UAE backs China on Taiwan, condemns 'provocative visits' after Pelosi trip

UAE backs China on Taiwan, condemns 'provocative visits' after Pelosi trip

    Monday, August 08, 2022   No comments

A day after Pelosi's trip, on Thursday, the influential GCC state, UAE,  reiterated its support for China's "sovereignty" over Taiwan and condemned "provocative visits" after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the island earlier this week.

"The UAE affirmed its support for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the importance of respecting the 'One China' principle... the UAE indicated its concern over the impact of any provocative visits on stability and international peace," the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.

Pelosi landed in Taiwan as part of a wider Indo-Pacific tour on Tuesday - enraging China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province.

The UAE is a key US ally in the Middle East, but also has burgeoning ties with China. It has previously expressed strong support for China's sovereignty over Taiwan.

A Sky News investigation found earlier this year that the UAE was providing China with "black sites" to detain and forcibly disappear Uighur activists.

Abu Dhabi and Washington have taken differing stances on some key global issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine - with the UAE failing to follow the US in condemning Moscow for its actions.

The US reportedly intervened last year in Beijing's construction of a Chinese military base in the UAE.

China’s defense ministry issues fresh, rare warning ‘action the most powerful language’ over Pelosi’s Taiwan visit; reinforces resolve

China’s defense ministry issues fresh, rare warning ‘action the most powerful language’ over Pelosi’s Taiwan visit; reinforces resolve

    Sunday, July 31, 2022   No comments

Action is the most powerful language, said the Chinese Defense Ministry on Thursday as its spokesperson stressed the sensitivity of the Taiwan question again after China issued  six warnings against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan island over the past few days.

The frequency of Chinese warnings and the remarks different departments use fully demonstrate China's determination to take any necessary military measures to counter US provocations and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, analysts said. 

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will not tolerate any "Taiwan independence" moves or interference from external forces, and will resolutely stop such attempts, Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, said at Thursday's press briefing. 

The root cause of a turbulent Taiwan Straits is the collusion between "Taiwan independence" forces and external interfering forces, Wu said, urging relevant parties to learn to adapt to the new reality (PLA operations near the Straits), to reflect on their own deeds and "most importantly, to pull back from the brink." 

Though Wu was responding to a question about PLA operations on the Taiwan Straits, analysts interpreted Wu's words as another stern warning against the US government and some US politicians who are pushing Pelosi's possible visit to Taiwan island. [Read GT story here].

China main English language media also added its view warning of serious consequences in an editorial titled, US better clear the ‘mine’ of Pelosi’s Taiwan trip beforehand: Global Times editorial.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has laid a mine where China-US relations and the situation around the Taiwan Straits converge. She lit the match, but it remains uncertain whether she will truly ignite the mine. According to the itinerary of Pelosi's Asia trip as reported by US media, her trip includes Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, and the island of Taiwan was listed as "tentative." Many believe this is a trick by Pelosi, who is very likely to fly to Taiwan island from Japan and make a sudden visit.

This kind of sneaky trick is indeed difficult to predict, but one thing is certain: China will take strong measures to resolutely respond and counteract, and it will let the huge risk created by Pelosi have an impact on herself. This is not only a firm and clear attitude, but will certainly be accompanied by a strong and concrete course of action plan.

China's response has been clear, as always. "Those who play with fire will perish by it." This was said to Pelosi and the Taiwan secessionist forces that support her. A White House official called it a metaphor that China regularly tends to use. He completely misread and misjudged the essence and weight of this sentence. Any act of stepping on the red line will surely hit the iron wall of China's counterattack. China's repeated public warnings are by no means jokes. Washington should turn to history to see that China has always kept its word.

No matter from the perspective of international law or international morality, it is legitimate and necessary for China to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity from provocation. Today, China's will and ability in this regard is without doubt. US President Joe Biden has reiterated that he adheres to the one-China policy and does not support "Taiwan independence." What kind of behavior is a visit to Taiwan island by Washington's "No.3 figure"? If you come to offend me, I will make you bear the consequences. This is not China threatening or intimidating anyone, but safeguarding and defending its own core interests. [read the editorial here].

