04/10/2019
- ‘Difficult decision to cease operations’ at plant in Huizhou taken to ‘enhance efficiency’, company says
- Firm’s market share in China has dwindled to near insignificance as competitors like Huawei and Xiaomi have taken upper hand
Samsung said operations at its last factory in China ended last month. Photo: Reuters
said on Friday it has ended the production of smartphones in its last factory in China.
Operations at the plant in the south China city of
Huizhou, Guangdong province, ended last month, it said in an email.
The company made “the difficult decision to cease operations of Samsung Electronics Huizhou” in order “to enhance efficiency” in its manufacturing, it said.
Samsung’s market share in China has dwindled to near insignificance as competitors like
Huawei and
Xiaomi have taken the upper hand. It once had 15 per cent of China’s smartphone market.
Samsung once had a 15 per cent share of China’s smartphone market. Photo: AFP
The South Korean giant has moved a large share of its
smartphone production to Vietnam and closed a factory in northeastern China’s Tianjin last year.
“The production equipment will be reallocated to other global manufacturing sites depending on our global production strategy based on market needs,” the statement said.
Samsung is the world’s biggest manufacturer of semiconductors and smartphones and a major producer of display screens. But the flagship of
South Korea’s largest conglomerate is currently weathering a spell of slack demand for computer chips.
Like other South Korean electronics makers, it also is facing the impact of tightened Japanese controls on exports of hi-tech materials used in semiconductors and displays.
On Wednesday, Sony said it was closing its Beijing smartphone plant and would only make smartphones in Thailand.
But Apple still makes major products in China.
“In China, people buy low-priced smartphones from domestic brands and high-end phones from Apple or Huawei,” Park Sung-soon, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said.
“Samsung has little hope there to revive its share.”
Samsung’s factory in Huizhou was built in 1992, according to the company. South Korean media said it employed 6,000 workers and produced 63 million units in 2017.
Samsung manufactured 394 million handsets around the world in 2107, according to its annual report.
Source: Reuters
Posted in Apple, Beijing, Cape Investment & Securities, China alert, closes, computer chips, conglomerate, display screens, Factory, guangdong province, hi-tech materials, Huawei, Japanese controls, last, manufacturer, Samsung, Semiconductors, smartphone, Sony, South Korea, Thailand, Tianjin, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Xiaomi |
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03/10/2019
BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — China on Wednesday said it welcomes the statements of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States to resume dialogue and hopes the two sides will grasp the opportunity to strive for positive outcomes.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comments in a press statement issued Wednesday night.
“We have noticed the statements made by both the DPRK and the United States on resuming contact and dialogue. We welcome that,” said Hua.
China has always supported the DPRK-U.S. dialogue and a political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue, said Hua.
“Under current circumstances, we hope both the DPRK and the United States will grasp the opportunity and meet each other halfway to achieve positive results from the dialogue,” she said.
DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement on Tuesday that Pyongyang and Washington have agreed to have preliminary contact on Oct. 4 and hold working-level talks on Oct. 5. It is said the U.S. has confirmed this.
The denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have hit a stalemate since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February ended without any agreement.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in China alert, Chinese foreign ministry, Choe Son Hui, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), dialogue, DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister, DPRK-U.S. dialogue, Hanoi, Kim Jong Un, Korean Peninsula issue, political settlement, President Donald Trump, Pyongyang, stalemate, Uncategorized, United States, Washington |
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03/10/2019
- Managers of the Leshan Giant Buddha and Jiuzhaigou National Park restrict ticket sales as millions head off for the holiday break
Park authorities in charge of the Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan have restricted visitor numbers in golden week. Photo: Xinhua
Several major
tourist attractions in China have capped visitor numbers during this year’s National Day “golden week” holiday as millions take the chance to travel.
October 1 marked the start of a week-long break on the mainland, with an estimated 800 million people expected to go on trips in China or overseas, about 10 per cent more than last year, according to the China Tourism Academy.
The academy estimated that 726 million people would take domestic trips in this peak holiday period – a 9.4 per cent increase from last year, but that is the lowest level of growth since 2007 as pressure from China’s slowing economy and the trade war with the United States take their toll.
