VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

China's President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, called on Thursday for the lifting of sanctions on Iran as an integral part of a stalled international agreement on its nuclear programme.

Xi also accepted an invitation from Raisi to visit Iran and would do so at his convenience, the two leaders said in a joint statement on the last day of a three-day state visit to China by Raisi. Xi last visited Iran in 2016 as part of a tour of the Middle East.

The leaders in their statement called for the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which Iran agreed with several countries, including the United States, to curb its nuclear programme in return for economic sanctions relief.

In 2018, then U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

President Joe Biden said in 2021 that the United States would return to the deal if Iran moved back into compliance but talks have stalled.

"All relevant sanctions should be fully lifted in a verifiable manner to promote the full and effective implementation," Xi and Raisi said.

China and Iran emphasised that lifting sanctions and ensuring Iran economic benefits were important components of the agreement, they said.

On Tuesday, Xi told Raisi that China would "participate constructively" in talks to resume negotiations on implementing the agreement, while expressing his support for Iran in safeguarding its rights and interests.

"China firmly opposes interference by external forces in Iran's internal affairs and undermining Iran's security and stability," the leaders said in the statement.

The two leaders also drew up several initiatives, including promoting e-commerce and agriculture.

The show of cooperation was a contrast with Iranian anger in December last year over a statement that China and Gulf states issued during a visit by Xi to Saudi Arabia.

The China-Gulf Cooperation Council called on Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and for a peaceful resolution to the issue of three islands ruled by Iran but claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador to Iran in response and expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" over the statement. (Reuters)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has broken ground on a large greenhouse project and the development of 10,000 apartments, state media reported on Thursday, highlighting the construction projects amid foreign suspicion of food shortages.

Neighbouring South Korea said on Wednesday that a food crisis appeared to be worsening in the North, and the South's DongA Ibo newspaper reported that North Korea had cut rations to its soldiers for the first time in more than two decades.

North Korea has not confirmed any food shortages but its ruling party has scheduled a meeting for late February for what state media said was the "very important and urgent task to establish the correct strategy for the development of agriculture".

The North's state-run KCNA news agency in its report on the ground-breaking ceremonies in the capital, Pyongyang, cited an official who said the greenhouse construction would be a model for overcoming "present difficulties".

Kim's presence at that event, according to KCNA, demonstrated his "ceaseless journey of devoted service for the people to build a highly civilized thriving country, a socialist paradise on this land full of the people's laugh and happiness".

The housing development, meanwhile, would be "another luxurious street of socialism full of the people's happiness", KCNA said in a separate report.

The isolated country is under strict international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes and in recent years its limited border trade was virtually choked off by self-imposed lockdowns aimed at preventing COVID-19.

In recent months North Korea has reopened freight rail services with China and Russia, and on Thursday, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that trucks had also begun crossing between the Chinese city of Hunchun and North Korea's Rason.

Asked about the reported resumption of transport of goods via truck at the Hunchun-Rason border crossing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said he had nothing to add to China's position on trade resumption.

"Both sides will resolve via consultation matters related to border port cooperation, in accordance with bilateral port agreements and other pacts pertaining to the border," he told a regular briefing. (reuters)

Paraguay and Taiwan are united by destiny, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo said on Thursday during a visit to the island ahead of an election in April that could see the Latin American country ditch Taipei for Beijing.

Paraguay is one of only 14 countries to have formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, and Beijing has been stepping up efforts to get those remaining allies to abandon Taipei.

Paraguay would cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and open relations with China if the opposition wins the election, its presidential candidate Efrain Alegre has said, hoping to boost economically important soy and beef exports.

Speaking at a welcome ceremony in Taipei attended by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, Abdo said the Taiwanese people deserve the highest admiration, respect, and affection from his country.

"Madam President, a saying you all know very well notes that destiny unites people far apart, and I believe this has been the case for our countries," he added. "Nowadays our countries are much more than friends, they are partners and strategic allies, that share values and the same vision to create a peaceful, democratic, and sustainable world."

Abdo is not standing again for the presidency. Santiago Pena, the ruling Colorado Party candidate, has said Paraguay's relations with Taiwan would remain intact if he wins on April 30.

Tsai, recalling her two trips to Paraguay as president, said the two sides continued to deepen their friendship.

"We look forward to taking this visit and exchange to continue to strengthen cooperation between the two countries," she said.

Paraguay's Taiwan ties have been under pressure in recent years, especially from the country's beef producers and farmers, who see the relationship as an obstacle to gaining access to the world's largest market for their products.

China views Taiwan as one of its provinces, with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei hotly disputes.

China's targeting of Taiwan's allies has taken on broader geopolitical significance amid U.S. concerns about Beijing expanding its influence in Latin America and the Caribbean where many of Taipei's remaining friends are located. (Reuters)

A group of South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labour accused Seoul of rushing a compensation plan with Tokyo for diplomatic and political gains, amid a prolonged legal battle over the neighbours' chequered history.

The two countries have been odds over a 2018 ruling by South Korea's Supreme Court that ordered Japanese firms to compensate some of the forced labourers. Fifteen South Koreans have won such cases, though no payments have been made yet.

The South Korean government unveiled a plan last month to compensate the victims through its own public foundation - instead of using funds from Japanese companies, sparking an outcry from some victims and their families.

Officials haven't specified the total amount but plan to raise more than 4 billion won ($3.11 million).

Japan has said Seoul should present a solution to resolve the dispute over the court ruling, but declined to comment on the compensation plan and the row with the victims, calling it a domestic matter within South Korea.

Lim Jae-sung, a lawyer for several victims, said the office of President Yoon Suk-yeol and the foreign ministry are forcing the proposal despite the backlash, in order to expedite its efforts to improve ties and have a summit with Japan.

"For public reasons they're saying the victims are old and the issue has not been resolved for too long, but I think they're pushing to normalise relations with Japan by ending the dispute and make it a political legacy," Lim told a news conference in Seoul.

If the government presses ahead to pay compensation on behalf of the companies, the lawyers would fight to prove its invalidity, he said.

Yoon's office did not immediately provide comment. The foreign ministry said it would like to continue discussions and visit victims individually to find a reasonable resolution, asking for cooperation from the attorneys.

"In any case, it would bring another lengthy legal battle ... and they wouldn't be able to get the outcome according to the schedule they might have set," Lim said.

Yang Geum-deok, who said she was coaxed by a Japanese educator to go to Japan at age 14 and forced to work for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T), said she will never take any money without an apology.

Lim said any acceptable resolution should include an apology similar to one that was made in 2009 to some Chinese victims by Nishimatsu Construction Co Ltd , which acknowledged their forced labour and its "historical responsibility" and apologised to the victims and their families.

"I worked my butt off there but came home without receiving a penny or any apology," she said. "I want an apology before I die."

The unresolved legacy of Japan's colonisation in 1910-45 of the Korean peninsula has long been a source of contention between Seoul and Tokyo.

Yoon, who took office in May, has vowed to boost ties with Japan and held the two countries' first summit since 2019 in September. (Reuters)