19/08/2019
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – Schools reopened in Indian Kashmir’s main city on Monday but most classrooms were empty as parents kept their children home, fearing unrest over the government’s decision two weeks ago to revoke the region’s autonomy.
Some 190 primary schools were set open in Srinagar as a sign of normalcy returning to Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir as authorities ease a clampdown aimed at preventing mass protests.
Parents said their children would stay home until cellular networks are restored and they can be in contact with them.
“How can we risk the lives of our children?” said Gulzar Ahmad, a father of two who are enrolled in a school in the city’s Batamallo district where protests have occurred.
“Troops have arrested minor children in the last two weeks and several children were injured in clashes,” he said. “Our children are safe inside their homes. If they go to school who can guarantee their safety?”
Authorities were not immediately available for comment, but have previously denied reports of mass arrests.
Protests began after the Aug. 5 decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to withdraw Kashmir’s special status and integrate it fully into India, with equal rights for all Indians to buy property there and compete for government jobs.
Critics said the decision will alienate many Kashmiris and add fuel to a 30-year armed revolt in the Himalayan territory that Pakistan also lays claim to.
On the weekend, residents of Srinagar – the hotbed of the separatist revolt – threw stones and clashed with police. Dozens of people were injured, two senior officials and witnesses said.
Reuters journalists visited two dozen schools in Srinagar on Monday. Some schools were lightly staffed and classrooms deserted. Gates at other schools were locked.
Only one student showed up at Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, which has an enrolment of 1,000 pupils, and went home, said a school official.
A handful of teachers but no students turned up at the barricaded Burn Hall school in one of the city’s high security zones.
“How can students come to classes in such a volatile situation? The government is turning these little children into cannon fodder,” a teacher said, adding that schools should stay closed until the situation is normal.
CROSS BORDER FIRING
New Delhi’s decision on Kashmir has heightened tensions with its neighbour and rival nuclear power, Pakistan, and triggered cross-border exchanges of fire.
In the latest incident, two civilians were killed in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir by Indian soldiers firing across the disputed border, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said, adding that it had summoned India’s deputy commissioner in Islamabad to protest.
“The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” the foreign ministry said.
There was no immediate comment from India which has previously accused Pakistan of trying to whip up tensions to draw global attention.
More than 50,000 people have died in the revolt that erupted against Indian rule in Kashmir in 1989. India blames Pakistan for giving material support to the militants and helping them cross into its part of the mountainous region.
Pakistan denies the allegation and says it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self determination.
Source: Reuters
Posted in Burn Hall school, ceasefire violations, deserted, diplomatic support, fear, global attention, Himalayan territory, India alert, Indian Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, militants, Muslim-majority, neighbour, Nuclear power, Pakistan, parents, Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rival, schools, self determination, Srinagar, Uncategorized, unrest |
Leave a Comment »
18/08/2019
Students carry school bags with panda images during the ceremony for the 2019 Panda Pack donation and the 4th anniversary of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) Myanmar Office in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug. 17, 2019. China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) Myanmar Office donated 100,000 school bags and stationeries to Myanmar students under Panda Pack Project for 2019-2020 academic year in Yangon on Saturday. (Xinhua/U Aung)
YANGON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) Myanmar Office donated 100,000 school bags and stationeries to Myanmar students under Panda Pack Project for 2019-2020 academic year in Yangon on Saturday.
Under the Panda Pack project, Saturday’s donation of school bags which include stationeries called panda packs covers 15 townships in Myanmar’s states and regions.
Since 2017, panda packs have been donated to 37,760 primary school students in six states and regions including Shan, Rakhine, Kachin states, Yangon, Bago and Sagaing regions.
“CFPA, the first Chinese non-governmental organization registered in Myanmar, has done many contributions in collaboration with Myanmar’s Education Ministry for education sector development in four years since when its Myanmar Office was opened in 2016,” said Counselor Yang Shouzheng of Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, expressing belief that such cooperation could benefit Myanmar people and promote bilateral friendship between the two countries.
