Tag: China

  • Qureshi leaves for ‘very important’ China visit to represent Pakistan’s civil, military stance

    Qureshi leaves for ‘very important’ China visit to represent Pakistan’s civil, military stance

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has left for a two-day visit to China to attend the second round of the China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, a statement from the Foreign Office said on Thursday.

    In a video message released before his departure, the foreign minister said he was going on a “very important trip to China” and that he had a discussion with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan before leaving.

    “I am leaving on a very important visit to China. I had a discussion with the prime minister regarding this visit yesterday. My delegation will represent the stance of the political and military leadership of the country. I am hopeful that my meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi will prove to be beneficial for both countries,” Qureshi said.

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    Qureshi, who is accompanied by senior officials, will visit China’s Hainan province where he will lead the Pakistani delegation in the dialogue, the FO statement added. He is scheduled to return tomorrow (Aug 21).

    State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will lead the Chinese side during the dialogue, according to the statement.

    “During the dialogue, both sides will discuss cooperation on COVID-19, bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the FO said.

    “The visit will play an important role in further strengthening Pakistan-China ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ and deepen strategic communication and coordination with China on a range of issues.”

    The first round of the China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue took place in March 2019 in which both sides vowed to protect the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from “all kinds of threats”.

    Reports emerging on Wednesday suggested the foreign minister will “hold meetings with his Chinese counterpart and senior leadership while important decisions will be taken regarding the visit of the Chinese president to Pakistan.”

    He was also expected to call upon Chinese President Xi Jinping during the trip.

    The trip comes after PM Imran, earlier this week, said it should be clear that Islamabad’s future is tied to Beijing which has stood by Pakistan through thick and thin.

    Speaking to senior journalist Kamran Khan during a wide-ranging interview, he said that both countries recognised each other’s importance and were further strengthening mutual ties. “Unfortunately, western countries are using India against China,” he added.

    The premier also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping was scheduled to visit Pakistan in May this year but his visit was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. “His visit is now expected towards the end of the year.”

  • You can now join CPEC as an intern, here’s how

    China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairperson Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa has announced the launch of a three-month internship aimed at human and social development.

    In a series of tweets, Bajwa said in the spirit of youth empowerment, CPEC has offered the youth an opportunity to develop skills and experiences that would allow the country to grow and prosper in the future.

    With 60 per cent of the population falling under the youth category, a tremendous opportunity exists to develop young leaders with maximum productivity vis-à-vis other regional economies, he said.

    The initiative has been well-received by Twitterati.

  • Naya Pakistan: Optical fiber operationalised from Khunjerab to Islamabad

    Naya Pakistan: Optical fiber operationalised from Khunjerab to Islamabad

    China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority chairman and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that new optical fiber cable has been operationalised from Khunjerab to Islamabad.

    An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. It is used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than electrical cables.

    In a tweet on Sunday, Bajwa said that in the next phase it will be laid from Islamabad to Karachi and Islamabad to Gwadar as part of the digital highway plan.

    He also said that foundation for the digital revolution project was being processed in conjunction with China.

    Earlier on Friday, the CPEC Authority chief said that the Kohala and Azad Pattan power projects would generate 8,000 jobs and an investment of $4 billion over the years.

    Pakistan and China have signed an agreement for the construction of these two projects as part of the CPEC project. With an investment of $1.5 billion, the Azad Pattan project will involve no fuel import, enabling the country to move towards cheaper and greener power generation while creating local job opportunities.

  • India accuses China of preparing attack on border troops

    India accuses China of preparing attack on border troops

    India has accused Chinese troops of meticulously preparing an attack on its soldiers on the treacherous Himalayan border, claiming they erected a tent on the Indian side, dammed a river, brought in machinery and then lay in wait with stones and batons wrapped in barbed wire, The Guardian reported.

    The incident on Monday night, in which 20 Indian soldiers died and 76 were injured, was the worst violence between India and China in 45 years. China has not said whether it sustained any casualties.

    Ten Indian soldiers who were reportedly captured by Chinese troops during the attack were back in India on Thursday night. China said it had not seized any Indian personnel.

