Wuhan, Hubei Province                                                                                                                                                                     26 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                      (Xinhua News)

As Freight Train X8044 arrived today on Sunday 26 August 2018 from Hamburg, Germany at Wujiashan Railway Container Center Station in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, it completed  10,000th trip between China-Europe freight trains since 2011.

About 25 freight trains travel every week between Chinese cities and Duisburg, 15 China-bound and 10 Europe-bound, accounting for nearly one third of the freight volume of DIT, which has had to hire more drivers and workers to handle the truck containers, as well as to build more warehouses.

Johannes Pflug, Duisburg's city official responsible for Chinese affairs, said the rail transport business has created over 6,000 jobs.

CRE freight trains, a key project in the Belt and Road Initiative, leave China from the Alataw Pass in its northwest, and cross Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland before reaching Germany in about two weeks.

The trains have also linked many other European cities including Hamburg, Madrid and Warsaw to Chinese cities like Chongqing, Chengdu, Yiwu and Zhengzhou.

In Poland's railway hub Lodz, the Hatrans Logistics Ltd. is among the many local businesses benefiting from the new trade route. In 2016, the company became the first Polish enterprise to invest in Chengdu, a southwestern Chinese metropolis. With the support of the CRE freight service, it has opened a mall there to sell Polish products.

Hatrans has also set up a platform for cooperation between enterprises of the two countries. It now sells over 300 kinds of Polish products around China, while bringing Chinese clothes, cosmetics and electronics to Poland and other European markets.

The overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, more commonly known as the Belt and Road Initiative, was put forward by China in 2013 in a bid to seek common prosperity. Enhanced connectivity is both its approach and benefit.

Similarly to the ancient Silk Road, Europe is a key terminal. In addition to the CRE, China is working on other transport infrastructure there.

In Croatia, a Chinese enterprise is building the Peljesac bridge, a historic infrastructure project, by connecting the port city Dubrovnik to the mainland bypassing Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In Serbia, the E-763 highway is expected to be completed at the end of this year. In Greece, the Chinese company COSCO in 2016 began operating the Port of Piraeus, the southern gateway to Europe. The Athens-based Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research estimates that the deal will create 25,000 jobs by 2052.

Investments have been flowing into Europe thanks to the new Silk Road as well. In Serbia, the over 100-year-old Smederevo steel plant was saved from bankruptcy in 2016 when China's largest steelmaker HBIS Group purchased it.

Renamed Hesteel Serbia, the plant now employs over 5,000 workers, bringing the local jobless rate down to 6 percent from 18 percent.

"Our jobs are guaranteed now, the feeling is totally different," said 34-year-old electrician Aleksandar Pavkovic. He can now join his children for a seaside holiday with no fear of losing his job, and his father is a veteran in the plant working as a senior workshop quality inspector.

Since its rail connection to Chengdu, Lodz has seen more investors, warehouses, small- and medium-sized enterprises and trade deals as well as higher employment, said Monika Karolczak, deputy director of the Polish city's trade and international cooperation office.

A ROAD OF SHARED VIEWS, INTERESTS

The Belt and Road Initiative is becoming a household name to many Europeans.

"From the very beginning, we considered BRI as an initiative for promoting peace," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier this month. He also believed that BRI projects helped boost Serbia's economy and improved the Serbian people's living standards.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in April that the Chinese-contracted Peljesac bridge project is of long-term strategic importance, and its bidding was in accordance with Croatia's public procurement procedures and European Union standards.

Slovakia is looking forward to taking part in the BRI.

"I am convinced that the Belt and Road Initiative is the future of Europe as a whole. Slovakia is at the intersection, so it means that for the Slovak economy in the next 25 years, this project can provide a relatively trouble-free existence," said Dana Meager, state secretary of the Slovak Finance Ministry and government proxy for the BRI.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a key opportunity for Europe to achieve development," said Jochen Scholz, a political analyst who is writing a book titled "The New Silk Road -- The Key to a Prosperous European Future."

