The move may disrupt efforts by Indian private companies to import medical supplies including oxygen concentrators to fight the pandemic from China…reports Asian Lite News
In the wake of surge in Covid-19 cases, the largest cargo flight operator from China to India, the Chinese state-owned Sichuan Airlines has suspended its services to India for 15 days, media reported.
This was after China’s repeated offers of “support and assistance” to India to fight the second wave of pandemic. Sichuan Airlines operated 10 flights on six routes to four India cities comprising Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
According to Hindustan Times, it is likely to disrupt frantic efforts by Indian private companies to import medical supplies including oxygen concentrators to fight the pandemic from China.
In a letter to the sales agents on Monday, the Sichuan Chuanhang Logistics Co. Ltd, part of the Sichuan Airlines said the airline has suspended its cargo flights on all six routes – Xi’an-Delhi, Xi’an-Mumbai, Chengdu-Chennai, Chongqing-Chennai, Chengdu-Bangalore, and Chongqing-Delhi – for 15 days, it was reported.
The airlines said “…in the face of sudden changes in the epidemic situation (in India), in order to reduce the number of imported cases, it is decided” to suspend the flights.
Meanwhile, The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 11 new Covid-19 cases, all of which were imported, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Tuesday.
Of them, five were reported in Sichuan, two in Guangdong and one each in Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Chongqing, Xinhua reported.
No new suspected cases or deaths related to Covid-19 were reported on Monday, the commission said.
Meanwhile, having lifted the ban on the supply of vaccine raw materials and Covid-fighting products for India, US President Joe Biden on Monday assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the US will work closely with India to fight the pandemic.
“The President pledged America’s steadfast support for the people of India who have been impacted by the recent surge in Covid-19 cases,” the White House said in a readout of their conversation.
“The two leaders resolved that the United States and India will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the effort to protect our citizens and the health of our communities,” it said.
In a tweet, Modi called their conversation “fruitful” and said: “We discussed the evolving COVID situation in both countries in detail. I thanked President Biden for the support being provided by the United States to India.”
Syria receives Covid-19 vaccines donated by China(Twitter)
Boxes of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccines were unloaded from the plane transporting them from China at the airport….reports Asian Lite News
Syria on Saturday received a batch of Covid-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help combat the pandemic.
Syrian Health Minister Hasan al-Ghabash and Deputy Foreign Minister Bashar al-Jaafari, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Syria Feng Biao, attended the reception ceremony at the international airport in the Syrian capital Damascus, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Boxes of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccines were unloaded from the plane transporting them from China at the airport.
Al-Ghabash said that the long cooperation between China and Syria was crowned with the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine, “which has passed the three testing phases and has been proven to be effective and safe.”
The minister also expressed gratitude and thanks to the Chinese government for their ongoing support to Syria and the distinctive relations, which he hopes to continue for the interests of both countries and peoples.
For his side, Feng said that sending the vaccines to Syria is a tangible step in delivering on the China’s promise to make the Chinese vaccine a global public product.
“We are confident that it will help Syria to build a defense line against the pandemic and play a positive role in protecting the Syrian people and restoring normal life,” the Chinese ambassador said.
Before this donation, China had already provided batches of medical supplies to Syria and held online meetings attended by medical experts from the two countries to share China’s anti-pandemic experience since the Covid-19 outbreak in Syria last year.
Syrian health officials said the priority of the vaccination in Syria will be for the medical workers and elderly people, as well as those suffering from chronic illnesses.
The Covid-19 cases in Syria are on the rise amid the third wave of the pandemic. Syrian Health Ministry said that the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country hit 21,999 on Saturday, including 15,731 recoveries and 1,526 deaths.
But the government has steered clear of declaring genocide over what it says are “industrial-scale” human rights abuses against the mainly Muslim Uyghur community in Xinjiang, reports Asian Lite News
Britain’s parliament called for the government to take action to end what lawmakers described as genocide in China’s Xinjiang region, stepping up pressure on ministers to go further in their criticism of Beijing.
But the government again steered clear of declaring genocide over what it says are “industrial-scale” human rights abuses against the mainly Muslim Uyghur community in Xinjiang. Ministers say any decision on declaring a genocide is up to the courts.
So far the government has imposed sanctions on some Chinese officials and introduced rules to try to prevent goods linked to the region entering the supply chain, but a majority of lawmakers want ministers to go further.
