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Chinese envoy calls for peace in Sudan

While progress has been made in the Sudanese peace process and political transition, economic woes, Covid-19 and widespread floods continue to pose serious challenges..reports Asian Lite News

A Chinese envoy has called for efforts to consolidate peace in Sudan and to address socio-economic challenges.

While progress has been made in the Sudanese peace process and political transition, economic woes, Covid-19 and widespread floods continue to pose serious challenges, Xinhua reported.

The international community should do more to help Sudan move toward peace and development, said Dai Bing, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

The Juba Peace Agreement between the Transitional Government of Sudan and armed groups should be fully implemented. The agreement has been a key step forward in the transition process and presents an important opportunity for Sudan to achieve comprehensive and lasting peace, he told the Security Council.

China encourages the signatories to the agreement to fulfill their commitments in earnest and push for the full implementation of the peace agreement. It calls on the parties that have not yet signed the agreement to join the peace process as soon as possible, he said.

Addressing socio-economic challenges should be a priority, said Dai.

Sudan is faced with a dire economic situation with fuel and other staple commodities in short supply and inflation at a record high. The Covid-19 pandemic and the floods have exacerbated the current difficulties, with over a fifth of the population facing food shortages and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, he said.

China supports the Sudanese government’s economic and financial reforms, welcomes the adoption of the debt relief package by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and calls on the international community to prioritize the easing of the country’s debt burden, increase investment and humanitarian assistance to Sudan, and support its socio-economic development and capacity building for governance, he said.

China also calls on the countries concerned to lift unilateral coercive measures against Sudan without delay. As the situation in Sudan and its Darfur region gradually improves, the Security Council should promptly review the sanctions imposed on Sudan and work on a roadmap for lifting them, he said.

China has provided Sudan with multiple shipments of supplies for fighting the pandemic and sent medical teams to the country. China will continue to do what it can to help the country achieve sustainable development, said Dai.

Also read:Australia blames China for breaking trade deal

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President Biden will pick up the PRC’s gauntlet

Should Joe Biden revert to the China-friendly policies of the Clinton era, voter backlash against the Democratic Party would be severe…writes Prof. Madhav Nalapat

What is democracy and how does it flower? According to some social scientists and the policymakers who believe in them, it’s all about money. It was their conclusion that once the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) became more prosperous, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would morph into a social democrat party. This is the model favoured by Senior Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont. Since the days of Nixon’s wooing of the CCP and the casting away of much of the attention paid to the Kuomintang (KMT) that from 1949 ruled only Taiwan, successive US administrations opened the gates of technology and commerce to China. This was in the belief that each concession would be another brick in the evolution of the CCP as a party of social democrats. Both when Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping were put in charge of the PRC in 2002 and 2012, hope-filled voices in Europe and the US rose about whether the new party chief would be the “Chinese Gorbachev”.

The higher an individual has progressed within the CCP, the more has been his or her awareness of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union General Secretary who presided over the demise of the USSR. Not as someone to emulate, but as an example to avoid. The hollowing out of the CPSU and the consequent decline and fall of the CPSU has been tracked back to the dawn of detente, the Helsinki accords of 1975 that gave a powerful lever to Washington to use against Moscow: human rights. There certainly were egregious violations of such rights, including the manner in which Jewish citizens were for long barred from migrating to Israel, an unforgivable act in a party that was founded on the doctrine enunciated by Karl Marx. But till the Helsinki summit, such considerations when raised by the US and its allies in Europe were brushed on the grounds that such matters were the “internal affair” of Moscow and therefore outside the purview of discussions—much less agreements—with a foreign power.

Elements in the Brezhnev bureaucracy came up with the idea of getting the most deadly foes of the USSR (the US and its allies) to help rescue the country from economic turmoil caused by the refusal of the CPSU to let go of control of industry and agriculture to private hands. Expecting an enemy to become a helpmate was a jump too far from reality. In the way a carrot was dangled before a donkey to make sure it trotted forward, the carrot of commercial reward was dangled before the Soviet leadership in exchange for a concession. When that was made by Moscow, only a tiny piece of the promised carrot was handed over. More would require greater concessions in ways that inevitably weakened the respect and fear of the CPSU that had kept the population of the Soviet Union from revolting against their masters. Which is why every statement from Beijing about improvements in the life of the Uyghur population of Xinjiang has been accompanied by an intensification of the drive to coordinate life the province in the direction mapped out by the CCP leadership. Unlike the Soviet Union, which was an economic shambles, the PRC has grown into an economy that has passed the superpower threshold while at the same time doubling down on the governance system that it has followed since its inception.

