China

IMF projects 11.5% growth rate for India in 2021
27Jan By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

IMF projects 11.5% growth rate for India in 2021

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday projected a strong rebound in the Indian economy with an impressive 11.5 per cent growth rate in 2021.The IMF’s growth projections for India in its latest World Economic Outlook Update released on Tuesday makes India the only major economy of the world to register a double-digit growth this year amidst the coronavirus pandemic.“In its latest update, the IMF projected an 11.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021. This makes India the only major economy of the world to register a double-digit growth in 2021,” it said. “China is next with 8.1 per cent growth in 2021 followed by Spain (5.9 per cent) and France (5.5 per cent).”The IMF said that in 2020, the Indian economy is estimated to have contracted by eight per cent. China is the only majo...
Read More
China’s dam-building over Brahmaputra risks water war with India
25Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia, China, World

China’s dam-building over Brahmaputra risks water war with India

In a move which could lead to conflicts between China and India, Beijing is planning to build a mega-dam on the Yarlung Zangbao, the world's highest river, which flows through Tibet and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra when it enters India.   The Yarlung Zangbao Dam plan is moving ahead without China discussing or entering into water-sharing agreements with downstream India or Bangladesh. Bangladesh, which maintains cordial relations with China, too protested over the Yarlung Zangbao Dam.Bertil Linter, a Swedish journalist, in an opinion piece wrote that precise technical details regarding the mega-dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River are lacking, but regional media reports indicate it will likely dwarf the massive Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and generate three times as much electri...
Read More
China adopts law giving coastguards power to fire foreign vessels in disputed waters
25Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Singapore, World

China adopts law giving coastguards power to fire foreign vessels in disputed waters

China’s top legislative body, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, has passed a law that gives power to its coastguard to fire on foreign vessels and demolish structures built in disputed waters.Although it is yet to be ascertained whether the law will be applied to all waters claimed by Beijing but the move is expected to escalate tensions between China and its neighbours in the East and South China Seas.The law was passed on Friday and empowers the coastguard to use "all necessary means" to deter threats posed by foreign vessels in waters "under China's jurisdiction". It will also allow the coastguards to launch pre-emptive strikes without prior warning if commanders deem it necessary.Under the new bill, coastguard personnel can demolish structures built or installed by oth...
Read More
China’s illegal ‘profiteering’ in power sector leads to blackouts in Pakistan: Report
23Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

China’s illegal ‘profiteering’ in power sector leads to blackouts in Pakistan: Report

A recent report has claimed that the billions which China has invested in Pakistan’s power sector and all the deals made with Pakistan contributed to the recent nationwide blackout, which is likely to return in future.A report of the nine-member committee headed by Muhammad Ali, a former chairperson of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) of April 2020 FM Shakil, in an opinion piece said the report has made startling revelations about widespread malpractice in the power sector.The report exposed the extent of Independent Power Producer (IPP) corruption, including among Chinese units installed under a government-to-government arrangement for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related operation.The report traced 100 billion Pakistani rupees (USD 625 million) in annual...
Read More
Take action against China, top Republicans tell US President Joe Biden
23Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Take action against China, top Republicans tell US President Joe Biden

In retaliation to Beijing’s sanctions against outgoing American officials, top Republicans of the US have urged US President Joe Biden to take tougher action against China.Michael McCaul, the leading Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday tweeted that Beijing had shown its true colours by sanctioning US officials for telling the truth – that the Communist Party was “guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide”.“I strongly urge the Biden administration to quickly condemn these baseless, impotent sanctions and make good on its early commitments to prioritise strategic competition with the [Communist Party],” he said.China had announced sanctions against a list of US individuals and their families just minutes after Biden was sworn in on Thursday.The list included for...
Read More
Alibaba’s Jack Ma resurfaces after months out of public view
21Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Market, World

