China’s Xi takes APEC by storm after stealing the show with hardline statements

China’s President Xi Jinping is taking APEC by storm after making hardline statements about the region. His recent statements have set off tidal waves as worldwide leaders became sidelined in the chaos after Xi reportedly told off Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau and noted what APEC’s goals should encompass.

According to the Thai Enquirer, Xi called on the APEC region to focus on economic development first and save the power struggle between nations as an afterthought.

“The Asia Pacific is no one’s backyard and should not become an arena for big power contests. No attempt to wage a Cold War will ever be allowed by the people or by our times.”

He furthered that the 21st century has been taken by the region as it accounts for 1/3 of the world’s population and more than 60% of the world’s economy. Then, he went on to say that the region accounts for almost 50% of global trade and has the most dynamic growth potential in the world.

“Currently, the Asia Pacific enjoys overall stability. Cooperation in our region has been steadily advanced, and peace, development and win-win cooperation remain the underlying trend in this region.”

He then laid a heavy hand towards what he calls a “Cold War” mentality, unilateralism, hegemonism, and instability, saying such acts are hampering economic ties. Xi says that such a mentality distorts international norms, impedes development cooperation, and ignites conflicts in the region. Then, he blamed such issues as burdening the region’s peace and development.

Xi’s statements were outlined in a six-page document, in which he promoted the Chinese way of modernisation over the current Westernised route. He called out the US influence that is currently seen in the region and proposed a counter alternative that would help “create conditions for ensuring economic development and durable peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.”

The Chinese president’s statements have grabbed headlines worldwide, leaving Thailand’s PM in the dust. His statements were largely unprecedented with other global leaders in awe of his bold speech. Traditionally, such statements have been reserved for the host country of such global meetings so as to not steal the limelight from the host.

Some observers say Prayut will forever be indebted to China with Xi’s recent turf grabbing just another example of how Prayut’s administration serves as only another puppet to China.

Source - The Thaiger

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Philippines' President Duterte threatens to expel EU ambassadors

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday told ambassadors of European Union countries to leave the Philippines after he slammed the EU for being critical towards his administration.

“You leave my country in 24 hours. All of you,” Duterte said in a speech during the inauguration of the newly-renovated press briefing room in Malacañang.

  “Just like that you tell us: ‘You will be excluded in the UN’. Son of … go ahead,” Duterte told reporters, adding European nations were taking advantage of the Philippines being poor.

“You give us money then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in our country. You bullshit. We are past the colonization stage. Don’t f… with us.”

Duterte said he was prepared to kick European ambassadors out of the country if their governments tried to expel the Philippines.

 

“You think we are a bunch of morons here. You are the one. Now the ambassadors of those countries listening now, tell me, because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow. You leave my country in 24 hours, all, all of you.”

The EU had no statement calling for the Philippines’ removal from the UN but a seven-member delegation from the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists visited the country and called on the Duterte administration to stop killing suspected drug addicts and silencing its critics.

 

It was the New York-based Human Rights Watch that warned the Philippines would be at risk of being removed from the UN Human Rights Council because of alleged human rights violation in the country.

In a statement, the EU said it never called for the ouster of the Philippines from the UN.

“The recent visit of the delegation of the ‘International Delegates of the Progressive Alliance’ to the Philippines on 8-9 October was not a ‘European Union mission,’ as falsely reported by some media outlets,” the EU said.

The EU said it “was not part of the organization or planning of that visit – neither the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines nor the European Union institutions in Brussels.”

“The statements made by the Progressive Alliance during its visit to the Philippines were made solely on behalf of the Progressive Alliance and do not represent the position of the European Union,” it said.

The EU and the Philippines, it said, both “work constructively and productively together in a close partnership in many contexts and areas, including, of course, in the UN context.”

 

“The cooperation covers a very wide range of subjects, including trade, where this year the Philippines made extraordinary progress on its exports to the EU,” it said.

Sought for comment, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said there was no instruction from the President yet as of posting time.

“I was informed that as far as our relevant offices are concerned, at this time, DFA has not received any instructions on the matter,” DFA spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said.

President’s expression of outrage

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella clarified Duterte’s remarks.

“The President’s expression of outrage is in reaction to statements by a 7-member delegation of the International Delegates of the Progressive Alliance which has falsely portrayed itself as an EU mission,” Abella said.

He said the “delegation’s irresponsible statements protesting the alleged killings under the Duterte administration demean our status as a sovereign nation.”

“The call of the President for EU ambassadors to leave the country in 24 hours must be taken in this light,” he said.

“For so long has our President tolerated these undue interferences in our domestic affairs, and he has decided that these must stop if only to preserve the integrity and dignity of our State as a sovereign nation,” he added.

Source - TheNation 

China opens first overseas military base in Africa

China has officially opened its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, state media said Tuesday, a major step for the country's expansion of its military presence abroad.

Chinese military personnel, officials and guests attended a flag-raising ceremony and military parade to mark the occasion, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The event was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of China's military, the People's Liberation Army, on August 1.

Officers and troops paraded for an audience that included Djibouti's defence minister, Xinhua said. 

The logistics base is the first of its kind for Beijing, which will use it to support "naval escorts in Africa and southwest Asia, (UN) peacekeeping and for humanitarian support," according to a previous China defence ministry statement.

China sent its first deployment of troops to the facility on July 11, marking the occasion with a ceremony in the southern province of Guangdong.

China has described the base as "defensive in nature", saying it will provide support for naval escorts, UN peacekeeping, anti-piracy and evacuating Chinese nationals from the region in case of emergency.

The Chinese navy has long assisted anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, as well as UN peacekeeping efforts throughout Africa.

China started building the base in February 2016 in the entrepot on the Horn of Africa, where it will be stationed just a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, the United States' only permanent base in Africa.

Beijing has made extensive infrastructure investments throughout the African continent as it seeks to gain access to natural resources and new markets.

Chinese banks have been major funders of at least 14 such projects in Djibouti, valued at 14.4 billion dollars in total, including a railway line that will halve transit times from Djibouti to Ethiopia's Addis Ababa.

Home to only around 800,000 people, Djibouti also hosts troops from France and Japan.

Source - TheJakartaPost

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#Thailand - PM denies court interference.

Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is surrounded by supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court yesterday to make her closing statement in the case linked to her government’s controversial rice-pledging scheme.

‘No concern’ about mobilization ahead of August 25 verdict.

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday rejected allegations by former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, insisting that he had never interfered in the judicial process as she alleged during her closing remarks to the Supreme Court yesterday. 

Yingluck earlier said in court that junta chief Prayut, who staged a coup to topple her government three years ago, had implied in a recent statement that she was guilty in the case relating to her government’s rice-pledging scheme, otherwise she would never have been brought to court. 

Prayut said yesterday the junta government had only provided testimony as witnesses for the plaintiff, which is the government itself.

“I never led [the decision] of the court. I don’t have to order them,” the premier said. “The judicial system is always independent. They have inspected the issues based on facts and they’ve finished.”

Yingluck is accused of negligence and malfeasance for allegedly ignoring corruption related to the rice-pledging scheme conducted while she was in office, despite a warning from the Office of the Auditor-General. 

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