China-US Archives - Iran News Daily

China’s Xi says world needs justice, not hegemony in veiled reference to US

mahla — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 13:31:00 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – China’s Xi says world needs justice, not hegemony in veiled reference to US . Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a fairer world order in the face of the West’s unilateralism, warning hegemonic countries against “bossing others around.”

Speaking at the annual Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday, Xi said that “the future destiny of the world should be decided by all countries.”

“One or a few countries shouldn’t impose their rules on others, and the world shouldn’t be led on by the unilateralism of a few countries,” Xi said.

Without singling out the US, the Chinese president warned against building barriers that are against market principles.

“Attempts to erect walls or decouple run counter to the law of economics and market principles. They would hurt others’ interests without benefiting oneself,” Xi stated, in a veiled reference to Washington’s efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains and crub export of products such as advanced computer chips to China.

“What we need in today’s world is justice, not hegemony… Bossing others around or meddling in others’ internal affairs will not get one any support,” Xi said, while giving assurances that China will never engage in an arms race.

“A big country should look like a big country by showing that it is shouldering more responsibility,” he added.

China has repeatedly criticized US hegemony and its projection of power in trade and geopolitics.

China and the US have been engaged in an intense trade war, kicked off under the Donald Trump administration.

The two world powers are also increasingly at odds over a range of issues, including alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, protests in Hong Kong, China’s territorial claims on the Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and most of the South China Sea as well as the COVID-19 origin.

Beijing hoped for an improvement in relations under President Joe Biden’s administration. But the new president has so far shown no sign of backing down on hardline policies toward Beijing.

The Democratic president has even urged his democratic allies to harden their stance on China.

In a latest anit-Beijing move, Biden sought to present a united front with Japan to counter “challenges” by China.

On Friday, he hosted Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in a meeting, in which China topped the agenda.

In a display of economic cooperation to the exclusion of China, Biden said Washington and Tokyo will jointly invest in areas such as 5G technology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, genomics and semiconductor supply chains.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson censured the US-Japan alliance and said the two were in fact ganging up to form cliques and fanning bloc confrontation while talking about a “free and open” Indo-Pacific.

“It will only enable the world to see with increasing clarity the detrimental nature of the US-Japan alliance, which attempts to undermine regional peace and stability,” the spokesperson said.

The US president will host a virtual climate conference on Thursday and Friday with world leaders. The Chinese president will participate in the event.

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Chinese Internet Giant Sina Says Planning to Delist US Stocks

reporter 1222 — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 08:31:16 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Chinese Internet giant Sina Corp. has announced plans to delist its US shares and go private, making it the latest to withdraw from the country’s stock markets as relations between Beijing and Washington sour.

Sina, which owns the hugely popular Twitter-like Weibo site in China, will cease trading on the tech-rich Nasdaq – where it has traded since 2000 – after its board agreed to a merger with a group run by its chief executive that values the firm at $2.59 billion, AFP reported.

The move comes as a growing number of Chinese companies have delisted from the US or opted for secondary, domestic listings as the world’s two superpowers butt heads over s number of issues including technology, Hong Kong and the virus.

The US is considering plans to impose stricter rules on firms listed in the country to open up their audit papers to US accountants, which could lead to Chinese companies forced out. And that could push them towards Hong Kong or Shanghai.

E-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com, which are traded in New York, have launched huge offerings in Hong Kong in the past year, while Alibaba’s financial arm is planning a mega dual IPO in the two cities.

And China’s leading chipmaker SMIC delisted in June. This week the US slapped new export restrictions on the beleaguered manufacturer, battering its Hong Kong stocks.

US President Donald Trump has already limited the amount of business US firms can do with telecoms tita Huawei, while he has insisted that the Chinese parent company of popular video app TikTok sell its US operations to an American company, citing security concerns.

The Sina agreement will see it merge with New Wave MMXV Ltd., a Cayman Islands-registered company controlled by Sina CEO Charles Chao, according to a statement posted Monday.

The deal sees New Wave pay $43.30 per share, an improvement on the $41 offered in June.

The merger is expected to close during the first quarter of 2021, the company said.

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China Restricts US Meetings in Hong Kong

reporter 1222 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 11:46:20 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – In its latest measures countering the US moves, China has barred US diplomats posted in semi-autonomous Hong Kong from directly seeking meetings with city’s officials or politicians.

The US diplomats are now required to seek approval from China’s Foreign Ministry before meeting any Hong Kong officials, the daily South China Morning Post reported.

According to the Chinese official order, the US diplomats would require approval for any official, private, social and video meetings, as well as meetings with “any Chinese public or private education organization or society, and its personnel”.

The new development went public after Hong Kong’s pro-business Liberal Party leader Felix Chung Kwok-pan was told that the US’ Consul General in the city requires to get permission for meeting him.