Scholz's plan was inspired by Michael Schaefer, the former German ambassador to China from 2008 to 2013 and now chairman of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt.

Schaefer wrote in Berlin Policy Journal in January 2016 that the new Silk Road may well represent a sincere attempt by the world's second-largest economy to start a new kind of diplomacy based on inclusiveness, equal opportunity, and the respect for the diversity of cultures and political systems.

The European Union should take China's offer seriously -- and act soon, he suggested.

Islamabad                                                                                                                                                                                            25 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                        (Daily The Nation)

Military Postings

Pakistan Army on Friday made some high-level transfers and postings including appointment of new Chief of General Staff (CGS).

According to ISPR, Lt-Gen Nadeem Raza was appointed Chief of General Staff. He had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in 2016 when he was serving as Commandant Pakistan Military Academy. He has also served as Commander 10 Corps earlier posted as Commander 5 Corps.

Lt-Gen Hamayun Aziz has been made Commander Karachi Corps.

Lt-Gen Bilal Akbar was appointed as Commander 10 Corps (Rawalpindi).

Lt-Gen Muhammad Naeem Ashraf was posted as Commander 2 Corps (Multan). He was serving as Chairman Heavy Industries Taxila.

Lt-Gen Abdullah Dogar was posted as Chairman HIT. Dogar was previously posted as Commander 2 Corps.

Civilian Postings

The federal government has started reshuffling bureaucracy, making Establishment Division Secretary Aurangzeb Haque officer on special duty (OSD).

Ijaz Munir, a grade-22 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, has been posted as Establishment Division secretary. He was serving as Aviation Division secretary previously.

According to well-placed sources, the appointment of Munir on the key post was a surprise for bureaucrats as he was considered close to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.

He served as a subordinate to former secretary to the Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad. They said that the bureaucrats were hopeful that the newly-elected government would make appointments on merit.

A notification in this regard said that Tariq Mehmood Pasha, a grade-22 officer of Inland Revenue Office, was posted as Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Division secretary. He was serving as secretary of Statistics Division.

Ayub Sheikh, a grade-22 officer of Secretariat group, was appointed as Statistics Division secretary. Sheikh was serving as Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Division secretary.

Similarly, Jalal Sikandar Sultan, a grade-22 Officer of the PAS group, was posted as States and Frontier Regions Division secretary.

Mian Asad Hayuddin, a grade-21 officer of PAS, was transferred and posted as additional secretary (In-charge) of Petroleum Division. He was previously posted as OSD in Establishment Division.

Aurangzeb Haque, a grade-22 Officer of PAS, was appointed as Capital Administration and Development Division secretary.

Saqib Aziz, a grade-22 officer of PAS, was posted as Aviation Division secretary. He was previously serving as CADD secretary.

Muhammad Tariq, a grade-19 officer of Secretariat group, was posted as Joint Secretary in the PM Office under section-10 of Civil Servants Act, 1973. He was posted under KP government previously.

Planning Ministry removes Shahid Cheema

On the other hand, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms has removed Chief Public Investment Programming section, Shahid Zia Cheema, from his post with immediate effect.

The BPS 20, officer of the economist group, Shahid Zia Cheema, who was currently posted in the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms has been directed to report to the establishment wing of the Ministry, said the spokesman of the ministry of Planning.

SDGs chief Shahid Naeem shall hold the additional charge of the post of Chief Public Investment Programming section till further order, said the order.

According the order issued by the ministry the action against Mr Cheema was taken on the basis of source report, indiscipline, sheer lack of understanding of administrative working of the ministry. This is pertinent to mention that the order issued in this regard is self explanatory.

The officer concerned has been continuously violating discipline on different occasions taking things in his hand. Inquiry is already underway against him on sheer violation of the discipline.

Furthermore, the officer in question has written a letter without having knowledge about rules, competence and used slanderous language bypassing all norms. Hence, his removal from the post has been done in the interest of governance and discipline which has to prevail at all cost. Written source report is available against his violations of discipline despite several notices.

