China
Bangladesh, China hold consultations on multilateral human rights issues
Yang Xiaokun, Special Representative for Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, on Tuesday met Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen and discussed on multilateral human rights discourse and also on possible areas of cooperation.
Earlier, on 13 March, China and Bangladesh held first-ever official consultations on multilateral human rights issues in Dhaka.
Yang Xiaokun led the Chinese delegation, while Toufiq Islam Shatil, Director General (United Nations Wing), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led Bangladesh side.
Also Read: China says AUKUS on ‘dangerous path’ with nuclear subs deal
The wwo sides exchanged views on their national human rights philosophy and achievements, ongoing developments, and mutual cooperation on human rights in the UN multilateral framework.
They discussed ways and means to further enhance the existing cooperation in a number of areas in the human rights domain, especially under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Two sides also discussed the situation of forcibly displaced Rohingya people.
Also Read: China denies hidden motives after hosting Iran-Saudi talks
China and Bangladesh expressed their principled position of maintaining strong adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and expressed willingness to continue such consultations in the future with the view to enhance multilateral cooperation.
China’s Xi wants bigger global role after facilitating Saudi-Iran deal
President Xi Jinping called for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup by hosting talks that produced an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen diplomatic relations.
Xi spoke Monday following a legislative session that installed a government of loyalists to tighten his control over the economy and society.
China should “actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system” and promote “global security initiatives,” said Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, in a speech at end of the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature.
That will add “positive energy to world peace and development and create a favorable international environment for our country’s development,” Xi said.
Xi gave no details of the ruling Communist Party's ambitions, but his government has pursued increasingly assertive policies abroad since he took power in 2012. It has pressed for changes in the International Monetary Fund and other entities Beijing says fail to reflect the needs and desires of developing countries.
Beijing also has built on China’s growing heft as the second-largest economy to promote trade and construction initiatives that Washington, Tokyo, Moscow and New Delhi worry will expand its strategic influence at their expanse.
Xi's government rattled the United States and Australia in early 2022 when it signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that would allow Chinese navy ships and security forces to be stationed in the South Pacific island nation.
The foreign minister, Qin Gang, warned Washington last week of possible "conflict and confrontation” if the United States doesn't change course in relations that have been strained by conflicts over Taiwan, human rights, Hong Kong, security and technology.
Xi's speech Monday called for faster technology development and more self-reliance in a speech loaded with nationalistic terms. He referred eight times to “national rejuvenation,” or restoring China to its rightful historic role as an economic, cultural and political leader.
On Friday, Xi was named to another term in the ceremonial Chinese presidency after breaking with tradition in October and awarding himself a third-five year term as general secretary of the ruling party, putting himself on track to become leader for life. The National People's Congress session cemented Xi’s dominance by endorsing the appointment of his loyalists as premier and other government leaders in a once-a-decade change. Xi has sidelined potential rivals and loaded the top ranks of the ruling party with his supporters.
Xi said that before the ruling Communist Party took power in 1949, China was “reduced to semi-colonial, semi-feudal country, subject to bullying by foreign countries.”
“We have finally washed away the national humiliation, and Chinese people are the master of their own destiny,” Xi said. “The Chinese nation has stood up, become rich and is becoming strong.”
Xi also called for the country to “unswervingly achieve” the goal of “national reunification,” a reference to Beijing’s claim that Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy, is part of its territory and is obliged to unite with China, by force if necessary.
China denies hidden motives after hosting Iran-Saudi talks
After hosting talks at which Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, China said Saturday it has no hidden motives and isn’t trying to fill any “vacuum” in the Middle East.
The agreement announced Friday to reestablish Iran-Saudi ties and reopen embassies after seven years was seen as a major diplomatic victory for China, as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States as reducing its presence in the Middle East.
The Foreign Ministry quoted an unidentified spokesperson as saying China “pursues no selfish interest whatsoever” and opposes geopolitical competition in the region.
Also Read: Negotiated with China, rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agree to resume ties
China will continue to support Mideast countries in “resolving differences through dialogue and consultation to jointly promote lasting peace and stability,” the spokesperson said.
“We respect the stature of Middle East countries as the masters of this region and oppose geopolitical competition in the Middle East,” said the statement posted on the Foreign Ministry's website.
