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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002743

Xi touts 100-year-old CCP’s successes, sets sights on China-Taiwan unification

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s strongly worded speech to mark the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding on Thursday not only showered praise on the economic development conducted under his party’s rule, but also showed his determination to realize China-Taiwan unification.

“Solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete unification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the Chinese Communist Party and the common aspiration of all Chinese people,” Xi, who is also CCP general secretary, said during the extravagant ceremony at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

With regard to Hong Kong, where a national security law used to crack down on dissidents has been in effect for more than a year, Xi expressed his intent to further clamp down on democracy seekers and other activists.

“While protecting China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, we will ensure social stability in Hong Kong,” Xi said.

The speech also reflected strong rivalry with the United States, which has been increasing pressure on China. Xi warned foreign nations thinking of bullying or oppressing China.

“Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people,” he said.

Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, said China’s armed forces needed to become world-class, indicating plans to focus on modernizing its military power.

In praise of the CCP, Xi summed up the party’s history since its founding in 1921 as having realized a huge leap forward by eliminating thousands of years of a feudal system of exploitation and oppression, while also winning the challenge of hegemony.

“Without the Communist Party, there would have been no new China,” he declared, saying that China has fully realized its long-term goal of building a “moderately prosperous society,” based on last year’s announcement that “absolute poverty” had been eliminated in rural areas.

Xi underlined the goal of building a “great modern socialist country” that will be on par with the United States by the middle of this century, while maintaining one-party rule. Xi, who has been concentrating power in his hands, is said to be eyeing the realization of his own long-term administration after the party congress in the autumn of 2022. He is believed to be hoping to use the historic ceremony to strengthen his authority.

In an aim to realize Xi’s political slogan, “the Chinese Dream of great national rejuvenation,” his administration is expected to exert more pressure on Taiwan to realize the unification with China.

While calling for peaceful unification, Xi said that others should not “underestimate the Chinese people’s strong determination, firm will, and formidable ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

His words seemed to be a warning to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration, which does not accept the “One China” principle.

Xi gave his speech from the gate of Tiananmen above the portrait of the People’s Republic of China’s founding leader Mao Zedong. Seated near him at the gate were other members of the CCP leadership and former party leaders including his predecessor, previous President Hu Jintao, 78, though former President Jiang Zemin, 94, was not seen in attendance.

Published : July 02, 2021

By : Rie Tagawa/The Japan News/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002703

S. Korea’s exports to hit record high in 2021: KOTRA

South Koreas exports are expected to reach a record high in 2021, a report said Thursday, on the back of the global economic recovery and stronger demand for semiconductor products.

Outbound shipments are expected to reach up to $610 billion this year, up 19 percent from 2020, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

The country’s exports dropped 5.5 percent on-year in 2020 to $512 billion amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

KOTRA attributed the rosy outlook to strong overseas sales of displays, mobile devices, and chips amid eased virus rules around the globe.

Global demand for automobiles and petroleum products is also expected to remain on a recovery track down the road in sync with the revitalizing business activities, it added.

South Korea’s exports jumped 39.7 percent on-year in June to extend their gains to an eighth consecutive month on the back of a recovery in global business activities.

In the first six months of 2021, exports advanced 26.1 percent to reach $303.2 billion, setting a new record for any first-half period.

KOTRA, however, also warned that South Korea’s exports may lose steam over the remaining 2021 amid growing concerns over COVID-19 variants.

Looming protectionism and the hike in raw materials around the globe may also weigh down exports, it added. (Yonhap)

Published : July 01, 2021

By : The Korea Herald/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002702

Cambodia’s Covid-19 situation at ‘red line’

Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng raised fresh concerns about the community outbreak of Covid-19 in Cambodia, especially the new Delta variant also known as B.1.617.2, warning that the situation has now reached a red line.

The warning comes as the government tightens control of border crossings, especially with Thailand.