In Sunday, Chinese intelligence said it has information that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Taiwan on August 4 and meet with Taiwan's president in the capital, Taipei.

This Chinese announcement comes after a statement issued by Pelosi about her Asian tour that includes Asian countries, from which her visit to Taiwan was dropped.

China had warned America against Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, and said that the completion of the visit means a violation of its national sovereignty, and requires a firm response. Chinese government media said that it may reach a military response in response to the American insistence on this provocative visit.

Meanwhile, Chinese national media outlets appear to be preparing for war, replaying videos like this one:

Tony Blair: The world is on the verge of geopolitical changes; the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end

Tony Blair: The world is on the verge of geopolitical changes; the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end

    Sunday, July 17, 2022   No comments

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, pointed out that the world is on the verge of geopolitical changes, pointing out that the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end, and is moving towards multipolarity.

"The biggest geopolitical changes of this century will be provoked by China, not Russia," Blair said, in a lecture at a symposium organized by the British-American "Ditchley" Foundation.

He added that "the world will become, at least, bipolar, or perhaps multipolar, and we are approaching the end of Western hegemony in politics and economics."

He continued, "For the first time in modern history, the East can be on an equal footing with the West."

He added that China "is the second superpower in the world, and its economic potential and degree of participation in the global economy is higher than that of Russia."

He believed that "China has caught up with the United States in many technological fields, and is threatening to overtake the United States."

He pointed out that "the Chinese leadership is behaving more and more aggressively, and does not hide that it treats the West with contempt and is getting close to Russia, and it wants to solve the Taiwan problem at last."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that China will try to take Taiwan by force any time soon, however, we can no longer base our policy on the certainty that it won't," Blair said. China in the near future.

He described the differences in the positions of the Group of Twenty countries on the Ukrainian issue as a warning to the West, calling for building relations with China on the basis of the principle of strength and participation.

He called on the West to "increase military spending and remain strong enough to resist China in any future scenario, while maintaining relations with Beijing, acting in a pragmatic rather than aggressive manner, and demonstrating a willingness to mutual respect."

The former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, had confirmed, earlier, that the global geopolitical situation "will witness changes after the end of the war in Ukraine. It is natural that the interests of Russia and China will not be identical on all issues."

French President Emmanuel Macron also emphasized that the world is no longer bipolar, but rather multipolar.

Iran to obtain full membership in The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Iran to obtain full membership in The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

    Wednesday, July 13, 2022   No comments

After signing its first memorandum of obligations in Uzbekistan at this year's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Samarkand in September, Iran's accession to the full membership of the Euroasia-spanning organization will be finalized by April 2023, the Iranian Embassy in China disclosed to the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Earlier, Russia media outlet Sputnik reported on Monday that Iran is slated to join the SCO as a full-pledged member state this year and a memorandum of Iran's obligations as a SCO member will also be signed in Samarkand, citing a foreign ministry statement of the organization's rotating chair Uzbekistan.

As a country that has been long sanctioned and isolated by the US-led West, Iran, by joining the SCO that accounts for 40 percent of the world's population and 28 percent of global GDP, could expect a breakthrough in its geopolitical and economic status quo, observers said. 

Iran has also approached the SCO with a proposal to create a new single currency for carrying out trade among SCO members, in a push to counter the increasing weaponization of the US dollar-dominated global financial system, CGTN reported in June.

Tehran has also officially submitted its application to become a member of the BRICS group as of late June, three members of which are also part of the SCO - China, Russia and India, following a similar move by Argentina

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.

The SCO's main goals are as follows: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

The organisation has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent. The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a term of three years. Vladimir Norov (Uzbekistan) and Jumakhon Giyosov (Tajikistan) have held these positions, respectively, since 1 January 2019.

Currently:

• the SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;

• the SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Mongolia;

• the SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Iran, Argentina’s applications to BRICS will further define this block of nations

Iran, Argentina’s applications to BRICS will further define this block of nations

    Tuesday, June 28, 2022   No comments

Will BRICS become BRICSAI soon?