    Both sides continue to blame the other for the clash. China is now claiming sovereignty over the Galwan valley in Ladakh, where the attack happened, and has accused Indian troops of three times crossing into its territory. “The responsibility entirely lies with Indian side,” said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs.

    India accused China of carrying out a “premeditated and planned action” on its side of the border. Satellite images of the Galwan Valley taken by Planet Labs, an imaging company, in the days before the clash appear to show increased activity on the Chinese side, including the damming of a river and the movement of troops and machinery close to the disputed and poorly defined border.

    The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said its analysis of satellite images found there was “evidence that strongly suggests People’s Liberation Army forces have been regularly crossing into Indian territory temporarily on routine patrol routes”.

    Indian officials said commanders from the Indian and Chinese sides had met on 13 June and agreed to each retreat back two kilometres in the Galwan valley and Pangong Lake area.

    But rather than retreating, the officials said, Chinese troops erected a tent in disputed territory close to what is known as Patrolling Point 14. They said India’s 16 Bihar Regiment, led by Col Santosh Babu, dismantled the structure in an attempt to push back the PLA troops.

    According to accounts given to the Hindu newspaper, when Babu and his troops later approached the Chinese side to challenge the refusal to retreat, they were ambushed by PLA forces on the steep mountain precipice. The Chinese allegedly unblocked the dammed river, releasing a rush of water to destabilise Indian soldiers, and they attacked with stones and makeshift spiked weapons.

    Indian troops retaliated, it was reported, and reinforcements were summoned on both sides until there were upwards of 600 soldiers in hand-to-hand combat in the dark and icy conditions. No shots were fired.

    There were reports that the Indian soldiers were unarmed, but India’s external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said: “Let us get the facts straight. All troops on border duty always carry arms, especially when leaving post. Those at Galwan on 15 June did so.”

    Due to the treacherous conditions, many of the bodies of the Indian soldiers could not be retrieved until the next morning, by helicopters working with troops and border police. The injured were taken to hospitals in the Ladakh city of Leh.

    India and China have agreed to continue the process of disengagement that was first agreed on 6 June, and discussions are ongoing through political and diplomatic channels. Army generals from both sides have also had three days of talks at Patrolling Point 14. However, the Indian army and air force in Ladakh remain on high alert.

  • Projection: August likely to be the worst month for Pakistan with one million coronavirus cases

    Projection: August likely to be the worst month for Pakistan with one million coronavirus cases

    The effects of poorly managed or no lockdowns at all are raising their ugly heads as Pakistanis has reached the 14th position in the global ranking of countries most affected by the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — with 165,062 cases, while it now ranks 6th among nations with the most number of active cases around the globe, as per Worldometers.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this year warned that South Asia could become yet another new epicenter of the pandemic, however, despite the warning and rapidly increasing number of coronavirus cases, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has only announced the imposition of “smart lockdowns” with only certain areas in worst-hit cities being put under restrictions.

    The decision was taken keeping in view the consequent struggles of the poor, whom the government believes might not be able to survive a complete lockdown and its effects on the already deteriorating economic conditions.

    While experts, including Dr Attaur Rahman of PM’s task force, believe the government has already failed to deal with the pandemic and is grossly under-reporting both COVID-19 fatalities and infections, the virus is yet to peak — by the end of July or August –, data suggests.

    An analysis by The Current showed that before lockdown restrictions were eased in Pakistan ahead of Eidul Fitr, the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases stood at 24,648 during the first week of May. The figure then crawled up to 122,574 by June 11, while the number of coronavirus cases as of this moment stands past 165,000 with thousands of cases being reported every day despite a low testing capacity.

    It is estimated that the actual number of infections is very high with Lahore alone having more than 2 million cases by now.

    Pakistan has experienced its largest month-wise jump since the pandemic began, with 69,910 cases being reported between May 6 to June 6. Earlier, 3,858 COVID-19 cases were recorded between March 6 and April 6 while 20,209 were reported between April 6 to May 6.

    According to projections, the figure is likely to reach a million by August 6 if strict lockdowns aren’t imposed and social distancing guidelines are not followed.

    A comparison with the best and worst managed lockdowns from across the globe also puts things into perspective.