“To prevent further spread, the health ministry is increasing Covid-19 testing and enforcing quarantine measures, particularly for people returning from Thailand and Vietnam.

“Those infected with the Delta variant have to stay away from other patients whose cases are linked to the February 20 outbreak,” Bun Heng said during a visit to the construction site of the Cambodia-China Preah Kosamak Friendship Hospital on June 29.

As of June 29, Cambodia has recorded 22 Delta variant cases, all of them imported via Cambodian migrant workers returning from Thailand through border checkpoints.

The Kingdom reached a record for daily transmissions on June 29, with the health ministry announcing on June 30 that another 1,130 Covid-19 cases had been recorded, with 139 of them imported. The ministry also reported 27 more deaths.
The new cases brought the total cases in Cambodia to 50,385 – with 44,143 recoveries and 602 fatalities to date.

“We are enlarging our hospitals in all places, especially those in the provinces along the borders in order to be able to protect the health of our people and to increase vaccinations. Vaccination is important to reduce the spread and severity of the disease,” Bun Heng said.

Health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said the Covid-19 situation in Cambodia has now reached a red line for community transmission, which was a great concern that needed to be addressed.

“We don’t want the spread of Covid-19 to go beyond the red line because when it crosses the red line, the situation becomes miserable. It will lead to large-scale transmission throughout our community,” she said.

When the transmission reaches a large enough scale within the community, public health facilities and hospitals will not have the capacity to accommodate all of the patients in need of treatment as there is not enough space for them in such a scenario, she added.

Thus, Vandine explained, large-scale community transmission will cause many deaths and interrupt the daily lives and businesses of the people.

“When the disease reaches too large a scale, it will be necessary to go into lockdown again in order to prevent the disease from spreading out of control.

“We are now at a red line for Covid-19 virus transmission in our country. Everyone must act responsibly together in order to suppress virus transmission, please, if we do not want to pass this red line which will require lockdowns again,” Vandine tweeted on June 29.

To attempt to guard against the importation of the Delta variant from abroad, Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth – who is also acting head of the National Commission for Combating Covid-19 – wrote a three-page letter providing updated instructions to all relevant authorities.

In the letter dated June 29, Pornmoniroth instructed the sub-commission for border crossing control and quarantines to expand or construct more quarantine centres along the Cambodian-Thai border, especially in the provinces whose facilities were currently deficient.

He said returning migrant workers must not be placed in the same quarantine centres along with other people in order to prevent the new variant from spreading there.

He told relevant sub-commissions to work together in providing more financial and material support, medicine and other necessities to the provinces along the borders according to their needs.

“The provincial commission combating Covid-19 in the provinces bordering Thailand have to cooperate with Thai authorities to increase control over the flow of people and migrant workers and to prevent all illegal border crossings.

“The Cambodian embassy in Thailand has to raise awareness with all Cambodians there about Thailand’s measures so that the migrant workers do not panic and rush home, which will result in them losing their jobs when the situation improves,” Pornmoniroth said.

He told the provincial level Covid-19 commissions to take more serious administrative and health measures and legal actions, in addition to the increased education and outreach that they had been implementing.

The sub-commission for supply and finance can provide funding to the Covid-19 combating commission to procure the materials necessary for the region without having to transport them from the capital. Those materials include the testing kits for people in the quarantine centres.

The sub-commission for supply and finance can take the lead in planning the budget for the next six months by working closely with relevant sub-commissions like those for technical and treatment matters and border control and quarantine.

Pornmoniroth said rapid tests should be taken every month by the frontline workers who are stationed at the borders, but those who transport cargo across the border have to take rapid tests every day.

Published : July 01, 2021

By : Mom Kunthear/The Phnom Penh Post/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002701

[Myanmar] Around 2,300 detainees, who participated in the protests after the military takeover, released

According to the information team of the State Administration Council, a total of 2296 civilians that were arrested for participating in protests in Nay Pyi Taw, States and Regions have been freed.

