Iran and China Have Signed a Strategic Pact. That’s Bad News for the West. A recently leaked document suggests that China and Iran are entering a 25-year strategic partnership in trade, politics, culture, and security. Cooperation between China and Middle Eastern countries is neither new nor recent. Yet what distinguishes this development from others is that both China and Iran have global and regional ambitions, both have confrontational relationships with the United States, and there is a security component to the agreement. China’s growing influence in East Asia and Africa has challenged U.S. interests, and the Middle East is the next battlefield on which Beijing can challenge U.S. hegemony—this time through Iran. Internally, the agreement can be an economic lifeline for Iran, saving its sanctions-hit, cash-strapped economy by ensuring the sale of its oil and gas to China. For China, the pact can help guarantee its energy security. China grasps Iran’s position and importance as a regional power in the new Middle East. U.S. U.S.
Yijin Jing Yì Jīn Jīng acts The Yijin Jing (simplified Chinese: 易筋经; traditional Chinese: 易筋經; pinyin: Yìjīnjīng; Wade–Giles: I Chin Ching; literally "Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is a Qigong manual containing a series of exercises, coordinated with specific breathing and mental concentration, said to enhance physical health dramatically when practiced consistently. In Chinese yi means change, jin means "tendons and sinews", while jing means "methods". Origins[edit] According to legend, the Yijin Jing was said to be left behind by Bodhidharma after his departure from the Shaolin Monastery, and discovered within his grave (or hidden in the walls of the temple) years after he had left (or died). The monks of Shaolin reportedly practiced the exercises within the text but lost the true purpose of the document; Lin reports the legend that they "selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Way. Quietness Slowness Pause
How China lost central and eastern Europe Bulgaria became the most recent country from central and eastern Europe (CEE) to show hostility toward China. In the latest sign of relations souring between the region and the Asian superpower, Bulgaria’s prime minister, Boïko Borissov, claimed that a series of compromising pictures, appearing to show him sleeping with a gun and wads of cash by his bedside, were acquired by his opponents with a drone supplied by the Chinese government. This was the same Borissov who had hosted a China-CEE summit 2018 in Sofia despite persistent EU pressure not to do so. Bulgaria is not the only country in the region to have qualms about China. In the Czech Republic, Prague city council ended its sister-city relationship with Beijing in October 2019 in favour of a partnership with Taipei. In May, the Lithuanian foreign minister called for Taiwan to be reinstated to the World Health Organization. 17 + China For China, the region promised cheap access to European markets. Just for the photo-op
Qigong Qigong, qi gong, chi kung, or chi gung (simplified Chinese: 气功; traditional Chinese: 氣功; pinyin: qìgōng; Wade–Giles: chi gong; literally: "Life Energy Cultivation") is type of spiritual practice intended to "align" body, breath, and mind for health, meditation, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi) or what has been translated as "life energy".[1] According to Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophy, respectively, qigong allows access to higher realms of awareness, awakens one's "true nature", and helps develop human potential.[2] Qigong practice typically involves moving meditation, coordinating slow flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and calm meditative state of mind. Over the centuries, a diverse spectrum of qigong forms developed in different segments of Chinese society. Etymology[edit] Main articles: Qi and Gongfu History and origins[edit]
Coca-Cola influences China’s obesity policy, BMJ report says | Business The Coca-Cola Company has shaped China’s policies towards its growing obesity crisis, encouraging a focus on exercise rather than diet and thereby safeguarding its drinks sales, an academic investigation has alleged. Susan Greenhalgh, a Harvard academic and China scholar, says Coca-Cola has exerted its influence since 1999 through a Chinese offshoot of an institute founded in the US by the then Coca-Cola vice-president Alex Malaspina with substantial company funding. The International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) has been heavily criticised in the US and Europe for promoting exercise and downplaying the need for people to cut down on excessive sugary drinks. China has a serious and growing obesity problem: 42.3% of Chinese adults were overweight or obese in 2011, up from 20.5% in 1991. ILSI-China, says Greenhalgh, has influence in government circles. The message was promulgated in China through ILSI-China, the BMJ paper says.
