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China yesterday denied again that a ship intercepted by the United States contained a “gift” from Beijing for Iran, a day after US President Donald Trump made the accusation.Trump had said that an Iranian-flagged ship seized by US forces in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday contained “a gift from China”, which “wasn’t very nice”. His comments came after former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley wrote on X that the ship was travelling from China to Iran and was linked to chemical shipments for missiles. Responding to Haley’s accusations at a regular news briefing on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the ship was “a foreign container ship”, and that China opposed “any malicious association and speculation”. Asked about Trump’s comments yesterday, Guo said China had already stated its position.“As a responsible major country, China has always set a good example in fulfilling its due international obligation,” he added. Trump had said on Tuesday that he was “a little surprised”, given he thought he had an “understanding” with China’s President Xi Jinping.A week ago, Trump announced that Xi had assured him there would be no Chinese weapons deliveries to Iran. Beijing is a close partner of Tehran and has called the US-Israeli strikes on Iran illegal, but it has also criticised attacks on Gulf countries and called for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened.The seized vessel, Touska, had been sailing towards the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday. The guided missile destroyer USS Spruance fired several rounds from a five-inch calibre gun to disable the Iranian ship’s propulsion after directing it “to evacuate its engine room”, CENTCOM said in a post on X.The incident comes with tensions high in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, which has been virtually closed since the start of the Middle East war.Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but closed it again the following day in response to the US maintaining its blockade on ships travelling to and from Iranian ports. Source link
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for normal passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz to be maintained, in a phone call yesterday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held as Beijing steps up efforts to help end the Iran war. China is concerned over renewed instability around the strategic waterway, as a US-Iran ceasefire came under fresh strain after the US seized an Iranian cargo ship and Tehran signalled it would not join new peace talks for now. China is the main buyer of Iranian crude. Iran has largely closed the strait to ships other than its own since the US and Israel launched the war in February, while Washington has imposed a blockade of Iranian ships since last week. China advocates an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, and insists on resolving conflicts in the Middle East through political and diplomatic channels, state news agency Xinhua cited Xi as saying. “The Strait of Hormuz should remain open to normal passage, as this serves the common interests of regional countries and the international community,” he told the Saudi leader. Worries have mounted over the survival of the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran after the US seizure of the Iranian vessel. Trump had credited Beijing with helping to get Iran to the previous negotiations with the US in Pakistan. The Chinese foreign ministry yesterday expressed concerns over the “forced interception” by the US of the Iranian ship, while urging relevant sides to abide by the ceasefire agreement.Xi’s call with the Saudi crown prince followed a meeting in Beijing last week with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, when Xi urged adherence to international law. Xi also told the Saudi crown prince that China supports countries in the Middle East in “taking their future and destiny into their own hands, and promoting long-term regional stability and peace”. Source link
China has issued fines totalling 3.6bn yuan ($527mn) to seven major e-commerce platforms for food safety violations, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said on Friday. The regulator said platforms, including Alibaba-owned Taobao, JD.com, Meituan, Temu-owner Pinduoduo and Douyin — China’s version of TikTok — had failed to check the licenses of stores on their apps and allowed “ghost food deliveries” from unverified vendors. SAMR said in a statement it had “ordered seven e-commerce platforms to rectify their illegal activities… and imposed fines and confiscations totalling 3.597bn yuan”.The legal representatives of the companies were also fined a total of 19.7mn yuan ($2.9mn), the market regulator said. An investigation showed the platforms had “not strictly reviewed and checked the licenses of food operators entering their networks, and failed to fulfil the obligation of qualification review in accordance with the law,” SAMR said. They had also signed agreements with order-transfer platforms, which infringed on consumers’ rights, SAMR said. Source link
China said a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would go against the international community’s interests and urged calm and restraint by all sides. The US military said it will begin a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas yesterday, after the failure of weekend talks in Islamabad aimed at ending the Iran war. Before the war, most Iranian oil exports were shipped to China, the top global importer of crude. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz does not serve the common interests of the international community, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Khaldoon Khalifa al-Mubarak, special envoy of the UAE President for China, in Beijing yesterday, according to a ministry statement. Wang said China understood the legitimate security concerns of the Gulf Arab states, and that the fundamental way to resolve the crisis was a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire achieved through political and diplomatic means. “China hopes the relevant parties will abide by the temporary ceasefire arrangements, remain committed to resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means, and avoid a resumption of hostilities,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference yesterday. China stood ready to “play a positive and constructive role” in resolving the crisis, Guo added, calling the weekend talks in the Pakistani capital a step in a direction conducive to easing tension. After the marathon talks failed, the US Central Command said its forces would begin a blockade of all maritime traffic with Iranian ports from 10am ET (1400 GMT) yesterday. Source link
