British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. [Photo/Agencies]While the members of the European Union have become increasingly aware of the nature of the US administrations invitation for its allies to help it contain China, as well as its scheme to drag out the Ukraine crisis — so as to weaken Russia and bring European countries into its fold — the United Kingdom is willingly throwing itself into a dangerous liaison.The United States was an ardent supporter of Brexit, as by encouraging the UK to sever itself from the EU, and it has secured a more docile lackey that it can push to the forefront of its geopolitical games. It was only after Brexit that the US was able to form AUKUS with the UK and Australia, and engage the UK in its "Indo-Pacific" strategy.Now that the Brexit chickens have come home to roost and are laying rotten eggs that the UK is being forced to swallow, the UK is desperately looking to the US for some kind of relish to make them more palatable.Thus it is of no surprise to hear the latest to pass through No 10 Downing Streets revolving door echo the rhetoric of the US administration, as UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did on Monday, when he declared that the "golden era" of Sino-British relations is over, warning that China poses a "systemic challenge" to the "values and interests" of the UK.Although calling China a "challenge" rather than a "threat" earned him strong criticism from the anti-China hawks in his party, it was still a far cry from the more pragmatic approach he adopted toward China as chancellor of the exchequer. By declaring an end of the "golden era", a term the UK and China employed to describe the bright prospects for their cooperation in 2015, Sunak has apparently recalibrated his position on China.In doing so, it is clear that although the UK government still appears to be vacillating on its China policy, which it has vowed to adjust over the past three months...
To Chinese football fans, it is the best time when we can all enjoy the beauty, passion and glory of football in Qatar.Particularly in these COVID-19 pandemic times, I know of many families who have to stay at home, and I am sure the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup must have provided much-needed relief an
The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft delivers supplies to the space station under construction in this artist's rendering. [Photo by Guo Zhongzheng/Xinhua] Even before the historic flight of Yuri Gagarin and Sputnik, space was an area of cooperation, as well as competition or conflict. This was so dur
The sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in several regions has taken a toll on people’s livelihoods and business activities. Facing the challenge, local authorities across China have been working to increase the effectiveness of their pandemic control work according to their regional circumstances.
Photo taken on July 6, 2021 shows the St. Boniface Indian Industrial School Cemetery in Banning, San Bernardino County, California, the United States. Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua Nazism is still alive. About a week ago, a 31-year-old man hurled anti-Semitic slurs and offered the Nazi salute while cry
ChinesestudentsattendthegraduationceremonyattheColumbiaUniversityinNewYork。
The Canadian flag is seen in this picture. (Photo: IC)Canada launched its long-anticipated "Indo-Pacific" strategy on Sunday, outlining 2.3 billion Canadian dollars ($1.7 billion) in spending to boost military and cyber security in the region and vowed to deal with a "disruptive" China, while working with it on climate change and trade issues.That China is mentioned more than 50 times in the 26-page document and is described as an "increasingly disruptive global power" that seeks to "shape the international order into a more permissive environment for interests and values that increasingly depart from ours" underscores the increasingly confrontational stance that Ottawa has taken toward China and its willingness to continue to be used as a chess piece in the United States-orchestrated geopolitical game to contain China.Sino-Canadian ties have been on a downward spiral in recent years, mainly because Ottawa has abandoned its long-held foreign policy of cooperation and engagement with China and started to run Washingtons anti-China errands, as evidenced in the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in December 2018 at the behest of the US, which alleged she violated US sanctions against Iran.The tough stance the Canadian government is taking toward China and its allegations of coercive behavior that undermines its national security interests and those of partners in the region, in addition to its decision earlier this month to order Chinese investors to divest from three lithium mining companies under Canadas tougher foreign investment rules, have sent the already frosty bilateral relationship to an even lower level.Ottawas confrontational strategy is justified by a parroting of Washingtons smear that Chinas behaviors and policies erode the existing rules-based international order. But this is because it has put all its eggs in the US basket.As the worlds second-largest e...
A staff member hangs a US national flag before US President Joe Biden arrives for the European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022. (Photo: Xinhua)Is the United States still our ally? This is a question that not just European Union officials are asking, but also many people in Europe. It is a question that has been prompted by the fact that Washington is making a great fortune out of the troubles European countries are facing.EU countries trying to reduce their reliance on Russia for energy turned to the US for gas instead, only to find that the price they have to pay is almost four times that in the US.As a result, the energy costs for industries in EU countries have increased dramatically and the inflation rate has soared. EU countries and their people are paying a high price for the disruption caused by the US-instigated conflict between Russia and Ukraine. European economies are being dragged into recession, with inflation rocketing, and the devastating squeeze on energy supplies threatens blackouts and rationing this winter.The EU countries are being ripped off by their ally when both sides of the Atlantic are providing both military and civilian aid to Ukraine.What makes EU officials and European people even more angry is the fact that instead of backing down from its selfish acts, Washington has boosted its beggar-thy-neighbor policy by adopting President Joe Bidens Inflation Reduction Act, a huge tax, climate and healthcare package.Under this act, Washington has announced a $369 billion industrial subsidy scheme to support its green industries, which has raised fears of a transatlantic trade war. Officials in Brussels are reportedly drawing up plans for an emergency war chest of subsidies to save European industries from collapse.Many EU officials and officials from EU countries have voiced frustration at the way the Biden administration simply ignores the impact of its domestic economic policies on European allies.EU politicians and th...
The dome of the US Capitol is seen beyond a fountain in Washington, US.While the international community has looked forward to the worlds largest economy and major trader in both goods and services implementing inclusive pro-trade measures to boost a balanced global recovery, the US has done the opposite by implementing discriminatory and distorting trade subsidy measures.The measures the US will take under the Inflation Reduction Act constitute grave violations of the general principles of the World Trade Organization and relevant international laws, and disrupt the global industry, supply and value chains.According to the act, the US will provide up to $369 billion in subsidies to support production and investment in electric vehicles, key minerals, clean energy and power generation facilities, with as many as nine tax breaks conditional on production and sales in the US or the rest of North America.These are unequivocally discriminatory provisions that breach the WTOs basic principles of most-favored-nation treatment and national treatment. They constitute de facto import substitution subsidies and trade-related investment restrictions prohibited by the WTO. All these moves will benefit the US at the cost of seriously distorting global trade and the investment in relevant industries.Thats why these articles have been questioned and criticized by almost all countries since they were announced and why the act was the focus of discussions at a meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods of the World Trade Organization, held in Geneva last week.There is no doubt that these policies will trigger a beggar-thy-neighbor subsidy race, increase the risk of trade frictions among WTO members and undermine global efforts to tackle climate change.These policies show that it is the US that is the rule-breaker. The US is not only violating WTO rules by weaponizing "national security" concerns and abusing export controls. It is also using "long-arm ...
China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a joint statement on the South China Sea at the 25th China-ASEAN Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, earlier this month.It is an important document signed by the two sides on the South China Sea issue, demonstrating China and ASEAN countries common will and firm resolve to stay committed to rising above external disruptions and safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea. The document also indicates that regional countries have the confidence, wisdom and capacity to handle the South China Sea issue.The joint statement, at its beginning, recognizes the benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.To build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation is an important goal of Chinas South China Sea policy, as well as an inherent part of deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN.In November 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations via video link. He proposed that China and ASEAN countries together build a peaceful home, a safe and secure home, a prosperous home, a beautiful home and an amicable home, stressing joint efforts are needed to safeguard stability in the South China Sea and make it a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.The incorporation of "a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation" into the joint statement at this time mirrored regional countries active response to and support for Chinas South China Sea policy. It proved that China and ASEAN countries have reached a general consensus on what kind of South China Sea they should build.The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) is the first political document signed by China and ASEAN countries on the South China Sea issue. The document and its implementation ensure the basic s...
Residents line up to take the nucleic acid tests in Beijing on Nov 23, 2022. [Photo/IC] After fighting with the novel coronavirus for three years, the world has not yet seen the light at the end of the tunnel. During that time the virus has mutated and become less lethal, and since effective vacc
ChineseandUSflagsflutteroutsidethebuildingofanAmericancompanyinBeijing,Jan21,2021。
A FIFA World Cup sign is backdropped by the skyline of Doha on November 17, 2022, ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (Photo: AFP)Editors note: Abu Naser Al Farabi is a Dhaka-based columnist and analyst focusing on international politics, especially Asian affairs. Qatar was awarded the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first country in the Middle East to do so. Ever since, the country has continued to find itself at the receiving end of a flurry of criticism and an explosive tirade of negative media coverage from the West.Out of their assumed moral high ground and deep-seated superiority complex, the Western sports analysts and their corporate media industry have been hammering Qatar with articles and opinions, condemning the country for its standard of migrant labor rights and its stance on the LGBT community.The so-called Western moral outrage driven by vested quarters with unsubstantiated, in some cases utterly untrue, claims on the issues has even reached the extent that some have been shamefully calling for boycotts of the football tournament. Boycott, sounds familiar? Yes, just last February, we witnessed a similar uproar in the Western political circle around another grand sports event, the Beijing Winter Olympics.The sustained Western condemnation that Qatar has been undergoing now, just because a non-Western country is hosting one of the most spectacular sports events in the world, is anything but surprising.Amid the outrage, the Western political establishments and media inflamed before and during the Beijing Winter Olympics to undermine Chinas global standing, albeit failed, it could easily be envisaged at that time that Qatar would be the next target of Western "hypocritical and shameful" bombardments.As one analyst in the South China Morning Post presciently pointed to the current occurrence right at the Olympic moment, "That drumbeat of righteousness with regard to the World Cup will only g...
AChineseexpertchecksthegrowthofricewithfarmersinAbuja,Nigeria.Riceplantedatfourdemonstrationfieldsallproducedgoodharveststhisyear。
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY Replacing fossil fuels with clean energy has become an irreversible trend in China, and with the introduction of a series of policies to peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, its low-carbon energy transformation is constantly accelerat
Technicians check out facilities at Sinopec's Fuling shale gas field. Photo/China Daily QatarEnergy has signed a long-term deal to supply China's Sinopec with liquefied natural gas. At 27 years, it is the longest such liquefied natural gas agreement to date. The long-term purchase and sale agreeme
SemiconductorchipsareseenonacircuitboardofacomputerinthisillustrationpicturetakenFeb25,2022.Photo/AgenciesMorrisChangChung-mou,founderoftheTaiwan-basedchipmanufacturerTSMC,hassaidthattheywillbuildawaferplantinArizonatoproduce3-nmprecisionchips。
This photo taken on Nov 2, 2022 shows the west entrance of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue for the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), in East China's Shanghai. Photo/Xinhua The China International Import Expo (CIIE), held in Shanghai from Novembe
A FIFA World Cup trophy replica is pictured on the pitch as fireworks go off ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A soccer match between Qatar and Ecuador at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha on Sunday. ODD ANDERSEN/AFP FIFA President Gianni Infantino was spot on when he slammed We
Most experts disapprove of the view that the United States should officially pledge to defend Chinas Taiwan region, according to a November survey by Foreign Affairs Magazine. A view of the White House October 24, 2022, in Washington, DC, the United States. (File photo: VCG) Among the 54 experts surveyed to give their opinions on whether the US should "publicly adopt, as official policy, a pledge to use military force to defend Taiwan," 39 either strongly disagreed or disagreed, while only eight either agreed or strongly agreed.Most of these participants stated their reasons for their contentions."It would be reckless to adopt this policy of strategic clarity," said Lyle J. Goldstein, director for Asia Engagement at Defense Priorities and visiting professor at Brown University. "In fact, this move away from strategic ambiguity might well spark the war that it is aiming to prevent.""Wiser policies would emphasize creative diplomacy and maintain Washingtons commitment to the one China policy," said Goldstein, who disagreed with the surveys debate statement.Michael Mazza, a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Global Taiwan Institute, a supporter of the statement, said "a firm US commitment to defend Taiwan, or strategic clarity, will have a positive deterrent effect vis-à-vis China."Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie American Statecraft Program, said "it is currently far from a foregone conclusion" that China will seek national reunification by force, "despite the current drumbeat of vague and unsourced claims to the contrary emanating from people in Washington who are not China experts.""I am never certain about anything, but I round to a 10/10 on this question," said Wertheim, a strong opposer. China released a white paper in August regarding the Taiwan question and the reunification of China in the new er...
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