Managers at the scenic area surrounding the Leshan Giant Buddha – a 71-metre (233 feet) tall ancient statue carved into a cliff in southwestern Sichuan province – said last week that daily tickets would be capped at 22,400 during the holiday, which runs until Monday.
West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, drew 300,400 visitors as golden week started. Photo: Xinhua
The park said it would update visitors on daily ticket sales through social media.
“Today’s tickets for the Giant Buddha have reached the limit and sales have stopped,” the park management committee said on its Weibo account on Tuesday. “To all tourists, please rearrange your itinerary. You can visit the areas surrounding the Giant Buddha scenic spot,” it said, adding that tickets could be booked online for any day for the rest of golden week.
“I expected it to be chock-full of people, but actually today it’s still relatively calm. I had lots of fun,” a visitor to the Giant Buddha told Pear Video on Tuesday.
Hong Kong protests leave ‘golden week’ tourist boom in tatters
Jiuzhaigou National Park in Sichuan said last week that it would be limiting visitors to 5,000 per day during golden week and said on Monday that tickets had sold out.
The network of valleys known for its natural scenery was devastated by an earthquake in August 2017, and reopened with limited access in March 2018.
However, there were no restrictions at other attractions. In eastern Zhejiang province, 340,400 visitors went through the gates at Hangzhou’s West Lake on Tuesday, the Global Times’ Chinese edition reported.
“There’s too many people. I have never seen so many of them in my life,” one tourist was quoted as saying.
A guide also said that instances of “uncivilised behaviour”, such as trampling on the gardens, were down compared to last year.
“During the major holidays, many tourist attractions are so crowded that tourists can barely move an inch,” Hangzhou Daily said in an editorial on Monday.
“Not only is the tourist experience bad, but there are also safety hazards such as being trampled on, and this puts a lot of pressure on nearby public transport and food establishments.”
Travel booking platform Ctrip said that tourists heading overseas were increasingly seeking out new destinations, with bookings to places such as the Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia, Malta and Cambodia up by 45 per cent this year.
However, bookings for Hong Kong had fallen substantially after nearly four months of anti-government protests, Ctrip said.
Source: SCMP
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02/10/2019
- The trip comes amid growing resistance from European leaders over what they see as China’s failure to change long-term practices unfair to foreign investors
- French President’s trip to Beijing follows Chinese leader’s visit to France in March
President Emmanuel Macron of France speaks to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit China next month as Europe’s most diplomatically active leader focuses on climate change cooperation and trade promotion with Asia’s leading power, a source briefed on the Elysee Palace’s discussions said.
This will be the second Chinese tour for Macron since he took office in 2017, and it will come amid escalating resistance from European politicians and business communities over what they see as China’s failure to change long-standing practices unfair to foreign investors.
His visit also comes at a time when France – as well as the European Union as a whole – is bracing for Washington’s potential levies of tariffs on European products, and the lack of progress on climate change policies with US President Donald Trump’s administration.
“President Macron will meet President Xi [Jinping], while France strives for better cooperation with China on climate and trade,” the source said. “His itinerary is still in the pipeline, but he is expected to visit Beijing and Shanghai.”
Macron, 41, who is widely seen as emerging as Europe’s most aggressive leader filling the political vacuum left by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political twilight, has cast himself as an honest broker between Russia and Ukraine, and between the US and Iran.
He has also been critical of China’s influence in Europe, joining forces with Merkel to push for a tougher EU stance on the world’s second biggest economy.
In March, when Xi claimed a major diplomatic victory by clinching a memorandum of understanding with Italy on the Belt and Road Initiative, Macron declared: “The time of European naivety is ended. For many years we had an uncoordinated approach and China took advantage of our divisions.”
Macron also backed investment screening mechanisms for Chinese business moves in Europe, while endorsing plans to change the EU’s notoriously strict antitrust rules in order to facilitate mergers between large European groups and companies to counter Chinese companies’ global ambitions.
