Page 221 - China

Antony Blinken hold talks Chinese Foreign Minister during Beijing visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing, in the highest-level trip by a US official to China in nearly five years

China devoting resources to hijack international Buddhism: Report

China is devoting considerable resources to hijacking international Buddhism and marginalize Tibetan Buddhists loyal to the Dalai Lama, Bitter Winter reported

Blinken arrives Beijing on mission to cool soaring US-China tensions

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing early Sunday on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge. Blinken was to begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highest-level American official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years. The trip comes after he postponed plans to visit in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S. Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet's two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years. Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability. Blinken plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi,

Pakistan receives $1 bn from China to support its critically low forex

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received USD 1 billion from its close ally China to support its critically low foreign reserves amidst the uncertainty to revive a stalled International Monetary Fund loan. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday night confirmed having received the amount from China without sharing any other details about it. It would add to the reserves which had fallen to almost USD 3.9 billion in recent weeks. Earlier, finance minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had paid back USD 1 billion to China last Monday against a due amount of USD 1.3 billion and it was hoped that the amount would be returned. Pakistan's economy is tethering on the verge of default as the IMF is pushing the county to its limits to fulfil demands - which Islamabad insists had been already met - to provide the remaining USD 2.5 billion out of a bailout package of USD 6.5 billion agreed in 2019. The entire amount is unlikely to be paid as the programme is ending on June 30 but Pakistan is pushing

PE funds moving away from China to India, Japan amid geopolitical tensions

A report by Bain and Company said that the Covid-19 lockdowns, declining growth, and US-China tensions led to a 53% drop in Greater China deal value in 2022

China-backed hackers exploited Barracuda zero-day to target govt: Report

The researchers attributed the hacks to UNC4841, an unclassified threat group that shares infrastructure and malware code with other China-backed hacking groups

Bill Gates meets President Xi Jinping on China visit after 3 years

Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping just days after a visit to Beijing by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi saying he was happy to see Gates, who he called an old friend, after three years without meeting during the pandemic. I believe that the foundation of Sino-US relations lies in the people, Xi said to Gates. Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race. Gates told Xi he was very honoured to meet with Xi. The visits by leading foreign business people have coincided with efforts by the ruling Communist Party to revive investor interest in China's slowing economy. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China in March. Tensions between the US and China have festered in recent years, but recently the two sides have held talks on trade and other issues. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in China o

China withholds indicator of Covid deaths as cremation data not released

China has dropped the number of cremations held last winter from a quarterly report, withholding a key indicator of the pandemic death toll during the countrys largest Covid wave, the media reported

China sets record by sending 41 satellites to space by Long March 2D rocket

The number of Jilin-1 satellites has now increased to 108, completing China's first commercial constellation of more than 100 remote-sensing satellites

Four major western banks cut China's 2023 GDP forecast as recovery falters

UBS, Standard Chartered, Bank of America (BoA) and JPMorgan now expect China's GDP growth to be between 5.2% and 5.7% this year, down from an earlier range of 5.7% to 6.3%

Shanghai power plant burns 800 tons of coal an hour to keep city cool

A heat wave is scorching China, killing livestock and straining electricity grids across the country. Temperatures in Beijing soared to as high as 39C (102F) on Thursday

India, China bought 80% of Russia's heavily discounted oil in May: IEA

India and China, the world's top oil users, continued to lap up heavily discounted Russian crude oil, buying as much as 80 per cent of the oil that Moscow exported in May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report. "Heavily discounted Russian crude oil has found new buyers primarily in Asia. India has increased purchases from almost nothing to close to 2 million barrels per day, while China has raised liftings by 500,000 barrels per day to 2.2 million barrels per day," the Paris-based energy agency said in its latest Oil Market Report. Russia-origin seaborne crude exports averaged 3.87 million barrels per day in May, the highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. "In May 2023, India and China accounted for almost 80 per cent of Russian crude oil exports," IEA said. "In turn, Russia made up 45 per cent and 20 per cent of crude imports in India and China, respectively. With Russia's formerly main crude export markets in Europe banning import and G7 imposing .

