[🇨🇳] China----News & Views

[Saif]

US lawmakers meet Tibet’s Dalai Lama

A group of US lawmakers who met the Dalai Lama in India yesterday said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor, comments expected to anger Beijing, which calls the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader a separatist.

www.thedailystar.net

US lawmakers meet Tibet's Dalai Lama
Pressure China on talks

A group of US lawmakers who met the Dalai Lama in India yesterday said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor, comments expected to anger Beijing, which calls the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader a separatist.

The remarks come as Washington and Beijing seek to steady rocky ties while India pushes China to secure lasting peace on their disputed Himalayan frontier, four years after a military clash strained ties.

The lawmakers also signalled that Washington would pressure Beijing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders, stalled since 2010, to resolve the Tibet issue, with a bill they said President Joe Biden would sign soon.

Although Washington recognises Tibet as a part of China, the bill appears to question that position and any change would be a major shock to Beijing, analysts said.

The bipartisan group of seven, led by Michael McCaul, a Republican representative from Texas, who also chairs the House foreign affairs committee, met the Nobel peace laureate at his monastery in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.

"It is still my hope that one day the Dalai Lama and his people will return to Tibet in peace," McCaul told a public reception after the meeting.​

 

[Saif]

EU slaps Chinese electric cars with tariffs of up to 38%

The European Union on Thursday slapped extra provisional duties of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric car imports because of “unfair” state subsidies, despite Beijing’s warnings the move would unleash a trade war.

www.thedailystar.net

EU slaps Chinese electric cars with tariffs of up to 38%

People are seen next to a sport utility vehicle of Chinese automaker BYD at the Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland. Electric car producers in China that cooperated with the EU will face a tariff of 20.8 percent, while those that did not cooperate would be subject to a 37.6 percent duty. Photo: AFP/FILE

The European Union on Thursday slapped extra provisional duties of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric car imports because of "unfair" state subsidies, despite Beijing's warnings the move would unleash a trade war.

Brussels launched an investigation last year into Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers to probe whether state subsidies were unfairly undercutting European automakers.

Since announcing the planned tariff hike last month -- on top of current import duties of 10 percent -- the European Commision has begun talks with Beijing to try to resolve the issue, with China threatening retaliation.

"Our investigation... concluded that the battery electric vehicles produced in China benefit from unfair subsidisation, which is causing a threat of economic injury to the EU's own electric car makers," the EU's trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said.

In response, the commission said it has imposed provisional duties on Chinese manufacturers including 17.4 percent for market major BYD, 19.9 percent for Geely and 37.6 percent for SAIC.

The rates were adjusted slightly downwards for Geely and SAIC, from an initially-announced 20 percent and 38.1 percent, after further information provided by "interested parties", it said.

They will kick in from Friday, with definitive duties to take effect in November for a period of five years, pending a vote by the EU's 27 member states.

Electric car producers in China that cooperated with the EU will face a tariff of 20.8 percent, while those that did not cooperate would be subject to a 37.6 percent duty.

The move comes despite talks between Chinese and EU trade officials on June 22, but Brussels will continue "to engage intensively with China on a mutually acceptable solution", trade chief Dombrovskis said.

"Any negotiated outcome to our investigation must clearly and fully address EU concerns and be in respect of WTO rules," he said in a statement.

Beijing has already signalled its readiness to retaliate by launching an anti-dumping probe last month into pork imports, threatening Spanish exports. Chinese media suggest Beijing will trigger further probes.

Chinese officials have also railed against probes targeting state subsidies in the green tech sector including wind turbines and solar panels.

"It is plain for all to see who is escalating trade frictions and instigating a 'trade war'," a spokesperson for the Chinese commerce ministry said on June 21.

The United States has already hiked customs duties on Chinese electric cars to 100 percent, while Canada is considering similar action.

But Brussels faces a delicate balancing act as it seeks to defend Europe's auto industry -- the jewel in its industrial crown with iconic brands such as Mercedes -- while avoiding a showdown with China and meeting its targets for slashing carbon emissions.

The EU aims to get more Europeans driving electric vehicles as it plans to outlaw the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2035.