Macron urges Iran and US to show ‘courage of building peace’
The EU is also wary of China’s effort to “divide and rule” the European Union. Greece and Hungary – both recipients of large amounts of Chinese investments – have repeatedly wanted to water down EU’s stance on issues deemed sensitive to Beijing, including the South China Sea and China’s human rights violations.
“It would be good [for Macron] to stress that 17+1 is irritating,” said Joerg Wuttke, president of EU Chamber of Commerce in China, in reference to China’s engagement with a group of EU and non-EU member states in eastern and southeastern Europe.
“After all, the EU has a ‘one China’ policy, [so] EU could expect this position from China too.”
Macron’s domestic call for EU unity has translated into diplomatic appeals, with China being one of the targets.
(From left) Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission; Xi Jinping, China’s leader; Emmanuel Macron, France’s president; and Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, ahead of a meeting in Paris on March 26. Photo: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg
When Xi visited France in March, Macron hosted him at the Elysee Palace in the presence of Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, showcasing European solidarity when it comes to EU-China policies.
In terms of French-Chinese bilateral ties, trade imbalances have persisted after Macron called for a “rebalancing” during his last visit.
France has a 1.4 per cent market share in China, compared with China’s 9 per cent market share in France. China represents France’s largest bilateral trade deficit, totalling €US$29.2 billion (US$31.9 billion) last year, ahead of Germany.
The EU has been calling for reciprocal investment treatment with China, a call that European business leaders in China expect Macron to make.
France bids farewell to late president Jacques Chirac
“We [Europe] need … a solid investment agreement to allow EU business to conduct their affairs in a similar manner as Chinese companies can operate in Europe. The agreement should be finalised in 2020, but not at all cost,” said Wuttke.
“The last thing EU business needs in China is a weak agreement that institutionalises imbalances,” he added.
Part of that involves building “more efficient defensive tools to prevent abusive technology transfers and to address the deep asymmetry in EU-China relations when it comes to access to public procurement markets,” said Mathieu Duchâtel, director of Asia programme at the Paris-based think tank Institut Montaigne.
Duchâtel added that it was also important to convey the message to Beijing that there are areas for cooperation even amid a more defensive China policy from France.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French leader Emmanuel Macron toast raise a toast during a state dinner in Paris on March 25. Photo: EPA-EFE
One such area is the climate and environment, where China is “an important partner” for France to reach its goal of global carbon neutrality by 2050, he said.
“The energy/environment agenda is a political priority in Paris and one of very few issues on which cooperation with China remains promising and will continue to create business opportunities,” he said.
China is the world’s biggest carbon polluter, producing around 30 per cent of the planet’s man-made carbon dioxide. It remains committed to the 2015 Paris accord on climate change, even after Trump pulled the US out of the deal.
Under the agreement, the long-term temperature goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Angela Merkel, Beijing, Belt and Road Initiative, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), building peace, Carbon dioxide, carbon polluter, China alert, climate change, Council of Europe, courage, deep asymmetry, divide and rule, energy/environment agenda, EU, EU Chamber of Commerce in China, European Commission, European Commission President, European Union, focus, France, German Chancellor, Greece, human rights violations, Hungary, imbalances, institutionalises, INVESTMENTS, iran, Italy, Jacques Chirac, Jean-Claude Juncker, meet, Memorandum of understanding, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), month, one-China policy, Paris, Planet, political twilight, recipients, South China Sea, technology transfers, Trade, Uncategorized, US, US President Donald Trump, Xi JinPing |
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29/09/2019
BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) — The resumption of diplomatic ties between the governments of China and Kiribati fully demonstrates that the one-China principle meets the shared aspiration of the people and constitutes an irresistible trend of the times, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said Saturday.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kiribati’s President and Foreign Minister Taneti Mamau on Friday signed a communique on resuming diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level between the two countries at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Geng stressed that there is but one China in the world, that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government that represents the whole of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.
“This is an objective fact, a universally recognized norm of international relations and a general consensus of the international community,” Geng said.
The government of the Republic of Kiribati recognizes and undertakes to stay committed to the one-China principle, sever the so-called “diplomatic relations” with Taiwan authorities and resume diplomatic relations with China. “We support this important decision which Kiribati government has made on its own as an independent sovereign state,” Geng said.
