Tag: U.S.

  • U.S. instigating ideological confrontation sounds alarm

    By Zhong Sheng

    The White House recently released new visa rules that limit the duration of travel visas for members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and their immediate families.

    It is peremptory political oppression against China out of the strong ideological prejudices and deep-rooted Cold War mentality of the American extreme anti-China forces, as well as another example of the White House’s ignorance to the basic norms governing international relations, violation of the spirit of the three Joint Communiqués, and attempt to abduct China-U.S. relations.

    Scholars analyzed that the new rules have sent a clear political signal to start ideological confrontation between China and the U.S., and to break the consensus for cooperation that has been established by the two countries on the basis of their common interests since the “ice-breaking” visit to China by former U.S. President Richard Nixon.

    When the U.S. established diplomatic ties with China, it totally understood that China is a socialist country led by the CPC, and the China-U.S. ties were established on the basis that the two sides recognize and respect each other’s social system.

    Over the past 40 years, the relationship between China and the U.S. achieved remarkable progress and brought huge benefit to the people in the two countries under the joint efforts of the two countries and their people. It also made huge contribution coping with global challenges and safeguarding world peace, stability and development.

    Both history and present prove that the two countries have every reason to cooperate with each other for a win-win future. Their bilateral ties shall never be trapped by the so-called “decoupling” and “new Cold War.”

    Equality and mutual respect are basic principles of international relations. China never interferes with U.S. domestic affairs, exports its development mode or provokes ideological confrontation. The U.S. shall also obey the basic norms governing international relations, stop meddling in China’s internal affairs, and cease its efforts to infringe upon the right of the Chinese people to pursue a better life.

    The leadership of the CPC constitutes the most essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The CPC, growing from a political party with only around 50 members when it was just founded to the world’s largest with 92 million members, has always relied on the people, serve the people and laid its roots in the people. It shares a close and inseparable bond with the people. Those U.S. politicians trying to slander the CPC and suppress CPC members are indeed turning against the 1.4 billion Chinese people.

    At present, some U.S. politicians are trying to decouple the U.S. from China, a country that accounts for 1/5 of the world’s total population. This is nothing different from decoupling from the world and the future, and goes against the trend of history and the common aspiration of the people of the two countries. It will finally hurt the interests of the U.S.

    China-U.S. ties are currently at a critical stage of the history. To make the ties healthy and stable conforms not only to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also the common expectation of the international society. The visionary in both countries understand that the extreme anti-China forces in the U.S. shall never be allowed to politicize or weaponize ideology, or make mistakes on developing China-U.S. relations. The two sides shall uphold the spirit of non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation, focus on collaboration, and manage disputes, so as to make steady progress in bilateral relations and work with the international society to jointly advance the world peace and development.

    (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)

  • U.S., Canada agree on border closure — Trump

    U.S., Canada agree on border closure — Trump

    President Donald Trump has confirmed reports that the U.S. and Canada are working on an agreement to suspend non-essential travel between both countries.

    “We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic.

    “Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all 50 states in the U.S. are now affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 5,881 confirmed cases as of Wednesday morning.

    According to a New York Times database on the pandemic, no fewer than 107 patients have so far died from the disease.

    Across the northern border, Canada had 598 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths as of Tuesday night.

    On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the country would close its borders to most foreign travelers, beginning Wednesday.

    He, however, said that the U.S. would be exempted, citing the “close economic ties” between the two neighbors, which he said placed the U.S. “in a separate category” from other countries.

  • U.S. braces for coronavirus spread as outbreaks worsen in Italy, Iran

    U.S. braces for coronavirus spread as outbreaks worsen in Italy, Iran

    The United States told Americans on Tuesday to begin preparing for coronavirus to spread within the country as outbreaks in Iran, South Korea and Italy escalated and fears that the epidemic would hurt global growth rattled markets.

    Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday, the most outside China, while Italy reported its 11th death. The virus has jumped to about 30 countries and territories, with some three dozen deaths outside China, according to a Reuters tally.

    Worsening infections in Iran, Italy and South Korea are of particular concern, world health officials said. South Korea and Italy stepped up emergency measures to help curb the virus’ global spread.

    Believed to have originated from wildlife in Wuhan city late last year, the flu-like disease has infected 80,000 people and killed close to 2,700 in China. But the World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak there has been declining since Feb. 2.

    Dr. Nancy Messonnier, an official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters that data on the virus’ spread over the past week had heightened the agency’s expectations of transmission within the United States.

    “Disruption to everyday life might be severe,” she cautioned.

    While saying the immediate risk from the coronavirus in the United States remained low, another top CDC official, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said it was no longer a question of if the virus would become a global pandemic. “It’s a question of when and how many people will be infected.”

    The Dow and S&P 500 tumbled 3% on Tuesday in their fourth straight day of losses as investors struggled to gauge the virus’ economic impact.

    Iran’s outbreak, amid mounting U.S. sanctions pressure, threatens to leave it further cut off. Several countries suspended flights and some of its neighbors closed their borders, while Oman’s Khasab port halted imports and exports with Iran.

    “It is an uninvited and inauspicious visitor. God willing we will get through … this virus,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech.

    Iran’s deputy health minister and a member of parliament were among those infected.

    Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait Bahrain and Oman this week reported their first cases, all in people who had been to Iran. Bahrain said it now has 24 confirmed cases.

    Iran canceled concerts and soccer matches nationwide, and schools and universities closed in many provinces. Many Iranians took to social media to accuse authorities of concealing facts.

    Tehran says U.S. sanctions are hampering its response to the coronavirus by preventing imports of masks and medicines.

  • U.S. hails FATF’s decision to keep Iran on terrorism financing blacklist

    U.S. hails FATF’s decision to keep Iran on terrorism financing blacklist

    The United States has hailed a decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to keep Iran on its blacklist of countries with weak systems against money laundering and terrorism financing.

    Secretary of State, Mr Mike Pompeo, gave the commendation in a statement after the FATF announced the decision to keep Iran on the list known as the ` Public Statement’ on Friday.

    FATF, an intergovernmental body that develops policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, also re-imposed countermeasures on Iran.

    The countermeasures require increased supervision of the foreign branches and subsidiaries of Iranian financial institutions.

    No fewer than 11 FATF members have Iranian banks on their soil, according to Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a U.S.-based research institute with focus on foreign policy and national security.

    The countries include Turkey, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Greece, United Kingdom, South Korea, Hong Kong, Italy and Malaysia.

    Pompeo said: “The regime must face consequences for its continued failure to abide by international norms, in particular its inaction in ratifying the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions.

    “Since Iran’s FATF action plan expired in 2018, Iran has failed to fulfill its commitments to adhere to the FATF’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism standards, including ratifying the UN Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions.

    “The regime needs to adhere to the basic standards that virtually every other country in the world agrees to.

    “Iran must cease its reckless behavior and act like a normal nation if it wants its isolation to end.’’

    FDD said Iran’s continued place on the list “correctly sends a clear message that Tehran remains a source of terror-financing risk that threatens the international financial system’’

    FATF’s engagement with the Iranian government began in 2016 on a reform programme agenda known as the Action Plan.

    The plan specifies the concrete steps necessary to bring Tehran’s AML/CFT regulations up to international standards, according to FDD.

    Since then, Iran has failed to meet five deadlines to complete its plan, besides adding exemptions for terrorist organisations into its anti-money-laundering laws, among other alleged infractions, the institute said. (NAN)

  • U.S. indicts 4 Chinese military officers for Equifax hack

    U.S. indicts 4 Chinese military officers for Equifax hack

    The United States has indicted four Chinese military officers for allegedly hacking into the computer systems of credit-reporting agency, Equifax.

    Attorney-General Mr William Barr, who announced the indictment in Washington on Monday, described the hacking, which occurred in 2017, as the “largest data breaches in history’’.

    Barr identified the suspects as Wang Qian, Wu Zhiyong, Xu Ke, and Liu Lei all members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to him.

    He said the nine-count indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Atlanta, accused the quartet of conspiring to hack Equifax’s computer systems and committing economic espionage

    Barr alleged that the suspects stole “sensitive personal information of nearly half of all American citizens’’, damaged Equifax’s computer systems and committed wire fraud.

    He said Equifax’s “hard-earned intellectual property’’ was also stolen, adding that the scale of the theft was staggering.

    “As alleged in the indictment, the hackers obtained the names, birth dates, and social security numbers of nearly 150 million Americans, and the driver’s license numbers of at least 10 million Americans.

    “This theft not only caused significant financial damage to Equifax, but invaded the privacy of many millions of Americans.

    “It imposed substantial costs and burdens on them as they have had to take measures to protect against identity theft,’’ he said.

    The attorney general said investigations into the incident revealed “a pattern of state-sponsored computer intrusions and thefts by China targeting trade secrets and confidential business information’’.

    Barr further alleged that the hacks were carried out by group known as APT 10, working with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, or MSS.

    He said hacks by APT 10 target managed service providers and their clients worldwide across industries.

    “There were hacks by MSS intelligence officers who sought to steal intellectual property related to turbofan engines by using both insiders and computer operations;

    “Hacks by PLA officers who targeted victims in the nuclear power, metals, and solar products industries for the economic benefit of Chinese companies.

    “Indeed, about 80 per cent of our economic espionage prosecutions have implicated the Chinese government.

    “And about 60 percent of all trade secret theft cases in recent years involved some connection to China,’’ he alleged.(NAN)

  • Impeachment: U.S. Senate squashes cases against Trump

    Impeachment: U.S. Senate squashes cases against Trump

    U.S. President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate on both articles of impeachment on Wednesday. The acquittal allows him to remain in office after Democrats failed to muster the two-thirds supermajority needed for the removal of the Republican president.

    One Republican senator, Mitt Romney, bucked his party line and voted to convict the president on the first article of the charge of abuse of power, yielding a vote of 52 in favour of aquittal and 48 for a conviction. The Democrats voted as a bloc against the president. The second article, the charge of obstruction of Congress, also failed to pass, with 53 voting to acquit and 47 voting to convict. Trump was impeached in December in the House of Representatives. He was charged with abusing his office to pressure Ukraine into announcing an investigation of his political rival ahead of elections this year and then obstructing Congress’ investigation. The president said he did nothing wrong.