U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on Saturday. It is the highest level of contact between the two countries since the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon over U.S. airspace earlier this month.
The highly anticipated meeting took place in Munich, Germany, while both attended the Munich Security Conference, according to Ned Price, a spokesperson for the State Department.The meeting comes at a time in which tension between the two nations has escalated over national security concerns.
On Feb. 2, U.S. officials confirmed a balloon they said belonged to China was spotted floating over Montana. While Chinese officials maintain that the balloon, which the U.S. shot down two days later, was intended for research, the Pentagon claims that China intended to use it for surveillance. The incident led Blinken to postpone a previously planned trip to Beijing.
In a U.S. summary of the meeting in Munich, Price said Blinken “directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law by the [People’s Republic of China] high-altitude surveillance balloon in U.S. territorial airspace, underscoring that this irresponsible act must never again occur.”
“The Secretary underscored the importance of maintaining diplomatic dialogue and open lines of communication at all times,” Price said.
In an interview with CBS news, Blinken said China was “considering providing lethal support to Russia” – a red line for Washington. Blinken said such a decision would have “serious consequences that would have for our relationship.”
This is not the first time the U.S. has suggested this. China has denied it intends to send weapons to Russia.
Chinese state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported the Blinken-Wang meeting was “requested by the U.S. side.” China Global TV Network (CGTN) said Wang made clear China’s “solemn position on the so-called airship incident in an informal conversation”, in a brief news report.
CGTN also said Wang “urged the U.S. side to change course, acknowledge and repair the damage that its excessive use of force caused to China-U.S. relations.”
Earlier on Saturday,Wang sharply rebuked the U.S. for downing the Chinese balloon, describing its actions as “absurd and hysterical.” The incident, he added in remarks at the conference, “doesn’t show American strength but the opposite.”
On Ukraine, he said China’s position “boils down to supporting talks for peace”, and to that end he said Beijing would put forward a proposal for a “political settlement” of the issue.
It’s too soon to tell how the meeting will impact relations between the U.S. and China. Earlier this week, Biden said he would speak with China’s leader Xi Jinping but would not apologize for shooting the balloon down.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) says search and rescue operations have ended in most provinces nearly two weeks after this month’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
“The death toll due to the earthquakes rose to 40,642, and the work of searching and rescue for people stuck under the debris has ended in most of the provinces,” Yunis Sezar, head of AFAD, said in a presser on Saturday.
“We believe we will end the search and rescue operations by tomorrow night,” he added.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey’s southeast and neighbouring Syria on February 6, killing more than 45,000 people and leaving more than a million people homeless along with an economic cost expected to run into billions of dollars.
People warm up next to a fire as they take a break from working on removing the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras on February 18, 2023 [Bulent Kilic/AFP]
“We are in front of perhaps the biggest disaster we have faced in history. The damage from the earthquakes and the aftershocks – that were more than 5,700 – were not only restricted to the affected 11 provinces,” Sezar said.
In Syria, more than 5,800 deaths have been reported, mostly in the northwest. The figure has not changed for several days.
The World Health Organization estimates that some 26 million people across both Turkey and Syria need humanitarian aid.
Another ‘miracle’ rescue
Twelve days after the earthquakes, rescue workers from Kyrgyzstan saved several members of a Syrian family of five on Saturday from the rubble of a building in Antakya in southern Turkey.
Three people, including a child, were rescued. The mother and father survived, but the child died later of dehydration, the rescue team said. An older sister and a twin did not make it.
“We heard shouts when we were digging today an hour ago. When we find people who are alive we are always happy,” Atay Osmanov, a member of the rescue team, told Reuters news agency.
Ten ambulances waited on a nearby street that was blocked to traffic to allow the rescue work.
Workers asked for complete silence and for everyone to crouch or sit as the teams climbed on top of the building’s rubble where the family was found to listen for any more sounds using an electronic detector.