    Country Outcome
      New Zealand
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a strict lockdown on March 25 when 100 people had tested positive and no deaths had been reported.   After a 76-day lockdown, New Zealand lifted all restrictions, declaring the country ‘corona free’ but borders remain closed. No new case for more than two weeks has been reported in the country except three suspected ones.
    Wuhan
    The capital of Hubei province of China was the origin of the deadly virus, where 11 million residents were locked up at their homes since January. After an effective 77-day lockdown, Hubei reports zero COVID-19 infections and the country has reported zero coronavirus deaths since January.        

    On the other hand:

    Country Outcome
    India
    On March 25, India imposed a countrywide lockdown that was called a curfew by PM Narendra Modi. The development had come when 519 confirmed cases and 10 deaths had been reported across India.   A bit over two months later, with India easing lockdowns and shopping malls, restaurants as well as temples being re-opened, it has become the country with 4th highest number of coronavirus cases in the world.
    Iran
    Iran shut schools, postponed events and discouraged travel since the country reported its first COVID-19 death in February. Despite these measures, the number of deaths and infections continued to grow until a countrywide lockdown was imposed in March.   With the lockdown being eased from mid-April to May 26 when everything was reopened, including shopping malls, parks, religious shrines, restaurants and historical sites, the number of deaths has jumped to nearly 10,000 with over 200,000 infections.

    By the time this report was filed, Sindh topped the chart with most infections in Pakistan (62,269), with Punjab trailing behind at 61,678, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) at 20,182, Islamabad at 9,941, Balochistan 8,998 and Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) at 1,225 and 769 infections, respectively.

  • Indian anchors fall for fake WhatsApp forward, claim 30 Chinese soldiers dead in clash

    Indian anchors fall for fake WhatsApp forward, claim 30 Chinese soldiers dead in clash

    At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in an armed clash with China in Galwan Valley of Ladakh earlier this week.

    While the number of Chinese casualties is still unclear, anchors of an Indian news channel have claimed that 30 were killed, reading out their names from a fake Whatsapp forward message.

    While the message was falsely credited to Chinese daily tabloid newspaper Global Times, there’s no evidence to support its validity.

    However, later in its bulletin, the news channel probably noticed the faux pas and mentioned that the information could be a “fake forward”.

    Following this, several Indian news outlets fact-checked this and found that no such information had been shared by Global Times. A search on the organisation’s website also led to no results while the news organisation has not shared any such information on its Twitter account as well.

    Meanwhile, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Global Times, tweeted that the Chinese government had not released the official number of casualties.

    “My understanding is the Chinese side doesn’t want people of the two countries to compare the casualties number so [as] to avoid stoking public mood. This is goodwill from Beijing,” Xijin wrote.

  • Plane makes emergency landing after ‘upset passenger over breakup’ cracks window

    Plane makes emergency landing after ‘upset passenger over breakup’ cracks window

    A plane made an emergency landing after a drunk woman broke a window during the flight. She was reportedly upset because her boyfriend broke up with her. The incident occurred last month during a domestic Loong Airlines flight in China.

    As per reports, 29-year-old Li “lost control of her emotions” on the flight on May 25.

    Photos doing rounds on social media show Li crying on her seat and striking the glass window even as squad members and other passengers tried to restrain and calm her. She cracked the first layer of the plane window by hitting it repeatedly.

    After the woman broke the window, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. The plane was supposed to travel from Xining to the coastal city of Yancheng. However, the pilot was forced to make an emergency stop in Zhengzhou.

    Image credit: Weibo.com

    Zhengzhou police said that Li’s boyfriend had ended the relationship which resulted in the outburst of emotions. They said that Li had consumed half a liter of the Chinese grain alcohol known as ‘baijiu‘ before boarding the flight. The beverage has an alcohol volume of between 35 to 60 percent.

    Luckily, nobody was hurt during the mid-air scare. Crew passengers managed to confine the woman before the plane touched down in Zhengzhou, where she was detained by police.

    Her blood alcohol content was measured at 160mg/100ml. Police have not revealed how long the woman was remanded in custody for, or whether she will be fined for damaging the aircraft.

  • China kills 20 Indian soldiers in border clash

    China kills 20 Indian soldiers in border clash

    In an armed conflict between two nuclear-armed neighbours, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh after a “violent face-off” with Chinese troops ensued.

