China

15Apr By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
China, World

To maintain foreign exchange, Sri Lanka took loan from China.

COLOMBO: AS Sri Lanka’s local currency hit a record low, it took load from china of  US$500 million in a hope to shore up its foreign exchange.The Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing said the loan agreement with the China Development Bank will "infuse vitally required foreign exchange" into the island's pandemic-battered economy.It is the second Chinese loan made in less than three weeks.Last month, the People's Bank of China granted a US$1.5 billion currency swap to finance imports from China, a key supplier of manufactured goods to the island which is struggling to pay for imports.Sri Lanka's rupee hit a record low of 202.73 to the US dollar, as the country's foreign reserves fell to US$4.05 billion at the end of March, the lowest in 12 years.The country's economy contracted by a record 3.9 p...
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Amid rising tensions, China suspends pineapples import from Taiwan
28Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Amid rising tensions, China suspends pineapples import from Taiwan

China has abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan to step up its economic pressure against the Taiwanese government.The Chinese General Administration of customs reported that from Monday, China will stop importing pineapples from Taiwan.“This move was a normal precaution to protect biosecurity and prevent the import of plant diseases,” said the spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said that China’s action is “unfriendly.”Taiwan produces nearly 420,000 tonnes of pineapples every year. It had exported 6,200 batches to China since last year, with only 13 batches, totalling 141 tonnes, failing tests, meaning the qualification rate was 99.79 per cent.“Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) announced that it would spend NT$1 billi...
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US-China tensions over South China Sea to continue under Biden administration: Report
28Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

US-China tensions over South China Sea to continue under Biden administration: Report

With Chinese military conducting a live-fire drill to test its response to repeated missile attacks in a “far sea” and US stepping up reconnaissance activities, it seems that tensions between Beijing and Washington over the South China Sea will continue under the new Joe Biden administration.There are fresh signs from the Chinese and the American armed forces that tensions over the South China Sea will continue, according to media reports.The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command conducted a live-fire drill to test its response to repeated missile attacks in a “far sea”, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday without saying when or where the exercise took place.The drill involved the guided-missile destroyer Yinchuan, guided-missile frigate Hengyang, the amphibious dock landing ...
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US moves bill to ban 10-year multiple-entry visa to China to curb “espionage”
28Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

US moves bill to ban 10-year multiple-entry visa to China to curb “espionage”

A group of US Republican senators have introduced a legislation to end China's access to 10-year multi-entry visas until it is certified that Beijing has ceased its campaign of "economic and industrial espionage" against Washington.The legislation, Visa Security Act, was introduced by Senators Marsha Blackburn, Tom Cotton, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio on Friday.If passed, it would prohibit Chinese nationals from receiving 10-year B-1/B-2 visas until the Secretary of State certifies that China has "ceased its campaign of economic and industrial espionage against the United States and ended its provocative and coercive behaviour towards Taiwan."The B-1/B-2 visas are issued to those who come to the US for business, visit or tourism purposes.Under this legislation, Chinese citizens wo...
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China backs New Delhi’s hosting of BRICS summit; Xi Jinping may visit India
24Feb By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

China backs New Delhi’s hosting of BRICS summit; Xi Jinping may visit India

After months of tension between India and China due to the standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Beijing has said that it supports India’s chairmanship of the BRICS summit this year.India has assumed chairmanship of the annual summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) grouping of emerging economies.Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit India later this year for the summit.Asked about Xi’s possible attendance at the summit and whether the border tension would affect their multilateral cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said BRICS had become an influential grouping and Beijing supported New Delhi’s efforts as host.“China attaches great importance to the BRICS mechanism,” Wang said at a regular press conference.“The Chinese side ...
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Japan PM expresses concern over China’s assertiveness in East and South China Sea in G7 talks
21Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Japan PM expresses concern over China’s assertiveness in East and South China Sea in G7 talks

Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga expressed concerns about China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas in G7 talks.He said Japan will say what needs to be said, and demand action from Beijing.The leaders held a teleconference on Friday just after 11 pm Japan time. It was the first G7 meeting that included Suga, US President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.Regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Suga said he has had an unwavering resolve to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people since assuming his post in September.He said much has been learned from last year, and that he has implemented what he believes to be the best measures.He called on the G7 to speed up the distribution of vaccines and oppose a protectionist approac...
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US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang
20Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang

In a step which will lead to increased tensions between the US and China, the US House of Representatives have reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from the Xinjiang region in China unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour.“We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression,” said Representative Jim McGovern.According to McGovern, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United State...
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Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report
20Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report

Taiwan has grown anxious due to constant Chinese aggression and destabilising actions near the Diaoyutai islands, the most recent being sailing of four Chinese guard ships near the disputed Islands.Situated in East China’s Sea, the uninhabited islands also known as Senkakus in Japan — are claimed by Taipei, Beijing and Tokyo.On Monday and Tuesday, four Chinese guard ships sailed near the Islands, one of which was equipped with a cannon. Two of the ships sailed away on Tuesday morning, including an armed vessel, while the others attempted to approach a Japanese fishing boat, the Japan Coast Guard said.It was the first armed incursion since China’s enactment on February 1 of a new Coast Guard Law, which authorizes its coast guard to inspect and use weapons on foreign vessels in waters claime...
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Relationship with China ‘complex’; ties cannot be normal without peace in border areas: Indian Foreign Secretary
19Feb By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

Relationship with China ‘complex’; ties cannot be normal without peace in border areas: Indian Foreign Secretary

The relationship with China is “complex”, there cannot be a normal bilateral relationship if there is no peace and tranquillity in border areas, said Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla at the Diplomatic Academy of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.“The relationship with China is complex. It was in the 1980s where both countries decided that they would set aside our differences on the boundary,” he said.He said developments last year, in terms of the “very large number” of troops amassed on the border area, multiple transgressions along the Line of Actual Control, did create a situation that impacted the “larger relationship”.“As we mentioned to our friends in China, we cannot have (a) normal bilateral relationship if there is no peace and tranquillity in our bor...
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EU urges China to reverse ban on BBC, says it violates Chinese constitution, human rights
15Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

EU urges China to reverse ban on BBC, says it violates Chinese constitution, human rights

The European Union (EU) has urged China that it should reverse its ban on BBC World News as it violated both the Chinese constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.In a statement issued on Friday, the EU said that it has repeatedly spoken out on cases of intimidation and surveillance of journalists and media workers in China.The EU condemned China’s move to ban BBC in the country, which was imposed in response to the UK regulators revoking the broadcasting license for China Global Television Network (CGTN), stating that it restricted “freedom of expression and access to information inside its borders”.The EU said that according to Article 35 of the PRC Constitution citizens shall enjoy the freedom of speech and of the press and that according to Article 19 of the Universal ...
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