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SCHWEIZER
BOTSCHAFT IN BEIJING
EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND IN BEIJING
AMBASSADE DE SUISSE EN CHINE |
Der wöchentliche
Presserückblick der Schweizer Botschaft in der VR China
The Weekly Press Review of the Swiss Embassy in the People's Republic
of China
La revue de presse hebdomadaire de l'Ambassade de Suisse en RP
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Mongolia
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| Foreign Policy |
Xi - Modi gathering to guide China-India cooperation (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to sit down in an informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the central Chinese city of Wuhan over the next two days. The tete-a-tete between the two leaders is going to set a stage for Beijing and New Delhi to further exchange views over long-term and strategic issues and to initiate fresh momentum for future bilateral cooperation. China is the largest trading partner of India. Both are huge developing countries and the world's major emerging economies which offer huge opportunities for each other's trade market. In 2017, the bilateral trade volume between China and India rose by 20.3 percent and hit a record high of 84.44 billion U.S. dollars, according to statistics of China's Ministry of Commerce. This has demonstrated that the bilateral trade ties have huge potentials for further development. And it is necessary for China and India to build closer partnership based on the principles of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation to create a better environment for trade and economic activities. In recent years, the cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and India have been enhanced as well. The India-originated Yoga and Indian films have gained large popularity across China. Last year, visits that have been made between peoples of China and India surpassed 1 million, with 42 flights coming back and forth between the two countries every week. But still, for the two big countries with a total population of over 2.6 billion, there is huge potential to be tapped in this area. On the world stage, the two countries have more than enough reasons to work more closely. Across the globe, economic nationalism and trade protectionism is on the rise, while the combat against non-traditional security threats such as climate change, trans-national crimes and terrorism have become increasingly demanding. No nation can face these challenges alone. On global trade issues, both Xi and Modi have warned on different occasions of the dire threats of rising trade barriers to the world economy. China and India should firmly stick to the spirit of free trade so as to help maintain the current global free trading system with the World Trade Organization at the center. Such multilateral frameworks as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are also important platforms where the two countries can help improve the global governance system. India is welcomed to play a more constructive role in these two mechanisms, and together with other members of these groupings, China and India can help make more and better contributions to Asia and beyond. ^ top ^
China tells Donald Trump: we can help make America's infrastructure great again (SCMP)
2018-04-27
China has offered to take part in US President Donald Trump's US$1.5 trillion plan to repair and upgrade America's infrastructure, saying it would complement Beijing's own Belt and Road Initiative. Yang Chuantang, party secretary of the Transport Ministry, made the remarks in Beijing at the ninth China-US Transportation Forum on Thursday. "We are willing to work with the US side, under the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative and the US plan for rebuilding infrastructure," said Yang. The forum was attended by US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is the first cabinet member from the Trump administration to visit China since the countries started a heated tit-for-tat over trade. Chao – who also met Yang Jiechi, one of the country's most senior diplomats, and Premier Li Keqiang during her visit – did not make any reference to the recent trade conflicts between the two countries at the forum, nor did she respond to the offer for China to participate in Trump's infrastructure plan. In February Trump unveiled a plan to spend US$1.5 trillion on repairing and upgrading America's infrastructure, but only US$200 billion will come from direct federal spending. "America's infrastructure needs have been neglected," Chao said. "The goal is to partner with other groups such as state and local governments, as well as allowing the private sector to address these needs." The proposal, which was part of Trump's populist campaign promise to "make America great again", has yet to advance through Congress because of disputes over funding. A Chinese transport ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed scepticism about whether the Trump administration would be able to push through the plan. "In China, when we have a plan, we do it. But you can't say the same for the US," the official said. "Obama also had an infrastructure plan, but not much was achieved." A state-led push characterised by strong political and financial commitments has helped China make major upgrades to its transport infrastructure over the last decade. With the help of technology transfer agreements between its state-owned rail companies and foreign suppliers eager to gain access to the market, China has built the world's largest high-speed rail network, which has become a symbol of the country's technological progress and source of national pride. China also began to export its technology and products in recent years, including contracts won by the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation to build subway carriages for Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles in the US. But China's "railway diplomacy" also hit the buffers when a US private company, Nevada-based XpressWest, called off a joint venture in 2016 with China Railway International (CRI) to build a high-speed link between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Los Angeles, California. Speaking last week in New York, Elaine Chao's predecessor dismissed the possibility that a brewing US-China trade war and "buy America" regulations instituted by Trump shortly after taking office would block Chinese investment in US infrastructure projects. "There are too many needs and opportunities," particularly among US state and local governments, Anthony Foxx, US transportation secretary under President Barack Obama, told the South China Morning Post. "They may be in some cases core infrastructure assets, things that move people and goods. It may be in some cases operating companies that support the infrastructure. The US need is so great that I think enterprising people from around the world putting their best minds and best thoughts together about how to solve these problems will find partners. "There's not a bias against Chinese companies doing construction work in the US. I think there is a strong emphasis on 'buy America', sourcing materials in America and using American workers where feasible, but companies that are smart and recognise what the playing field is will have opportunities in the US." Trump issued a "buy American, hire American" executive order a year ago, which directed federal agencies to prioritise the use of American-made content in government projects and tightened the awarding of visas to foreign workers. Many waivers to these laws have been granted as part of trade agreements meant to provide reciprocal access to procurement markets. ^ top ^
Chinese internet users accuse Paris store of racism, vow to boycott (Global Times)
2018-04-27
Paris department store Printemps stood accused of racism on Thursday after a salesclerk allegedly insulted Chinese customers in a dispute over queue-jumping run amok, with security staff handling the situation less than perfectly. A Balenciaga salesclerk in Printemps insulted Chinese customers in the queue, telling them to get out and never return to buy shoes, WeChat user paizhao zhuli posted on Wednesday. The bizarre incident erupted when a Chinese woman criticized five foreigners for jumping the line, paizhao zhuli claimed. One of the jumpers pushed the woman away and threatened to punch her. When her son jumped to her defense, he was beaten to the ground by the group, paizhao zhuli alleged. A store security guard arrived and dragged the man away as he was being beaten, according to a four-second video circulated on Chinese social media and YouTube. Printemps issued a statement on its Instagram Thursday morning saying that its staff had taken immediate action to restore calm and the store was now trying to understand more about what happened. In the statement, Printemps said it was "sorry for the altercation between the two customers which took place in the queue at the launch of a collector's item." The statement failed to satisfy some Chinese internet users, who crowded onto the Instagram pages of Printemps and Balenciaga alleging racism and demanding the companies make a more sincere apology. The hashtag "boycotting Balenciaga's discrimination toward Chinese" attracted more than 19.3 million page views on China's official Sina Weibo microblog as of press time. Reached by the Global Times late Thursday, Balenciaga declined to comment on the incident, saying the customer service department had not received any official statement. ^ top ^
China to hit back if US stifles investment (Global Times)
2018-04-27
China on Thursday slammed a US plan reportedly under consideration to restrict Chinese investment and vowed to hit back if the US goes ahead with the plan. "We have made preparations for responding to all possibilities based on bottom-line thinking," Gao Feng, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, told a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday. Ordered by US President Donald Trump, the US treasury department is reportedly drafting a plan to ban Chinese investment in certain US high-tech industries by invoking a US law designed for national emergencies, adding more fuel to an escalating trade spat between the world's two largest economies. "China's opposition to a country imposing unilateral sanctions based on its domestic laws is consistent and clear," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday, when asked about the US plan at a press briefing. Gao said, "We will listen to [US] words and watch its actions," while noting that uncertainties for investment in the US have already led to some companies slowing or abandoning their investment plans for the country. While Gao declined to offer specific actions China could take in response to the US plan, Dong Yan, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics in Beijing, said that China had many cards. "China's countermeasures so far are not particularly strong, but there will be stronger actions," Dong told the Global Times on Thursday, noting China could do the same as the US by curbing US investments in China or launching anti-monopoly probes against US companies. Chinese experts have suggested that China could target big US corporations that make billions of dollars each year in China, including Boeing and Apple, sending chills through the boardrooms of these corporations and rattling their stock prices. In a sign of unease, Apple CEO Tim Cook was scheduled to meet Trump on Wednesday local time to talk about the trade spat, according to report from US media Axios. By targeting each other's companies, the US and China were hurting both sides, said Gong Min, an analyst at UBS Investment Research. "All the businesses are tied together and the escalation of trade tensions will do no good to anybody, neither the consumers or the companies," Gong said on Thursday, highlighting joint ventures between Chinese and US carmakers. Gao on Thursday also argued that Chinese investments have made an "important contribution" to job creation and economic growth in the US. ^ top ^
Canadian Senate motion on South China Sea irresponsible (Global Times)
2018-04-27
The Chinese Embassy in Canada on Wednesday condemned a Canadian Senate motion criticizing China's activities in the South China Sea, calling it "irresponsible" and suggesting it would "cast shadows" over bilateral relations. "Canada is not a party to the South China Sea issue," read a statement posted on the Chinese Embassy in Canada's website. Some people, knowing nothing or caring nothing about what really happened in the South China Sea, in the guise of respecting international laws and safeguarding the freedom of navigation and overflight, groundlessly blamed China and tried to get Canada into the trap, it said. "This is irresponsible," read the statement. The purpose was nothing but casting shadows over China-Canada relations which develop smoothly currently. But it would be futile and doomed to fail, it added. The Canadian Senate on Tuesday passed the motion criticizing China for its actions in the South China Sea. The motion was first introduced in May 2016 by Conservative Senator Thanh Hai Ngo, but the vote was held up almost two years until it passed 43-29 in the Senate on Tuesday, with six abstentions. "The motion itself has little legal effect on the actual South China Sea matter. It is more of a gesture on public media," Zhou Rongyao, an expert on China-Canada relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times. He noted that the Canadian Senate often plays a role of supervision and is not a critical party in the country's foreign policy. "Whether it will impact Canada's China policy needs more observation, but I doubt the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau administration would want to sabotage ties with China over this issue," Zhou said. In May last year, China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations members drew up and approved the framework of the South China Sea Code of Conduct and are set to discuss the text this year. The code is designed for relevant parties to regulate behavior and resolve disputes by peaceful means. "The motion was passed against the backdrop of ongoing China-US trade disputes. It sounds to me like a veiled message to line up with the US, not on the South China Sea issue but on a more recent matter," Zhou said. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Wednesday deplored a Group of Seven statement made in Toronto that mentioned China's human rights, the East and South China seas. "We urge these countries to respect the reality, especially on maritime issues, and respect efforts from regional countries to maintain stability and focus on cooperation and development, and stop making irresponsible comments," Lu said. ^ top ^