Teams have been finding survivors all week despite them being stuck for so long under the rubble in freezing weather, but their numbers have dropped to just a handful in the past few days.
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu reporting from Ankara said many survivors were hoping the search and rescue operations would continue for longer.
“Some people didn’t hear anything from their relatives. They don’t know whether they’re dead or alive, or in the hospital. They have no information,” she added.
Aid bottlenecks and health fears
The damage is immense on both sides of the border and health officials are concerned about the possible spread of infection as a result of damage to sanitation infrastructure and lack of clean water in many stricken communities.
Late last year, a cholera outbreak declared in Syria began sweeping the northwest, and aid groups as well as health experts have warned that the damage caused by the earthquakes will exacerbate the situation.
There are health fears on the Turkish side as well, with doctors on the ground pointing to the lack of sanitation, safe water, and the overcrowding of shelters are hazards that could result in the spread of disease.
People queue for humanitarian aid, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey [Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
Northwestern Syria had a wait of three long days after the earthquake struck before aid convoys were able to navigate damaged Turkish roads and pass through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which was the only UN-approved land crossing into this opposition-controlled region where a number of armed groups at war with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are active.
Since then, the UN has apologised for the delay and begun using two other land crossings from Turkey into northern Syria.
However, there seem to be other impediments, with the World Food Programme (WFP) saying authorities in the northwest were blocking access to the area.
“That is bottlenecking our operations. That has to get fixed straight away,” WFP Director David Beasley told Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is expected to travel to Turkey and meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters.
Since the earthquake, the US has sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery, and additional funding of $85m in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria.
Twelve days after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, more than 46,000 people have died and more than 84,000 buildings have either been severely damaged, need urgent demolition, or collapsed, according to officials.
As Turkey attempts to manage its worst modern disaster, concerns are growing over the victims of the tragedy in Syria, with the World Food Programme (WFP) pressuring authorities in the northwest to stop blocking access to the area as it seeks to help hundreds of thousands of people ravaged by earthquakes.
The death toll in Turkey stands at 40,642 from the quake while neighbouring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths, a figure that has not changed for several days.
Rescue attempts continue
Workers from Kyrgyzstan on Saturday tried to save a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building in Antakya city in southern Turkey. Three people, including a child, were rescued alive. The mother and father survived but the child died later of dehydration, the rescue team said. One older sister and a twin did not make it.
Meanwhile, an infant child born in northern Syria during the earthquake has been reunited with her aunt and uncle, after her parents and siblings died in the disaster.
Footage circulating widely on social media after the quake showed a rescuer scrambling down a hill of rubble carrying a tiny dust-covered baby.
The newborn was later identified as the child of Abdallah and Afraa Mleihan, who died in the earthquake along with their other children in the rebel-held town of Jandaris in Syria’s Aleppo province.
On Saturday, her paternal aunt Hala and uncle by marriage Khalil Al-Sawadi finally picked up their niece – whom they named Afraa, after her deceased mother.
WFP operations hampered in northwestern Syria
The head of the World Food Programme (WFP) has urged authorities in northwestern Syria to stop blocking access to the area as it seeks to help hundreds of thousands of people ravaged by earthquakes.
WFP Director David Beasley has said the agency was running out of supplies there and called for more border crossings to be opened from Turkey.
“The problems we are running into [are with] the cross-line operations into northwest Syria where the northwestern Syrian authorities are not giving us the access we need,” said Beasley on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The area is controlled by fighters at war with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad which has complicated efforts to get aid to people.
Public health concerns
Medics and experts have voiced concerns about the possible spread of infection in the areas where tens of thousands of buildings collapsed last week, leaving sanitation infrastructure damaged.
Turkish health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday that although there had been a rise in intestinal and upper respiratory infections, the numbers did not pose a serious threat to public health.
“Our priority now is to fight against the conditions that can threaten public health and to prevent infectious diseases,” Koca told a news conference in southern Hatay province.