CFPA’s panda packs donation really support Myanmar students’ academic life, said Thet Su Htwe, a representative teacher from schools.
“Internationally, we help children on six sustainable development goals — no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, clean water and sanitation and decent work and economic growth,” said Wang Xingzui, executive vice president of CFPA.
For Myanmar’s education sector, CFPA has launched projects including Paukphaw scholarship, Panda Pack, Computer Lab, China-Myanmar Friendship Scholarship, School infrastructure and others which cover 12 states and regions.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Bago, China alert, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) Myanmar Office, China-Myanmar Friendship Scholarship, Chinese embassy, Computer Lab, donates, Education Ministry for education sector development, Kachin, Myanmar, Myanmar students, Panda Pack Projec, Panda Pack Project, Paukphaw scholarship, Rakhine, Sagaing, school bags, School infrastructure, Shan, stationeries, Uncategorized, YANGON |
Leave a Comment »
18/08/2019
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — The central government has offered financial support of 920 million yuan (about 131 million U.S. dollars) to local governments to help counter typhoon, flood control and drought relief.
An emergency relief fund of 600 million yuan has been offered to 11 provincial regions including Henan, Sichuan and Gansu to help them control flood and deal with drought, according to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Another fund worth 320 million yuan was used to support Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in flood control and typhoon relief.
Typhoon Lekima landed in east China’s Zhejiang on Aug. 10, wreaking havoc as a super typhoon. About 13 provincial regions have been affected by the typhoon.
China announced the second-highest level in China’s four-level typhoon emergency response system to deal with Typhoon Lekima and minimize casualties and losses.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Beijing, Central government, China alert, control flood, drought, emergency relief fund, financial support, flood, flood control, Gansu Province, Hebei province, Heilongjiang province, Henan province, Jilin, Liaoning province, local governments, Ministry of Emergency Management, Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), Ministry of Finance, sichuan province, Typhoon, Typhoon Lekima, typhoon relief, Uncategorized, wreaking havoc, zhejiang province |
Leave a Comment »
18/08/2019
- Beijing will be watching as leaders of African nations and international organisations gather for development summit in Yokohama later this month
- Tokyo is expected to use the conference to articulate how its approach to aid and infrastructure is different from Chinese projects
The Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, funded by China, opened in 2017. Japan has criticised Chinese lending practices in Africa. Photo: Xinhua
The long rivalry between China and Japan is again playing out in Africa, with Tokyo planning to pour more aid into the continent and invest in infrastructure projects there.
Beijing – which has for decades funnelled money into the continent – will be watching as the leaders of 54 African countries and international organisations descend on Yokohama later this month for the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
Japan reportedly plans to pledge more than 300 billion yen (US$2.83 billion) in aid to Africa during the conference. While that might not be enough to alarm China – which in recent years has been on a spending spree in the continent – it will be paying close attention.
Japan has in the past used the meetings to criticise Chinese lending practices in Africa, saying it was worried about the “unrealistic” level of debt incurred by African countries – concerns that China has dismissed.
This year, analysts expect Tokyo will use the conference to articulate how its approach to African development is substantively different from that of the Chinese.
“So, look for the words ‘quality’, ‘transparency’ and ‘sustainability’ to be used a lot throughout the event,” said Eric Olander, managing editor of the non-partisan China Africa Project.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono gives a speech at the TICAD in Tokyo in October. Japan will reportedly pledge US$2.83 billion in aid to Africa this year. Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun
Olander said Japan often sought to position its aid and development programmes as an alternative to China’s by emphasising more transparency in loan deals, higher-quality infrastructure projects and avoiding saddling countries with too much debt.
“In some ways, the Japanese position is very similar to that of the US where they express many of the same criticisms of China’s engagement strategy in Africa,” Olander said.
But the rivalry between China and Japan had little to do with Africa, according to Seifudein Adem, a professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.
“It is a spillover effect of their contest for supremacy in East Asia,” said Adem, who is from Ethiopia.