Chinese-made vehicles' market share in EU electric car sales climbed from around three percent to more than 20 percent in the past three years, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Chinese brands account for around eight percent of that share, it said.

Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy, alongside Austrian institutes, predicted the provisional higher taxes would reduce vehicle imports from China by 42 percent. They added that electric car prices could rise by an average of 0.3 to 0.9 percent in the EU.

Germany, a significant trade partner to China, is unhappy about the EU's move. German auto manufacturers fear any retaliation could hurt their activities in China.

Germany's Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck visited Beijing last month on an 11th hour mission to find a way out of a damaging trade war.

But Germany's moves to appease China, like reportedly offering a compromise to lower tariffs to 15 percent, were described by some in the automotive industry as a stunt.

In contrast, French auto makers have welcomed the tariffs to level the playing field.

Electric automaker Tesla, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is the only company that has asked Brussels for its own duty rate calculated based on evidence it has submitted.​

 

[Saif]

China’s BYD opens EV plant in Thailand

China’s electric vehicle giant BYD opened a factory in Thailand on Thursday, continuing its international expansion despite a market slowdown and hours before the European Union was due to impose swingeing tariffs on Chinese EV firms.

www.thedailystar.net

China's BYD opens EV plant in Thailand

China's electric vehicle giant BYD opened a factory in Thailand on Thursday, continuing its international expansion despite a market slowdown and hours before the European Union was due to impose swingeing tariffs on Chinese EV firms.

The plant in Rayong, an industrial area southeast of Bangkok, will be able to build up to 150,000 vehicles a year, according to the company, which dominates its domestic market.

Wang Chuanfu, Shenzhen-based BYD's chief executive, said production would initially focus on full electric vehicles and later expand to include plug-in hybrids, which combine a conventional engine with an electric motor.

"BYD Thailand plant has an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, including the four major processes of vehicle and parts production, and will create about 10,000 jobs," Wang said at an opening ceremony.

Thailand has long been a major assembly hub for Japanese car makers including Toyota and Honda, but is now seeking to shift production away from conventional vehicles and towards EVs.

The kingdom has offered substantial tax breaks for companies as it aims for 30 percent of its car production to be EVs by 2030. BYD overtook Elon Musk's Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023 to become the world's top seller of electric vehicles.

Tesla reclaimed top spot in the first quarter of this year, but BYD is bullish about its expansion, insisting last month it would press ahead with a second factory in the European Union.

The Chinese automaker recorded a record annual profit of 30 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) last year, but in April reported lower than expected revenue for the first quarter of 2024.

BYD has faced a bitter price war in China, where a staggering 129 EV brands are slugging it out -- with only 20 achieving a domestic market share of one percent or more, according to Bloomberg.

China has led the global shift to electric vehicles, with almost one in three cars on its roads set to be electric by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency's annual Global EV Outlook. But European regulators have raised concerns about what they say is "overcapacity" created by excessive state subsidies.

Seeking to protect European manufacturers from cheaper Chinese imports, Brussels has proposed a provisional hike of tariffs on Chinese manufacturers: 17.4 percent for BYD, 20 percent for Geely and 38.1 percent for SAIC -- in addition to the current 10 percent import duty.

EU and Chinese trade chiefs held talks last weekend in a bid to avert a bitter trade war, but the tariffs are set to come into force on Thursday. But while they are high, the EU tariffs are significantly lower than the 100 percent rate the United States imposed from last month on Chinese electric cars.​

 

[Saif]

Xi and Putin set out ambitions for Eurasian security club

China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin pressed their case on Thursday for closer security, political and economic cooperation between countries of the vast Eurasian region as a counterweight to Western alliances. They were speaking on the second and final day of a summit in the K

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Xi and Putin set out ambitions for Eurasian security club
REUTERS
Published :
Jul 04, 2024 21:49
Updated :
Jul 04, 2024 21:49

SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming, Iranian Interim President Mohammad Mokhber, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) executive committee Ruslan Mirzayev take part in a photo ceremony at Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan July 4, 2024.
SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming, Iranian Interim President Mohammad Mokhber, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) executive committee Ruslan Mirzayev take part in a photo ceremony at Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan July 4, 2024. Photo : Reuters/Turar Kazangapov

China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin pressed their case on Thursday for closer security, political and economic cooperation between countries of the vast Eurasian region as a counterweight to Western alliances.

