Washington must respect Beijing’s “red lines” if both nations are to normalize communications, Chinese Foreign Minister has said
China rebukes US over Taiwan
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang address the media during a joint Press conference in the German Foreign ministry on May 9, 2023 in Berlin, Germany © Getty Images / Michele Tantussi/Getty Images
China’s foreign minister Qin Gang has reprimanded the United States’ envoy to Beijing for what he perceived as Washington’s support for Taiwan, while also saying that his country would not agree to bolster communication lines between Washington and Beijing without receiving political concessions from the White House first.
“The US should not talk about communication while continuously suppressing and containing China,” Qin said to Ambassador Nicholas Burns, according to a readout of their meeting released on Monday by China’s Foreign Ministry. “The US must not say one thing but do the opposite.”
Qin added that Washington “must respect China’s bottom lines and red lines, and stop damaging China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.”
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Tensions have amplified between the US and China in recent months, in part due to both nations’ respective stances regarding Taiwan. Beijing views the island as a breakaway province which remains its sovereign territory – but, while Washington doesn’t maintain official diplomatic ties with Taipei, it has supplied its government with defensive weaponry.
Beijing was also angered by Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen being granted an audience with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during an April visit to California.
The diplomatic spat between Beijing and Washington has led to discussions between the superpowers becoming less frequent. Speaking last month at an online summit hosted by a Washington-based think tank, Burns indicated that the US and China need “deeper channels,” particularly as the militaries of both nations operate closely to one another in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
Qin stated to Burns during their meeting that establishing stable communications between Beijing and Washington was crucial to mediating potential crises, according to the Chinese foreign ministry readout. But Qin also suggested that the souring relationship was due to the US and to its violations of Beijing’s “red lines.”
https://www.rt.com/news/576020-china-us-taiwan-communications/
The US House Oversight Committee has published roughly 20,000 pages of documents from the sex offender’s estate
US Democrats have released an email in which convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein claimed that President Donald Trump was aware of women procured for sex trafficking.
The email is part of some 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate published by the US House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. The documents include correspondence between Epstein and his close associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and related offenses.
In a 2011 email, Epstein wrote to Maxwell that a victim, whose name was redacted, “spent hours at my house with him,” referring to Trump. In a 2019 email to journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls as he asked (Ghislaine) to stop.”
The documents show Epstein referenced Trump multiple times, calling him “borderline insane,” a “maniac,” and “f**king ...
US President Donald Trump has called on Israel’s president to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a move widely seen as political meddling in favor of an embattled ally, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel’s presidential office released a statement on Wednesday, confirming that Trump sent a letter to President Isaac Herzog urging him to dismiss Netanyahu’s legal case.
“I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister,” Trump wrote on social media.
Trump praised Netanyahu’s aggressive policies towards Iran as commendable, framing them as a justification for dismissing the corruption charges.
“While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System, and its requirements, I believe that this ‘case’ against Bibi, who has fought alongside me for a long time, including......more below
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Dozens of Israeli settlers have launched a wide-scale attack on industrial and agricultural facilities in the northeastern sector of the West Bank, sparking major fires and injuring several Palestinians amid a surge of settler violence in the occupied territory.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing local sources, reported that settlers set fire to multiple vehicles, including four trucks belonging to a dairy factory in al-Lada’in industrial zone near the town of Beit Lid east of Tulkarm, and caused damage to the facility itself.
Settlers also destroyed nearby farmland, metal sheds, and tents used by a small Bedouin community living in the area.
Videos posted online show smoke engulfing the area, with Palestinian women heard shouting in the background, and men carrying extinguishers and water buckets scrambling to put out the fires.
Footage shows torched trucks, tents, and metal sheds, and smashed car windows......more below
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