Current Final

Tag: China

  • Export of donkey skin, meat from Pakistan to China confirmed

    Export of donkey skin, meat from Pakistan to China confirmed

    The Senate’s Standing Committee on Commerce has been informed that the protocol for exporting donkey skins and meat to China has been finalised.

    Ahsan Ali Mangi, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that in addition to the export of donkey skin and meat, protocols for exporting onions, potatoes, and chillies to China have also been finalised.

    Senator Anusha Rehman emphasised that Pakistan produces only one-fifth of its onion demand, making it challenging to justify exporting onions to China.

    The ministry has also reportedly proposed establishing nine new missions, including in Malaysia, Iraq, Oman, Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique.

  • All is well; Ahsan Iqbal defends China-Pak relations

    All is well; Ahsan Iqbal defends China-Pak relations

    Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday disregarded reports of souring relations between China and Pakistan, accusing a “political party” of spreading propaganda.

    Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Iqbal said that a smear campaign was underway to sabotage Pakistan’s national interests.

    “While differences exist between the government and opposition, state institutions should not be targeted. Weakening these institutions jeopardises the stability of the state,” said the Federal Minister saying that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wouldn’t be allowed to spread misinformation.

    “Articles are written and published worldwide, but no country or state formulates policy based on them. Policy decisions are made through negotiations between governments,” he stressed.

    Iqbal also quoted the Chinese President as saying that “they (China) want to deepen strategic relations”.

    He urged the PTI to quit its anti-state narrative and hold dialogues with the government on political issues instead of damaging the country.

  • China’s blood-red sky shocks citizens

    China’s blood-red sky shocks citizens

    Residents of a city in Zhejiang province, China, were shocked to see the night sky turn blood-red last week. The phenomenon invoked the local meteorological department to investigate the reason.

    The shocking spectacle occurred around 8 pm. Chinese social media went abuzz with videos and pictures of the red sky, with some claiming it to be supernatural. However, researchers rejected the claims.

    It has been revealed that the red sky was caused by a fishing boat testing its lights before going out to the sea.

    Rayleigh Scattering

    The scientists said the boat’s red light underwent a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering as it encountered particles in the atmosphere, reported Yahoo News. The particles were much smaller than the wavelength of light, scattering illumination in different directions.

    It’s not the first time that something like this has happened as similar events reportedly occurred in the city’s Putuo district on May 7, 2022, and in Fuzhou, Fujian province, on May 10, 2022.

  • Past military leadership considered surrendering Kashmir and missile Program, mulled recognizing Israel: Mushahid Hussain

    Past military leadership considered surrendering Kashmir and missile Program, mulled recognizing Israel: Mushahid Hussain

    Mushahid Hussain Syed, a veteran politician and serving senator from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), recently appeared on a talk show at 92 News channel and alleged that past military high command “was willing to compromise on Pakistan’s missile program, give up Kashmir along with recognition of Israel.”

    When he was asked by the journalist Irshad Ahmad Arif whether relations between Pakistan and China are well, the senator said, “No, because Pakistan’s previous military establishment sent mixed signals despite Chinese support at every international forum, it was playing a double game with China and the US.”

    Hussain stated that the US had clearly given out a statement in its national security strategy in 2022 that India was its strategic partner in this region and China was its enemy.

    According to the senator, “If they [US] consider the Chinese their enemy then how could we play a double game with China despite their consistent support throughout our history?”

    The PML-N leader said that the Chinese are not “children” and they know what Pakistan did to them.

  • Pakistani girl adopted by Chinese couple hopes to buy house for parents

    Pakistani girl adopted by Chinese couple hopes to buy house for parents

    Fan Zhei, a young woman of Pakistani descent adopted by a Chinese couple when they came to work in the country, is attracting attention for the contrast between her foreign looks and Chinese accent.


    Fan, 20, has 750,000 followers on Chinese social website Douyin, and her videos are going viral.


    How was she adopted?


    She was found abandoned in a cardboard box on the street in Pakistan by her adoptive parents when they were working in the country, according to South China Morning Post.


