China

Argentina Seeks China’s Help in Negotiations With the IMF; Talk of Joint Five-Year Infrastructure Plan

April 3, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Argentina, China, Economic development updates, Finance, General, General updates, Global Diplomacy

April 2 (EIRNS)–Argentine ambassador to China, Sabino Vaca Narvaja, has met with high level Chinese government officials in Beijing “to ask for that country’s support in the national government’s negotiations with the IMF, seeking an extension of payment terms and reduction in interest rates,” the daily Dangdai reported April 1, citing embassy sources. Dangdai generally reports on Sino-Argentine relations, and touches on China’s relations with other Ibero-American countries to a lesser degree.

The Telam news agency reported that Vaca Narvaja met with the Foreign Ministry’s director of the Latin American and Caribbean Department, Cai Wei, with whom he discussed President Alberto Fernandez’s desire to refinance the $45 billion standby loan contracted by former President Mauricio Macri in 2018. Further citing embassy sources, Dangdai reported that Vaca Narvaja’s meeting included a discussion of the invitation to President Fernandez to make a state visit to China, now scheduled for early May, during which he is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to join the Belt and Road Initiative. A review of the two nations’ bilateral agenda, Dangdai noted, focused on a series of infrastructure investment projects which both governments prioritize and which would be integrated into a joint Five Year Plan. Especially interesting was the discussion on the use of national currencies for trade and investment, including “an evaluation of productive and industrial projects that could be financed in renminbi, a currency which could be used subsequently to meet foreign payments to China.”

It should be noted that the IMF’s 2018 standby loan, which was originally for $57 billion, but whose last tranche Fernandez refused to accept after he became President, was granted by then IMF Managing Director Christine “Lady Gaga” Lagarde largely for political reasons to prop up the sagging Macri government and the brutal austerity program he was implementing in hopes he might be able to be reelected. Argentine authorities are in fact conducting a criminal investigation into the fraudulent way the loan was contracted and used–most of it ending up as capital flight and vastly expanding the amount of debt Argentina cannot pay. The loan violated Argentina’s constitutional norms as well as the IMF’s own internal regulations. Macri himself, his two former Central Bank presidents and two former finance ministers, are all under investigation.

Italians Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s Defense of China

April 2, 2021by madeleine in China, General, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Our initiatives (petitions, etc)

On Friday morning, at least six Sinologists and China experts added their names on the website of the LaRouche movement in Italy, Movisol, to the Schiller Institute statement on China. They had been were mobilized by Fabio Massimo Parenti, associate professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing. Professor Parenti was contacted by journalists of the “Report” political magazine (connected to the Rai Tre national television channel) who had asked him about the statement. Parenti, who had had dealings with Movisol in the past, contacted Liliana Gorini, the chair of Movisol; to sign the statement; and then to post it on his Facebook page. His group is now considering to write a similar statement, to be sent to Italy’s President, Sergio Mattarella.

CGTN Dialogue with Zou Yue Interviews Helga Zepp-LaRouche and Others on Xinjiang

March 30, 2021by madeleine in China, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Video, United States, World war danger updates

Helga Zepp-LaRouche was one of the guests on CGTN’s “Dialogue” program’s coverage of the situation in Xinjiang. She focused on the tremendous development of China that he she had seen over the years, and the background to Xinjiang destabilization in Brzezinski’s creating terrorism in the U.S. war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Also appearing on the show was Sultan Hali, speaker at the recent Schiller Institute conference.

Blinken Attacks China; Wang Yi Says None of the ASEAN Nations Agree

August 9, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, General updates, Geopolitics updates, United States

Blinken Attacks China; Wang Yi Says None of the ASEAN Nations Agree—

Aug. 7 (EIRNS)–The final conference of the week of ASEAN meetings this week, the East Asia Summit Ministerial, involved a larger group in the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States, Japan and Australia. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, like the skunk who came to the picnic, decided to do something of a repeat of Anchorage, going after China’s alleged human rights abuses in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong. While there was no transcript to the meeting, it seems that Japan and Australia may also have chipped in on this. Wang Yi asked for the floor a second time to respond to the attacks.

Wang Yi said that as expected, the United States and other countries will use the multilateral platform to attack and smear China’s internal affairs. “These clichés are not worth refuting, and none of the ASEAN countries agree with you, but out of the principle of reciprocity, China certainly has the right to refute them. But for such abominable behavior, we will resolutely make refutation each and every time it comes up,” Wang asserted.

China Announces Two Billion COVID-19 Vaccines to Be Exported in 2021

August 8, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, COVID-19, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Healthcare, Healthcare

China Announces Two Billion COVID-19 Vaccines to Be Exported in 2021—

Aug. 6 (EIRNS)–President Xi Jinping announced today that China will export two billion COVID-19 vaccines in 2021. The massive expansion of production capacity this year has allowed China to export between 600 to 750 million doses so far, while also applying over 1.7 billion doses within China. The track record of Sinovac and Sinopharm so far indicates that they will produce almost 5 billion doses this year, and Tao Lina, a vaccine expert in Shanghai confirms this. Otherwise, China is presently vaccinating their population at the rate of 17.9 million shots a day, which is seven times the rate of the European Union, and 30 times that of the United States.

