Tag: China

China Defence Budget Conceals More Than It Reveals: Report

China’s Nuke Stockpile To Swell To 1500 By 2035: US Report

By LokMarg

With the aim to modernize, diversify, and expand nuclear forces, China has accelerated its nuclear expansion and plans to field a stockpile of about 1500 warheads by its 2035 timeline.

In a report titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Pentagon said Beijing probably accelerated its nuclear expansion last year, surpassing the operational 400 nuclear warheads stockpile.
“The Department of Defence estimates that the PRC’s operational nuclear warheads stockpile has surpassed 400,” the US Defense Department said in the report.

“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) plans to basically complete modernization of its national defence and armed forces by 2035. If China continues the pace of its nuclear expansion, it will likely field a stockpile of about 1500 warheads by its 2035 timeline,” it adds.

According to Pentagon, the PRC aims to modernize, diversify, and expand its nuclear forces over the next decade. Compared to the PLA’s nuclear modernization efforts a decade ago, current efforts exceed previous modernization attempts in both scale and complexity, the report said.

“The PRC is investing in and expanding the number of its land-, sea-, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms and constructing the infrastructure necessary to support this major expansion of its nuclear forces,” it adds.

On the “operational structure and activities on china’s periphery,” the Pentagon report said the PRC continues to refine military reforms associated with the establishment of the Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern, and Central Theater Commands, based on its perception of peripheral threats.

The Western Theater Command, oriented toward India and counterterrorism missions along China’s Central Asia borders, is geographically the largest theater command within the PRC and is responsible for responding to conflict with India and terrorist threats in western China, the report said.

According to Pentagon, PLA units located within the Western Theater Command include 76th and 77th Group Armies and ground forces subordinate to Xinjiang and Xizang Military Districts; three PLAAF bases, one transportation division, and one flying academy; and one PLARF base.

“PAP units responsible for internal security operations are also likely under the control of the Western Theater Command. Within China, the Western Theater Command focuses on Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Regions, where the CCP perceives a high threat of separatism and terrorism, particularly among Uyghur populations in Xinjiang,” it adds. (ANI)

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Sunak Foreign Policy Approach To China

Golden Era Is Over: Sunak On Foreign Policy Approach To China

By LokMarg

In his first major address on Foreign Policy, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday strongly asserted that the “golden era” between Britain and China is “now over” and that it is time to evolve the approach towards China as the country is posing a systemic challenge to UK’s values and interest with its authoritarian rule.

During his address at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet at London’s Guildhall, Sunak also criticised the human rights abuses taking place in China while putting forward his stance on foreign policy.
“Let’s be clear, the so-called ‘golden era’ is over, along with the naive idea that trade would lead to social and political reform. We recognise China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism,” the UK Prime Minister said in his address.

Speaking further he said, “We are taking a long-term view on China strengthening our resilience and protecting our economic security,” and added that the UK cannot simply ignore China’s global significance.

The UK Prime Minister also expressed concern over the ongoing protests in China against COVID lockdowns and said that instead of listening to people’s concerns, the Chinese government “has chosen to crack down further” as he highlighted the recent arrest and manhandling of BBC reporters in China.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Shanghai, where people were being bundled into police cars. Students have also demonstrated at universities in Beijing and Nanjing.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Shanghai on Sunday afternoon to hold what appeared to be a silent protest near where a demonstration against China’s zero-Covid policy erupted in the early hours.

Demonstrators holding blank pieces of paper and white flowers stood silently at several intersections, the person said under condition of anonymity, before police officers eventually moved to clear the blocked roads.

Sunak was supposed to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia earlier this month however the meeting was called off after NATO members gathered for an emergency meeting following a missile strike in a Polish village near the Ukrainian border.

The Prime Minister listed measures the UK government has taken, including new authority granted under the National Security and Investment Act, to prevent China from restricting its influence in the UK.

Reiterating Britain’s stand on Indo-Pacific, Sunak said the Indo-Pacific will deliver over half of global growth by 2050 compared with just a quarter from Europe and North America combined, which is why Britain joined the Trans-Pacific trade deal, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), delivering a new FTA with India and pursuing one with Indonesia.

India and the United Kingdom have a multi-dimensional strategic partnership and actively engage in bilateral trade. The two countries agreed to begin formal negotiations for an FTA in January 2022, aiming to advance trade and investment relations between them.