“This again fully demonstrates that the one-China principle meets the shared aspiration of the people and constitutes an irresistible trend of the times,” Geng added.
Relations between China and Pacific island nations are maintaining rapid growth. People of the two countries hold amicable feelings toward each other, he said. “It is the common expectation of all sectors of Kiribati to resume diplomatic relations and strengthen cooperation with China. It is in the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries and peoples.”
China stands ready to strengthen pragmatic cooperation and friendly exchanges with Kiribati in various fields on the basis of the one-china principle and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to benefit the two countries and peoples, said the spokesperson.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in China alert, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Government of the People's Republic of China, inalienable part, Kiribati, Kiribati's President and Foreign Minister, meets, New York, New York City, People, shared aspiration, Taiwan, Taneti Mamau, Uncategorized, United Nations |
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29/09/2019
Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 25, 2019. Li paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from Sept. 25 to 28. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) — China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu and top Russian officials have agreed to further strengthen bilateral comprehensive cooperation and continue to promote legislative coordination for stronger ties.
Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, on Saturday completed an official visit to Russia, during which he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of both houses of the Russian parliament.
The Russian leaders congratulated China on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and hailed the great achievements China has made in the past seven decades. The two sides also exchanged congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.
When meeting Putin, Li said, under the strategic guidance of the heads of state of the two countries, China-Russia relations have hit an unprecedented high and entered a new era of higher level and greater development.
Under the current international situation, China and Russia should strengthen mutual support, jointly build strategic support and security barriers between the two countries, and promote the construction of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind, Li said.
He called on the two sides to bring their political mutual trust and strategic cooperation to a new height, and push economic and trade cooperation to a new level, so as to move forward their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.
For his part, Putin lauded Russia-China ties as a model of relations between the world’s major countries.
He said the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era between the two countries, built in compliance with the international law, is in the interests of the two countries and the two peoples.
Noting that the current bilateral cooperation in various areas is steadily advancing towards the established goals, Putin urged the two countries to further strengthen all-round cooperation and develop their ties on the basis of existing achievements.
Li also met with Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, and Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, or the lower house of parliament.
During his talks with the heads of Russian parliament, Li said the cooperation between legislative bodies, as an important part of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, is expected to prioritize the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state.
According to him, the two sides should promote communication and collaboration for the sake of the development of bilateral ties and, in particular, strengthen the exchanges of experience on foreign-related legal construction, so as to effectively deal with unilateralism and protectionism as well as defend the national sovereignty, security and interests of the two countries.
Li also called for better synergy between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, further cooperation in high-tech fields as well as sub-national cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
For her part, Matviyenko said China’s development has proved to the world that a country can follow its own development path in line with its national conditions.
She said the people of the two countries work closely together and respect each other’s national interests, adding that no matter how the international situation changes, the long-term friendly cooperation between the two countries will remain unchanged.
The legislative bodies of the two countries should provide legal support and guarantee for the development of bilateral relations, Matviyenko said.
Volodin also urged the legislative bodies to make good use of existing cooperation mechanisms in a bid to promote cooperation in various fields, resist external interference and safeguard a fair and just international order.
Li and Volodin also attended the fifth meeting of the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation.
In his speech, Li talked about China’s historic achievements in the past 70 years and spoke highly of the contribution of legislative cooperation to the development of bilateral relations.
He expressed hopes that both sides, after thorough studies, will come up with new ideas and new measures for legislative cooperation in a new era, better use the committee for parliamentary cooperation as a platform, and further enrich China-Russia relations.
While in Moscow, the top Chinese legislator also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and inspected the Moscow metro project of the China Railway Construction Corporation.
He also exchanged views on strengthening local cooperation with Rustam Minnikhanov, president of Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, in its capital of Kazan and visited the Kazan Helicopter Plant and Kazan Federal University.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in 70th anniversary, Belt and Road Initiative, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China alert, China Railway Construction Corporation, China-Russia relations, congratulated, cooperation, diplomatic relations between China and Russia, Eurasian Economic Union, founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), great achievements, inspected, Kazan, Kazan Federal University, Kazan Helicopter Plant, legislative coordination, lower house of parliament, Moscow, Moscow metro project, pledge, Russia, russian president vladimir putin, Rustam Minnikhanov, speaker of the Russian Federation Council, speaker of the Russian State Duma, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Tatarstan Republic, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Top legislator Li Zhanshu, Uncategorized, upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, Vyacheslav Volodin |
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29/09/2019
- New system to enable businesses and government agencies to verify mainland-issued travel permits
The new system is expected to expand access to the public transport system on the mainland. Photo: Roy Issa
Hong Kong and Macau residents and “overseas Chinese” may soon be able to have full access to public services on the mainland using their China-issued travel documents, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Xinhua reported on Wednesday that the National Immigration Administration was putting a platform in place to enable government agencies and businesses to verify mainland-issued travel permits for Hong Kong and Macau residents.
“As soon as the platform becomes operational, these overseas travellers can, from October, have access to 35 public services, ranging from transport, to finance, education, communications, medical care and accommodation,” the report said.
According to the report, “overseas travellers” cover Hong Kong and Macau residents and ethnic Chinese living overseas.
But it did not say why the new measures did not apply to people from Taiwan.
The administration did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Will Hong Kong anti-government protests ruin city’s role in Beijing’s Greater Bay Area plan? Depends on whom you ask
The new measure appears to be part of a long-term strategy by Beijing to foster closer ties between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau.
In the last few years, the central government has launched a host of incentives for Hong Kong and Macau residents and businesses, including opportunities in the Greater Bay Area development plan in southern China.
Ivan Zhai, executive director of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China-Guangdong, welcomed the new measure.
“If such an arrangement can be fully implemented, Hong Kong businesspeople who operate on the mainland will be thrilled,” Zhai said.
The Hong Kong business community has long lobbied for relaxation over areas such as train ticketing and hotel registration.
Zhai said that although Hong Kong and Macau residents could now book high-speed train tickets with their mainland-issued travel permits, there were few ticket machines that could automatically read the permits, complicating the process.
“There are also hotels on the mainland that can only entertain guests with Chinese identity cards and currently Hong Kong travellers can only go to hotels that are authorised to accept the mainland-issued travel permits,” he said.
China’s regulator relaxes currency conversion rules throughout Shenzhen, sharpening city’s edge in Greater Bay Area
According to the report, there will be stiff penalties for departments or businesses misusing information collected through the platform.
Zhai said Hong Kong businesspeople who travelled to the mainland often were more likely to be concerned about convenience than the risk of invasion of privacy.
“If you are a frequent traveller in China, you would have expected that the relevant departments of the Chinese government already have information about you anyway,” he said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in access, accommodation, automatically, businesses, China alert, China-Guangdong, chinese government, communications, currency conversion, departments, education, ethnic Chinese, expands, Finance, government agencies, Greater Bay Area, Greater Bay Area plan, high-speed train tickets, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, hotel registration, Macau, mainland, medical care, operational, Overseas Chinese, overseas travellers, penalties, platform, Public services, public transport system, residents, Shenzhen, Taiwan, ticket machines, train ticketing, Transport, travel documents, travel permits, travellers, Uncategorized, verify, Xinhua News Agency |
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28/09/2019
BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — China has reaped great accomplishments in agriculture and rural development in the past 70 years, successfully feeding a population of 1.4 billion and lifting over 800 million people in rural areas out of poverty.
China’s annual grain output has remained above 650 billion kg for four years in a row, up from 113.2 billion kg in 1949, Han Changfu, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, told a press conference on Friday.
Feeding 20 percent of the world population with 9 percent of the world’s arable land is a miracle in the history of agriculture, said Han.
The country has entered a new phase of development driven by technology and equipment innovation, with the area of high-standard farmland totaling 640 million mu (about 42.7 million hectares), Han added.
