Year: 2021

China on Thursday announced tit-for-tat sanctions on five US individuals, including a former commerce secretary, after Washington punished several Chinese officials over Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.

“These US individuals sanctioned are not allowed to enter the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, and their assets in China will be frozen. They’re also forbidden to trade with Chinese citizens and institutions,” Lijian Zhao, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, told a news conference in Beijing.

The sanctioned individuals include former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) President Carolyn Bartholomew, the Chinese daily Global Times reported.

The US State Department and US Treasury had last week announced fresh sanctions on five Chinese officials under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.

The sanctioned Chinese officials were deputy directors of the Liaison Office of mainland China in Hong Kong. They were already facing other sanctions.

Washington accuses the Chinese officials of “undermining democracy in Hong Kong.”

Denouncing the sanctions, Zhao had earlier called the US move “illegal and invalid.”

“The Chinese side firmly opposes it and denounces it in the strongest terms,” Zhao had told a news conference.

Since October last year, 39 Chinese officials have been designated under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.

Washington has also warned banks against any kind of transactions with the sanctioned individuals.

Source: Anadolu Agency

China on Thursday demanded that the US soldiers involved in a drone attack on Kabul that killed Afghan civilians in August must be held accountable and punished.

“China urges the US to launch a thorough investigation into the deaths of Afghan civilians in a drone attack this August, punish the perpetrators, and do justice to the Afghan people,” Senior Col. Tan Kefei, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense, told a news conference.

Pentagon had ruled out any punishment to US soldiers involved in the drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, that triggered global condemnation.

The drone hit was one of the last strikes when the US military was still in the war-torn country before it pulled out along with all foreign forces in August.

“The Chinese side always holds that all combat approaches and means, including armed drones, must comply with relevant rules of the international humanitarian law, especially on the strict distinction between innocent civilians and combat personnel,” Tan said, according to a statement by the Chinese Defense Ministry.

“The so-called Summit for Democracy led by the US has come to an end recently, but those innocent Afghan victims and their families still haven’t seen any justice done from the US after several months. That is a blatant stomp on the rules of international humanitarian law, and a great irony on the so-called ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ touted by the US itself,” Tan added.

The summit was convened by US President Joe Biden early this month to re-emphasize the need to uphold democratic behavior by respective countries. Russia and China were not invited while Pakistan did not attend despite the invitation.

Tan urged the international community to take “joint actions to investigate those warmongers and hold them accountable for deliberately sabotaging international rule of law and slaughtering innocent civilians without any scruple.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

The EU is ready to impose new sanctions, including an arms embargo, against the military regime in Myanmar, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said on Thursday.

?“In view of the escalating violence in Myanmar, increased international preventive action is required, including an arms embargo”, Josep Borrell wrote in a statement, adding that that bloc stood “ready to impose further sanctions against the military regime.”?

The statement also condemned the recent surge of violence in the Kayah and Karen states of Myanmar.

?Borrell called the attacks against civilians and humanitarian actors “unacceptable and a blatant violation of international law” and underlined “the urgent need to hold those responsible accountable.”

?On Dec. 24, soldiers killed and burned at least 35 people, including women, children, and humanitarian workers, in the Kayah state.

?Borrell confirmed that the EU would continue to provide humanitarian assistance for the people of Myanmar.

?The EU has imposed sanctions on prominent military leaders, government officials, as well as entities related to the military regime since the coup.

?The bloc has also allocated in total €89.5 million ($101.3 million) humanitarian aid for the people in need in Myanmar.

?On Feb. 1, Myanmar’s military junta seized power after allegations of fraud in the Nov. 8, 2020 general elections and political tension in the country.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday sent New Year’s messages to over 50 world leaders, including Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Russia and Turkey have “done much in recent times to develop bilateral ties, primarily in the trade, economic, energy and military-technical areas,” Putin said in his message to the Turkish president.

He said there are good prospects for Russian-Turkish collaboration in peaceful space exploration and production of COVID-19 vaccines, expressing confidence that the two countries will “further develop their productive cooperation and close partnership in international affairs.”

