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BEIJING: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday for talks that could set a course for future relations after years of strained ties.
Macron, who arrived in Beijing late Wednesday, told reporters that Europe must resist reducing trade and diplomatic ties with Beijing, which is at odds with the West over issues including Taiwan, sensitive technologies and China’s close ties with Russia.
Von der Leyen said ahead of her trip that Europe must “de-risk” its relations with Beijing, as China had shifted from an era of reform and opening to one of security and control.
Europe’s relations with China have soured in recent years, mainly because of an investment pact that stalled in 2021 and Beijing’s refusal to condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
But emerging from years of sparse diplomatic activity as pandemic border controls largely shut the country off from the rest of the world, China is eager to ensure Europe does not follow what it sees as US-led efforts to contain its rise.
For Macron’s visit at least, there are high expectations in Beijing.
“Macron’s visit is expected to produce concrete results in furthering economic and trade cooperation between China and France, as well as to increase political mutual trust,” state media outlet Global Times wrote in an editorial on Thursday.
“It is worth noting that various forces in Europe and the US are paying close attention to Macron’s visit and exerting influence in different directions,” the Global Times wrote. “In other words, not everyone wants to see Macron’s visit to China go smoothly and successfully.”
Macron will first meet newly appointed Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People, before Li heads for a “working lunch” with von der Leyen, who will be on her first trip to China since becoming European Commission President in late 2019.
Later in the afternoon, Macron and von der Leyen will separately hold talks with President Xi Jinping before all three hold trilateral talks in the evening.
Both Macron and von der Leyen have said they want to persuade China to use its influence over Russia to bring peace in Ukraine, or at least deter Beijing from directly supporting Moscow in the conflict. Russia calls the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation.”
Macron, traveling with a 50-strong business delegation including Airbus, luxury giant LVMH and nuclear energy producer EDF, is also expected to announce deals with China.
But not everyone back home thinks that is a good signal to send.
“Three-quarters of the delegation are business leaders: the goal is first and foremost to sign contracts,” left-wing MEP Raphael Glucksmann wrote on Twitter ahead of Macron’s visit. “At a time the debate in Europe focuses on our suicidal dependency on China and Chinese interference, the message is inopportune.”
BEIJING: French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he wants to forge a “common path” with China on peace in Ukraine when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
French officials said earlier Macron planned to urge Xi to use Beijing’s influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to promote peace in Ukraine but expected no major change in China’s position.
Xi and Putin declared their governments had a “no limits friendship” before Moscow’s February 2022 attack on Ukraine. Beijing has refused to criticize the Kremlin but has tried to appear neutral and has called for a cease-fire and peace talks.
Macron said during a meeting with ruling Communist Party’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, that he wanted to talk about “Ukraine, but also about all the major conflicts and the difficult situations around the world.”
“The ability to share a common analysis and build a common path is essential,” Macron said.
Li said there was likely to be “broad consensus” between Macron and Xi but gave no indication whether Beijing might be willing to lobby Moscow to make peace.
The meeting will “send positive signals of concerted efforts by China, France and Europe to maintain world peace and stability,” Li said.
Macron was accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a show of European unity in dealings with Beijing.
Xi and Putin declared their governments had a “no limits friendship” before Moscow’s February 2022 attack on Ukraine. Beijing has refused to criticize the Kremlin but has tried to appear neutral and has called for a cease-fire and peace talks.
Macron said Wednesday he wanted to “engage China toward a shared responsibility for peace” in Ukraine. He expressed hope China will “participate in initiatives that are useful to the Ukrainian people.”
Xi’s government sees Russia as a source of energy and as a partner in opposing what both say is US domination of global affairs.
China is the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas, which helps to prop up the Kremlin’s revenue in the face of Western sanctions. That increases Chinese influence, but Xi appears reluctant to jeopardize that partnership by pressuring Putin.
Meanwhile, NATO’s 31 member countries warned Wednesday of “severe consequences” should China start sending weapons and ammunition to Russia.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said giving “lethal aid” would be a “historic mistake.” He warned there would be “severe consequences” but declined to give details.