On Ukraine, Sunak said, “We stand by Ukraine and are also reinvigorating our European relationships to tackle challenges like security and tackling migration.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his maiden visit to Kyiv after assuming office, the previous week and assured Britain’s continued support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Taking to Twitter, the British Prime Minister wrote, “Britain knows what it means to fight for freedom. We are with you all the way @ZelenskyyUa,” as Sunak expressed support for Ukraine.

Earlier in August, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote a letter on Ukraine’s Independence Day, praising the country’s steadfast courage in standing up to Russian “aggression” and promising support from the people of the United Kingdom.

Sunak promised to continue assisting Ukraine’s valiant warriors and declared that Britain will continue to offer humanitarian aid to make sure Ukrainian people have access to food and medicine amid the ongoing war.

He said the UK’s “adversaries and competitors plan for the long-term” as he mentioned Russia and China and said the UK will “make an evolutionary leap in our approach”. (ANI)

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Chinese protests

China Censors Reference To Protest Code Words, Demonstration Hotspots Like Xinjiang

By LokMarg

Chinese censors are scrambling to scrub references to protest code words and demonstration hotspots like Xinjiang.

Chinese internet users and government censors are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game to control the narrative around the country’s anti- “zero COVID” protests, reported Al Jazeera.
By Monday, Chinese social media appeared to have scrubbed searches for protest hotspots like “Xinjiang” and “Beijing”, while posts with oblique phrases like “I saw it” – a reference to an internet user having seen a recently deleted post – were also censored.

“As the fissure widens between the lie and the truth, even what cannot be said or seen becomes immensely symbolic,” David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, told Al Jazeera.

“It can punch right through the veneer. And this is what we’ve seen over the past few days. The words, ‘I saw it, marking the void in the wake of a deleted protest video, can become powerful. Or students protesting on campus can hold up blank sheets of paper and they speak volumes.”

Many posts documenting the protests have already jumped China’s Great Firewall with the help of virtual private networks (VPNs) and have been shared on popular Western platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, which are officially banned in China.

“Beijing appears to be using the same tactics of censoring Chinese social media based on keywords – however, the amount of information that is getting out past the Great Firewall is definitely noteworthy,” Stevie Zhang, the associate editor of First Draft News, a non-profit dedicated to combating online misinformation, told Al Jazeera.

Zhang said internet users were evading censors by taking screenshots of posts before they were deleted and then sharing them with each other or posting them on Western social media. In some cases, posts have made it full circle back to China via Twitter screenshots.

Other users have taken to using seemingly unrelated and uncensored phrases to express their feelings, Zhang said, using “repetitions of ‘good’, or ‘well done’, or ‘win’ as a sort of sarcastic or passive-aggressive way of highlighting the inability for Chinese people to voice any form of criticism.”

The use of euphemisms is a common tactic of Chinese netizens to evade government censors, with abbreviations and homonyms often standing in for banned words. During China’s “Me Too” movement in 2018, many internet users posted under the hashtag “rice bunny” – which when said aloud in Mandarin Chinese sounds like “me too” – after the original hashtag was banned, reported Al Jazeera.

This time, China’s censors have also taken note of how much information is circulating on Western platforms such as Twitter.

Protests began in Urumqi, the capital of the far-western Xinjiang region, on Friday following the deaths of 10 people in an apartment block fire before spreading over the weekend to major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chengdu.

Meanwhile, China’s western Xinjiang region eased some COVID-19 restrictions in its capital Urumqi on Monday, after a deadly fire in the city blamed on virus controls sparked protests across the country.

People in the city of four million, some of whom have been confined to their homes for weeks on end, can travel around on buses to run errands within their home districts starting Tuesday, officials said at a press conference Monday, reported Arab News.

The protests in Urumqi erupted after footage posted on social media showed fire trucks spraying water from too far away to reach the apartment building, with internet users claiming authorities could not get closer due to pandemic barricades and cars that had been abandoned by people who had been quarantined.

Videos and photographs of the protests quickly circulated on Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat and Weibo, where they received tens of thousands of views before being deleted by government censors, reported Al Jazeera.

The acts of defiance shared online included scenes of people tearing down barricades, calling for the resignation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and holding up blank white pieces of paper as a symbol of protest.

China’s COVID protests come as the country is grappling with its most cases yet, promoting a new wave of lockdowns and restrictions on freedom of movement in big cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Guangzhou. Health authorities reported 40,347 new infections for Sunday, a fifth straight daily record.