“Japan’s trade with Africa, compared to China’s trade with Africa, is not only relatively small but it is even shrinking. It is a result of the acceleration of China’s engagement with Africa.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a group photo session with African leaders during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing last year. Photo: AP
Japan launched the TICAD in 1993, to revive interest in the continent and find raw materials for its industries and markets for products. About a decade later, China began holding a rival event, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
It is at heart an ideological rivalry unfolding on the continent, according to Martin Rupiya, head of innovation and training at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes in Durban, South Africa.
“China cast Japan as its former colonial interloper – and not necessarily master – until about 1949. Thereafter, China’s Mao [Zedong] developed close relations, mostly liberation linkages with several African nationalist movements,” Rupiya said.
Beijing had continued to invoke those traditional and historical ties, which Japan did not have, he said.
“Furthermore, Japan does not command the type of resources – call it largesse – that China has and occasionally makes available to Africa,” Rupiya said.
Although both Asian giants have made inroads in Africa, the scale is vastly different.
While Japan turned inward as it sought to rebuild its struggling economy amid a slowdown, China was ramping up trade with African countries at a time of rapid growth on the continent.
That saw trade between China and Africa growing twentyfold in the last two decades. The value of their trade reached US$204.2 billion last year, up 20 per cent from 2017, according to Chinese customs data. Exports from Africa to China stood at US$99 billion last year, the highest level since the 1990s. Meanwhile, through its Belt and Road Initiative that aims to revive the Silk Road to connect Asia with Europe and Africa, China is funding and building Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway. Beijing is also building major infrastructure projects in Zambia, Angola and Nigeria.
Japan’s trade with Africa is just a small fraction of Africa’s trade with China. In 2017, Japan’s exports to the continent totalled US$7.8 billion, while imports were US$8.7 billion, according to trade data compiled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
How speaking with one voice could help Africa get a better deal from China
But Japan now appears eager to get back in the game and expand its presence in Africa, and analysts say this year’s TICAD will be critical – both in terms of the amount of money Tokyo commits to African development and how it positions itself as an alternative to the Chinese model.
Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, a visiting professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, said the continent was “economically vital to Japan, both in trade and investments”.
“Moreover, Japan has established some strong links with African states through foreign aid,” Hinata-Yamaguchi said.
“Japan’s move is driven by both economic and political interests. Economically, Japan needs to secure and maintain its presence in, and linkages with, the African states while opening new markets and opportunities,” he said.
To counter China’s belt and road strategy, Japan has launched the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor project, an economic cooperation deal, with India and African countries.
Tokyo meanwhile pledged about US$30 billion in public-private development assistance to Africa over three years at the 2016 TICAD, in Nairobi. But China offered to double that amount last year, during its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing.
Still, Japan continues to push forward infrastructure projects on the continent. It is building the Mombasa Port on the Kenyan coast, while Ngong Road, a major artery in Nairobi, is being converted into a dual carriageway with a grant from Tokyo.
Japan is also funding the construction of the Kampala Metropolitan transmission line, which draws power from Karuma dam in Uganda. In Tanzania, it provided funding for the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) flyover. And through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo also helps African countries improve their rice yields using Japanese technology.
There are nearly 1,000 Japanese companies – including carmakers like Nissan and Toyota – operating in Africa, but that is just one-tenth the number of Chinese businesses on the continent.
Are Chinese loans putting Africa on the debt-trap express?
Olander said Japan’s construction companies were among the best in the world, albeit not necessarily the cheapest, and that Tokyo was pushing its message about “high-quality” construction.
XN Iraki, an associate professor at the University of Nairobi School of Business, said Japan wanted to change its approach to Africa on trade, which had long been dominated by cars and electronics.
“[It has] no big deals like China’s Standard Gauge Railway. But after China’s entry with a bang – including teaching Mandarin through Confucius Institutes – Japan has realised its market was under threat and hence the importance of the TICAD, which should remind us that Japan is also there.”