“China has no intention to and will not seek to fill so-called vacuum or put up exclusive blocs,” it said, in an apparent reference to the U.S. “China will continue to contribute its insights and proposals to realizing peace and tranquility in the Middle East and play its role as a responsible major country in this process.”
Following Friday's announcement, China's senior diplomat Wang Yi said the agreement showed China was a "reliable mediator" that had “faithfully fulfilled its duties as the host.”
Notably, Wang also stated that “this world has more than just the Ukraine question and there are still many issues affecting peace and people's lives.”
China has been heavily criticized for failing to condemn Russia's invasion and for accusing the U.S. and NATO of provoking the conflict. A Chinese proposal calling for a cease-fire and peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine went nowhere, largely because of China's perceived backing of Russia.
However, in the Middle East, China is viewed as a neutral party, with strong ties to both Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
China last month hosted Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, and is a top purchaser of Saudi oil. Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Riyadh in December for meetings with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations crucial to China’s energy supplies, and China's special envoy for the Middle East — a position specially created in 2002 — has made frequent trips to the region.
China sells drones and other weaponry to countries in the region, but nowhere on the scale of the United States.
In coordination with fellow authoritarian state Russia, China has sought to steadily chip away at the U.S.-led Western liberal order, taking advantage of opportunities when Washington's attention has strayed.
Earlier, it moved aggressively to build ties in the South Pacific, signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that could see Chinese naval ships and security forces taking up a presence in the country. The U.S., Australia and others moved swiftly to shore up ties in the Pacific, and China's efforts to ink similar agreements with other island nations ultimately foundered.
Xi, whose administration in recent days has warned of “conflict and confrontation” with the U.S., was credited in a trilateral statement with facilitating the Iran-Saudi talks through a “noble initiative” and having personally agreed to sponsor the negotiations that lasted from Monday through Friday.
Negotiated with China, rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agree to resume ties
Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed Friday to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions. The major diplomatic breakthrough negotiated with China lowers the chance of armed conflict between the Mideast rivals — both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.
The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a long war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched.
The two countries released a joint communique on the deal with China, which brokered the agreement as President Xi Jinping was awarded a third five-year term as leader earlier Friday.
Xi, whose administration in recent days has relaunched a campaign to challenge the U.S.-led Western liberal order with warnings of “conflict and confrontation,” was credited in a trilateral statement with facilitating the talks through a “noble initiative” and having personally agreed to sponsor the negotiations that lasted from Monday through Friday.
Videos showed Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, meeting with Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban and Wang Yi, China's most senior diplomat.
The statement calls for reestablishing ties and reopening embassies to happen “within a maximum period of two months.” A meeting by their foreign ministers is also planned.
In the video, Wang could be heard offering “wholehearted congratulations” on the two countries' “wisdom."
“Both sides have displayed sincerity,” he said. “China fully supports this agreement.”
The United Nations welcomed the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement and thanked China for its role. “Good neighborly relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are essential for the stability of the Gulf region,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at U.N. headquarters.
The U.S. also welcomed “any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. However, the State Department offered a word of caution about an agreement in which America seems to have played no part: “Of course, it remains to be seen whether the Iranian regime will honor their side of the deal.”
China, which last month hosted Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, is a top purchaser of Saudi oil. Xi visited Riyadh in December for meetings with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations crucial to China’s energy supplies. However, it doesn't provide the same military protections for Gulf Arab states as America, making Beijing's involvement that much more notable.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Shamkhani as calling the talks "clear, transparent, comprehensive and constructive.”
“Removing misunderstandings and the future-oriented views in relations between Tehran and Riyadh will definitely lead to improving regional stability and security, as well as increasing cooperation among Persian Gulf nations and the world of Islam for managing current challenges,” Shamkhani said.
Al-Aiban thanked Iraq and Oman for mediating between Iran and the kingdom, according to his remarks carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
“While we value what we have reached, we hope that we will continue to continue the constructive dialogue,” the Saudi official said.
Tensions long have been high between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The kingdom broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts there. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shiite cleric with 46 others days earlier, triggering the demonstrations.
That came as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then a deputy, began his rise to power. The son of King Salman, Prince Mohammed previously compared Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, and threatened to strike Iran.
Since then, the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks after that, including one targeting the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry in 2019, temporarily halving the kingdom's crude production.
Though Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels initially claimed the attack, Western nations and experts blamed Tehran. Iran denied it and also denied carrying out other assaults later attributed to the Islamic Republic.
