Latest news with #GuoJiakun
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
China says FM Wang to visit EU, Germany, France next week
China said on Friday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will head to Europe next week to hold talks with counterparts from the European Union, Germany, and France. "While in Brussels, Wang Yi will meet and have talks with Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a briefing where Wang's talks with the other European representatives were announced. AFP
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
China's top diplomat to visit EU, Germany, France next week
China's top diplomat Wang Yi will head to Europe next week for talks with counterparts from the European Union, Germany and France, Beijing said on Friday as it seeks to shore up fraught ties with the bloc. Beijing has sought to improve relations with Europe as a counterweight to superpower rival United States, though frictions remain over trade and China's close ties with Russia despite its war in Ukraine. China and the European Union will also host a summit next month marking 50 years since Beijing and Brussels established diplomatic ties. Wang's trip will take him to Brussels, France and Germany and last from next Monday to Sunday, Beijing said. "The world is undergoing an accelerated evolution of a century-old change, with unilateralism, protectionism and bullying behaviour becoming rampant," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said -- a thinly-veiled swipe against the United States under President Donald Trump. China's top diplomat will meet with EU counterpart Kaja Kallas at the bloc's headquarters in Brussels for "high-level strategic dialogue", he said. In Germany he will hold talks with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on diplomacy and security -- his first visit since Berlin's new conservative-led government took power in May. China looks forward to "strengthening strategic communication, enhancing pragmatic cooperation, and promoting new developments of the China-Germany comprehensive strategic partnership," Guo said. Ties between Berlin and Beijing, he added, were "injecting certainty, stability, and positive energy into a turbulent world". In France, Wang will meet minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, who visited China in March. "Foreign Minister Wang Yi will exchange views with the French side on the international situation, China-France ties and China-Europe relations," Guo said. And in Brussels Wang will also hold talks with Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, Beijing said. - Trade spat - Ties between Europe and China have strained in recent years as the bloc seeks to get tougher on what it says are unfair economic practices by Beijing and the yawning trade imbalance between them. Last week, the European Union banned Chinese firms from government medical device purchases worth more than five million euros ($5.8 million) in retaliation for limits Beijing places on access to its own market. The latest salvo in trade tensions between the 27-nation bloc and China covered a wide range of healthcare supplies, from surgical masks to X-ray machines, that represent a market worth 150 billion euros ($176 billion) in the EU. In response, China accused the EU of "double standards". Another tricky point has been rare earths. Beijing has since April required licences to export these strategic materials from China, which accounts for more than 60 percent of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency. The metals are used in a wide variety of products, including electric car batteries, and there has been criticism from industries about the way China's licences have been issued. China has proposed establishing a "green channel" to ease the export of rare earths to the European Union, its commerce ministry said this month. bur-oho/pfc/mtp
The Age
a day ago
- Business
- The Age
US signals rare earths impasse is over. China is less forthcoming
Singapore: China and the United States confirmed on Friday they had signed off on a trade agreement struck earlier this month, with the White House heralding the deal as breaking an impasse over rare earths exports. However, China was more circumspect, saying it would approve the export of 'controlled items', but stopping short of confirming this included shipments of rare earths and magnets. Beijing had suspended rare earth exports as part of its trade dispute with the US, triggering supply chain shortages. China has a monopoly on the production of rare earths, which are critical for the manufacturing of many products, including electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence technology. In a statement on Friday, China's Foreign Ministry said it had confirmed the details of a trade framework struck with US negotiators at crisis talks in London earlier this month. 'China will approve the export applications of controlled items that meet the conditions in accordance with the law. The United States will cancel a series of restrictive measures taken against China accordingly,' the statement said. Loading 'It is hoped that the United States and China will meet each other halfway.' When asked at a daily press conference whether this included expediting rare earth exports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun provided no further detail. Earlier, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg: 'They're going to deliver rare earths to us' and once they do that 'we'll take down our countermeasures'.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
US signals rare earths impasse is over. China is less forthcoming
