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March
China hosts Russia, U.S. officials for talks on Afghanistan
Written by Nur Yasmin
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, where China was set to host two days of meetings on Afghanistan, state broadcaster CGTN reported.
The report gave no other details on their meeting.
Lavrov had arrived earlier in China for talks hosted by Wang that were set to include representatives from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban as well as Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, will attend a separate meeting at the same venue of the so-called Extended Troika: the China, Russia and the United States plus Pakistan, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
That meeting does not include Lavrov and Wang.
The talks come against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and as Afghanistan suffers an economic and humanitarian crisis worsened by a financial aid cutoff following the Taliban takeover as U.S.-led troops departed in August.
They also come amid widespread condemnation of the Taliban's U-turn last week on allowing girls to attend public high schools, which has sparked consternation among funders ahead of a key aid donors conference.
The retention of the ban prompted U.S. officials to cancel talks in Doha with the Taliban and a State Department warning that Washington saw the decision as "a potential turning point in our engagement" with the militants.
The United States believes that it shares with other Extended Troika members an interest in the Taliban making good on commitments to form an inclusive government, cooperate on counterterrorism and rebuild the Afghan economy, the State Department spokesperson said.
Last week, Wang visited Kabul, where he met acting Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to discuss political and economic ties, including starting work in the mining sector and Afghanistan's possible role in China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, the Afghan foreign ministry said.
Muttaqi was set to attend the meeting in China.(Reuters)
March
Pakistan opposition calls on PM Khan to quit ahead of vote to oust him
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan's opposition on Thursday called on Prime Minister Imran Khan to resignahead of a parliamentary vote which could see the former cricket star ousted and the return of political uncertainty in the nuclear-armed country.
Khan, 69, has been facing mounting criticism of his performance, including his management of an economy beset by high inflation and rising deficits, and he lost his majority in parliament on Wednesday when a main ally quit his coalition.
"We want to send Imran Khan a message that there is no safe passage for you," opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, told reporters at parliament.
"I want to give you a suggestion that you take an honourable exit, and an honourable exit is that you resign today and let the opposition leader take oath of the leader of the house."
Khan is due to address the nation on Thursday, while parliament votes on whether to remove him as prime minister on Sunday at 11.30 a.m. (0630 GMT).
"The prime minister is as good as gone," the influential English-language Dawn newspaper said in an editorial on the front page of its website on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Khan's main parliamentary ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), abandoned his coalition and threw its lot in with the opposition seeking to oust him.
Opposition leaders had called on Khan to resign even before he lost his majority in parliament, but his aides have said he will not quit.
Khan's ouster could mean another round of instability in a country in which the military has a long record of intervening in politics and no prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term.
Political analysts said Khan enjoyed the support of the military when he won an election to become prime minister in 2018 but he later lost the generals' favour over various wrangles.
Khan has denied ever having the backing of the military and the military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history, denies involvement in civilian politics.(Reuters)
March
China slams British judges' resignation from Hong Kong court as political interference
Written by Nur Yasmin
China on Thursday blamed the resignation of two senior British judges from Hong Kong's highest court on "British pressure" against a sweeping national security law which makes dissent in the former British colony a crime punishable by jail.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam also said the resignations were politically motivated, adding that she was confident all levels of the judiciary in the Chinese-ruled city would be free from political interference.
The judges resigned from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA) on Wednesday, saying they could not support an administration that had "departed from values of political freedom" and freedom of expression.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of a high degree of autonomy, including an independent judiciary and freedom of speech.
Britain says the national security law is a breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that paved the way for the city's return to China under a "one country, two systems" formula.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the resignations and said British pressure had been exerted on the judges in order "to defame the Hong Kong National Security Law and interfere in China's internal affairs".
"The British side flagrantly interfered in and undermined the administration of justice in the territory by political means," he told reporters.
British judges have long served among the foreign jurists appointed to the CFA, an arrangement to maintain confidence in a separate legal system widely seen as the bedrock of the city's social and commercial freedoms.
