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#Taiwan #China #Seeds
Unknown Origin! Mysterious Packages Transhipped Through Taiwan, Chunghwa Post Clarifies
Following recent reports of people in the US, the UK and Taiwan receiving mysterious packages of seeds and soil, news on similar incidents in Canada have also surfaced. The Canadian police tweeted, “If you receive an unsolicited shipment of foreign seeds in the mail from China or Taiwan DO NOT plant or dispose of them. Call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ... Unsolicited seeds could be invasive & threaten our environment.”
The photo showed a package of seeds of unknown origin labelled with the texts "Taiwan Free Zone”.
Chunghwa Post clarified that the packages were transhipments from outside of Taiwan, and subsequently shipped to its destination through the Taiwanese post. Chunghwa Post said that the logistics company would be fined NT$100,000 for violating mailing regulations. The company has stated that it would terminate its contract with their sending client, but refused to confirm whether the packages came from China as it involved trade secret.
Chunghwa Post emphasized that this violation was the first of its kind. It said that it would request the logistics company to make a genuine declaration for the transhipped packages and strengthen inspection efforts at customs.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/1246772398777670/posts/3111967562258135/ #Jul30
Unknown Origin! Mysterious Packages Transhipped Through Taiwan, Chunghwa Post Clarifies
Following recent reports of people in the US, the UK and Taiwan receiving mysterious packages of seeds and soil, news on similar incidents in Canada have also surfaced. The Canadian police tweeted, “If you receive an unsolicited shipment of foreign seeds in the mail from China or Taiwan DO NOT plant or dispose of them. Call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ... Unsolicited seeds could be invasive & threaten our environment.”
The photo showed a package of seeds of unknown origin labelled with the texts "Taiwan Free Zone”.
Chunghwa Post clarified that the packages were transhipments from outside of Taiwan, and subsequently shipped to its destination through the Taiwanese post. Chunghwa Post said that the logistics company would be fined NT$100,000 for violating mailing regulations. The company has stated that it would terminate its contract with their sending client, but refused to confirm whether the packages came from China as it involved trade secret.
Chunghwa Post emphasized that this violation was the first of its kind. It said that it would request the logistics company to make a genuine declaration for the transhipped packages and strengthen inspection efforts at customs.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/1246772398777670/posts/3111967562258135/ #Jul30
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Nobel Prize winners say China tried to 'bully' scientists into disinviting Dalai Lama from meeting
More than 100 Nobel laureates are expressing outrage over what they say was an attempt by the Chinese government to "bully the scientific community" earlier this year by seeking to censor two Nobel laureates during the Nobel Prize Summit in April held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Nobel Foundation.
They say the Chinese Embassy in Washington demanded that the summit disinvite two speakers, the Dalai Lama and the Taiwanese chemist Yuan T. Lee — both Nobel Prize winners who have criticized Chinese policy regarding their native lands.
After they rejected the Chinese demands, the Nobel laureates allege, a video transmission during the session was disrupted "by a presumed cyberattack," though they are not able to attribute it to China.
Source: NBC #Jul30
https://nbcnews.to/3i8hucS
#Nobel #Prize #China
More than 100 Nobel laureates are expressing outrage over what they say was an attempt by the Chinese government to "bully the scientific community" earlier this year by seeking to censor two Nobel laureates during the Nobel Prize Summit in April held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Nobel Foundation.
They say the Chinese Embassy in Washington demanded that the summit disinvite two speakers, the Dalai Lama and the Taiwanese chemist Yuan T. Lee — both Nobel Prize winners who have criticized Chinese policy regarding their native lands.
After they rejected the Chinese demands, the Nobel laureates allege, a video transmission during the session was disrupted "by a presumed cyberattack," though they are not able to attribute it to China.
Source: NBC #Jul30
https://nbcnews.to/3i8hucS
#Nobel #Prize #China
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Lawyers say China using Interpol to seek dissident’s return
Attorneys are asking the Biden administration to release from immigration custody a Chinese democracy advocate who could be deported to his homeland to face what they say are false charges — despite the lack of an extradition treaty between the United States and China.
Human rights advocates say this is one of a handful of cases in which China has used the Interpol “red notice” system to try to force the return of dissidents from the United States. Under the red notice system, a member country of the international police consortium can ask other countries to arrest and return fugitives living abroad. It’s not clear how often, if ever, this tactic has resulted in the U.S. turning over detainees to Chinese authorities.
Source: AP News #Jul30
https://apnews.com/article/6463bf3d26c5a4ed3b799e83116edc45
#UnitedStates #China #Biden #RedNotice
Attorneys are asking the Biden administration to release from immigration custody a Chinese democracy advocate who could be deported to his homeland to face what they say are false charges — despite the lack of an extradition treaty between the United States and China.
Human rights advocates say this is one of a handful of cases in which China has used the Interpol “red notice” system to try to force the return of dissidents from the United States. Under the red notice system, a member country of the international police consortium can ask other countries to arrest and return fugitives living abroad. It’s not clear how often, if ever, this tactic has resulted in the U.S. turning over detainees to Chinese authorities.
Source: AP News #Jul30
https://apnews.com/article/6463bf3d26c5a4ed3b799e83116edc45
#UnitedStates #China #Biden #RedNotice
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Samoa's new leader confirms scrapping of China-funded port
The new prime minister of Samoa has confirmed she will cancel a China-backed port project, but hasn't closed the door to China as she navigates a path for the Pacific nation against a backdrop of intensifying regional competition between Beijing and Washington.