    According to Indian media reports, both sides “have disengaged” after 17 Indian troops were injured.

    The injured troops “exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries”, ANI reported, adding this had brought the death toll, from the earlier reported three to 20.

    According to earlier reports by Indian media, three troops, including an officer and two soldiers were among those killed near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

    “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation,” an official statement said.

    Meanwhile, British news outlet The Telegraph, quoting Indian army sources, reported that four soldiers are currently missing and a further 32 “were handed back after being captured”.

    Indian media also reported that 40 Chinese soldiers were killed in the clash, however, the news was soon retracted.

    India and China have been locked in a standoff in the western Himalayas for weeks, though there had been no casualties on either side.

    In Beijing, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said that Indian forces had twice crossed the border illegally on Monday and attacked Chinese personnel. He said the Chinese side had “lodged strong protests” but continued to work toward resolving the tensions between the two countries.

    According to the Hindustan Times, Beijing accused the Indian army of provoking and attacking Chinese soldiers after a border meeting to de-escalate the ongoing tension led to a “physical conflict” between the two sides. Reuters’ report suggested that Beijing warned New Delhi not to take unilateral action or stir up trouble.

    The Asian giants have rival claims to vast swathes of territory along their 3,500 kilometers Himalayan border, but the disputes have remained largely peaceful since a border war in 1962.

  • Twitter slammed in China, Turkey, Russia after removing ‘manipulative’ accounts

    Twitter has removed over 200,000 handles for spreading pro-China and Russia messages while also boosting support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1271186240323432452?s=20

    The company said “a core network” of 23,750 highly active Chinese accounts had been removed, along with another 150,000 “amplifier accounts”.

    Amplifier accounts share content to increase engagement that increases word-of-mouth exposure.

    Twitter said the Chinese network had links to an earlier state-backed operation dismantled last year by Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube, which had been pushing misleading narratives about political dynamics in Hong Kong.

    Twitter said 23,750 accounts were the main focus while other accounts were identified as helping to boost the messages.

    Twitter also revealed it has shut down more than a thousand Russian-based misinformation accounts.

    In an official statement on fake Turkish Twitter accounts, they said that “those accounts were fake profiles designed to support the president and were single-handedly managed by a central authority”.

    However, Erdogan’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun denied the allegations through his official Twitter handle while stating that it was an “attempt to smear the Turkish government and a popular political movement, which was unacceptable”.

    In general, the entire network was involved in a range of manipulative and coordinated activities. They were tweeting predominantly in Chinese, Russian and Turkish languages and spreading geopolitical narratives for political agendas.

    Last week, Twitter also accused United States (US) President Donald Trump of making false claims in some of his posts, although the platform has come under fire for not removing coronavirus misinformation.

    Earlier this week, the company said it was trialing a new “read before you retweet” pop-up aimed to promote “informed discussions”.

    A message will appear on articles that users share without actually following the link to the article.

  • ‘Chinese president orders army to prepare for war’

    ‘Chinese president orders army to prepare for war’

    Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered his army to strengthen the training of its troops and “prepare for war”, foreign media outlets reported.

    The Chinese president said that it was important to “comprehensively strengthen the training of troops and prepare for war”, “resolutely safeguard national sovereignty” and “safeguard the overall strategic stability of the country”.

    Xi’s speech comes amid rising tensions with the United States (US) and escalating clashes with the Indian army at the Ladakh border. Both armies are said to have deployed additional troops in sensitive areas along the boundary with experts predicting a lengthy standoff.

    As per a report by ThePrint, Beijing has also increased up security on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by locating an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 troops near the Pangong Lake.

    Xi, who chairs China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), made the comments at a meeting of the delegation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s parliament.

    He emphasised on preparing for a military struggle “…to flexibly carry out actual combat military training, and to comprehensively improve our military’s ability to carry out military missions”.

    “This epidemic prevention and control struggle is a practical test for national defence and military reform, fully embodies the effectiveness of the reform, and also puts forward new requirements for reform,” he added.

    Two days back, Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, criticised the efforts of some US politicians to fabricate “rumours” and “stigmatise” China to blame it for the pandemic.