President Xi sent a written message today to the International Forum on Covid-19 Vaccine Cooperation, hosted by China Central Television and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang-Yi. He described the vaccine as a “global public good,” and stressed common action on world health as part of building a community with a shared future for mankind. He recognized the problem with the resurgences of the coronavirus allowing for the proliferation of mutations and variant strains. Besides exporting vaccines, he described China’s work with countries to develop and produce vaccines, with joint production already begun in the UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Brazil, Turkey, Pakistan and Mexico — a new capacity of over 200 million doses, which needs further expansion.

China Welcomes Zepp-LaRouche’s China Petition

March 27, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, China, China SI activity, General, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, Our initiatives (petitions, etc)

Beijing Welcomes Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s ‘Declaration of China Experts from All Over the World’

March 26 (EIRNS)—The Spokesperson’s Office of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the statement following today:

The French Schiller Institute statement condemned the recent anti-China movement. Chinese Spokesperson Hua Chunying stated: “It reflects the rational and just voice of insightful people in the international community.”

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 26, a CCTV reporter from the main station asked: “On March 24, the Schiller Institute released on its website a ‘Declaration of China Experts from all Over the World,’ which was jointly signed by 34 dignitaries from 18 countries, including former politicians, diplomats and scholars. The statement condemned the recent international anti-China movement, and called on the West to acknowledge China’s development achievements and splendid culture, have cooperation rather than confrontation with China. What is China’s comment?”

Hua Chunying: “We have taken note of the above-mentioned statement. It represents the rational and just voice of visionary people in the world, condemns and rejects the crazy words and deeds of the western anti-China forces that wantonly attack, smear and even crafted rumors against China in disregard of facts.

“The signatories of the statement have either lived and worked in China, or traveled to China on a regular basis for long stays. They all have first-hand experience and objective observation of China. Many of them have witnessed the remarkable achievement China has scored since reform and opening up. They witnessed the journey where the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese government, with a people-centered approach, led 850 million Chinese people out of extreme poverty. More recently, they have seen how 1.4 billion Chinese people, united as one, defeated the COVID-19 epidemic. Their statement once again proves that seeing is believing.

“As a matter of fact, many foreign friends who have been living in or dealing with China for many years find that the closer they get to China, the more they will see that China in reality is far from, or even completely opposite to the image some Western media and politicians try to portray. I saw a lot of video clips uploaded by foreigners saying that they realized they were fooled by foreign media reports only after arriving in China and seeing the country as it is. China has always been open to the world. We welcome people from across the world to get closer to us and understand China. We hope certain individuals in the west will discard bias, return to rationality, liberate their thinking, seek truth from facts and view China from an objective perspective.”

Spokesperson’s Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Official release of China’s foreign policy
Authoritative interpretation of China’s position and attitude

UN Security Council Unanimously Pushes for Afghan Political Solution

August 5, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Afghanistan, China, France, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Russia, United States, World war danger updates

UN Security Council Unanimously Pushes for Afghan Political Solution—

Aug. 4 (EIRNS)—In New York, the UN Security Council unanimously issued a press statement condemning deliberate attacks on civilians in Afghanistan and all instances of terrorism “in the strongest terms” on Aug. 3, while declaring its opposition to restoration of rule by the Taliban, reported The Associated Press. The council called on the Afghan government and the Taliban “to engage meaningfully in an inclusive, Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process in order to make urgent progress towards a political settlement and a ceasefire.” The council statement also expressed “deep concern” at the high levels of violence and reported serious human rights abuses in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s offensive. It urged an immediate reduction in violence.

It is noteworthy that the U.S., China and Russia (as well as the U.K. and France) all agreed with this perspective on Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani by phone yesterday to press for a political settlement and lecture Ghani on democracy and human rights.

Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar told TOLOnews in an Aug. 2 interview that the Taliban enjoys the support of foreign terrorists in Afghanistan. “The Taliban relies on the support of foreign terrorists and mainly aims to attack cities,” he said. “Afghanistan’s international allies hold the same opinion.”

“Two important encounters will take place in Doha (Qatar) in the coming days: One with our regional allies and the other with international allies in the format of the Extended Troika,” comprised of Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan, Atmar continued. “We are turning to the international community with a request to exert pressure on the Taliban so that this movement observes human rights. Up to now, the Taliban has been brutally assaulting civilians.”

On the ground, heavy fighting reportedly continues in both Herat in western Afghanistan and in the southern province of Helmand. Several airstrikes were reportedly launched by Afghan and U.S. air forces since Tuesday night (Aug. 3), according to security sources. The commander of the Army’s 215 Maiwand Corps, Gen. Sami Sadat, called on residents in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, to evacuate their homes as the army was preparing for a large-scale operation to clear the city of the Taliban. However, as of the latest reports, the army had not made much progress beyond controlling government buildings.