Yangon Region tops the list with  721 released from prison, followed by Mandalay with 711 and Ayeyawady with 296.

Those in Yangon were freed on June 30 from Insein Prison at around 6pm.

Most out of the 721 released from Insein Prison were young people.

“There were around 750 people. They were sent to respective townships on YBS buses. There were political prisoners and youths that were arrested during protests,” said a youth that was freed.

There were also journalists amongst those freed.

Those freed will be delivered via buses to police stations in concerned townships.

The number of those freed across the country are; 22 in Nay Pyi Taw, 145 in Kachin State, 11 in Kayah State, 47 in Kayin State, 40 in Chin State, 33 in Sagaing Region, 32 in Tanintharyi Region, 114 in Bago Region, 36 in Magway Region, 711 in Mandalay Region, 33 in Mon State, 6 in Rakhine State, 721 in Yangon Region, 49 in Shan State and 296 in Ayeyawady Region.

Published : July 01, 2021

By : Eleven Media/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002700

G20 members urged to jointly fight COVID

China calls upon countries to avoid export restrictions or excessive hoarding of vaccines

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that China has provided over 450 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 100 countries so far, and called on the Group of 20 to “stay true to unity, teamwork and play a leading role in the global fight against the pandemic”.

Speaking during the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting via video link, he urged capable countries to “avoid export restrictions or excessive hoarding” and make due contributions to bridging the disparities in novel coronavirus immunization.

This year’s meeting was chaired by Italy in Matera, a city in the south of the country.

The Matera Declaration adopted at the event warned that the COVID-19 pandemic “is likely to add more than 100 million people to the total number of undernourished in the world, as people lost their jobs and income, with consequences on their food security”.

At the event, Wang called on G20 member countries to “respond to the pandemic on a scientific basis”, and strengthen cooperation in vaccines, diagnosis and treatment, as well as joint prevention and control.

G20 members need to take a problem-oriented approach, and “make the global governance system more responsive”, Wang said.

“We need to strengthen the role of the World Health Organization and build up the global disease prevention and control system,” he said.

The meeting shows that “the G20 plays a leading role in tackling major international crises and perfecting global governance”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

“China stands ready to work with all parties to practice true multilateralism, strive for a successful Rome Summit and contribute wisdom and strength to securing a global victory over COVID-19 at an early date, realizing steady and sustained world economic recovery,” Wang told reporters in Beijing.

On economic issues, China urged countries at the meeting to provide more support to developing countries, particularly those in Africa.

Since 2008, China has been the destination of 25 percent of the total exports from the least developed countries.

Also, China is the country that contributed the largest share among the G20 members when fulfilling an initiative that calls for suspending or postponing debt payment by the poorest countries, Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng said in June.

To achieve greater policy coordination against global economic headwinds, Wang Yi said at the event on Tuesday that G20 members “need to adopt responsible macroeconomic policies that have no spillovers to others and that serve the stability of international economic and financial systems”.

In addition to building an open world economy and keeping global supply and industrial chains secure, countries also need to “prevent fragmentation of the international market and politicization of cooperation mechanisms, and dismiss ideology-based rules and standards”, he said.

Multilateralism was another key word at the gathering, as senior diplomats including Wang Yi called on G20 members to uphold multilateralism and rally more support for the stability of the international order.

“It is important for the G20 to lead by example and practice true multilateralism,” Wang said. “Multilateralism is not a high-sounding slogan, still less a facade for unilateralism.

“We need to pursue openness and inclusiveness, and oppose seclusion and exclusion. We need to pursue win-win cooperation, and oppose zero-sum games,” he said.

After the event, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said at a news conference that the Matera Declaration adopted at the G20 meeting was an example of multilateralism, and the global teamwork against COVID-19 highlights the importance of international cooperation.

Published : July 01, 2021

By : ZHANG YUNBI/China Daily/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002699

China holds grand gathering marking centenary of CPC

A grand gathering celebrating the centenary of the Communist Party of China was held at Tiananmen Square at the heart of Beijing on Thursday.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, arrived at Tian’anmen Rostrum.

