Chinese
5 Easy Chinese Dim Sum Recipes for Bangladeshi Kitchen
Dim sum is a customary Chinese meal. They are small plates of dumplings and other snack dishes. They are naturally served with tea. Most modern dim sum dishes are usually related to Cantonese cuisine. Dim sum dishes also exist in the Chinese cuisines. Explore here 5 Simple Chinese Dim Sum recipes that you can try at home.
5 Mouth-watering Chinese Dim Sum Recipes
Vegetable Dim Sum Recipe
Ingredients for the Dough:
2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt
Ingredients for the Filling:
1 cup finely minced mixed vegetables, 1 tbsp oil, 1/2 cup onion finely chopped, 1 tsp garlic-chopped, 1/2 tsp salt or to taste, 1/4 tsp vinegar, 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
First, prepare the soft dough with the given ingredients of the dough. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel. Now take a pan and saute onions and garlic for a while. Then add the mixed vegetables. Cook on medium heat for about 5-6 minutes or until they become soft. Remove from the heat and add salt, vinegar, and black pepper and mix well.
Divide the dough into 10 pieces and give each wrapper a dumplings shape. Fill each dum sim with the filling and seal all around the parts. Steam them for about 10 minutes. Let them cool and serve them with tea.
Read More: 5 Mouth-watering Orange Dessert Recipes to Try this Winter
Chicken Dimsums Recipe
Ingredients for the filling
250 grams Chicken (minced), 2 Onions (finely chopped), 7 cloves Garlic (minced), 1/2 tablespoon Soy sauce, Salt
Ingredients for the Dough
1 cup Flour, Oil, and Salt
Instructions
First, prepare the dim sum wrappers and put flour, 1 tablespoon oil, salt, and a little bit of water in a bowl and knead it nicely. Then, when the dough is done, cover the dough with a wet clean cloth for 10-15 minutes.
Now make the filling and saute the chopped garlic in a pot add minced chicken, salt, soy sauce, and onions and cook for 10 minutes or as long as the chicken is a bit tender. The filling is ready.
Then prepare the dim sums, and so divide the dough into 12 equal parts. Make a small circular dim sum with each part. Put some chicken filling in the middle of the disc and seal it using water and your finger. Prepare all the dim sums following the same process and cover them with a wet kitchen towel.
Now put them in a correctly oiled steamer and cook for about 20 minutes or as long as the outer covering of the dim sum starts looking glassy. Your chicken dim sums are ready.
Read More: 5 Nepali Momo Recipes for Bangladeshi Kitchen
Chinese navy ship docks in Sri Lanka, stokes worry in India
A Chinese navy vessel arrived at a Beijing-built port in southern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, after its port call was earlier delayed due to apparent security concerns raised by India.
The Yuan Wang 5 sailed into the Hambantota port and was welcomed by Sri Lankan and Chinese officials. The development could spark worry in India, which views China’s rising influence in the Indian Ocean with suspicion.
Sri Lanka has referred to the Yuan Wang 5 as a “scientific research ship," but there are fears in India that the vessel could be used to surveil the region, with multiple media reports calling it a “dual-use spy ship."
“The Yuan Wang 5 is a powerful tracking vessel whose significant aerial reach — reportedly around 750 km — means that several ports in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh could be on China’s radar,” the Indian Express newspaper wrote.
The closely watched developments surrounding the vessel underscore the competing interests of regional giants India and China in the small island nation. For more than a decade, Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean and along one of the busiest shipping routes has seen both countries vie for influence.
Read: Sri Lanka holds its breath as new PM fights to save economy
Over the years, Beijing was widely seen as having an upper hand with its free-flowing loans and infrastructure investments. But Sri Lanka’s economic collapse proved an opportunity for India to gain greater sway, as New Delhi stepped in with massive financial and material assistance to its neighbor.
The ship has permission to dock in Hambantota until Aug. 22, Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry said last weekend. It added that China had agreed the ship would keep its identification systems on and would not carry out any research activities while in Sri Lankan waters.