China issues report on U.S. human rights (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
China Tuesday published a report on the United States' human rights situation. The report, titled "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2017," was released by the Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 issued by the U.S. State Department on April 20 local time. China's report said the United States posed once again as "the guardian of human rights" and a self-styled "human rights judge" while its own human rights record remained tarnished and showed a continued deterioration tendency. ^ top ^
Chinese surgeons fly to North Korea after 36 die in bus accident (Global Times)
2018-04-27
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in North Korea to immediately make "all necessary means" to effectively handle the aftermath of a bus accident involving the deaths of 32 Chinese tourists. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for "all-out" efforts to rescue the injured and handle ensuing issues for the deceased. Four North Koreans were killed and two Chinese were in an "extremely severe" situation in North Korea's North Hwanghae Province, according to a notice released on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on Monday. A medical rescue group had been sent to North Korea, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. China's National Health Commission dispatched a team including a chest surgeon, spinal surgeon, neurosurgeon and intensive care specialists to North Korea on Monday. Video footage of the crash site on China Central Television showed an overturned bus on the road and a victim receiving treatment in hospital. China's Embassy in Pyongyang sent a working group immediately after the accident, the ministry statement said. North Korea has attached great importance to the accident, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a routine press briefing, noting that relevant departments of North Korea have been actively cooperating with the Chinese side to carry out rescue, rehabilitation and investigation work. North Hwanghae Province is home to Kaesong, an ancient Korean capital and tourist attraction that includes the remains of the Manwoldae palace. ^ top ^
Chinese, Russian FMs hold talks on ties (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi Monday held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Wang called on both countries to prepare well for the next stage of high-level exchanges in line with the consensus reached by the two presidents, forge ahead with cooperation in various areas, and enhance coordination within multilateral frameworks so as to inject new impetus into China-Russia relations. China and Russia need to enhance coordination whether it is out of the needs of maintaining their own interests or to safeguard world peace and stability, said Wang. It is not a temporary means nor it will be affected by external factors that the two countries enhance strategic coordination, he said. It is a strategic choice rooted in the fundamental interests of both peoples as well as an inevitable historical result that complies with the trend of times and the global trend of peace and development, he said. China attaches great importance to mature and stable strategic relations with high-level mutual trust with Russia, Wang said. Lavrov said it has always been Russia's priority to develop the Russia-China comprehensive partnership of strategic coordination. Russia will work with China to make sure that the two presidents have successful meetings and the bilateral ties make new progress, he said. On the Korean Peninsula issue, Wang said the announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it will stop nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches is a very important step towards a political solution to the denuclearization of the peninsula and is conducive to easing regional tensions. Wang said China hopes that the leaders' meetings between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK), and between the DPRK and the United States will be successful so that the correct path will be opened for lasting peace on the peninsula. He said China and Russia, sharing similar views on the Korean Peninsula issue, need to further enhance coordination and communication under the new circumstances in order to make their contribution to the political settlement of the issue. ^ top ^
Xi urges SCO to expand cooperation (China Daily)
2018-04-27
President Xi Jinping called on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members on Monday to remain true to their original aspiration and push cooperation in all areas. Xi made the remark while meeting with senior diplomats of the members of the SCO at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. After the meeting, Xi also met with defense ministers of those countries. It was the first formal meeting of SCO foreign ministers since the organization accepted Pakistan and India as its new members last year. Since its establishment 17 years ago, the SCO has stood the test of the time and developed into a comprehensive regional organization with wide influence, Xi said. The SCO has set a model for a new type of international relations with the characteristics of mutual respect, justice and win-win cooperation, he added. Saying the SCO summit to be held in Qingdao, Shandong province, in June will be the first of its kind since the increase in SCO members, Xi told the senior diplomats that he hopes all sides will cooperate for its success. China has successfully hosted more than 120 activities of the SCO since it assumed the rotating presidency of the organization, Xi said. The current global and regional situation is complex, he said, with unstable and uncertain factors, and SCO members should make real efforts to meet the expectations of all nations. China would like to make joint efforts with all SCO members to continue to support each other and offer SCO wisdom and SCO solutions, safeguard regional security cooperation, deepen Belt and Road cooperation and expand people-to-people exchanges, Xi said. During the meeting, the foreign ministers of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan made speeches. They spoke positively of the efforts that China has made to prepare the SCO summit. The SCO should enhance coordination and cooperation on international and regional affairs, the senior diplomats said. ^ top ^
People-to-people diplomacy can usher in new chapter in Sino-Indian relations (Global Times)
2018-04-27
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to China this week to hold informal talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The informal meeting is expected to start a new era of communication between the two emerging Asian powers. Personal conversations would be more useful than a formal state visit to boost strategic trust. This may show why Modi plans to meet with Xi on Friday, just several weeks before the formal summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in June, when Modi is scheduled to visit China again. China and India have had different levels of formal diplomatic communications and consultations on major issues, the existing frameworks and mechanisms need to be extended to help them avoid conflicts like the military standoff in Doklam last year. China is willing to hold not only formal, technical discussions with India to exchange political and economic views, but also relaxed conversations to strengthen strategic trust in a timely manner through different channels. When the two countries focus more on having an "emotional exchange," one can hope for better things to come. Personnel exchanges will be an indispensable part of efforts to enhance emotional communication and mutual trust. For instance, the Indian government has recently launched an initiative to attract more foreign students to Indian campuses. China is eager to cooperate with India to strengthen exchanges among young people. Although Sino-Indian relations have been sometimes affected by complex geopolitical disputes, person-to-person exchanges offer the best chance to resolve regional conflicts. Exchanges among young people can be strengthened as the digital economy is emerging in both countries. Young people will determine the future of Sino-Indian relations. The function of person-to-person diplomacy has been proved in diplomatic practice. The two countries can take the upcoming summit as a starting point to open a new chapter in their relationship. ^ top ^
China welcomes U.S. Treasury Secretary's proposed trip to China (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
China has received information that the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wishes to make a trip to China to negotiate economic and trade issues, according to a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) statement issued Sunday. The statement quoted an unnamed spokesperson for the MOC as saying China welcomes this information. ^ top ^
China to enhance peace and security cooperation with the AU (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
China will further enhance peace and security cooperation with the AU, the Chinese ambassador to the AU said on Sunday. Speaking to Xinhua, Kuang Weilin, Chinese ambassador to the AU, said peace and security is a major area China cooperates with the AU and African countries with military assistance and security training programs. He was speaking at the end of the 7th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, held at the northern Ethiopian city of Bahir Dar on April 21-22. China is currently working closely with the AU to implement a 2015 pledge to provide 100 million U.S. dollars in military aid to the African Standby Force (ASF), Kuang said. "I understand that a lot of progress has been made regarding the implementation in providing peacekeeping equipment. Very soon we will see the outcome of the implementation," he said. "Without peace and security there can be no development, so we will do as much as we can to contribute to the peace and security of the continent," Kuang said. ^ top ^
China's claims in South China Sea 'proposed by continuous boundary for the first time' (SCMP)
2018-04-27
Researchers are proposing a new boundary in the South China Sea that they say will help the study of natural science while potentially adding weight to China's claims over the disputed waters, according to a senior scientist involved in the government-funded project. The new boundary will help to define more clearly China's claims in the contested region, but it is not clear whether or when it will be officially adopted by Beijing, the scientist said. A precise continuous line will split the Gulf of Tonkin between China and Vietnam, go south into waters claimed by Malaysia, take a U-turn to the north along the west coast of the Philippines and finish at the southeast of Taiwan. For decades, China's sovereign claim in the South China Sea has been murky, in large part because of the use of a segmented, vaguely located borderline known as the 'nine-dash line'. A United Nations tribunal ruled in July 2016 that China had no legal basis to claim the area within the dash lines. One reason for China losing the case was that it could not define the territory precisely. However, analysts said Beijing was unlikely to officially change the nine-dash line any time soon, in the face of potential international opposition. Changing the nine-dash line could harm regional stability, warned Dr Ian J. Storey, senior fellow with Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore studying maritime security in the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia's relations with China. "If China does indicate its claims in the South China Sea by a continuous line which joins up the nine dashes, it would represent a complete repudiation of the July 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling," Storey said. The move would "cause deep concern in the capitals of Southeast Asia and beyond", he added. The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The vast area of blue outlined by the new boundary, hanging on a map like a Christmas stocking under South China, overlaps the dashes and fills in the gaps. It includes all contested waters, such as the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, James Shoal and Scarborough Shoal. The boundary would determine for the first time the exact area that China claimed to own with historic rights in the South China Sea, according to the researcher. Its purpose was partly the study of natural science and partly driven by a political motivation "to strengthen China's claims" over the waters to prepare for possible changes in its South China Sea policy in the future, the researcher said. Within the boundary, China would claim the right to activities ranging from fishing, prospecting and mining for energy or mineral resources to the construction of military bases with deep water ports or airports. Other countries' access to these rights would, however, be open for discussion, as is the case at Scarborough Shoal, which China controls but allows Philippine fishing boats to access. While Beijing would consider the area within the boundary its territory, other countries would still have freedom of navigation, the researcher said. The project team had pinned down the initial location of the boundary using global satellite positioning. "The GPS data set is ready," said the researcher, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the study. "It can provide different resolutions, from a kilometre to a few centimetres [regarding the width of the line], depending on the need in practice." Drawing the boundary was just the first step, the researcher said. Calculations of the total biomass, oil and gas reserves, mineral deposits and other natural resources in the China-claimed area were also under way, with funding from the Chinese central government and provincial authorities of Guangdong. Although the Chinese claims are based on historic record, part of the research is to determine the value of China's assets within the boundary. "Soon we will have a clear idea of what belongs to us in the South China Sea and what does not," said the researcher. "This will allow us to better plan and coordinate the efforts to protect our national interest in the region while reducing the risk of conflict with other countries caused