Rilek1Corner

Tag: China

  • Australia Mulls Tougher Food Screening After Berries From China Were Linked To Hepatitis A Infections

    Australia Mulls Tougher Food Screening After Berries From China Were Linked To Hepatitis A Infections

    SYDNEY: Tougher food screening measures could be introduced in Australia with frozen berries from China linked to a growing number of hepatitis A infections, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said Wednesday (Feb 18).

    Nanna’s and Creative Gourmet brand raspberries and mixed berries have been recalled after they were linked to four infections in New South Wales and Victoria states, with poor hygiene and contaminated water at their packing factory thought to be responsible. Since then more infections have emerged in Queensland and Western Australia, with the government confirming at least 13 cases nationally so far.

    Asked whether the scare demanded more controls on imports, Joyce said: “That might be a consequence of a review that is being undertaken. “The health ministers (of states and territories) are discussing this issue right now,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

    Joyce also called for a strengthening of Australian labelling laws on food products and urged consumers to buy local produce. “We have stronger laws, we do have stronger oversight to make sure we have a cleaner, green product than what comes in from overseas,” he said.

    “That’s why you pay a premium for Australian product … I want to make sure that when you pick up something, you can look at the can and say ‘this is Australian’. It’s slightly dearer but by gosh it’s safer.”

    However, Prime Minister Tony Abbott was cool on labelling changes, warning it could impose more regulation on business. “The bottom line is that companies shouldn’t be poisoning their customers,” he said.

    Hepatitis A is a viral disease that affects the liver, causing abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and jaundice. It has an incubation period of up to 50 days.

    Australian regulators currently consider imported frozen berries ‘surveillance foods’ – meaning they are tested at a rate of only five percent of all consignments for 49 agricultural chemical residues, as well as packaging and labelling requirements.

    The recalled products were packed in China and contained raspberries, strawberries and blackberries grown there, and blueberries from Chile. The Department of Health said the source of the hepatitis A virus was still unconfirmed, but added: “The berries are the only common exposure for all cases.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Four US Littoral Warships To Operate Out Of Singapore From 2018

    Four US Littoral Warships To Operate Out Of Singapore From 2018

    Four US warships designed to fight in coastal areas similar to South-east Asian waters will be operating out of Singapore by 2018, up from one currently, a senior US Navy official said on Tuesday.

    The “rotational deployment” of the vessels, called littoral combat ships (LCS), comes as China continues to flex its muscles in the South China Sea and tensions remnain on the Korean Peninsula.

    “We will soon see up to four LCS here in Singapore as we rotationally deploy Seventh Fleet ships,” said Rear Admiral Charles Williams.

    “We envision four ships here by May 2017 to sometime in 2018… but I think what you have is that by 2018, four LCS ships will be rotationally deployed here to Singapore.” Williams, commander of the Seventh Fleet’s Task Force 73, was speaking to reporters aboard the USS Fort Worth, an LCS on a 16-month deployment to Southeast Asia.

    It replaced another LCS, the USS Freedom, which recently ended an eight-month tour of duty.

    The USS Fort Worth is set to take part in exercise Foal Eagle, a joint military drill with South Korea from Feb 24 to March 6.

    It will also join regional navies in the annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercises and the International Maritime Defence Exhibition.

    Fast and agile, LCS vessels can be adapted for specific missions through a system of interchangeable modules and crew.

    The US Navy plans to build 52 LCS vessels at a total cost of US$37 billion (S$50 billion) but the programme has become controversial due to cost inflation, design and construction issues.

    In 2012 the then-US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that Washington would shift the bulk of its naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020 as part of a new strategic focus on Asia.

    China is embroiled in a maritime dispute with four Southeast Asian countries – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – as well as with Taiwan over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

    While not a claimant, the United States has said it has an interest to ensure freedom of navigation in the area.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Imams In Xinjiang Forced To Swear That They Will Not Teach Religion To Children

    Imams In Xinjiang Forced To Swear That They Will Not Teach Religion To Children

    URUMQI – In another crackdown on religious freedoms, China has forced the imams of eastern Muslim majority district of Xinjiang to dance in the street, and swear to an oath that they will not teach religion to children as well telling them that prayer is harmful to the soul.

    During the incident, reported by World Bulletin on Monday, February 9, Muslim imams were forced to brandish the slogan that “our income comes from the CKP not from Allah”.

    State Chinese news said the imams were gathering in a square in the name of civilization where they were forced to dance and chant out slogans in support of the state.