Residents of Urumqi, where the recent protests began, have lived under harsh restrictions since August 10, in what is believed to be China’s longest continuous lockdown.

In late March and early April, a five-day “circuit breaker” lockdown in Shanghai was extended to two months, prompting food shortages and rare displays of public discontent.

China is the last country in the world sticking to a “zero-COVID” policy aimed at stamping out flare-ups of the virus at almost any cost. The strategy, which relies on lockdowns, border controls, and mass testing, has kept cases and deaths low compared with elsewhere but inflicted serious economic and social costs. (ANI)

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Covid In China

Covid In China: Protests Erupt In Jinping’s Alma Mater Tsinghua Univ

By LokMarg

In defiance of China’s zero-Covid policy, hundreds of students on Sunday protested at President Xi Jinping’s alma mater, Tsinghua University here.

“Protests have spread to Xi Jinping’s alma mater Tsinghua, where a student said: If we don’t speak up due to the fear of the [dark regime], I think our people will be disappointed. As a Tsinghua student, I’d regret this for the rest of my life. The crowd called out don’t be scared!” tweeted Linda Lew, a Bloomberg reporter.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Shanghai, where people were being bundled into police cars. Students have also demonstrated at universities in Beijing and Nanjing.

Hundreds of students from Beijing’s Tsinghua University rallied at their campus on Sunday.

“Tsinghua university right now the city after city seeing protests small and large against Zero Covid policies and against excesses of Communist Party rule – every hour there seems to be a new one,” tweeted Emily Feng, she posted a clip from Weibo, a China microblogging website.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Shanghai on Sunday afternoon to hold what appeared to be a silent protest near where a demonstration against China’s zero-Covid policy erupted in the early hours.

Demonstrators holding blank pieces of paper and white flowers stood silently at several intersections, the person said under condition of anonymity, before police officers eventually moved to clear the blocked roads.

Protests in China against heavy COVID-19 curbs spread to Shanghai on Sunday, with demonstrators also gathering at one of Beijing’s most prestigious universities after a deadly fire in the country’s far west sparked widespread anger, reported Reuters.

The latest unrest follows a protest in the remote north-west city of Urumqi, where lockdown rules were blamed after 10 people died in a tower block fire.

China is battling a surge in infections that has prompted lockdowns and other restrictions in cities across the country as Beijing adheres to a zero-Covid-19 policy even as much of the world tries to coexist with the coronavirus.

A fire on Thursday that killed 10 people in a high-rise building in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, has sparked widespread public anger. Many Internet users surmised that residents could not escape in time because the building was partially locked down, which city officials denied.

In Shanghai, China’s most populous city and financial hub, residents gathered on Saturday night at the city’s Wulumuqi Road – which borrows its name from Urumqi – for a vigil that turned into a protest in the early hours of Sunday.

“Lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!” the crowds in Shanghai shouted, according to a video circulated on social media.

At one point a large group began shouting, “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping, free Urumqi!”, according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the Chinese leadership.

China defends President Xi Jinping’s signature zero-Covid-19 policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the healthcare system.

Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world’s second-biggest economy.

Videos from Shanghai widely shared on Chinese social media showed crowds facing dozens of police and calling out chants including: “Serve the people”, “We don’t want health codes” and “We want freedom,” reported The Straits Times.

Some social media users posted screenshots of street signs for Wulumuqi Road, both to evade censors and show support for protesters in Shanghai. Others shared comments or posts calling for all of “you brave young people” to be careful. Many included advice on what to do if police came or started arresting people during a protest or vigil.

Shanghai’s 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, an ordeal that provoked anger and protest.

Chinese authorities have since then sought to be more targeted in their Covid-19 curbs.

But that effort has been challenged by a surge in infections as China faces its first winter with the highly transmissible Omicron variant. (ANI)

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Protesters Chant Step Down CCP In Shanghai Against China’s Zero-Covid Policy

By LokMarg

Protests erupted in China’s Shanghai on Saturday night against Beijing’s strict COVID-19 policy. Several videos have emerged on social media which showcased people chanting slogans against restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to curb the spread of Covid.

The protests erupted after 10 people died and nine others were injured in an apartment fire in Urumqi. Saturday saw protests erupt in Shanghai with people calling to relax COVID-19 curbs across the country. Expressing anger over the stringent Covid policy, Chinese citizens took to the streets in large numbers.
According to a video posted by DW News East Asia Correspondent William Yang on Twitter, people at ‘Urumqi Road’ held a protest against Xi Jinping-led Chinese Communist Party (CCP), chanting slogans like “Step down the Communist Party” and ” the Communist Party, Step down. Xi Jinping, step down.”