Last week, von der Leyen warned the European Union must be prepared to develop measures to protect trade and investment that China might exploit for its own security and military purposes.
Macron said Wednesday he will push for “working in partnership” with China on climate. He said France will organize a global conference on the protection of oceans in 2025 and said China should be part of these efforts.
SEOUL: South Korea warned Thursday it will take “necessary steps” if Pyongyang continues its unauthorized use of a joint industrial complex in the North once seen as a symbol of reconciliation.
More than 50,000 North Korean workers once worked at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, churning out products ranging from watches to clothes for about 125 South Korean companies that supplied the funding and equipment.
Seoul pulled out of the venture — launched in the wake of the 2000 inter-Korean summit — in 2016 in response to a nuclear test and missile launches by the North, saying Kaesong profits were helping fund the provocations.
But the North has continued using the facility and its South Korean-owned assets without permission, Seoul’s unification ministry said Thursday.
South Korea’s liaison office sent a notice on Thursday demanding activity at the factory complex cease, but North Korea refused to accept it, the ministry said.
The announcement came a day after North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper released a set of photographs showing what appeared to be a South Korean bus once used to carry workers to the complex running in Pyongyang.
The continued operation of the facilities “regardless of the will of the businessmen is a clear violation of property rights” and the two Koreas’ agreement on investment guarantees, Seoul’s notice said, according to the ministry.
“North Korea should stop this immediately. If there is no corresponding response from North Korea regarding our request, we will take necessary steps assuming that North Korea has admitted to operating the complex without permission,” the notice said.
What action might be taken was not specified.
While open, the business park was virtually the last remaining form of economic cooperation between the Koreas, providing precious hard currency for the impoverished North and cheap labor and tax breaks for the involved companies.
North Korea has doubled down on the expansion of its military arsenal and nuclear program since a 2019 Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong Un and then-US president Donald Trump failed to yield any meaningful outcome.
In recent weeks, it has tested what state media has claimed was an underwater, nuclear-capable drone and carried out the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Officials in Seoul and Washington have warned since early 2022 that North Korea may be preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test, with some experts saying it could be imminent.
TAIPEI: China sent warships through waters around Taiwan on Thursday as it vowed a “resolute response” to the island’s president meeting US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen held talks with McCarthy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, expressing gratitude afterwards for the meeting that she said showed her island was not isolated on the international stage.
China had repeatedly warned both sides the meeting should not take place, and deployed an aircraft carrier through waters near Taiwan hours before the talks went ahead.
Three additional warships were detected in waters separating the island from mainland China, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday morning.
An anti-submarine helicopter had also crossed the island air defense identification zone, according to the ministry.
Despite Taiwan having been ruled separately for more than 70 years, China views it as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
China carried out its largest-ever air and sea exercises around Taiwan following a visit in August last year by McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, to the island.
China deployed warships, missiles and fighter jets into the waters and skies around Taiwan in August.
Its response to the McCarthy meeting has so far been on a much lower level.
Tsai said in the United States she had received a warm welcome from politicians on both sides of the aisle.
“Their presence and unwavering support reassure the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated and we are not alone,” she told reporters at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
Tsai’s visit to California was technically a stop-over after a trip to Latin America to see two of Taiwan’s dwindling band of official diplomatic allies.
Hours after the Tsai-McCarthy meeting, China issued a strong rebuke.
“In response to the seriously erroneous acts of collusion between the United States and Taiwan, China will take resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” China’s foreign ministry said.
However there were no initial signs of extra military activity on Thursday morning on Pingtan island in southeastern China — home to a People’s Liberation Army base and known as the closest point on the mainland to Taiwan.
AFP journalists on Pingtan last year had witnessed missile launches and army helicopters flying over the island following Pelosi’s visit.
McCarthy, who is second in line to the US presidency, said a shared belief in freedom and democracy underpinned a relationship that was “a matter of profound importance to the free world.”
He had originally planned to go himself, but opted instead to meet Tsai in California.