Premier Li Keqiang announced the beginning of the ceremony.

China holds grand gathering marking centenary of CPC

Military aircraft flew over Tian’anmen Square in echelons. Helicopters flew in the formation of “100,” representing the 100 years of the Party. A 100-gun salute was fired. A national flag-raising ceremony was held.

A congratulatory message jointly issued by eight other political parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and personages without party affiliation was read out at the ceremony.

Representatives of the Chinese Communist Youth League members and Young Pioneers on Thursday morning saluted the Communist Party of China and expressed commitment to the Party’s cause.

China holds grand gathering marking centenary of CPC

Published : July 01, 2021

By : China Daily/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002622

Malls in Singapore roll out SafeEntry Gateway boxes for checking out

SINGAPORE – SafeEntry Gateway boxes that allow visitors to easily check out of venues have been rolled out at malls, supermarkets and other places with high traffic.

This is to help the authorities pinpoint instances of Covid-19 exposure more accurately.

The Star Vista mall in Buona Vista, one of the first places to receive the devices, deployed them at its four exit points on Monday (June 28).

Other malls, including those managed by Frasers Property Retail and Far East Organization, as well as FairPrice supermarket outlets, have also begun rolling them out progressively.

The Smart Nation and Digital Government Office started sending the boxes to eligible businesses last Tuesday.

The boxes were first launched in March with only the check-in function enabled.

Boxes to allow checking out were first announced by the Ministry of Health on June 18 as part of new measures to improve contact tracing efforts amid Singapore’s reopening to phase three (heightened alert).

Although checking out is not mandatory, it gives the authorities more accurate data on the amount of time a person spent in a place.

While checking into venues by tapping TraceTogether tokens or mobile phones on SafeEntry Gateway boxes has become common, The Straits Times observed that not many people were doing the same to check out at The Star Vista on Tuesday.

Of the 224 visitors who left the mall through one of its exits in the span of an hour on Tuesday afternoon, only 42 people, or 18.8 per cent, checked out using the SafeEntry Gateway.

Two people tried to do so but were unsuccessful and left without checking out.

Some of the other methods visitors can use to check out include pressing the checkout button in the TraceTogether app, or having staff scan their tokens or phones using the checkout mode in the SafeEntry mobile app for businesses.

Food delivery rider Marcus Chua, who is in his 30s, started using the TraceTogether token recently so he could turn off the Bluetooth function on his mobile phone and conserve its battery life.

With the new box in place, it will be more convenient to check out with a tap of the token after he picks up orders from malls, he said.

“I’m glad that I can check out more easily now so I can lower the chance of, for example, getting called up as a close contact of a Covid-19 case even though I actually left (the place) earlier,” he said.

University student Tan Aik Wen, 21, said: “When I check in by tapping my phone, the place doesn’t show up on my TraceTogether app, so I usually wouldn’t be able to check out afterwards. It would show up only if I checked in by scanning the QR code.

“With the box, there is now an option for people who tapped in to tap out as well.”

Ms Christina Toh, marketing and communications manager for The Star Vista, said posters have been put up at the entry points to explain the use of the boxes and encourage users to check out.

The boxes for checking out feature a blue sticker to differentiate them from those for checking in.

Said Ms Toh: “This initiative is relatively new, so most of the public are still not aware that there are SafeEntry Gateways for checking out. Our SafeEntry staff also encourage the visitors to check out.”

Published : June 30, 2021

By : Rei Kurohi/The Straits Times/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002621

Moon pledges full support for shipping supremacy

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday pledged full support for the nation’s shipping industry to further bolster its competitiveness in the global market and to regain its leadership position by 2030.

“Our pride as a top shipper has been recovered,” the president said during the launch event of HMM’s new mega container ship, called HMM Hanul, at Busan’s new port.