Business people and diplomats are watching particularly closely, given the importance of legal independence to Hong Kong's status as a global financial hub.
Robert Reed, the head of Britain's top judicial body, on Wednesday said he and colleague Patrick Hodge would relinquish with immediate effect their roles as non-permanent judges on the CFA. Reed's statement said the move was made in agreement with the British government.
Lam said she regretted their decision, adding that foreign judges were much valued to help safeguard judicial independence.
"I remain very confident that we still have very fine judges in the judiciary, both local and from overseas. Hong Kong will continue to benefit significantly," she said.
Neither Reed nor Hodge could immediately be reached for comment.
'DEPARTED FROM VALUES'
The national security law, which punishes offences like subversion with up to life imprisonment, has drawn widespread criticism from pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong and from Western countries, including the United States and Britain.
Many of the city's democratic campaigners have been arrested, detained or forced into exile, civil society groups have shut down and liberal media outlets forced to close in a security crackdown following the introduction of the law.
Lam and the Hong Kong government deny that the law, introduced after months of at times violent pro-democracy demonstrations, curbs freedoms, saying it was necessary to maintain order, preserve the city's economic success and guard against foreign interference.
Lam pointed out that the law does not prohibit overseas judges from serving and hearing security cases, adding that judges' independence meant that foreign judges, either by their oath or judgments, in no way endorsed her government.
Reed said earlier that while Hong Kong's courts were respected for their commitment to the rule of law, judges could not serve in the city "without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression, to which the justices of the Supreme Court are deeply committed".
Ten other foreign judges are still serving the Hong Kong court, six of whom are retired British jurists.
Canada's former top judge, Beverley McLachlin, is to remain serving on the CFA, Lam said, citing her as saying her appointment had no connection to the Hong Kong administration.
Retired former Australian Chief Justice Robert French told Reuters in an email he and his two Australian colleagues would stay on the bench.
"We do not intend to resign. We support the judges of the CFA in their commitment to judicial independence," he said, referring to former justices William Gummow and Murray Gleeson.
Gummow and Gleeson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong expressed "disappointment" at the resignations, saying in a statement that the continued presence of other foreign judges would be "greatly valued by our business community".(Reuters)
March
China should take more effective COVID measures, minimise economic, social impact -Xi
Written by Nur Yasmin
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country to take more effective COVID-19 measures and minimise the impact of the epidemic on economic development, state television said on Thursday, as the country battles a new wave of infections.
China is fighting its biggest wave of locally transmitted COVID cases since it contained the initial outbreak centred on Wuhan in 2020.
Even as much of the world has relaxed or ended coronavirus restrictions, millions of people in northeastern China are under lockdown and authorities have imposed restrictions on business activities and cargo transport in major cities such as Shenzhen.
More than two dozen regions have reported infections in the past few weeks, despite a tiny caseload by global standards, putting pressure on China's "dynamic-clearance" policy that aims to curb flare-ups quickly as they arise.
China should curb the momentum of the virus spread as soon as possible while sticking to the "dynamic-clearance" policy, Xi told a meeting of the standing committee of the Politburo, the ruling Communist Party's top decision-making body.
Officials in areas with serious outbreaks should treat COVID control work as their top priority, and those whose dereliction of duty caused the outbreak to get out of control must be held accountable, state television reported, citing the meeting of Politburo's standing committee.(Reuters)
March
UK sanctions Russian media organisations, targeting disinformation
Written by Nur Yasmin
Britain on Thursday announced sanctions on 14 more Russian entities and people, including on state media organisations behind RT and Sputnik and some of their senior figures, saying it was targetting those who push out President Vladimir Putin's "fake news and narratives".
Britain is acting in concert with its Western allies to try to cripple Russia's economy as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine, and has already sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals and businesses.
Among those sanctioned on Thursday were RT's managing director, Alexey Nikolov, Sergey Brilev, a prominent news anchor at the state-owned Rossiya Television and Radio network, and Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Anton Anisimov.