Iran's application to the BRICS, following a similar move by  Argentina,  are now formal. BRICS nation must decide.

China, this year's BRICS' chairmanship, actively supports the mechanism's expansion. China wants like-minded countries to join BRICS, that made Iran a very strong candidate. 

China also wanted a representative government of Muslims, so it approached Pakistan, mostly given its location and its role in the Road and Belt Initiative. India objected to including Pakistan. This strengethened Iran's position even more. 

Now BRICS nations need to decide on specific rules that will govern the expansion of the block of nations.

Being the host country, China engaged with Pakistan prior to the BRICS meetings, where decisions are taken after consultations with all BRICS members, the foreign ministry statement said. 

"We do hope that future engagement of the organization would be based on the principles of inclusivity keeping in view the overall interests of the developing world and in a manner that is devoid of narrow geopolitical considerations," said the statement.

"Regrettably one member blocked Pakistan's participation," The Hindu reported on Monday, citing Pakistan's Foreign Office. 

Read the story as reported in Chinese media

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi: Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on holding new meetings with Raisi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi: Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on holding new meetings with Raisi

    Friday, June 24, 2022   No comments

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today, Wednesday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on holding new meetings with his Iranian counterpart, Ibrahim Raisi.

At the start of his meeting with the Iranian president in Tehran this evening, Lavrov said: "President Putin asked me to convey to you his warmest greetings and best wishes. He looks forward to new meetings with you."

He noted that the Russian president holds several meetings every day, and they are "primarily related to adapting the economic, social, banking and financial sphere to the realities that are now emerging as a result of the selfish and aggressive policy of the West."

"All countries that are negatively affected by the selfish approach of the United States and its orbiters have an objective need to reshape their economic relations in a way that does not depend on the whims and whims of our Western partners," Lavrov added.

This is Lavrov's first visit during the era of the new Iranian government that was formed last August. The Russian minister visited Tehran in April 2021 and held talks with his Iranian counterpart at the time, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

In related news; Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian announced that President Ebrahim Raisi will participate in the BRICS summit, which will be held in China.

Amir Abdollahian wrote in a tweet on his Twitter account: "The BRICS group of countries promises their great potential and innovative vision to be an effective engine for global development and peace."

The Iranian minister added, "By accepting the invitation of the Chinese president to attend the BRICS Plus summit, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, during his participation in the summit, will explain Iran's views and capabilities," stressing that his country is taking advantage of any opportunity in the form of "dynamic diplomacy" to advance its national goals.

Yesterday, the Chinese Foreign Minister welcomed the Iranian President's attendance at the BRICS meeting, expressing his hope that the course of diplomacy and dialogue would lead to an agreement in the Vienna negotiations.

Iran's ambassador to Beijing, Mohammad Keshavarzzadeh, said that a phone call took place between the Foreign Minister and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, indicating that the two sides discussed bilateral and international issues.

And the "BRICS" group saw the light of day in 2006, to form an international alliance in the face of Western domination of the world, and turned into an integrated political and economic group.

Its first summit was held on June 16, 2009, under the name "BRIC", in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, with the participation of: Brazil, Russia, India and China first, then joined by South Africa in 2010, becoming the name of the International Alliance. BRICS, a word formed and derived from the initial letters of the name of each member state.

The population of the BRICS countries constitutes about 45% of the world's population, and the area of ​​its member states covers more than 39 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to 27% of the total land area.

The size of the BRICS economies exceeds the GDP of the Group of Seven major industrial countries (the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, France, Canada and Italy).

According to Iranian media reports, Chinese President Xi Jinping as the host of BRICS Summit 2022, has invited President Rayeesi to attend the meeting and deliver a speech on Friday.

Rayeesi will discuss the Islamic Republic's viewpoints on international issues and the development of trade and economic cooperation with other countries at the event, which will be held on Friday.

The meeting will discuss "high-level talks for global development".  

Iran is the only country in West Asia region that has been invited to attend the BRICS+ summit.