“The Hanul is the final of the total 20 vessels that completes the strong recovery of the nation’s shipping industry.”

In the early 2010s, the nation’s shipping industry was hit hard by an endless price-cutting race with bigger rivals in the global market. Within that time, Hanjin Shipping, then the world’s seventh-largest shipper, went bankrupt in 2016 and HMM, formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine, turned to a long-term deficit starting in 2011.

In 2018, the Moon administration vowed to rebuild the ailing industry under a five year-plan and established the Korea Ocean Business Corp., a policy financial institution dedicated to maritime transport funds.

In order to secure price competitiveness, HMM decided to order 20 new large container ships to the country’s three shipbuilders – Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Maritime Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries – with almost 6 trillion won ($5.3 billion) in state funds being poured in.

Largely due to the massive container ship portfolio, the firm could join The Alliance, one of the world’s three largest shipping alliances, in the following year.

As a result of the government-led efforts, the nation’s shipping revenue that once tumbled to 29 trillion won in 2016 bounced back to 36 trillion won last year. This year the government aims to elevate the figure to some 40 trillion won.

Shipping volume is also expected to more than double this year from 46,000 TEUs in 2016 to 105,000 TEUs this year.

HMM, buoyed by bullish shipping demands and high freight rates, has also returned to a profit after almost a decade last year, with its operating profit exceeding 1 trillion won in the first quarter this year.

“Now we are about to start a new bigger challenge. Along with securing more massive container ships, we will make a big leap through environment-friendly and digital experiments in the field,” Moon said.

“By 2030, we aim to become a global shipping leader by securing a cargo capacity of more than 1.5 million TEUs and elevating revenue to more than 70 trillion won.”

As part of the plans, Korea Ocean Business Corp. and three state-run financial institutions – Korea Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of Korea and Korea Asset Management Corp. – announced they would create a new $300 million fund to support low-emissions shipbuilding.

HMM also unveiled new ship order plans, including 12 13,000-TEU container ships, six each with Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Maritime Engineering, by 2024. The new ships will be deployed on lucrative routes such as to the US to lower costs overall.

The new investment plans are expected to generate new production worth 3.7 trillion won and more than 11,000 new jobs in the shipbuilding industry alone.

The Hanul, with a cargo capacity of 16,000 TEUs, departed from the Busan port to travel to China, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, about 38,000 kilometers, before coming back home in October.

The president attended its launch event to celebrate the successful completion of the HMM project, following his attendance at the naming ceremony of the first vessel, HMM Algeciras, in April last year. 

Published : June 30, 2021

By : Lee Ji-yoon/The Korea Herald/ANN

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40002620

World Bank: 8.5% GDP growth projected for China in 2021

Chinas GDP growth is projected to reach 8.5 percent on a yearly basis in 2021, thanks to the pent-up demand and strong exports, according to the World Bank, which updated the economic forecasts in its regional economic report on Tuesday.

The forecast marks an upward revision by 0.6 percentage points from the World Bank’s projections in December 2020, largely due to stronger-than-expected foreign demand, it said.

The World Bank also predicted that China’s year-on-year GDP growth may moderate to 5.4 percent in 2022, when the low base effects dissipate. It reflects the progressive de-risking and deleveraging efforts, policy normalization and diminished support from net exports.

The forecast figures remained unchanged from that in the bank’s report of “Global Economic Prospects” issued on June 8 in Washington.

Private domestic demand is going to replace public investment and exports to become the prioritized driving force of China’s recovery, thanks to the improved consumer and business confidence, as well as better labor market conditions, according to the new report.

Meanwhile, economists from the World Bank believe that the risk of high and persistent inflation is low in China and upside risks to consumer inflation seem limited at this point, although factory gate prices are sensitive to rising commodity prices.

In China, high upstream inflation partially translated into faster inflation in intermediate goods, but was barely visible in downstream consumer goods other than food, according to the report.

