Current Final

Tag: China

  • Coronavirus: Pak-China trade suspended, Opp demands bringing students back

    Coronavirus: Pak-China trade suspended, Opp demands bringing students back

    With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring a global emergency over the spreading coronavirus, as Chinese authorities increase the toll to 213 dead and nearly 10,000 infections, trade between Pakistan and China has been suspended while opposition demands bringing back Pakistanis stuck in China.

    According to reports, while it was also decided that all Chinese imports will be sprayed with disinfectants, Pakistan on Friday suspended flight operations — except those of Pakistan Internation Airlines (PIA) — to the neighbouring country.

    TRADE SUSPENDED:

    According to a statement, trade has been suspended between the two countries for at least a month, while the issuance of Chinese visas to traders has also been halted.

    The volume of trade between the two countries is around $15 billion — around 30 per cent of Pakistan’s total trade — and the country is now mulling to import goods from other countries instead, a report said.

    Also, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) will quarantine the Chinese and Southeast Asian ship personnel, its chairperson, Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar, said. He added the containers, especially those arriving from China and Southeast Asia, would be thoroughly checked, and that special care would be taken to ensure that the staff on these ships remained limited to the port only.

    NO FLIGHTS TO OR FROM CHINA:

    “We are suspending flights to China until February 2,” Aviation Additional Secretary Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Reuters, adding the situation would be reviewed after that date. He declined to comment on the reason for the closure.

    Some airlines, including British Airways, have suspended flights to China due to warnings of the coronavirus outbreak. Germany, Britain and other countries have issued warnings about travel to China.

    Russia also sealed its remote far-eastern border with China as a precaution on Thursday. Some countries have banned entry for travellers from Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus first surfaced, while reports said that PIA would continue to operate between the two countries.

    OPPOSITION WANTS STUDENTS RESCUED:

    Meanwhile, opposition leaders have demanded that the government take responsibility of the Pakistani students stuck in China, and bring them back to the country.

    Reports quoted Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Usman Kakar as saying in the Senate that over 28,000 Pakistanis, 10,000 of which are students, were stuck in China, and the government’s decision to not bring them back was no less than “attempted murder”.

    While Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mushahidullah said that the government should take responsibility of the students stranded in China, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Rehman Malik said that military’s C-130 aircraft should be sent to rescue them

    ‘WE’RE MONITORING SITUATION’:

    The Pakistani government is monitoring the situation in China and is in close contact with the relevant authorities in order to ensure the safety of Pakistani students in Wuhan, said the Foreign Office on the other hand. 

    “Islamabad has taken up the issue of food shortages with concerned officials and we are assured by the Chinese government of full cooperation in this regard,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Aaisha Farooqui said at a press briefing.

    In response to questions about the evacuation of Pakistani citizens from Wuhan, the spokesperson said, “Islamabad is monitoring the evolving situation and will take a decision after consultations among all the stakeholders.”

  • Pakistan suspends flight operations to China amid coronavirus outbreak

    Pakistan suspends flight operations to China amid coronavirus outbreak

    Pakistan on Friday halted flights to and from China with immediate effect as death toll from the deadly coronavirus continued to climb in China and World Health Organisation declared it a global health emergency.

    “We are suspending flights to China until February 2,” Senior Joint Secretary of aviation Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Reuters, adding the situation would be reviewed after that date.

    Previously on Thursday, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended all flights to Beijing until February 2. It is pertinent to mention here that PIA had restarted two flights to Tokyo and Beijing in May 2019 after a gap of three months.

    Meanwhile, Special Assistant to PM Imran on Health Dr Zafar Mirza announced that the government has decided not to repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.  

    “We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China [to stay there]. It is in the larger interest of the region, world, country that we don’t evacuate them now,” he told reporters at a press conference. 

    “This is what the World Health Organisation is saying, this is China’s policy and this is our policy as well. We stand by China in full solidarity,” he stated, adding, “Right now the government of China has contained this epidemic in Wuhan city. If we act irresponsibly and start evacuating people from there, this epidemic will spread all over the world like wildfire.”

