Arise! China: Daily Express

Showing posts with label Daily Express. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 February 2022

Putin humiliated by China after Beijing urges Moscow to drop Ukraine war plans

Beijing's Foreign Minister said that Ukraine had the right to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

John Varga Daily Express

20 February 2022

The Russian President has amassed close to 200,000 troops on Ukraine's northern, eastern and southern flanks, according to US officials. Defence analysts working for the Atlantic Council organisation warned that the Kremlin had completed preparations for a large-scale offensive operation.

They said that Russian forces could "likely execute a further invasion of Ukraine with less than twelve hours of unambiguous warning."

With an invasion looking increasingly imminent, China's top diplomat used his appearance at the Munich security conference on Saturday to warn Mr Putin against following through on his expansionist ambitions.

Wang Yi affirmed Ukraine's right to safeguard its territorial integrity and urged a diplomatic solution to the escalating crisis.

He called the Minsk Agreement the "only way out" and urged all parties to come together and solve the crisis peacefully.

Mr Yi also said that Ukraine should not be a frontline for competition among major powers.

The Minsk Agreement refers to a diplomatic accord signed in February 2015 in the Belarus capital by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions.

The deal set out a series of military and political steps that remain unimplemented.

A major blockage has been Russia's insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore is not bound by its terms.

Moscow also wants the breakaway regions to have autonomy over economic and foreign policy - something Kyiv would find very hard to countenance.

Wang Yi's slap-down of Mr Putin comes as a major surprise, given that China's President Xi Jinping appeared to back Mr Putin's Ukraine policy.

The two leaders met in Beijing at the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

They issued a joint statement calling on the West to "abandon the ideologised approaches of the cold war".

In a nod to Russian interests in Ukraine, China said it understood and supported "the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation on the formation of long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe."

Volodymr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's President, attended the Munich security conference today, where he met with Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's "unequivocal support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity", a Downing Street spokesperson said.

They added: "The prime minister told Zelenskiy that the UK continues to cooperate closely with international partners to make clear that any Russia incursion will be met with strength, including significant economic consequences.

DON'T MISS

Putin mobilises fearsome Chechen brigades as war fears escalate [REVEAL]

PM calls for West to dodge bloodshed in Ukraine by showing solidarity [SPOTLIGHT]

Russia-Ukraine: 'False flag' fear as massive war game launched [INSIGHT]

© Getty Vladimir Putin

"The leaders agreed that any further Russian incursion into Ukraine would be a profound miscalculation which would be met with fierce resistance from Ukraine.

"They agreed there was still time for Putin to choose the path of peace and diplomacy."

Western leaders continued to issue last minute appeals to the Russian President to pull back from the brink of war.

Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, said it was unacceptable that Europe was facing a war over an issue that was not even an agenda - namely Ukraine's membership of NATO.

He said: "It will not happen the next time. It will not happen in the near time. Putin knows that."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/vladimir-putin-humiliated-by-china-after-beijing-urges-moscow-to-drop-ukraine-war-plans/ar-AAU4cr8

Thursday, 17 February 2022

Share of Gas Supply From Russia

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/putin-goes-nuclear-russia-ready-to-re-route-all-gas-supplies-from-europe-prices-to-soar/ar-AATWtlb

Monday, 6 December 2021

China plotting to build warship base in Atlantic

US intelligence believed China was intending to build a "permanent military presence" in the nation sandwiched between Cameroon and Gabon. Such a facility would be significant as it would give China its first base on the Atlantic Ocean. This would mean Chinese warships would be able to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast of the US, a threat that is setting off alarm bells at the White House and Pentagon.

James Lee Daily Express 6 December 2021

US national security adviser Jon Finer visited Equatorial Guinea in October on a mission to persuade President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to reject China's overtures for such a project.

President Joe Biden's administration had conveyed to the Mbasogo government any Chinese activity would "raise national security concerns".

The report speculated China would consider building a military facility in the port city of Bata. Beijing had built a deep-water commercial port in Bata.

General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US Africa Command, had warned the Senate in April about the risk of China having a naval facility on the Atlantic coast.