by the absence of a border over the ocean." The nationalist government first adopted the dash drawings in 1947, when officials inspected the South China Sea on a US naval ship before drawing the dashes on their return. The dash drawing – short curves loosely located in the ocean with vast bodies of undefined water in between – was to give a general but imprecise impression of Chinese sovereignty in the region while acknowledging freedom of navigation for vessels from other countries. At first there were 11 dashes, but in the 1950s the Chinese government removed two dashes in the Gulf of Tonkin to please the communist rulers in Vietnam. In 2013, Beijing added a dash southeast of Taiwan, bringing the total to 10. Beijing is a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an international agreement that defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans, and establishes guidelines for businesses, the environment and the management of marine natural resources. But it has intentionally never defined the legal meaning of the nine-dash line or what its rights are within the boundary. This ambiguity has led many in China to believe that it marks the nation's maritime boundary, but, again, Beijing has never made this explicit. Others say it encircles the area where China demands economic rights. Another interpretation is that the line indicates the islands and reefs China wants to control rather than the waters inside its boundaries. Beijing has long favoured a strategy of ambiguity, not openly acting against international law but preferring to leave space for its more ambitious claims. […] "There is no way to calculate how large an area is by drawing the border with dash lines," said Professor Zou Jingui, deputy director of the School of Geodesy and Geomatics at Wuhan University. "You have to give a computer a closed boundary. Replacing the nine-dash line with a precise, continuous boundary will make work in this area easier." Zou was not involved in the project. The continuous boundary was generated not only by curve-extending, gap-filling algorithms on computer. It was also based on a solid piece of historic evidence, according to the project team. In 1951, an official map approved by the central government of China marked the China-claimed area in the South China Sea with a pair of non-stopping lines. There was an inner black line indicating the sovereign boundary and an outer red line representing where China could exercise administrative power. "We were thrilled when we found the map," the researcher said. "It is something we can show the world." A detailed description of the map was published by the project team in a paper in domestic academic journal China Science Bulletin in March this year. Its authors recommended using the continuous U-shape boundary line as a replacement for the nine-dash line. The "U-boundary is the border of China's sea in the South China Sea, and its sovereignty belongs to China", the authors wrote in the paper. It "can further express the certainty of the integrity, continuity and border of China's seas in the South China Sea", they wrote, adding that it was "more vivid, accurate, complete and scientific". Professor Yu Minyou, director of the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies at Wuhan University, said that if the old map was published with government approval, which was usually the case in China, "it surely will add legal weight to China's claim" in the region. A scientific basis for estimating natural resources was important to China, otherwise it would have nothing concrete or precise to put on table when negotiating with its neighbours, he said. […] A government expert at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Haikou, Hainan, said the continuous boundary would serve as a useful tool for some studies of natural science. But it was highly unlikely to be printed on an official map, said the expert, who requested not to be named because he was not allowed to speak to overseas media about sensitive issues. "To my knowledge, the Chinese government currently has no plan to change the dash lines," he said. "Most diplomats and ocean law experts will oppose joining the dashes." […]. ^ top ^
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Xi calls for high-quality growth through developing Yangtze River economic belt (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for achieving high-quality economic growth through developing the Yangtze River economic belt. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River economic belt in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. He stressed the importance of enhancing reform and innovation, strategic coordination as well as planning and guiding in developing the economic belt. "It is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee and a major strategy concerning overall national development to promote the development of the Yangtze River economic belt," Xi said. He called for all-out efforts to protect the Yangtze River, saying there should be no large-scale development of the river. "In developing the economic belt, the key lies in properly dealing with the relationship between pressing ahead on the whole and making breakthroughs in key areas, between ecological environment protection and economic development, between making an overall plan and making unremitting efforts, between getting rid of old growth engines and cultivating new engines, and between developing individually and developing in a coordinated way," he said. Before the symposium, Xi on Tuesday inspected Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group, China's largest fine phosphoric chemicals maker and the largest relocated company in the Three Gorges Reservoir region. "The Yangtze River is China's mother river, and we must protect it, while enterprises are the major force in protecting and building the ecological environment of the river," he said. "We must move all polluting enterprises from along the Yangtze River with resolve... to root out hidden dangers of pollution," he stressed. Xi called for putting restoration of the river's ecological environment high on the agenda in developing the Yangtze River economic belt. "When we say there should be no large-scale development, it does not mean we cannot develop it at all, but we should stay away from destructive development of the river, and we should follow a green development path which puts ecology first," Xi said. Also on Tuesday, Xi inspected the Three Gorges Project and the dam area's neighboring ecological environment. Calling the Three Gorges Project a crucial piece of high-end equipment for the nation and a major symbol of China's development since the reform and opening-up, Xi stressed the importance of having the capability to make really important high-end equipment "using our own hands." "To get core and key technology, begging alms won't work," Xi said. "We must rely on our own hard work." On Wednesday morning, Xi inspected the ecological environment and development along the Yangtze River by ship. Describing restoration of the river's ecological environment "an arduous task that the new era has entrusted to us" and "the high expectations of the people," Xi called for top priority to be given to stopping unplanned development and capping the total pollution discharge. "We must not allow the ecological environment of the Yangtze River to continue deteriorating in the hands of our generation, and we must leave our descendants a clean and beautiful Yangtze River," he said. On Thursday afternoon, Xi chaired a symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River economic belt. "We must proceed from the long-term interests of the Chinese nation to put restoring the ecological environment of the Yangtze River at a dominant position, making all-out efforts to protect it, and forbidding large-scale development of the river," he said. The aim is to build the economic belt into a golden economic belt featuring more beautiful ecology, more smooth transport, more coordinated economy, more integrated market and more scientific mechanisms, he said. Saying that difficulties and challenges remain in developing the Yangtze River economic belt, Xi made five suggestions to promote the development of the Yangtze River economic belt. First, efforts should be made to properly deal with the relationship between pressing ahead on the whole and making breakthroughs in key areas, so as to protect and restore the ecological environment of the Yangtze River in all aspects. Second, efforts should be made to properly deal with the relationship between ecological environment protection and economic development, and explore a new path which puts ecology first while pursuing green development. Third, efforts should be made to properly deal with the relationship between making an overall plan and making unremitting efforts, and stick to a single blueprint until the end. Fourth, efforts should be made to properly deal with the relationship between getting rid of old growth engines and cultivating new engines, and facilitate the establishment of a modern economic system for the Yangtze River economic belt. Finally, efforts should be made to properly deal with the relationship between developing individually and developing in a coordinated way so as to make the economic belt an efficient economic entity. Vice Premier Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also head of the leading group for promoting the development of the Yangtze River economic belt, addressed the symposium. ^ top ^
China to improve human rights protection of detainees (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) will launch a nationwide campaign to improve human rights protection of detainees, the SPP said in a statement Thursday. The campaign, which runs from April 2018 to December 2019, will focus on protecting detainees' rights to rewards and rest, and their rights to meet lawyers and obtain remuneration for labor, according to the statement. Prosecution organs at various levels should increase supervision and stop illegal practices such as bullying, physical punishment and abuse in prisons, it said. More efforts should be made to ensure safety of custody areas and improve procedures undertaken after the death of detainees, it said. Prosecution authorities at all levels should detect loopholes in protecting the rights and interests of detainees and report them to courts, public security agencies, judicial and administrative organs at the same level, it said. The SPP asked all prosecution organs to strengthen protection of human rights, prevent illegalities harming the rights and interests of detainees, and better safeguard social security. ^ top ^
Alibaba to help Chinese courts go on cloud (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has said it will supply its artificial intelligence technology to help thousands of Chinese courts share live-broadcasting and cloud services. At Alibaba's computing conference on Thursday in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Alibaba Cloud, the cloud service arm of Alibaba, said it would team up with Jiangsu Xinshiyun Technology Co., Ltd. to improve an online cloud service platform to link up 10,000 courts. Xinshiyun currently operates China's largest court trial database and a cloud platform in partnership with more than 2,100 courts including the Supreme People's Court of China and 32 Chinese provincial-level high courts. Li Jin, vice president of Alibaba Cloud, said Alibaba's AI technology would help courts make both voice and video recording, transcribe them, and broadcast live court proceedings. The online cloud service platform can keep the case records and make intelligent analysis of cases. "The judicial field is one of the sectors eyed by Alibaba's cloud service as a potential market. The other sectors are banking, higher education institutes, financial and astronomical fields," Li said. ^ top ^
Xi urges stronger independent innovation capacity (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
President Xi Jinping has urged stronger independent innovation capacity for China during an inspection to the Three Gorges Dam, saying the country must master the core technology of high-end equipment. China must rely on its own efforts, Xi said Tuesday at the dam, which lies on the Yangtze River near Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province. As the world's largest hydropower project, the Three Gorges project is a multi-functional water control system consisting of a dam stretching 2,309 meters long and 185 meters high, 32 hydropower turbo-generators, a five-tier ship lock and a shiplift. China would not have its leading ability if it had relied on others to build the dam, said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation can only be achieved through untiring struggle, he said. Xi inspected the ship lock, the shiplift and the power plants on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, and listened to reports about work on topics including construction, power generation, navigation and environmental protection. During an inspection to a new material industrial park on the Yangtze River, Xi stressed coordination in ecological protection and economic development. Ecological restoration should be the top priority, Xi said, noting China's mother river must be protected, and any exploitation that is destructive to the environment must be forbidden. China will push for industrial transformation and upgrades in the region, and foster suitable sectors under the precondition of ecological protection, to achieve high-quality development in a scientific, orderly manner, Xi said. ^ top ^
Lawmakers voice support for draft people's assessors law (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Chinese lawmakers voiced their support for the second draft of the law on people's assessors during panel discussions at the ongoing bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee. The draft law states that Chinese citizens aged 28 or older who have received a high school education or higher can be selected as assessors, who will "have equal rights" as judges in trials, unless the law specifically provides otherwise. "The people's assessors system demonstrates judicial democracy. These assessors promote justice with their extensive social experience and the law itself is like a collection and summary of social practice," legislator Wang Shengming said during the discussions. NPC member Li Bingji agreed and pointed out the life experience of the assessors, along with the professional knowledge of the judges, helps secure justice in court. Some lawmakers suggested an upper age limit and continuous training for assessors during the panel discussion. The draft was first submitted to NPC Standing Committee last December. The legislation was based on an NPC Standing Committee decision in 2004 to improve the use of people's assessors and a pilot program in 10 provincial-level regions starting in 2015. According to a report on the pilot program delivered by Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, to the NPC Standing Committee Wednesday, a total of 13,740 assessors had participated in the pilot program as of April. People's assessors have participated in hearings on 30,659 criminal cases, 178,749 civil cases, and 11,846 administrative cases in the regions since the pilot program started in 2015, said Zhou. The bimonthly session of the top legislature will run until Friday. ^ top ^