The government said it was also directly sanctioning state media organisations, including Kremlin funded TV-Novosti which owns RT, and Rossiya Segodnya, which controls news agency Sputnik.
"Putin’s war on Ukraine is based on a torrent of lies," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.
"Britain has helped lead the world in exposing Kremlin disinformation, and this latest batch of sanctions hits the shameless propagandists who push out Putin’s fake news and narratives."
RT and Brilev did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters has also contacted the Russian foreign ministry, so far without response.
Russian officials say RT - which had its UK broadcasting licence revoked earlier this month - is a way for Moscow to compete with the dominance of global media companies based in the United States and Britain that Moscow says offer a partial view of the world.
Moscow calls the invasion it launched on Feb. 24 a "special military operation" aimed at demilitarising and "denazifying" its neighbour - which Ukraine and the West have dismissed as a baseless pretext for war.
Britain's new sanctions also include seven individuals connected to Russian think tank the Strategic Culture Foundation, who were recently sanctioned by Australia for their role in spreading disinformation.
The government said it had also sanctioned Russia's Chief of the National Defence Command and Control Centre Mikhail Mizinitsev, who it said had been "responsible for planning and executing the siege and bombardment of Mariupol" - a southern Ukrainian port city that has been bombarded for weeks.
Britain has used sanctions to target Russia's access to the international financial system, as well as industries such as shipping and defence, and wealthy elites close to Putin.(Reuters)
March
Kenya's top court blocks president's plan to overhaul constitution
Written by Nur Yasmin
Kenya's top court on Thursday stopped President Uhuru Kenyatta's divisive bid to make sweeping constitutional changes which opponents say was an attempt to widen the presidency's powers and has dominated early campaigning for an election in August.
His estranged deputy and presidential candidate William Ruto has charged the changes would have led to an all-powerful presidency, while Kenyatta argued the proposal would promote power sharing among competing ethnic groups.
In a majority judgement, the Supreme Court, whose ruling is final, upheld a finding by the lower courts that Kenyatta initiated the changes through a constitutional provision exclusively reserved for citizens, not executive leaders.
"He cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds," said William Ouko, one of the judges of the seven member court.
Last year, the High Court and the Court of Appeal struck down the proposed amendments popularly known as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), prompting the government to appeal.
Kenya is East Africa's most well-off and stable nation and a close Western ally that hosts the regional headquarters of international firms like General Electric (GE.N) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O).
The country of 50 million people enacted a new constitution in 2010, designed to partly discourage the ruling class from amending it constantly to suit their short-term interests, which constitutional experts said was the bane of the previous independence charter.
If Kenyatta's amendments had succeeded, they would have led to the creation of 70 new parliamentary constituencies and establish several powerful new posts: a prime minister, two deputies and an official leader of the parliamentary opposition.
The president and Ruto have clashed publicly over the proposals. Although Ruto is running for the presidency in the August 9 presidential poll, Kenyatta is backing his former foe, veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who favours the amendments.
"They have told us they will bring back the BBI monster because they want to create an imperial presidency," Ruto told his party's delegates earlier this month.
The constitutional changes will create an all-powerful presidency by giving him control of the judiciary through a proposed office of a judicial ombudsman, Ruto said.
It will also put the legislature under the president's thumb through control of the appointment to the new posts to be created, he said.
Ruto's camp vehemently dismisses Kenyatta's argument that the constitutional overhaul promoted power sharing.
"I reject the suggestion that a united country is one that has no political competition or opposition," Ruto said, adding that a democratically elected government, policed by a robust opposition, was the solution.(Reuters)
March
Russia's Putin assured his commitment to humanitarian access in Ukraine, Norway PM says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said Vladimir Putin had assured him Russia would contribute to securing humanitarian access to besieged civilians in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
During a one-hour long phone call with the Russian president, Stoere said he urged Putin to end the war in Ukraine, pull out Russian troops and enable humanitarian access.
"We have very limited expectations of what could be achieved, but nothing should be left untried in the situation we are now in," Stoere said.