BRICS expansion

China proposed expanding the BRICS grouping during a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in May. Though the suggestion was welcomed by other member countries, there have been no official announcements of who the new members might be.

“We can get a sense of which countries might be invited by looking at their position on Ukraine and their voting behaviour regarding the conflict at the United Nations,” Huang said. “Those developing countries who abstained or supported Russia may be recruited to join.”

Message to US: China not hesitate to start war

Message to US: China not hesitate to start war

    Friday, June 17, 2022   No comments

Officials reported that China's defense minister warned his US counterpart Friday that if Taiwan declares independence, Beijing will "not hesitate to start a war."

Wu Qian, the spokesperson of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, quoted defense minister Wei Fenghe saying  "If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost," during a meeting with Lloyd Austin. 

The meeting is Austin and Wei's first since they spoke on the phone on April 20, which was the first such call since the Biden administration took office.

According to the Chinese defense ministry, the Chinese minister also promised to "smash to smithereens any 'Taiwan independence' plot and resolutely uphold the unification of the motherland."

He stressed that "Taiwan is China's Taiwan... Using Taiwan to contain China will never prevail."

Austin told Fenghe during the talks that Beijing must "refrain from further destabilizing actions toward Taiwan", the US Department of Defense said.  

In related news, China on Friday formally launched its third aircraft carrier during a ceremony marking the landing of the ship at a shipyard in Shanghai, CCTV reported.

China signs the security agreement with the Solomon Islands, drawing criticism from the US and Australia

China signs the security agreement with the Solomon Islands, drawing criticism from the US and Australia

    Tuesday, April 19, 2022   No comments

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday, that Beijing and the Solomon Islands signed a joint security cooperation agreement.

The official Chinese CGTN network quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin as saying that "officials from China and the Solomon Islands signed a framework agreement for bilateral security cooperation."

"The security cooperation framework signed by China and Solomon Islands does not target any third party, and does not conflict with the existing bilateral or multilateral security cooperation mechanisms of the Solomon Islands," the Chinese newspaper, Global Times, quoted the Chinese foreign minister as saying.

On the other hand, the United States expressed its concern over China's conclusion of a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, to which a delegation of senior American diplomats went, in an effort to "thwart Beijing's expansion" in this strategic region.

"Despite the statements of the Solomon Islands government, the broad nature of the security agreement leaves the door open for the People's Republic of China to deploy military forces in the Solomon Islands," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

In turn, Australia asked the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavarre, not to sign the security agreement with China.

Two days ago, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed that "Australia will continue to cooperate with the Solomon Islands on security issues."

The Chinese government respended to US criticism by asking: "Why does the US bother to visit an island country where its embassy has been shut down for 29 years? To care about the country's development status or try to achieve other purposes?" 

The timing and the rhetoric signal that China is using current events to emphacize Western states' double standard by connecting the issues of the Solomon Islands, Taiwan, and Ukraine. The Chinese leaders seem unconvinced of the need to speak against Russia's war in Ukraine because of the utility of Putin's justification of his operation in Ukraine to China's security concerns related to US and EU support to Taiwan and US and Australia's objection to an agreement with the Solomon Islands: If Ukraine has the right to join NATO,  Solomon Islands, too, should have the right to enter into security agreement with China.

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under the framework of the new AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

This analysis seems to make the connection.

As the US, the UK and Australia announced they would cooperate to develop hypersonic weapons under the framework of the new AUKUS alliance and the NATO leaders are set - for the first time ever - to discuss China's influence and "coercive policies" in its next strategic concept, analysts said that the US is making use of the Ukraine crisis to speed up the coordination of NATO and the "Asian version of NATO" to serve its purpose of containing China and keep its global hegemony, which will bring greater harm to both regional and global peace, and risk a regional arms race. 

read the article in its source

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.

The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.

The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.

“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”

Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.”

read more from the AP story...

China's major English language online outlet said this about the event:

A fleet of six Y-20 cargo planes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was reportedly spotted in Serbia on Saturday, with observers saying on Sunday that it could be the largest overseas operation by the Chinese domestically developed large transport plane yet, displaying the country's strategic transport capabilities.

