BEIJING: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday called for expanding the “global strategic partnership” between the United Kingdom and China, at the start of a visit to the world’s second-largest economy focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the UK leaves the European Union.
Meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, May referred to “a golden era” in relations between the two countries that London hopes will bring vast amounts of new job-creating investment from China’s fast-growing global firms.
“This is an auspicious time of the year to ... think about and consider how we can build further on that golden era and on the global strategic partnership that we have been working on between the UK and China,” May said.
Officials oversaw the signing of a raft of agreements covering trade — including the import of British food products to China — investment, education and other areas. More than 155,000 Chinese students now study in the UK, according to the British government.
Brexit appeared to figure prominently in the talks and May said that as Britain prepares to leave the EU “we are committed to deepening our strong and vital partnership” with China.
“And that relationship is indeed broad and deep and delivers benefits to both countries,” May said.
As Britain prepares to leave the EU, “we will become a country that is able to operate an independent trade policy and is able to sign free trade agreements around the rest of the world,” she said at a later question-and-answer session with Li.
Li said Brexit would not change the basic trading relationship.
“In EU-UK relations. We will have assessments and discussions in our trade relationship to take it forward,” Li said.
As she makes her China visit, May’s job is under threat from rivals within her Conservative Party, who are divided over whether to make a clean break with the EU or seek to keep the closest-possible economic relationship.
May insisted to reporters flying with her to China, “I’m not a quitter.”
She said there was “a long-term job to be done” by her government, according to the Press Association news agency.
“That job is about getting the best Brexit deal, it’s about ensuring that we take back control of our money, our laws, our borders, that we can sign trade deals around the rest of the world,” she said. “But it’s also about our domestic agenda.”
In her meeting with Li, May said the two countries, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, were also cooperating on North Korea and other security challenges. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, she said, is “illegal, reckless and poses an unacceptable threat to international security.”
Li said they also discussed overcapacity in the steel industry, while May said an agreement had been reached to open China to imports of British beef this year. Business deals worth more than 9 billion pounds ($13 billion) would be announced before the end of the visit, May said.
May also expressed support for British involvement in the “Belt and Road” initiative, China’s mega-plan for trade and infrastructure links across Asia.
However, she said related projects needed to adhere to established global business practices. Beijing has been criticized for undermining those rules by agreeing to finance major infrastructure projects on condition they were awarded to Chinese companies without entertaining bids from competitors.
“We’ve discussed how the UK and China will continue to work together to identify how best we can cooperate on the Belt and Road initiative across the region and ensure it meets international standards,” May said.
“We will work together to encourage free and fair trade, ensure a transparent, rules-based multilateral trading system, and build an open global economy that works for all.”
May first visited the central industrial city of Wuhan on Wednesday before traveling to Beijing for talks with Li. On Thursday, she is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping, whose 2015 state visit to Britain helped propel what China refers to as the golden era in ties.
May is being accompanied on her visit by 50 British business leaders, including the chief executives of Jaguar Land Rover and drug firm AstraZeneca. She will also visit the financial hub of Shanghai before heading home Friday.
Bolstering ties with China became more urgent after Britain voted in 2016 to leave the EU, compelling it to forge new trade agreements outside of the 28-nation bloc.
British exports to China are up 60 percent since 2010, and China is expected to be one of the UK’s biggest foreign investors by 2020.
British finance minister Philip Hammond visited in December, pledging to promote London as a center for transactions in China’s yuan currency and announcing up to 25 billion pounds ($35 billion) in support for British businesses involved in the Belt and Road initiative.
But May appears more cautious about embracing Chinese investment than her predecessor, David Cameron. She annoyed Beijing in 2016 by temporarily delaying approval for a Chinese-backed nuclear power plant in southwestern England.
On China visit, Britain’s Theresa May focused on post-Brexit future
On China visit, Britain’s Theresa May focused on post-Brexit future
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Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges
MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday sentenced a senior lawyer who had defended a jailed journalist in a high-profile case to seven years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive on social media.
Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices.”
Talantov was for many years president of the Udmurtia lawyer association and in 2021 was the defense lawyer for Ivan Safronov, a journalist covering military affairs whose arrest shook Russia’s media community.
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges.
A court in the Udmurt Republic found Talantov guilty of actions aimed at spreading hatred and of knowingly distributing “fake” information on the Russian army — charges made possible with a censorship law adopted shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.
In an emotional speech in court, Talantov said he feared he would not survive the prison term, but also stood by his convictions.
“I am 64 and it is hard for me to imagine that I will come out of prison alive,” Talantov said, according to an audio of the speech published by rights group Perviy Otdel.
Talantov has been in pre-trial detention for two and a half years and has spent two years in an isolation cell, saying the Russian national anthem blasts out there in the evening and at dawn, before a staunchly pro-Kremlin radio show is played.
“I am waiting for words of peace. They do not come,” he said.
He described his conditions as a “Middle-Ages cell with only a (toilet) hole and a tap,” saying “time kills a person” in isolation.
His voice breaking, he addressed his wife saying: “Olga, forgive me, I love you.”