China Media Cover Schiller Institute Petition Rebuking Demonization of China

March 26, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, China, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, Our initiatives (petitions, etc)

Schiller Institute’s China Petition in Chinese Media

Mar.25 (EIRNS) — The Schiller Institute petition denouncing the attacks on China signed by 30 leading experts, was reported in the Chinese media. The China Global Television Network, published an article on the petition but did not name the signatories. Then China Central Television republished the CGTN article. This was followed by a report in CCTV on the French Schiller Institute’s French translation of the petition with a summary in Chinese. Below is the CGTN article in full. Also see links at the end.

China experts urge cooperation, not confrontation with China

The West should do better to respond to an offer of cooperation from China rather than seek confrontation, and find a common way to solve the crises challenging all of humanity, according to a declaration published on Tuesday by the Schiller Institute, a political and economic think tank based in Germany.

The declaration, which was signed by over 30 experts, including the institute’s founder and president Helga Zepp LaRouche, denounced what it said was an intensifying international campaign against China.

“For some time, an international anti-China campaign has escalated, where think tanks, mainstream media and strategic reports of all sorts paint a picture of China and its alleged intentions which is simply not true and is extremely dangerous. An enemy image is being projected that in the worst case leads to war,” it said.

All signatories to the declaration have had “direct experience with China, be it that we have lived or worked there, or from repeated travel over longer periods of time.”

Based on their experience and witnesses, they said the Chinese people are “fundamentally more optimistic about the future than the West” after the nation’s successful poverty eradication campaign. And “trust in government is substantially greater,” which is illustrated and strengthened by the effective way China brought COVID-19 under control.

The statement also said that China has been making progress in science and technology as well as innovation, urging the West to “do better to respond to the offer of cooperation, than seeking confrontation.”

Links to CGTN story.

Link to CCTV story.

Link to CCTV report on French Translation.

China Institutes More Stringent Measures To Combat New COVID Outbreaks

August 5, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, COVID-19, General updates, Healthcare, Healthcare

Aug. 4 (EIRNS)—China is experiencing a resurgence of COVID, particularly of the new delta variant, and is implementing more stringent measures to deal with it. Most seem to have developed through imported cases, at the airport in Nanjing and in the south Yunnan province at the Myanmar border. But the provinces of Zhejiang and Henan, where there has been major flooding recently, have also been hit with new cases. The city of Wuhan is also again in the process of conducting nucleic acid testing on its 11 million people in order to avoid a replay of the terrible 2020 outbreak.

The State Council announced on Aug. 3 that COVID-19 prevention and control would now be “the top priority” for local governments. “Airports, harbors and land borders should be closely guarded to prevent imported COVID-19 cases. International travelers and cargo should be strictly separated from spaces where local people can enter,” Sun Chunlan, a member of the Political Bureau said in her comments at the press conference announcing the new measures.

“People that are most prone to infection should be placed in quarantine immediately. Regional investigations targeting close contacts should be completed within 24 hours,” she said. Sun required nationwide scrutiny of in-hospital infection control measures. “Hospitals that fail to meet the standards should carry out rectification or even suspend operations,” she said. There are now four high-risk areas for the COVID outbreak and 150 medium-risk areas. The country has already distributed 1.7 billion doses of the vaccine.

28 Nations Participate in China’s Belt and Road Partnership on COVID Vaccines Cooperation

August 5, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Afghanistan, China, COVID-19, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Healthcare, Healthcare, New Silk Road / BRI updates, Pakistan, Uzbekistan

August 3, 2021 (EIRNS)—On June 23 of this year, at the Asia and Pacific High-Level Conference on Belt and Road Cooperation, presided over by China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, 28 nations joined in launching the China Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Covid-19 Vaccine Cooperation. The statement announcing this initiative stressed that international cooperation and solidarity are key to fighting the pandemic, that “people and their lives” must be put first, and that no one is safe until everyone is safe. It emphasized that vaccines must be equitably distributed and that there must be “open, fair and non-discriminatory international cooperation on vaccines.”

A number of other recommendations for the BRI vaccine cooperation initiative included facilitating joint vaccine research, development and technological exchanges; promoting partnerships between vaccine producers and developing countries for joint vaccine production, to scale up global production; encouraging regional and multilateral development banks to provide more concessional financing to developing countries for their vaccine procurement and production; and “strengthening Belt and Road cooperation on connectivity to ensure cross-border flows of vaccines.”

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday, in less than two months the BRI vaccine initiative has yielded impressive results, reaching cooperative agreements with several of the initiative’s 28 co-sponsors on a total of 775 million doses of vaccines, including in the form of concentrates, of which 350 million doses have been delivered. In addition, Chinese companies have started joint production with four co-sponsors of this initiative, whose names were not specified, and are discussing joint production “with other interested countries.” In today’s foreign ministry press conference, spokesman Wang Wenbin reported that China has provided vaccine assistance to over 80 countries and vaccines to 40 countries, also reporting that China is collaborating with other developing nations to mass produce the vaccine. It was also announced today that the World Health Organization has granted emergency use authorization to China’s Sinovac vaccine. (The full initiative statement is detailed here.)

The 28 countries include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

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