Religion also plays a key role in their relations. Saudi Arabia, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day, has portrayed itself as the world’s leading Sunni nation. Iran’s theocracy, meanwhile, views itself as the protector of Islam’s Shiite minority.
The two powerhouses have competing interests elsewhere, such as in the turmoil in Lebanon and in the rebuilding of Iraq following the U.S.-led 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia and political group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said the agreement could "open new horizons” in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Iraq, Oman and the United Arab Emirates also praised the accord.
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute who long has studied the region, said Saudi Arabia reaching the deal with Iran came after the United Arab Emirates reached a similar understanding with Tehran.
“This dialing down of tensions and de-escalation has been underway for three years and this was triggered by Saudi acknowledgement in their view that without unconditional U.S. backing they were unable to project power vis-a-vis Iran and the rest of the region,” he said.
Prince Mohammed, focused on massive construction projects at home, likely wants to pull out of the Yemen war as well, Ulrichsen added.
“Instability could do a lot of damage to his plans,” he said.
The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen’s exiled government in 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting created a humanitarian disaster and pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine.
A six-month cease-fire, the longest of the Yemen conflict, expired in October.
Negotiations have been ongoing recently, including in Oman, a longtime interlocutor between Iran and the U.S. Some have hoped for an agreement ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins later in March. Iran and Saudi Arabia have held intermittent talks in recent years but it wasn't clear if Yemen was the impetus for this new detente.
Yemeni rebel spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam appeared to welcome the deal in a statement that also slammed the U.S. and Israel. "The region needs the return of normal relations between its countries, through which the Islamic society can regain its lost security as a result of the foreign interventions, led by the Zionists and Americans,″ he said.
For Israel, which has wanted to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia despite the Palestinians remaining without a state of their own, Riyadh easing tensions with Iran could complicate its own regional calculations.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered no immediate comment Friday. Netanyahu, under pressure politically at home, has threatened military action against Iran's nuclear program as it enriches closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Riyadh seeking peace with Tehran takes one potential ally for a strike off the table.
It was unclear what this development meant for Washington. Though long viewed as guaranteeing Mideast energy security, regional leaders have grown increasingly wary of U.S. intentions after its chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
But the White House bristled at the notion a Saudi-Iran agreement in Beijing suggests a rise of Chinese influence in the Mideast. “I would stridently push back on this idea that we’re stepping back in the Middle East — far from it,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which opposes the Iran nuclear deal, said renewed Iran-Saudi ties via Chinese mediation "is a lose, lose, lose for American interests,” noting: “Beijing adores a vacuum.”
But Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute, which advocates engagement with Iran and supports the nuclear deal, called it “good news for the Middle East, since Saudi-Iranian tensions have been a driver of instability.” He added that “China has emerged as a player that can resolve disputes rather than merely sell weapons to the conflicting parties,” noting a more stable Middle East also benefits the U.S.
China names Li Qiang premier nominally in charge of economy
China on Saturday named Li Qiang, a close confidant of top leader Xi Jinping, as the country’s next premier nominally in charge of the world’s second-largest economy now facing some of its worst prospects in years.
Li was nominated by Xi and appointed to the position at Saturday morning’s session of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial parliament. That came a day after Xi, 69, secured a norms-breaking third five-year term as state leader, setting him up to possibly rule for life.
Li is best known for having enforced a brutal “zero-COVID” lockdown on Shanghai last spring as party boss of the Chinese financial hub, proving his loyalty to Xi in the face of complaints from residents over their lack of access to food, medical care and basic services.
Li, 63, came to know Xi during the future president’s term as head of Li’s native Zhejiang, a relatively wealthy southeastern province now known as a technology and manufacturing powerhouse.
Prior to the pandemic, Li built up a reputation in Shanghai and Zhejiang before that as friendly to private industry, even as Xi enforced tighter political controls and anti-COVID curbs, as well as more control over e-commerce and other tech companies.
Also read: Xi awarded 3rd term as China's president, extending rule
As premier, Li will be charged with reviving a sluggish economy still emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and confronted with weak global demand for exports, lingering U.S. tariff hikes, a shrinking workforce and an aging population.
He takes on the job as authority of the premier and the State Council, China’s Cabinet, has been steadily eroding as Xi shifts more powers to bodies directly under the ruling Communist Party.