Singapore: China and the United States confirmed on Friday they had signed off on a trade agreement struck earlier this month, with the White House heralding the deal as breaking an impasse over rare earths exports. However, China was more circumspect, saying it would approve the export of 'controlled items', but stopping short of confirming this included shipments of rare earths and magnets. Beijing had suspended rare earth exports as part of its trade dispute with the US, triggering supply chain shortages. China has a monopoly on the production of rare earths, which are critical for the manufacturing of many products, including electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence technology. In a statement on Friday, China's Foreign Ministry said it had confirmed the details of a trade framework struck with US negotiators at crisis talks in London earlier this month. 'China will approve the export applications of controlled items that meet the conditions in accordance with the law. The United States will cancel a series of restrictive measures taken against China accordingly,' the statement said. Loading 'It is hoped that the United States and China will meet each other halfway.' When asked at a daily press conference whether this included expediting rare earth exports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun provided no further detail. Earlier, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg: 'They're going to deliver rare earths to us' and once they do that 'we'll take down our countermeasures'.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
China asserts its military might in a new and uncertain world order
Mark Rutte's grovelling to Donald Trump this week went viral in China , with countless social media posts showing the Nato secretary general referring to the United States president as Daddy. For some of the more chauvinistic who shared it, the clip exemplified Europe's subordination to the United States and the contrast with China's policy of standing up to Trump. In advance of this week's Nato summit in The Hague, Rutte warned that China's 'massive' military build-up made closer links between the alliance and countries like Japan and South Korea more important than ever. He expressed concern that between three and five Chinese defence companies now rank among the world's top 10 whereas a few years ago none did. 'Of course, they don't do this only because they want to have nice parades in Beijing. I guess it's there for a reason,' he said. China's foreign ministry on Thursday accused Rutte of spreading misinformation, stoking confrontation and looking for an excuse for Nato to increase its military spending. READ MORE 'Nato claims to be a regional organisation but keeps reaching beyond the geopolitical scope defined in its treaty and uses Eurasian security connectivity as an excuse to have a presence in the Asia-Pacific,' spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press conference. 'The international community sees this clearly and countries in the Asia-Pacific are on high alert.' China's defence budget has more than doubled since 2010, growing at 7 per cent a year for the past decade, although it still amounts to less than 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the world's largest standing army with 2.2 million active service personnel and its navy has more ships than any other. China has been upgrading its military technology, developing weapons systems and building new stealth aircraft and fighter jets. Chinese forces have not been involved in a war since the 1970s but some of the new technology found a showcase last May during an air battle between Pakistan and India. [ Where were China and Russia when Iran needed them most? Opens in new window ] Pakistan sent fewer aircraft into battle but it succeeded in downing five from the Indian air force, including three French-made Rafale fighters. It did so using Chinese-made fighter jets, missiles, radar and electronic warfare systems. Rutte is undoubtedly right when he says that China is not making all of this military hardware just to put it on parade. But some of it will be on display in a big parade in Beijing on September 3rd to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the second World War. Xi Jinping will inspect troops on Tiananmen Square and preside over a parade that will feature Chinese-made, high-precision military equipment and 'new types of combat forces including unmanned, intelligent equipment'. Vladimir Putin will be among the world leaders at the parade and some Chinese commentators have suggested that Xi should invite Trump too. This display of military strength will not be a reassuring spectacle for China's neighbours but one of the country's leading foreign policy experts said this week that Beijing has no ambition to replace Washington as the global hegemon. Gao Fei said the 'one superpower and many powers' pattern was giving way to a multipolar system in which China will prioritise developing global partnerships. 'Partnerships are not distinguished as superior and subordinate, and there is no division into camps,' he wrote in the People's Daily. 'Those who share the same ideals and aspirations (like-minded) are partners, and those who seek common ground while reserving differences are also partners. All countries can establish partnerships based on common interests and pursuits, constructing a common rather than exclusive 'circle of friends'.' Gao asserts that in the global partnerships China promotes, all states will be equal participants and the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each will be respected. But he says that as a major power, China should play a leading role in improving global governance, not least because of the turn taken by the US under Trump. [ Everyone's friend: How Mongolia stays on good terms with Russia, China and western powers Opens in new window ] 'Certain western countries have abandoned their own international responsibilities, shifting from providing public goods to the international community to seeking rent from the international community through public goods, further affecting the legitimacy and stability of the international order,' he writes. 'As a responsible major country in the international system, in the face of enormous challenges to the international order, China must demonstrate its major power responsibility and play a mainstay role.' During a visit to China this week, Singapore's prime minister Lawrence Wong spoke about the vulnerability of small countries as global norms and institutions weakened amid a rise in economic nationalism and a greater emphasis on security. 'I think, frankly, no one knows what this new order would look like. It is still very early days. We are in a period of transition and a period of evolution,' he said. 'There will be critics of today's system that say it is good that now the system is changing. But I would also say, let us have a care. Let us not be too quick to cheer. Because what is the alternative?'