“Given the geopolitical dynamics in the region and Sri Lanka’s heavy vulnerability on the economic front, Sri Lanka is playing with two fires at a diplomatic level,” said international affairs analyst Ranga Kalansooriya.
The Yuan Wang family of naval vessels serve both the Chinese missile force and its space program, which is run by the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party.
Previous official Chinese media reports have described PLA officers serving in command positions aboard the vessels in the Yuan Wang class, which may also have civilians in their crews.
China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin dismissed concerns about the ship in a briefing Tuesday.
“I would like to reiterate that the marine scientific research conducted by the research ship Yuan Wang 5 conforms to international law and international common practice, and will not affect the security and economic interests of any country,” he said.
On Monday, India gifted a maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Sri Lanka to strengthen its maritime security. The Indian Embassy said the aircraft would help Sri Lanka tackle multiple security challenges such as human and drug trafficking as well as other crimes in its coastal waters more effectively.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said last week that India was aware of the planned visit by the vessel and that it carefully monitors any development that affects its security and economic interests and would take all measures to safeguard them. He also dismissed claims last week that India put pressure on Sri Lanka to delay the ship.
As Sri Lanka endures its worst economic crisis, India in recent months has provided crucial assistance including food, fuel, medicines and cooking gas. At the same time, China’s agreement to restructure its infrastructure loans to Sri Lanka is vital for the country to reach a bailout program with the International Monetary Fund.
China has lent Sri Lanka billions of dollars for development projects, some of which have been criticized as having little practical use. They include the Hambantota port, built with Chinese money under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his home region, despite the plan having been rejected by an expert panel.
When the port failed to generate enough revenue to pay back the loan, Sri Lanka in 2017 was forced to hand the facility and thousands of acres of surrounding land to Beijing for 99 years — giving China a key foothold in the country directly opposite India’s coastline.
Kalansooriya said while Sri Lanka is unable to discount both regional powers, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is tasked not only with salvaging the country’s economy but also maintaining a diplomatic balance.
No discussion on new loan during Chinese FM's visit: FS
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said taking a new loan from China will not be a part of their agenda during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's upcoming Bangladesh visit.
"This time, the issue of taking loan afresh isn't there at least," he said on Wednesday when a reporter wanted to know whether Bangladesh is going to take a loan from China again.
Asked what message this visit carries amid the crisis in various parts of the world, the foreign secretary said it will be known once the Chinese foreign minister comes. "We are working on the visit. Things are yet to be finalised."
He reiterated that the visit is part of the Chinese side's routine visit to the region and also it is an opportunity to review the existing engagements between the two countries.
"It can't be said (there's) urgency (from the Chinese side). Since he will be visiting this region, he expressed the desire to come here if we can give him time. We are looking into the timings," he said earlier when a reporter wanted to know why there was so much urgency from the Chinese side.
Read: 12th bi-annual CSO meeting: Foreign secretary highlights implementation of IORDA-DDI
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said time, arrival and departure have not been confirmed yet.
The state minister said he does not want to shed any doubt but there is nothing to say in detail about the visit yet. "You will get to know," said, adding that things will be cleared within the next 48 hours.
Shahriar also suggested not bringing any third country into a bilateral context and discussion.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen is expected to return home on August 6 evening after attending the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting during August 5-6 in Cambodia.
In January 2017, Wang Yi had an hour-long stopover in Dhaka. "This time, he will be coming for a longer period," said the foreign secretary.
The Chinese foreign minister is likely to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday morning apart from a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Momen to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues.
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming met Momen recently at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and discussed various issues of mutual interest, including the proposed visit of the Chinese foreign minister.
No Chinese debt trap in Bangladesh: Chinese envoy
Amid much discussion on the public domain over crisis-ridden Sri Lanka, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Wednesday reiterated that there is no debt trap in Bangladesh.
“There is no debt trap, especially no Chinese debt trap in this country. At least I can guarantee that,” he told reporters after his meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Momen also ruled out the fear of debt trap and said there is no such scope in Bangladesh.
“We’re prudent (while taking loans and its subsequent management). We don’t borrow that much and when we borrow we do it with much calculation,” he said.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s economic strength backed by stronger export growth and remittance inflow, Momen said, “We are capable of (loans) repayment.”
Asked about the situation in Sri Lanka, he said, “Let us see what happens. We’re yet to sit to discuss it.”
READ: Chinese envoy hands over 14,280 surgical masks to BDRCS
On a number of occasions in the past, the FM said there is no scope for Bangladesh to get into Chinese “debt trap,” noting that Bangladesh has borrowed the highest amount from Japan.
“We remain very careful. There’s no scope that we’ll fall into debt trap. We cut our coats according to our clothes,” he told reporters earlier.
Hecsaid Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina takes decisions through proper scrutiny and analyzing every aspect and in no way Bangladesh should be compared with the Sri Lankan case.
Suicide blast in southern Pakistan kills 3 Chinese, driver
An explosion ripped through a van inside a university campus in southern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing three Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver, officials said. A separatist militant group claimed responsibility and said the attack was carried out by a woman suicide bomber.
The bombing at the University of Karachi also wounded a fourth Chinese national, as well as a Pakistani guard accompanying the van, according to university spokesman Mohammad Farooq.
Also read:Militants in Afghanistan strike Pakistan army post, kill 3
Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said the initial investigation suggests a suicide bomber was behind the attack. He said that closed circuit television footage from the site showed a person dressed in the female burqa head-to-toe covering walking up to the van, followed by an instantaneous explosion.
The Chinese fatalities included the director of the Chinese-built Confucius Institute, which offers Chinese language graduate classes, and two teachers.
The Baluchistan Liberation Army, a militant group in nearby Baluchistan province, has targeted Chinese nationals in attacks in the past.
The group's statement that followed Tuesday's attack identified the bomber as Shari Baluch or Bramsh, saying she was the group's first female bomber. The attack marks “a new chapter in the history of Baluch resistance,” the statement said.
Baluchistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by armed Baluch groups demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources if not outright independence from Islamabad.
However, the Pakistani Taliban have also targeted Chinese interest in the past. Last July, the group — also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus that killed nine Chinese nationals in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province. Four Pakistanis also died in that attack.
The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group from the Afghan Taliban, their allies who have seized power in neighboring Afghanistan.
Also read: Pakistan’s new Cabinet sworn in at presidency in Islamabad
Thousands of Chinese workers are living and working in Pakistan, with most of them involved in Beijing's multi-billion dollar project known as “One Belt One Road Project" that is to connect south and central Asia with the Chinese capital.
A key road linking Pakistan's southern port of Gwadar, in southwestern Baluchistan province, with China's northwest Xinjiang province, is part of what is known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The project includes a number of infrastructure projects and several power projects.
PGCB signs deals with Chinese JVs on 11 power grid substations in Khulna
Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd. (PGCB) has signed a number of contracts with two Chinese joint venture companies to construct 11 grid substations in Khulna region.
According to the PGCB, the grid sub-stations will enhance the capacity of high voltage power transmission in the greater Khulna region.
The PGCB signed a contract for two joint ventures with China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC) and Shanghai Electric Company (SEC) to set up a new indoor GIS Grid sub-station of 400/230/132 kV at Karer Hat area and upgrade the existing 230/33 kV grid sub-station at Mirsarai in Chattagram to a 400/230 kV grid sub-station.
PGCB company secretary Md Jahangir Azad and CNTIC deputy general manager Zhang Kun signed the contract on behalf of their respective sides.
READ: PGCB moves to transmit power from Payra, Rampal to Dhaka
The two projects will cost Tk 736 crore.
As per the contract, the contractor will complete the job of the projects within next 30 months and hand them over to the PGCB.
Earlier on Sunday, another agreement was signed with the joint venture of China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and China National Electric Engineering Company Limited (CNEEC) at the PGCB headquarters.
Under the agreement, a 230/132/33 kV GIS grid substation at Rupsha and four grid substations with 132/33 KV capacity at Meherpur, Maheshpur, Fultala and Monirampur will be constructed.
The capacity of the existing grid sub-stations at Satkhira, Kaliganj (Jessore) and Kushtia will be expanded to 132 kV Bay and Bagerhat sub-station to 132 kV GIS Bay.
The work will cost about Tk 492 crore.
READ: PGCB inks Tk 597cr deal with China firm to set up 4 grid substations
PGCB Company Secretary Md. Jahangir Azad and CNEEC Deputy General Manager Ge Wenbo signed the contract on behalf of their respective sides.
According to the agreement, the joint venture contractor will complete the job and hand over the substations to PGCB within the next 24 months.
The signing ceremony was attended by PGCB Executive Director (P&D) Mohammad Yaqub Elahi Chowdhury, project directors and other senior officials from both the parties were present on the occasion.
175 officials including MD of Barapukuria Coal Mine contract Covid; coal extraction suspended
Around 125 Bangladeshi officials and 50 Chinese officials of the Barapukuria Coal Mine, including the managing director, have tested positive for COVID-19.
Due to the situation, the coal extraction has been suspended temporarily from Thursday as the workers of the mine put on indefinite leave, said Engineer Kamruzzaman, Managing Director of Barapukuria Coal Mine.
Read:In its peak, Covid wave may continue for another 2 weeks in Bangladesh: Experts
Besides, of the 293 Chinese officials at Chinese contractors CMC and XMC, at least 50 were tested positive with Covid-19 after testing 184 workers.
The infected are in home isolation while others on leave to curb the covid spread, said the MD.
However, the coal based thermal power plant will not be affected as there is about 2.5 lakh tonnes of coal in stock, hoped the MD.
Meanwhile, Mahmud Al Mamun, executive engineer of Barapukuria Thermal Power Station, said that out of 3 units with a capacity of 525 MW, a unit with a capacity of 300 MW has been kept active at the coal-based thermal power plant and a unit consumes 2,000 metric tonnes of coal daily to generate electricity.
Read:Actually 5.48 lakh tons coal pilfered from Barapukuria: CAB
Besides, one of the two more units with a capacity of 125 MW has been overhauled (servicing) and the other has been closed, he added.
If the demand for electricity increases in the upcoming Boro season, all the three units will be active. However, it will be possible to keep power generation in coal and thermal power plants for another five months as there is no shortage of coal.
Why investors fleeing Chinese property market see India as an opportunity
Investors have been taking refuge from the Chinese real estate debt crisis in pockets of the broader Asian credit market, and cite India among opportunities that are relatively insulated from the historic turmoil, reported Business Standard.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has recently adopted a positive stance on Asia high-yield bonds. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. data indicate South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Japan all recorded capital inflows into corporate debt in the three months through Jan. 18, while China experienced outflows.
Rising inflation means there have still been losses for broader Asian bonds-- as there have been in many parts of credit markets globally -- but they’ve been much milder. Dollar notes of all ratings from Chinese issuers have lost about 3.7% in 2022 even after a rally in recent days for property developer securities sparked by policy support.
That compares with just 1.5% for Indian borrowers, 0.8% for South Korean firms and 0.7% for Philippine credits, according to a Bloomberg index.
Also read: India is world's top exporter of cucumber and gherkins
“Investors have been hiding in Indian investment-grade and high-yield credit, and other parts of Asia outside of China, as a means to reduce their exposure to China property,” said Wai Mei Leong, a portfolio manager at Eastspring Investments.
One recent example of a money manager to have cut exposure to Chinese bonds is BDO Capital & Investment Corp., which sold its holdings of such securities, President Eduardo Francisco said last week.
Both Goldman and CreditSights consider Indian companies attractive. The U.S. bank recommends high-yield renewables, while the latter considers financial firms to be best shielded from the troubles in the world’s second-largest economy.
Still, there are plenty of risks for the broader Asian credit market. Because of demand from investors seeking to diversify, CreditSights said valuations for Asian credit outside of China have already been driven tighter. That means many South and Southeast Asian names warrant only a market perform rating, despite good fundamentals, it said.
Having taken a beating last year and for the first couple weeks of 2022, Chinese property dollar bonds have rallied in recent sessions thanks to a string of policy steps to ease restrictions on the real estate industry and broader monetary stimulus. But the outlook is highly uncertain, with more defaults expected, according to Goldman.
If the failures don’t get out of control, that may sustain interest in other pockets of the Asian market, but any prolonged crisis would cause an economic slowdown that would have ripple effects across Asia. Chinese debt constitutes an outsized share in regional indexes. Investors could decide to pull out entirely.
Also read: India test-fires latest version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
Facing requests for redemptions, bond fund managers “have to sell a bit of everything,” said Jean-Louis Nakamura, chief investment officer for Lombard Odier in Asia Pacific. “I’m afraid that this kind of indirect weakening of the Asia credit market will continue for some time.”
But for now the Asian credits outside China are offering lower volatility and some country-specific shifts have encouraged investors.
When it comes to tapping global financial markets, India trails economies like Brazil and South Africa, not least because the country’s central bank has historically been wary of hot money inflows. Yet the past few weeks have seen a surge of dollar-denominated issuance, with Reliance Industries raising $4 billion earlier this year in India’s biggest-ever foreign currency bond deal.
There’s also been an increase in green- and sustainability-bond sales, bringing it more in line with the trend elsewhere.
“We quite like the India space because there is a lot of ESG bond supply coming from those companies and they aren’t quite expensive compared with other Asian peers,” said Paula Chan, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd. “Supply from there also offers quite a good diversification
Mar-a-Lago-trespasser deported to China 2 years later
A Chinese businesswoman convicted of trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and lying to Secret Service agents was deported over the weekend, federal authorities said, more than two years after serving her sentence.
Yujing Zhang was turned over to immigration officials in December 2019 after serving her eight-month sentence. But she was held at the Glades County Detention Center for three times as long as her prison term mainly because of deportation delays during the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration authorities told the Miami Herald.
READ: Trump asks US judge to force Twitter to restore his account
At the time of her sentencing, the then 33-year-old Zhang went to Mar-a-Lago “to meet the president and family and just make friends.” When an incredulous judge questioned her about whether she thought she could really meet the Trumps, Zhang laughed loudly and said she hoped to meet other people, too.
Zhang then told U.S. District Judge Roy Altman that the president told reporters that he had invited Zhang to Mar-a-Lago. But Altman said that was another lie.
It's unclear what Zhang's motives were, but the judge said it was clearly about more than getting a photo opportunity.
After serving her sentence and while still detained by U.S. immigration officials, Zhang grew desperate to expedite her return to China. The newspaper reported she filed a petition in December 2020 to speed up the process, but was not successful.
READ: Biden backs Trump rejection of China’s South China Sea claim
Zhang wrote in English that she had been held at the Glades County Detention Center, had no money to call her family in China, and needed an attorney to gain her freedom and go home, according to court documents.
Chinese worker's death: Wife files murder complaint against colleague in Sylhet
Two days after a Chinese national was allegedly stabbed to death in Sylhet, her wife has lodged a police complaint formally accusing his colleague of the crime.
Wang Qiu, the wife of Wei Wentao, filed the complaint at Sylhet Kotwali Police Station against her husband's colleague Sun Xion, also a Chinese national, in the morning, a day after arriving here from China.
Wei, 40, was allegedly stabbed to death by Sun, 48, in the Pathantula area of Sylhet on Tuesday after an argument between them turned violent. Both the victim and the accused worked at a power plant in Kumargaon.
The accused, Sun, is currently undergoing treatment at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital under police custody, Samsuddin Saleh Ahmad Chowdhury of Kotwali Model Police Station said.
Read:Chinese citizen stabbed to death by compatriot in Sylhet
He said that the autopsy of the deceased would be done on Thursday as per the Chinese Embassy's request.
The crime happened around 8am on Tuesday at a flat on the 5th floor of a residential building, where 13 Chinese workers of the same power plant live.
Informed by the locals, around 1pm Kotwali police and a team from the Sylhet Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) reached the spot and recovered the body.
Sun was also rushed to the hospital as too suffered injuries during the fight.
Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Model police station, SM Abu Farhad, said the victim was stabbed in the chest.