Liu Zi Jue The Six Healing Sounds or Liu Zi Jue (六字訣) is one of the common forms of Chinese qigong, and involves the coordination of movement and breathing patterns with specific sounds. History[edit] The Term Liu Zi Jue first appears in a book called On Caring for the Health of the Mind and Prolonging the Life Span written by Tao Hongjing of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 - 589). A leading figure of the Maoshan School of Taoism, Tao was renowned for his profound knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Zou Pu'an of the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) was a major contributor in terms of theory and practice to the transmission of the exercise through his book The Supreme Knack for Health Preservation - Six-Character Approach to Breathing Exercises. No body movements accompanied the Liu Zi Jue exercises until the Ming Dynasty (1386 - 1644) when Hu Wenhuan and Gao Lian wrote books on the subject. The sounds/sections[edit] See also[edit] References[edit]
De Mao à Confucius, le "rêve chinois" Les deux monuments d'un jaune doré scintillant forment les pièces maîtresses du parc d'attraction culturel réalisé pour quelque huit millions de dollars par un général à la retraite, Wang Dianming, qui tire sa fortune, dit-il, d'un conglomérat d'agences de voyage et d'éducation. Membre du parti communiste, Wang tient à souligner que son projet a vu le jour sans l'aval du régime, même s'il illustre sans doute possible la poussée nationaliste, voire traditionaliste, inhérente à la vision présidentielle. Idéologie officielle de la Chine pendant l'époque dynastique, le confucianisme est un système éthique et philosophique qui valorise en particulier la hiérarchie et l'obéissance aux anciens. Fustigé par les communiste après leur arrivée au pouvoir en 1949, il sera violemment ciblé pendant la révolution culturelle (1966-76) sous Mao Tsé-toung. Mais peu importe au président Xi Jinping, qui cite volontiers le Sage et l'a remis à l'honneur, tout en honorant Mao. - "Sauver l'humanité" -
Iron Palm Canvas bag filled with gravel, used in Iron Palm training. Iron Palm or Iron Hand (Chinese: 铁掌功) is a body of training techniques in various Chinese martial arts. These conditioning techniques are typically meant to condition the hands to allow a practitioner to deliver very powerful blows without injury to his or her hands.[1][2] Overview[edit] Iron Palm is a broad term covering many different conditioning methods. Iron Palm is not a martial arts style unto itself, but a type of conditioning featured in many schools of Chinese martial arts. General Principles[edit] Iron Palm training often involves three primary components:[3] Direct and Indirect methods[edit] Schools of Iron Palm training are often divided into "direct" or "indirect." Uses[edit] The Chinese Martial Arts can utilize a wide variety of open and closed hand strikes. See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
Vietnam’s defense policy strikes a balance between China and the US As China grows more assertive in the South China Sea, Vietnam has started seeing the country as a major threat. Beijing risks pushing Hanoi into America’s orbit if it continues to play hardball. By Umair Jamal In 2019, Vietnam published a national defense white paper—its first in a decade—that offers insight into how Hanoi’s thinking is changing regarding China’s strategy in the South China Sea. The document notes that China’s maritime ambitions in the South China Sea have complicated Beijing’s relationship with Vietnam despite other signs that the two governments were growing closer. As Beijing becomes increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, Vietnam said that it will “promote defense cooperation” with outside powers, including potentially with the United States. Despite frustration over Beijing’s maritime actions, Vietnam would ideally want to maintain its neutrality with respect to the two major powers. Vietnam-China tensions rise on multiple fronts Related
Iron shirt Famous practitioners[edit] A folktale called "Meeting Zhou Bong By Chance" states Zhou Bong was walking down the far side of a tall bridge when he noticed a large young man walking up in his direction while looking down at his own feet. Thinking the young man to be a martial arts master wanting to embarrass Zhou by knocking him off the bridge with a shoulder strike, Zhou prepared for a counter-attack and began to swallow air with a subtle “Hm!” and focused all of his energy to his right shoulder. The skin of his shoulder turned red then purple and became hard as rock underneath his clothing. References[edit] See also[edit] External links[edit] The Philippines pushes back against China’s maritime militia in the Julian Felipe Reef With China’s recent incursions into the South China Sea, the Philippines is taking a stronger stance to protect its maritime territories. By Andrea Chloe Wong “I am no fool… The weather has been good so far, so they have no other reason to stay there. These vessels should be on their way out. This was the scathing statement of the Philippines’ Secretary of National Defense, Delfin Lorenzana, against the presence of Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe (or Whitsun) Reef, an area near the Philippines named after the composer of the country’s national anthem. A war of words between Philippines and China In response to Lorenzana’s statement, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines asserted Beijing’s claims to the area and tried to justify the presence of its vessels, saying “The Niu’e Jiao is part of China’s Nansha Islands… It is completely normal for Chinese fishing vessels to fish in the waters and take shelter near the reef during rough sea conditions.” China tests the alliance Related
Iron Palm Training