Beijing denies accusations of rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Lawmakers backed a motion brought by Conservative lawmaker Nusrat Ghani stating Uyghurs in Xinjiang were suffering crimes against humanity and genocide, and calling on government to use international law to bring it to an end.
The support for the motion is non-binding, meaning it is up to the government to decide what action, if any, to take next.
Britain’s minister for Asia, Nigel Adams, again set out to parliament the government’s position that any decision on describing the human rights abuses in Xinjiang as genocide would have to be taken by “competent” courts.
Some lawmakers fear Britain risks falling out of step with allies over China after the Biden administration endorsed a determination by its predecessor that China had committed genocide in Xinjiang.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
Meanwhile, the US government, is under pressure to urge like-minded countries to independently investigate and formally determine whether the abuses in Xinjiang meet the definitions of genocide and/or crimes against humanity under international law, and work together to take measures to hold China accountable.
The US Congress should support legislation to promote religious freedom in China, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended.
Last year, the report said, religious freedom conditions in China had deteriorated.
The government intensified its “sinicisation of religion” policy, particularly targeting religions perceived to have foreign connections, such as Christianity, Islam and Tibetan Buddhism.
The authorities also continued their unprecedented use of advanced surveillance technologies to monitor and track religious minorities, and the Measures on Managing Religious Groups became effective in February, further constricting the space in which religious groups could operate.
Quake-affected people have a meal at a temporary settlement in Jinghe County, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Li Jing/IANS)
In September 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute had identified 380 detention centres across the Uyghur region (otherwise known as Xinjiang), including new facilities built in 2019 and 2020.
This indicates that the Chinese government has continued to detain Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims despite claiming to have released all the detainees.
Since 2017, authorities have reportedly sent millions of Muslims to these camps for wearing long beards, refusing alcohol, or exhibiting other behaviours deemed signs of “religious extremism”.
Former detainees reported torture, rape, sterilisation and other abuses in custody. Experts raised concerns that the Chinese government’s ongoing actions in Xinjiang could amount to genocide under international law.
Demand for US to skip Winter Olympics
Meanwhile, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has asked the US government not to attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing if the Chinese government continues its crackdown on religious freedoms of minorities in China.
In its annual report, the USCIRF recommended the Joe Biden administration to redesignate China as a “country of particular concern”, or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
The Commission asked the US government to publicly express concerns about Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and state that US government officials will not attend the games if the Chinese government’s crackdown on religious freedoms continues.
It has also recommended the US government to enforce to the fullest extent the existing US laws — such as the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and Tibetan Policy and Support Act — and continue to impose targeted financial and visa sanctions on Chinese government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.
The 21-1 panel vote sends The Strategic Competition Act to the floor for a full chamber vote. Senator Rand Paul cast the lone vote opposing the legislation…reports Asian Lite News
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday passed sweeping legislation to push back on China on a number of issues, including human rights and its gross economic practices.
The 21-1 panel vote sends The Strategic Competition Act to the floor for a full chamber vote. Senator Rand Paul (Republican from Kentucky) cast the lone vote opposing the legislation, as reported by The Hill.
“There has been no shortage of discussion in recent years about the need to reimagine our nation’s competitive posture towards China. There has, however, been a lack of results — until today. With this overwhelming bipartisan vote, the Strategic Competition Act becomes the first of what we hope will be a cascade of legislative activity for our nation to finally meet the China challenge across every dimension of power, political, diplomatic, economic, innovation, military and even cultural,” said Senator Bob Menendez the Foreign Relations chair, according to The Hill.
President Joe Biden (www.instagram.comwhitehouse)
“From the beginning, I have said that any China legislation needs to be strong, actionable, and truly bipartisan. I believe the package we passed out of committee today meets those criteria,” added Senator Jim Risch (from Idaho), the committee’s top Republican.
The Hill further reported that the bill would implement a slew of investments, including USD 655 million in Foreign Military Financing funding for the Indo-Pacific region and $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative. It also expands the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which analyzes international financial transactions in an effort to pick up on any national security risks.
The legislation also designates $10 million for the State Department to promote democracy in Hong Kong and includes several measures to boost the defence capabilities of Taiwan — of which, China claims full sovereignty of.As per The Hill, the legislation’s passage comes as the relationship between Washington and Beijing grows increasingly strained. The US has lambasted China over cyber-attacks and intellectual property theft, human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Province and crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
While lawmakers touted the bipartisan nature of the vote Wednesday but maintained the bill alone is insufficient to significantly alter China’s aggressive behaviour.