The US envoy had sought a meeting with Felix.

Earlier this month, Felix was called by China’s Foreign Ministry office in the city and told it was not an “appropriate time for him to meet the US’ top envoy”, Anadolu Agency reported.

China has demanded that the US consul general in Hong Kong, “his successors, or any personnel working on his behalf, must first obtain approval from the Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Commissioner in Hong Kong before visiting any Chinese local government facilities or meeting personnel from these institutions.”

The Chinese move is seen as a retaliation to the US steps restricting Chinese diplomats’ activities in the US.

Earlier this month, the US State Department made it mandatory for the Chinese diplomats to seek approval before visiting any US university campus or holding cultural events with more than 50 people outside embassy grounds.

“We’re simply demanding reciprocity. Access for our diplomats in China should be reflective of the access that Chinese diplomats in the United States have, and today’s steps will move us substantially in that direction,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time, claiming that Beijing imposed restrictions on the American diplomats in China.

Up until 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony. At present, it remains a semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

China implemented a contentious national security law this July, triggering criticism from the Western countries.

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Pompeo Indicates US Ambassador to China Is Leaving Post

reporter 1222 — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 11:58:25 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated early Monday that US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad was leaving his post.

Pompeo did not give a reason for US Ambassador to China, 73 years old and a former governor of Iowa, leaving china at a time when relations are strained, notably over bilateral trade, allegations about information security, and the coronavirus pandemic. The US embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I thank Ambassador Terry Branstad for his more than three years of service to the American people as US Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China,” Pompeo tweeted, Reuters reported.

“Ambassador Branstad has contributed to rebalancing US-China relations so that it is results-oriented, reciprocal, and fair,” he added, without explicitly saying Branstad was going.

Citing an unnamed source, the CNN news network reported that Branstad was likely to leave before the November US presidential election.

The Chinese foreign ministry has in the past described Branstad as an “old friend of the Chinese people”.

He first forged ties with President Xi Jinping several decades ago when Xi visited Iowa.

Last week, the United States and China traded attacks about who best understands press freedom after the official People’s Daily refused to publish an article by Branstad.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily news conference that China had not received a notice about Branstad leaving.

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US Removed China from Currency Manipulators

reporter 1222 — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 09:53:19 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Treasury Department on Monday removed China from a list of countries the US regards as currency manipulators as the two economic powerhouses edged towards ending a damaging trade war.

In its semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States, the Treasury concluded that “no major US trading partner” could be considered among currency manipulators at this time, Anadolu news agency reported.

The decision came as trade negotiators for the US and China are set to meet Wednesday to sign a “phase one” deal in Washington aimed at ending a trade war that saw the world’s two largest economies slap tariffs on a range of products.

In a statement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Beijing had taken steps to stop artificially devaluing its currency, the yuan, which had made its exports cheaper and thus hurt rival manufacturers.

“The Treasury Department has helped secure a significant Phase One agreement with China that will lead to greater economic growth and opportunity for American workers and businesses,” added Mnuchin.

“China has made enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation while promoting transparency and accountability,” he stated.

Instead of being treated as a currency manipulator, China is now on a “monitoring list” of US trade partners that “merit close attention”. The list includes Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Vietnam.

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US outer space domain strategy, a‘security threat’; China says

reporter 1222 — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 08:20:48 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The United States vigorously advocated outer space domain strategy in disregard of opposition from the international community constitutes a direct threat to peace and security of the outer space, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry says.

Spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Monday when commenting on the US Space Force.

US President Donald Trump signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act into law on Friday, officially directing the establishment of the US Space Force (USSF). Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said space capacities of the US should be enhanced as countries such as China and Russia are posing an increasingly larger “threat.”

“The United States has vigorously advanced its outer space domain strategy in disregard of opposition from the international community in recent years and has gone ever farther on the road of weaponization of outer space by turning it into a battlefield.

The US actions have seriously violated the international consensus of peacefully exploiting outer space, undermined global strategic balance and stability, constituted direct threat to peace and security of the outer space, which China is deeply concerned about and strongly opposes to,” said Geng.

Geng added the outer space security the US pursues is only its own country’s security; while the fundamental goal of the international community in safeguarding the common security of humans in outer space. The US has insisted on weaponization in outer space under the repeated pretext of coping with China and Russia, which is nothing but an absurd excuse to shift blames to excuse itself.

“China has always advocated the peaceful use of outer space, opposing weaponization and arms race in outer space. Currently, the necessity and urgency of formulating international legal documents of arms control in outer space through negotiations has become even more eminent.

We hope the international community, the relevant major country, in particular, will adopt a prudent and responsible attitude to prevent outer space from turning into a new battlefield and make joint efforts to safeguard enduring peace and tranquility in outer space,” said Geng.

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