Chinese streaming platforms have pulled down the films and video content starring Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves.
At least 19 films starring Reeves were removed from the Chinese Video platform, Tencent, according to Los Angeles Times.
Among the 19 deleted films, “The Matrix” trilogy, “Speed,” “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” and romances including “Something’s Gotta Give” and “The Lake House” were also there.
Earlier, in January, Chinese social media users criticized Matrix actor and called for the boycott of his work in China after the reports broke out that the actor would participate in a benefit concert on March 3 for Tibet House, a New York-based nonprofit affiliated with the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.The film company, Warner Bros’ representative and Reeves declined to comment, according to Los Angeles Times
Meanwhile, China on the pretext of internal and external security threats is upgrading its military infrastructure along the western frontier in Tibet and Xinjiang.
A MONTH AFTER Vladimir Putin plunged Europe into war, China is ready to explain why it sees no urgent need to stop Russia—its closest strategic partner—from killing Ukrainians. After fine-tuning arguments and propaganda lines for weeks, China’s Communist Party bosses and their envoys now have talking points for every audience.
The most common argument is built on deflection and anti-Americanism. This is used for Chinese domestic consumption and in public contacts with Western governments. As Chinese officials tell it, Russia is defending itself against American aggression and a long campaign of encirclement by NATO. Chinese officials think it is unfair of Western leaders to ask their government to intervene, because only American concessions to Mr Putin can bring lasting peace. Moreover, if the war is going slowly, that is because American interests profit from drawn-out agonies, Chinese diplomats charge. Spelling out the accusation, a deputy foreign minister, Le Yucheng, told a gathering at Tsinghua University that “arms dealers, bankers and oil tycoons” from a certain big country (ie, America) are making “highly immoral” fortunes out of the war, while Ukraine suffers. This hard line comes from the top. China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping, has given instructions that Russia is to be defended and America held responsible for Ukraine’s woes, leaving underlings to “backfill a foreign policy” around that decision, a foreign diplomat based in Beijing explains. To dramatise America’s obligations, Mr Xi reached for a Song-dynasty saying during a two-hour video call with President Joe Biden on March 18th, declaring: “He who tied the bell to the tiger must take it off.”
Mr Xi’s scolding, literary tone is striking because, according to American briefings given to foreign ambassadors in Beijing, Mr Biden used the call to convey his concerns that Russia may be contemplating attacks with chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine. His warnings were not a surprise to the Chinese. A few days earlier Mr Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, shared American intelligence about Russia’s possible intentions with China’s foreign-policy chief, Yang Jiechi, during a seven-hour meeting in Rome. Mr Sullivan told Mr Yang that Chinese support for Russian aggression would have a lingering impact on bilateral ties and on Mr Xi’s legacy. Mr Yang, it is related, responded with anger and complaints about America’s support for Taiwan, the democratic island that China claims as its own. Other officials have since copied that same rhetorical pivot to Asia. Mr Le called the crisis in Ukraine and NATO enlargement a mirror for observing American alliance-building in Asia and the Pacific, a trend which if unchecked would push the region “into a pit of fire.”
Chinese authorities confirmed on Saturday night that all 132 passengers and crew from China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 were killed when their aircraft crashed in southern China.
A rescuer tries to free a shoe stuck in the mud at the core site of a plane crash in Teng county in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday. Photo: Xinhua
The announcement from the search and rescue command centre in Wuzhou, near the crash site, was followed by a moment of silence for the dead, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The confirmation came as investigators said an electronic device installed near the second “black box” of the aircraft had been recovered, but the data recorder itself has not been found.
Zhu Tao, head of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said searchers had found the emergency locator transmitter, a device that sends a continuous radio signal in the event of a crash.
A leaked document has revealed that China and the Solomon Islands are close to signing a security agreement that could open the door to Chinese troops and naval warships flowing into a Pacific Island nation that played a pivotal role in World War II.
The agreement, kept secret until now, was shared online Thursday night by opponents of the deal and verified as legitimate by the Australian government. Though it is marked as a draft and cites a need for “social order” as a justification for sending Chinese forces, it has set off alarms throughout the Pacific, where concerns about China’s intentions have been growing for years.
“This is deeply problematic for the United States and a real cause of concern for our allies and partners,” Charles Edel, the inaugural Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on Friday.
“The establishment of a base in the Solomon Islands by a strategic adversary would significantly degrade Australia and New Zealand’s security, increase the chances of local corruption and heighten the chances of resource exploitation.”