China tests stealth 'invisibility cloaks' on regular fighter jets (SCMP)
2018-04-25
China is testing an "invisibility cloak" on non-stealth military jets to help them evade radar detection, according to scientists involved in the project. If successful, the technology could quickly boost the combat strength of the jets, the researchers say. But others say the technology was difficult to mass produce, limited to a small range of radar bandwidths and would need to be combined with other devices to be truly effective. The technology involves the use of a "metamaterial", a fabricated layer comprising microscopic structures similar to integrated circuits. The metamaterial can alter the way radio waves bounce off its surface to create a ghost image or minimise echo on a radar, helping hide the aircraft in flight with greater efficiency. The metamaterial was developed by a research team at the State Key Laboratory of Millimetre Waves in Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. It was being tested on aircraft at a major military aircraft production base in Shenyang, Liaoning province, a researcher in the laboratory confirmed. The researcher declined to name the test site or the aircraft but Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, builds non-stealth fighter jets, including the J-11 and the J-15. Other countries, especially the United States, have also been heavily engaged in the research and development of similar technology to cloak military jets, but there have so far been no public reports on the mass application of such metamaterials overseas. Within China, the government has funded dozens of research teams over the years to develop the technology to hide objects from view and make them "disappear". Recent Chinese reports suggested that they were starting to develop the mass use of metamaterials on the mainland. […] In 2011, the team [Prof. Cui Tiejun] said it had developed a radio wave-absorbing device that could make a target invisible to the three most common radio bandwidths used by military radars. Two years later, the team said it had created a "ghost illusion device" that could allow a plane to leave almost no radar signature. The device could make parts of the plane appear on radar as plastic, instead of metal, or show three planes instead of one, according to the team. […]She said metamaterials were also extremely difficult to mass produce, and the technology would have to withstand the heat and shock of battle, meaning some performance would have to be sacrificed for reliability. And at present, the technology was effective within only certain radio bandwidths, Han added. ^ top ^
Shenzhen police can now identify drivers using facial recognition surveillance cameras (SCMP)
2018-04-25
Shenzhen is expanding a network of facial recognition surveillance cameras to catch more violations, after the success of an earlier trial to publicly name and shame jaywalkers. The so-called electronic police system captures photos of vehicles that violate the traffic rules in the metropolis of 12 million people, providing an image of not only the number plate but also the driver's face, which can then be identified from the police database using facial recognition technology. A total of 40 roads will be covered under the expanded surveillance, from the initial single intersection, to identify and fine traffic violators, including those driving without a valid license. Drivers who had their licenses revoked due to illegal conduct such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs have already been captured and identified through the system, according to the Shenzhen Traffic Police's official Sina Weibo account. The system, which went on trial Monday, will be officially launched on May 1. The move is the latest in a push by Chinese cities and securities agencies to employ advanced artificial intelligence-based technologies in policing. Earlier this month a fugitive was arrested in southeast China after facial recognition technology helped identify him in a crowd of about 50,000 attending a pop concert. The country is also exporting such technology, with start-up Yitu Technology selling its body mounted cameras equipped with facial recognition software to the Malaysian police. Shenzhen – home to major tech companies like Tencent, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, as well as thousands of well known start-ups such as DJI and BGI Genomics – has been a pioneer in adopting the most advanced technologies to deal with road rule violations. Shenzhen traffic police first installed roadside speed cameras 1997 and in 2001 added surveillance systems to capture and identify car number plates. Starting in April last year, the city began displaying photos of jaywalkers on large LED screens at major intersections, using facial recognition technology to identify them from a police database. As well as the photo, the offender's family name and part of their government identification number are also shown on the LED screens located above the pavement. "Cameras with 7 million pixels of resolution ensure that the image of drivers' faces behind the [windscreen] are good enough for a facial comparison by our system, but only if the drivers' facial information has been stored in the traffic police database can our system immediately recognise them," Wang Jun, director of marketing solutions from Intellifusion, said in a phone interview. The Shenzhen-based AI firm, which provides technology to the city's traffic police, provided 20 ultra-HD cameras with 7 million pixel resolution and the same number of conventional 2 million pixel cameras. Ultra HD, or 4K surveillance cameras, can digitally zoom into a spot in the frame without losing resolution, leaving the days of grainy analogue CCTV footage far behind. […] ^ top ^
Chinese companies seen as less corrupt as Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign bites (SCMP)
2018-04-25
China's anti-corruption campaign and tightened penalties for graft have reduced the perception among businesspeople that bribery and fraud is widespread in the country's enterprises, according to a survey. The number of respondents who believed corruption in Chinese corporations was widespread dropped eight points to 16 per cent this year compared with the figure in 2014, according to the "15th Global Fraud Survey" published by accounting firm EY on Wednesday. "The impact of enforcement on widespread corruption since 2013 in China has definitely had an impact on the perceptions of how widely such practises take place in the country," said Chris Fordham, Asia-Pacific leader of fraud investigation and dispute services at EY. The decrease could well be due to the increase in enforcement activity or simply to a belief that corruption has decreased, Fordham added. The biennial survey interviewed 2,550 executives from 55 countries and regions, including 50 from mainland China and 50 from Hong Kong. Each respondent was asked only about their own country. The figures were compared with the 2014 survey because related laws may need a longer time to take effect, EY said. More than half of respondents in emerging markets said they thought corruption was widespread in business in their countries, whereas 20 per cent in developed markets indicated that they thought it occurred widely. In Hong Kong the figure was 14 per cent, lower than the 27 per cent average for the Asia region including China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. China's president, Xi Jinping, began a campaign against corruption in 2013, soon after he came to power, believing graft to be a threat to the survival of the ruling Communist Party. It has ensnared more than 1.5 million officials, including some of very high rank. In the first nine months of last year alone, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's top anti-corruption agency, issued 383,000 disciplinary penalties. Regulators also extended the scope of bribery in 2016 to include intangible benefits such as employment of relatives. "In our experience there is often a lag between the introduction of anti-corruption laws and a response from management," Fordham said. […] ^ top ^
Xi stresses importance to study Communist Manifesto (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed the importance to study the Communist Manifesto. The purpose of reviewing the Communist Manifesto is to understand and grasp the power of the truth of Marxism and write a new chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, Xi said Monday when presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. ^ top ^
China airs video confessions from alleged associates of runaway tycoon Guo Wengui (HKFP)
2018-04-27
Chinese police on Monday announced the arrest of twin brothers alleged to have forged government documents on behalf of a billionaire fugitive who has made explosive corruption accusations against his country's politicians. Guo Wengui, a real estate tycoon who fled to the United States, spent last year waging a one-man guerrilla war against China's elite by posting a series of graft allegations on social media. In December Guo told AFP he was working for regime change in Beijing. China has declared him a fugitive and had Interpol issue a "red notice" or a non-binding arrest warrant for him, reportedly related to bribery charges. Guo has applied for political asylum in the US. Police in the southwestern city of Chongqing held a press conference on Monday to make public the latest allegations against him. In an unusual move in criminal matters, China's State Council press office invited foreign reporters to attend ahead of time. The press conference by Chongqing's Public Security Bureau also aired video confessions from the two brothers, Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng, who were allegedly paid by Guo to forge the "secret government documents". Critics say China's police often use torture to force confessions from suspects. Earlier this month human rights group Safeguard Defenders released a report detailing how police have forced many high-profile defendants to make confessions with promises the videos would not be broadcast — only to later broadcast them via state TV. The twins' confession videos were subsequently aired later Monday by China's state broadcaster CCTV. Officials in Chongqing told the press conference the forged documents were "distributed abroad, misleading the public, and creating an evil impact", according to the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily. Guo did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the latest claims made against him by Beijing. In the past he has disputed the allegations and said they are payback for exposing corruption. The documents which China claims Guo helped forge and publicise include a purported secret Communist Party Central Committee document, showing China was covertly offering missiles and aid to North Korea even as it publicly approved UN sanctions against its longtime ally over its nuclear programme. The document was published by The Washington Free Beacon, the People's Daily said. At the time, Beijing denounced the document as "fake news". Chinese authorities said they would also share more information on Guo, and his donations to US politicians and former government officials, with US law enforcement authorities. "We believe US authorities won't allow this type of criminal activity to exist," police were quoted by the People's Daily as saying. ^ top ^
Ban on solid waste imports extended (China Daily)
2018-04-27
China will ban the import of 32 types of solid waste, as part of its latest move to reduce environmental pollution, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday. The ban on 16 types of solid waste, including scrap cars and boats, will take effect on Dec 31. Another 16 types of waste material, including stainless steel and wood, will be banned starting at the end of next year, the ministry said. Since the 1980s, China has imported solid waste-including paper, plastic and scrap metal-as raw materials to make up for the domestic shortage of resources, and has for years been the world's largest importer of recyclable materials, which posed a danger to the environment and public health. The State Council, China's Cabinet, released a reform plan for the management of imported solid waste in July that listed 24 banned types, including waste plastics, unsorted scrap paper, discarded textiles and vanadium slag. The rules were to take effect by the end of last year. China has decided to phase out imports of solid waste that can be replaced by domestic sources by the end of next year. A three-year plan that will run through 2020 was launched in March to step up the fight against pollution and environmental degradation. An inspection campaign targeting enterprises was also unrolled, since many domestic companies process imported solid waste and discharge excessive or illegal pollutants into the air, water or soil. In addition to the restrictions on importing solid waste, China intends to boost its domestic recycling business. By 2020, the amount of solid waste recycled in China will increase to 350 million metric tons, from 246 million tons in 2015. ^ top ^
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| Hongkong |
'Father of red chips': China depository receipts will limit secondary listings in Hong Kong by big tech firms (SCMP)
2018-04-27
Hong Kong will find it hard to attract secondary listings by mainland technology companies such as e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, which are already listed in the United States, because of competition from China, Francis Leung Pak-to, chairman of the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies, said on Friday. "Beijing's plan to introduce China depository receipts will be a big threat to Hong Kong. When China will invite Alibaba, Baidu and other major mainland technology companies already listed in the US to issue China depository receipts in China, there is no need for them to list in Hong Kong," Leung said during a forum of the chamber. "This will led to more new economy companies that have not yet listed to opt for listing in the US instead of Hong Kong, as they will think they can issue China depository receipts at a later stage." Leung is known as the "father of red chips". As a well-known investment banker in the 1990s, he brought many red chips – companies with a mainland parent incorporated overseas – to list in Hong Kong. "Those listed in the US already have exposure to international investors. The reason for them to have a secondary listing in Hong Kong is to capture mainland investors who trade these stocks via the stock connects. If China were to invite these companies to issue China depository receipts on the mainland, there is no point in them having a secondary listing here," said Leung. "However, the China depository receipt requirements are very high, and only the very large companies will be invited by authorities to issue these in China. As such, companies that do not qualify will still like to list in Hong Kong after the listing reform," he said. Leung added that mainland companies too wanted to list in Hong Kong, because they wanted to capture international investors. He said that faced with such competition, the Hong Kong stock exchange would need to be more proactive in its fight for such companies to list. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the local bourse operator, announced its biggest reform in 25 years on Tuesday. It will from Monday allow dual-class shareholding technology companies and biotechnology companies with no revenue to apply for listings here. Dual-class shareholding companies allow founders, or key management of the companies, to hold a premium class of shares that has higher voting rights than normal shareholders, a structure favoured by many technology companies. But Leung said the reform had not gone far enough. He said it was not right for the HKEX to require that premium class shareholders have the same voting rights as ordinary shareholders when they elect independent non-executive directors, or change articles of association. "The whole idea of allowing dual-class shareholding structure companies to list here is to allow the founders and key management to keep control over major issues even though they hold minority stakes. Waiving their special rights to appoint independent directors to the board will not reduce their influence on the board," he said. The HKEX introduced this requirement to meet a demand by fund managers for added protection for investors. Leung, however, said the bourse operator should achieve balance to make sure founders and management have control. […]^ top ^
Textbook revisions ensure accuracy and Hong Kong people should not overreact (HKFP)
2018-04-27
Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said that people should not overreact to a recent review of textbooks by the Education Bureau, saying that the review served to ensure accuracy in the material. Broadcaster i-Cable found last week that a textbook review group at the Education Bureau had criticised phrases in textbooks, saying that they used inappropriate wording or unclear concepts. The phrases found to be problematic included: "Hong Kong is located south of China" and "the Chinese Communist Party's one-party rule." Lam said the review was done by a committee, and was not conducted by the government or by her. Lam said she did not see any problems after reading the committee's report. "You can say that we have always used these phrases, so we should just continue using them. But if we can use more accurate words, especially in textbooks, there is no excuse not to," she said ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting. "I have every confidence that these experts are doing this very important task with that one single objective in mind, and that is to ensure [a] high degree of precision and accuracy in our textbooks." She cited former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang, who said the phrase "China took back Hong Kong's sovereignty" was incorrect. "China has never given Hong Kong's sovereignty to a third party. The preamble of the Basic Law also states that the People's Republic of China will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong – this is more accurate," she said. "I just feel that some people have overreacted to this very important exercise to ensure that the descriptions that we use – especially when we use [them] in textbooks – are accurate." Lam said Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung has explained the issue and the public should not view the issue "through coloured spectacles." Last week, Yeung also said that the sentence "Hong Kong is located at China's southern side" in textbooks should be changed. His comments led lawmakers to accuse him of conducting political censorship. "[The phrase] is unclear, as there could be different interpretations from the wording," Yeung said. "It could mean the southern side outside China, it could mean the southern side within China's borders – this is unclear from the wording, so it has to be changed," he said. ^ top ^
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| Macau |
Macao firmly opposes EU's report (China Daily)
2018-04-27
The government of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) firmly opposes the report by the European Union (EU) on Macao's affairs, the SAR government said in a statement on Wednesday. "The EU made irresponsible comments on Macao's affairs, which are entirely China's domestic affairs," the statement said. Since Macao's return to the motherland, it has acted in strict accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, and the principles of "one country, two systems" and "Macao people administering Macao" with a high degree of autonomy have been implemented, said the statement. Macao has maintained its overall prosperity, stability and social harmony, and Macao people enjoy unprecedented rights, the statement added. ^ top ^
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| Taiwan |
Taiwan accuses China of compromising global health over WHO ban (HKFP)
2018-04-27
Taipei accused China Thursday of endangering the health of Taiwanese people and compromising global epidemic prevention by blocking it from the World Health Organization (WHO), as its hopes of attending a major meeting next month dim. Last year was the first time in eight years that Taiwan was not granted access to the World Health Assembly (WHA) — the WHO's main annual meeting — due to pressure from Beijing as part of its efforts to exclude the island from international events. China, which sees self-governing democratic Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, has used its clout to diminish the island's presence on the world stage since Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took power in May 2016. Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation to the WHA assembly in Geneva next month. The island's foreign ministry accused China Thursday of having a "secret arrangement" with WHO granting Beijing power to veto its attendance even at smaller technical briefings. Out of the 154 WHO briefings Taiwan applied for between 2009 and 2017, only 46 were approved, the foreign ministry said in a statement. It also said China had delayed timely notification of health information to Taiwan. "The unilateral arrangement between China and the WHO not only poses a threat to the health of the Taiwanese people, but it also causes a loophole in global epidemic prevention," it said. The comments came in response to a Wednesday statement from China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), which said Taiwanese experts were free to attend WHO conferences aside from the WHA and were still receiving timely information on disease prevention. The foreign ministry said the TAO statement was "untrue." AFP has not yet received a response from the WHO. Despite intensified lobbying efforts this year, Taiwan's foreign ministry said earlier this week it was not optimistic it would receive an invite to the May 21-26 WHA meeting. "WHO faces a lot of pressure and we are all very clear where that pressure comes from," said Michael Hsu, director-general of the department handling Taiwan's participation in international organisations. Taipei sees May 7 as the last date for it to receive an invitation, which is the online registration deadline. Last year the WHO said there was no basis to invite Taiwan because the "cross-strait understanding" of previous years no longer existed. A number of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have written to the WHO urging the island's admittance while US senators this month called on the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to help Taiwan regain "observer" status. Taiwan was expelled from the WHO in 1972, a year after losing the "China" seat at the United Nations to Beijing. In 2009, Taiwan was invited to attend as an "observer" under the name "Chinese Taipei" under former Beijing-friendly president Ma Ying-jeou. But the island has once again been sidelined since Tsai took the presidency. ^ top ^
US 'will not take the bait and respond' to China's attempt to intimidate Taiwan, Pentagon says (SCMP)
2018-04-27
A senior US defence official on Thursday said that while recent military activities by China's air force over Taiwan could be regarded as an attempt at "intimidation", the Pentagon will not "take the bait and respond." Thomas Harvey III, the acting assistant secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities at the US Department of Defence, told the South China Morning Post that the Pentagon sensed "a definite message of intimidation" to Taiwan had been intended by mainland forces flying around the island. Harvey cautioned that "we are mindful of the problems with the [Chinese] challenges and potential escalation". The Pentagon will not "take the bait and respond to provocations by China trying to initiate anything", he said. In his position, Harvey advises US Defence Secretary James Mattis on national security and military strategy, including contingency plans needed to respond to perceived aggressions. The People's Liberation Army Air Force confirmed on Thursday that it had conducted a second round of training flights in two weeks around Taiwan, adding that it marked an "historical shift" in its combat ability. A report on the air force's official microblog said that multiple missions had been launched from separate bases featuring fighter jets, early warning planes and the H-6K long-range bomber. The planes circled Taiwan, crossing the Bashi Strait to the south and the Miyako Strait to the north along China's naval border with Japan, according to the report. Tensions between Beijing and Taiwan have ratcheted up in recent months, with China conducting several military drills near Taiwan. Beijing regards the self-ruled Taiwan as a wayward province since the 1949 civil war, to be brought under mainland China's rule by force if necessary. In March, in his closing speech to the National People's Congress, Chinese President Xi Jinping dismissed any moves towards Taiwan independence, saying that any attempts at separatism would "face the punishment of history". Punctuating that threat, just hours later an aircraft carrier group from the Chinese mainland, led by the mainland's sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, began making its way through the narrow Taiwan Strait, though it kept on its western side. The latest air force runs coincided with a pair of US strategic bombers flying closer to China's southern coastline on Tuesday afternoon. Two US B-52 strategic bombers reportedly flew within 250 kilometres of Guangdong Province's coastline, according to Taiwan media and Aircraft Spots, a Twitter group that tracks aircraft movement and the deployment of the US Air Force. A spokesman at the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the B-52 runs. The two bombers were believed to have come from the US military base on its Pacific island territory of Guam. However, Harvey said that the US bombers had been deployed to reassure American allies in the Pacific region that the US would continue to be a presence in Asia. "China has said they want us to leave the region. We are not going to leave the region." But he also raised the possibility of a miscalculation that would lead to military conflicts between the two nuclear powers. Harvey said that conflict is "always a possibility when you have military operated in the same space". "We will do what we can to obviously avoid that," he said. ^ top ^
PLA sends planes round Taiwan for second time in a week (Global Times)
2018-04-27
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has sent warplanes for the second time in a week to patrol around the island of Taiwan in a gesture to deter "Taiwan independence" forces and show the Chinese mainland's resolution to safeguard sovereignty. According to the official Sina Weibo account of the PLA Air Force, H-6K bombers, fighter jets, reconnaissance planes and Air Early Warning planes took off from military airports Thursday morning and conducted real-combat military training. The warplanes flew over the Miyako and Bashi straits to complete their circuit of the island. The Chinese air force's ability to prepare for and fight a war has experienced a historic shift, Shen Jinke, a PLA Air Force spokesman, said at a military air base in East China's Fujian Province. "The PLA Air Force has firm resolution, ample confidence and sufficient capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Shen said. Wu Qian, defense ministry spokesman, also said on Thursday that the PLA will take further actions if "Taiwan independence" forces continue to act without restraint. Taiwan's administrative head Lai Ching-te said earlier that he was a "Taiwan independence" worker drawing ire from Beijing. China conducted live-fire military exercises in the Taiwan Straits on April 18. On April 19, the PLA Air Force dispatched bombers to patrol around Taiwan to practice and upgrade their capability to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to an official air force statement. On Wednesday, Taiwan media reported that the US dispatched two B-52 bombers to fly near the Dongsha Islands, calling such a move "a response to the PLA's recent military exercises surrounding Taiwan" and claiming the flight path of the bombers was "a typical flight course for attack." China's defense ministry said Thursday the PLA has learned about the relevant situation. Song Zhongping, a military commentator, told the Global Times that the B-52 flight course suggested a patrol, not an attack. "In terms of air defense capability, the PLA Navy and Air Force are able to cover the entire East China Sea, the island of Taiwan, the Yellow Sea and the majority of the South China Sea," he said. "Two B-52 bombers, which is an older model, can barely achieve strategic deterrence, let alone attack," Song noted. ^ top ^