India, not China, better suited for resolving Ukraine war: US Congressman

India is much better suited than China to play a leading role in resolving the war in Ukraine because of New Delhi's old relationship with Moscow, a top Indian American Congressman has said. Congressman Ami Bera said he would love to see the Indian administration use its full diplomatic capacities to help end the conflict in Ukraine. He said he was not sure if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will discuss the conflict in Ukraine in their meeting in the Oval Office next week. I am not sure (talks on this issue) will happen, but I certainly think India can play a leading role in helping us resolve the Russia-Ukraine crisis. India obviously has an old relationship with Russia, Bera told PTI on Thursday. The Prime Minister can have conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin that we're not going to be able to have. I think it's in everyone's interest to see some resolution to this conflict. So, you see (Chinese President) Xi Jinping trying to negotiate so

Change in China's stance on debt restructuring for SL in 2023 unlikely

The official statement released after the meeting only mentioned that China will give maximum support to Sri Lanka to recover from the economic crisis

Covid-19 virus first infected 3 scientists at China's Wuhan lab: Report

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, first infected three scientists working at China's infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), according to a new report

China renews 'yellow' alert for high temperatures, braces for heatwaves

According to the forecast, temperatures in some of these regions will reach 37 to 39 degrees Celsius, and may exceed 40 degrees in some locations

Pak FM Bilawal to travel to China and Japan to boost bilateral ties

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will embark on a two-nation visit to China and Japan from June 27 to deepen bilateral cooperation. He will travel to China in the last week of June to attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the World Economic Forum's (WEF) "Summer Davos", to be held from June 27 to June 29 in China's Tianjin Municipality, official sources told The Express Tribune newspaper on Wednesday. Bilawal will also undertake a maiden visit to Japan in the first week of July. Japan is a key development partner of Pakistan and the foreign minister's visit would likely further deepen the cooperation, it said. Pakistan has tried to maintain a fine balance while pursuing ties with its all-weather ally China and its rival Japan. Tokyo has old ties with Islamabad and supported the country financially. But in the preceding years, Japan's relationship has grown exponentially with India while Pakistan found greater comfort in the arms of ...

Bill Gates visits China as leaders try to revive foreign business interest

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates says he is in Beijing, joining a series of foreign business figures who have visited China as the ruling Communist Party tries to revive investor interest in the country. Gates, who stepped down as Microsoft chairman in 2014, said on Twitter late Wednesday that he would meet partners who have worked with his charitable foundation. However, Gates is revered in China as an entrepreneur, giving Chinese leaders a chance to show their interest in foreign business by publicising any meetings with him. CEOs of global companies including Elon Musk of Tesla Ltd. and Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook have visited China this year and met Premier Li Qiang, the top economic official, and Cabinet ministers following the end of anti-virus controls that blocked most international travel. I'm excited to visit with partners who have been working on global health and development challenges with @gatesfoundation for more than 15 years, Gates wrote on Twitter. He gave no ...

N Korea's Kim Jong-un touts leadership of China's Xi in b'day greetings

Kim also said he is pleased to see Xi's achievements and wished him more success in his "important and responsible work" in leading China

Chinese textiles coming to India to be tested for Azo dyes presence

Textiles and its products coming from China into India will now have to test for the presence of Azo dyes as Beijing has been excluded from the revised exempted list, according to the commerce ministry. The foreign trade policy (FTP) has a list of countries, which are exempted from testing for the presence of this dye in textiles and its articles. The UK has been included in this list, while China was removed. These countries include European Union nations, Serbia, Poland, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the UK. The DGFT has updated the list of countries, which are exempted from testing for the presence of Azo dyes in textiles and textile articles Azo dyes are mainly used in sectors like textile, fibre and leather. Revising the list by amending an appendix of the FTP, a public notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said the "list of countries exempted from testing for the presence of azo dyes in textiles and textiles articles is updated".