    The couple brought her back to their hometown in a rural area of central China’s Henan province, and called her Fan Zihe, an auspicious name meaning “vigorous and long-lived”. She remains their only child.


    Fan attracting attention due to her complexion


    Fan first attracted attention on social media in 2021, when she posted a video of herself eating traditional Henan noodles while squatting in front of her house.


    The contrast between her appearance and her native Henan dialect piqued the curiosity of many.


    Fan’s content on social media includes activities of rural life– farming, eating noodles and asking for lucky money from the elderly members of the family.


    Fan said her parents have always treated her as though she is their biological daughter and defended her whenever people said she looked different. She was nicknamed “little black girl”.


    “Our daughter’s dark skin is beautiful and healthy,” they said.


    Fan identifies as Chinese. She expresses gratitude to her parents for adopting her.


    “People say loving a person is like growing a flower. I think the best gardeners are my parents,” Fan said.


    She said she wants to buy them a flat in the city to repay them. She earns 4,000 yuan (US$550) a month from her Douyin account, more than Chinese farmers’ average salary, which was 1,678 yuan a month in 2022.

  • Heatwave swells Asia’s appetite for air-conditioning

    Heatwave swells Asia’s appetite for air-conditioning

    Hong Kong (AFP) – A record-breaking heatwave is broiling parts of Asia, helping drive surging demand for cooling options, including air-conditioning.

    AC exhaust units are a common feature of urban landscapes in many parts of Asia, clinging like limpets to towering apartment blocks in Hong Kong or tucked in a cross formation between the windows of a building in Cambodia.

    They offer relief from temperatures that have toppled records in recent weeks, with many countries in the region hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) or higher.

    Scientists have long warned that human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves.

    Only 15 percent of homes in Southeast Asia have air-conditioning, according to a 2019 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

    But that figure obscures vast variations: ranging from around 80 percent installation in Singapore and Malaysia, to less than 10 percent in Indonesia and Vietnam, the IEA said.

    Forecasts suggest that higher temperatures and better wages could see the number of air-conditioning units in Southeast Asia jump from 40 million in 2017 to 300 million by 2040.

    That would stretch local electricity capacity, which is already struggling under current conditions.

    Myanmar is producing only about half the electricity it needs each day, with the junta blaming weak hydropower because of scant rains, low natural gas yields and attacks by its opponents on infrastructure.

    Thailand has seen record power demand in recent weeks, as people retreat indoors to cooled homes or businesses.

    Air-conditioning is already responsible for the emission of approximately one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to the IEA, out of a total of 37 billion emitted worldwide.

    Still, cooling options like air-conditioning are a key way to protect human health, especially for those who are most vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat: children, the elderly and those with certain disabilities.

    With demand surging, dozens of countries last year signed up to the United Nations’ Global Cooling Pledge, a commitment to improve the efficiency of air conditioners and reduce emissions from all forms of cooling.

    Some countries have been trying to reduce the impact of cooling for years.

    Since 2005, Japan has encouraged office workers to ditch ties and jackets so air conditioners can be kept at 28 degrees Celsius.

    The annual “Cool Biz” programme took on new significance during power shortages in 2011 following the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster.

  • China says to take ‘necessary measures’ after fresh US sanctions

    China says to take ‘necessary measures’ after fresh US sanctions

    Beijing on Thursday said it would take “necessary measures” after the United States announced fresh sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s military and industrial capabilities, punishing companies in China and elsewhere that help Moscow acquire weapons for its war in Ukraine.

    “The Chinese side urges the US to stop smearing and containing China and stop wantonly implementing illegal and unilateral sanctions,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a message to AFP.

    “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely uphold the legal rights and interests of Chinese companies,” he added.

    In a sweeping package announced by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday, Washington targeted nearly 300 entities in Russia, China and other countries accused of supporting President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her department had “consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia’s war”, and that its “actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia’s war efforts”.

    China has never condemned Russia’s attack on Kyiv, and stands accused of indirectly supporting the war through its strategic partnership with its neighbour Moscow.

    Beijing insisted again on Thursday it was “neither a creator nor a party” to the crisis in Ukraine, and said it had the right to develop “normal” trading relations with all countries, including Russia.