Poverty reduction in rural areas has also yielded dazzling results since the country’s opening-up, as more than 800 million people have been lifted out of absolute poverty, according to Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
By the end of 2018, per capita disposable income of rural residents living in poverty-stricken areas reached 10,371 yuan, equivalent to 71 percent of that for rural residents nationwide.
Liu said 95 percent of the population in poverty under current standards will be lifted out of poverty by the end of this year, while eradication of absolute poverty is expected by the end of 2020.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in 70 years, agriculture, China alert, equipment innovation, great strides, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, Poverty reduction, Technology, Uncategorized |
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28/09/2019
- Legal process under way, Beijing says after Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells United Nations China is committed to defending multilateralism
- Any unilateral move to leave weapons control pact will have a ‘negative impact in various areas’, minister says in thinly veiled swipe at United States
China, the world’s fifth-largest weapons supplier, has signed up to a global arms control treaty. Photo: Simon Song
China said it has begun preparations to join an international arms control treaty that the United States has threatened to abandon, while also warning Washington against deploying missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that signing up to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was further evidence of Beijing’s commitment to defending multilateralism.
said in April that he intended to withdraw from the pact, which regulates the US$70 billion global trade in conventional arms.
The White House said at the time that the ATT “will only constrain responsible countries while allowing the irresponsible arms trade to continue”, as major arms exporters like Russia and China were not part of it.
Wang said on Friday that any unilateral move to leave the treaty would have a “negative impact in various areas”. He stopped short of naming the United States or its president.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had begun the legal process of joining the treaty, adding that it attached great importance to the issues caused by the illegal sale and misuse of arms, and supported the aims of the ATT in seeking to regulate the international weapons trade.
Wang also spoke out against the possible deployment of ground-launched missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
After withdrawing from the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in August, the US said it was planning to deploy such weapons in Asia to counter any possible threat from China or Russia.
“[We] urge the country with the largest nuclear weapons to fulfil its special and prior responsibilities on nuclear disarmament,” Wang said, adding that “China will continue to participate in the international arms control process”.
Wang Yi spoke out against the possible deployment of ground-launched missiles in the Asia-Pacific region at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday. Photo: AFP
According to figures released in May by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States is the world’s largest arms exporter, supplying weapons worth 58 per cent more than those of its nearest competitor, Russia.
Together with France, Germany and China, the five nations accounted for 75 per cent of all weapons sold around the world between 2014 and last year, the institute said.
Although China is among the world’s big five arms suppliers, its sales – most of which go to Asia and Oceania – are dwarfed by those of the US, accounting for just 5.2 per cent of the 2014-18 total, compared to America’s 36 per cent.
Several major arms importers, including India, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam, refuse to buy arms from China for political reasons.
Beijing’s decision to join the ATT is in keeping with the image it has sought to present of China as a defender of multilateralism. The stance is also in sharp contrast to the US’ position under Trump, who has repeatedly scrapped multilateral trade agreements in favour of bilateral deals.
Since taking office in 2016, he has withdrawn the US from the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Military observers said Beijing might seek to pressure on Washington to stay in the deal to try to maintain the strategic and military balance in the region.
Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military affairs commentator, said Beijing might be trying to avoid misuse of conventional weapons.
“Beijing may want to press big exporters, such as the US and Russia, to join the deal because without proper regulations, the risk of illegal trade and misuse of conventional weapons could be running high,” he said.
“This could also threaten regional stability or even trigger unnecessary arms races.”
Adam Ni, a China specialist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, said the treaty would put some limits on the arms trade “but it would not mean that China would not be able to do deals. It will still be able to do [most deals]”.
Retired PLA colonel Yue Gang said the strategy could also improve China’s international reputation.
Source: SCMP
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28/09/2019
NEW YORK (Reuters) – China and the Pacific island state of Kiribati restored diplomatic ties on Friday after the former diplomatic ally of Taiwan abandoned Taipei.
A poor but strategic country which is home to a mothballed Chinese space tracking station, Kiribati announced last week that it was cutting relations with self-ruled Taiwan in favour of China, which claims Taiwan as a wayward province with no right to state-to-state ties.
China and Kiribati had ties until 2003, when Tarawa established relations with Taipei, causing China to break off diplomatic relations.