Source: SCMP
Posted in Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway, africa, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, aid and infrastructure, alternative, Angola, Asia, Beijing, Belt and Road Initiative, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), best in the world, carmakers, cars, cheapest, China Africa Project, China alert, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese projects, colonial interloper, Confucius Institutes, construction companies, continent, counter, debt-trap express, development summit, different, Doshisha University in Kyoto, dual carriageway, Durban, East Asia, Electronics, Ethiopia, Europe, flyover, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Forum on China–Africa Cooperation, high-quality development, ideological rivalry, Japan, Japanese Foreign Minister, Japanese technology, Kampala Metropolitan transmission line, Karuma dam, Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, Kenyan coast, largesse, leaders of African nations organisations, leaders of international organisations, Mandarin, Mao Zedong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, master, Mombasa Port, Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, Nairobi, Nigeria, Nissan, Pusan National University, quality, resources, rice yields, rivalry, seeks, Silk Road, South Africa, South Korea, Standard Gauge Railway, Sustainability, Tanzania, Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara), Taro Kono, TICAD, Tokyo, Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), Toyota, Transparency, Uganda, Uncategorized, University of Nairobi School of Business, watching, Yokohama, Yomiuri Shimbun, Zambia |
Leave a Comment »
17/08/2019
- Chinese government advisers say Beijing has not reached direct intervention point but that could change if the violence continues
- Military action would trigger international backlash, observers say, as US expresses concern over reported paramilitary movements and ‘erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy’
Footage of trucks from the paramilitary People’s Armed Police in Shenzhen has circulated online. Photo: Handout
The unrest in Hong Kong does not yet warrant direct intervention by Beijing despite hardening public sentiment and calls for tougher action in mainland China, according to Chinese government advisers.
Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University and an adviser to the State Council – China’s cabinet – said China would risk damaging its ties with the United States and other major foreign powers, upsetting its own development and losing Hong Kong’s special status if it took the matter directly into its hands.
“I don’t think we need to use troops. Hong Kong police will gradually escalate their action and they haven’t exhausted their means,” Shi said, expressing a view shared by other mainland government advisers and academics.
But he warned that if the violence and chaos continued, it “won’t be too far away from reaching that point”.
A US State Department spokeswoman said the United States was “deeply concerned” about reports of paramilitary movements along the Hong Kong border and reiterated a US call for all sides to refrain from violence.
She said it was important for the Hong Kong government to respect “freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly” and for Beijing to adhere to its commitments to allow a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.
She said the protests reflected “broad and legitimate concerns about the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy”.
brought the city’s air traffic to a halt and triggered
a huge backlash on the mainland
, where the public feel they have been wrongly targeted by the increasingly violent protesters. Many demanded the central government take action to end the chaos.
The tension deepened after US President Donald Trump, citing intelligence sources,
to the border with Hong Kong. Trump described the situation in the city as “tricky” and called on all sides to remain “calm and safe”.
Footage of trucks from the paramilitary People’s Armed Police rolling into Shenzhen began circulating online on Saturday.
Beijing ‘unlikely to intervene’ in Hong Kong as pressure mounts on police
But Shi and others said direct intervention would be too costly to China and would only be used when all other methods had been exhausted.
“As the trade war with the US goes on, Hong Kong’s importance to our financial system is getting bigger,” Shi said. “If Beijing intervenes with too much assertiveness, the US might revoke the preferential status of Hong Kong.”
He was referring to the US’ 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act which gives the city a special status. In June, American lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill requiring the US government to examine Hong Kong’s autonomy annually to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
Losing that status could cripple the operations of many businesses based in Hong Kong, said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international affairs expert.
A satellite image appears to show a close-up of Chinese military vehicles at Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in Shenzhen. Photo: Maxar Technologies
Wang Yong, another specialist on international political economy with Peking University, agreed.