    “China has always resolutely opposed the United States implementing illegal and unilateral sanctions against Chinese enterprises and exercising ‘long-arm jurisdiction’,” the spokesman said.

  • Xi tells Blinken US, China should be ‘partners, not rivals’

    Xi tells Blinken US, China should be ‘partners, not rivals’

    Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told top US diplomat Antony Blinken that the world’s two biggest economies should be “partners, not rivals”, but that there were a “number of issues” to be resolved in their relations.

    Meeting Blinken in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi said the two countries had “made some positive progress” since he met with US President Joe Biden last year, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

    “There are still a number of issues that need to be resolved, and there is still room for further efforts,” Xi said.

    “I proposed three major principles: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation,” the Chinese leader added.

    “The earth is big enough to hold the common development and… prosperity of China and the United States,” he continued.

    “China would be pleased to see a confident and open, prosperous and developing United States,” Xi said.

    “We hope the US can also take a positive view of China’s development,” he added.

    “When this fundamental problem is solved… relations can truly stabilise, get better, and move forward.”

  • Apple drops WhatsApp, Threads from China app store on official order: report

    Apple drops WhatsApp, Threads from China app store on official order: report

    Beijing (AFP) – Apple has removed the Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China following an order from the country’s top internet regulator, Bloomberg reported Friday citing the tech giant.

    Beijing engages in some of the world’s most extensive internet censorship, with web users in mainland China unable to access everything from Google to many foreign apps without using a virtual private network.

    “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” said Apple in a statement, according to Bloomberg.

    “The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns,” said Apple, referring to China’s internet regulator.

    “These apps remain available for download on all other storefronts where they appear.”

    A Meta spokesperson referred AFP to Apple, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The CAC and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology — another top Chinese internet regulatory body — also did not immediately respond.

    China is a key market for Apple, which last year topped the country’s smartphone market for the first time.

    But thorny issues of censorship and national security have long hounded the US-based firm’s operations in China as Beijing and Washington engage in a fierce battle for technological supremacy.

    In January, China said it had cracked Apple’s encrypted AirDrop communication service, which had once given protesters a vital channel for sharing information during the major 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

    State-backed experts said in January that they had devised a way to reveal an iPhone’s encrypted device log, allowing them to then identify an AirDrop user’s phone number and email accounts.

    Many online platforms that are popular in much of the world — including Google, Facebook, X, WhatsApp and TikTok — are blocked in mainland China.

    But savvy iPhone users in China have still been able to download banned platforms through Apple’s app store, then use a VPN to get around the restrictions.

    Removing WhatsApp and Threads from the Chinese app store will greatly complicate the ability of new iPhone users to access the apps.

    The latest development comes a day before a scheduled vote in the US House of Representatives to force the wildly popular video app TikTok to sever all links with its Chinese parent ByteDance.

    US officials have raised concerns in recent years over potential national security and privacy threats posed by TikTok, despite repeated assurances by the firm that it presents no risks to the American public.

    Beijing has frequently lashed out against US restrictions on Chinese tech, claiming they are a pretext to contain the country’s economic rise.

  • Bollywood film ’12th Fail’ to premiere in China

    Bollywood film ’12th Fail’ to premiere in China

    Indian actor Vikrant Massey’s successful film’12th Fail’, a biopic of an IPS officer, is gearing up for release on over 20,000 screens across China.
    Massey confirmed the news of the release, stating, “It’s too soon to talk about that, but I am really excited because, after a long time, something like this has happened.”


    Elaborating on the film’s popularity in China, Massey said, “There is a huge demand for Hindi cinema or Indian cinema in China. There are more than 20,000 screens [given to 12th Fail]. China really caters to the entertainment sector and hence the numbers [of screens].”
    ’12th Fail’ is based on a best-selling book by Indian author Anurag Pathak and tells the real-life story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film stars Vikrant Massey alongside Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Priyanshu Chatterjee.

    Initially released in India last year, the film received critical acclaim and was later dubbed in Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu. It is currently available for streaming on the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar.