China slams Clinton's remarks over Syria stance

AFP photo

China rebuffed on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's accusation that Beijing and Moscow have hindered the resolution of the crisis in Syria today, saying any attempt to "slander" China was doomed to fail.

Clinton urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's enemies meeting in Paris on Friday to make Russia and China "pay a price" for helping him to keep power in Damascus, remarks that were among Washington's toughest yet in 16 months of revolt in Syria.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Clinton's comments were "totally unacceptable".

"On the Syria problem, China's fair and constructive stance and its contributions toward diplomatic efforts have attained the wide understanding and support of relevant parties in the international community," Liu said in a statement on the ministry's website.

"Any words and deeds that slander China and sow discord between China and other countries will be in vain."

In her comments to the Friends of Syria meeting, Clinton said the only way matters would change "is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price because they are holding up progress - blockading it."

Russia and China have repeatedly used veto power at the U.N. Security Council to block calls for Assad to leave power.

The two countries say they are committed rather to the peace plan drafted by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan which proposes national dialogue. U.N. peace monitors effectively gave up on their mission last month after just weeks in Syria as it became clear there was no peace to monitor.

Liu reiterated Beijing's stance that its actions were in keeping with the U.N. Charter and "the norms governing international relations".

Russia hit back at Clinton's criticism on Friday, saying the Secretary of State's comments were "incorrect". (BEIJING - Reuters)

Russia, China will pay price for Syria: Clinton

The US adopts a hard line on Moscow and Beijing for objecting to action on Syria, while Russia says Clinton’s remarks are inappropriate

Russia and China must “pay a price” for blocking U.N. sanctions that might press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into stepping down, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said July 6 in some of Washington’s strongest remarks yet on the crisis.

“The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price. They are holding up progress, blockading it. That is no longer tolerable,” Clinton told the Friends of the Syrian People conference in Paris on July 6.

Clinton’s remarks were followed immediately by a reaction from Russia, which was not present at the Paris meeting. “I categorically reject the formulation that Russia supports Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the situation that has developed in Syria,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.

“What the Russian Federation is engaged in is not supporting specific politicians or political figures in Syria, but in work that we hope will help create the important dialogue between the authorities and the opposition. … The issue is not supporting specific political figures or leaders, but putting the process of regulating the crisis on a normal political basis.”

Russia criticize Clinton’s remarks as ‘inappropriate’

“The statement is inappropriate,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov also told the Interfax news agency in an interview, saying the comment was not in line with the recent declaration signed in Geneva.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, present at the conference, called for pressure on countries that support the Syrian administration and urged the necessity of establishing a transitional government for the future of the country.

French President François Hollande urged stiffer sanctions against al-Assad and more support for the rebels. “Bashar al-Assad must go ... It’s in the interest of Syria, of its neighbors and everyone who wants peace in the region.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the conference those countries that failed to impose sanctions were allowing al-Assad’s forces to go on killing.

Clinton and Hague were among the 50 foreign ministers and delegates meeting in Paris. But Russia and China stayed away from a meeting they said was one-sided.

In its final statement on July 6, the Friends of the Syrian People called for a U.N. Security Council resolution backed by sanctions.

The meeting was seeking a resolution under the U.N. charter’s Chapter 7, including the threat of sanctions and diplomatic action in line with Article 41, which explicitly does not allow for use of armed force. Participants at the Paris meeting called on the U.N. Security Council to “adopt, under the United Nations Charter’s Chapter 7, a resolution that reaffirms envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan,” the final statement said. (Hurriyet Daily News)

Clinton says Russia, China must 'pay price' for aiding Assad

AFP photo

The defection of a Syrian general who is a personal friend of President Bashar al-Assad gave a huge boost to anti-government rebels as Western and Arab states met them in Paris on Friday to help prise Assad from power.

In some of the strongest U.S. remarks yet on a crisis that has divided the United Nations Security Council along Cold War lines, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Paris conference that Russia and China must "pay a price" for blocking U.N. sanctions that might press Assad into stepping down.

As she spoke, Manaf Tlas, a brigade commander in the Republican Guard who attended military college with Assad and fled to Turkey this week, was on his way to Paris, where his father, Assad's father's defence minister, has also taken up residence, a close family friend told Reuters.

There was no immediate sign that Tlas would throw in his lot with the rebels and an opposition source said he had no plans to attend Friday's meeting.

But his defection is the clearest signal yet that some in Assad's inner circle think his days in power are numbered, as an uprising that began in March 2011 with a groundswell of peaceful protest turns into a civil war with strong sectarian overtones.

While the lightly armed rebels are no match for Syria's large and well-equipped army, their hope lies in eroding loyalty and conviction within Assad's establishment to the point where it loses its hold on power.

Syrian armour pushed into the rebel-held northern town of Khan Sheikhoun on Thursday, activists said, adding 11 victims to a death toll dissidents and Western leaders put at over 15,000.

French President Francois Hollande urged stiffer sanctions against Assad and more support for the rebels at the start of a meeting of Western and Arab states who back the uprising.

"Bashar al-Assad must go," Hollande told a meeting of foreign ministers and senior diplomats from the "Friends of Syria" group. "It's in the interest of Syria, of its neighbours and everybody who wants peace in the region."

Clinton renewed Washington's call for a U.N. sanctions resolution, something that was twice blocked last year by the veto power held by Moscow and Beijing in the Security Council.

And she called for states to penalise Russia and China:

"I will tell you very frankly, I don't think Russia and China believe they are paying any price at all - nothing at all - for standing up on behalf of the Assad regime," Clinton said.

"The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price, because they are holding up progress - blockading it. That is no longer tolerable."

Completing the trio of Western veto-holding powers on the Council, Foreign Secretary William Hague for Britain told the conference that counties which failed to impose sanctions were allowing Assad's forces to go on killing.

The Paris meeting will, among other things, focus on firming up sanctions and closing loopholes such as continued Greek purchases of Syrian phosphates, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the newspaper Aujourd'hui en France.

Tlas, whose father Mustafa was defence minister under Assad's father for three decades, is a Sunni Muslim, from the majority community that has been the focus of the uprising against a ruling class rooted in Assad's minority Alawite sect. (PARIS/BEIRUT - Reuters)

Russian Warships Arrive in China for Joint Drills

A Russian naval task group arrived at the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao on Saturday for joint exercises with the Chinese navy, a captain said.

"Each vessel was welcomed individually," Captain Roman Martov told RIA Novosti.

The naval squadron, including the Varyag missile cruiser, three Udaloy class destroyers and three fleet support ships, will join 16 Chinese surface ships for drills in the Yellow Sea between Aril 22 and 27.

"The exercises will involve several simulated missions, including the rescue of a hijacked ship, the escort of a commercial vessel, and the defense a convoy from air and sea attacks," a Russian defense ministry spokesman said on Friday.

Chinese army chief Gen Chen Bingde has said the drills will promote "strategic coordination" and "mutual trust" between the two nations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia and China have held a number of joint military exercises since 2005 within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. (Cihan/Ria Novosti)
(Cihan)

Chinese taste Turkish olives, oil up next

Turkey’s olive producer Marmarabirlik has begun exporting olives to China following Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the country. Marmarabirlik President Hidamet Asa, who was part of the prime minister’s entourage, said after visiting several Chinese food producers, they have begun exporting olives to China.

“The products we brought with us, especially those that are low in sodium like our ‘Gold’ product, received a lot of interest and we sent our first shipment,” said Asa in a written statement. “Maybe we can’t feed an olive to every one of China’s 1.5 billion population, but at least we opened the door,” he continued. Asa also said they were exploring the option of exporting olive oil as well to China.

Marmarabirlik already exports to markets such as Japan, Kuwait, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia and Greece.
Asa said Marmarabirlik’s production cycle is from Nov. 1 to March 31 and that from Nov. 1 to March 31, 2012, the company increased its exports by 44 percent from the year before.

“On a lira basis, this amounts to 65 percent growth and on a dollar basis 40 percent growth,” said Asa.

Meanwhile, the president of the National Olive and Olive Oil Council (UZZK), Mustafa Tan, said yesterday at the second Olive and Olive Oil Fair in İzmir that Turkey was taking huge steps in olive production. He said per capita consumption of olives in Turkey had risen from 800 grams to two kilograms. (hurriyetdailynews)

Turkish PM Erdoğan set for landmark China visit

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to fly to China on April 7, for the first visit by a Turkish premier in 27 years, hoping to persuade China to take a tougher stance against Syria and forge closer business ties between Turkey and the world’s fastest-growing economy.

The two sides are expected to sign a deal on cooperation in the nuclear energy sector, a move that would pave the way for eventual talks on Chinese participation in Turkish nuclear power plant projects.

A joint credit fund for possible energy projects is also likely to be discussed.

Yunus İlkay, the secretary general of the Turkish-Chinese Industrialists Association, told the Hürriyet Daily News that accords on trade, visa-free travel for employees of large businesses and the export of Turkish foods to China could be signed, depending on the outcome of the talks.

Erdoğan will become the first Turkish premier to visit the autonomous Uighur region of Xinjiang, the first stop on his trip, where Turkey is planning to set up an industrial zone. The region’s Muslim-majority population, which shares ethnic bonds with Turkey, has long complained of oppression. Meanwhile, China has placed six men from the Uighur ethnic minority on a “terror” list, accusing them of involvement in terrorist training camps and of inciting attacks in the restive western Xinjiang region.

China’s Ministry of Public Security said the men, whose names identify them as Uighurs, were members of the outlawed East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), blaming one for orchestrating violent attacks in the city of Kashgar last July. In 2009, Erdoğan condemned unrest in the region as “almost genocide.”

In Beijing, Erdoğan will hold talks with his counterpart Wen Jiabao, President Hu Jintao, Vice President Xi Jinping and Parliament Speaker Wu Bangguo. The turmoil in Syria is expected to be high on the agenda. China, along with Russia, has resisted UN Security Council resolutions to increase pressure on the regime.

Erdoğan will then travel on to Shanghai, China’s economic hub, where he is scheduled to meet with the executives of major Chinese companies in a bid to lure investment to Turkey.
(hurriyetdailynews)