“I don’t believe anyone would think that this legislation is going to change China’s march toward a global hegemony of autocracy and repression,” said Senator Mitt Romney (Republican from Utah), adding “I would suggest we have a lot more work to do.”
The bill would mandate forcing Beijing to honour a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal that artificial islands China had built near the Philippine coastline, including at Mischief Reef, violated Manila’s sovereign rights.
Asked about the bipartisan legislation, State Department spokesman Ned Price earlier declined to comment specifically on the Menendez-Risch bill, but added: “We have spoken of competition with China as a defining challenge for this administration, that we will enjoy the greatest amount of success when we work hand in hand with Congress, and when our proposals, find support on both sides of the aisle.”
“We have been heartened that there is a good deal of bipartisan agreement when it comes to how we should and could approach the government in Beijing,” he said.
Under the former President Donald Trump’s administration, ties between the two countries had deteriorated over issues such as human rights violations in Xinjiang, encroachment on the special status of Hong Kong, accusations of unfair trade practices by Beijing, lack of transparency concerning the pandemic and China’s military aggression in various parts of the world.
China’s ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong was staying at the hotel, but was not there when the bomb exploded…reports Asian Lite News
Four people were killed and over a dozen others injured when an explosive-laden vehicle exploded inside the parking lot of a hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Pakistan’s Quetta city.
China’s ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong was staying at the hotel, but was not there when the bomb exploded, said Pakistan’s interior Minister, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad.
The Pakistan Taliban later claimed responsibility for the bombing which they said was a suicide attack.
Chinese ambassador Nong Rong had earlier in the day met provincial chief minister Jam Kamal Khan in the city, according to a tweet from the provincial government spokesman, Liaquat Shahwani.
There was a threat alert in Quetta and other major cities after some suspicious calls were intercepted, and security was on high alert including cities in Balochistan, Rasheed told Xinhua news agency on Wednesday night.
He said that despite the security measures, the vehicle carrying explosives managed to enter the parking lot from the main gate of the Serena hotel, which is a matter of big concern and the responsible people will be taken to task for creating security lapse which gave terrorists a chance to carry out the attack.
Terror group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility in a text message to journalists saying a suicide bomber launched the attack targeting locals and foreigners, but the claim has not yet been officially confirmed.
The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital whose spokesman Waseem Baig told Xinhua that two of the injured people are in critical condition and a state of emergency has been declared at the hospital by the provincial government.
Soon after the blast, the hotel’s parking area located in its premises was sealed by the counter terrorism department of police who also restricted media to access the site for reporting, Inspector General Police of Balochistan Muhammad Tahir Rai said.
Nong Rong Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan(Twitter)
According to initial investigation, some 40 kg of explosives were used in the attack.
Fire erupted in several vehicles following the blast, badly destroying five to seven of them, he added.
Talking to Xinhua, intelligence sources, who were close to the hotel when the incident happened, said that the loud blast was heard many miles away from the blast site and fire erupted in the hotel’s parking following the explosion.
Security has been beefed up in other cities including Islamabad following the blast and all sensitive government buildings and installations are being guarded, according to local reports.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that the BRI deal has been cancelled under the Commonwealth’s new foreign veto laws…reports Asian Lite News
Australia has cancelled the controversial Belt and Road (BRI) agreement with China saying it goes against its national interest, in a decision that will further increase tensions between Canberra and Beijing.
In an official order issued on Wednesday, the Scott Morrison government scrapped the agreement signed between the state government of Victoria and the National Development and Reform Commission of China, which was signed on October 8, 2018. It also cancelled a framework agreement signed between the two sides on October 23, 2019.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that the BRI deal has been cancelled under the Commonwealth’s new foreign veto laws. This scheme requires the federal government to cancel agreements that states, territories, local governments and universities enter into with an overseas government if they contradict the country’s national interest, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Initiated in 2013, the BRI is Xi Jinping’s grand plan to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime trade networks to create new routes for China.
The Australian Foreign Minister said she considered the agreements to be “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations”.The Sydney Morning report said that the Morrison government and national security experts were concerned that China was using the agreement with Victoria as a propaganda win to claim the that state government had broken ranks with Australia’s China policy.
Moreover, they are also worried that China was using the BRI to load up poorer countries with debt and reduce Australia’s influence in the region.
Sino-Australian relations have been in a downward spiral since April last year when Canberra infuriated Beijing by proposing an independent international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Canberra has been locked in an ongoing trade war with Beijing for several months, which has seen China slap sanctions on various Australian products.
