A total of 22 miners were trapped underground following a blast at the mine in Qixia on January 10…reports Asian Lite News
A day after 11 trapped workers were rescued from a gold mine in China’s Shandong province, authorities on Monday retrieved the bodies of the 10 other miners, while one was still reported to be missing.
A total of 22 miners were trapped underground following a blast at the mine in Qixia on January 10, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We will not stop searching for the missing miner,” said Chen Fei, mayor of Yantai, adding that the rescue work is extremely difficult as the underground water is very deep.
According to Chen, the 11 rescued miners are receiving proper medical treatment, and DNA tests are being conducted to confirm the identities of the deceased.
The investigation into the cause of the accident is still underway.
Mining accidents are not uncommon in China, where the industry safety regulations can be poorly enforced, according to a BBC report.
In December 2020, 23 miners died after a carbon monoxide leak at a coal mine.
In September, 16 workers were killed at another mine on the outskirts of Chongqing, also due to carbon monoxide.
In December 2019, an explosion at a coal mine in Guizhou province, south-west China, killed at least 14 people.
India and China held 16 hours-long marathon military dialogue to resolve an ongoing border dispute and thinning of forces along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, government official said on Monday. The details of the meeting are yet to be known.
The ninth Corps Commander level talks between both the countries took place at the Moldo Meeting point almost two months of last dialogue.
It started at 10.30 am on Sunday and ended at 2.30 a.m. on Monday.
Lieutenant General P.G.K. Menon, the Corps Commander of Leh-based HQ 14 Corps, led the Indian delegation. India has sought complete disengagement and withdrawing of forces from the disputed areas.
The military commanders to convey the details of the meeting to Prime Minister Office.
The Ministry of External Affairs representative was also part of dialogue.
The eight Corps Commander level talks had taken place happened on November 6. Though the talks had ended in a deadlock, both countries had agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels, and take forward the discussions, push for the settlement of other outstanding issues, so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane earlier this month said the forces are ready for a long haul along the Line of Actual Control but hoped for an amicable solution in its nine month long conflict with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
“We are prepared to hold our ground where we are for as long as it takes to achieve our national goals and interest,” General Naravane had said.
Since no thinning of troops happened the soldiers of both the countries are poised to remain exposed to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
On August 30, India had occupied critical mountain heights on the southern bank of the Pangong Lake like Rechin La, Rezang La, Mukpari, and Tabletop that were unmanned till now. India also made some deployments near the Blacktop.
The movement was carried out after the Chinese tried to make a provocative military move.
Now, dominance at these 13 peaks allows India to dominate Spangur Gap under Chinese control and also the Moldo garrison on the Chinese side.
At the height of the standoff, in a violence face-ff last year between the two sides at Galwan Valley, India had lost 20 of her soldiers, while the Chinese side an unknown number.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday that the government has decided to impose sanctions against former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and 27 other high-ranking officials of the Trump administration, accusing them of “prejudice and hatred” against Beijing.
The announcement came a day after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the US on Wednesday. Former President Donald Trump did not attend the ceremony.
Besides Pompeo, the other individuals include Peter Navarro (incumbent Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy), Robert O’Brien (former National Security Adviser), David R. Stilwell (former Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs), Matthew Pottinger (former Deputy National Security Advisor), Alex Azar (former Secretary of Health and Human Services), Keith J. Krach (incumbent Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment), and Kelly Craft (former Ambassador to the UN), John Bolton (former National Security Advisor) and Stephen K. Bannon (former White House Chief Strategist), Xinhua news agency reported.
The spokesperson said that these individuals “have been mainly responsible for a series of crazy US moves on China-related issues”.
“These individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China.
“They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China,” the spokesperson said.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said: “Over the past few years, some anti-China politicians in the US, out of their selfish political interests and prejudice and hatred against China and showing no regard for the interests of the Chinese and American people, have planned, promoted and executed the crazy moves which have gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s interests, offended the Chinese people, and seriously disrupted China-US relations.”
The spokesperson further said that the Beijing government was “firmly resolved to defend China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests”.
Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying claimed that the Trump administration had made numerous “fundamental mistakes”, resulting in “serious damage” to bilateral ties.
Hua hoped that the new administration under Biden would “look at China rationally and objectively, meet China halfway and, in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, push China-US relations back to the right track of healthy and stable development as soon as possible”, CNN reported.
Thursday’s announcement came more than a week after Pompeo on January 11 announced that the US would lift decades-old restrictions on contacts between American and Taiwanese officials, a decision which prompted threats from China.
In another statement which came less than 24 hours before leaving office, the former Secretary of State declared that China “has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang”.
“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state,” he added.
The Trump administration had also directly blamed China for the global coronavirus crisis.
The NHC has sent two medical experts from Shandong to Qixia to guide in the preparation of emergency medical aid….reports Asian Lite News
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) on Tuesday sent an expert team to Qixia in Shandong province to guide and assist the rescue mission for the trapped gold mine workers.