In a series of tweets regarding the protests in Shanghai, William Yang said that countless people gathered on Urumqi Road and chanted slogans, “I don’t want PCR test, I want freedom.” In another tweet, William Yang said, people in ‘Urumqi Road’ also called for ending the lockdown in Xinjiang.

“Citizens chanting #Xinjiang, end lockdown, #Xinjiang, end lockdown,” Yang wrote on Twitter.

Continuing the thread, he said that a scuffle broke out between people and police at the site of a protest in Shanghai. In a tweet, William Yang said, “Police surrounded the last few dozens of protesters at the scene in Shanghai and some women were reportedly taken away.”

“Incredible footage from #China’s #Shanghai, where countless people gathered at a road called “#Urumqi road,” chanting the slogan “Step down, the Communist Party” very loudly,” William Yang wrote on Twitter. Notably, the Chinese government has been adhering to strict COVID-19 policy in order to curb the spread of the virus ever since the pandemic emerged in China. The restrictions imposed by the Chinese government include strict lockdowns, travel restrictions, and mass testing.

Meanwhile, Joyce Karam, senior US correspondent at The National, also posted a video on her Twitter handle in which people were seen protesting against COVID-19 restrictions in Wulumuqi Road. “Rare protests erupt in #China’s largest city over Covid restrictions & gov. rules. “We want freedom” the crowd chants in this video from Wulumuqi road tonight,” Karam tweeted.

While sharing the protest video on Twitter, Axial Vibe Studio Co-founder Vivian Wu wrote, “Scale of the protest tonight in Shanghai. Notice police didn’t do anything but stand calmly watching ppl protest and shout. It’s not benevolence. My guess: they need to ask for directives from the top authorities. Police might be stunned as nobody dares to do so for decades.”

Earlier on Friday, a fire in a residential high-rise in Urumqi, where many residents have been placed under lockdown, set off public anger and questions about China’s zero-Covid policy. Chang Che, a freelance writer covering Chinese technology and society and Amy Chang Chien covering news in mainland China and Taiwan, writing in The New York Post (NYT) said that the protest erupted after the fire killed 10 persons in the region, with residents calling for the lifting of lockdowns.

Chinese commenters on social media shared reports and footage of the blaze that killed 10 people and injured nine in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, demanding to know if Covid restrictions had hampered the rescue or prevented residents from escaping their apartments or the building. Late Friday, videos circulated widely on the Chinese internet showing throngs of residents in Urumqi marching to a government building and chanting “end lockdowns.” (ANI)

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China's bellicose ambitions

Italy Must Lead Europe Against China’s Bellicose Ambitions: Think Tank

By LokMarg

Italian Senators through a dialogue on democracy urged the Italian government to lead Europe against China’s bellicose ambitions.

“When the Italian government under Prime Minister Conte signed the Belt and Road Initiative MoU with China, it was something “abnormal” said former Senator Luigi Campagna in the concluding remarks at the Dialogue on Democracy: The future of the Indo-Pacific, held in Rome on November 24th at Villa Malta.
The Dialogue on Democracy was launched in April 2022, to bring together members of parliament, social activists, and thought leaders from various democracies on one platform. “While action against China is important, it is essential for Italy to ally closely with India, as only this will help Italy counter Chinese pressure”, he said.

The event in Rome had Senator Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, President of the Permanent Commission on European Affairs of the Italian Senate launch the discussion by bringing into context the importance of the Indo-Pacific and the time in history today where there is a grouping of democracies and a grouping of autocracies, led by China.

While the new Italian government, led by Italy’s first female Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni is unlikely to renew the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) MoU signed by the previous government of Prime Minister Conte, it is also expected to be tough on China. Senator Terzi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a career diplomat, has a long history of calling out China on its human rights abuses.

In a recent interview with the Italian magazine Verita, Senator Terzi said “The ecological transition as interpreted by China, with the senseless exploitation of African mineral resources, contributes to inhuman working conditions contrary to international conventions, to the depopulation of agricultural areas and in general to the impoverishment of vast territories. These are factors which in the last ten years have contributed to an increase in migratory flows towards Europe”.

