Page 171 - China

US Pentagon fact sheet: 'Decisive year' for open, stable Indo-Pacific

The Pentagon plans to bolster India's defence modernization, including by advancing the priorities outlined in the 'Roadmap for US - India Defence Industrial Cooperation'

The last quarter-century has turned out to be less Brics, more China-India

China and India have proved the Brics forecast right in the quarter-century gone by. In the second quarter-century expect broadly more of the same, with India gaining prominence, writes T N Ninan

China toughens punishment for bribery as part of anti-corruption crackdown

Days after President Xi Jinping exhorted people to maintain personal integrity, China on Friday amended its criminal law to punish those giving bribes to officials as part of its anti-corruption drive. An amendment to the Criminal Law was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. The amended law, which will take effect on March 1, has intensified the fight against bribe-givers, stating that those offering bribes repeatedly, to multiple people, or parties involved in major national projects should be harshly punished. People who give bribes to staff members of supervisory, administrative, or judicial departments, or bribe in fields such as environment, finance, safety production, drug and food, social insurance, rescue relief, education, or healthcare, also need to face severe punishment, the law added. On December 4, President Xi warned senior ruling Communist Party officials to maintain personal integrity, set strict rules f

Nepal's 2023: High-level meetings with Indian, Chinese leaderships & quakes

After experiencing a turbulent 2022, Nepal witnessed much-needed political stability this year that enabled Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' to focus on improving relations with its two important neighbours India and China even as he faced the regular staple of Himalayan problems - earthquakes, corruption scandals, and air crashes. After becoming Prime Minister in December 2022, Prachanda secured the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives on January 10 ending the political impasse amid a power tussle among Nepali political parties with the third largest party CPN-Maoist Centre gaining power and garnering support from the largest party Nepali Congress. However, Nepal's second-largest party in Parliament, the CPN-UML, on February 27 withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party's candidate for the presidential poll. It has had no significant impact on the government. On March 9, Nepal's Parliame

Fog, haze in China as New Year travellers brace for potential disruptions

Central Meteorological Observatory issued first red alert for fog since 2017. Conditions were expected to improve from Saturday evening, when a cold wave of air is expected to blow over the country

First made-in-China cruise ship to set sail from Shanghai to S Korea

The Adora Magic City will depart from its home port of Shanghai Monday for a six-day trip that will take in South Korea's Jeju island and the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Fukuoka

Apple partner Luxshare set to gain control of key China iPhone plant

Luxshare is set to buy a 62.5% stake in Pegatron Corp.'s Kunshan unit in eastern China for about 2.1 billion yuan ($300 million), according to an exchange filing by the latter

US companies are picky about investing in China except fast-food chains

American fast-food chains have decided a market of 1.4 billion people is simply too delicious to pass up. KFC China's parent company opened its 10,000th restaurant in China last month

China's Xiaomi unveils first electric car, plans to become top automaker

The sedan, dubbed the SU7, is a highly anticipated model that is expected to make the most of its shared operating system with the company's popular phones

Chinese military irked by Indian naval ship's drills with Philippines navy

Peeved over the recent naval exercises between the navies of India and the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea, the Chinese military on Thursday said defence cooperation between different countries should not harm the interests of third countries and regional peace. Answering a question from Chinese official media about naval exercises between an Indian naval ship and the Philippines naval vessel besides plans by France to hold naval and air drills with the Philippine Navy, Spokesman of the Chinese Defence Ministry Senior Col Wu Qian said China has taken note of the reports. China has always emphasised that defence and security cooperation between relevant countries must not harm the interests of third parties or hurt regional peace and stability, he said. China is getting restive about military cooperation between the Philippines and other countries as its coastguard ships recently involved face-offs with Philippines navy vessels to assert Beijing's control over the parts o

China aims to build more than half of world's cleaner-fuel ships by 2025

It did not give any estimates of the number of ships involved but said China would build more vessels powered by lower-carbon fuels as part of Beijing's push to become carbon neutral by 2060

Frozen India, China ties on a drift into fourth year with no end in sight

With Beijing remaining intransigent on the withdrawal of additional troops deployed by the PLA since the deadly border clash in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, India's bilateral ties with China remained frozen in 2023 with no forward movement on the horizon despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks. The relationship has remained frozen since May 2020 when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) amassed troops in eastern Ladakh that led to a deadly clash between the two militaries at the Galwan Valley in June 2020, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese military personnel. In the words of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Chinese literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation at the border in Ladakh in violation of all bilateral agreements. The ties between the two countries after the two high-profile informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping remain frozen and India

China's top political advisory body CPPCC removes 3 defence executives

CASIC is a state-owned enterprise that makes spacecraft and missile systems, while Norinco is a weapons producer for the People's Liberation Army

China's 'reunification' with Taiwan is 'inevitable', says Xi Jinping

Taiwan remains a sensitive issue in US-China relations. During a recent summit with US President Joe Biden, Xi asserted that China's "reunification" with Taiwan is "unstoppable"

Chinese carmaker BYD Co overtakes Tesla as world's most popular EV maker

In a sector still dominated by more familiar names like Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co., Chinese manufacturers including BYD and SAIC Motor Corp. are making serious inroads

China's Wagner? Country hires private security to protect foreign assets

The primary focus of the contractor will be on facilitating China's Belt and Road Initiative in West Asia and Africa

Almost all of Russia's oil exports this year shipped to China, India

Russia has successfully circumvented sanctions on its oil and diverted flows from Europe to China and India, which together accounted for around 90% of its crude exports

China sanctions US research firm over reports on human rights in Xinjiang

China says it is banning a United States research company and two analysts who have reported extensively on claims of human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups native to the country's far northwestern region of Xinjiang. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted as announcing late Tuesday night that Los Angeles-based research and data analytics firm Kharon, its director of investigations, Edmund Xu, and Nicole Morgret, a human rights analyst affiliated with the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies, would be barred from travelling to China. Also, any assets or property they have in China will be frozen and organisations and individuals in China are prohibited from making transactions or otherwise cooperating with them. In a statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Mao said the sanctions against the company, Xu and Morgret were retaliation for a yearly US government report on human rights in Xinjiang. Uyghurs and other natives

Beijing records longest cold wave since 1951; snowfall, temperature ease

China's Beijing recorded the longest cold wave since records began in 1951 as the freezing temperature and snowfall experienced in the Chinese capital and elsewhere began to ease

Apple in talks with Aequs, Rayprus to deepen manufacturing ops in India

Currently, Tata Electronics is the only Indian vendor for Apple, and it is also looking to double its casing facility