The decision was viewed as a compromise that would underscore support for Taiwan but avoid inflaming tensions with China.
McCarthy vowed US arms sales to Taiwan — which infuriate Chinese leadership — would continue, in what he said was a proven strategy to dissuade aggression.
“And what we know through history, the best way to do that is supply the weapons that allow people to deter war,” he said.
“It is a critical lesson that we learned through Ukraine, that the idea of just sanctions in the future is not going to stop somebody” who wants to wage war.
Despite having all the trappings of a fully functioning state, only a handful of countries acknowledge Taiwan as a sovereign nation.
Under a carefully constructed diplomatic fudge, the United States formally recognizes authoritarian Beijing, but is an important backer of Taiwan, and maintains strong unofficial and commercial ties.
Taipei enjoys bipartisan support in the US Congress, and has grown closer to Washington under Tsai’s leadership — much to China’s annoyance.
Pelosi on Wednesday praised the California meeting, which was attended by more than a dozen lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican.
“Today’s meeting between President Tsai of Taiwan and Speaker McCarthy is to be commended for its leadership, its bipartisan participation and its distinguished and historic venue,” she said.
Tsai times out as Taiwanese president in 2024, and her party is facing a challenge from opponents seen as closer to Beijing.
She has positioned herself as a defender of the status quo — de facto, but unspoken, independence, even as China poaches allies and pressures foreign governments to isolate Taipei.
“We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated,” she told reporters.
“Taiwan is grateful to have the United States of America by all sides as we confront the unique challenges of our time.”
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The burning of coal for electricity, cement, steel and other uses went up in 2022 despite global promises to phase down the fuel that’s the biggest source of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere, a report Wednesday found.
The coal fleet grew by 19.5 gigawatts last year, enough to light up around 15 million homes, with nearly all newly commissioned coal projects in China, according to a report by Global Energy Monitor, an organization that tracks a variety of energy projects around the globe.
That 1 percent increase comes at a time when the world needs to retire its coal fleet four and a half times faster to meet climate goals, the report said. In 2021, countries around the world promised to phase down the use of coal to help achieve the goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).
“The more new coal projects come online, the steeper the cuts and commitments need to be in the future,” said Flora Champenois, the report’s lead author and the project manager for GEM’s Global Coal Plant Tracker.
New coal plants were added in 14 countries and eight countries announced new coal projects. China, India, Indonesia, Turkiye and Zimbabwe were the only countries that both added new coal plants and announced new projects. China accounted for 92 percent of all new coal project announcements.
China added 26.8 gigawatts and India added about 3.5 gigawatts of new coal power capacity to their electricity grids. China also gave clearance for nearly 100 gigawatts of new coal power projects with construction likely to begin this year.
But “the long term trajectory is still toward clean energy,” said Shantanu Srivastava, an energy analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis who is based in New Delhi. Srivastava said the pandemic and the war in Ukraine temporarily drove some nations toward fossil fuels.
In Europe, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine meant a scramble for alternative energy sources and droughts stifled hydropower, the continent only saw a very minor increase in coal use.
Others went the other way. There were significant shutdowns in the US where 13.5 gigawatts of coal power was retired. It’s one of 17 countries that closed up plants in the past year.
With nearly 2,500 plants around the world, coal accounts for about a third of the total amount of energy installation globally. Other fossil fuels, nuclear energy and renewable energy make up the rest.
To meet climate goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, coal plants in rich countries need to be retired by 2030 and coal plants in developing countries need to be shut down by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. That means around 117 gigawatts of coal needs to be retired every year, but only 26 gigawatts was retired in 2022.
“At this rate, the transition away from existing and new coal isn’t happening fast enough to avoid climate chaos,” said Champenois.
Srivastava added that its important to make sure the millions employed in coal and other dirty industries are not left behind when transitioning to clean energy, although that gets more difficult the more coal projects get locked in.
“Every day we delay a transition to clean energy,” Srivastava said, “it not only makes it harder to achieve climate goals but it also makes the transition more expensive.”