    Mirza assured that the Pakistan Embassy in China was in close contact with Pakistani citizens in Wuhan and China was monitoring their activity closely. He said that the government will take responsibility for its citizens and ensure that they are taken care of.

    As the death toll from the virus hit 213, the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus to be a global health emergency. The virus has infected close to 10,000 people and all flights to and from China have been suspended to contain the virus and prevent it from spreading.

  • Four Pakistani students in China tested positive for coronavirus

    Four Pakistani students in China tested positive for coronavirus

    Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has confirmed that at least four Pakistani students in China have tested positive for coronavirus as the outbreak claims at least 132 lives, leaving thousands of others affected.

    According to Dawn, Dr Mirza, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday, said that a large proportion of Pakistanis living in China were students, of which over 500 are based in the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new virus.

    The premier’s special assistant said that four Pakistani students had tested positive for coronavirus with links to Wuhan. On PM Imran Khan’s behalf, Mirza assured the families of the children of the government’s support. He said that they will take on the responsibility of these children and all Pakistanis in China.

    “We will take care of them the same way we would care for our own children,” he said. However, he added, that no case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Pakistan yet.

    The report comes days after Pakistani students studying at the Engineering and Science University of Wuhan requested help from the Pakistani and Chinese governments amid the alarming outbreak of the virus. A video message that was sent by the students stated that due to the virus, no communication between Wuhan and China was possible and more than 2,000 Pakistani students were facing food shortage.

    The students had requested the premier and foreign minister to send help and facilitate their evacuation from the province.

    On Monday, the PM Office had also convened a meeting in light of 2,000 coronavirus cases being confirmed across the globe amid the presence of a large number of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, and frequent travel between the two countries.

    CORONAVIRUS:

    In mid-December, some people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan began complaining of flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. Some had a high fever. Doctors were perplexed. To find out what might be causing their illness, geneticists analysed the DNA of the virus that had infected them.

    At once, the scientists realised the virus was new to science.

    As of January 23, experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland estimated that at least 557 people have contracted the rapidly spreading disease.

  • How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

    How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

    The deadly coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the world. There is an online dashboard that can give you real-time news in the form of data. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkinas has built a tool, integrating data from the World Health Organisation, as well as centres for disease control from across the world.

    The death toll has reached at least 81, and the virus has infected more than 2,800 people worldwide. As reports come in, the map keeps track of the total confirmed cases, total deaths, and total recoveries. Each red dot represents an outbreak, with the size corresponding to the relative size of the outbreak. 

    Source – John Hopkins

    Read more – Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

    So far, the virus has spread to 13 other countries, including the US, France, Australia, and Japan. Experts fear that the true number of people infected is much higher than the official total.

    Source – John Hopkins

    While Wuhan has been quarantined, at least 12 other cities have imposed travel restrictions, affecting an estimated 33 million people.

  • Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

    Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

    Chinese health authorities have said that the international outbreak of respiratory illness caused by coronavirus has killed over 70 people and affected at least 1,500 others.

    The deadly outbreak began in Wuhan, China, at a market selling live poultry, seafood and wild animals. Now the virus has turned up in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Nepal, France, Australia and even the United States. Investigators in still other countries, including Pakistan and several American states, are evaluating possible cases.

    Officials in China have closed transportation links from and within Wuhan and other affected cities. The move was a significant escalation in the country’s attempts to contain the virus as millions embarked on holiday travel for the Lunar New Year.

    ALIEXPRESS POSING ANY THREATS?

    With news of the outbreak taking the world by storm and people going an extra mile to protect themselves and their loved ones, someone has pointed out how global population might be at risk due to ordering stuff from Chinese online shopping giant, AliExpress.

    Launched by the Alibaba Group in 2010, AliExpress is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, such as Singapore, that offer products to international online buyers.

    But can ordering stuff from China also get the virus delivered to your doorstep?

    The answer is no. Reports quoted Epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic as saying that an order from AliExpress takes several weeks to be delivered, and the virus cannot survive that long. The length of time it survives primarily depends on the conditions — whether it’s damp, dark, and on what surface it finds itself, because it’s easier to survive on plastic than on metal.