At the opening of the annual congress session on Sunday, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang announced plans for a consumer-led revival of the struggling economy, setting this year’s growth target at “around 5%.” Last year’s growth fell to 3%, the second-weakest level since at least the 1970s.
As with Xi’s appointment on Friday, there was no indication that members of the NPC had any option other than to endorse Li and other officials picked by the Communist Party to fill other posts.
Unlike Xi, who received the body’s full endorsement, Li’s tally included three opposed and eight abstentions.
The nearly 3,000 delegates deposited ballots into boxes placed around the vast auditorium in the Great Hall of the People, in a process that also produced new heads of the Supreme People’s Court and the state prosecutor’s office, and two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission that commands the party’s military wing, the 2 million-member People’s Liberation Army.
Xi was renamed head of the commission on Friday, an appointment that has been automatic for the party leader for three decades. The premier has no direct authority over the armed forces, who take their orders explicitly from the party, and plays only a marginal role in foreign relations and domestic security.
Xi’s new term and the appointment of loyalists to top posts underscore his near-total monopoly on Chinese political power, eliminating any potential opposition to his hyper-nationalistic agenda of building China into the top political, military and economic rival to the U.S. and the chief authoritarian challenge to the Washington-led democratic world order.
Chinese minister warns of conflict unless US changes course
China's foreign minister has warned Washington of “conflict and confrontation” if it fails to change course in relations with Beijing, striking a combative tone amid conflicts over Taiwan, COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Qin Gang's language appeared to defy hopes China's might abandon confrontational “wolf warrior” rhetoric. It followed an accusation by Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Western governments led by the United States were trying to encircle and suppress China.
Washington's China policy has “entirely deviated from the rational and sound track,” Qin said at a news conference Tuesday during annual meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature.
China's relations with Washington and Japan, India and other Asian neighbors have soured as Xi's government has pursued assertive policies abroad.
Also Read: US sees China propaganda efforts becoming more like Russia’s
“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” Qin said in his first news conference since taking up his post last year. “Such competition is a reckless gamble, with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity.”
On Monday, Xi accused Washington of hurting China's development.
“Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented grave challenges to our nation’s development,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
In the face of that, China must “remain calm, maintain concentration, strive for progress while maintaining stability, take active actions, unite as one and dare to fight,” he said.
A State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said Washington wants to “coexist responsibly” in a global trade and political system and denied the U.S. government wants to suppress China.
“This is not about containing China. This is not about suppressing China. This is not about holding China back," Price said in Washington. “We want to have that constructive competition that is fair” and “doesn’t veer into that conflict.”
U.S. officials are increasingly worried about China's goals and the possibility of war over Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. Many in Washington have called for the U.S. government to make a bigger effort to counter Chinese influence abroad.
Concerns about Chinese spying on the U.S. and Beijing's influence campaigns there have drawn particular concern.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned visit to Beijing after Washington shot down a Chinese balloon suspected of being used for spying on U.S. territory. Its electronics and optical equipment are being analyzed by the FBI.
Then last week, Beijing reacted with indignation when U.S. officials raised the issue again of whether the COVID-19 outbreak that first was detected in southern China in late 2019 began with a leak from a Chinese laboratory. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the U.S. of “politicizing the issue" in an attempt to discredit China.
The two countries have traded angry words over Taiwan as Xi's government tried to intimidate the island by firing missiles into the sea and flying fighter planes nearby.
Qin was ambassador to Washington until last year and in a previous stint as Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman was known for cutting condemnation of foreign critics.
On Tuesday, he criticized Washington for shooting down the balloon. He repeated claims that its appearance in U.S. skies was an accident.
“In this case the United States' perception and views of China are seriously distorted. It regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge," Qin said. “This is like the first button in a shirt being put wrong and the result is that the U.S.-China policy has entirely deviated from the rational and sound track."
Qin called Taiwan the first “red line” that must not be crossed.
China and Taiwan split in 1949 after a civil war. The mainland's Communist Party says the island is obliged to unite with China, by force if necessary.
Washington doesn't public support either unification or formal independence for Taiwan but is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself.
“The U.S. has unshakable responsibility for causing the Taiwan question,” Qin said.