Alibaba’s Jack Ma resurfaces after months out of public view

After mysteriously disappearing from the public eye, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma resurfaced on Wednesday at a video conference."#JUSTIN: #JackMa not disappear, here we go: Ma just had a video conference with 100 village teachers on Wednesday morning, saying: after #COVID19, we'll meet each other again," tweeted Qingqing Chen of Global Times News, a China state-affiliated media.Ma had disappeared from the public eye after Beijing's aggressive crackdown on his business empire.Chen further added that Jack Ma met with 100 rural teachers in the country through video conferencing."Ma, who used to be an English teacher and founder of #Alibaba, also gives wishes to village teachers via a video on Wednesday," tweeted Qingqing Chen.China state-affiliated media also shared a video in which the billio...
Read More
China: GDP growth slowest in more than four decades
20Jan By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

China: GDP growth slowest in more than four decades

Official data released on Monday has showed that China’s GDP grew at the slowest pace in more than four decades in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic hit the world.Coronavirus, which has ravaged the world economy, first emerged in central China in 2019. But China also became the first country to bounce back after imposing strict lockdowns and virus control measures.The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said last year was a “grave and complex environment both at home and abroad” with the pandemic having a “huge impact”.The 2.3 per cent expansion in 2020 was a marked slowdown from 2019’s revised growth of 6.0 per cent — itself already the lowest in decades — with the country hit by weak domestic demand and trade tensions.In the last three months of 2020, China’s economic rebound continued...
Read More
At just 50.38% efficacy, China’s covid-19 vaccine far less effective than initially reported
18Jan By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

At just 50.38% efficacy, China’s covid-19 vaccine far less effective than initially reported

In a major setback to be the dominant vaccine supplier to developing countries, Brazilian researchers announced that China’s Sinovac vaccine was far less effective than originally touted.According to data made available by Brazil's Butantan Institute, a São Paulo-based public institute, the efficacy of Sinovac’s CoronaVac in a late- stage trials was at just 50.38 percent, nearly 30 percentage points lower than what the initial data showed.The Butantan Institute initially said that late-stage trials had found the CoronaVac vaccine to be between 78 percent and 100 effective.After a number of scientists accused the trial’s organizers of misleading the public, the institute revealed researchers had separated the cases into six categories: asymptomatic, very mild, mild, two levels of moderate, ...
Read More
UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, says foreign minister hinting at China
17Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, says foreign minister hinting at China

Hinting at China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang, United Kingdom’s foreign minister Dominic Raab has said that Britain should not engage in free trade with countries that abuse human rights.Last week, Raab said Britain would introduce new rules for its companies to try to prevent goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region entering their supply chains.Some British lawmakers want to go further and are due to consider proposals passed in the upper house of parliament that would give courts the power to stop free-trade agreements with countries if they consider them to have committed genocide.“The bar is being set incredibly high,” Raab said on Sunday. “I mean, frankly, we shouldn’t be engaged in free-trade negotiations with countries abusing human rights well below the level of genocide.”H...
Read More
Tejas Aircraft far better than China-Pak JF-17 fighters: Indian Air Force Chief
15Jan By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

Tejas Aircraft far better than China-Pak JF-17 fighters: Indian Air Force Chief

Indian Air Force chief RKS Bhadauria on Thursday said that the Indian made light combat aircraft Tejas is far better and advanced than the Chinese-Pakistani JF-17 fighter jets and that the latest Indian jet would be better equipped to carry out Balakot-type airstrikes.The Air Chief said the 83 indigenous fighter jets to be inducted into the force would also be equipped with homegrown weapons such as the Astra beyond visual range air to air missiles and other standoff weapons."Indian aircraft Tejas is far better and advanced than the Chinese and Pakistan joint venture JF-17 fighter," IAF Chief Bhadauria said.The Air Chief further said: "In terms of strike capability, it will have the capability of a standoff weapon which will be even beyond the capability we used that time."Noting the appro...
Read More