Aid organisations say the survivors will need help for months to come with so much crucial infrastructure destroyed.
Anger grows
Neither Turkey nor Syria have said how many people are still missing following the quake.
For families still waiting to retrieve relatives in Turkey, there is growing anger about what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that resulted in thousands of homes and businesses disintegrating.
One such building was the Ronesans Rezidans (Renaissance Residence), which keeled over in Antakya, killing hundreds.
“It was said to be earthquake-safe, but you can see the result,” said Hamza Alpaslan, 47, whose brother had lived in the block. “It’s in horrible condition. There is neither cement nor proper iron in it. It’s a real hell.”
It’s been 12 days since twin earthquakes tore through Northern Syria and Southern Turkey yet emergency responders are still pulling survivors from the rubble even as the window for finding people alive continues to shrink.
In the Turkish city of Antakya, the capital of the devastated Hatay province, a couple and their son were extracted from the ruins of their apartment building. Unfortunately, the 12-year-old boy later died from his injuries in hospital.
Hatay is one of the worst hit of the 11 provinces in the Turkish disaster zone with the death toll reaching over 40,000. Combined with official Syrian figures, the total number of dead is in excess of 45,000.
Rebel-held Syrian regions need more help
While relief continues to make its way to Turkey and certain parts of Syria, aid workers say the needs of the survivors in the rebel-held areas are not being met, partly due to the slow arrival of assistance.
On Friday, the United Nations said over 140 trucks carrying desperately-needed resources had crossed into rebel-held northwestern Syria from Turkey since the massive quake.
Before the disaster, almost all crucial humanitarian aid for the more than four million people living there was delivered through just one crossing at Bab al-Hawa.
Operations there were temporarily disrupted by the earthquake and it took four days to reopen the border crossing.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has agreed to let the UN open two more in order to get more aid to the region.
Meanwhile, a UN delegation visited the Syrian town of Jindairis, one of the most affected Syrian cities. During the inspection, United Nations Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, David Carden, called for a step up in relief efforts in the area.
“Jandairis, I’m shocked by the scale of the destruction, I’ve never seen anything like it in all my life,” he said. “There are huge needs, obviously particularly in shelters. Also, people need fresh water, they have medical needs and we need to scale up the response to help the people.”
A lack of resources is not the only concern for Syrian survivors – an outbreak of cholera is threatening to make the situation in the country much worse.
Rescuers have pulled more survivors from the debris of the Feb. 6 earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria even as the window for finding people alive shrank.
Here’s a look at the key developments Friday from the aftermath of the earthquake.
The death toll has topped 43,000
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu updated the death toll in Turkey to 39,672, bringing the overall number of earthquake fatalities in both Turkey and Syria to 43,360.
The figure is certain to increase further as search teams retrieve more bodies amid the devastation.
The powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake was the deadliest disaster in Turkey’s modern history.
More survivors have been rescued
Rescuers on Friday removed a survivor from the rubble of a collapsed building in the district of Defne, in hard-hit Hatay province, more than 11 days after the powerful earthquake struck.
Hakan Yasinoğlu, 45, spent 278 hours beneath the rubble, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. TV footage showed him being carried on a stretcher to an ambulance.
Search teams working overnight also found a woman and two men alive in earthquake wreckage.
The latest rescues came as crews began clearing debris in cities devastated by the earthquake.
Neslihan Kilic, a 29-year-old mother of two, was removed from the rubble of a building in Kahramanmaras, after being trapped for 258 hours, private DHA news agency reported late Thursday.
In the city of Antakya, police rescue crews found a 12-year-old boy named Osman alive after retrieving 17 bodies from a collapsed building.
“Just when our hopes were over, we reached our brother Osman at the 260th hour,” police rescue team leader Okan Tosun told DHA.
An hour later, crews reached two men inside the debris of a collapsed hospital in Antakya.