Citing commercial flight trackers, US news website thedrive.com reported on Saturday that the six Y-20 aircraft were first spotted heading west in Turkish airspace late Friday night, and later local residents took photos of the Y-20s, which allegedly landed in Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia. The aircraft later flew over the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey again on their way back to China.

China has not made an official announcement about the mission as of press time, but the Global Times learned that the Y-20s indeed have carried out such a flight.

Read GT story here...

Analysts have already connected this event to the war in Ukraine.

As the Ukraine war rages on, Serbia is feeling the heat because of its ties with Russia. While in the U.N. General Assembly, Serbia voted in favor of the resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity, Belgrade avoided imposing economic sanctions against Russia.

With its partnership with Russia under duress, Serbian ties with Beijing appear carefree in comparison. Indeed, the war in Ukraine provides Serbia with an opportunity to continue and boost the policy, which was already unfolding even before the war, of replacing Russia with China as Serbia’s primary non-Western partner. This policy is even more appealing as Serbia is about to undergo an electoral cycle in April 2022, making China a perfect instrument of domestic promotion for the Serbian leadership.

In the first visit of its kind... the Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Kabul

In the first visit of its kind... the Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Kabul

    Thursday, March 24, 2022   No comments

 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul today, according to a Taliban official, a week before Beijing hosts a meeting between Afghanistan's neighbors to discuss ways to help the country after the Taliban seized power.

In the context, a government official, Ahmed Yasir, wrote in a tweet, that "the Chinese Foreign Minister arrived in Kabul to meet officials from the Islamic Emirate."

The minister arrived in Kabul from Islamabad, where he participated, over two days, in a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

It is noteworthy that China shares with Afghanistan a small part of its border, 76 kilometers at a very high altitude, but Beijing has long feared that its neighbor could become a base for separatists and Islamists from the Uighur ethnicity.

Before the Taliban seized power on August 15, Beijing sought to maintain its ties with the hardline Islamic movement, at a time when US and NATO forces were withdrawing from Afghanistan.

View from China: China sends tough signal ahead of Xi-Biden talk to set firm position on bilateral ties, Ukraine issue

View from China: China sends tough signal ahead of Xi-Biden talk to set firm position on bilateral ties, Ukraine issue

    Friday, March 18, 2022   No comments

 

Just hours before the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden on Friday, China, in a rare move, sent tough signals, stating it will never accept US threats and coercion over the Ukraine issue and vowing to make a strong response if the US takes measures harming China's legitimate interests. 

In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, an anonymous Chinese official said China accepted the US' proposal for the phone call between the heads of the two countries on China-US relations and the Ukraine situation out of considerations of bilateral relations, promoting peace talks and urging the US to take right stance. 

Continue to read the article...

China delivers first J-10CE fighter jets to Pakistan in a milestone move

China delivers first J-10CE fighter jets to Pakistan in a milestone move

    Friday, March 11, 2022   No comments

The Pakistan Air Force on Friday held an induction ceremony for the first batch of six J-10CE fighter jets in Kamra, with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attending the event.

The official commissioning of China's new-generation main battle aircraft into the Pakistan Air Force marks the systematized, organic export of such aviation equipment by China, and is yet another major milestone in the export of China's advanced aviation equipment, the Global Times learned from the aircraft's maker, state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), on Friday.

With the delivery of the J-10CEs, China and Pakistan opened a new chapter in aviation defense cooperation, and it will significantly contribute to the further deepening of the China-Pakistan All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership, AVIC said.

Read article...

China seeks clarification from the United States on military biological activities

China seeks clarification from the United States on military biological activities

    Tuesday, March 08, 2022   No comments

US urged to clarify biomilitary activities, accept multilateral inspections as Ukraine found to have 30 biolabs

China has urged the US to make full clarification of its biological militarization activities at home and abroad and accept multilateral inspections, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, following media reports that revealed a network of about 30 biological laboratories were formed in Ukraine at the request of the US.