It is not clear which side initiated the agreement, but if signed, the deal would give Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands the ability to call on China for protection of his own government while granting China a base of operations between the United States and Australia that could be used to block shipping traffic across the South Pacific.
Five months ago, protesters unhappy with Beijing’s secretive influence attacked the prime minister’s residence, burned businesses in the capital’s Chinatown and left three people dead. Now the worst-case scenario some Solomon Islanders envision would be a breakdown of democracy before or during next year’s election, with more unrest and the threat of China moving in to maintain the status quo.
The leaked document states that “Solomon Islands may, according to its own needs, request China to send police, armed police, military personnel and other law enforcement and armed forces to Solomon Islands to assist in maintaining social order, protecting people’s lives and property.”
In a major development in Indo-China relations amid the border stand-off, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, in his hour-long meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, on Friday promised “early and complete disengagement” as the “present situation was not in mutual interest”, top sources told CNN-News18.
Sources quoted above told CNN-News18 that the NSA wanted disengagement and it was promised that the process will be completed soon. “They agreed that restoration of peace and tranquility will help build mutual trust and create enabling environment for progress in relations,” said the source.
The meeting was fruitful, people familiar with the developments told CNN-News18.
Currently, thousands of troops remain deployed along India’s remote border with China in the Himalayan snow deserts of Ladakh, where hand-to-hand fighting broke out in June 2020. At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed during a clash in Ladakh’s Galwan valley – the first deadly encounter between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.
“Matters related to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are entirely the internal affairs of India. Other countries including China have no locus standi to comment,” the foreign ministry said.
Wang Yi had made a reference to J&K at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan. (File)
India on Wednesday reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and said it rejects the “uncalled reference” to it by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his speech at a function in Pakistan. “Matters related to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are entirely the internal affairs of India. Other countries including China have no locus standi to comment. They should note that India refrains from public judgement of their internal issues,” ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters today in response to queries on the Chinese Foreign Minister’s speech.
Mr Wang had made a reference to Kashmir in his opening speech at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan. “On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope,” he had said.
New Delhi’s rejection of Wang Yi’s comments came in the midst of hectic consultations between the two sides over a possible visit by him to New Delhi within two days.
China has time and again reiterated its support to the stand of Pakistan — its strategic ally — on the matter of Jammu and Kashmir.
All 132 passengers and crew on board an China Eastern Airlines flight were feared dead on Monday after the plane crashed into a mountain in southern China.
Rescuers prepare to head out to the plane crash site. Photo: Xinhua
There had been no official confirmation of any casualties seven hours after the crash, raising concerns that there was little chance of finding survivors.
Rescue work swung into operation after the Boeing 737-800 went down near Wuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that more than 600 firefighters were being sent to the scene to help local emergency services.
Flight MU5735, which was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, disappeared en route to Guangzhou after taking off from Kunming in Yunnan province at 1.10pm. After failing to arrive as scheduled at 2.52pm it was marked “out of reach” on Guangzhou airport’s app.
According to VariFlight, a Chinese civil aviation data provider, the plane had been flying at almost 8,900 metres (29,200 feet) before slowing down and losing height at 2.19pm. Three minutes later, when its height was recorded at around 1,300 metres, it disappeared from the radar.
The UK health security agency said that the daily Covid-19 cases in England could be growing each day as the estimated range of the country’s Covid reproduction “R” number is between 1.1 and 1.4.
Employees spray disinfectant as part of preventative measures against Covid-19 at the Pyongyang Children’s Department Store in Pyongyang.(AFP)
China reported its first Covid-19 deaths since January 2021 as the highly contagious omicron variant continued to spread across the country, the first epicentre of the pandemic. The two deaths were both reported in Jilin on Friday, according to the National Health Commission said in a statement.
The global deaths related to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) plunged by a fifth despite the continued resurgence of the pandemic this week. The average number of daily infections globally increased by 12% over the week to 1.8 million as Western counties see a rebound, according to an AFP tally. Covid cases in France increased by 35% this week, while Italy and Britain were up 42% each.
Citing a rise in Covid cases, a World Health Organization spokesperson on Friday said that the end of the pandemic was a long way off. Days after Bloomberg reported that WHO was discussing how and when to call an end to the global Covid-19 crisis, the UN health agency said that the pandemic was “far from over”.
