Tag: UK

UK to build more nuclear weapons to counter challenges posed by China
17Mar By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

UK to build more nuclear weapons to counter challenges posed by China

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that his government will build more nuclear weapons and expand its presence in the fields of space and cyberspace to counter challenges posed by China.According to media reports, the British government wants to increase defense spending by 24 billion euros over the next four years, a large increase on the 42.2 billion euros spent in 2019-20.Describing Beijing as the ‘biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security, PM Johnson, in a review of British military and foreign policy on Tuesday, said: “China’s increasing power and international assertiveness is likely to be the most significant geopolitical factor of the 2020s.”After the report was released, Johnson in Parliament criticised China for its mass detention of Uyghur p...
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Pak airline officials to appear in UK, Malaysia courts for failure to pay lease of seized aircraft
17Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Pak airline officials to appear in UK, Malaysia courts for failure to pay lease of seized aircraft

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) officials will appear before a court in the United Kingdom on January 22 and a Malaysian court on January 24 for failing to pay the lease of an aircraft on time, Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Saturday.During a media briefing, the minister claimed that the Malaysian court had issued an order without listening to any arguments by the national carrier, and blamed the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for acquiring two aircraft on an expensive lease.A PIA aircraft was held back by a local court in Malaysia on Friday due to a legal dispute between the airline and another party.Taking to Twitter, Pakistan’s national carrier said: “A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking one sided ...
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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...
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China makes representation to UK over meddling in Hong Kong Affairs: Foreign Ministry
7Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

China makes representation to UK over meddling in Hong Kong Affairs: Foreign Ministry

A day after the United Kingdom slammed China for the arrest of over 50 pro-democracy politicians and activists, Beijing on Thursday said that Hong Kong was a territory of China and any interference in its domestic affairs amounted to an “infringement on its sovereignty.“In response to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s statement, China made a strong representation to the UK side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Thursday.Hua claimed that Hong Kong was a territory of China and, therefore, any interference in its domestic affairs amounted to an “infringement on Chinese sovereignty.”“The United Kingdom should abandon its colonizer mentality and illusions about the continuing colonial influence on Hong Kong. It should as well abandon hypocrisy and double standards, ...
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Pakistan: First case of new coronavirus variant from UK detected
29Dec By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

Pakistan: First case of new coronavirus variant from UK detected

The first case of the new coronavirus variant from UK was confirmed in Pakistan on Tuesday after three samples taken from passengers who had returned from Britain showed 95 pre cent match to the new variant.The health department in Sindh said the samples of 12 returnees were taken for genotyping, out of which six tested positive.“Samples of three U.K. returnees show a 95% match to the new coronavirus variant from the U.K. in the first phase of genotyping,” it said in a tweet.The health department said that the provincial government was tracing contacts of these patients and all those who came in contact with them were being isolated.The new variant is considered as 70% more transmissible and has sparked concerns around the world though health experts say there is no evidence that it is mor...
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It’s time for western universities to cut their ties to China
11Sep By Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, Market, USA

It’s time for western universities to cut their ties to China

Western universities now need to close their Confucius Institutes and end their academic cooperation with China. Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, one of the ways China sought to rebuild its image abroad was by systematically forging partnerships with Western universities. At first, these partnerships mainly focused on research collaboration. Later, they grew to include the Confucius Institutes for language education and the establishment of Western universities’ branch campuses in China.At a time when China was undemocratic but liberalizing, such engagement seemed like a sensible strategy. There have always been uneasy moments in Western universities’ relationships with China, whether prompted by tensions over hosting the Dalai Lama or controversies over university self-censor...
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UK poised to phase out Huawei from 5G network
23Jul By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

UK poised to phase out Huawei from 5G network

Facing a rebellion from MPs and US, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has assured that the nation will phase Chinese company Huawei out of country's 5G mobile phone network.According to several media reports, the UK Prime Minister is facing heat from the Conservative Party over Huawei with many Ministers claiming that the company provides China, a chance to spy.The decision comes in the backdrop of US designating Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE Corp as national security threats, saying they have close ties with the Chinese Communist Party and China's military apparatus.The decision to phase Huawei out of 5G networks could escalate tensions between the US and China, especially when it comes in the wake of China's decision to impose national security law in Hong Kong. Beijing's decisi...
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Huawei to be removed from UK 5G networks by 2027
21Jul By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Huawei to be removed from UK 5G networks by 2027

Huawei will be completely removed from the UK’s 5G networks by the end of 2027, the government said on July 14 following new advice produced by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on the impact of US sanctions against the telecommunications vendor.As per the decision, the UK's mobile providers are being banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all the Chinese firm's 5G kit from their networks by 2027, Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons.It follows sanctions imposed by Washington, which claims the firm poses a national security threat.“By the time of the next election, we will have implemented in law an irreversible path for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks,” Dowden said adding that the s...
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Chinese hotel builder abruptly liquidates business in UK
28Jun By Walter ParezNo Comments
China

Chinese hotel builder abruptly liquidates business in UK

A Chinese conglomerate which has built hotels for Hilton and Travelodge has abruptly liquidated its UK subsidiaries reportedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.CIMC is a global business with regional offices in the UK, US and Australia and the main head office in Southern China. The main UK business, CIMC Modular Building Systems and its development arm first set up to promote the modular system have both been placed in voluntary liquidation by managing director Jason Taylor.“The impact of the pandemic has been so wide and so deep that it has become impossible to survive without taking some fairly drastic steps,” a source said.CIMC MBS lost pound 2.5 million in 2018. During that year it delivered nearly 900 modules creating 1,317 hotel or student rooms.CIMC has supplied ready-built rooms from ...
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