He accused the U.S. government of “disrespecting China's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” by offering the island political backing and furnishing it with weapons in response to Beijing's threat to use force to bring it under Chinese control.
"Why does the U.S. ask China not to provide weapons to Russia, while it keeps selling arms to Taiwan?" Qin asked.
In Taipei, Taiwan's defense minister said the armed forces weren't seeking outright conflict with China's military, but nor would they back away in the event of Chinese aircraft or ships entering Taiwanese coastal seas or airspace.
“It is the nation’s armed forces’ duty to mount an appropriate response,” Chiu Kuo-cheng told legislators.
Beijing has also accused the West of “fanning the flames” by providing Ukraine with weaponry to fend off the Russian invasion. China says it is neutral but said before the invasion that it had a )“no-limits friendship” with Russia. It has refused to criticize Moscow’s attack or to call it an invasion.
A Chinese call for a cease-fire in Ukraine that has drawn praise from Russia but dismissals from the West has done nothing to lessen tensions. U.S. officials accuse China of considering providing weapons to Moscow for use in the war.
“Efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined. There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve a certain geopolitical agenda,” Qin said.
The annual meeting of the National People's Congress is due to endorse the appointment of a new premier and government chosen by the Communist Party in a once-a-decade change.
The meeting also is expected to name Xi to a third term in the ceremonial post of Chinese president after he broke with tradition and awarded himself a third five-year term as ruling party leader in October, possibly preparing to make himself leader for life.
Chinese ships cut internet of Taiwan's outlying islands
In the past month, bed and breakfast owner Chen Yu-lin had to tell his guests he couldn't provide them with the internet.
Others living on Matsu, one of Taiwan’s outlying islands closer to neighboring China, had to struggle with paying electricity bills, making a doctor's appointment or receiving a package.
For connecting to the outside world, Matsu's 14,000 residents rely on two submarine internet cables leading to Taiwan's main island. The first cable was severed by a Chinese fishing vessel some 50 kilometers (31 miles) out at sea. Six days later, on Feb. 8, a Chinese cargo ship cut the second, according to Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest service provider and owner of the cables.
The islanders in the meantime were forced to hook up to a limited internet via microwave radio transmission, a more mature technology, as backup. It means one could wait hours to send a text. Calls would drop, and videos were unwatchable.
“A lot of tourists would cancel their booking because there’s no internet. Nowadays, the internet plays a very large role in people’s lives,” said Chen, who lives in Beigan, one of Matsu’s main residential islands.
Also Read: US approves selling Taiwan munitions worth $619 million
Apart from disrupting lives, the loss of the internet cables, seemingly innocuous, has huge implications for national security.
As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shown, Russia has made taking out internet infrastructure one of the key parts of its strategy. Some experts suspect China may have cut the cables deliberately as part of its harassment of the self-ruled island it considers part of its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary.
China regularly sends warplanes and navy ships toward Taiwan as part of tactics to intimidate the island’s democratic government. Concerns about China's invasion, and Taiwan's preparedness to withstand it, have increased since the war in Ukraine.
The cables had been cut a total of 27 times in the past five years, according to Chunghwa Telecom.
Taiwan's coast guard gave chase to the fishing vessel that cut the first cable on Feb. 2, but it went back to Chinese waters, according to a person who was briefed on the incident and was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
So far, the Taiwanese government has not pointed a direct finger at Beijing.
“We can’t rule out that China destroyed these on purpose,” said Su Tzu-yun, a defense expert at the government think tank, Institute for National Defense and Security Research, citing a research that only China and Russia had the technical capabilities to do this. “Taiwan needs to invest more resources in repairing and protecting the cables.”
Internet cables, which can be anywhere between 20 millimeters to 30 millimeters (0.79 inches to 1.18 inches) wide, are encased in steel armor in shallow waters where they’re more likely to run into ships. Despite the protection, cables can get cut quite easily by ships and their anchors, or fishing boats using steel nets.
Even so, “this level of breakage is highly unusual for a cable, even in the shallow waters of the Taiwan Strait," said Geoff Huston, chief scientist at Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, a non-profit that manages and distributes Internet resources like IP addresses for the region.
Without a stable internet, coffee shop owner Chiu Sih-chi said seeing the doctor for his toddler son's cold became a hassle because first they had to visit the hospital to just get an appointment.