Russia said its forces were “tightening the noose” around the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol on Friday and concern grew over mass civilian casualties as the United States again warned China against aiding Moscow in its invasion.
A Ukrainian service member checks cartridges for a machine gun at a position on the front line in the north Kyiv region, Ukraine March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
Russia’s advance in Ukraine has largely stalled, and its troops, frustrated by fierce Ukrainian resistance, have blasted residential areas to rubble. On Friday, missiles landed near Lviv, a western city where thousands have fled for refuge.
In Mariupol, the scene of heavy bombardment, officials estimated 80% of the city’s homes had been damaged and that 1,000 people may still be trapped in makeshift bomb shelters beneath a destroyed theatre.
Nearly 5,000 Ukrainians were evacuated from Mariupol on Friday, officials said, and residents reported seeing dead bodies along the roadside as they fled the city.
“We were careful and didn’t want the children to see the bodies, so we tried to shield their eyes,” said Nick Osychenko, the CEO of a Mariupol TV station who fled the city with six members of his family.
“We were nervous the whole journey. It was frightening, just frightening.”
Ukraine said it had rescued 130 people from the basement of a Mariupol theatre that was flattened by Russian strikes two days ago. Russia denied hitting the theatre and says it does not target civilians.
China is the one big power that has yet to condemn Russia’s assault, and Washington fears Beijing may be considering giving Moscow financial and military support, something that both Russia and China deny.
China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with new cases more than doubling from a day earlier to hit a two-year high, raising concerns about the rising economic costs of its tough measures to contain the disease.
Residents wearing face masks line up at a makeshift nucleic acid testing site during a mass testing for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chaoyang district of Beijing, China March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
A total of 3,507 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported on Monday across more than a dozen provinces and municipalities, up from 1,337 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.
Most of the new cases were in the northeastern province of Jilin.
Though China’s caseload is still tiny by global standards, health experts said the increase in daily infections over the next few weeks would be key to determine whether its “dynamic zero-COVID” approach, of containing each outbreak quickly as it arises, remains effective against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
Makers of everything from flash drives to glass for Apple’s iPhone screens are warning of shipment delays as they comply with China’s curbs against the disease, putting further strain on global supply chains.
The steep increase has fuelled concern over China’s growth prospects, helping to dent market sentiment, with its stocks closing at 21-month lows on Tuesday and oil prices sliding to a two-week low.
A COVID-19 forecasting system run by Lanzhou University in China’s northwest predicted the current round of infections will eventually be brought under control in early April after an accumulated total of about 35,000 cases.
The United States warned China after “intense” talks on Monday against helping Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine, while an anti-war protester interrupted Russian state TV news in an extraordinary act of dissent.
A member of the Emergencies Ministry of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic inspects the remains of a missile that landed in the street in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer
Moscow has not captured any of the 10 biggest cities in Ukraine since beginning its incursion on Feb. 24, the most significant attack on a European state since World War Two.
It calls its actions a “special military operation” to “denazify” the country and has asked for military and economic aid from Beijing, according to U.S. officials.
Moscow denies that, saying it has sufficient resources to fulfil all of its aims. China’s foreign ministry labelled the reports on assistance as “disinformation.”
China had signalled willingness to provide aid to Russia, a U.S. official said, as national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome.
“We have communicated very clearly to Beijing that we won’t stand by,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday. “We will not allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses.”
The seven-hour meeting was “intense” and reflected “the gravity of the moment,” according to a U.S. official.
The West is weighing how to deal with any involvement from China, top global exporter and No.1 foreign supplier of goods to Americans.
In Russia, a rare anti-war protest occurred in a studio during the main news programme on state TV’s Channel One, which is the primary source of news for millions of Russians and closely follows the Kremlin line.
A woman held up a sign in English and Russian that said: “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here.”
The protester could be seen and heard for several seconds before the channel switched to a different report so she was no longer visible.
A U.S. official said Russia asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine, a request that heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the U.S. and Chinese governments.
Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi, speaks at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, March 18, 2021. President Biden is sending his national security adviser for talks with a senior Chinese official in Rome on Monday, March 14, 2022. The meeting comes as concerns grow that China is amplifying Russian disinformation in the Ukraine war. Last week the White House accused Beijing of spreading false Russian claims that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with U.S. support. The White House says talks between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi will center on “efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on regional and global security.” (Frederic J. Brown/Pool via AP)
In advance of the talks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy. “We will not allow that to go forward,” he said.
