Archive for ‘Good news’

19/06/2014

China, ASEAN to have South China Sea talks – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China is willing to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote a code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.

Map of the South China Sea

Map of the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hua’s comment came ahead of the 11th joint working group meeting between China and ASEAN on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct (DoC) of Parties in the South China Sea. The meeting will be held from next Tuesday to Wednesday in Bali, Indonesia. “China is ready to work with the ASEAN for comprehensive and effective implementation of the declaration and steadily push forward consultations on a CoC,” Hua said. Maritime cooperation on navigation security and joint search and rescue will be discussed during the meeting, Hua said. She called for favorable conditions for the implementation of the DoC and formulation of a CoC to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. China and ASEAN officials met in March in Singapore for the 10th joint working group meeting on the implementation of the DoC. via China, ASEAN to have South China Sea talks – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

17/06/2014

Top China diplomat to visit Vietnam in possible thaw over oil rig | Reuters

China’s top diplomat will visit Vietnam on Wednesday in a sign the two countries want to ease tensions over China’s deployment of an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea, but experts said there were many obstacles to healing the ruptured relationship.

Map of the South China Sea

Map of the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The visit by State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, will be the highest level direct contact between Beijing and Hanoi since a Chinese state oil company parked the rig in waters claimed by both countries on May 2. Yang would attend an annual meeting on bilateral cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing. Vietnamese officials said Yang would meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as well as the head of the country’s ruling communist party. “We hope that Vietnam keeps its eye on the broader picture, meets China halfway and appropriately resolves the present situation,” Hua said, without directly mentioning the rig. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said the rig would be discussed. Ties between the two neighbours have been largely frozen since early May, with both sides constantly accusing the other of inflaming the situation. Dozens of Vietnamese and Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels have repeatedly squared off around the rig, resulting in a number of collisions. via Top China diplomat to visit Vietnam in possible thaw over oil rig | Reuters.

11/06/2014

Nawaz hopes to resolve unsettled matters with Modi – Pakistan – DAWN.COM

In a letter written to Indian premier Narendra Modi on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he looked forward to working him in harmony to resolve all unsettled matters in the interest of the two nations.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (L) and Indian premier Narendra Modi (R). — File photo

The premier also expressed satisfaction over his visit to India.

“I have returned satisfied with meaningful exchange of thoughts over regional issues and matters of mutual interest,” Sharif said.

“Million of people living in poverty in both countries deserve our foremost attention and their future is integrated with our common economic destiny,” Sharif said.

The premier further said that prosperity could be brought to both nations with concerted efforts.

He also said that he hoped that mutual endeavours by both countries would brighten their futures.

Sharif was invited to Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the general elections held in the world’s largest democracy during the course of two months. The invitation was accepted after a series of consultations that the premier held with his close aides.

Sharif had also phoned Modi to congratulate him on his party’s win in the elections.

via Nawaz hopes to resolve unsettled matters with Modi – Pakistan – DAWN.COM.

11/06/2014

China Tries to Woo India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi – Businessweek

China is courting Narendra Modi. The Indian leader became prime minister last month after his Hindu nationalist party won a landslide victory, and in his campaign he promised to take a tougher stand toward China. India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (about 15,000 square miles) of its territory in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. China says no, India is the guilty party because 90,000 sq. km. of land in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh are actually Chinese.

China Tries to Woo India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi

China made progress toward settling the dispute under Modi’s predecessor, the Congress Party’s Manmohan Singh. Following Congress’s humiliating defeat in the elections, the Chinese need to work harder to prevent relations from deteriorating anew.  Hence the glowing words from Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday in New Delhi. “China-India cooperation is like a massive buried treasure waiting to be discovered,” he said, telling reporters the two sides are close to a deal on the border. “We are prepared to reach a final settlement,” said Wang.

Any deal would provide a much-needed diplomatic victory for China. With Chinese and Vietnamese ships ramming one another in the South China Sea and Chinese and Japanese planes confronting each other in the skies over the East China Sea, the Chinese government has enough territorial disputes threatening to escalate into full-blown crises. Yesterday, China appealed to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding what the Chinese called “Vietnam’s provocation” against a Chinese company’s offshore oil rig. China wants “to tell the international community the truth and set straight their understanding on the issue,” deputy permanent representative Wang Min said.

via China Tries to Woo India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi – Businessweek.

10/06/2014

Indian PM Modi meets with Chinese FM – Xinhua | English.news.cn

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday met here with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

INDIA-NEW DELHI-PM-CHINA-WANG YI-MEETING

During the meeting, Wang conveyed greetings and messages from President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Prime Minister Modi.

The Chinese president said in his message that he believes India will obtain greater development and progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

The Chinese president said that as two important forces in the process of multi-polarization of the world, China and India share far more common interests than differences and that the two countries are long-term strategic cooperative partners rather than adversaries.

The Chinese president pointed out that the dreams of both China and India to build a strong nation and to upgrade the living standards of their people have a lot of commonalities and the two countries should make an in-depth convergence of their development strategy, support each other with their respective strengths, build a close development partnership, and hold hands to realize peaceful development, cooperative development, and inclusive development, in order to benefit their people and enhance peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and the whole world.

Prime Minister Modi said that the important message from President Xi Jinping has given a clear guidance for developing bilateral relations.

Modi said he highly appreciates the achievements in the field of development made by China and personally cherishes a friendly feeling toward China.

Modi said India’s new government is willing to join China to give a clear signal to the world that the two countries are dedicated to common development.

He suggested that the two countries maintain exchange of high- level visits, consolidate strategic trust, and use each other’s strengths to deepen cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, manufacturing, and IT industry.

Modi also said that India and China should develop their resources of two ancient civilizations to enhance cooperation and increase exchanges in humanity.

On the boundary issue, he said the two countries should commonly maintain peace and tranquility on the border areas in order to provide guarantees to the development of bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Wang said that China and India are now standing at a new historical starting point of developing their relations and in the meantime are faced with important opportunities of their own development.

He said that China is ready to realize convergence with India in the fields of development theories and ideas, exchange and learn from each other in practice and theories of governance.

Wang said China is also willing to realize convergence of development strategies with India and let the “Look East” policy of India meet and confluence with China’s acceleration of opening its western regions.

The two countries should also use their respective strong points to support and supplement each other in their respective development, he said.

Wang said as the two ancient civilizations, China and India should join each other to make new contributions to human civilization and progress. He also suggested that the two countries properly control and manage their boundary problem to seek a mutually acceptable, fair and reasonable solution to the boundary issue.

via Indian PM Modi meets with Chinese FM – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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10/06/2014

India’s Modi calls for greater cooperation with China | Reuters

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged greater cooperation with China on Monday and said he planned to visit Beijing soon, underlining his administration’s promise to make a new beginning with the country’s giant neighbor.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes out of a meeting room to receive his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay before the start of their bilateral meeting in New Delhi May 27, 2014.   REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

India and China have rapidly expanded commercial relations in recent years but political ties remain difficult, after a dispute over their Himalayan border that led to a war in 1962.

But Modi, who took power last month, is seeking to engage with India’s neighbors, including China. A peaceful and stable neighborhood would help him pursue his economic goals at home.

On Monday, he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yin, who was visiting India as a special envoy of China’s president to build ties with the new administration in New Delhi.

On Sunday, Wang had a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Sushi Sward, that lasted more than three hours. It was the first high-level engagement between the two countries since Modi assumed office.

“The two sides will remain in touch through the diplomatic channel to make necessary arrangements for these visits and for other meetings and exchanges of leaders on the sidelines of multilateral summits,” the Indian foreign office said in a statement after Wang’s meeting with Modi.

It gave no other details. Modi has already invited Chinese President Xi Jin ping to visit New Delhi later this year.

India was once viewed as a rival to China’s economic juggernaut. Both the economies have slowed in the past two years, but India’s slowdown has been dramatic.

Asia’s third-largest economy grew 4.7 percent in the fiscal year that ended in March. That was the second straight year of sub-5 percent growth, the longest slowdown in more than a quarter of a century.

Modi, who last month won the strongest parliamentary majority in the past 30 years on a promise of economic revival and jobs, wants to push infrastructure and skill development – a model followed by China to boost economic growth – to promote a turnaround.

“Scale, skill and speed. If these three strengths we can stress upon, then we can rise to the challenge of competing with China,” he said at a book launch event on Sunday.

via India’s Modi calls for greater cooperation with China | Reuters.

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06/06/2014

Telemedicine in India might be just what the doctor ordered | India Insight

Between surgeries and hospital rounds one recent day, Dr. Rajiv Parakh made a dash into his Gurgaon office for an appointment he couldn’t miss: a consultation with a patient who lives hundreds of kilometres away.

Seated before his laptop in this city on the outskirts of India’s capital, the surgeon listened as a patient in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka described his swollen legs. For the next 20 minutes, Parakh examined the patient via Web camera, made a diagnosis and prescribed treatment.

The bespectacled Parakh, a practising doctor for nearly 30 years, spoke in Hindi during the session, enunciating his words for clarity.

Medanta, the multi-specialty hospital where he works, started its free telemedicine service about a year ago as an outreach service for patients who cannot visit the hospital.

“In-person consultation is obviously the gold standard,” Parakh told India Insight. “But if we have a doctor at the patient’s end, especially somebody who he trusts and who he knows, we can be reasonably comfortable about prescribing treatment.”

Medanta is one of several e-health providers that say they want to change how healthcare is delivered in India, and address the industry’s two biggest problems: accessibility and lack of manpower.