Beijing has slapped several restrictions amounting to billions of dollars of Australian exports, including beef, barley and wine, citing dumping and other trade violations that analysts widely view as pretexts to inflict economic retaliation.
China has unofficially banned Australian imports of coal, sugar, barley, lobsters, wine, copper and log timber since November 2020. It has also imposed anti-dumping duties on barley.
The statement was issued after talks between Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry…reports Asian Lite News
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said that the cooperation between China and the US is important and expressed the hope that big countries will commit to net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the middle of this century.
“The China-US cooperation is vital. It was vital for the Paris Agreement. It remains vital today, together with other important partners,” the secretary-general said at a press conference to launch the State of the Global Climate in 2020 Report when responding to a question regarding the joint statement issued Sunday by China and the US on coping with climate change after talks in Shanghai, Xinhua reported.
The statement was issued after talks between Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry from Thursday to Friday in Chinese city of Shanghai.
Replying to a question about his expectations for this week’s virtual climate summit, the top UN official said, “My hope is that, in this week’s summit, a number of countries, the most important countries in relation to climate change, will be able to commit to net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the middle of the century and to commit to a drastic reduction of emissions for the next decade in the context of the review of their Nationally Determined Contributions. And this is very important in this summit.”
US President Joe Biden on March 26 invited 40 world leaders to attend a virtual summit on climate change on April 22 and 23.
Chinese and Russian leaders are invited to the summit, according to a White House statement.
Strategic Competition Act of 2021′, a legislation that will allow the US to edge out China in all fields—strategic, economic, and diplomatic – is the brainchild of Robert Menendez—chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Jim Risch, reports Rahul Kumar
The Joe Biden administration is moving fast. In just 11 weeks, it has honed on China as an enemy that has to be pursued relentlessly and outmanoeuvred. America knows its enemies and how to chase them down.
Two US senators have introduced the ‘Strategic Competition Act of 2021’, a legislation that will allow the US to edge out China in all fields—strategic, economic, and diplomatic. The bulwark of this strategy will be the Indo-Pacific region, which is right now contentious with the South China Sea swarming with warships from numerous countries.
This comprehensive bipartisan legislation is the brainchild of Robert Menendez—chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Jim Risch.
A Road Map for the US
The 280-page legislation by the duo puts together US strategic, economic, and diplomatic tools for an Indo-Pacific strategy that will allow the US to square up to China and take on the challenges it poses to its national and economic security. The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 has endorsed the four-member Quad and urges the US to strengthen its relations with like-minded allies.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up the bill for discussion and voting on Wednesday, April 14. Speaking to the media, Menendez said: “The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 is a recognition that this moment demands a unified, strategic response that can rebuild American leadership, invest in our ability to out-compete China, and reground diplomacy in our core values.”
China: Opportunistic and Hostile
The legislation takes note of the fact that China has attacked countries and increased hostilities when many countries were vulnerable due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. It ratcheted up tensions with India by intruding into Indian-held territory where the stand-off still continues.
The document mentions the violent clash at the Pangong Tso after which India was forced to mirror Chinese deployment of men and machinery.
The document says that China has: “capitalised on the world’s focus on the Covid-19 pandemic by its brazen move in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and contributing to increased tensions with India. The China claims nearly all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.”
Strength in Numbers
The legislation also says that the US values partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries as well as the Quad. It asks the US to deepen America’s regional partnerships and also cement existing ones with India, Taiwan and New Zealand.
In their document, the two senators say that the US should reaffirm its commitment to the Quad and be prepared to meet regional challenges to promote a free, open, inclusive, resilient, and healthy Indo-Pacific that is defined by democracy, rule-of-law, and market-driven economic growth and is free from undue influence and coercion.
“The United States should reaffirm its commitment to the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with India and further deepen bilateral defence consultations and collaboration with India commensurate with its status as a major defence partner,” the bill says. It also stresses upon the US administration to build Indian capabilities and capacities against “economic and security challenges posed by China.”
Seeks Scrutiny of the BRI in Pakistan
The legislation wants a detailed description from American diplomacy about the Pakistan-China financial collaboration in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor – a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that runs through the length of Pakistan. Through the BRI, China plans to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
Comprehensive and Idealistic
The bill is holistic in its range. It looks at China’s overwhelming reach across the globe, therefore, expects the US to strengthen diplomatic efforts everywhere – the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Arctic, and Oceania.
