WORLD

Day after an audio clip of top Chinese military officials were purportedly heard discussing the Taiwan invasion, US President Joe Biden has warned Beijing against what he calls 'flirting with danger'. Biden, who is currently in Tokyo ahead of Tuesday's Quad summit, said his country would defend Taiwan militarily if China invaded the self-ruling island.

"That's the commitment we made. We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it... but the idea that it can be taken by force is just not appropriate," Biden said.

A viral audio clip tweeted by Jennifer Heng, China-born human rights activist has created ripples in Beijing. The 57-minute leaked clip posted by a YouTube channel LUDE media is the first ever recording of a Chinese military brass huddle in the country's history.

Beijing The US-led Indo-Pacific strategy is a ploy to create divisions and incite confrontation in the region, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Sunday. The plan is bound to fail, he added.

“Facts will prove that the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy is in essence a strategy to create division, to incite confrontation and to undermine peace,” Wang said.

Wang made the remarks as President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday to launch a plan for greater US economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific and attend a summit of the leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, comprising India, Japan and Australia, besides the US.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has resulted in a number of western countries stopping their business with Russia when it comes to the purchase of oil. The United States and a number of European countries are looking to stop the oil and gas imports completely dealing a major blow to the Russian economy. However, things can get better for Vladmir Putin as a Reuters report claimed that China is taking advantage of the situation by buying oil from Russia at bargain prices.

According to estimates by Vortexa Analytics, the report claimed that China’s oil imports can go up to a near-record 1.1 million barrels per day – up from 750,000 in the first quarter of 2022.

The chaos that followed the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August last year saw India shutting down its mission and pulling out of Afghanistan. With the country’s economy in a shambles and diplomatic ties suspended — India has still not recognised the Taliban regime — bilateral trade, which took a hit in the immediate aftermath of the takeover, picked up again. Via Dubai, and its banks.

Afghanistan has been a major destination for Indian sugar, and India one of the biggest importers of Afghan spices and dried fruits, especially apricots and figs. The Taliban takeover took place at a time when Afghanistan was expecting a bumper crop of dried fruits, most of it meant for India.

With the collapse of the economy and no diplomatic relations, there was uncertainty over the fate of this bilateral trade which included other exports from India and was valued at $1.5 bn in 2019-2020.

Amid a shortage of essentials in Sri Lanka due to a severe economic crisis, food rations distributed by China have sparked outrage among the Foreign Service Officers' Association (FSOA) of the country.

China's attempt to distribute rations like dhal, rice and other items, to influence the foreign officials of the crisis-hit Sri Lanka, has faced strong opposition.

The rations were all distributed by the Chinese government but the CCP trademark was concealed in bags provided to the villagers, the Colombo Gazette reported. The worst of the bribe was the distribution of dry rations to the staff of the Foreign Ministry, the report added.