They were speaking on the second and final day of a summit in the Kazakh capital Astana of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a club launched in 2001 by Russia, China and Central Asian states and now including India, Iran and Pakistan.

"SCO members should consolidate unity and jointly oppose external interference in the face of the real challenges of interference and division," Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying, warning against the West's "Cold War mentality".

President Putin, in his address to the SCO, reiterated Russia's call for "a new architecture of cooperation, indivisible security and development in Eurasia, designed to replace the outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, which gave unilateral advantages only to certain states".

He once again blamed the West for the war in Ukraine and said Russia was ready to freeze the conflict if Kyiv and its backers accepted Moscow's terms for talks.

Putin said last month the proposed new Eurasian security pact should be open to all countries across the region, including current NATO members. But the aim, he said, should be to gradually remove all external military presence from Eurasia, a clear reference to the United States.

The SCO nations represent new key buyers of Russian commodities such as oil and gas, as Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war have forced Moscow to pivot towards Asia.

'MULTI-POLAR WORLD'

Putin also hailed on Thursday the increasing use of national currencies - instead of the dollar - in trade between SCO countries and called for the creation of a new payment system within the group.

Western sanctions have left Moscow cut off from traditional payment systems such as SWIFT, while hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign reserves remain frozen.

"The multi-polar world has become reality," Putin said. "More and more countries support a fair world order and are ready to vigorously defend their legal rights and traditional values."

Separately, India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the SCO gathering and agreed to step up talks to resolve issues on their border which have soured ties since an armed clash in 2020.​

 

[Saif]

China, Russia to counter extra-regional forces in SE Asia

China and Russia’s foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts Friday after vowing to counter ‘extra-regional forces’, a day before Washington’s top...

www.newagebd.net

China, Russia to counter extra-regional forces in SE Asia
Agence France-Presse . Vientiane 27 July, 2024, 01:35

China and Russia's foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts Friday after vowing to counter 'extra-regional forces', a day before Washington's top diplomat was due to arrive.

Wang Yi and Sergei Lavrov were attending a three-day meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc in the Laos capital Vientiane.

Both held talks with counterparts from the bloc, while Wang also met with new British foreign secretary David Lammy.

On Thursday Wang and Lavrov agreed to work together in 'countering any attempts by extra-regional forces to interfere in Southeast Asian affairs', according to Moscow's foreign ministry.

They also discussed implementing 'a new security architecture' in Eurasia, Lavrov said in a statement, without elaborating.

According to a readout from Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Wang said Beijing was 'ready to work with Russia to... firmly support each other, safeguard each other's core interests'.

China is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a 'decisive enabler' of Moscow's war in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Vientiane on Saturday morning for talks with ASEAN foreign ministers.

Blinken has made Washington's alliances in Asia a top foreign policy priority, with the aim of 'advancing a free and open' Indo-Pacific — a veiled way of criticising China and its ambitions.

But Blinken shortened his Asia itinerary by a day to be present for Thursday's White House meeting between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wang and Blinken will meet in Laos, a spokeswoman for Beijing's foreign ministry said, to 'exchange views on issues of common concern'.

On Friday Wang met ASEAN foreign ministers and hailed Beijing's deepening economic ties with the region.

For the customary joint handshake, Wang stood next to Myanmar's representative Aung Kyaw Moe, permanent secretary to the foreign affairs ministry.

The ASEAN bloc has banned Myanmar's junta from high-level meetings over its 2021 coup and crackdown on dissent that have plunged the country into turmoil.

Lavrov also met ASEAN counterparts at the venue in Vientiane but did not take questions from journalists

ASEAN ministers are expected to issue a joint communique after the three-day meeting.

One diplomatic source said the joint communique is being held up by lack of consensus over the wording of the paragraphs on the Myanmar conflict and disputes in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims the waterway — through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually — almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.​