The US' biological laboratories in Ukraine have aroused great concern, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in remarks during a press conference. Zhao cited media reports as saying that the biological laboratories store large quantities of dangerous viruses, and Russia has found during its military operations that the US is using these facilities for biomilitary projects.

 read article...

Full text and summary of the 25-year China-Iran deal covering Trade and Military Collaboration

Full text and summary of the 25-year China-Iran deal covering Trade and Military Collaboration

    Friday, July 17, 2020   No comments

Media review: Iran replaces its nuclear deal with the P5+1 with one with China

China and Iran are reported to have quietly drafted a comprehensive military and trade partnership. The deal would make way for about $400 billion worth of Chinese investments into Iran’s key sectors, such as energy and infrastructure, over the next 25 years.

The deal:

An 18-page draft of the proposed agreement, the Persian version of it available at the end of this summary,

Media reports: Chinese special forces, Dark Night Tiger, deployed in Syria

Media reports: Chinese special forces, Dark Night Tiger, deployed in Syria

    Friday, December 15, 2017   No comments

Day after the leader of "Islamic Party of Turkestan" in Syria, Sheikh Abdul Haq, threatened China during a military parade showcasing dozens of armored vehicles, multiple reports have revealed that Chinese Ministry of Defense sent China's elite counter-terrorism "Dark Night Tiger" and "Tigers of Siberia" special forces to Syria to fight the group there.

what will China do if the U.S. or North Korea launch first strike?

what will China do if the U.S. or North Korea launch first strike?

    Friday, August 11, 2017   No comments

ISR comment: While the U.S. and North Korea increased their threats to one another, China moved to make its position clear. Although the views of this news outlet are not direct official government declarations, reports nonetheless represent China's inclination made public before issuing policy statements. The Global Times outlined China's position as follows:
 

Beijing is not able to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down at this time. It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China's interests, China will respond with a firm hand.

China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.

Point of View from China: Despite refugee crisis, wrangle over Syria sadly continues

Point of View from China: Despite refugee crisis, wrangle over Syria sadly continues

    Thursday, September 10, 2015   No comments

By Sun Xiaobo

A wave of mainly Syrian refugees has overwhelmed European countries and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced on Wednesday plans to distribute about 120,000 additional asylum seekers. But meanwhile, the US, which has been shielded from the situation due to its geographic advantages, continued to wrestle with Russia over the Syrian issue.

Amid recent allegations of a Russian military buildup in Syria, the US asked Bulgaria and Greece to deny permission to Russian military transport planes bound for Syria to fly over their territories. US Secretary of State John Kerry even called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, warning that Russian actions could "risk confrontation" with the US-led coalition.

ISIL kills 3 of its Chinese members who attempted to leave

ISIL kills 3 of its Chinese members who attempted to leave

    Thursday, February 05, 2015   No comments

The Islamic State (IS) has killed three Chinese militants who tried to leave the group, an official from the Kurdish security force in Iraq told the Global Times.

The Kurdish security official  said Wednesday that in the past six months, IS has executed 120 of its members who attempted to escape from the group and leave Iraq and Syria. Among the 120, three were Chinese citizens and were members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a terrorist organization that is also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party.

In an exclusive interview to CCTV correspondent Wang Weiwei, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that Syria plans to honor its commitment to the chemical weapons disarmament deal

In an exclusive interview to CCTV correspondent Wang Weiwei, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that Syria plans to honor its commitment to the chemical weapons disarmament deal

    Monday, September 23, 2013   No comments

In an exclusive interview to CCTV correspondent Wang Weiwei, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that Syria plans to honor its commitment to the chemical weapons disarmament deal.
 

But he warned that rebels could throw a spanner in the works when UN weapons inspectors arrive to oversee the destruction of the weapons. Al-Assad gave more details in the exclusive interview.
Reporter: "According to the US-Russia's agreement, after the list is handed in to the OPCW, UN inspectors will enter Syria again this November. And all weapons should be removed from Syria or destroyed by mid-2014. Is the Syrian government able to meet the timeline?"