One of them, Mustafa Avci, used the mobile phone of a rescuer to call his brother and ask about family members.
“Have they all survived? he asked. “Let me hear their voices.”
U.N. aid crosses into Syria
A total of 143 trucks carrying aid from Turkey into northwest Syria have crossed the border since Feb. 9, a United Nations official said.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the trucks are carrying a “multitude” of items from six U.N. agencies — including tents, mattresses, blankets, winter clothes, cholera testing kits, essential medicines, and food from the World Food Program. They crossed through the border gates of Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam, he said.
Meanwhile, The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, said it was working closely with Turkey to determine the steps needed to rehabilitate infrastructure in the agricultural sector damaged by the quake, including irrigation systems, roads, markets and storage capacity.
“In Syria, rapid assessments by FAO of areas affected by the earthquakes suggest major disruption to crop and livestock production capacity, threatening immediate and longer-term food security,” the Rome-based agency said in a statement.
Bodies are brought back to Syria from Turkey for burial
The bodies of at least 1,522 Syrians have been brought back to Syria from Turkey for burial, an official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, reported that when the numbers from other, smaller crossings are tallied, the number of earthquake victims returned to Syria for burial is 1,745.
Syrian survivors have also begun crossing back from Turkey. Some 1,795 Syrians crossed from Turkey into Syria on Wednesday, the first day after Turkey agreed to allow Syrian refugees impacted by the earthquake to return to their country temporarily without losing their protected status in Turkey, an official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing said.
The decision allows holders of Turkish temporary protection cards residing in earthquake-damaged areas to cross into Syria without having to obtain a travel permit from Turkish authorities. Normally, Turkey would consider Syrians holding protected status who crossed into Syria without a permit to have relinquished their status as asylum-seekers. They would be required to surrender their protection cards and banned from reentering Turkey for five years.
Spain will accept about 100 Syrian refugees
Spain says it will take in some 100 Syrian refugees in Turkey that have suffered in the earthquake. Migration Minister José Luis Escrivá said the refugees would be those considered most vulnerable and badly affected by the quake.
Making the announcement late Thursday, Escrivá said “the earthquake reminds us of Syria’s drama in a tremendous way and we are going to try to help within our possibilities.”
Over 1,500 children have been separated from their families
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said the state was caring for 1,589 children who were separated from their families in the earthquake, including 247 who have not yet been identified.
He said 953 children had been reunited with their families.
Oktay also said search and rescue teams were working at fewer than 200 sites, with Hatay province accounting for the largest number.
As the rift between the US and China over the balloon saga widens, so has the divide within the global community scrutinising their high-stakes dispute.
The latest exchange took place on Friday, with US President Joe Biden insisting he would “make no apologies” for shooting down the alleged Chinese spy balloon. Hours later, the Chinese foreign affairs ministry said the US “can’t ask for dialogue while fuelling tensions”.
China continues to deny that they sent a spy balloon, even as the US continues to disclose more details of the object to back up their allegation.
But beyond the dispute, the way both Beijing and Washington have responded to each other has come under close examination as the world grapples with the incident’s implications for national security and geopolitical stability.
The net result, say observers, is that it has hardened positions – deepening distrust among those wary of China or the US – and made it significantly harder for Washington and Beijing to close the gap between them.
For some, the incident has heightened anxieties over the reach of Chinese espionage, as governments scramble to reassess what they know of China’s surveillance capabilities.
This week Japan – a key US ally – announced that after they had re-analysed past cases of unidentified flying objects, they “strongly suspect” that China had flown at least three spy balloons across their territory since 2019.
A Financial Times report quoted unnamed Taiwanese officials saying the island – another US ally, and one that is claimed by China – had been spied on by dozens of Chinese military balloons.
Taiwan’s defence ministry later clarified it had only spotted Chinese weather balloons – on Friday it found the remnants of one such object – but also warned they would not hesitate to shoot down any suspected military objects in its airspace.