    In the case of this virus, it’s a matter of hours — it can survive for several hours on a surface, but not for several days. So chances are that if you pay extra for faster delivery, you could end up being at risk of getting infected.

  • Shahid Afridi deletes tweet supporting Uyghur Muslims in China

    Shahid Afridi deletes tweet supporting Uyghur Muslims in China

    Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has deleted his tweet in which he implored Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to speak up against China’s persecution of the minority.

    Afirid had on Sunday posted a tweet in which he wrote, “Hearing of atrocities committed against the Uighur Muslims is heartbreaking. I request Imran Khan to speak up against this; talk of uniting the Muslim ummah includes our brothers & sisters in China too”.

    The cricket star in his tweet also requested the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to address the issue.

    China has been facing criticism for detaining around one million Uighurs and other Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang. The activists in Uighur had claimed last month that they have documented nearly 500 camps and prisons run by the country to detain members of the ethnic group.

    Moreover, according to Samaa, a Washington-based group, East Turkistan National Awakening Movement gave the geographic coordinates of 182 suspected “concentration camps” where Uighurs are allegedly pressured to renounce their culture.

    The organisation after researching images from Google Earth, said it also spotted 209 suspected prisons and 74 suspected labor camps in the country.

    Chinese foreign ministry, however, has denied these allegation, terming them “baseless.”

  • Afridi urges PM Imran to speak up against Chinese persecution of Muslims

    Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has urged Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to “speak up” for Uighur Muslims in China and requested the Chinese government to give “humane” and “just” treatment to Muslims.

    Shahid Afridi in a recent tweet on Monday said, “Hearing of atrocities committed against the Uighur Muslims is heartbreaking,” and reminded PM Imran that “our brothers and sisters” in China are also part of the Muslim Ummah.

    He also requested the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to address the issue.

    https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1208701954328629250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1208701954328629250&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.samaa.tv%2Fnews%2F2019%2F12%2Fafridi-asks-pm-khan-to-speak-up-for-chinese-muslims%2F

    China has been facing criticism for detaining around one million Uighurs and other Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang.

    The activists in Uighur had claimed in November that they have documented nearly 500 camps and prisons run by China to detain members of the ethnic group.

    According to Samaa, a Washington-based group, East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, that seeks independence for the mostly Muslim region known to China as Xinjiang, gave the geographic coordinates of 182 suspected “concentration camps” where Uighurs are allegedly pressured to renounce their culture.

    Moreover, the group after researching images from Google Earth, said it also spotted 209 suspected prisons and 74 suspected labor camps in the country.

    However, China’s foreign ministry has denied these allegation, terming them “baseless.”

  • VIDEO: British journalist destroys Shireen Mazari on silence over China’s repression of Uighur Muslims

    British journalist Mehdi Hasan has called out the Prime Minsiter (PM) Imran Khan-led Pakistan government for voicing concerns over repression being faced by Muslims across the globe expect the Chinese persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

    Speaking to Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on his show, Al Jazeera’s Hasan asked as to why had Pakistan not publicly criticised China on its detention of millions of Uighur Muslims.

    “There’s a quote on your Twitter profile page from the great Muslim leader and the grandson of the prophet, Imam Hussain, that reads ‘those who are silent when others are oppressed, are guilty of oppression themselves’,” he said, adding that in China, millions of Uighur Muslims were being detained against their will in “concentration camps” and yet the Pakistani government had said nothing.

    “In fact, PM Imran Khan has said that he will not criticise China on this publically. Couldn’t the Uighurs say that your silence, Pakistan’s silence, means that you’re guilty of oppressing them too?”

    Responding to the question, Mazari said that the link established by Hasan was “absurd” since her government had talked to China. “When we have evidence, we take it up. But China is an ally of ours, and we will not go screaming on the streets about it.”

    When asked if Pakistan had condemned Chinese actions privately, the minister said that Islamabad had been speaking to the Chinese and “hearing their point of view”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “You haven’t stood up and spoken about the Uighurs… that’s the problem,” the journalist maintained as Mazari said repression must be called out regardless of who was behind it when asked if she would condemn the Chinese actions.