Fiame Naomi Mataafa indicated she would only approve investments that had clear benefits for her country as she expressed doubts about the upside for the Pacific in being a pawn in a geopolitical tussle between the two superpowers.
Mataafa said China's interest in the Pacific had grown as the United States effectively "moved out" of the region.
Source: Reuters #Jul30
https://reut.rs/376vxt4
#China #Beijing #Port #Sydney
The new prime minister of Samoa has confirmed she will cancel a China-backed port project, but hasn't closed the door to China as she navigates a path for the Pacific nation against a backdrop of intensifying regional competition between Beijing and Washington.
Fiame Naomi Mataafa indicated she would only approve investments that had clear benefits for her country as she expressed doubts about the upside for the Pacific in being a pawn in a geopolitical tussle between the two superpowers.
Mataafa said China's interest in the Pacific had grown as the United States effectively "moved out" of the region.
Source: Reuters #Jul30
https://reut.rs/376vxt4
#China #Beijing #Port #Sydney
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Swiss set to match #EU sanctions if #China invades #Taiwan - agency chief
//The head of the Swiss agency that implements economic sanctions expects the neutral country to adopt any punitive measures the #EuropeanUnion launches against China if it invades Taiwan, she said in a newspaper interview.
China has been stepping up military activity around Taiwan seeking to pressure the democratically elected government there to accept Chinese sovereignty...
Asked by the Neue Zuercher Zeitung paper if #Switzerland would adopt EU sanctions against China in that case, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (#SECO) Director Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch said: "I strongly believe that we would adopt such sanctions.//
Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/article/swiss-china/swiss-set-to-match-eu-sanctions-if-china-invades-taiwan-agency-chief-idINL8N2ZB097
Source: Reuters #Jul30
#ChineseInvasion #Sanction #CrossStraits
//The head of the Swiss agency that implements economic sanctions expects the neutral country to adopt any punitive measures the #EuropeanUnion launches against China if it invades Taiwan, she said in a newspaper interview.
China has been stepping up military activity around Taiwan seeking to pressure the democratically elected government there to accept Chinese sovereignty...
Asked by the Neue Zuercher Zeitung paper if #Switzerland would adopt EU sanctions against China in that case, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (#SECO) Director Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch said: "I strongly believe that we would adopt such sanctions.//
Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/article/swiss-china/swiss-set-to-match-eu-sanctions-if-china-invades-taiwan-agency-chief-idINL8N2ZB097
Source: Reuters #Jul30
#ChineseInvasion #Sanction #CrossStraits
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#MadeinChina
Chinese rocket falls to Earth, NASA says Beijing did not share information
//A Chinese rocket fell back to Earth on Saturday [July 31, 2022] over the Indian Ocean but Nasa said Beijing had not shared the "specific trajectory information" needed to know where possible debris might fall.
US Space Command saidthe Long March 5B rocket re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approximately 12.45pm EDT Saturday (1645 GMT, July 31, 2022), but referred questions about "reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal impact location" to China.
"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. "Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth."//
Read more:
https://www.malaysianow.com/out-there-now/2022/07/31/chinese-rocket-falls-to-earth-nasa-says-beijing-did-not-share-information
Source: Malaysia Now #Jul30
#NASA #Space #Earth #ChineseRocket #LongMarch #Wenchang #Damage #InternationalSecurity #Malaysia
Chinese rocket falls to Earth, NASA says Beijing did not share information
//A Chinese rocket fell back to Earth on Saturday [July 31, 2022] over the Indian Ocean but Nasa said Beijing had not shared the "specific trajectory information" needed to know where possible debris might fall.
US Space Command saidthe Long March 5B rocket re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approximately 12.45pm EDT Saturday (1645 GMT, July 31, 2022), but referred questions about "reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal impact location" to China.
"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. "Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth."//
Read more:
https://www.malaysianow.com/out-there-now/2022/07/31/chinese-rocket-falls-to-earth-nasa-says-beijing-did-not-share-information
Source: Malaysia Now #Jul30
#NASA #Space #Earth #ChineseRocket #LongMarch #Wenchang #Damage #InternationalSecurity #Malaysia
MalaysiaNow
Chinese rocket falls to Earth, Nasa says Beijing did not share information | MalaysiaNow
Social media users in Malaysia however posted video footage of what appeared to be rocket debris.
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Italy minister: joining China's Belt and Road was 'atrocious' decision
Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision when it joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago as it did little to boost exports, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview published on Sunday.
Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step. Crosetto is part of an administration that is considering how to break free of the agreement.
The BRI scheme envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending. Critics see it as a tool for China to spread its geopolitical and economic influence.
Source: Reuters #Jul30
https://www.reuters.com/world/joining-chinas-belt-road-was-an-atrocious-decision-italy-minister-2023-07-30/
#Italy #China #Belt #Road
Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision when it joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago as it did little to boost exports, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview published on Sunday.
Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step. Crosetto is part of an administration that is considering how to break free of the agreement.
The BRI scheme envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending. Critics see it as a tool for China to spread its geopolitical and economic influence.
Source: Reuters #Jul30
https://www.reuters.com/world/joining-chinas-belt-road-was-an-atrocious-decision-italy-minister-2023-07-30/
#Italy #China #Belt #Road