HONG KONG — In Canada, it is the Québécois. In Spain, the Catalans. In Britain, the Scots. Now, China must deal with its own version of a democratically elected indigenous movement, elevated to positions of political power on Sunday in the only place in the authoritarian country where that is possible: Hong Kong. Six young people — none older than 40 — were elected to Hong Kong’s legislature on platforms that called for the city’s…
Posts published in “Day: September 6, 2016”
MANILA—The Philippines said new surveillance images showed that Beijing is stepping up its presence in disputed South China Sea waters, raising the specter of a diplomatic clash as President Rodrigo Duterte attends his first regional summits. Mr. Duterte’s government Monday summoned the Chinese ambassador to explain why Beijing had sent a flotilla of 10 ships, including dredgers and barges, to a shoal that an international tribunal ruled belonged to Manila. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said…
The Group of 20 summit gives Beijing the opportunity to press its claim to have a greater international say. As such, the officials in the presidential entourage play a major role, giving a glimpse of some of the power players in Chinese politics. Among the big names are: Wang Yi, Foreign minister Wang is China’s second highest-ranked diplomat and oversees the foreign ministry. He has been China’s ambassador to Japan and director of the State…
China’s bid to show itself as a responsible and able global economic leader at the Group of 20 (G20) summit has been overshadowed by awkward bilateral issues, suggesting a bumpy road ahead for Beijing in extending its influence in the world. From unprecedented security measures in the host city of Hangzhou to a spectacular gala performance at the scenic West Lake, China spared no effort to put on a flawless event. The goal was to…
We seem to have once again wriggled our way out of incurring any financial penalties for the failure to start off the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project. The perennial impasse over the project, which was recommended in the early 2000s, continues to make no sense at all. According the agreement, Pakistan is to pay Iran $1 million a day for failing to lay down its 781 kilometre share of the pipeline by the start of 2015.…
ISLAMABAD: Work on the Pak-Iran gas pipeline has commenced, and the trade volume between the two neighbouring countries will be brought to $5 billion. This was told to the National Assembly during question hour on Monday. The Special Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told the house that due to an embargo on Iran, the financial relations between two countries had decreased and the trade volume had plunged to USD 1.25 billion…