He said: "This is something more than a place that they can make port calls and get gas and groceries. I'm talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels."

The latest Pentagon report on China's military modernisation had warned China was considering military facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Angola.

In 2017, China formally opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti, on the Indian Ocean.

The facility has since seen the expansion of infrastructure to accommodate ships such as submarines and aircraft carriers.

China's plans for a new facility on the Atlantic Ocean also shed light on the rapid expansion of its navy.

The Pentagon report had noted the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was now the world's largest navy, "with an overall battle force of approximately 355 ships and submarines, including approximately more than 145 major surface combatants."

Unlike nations such as Kenya, Tanzania and Angola, a facility on the Atlantic Ocean would have considerable practical and symbolic implications as it directly challenges US hegemony over the region.

In addition, a facility in Equatorial Guinea is expected to provide options to deploy forces to protect Chinese investments in the western part of Africa.

In 2009, China upgraded a commercial port in Equatorial Guinea, in the city of Bata - the largest city on the mainland.

The country's capital, Malabo, is on an island an hour's flight from the mainland.

Chinese state-owned companies have built 100 commercial ports around Africa in the past two decades, according to Chinese government data.

American diplomats in Mauritania, along Africa's northwest coast, have advised local authorities to turn down any effort by Beijing to use a Chinese-built port for military purposes, according to a U.S. official.

Much of China's expansion into African comes as part of the multi-trillion "One belt one road" initiative which has seen Beijing expand its economic and diplomatic presence across the globe.

Of the 54 African nations, China has invested in 52 of them.

The US and China are currently the world's largest economies, yet China is expected to surpass the US to the top spot by as early as 2024.

Academics and military specialists believe that China and the US are entering a new cold war.

Tension is high between Washington DC and Beijing over a host of issues including Taiwan, the South China Sea, the so-called AUKUS deal and dominance of the global economy.

Source

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

A 'new colonial power' with Barbados power grab

China trying to become a 'new colonial power' with Barbados power grab

Alessandro Schiavone

01/12/2021

Tory MP Damian Green warned that China is on its way to becoming 'a new colonial power' by investing money into countries such as Barbados. The island, which is in the Lesser Antilles and former British colony which has been independent since 1966, officially became a republic after the removal of Queen Elizabeth as its head of state on Monday. Although Barbados remains a member of the Commonwealth, the decision to become a republic has been largely influenced by China, with the influential Eastern Asian country expected to have the most potent military in the world by 2050.

Tory MP told Iain Dale on LBC that China could use its financial influence to turn into a powerful, new colonial power.

He said: "There is a lot of affection, particularly for the Queen around the Commonwealth, not just in this country.

"And for all the royal turbulence, that we've seen over the past 18 months or so, I detect no surge of republican sentiment in this country.

"But I worry even more and I think you're right to bring up the Chinese money.

"Because there is in a sense a much more serious global play going on here which is the Chinese attempting, using money influence and pulling countries into debts to effectively become a new colonial power around the world.

"And I think if that's allowed to take hold, that will be a real threat to democracies of many of the Commonwealth countries."

But Barbados is not the sole member of the Commonwealth that China are looking to develop military and diplomatic links with.

Several Commonwealth countries receive regular Chinese military training. These include Guyana, Cameroon and Rwanda.

Mr Green spoke of the Commonwealth's importance: "You have to be a democracy to qualify for the Commonwealth and there are countries that go in and out of the Commonwealth on the basis of what kind of Government they have.

"It's good for the countries themselves to remain democracies. We should cling onto the Commonwealth and try and make it as useful as possible for as many Member States as possible.

"We often have an odd view of the Commonwealth in this country because it does get bound up. But actually, as a modern collection, a contemporary collection of democracy, that's a hugely important body to have in and around the globe."

Barbados' decision to become a republic has been met with criticism among some Barbadians themselves. They are concerned that the new independence from the Crown is a double-edged sword as China look to expand its influence in the Caribbean in future.

China has reportedly pumped more than £400million into the country's economy to gentrify the island.

New homes, hotels and infrastructures were all built.

Some of the most historic colonial empires include Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France.

Source

Arise! China