24-28th May, 2021 (Entebbe, Uganda): Under WTO SPS agreement, countries are required to publish all sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS measures) and notify changes to SPS measures. Therefore, countries are required to identify a single central government authority to be responsible for the notification requirements of the SPS Agreement (the notification authority). They are further required to […]
Month: June 2021
US Diplomat Raises Concerns about Political Crackdown and Chinese Base in Cambodia
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the most senior U.S. official to visit Cambodia in almost a decade, voiced concern about a possible Chinese military base in the Southeast Asian nation and urged Phnom Penh to drop “politically motivated” court cases against opponents and critics, the State Department said. Sherman met Prime Minister Hun Sen, […]
Outspoken Chinese Dissident Detained by Police in Guangzhou
Authorities in the southern province of Guangdong are holding a prominent dissident in criminal detention on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge often used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Wang Aizhong was detained at his home in Guangdong’s provincial capital, Guangzhou. His apartment was searched by […]
Thousands Under Lockdown Amid Reports of Adverse Vaccine Reactions in China
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have placed thousands of people under COVID-19 restrictions, amid reports of adverse reactions to homegrown coronavirus vaccines in northern China. Mass testing is under way in some areas of Guangzhou, as well as in the nearby cities of Foshan and Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, the Guangzhou […]
Former Victims of ‘One Child’ Policy Hit Out at China’s New Birth Drive
A former victim of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s draconian “one-child” curbs has hit out at the government over a 180-degree policy shift that now seeks to encourage Chinese citizens to have up to three children per married couple. Ling Baozhen, whose family was targeted by officials in his home province of Jiangsu, said […]
Malaysia Will Lodge Diplomatic Protest With China Over Maritime Airspace ‘Intrusion’
Malaysia said Tuesday it would issue a diplomatic protest to Beijing after 16 Chinese military planes “intruded” into its maritime airspace over disputed South China Sea waters near Borneo Island a day earlier. Malaysian officials said that the Chinese aircraft flew to as close as 60 nautical miles from Kuala Lumpur-administered Beting Patinggi Ali – […]