“The Indo-Pacific is of strategic importance to Europe and Europe is unable to address this elephant in the room in one voice” said Thibault Muzergues, the Program Director for the International Republican Institute referring to Europe’s inability to deal with China with a united policy and voice. He also referred to Italy’s importance in developing an enlarged Mediterranean strategy that was directly connected to the Indo-Pacific. “We are now in a generational struggle between autocracies and democracies”, he said.

“All countries in the Pacific, except Russia and China, have a great interest in keeping the seas, from the North Sea to the Pacific, as free and liberal, not (as) Mare Nostrum, but Mare Liberum,” he added.

Laura Harth noted human rights activist and political analyst expressed her disappointment at a muted European policy which each country designed towards China depending on independent needs. While the Italian parliament was considering sanctions against China for their oppression of Uyghurs, parliamentarians were getting lobbied by Italian business people who called and wrote at the request of their Chinese partners, the Chinese consulate and embassy in Italy, and the Italian embassy in Beijing, she said. She also expressed her deep disappointment that European leaders still wait to be summoned to President Xi’s court and the pacification of Xi follows the same path as the pacification of Russian President Putin a decade ago, something that Europe and Italy are currently paying a heavy price with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Former Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Gianni Vernetti, who has written extensively about the struggles in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet in his book “Dissidenti” (Dissidents, Rizzoli editors), spoke about the need stop tolerating China’s repressive policies, whether at home or abroad.

He mentioned China’s transition to absolute power, especially after the third election of President Xi Jinping as the supreme leader.

China’s aggression is not only a threat to the Tibetan or Taiwanese people but there is also no more Hong Kong left. Any hopes of the “one country two systems” promise made at unification now have been violently dashed by Beijing, a fate already faced by the Uyghurs, and Tibetans and awaiting Taiwan in case of unification.

“Europe must be united and aggressive in its answer and must lead as the head of all democracies against such bellicose ambitions,” he said.

Marco Respinti, editor of bitterwinter.org and veteran journalist brought up fears of being prosecuted even as a foreign citizen not living on Chinese territory, under new laws to suppress dissidence and free speech in China and Hong Kong.

With illegal Chinese police presence in almost all Western countries, including Italy, even non-Chinese nationals have to worry about expressing their opinions as journalists and private citizens when they speak against China, he cautioned.

Terzi summed up that Italy’s special transatlantic identity is on a different plane from even France and Germany. The current government will continue to persevere to defend democracy and freedoms, even in the face of great economic pressure from China. (ANI)

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China about Pakistan and Afghanistan

China’s Confirmation In, No Money For Terror Conference Awaited; Pak, Afgh Not Participating

By LokMarg

As the third edition of the ‘No Money For Terror’ Ministerial Conference is beginning from Friday, India on Thursday said confirmation from China is still awaited while Pakistan and Afghanistan are not participating in the international event.

However, a total of 78 countries and multilateral organisations, including Ministers from 20 countries, have confirmed their presence at the two-day conference being organised on November 18 and November 19 here in the national capital.
“A total of 78 countries and multilateral organisations are participating in the third edition of the ‘No Money For Terror’ Conference beginning from tomorrow (November 18),” said Dinkar Gupta, Director General, National Investigation Agency (NIA), India’s anti-terror agency which works under the Ministry of Home Affairs, while speaking in a press briefing.

Asked about the presence of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the conference, the NIA Director General said, “Pakistan and Afghanistan are not participating in this conference”.

On a query over the presence of China in the international event on terror financing, Secretary West (MEA) Sanjay Verma said “the participation of China is not yet confirmed”.

However, Verma clarified “China has been invited”.

Replying to another query about whether Pakistan was invited and did not come or it was not invited, Verma said, “China has been invited”.

Giving details of the event in the Curtain Raiser press conference on the third ‘No Money for Terror’ Conference, NIA DG said, “This is the third edition of ‘No money for Terror’ conference. The first was held in France in 2018… The second edition was organised in Melbourne, Australia in 2019.”

“India was offered to host the third conference but it could not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19,” said Gupta.

Noting “this is a very crucial way to stop terror financing and activities”, the NIA DG said a total 72 countries along with multilateral organisations are participating in the event”.

“India would be the 73rd country taking part in the conference.”

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will conclude the event and convey India’s determination in its fight against terrorism as well as its support systems for achieving success against it.

India will raise major issues like lack of universal consensus on laws regarding cybercrimes; weak control mechanisms of social media platforms and their misuse by terrorist and extremist groups, dark web, and crypto-currency in the international ‘No Money For Terror’ Ministerial Conference.