Unlike in the case of the US and the USSR, where almost all the concessions made went one way, from the USSR to the very country eager to witness its demise, the PRC has been at the receiving end of concessions from Washington that have boosted its technology and the economy. The Atlanticist obsession with Moscow suited Beijing, which was concerned at efforts by some policymakers to shift focus to the Indo-Pacific and therefore to itself. Meanwhile, the country was catching up with the US in technology, and even ahead of it in several ways in an increasingly digital age. When it became impossible to ignore the risks inherent in the rise in capabilities of the Peoples Liberation Army, “disaggregation” became the new formula. This was an effort at separation of the commercial from the security part of the policy matrix. The problem is that much of modern commerce relates to dual-use capabilities that can clearly be deployed in a conflict situation. At the same time, the hollowing out of much of US lines of manufacture and their replacement by imports from the PRC has become politically sensitive. Rust belt voters did not switch to Joe Biden from Donald Trump because he acted too strongly against China, but because they feel that he was not strong enough. What they used to make in the towns they live in continue to be imported from China, although with a higher duty. They wanted more, they wanted their jobs back the way Trump had promised in 2016.

Joe Biden and wife Jill.

Should incoming President Joseph R. Biden Jr revert to the China-friendly policies of the Clinton era, voter backlash against the Democratic Party would be severe. The party would lose control of the House of Representatives two years hence, crippling Biden in the manner a similar electoral disaster did President Obama. The Sanderistas in his party may go along with a lot of existing policies that are the opposite of socialist, but cozying up to Beijing would be too much of an ask from them. Nor would the Pentagon or the National Security Council embrace such an idea. Several policymakers still hesitate to speak the truth and try and push the reality of Cold War 2.0 between the PRC and the US into the closet, the way some do their sexual orientation.

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China urges US to resume dialogue

Wang made the remarks in Beijing at a meeting with a delegation of board of directors of the US-China Business Council held via video link…reports Asian Lite News

Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged joint efforts between Beijing and the US to ensure “a stable transition” of bilateral relations against disruptions of all kinds, and striving to resume dialogue, bring ties back on track and rebuild mutual trust.

Wang made the remarks in Beijing at a meeting with a delegation of board of directors of the US-China Business Council held via video link, reports Xinhua news agency.

Noting that China and the US share broad common interests and room for cooperation, Wang said the countries, as the two biggest economies and permanent members of the UN Security Council, should enhance dialogue and cooperation to contribute more to sustained peace and prosperity of mankind.

Saying the future of China-US relations hinges on the correct choices made by Washington and the joint efforts of the two sides, Wang put forward five proposals for promoting the sound and stable development of ties.

The proposals are to perceive China in a strategically correct way; strengthening communication and dialogue; expanding mutually beneficial cooperation; managing disputes and differences; and increasing public support for bilateral ties.

  • Washington, Oct. 2, 2020 (Xinhua) — File photo taken on Sept. 3, 2020 shows U.S. President Donald Trump participating in a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the United States. Trump said early Friday morning that he and his wife, Melania, have tested positive for COVID-19, after a close aide had contracted the virus. (Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS)

Wang’s remarks came months after Chinese and US trade negotiators held phone talks in August over implementing the phase one agreement between the two economic giants.

The call on August 25 between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin came after a planned six-month review of the deal set for August 15 was delayed to an unspecified date, and US President Donald Trump subsequently claimed he postponed the talks, said a CNBC News report.

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have escalated over the last two years.

The Trump administration has levied tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods, to which Beijing has responded with duties of its own.

In January, the countries reached a phase one agreement on trade that called for increased Chinese purchases of US goods and greater access to the Chinese financial market.

However, bilateral tensions have only increased in the months since, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Also read:US Commission Report Reveals China Planned Galwan Clashes

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India to position special boats at Pangong to counter China

Army chief reviews security arrangements in Valley.

