Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) — A Chinese health official on Saturday urged people to wear masks correctly and avoid travel during peak hours over coronavirus concerns in the May Day holiday.
Travelers are encouraged to reserve visiting slots in advance, and pay attention to their temperatures, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.
Some tourist attractions have seen large crowds of tourists not wearing masks Friday, the first day of the five-day May Day holiday, Mi said.
China recorded more than 23 million domestic tourist trips Friday, with the domestic tourism revenue reaching over 9.7 billion yuan (about 1.38 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Taiwan sends fighters to intercept mainland military aircraft after they cross dividing line in Taiwan Strait
Incursion comes at end of visit to Washington by vice-president-elect William Lai that angered Beijing
A Taiwanese fighter jet shadows a mainland Chinese bomber over the Taiwan Strait on Monday. Photo: Military News Agency, ROC
Taiwan sent warplanes to intercept a group of mainland Chinese jets that had briefly approached the island on Monday, the second such incident in two days.
The incident came as the island’s vice-president-designate William Lai Ching-te concluded an eight-day visit to the US that had angered Beijing.
The mainland warplanes, including H-6 bombers, briefly crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait on their way to the western Pacific through the Bashi Channel in the morning for long-haul training exercises, Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement on Monday.
“Our air force scrambled fighter jets to shadow, intercept and disperse the communist warplanes through radio broadcasting,” the ministry said, adding the mainland planes later left the area.
The mainland warplanes later returned to their home base after their morning drill, the military said.
It was the second day in a row that the mainland warplanes flew past Taiwan after a group of aircraft, including J-11 fighter jets, KJ-500 early warning aircraft and H-6 bombers, flew over the Bashi Channel on Sunday before returning to their bases via the Miyako Strait northeast of Taiwan, the ministry said.
“The military has full surveillance and control of the communist long-haul training activities and the public can rest assured of our capability to uphold security or our national territory,” it said.
Meanwhile, Lai completed his eight-day “private” visit to Washington, during which he met the National Security Council and other US officials and senators.
Lai, who left for the US last Sunday to attend the National Prayer Breakfast – an annual gathering of political and religious leaders in Washington – was considered the highest-level Taiwanese official to meet with National Security Council officials since the US switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979.
The visit was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough for the island because until now Washington has been reluctant to allow such exchanges for fear of angering Beijing, which has repeatedly demanded that the US adhere to the “one-China” policy.
Taiwan scrambles jets as mainland Chinese air force flies around island
9 Feb 2020
Beijing views Taiwan as a wayward province that must be brought back to the mainland fold – by force if necessary.
It has suspended official exchanges with Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party was first elected president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle as the basis for cross-strait exchanges.
Since then, Beijing has staged war games close to the island and poached seven of Taiwan’s allies to heap pressure on the president, who was reelected last month.
A People’s Liberation Army spokesperson said on Sunday the flight was a “necessary action” under “current security situation across the Taiwan Strait”.
Vice-President-elect William Lai Ching-te met National Security Council officials on his visit to the White House. Photo: Facebook
Observers said Lai’s US visit was made possible due to a new US policy to allow high-level official and military exchanges with Taiwan, which has been included in the US security alliance to counter the mainland’s military expansion in the Indo-Pacific region.
They said Lai is still technically a civilian until he takes office in May, and the US can always use this status to defend its move, although the visit has prompted strong protests from the Chinese foreign ministry.
Observers also said Taiwan’s efforts in seeking to join the World Health Organisation amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak have also riled Beijing, which has repeatedly said the island is a mainland province with no right to join international bodies which require statehood for membership.
Taipei complains to World Health Organisation after coronavirus case is classed as ‘Taiwan, China’
23 Jan 2020
On Monday, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, warned the Tsai government against “playing with fire” by “trying to use its strengthening ties with the US to plot independence”.
“This is a sheer provocation,” Ma said, adding what the People’s Liberation Army did was to protect the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the mainland and to maintain cross-strait peace.
Song Zhongping, a military commentator for Hong Kong Phoenix Television, said the patrol was aimed at the separatist movement on the island.
“Such a patrol is for war-preparedness … and has become a routine practice and a resolution to effectively attack the pro-independence force,” said Song, a former instructor for the PLA’s Second Artillery, the predecessor of the Rocket Force.
A Beijing-based military source close to the PLA, who requested anonymity, said the warplanes were equipped with missiles, which has become a standard procedure for PLA’s air drills.
BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) — Suspending flights by some countries against the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations will not help contain the epidemic, but sow panic among the public, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday.
Spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks at an online press briefing when asked to comment on some countries’ decisions to suspend flights after the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Hua said since the onset of the outbreak, the Chinese government has taken the most thorough and strict prevention and control measures, and such measures are showing positive effects.
The WHO lauded China’s strong measures and stressed many times that it disapproves of and even opposes imposing travel or trade restrictions on China, said Hua. The ICAO has also issued bulletins and encouraged all countries to follow WHO recommendations.
“We are dissatisfied with and oppose some countries going against the WHO’s professional recommendations and ICAO bulletins, and have lodged solemn representations with them,” she said.
Actions of those countries have gravely disrupted normal personnel exchanges, international cooperation and the order of international air transportation market, Hua said.
China urges the countries to think carefully and not to overreact nor restrict flights operated by airlines of both sides, keeping bilateral relations and cooperation in mind, she added.
“They should immediately correct their policies and wrongdoings in accordance with recommendations of the WHO and ICAO and take concrete actions to support China’s battle against the epidemic,” Hua said.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionPM Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express on Friday
India’s fastest train has broken down on its first trip, a day after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi.
The Indian-built semi high-speed Vande Bharat Express was returning to the capital Delhi from the city of Varanasi after its first outing when brakes in a carriage reportedly jammed.
Indian media quoted a railways spokesperson as saying the train may have struck cattle on the line.
The train reached a speed of 180km/hr (110mph) during trials.
The new train service is expected to start its commercial run from Sunday. It is expected to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Varanasi by six hours.
BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday that China and Germany have the responsibility to jointly safeguard free trade and multilateralism and avoid sending a negative signal that could affect investment environment and market confidence.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks after Germany tightened rules on foreign investment in some sectors on Wednesday, adjusting the threshold for starting state security reviews of share purchases by non-EU investors to 10 percent of company shares in sectors such as critical infrastructures as well as defense-relevant and high-tech companies.
“While it is understandable to conduct necessary security scrutiny, it should not become a tool for advancing protectionism and creating new invisible barriers,” Hua said at a daily press briefing, also expressing opposition to discriminatory practices.
She called on the two countries to expand two-way opening-up so as to inject positive energy into bilateral high-level cooperation of mutual benefits and safeguard an open world economy.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 