Xinhua report in Global Times, Aug 24, 2017 at 13:11:50 China’s top disciplinary watchdog has named a number of grassroots officials implicated in abuse of poverty relief funds. The nine cases involve dereliction of duty, embezzlement of poverty relief funds and theft of allowances for house renovation, according to the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). In one case, Long Zuoshi, former Party chief of Jile Village in Hunan Province,…
Posts published in August 2017
Reuters report in South China Morning Post, Aug 25, 2017 No amount of interference or shadowing of its aircraft will stop the Chinese air force from carrying out long-range drills, the defence ministry said, announcing another round of exercises of the type that have unnerved Taiwan and Japan. The air force carried out further long-range exercises on Thursday, the ministry said later on the same day, without giving details of where they happened.…
by Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary in The daily star, Aug 25, 2017 The High Court yesterday declared illegal and void the two deals Niko Resources Bangladesh Limited signed with Bapex and Petrobangla, as those were procured through corruption. The court also directed the authorities to “revert back” to the state the assets Niko possessed through the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) and the Gas Purchase and Sales Agreement (GPSA) signed in 2003 and 2006. No payments can…
by Manik Miazee in Dhaka Tribune, August 25, 2017 With elections little more than a year away, Khaleda Zia’s BNP is working around the clock to select the ideal candidates for the 300 seats. But what does the Bangladesh Nationalist Party look for in an “ideal” candidate? Khaleda Zia has identified three key characteristics she wants in the 900 potential candidates who will vie for the 300 seats: A clean image with no prior allegations…
Ruling Awami League has decided to stay quiet until chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha goes into his retirement probably after five months on 31 January 2018. The party somehow wants to spend the five-month time without facing any embarrassment, said party insiders. The government wants to have negotiations with the CJ in this regard, they added. Ever since the Supreme Court released its full verdict on the 16th amendment, many AL leaders have been demanding…
by Wajid Ali Syed in The News, Aug 24, 2017 WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned on Tuesday that Pakistan’s privileged status as a major non-Nato US ally could be in question if it does not change its course from the past. “We have some leverage,” Tillerson told reporters, “in terms of aid, their status as a non-Nato alliance partner — all of that can be put on the table.” During a press…
by Zafar Bhutta in The Express Tribune, Aug 23, 2017 ISLAMABAD: Islamabad and Beijing are unlikely to welcome other countries to become part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) before 2020 as they will wait until energy and industrial projects are completed, say officials. Pakistan and China are developing energy projects of $35 billion under CPEC and want to complete them first before opening the door to Middle Eastern states, Iran and Central Asian countries…
Comment in Global Times, Aug 23, 2017 at 21:48:40 (The article was compiled based on a report by Beijing-based private strategic think tank Anbound) The risk of yuan depreciation doesn’t seem to be troubling investors any longer, with the currency having been on a gradual upward trend for about three months. The central parity rate of the yuan was set at 6.6633 per US dollar on Wednesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.…
By Frank Tang in South China Morning Post, Aug 23, 2017 at 10.55pm The credit rating of China’s Anbang Life Insurance Co was downgraded by Dagong Global Credit Rating Co on Wednesday, three months after the regulator curtailed its operations and two months since the chairman of its parent company disappeared from public sight. The downgrade by one notch to AA+ came as Dagong said in a statement that Anbang Life is facing growing debt…
by Wendy Wu in South China Morning Post, Aug 23, 2017 at 10.55pm Chinese prosecutors have been told to show no mercy to the “financial crocodiles” who threaten economic stability, in the latest sign that Beijing is prepared to use all of its judicial and executive apparatus to stamp out corruption. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Wednesday issued a strongly worded directive ordering prosecutors across the country to get tough on “those financial crocodiles that…
by Choi Chi-yuk, Catherine Wong & Jun Mai in South China Morning Post, Aug 23, 2017 at 11:17pm China is expected to appoint a new air force commander as part of a People’s Liberation Army leadership reshuffle ahead of the national congress in autumn, sources said. The front runner to lead the country’s 420,000-strong air force is Lieutenant General Ding Laihang, three separate sources told the South China Morning Post. Ding, who will turn 60…