    PAKISTAN, CHINA & UIGHURS:

    The Chinese government has reportedly detained more than a million Muslims in reeducation camps. Most of the people who have been arbitrarily detained are Uighur, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily from China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang.

    Human rights organisations, United Nations (UN) officials and many foreign governments are urging China to stop the crackdown; however, officials maintain that what they call “vocational training centres” do not infringe on Uighurs’ rights.

    While the Chinese government has refused to share information about the detention centres and prevented journalists and foreign investigators from examining them, internal documents leaked in late 2019 have provided important details on how officials launched and maintain the camps.

    As part of a campaign seeking relief for Uighurs in China, Islamabad has time and again been called out for raising its voice for Muslims facing Indian oppression in held Kashmir as well as helpless Palestinians, but not for those in China where lie Pakistan’s economic interests — such as the construction of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

    CPEC is a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan. Originally valued at $46 billion, the value of CPEC projects is worth $62 billion as of 2017.

    It is expected to not only benefit Pakistan and China, but also to have a positive impact on Iran, Afghanistan and India with the enhancement of geographical links through improved road, rail and air transportation system with frequent and free exchanges of growth and people to people contact.

  • TikTok apologises to Feroza, restores controversial video

    TikTok apologises to Feroza, restores controversial video

    After the backlash on Feroza Aziz’s controversial video that went viral on social media, TikTok has now restored her video. Video shows Feroza Aziz talking about eyelash curling but quickly switches to criticize China’s mass detention of minorities in its far northwest.

    She had advised the world to take notice of the sufferings of the minority Muslims in China as they are being tortured, raped, and forced to eat pork. Feroza called it another holocaust but no one is talking about it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcqfCgCCLDk

    On its official website, Tiktok has issued a public apology for the error on their part. “We would like to apologize to the user for the error on our part this morning”, the statement read, further stating that they have decided to override the ban on Feroza Aziz’s account.

    TikTok has also explained that the same user’s previous account was banned following her post on Osama Bin Laden which violated the company policies.

    As per the community guidelines, “Terrorist organizations and any other criminal organizations are strictly prohibited from using TikTok.

  • Pakistan wins Rs1 billion damage claim against Chinese energy company

    Pakistan has clinched a favourable ruling in an international court regarding its one billion rupees of liquidated damage claim against a Chinese energy conglomerate for delaying renewable power projects, The News reported.

    According to reports, officials have said that London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) issued its final awards related to a dispute between Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) and Zonergy Company Limited last week.

    In the determination of the disputes between the parties, the sole arbitrator decided the required commercial operations date, “as agreed between the parties under the respective energy purchase agreements, represented a valid and binding obligation”.

    “Consequently, CPPA-G’s imposition of liquidated damages for the power projects’ delay in achieving COD (commercial operations date) by RCOD (required commercial operations date) was justified,” the official said, citing the awards.

    The CPPA-G and three subsidiaries of Zonergy approached the London Court of International Arbitration earlier this year to agitate their disputes under three identical energy purchase agreements signed between CPPA-G and the subsidiaries of Zonergy in June 2015 to set up 300 megawatts of solar power project. Each solar independent power producer has the capacity to generate 100 megawatts.

    The final hearing for the LCIA arbitration numbers (183,881, 183,884 and 183,885) initiated by the independent power producers took place from April 29, 2019 to May 3, 2019 in Islamabad. The sole arbitrator appointed by the LCIA issued his final awards in the LCIA arbitration on November 19, 2019.

    The federal cabinet has approved a draft of a renewable energy policy, envisaging 20 percent clean energy by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030, up from around 4 percent currently. The government would soon convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests to finalise the renewable energy policy.

    Consequent to expiry of RE Policy 2006 in March 2018, AEDB initiated the formulation of a new policy in view of government’s decision to come up with a policy aimed at creating conducive environment supported by a robust framework for the sustainable growth of renewable energy sector.

    London Court of International Arbitration further determined that the identical liquidated damages provision in the energy purchase agreements was legal and enforceable.