A breakfast shop owner said she lost thousands of dollars in the past few weeks because she usually takes online orders. Customers would come to her stall expecting the food to be ready when she hadn't even seen their messages.
Faced with unusual difficulties, Matsu residents came up with all sorts of ways to organize their lives.
One couple planned to deal with the coming peak season by having one person stay in Taiwan to access their reservation system and passing the information on to the other via text messages. Wife Lin Hsian-wen extended her vacation in Taiwan during the off-season when she heard the internet back home wasn't working and is returning to Matsu later in the week.
Some enterprising residents went across to the other shore to buy SIM cards from Chinese telecoms, though those only work well in the spots closer to the Chinese coast, which is only 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) away at its closest point.
Others, like the bed and breakfast owner Tsao Li-yu, would go to Chunghwa Telecom’s office to use a Wi-Fi hot spot the company had set up for locals to use in the meantime.
“I was going to work at (Chunghwa Telecom),” Tsao joked.
Chunghwa had set up microwave transmission as backup for the residents. Broadcast from Yangmingshan, a mountain just outside of Taipei, Taiwan's capital, the relay beams the signals some 200 kilometers (124 miles) across to Matsu. Since Sunday, speeds were noticeably faster, residents said.
Wang Chung Ming, the head of Lienchiang County, as the Matsu islands are officially called, said he and the legislator from Matsu went to Taipei shortly after the internet broke down to ask for help, and was told they would get priority in any future internet backup plans.
Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs publicly asked for bids from low-Earth orbit satellite operators to provide the internet in a backup plan, after seeing Russia's cyberattacks in the invasion of Ukraine, the head of the ministry, Audrey Tang, told The Washington Post last fall. Yet, the plan remains stalled as a law in Taiwan requires the providers to be at least 51% owned by a domestic shareholder.
A spokesperson for the Digital Ministry directed questions about the progress of backup plans to the National Communications Commission. NCC said it will install a surveillance system for the undersea cables, while relying on microwave transmission as a backup option.
Many Pacific island nations, before they started using internet cables, depended on satellites — and some still do — as backup, said Jonathan Brewer, a telecommunications consultant from New Zealand who works across Asia and the Pacific.
There's also the question of cost. Repairing the cables is expensive, with an early estimate of $30 million New Taiwan Dollars ($1 million) for the work of the ships alone.
“The Chinese boats that damaged the cables should be held accountable and pay compensation for the highly expensive repairs,” said Wen Lii, the head of the Matsu chapter of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
Wang, the head of Lienchiang County, said he had mentioned the cables on a recent visit to China, where he had met an executive from China Mobile. They offered to send technicians to help. But compensation, he said, will require providing hard proof on who did it.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a faxed request for comment.
For now, the only thing residents can do is wait. The earliest cable-laying ships can come is April 20, because there are a limited number of vessels that can do the job.
A month without functional internet has its upsides too. Chen Yu-lin, the bed and breakfast owner, has felt more at peace.
It was hard in the first week, but Chen quickly got used to it. “From a life perspective, I think it’s much more comfortable because you get fewer calls,” he said, adding he was spending more time with his son, who usually is playing games online.
At a web cafe where off-duty soldiers were playing offline games, the effect was the same.
“Our relationships have become a bit closer," said one soldier who only gave his first name, Samuel. “Because normally when there’s internet, everyone keeps to themselves, and now we’re more connected."
No limit to potential of Bangladesh-China ties: Ambassador Yao Wen
The newly-appointed Chinese ambassador in Dhaka has said there is no limit to the potential of Bangladesh-China relations.
"Bangladesh and China are natural cooperation partners. Both are developing countries with huge populations. There is no unresolved dispute or historical burden between us," Ambassador Yao Wen said during a welcome reception held at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka on Monday night.
More than 400 dignitaries from the Bangladeshi government, army, political parties, enterprises, universities, think tanks, media houses, foreign missions in Dhaka and the local Chinese community attended the event.
Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman MP, and Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury, secretary (west) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were present.
Read more: China will remain engaged in Bangladesh’s next stage of development journey: Momen
As close neighbours, the people of the two countries enjoy a natural sense of intimacy and similar ideas and values, said Yao, the 16th ambassador of China to Bangladesh.
In the 1950s, Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman visited China twice, the envoy added. "He was so much impressed by what he witnessed in the journey and wrote the travelogue 'New China as I saw,' which infuses his kind and warm feeling towards China deep in the minds and hearts of Bangladeshi people."
