Page 9 - Xi Jinping

Macron prioritises trade, Ukraine as Jinping opens European tour in France

French President Emmanuel Macron will seek to press China's Xi Jinping to use his influence to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine during a two-day state visit to France. Both leaders were also expected to discuss trade disputes over electric cars, cognac and cosmetics. Macron's office said talks about diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia are a top priority for France. Discussions will also include the Middle East, trade issues and global challenges including climate change. The European Commission president will join part of the meetings to raise broader EU concerns. France is the first stop on a European trip by Xi aimed at rebuilding relations at a time of global tensions. After France on Monday and Tuesday, the Chinese leader will head to Serbia and Hungary. France hopes discussions will help convince China to use its leverage with Moscow to "contribute to a resolution of the conflict" in Ukraine, according to a French presidential official.

Jinping arrives in Europe to reinvigorate ties at time of global tensions

Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off a three-country trip to Europe on Sunday with the continent divided over how to deal with Beijing's growing power and the US-China rivalry. European carmakers are losing ground to subsidised Chinese electric vehicles. Diplomats fret about alleged Chinese spies in European capitals. And China's continued defence trade with Russia worries anyone in Europe who supports war-ravaged Ukraine and fears that the Russian army won't stop there. But Europe and China have hefty economic ties EU-China trade is estimated at 2.3 billion euros per day and Xi appears determined to rebuild and deepen relations with European leaders after a prolonged absence prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Xi starts Sunday in France, whose president wants Europe to have more economic and strategic independence from other world powers. Then the Chinese president heads to Serbia and Hungary, both seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and ...

Russia's Putin plans to meet Xi in China days after his new term begins

Putin last month said he was planning to visit China in May, though he didn't specify the exact dates

As Xi Jinping visits Europe, Ukraine, trade likely to be top priority

Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping's first trip to Europe in five years, as the Asian giant rebuilds its foreign relations after a prolonged absence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Xi will start the tour in Paris on Monday, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been stressing the idea of European strategic autonomy from the U.S. On a visit to Beijing last year, Macron courted controversy by saying France would not necessarily always align with the US in foreign policy, an apparent reference to American support for the self-governing republic of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. After leaving France, Xi will visit Hungary and Serbia, both seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, rebuffing Western criticism of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Xi's European visits will be closely followed in Washington for signs of diminishing support for its k

China, Russia should clarify nuclear weapons are not controlled by AI: US

As part of normalising military communications, US and Chinese officials resumed nuclear weapons discussions in January, but formal arms control negotiations are not expected any time soon

China vows reforms at long delayed party conclave amid challenging economy

The central committee typically holds seven plenums between party congresses, which are held once every five years

China's top Covid-19 vaccine scientist expelled from Parliament for graft

China's top scientist, who developed the first inactivated COVID-19 vaccine at the height of the pandemic in the country in 2020, has been dismissed from Parliament for alleged corruption. Yang Xiaoming, the chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group's vaccine subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), has been stripped of his membership in the National People's Congress (NPC) due to serious discipline and law violations, official media reported here on Monday. The charge of serious discipline and law violations is a common euphemism for corruption under the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) disciplinary practice. Yang, 62, is a veteran researcher who headed the CNBG - a vaccine subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm - and led a team that developed Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV vaccine, China's first coronavirus shot approved for general use. Coronavirus first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in March 2020 and later spread to the world, becoming the pandemic of the century

Xi Jinping meets Antony Blinken, seeks US-China partnership over rivalry

Xi Jinping noted some progress since his meeting with US President Joe Biden, but stressed on continued efforts and addressing outstanding concerns

Putin announces plan to visit China in May, his first trip after poll win

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he plans to visit China in May, in what could become the first foreign trip for the Russian leader after he extended his rule by six more years in an election that offered voters little real choice. Putin announced the plans for the visit at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow. He didn't say when exactly it would take place and didn't offer any other details. Putin's inauguration is scheduled for May 7, Russian lawmakers said earlier this week. Last month, the 71-year-old Russian leader secured his fifth term in office in a vote with no real opposition, extending his 24-year rule. Russia's growing economic and diplomatic isolation because of its war against Ukraine has made it increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the Communist bloc during the Cold War. According to a recent US assessment, China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and oth

