China Willing To Help Get Middle East Peace Process Back On Track: Special Envoy
China is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the Arab League and Arab countries and make efforts in helping to get the Middle East peace process back on track, China’s special envoy on Middle East affairs said on Friday. Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, made the remarks when having a group meeting with diplomatic envoys of Arab countries in China and head of the representative office of the Arab League in China. The Arab side introduced the situation and position of the emergency foreign ministers’ meeting of the Arab League to discuss the situation between Palestine and Israel, saying that the recent Israeli aggression against Palestine has caused numerous civilian casualties on the Palestinian side. It added that at present, the humanitarian situation in Palestine is very grave, and relevant Israeli actions violate international law and international humanitarian law. The international community is responsible for taking immediate action to ease the tension, promote the resumption of peace talks, and safeguard the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
Source: Xinhua
Japan Should Not Go Further On Path Of Military Expansion: Defense Spokesperson
“China urges the Japanese side to draw lessons from history and do more to safeguard regional peace and stability,” said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, on Friday. It is reported that Japan plans to strengthen the deployment of its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in Kyushu, which is analyzed to mainly target China’s increasing “military threats” in Okinawa and the Taiwan Strait and that the Japanese Ministry of Defense recently submitted a record high budget for the 2024 fiscal year, exceeding 7.7 trillion yen. When being asked to comment on Japan’s recent moves, the spokesperson pointed out that Japan has consistently broken the bindings of the pacifist Constitution and the “exclusively defense-oriented” principle. “By hyping up the surrounding threats, it has substantially increased defense expenditure, accelerated the construction of new combat domains, and developed long-range offensive capabilities, going further and further on the path of military expansion,” added the spokesperson.
Source: China Military
China’s Top Political Advisor Attends Taiwan Compatriots Forum
Top political advisor Wang Huning attended the opening of the sixth forum of social groups of Taiwan compatriots in Beijing on Thursday and delivered a speech. Speaking at the forum, Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, called for efforts to firmly implement the Party’s overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, expand cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, and promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties. He also stressed uniting Taiwan compatriots and working together to create a bright future for national reunification and rejuvenation. Noting that realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and China’s complete reunification need joint efforts of compatriots on both sides of the Strait, Wang called on social groups of Taiwan compatriots to grasp the trend of the times, adhere to the right direction for the development of cross-Strait relations and promote integrated cross-Strait development. He also called for efforts to resolutely oppose “Taiwan independence” separatist activities and external interference to safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Source: China Daily
China, EU Agree To Forge Win-Win Relations
China and the European Union are partners with no fundamental conflicts of interests, and their consensus outweighs differences, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday. Wang made the remarks at a news conference after co-chairing the 12th China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell in Beijing. Borrell is on a three-day visit to China that started on Thursday, after being rescheduled twice since it was announced in April. Wang said they have conducted candid, deep and productive discussions and reached broad consensus at the dialogue. He added that both sides agreed to enhance dialogue and cooperation and oppose bloc confrontation. The two sides also agreed that China-EU relationship is not dependent on a third party, nor will it allow any third party to interfere. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU. The two sides have resumed contacts at various levels including high-level meetings on cooperation on green development, the digital economy and trade.
Source: Ecns.cn
China Reports 45 Deaths Of COVID-19 In September
China reported 45 deaths of COVID-19 nationwide in September including one who died of respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus and 44 people who died due to the combination of COVID-19 and other underlying diseases. Statistics from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese CDC) show that 11,629 local COVID-19 cases were reported across the country between September 1 and 30. Genome sequencing of all the cases showed they were Omicron variants of 96 lineages. The top three variants include the XBB.1.9, XBB.1.22 and XBB.1.16. In the same month, diagnosis and treatment volume at fever clinics across the country increased from 116,000 cases on September 1 and peaked at 177,000 cases on September 18. After that, the number dropped to 141,000 on September 30. The proportion of influenza-like cases at the sentinel hospitals across the country rose from 3.4 percent from early September to 4.6 percent in mid-September and slightly dropped to 4.5 percent in late-September. Positive rate of COVID-19 in influenza-like cases decreased from 18.6 percent between August 28 and September 3 to 10.5 percent between September 25 and October 1.
Source: Global Times
IMF Sees China As The Nation Driving Global Economy
China will likely remain the biggest contributor to global growth this year and next despite recent economic headwinds from the real estate sector, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. Steven Barnett, senior resident representative of the IMF in China, said although the fund has revised down its GDP growth forecast for China, the country is expected to contribute roughly one-third of global growth this year and next. According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook in October, global economic output is forecast to expand by 3 percent this year, to which China is expected to contribute 0.9 percentage points, Barnett said. He made the remarks at a launch of the publication in Beijing on Friday. The event was organized by the IMF Resident Representative Office in China and the International Monetary Institute at the Renmin University of China. By comparison, the United States is forecast to contribute 0.3 percentage points while India’s contribution might be 0.5 percentage points.
Source: China.org.cn
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