These boats with strong capabilities to thwart Chinese incursions would be used for patrolling the lake while troops carry out foot patrols on the banks…reports Sumit Kumar Singh

India will deploy boats with enhanced capabilities, including anti-ramming features, at Pangong Lake at eastern Ladakh, one of the border locations witnessing a dispute with China.

These indigenously-built boats will accommodate additional troops for carrying out patrolling in the lake where China has lately laid claims, leading a tense situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Pangong Lake’s total length is 134 km and is divided into eight ‘fingers’ — military parlance for mountain spurs jutting into a lake — that are contested by both sides.

As the lake gets frozen with the onset of the winter, the Army will deploy around two dozen such boats by next summer.

The Indian Army was looking for boats with strong capabilities to thwart Chinese incursions in the lake, and made a requisition for such boats for which it had consulted the Indian Navy. The Navy came up with designs and gave technical advice to the manufacturer, keeping in mind the capabilities needed at 14,000 feet.

A view of Pangong Lake, situated on Indo-China border in Jammu and Kashmir at a height of about 14,270 feet. (Photo: IANS)

These boats would be used for patrolling the lake while troops carry out foot patrols on the banks.

These newly-manufactured boats can accommodate 25 to 30 soldiers with ample amount of arms and ammunition. “It would have better capabilities than Chinese boats deployed in the lake,” said a source.

The boats will also have high speed capabilities so that Chinese incursions in the lake can immediately be thwarted.

The need to upgrade boats used for patrolling the Pangong Lake was felt in wake of the military tussle between Indian and Chinese troops and the continued standoff across the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh that started early May.

India claims that the Line of Actual Control is at Finger 8 and had been holding on to the area till Finger 4 but in a clear alteration of status quo, the Chinese have been camping at Finger 4 and have set up fortifications between Fingers 5 and 8.

There have been regular face-offs between the two armies between Finger 4 and Finger 8, a distance of eight kilometres, on the northern bank of the lake.

Confrontations began on the Pangong Lake, both in the waters and its bank, since last year as Chinese incursions increased and they started changing the status quo.

Now, India and China are engaged in a eight-month-long standoff at the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Despite several levels of dialogue, there has not been any breakthrough and the deadlock continues.

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US restricts visas for Chinese Communist party members

Washington, Oct. 2, 2020 (Xinhua) -- File photo taken on Sept. 3, 2020 shows U.S. President Donald Trump participating in a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the United States. Trump said early Friday morning that he and his wife, Melania, have tested positive for COVID-19, after a close aide had contracted the virus. (Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS)

The State Department said in a statement sent on Thursday that according to the new policy, travel visas for Chinese Communist Party members and their families will be valid only for a month, and for single entry…reports Asian Lite News

  • United States President Donald Trump

The Trump administration has tightened visa policies for Chinese Communist Party members. The State Department said in a statement sent on Thursday that according to the new policy, travel visas for Chinese Communist Party members and their families will be valid only for a month, and for single entry,The New york Times reported.

According to The New York Times report, That means the Chinese recipient must use the visa to enter the United States within one month of it being issued. Based on standard procedure, U.S. border officials would determine at the point of entry how long the visitor can stay. The officials could still permit a multi-month visit.

Previously, party members, like other Chinese citizens, could obtain visitor visas for the United States that were valid for up to 10 years.

Last month,Matthew Cheung, Acting Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said that the so-called sanctions imposed by the United States on four Chinese mainland and Hong Kong officials are barbaric interference in the affairs of Hong Kong and its motherland.

The US announced the sanctions against Deputy Commissioner of Police (national security) Edwina Lau, Senior Superintendent Steve Li of the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force, and two heads of Chinese government agencies responsible for Hong Kong affairs on the grounds that Hong Kong implemented the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, Xinhua news agency reported .

Cheung said to the media before attending the Executive Council meeting that it is incumbent on the Hong Kong officials to safeguard national security and it is the obligation of Hong Kong people to do so. He described the US action as absolutely unreasonable and unacceptable.

“We are not going to be intimidated by any of these actions. In fact this is clearly breaching international practice, apart from international law,” Cheung said

Also read:US Commission Report Reveals China Planned Galwan Clashes

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US Commission Report Reveals China Planned Galwan Clashes

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (UCESRC) report said that satellite images showed a large Chinese buildup in the Galwan Valley with about 1,000 Chinese soldiers the week before the deadly skirmish…reports Arul Louis

The clashes between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley this year were planned by Beijing and were likely in retaliation to New Delhi strengthening its ties with Washington, according to a report by a Congressional commission.

