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US-China: Biden Calls Chinese President Xi Dictator Day After Beijing Talks

Published

11 months ago

June 21, 2023

Editor

US President Joe Biden has described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator following a talk between the two nations in Beijing.

Biden called Xi a dictator at a fundraising event in California on Tuesday.

The US President’s remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Xi for talks in Beijing, which were aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers.

Biden also said Xi was embarrassed after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US.

China said it “firmly opposes” Biden’s comments.

Speaking at the fundraiser event, Biden said, “The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset, in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it, was he didn’t know it was there.

“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened,” he added.

The balloon, which China says was monitoring weather, drifted across the continental US before being destroyed by American military aircraft in February.

Washington later said it was part of a sprawling Chinese intelligence collection programme. Mr Blinken, who was meant to visit Beijing at the time, postponed the trip in the wake of the incident.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called Biden’s remarks “extremely absurd and irresponsible”.

Speaking at a regularly scheduled press conference on Wednesday, she said that the comments were “an open political provocation” that violated diplomatic etiquette.

Blinken’s visit over the weekend, the first by a US secretary of state in almost five years, restarted high-level communications between the two countries.

Xi said some progress had been made in Beijing, while Blinken indicated both sides were open to more talks. Major differences, however, remain between the two countries.

Relations have plummeted in the wake of a Trump-era trade war, Beijing’s assertive claims over Taiwan and the shooting down of the alleged spy balloon.

Related Topics:Beijing Talks Biden China Chinese President Xi US-China

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Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Finalise Regional Alliance Project

Published

1 hour ago

May 18, 2024

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Junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have finalised plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia.

Their foreign ministers met Friday in Niger’s capital Niamey to agree on a text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)”, said Niger Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare as he read the final statement late Friday.

He said the text would be adopted by the heads of state of the three countries at a summit, without specifying the date.

“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been born,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said after meeting General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of Nigerien military regime.

The third foreign minister at the meeting was Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore.

The Sahel region has been subject to deadly jihadist violence for years, which they accused France of not being able to curb.

The three countries said late January they were quitting The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping.

AFP

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Paul Kagame, Chimamanda Adichie, Aig-Imoukhuede, Other Africans Make Top 100 Influential Global

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5 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

Combo of Paul Kagame, Chimamanda Adichie, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede,Remi Dairo.

Rwanda President, Paul Kagame, Nigeria’s Chimamanda Adichie, and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, have been listed among top 100 influential global voices 2023/24.

Others list are president, the president , Institute of Productivity and Business Innovation, Africa and the Chief Operating Officer of Productivate Plus LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas, Mr Remi Dairo; Adebayo Ogunlesi; Jumoke Adenowo, Ibukun Awosika; Malala Yousafzai, Strive Masiyiwa, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

In recognition of this groundbreaking record, Dairo was honoured by the Leaders Without Borders Development Centre at the event which took place on 19th April at House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, United Kingdom in recognition of being a global voice.

Commenting, Dairo said, “I feel so excited and motivated for the journey of my efforts and contribution to productivity in the community is globally recognized. The journey started in Nigeria as the School of Productivity in 2007 and metamorphosed into the Institute of Productivity and Business Innovation (IPBiM) in 2017.”

Remi Dairo is the president of the Institute of Productivity and Business Innovation Management (IPBIM), a distinguished African institution with global outreach that globally focuses on African institutions of productivity and innovation learning. The institution is in partnership with some of the world’s best institutions around the globe.

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Disregard Claim Of Me Bringing Investors To Nigeria – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Published

16 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied sending a WhatsApp message claiming she’s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu’s “commendable policies”.

A message had been circulating on Whatsapp alleging that former Minister of Finance has been contacted by President, respected instutitions and investors who congratulated her because Nigeria has finally found a “focused leader.”

Anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is fake – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala debunks news claiming she?s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu?s ?commendable policies?

Reacting via her X handle, Okonjo-Iweala described it as fake. She wrote;

‘’It’s been brought to my attention that another FAKE message has been manufactured and is being forwarded on WhatsApp in my name. I want to make clear that this fake message is not from me. I am pleased that those who know me instantly recognized this as fake.

“Thanks to friends who brought this to my attention. Please be aware that I do not use WhatsApp broadcasts, thus anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is FAKE.

“This is a bad example of the use of social media. I want to warn those in the business of manufacturing FAKE messages, that they will not succeed.”