January 27, 2006: China's Ministry of Public Security admitted that, last year, there were 87,000 riots, demonstrations and smaller protests, an increase of 6.6 percent over 2004. The most common cause of this unrest is government corruption, particularly among Communist Party members. The government has responded by pledging to come down hard on anyone who disturbs the peace, as well as finding and punishing corrupt officials. More restrictions are being placed on public access to the Internet (which over 110 million Chinese use.) All this was the same response the government had last year, when it was announced that unrest had been up for several years.
January 24, 2006: To counter growing Chinese military power, the U.S. is moving more of its navy to the western Pacific. Over the next few years, half of America's aircraft carriers and 60 percent of its nuclear submarines will be assigned to patrol the Chinese coast and adjacent areas.
January 19, 2006: In Taiwan, the defense minister released twenty satellite photos showing the Chinese military build up along the coast. The photos showed ballistic missiles and modern fighters at bases within range of Taiwan. Another showed a bombing range on an island, with before and after shots of dummy F-16 aircraft that had been apparently hit by air-to-ground missiles. The defense minister is trying to convince the legislature to spend enough money to preserve Taiwan's technology edge over the Chinese armed forces. Many Taiwanese believe that the United States will protect them, so why spend a lot of money on defense.