“The Chinese government had planned the incident in June in Ladakh region’s Galwan Valley ‘potentially including the possibility for fatalities’,” the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (UCESRC) said in its annual report released on Tuesday.

Carolyn Bartholomew, the vice chair of the bipartisan research body set up by the Congress, said at the report’s release that the “India-China border” was one of the areas where Beijing was “more aggressively exercising its power” as its “military modernisation continues”.

The UCESRC report said there were several signs of the planning ahead of the clash in which at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed and China suffered casualties that it has not disclosed.

It said that satellite images showed a large Chinese buildup in the Galwan Valley with about 1,000 Chinese soldiers the week before the deadly skirmish.

About two weeks earlier, there was a “potential indication of Chinese leaders signalling their intent to escalate tensions” in an editorial in China’s state-owned tabloid Global Times that “warned that India would suffer a ‘devastating blow’ to its trade and economic ties with China if it got ‘involved in the US-China rivalry’,” it said.

Before that, China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe had called on Beijing to “use fighting to promote stability”, the report said.

The report also said that “in the aftermath of the clash, Beijing asserted sovereignty over the entire Galwan Valley, a new claim and significant change to the territorial status quo”.

Showing a pattern of Chinese quest for military domination, the report said, “Beijing ramped up its multiyear coercion campaign against its neighbours, provoking military or paramilitary standoffs with countries from Japan to India and much of Southeast Asia.”

China is also moving on another front, tiny Bhutan, in its campaign of aggression and intimidation from the Himalayas to the South China Sea and beyond, the report said.

More recently, after the report was sent to the printers in October, “there is evidence that China is moving to take territory from Bhutan”, it said.

The New York Times had reported last week that China had built a village a mile inside Bhutan near the Torsa river and moved in 100 people there. It said that China had laid claims to 777 sq km of Bhutan’s territory in the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary.

The UCESRC report also said, “The exact motivations behind the Chinese government’s provocative behaviour on the LAC this year remain unclear.”

It added, “The proximate cause of the clash appeared to be India’s construction of a strategic access road to support troops stationed along the LAC. China has also built extensive infrastructure along the LAC in recent years.”

The report quoted testimony to the UCESRC by an expert from the Brookings Institution think-tank, Tanvi Madan, that “if China’s goal from its actions was ‘to acquire territory… (the Chinese government) might deem the moves a success.’ If Beijing intended to dissuade India from building infrastructure on its side of the LAC or warn it against aligning with the United States, however, ‘then the Chinese moves have been ineffective, if not counterproductive’.”

India has continued building roads and other infrastructure near the LAC and New Delhi and Washington signed an agreement to share geospatial and aeronautical information with strategic significance.

The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation (BECA) was the latest in a series of agreements on defence cooperation.

The report also cited various economic measures taken by India against China such as the ban on about 200 apps linked to that country, the actions to dissuade Indian telecom companies from using Chinese equipment, and stopping the use of Chinese oil tankers.

The report warned that China was trying to gain influence with the militaries of India’s neighbours and “may soon seek to translate this influence into military bases in South Asia”.

The report said that according to an analysis by the defence informational service Janes, “potential candidates for a future PLA (People’s Liberation Army) base include Chittagong Port, Bangladesh; Hambantota Port and Columbo Port, Sri Lanka; and Karachi Port and Gwadar Port, Pakistan”.

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Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Denied Bail In Fraud Case

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was denied bail on Thursday after he was charged with fraud and is likely to spend Christmas behind bars.

The West Kowloon Court charged Lai and two senior executives from Next Digital — Royston Chow and Wong Wai-keung — with defrauding a government-owned enterprise by breaching land-lease terms, the South China Morning Post newspaper said in a report.

Lai is the founder of Next Digital which publishes Apple Daily, a tabloid which is frequently critical of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese leadership.

With the next hearing expected on April 16, 2021, Lai could spend the next four months and 13 days in prison.

While Lai was denied bail, the court granted it to Chow and Wong.

The three men were arrested in August.

Lai was accused of “colluding with foreign forces” under the new national security law imposed on the city by China, the BBC reported.