Up until that time, China had operated a space tracking station in Kiribati, which played a role in tracking China’s first manned space flight.
The Chinese government’s top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi and Kiribati’s President Taneti Maamau signed a communique on restoring diplomatic relations at the Chinese mission to the United Nations in New York.
“We highly prize this important and the correct decision,” Wang told a news conference. “Let’s hope for our friendship to last forever. We will work together to grow together towards a bright and prosperous future.”
Speaking alongside Wang, Maamau said there was much to learn from China.
“I do believe that there is much to learn and gain from the People’s Republic of China and the re-establishment of our diplomatic relations is just the beginning,” he said.
There was no mention of the space tracking station at the news conference, nor in the joint communique between the two countries released by China’s Foreign Ministry.
China’s space programme is overseen by the military.
China’s Defence Ministry this week declined comment on the Kiribati facility.
Last week was difficult for Taiwan, as the Solomon Islands also ditched it for Beijing. The Solomon Islands foreign minister signed a deal on diplomatic ties in China last Saturday.
Both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati are small developing nations but lie in strategic waters that have been dominated by the United States and its allies since World War Two. China’s moves to expand its influence in the Pacific have angered Washington.
A former Taiwanese ambassador to Kiribati, Abraham Chu, told Taiwan’s Central News Agency last weekend that China had never fully removed the tracking station in Kiribati and that it “could come back at any time”.
Taiwan now has formal relations with just 15 countries, mostly small and poor nations in Latin America and the Pacific, including Nauru, Tuvalu and Palau. China has signalled it is coming for the rest of Taiwan’s allies.
Source: Reuters
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
China set to join Arms Trade Treaty that Donald Trump threatened to abandon
China said it has begun preparations to join an international arms control treaty that the United States has threatened to abandon, while also warning Washington against deploying missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that signing up to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was further evidence of Beijing’s commitment to defending multilateralism.
said in April that he intended to withdraw from the pact, which regulates the US$70 billion global trade in conventional arms.
The White House said at the time that the ATT “will only constrain responsible countries while allowing the irresponsible arms trade to continue”, as major arms exporters like Russia and China were not part of it.
Wang said on Friday that any unilateral move to leave the treaty would have a “negative impact in various areas”. He stopped short of naming the United States or its president.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had begun the legal process of joining the treaty, adding that it attached great importance to the issues caused by the illegal sale and misuse of arms, and supported the aims of the ATT in seeking to regulate the international weapons trade.
Wang also spoke out against the possible deployment of ground-launched missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to figures released in May by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States is the world’s largest arms exporter, supplying weapons worth 58 per cent more than those of its nearest competitor, Russia.
Together with France, Germany and China, the five nations accounted for 75 per cent of all weapons sold around the world between 2014 and last year, the institute said.
Although China is among the world’s big five arms suppliers, its sales – most of which go to Asia and Oceania – are dwarfed by those of the US, accounting for just 5.2 per cent of the 2014-18 total, compared to America’s 36 per cent.
Several major arms importers, including India, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam, refuse to buy arms from China for political reasons.
Beijing’s decision to join the ATT is in keeping with the image it has sought to present of China as a defender of multilateralism. The stance is also in sharp contrast to the US’ position under Trump, who has repeatedly scrapped multilateral trade agreements in favour of bilateral deals.
Since taking office in 2016, he has withdrawn the US from the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Military observers said Beijing might seek to pressure on Washington to stay in the deal to try to maintain the strategic and military balance in the region.
Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military affairs commentator, said Beijing might be trying to avoid misuse of conventional weapons.
“Beijing may want to press big exporters, such as the US and Russia, to join the deal because without proper regulations, the risk of illegal trade and misuse of conventional weapons could be running high,” he said.
“This could also threaten regional stability or even trigger unnecessary arms races.”
Adam Ni, a China specialist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, said the treaty would put some limits on the arms trade “but it would not mean that China would not be able to do deals. It will still be able to do [most deals]”.
Retired PLA colonel Yue Gang said the strategy could also improve China’s international reputation.
Source: SCMP
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