India has 0.7 physicians per 1,000 people — BRIC peers Russia (5), Brazil (1.5) and China (1.5) have better ratios — and most Indians travel about 20 kilometres to reach a hospital, according to a 2012 report by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

via Telemedicine in India might be just what the doctor ordered | India Insight.

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25/05/2014

BBC News – Pakistan PM Sharif to go to Modi inauguration in India

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is to attend the inauguration of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India on Monday. Narendra Modi (L), Nawaz Sharif (R)

It is the first time since the two countries won independence in 1947 that a prime minister from one state will attend such a ceremony in the other. The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars in the past 60 years. Mr Modi is seen as a hardliner on national security issues. His BJP party advocates a tough stance on Pakistan. But correspondents say his huge election victory gives him a mandate to reach out to Pakistan in a way the previous administration could not.

Bilateral ties suffered badly in the wake of the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, when 166 people were killed by Pakistani gunmen. Relations improved slightly under outgoing PM Manmohan Singh, but there are still regular skirmishes on the disputed border in Kashmir.

Mr Singh was invited to Mr Sharif’s inauguration last year but did not attend.

via BBC News – Pakistan PM Sharif to go to Modi inauguration in India.

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16/05/2014

Islamic leaders join efforts against extremism – China – Chinadaily.com.cn

China’s top Islamic leaders urged the nation’s Muslims to resist religious extremism and oppose to terrorism after a number of violent attacks in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in March and April.

An SVG map of China with the Xinjiang autonomo...

An SVG map of China with the Xinjiang autonomous region highlighted Legend: Image:China map legend.png The orange area is Aksai Chin, a part of Xinjiang which is claimed by India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Around 80 religious leaders and scholars discussed Islamic doctrine by quoting the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday and Thursday in Urumqi, the region’s capital. On Thursday, Islamic leaders in China passed a proposal calling on all Muslims in the country to regulate their behavior, resist religious extremism and improve their moral outlook.

Abulitif Abdureyim, director of the Xinjiang Islamic Association, said governments at all levels in the region are resisiting religious extremism.

“The attackers who carried out the terrorist activities cannot go to heaven because they have violated the sayings in the Quran,” he said.

Wang Yujie, a professor of religious studies at Renmin University of China, said separatist forces are the main source of terrorism in Xinjiang.

In recent years, China has seen a number of violent attacks on police, government organs and civilians. Most of the attacks have taken place in Xinjiang.

A national security blue paper said on May 6 that religious extremism was the major reason for 10 violent terrorist attacks last year.

via Islamic leaders join efforts against extremism – China – Chinadaily.com.cn.

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14/05/2014

Hong Kong Retailers Say They’ll Stop Selling Ivory – China Real Time Report – WSJ

The window for buying ivory in Hong Kong is narrowing.

Three local sellers of everything from dinner wear to curios said on Wednesday that ivory was no longer welcome on their shelves. Wing On Department Store said it would stop selling ivory products in July, while Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium said it stopped selling ivory on May 7 and Chinese Arts & Crafts ( HK) Ltd. said it stopped in March.

The notices — given in letters from the three companies released on Wednesday by conservation groups — came just a day before Hong Kong plans to burn a 30-ton stockpile of seized elephant ivory.  Their moves “send a clear message that the consumption of ivory is rapidly becoming taboo in Hong Kong society,” said Alex Hofford, director of Hong Kong for Elephants, a local lobby group.

Representatives of the three companies attended a press conference on Wednesday to announce their new stance but left before taking questions. A call to Wing On wasn’t immediately returned. A Yue Hwa representative declined to comment further. A spokesman of Chinese Arts & Crafts said the ivory the company once sold was legal.

Nearly 100 elephants are killed every day for ivory trinkets — bracelets, statuettes and other decorative items sold illegally around the world, according to Hong Kong for Elephants. Wildlife experts estimate the African elephant population stand around 420,000 to 650,000 and could be wiped out in 10 to 15 years if nothing is done to ease the problem.

The groups argue that the slaughter of African elephants continues largely to meet the rising demand for tusks from newly affluent Chinese consumers.  The price of ivory in China was 15,000 yuan ($2,478) per kilogram in 2011, more than triple its price in 2006, according to data from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Wildlife conservation groups Wednesday urged the Hong Kong government turn its post-burning attention to the city’s 117.1 metric ton legal stockpile of ivory still in circulation in Hong Kong. Hong Kong for Elephants also called upon the city’ s government to legislate a permanent ban on ivory sales.

The Hong Kong government’s burning plans followed China’s, which in January pulverized six tons of illegal tusks.

In a recent official visit in Africa, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also vowed to combat poaching and ivory smuggling.

“Changes are afoot for the better for elephants. This is an extraordinary encouraging moment for the global effort to reduce ivory demand in Asia,”  said Iris Ho of Humane Society International, an organization that works on animal protection.

via Hong Kong Retailers Say They’ll Stop Selling Ivory – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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