“For other states, they didn’t know what to make of it previously, but now they do. So it shows a gap in understanding on the part of other states, and not surprisingly China has sought to exploit the gap,” said Dr Ian Chong, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China.
For those convinced of the US allegations, the incident has highlighted an underestimation of China’s surveillance capability – and the lengths Beijing would go to prove it.
“It certainly indicates the People’s Liberation Army feels they can justify absolutely any technology and any mission, that they can do anything to increase China’s ability to project power, conduct surveillance, and hold the US at risk,” said Mr Drew Thompson, a former US Department of Defense official and a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore.
This, said Mr Thompson, was done “regardless of the consequences to China’s reputation, its obligation and adherence to international law, and without considering the benefits of acting with restraint”.
Noting there has been a lack of a concerted outcry and pushback from the global community, Mr Thompson said this demonstrated “a fragility of international law” and was a “testament to China’s ability to deter other countries from criticising them”, and could lead to a more unsafe world.
Beijing undermined its own attempts to win trust and project the image of a responsible superpower with the way it has responded in the saga, according to some observers.
China has yet to divulge details backing up its claim that the balloon was a civilian meteorological airship, such as the name of the company that operated it. “This lack of transparency has only created more questions, and has given those who are already sceptical a reason to be even more so,” said Dr Chong.
Beijing’s subsequent claim that the US has in the past flown more than 10 spy balloons into China – which Washington has denied – was also “confusing”, he added.
“Is China suggesting that floating lots of balloons over each other’s territory has been an accepted practice?” asked Dr Chong, who pointed out that if this were the case, it would contradict Beijing’s long-held insistence on the respect for sovereignty.
The claim could be seen as a case of China deflecting and engaging in “whataboutism”, said Mr Thompson, which is a way of responding to an accusation by proffering a counter-accusation.
But the way the US has reacted has also unnerved some, particularly those who side with China.
This week, US officials admitted that three other objects they shot out of the sky in North America were not likely foreign spy crafts. Mr Biden defended the decision as necessary to protect commercial air traffic, and also because at that time they “could not rule out the surveillance risk of sensitive facilities”.
Victor Gao, vice-president of Beijing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization, called the shootings an “overreaction” that could be seen as the US “acting increasingly hysterical”.
“China has been very professional and responsible, explaining the situation to the US and the whole world and asking for co-operation rather than confrontation. This is in contrast to the jingoism of the US – they should remember they are not shooting buffalo in the Wild West, they are shooting down an object that China owns,” he said.
Others have praised the US’ handling of the incident, with Australia’s deputy PM Richard Marles calling the shootdown of the Chinese balloon “a very measured way” of responding to the incursion.
Image caption,Happier times: Mr Xi and Mr Biden greeted each other warmly at the G20 summit in Bali in November
With both sides doubling down, what is clear is that the balloon blow-up has made reconciliation even harder.
For the Chinese, the shootdown and Mr Biden’s refusal to say sorry has set a precedent, warned Mr Gao.
“They would need to be prepared for similar acts of retaliation against similar objects in Chinese space… Don’t complain that China doesn’t apologise, if such an unfortunate incident happens again,” he said.
He pointed out that it may even push China to take a stronger stance against US planes and ships in airspace and waters which China considers as theirs, such as Taiwan.
The US Navy routinely conducts what it calls “freedom of navigation” exercises by sailing its military ships through the Taiwan Strait.
But there are signs of a willingness to engage.
There is talk that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi may meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich this weekend, in what would be the first high-level meeting since the dispute began.
Mr Blinken had called off his long-planned visit to Beijing earlier this month when news broke of the Chinese balloon.
Mr Biden has also said he plans on calling up Mr Xi soon to discuss the incident.
Both leaders face domestic pressure to not be seen as backing down. As the balloon saga drifts on, the question now is how much political capital both leaders would be willing to spend to deflate tensions.