“There would be a lot of opposition from interest groups in the US. Hong Kong is the bridgehead for many multinational corporations and investors from Wall Street to get into the Chinese market,” said Wang, who also teaches at an academy affiliated with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Hong Kong and the Chinese government will need to handle this with extra care, so as not to give any ammunition to hawks in the United States.
“If Hong Kong is not handled properly, it could add tensions to the bilateral ties and ruin any prospect of a trade deal.”
China rejects requests for US warships to visit Hong Kong amid protests Pang Zhongying, an international relations specialist at Ocean University of China in Qingdao, said direct intervention could also damage China’s ties with other countries.
“The whole world is watching. Beijing has exercised restraint for two months and still hasn’t taken any clear action because this is not an easy choice,” said Pang, who is also a member of the Beijing-based Pangoal Institution, a think tank that advises several ministerial offices.
While some observers said Beijing was under political pressure to end the protests in Hong Kong before October 1 – the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, Shi said the central government would not lose patience so easily.
“National Day [on October 1] is an important time, but the Chinese government is not naive to believe there has to be peace under all heaven then,” he said.
“It’s only a bit more than a month from now, we can almost say for sure the trade war will still be on by then and a major turning point in Hong Kong is not likely to happen. But the celebration must go on.”
Source: SCMP
Posted in 70th anniversary, American, autonomy, backlash, Beijing, bipartisan bill, celebration, China alert, China's cabinet, China-US trade war, China’s State Council, concern, direct intervention, financial system, foreign powers, Hong Kong, international, lawmakers, Mainland China, military action, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), National Day, Ocean University of China, Pangoal Institution, paramilitary, peace under all heaven, People's Armed Police, People’s Republic, preferential status, Qingdao, quell, Renmin University, Risks, Risks still too big, send in troops, Shenzhen, Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre, trade war, trigger, Uncategorized, United States, unrest, US, US President Donald Trump, US warships, US’ 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act |
Leave a Comment »
16/08/2019
Photo taken on April 20, 2017 shows Chengdu railway container center station in the Qingbaijiang railway port of China (Sichuan) pilot free trade zone in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. China has released an overall plan about the country’s new western sea-land transportation channel to deepen the sea-land two-way opening-up and the development of western China, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The plan covers the period from 2019 to 2025 with an outlook extended to 2035. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — China has released an overall plan about the country’s new western sea-land transportation channel to deepen the sea-land two-way opening-up and the development of western China, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
The plan covers the period from 2019 to 2025 with an outlook extended to 2035.
The new western sea-land transportation channel is located in the hinterlands of the western regions, connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt from the north, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road from the south and the Yangtze River economic belt.
According to the plan, the new western sea-land transportation channel is strategically positioned to support the country’s western regions in participating in international economic cooperation and promote the deep integration of transportation, logistics and the economy.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in 21st Century Maritime Silk Road,, channel, China alert, economy, hinterlands, international economic cooperation, logistics, National Development and Reform Commission, new, North, overall plan, releases, sea-land, Silk Road Economic Belt, South, transportation, Uncategorized, Western, Western China, Yangtze River Economic Belt |
Leave a Comment »
16/08/2019
SEOUL (Reuters) – Top diplomats of South Korea and Japan plan to meet their Chinese counterpart in Beijing next week amid a flare-up in tension over trade and history, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Friday.
Foreign ministers Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea, Taro Kono of Japan and Wang Yi of China will meet from Tuesday to Thursday, the ministry said. The last such gathering was three years ago.
Kang and Kono are also expected to meet separately on the sidelines of the event, for the first time since South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday urged dialogue to mend ties. The ministry said the two-way talks had not yet been finalised.
Ties between the neighbors are arguably at their lowest ebb since their relationship was normalized in 1965, hit by a heated feud over the issue South Korean forced labor during World War Two which spilled over into a bitter tit-for-tat trade row.
In a speech marking Korea’s independence from Japan’s 1910-45 rule, Moon toned down his recent stringent rhetoric regarding Japan, saying Seoul would “gladly join hands” if Tokyo chose dialogue and cooperation.