The team consists of five medical experts from leading hospitals in Beijing, Xinhua news agency quoted the Commission as saying.
The NHC has sent two medical experts from Shandong to Qixia to guide in the preparation of emergency medical aid.
The blast took place on January 10, and 22 workers are trapped underground.
Tuesday’s development comes after the trapped miners sent a note on Sunday, saying that 12 workers were still alive, while the state of the other 10 was unknown.
In a related development, China’s National Mine Safety Administration has ordered a comprehensive inspection of the country’s non-coal mines to forestall major accidents.
According to a directive issued by the administration, the campaign will last till the end of March, with efforts focusing on preventing the occurrence of severe accidents including collapses in mined-out areas and explosions.
In recent years, the workplace safety situation of mines in China has been steadily improving.
But the sector still faces safety risks given the huge number of scattered mines, many of which are small and ill-equipped, according to an official with the safety watchdog.
At present, there are 32,000 non-coal mines in the country, 86.4 per cent of which are small.
Most of these mines are backward in technology and equipment, with undertrained staff and poor safety management, the official said.
Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong government, said here on Sunday that the unemployment rate in the city will climb further as businesses and workers are still struggling amid the raging Covid-19 epidemic.
Chan said in an online article that the unemployment rate during the October-December 2020 period will continue to spike and even surpass the 16-year high, a level reached recently, reports Xinhua news agency.
Although the economy stopped shrinking in the third quarter last year and will likely return to the positive territory in 2021, the current situation has remained grim, Chan said, citing nearly 8,700 bankruptcies last year, the Purchasing Managers’ Index back to contraction, and the pessimism in small and medium-sized enterprises.
As the traditional peak season for retailers and restaurants during the Chinese Lunar New Year will still be bleak, many business insiders were concerned that there could be many job losses and bankruptcies after the holiday that falls in mid-February, Chan said.
To help Hong Kong people weather out the hardship, Chan said the government has implemented a counter-cyclical fiscal policy, increasing investment and creating jobs, and has rolled out relief measures worth more than HK$300 billion ($38 billion) in total.
Chan promised that the government, when compiling the Budget, will take into account people’s needs and also make investment arrangements for the future so as to seize the opportunity in the epidemic to transform and upgrade the Hong Kong economy to a new height.
The United States should understand that the attempt to challenge the one-China principle receives no support and is doomed to fail.said Chiese mission…reports Asian Lite News
The Chinese mission to the United Nations (UN) tweeted that the US attempt to challenge the one-China principle is doomed to fail.
In response to a phone call between US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft and Tsai Ing-wen, leader of China’s Taiwan, after Craft’s trip to Taipei this week got scrapped, the Chinese UN mission tweeted on Wednesday “as Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Kelly Craft should reread the UN Charter and General Assembly resolution 2758 (1971).
The United States should understand that the attempt to challenge the one-China principle receives no support and is doomed to fail”. Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.
Craft, who is due to leave the role when Joe Biden assumes the presidency next week, wrote on Twitter that it was a “great privilege” to speak with Tsai.
历史反复证明，任何国家不可能靠给别国制造麻烦实现伟大。麻烦制造者终将承受由此带来的麻烦。 History proves time and again that no country can make itself great by making troubles for others. The troubles they make will only be troubles for the troublemakers themselves. https://t.co/rMDnGZsQea
The Chinese UN mission tweeted that “it is clearly stated in the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the United States released on 16 December 1978 that the United States recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China, and within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.”
“This move is a breach of the commitment the United States has made to China and again proves the lack of integrity in the US government,” it added.
Indian authorities on Monday released a soldier of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), who was apprehended for crossing the disputed border in Eastern Ladakh.
“The PLA soldier who had been apprehended on January 8, was handed back to China at Chushul – Moldo at 10.10 a.m. today,” said a senior Indian Army officer.
The solider was interrogated for spying on deployment of Indian forces at the disputed border region in Ladakh.
He had crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at friction point between both the countries at South of Pangong Lake.
The Indian Army had stated that the PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in the area.
Troops from either side are deployed along the LAC since friction erupted last year due to unprecedented mobilisation and forward concentration by Chinese troops.
It was on August 28, 2020 and August 29, 2020, Indian troops in a precautionary deployment, pre-empted Chinese expansionist designs and occupied heights along the southern bank of Pangong Tso.
Two weeks ago, the Defence Ministry in its year end review had stated that PLA escalated the situation at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh by the utilisation of “unorthodox weapons and amassing large number of troops”.
The Ministry that Chinese made unilateral and provocative actions to change the status quo by force, in more than one area on the LAC.
Thereafter India responded to in a firm and non-escalatory way, ensuring the sanctity of claims in Eastern Ladakh.
India has categorically conveyed China that any attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo at the border is unacceptable and that India is determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India and China are engaged in a nine-month-long standoff at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
Despite several levels of dialogue, there has not been any breakthrough and the deadlock continues.
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier was apprehended after he crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh and entered the Indian territory, the Indian Army has stated.