"China-Bangladesh cooperation improves the well-being of our two peoples. The cooperation on economy, trade and mega projects serves as the pillar of our bilateral relations," said Ambassador Yao, who landed in Dhaka two months ago.
"A good number of roads, bridges, power plants, ports and other infrastructure projects have been completed, which have reshaped the landscape of Bangladesh, provided more than one million job opportunities, and promoted socio-economic development as well as people's livelihood in Bangladesh,” the envoy noted.
Read more: ‘Some misunderstandings can hurt Bangladesh-China relations’
"China has embarked on a new journey towards a modern socialist country in all respects, while Bangladesh is striving with no effort spared for the splendid dream of 'Sonar Bangla' by working on the country's Vision 2041. Both countries have the same goals and similar visions," he added.
"China-Bangladesh relations will set a good example for developing countries to understand, trust and support each other. The last three years were difficult for all of us due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," Ambassador Yao said.
Since March, flights between China and Bangladesh have been operating daily, and there will be more high-level visits, people-to-people contact, economic, trade and investment cooperation, cultural and artistic exchanges between the two countries, he promised.
Read More: Bangladesh will have to maintain good relations with US, India and China: Momen
Germany warns of ‘consequences’ if China sends arms to Russia
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for Moscow's war in Ukraine, but he's fairly optimistic that Beijing will refrain from doing so.
Scholz's comments came in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, two days after he met U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington.
U.S. officials have warned recently that China could step off the sidelines and begin providing arms and ammunition to Moscow. Ahead of his trip, Scholz had urged Beijing to refrain from sending weapons and instead use its influence to press Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
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Asked by CNN if he could imagine sanctioning China if it did aid Russia, Scholz replied: “I think it would have consequences, but we are now in a stage where we are making clear that this should not happen, and I’m relatively optimistic that we will be successful with our request in this case, but we will have to look at (it) and we have to be very, very cautious.”
He didn't elaborate on the nature of the consequences. Germany has Europe's biggest economy, and China has been its single biggest trading partner in recent years.
Back in Germany on Sunday, Scholz was asked after his Cabinet met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen whether he had received concrete evidence from the U.S. that China was considering weapons deliveries and whether he would back sanctions against Beijing if it helped arm Russia.
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“We all agree that there must be no weapons deliveries, and the Chinese government has stated that it wouldn’t deliver any," the chancellor replied. “That is what we are demanding and we are watching it."
He didn't address the sanctions question.
Von der Leyen said that “we have no evidence for this so far, but we must observe it every day.”
She said that whether the European Union would sanction China for giving Russia military aid “is a hypothetical question that can only be answered if it were to become reality and fact.”
Foxconn to make iPhones in new Indian factory, in shift from China
Foxconn is going to build another Apple iPhone manufacturing plant in a 300-acre new factory in India’s Karnataka, the country’s Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and the state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai have said.
According to them, the manufacturing facility will employ 100,000 people, reports NDTV.
The investment, one of Foxconn’s largest single expenditures in India to date, comes as global businesses increasingly move away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions grow.
In the outskirts of Bengaluru, land has been made available to Foxconn, the leading manufacturer of iPhones. The 300-acre site is said to be one of the largest manufacturing units for Apple’s iPhones.
The Taiwanese company is planning to invest US$ 700 million in the new plant to ramp up local production, according to a Bloomberg report.
The factory may also assemble Apple handsets, Bloomberg said, quoting sources.
Foxconn might manufacture some components for its budding electric vehicle industry at the new site, added the report.
“Bengaluru was the preferred destination for global companies and had been a forerunner in attracting investment,” Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said after visiting the factory site.
Foxconn, meanwhile, continues to produce iPhones at its massive manufacturing facility in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, where it currently employs some 200,000 people.
Foxconn has made a significant investment in India twice now. In a facility in Tamil Nadu, the firm is already producing iPhones of the latest generation.
Foxconn reported earnings of USD 206 billion in 2021, placing it second globally in the production of Apple phones. According to reports, Foxconn is the biggest producer of electronics worldwide. It ranked 20th in the Fortune Global 500 as of the previous year.
There are 173 campuses and offices for Foxconn spread over 24 countries or regions, including those in China, Japan, Vietnam, the Czech Republic, and the US.