Official decorum has to be sustained and cannot be subservient to the whims of an official who lacks knowledge and is spoiling his efforts in inter personal issues instead of concentrating on his work. The Planning secretary has notified to all officers that discipline would be ensured at all cost as no organization can succeed without discipline.

 

Washington                                                                                                                                                                                         25 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                        (Yonhap News)

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he has canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming trip to North Korea because of a lack of progress in dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program.

Trump wrote the message on Twitter a day after Pompeo announced that he will be traveling to Pyongyang next week to continue negotiations on the denuclearization of the regime.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said.

"Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved," he continued. "In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!"

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed at their historic summit in June that North Korea would work toward the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S.

Negotiations to implement the deal have stalled as Washington demands concrete steps toward denuclearization and Pyongyang insists on formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice.

Pompeo would have been making his fourth trip to Pyongyang this year, and this time with his newly appointed special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun.

Trump again accused Beijing, a key ally and benefactor of the North, of hampering the denuclearization process, saying in his series of tweets that he believed that was "because of our much tougher Trading stance with China."

Seoul                                                                                                                                                                                                      24 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                       (Yonhap News)

A Seoul appellate court on Friday increased the sentence for former President Park Geun-hye by one year to 25 years in a massive corruption case that led to her removal from office.

The Seoul High Court also increased her fine by 2 billion won (US$1.78 million) to 20 billion won.

The 66-year-old former president was sentenced to 24 years in prison and an 18 billion-won fine by a lower court on April 6 in a ruling that the prosecution appealed.

She was charged for conspiring with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, into forcing big conglomerates, including Samsung, to donate 77.4 billion won to two foundations under Choi's control.

The scandal led to her removal from office by the Constitutional Court in March last year.

In the appellant trial, the prosecution maintained its demand for a 30-year jail term and an 118.5 billion-won fine for Park on July 20.

As for Choi, the court maintained the lower court's 20-year sentence and raised the fine by 2 billion won to 20 billion won. The court commuted the sentence for Ahn Jong-beom, Park's former chief policy aide, by one year to five years and reduced his fine from 100 million won to 60 million won.

The court included part of Samsung's donations made to one of Choi's foundations as bribes, reversing the lower court's decision. It judged that there was "implicit understanding" between Park and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the heir to the business empire, about Lee's seeking of government backing for Samsung's merger of two group companies, deemed crucial to his control of the group.

The court agreed that Park exerted influence on the state pension service, a major stakeholder in one of the Samsung companies, to vote in Samsung's favor.

The court also acknowledged Lotte's 7 billion won provided to Choi's firm was a bribe paid in exchange for an illegal solicitation. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is serving a sentence with the appellate verdict slated for next Wednesday.

Park was not present at the trial. She has been boycotting what she calls "politically motivated" court proceedings since last October, when the court extended her presentencing detention.

She has criticized the judiciary and prosecution for not handling her case fairly.

Friday's trial was not broadcast live on television, unlike the lower court sentencing hearing.

New Delhi                                                                                                                                                                                            25 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                      (The Times of India/PTI)

Indian and Pakistani soldiers, who are ranged against each other along the volatile line of control in Jammu and Kashmir, are all set to exercise together for the first time as part of a multi-nation counter-terror war game under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russia.

The exercise 'Peace Mission 2018' in which soldiers from China, Russia and other SCO countries are also participating, kicked off at the 255 Combined Arms  Range at Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia on Friday.

“Indian soldiers have never actively participated in a multilateral exercise that included Pakistan in the past. Troops from the two countries have, however, worked together in UN missions and operations,” an officer from the Indian army told TOI.

Russia has fielded 1,700 soldiers for the exercise, followed by China with 700 and India with 200 soldiers. Pakistan has also fielded a contingent.

The SCO was constituted in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The group has eight full members, including India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Another four nations have been accorded observer status, while six others are dialogue partners.

