03/09/2024

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China rolls out red carpet for African leaders

Take back land from Russia, Beijing told TAIPEI: If China’s claims on Taiwan are about territorial integrity then it should also take back land from Russia signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said in an interview with Taiwanese media. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan’s government rejects those claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future. Speaking in an interview with a Taiwanese television station broadcast late on Sunday, Lai, who China calls a “separatist”, brought up the 1858 Treaty of Aigun in which China signed over a vast tract of land in what is now Russia’s far east to the Russian empire, forming much of the present day border along the Amur River. China’s Qing dynasty, then in terminal decline, originally refused to ratify the treaty but it was affirmed two years later in the Convention of Peking, one of what China refers to as the “unequal” treaties with foreign powers in the 19th Century. “China’s intention to attack and annex Taiwan is not because of what any one person or political party in Taiwan says or does. It is not for the sake of territorial integrity that China wants to annex Taiwan,” Lai said. “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t it take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the Treaty of Aigun? Russia is now at its weakest, right?” he said. “The Treaty of Aigun signed during the Qing – you can ask Russia (for the land back) but you don’t. So it’s obvious they don’t want to invade Taiwan for territorial reasons.” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s government says Taiwan has been Chinese territory since ancient times. The Qing signed over Taiwan to Japan in 1895 in another “unequal” treaty, and in 1945 at the end of World War II it was handed over to the Republic of China government, which four years later fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. Lai said that what China really wants to do with its designs on Taiwan is to change the rules-based international order. “It wants to achieve hegemony in the international area, in the Western Pacific – that is its real aim.” – Reuters Man pleads guilty to 307 sex offences SYDNEY: Former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith yesterday pleaded guilty to raping, sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of girls under his care in Australia and Italy. It took Judge Anthony Rafter more than two hours to read out the 307 charges against Griffith in the Brisbane courtroom where several victims and their families had gathered, according to state broadcaster ABC. Police accused the 46-year-old of being one of Australia’s worst ever paedophiles after the charges against him were made public last year. Griffith was first arrested in 2022 for making child sexual abuse content. A year later he was charged with 1,623 offences against 91 children. However some charges were dropped and the ABC reported that yesterday’s charges related to roughly 60 children. Many of the victims were under the age of 12. The offences happened between 2003 and 2022 in 12 different locations across Australia as well as Pisa, Italy. Griffith is in custody and will be sentenced at a later date. The court heard sentencing could take more than two days to give time to read victim impact statements, the ABC reported. – Reuters

BEIJING: China yesterday rolled out the red carpet for leaders from across Africa, seeking to deepen ties with the resource-rich continent it has furnished with billions in loans for infrastructure and development. China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Africa to build its mega projects while tapping the continent’s vast natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals. Its vast loans to the continent have funded infrastructure but also stoked controversy by saddling countries with huge debts. China, the world’s number two economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting US$167.8 billion (RM727 billion) in the first half of this year, according to Chinese state media. Among the leaders in the capital is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who o US warns of rival power’s malign influence

overseas military base – as well as Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Mali were also in Beijing. Beijing’s loans to African nations last year were their highest in five years, research by the Chinese Loans to Africa Database found. Top borrowers were Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya. But the data showed that loans were well down compared to highs in 2016, when they totalled almost US$30 billion. And the loans were increasingly to local banks, researchers said, helping to avoid “exposing Chinese creditors to credit risks associated with those countries”. Analysts say an economic slowdown in China has made Beijing increasingly reluctant to shell out big sums. African leaders eye mounting great power competition between the US and China over resources and influence on the continent. Washington has warned against what it sees as Beijing’s malign influence. In 2022, the White House said China sought to “advance its narrow commercial and geopolitical interests (and) undermine transparency and openness”. – AFP

arrived early yesterday for a four-day visit during which he will also visit the southern tech powerhouse city of Shenzhen. Trade between China and South Africa soared to US$38.8 billion in 2023, according to the South African presidency. Ramaphosa took part in a welcoming ceremony at Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of People and laid a wreath “in honour of Chinese revolutionaries” in Tiananmen Square, his office said. The two countries will sign a number of agreements focused on “enhancing economic cooperation and the implementation of technical cooperation”, it said. President Xi Jinping yesterday met Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi. China has a significant presence in the DRC, where it is keen on tapping natural resources including rare earth minerals. But it has grappled with security issues in the country – in July, local sources said a militia attack on a mining site in gold-rich Ituri province killed four Chinese nationals. Leaders of Djibouti – home to China’s first

One dead as storms hit Australia southeast MELBOURNE: One woman has died, schools have been shuttered and tens of thousands of people were without power yesterday, as wild storms lashed Australia. unnecessary travel, while some schools have closed. CALL TO ACTION ... Social activists and students shout slogans during a march in Kolkata on Sunday to condemn the murder of a doctor. The discovery of the 31-year-old woman’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital here on Aug 9 has stoked nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women. – AFPPIC

sweeping across Australia’s southeast had caused “damaging to destructive winds”. But conditions were set to ease today, she said. Johnson warned further cold fronts would impact the country later in the week, but she did not anticipate conditions to be as extreme. Australia is exposed to extreme weather events. The country recorded its warmest winter last month, with the mercury hitting 41.6°C in part of its rugged and remote northwest coast. Shepard said there was a high risk that the coming summer would see increased fire danger. – AFP

Authorities in New South Wales were concerned the damaging winds would increase fire danger yesterday, with many areas on high alert. New South Wales Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd warned Sydney and surrounding areas that they would see the worst of the fire danger yesterday, but conditions would ease in the afternoon. Parts of Tasmania have been inundated by flooding and destructive winds – with gusts peaking at 150kph over the weekend. Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Christie Johnson said a series of cold fronts

Police said a 63-year-old woman died after a tree fell on a cabin in the country’s southeast. “Destructive” winds of more than 110kph are lashing the region, leaving about 150,000 people without power. Victorian state premier Jacinta Allan warned power outages could take up to three days to fix. “There are some areas where conditions remain too dangerous to make repairs,” she said. People have been warned to avoid