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"The EU requested to the Chinese authorities their immediate and unconditional release," the spokesperson said. "China's ongoing crackdown on human rights activists and lawyers is a well-known EU concern, which we raise at all levels." Yu Wensheng, 55, is a human rights lawyer who last year completed a four-year prison sentence for "subversion of state power". He was among more than 300 rights lawyers and activists arrested in a 2015 crackdown. The EU delegation in Beijing said on Friday three other human rights lawyers, Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu and Bao Longjun, had been placed under house arrest.

☆ China condemns US sanctions on those allegedly involved in fentanyl trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, April 17 (Reuters) - China condemns U.S. sanctions on Chinese firms and individuals over their alleged involvement in fentanyl trade, and has lodged representations with Washington, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. "China, in the spirit of humanitarianism, has been trying to help the U.S. as best it can," spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing. Wang said repeated moves by the United States to impose sanctions "seriously undermines" bilateral cooperation in drug control. Washington on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities based in China and four Chinese nationals, accusing them of supplying precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico for the production of illicit fentanyl intended for the United States. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China denies imposing no-fly zone north of Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, April 14 (Reuters) - China denied on Friday that it had imposed a no-fly zone in the seas north of Taiwan for Sunday, even though Taipei said it was told by Beijing that China would impose one. "I have noticed that there were previous reports pointing out that the no-fly zone was set up by the Chinese side, which is inaccurate. China's civil aviation authority will forewarn and issue notices in advance for any space activities, Wang said. The area covers busy flight routes between Taiwan and China and Taiwan and South Korea, among others. "Relevant parties in the mainland have issued advance notices and announcements of space activities affecting the airspace," said China's Taiwan Affairs Office in a statement on Friday.

"I am convinced that both Ukraine and Russia are waiting for someone else to say, 'Let's sit down and talk,'" Lula told journalists last week. Lula has suggested a peace solution could be the return of newly invaded territory, though not Crimea - an option that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected outright. For his initiative to advance, Lula needs China to send a message to Russia, said a European diplomat in Brasilia. Some 20 agreements to be signed include creation of a sixth satellite in a joint program started in 1988, which will be used for monitoring the Amazon, Brazil's foreign ministry said. China overtook the United States as Brazil's top trading partner in 2009 and is a major market for Brazilian soybeans, iron ore and oil.

☆ India launches villages programme in Arunachal, ignores angry China
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] India's Home Minister Amit Shah greets the media upon his arrival at the home ministry in New Delhi, India, June 1, 2019. In December last year, troops from the two sides engaged in scuffles in the state's Tawang sector, and last week India rejected the renaming by China of 11 places, including five mountains, in Arunachal Pradesh. A map released last week showed the 11 places renamed by China as being within "Zangnan", or southern Tibet in Chinese, with Arunachal Pradesh included in southern Tibet. "Today we proudly say, gone are the days when anyone could encroach on our territory," Shah said, speaking in Hindi and without naming China. "Zangnan is China's territory," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said earlier on Monday in response to a question on Shah's visit.

☆ China criticises Indian minister's visit to Arunachal Pradesh
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] India's Home Minister Amit Shah greets the media upon his arrival at the home ministry in New Delhi, India, June 1, 2019. REUTERS/Altaf HussainBEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China firmly opposes a visit by India's home minister to Arunachal Pradesh and views his activities in the area as violating Beijing's territorial sovereignty, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a news briefing on Monday. China has renamed some places in what India regards as its eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of its territory. "Zangnan is China's territory," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on the visit by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah. "The Indian official's visit to Zangnan violates China's territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation."

International researchers published a pre-print report based on their interpretation of the data on Monday, after leaks of their findings in the media last week and a meeting with the World Health Organization involving both the Chinese and international scientists. The data comprised new sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and additional genomic data based on samples taken from the Huanan market in Wuhan in 2020, according to the international researchers who accessed it. "This adds to the body of evidence identifying the Huanan market as the spillover location of Sars-CoV-2 and the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic," said the report. As of March 11, it was no longer accessible on the database, where it was found by the international scientists, their report said. "Other raw sequencing data from environmental samples from the Huanan market exist and could contain further clues," Debarre told Reuters.

☆ China protests 'vile' Taiwan visit by German minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up military, political and economic pressure to assert those claims. The politically sensitive visit is taking place as Berlin is reviewing its previously close ties with China. In January, a visit to Taiwan by a delegation of high-ranking lawmakers from the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), the smallest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition, also led to protests from Beijing. "It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be the first minister heading a specialist government department to visit Taiwan in 26 years," she added. Given the sensitivity of the trip, Stark-Watzinger is not scheduled to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

☆ Russia and China are being driven together as the chasm with the West deepens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

"It's basically about certain strategic interests, that are very close to both Beijing and Moscow at this point," she added. "For both Russia and China, the main interest is to weaken the U.S.-led international order, that's their primary goal, long term and short term." The Ukraine factorFor both China and Russia, the war in Ukraine is both a challenge to that U.S.-led world order and a way to undermine it, analysts note. China has held back from openly supporting Russia's war in Ukraine but it has also refused to condemn the invasion. This fear, she said, could sway China when it considers whether to offer Putin help in Ukraine.