 

 

Islamabad                                                                                                                                                                                              23 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                        (APP)

Taking exception to the “factually incorrect” statement issued by US State Department on the phone call between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Pakistan on Thursday said it should be immediately corrected.“

….There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected,” said Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr. Mohammad Faisal in a statement posted on his official twitter account.

New Delhi                                                                                                                                                                                             23 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                         (Daily The Hindu)

Eminent writer and journalist Kuldip Nayar passed away in New Delhi on Thursday following a brief illness. He was 95.

Mr. Nayar, a Punjabi, was born in Sialkot in 1923.

When Emergency was declared, he was one of the first journalists to be put in jail.

Mr. Nayar was deeply interested in peaceful relations between India and Pakistan. In his autobiography Beyond The Lines, he wrote about his interview with Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, during which the latter revealed that Pakistan had a nuclear device well before it was thought to have had it.

As a journalist, he had documented in detail, human rights violations by the State.

He was also the High Commissioner of India to the U.K. and nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid tributes to Mr. Nayar.

 

Xinhua News                                                                                                                                                                                        China

Squirrel monkeys seen enjoying in outdoor at the Shangfangshan Forest Zoo in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Picture by Xinhua News dated 13 Aug. 2018.

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                      23 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                       (QNA)

Qatari newspapers said Thursday in their editorials that the State of Qatar, under the wise leadership of Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, proved that it was one of the most influential countries politically and diplomatically all over the world.

The papers praised the important achievements of Qatari foreign policy, reflected in its strong ties with the major powers in dealing with the different regional and international challenges. They highlighted the latest meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday, when they discussed bilateral ties and the latest regional developments. The papers stressed that the meeting reflected the strategic cooperation between the two sides.

Al Rayah said in its editorial that the two sides share the same views on a number of regional and international issues, highlighting that Qatar was an important ally to the United States in its fight against terrorism.

The paper said that the meeting was an opportunity to confirm the strategic partnership between the two sides, reflected by the constant deliberations and the political and economic partnership. Washington also is aware of all the details of the GCC crisis, and has a strong desire to resolve it through diplomatic means, the editorial says.

Al Rayah concluded in its editorial that Qatari-American ties have been on the up recently, reflected by the bilateral agreements signed in all fields.

Al Watan said that the State of Qatar proved under the leadership of Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani that it has become one of the most influential countries politically and diplomatically, gaining international recognition for its effort in those regards.

The paper highlighted Qatar's various initiative to face regional and international challenges, and its joint work with powerful international groups and countries in that regard. Al Watan's editorial also expressed its appreciation of the latest meeting held between HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss bilateral relations and the latest regional and international developments.

Al Watan concluded its editorial by saying that Qatar's political and economic achievements internationally have helped the country deal with the various global challenges.

 

21 Aug. 2018                                                                                                                                                                                         (Bloomberg-Yahoo News)

A federal jury convicted Paul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, at his fraud trial, handing a crucial victory to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Manafort was found guilty on five counts of tax fraud, one count of failing to file a financial document with the government, and two counts of bank fraud. The jury couldn’t reach a decision on the other 10 counts. He was accused of lying to tax authorities about his income and offshore tax accounts, failing to file reports about those accounts, and defrauding banks to get loans.

The convictions were half of a double blow to Trump. At the moment that the Manafort verdict was read out in Alexandria, Virginia, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty in Manhattan to eight counts of tax evasion, false financial statements and unlawful campaign contributions.

Manafort, 69, faces a lengthy prison term for each count, raising the question of whether Trump might take the politically fraught step of pardoning his former aide or commuting his sentence. Without Trump’s intervention, Manafort’s only hope for leniency would be to cooperate with Mueller’s probe. No sentencing date has been set as Ellis said he wanted to give the prosecution time to decide whether to retry the 10 counts. They have until August 29 to decide how to proceed.

The case was the first brought by Mueller to go to trial. Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, has charged 32 people and secured five guilty pleas.