Crowdfunding; anonymous, decentralised, and untraceable nature of terror financing; effective multilateral and multi-stakeholder approach in identification and mitigation of threats of emerging terror-financing mechanisms; misuse of non-profit and nongovernment organisations as front structures for financing terror activities are among other serious agendas to be raised in the event.

This Conference aims to make progress in the discussions on combating terrorist financing held by the international community in the previous two Conferences in Paris and Melbourne. It also intends to include discussions on technical, legal, regulatory, and cooperation aspects of all facets of terrorism financing. It attempts to set the pace for other high-level official and political deliberations, focused on countering terrorist financing.

India will point out how additional challenges rise in terms of the inclusion and regulation of the private sector as well as the extension of technical assistance to smaller financial institutions.

India will also emphasize the cooperation among states carried out at the international, national, and regional levels which need coordinated responses from intergovernmental and national law enforcement agencies.

The focus of the conference will be on “more coordination” among all stakeholders.

The conference will further India’s efforts to build understanding and cooperation among nations in the fight against terror financing.

The hosting of this conference shows the importance being given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government to the issue of international terrorism as well as its zero-tolerance policy against this menace and having discussions on this issue in the international community.

Globally, countries have been affected by terrorism and militancy for several years. The pattern of violence differs in most theatres but is largely engendered by a tumultuous geo-political environment, coupled with prolonged armed sectarian conflicts. Such conflicts often lead to poor governance, political instability, economic deprivation, and large ungoverned spaces. The involvement of a complaint State often exacerbates terrorism, especially it’s financing.

India has suffered several forms of terrorism and its financing over more than three decades, hence it understands the pain and trauma of similarly impacted nations. In order to display solidarity with peace-loving nations and to help create a bridge for sustained cooperation on countering terrorist financing, India has hosted two global events in October – the annual General Assembly of the Interpol in Delhi and a special session of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee in Mumbai and Delhi. The forthcoming NMFT Conference will further our efforts to build understanding and cooperation among nations.

Discussions at the third ‘No Money For Terror’ Conference will be focussed on global trends in terrorism and terrorist financing, the use of formal and informal channels of funds for terrorism, emerging technologies and terrorist financing, and requisite international cooperation to address related challenges. (ANI)

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Xi Jinping Discussion At G20

Trudeau-Xi Jinping Heated Discussion At G20 Caught On Camera

By LokMarg

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a heated exchange of words during their conversation on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Wednesday with the Chinese leader complaining about the media reporting about their communication, according to a video of the meeting posted by a Canada-based journalist.

In the video, Xi is heard expressing his displeasure about talks between China and Canada being leaked to the Canadian Press. The two leaders had earlier met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the summit.
“The Cdn Pool cam captured a tough talk between Chinese President Xi & PM Trudeau at the G20 today. In it, Xi expressed his displeasure that everything discussed yesterday “has been leaked to the paper(s), that’s not appropriate… & that’s not the way the conversation was conducted,” Annie Bergeron-Oliver from the Canadian press CTV National News said in a tweet.

She posted the video along with her tweet.

Speaking through an interpreter, Xi said, “Everything we decided has been leaked to the papers that’s not appropriate… and that’s not the way the conversation was conducted if there is sincerity on your part…”

The Canadian Prime Minister is heard stating that there was free, open, and frank dialogue and that there will be things the two countries disagree on.

“We will continue to help…work constructively together but there will be many things we will disagree on,” Trudeau said.

The video ends with Xi Jinping saying “let’s create the conditions first”.

The two leaders shook hands after the brief conversation.

Trudeau had raised “serious concerns” over alleged Chinese interference in Canada in brief talks with Xi on the sidelines of this week’s Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Indonesia.

The Canadian Prime Minister’s office said in a readout on Tuesday that the two leaders discussed North Korea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Trudeau “also raised our serious concerns around interference activities in Canada”.

Last week, Canadian media outlet Global News reported that Canadian intelligence officials had warned Trudeau that China was “targeting Canada with a vast campaign of foreign interference, ” including meddling in the country’s 2019 elections.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Monday arrested a man in the province of Quebec for espionage, accusing 35-year-old Yuesheng Wang of obtaining trade secrets to benefit the Chinese government.

The China-Canada relationship has been frosty for several years, especially after Canadian authorities detained Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 on a United States arrest warrant. China then arrested two Canadians on spying charges.