At the meeting, the ministers are also expected to prepare for a summit planned later this year.
From 2008, the three countries had agreed to hold a summit every year to foster regional cooperation. But bilateral tension, including that between China and Japan, has often intervened.
“We expect the meeting will help reinforce the institutionalization and substantiate the foundation of the three-way cooperative scheme,” the ministry said in a statement.
Relations between South Korea and Japan worsened sharply after the South’s Supreme Court last year ordered Japanese companies to compensate some wartime forced laborers. Tokyo says the matter was settled by the 1965 treaty normalizing ties.
The talks come at a sensitive time ahead of the Aug. 28 date when Japan’s decision to end South Korea’s fast-track trade status takes effect, a move that prompted South Korea to follow suit.
As a countermeasure, Seoul has also warned it could consider scrapping an intelligence-sharing pact usually automatically renewed on Aug. 24 every year.
The accord, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), eases three-way intelligence gathering with Washington which is pivotal in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
In a separate statement, the South Korean foreign ministry expressed concern over Kono’s reported remarks that Moon should “exert his leadership” to resolve the dispute, saying they were unhelpful for stable management of two-way ties.
Source: Reuters
Posted in Beijing, China alert, foreign minister, General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), history tensions, hold talks, Japan, missile threats, North Korea, nuclear threats, President Moon Jae-in, Seoul, South Korea, trade tensions, Uncategorized, Washington |
Leave a Comment »
15/08/2019
YAOUNDE, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — Wilfred Gabsa Nyongbet, Secretary General of Cameroon’s Ministry of Higher Education, on Wednesday hailed as “excellent” the cooperation with China in higher education.
Nyongbet made the remarks during a ceremony to bid farewell to 128 Cameroonian students who will study in China with scholarships. “This is a true demonstration of the excellent bilateral friendship between our two countries,” he said.
“They are going to learn the type of technology that we need for the emergence of Cameroon… We are willing to continue the collaboration in the higher education sector,” Nyongbet added.
Among the 128 students, 45 benefit from the Chinese government scholarship, 83 from the Confucius Institute scholarship.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese ambassador Wang Yingwu said the number of Chinese scholarships awarded to Cameroon students in 2019 hit a record high since 2006. “China is ready to work with Cameroon to enhance cooperation in education to a higher level,” he said.
“China is advanced in technological sectors, and there is a transfer of know-how in its cooperation with Cameroon. The scholarship is an opportunity for me to study in China, and apply what I have learned back home,” a scholarship winner Francis Yonkeu Nya told Xinhua.
More than 3,000 Cameroonian students are now studying in China, among them about 300 are beneficiaries of Chinese government scholarship, according to the Chinese embassy to Cameroon.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Cameroon, China alert, Confucius Institute scholarship, cooperation, hails, higher education, Official, Secretary General of Cameroon's Ministry of Higher Education, Uncategorized |
Leave a Comment »
15/08/2019
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan observed a ‘Black Day’ on Thursday to coincide with India’s Independence Day celebrations, in protest at New Delhi’s decision to revoke special status for its portion of the contested Kashmir region.
India’s decision this month, along with a communications blackout and curbs on the movement of those in Indian-administered Kashmir, caused fury in Pakistan, which cut trade and transport links and expelled India’s envoy in retaliation.
Newspapers in Pakistan printed editions with black borders on Thursday and politicians, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, replaced their social media pictures with black squares.
Protests are due to be held across the country, including Azad Kashmir, the wedge of territory in the west of the region that Pakistan controls.
The largely symbolic move comes amid growing frustration in Islamabad at the lack of international response over the Kashmir dispute.
Pakistan was isolated diplomatically and faced “a world in denial” over the situation in Kashmir, Dawn, the country’s most influential English language newspaper, said in an editorial.
The 15-member United Nations Security Council could discuss the dispute as soon as Thursday, but Pakistan says it only has guaranteed support from China, which also claims part of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state.
