No one can contain us, says Chinese envoy on US selling arms to India

The Chinese envoy to the US today said that no one could "contain" China now, expressing his displeasure over the formation of an "exclusive club" in the Indo-Pacific region.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai was responding to questions on the recent India-centric policy speech by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the decision of the Trump administration to sell to India high-tech military equipment, including state-of-the-art armed drones, and the Japanese proposal of a strategic quadrilateral dialogue involving India and Australia.

"I don't think that the sales of advanced arms would really serve that purpose," Cui said.

Political analysts in the west have described the sale of arms to India as a US move to contain China.

"By the way I don't think anybody would be able to contain China," the Chinese Ambassador asserted in his rare press conference at the Embassy of China here.

The top diplomat was addressing media ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to China early next month.

Trump is scheduled to embark on a 10-day visit to China. He would also visit Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.

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In Russia probe, Robert Mueller's first charges a show of force

President Donald Trump brushed off the first indictments in the probe of his campaign’s ties to Russian election meddling, but the charges sent a clear signal to the White House and other Trump associates: Robert Mueller means business.

By going after Trump’s campaign manager and another aide on money-laundering charges and securing a guilty plea from a third campaign adviser, the special prosecutor showed he would delve deeply into the past in search of criminal activity and use his broad powers aggressively.

That left some Trump associates worried about what or whom Mueller would target next, despite the White House’s public dismissal of the developments as unrelated to the president and his campaign.

“They’re flexing their muscles for anybody that they approach in this investigation and letting them know we really mean it,” said former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter. “So if we come to you, you should talk to us. Manafort didn’t and look what happened to him.”

Manafort and Rick Gates are charged with money laundering, tax fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and other counts. They pleaded not guilty on Monday.

The indictments, which closely detail the alleged crimes, appeared to be an opening salvo from Mueller.
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Ex-employee sues Facebook for depriving workers of overtime compensation

A former Facebook employee is suing the social media giant for allegedly misclassifying employees to exempt them from overtime pay.

According to a report in arstechnica.com on Monday, Susie Bigger, a former client solutions manager at Facebook's office in Chicago, has alleged that she and other Facebook employees are illegally classified as managers as part of "defendant's scheme to deprive them of overtime compensation".

The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in a US court, is seekingAback pay, damages, interest and attorneys fees for an untold number of Facebook employees.

"This lawsuit is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously," Facebook told Ars Technica.

The lawsuit described a "systematic, companywide wrongful classification" system for Client Solutions Managers, Customer Solutions Managers, Customer Account Managers, "or other similarly titled positions".

"CSMs do not perform duties related to the management or general business operations of Facebook. Rather, CSMs' duties constitute the principal production activity of Facebook as a social media and marketing platform," the lawsuit alleged.
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North Korea to launch more satellites to boost economy

North Korea on Monday said that it would launch more satellites to boost its economy, despite international opposition, citing its right as a sovereign nation to develop a space programme.

The North Korean regime said that "it is a global trend that a country seeks the economic growth with the space programme", state-run daily Rodong Sinmun reported.

It added that, under its five-year space development plan, it will launch more satellites, Efe news reported.

Pyongyang accused Washington of hampering both its space program and those of developing countries.

"Some countries have manipulated UN sanctions resolutions against us and hindered the sovereign country's space development. It is not a tolerable act," the daily said.

North Korea believes that "the universe is limitless and infinite", and that countries have the right to exploit the resources found in it, it added.

North Korea has launched two satellites so far: the Kwangmyongsong-1 (Bright Star-1), a name which refers to the late Kim Jong-il, father of the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in August 1998, and the Kwangmyongsong-4 in February 2016.

While Pyongyang claims the right to space development for peaceful purposes, most of the international community considers its space programme to be a covert and illegal test of long-range missiles, given that its rocket-launching technology is similar to that of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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China slams US anti-dumping duty on aluminium foil ahead of Trump visit

China has criticised new United States anti-dumping duties on aluminium foil, saying it was "extremely dissatisfied" with the new measures, just days before President Trump visits Beijing.

The tariff was announced Friday by the US following concern that China was undercutting American manufacturers by flooding the country with underpriced aluminium products.

But the timing has raised fears of a trade dispute during Trump's first visit as president to the Chinese capital next week, when commerce between the nations is expected to be high on the agenda.

On Saturday evening, China's Ministry of Commerce said the US was ignoring World Trade Organization rules by introducing the duties, and not fulfilling its international obligations.

"The US is not only harming the interests of Chinese companies, it is also damaging the seriousness and authority of multilateral rules and regulations," said Wang Hejun, Director of the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau, in a statement.

The US Commerce Department plans to impose fresh duties of 96.81 per cent to 162.24 on Chinese aluminium foil imports to the US.

The new tariff will affect the type of aluminium foil found in kitchens, packaging and automobiles.
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Bahrain seeks Qatar's suspension from GCC

Bahrain's foreign minister on Monday suggested suspending Qatar's Gulf Cooperation Council membership until it accepts the demands of its Arab adversaries in the region's worst crisis in years.

"The correct step to preserve the GCC would be to freeze Qatar's membership until it sees reason and accepts the demands of our countries. If not, we will be fine with it leaving the GCC," Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said on Twitter.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt on June 5 severed ties with Qatar over accusations of supporting extremism and being too close to Shiite rival Iran, charges Doha has denied.

Founded in 1981, the GCC is a political and economic union that includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Oman and Kuwait.

Experts have warned that the nearly five-month-long diplomatic crisis could cause the six-nation bloc's demise.

Saudi Arabia and its allies in June issued Qatar with a list of demands including shutting down Doha-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera, curbing relations with Iran and closing a Turkish military base in the emirate.

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Foreign companies in China get a new partner: The Communist Party

The 300 or so Communist Party members who work at Walt Disney Co’s theme park in China don’t keep their politics to themselves.

Many attend party lectures during business hours and display hammer-and-sickle insignia at their desks. Company newsletters and state media praise them as exemplary workers. Party officials help manage staff welfare and arrange activities such as political seminars for members and singing contests for all employees.

In June, Shanghai’s flagship party newspaper quoted Murray King, the resort’s Canadian vice president for public affairs, as saying its best employees are mostly party members. According to a Disney spokeswoman, Mr King actually said while some employees belong to the party, Disney doesn’t make that a requirement.

The compromises made by Western firms to do business in China are becoming increasingly uncomfortable now that President Xi Jinping is pushing to embed the Communist Party deeper into the world’s second-largest economy.

Mr Xi emerged from a recent party congress with five more years as leader and power comparable with that of Chairman Mao Zedong. One of his top priorities is to restore the party as a force in people’s lives and recapture its revolutionary sense of mission.

Under Mr Xi, the party has pushed to exert greater state control over the economy and rein in some market-oriented experiments of recent years. Chinese regulators recently proposed that the state take 1% stakes in major Chinese internet companies.
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