Taiwan’s defence ministry said yesterday that it spotted 16 Chinese warplanes operating near the island the previous day, around the same time China’s president was meeting the Taiwanese opposition leader. Late on Friday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) in Beijing, where Xi said he “absolutely would not tolerate” independence for Taiwan, which China views as its own territory. Cheng has portrayed her visit as a reconciliation mission to lessen tensions, and told Xi she looked forward to the KMT and Communist Party advancing the “institutionalisation” of peace across the Taiwan Strait.Taiwan’s defence ministry, in its daily report on Chinese military activity in the previous 24 hours, said that 16 Chinese warplanes flew near the island from mid-morning to mid-afternoon on Friday. Xi and Cheng met at 11am (0300GMT). Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan’s China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, told reporters in Taipei on Saturday that using military coercion against Taiwan as a means of applying pressure for political negotiations has always been China’s “go-to tactic”. “So on one hand we see them sending out messages of peace, while on the other hand they continue to use military force to pressure Taiwan without letup,” he added.China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. In Beijing, KMT Vice-Chairman Chang Jung-kung said that the key to promoting peace lies in offering Taiwan’s people a choice between peace and reconciliation, or war. Engaging with China and promoting cross-strait peace yields “peace with dignity,” not the bowing of one’s head to “shake hands” like Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has said, Chang added, according to a KMT statement. Lai’s office said on Friday night that what the Xi-Cheng meeting sought to highlight was that “Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China” and to advance “the annexation of Taiwan”. “Taiwan’s future can only be decided by the Taiwanese people themselves,” Lai’s spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement. Source link
Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wun (left) shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Great Hall of the People in Beijing, yesterday.(AFP) China’s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan’s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing yesterday, telling the visiting delegation he had “full confidence” that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party’s first leader to visit China in a decade, but her trip has sparked debate in Taiwan with critics accusing her of being too pro-Beijing.China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency and rejected Beijing’s claims that the self-ruled island is part of its territory.Xi told Cheng as the two met yesterday that “the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change”.”This is an inevitable part of history. We have full confidence in this,” Xi said during the talks carried by Taiwanese media.He also said China was willing to strengthen dialogue with groups in Taiwan, including the KMT, on the “common political foundation of… opposing Taiwan independence”.The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.Cheng echoed Xi’s stance at a press conference after their meeting, stressing the need for younger generations to understand “what challenges we face at this stage” and “how, by adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing Taiwan independence, we can avoid war”.The so-called consensus suggests there is “one China” without specifying which is its rightful representative.Earlier, she told Xi that the Taiwan Strait would “no longer be a focal point of potential conflict” and “both sides should transcend political confrontation”.She also said Xi had responded “positively” to her proposal that the sides work toward Taiwan participating in international organisations such as Interpol and regional trade agreements.A spokesman for Taiwan’s ruling DPP said China should respect Taiwan’s “commitment to freedom and democracy, rather than interfering in the choices of the Taiwanese people through division and inducement”.”Differences between the two sides must be handled through peaceful and equal means, rather than by using suppression and intimidation,” spokesman Lee Kuen-cheng said.Beijing has ramped up military pressure around Taiwan in recent years, conducting near-daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near the island and regular large-scale military drills.Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over the government’s plan to spend NT$1.25tn ($39bn) on defence, which has been stalled for months in parliament, controlled by opposition parties including the KMT.Cheng’s trip comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi.The US has been piling pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to back a proposal for defence purchases, including US weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack.Cheng has railed against the government’s proposal, insisting “Taiwan isn’t an ATM” and instead backing a KMT plan to allocate NT$380bn ($12bn) for US weapons with the option for more acquisitions.While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016.Cross-strait relations have worsened in particular since the election of Tsai’s successor, Lai Ching-te, who Beijing considers a separatist.Lai said in a Facebook post yesterday that “China’s… military threats in and around the Taiwan Strait and the island chain have severely undermined regional peace and stability”.Cheng landed in Shanghai on Tuesday evening, saying shortly after her arrival that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not doomed to war, as the international community has feared”. Source link
