy- additions EXERCISE 2 – Summarize the US Sec State’s views on US-China relations Answer The recent visit of Chinese President was given the highest level of importance and significance that was done keeping in view the positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship that is being built between the two countries. Both the countries are working together to keep the peace not just in Asia, but around the world; tackling differences over issues like piracy, nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran, climate change, clean energy, health issues and also helping each others economy grow. Both countries are having more people to people exchange like business, academic, governmental. Also set up A Strategic and the Economic Dialogue has been set up , to combine the discussions about strategic and economic issues for government-to-government and people-to-people cooperation on a long term basis regardless of changes in the priorities headlines and of the national leaders. There are areas of differences also like of Taiwan and issues in climate change. Exercise 3 China’s new stealth fighter jet likely to reshape U.S. military strategy in Asia. Answer The radar-invisible Boeing F-22 Raptor, first produced in 2005, that allowed American pilots to shoot down an enemy jet from 50 miles away, before the opposing pilot could see even a speck on his screen. Now China has introduced tested its own stealth fighter jet, the J-20 that would challenge the US F-22 Raptor help it slip past American or Taiwanese radar undetected by this Chinese are sending a signal that they will counter are still concerned about U.S. power in the region. Although no J-20 will be operational only after flying into battle for at least a decade, the jet’s potential could help change the military dynamic balance in East Asia. The test flight puts China in a very elite club of only the US and Russia. America is the only nation to produce an operational stealth fighter jet, and Russia is the only other country to even test one. China’s entry into that group amounts to a game changer. As now US dominance is now in question. Although both countries are not preparing for war against each other. The new plane means that if there were a war, the Chinese could put up a real fight against American stealth fighter jets it’s just not going to be that one-sided anymore. But China is now moving into the major leagues of air power. And that could reshape China-U.S. relations in the coming decade. B. Stuxnet: Cyber attack on Iran 'was carried out by Western powers and Israel' A British security expert has uncovered new evidence in the Stuxnet virus attack on Iran's nuclear programme. Answer The Stuxnet computer virus, created to sabotage Iran's nuclear programme, was the result of collaboration between at least one Western power and the Israeli secret service. The malicious software, first detected in June last year, was almost certainly designed to make damaging, surreptitious adjustments to the centrifuges used at Natanz, Iran's uranium enrichment site. Stuxnet worked by increasing the speed of uranium centrifuges to breaking point for short periods. At the same time it shut off safety monitoring systems, hoodwinking operators that all was normal. The Virus heralds only an evolutionary stage in the cyber security threats nations that will face in future. Exercise 4 C. Ireland has only itself to blame for the costly bailout says Barroso By Sarah Collins in Brussels Thursday January 20 2011 The EU's top official has hit back at accusations that the EU-IMF bailout will cripple the Irish economy, saying it was Ireland's "fiscally and financially irresponsible" behaviour that caused the downfall in the first place." Finance Minister Brian Lenihan this week asked his eurozone counterparts to consider a lower interest rate on the Irish loan, but Germany is not likely to agree. a senior diplomat in Brussels says he will face an "uphill struggle" trying to sway Berlin. Eurozone finance ministers are considering changes that would allow the fund to lend its full €440bn envelope it is currently limited to €250bn by a massive capital buffer -- and enable it to buy sovereign bonds and issue pre-emptive credit lines to solvent countries. It was alleged the move was a move "massive power grab" to allow the bloc to continue buying up its own debt and that Portugal, Greece and Ireland have no place in the single currency alongside more frugal countries such as Germany. Finance ministers from the bloc's triple A-rated countries Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg met separately in Brussels this week to discuss their added "responsibility" for maintaining the bloc's fiscal credibility. Meanwhile, indebted countries are being told to slash spending and restructure job markets to attract investment. D. Food Worries Rise in China Analysis by Mitch Moxley In China feeding the country’s massive population remains one of the biggest threats to future economic growth and social stability. Since 1997, China has lost some 8.2 million hectares of arable land to urbanization, industrialization, re-forestation and damage caused by natural disasters. Thirty-seven percent of China’s territory suffers from land degradation and the country’s per capita available land is 40 percent of the world average. The right to food requires people to have incomes that allow them to purchase food, and that food systems be sustainable enough that satisfying current demands does not jeopardize future needs and these two conditions are facing important challenges today in china. Without mitigating actions, including a shift to low carbon agriculture, climate change will cause agricultural productivity to drop by five to ten percent by 2030. In 2010, China recorded its seventh consecutive record grain harvest with production of 546 million tons. The government has said current grain stocks exceed 200 million tons and that grain self-sufficiency has stood at 95 percent for the last decade. China has pursued a food security policy that is mostly autonomous, with only a small percentage of agricultural products coming from abroad, meaning China is only marginally affected by rising food prices worldwide. That Threats to China’s food security remain, including soil degradation and desertification. The government has taken steps to tackle the issue, such as increasing the share of fixed capital investment allotted to agricultural areas, sustainable farming and increasing agricultural subsidies. In 2010, the central government invested about RMB 800 billion (120 billion dollars) on the agricultural sector, a number that is expected to reach 900 billion RMB this year. The government still has much to do, including protecting farmland and improving agricultural productivity, fighting droughts and improving water infrastructure. China’s risk to food security will reach dangerous heights if imports go up from 5 percent at present to more than 10 percent of the food supply. comes from imports. It currently stands at five percent.