The writer served as Executive Editor of The Express Tribune from 2009 to 2014 Under the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China could move some of its manufacturing industry to places like Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam, and help these countries prosper by providing them with financial assistance to build highways, harbours and utility facilities. This is what Oliver Rui, professor of finance and accounting at the China Europe International Business…
Posts published in October 2014
BEIJING: China will tighten the law to impose harsher punishments on people participating in illegal cults, a state-run newspaper said on Tuesday, after a brutal murder earlier in the year. An amendment to the law will mandate prison terms of up to seven years for those who organize or make use of a religious institution or cult to spread “superstitions to undermine national laws or regulations”, the official China Daily said. The death penalty will…
By CHRIS BUCKLEY in the NY Times, Oct 29, 2014 HONG KONG — China’s highest-reaching military corruption scandal of recent times moved toward trial on Tuesday, when investigators announced that a retired People’s Liberation Army commander, the former Gen. Xu Caihou, had confessed to taking enormous bribes in return for giving promotions and favors. The announcement issued through Xinhua, the state news agency, also said that military prosecutors, called the military procuratorate in China,…
LONDON: Hasan Niazi, a nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, was taken into custody by London police from Kashmir Million March. According to reports, Niazi was released shortly after being detained in the wake of commotion caused by some participants of the March. Speaking to Geo News, Hasan Niazi said: “I simply used my right to protest, I did nothing wrong by doing so”. The uproar was seen after Pakistan People’s Party chairman…
By MA Mir in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2014. MUZAFFARABAD: From over 30 office bearers, only two could spare time to attend the 67th Foundation Day flag-hoisting ceremony held at Police Lines ground in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. The elected representatives, who spend over Rs40 billion annually on non-development expenditure, could not spare even a few hours to join the president for the occasion. AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan…
By Web Desk in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2014 Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was forced to cut short his speech short at the “Million March” in London on Sunday when rowdy protesters reportedly started throwing water bottles at him, Express News reported. The “Million March” was held to demand a just and peaceful resolution of longstanding Kashmir issue and saw thousands of people rally through central London in protest against…
By Asim Yasin in The News, Oct 26, 2014 ISLAMABAD: The Sub-Committee of the Senate Human Rights Committee tasked to recommend amendments in the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order 2009 to empower the people of the area is set to finalise its recommendations in consultation with stakeholders. This was stated by Senator Farhatullah Babar at a seminar organised by the human rights commission of Pakistan in a local hotel Saturday. The subcommittee is…
By Ikram Junaidi in Dawn, October 26th, 2014 ISLAMABAD: A fact-finding mission sent to Gilgit-Baltistan by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has revealed that not a single group or individual was completely satisfied with the Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009. The report of the commission, ‘Caught in a new great game?’, which was launched at a local hotel, recommended that the prime minister, who heads the GB Council, should convene a meeting…
The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2014 BEIJING: The China Development Bank (CDB) has agreed to be local sponsors of an awareness conference that would be held for prospective investors for the construction of the 4,500 megawatt (MW) Diamer-Bhasha dam. This transpired during Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s meeting with CDB Executive Vice President Zhao Xiaoyu in Beijing. During the meeting, Dar appreciated the CDB’s support in the past and hoped for the cooperation to continue.…
By Jeremy Page in The Wall St Journal, Oct. 24, 2014 Soldiers stand on guard next to a Chinese navy nuclear-missile submarine at the Qingdao base in eastern China. Yin Haiyang/Color China Photo/Associated Press One Sunday morning last December, China’s defense ministry summoned military attachés from several embassies to its monolithic Beijing headquarters. To the foreigners’ surprise, the Chinese said that one of their nuclear-powered submarines would soon pass through the Strait…
By Michael Lelyveld in Radio Free Asia, Oct 20, 2014 China is trying to impose debt limits on local governments as they struggle to meet major repayment deadlines by the end of the year. In what may be a critical step toward financial order, the State Council, or cabinet, issued new debt rules for local authorities on Oct. 2, seeking to end backdoor lending schemes that threaten to spiral out of control. Last year, the…