☆ Analysis: China's Xi takes 'diplomatic dance' to isolated Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( John Geddie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"There's been kind of an increasingly pronounced diplomatic dance on China's part as the war has played out," said Andrew Small, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. The U.S. and European leaders have said intelligence showed China was considering sending arms to Russia, which Beijing has denied. Xi called Putin his "best friend" during a 2019 visit where they admired pandas in a Moscow zoo. It is not clear if there will be any such photo ops this time amid more serious business and the bloody Ukraine war. "Whatever support Xi gives to Russia will be on China’s terms," another European diplomat said.

☆ Analysis: China's Xi takes 'diplomatic dance' to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( John Geddie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

☆ Chinese state media says US banking troubles are a result of poor regulation and domestic politics — but China's banks aren't having a great time either
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China's state media says the banking crisis happened due to poor financial regulation and US domestic politics. But banks in China also have their own issues amid the country's property woes. China's heavy-handed criticism comes at a bleak time for its own banksBut this harsh criticism comes at a bleak time for China's own banks. Since its collapse, some of these start-ups have been looking for alternatives — such as bigger US banks or other Chinese lenders, Reuters reported. Despite these troubles, China touts its governance system as being superior to "Western democracy" and uses state media to push its messaging.

☆ UN backs Turkey, Ukraine in call for 120-day grain deal rollover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS, March 16 (Reuters) - The United Nations backed Turkey and Ukraine on Thursday by calling for a 120-day rollover of an agreement allowing the safe export of grain from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports after Russia said it would only extend the pact for 60 days. "For us, the text in the agreement is clear and it calls for a 120-day rollover," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Reuters when asked about remarks by Turkey. Turkey said on Wednesday that it would continue talks to extend the deal for 120 days rather than 60 days. Senior U.N. and Russian officials met in Geneva on Monday to discuss extending the grain deal. Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations.

☆ Taiwan warns Honduras against 'poison' of taking aid from China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The flags of Taiwan and Honduras flutter in the wind outside the Taiwan Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras March 15, 2023. Honduran President Xiomara Castro said on Tuesday she had asked her foreign minister to open official relations with China. "We remind the Honduran government that it should not quench its thirst with poison, even if fully parched by debt obligations," the Taiwan ministry said. Reina said Honduras had asked Taiwan to double its annual aid to $100 million but never received an answer. Taiwan denied that, saying comments from the Honduran foreign minister did not reflect facts of their communications.

[1/3] U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueSAN DIEGO, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday after unveiling details of a major submarine deal with Britain and Australia aimed at countering China that he expected to speak to Chinese leader Xi Jinping soon, but declined to say when. Asked at a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego if he was worried that China would see the AUKUS submarine deal as aggression, Biden replied "no." Asked if he would speak to Xi soon, Biden said "yes," but to another question as to whether he would tell journalists when they would talk, he replied "no." "Competition requires dialogue and diplomacy," Sullivan told a small group of reporters last week in reference to China while discussing AUKUS.

☆ China says U.S. refused to share information on downed Chinese balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. "China early on through protected consular channels clearly demanded the United States notify (China) on the progress (of recovery of the balloon), but the United States refused to respond." China said that the alleged spy balloon is a civilian airship used for meteorological purposes, and that it was accidentally blown off course into U.S. airspace. The United States has said a Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia is analysing debris from the balloon for "counterintelligence exploitation." The Chinese defence ministry later said it declined a proposed phone call with the Pentagon because the United States had not created the "appropriate atmosphere".

☆ Chinese military gear may not be enough to bail out Russia's poorly led troops, former top US general in Europe says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US is again warning China not provide military support to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Russia's military has structural problems that foreign gear can't fix, a retired US general says. While lower-level Russian units have been able to adapt, "I think the big problem in the Russian military is that the culture is not very conducive to" learning, added Lee, an expert on Russia's military. Russian military leadership failings and inability to perform under fire will limit the utility of whatever hardware Beijing may provide, Breedlove said. While US officials have not specified what military support China may provide, there are signs Russia is using artillery ammunition more sparingly.