NEW YORK: Former US President Donald Trump’s surrender on criminal charges Tuesday was marked by clashes between his fans and foes outside a downtown Manhattan courtroom, and a now-familiar cycle of name-calling and outrage from lawmakers and Trump himself.
But many Americans who say they are watching this case and other Trump investigations play out aren’t looking for political point-scoring — they’re holding out hope that the US democracy delivers justice.
“It’s what the system is for,” said Carla Sambula, who said she had driven an hour from her Rockland County, New York, home to sit in line outside a Manhattan courthouse so she could witness Trump’s indictment firsthand. “It’s hard to say if they’ll get it right, especially as a woman of color,” said Sambula, who is Black, adding she has not cast a vote since one for President Barack Obama in 2016.
Americans’ trust in such institutions as Congress, television news and the presidency, fell to the lowest average level in more than 40 years last year, Gallup polling shows. Just 14 percent say they have a great deal or “quite a lot” of confidence in the criminal justice system, half the level of a decade ago.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is the first of several involving Trump as the country braces for a 2024 presidential election in which Trump is the leading Republican candidate. Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of cynicism on the far right and the far left,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer and a professor of law at University of Minnesota. Both sides have coalesced around the idea that “the law is not about law, it is just about politics and power.”
Trump himself has over the years complained that law enforcement was targeting him for political purposes, and his rhetoric has heightened since the New York case surfaced.
On Wednesday, Trump called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the US Justice Department and the FBI. A number of Republicans have expressed concern the case is a test of whether government can be weaponized against disfavored politicians.
About half of Americans think the investigations against Republican Trump are politically motivated actions by Democrats, a new Reuters/Ispos poll shows — including 36 percent of Democrats. Half of Americans, meanwhile believe Trump and some members of the Republican party are working to delegitimize law enforcement to prevent charges against Trump — including 30 percent of Republicans.
Americans, however, say they want accountability — about 70 percent disagree with the idea of US presidents having immunity from all but the most serious criminal charges, the Reuters/Ipsos poll finds. An even higher level agree that no one in America should be “above the law.”
The US judicial system will be under intense scrutiny in the months ahead, as multiple track investigations continue.
The Manhattan case, which relates to hush money to a porn star, could last a year or more. An investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia may result in an indictment this spring, and the Department of Justice is investigating a related transfer-of-power issue as well as Trump’s retention of classified documents. A civil trial over voting machine company Dominion’s defamation allegations against Fox News over the 2020 election could start this month.
“One of the pillars of democracy is to hold elected leaders accountable. Usually we think of that politically, but it also applies legally when crimes have been committed,” said Vince Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal and advocacy group.
The flurry of legal actions against Trump “could signal an era where presidential actions are subjected to legal accountability moving forward,” Warren said.
Amir Ali, executive director at the MacArthur Justice Center, pointed to the disproportionate incarceration of minorities and lower income people in the United States and said the system “has routinely given people with power a free pass.”
“It’s obvious the criminal legal system can punch down — it’s proven that, and oppressively so,” Ali said.
Yusef Salaam, one of five Black teenagers wrongfully convicted in a 1989 rape case wrote a full-page newspaper advertisement echoing one Trump paid for decades ago calling for Salaam and others dubbed the “Central Park Five” to face the death penalty.
“Even though thirty-four years ago you effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children, I wish you no harm,” Salaam, now a Democratic candidate for the New York City Council, wrote in his ad. “Rather, I am putting my faith in the judicial system to seek out the truth.”
The issues that will be addressed in multiple Trump-related cases coming up “reflect the fragility of any democracy,” said Adav Noti, vice president with the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan government watchdog. “People may try to stay in power illegally,” he said.
At least two ongoing probes into Trump deal with questions of whether he tried to block the lawful transfer of power to his successor, Democrat Joe Biden. Trump continues to assert falsely that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud
The way to prevent the sabotage of a future election is for “high level people to do prison time for trying to overturn the 2020 election,” said Noti.
“There’s a good reason,” for the cynicism Americans feel, he said. But “it doesn’t have to be this way.”