The 72-year-old tycoon became the most high-profile person in Hong Kong to be detained under the law, and his newspaper offices were raided by hundreds of police officers.

He was later released on bail.

However, he told the BBC then the arrest was “just the beginning”.

Thursday’s development came a day after three prominent pro-democracy activists, Joshua Wong, Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow, were jailed.

Also Read-Russia sees record surge in daily Covid-19 cases

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Frozen food packaging samples tested positive

Authorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus is likely to have originated in December 2019, said that three imported frozen food packaging samples have tested positive for Covid-19.

The municipal health commission said on Saturday that two samples were taken from frozen beef from Brazil in a refrigerated warehouse and the other one from frozen basa fish from Vietnam in another warehouse, reports Xinhua new agency.

Local authorities have sealed the products, quarantined, and conducted nucleic acid tests on relevant personnel who came into direct contact with the food items.

So far, all results showed negative.

The shipments of frozen food from which the tainted samples were taken had not been released to the market.

China has increased efforts to block Covid-19 transmission through imported foods.

The Ministry of Transport had released a guideline earlier this month to prevent the transmission of the virus through imported cold-chain foods in road and water transportation.

The State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against Covid-19 has also unveiled a plan to realize full-chain, closed-loop, traceable management of imported cold-chain foods.

Also Read-Cuomo Urges To Shop Locally

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Xi finally congratulates Biden

With Xi’s congratulations, Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only significant leader who is yet to greet Biden…reports Asian Lite News

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday became the latest world leader to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden.

“Promoting the healthy and stable development of China-US relations is not only in the fundamental interests of both peoples, but also meets the common expectation of the international community.

“I hope to see both sides uphold the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, and focus on cooperation while managing and controlling disputes,” he said in his message of congratulations, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Wednesday also sent a congratulatory message to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Xinhua said.

Nearly a week after Biden and Harris delivered their victory speeches after they were projected winners even as President Donald Trump refused to concede and continued to allege fraud, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman had, on November 13, extended congratulations to the Democratic winners, but noted that the outcome would be “ascertained in accordance with US laws and procedures.”

With Xi’s congratulations, Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only significant leader who is yet to greet Biden.



On Sunday, the Russian President had said that he is still not ready to recognise Biden as the winner of the US presidential elections, but is ready to “work with anyone who has the confidence of the American people”.

“But that confidence can only be given to a candidate whose victory has been recognised by the opposing party, or after the results are confirmed in a legitimate, legal way,” he had said, adding that the decision to not congratulate Biden was “a formality” with no ulterior motives.

Asked if this would strain relations, Putin said that he believed that relations between the US and Russia have already been ruined.

Also read:SCCI, China to boost economic and investment ties

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Twitter apologises to India for showing Ladakh in China

Twitter on Wednesday apologised to a parliamentary panel in a letter, stating that it will fix the issue of geo-tagging Ladakh as part of China by the end of this month and Ladakh will be added as a region administered by India as a union territory.

According to reliable sources, the micro-blogging platform sent the letter to the panel’s chairperson Meenakshi Lekhi and apologised for the geo-tag error.

A joint committee of Parliament led by BJP MP Lekhi which has 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, last month issued summons to Twitter, seeking an explanation in form of an affidavit.

“Earning and maintaining the trust of the people on our service is of the utmost importance. Twitter remains committed to serving and protecting the public conversation and partnering with the government of India,” a Twitter spokesperson told IANS.

Taking strong exception to the “misrepresentation” of India’s map, the government wrote a stern letter to the Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey last month, saying that any attempt by the platform to disrespect the sovereignty and integrity of India, which is also reflected by the maps, was totally unacceptable.

Representatives of Twitter India had apologised but were told by the panel that showing Ladakh as part of China was a criminal offence.

In a separate incident, after courting controversy for wrongly showing Jammu and Kashmir as part of China, Twitter last month said it has resolved this particular geo-tag issue.

The issue was first brought to attention by national security analyst Nitin Gokhale after he went live on Twitter from the Hall of Fame, a war memorial at Leh.

The matter was later also raised by Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF) after tweets showed J&K as a part of China.

Several netizens also asked Prasad and the government to take action against Twitter India.

The controversy erupted amid India’s border standoff with China in Ladakh.

Also Read-India, China military reach consensus to disengage