☆ South Korea to scrap COVID test on arrival rule for travellers from China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, Feb 22 (Reuters) - South Korea will not require travellers from China to test for COVID-19 upon arrivals from next month although they will still need to take pre-departure tests, a South Korean official said on Wednesday, its latest easing of rules to stop the virus. South Korea imposed several restrictions on passengers from China after it lifted its stringent zero-COVID policy late last year, but it has been easing them, citing an improved COVID situation in its neighbour. Effective March 1, South Korea will also allow flights from China to land in airports other than its main Incheon International Airport, which has been the sole gateway for flights from China since early January. Mandatory PCR tests before departure for passengers from China will remain in place until March 10, Kim said, to monitor and evaluate the impact of the rule relaxation. South Korea earlier resumed issuing short-term visas for travellers from China, followed by Beijing's lifting of similar visa curbs that were imposed in a response for Seoul's border restrictions.

Though the reasons for Bao's disappearance are unclear, his case follows a series of incidents in which high-profile executives in China have gone missing with little explanation during a sweeping anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by President Xi Jinping. China Renaissance said on Thursday in a stock exchange filing that it had no information that Bao's "unavailability" was related to its business, and that its operations were continuing normally. A spokesperson for Beijing-based China Renaissance declined to comment on specific details and referred Reuters to its exchange filing made on Thursday. "What happened to China Renaissance highlighted the key man risk with some Chinese companies," Li Nan, professor of Finance at Shanghai Jiaotong University, said. key man risk generally refers to the threat posed to a company from over-reliance on a limited number of personnel for decision making.

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chinese dealmaker Bao Fan, founder of investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd (1911.HK), has gone missing in the latest disappearance of a top business executive, unnerving investors and sending its stock down as much as 50% on Friday. A China Renaissance spokesperson referred Reuters request for comment on Friday to the investment bank's public filing. The firm earned $20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from $43.13 million a year earlier, the data showed. Bao started China Renaissance in 2005 as a two-person team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and private equity investors. China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector.

☆ Pentagon's top China official travels to Taiwan, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. Speaking earlier, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said he was "not very certain" about a report that the trip would take place. Chase would be the most senior U.S. defence official known to have visited the island since 2019. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly demanded that foreign officials not visit the democratically governed island. In 2020, a two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region made an unannounced visit to Taiwan.

☆ North Korea's Kim launches housing and greenhouse projects amid economic woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Feb 16 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has broken ground on a large greenhouse project and the development of 10,000 apartments, state media reported on Thursday, highlighting the construction projects amid foreign suspicion of food shortages. Neighbouring South Korea said on Wednesday that a food crisis appeared to be worsening in the North, and the South's DongA Ibo newspaper reported that North Korea had cut rations to its soldiers for the first time in more than two decades. The housing development, meanwhile, would be "another luxurious street of socialism full of the people's happiness", KCNA said in a separate report. In recent months North Korea has reopened freight rail services with China and Russia, and on Thursday, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that trucks had also begun crossing between the Chinese city of Hunchun and North Korea's Rason. Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden plans speech on balloon, unidentified objects - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden plans on Thursday to make his most extensive remarks yet about a high-altitude Chinese balloon and three other objects that were shot down by U.S. fighter jets, two sources familiar with the discussions said on Wednesday. Biden has been under pressure from lawmakers to speak more extensively about the spate of flyovers by unidentified objects, which have baffled many Americans. The United States has said the Chinese balloon was used for surveillance purposes, while Beijing called it a weather balloon. He said the United States still had no firm grasp on the origin of the three objects. Biden has asked national security adviser Jake Sullivan to preside over a task force of related agencies to come up with guidelines on how to address unidentified objects in future.

☆ China threatens to punish the US for shooting down its spy balloon that floated past sensitive military sites before a jet shot it out of the sky
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China threatened to punish the US on Wednesday for shooting down its massive balloon. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Beijing "will take countermeasures" against the US. Beijing has repeatedly insisted that the US "overreacted" by shooting down the balloon. Although Beijing has admitted that the downed balloon belonged to China, it has insisted it was a weather balloon that blew off course. The Chinese government spokesperson also demanded that the US "stop smearing and attacking China and stop misleading the US public and the international community."

☆ China says U.S. balloons flew over Xinjiang, Tibet, warns of countermeasures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Feb 15 (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday that U.S. high altitude balloons flew over its Xinjiang and Tibet regions, and it will take measures against U.S. entities that undermine Chinese sovereignty as a diplomatic dispute festered. China said earlier this week that U.S. balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since May 2022, without giving details on their location. "Without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities, it has illegally flown at least 10 times over China's territorial airspace, including over Xinjiang, Tibet and other provinces," Wang told a regular daily briefing on Wednesday. Washington later added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing's suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist. "China is firmly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant U.S. entities that undermine China's sovereignty and security in accordance with the law," Wang said.

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