Beijing warns Taiwan of 'further action' (China Daily)
2018-04-27
The Defense Ministry warned Taiwan separatists on Thursday that their secession efforts are "dead ends" and the Chinese military will take further action if they continue their "reckless activities". Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a ministry spokesman, made the remarks at a news conference following flights by multiple fighter jets, H-6K bombers and early warning airplanes of the People's Liberation Army Air Force around the island of Taiwan on Thursday morning. The training was aimed at improving the planes' combat readiness and actual fighting capabilities above water, Senior Colonel Shen Jinke, spokesman of the PLA Air Force, said in an online statement on Thursday. "The treasure island is within the motherland's embrace, and protecting our country's beloved territory is a sacred duty of the Air Force," Shen said, adding the Air Force has deployed many planes, including the H-6K bombers, to fly around the island since April 18. In response to media questions about the flights, Wu said the training exercises are aimed at improving the Air Force's ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. "Secession activities by Taiwan separatists is the biggest threat to cross-Straits relations," he said. "These activities undermine the fundamental interests of the Taiwan people, and our actions are targeting those separatists and their activities," Wu said. "If the Taiwan separatists were to continue their reckless activities, we'll take further action against them," he said. When asked to comment about Taiwan's military drills this month, Wu said the mainland will make sincere efforts to pursue peaceful unification. "But I must stress that Taiwan secession efforts are a dead end," he said, adding that "there is no way out" for Taiwan to confront the mainland militarily to resist unification. Senior Colonel Ma Gang, a professor from the PLA National Defense University, said that Taiwan unification is a key part of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and efforts to split the island from China "go against the trend of history and the wishes of the Chinese people". "No country in the world will allow its territorial integrity to be violated by separatists and foreign powers," he said. "The Taiwan separatists are becoming more arrogant recently. The Chinese mainland has exercised the utmost sincerity and restraint, but its patience is not limitless." He added, "If the secession efforts grow indefinitely, the PLA has no choice but to unify Taiwan through force as stated in the Anti-Secession Law." On Thursday, Wu also confirmed that the DF-26, China's new intermediate-range ballistic missile, officially entered service in the PLA Rocket Force, and the Su-35 fighter jets China bought from Russia have entered service for the PLA Air Force. The missile is completely designed by China, and is capable of rapid retaliation with nuclear warheads and mid- to long-range precision strikes using conventional warheads against land targets and large naval ships, he said. The Su-35, built by Russia's Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, is one of Russia's most advanced and well armed multipurpose fighter jets, according to the Russian news agency TASS. Wu also announced that the outfitting process and system calibrations for China's first domestically designed aircraft carrier, currently known as 001A, have been going smoothly. The ministry will announce the "good news", referring to the ship's first sea trial, in the near future, he said. ^ top ^
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| Economy |
China rolls out fresh tax cuts to aid small businesses (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
China will make further tax cuts worth over 60 billion yuan (about 9.5 billion U.S. dollars) to drive innovation and entrepreneurship and boost the development of small and micro businesses, a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday. The move aims to reduce the cost for innovation and entrepreneurship, energize small and micro businesses and spur job creation. As part of efforts to implement blueprints set out by the Central Economic Work Conference and the Government Work Report, the annual taxable income threshold of small and micro businesses eligible for halved income tax will be raised from 500,000 to 1 million yuan. The per unit value of newly-purchased research and development (R&D) instruments and equipment eligible for one-time tax deduction will be raised from 1 million to 5 million yuan. These two measures will be effective from Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2020, the meeting decided. In his Government Work Report delivered in March this year, Premier Li said that the government will further lighten the corporate tax burden. Far greater numbers of small low-profit businesses will see their income tax halved and the ceilings on deductible business purchases of instruments and equipment will be significantly raised. The pilot preferential tax policies for venture capital investment and angel investment will be extended nationwide, he said. According to a decision at the meeting, the tax incentive enjoyed by venture capital firms and angel investors that sees 70 percent of their investment deducted from the taxable income of the seed and early stage high-tech startups they finance will be extended nationwide. This policy has been piloted in the China's eight innovation and reform experimental zones, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Shanghai and Guangdong, as well as in Suzhou Industrial Park. Such tax cuts will be implemented from Jan. 1 for corporate income tax and from July 1 for personal income tax this year. The meeting also decided to abolish the preclusion of the expenses of commissioned overseas R&D from additional tax deduction. The time limit for the capital loss carryover of high-tech firms and technological small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) will be extended from 5 to 10 years pending approval by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. All enterprises will see the tax deduction for employee training costs raised from the current 2.5 percent to 8 percent, the same rate as high-tech companies enjoy. These three measures are effective from Jan. 1 this year. Li said that while this round of tax cuts is targeted at small and micro businesses to spur innovation, the whole economy stands to benefit. Though being the biggest job providers, small and micro businesses have long had difficulty in accessing affordable financing. Supporting their development is critical to ensuring employment. The meeting also adopted measures of stamp duty relief for books of account starting from May 1, 2018. All the above mentioned measures are expected to reduce corporate tax burden by over 60 billion yuan. The move follows a 400 billion yuan tax cut package for 2018, which was decided at a State Council executive meeting on March 28. Li stressed that while established firms receive due attention, greater support must be extended to all growth enterprises, including SMEs and micro businesses. "Tax cuts and fiscal input are like the two sides of a coin. Both can catalyze innovation," he said. The premier once again called for full implementation of the above policies to deliver concrete benefits to all businesses concerned. ^ top ^
Chinese tech company Huawei investigated for violating Iran sanctions by US Department of Justice (SCMP)
2018-04-27
The US Justice Department is investigating China's Huawei Technologies, the largest maker of telecom equipment in the world, for violating US sanctions in relation to Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, amid growing concern in Washington about Chinese technology companies. The report follows news last week that the Justice Department activated sanctions on another Chinese telecom equipment producer, ZTE, on charges related to its equipment sales in the same Middle Eastern country. Huawei had previously been subpoenaed by the US Commerce Department and the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the source said. But the Justice Department's criminal inquiry suggests more serious misconduct - and consequently more serious repercussions. While the commerce and treasury departments can levy sanctions and fines, the justice department can go further, imposing a corporate monitor or criminal penalties, even charging individuals within the company. Details about the probe, including what allegations have been levelled, are not available, the Journal said. "Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including the applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US and EU," Huawei's US-based senior director for corporate communications said in an email to the South China Morning Post. The Justice Department's action against ZTE last week was taken to punish the telecom equipment maker after it allegedly made false statements in an investigation into measures it was supposed to take against employees running a unit that was doing business with Iran and covering up those deals. ZTE's sales of "hundreds of millions of [US] dollars" worth of routers, microprocessors and servers to Iranian entities violated the US's Export Administration Act of 1979, according to an order by the US Department of Commerce. "ZTE made false statements to the US Government when they were originally caught and put on the Entity List, made false statements during the reprieve it was given, and made false statements again during its probation," Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was quoted as saying in an announcement by the department. The US justice department would not be the only US government body citing threats Huawei poses to the country's national security grounds. A congressional report last week branded Huawei and ZTE as being among "nefarious actors" in China infiltrating American intelligence bodies and critical infrastructure systems through information technology systems and components. "In the case of Chinese national champions, [state support] also appears to include officially sanctioned or officially conducted corporate espionage designed to improve the competitiveness of Chinese firms while potentially advancing other government interests. Huawei, [ZTE] and Lenovo are three Chinese ICT companies that exhibit some of these characteristics." Huawei was named frequently in a report issued by a unit of the US Defence Department last year about methods – legal and otherwise – China is using to extract advanced technology from US sources. The report, called "China's Technology Transfer Strategy: How Chinese Investments in Emerging Technology Enable a Strategic Competitor to Access the Crown Jewels of US Innovation", has prompted US lawmakers to tighten scrutiny of investments by Chinese companies in the US to thwart Beijing's attempts to create "national champions" that would compete with US companies globally. "Because the Chinese Communist Party is much more involved in planning economic activity and supporting companies (not only through state-owned-enterprises but also in favouring national champions it supports globally like Huawei), there is a great deal more coordination of investment along with other vehicles of technology transfer to accomplish the larger economic goals specified in China's documented plans," the report said. "China's industrial espionage and cyber theft efforts continue without adequate US investment in manpower and programmes to thwart these efforts. This allows technology transfer at an alarming rate. "When viewed in combination, and with the resources China is applying, the composite picture illustrates the intent, design and dedication of a regime focused on technology transfer at a massive scale." ^ top ^
US ignored Beijing's gains in intellectual property protection, Chinese watchdog says (SCMP)
2018-04-24
Beijing has hit back at Washington over an investigation into China's intellectual property practices, saying the United States failed to take China's advances in IP protections into account. Shen Changyu, head of China's revamped State Intellectual Property Office, made the remarks on Tuesday in response to a US investigation under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which prompted Washington to propose a 25 per cent tariff on about 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical imports from China. "We think that the outcomes of so-called 301 investigation by the US ignored the objective fact that China has strengthened its protection on intellectual property," Shen said. He said amendments to China's anti-unfair competition law would bolster protection foreign companies' technology. Shen also said China spent over US$28.6 billion for the rights to use foreign technology last year, with the amount paid to the United States rising 14 per cent year on year. […]At the Boao Forum for Asia earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the newly restructured State Intellectual Property Office would help to enforce the law on intellectual property protection and to increase the price paid for violations. "We encourage normal technological exchange between Chinese and foreign companies, and we protect the intellectual property rights of the companies in China," Xi said. "At the same time, we hope foreign governments can also strengthen protection of Chinese companies' intellectual property rights." Shen said the office was responsible for implementing China's overall strategy on intellectual property and law enforcement, including the approval and arbitration of patent, trademark and appellation of origin disputes. The office would also be in charge of "external negotiations" on intellectual property and would give equal treatment to both domestic and foreign companies, regardless of size or ownership, he said. Earlier this month, China's commerce ministry said it had initiated a World Trade Organisation dispute procedure against the US 301 investigation. It also said it would impose new tariffs on US$50 billion worth of US products ranging from cars to soybeans and whisky, countering a US announcement of tariffs on an estimated US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods. Renmin University intellectual property law professor Jin Haijun said the new office could play a supporting role in handling the US-China trade conflict. "The State Intellectual Property Office will be working with the commerce ministry which is coordinating the overall efforts [in handling trade disputes]," Jin said. ^ top ^