The legislation lends support to a range of human rights issues like restrictions in Hong Kong as well as forced labour, forced sterilisation and other abuses in Xinjiang. It wants action against China’s IP infringements, Chinese government subsidies, its predatory international policies and track the presence of Chinese companies in US capital markets.
The legislations calls for enhanced cooperation with allies on arms control in the face of China’s military modernisation and expansion, and wants transparency on the entire range of Chinese weapons – ballistic, hypersonic glide, and cruise missiles, conventional forces, nuclear, space, cyberspace and other strategic domains.
Confident the Legislation will make it
Menendez is hopeful that the legislation will find favour. He says: “I am confident that this effort has the necessary support to be overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week and the full Senate shortly thereafter. That is the only way we will get the China challenge right – a bipartisan commitment to mutual trust and good-faith compromise, balancing pragmatism and idealism…”
Risch, his partner in the legislation, says that this is an important step towards ensuring that the US is enabled to compete with China for future decades. He adds that the bill also cuts the Communist Party of China’s influence across the globe, particularly in American universities.
2021 bring forth a Series of American Thoughts on China
Interestingly, this is not the first attempt by the US this year to find its place in the world vis-a-vis China. The previous two documents – released in March and January – speak on similar lines.
In March, the Biden administration had revealed a piece of its mind when it released the Interim National Security Guidance paper that identified China as its main global rival. The 21-page vision document was the Biden administration’s pathway to dealing with China, building up a military presence in the Indo-Pacific as well as strengthening ties with allies like Europe and India.
The National Security Strategy document was pragmatic in cautioning that the US along would not be able to restrain China.
Just before that, it was Donald Trump, who declassified the China strategy in January barely a week before stepping down. In an unusual move, Trump laid bare the path for president-elect Biden by publishing the document – ‘United States Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific.’
The classified document made clear to the world, and also the incoming Biden administration, American thinking about the geo-political climate pervading the world. The Trump strategy underlined that the US needs to tackle China, accelerating India’s rise as a counterweight to Beijing and also defend Taiwan against a possible Chinese attack.
The US is Loath to see the World as Multipolar
The latest legislation, Biden’s National Security Strategy as well as Trump’s confidential documents are pointers to the American realisation that it is not the sole superpower. Power slipped away from its fingers exactly when it was courting China and China was courting itself.
It goes to the credit of Americans thinkers and policy makers that they have finally noticed the rise of China and how the communist giant is not averse to treading on neighbours’ territories, satisfied with violating international rules and almost cheerful while challenging the US. The observation is late by a few years but they have also located the answers to the confounded China challenge.
The answers lie in gathering allies, enforcing the international rule of law, flexing military muscles as well as holding China and its ruling party accountable for its misdemeanours.
(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Vax Shortages and ineffectiveness haunt China’s internal as well as global vaccine programme …. Writes Dr Varun Sharma
The government and state-run media in China were jubilant after the figures showed the country, which is criticised for the Covid-19 pandemic, exported over 114 million doses of vaccine. It was seen as vaccine diplomacy to build political influence with individual country. China however has hit a snag. China is witnessing a sudden shortage of vaccines to be distributed in the country as well as abroad. And to make the problem worse, many countries have reported low effectiveness of China- manufactured vaccines, showing reluctance. Now the doubts about Covid-19 vaccines could dent China’s diplomacy efforts.
A shipment of China-manufactured Covid-19 vaccine Sinovac arrived in Singapore in March 2020, which Chinese Embassy said would contribute to Singapore’s efforts to defeat the virus and restore normal order of life and economic development. However, the Chinese vaccines are still in a storage facility as Singapore government has decided not to use them owing to lack of transparency in clinical trials. Instead, it has gone ahead with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
In Kyrgyzstan too, many people including doctors have refused to use Chinese vaccines and instead expressed desire to use Russian ones.
A top Chinese official recently accepted that China- manufactured vaccines did have very high protection rates. Gao Fu, Director of the China Centers for Disease Control, said: “The protection rates of existing vaccines are not high. It’s now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunization process.”
The rare admission by top Chinese bureaucrat took social media storm. And as expected, Chinese authorities censored online discussions. Also, the state-run news outlet Global Times carried an interview of Gao Fu, who then called it “a complete misunderstanding”.
While Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac have met the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) requirements, China has not released the data of clinical trials with public.
Health regulators dodged the question when asked by a reporter about when the data would be released. There have always been global concerns about Chinese ways of conducting research. In July 2020, questions were raised over fraudulent data in research papers by Chinese-authors since they had used have reused identical sets of images.
A YouGov survey revealed that the most of 19,000 people from across 17 countries were distrustful of the vaccines from China.
Inside China too, the vaccination programme is marred by ineffective and inadequate vaccine jabs. Although China was the first country to start vaccinating its nationals, its progress has been quite disappointing. There are just 2.9 doses per resident. 1 According to a survey conducted in February 2020, health professionals are among the most hesitant people among Chinese to take vaccine as 72 percent of them showed lack of confidence.
“Initially, we know so little about the vaccine, and there’s a lack of evidence to support its safety and efficacy,” a Beijing-based doctor told Financial Times on condition of anonymity. China has ambitious plans of vaccinating 560 million people – 40 percent of its population — by the end of June 2020.2 However, sudden shortage of jabs has derailed the plans. Now, the government in Beijing has asked all local authorities in China to stop compulsory vaccination drives. Again, the Global Times has come up with rebuttal. It said the reports of vaccine shortage was wrong interpretation by the western media of measures to adjust China’s local vaccination programs.
The underperformance of Chinese vaccines could be due to manufacturing issues and vaccine export diplomacy. There have been concerns over safety and side-effects of vaccines produced in China. In the past too, average Chinese people refused to get themselves or their children vaccinated owing to safety issue. There is one more major factor—sale of fake Covid-19 vaccines.
Chinese agencies busted several fake vaccine networks, one of which was found to have produced about 58,000 of fake concoctions. It does have negative impact on the countries that are buying Chinese vaccines. Interpol came across smuggling of such fake Chinese vaccines to South Africa in March this year. These are some of the concerns people have before they tend to get Chinese vaccine jabs.
Talks held for complete disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, paving way for complete de-escalation, reports Asian Lite News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkjhDuCUytI
India and China have agreed to resolve the outstanding issues aimed at disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, thereby paving the way for complete de-escalation, the Indian government has said.
“The two sides agreed on the need to resolve the outstanding issues in an expeditious manner in accordance with the existing agreements and protocols,” a government statement said.
Talks between Indian and Chinese military delegates were held at Chushul on Friday to discuss the next phase of disengagement in Eastern Ladakh, which lasted for 13 hours.
“The military dialogue is still on and it is important that before the onset of summer de-escalation takes place at Line of Actual Control (LAC). Both sides need retreat to original positions for things to ease,” said a senior Indian Army officer.
The build-up in Depsang was not being considered as part of the current stand-off that started in May 2020 as escalations here took place in 2013, India has insisted during recent military commander meetings to resolve all issues across the LAC.
On February 20, Indian and Chinese military held the 10th round of military dialogue to deescalate tension at the LAC.
So far, the disengagement process at both banks of the Pangong Lake has taken place.
It was on February 10 that China made an announcement that New Delhi and Beijing had agreed to disengage at Pangong Lake.
As per the agreement, Chinese troops moved back to Finger 8 and Indian troops pulled back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the north bank of Pangong Lake.
A temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling to the traditional areas.
The mountain spur jutting into the lake is referred to as Finger in military parlance. The north bank of the lake is divided into 8 Fingers. Indian has claimed its territory till Finger 8 and China dispute it claims till Finger 4. India and China are engaged in a year long stand-off at the LAC.
The confrontations began on the north bank of Pangong Lakeas Chinese incursions increased in May last year.
The 11th round of Corps Commander-level talks at Chushul took place after a nearly two-month gap. The Indian military delegation was led by Lieutenant General P.G.K. Menon, the Commander of 14 Corps based in Leh.
The two sides had a detailed exchange of views for the resolution of the remaining issues related to disengagement along the LAC.
“It is also highlighted that completion of disengagement in other areas would pave the way for the two sides to consider de-escalation of forces and ensure full restoration of peace and tranquility and enable progress in bilateral relations,” the statement said.
As the India-China military tussle completes almost a year, tensions remain along the borders, even after the successful disengagement process in Pangong Lake. Tanks and troops from both sides have pulled back and there is no eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, but the build up across Eastern Ladakh continues.
After the recent talks, the two sides agreed that it is important to take guidance from the consensus of their leaders, continue their communication and dialogue and work towards a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.
They also agreed to jointly maintain stability on the ground, avoid any new incidents and jointly maintain peace in the border areas, the statement said.
India and China are engaged in a year-long standoff along the LAC. The confrontations began on the north bank of Pangong Lake, both in the waters and on the banks, as Chinese incursions increased in early May last year.