In his message to US President Joe Biden, Putin stressed that Moscow and Washington “could and should interact constructively, combining efforts to respond to the numerous challenges and threats facing humanity.”

“I am confident that, following up on our agreements reached during the June summit in Geneva and subsequent meetings, we can move forward and establish an effective Russian-American dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration for each other’s national interests,” he said.

To China’s President Xi Jinping, Putin said interaction between Moscow and Beijing this year was “exceedingly productive” as “a dynamic political dialogue continued at all levels.”

Bilateral trade was “up at an all-time high” and there was “effective coordination of efforts in addressing key items on the regional and international agenda,” he added.

He expressed confidence that Russia and China would expand “the entire range of bilateral ties” and fully implement a new joint project called the Year of Cooperation in Physical Fitness and Sports.

“I have no doubt that our Chinese friends will make sure that the Winter Olympic Games are a success. I look forward to our meeting at the opening ceremony of this sports festival,” the Russian president said.

In a message to the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Putin called for developing bilateral relations based on “equality and mutual respect.”

This, he asserted, would help “meet the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and contribute to strengthening stability and security in Europe and the rest of the world.”

Other leaders to whom the Russian president sent messages included UN chief Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis, and several former heads of foreign states and governments, including Japan’s Shinzo Abe, the US’ George W. Bush and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Oil prices slightly increased on Thursday as US crude stocks fell more-than-expected, declining five weeks in a row, however the omicron variant continues to cause negative market sentiments in the coming year.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $79.24 per barrel at 0635GMT for a 0.03% increase after closing the previous session at $79.21 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $76.62 per barrel at the same time for a 0.07% gain after trade ended at $76.56 a barrel in the previous session.

The larger-than-expected drop in the US crude oil inventories relieved investor concerns, signaling a recovery in crude demand in the US and putting upward pressure on prices.

US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.8% during the week ending Dec. 24, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels to 420 million barrels, exceeding the market expectation of a 3.2 million-barrel drop.

Gasoline inventories also decreased by 1.5 million barrels to 222.7 million barrels over that period.

However, the upward trend in the prices were limited due to the rapid spread of omicron globally, creating negative market sentiment on global economies and oil demand, as more countries consider imposing restrictions.

Britain reported 183,037 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, setting a new record for daily infections.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus also said that the fast-moving omicron variant of COVID-19 is triggering a “tsunami of cases,” leaving health systems near collapse, exhausting health workers, and disrupting the goal of halting the pandemic’s acute phase in 2022.

Karl Lauterbach, Germany’s health minister, also warned that people should prepare for a significant surge in coronavirus infections within a few weeks.

“The actual number of daily new cases are likely to be two to three times higher than the reported during the holiday period. Furthermore, we’re witnessing a significant increase in omicron infections. This worries us,” he told a news conference in Berlin.

Investors are now monitoring the upcoming meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, on Jan. 4. The group will decide whether to increase output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February.

The OPEC+ producers in their previous meeting agreed to stick to the scheduled output scheme ignoring requests from some countries including the US to raise the production.

The OPEC+ output deal is “essential” to oil market stability and the producers need to comply with the pact, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying on Wednesday by international media outlets.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Spain’s inflation rate hit 6.7% in December, the highest annual increase since March 1992, according to official data released on Thursday.

December’s inflation is 1.2 percentage points above the 5.5% registered in November, advanced figures published by Spain’s National Statistics Agency (INE) showed.

At the time, several economists suggested inflation was slowing down after it reached 5.4% in October.

Sky-high energy prices are the main cause of Spain’s soaring inflation rate, according to the INE, but increasing food prices are also taking a toll on consumers.

Preliminary data showed food products have surged around 5% compared to Dec. 2020.

As Spain experiences an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections, the cost of services related to COVID-19, such as testing, soared 18.3% compared to last year.

Core inflation, which does not include the more volatile factors of food and energy, rose 2.1%.

In November, inflation across the eurozone reached 4.9% – the highest since recordkeeping started in 1997, two years before the euro was introduced.

Source: Anadolu Agency