China's high-quality development off to good start (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
China has seen a good start to its high-quality development, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said Monday. The Chinese economy has maintained its steady growth momentum in the first quarter of this year, as major economic indicators pointed to stronger domestic demand and good coordination between the growth of the industrial and service sectors, according to a statement released after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The meeting, presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, studied the current economic situation and economic work. China's GDP expanded 6.8 percent year on year in the first three months of 2018, unchanged from the growth rate in the previous quarter, official data showed last week. Economic restructuring has played a bigger role in supporting growth as good progress was made in developing new industries and upgrading traditional sectors, the statement said. The economy still faces pronounced underlying structural challenges despite the upside cyclical turn for growth, the statement pointed out. The central government should speed up the release of indicators, policies, standards, statistical system, and performance evaluation methods as guidance for local governments and departments to follow in promoting high-quality development. Local governments are also encouraged to explore ways that fit their local conditions to pursue high-quality development. Efforts should be enhanced to win the "three tough battles," namely controlling risks, reducing poverty, and tackling pollution, the statement said. The government will stick to a proactive fiscal policy and prudent and neutral monetary policy. Market-based measures will be taken to reduce overcapacity and support will be offered to new sectors and new business models. The meeting also urged bolder reform and opening-up efforts and timely implementation of major opening-up policies. The development of the country's financial and real estate markets should be watched closely to guard against potential risks, the statement said. ^ top ^
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| DPRK |
Kim Jong-un offers to visit South Korea president Moon Jae-in's official Seoul residence as historic summit continues (SCMP)
2018-04-27
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has offered to visit the official residence of the South Korean president in Seoul as the two men wrapped up the morning session of the historic summit between the two countries' leaders aimed at bringing peace to the Korean peninsula. Kim expressed his will to visit President Moon Jae-in's official home, known as the Blue House, "at anytime" if an invitation was extended, said Yoon Yong-chan, a South Korean presidential official. Kim and Moon have been holding talks in the Peace House, just south of the border in the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas. Moon reacted positively to the suggestion, replying there was a better view from the Blue House, according to Yoon. Earlier on Friday, Kim walked across the border between the two Koreas - the first time a North Korean leader had stepped foot on South Korean soil since the end of the Korean war in 1953. The meeting was also the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade. Kim wrote in a guest book before the talks started, "A new history begins now – at the starting point of an era of peace." Moon earlier waited for Kim to arrive on the southern side of the small concrete line that represents the border dividing the two Koreas in the truce village of Panmunjom. The leaders met near the small blue conference rooms used by the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, where representatives from the two sides have occasionally met in past decades. Kim smiled as he approached Moon and the two men shook hands. Kim then stepped across the line that marks the border. The North Korean leader received flowers handed over by two children and passed them to his sister Kim Yo-jong, who forms part of her country's delegation. The two leaders then attended a brief welcoming ceremony. Both leaders were shown smiling in live television pictures as Kim signed the guest book before the talks began. "We should achieve good results by talking frankly about current issues... it's a moment to write a new history of peace and prosperity," Kim said at the start of the talks. Moon replied: "I hope we talk frankly to reach an agreement and present a big gift for Koreans and the people around the world who wish for peace." The summit comes after Kim's aggressive nuclear and missiles programme brought the peninsula to the brink of another dangerous military conflict. Denuclearisation will be the focus of talks between the two heads of state in the Peace House, which is only a few hundred metres from the border. Moon and Kim are expected to sign an agreement in the afternoon based on their talks. The possibility of officially ending the Korean war, which was halted by the armistice signed in 1953, and securing permanent peace for the peninsula, may also be discussed at the summit. Moon has said "the signing of a peace agreement must be pursued", as well as building a closer relationship and cooperation between the two Koreas. If the inter-Korean summit goes well, it will also pave the way for planned talks between Kim and US President Donald Trump, to be held some time in May or June. Ahead of the talks on Friday, a 300-soldier honour guard from the South Korean military lined up for the official welcoming ceremony in the square in front of the newly renovated Peace House. Lines of red carpet were also laid in the area for the leaders to walk on. Nine senior officials from North Korea's Workers' Party, the military and government were due to join the ceremony. Other events planned for the day include a symbolic ceremony in which Moon and Kim will plant a commemorative pine tree, an unaccompanied private walk by the two leaders, a banquet dinner and the screening of a film called A New Spring Enjoyed Together. ^ top ^
North Korea offers apologies to China over fatal bus crash (SCMP)
2018-04-27
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has offered his deep apologies to China after a bus crash in his isolated country killed 32 Chinese tourists, state media said on Thursday. China is North Korea's most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite Beijing's anger at Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and support for strong United Nations sanctions against North Korea. The tourists and four North Koreans were killed when a bus crashed off a bridge in North Korea late on Sunday, leaving two Chinese citizens in critical condition. Chinese state television broadcast images of Kim seeing off the bodies as they were loaded onto a train for the journey home on Thursday. The North Korean people were "overcome with sorrow", Kim told President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders. "It is, indeed, very sad that the close Chinese friends, who had come here with the feelings of friendship with our people, met with an unexpected accident on our land," read his message, carried by the official KCNA news agency. "We make a deep apology to the Chinese comrades for the pain which cannot be alleviated with any word, consolation and compensation." North Korea would make every possible effort to assuage the grief, it added. North Korean state media reported on Tuesday that Kim had expressed his deep sorrow over the crash. North Korea is a popular, if offbeat, tourist destination for Chinese, especially those from the country's northeast. Tourists from China make up about four-fifths of all foreign visitors to North Korea, says the South Korean think tank the Korea Maritime Institute, which estimates tourism generates revenue of about US$44 million each year for the country. China said more than 237,000 Chinese visited North Korea in 2012, but stopped publishing the figures in 2013. China has welcomed moves by Kim to ease tension over the North's arms programmes, including his summit this week with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. ^ top ^
S. Korean, DPRK leaders meet in Panmunjom to usher in "new history" on peninsula (Xinhua)
2018-04-27
Under intense global spotlight, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un met in the border village of Panmunjom Friday in the hope of starting an era of peace on the peninsula. The Moon-Kim meeting, the third inter-Korea summit, came 11 years after a previous one, at a time of warming ties between the two Koreas following initiatives by both Seoul and Pyongyang and other related parties of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. The first two summits of this kind took place in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007 respectively. On Friday morning, Moon's motorcade arrived at the South Korean side of Panmunjom some 30 minutes before Kim's scheduled arrival at 9:30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT). Kim showed up at the DPRK side of Panmunjom around the schedule time and walked across the military demarcation line (MDL) dividing the border village. The two leaders chatted and had a long handshake standing on the two sides of a low cement slab marking the land border of the two Koreas. Kim then walked across the MDL into the South Korean side, making him the first DPRK leader to step onto South Korean soil after the end of the 1950-1953 Korea war. They posed for the media facing both sides of the MDL and then Kim invited Moon to briefly cross the border into the DPRK side. The episode aroused applause from people at the scene. The leaders returned to the South Korean side of Panmunjom grasping hands with each other. Beaming smiles were on their faces. […] Commenting on the "warm breeze" blowing on the Korean Peninsula, Troy Stangarone, senior director of the Korea Economic Institute, a Washington-based non-profit policy research institution, said earlier that enormous credit should go to related countries like China "for creating the environment needed for the upcoming inter-Korean summit." As a main stakeholder, China has been dedicated to the development of peace on the Korean Peninsula and proposed a "dual-track" approach -- advancing denuclearization and meanwhile establishing a peace regime, to relevant parties. It has urged all parties involved to promote smooth talks between the South Korean and DPRK leaders as well as the DPRK and U.S. leaders in order to reach a political settlement on the Peninsula. On March 25-28, Kim visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "Moon Jae-in has a vision of peaceful coexistence with the DPRK. It is the right vision," Adam Mount, director of the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists, told CNN after a live broadcast of the pre-talk activities. Friday's summit will be followed by a meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in May or early June. ^ top ^
Kim Jong-un will use nuclear weapons to push for more from West, ex-South Korean negotiator says (SCMP)
2018-04-27
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is using his nuclear weapons as a bargaining chip to get economic sweeteners from the international community and wants to present the hermit kingdom as a "normal state", a former head of Seoul's delegation to the six-party talks said. Lee Soo-hyuck said the Korean peninsula situation had entered a "totally different phase" now that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, giving Kim leverage in his negotiations with the West. Lee Soo-hyuck said the Korean peninsula situation had entered a "totally different phase" now that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, giving Kim leverage in his negotiations with the West. The South Korean lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said that Kim would not be satisfied with giving up the nuclear weapons in exchange for a normalisation of ties with the United States, saying that he would also push for economic incentives. Lee said it was to be expected that Kim would want to bargain with the international community. "North Korea's nuclear weapons are worth more than just the normalisation of the relationship with the US," Lee said. "Kim will see establishing diplomatic relations with Washington as a matter of course. But he will also go further and demand economic sweeteners." Kim will cross the border to the truce village of Panmunjom on Friday for a historic summit with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in. At home, he has been stressing the importance of rebuilding the nation's economy. The official Korean Central News Agency said last week that Kim had "clarified" that with North Korea now a "world-level" political and military power, the ruling party would "concentrate all efforts of the whole party and the country on the socialist economic construction". "Kim wants to present North Korea as a normal state to the world, and dismantling the nuclear programme is his diplomatic card," Lee said. "Eventually North Korea will open its market – that's why it wants to negotiate with Seoul and Washington." Chinese experts agreed, saying Kim held a "better card" than his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung because the North was now a de facto nuclear state. But they warned that it could be too "optimistic" to expect Kim to shut down its nuclear test site. "There is a big gap between the North Korean and US definitions of denuclearisation... Washington is demanding a 'complete, verifiable and irreversible' dismantlement of the North's nuclear programme – not just closing down a missile launch centre and stopping nuclear tests," said Zhang Tuosheng, director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies. Pyongyang conducted its sixth nuclear test at the Punggye-ri site in September, ratcheting up tensions with Seoul and Washington. "The reason Kim's at the negotiating table is that North Korea has completed its nuclear programme and has ICBMs. It means North Koreans can now sell their nuclear weapons," Lee said. Lee suggested that economic sanctions against Pyongyang could be partly eased after the coming meetings with Seoul and Washington. "The UN security resolution is strict, but a partial lifting [of economic sanctions] may be possible after the summit meetings," Lee said, adding that the decision would be made only if the North showed it was willing to denuclearise. "Humanitarian assistance or small investments can be given to the North, but Pyongyang must also show it is taking concrete measures [on denuclearisation]." […] Cai Jian, an expert on Sino-North Korean relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, said Pyongyang also needed Beijing's support, as China has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the use of military measures to solve the nuclear issue on the peninsula, implying that it would not let the Kim regime collapse. China has long positioned itself as the central state in Korean peninsula diplomacy, harking back to its role along with the US and North Korea in the Korean Armistice Agreement – the 1953 accord that led to an end in hostilities in the Korean war. ^ top ^