Commenting on their discussions about the need for humanitarian access to civilians in the port city of Mariupol, Stoere said: "My impression is that he [Putin] confirms Russia's intention to contribute to that."
Stoere added, however, that only actions on the ground could tell whether Russia delivers on the promises or not.
A convoy of 45 Ukrainian buses set out for Mariupol on Thursday to try to deliver humanitarian supplies and bring out civilians, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk and the Red Cross said.
The leaders' phone call came at Norway's initiative after Stoere first discussed making such an approach with leaders of countries such as France, Germany and Finland who have been in direct contact with Russia, Stoere said.
"The feedback was it was right to use every occasion to say, from the outside [of Russia] how this is experienced and set some expectations and demands," Stoere told a news conference.
Norway, a NATO member, shares a border with Russia in the Arctic. The nations have never been at war and in 2010 they peacefully negotiated a maritime border that had been disputed for four decades.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour. Kyiv and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression.(Reuters)
March
COVID cases in Asia surpass 100 million - Reuters tally
Written by Nur Yasmin
Coronavirus infections in Asia passed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the region records a resurgence in cases, dominated by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant.
The region is reporting over 1 million new COVID-19 cases about every two days, according to a Reuters analysis. With more than half of the world's population, Asia contributes 21% of all reported COVID-19 cases.
The highly contagious but less deadly BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron has pushed the figures to greater highs in recent weeks in countries such as South Korea, China and Vietnam. BA.2 now represents nearly 86% of all sequenced cases, according to the World Health Organization.
South Korea leads the world in the daily average number of new cases reported, accounting for one in every four infections reported globally each day, as per Reuters analysis.
While the number of cases has levelled off since earlier in March, the country is still reporting over 300 deaths on average each day, with authorities ordering crematoriums nationwide to operate longer.
China is trying to tame its worst outbreak since the pandemic began. The rise in COVID cases in Shanghai, fuelled by the BA.2 substrain, has prompted the financial hub to go into lockdown. The city moved into a two-staged lockdown of its 26 million residents on Monday, restricting movement through bridges and highways to contain the spread.
China has reported over 45,000 new cases since the start of this year, a figure higher than it reported in all of 2021. Even though China has inoculated 90% of its population, not enough elderly people have received booster doses, making them susceptible to reinfections.
Though China is sticking to its plan for crushing the outbreak, experts overseas remain sceptical about the efficacy of lockdowns in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
"It is clear from Australia and elsewhere in the world that lockdowns are simply not effective against Omicron – so expect a big wave coming," said Adrian Esterman, an expert in biostatistics at the University of South Australia.
India alone accounts for 43 million COVID cases, more than the total in the next three worst-hit Asian countries of Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
India has reported fewer than 2,000 cases per day for the past 11 days versus its peak this year in January of over 300,000 cases on average per day.
Earlier in March, Asia passed 1 million COVID-related deaths. There have now been 1,027,586 million COVID-related deaths across the continent.
Vaccines are considered less effective against the BA.2 subvariant compared to its predecessors. Studies have shown Omicron can reinfect people previously diagnosed with different coronavirus variants.(Reuters)
March
Taiwan sees Ukraine war helping Chinese yuan's internationalisation
Written by Nur Yasmin
The war in Ukraine and Russia's effective exclusion from the global currency system could be an opportunity for China to raise the profile of its currency in a challenge to the U.S. dollar, a senior Taiwanese security official said on Monday.
Russia has said it is counting on China to help it withstand the blow to its economy from Western sanctions, and will use Chinese yuan from its foreign exchange reserves after the sanctions blocked its access to its U.S. dollars and euros reserves.
Taking questions in parliament, National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong said China had always wanted a way to throw off the domination of the U.S. dollar, and the war could boost the use of the yuan.
"Whether in renminbi trade or currency issuance system, this is an opportunity that must be taken" by China, Chen said, using the yuan's formal name.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has raised its security alert level since the war, wary of Beijing making a similar move against it, and Taiwanese officials have been studying the lessons both they and China could learn from the conflict.