“As China’s recovery consolidates, macroeconomic policies are expected to shift from accommodative to more neutral settings,” according to Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for China. He suggested that the pace of “policy normalization” should be decided based on the economic data and the recovery process both in China and abroad.

Several challenges that China faces in the medium term include demographic headwinds, slowing productivity growth and a carbon-intensive production structure, the World Bank said in the report.

Sebastian Eckardt, World Bank Lead Economist for China, said that over the medium term, policymakers should “redouble their efforts” toward promoting growth-enhancing structural reforms and steering the economy to a greener, more resilient and inclusive development path.

A more progressive tax system, investments in human capital and stronger social safety nets to reduce income inequality should be major areas of China’s economic reforms which could help achieve high-quality growth, said economists from the World Bank.

Published : June 30, 2021

By : Chen Jia/China Daily/ANN

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Vietnamese economy expands at 5.61 per cent in H1 despite the pandemic

HÀ NỘI — The latest updates from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that the Vietnamese economy expanded by 5.64 per cent in the first half of this year, much higher than the growth rate of 1.82 per cent recorded in the same period of last year.

Although the economic growth rate in the first half of this year was lower than the rate of 7.05 per cent and 6.77 per cent of the same periods of 2018 and 2019, respectively, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the macro-economy remained stable with recoveries in production and business, GSO’s Director Nguyễn Thị Hương said at a press conference on Tuesday in Hà Nội.

Hương said the economic achievements in the first half of this year were impressive as the outbreak of the virus in late April posed a lot of challenges to the Government’s goal of preventing the virus and at the same time promoting economic development.

The agro-forestry-fishery sector rose by 3.82 per cent, contributing 8.17 per cent, industry and construction rose by 8.36 per cent, contributing 59.05 per cent and the services sector was up by 3.96 per cent, contributing 32.78 per cent to the overall growth, statistics showed.

The industrial production increased by nine per cent in January – June, nearly equivalent to the rate of 9.13 per cent recorded in the pre-pandemic 2019’s first half and higher than the rate of 2.91 per cent of the same period last year.

GSO said that the manufacturing and processing industry remained the driver for economic growth with an expansion of 11.42 per cent in the period.

The accommodation and catering services, passenger transportation and tourism remained in difficulty due to the social distancing in some localities to prevent the virus and the impacts of the pandemic.

Statistics showed that tourism revenue dropped by 51.8 per cent in the period to VNĐ4.5 trillion with the number of foreign tourist arrivals tumbling by 91.6 per cent to 88,200 in the first half of this year.

In the second quarter alone, the economy expanded at 6.61 per cent, compared to a modest rate of 0.39 per cent of the same period last year but still lower than the rate of 6.73 per cent recorded in the same quarters of 2018 and 2019.

The economy expanded quickly in the second quarter on robust exports and industrial production and the implementation of the vaccination campaign although the country was facing the most serious COVID-19 outbreak so far.

Việt Nam earned revenue of $317.73 billion in import and export in the January – April period, up by 32.2 per cent.

The country ran a trade deficit of $1.47 billion in the period.

GSO’s statistics also revealed recoveries in production and business. Demand deposits tended to increase after the State Bank of Việt Nam slashed rates in 2020. Credit growth reached 5.47 per cent as of June 21, compared to 2.45 per cent in the same period last year.

The securities market saw strong growth from the beginning of this year, which helped raise VNĐ116.4 trillion for the economy as of the end of May, up by 68 per cent.

Hương said that the good economic achievements in the first half of this year demonstrated the Government’s determination and drastic efforts to prevent the spread of the virus as well as to promote socio-economic development.

Still, the virus was developing in some provinces and cities, which were posing a number of challenges to the management and administration to develop the economy and ensure social security, she said.

The consumer price index rose 0.19 per cent in June against the previous month on increases in prices of some input materials, water and electricity.

On average, CPI rose by 1.47 per cent in the first half of this year over a year earlier, the lowest increase since 2016. — VNS

Published : June 30, 2021

By : Viet Nam News/ANN