A third of China's city dwellers face danger of land sinking, says study

About a third of China's urban population is estimated to be at risk due to land subsidence, shows a new finding which researchers said is indicative of a global phenomenon. China's urban area below the sea level could triple by 2120, potentially affecting 55 to 128 million residents, it found. Using satellite data, the research team studied 82 cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, with a collective population of nearly 700 million people. The team, including researchers from the University of East Anglia, UK, found that 45 per cent of the urban land area analysed was sinking, with 16 per cent sinking at the rate of 10 millimetres a year. Hotspots included Beijing and the coastal city of Tianjin, they said. The study estimated that 270 million urban residents could be affected, with nearly 70 million experiencing rapid subsidence of 10 millimetres a year or more. The findings are published in the journal 'Science'. Caused mainly by human activities in cities, land sinking can a

Prez Xi launches Information Support Force, a new wing of Chinese military

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday launched an Information Support Force, a new wing of the People's Liberation Army, which he said will be a strategic branch, a key pillar and a vital power in modern warfare for the world's largest military. Xi, 71, who also heads the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military, besides heading the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Presidency, said that the establishment of the Information Support Force (ISF) is a major decision made by the CPC and the CMC in light of the overall need of building a strong military. The Information Support Force (ISF) was regarded as the revised version of the PLA's Strategic Support Force (SSF), established in 2015 by the Chinese military to deal with space, cyber, political and electronic warfare to fight what was described as "informationised wars". The leadership and structures of the PLA Space Force and the PLA Cyberspace Force have been rearranged ...

Hong Kong must hold national security line to ensure development: China

Hong Kong in March enacted a new national security law, also known as article 23, that updates or introduces new laws to prohibit treason, sabotage, sedition

Janet Yellen likely to reiterate warnings over China's manufacturing power

With its dominant voice in all of those forums, the US is expected to try to align other countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America to voice concerns over China's output and exports

China's strongman party

The author was one of the journalists who has been at the receiving end of Xi Jinping's tightening control over media

Emerging from seclusion, Jack Ma voices support for overhaul at Alibaba

Ma, who's still revered by many of the company's 200,000-plus employees, struck a markedly more upbeat tone than just four months ago

Xi Jinping meets former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on pro-unification visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing Wednesday in a bid to promote unification between the sides that separated amid civil war in 1949. Ma left office almost two decades ago and was largely excluded from the opposition Nationalist Party's failed campaign to retake the presidency in January, a concession to the electorate's strong opposition to political unification with China and politicians seen as willing to compromise Taiwan's security. He follows a long line of politicians from the Nationalists, also known as the KMT, who have been invited to China by its authoritarian one-party government and given VIP treatment on visits around the country. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing sends navy ships and warplanes around the island on a daily basis in hopes of wearing down Taiwan's defensives and intimidating the population. The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all ...

Xi Jinping meets with Sergey Lavrov in show of support against West

Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Tuesday in a sign of mutual support and shared opposition to Western democracies amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. We would like to express our highest appreciation and admiration for the successes that you have achieved over the years and, above all, over the last decade under your leadership," Lavrov told Xi, according to Russian media. "We are sincerely pleased with these successes, since these are the successes of friends, although not everyone in the world shares this attitude and are trying in every possible way to restrain the development of China - in fact just like the development of Russia, Lavrov said. Russia's growing economic and diplomatic isolation has made it increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the Communist bloc during the Cold War. In past decades, the two have closely aligned their foreign policies, held joint military exercises and sought to rally non-aligned

US officials raise commercial, market access issues with China in meeting

Washington has raised concerns with Beijing for years over restricted access to the Chinese market for US companies

Taiwan detects 7 Chinese naval vessels, 3 military aircraft encircling it

Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan

Biden, Xi discuss Taiwan, AI in push to return to regular leader talks

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan, artificial intelligence and security issues on Tuesday in a call meant to demonstrate a return to regular leader-to-leader dialogue between the two powers. The call was the leaders' first conversation since their November summit in California produced renewed ties between the two nations' militaries and a promise of enhanced cooperation on stemming the flow of deadly fentanyl and its precursors from China. The call also kicks off several weeks of high-level engagements between the two countries, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen set to travel to China on Thursday and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to follow in the weeks ahead. Biden has pressed for sustained interactions at all levels of government, believing it is key to keeping competition between the two massive economies and nuclear-armed powers from escalating to direct conflict. While in-person summits take place perhaps once a year, officials said, .