“During early hours of January 8, a Chinese soldier was apprehended on the Indian Side of the LAC in Ladakh in area South of Pangong lake,” the Army said.
It further stated that the PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in this area.
Troops from either side are deployed along the LAC since friction erupted last year due to unprecedented mobilisation and forward concentration by Chinese troops.
“The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated,” the Indian Army stated.
It was on August 28, 2020 and August 29, 2020, Indian troops in a precautionary deployment, pre-empted Chinese expansionist designs and occupied heights along the southern bank of Pangong Tso.
The soldier on Friday was caught transgressing the same region.
Last week, the Defence Ministry in its year end review had stated that PLA escalated the situation at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh by the utilisation of “unorthodox weapons and amassing large number of troops.”
The Ministry that Chinese made unilateral and provocative actions to change the status quo by force, in more than one area on the LAC.
Thereafter India responded to in a firm and non-escalatory way, ensuring the sanctity of claims in Eastern Ladakh.
India has categorically conveyed China that any attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo at the border is unacceptable and that India is determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India and China are engaged in a nine-month-long standoff at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
Despite several levels of dialogue, there has not been any breakthrough and the deadlock continues.
Do we need another Mountain Strike Corps against Chinese aggression on Indian border (IANS)
The tensions started with skirmishes in Pangong Tso lake in May when troops came to blows on more than one occasion, leaving many injured on both sides. On June 15, in an ugly clash in the Galwan Valley, 20 Indian soldiers died, while the Chinese never made their casualty public.
There have been eight rounds of military talks at the Corps Commander level to find a solution to the standoff that started early May but the deadlock continues.
Despite the previous talks on November 6 on a disengagement plan, there has been no forward movement and no further dialogue has taken place to implement measures discussed to ease out tensions.
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier was apprehended after he crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh and entered the Indian territory, the Indian Army has stated.
“During early hours of January 8, a Chinese soldier was apprehended on the Indian Side of the LAC in Ladakh in area South of Pangong lake,” the Army said.
It further stated that the PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in this area.
Troops from either side are deployed along the LAC since friction erupted last year due to unprecedented mobilisation and forward concentration by Chinese troops.
“The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated,” the Indian Army stated.
It was on August 28, 2020 and August 29, 2020, Indian troops in a precautionary deployment, pre-empted Chinese expansionist designs and occupied heights along the southern bank of Pangong Tso.
Army chief reviews security arrangements in Valley.
The soldier on Friday was caught transgressing the same region.
Last week, the Defence Ministry in its year end review had stated that PLA escalated the situation at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh by the utilisation of “unorthodox weapons and amassing large number of troops”.
The Ministry that Chinese made unilateral and provocative actions to change the status quo by force, in more than one area on the LAC.
Thereafter India responded to in a firm and non-escalatory way, ensuring the sanctity of claims in Eastern Ladakh.
India has categorically conveyed China that any attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo at the border is unacceptable and that India is determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India and China are engaged in a nine-month-long standoff at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
Despite several levels of dialogue, there has not been any breakthrough and the deadlock continues.
Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks recently while presiding over the 17th meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed on concerted efforts to make greater breakthroughs in reform at China’s new development stage.
Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks recently while presiding over the 17th meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform, reports Xinhua news agency.
Li Keqiang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, all members of the standing committee of the political bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the central committee for deepening overall reform, attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed a summary and evaluation report on deepening overall reform since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee.
The meeting also reviewed and approved a series of guidelines and plans on integrating the party’s leadership into corporate governance of centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs), developing an economic system for green and low-carbon circular development, law-based environmental information disclosure, administrative data sharing, deepening reforms on budget management, enhancing ideological and political work, improving tax law enforcement, and the establishment of a financial court in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
Xi said reforms over the years have witnessed the development of a series of innovative theories, the launch of a host of major initiatives, and a raft of major breakthroughs, all of which are revolutionary and have broken new ground in advancing the causes of the Party and the country toward historic achievements and changes through reform and opening-up.
He added that the reforms have brought about profound changes in the ideological and theoretical field, organizational structure as well as the state and governance systems, with extensive public participation.
Xi stressed that China still faces complex contradictions and problems on the road to reform.
He said it is imperative to integrate advancing reforms with serving the overall work of the party and the state, combine deepening reforms with fostering institutional integration, and combine advancing reform with forestalling and defusing major risks.
He also urged to combine stimulating innovative vitality with gathering strength to forge ahead, and fully stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all sides to advance reforms.
The relationship among party committees, the board of directors and executive management should be properly handled in central SOEs in a bid to forge a corporate governance mechanism featuring clear-cut rights and responsibilities, coordinated operation and effective checks and balances, according to the meeting.
Establishing and improving a green and low-carbon circular economic system and promoting the green transformation of economic and social development are the fundamental solutions to China’s resource, environmental and ecological problems, the meeting noted.
The meeting also called on enterprises to fulfil their legal obligations, while urging the establishment of a compulsory environmental information disclosure system.