A woman walks along the Huangpu River as the city’s skyline is seen in the background in Shanghai Thursday. (AFP) China has banned for 40 days civil aviation from a large airspace off Shanghai without specifying the reasons, according to a notice to aviators published by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).The aviation notice (NOTAM) announcing the access restriction was posted online on March 27 at 1150 GMT and took effect a few hours later.It will remain in place until May 6 and affects an area twice the size of Taiwan a few hundred kilometres north of the island, covering 73,000sq km in total.China has not provided any explanation for the ban as of April 8, but “there is no possible use other than military” for this type of airspace restriction, maritime security expert Benjamin Blandin told AFP.”It could be to fire missiles, carry out air exercises, etc. We don’t know,” he added.This is “the very first time” that China has restricted access to its airspace in a way that is “so sudden, geographically extensive, prolonged over time, and so poorly documented”, according to Blandin, a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR).Aviation and defence consultant for Aviation NXT, Xavier Tytelman, also believes that the restriction is “out of the ordinary” in terms of its size, duration and the lack of any limits on altitude, either high or low.NOTAMs are intended to inform aviators of unusual circumstances affecting certain airspaces.They are generally issued ahead of military exercises or during exceptional events such as fires or volcanic eruptions.In this particular case, it means that “the government is reserving a zone for itself,” said Tytelman.Restricted access applies to civil aviation but not necessarily to military planes, helicopters or drones.The ban covers two zones over the Yellow Sea, between China and South Korea, and three others straddling the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, between China and its neighbour Japan.”Normally this is announced weeks or months in advance, and there are explanations and justifications,” said Blandin, adding that the reserved airspace is limited in altitude “to allow the passage of commercial aircraft”.The areas closed to civil aviation are separated by an air corridor about 100 kilometres wide, allowing access to Shanghai from the Yellow Sea.”Access denials”According to a Taiwan senior security official, China is taking advantage of the United States being distracted by the Middle East war to expand its active military presence and conduct harassment in the Indo-Pacific.China aims to deter the US’s allies in the region and weaken the US’s military influence in the Indo-Pacific, he said.For Blandin this NOTAM is part of a “continuing series of access denials” and “bolsters China’s strategy of nibbling away at the land and sea borders of its neighbours” over the past 15 years.Tytelman, a former flight navigator for the French navy, expects this type of operation to be repeated in the months and years to come, in order to “lower our guard before an aggressive action.” Related Story Source link
– Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that amid the current international turmoil, China and Europe have a shared responsibility to strengthen communication and safeguard the international system based on international law, with the United Nations at its core.This came during a phone conversation he had today with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.The Chinese foreign minister said that the international community was strongly in favor of a ceasefire as tge the best solution to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. He added that all parties must build greater consensus and create the necessary conditions to achieve that goal.For her part, Kallas said that Europe did not participate in the war but suffered from its repercussions, expressing the EU’s hope for rapid de-escalation and the resumption of and negotiations Source link
AFPBeijingChina wishes to strengthen economic co-operation with the United States to avoid “vicious competition”, commerce minister Wang Wentao told US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to a readout released yesterday.The two met on Thursday on the sidelines of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference in Cameroon’s capital, less than two months ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Beijing.”China is willing to strengthen multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation with the United States,” Wang told Greer, according to a statement by the Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce.The two powers must “properly handle the relationship between competition and cooperation” and “avoid vicious competition,” he said.The world’s two largest economies were locked in a bitter trade battle last year before agreeing to a truce in October.High-level talks in Paris this month between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng also helped to ease tensions.Nevertheless, issues including US tariffs, a trade balance in China’s favour, and US restrictions on exports of advanced technologies continue to threaten relations.Wang expressed “grave concerns” on Thursday regarding recently announced US trade investigations signalling the possibility of fresh tariffs.Washington’s trade investigations target 60 economies, including China, and will look into “failures to take action on forced labour” and whether these burden or restrict US commerce. Source link
China told its citizens yesterday to evacuate from Iran “as soon as possible”, and those in Israel to strengthen preparedness, citing a significant rise in security risks in the Middle East.“Chinese nationals currently in Iran are advised to strengthen safety precautions and evacuate as soon as possible,” the foreign ministry said in a social media statement. The US on the same day authorised the departure of non-emergency embassy staff from Israel, as it threatened strikes on Iran and pressed its biggest military build-up in the Middle East in decades. The US military is building up its forces in the region, with the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, due to arrive off the coast of key US-ally Israel. This came a day after Oman-mediated talks between Iran and the US — which have been seen as a last-ditch bid to avert war — though initial optimism was tempered by Tehran warning Washington must drop “excessive demands” to reach a deal. Beijing’s foreign ministry told its citizens yesterday to avoid travelling to Iran for the time being “in light of the current security situation”. The foreign ministry added that its Chinese embassies and consulates in Iran and neighbouring countries will provide “necessary assistance” to Chinese citizens seeking to relocate via commercial flights or overland routes. China’s embassy in Israel, meanwhile, warned its citizens to remain highly vigilant, strengthen emergency preparedness, and avoid going out unless necessary, state broadcaster CCTV said. They should “familiarise themselves in advance with nearby bomb shelters and evacuation routes to ensure personal and property safety”, CCTV added. Source link