Chen said the war could actually improve China-U.S. relations if China chose to stand with the United States in the same way it did after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks which earned U.S. goodwill.
"The Ukraine-Russia war is maybe another 911-style opportunity," he said.
Beijing has repeatedly voiced opposition to the sanctions on russia and has insisted it will maintain normal economic and trade exchanges. It has declined to condemn Moscow's action in Ukraine or call it an invasion.
But behind the scenes, China is wary of its companies running afoul of sanctions and is pressing companies to tread carefully with investment in Russia, its second-largest oil supplier and third-largest gas provider.(Reuters)
March
Solomons confirms security talks with China; Australia and NZ concerned
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Solomon Islands confirmed on Friday it was creating a partnership with China to tackle security threats and ensure a safe environment for investment as it diversifies security relations.
A security pact with the Pacific island nation would be a major inroad for China in a region that U.S. allies Australia and New Zealand have for decades seen as their "backyard."
Both have expressed concern about the impact on regional security of military cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands after a draft document outlining the proposed cooperation was leaked this week. The United States expressed similar concerns on Friday.
In its first public comment on the matter, the Solomon Islands government said it was "diversifying the country’s security partnership, including with China" and was working to sign a number of agreements with it "to further create a secure and safe environment for local and foreign investments."
"Broadening partnerships is needed to improve the quality of lives of our people and address soft and hard security threats facing the country," it said in a statement.
On Thursday, a Solomon Islands official told Reuters a security agreement with China covering the military would be sent to its cabinet for consideration. The Solomons has already signed a policing deal with China.
The arrangement would cover humanitarian needs besides maintaining the rule of law, the Solomon Islands said, adding that it needed to rebuild its economy after recent riots and would sign an air services pact with China and increase trade.
A security agreement with Australia, signed in 2017, would be preserved, it added.
Australian Minister for Pacific Zed Seselja said the prime minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, had been told of Australia's concern over the discussions with China and Canberra expected "significant pushback in the region."
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, commenting earlier on Friday, said Australia and New Zealand were part of the "Pacific family" and had a history of providing security support and responding to crises.
"There are others who may seek to pretend to influence and may seek to get some sort of hold in the region and we are very conscious of that," he said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the draft security agreement and the police deal did not address the underlying issues that contributed to the unrest in November.
"We do not believe PRC security forces and their methods need to be exported," the spokesperson added, referring to the People's Republic of China.
"This would only fuel local, regional and international concerns over Beijing’s unilateral expansion of its internal security apparatus to the Pacific."
Last month, Washington said it would open an embassy in Honiara amid fears China was seeking to strengthen military relations there.
'UNSETTLING INFLUENCES'
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told ABC Radio the proposed pact was "one of the most significant security developments that we have seen in decades and it's one that is adverse to Australia's national security interests."
The Pacific Island nation of fewer than a million people, 2,000 km (1,240 miles) northeast of Australia, switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019, signalling China's growing influence in the Pacific.
New Zealand’s foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, said Pacific partners should be transparent in their actions.
"Such agreements will always be the right of any sovereign country to enter into," she said. "However, developments within this purported agreement could destabilise the current institutions and arrangements that have long underpinned the Pacific region's security."
Australia and New Zealand have police in the Solomon Islands, part of a multinational contingent invited by Sogavare to restore order after the riots.
The Solomon Islands resident who published online the leaked draft of the security agreement told Reuters it had come from a police source.
It covers Chinese police and military assisting with social order, disaster response and protecting the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects.
Australia's defence minister, Peter Dutton, said any move to establish a Chinese military base in Solomon Islands would be a matter of concern.
"We want peace and stability in the region," Dutton told Channel Nine. "We don't want unsettling influences and we don't want pressure and coercion that we are seeing from China."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called on relevant parties to look at security cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands "objectively and calmly and not over-interpret it."
"Some politicians on the Australian side have published some fallacies of so-called Chinese coercion and deliberately created an atmosphere of tension, which is extremely irresponsible and does not help regional stability and development," Wang told a regular news briefing.(Reuters)