Permanent security council member Russia said on Wednesday it supported India’s stance that the dispute should be resolved through bilateral means, while the United States has called India’s decision an internal matter for New Delhi.
In his Independence Day speech in the Indian capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the decision to remove the special rights of the Muslim-majority region among the bold moves of his second term, following an election victory in May.
“Today every Indian can proudly say ‘One Nation, One Constitution’,” Modi, speaking from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort, said of the decision.
Source: Reuters
Posted in Azad Kashmir, Black Day, celebrates, China alert, English language newspaper, independence, India alert, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Islamabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir, New Delhi, observes, One Nation, One Constitution, Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Red Fort, Uncategorized, United Nations Security Council, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) |
Leave a Comment »
14/08/2019
- Scientists’ large-scale conversion of agricultural waste into fuel offers savings up to 60 per cent, they say
- Discovery could slash military costs and bring civilian applications of hypersonic flight technology closer
Super-fuel for military aircraft costs nearly 10 times as much as ordinary jet fuel for commercial planes. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese scientists say they have developed a technology to convert bio-waste into fuel for missiles and hypersonic planes, reducing fuel costs by as much as 60 per cent.
The existing JP-10 super-fuel for military aircraft has numerous advantages including high energy density, good thermal stability and low freezing point, but it costs more than US$7,000 per tonne – nearly 10 times as much as ordinary jet fuel for commercial aircraft.
It is used mainly in cruise missiles and ramjet or scramjet engines on new-generation aircraft travelling at hypersonic speed, or five times faster than sound.
Scientists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the northeastern province of Liaoning, predicted using the new technology in the near future could reduce the cost to as low as US$2,547 per tonne.
The secret, according to their paper, published in the latest issue of German chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, lies in cheap bio-waste.
Using agricultural and forestry residues including bran, chaff and mill dust, Professor Zhang Tao, Li Ning and colleagues discovered new chemical processes that can turn the waste to JP-10 fuel on a large scale with unprecedented efficiency.
At present, the super-fuel comes from coal tar or naphtha, and the synthesis is extremely costly and unfriendly to the environment.
The bio-JP-10 fuel can be produced by two different methods, one involving six steps of chemical reactions and the other only four, according to the paper.
China’s plan to make jet fuel from restaurant leftovers
Combining these methods with the latest technology in biomass conversion, the researchers said, the super-fuel can be mass-produced at a price equivalent to that of some of the bio-jet fuels already in commercial use, thanks to government subsidies provided for their environmental benefits.
“We believe that the future commercialisation of bio-JP-10 fuel is very promising, especially taking policy support and exemption from CO2 emission tax into consideration,” the authors wrote in the paper.
Liu Huoxing, professor at the school of energy and power engineering at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said civilian applications of hypersonic flight technology faced many challenges that remained to be solved, with the problem of high fuel prices being one of the headaches.
“No airline will buy a plane if the fuel costs too much, however fast it can fly,” he said.
Liu, who conducts research on engine technology for
hypersonic vehicles but was not involved in the Dalian study, said the reduction of production costs for jet fuel was usually incremental and it was quite rare to see a significant drop.
“This can be an important development,” he said of the Dalian findings.
China is developing various models of hypersonic speed aircraft for military and civilian use. Some are aimed at flying distances such as Shanghai to Los Angeles in a couple of hours.
Posted in agricultural waste, Angewandte Chemie, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, bio-waste, biomass conversion, bran, chaff, cheap, China alert, Chinese Academy of Sciences, civilian applications, coal tar, commercialisation, costly, cruise missiles, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Dalian study, Environment, faster than sound, forestry residues, hours, hypersonic flight technology, Hypersonic speed, jet fuel, JP-10 super-fuel, Liaoning, Los Angeles, mass-produce, Military aircraft, mill dust, missiles, naphtha, ramjet engines, restaurant leftovers, school of energy and power engineering, scramjet engines, Shanghai, super-fuel, synthesis, Uncategorized, unfriendly |
Leave a Comment »
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 