    They also gave speeches telling youth to stay away from mosques, and that the prayer was harmful to their health, encouraging them to dance instead.The slogans included statements glorifying the state over religion such as ‘peace of the country gives peace to the soul’.

    Female teachers were instructed to teach children to stay away from religious education and made to swear an oath that they will keep children away from religion.

    Uighur Muslims are a Turkish-speaking minority of eight million in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

    Xinjiang, which activists call East Turkestan, has been autonomous since 1955 but continues to be the subject of massive security crackdowns by Chinese authorities.

    Rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of religious repression against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang in the name of counter terrorism.

    Last November, Xinjiang banned the practicing of religion in government buildings, as well as wearing clothes or logos associated with religious extremism.

    In August, the northern Xinjiang city of Karamay prohibited young men with beards and women in burqas or hijabs from boarding public buses.

    Earlier in July, China banned students and government staff from observing Ramadan fasting, as officials tried to encourage locals in Xinjiang not to wear Islamic veils.

     

    Source: www.onislam.net

  • City In Xinjiang China Bans Islamic Attire In Public Places

    City In Xinjiang China Bans Islamic Attire In Public Places

    A city in China’s mainly Muslim Xinjiang region has banned people with large beards or Islamic clothing from travelling on public buses, state media said, prompting outrage from an overseas rights group.

    Authorities in Karamay banned people wearing hijabs, niqabs, burqas or clothing with the Islamic star and crescent symbol from taking local buses, the Karamay Daily reported.

    The ban also covered “large beards”, the paper said, adding: “Those who do not co-operate with inspection teams will be handled by police.”

    Xinjiang, a resource-rich region that abuts central Asia, is the homeland of China’s mostly Muslim Uighur minority and has been hit by a wave of clashes between locals and security forces that have killed hundreds in the past year.

    China has blamed several deadly attacks on civilians outside the region in recent months on “terrorists” seeking independence for the region.

    Rights groups say restrictions on Uighurs’ religious and cultural freedoms have stoked tensions.

    In July China banned students and government staff from Ramadan fasting, while officials have also tried to encourage locals in Xinjiang not to wear Islamic veils.

    The Karamay restrictions are “a typical discriminatory measure … which add to an increasing confrontation between Uighurs and Beijing”, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress (WUC), told Agence France-Presse.

    Chinese state media said on Sunday that nearly 100 people including 59 “terrorists” had been killed in an attack in Xinjiang the previous week.

    The report came days after the government-appointed head of the largest mosque in China, in one of the region’s oldest cities, Kashgar, was killed after leading morning prayers.

    China announced a year-long terrorism crackdown following a deadly bombing attack in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, in May, and hundreds of people have been arrested on accusations of terrorism. Security on public transport has also been tightened.

    The Karamay ban would apply for the duration of a sports competition ending on 20 August, the report said.

    Authorities in Urumqi in July banned bus passengers from carrying a range of items including cigarette lighters and yogurt, state media said.

     

    Source: www.theguardian.com

  • Chinese Nationals Using Malaysia As Transit Point To Join Islamic State

    Chinese Nationals Using Malaysia As Transit Point To Join Islamic State

    PUTRAJAYA — More than 300 Chinese nationals have used Malaysia as a transit point on their way to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria and Iraq, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed today.

    They had moved on to a third country from Malaysia prior to entering Syria and Iraq, he said, adding that this was disclosed to him by China’s Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei at a meeting at his office here today.

    Ahmad Zahid said Kuala Lumpur and Beijing viewed seriously this security threat and were committed to curbing it in a more comprehensive manner.

    “Although there exists an arrangement between Malaysia and China to combat terrorism through counter-terrorism measures, this problem is serious.

    “This is because ties exist at the international level between terrorists in China and those in other countries in the Southeast Asian region,” he told reporters after Meng had called on him.

    Asked about the possibility of these Chinese nationals having ties with Malaysians, Ahmad Zahid said no information had been received on that.

    On another matter, the minister said there had been no proposal or discussion yet on the issuing of visas free to tourists from other countries besides China.

    When announcing measures to strengthen Malaysia’s economic resilience yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said visas would be issued free to tourists, including from China.

    Ahmad Zahid said tourists from China visiting Malaysia still had to apply for a visa but they were exempted from having to pay the fee of 80 yuan (RM46.45).

    He said the Cabinet decided that an official announcement on the free-visa measure would be made after all rules and conditions had been refined by the Malaysian Immigration Department.

    “We will make an official announcement at the Malaysian embassy and consulates general in China,” he said.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com