According to a letter he sent to Perviy Otdel, Talantov was arrested while at his summer home in the summer of 2022.
More than 300 lawyers had signed a petition calling for his release at the time.
Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland
- The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said
- From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops
BERLIN: Germany has offered to re-deploy Patriot air defense systems to NATO ally Poland at the start of the new year, the German defense ministry said on Thursday.
The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said in a statement.
“With this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops together with three Patriot units to Poland.
They were based in the town Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.
The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November 2022, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.
Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons
Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons
- Putin said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon
ASTANA: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would head off any attempt by Ukraine to acquire nuclear weapons and would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if such a scenario unfolded.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
Putin, speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb.”
One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea
- South Korea observes significant growth in the Palestine solidarity movement— Embassy protests held by members of over 200 Korean civil society organizations
SEOUL: Across from the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Lee Hyun-ah was holding a big red banner, as she stood in a lone daily protest calling for an end to Israel’s onslaught, massacres, and occupation of Palestine.
The banner, with writing in Korean, Arabic, and bold English letters reading “Stop Genocide Against Palestinians,” has appeared in front of the embassy every workday since November last year, when UN experts and international rights groups began warning that Israel’s mass killings in the Gaza Strip were unfolding into a genocidal campaign.
The one-person protests have been organized by Urgent Action by Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine — also known as People in Solidarity with Palestinians — a coalition of 226 South Korean civil society organizations whose members have been volunteering to rally on specific days.
Lee, a 20-year-old student in Seoul, was taking part for the first time.
“I finally found the courage and decided to participate,” she told Arab News, recalling how she began to learn about the decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine only last year.
“I was appalled. There are fundamental virtues, ethics, and values in this world. I cannot believe one group can just attack, invade, and commit genocide. I felt compelled to act.”
Lee’s protest on Monday was the 267th lone demonstration held by Urgent Action in front of the Seoul embassy.
The coalition was established in October 2023, soon after Israel launched its war on Gaza, in which its military has since killed over 44,000 people and injured more than 100,000. The real death toll is believed to be much higher, with estimates by medical journal The Lancet indicating that, as of July, it could be more than 186,000.
The Korean civil society coalition, which includes BDS Korea — a group affiliated with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement — has also been organizing mass protests, film screenings, and boycott campaigns tailored specifically for South Korea.
Their efforts to raise awareness are bearing fruit, as the number of people joining is rapidly increasing. From just a handful of activists, the movement has grown significantly, with over 2,000 people participating in its Palestine solidarity rally last month.
“Our group was very small. It was about five to seven people working together. There were limitations on what we could do because it was so small,” BDS Korea leader Deng Ya-ping told Arab News.
“Before October 2023, there were very few organizations in South Korea that were acting in solidarity with Palestine ... But after forming People in Solidarity with Palestinians, more civic groups joined, and individuals unrelated to any organization have started participating as well.”
The group is advocating for a change in the South Korean government’s stance on Israel’s occupation and demanding that it stop Korean companies from selling weapons to the Israeli military.
“In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must halt its military occupation and that all nations have a responsibility to make Israel comply. So, the Korean government is also responsible ... the most obvious way to do that is to ban arms trade. That is the biggest request we have toward the Korean government,” Deng said.
“Other than that, Korea is a part of the UN Security Council. Korea voted in favor of the resolution that the US vetoed, which called for an end to the genocide and a ceasefire. Therefore, Korea should act accordingly, pressuring Israel to stop.”
The sentiment that the South Korean government is not doing enough is common among those joining Seoul protests — as is their resolve to persist, even when the embassy staff try to stop them.
While the embassy denies the claims, one of the protesters, Lee S., who has been involved in the Palestine solidarity movement since 2016, recalled its attempts to harass them.
“Sometimes embassy workers would come out during our protests to complain or try to provoke physical confrontations. But we never got into the fights. And they would systematically tear down our posters,” Lee said.
“But the South Korean civil society will continue to speak out loudly until the genocide in Gaza ends. We will not stay silent.”
Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon
- Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June
- “Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed,” Yermak said
KYIV: Ukraine is ready to host a second global summit aimed at ending Russia’s invasion in the “nearest future,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday, local media outlets reported.
Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June, bringing together over 90 countries to draft a resolution based on Ukraine’s proposed conditions to end the war.
However, Russia was not invited to that summit and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow’s participation. It has also said it would not take part in any follow-up summit organized by Ukraine.
“Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed, which will become the basis for the Second Peace Summit, and Ukraine is ready to hold it in the near future,” Yermak told a conference, according to Ukrainian media.
China also stayed away from the June summit, while other major non-Western powers including India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico withheld their signatures from the summit communique, underlining the diplomatic challenge Kyiv faces in marshalling broader global support for its cause beyond its Western allies.
Yermak’s comments came as Russian forces continue to make steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine while also pounding energy infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and towns.
Kyiv and its European allies are also waiting to see how US President-elect Donald Trump will handle the Ukraine issue. He has criticized the scale of US financial and military support for Ukraine and has said he could end the war in a day, without saying how.
