by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Gaurav Sharma,
Beijing : China punished a total of 159,100 people for corruption and indiscipline during 2017, the country’s top anti-graft body has said.
Of the 122,100 cases, 48,700 were related to corruption in poverty alleviation work, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said.
China has over the years massively cracked down on graft, with the dreaded anti-graft body nabbing country’s top officials for wrongdoings.
Last year, Sun Zhengcai, China’s top politician and dubbed as Chinese President Xi Jinping potential successor, was arrested on graft charges.
According to Xinhua news agency, some 61,000 officials were punished for violating the Party’s eight-point frugality code from January to November last year in 43,400 cases.
Moreover, since the start of 2017, a total of 1,300 fugitives have returned to China, including 347 party members and state functionaries, as well as 14 who are on the list of 100 “red notice” corruption suspects.
Around 980 million yuan ($151 million) of illicit money has been recovered in the process.
China also held more than 50 consultations with foreign law enforcement departments in 2017 on major cases involving fugitives and illicit money, according to CCDI.
At least 18 centrally-administered officials have been investigated and nearly 40 others have been punished since 2017, it said.
The anti-corruption drive is Xi’s centrepiece of his policy ever since he took power in 2013.
At the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi said the anti-graft body will tighten its noose around the wrongdoers.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Muslim World
Islamabad : Pakistan’s central bank has allowed the Chinese yuan to be used for bilateral trade and investment activities, ensuring that imports, exports and financing transactions can be denominated in the Chinese currency.
In a statement late Tuesday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stated that the Chinese yuan was an approved foreign currency for denominating foreign currency transactions in Pakistan, reports Xinhua news agency.
“SBP has already put in place the required regulatory framework which facilitates use of yuan in trade and investment transactions,” the statement said.
In terms of regulations in Pakistan, the yuan is at par with other international currencies such as US dollar, euro and the Japanese yen.
Indicating deepening economic ties between the two nations, the central bank said regarding recent local and global economic progress, specially an increase in trade and investment with Beijing under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it “foresees that yuan-denominated trade with China will increase significantly going forward; and will yield long term benefits for both the countries”.
Last month during the launch of Long Term Plan for the CPEC 2017-30, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that the government was examining a proposal to use the yuan for trade between China and Pakistan.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping
Beijing : Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said that he was ready to join his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in consolidating political and strategic mutual trust and expanding bilateral all-around pragmatic cooperation.
Xi made the pledge in his New Year greeting message to Putin, reports Xinhua news agency.
China seeks to promote international strategic coordination with Russia, and to work for new fruits in the development of bilateral ties, he said.
Noting that 2018 and 2019 will be the years of cooperation and exchanges between the two countries at local levels, Xi said the events will surely boost local exchanges of China and Russia, and help grow the popularity of the idea that the two sides share a long-standing friendship and seek common development and prosperity.
He said the passing year has seen important progress in the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, adding that the two sides have shown firm support for each other on questions concerning their respective core interests, and reaped key early harvest in docking China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union.
The President noted that the strategic and major projects of the two countries have been steadily moving forward, and the cooperation in innovation and agriculture, as well as people-to-people and media exchanges have been flourishing.
China and Russia have also maintained close and effective coordination in international and regional affairs, and have made important contribution in preserving world peace and stability, Xi added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
Reporting by Fuat Kabakci; Writing by Diyar Guldogan,
Beijing : Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated support for an independent Palestine state with East Jerusalem as its capital, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
“Peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved unless the Palestine issue is solved, as this issue is a root one in the region,” Wang was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Wang’s remarks came during his meeting with Ahmed Majdalani and Nabil Shaath — the representatives of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — in the capital Beijing.
He called on the international community to back a two-state solution and independent Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders.
Wang added the UN General Assembly vote — overwhelmingly rejecting the U.S. move on Jerusalem — both reflected the consensus of the international community and expressed the call for accelerating the peace process in the Middle East.
He also asked the Palestinian people to solve their problems through dialogue, to increase the role of the UN in this regard and raise their voice for peace, according to Xinhua.
On Dec. 6, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital despite worldwide opposition. The decision sparked angry demonstration across the Muslim world.
Following a UN Security Council resolution that would have passed unanimously but for a U.S. veto, the General Assembly passed a resolution spurning the U.S. move, 128-9.
General Assembly votes are not subject to vetos.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other top Turkish officials have been at the international forefront opposing the U.S. move, through sponsoring the UN resolution and calling an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, among other measures.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem might eventually serve as the capital of an independent state of Palestine.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Arul Louis,
United Nations : With unprecedented Chinese backing, the Security Council tightened the economic chokehold on North Korea by unanimously voting on Friday to impose the strictest sanctions on North Korea aiming to cut off most fuel supplies and ban major exports following Pyongyang’s latest missile test.
The resolution introduced by the US after intense lobbying won the support of China, which has had a special relationship with North Korea and had in the past opposed or tried to soften sanctions.
The new round of restrictions further tightens the sanctions imposed last month, which had been lightened to gain the support of Moscow and Beijing.
“This resolution ratchets up the pressure on North Korea even further, building on our last resolution, which included the strongest sanctions ever imposed on them,” US Permanent Representative Nikki Haley, who piloted it, told the Council.
Haley acknowledged Beijing’s cooperation saying: “I would like to specifically thank my Chinese colleagues for working with us on the negotiations.”
Beijing’s vote for the tougher sanctions indicates that its direct influence with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is waning and that China is recognising the global dangers from North Korea’s nuclear and missile arsenals.
The Charge d’Affaires at the Chinese Mission, Wu Haitao, said there was a risk of the situation spiraling out of control.
The resolution would reduce North Korea’s refined petroleum imports by 90 per cent from the 2017 mid-year level to 500,000 barrels per year, and it authorises the Council to further reduce petroleum imports if it carried out any missile or nuclear tests.
All North Korean exports and most imports are also banned under the resolution. It also requires the expulsion by the end of 2019 of all North Korean expatriate workers who are estimated to earn the government $500 million each year.
Fifteen North Koreans, who are bankers or are involved in weapons developments were put on a sanctions list banning their travel and freezing their assets.
The resolution also requires all nations to seize ships smuggling goods to North Korea.
Wu called for an end to all rhetoric that would escalate tensions and said that “tough posturing” only led to Pyongyang advancing its proliferation activities.
Haley softened her tone this time at the Council without the past threats of violent retaliation that matched Pyongyang’s rhetoric.
The high-level Council meeting on North Korea earlier this month attended by US Secretary of Rex Tillerson and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono paved the way for the latest sanctions because it sent a very clear message that the international community would not accept a nuclearised North Korea, Japan’s Permanent Representative Koro Bessho said at a news conference after the vote.
After the November 28 intercontinental ballistic missile test the campaign for the latest round of sanction began, he said.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
—IANS