While the standoff ended when all three people were released last year, relations have remained sour over several points of contention, including human rights and trade.

In their talks on Tuesday, Trudeau and Xi “discussed the importance of continued dialogue”, the readout from Trudeau’s office said.

The two leaders last met in June 2019 on the sidelines of another G20 in Osaka, Japan. They met three other times previously, once in 2015 on the sidelines of the G20 in Turkey, and twice during official visits in Beijing in 2016 and 2017. (ANI)

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Indian Army china

Amid Chinese buildup, Indian Army Built Infra For 450 Tanks, 22,000 Additional Troops

By LokMarg

Amid reports of Chinese buildup across the Line of Actual Control, the Indian Army has built infrastructure for housing 450 tanks and over 22,000 troops in the Eastern Ladakh sector opposite China, defence sources said.

The sources said that to counter the Chinese aggressive movements in the Pangong Tso lake which is both in India and China, the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineer has inducted new Landing Crafts in both Eastern Ladakh which has given a huge impetus to the patrolling capabilities and induction in men and material. The assault craft can carry 35 troops or one keeps with 12 men.
“Habitat and technical storage to include assets for 22,000 troops and approximately 450 A vehicles/guns have been constructed in the last two years. Focus has now shifted to undertake the construction of Permanent defences and infrastructure to improve defence preparedness in extant working season apart from completion of ongoing projects,” defence sources said here.

Speaking about the permanent defences being built along the borders, Indian Army’s Engineer in Chief Lt Gen Harpal Singh said: “3D-printed permanent defences have been constructed for the first time by Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers in the desert sector. These defences were trial tested against a range of weapons from small arms to the main gun of T90 tank.”

He added that such defences are able to withstand blasts, can be erected within 36-48 hours, and can be relocated from one place to another.

“With this, trial for similar permanent defences have also been carried out at eastern Ladakh and found to be useful,” he said.

Highlighting the infrastructure development being done by the Border Roads Organisation along the China border, defence sources said that presently nine tunnels which include a “2.535 Km long Sela tunnel, which will be the highest bi-lane tunnel in the world once completed. 11 more tunnels are also under planning.”

“The BRO has been entrusted with the task of constructing one of India’s highest airfields at Nyoma which is very close to the China border and will boost Indian capabilities there,” they said. (ANI)

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Reduction In Chinese At LAC

No Significant Reduction In Chinese At LAC: Gen Pande

By LokMarg

The situation in eastern Ladakh is stable but unpredictable and in spite of the onset of winter, there is no significant reduction Chinese army’s force levels on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Saturday.

The Army Chief was speaking at the ‘Chanakya Dialogues’ here in the national capital on the subject ‘Arming the Army-Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
Replying to a question of Major Gaurav Arya (retd) during a ‘fireside chat’ on the situation in Eastern Ladakh, General Manoj Pande said “situation is stable but unpredictable”.

“You are aware of the talks on the political, diplomatic, and military level which are going on between the two sides. Because of these talks, we have been able to find a resolution in five of the seven friction points which were on the table. And it is for the next two friction points, on that we are trying to find resolution,” Gen Pande said.

As far as China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) force levels are concerned, “there has been no significant reduction”, he said.

The Army Chief referred to the meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held last month in which the two sides agreed to continue discussions through diplomatic and military channels to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC and agreed to hold the 17th round of talks between senior military commanders at an early date.

“We are looking at a date for the 17th round of talks,” he said.

In terms of infrastructure development, General Pande said “that is going on unabated”. “We have the infrastructure in terms of road and helipad. This helps forces to improve their ability and move them from one sector to other”.

The Army Chief said the force’s transition to the winter posture is underway but “we have also made sure that we have adequate forces to deal with any contingency”.

He also said that the Army is also undertaking many transformational initiatives essentially to make it more modern and to be able to meet contemporary and future challenges of the battlefield.

Gen Pande said these transformational initiatives span across different domains and have been largely taken for the purpose to increase the efficiency of the Army, enhance effectiveness and find dominance.

The Army Chief said the focus is being laid on restructuring, optimization, modernization and transformational roadmap and that “our operational preparedness levels along the border are in no way diluted”.

Answering a query related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Army Chief said the message is clear that the country cannot rely on foreign sources only and that “it is our strategic necessity to develop our own capacity, become self-reliant, self-dependent and atmanirbhar.” (ANI)

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