The prospect of China offering Russia financial help is one of several concerns for President Joe Biden. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said that in recent days, Russia had requested support from China, including military equipment, to press forward in its ongoing war with Ukraine. The official did not provide details on the scope of the request. The request was first reported by the Financial Times and The Washington Post.
The Biden administration is also accusing China of spreading Russian disinformation that could be a pretext for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces to attack Ukraine with chemical or biological weapons.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put China in a delicate spot with two of its biggest trading partners: the U.S. and European Union. China needs access to those markets, yet it also has shown support for Moscow, joining with Russia in declaring a friendship with “no limits.”
In his talks with senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi, Sullivan will indeed be looking for limits in what Beijing will do for Moscow.
“I’m not going to sit here publicly and brandish threats,” he told CNN in a round of Sunday news show interviews. “But what I will tell you is we are communicating directly and privately to Beijing that there absolutely will be consequences” if China helps Russia “backfill” its losses from the sanctions.
“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywhere in the world,” he said.
In brief comments on the talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian did not mention Ukraine, saying that the “key issue of this meeting is to implement the important consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. heads of state in their virtual summit in November last year.”
China is scrambling to address its most severe Covid-19 outbreak in two years, reporting soaring cases in a fresh wave that has seen the country tweak its zero-Covid policy by allowing rapid antigen tests (RATs) for public use.
China, Wuhan, Covid-19
After topping 1,000 for two days in a row, new locally transmitted cases surged to more than 3,100, this time driven by a spike in symptomatic infections, the National Health Commission reported on Sunday.
It came as 16 provinces reported new coronavirus infections, as did the four megacities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing it would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Russia asked China for military equipment after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, sparking concern in the White House that Beijing may undermine Western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country, several U.S. officials said.
U.S. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks to the news media about the situation in Ukraine during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
Sullivan plans in his meeting with Yang to make Washington’s concerns clear while mapping out the consequences and growing isolation China would face globally if it increases its support of Russia, one U.S. official said, without providing details.
Asked about Russia’s request for military aid, first reported by the Financial Times, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said: “I’ve never heard of that.”
He said China found the current situation in Ukraine “disconcerting” and added: “We support and encourage all efforts that are conducive to a peaceful settlement of the crisis.”
Liu said “utmost efforts should be made to support Russia and Ukraine in carrying forward negotiations despite the difficult situation to produce a peaceful outcome.”
Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Washington believed China was aware Russia was planning some action in Ukraine before the invasion took place, although Beijing may not have understood the full extent of what was planned.
After the invasion began, Russia sought both military equipment and support from China, the U.S. officials said.
Sullivan told CNN Washington was watching closely to see to what extent Beijing provided economic or material support to Russia, and would impose consequences if that occurred.
“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Sullivan said. “We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world.”
The meeting, planned for some time, is part of a broader effort by Washington and Beijing to maintain open channels of communication and manage competition between the world’s two largest economies, a senior Biden administration official said.
No specific outcomes were expected, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the meeting’s focus was to “implement the important consensus” reached during the virtual meeting held between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden in November, which discussed “strategic stability” and arms control issues.
The situation in Ukraine is grave and China is deeply concerned, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday, as confrontations between Russia and the West persisted with no sign of easing.
Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the maternity hospital, damaged by shelling, in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Doubling down on an invasion that the West says has been losing momentum, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the green light for thousands of volunteers from the Middle East to be deployed alongside Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine.
The move, just over two weeks since Putin ordered the invasion, allows Russia to deploy battle-hardened mercenaries from conflicts such as Syria without risking additional Russian military casualties.
At a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to fight alongside Russian-backed forces in the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
The United States has asked China to provide “unhindered and unsupervised” access to all areas of Xinjiang to United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, during her visit in May this year.
Bachelet announced this week that she is set to visit China in May, including a trip to Xinjiang, after reaching an agreement with Beijing.
“The United States is aware of High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s announcement of her intent to visit Xinjiang. We call upon the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to ensure that her visit is accorded unhindered and unsupervised access to all areas of Xinjiang and to private meetings with a diverse range of Uyghur individuals and civil society groups,” said Sheba Crocker, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
In a statement, Crocker said that any credible visit should include access to the locations where atrocities and human rights violations and abuses, including forced labor, and should be followed by a timely, candid, and complete report on the visit’s findings.