North Korea's nuclear test site has collapsed... and that may be why Kim Jong-un suspended tests (SCMP)
2018-04-27
North Korea's mountain nuclear test site has collapsed, putting China and other nearby nations at unprecedented risk of radioactive exposure, two separate groups of Chinese scientists studying the issue have confirmed. The collapse after five nuclear blasts may be why North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared on Friday that he would freeze the hermit state's nuclear and missile tests and shut down the site, one researcher said. The last five of Pyongyang's six nuclear tests have all been carried out under Mount Mantap at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea's northwest. One group of researchers found that the most recent blast tore open a hole in the mountain, which then collapsed upon itself. A second group concluded that the breakdown created a "chimney" that could allow radioactive fallout from the blast zone below to rise into the air. A research team led by Wen Lianxing, a geologist with the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, concluded that the collapse occurred following the detonation last autumn of North Korea's most powerful thermal nuclear warhead in a tunnel about 700 metres (2,296 feet) below the mountain's peak. The test turned the mountain into fragile fragments, the researchers found. The mountain's collapse, and the prospect of radioactive exposure in the aftermath, confirms a series of exclusive reports by the South China Morning Post on China's fears that Pyongyang's latest nuclear test had caused a fallout leak. Radioactive dust could escape through holes or cracks in the damaged mountain, the scientists said. "It is necessary to continue monitoring possible leaks of radioactive materials caused by the collapse incident," Wen's team said in the statement. The findings will be published on the website of the peer-reviewed journal, Geophysical Research Letters, likely next month. North Korea saw the mountain as an ideal location for underground nuclear experiments because of its elevation – it stood more than 2,100 metres (6,888 feet) above sea level – and its terrain of thick, gentle slopes that seemed capable of resisting structural damage. The mountain's surface had shown no visible damage after four underground nuclear tests before 2017. But the 100-kilotonne bomb that went off on September 3 vaporised surrounding rocks with unprecedented heat and opened a space that was up to 200 metres (656 feet) in diameter, according to a statement posted on the Wen team's website on Monday. As shock waves tore through and loosened more rocks, a large section of the mountain's ridge, less than half a kilometre (0.3 mile) from the peak, slipped down into the empty pocket created by the blast, leaving a scar visible in satellite images. Wen concluded that the mountain had collapsed after analysing data collected from nearly 2,000 seismic stations. Three small earthquakes that hit nearby regions in the wake of the collapse added credence to his conclusion, suggesting the test site had lost its geological stability. Another research team led by Liu Junqing at the Jilin Earthquake Agency with the China Earthquake Administration in Changchun reached similar conclusions to th Wen team. […] Guo Qiuju, a Peking University professor who has belonged to a panel that has advised the Chinese government on emergency responses to radioactive hazards, said that if fallout escaped through cracks, it could be carried by wind over the Chinese border. "So far we have not detected an abnormal increase of radioactivity levels," Guo said. "But we will continue to monitor the surrounding region with a large [amount] of highly sensitive equipment and analyse the data in state-of-the-art laboratories." […] ^ top ^
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| Mongolia |
MP S.Batbold meets British Ambassador (Montsame)
2018-04-27
MP and head of Mongolia-UK Parliamentary Group in the Mongolian Parliament S.Batbold met with British Ambassador to Mongolia Philip Malone on April 26. MP S.Batbold highlighted intensifying trade and economic cooperation between two countries. He exchanged views with British Ambassador on some matters of bilateral relations and cooperation. Noting that British Prime Minister appointed MP Julian Knight as Trade Envoy to Mongolia, the Ambassador Philip Malone expressed his commitment to work for expanding bilateral relations, in particular developing cooperation in the fields of education, defense, economy and investment. The 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries occurs this year. ^ top ^
Mongolia-Japan-U.S. trilateral meeting held in Tokyo (Montsame)
2018-04-27
Mongolia, Japan and the United States held a trilateral meeting in Tokyo on April 26. The participants reaffirmed the importance of the Japan-Mongolia-U.S. trilateral meeting as an important mechanism for the exchange of views on regional and multilateral cooperation and on mutually beneficial economic development. Japan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to their increased bilateral relationships with Mongolia in line with Mongolia's "third neighbor" policy, and the three countries discussed potential avenues of cooperation to promote connectivity, good governance and a rules-based international order throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The three sides welcomed the recent positive developments on the Korean Peninsula. They reaffirmed their commitment to maintain global pressure on North Korea, including the full implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions with the view to securing the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The three countries emphasized the importance of addressing humanitarian concerns, including the immediate resolution of the abductions issue. Japan and the United States expressed their great appreciation for Mongolia's contributions to UN peacekeeping operations and continued stability operations in conflict zones worldwide. The participants affirmed their shared intent to promote trilateral and multilateral security and peacekeeping cooperation. The three countries also pledged to promote increased cooperation in multilateral institutions and coalitions, including the Community of Democracies and the UN Human Rights Council, in support of their shared values and international norms. Mutually beneficial economic development remains a key theme in the trilateral relationship. The three countries discussed opportunities to increase trade and make Mongolia's business and investment climate increasingly attractive to Japanese and U.S. firms, particularly through improved transparency and predictability. Japan reconfirmed its continuing intention to engage in the international assistance package formulated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and expressed its hope for Mongolia's steady efforts to keep its fiscal discipline. Japan also reiterated that the New Ulaanbaatar International Airport could be a new symbol of Japan-Mongolian cooperation and enhance connectivity between Mongolia and international community. Mongolia and Japan agreed to exert their joint efforts to accelerate the process to put the Airport into operation as early as possible. The United States looks forward to the signing of a second compact between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of Mongolia to increase bulk water supply and improve water sanitation in the city of Ulaanbaatar. The United States is pleased to have facilitated access to credit for Mongolian small and medium-sized enterprises through the USAID-funded REACH project and supported the development of Mongolia's next generation of democratic leaders through the USAID-funded Leaders Advancing Democracy (LEAD) program. The participants also recognized the importance of Mongolia's fully implementing the recommendations of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering to strengthen its ability to prevent money laundering and proliferation finance, and the three countries discussed expanding cooperation in this area. ^ top ^
Regulations of nonbank financial sector under revision (Montsame)
2018-04-24
For more than half year the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) has been updating, compiling and arranging the rules and regulations that apply to nonbank financial sector in accordance with the law requirements. Since its establishment in 2006, the FRC has approved about 170 regulations and instructions for the insurance, securities market, nonbank financial institutions, and savings and credit cooperatives, 60 of which are for the securities market. The FRC is working to unite 33 regulations into four, revise 20 and invalidate three. Three of the revised regulations including 'Regulation on calculating and controlling the solvency of underwriters, brokers and dealers', 'Regulation on risk fund of regulated fund service providers' and 'Regulation on advertisement promotion of regulated financial service provider and issuer' were discussed by the financial market participants last week. In accordance with the law posted on the FRC page, the draft regulations were available for public review and input for a month and currently is being discussed by the representatives of securities trading organizations, underwriters, brokers and dealers. It was concluded to submit a series of proposals from the participants and reflect them to the draft regulations. ^ top ^
Deputy Foreign Minister B.Battsetseg attends Inter-regional Conference on Counter-Terrorism (Montsame)
2018-04-27
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Battsetseg attended the Inter-Regional Conference on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism which was held by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Korea in close co-operation with the Transnational Threats Department of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on April 19-20 in Seoul.Deputy Minister B.Battsetseg made speech at plenary session of the conference talking about Mongolian Government policy, taking actions and initiatives against terrorism threat. In her speech Mrs.B.Battsetseg noted activities on preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization would be tackled through creating regional cooperation mechanism and joint efforts. Furthermore, she proposed to host the Inter-Regional Conference in Mongolia in 2019 when the 15th anniversary of establishment of the National Counter-Terrorism Coordination Council of Mongolia will be marked. During the Conference, Deputy Minister B.Battsetseg met with South Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun and they exchanged views on bilateral relations and cooperation. The Conference gathered more than 150 delegates from member states of the OSCE, international organizations and scientific institutes. ^ top ^
MPs meet GIZ and German Embassy officials (Montsame)
2018-04-27
Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development Norbert Barthle will visit Mongolia to attend a conference on vocational training. The information was conveyed to MPs Yo.Baatarbileg and D.Terbishdagva on April 23 during a meeting with Daniel Passon, Country Director of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Dr. Christian Glass, Head of the Development Cooperation Division of the German Embassy in Mongolia. The sides mainly discussed cooperation in education sector at the meeting. Mr. Passon spoke about the German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology in Nalaikh district, major outcomes of bilateral education cooperation, and a plan to allocate USD 7 million soft loan required to finance the expansion of the campus with laboratory and equipment. This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Institute. Yo.Baatarbileg, Head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Policy, Education, Culture and Science, appreciated the fruitful education cooperation between the two countries and talked about the state of higher education in Mongolia. More than 170 thousand students currently acquire higher education in about 100 universities and higher education institutes. However, the number of students in the 83 vocational training centers is four times lower or about 35.8 thousand. Statistics show that about 30 percent of university graduates and about 50 percent of vocational training center graduates are guaranteed to be employed. The MPs expressed interest in cooperating with Germany on higher education reform, establishing institutes in campuses and strengthening the vocational training centers in Mongolia. MP Yo.Baatarbileg expressed the commitment of the Standing Committee to cooperate in realizing the plans and activities discussed at the meeting. ^ top ^
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Ms. Selina Morell
Embassy of Switzerland
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The Press review is a random selection
of political and social related news gathered from various media
and news services located in the PRC, edited or translated by
the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing and distributed among Swiss
Government Offices. The Embassy does not accept responsibility
for accuracy of quotes or truthfulness of content. Additionally
the contents of the selected news mustn't correspond to the opinion
of the Embassy.
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