(Reuters) – The United States is concerned about debt owed to China by Pakistan and other countries, U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said on Thursday during a visit to Islamabad as the country dealt with an economic crisis.
Pakistan, historically a close ally of Washington, has become increasingly close to China, which has provided billions in loans and is Islamabad’s largest single creditor. Pakistan faces a crippling economic crisis, with decades-high inflation and critically low foreign exchange reserves depleted by continued debt repayment obligations.
“We have been very clear about our concerns not just here in Pakistan, but elsewhere all around the world about Chinese debt, or debt owed to China,” Chollet told journalists at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad after he met with Pakistani officials.
China and Chinese commercial banks held about 30% of Pakistan’s total external debt of about $100 billion, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund released in September last year.
Much of that debt has come under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Cholett said Washington was talking to Islamabad about the “perils” of a closer relationship with Beijing, but would not ask Pakistan to choose between the United States and China.
Relations between Islamabad and Washington had turned frosty over the war in Afghanistan, but there has been a thaw in recent months, with an increasing number of high-level visits.
Officials from China and the United States will be part of a multi-country meeting of a new sovereign debt roundtable on Friday.
G7 and multilateral lending institutions have long pushed for broad efforts to deliver debt relief to heavily indebted nations to help them avoid cuts in social services that could spur social unrest.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other G7 officials see China, now the world’s largest sovereign creditor, as a key stumbling block in debt-relief efforts.
Chollet said the U.S. was working with Pakistan to navigate through the current crisis.
فرضت الصين، يوم الخميس، عقوبات تجارية واستثمارية على شركتين أميركيتين على خلفية بيعهما أسلحة إلى تايوان، مما يزيد من التوترات بين أكبر اقتصادين في العالم، وفقا لما ذكرت وكالة “بلومبيرغ“.
وأوضحت شبكة “سي إن إن” الإخبارية أن فرض العقوبات جاء عقب يوم واحد من تعهد بكين باتخاذ “إجراءات مضادة” ردًا على تعامل واشنطن مع منطاد مراقبة صيني مشتبه به دخل المجال الجوي الأميركي وأسقطته الولايات المتحدة في وقت سابق من هذا الشهر.
وأعلنت وزارة التجارة الصينية في بيان، أن شركتي “لوكهيد مارتن” و”رايثيون” الأميركيتين “ممنوعتان من تصدير البضائع إلى الصين، أو القيام باستثمارات جديدة” في البلاد.
وأوضحت الوزارة أن الشركتين تم إضافتهما إلى قائمة الشركات “غير الموثوقة” التي تم حظر أنشطتها، بسبب احتمالية تهديدها للسيادة والأمن الوطني، والإضرار بمصالح البلد التنموية.
وأصرت بكين على أن العقوبات لم تكن مرتبطة بـ “حادثة المنطاد”، إذ أصدرت وزارة التجارة الصينية بيانًا، صباح اليوم الجمعة، قالت فيه إن الإجراءات كانت جزءًا من “إجراءات إنفاذ القانون العادية” لمبيعات الأسلحة من قبل الشركتين إلى تايوان والتي “قوضت بشكل خطير” الأمن القومي للصين وسلامة أراضيها.
وجاءت العقوبات بعد أيام فقط من قيام وزارة التجارة الأميركية بحظر ست شركات صينية، من الحصول على التكنولوجيا الأميركية دون إذن حكومي.
وقالت وزارة التجارة إن تلك الشركات مرتبطة ببرنامج الفضاء الجوي للجيش الصيني.
وتعمل شركة “لوكهيد مارتن” بشكل رئيسي في الصناعات الجوية والأمن والأنظمة الإلكترونية، وتكنولوجيا المعلومات وصناعات الفضاء، بينما تختص شركة “رايثيون” في أنظمة الدفاع وتعد أكبر منتج للصواريخ الموجهة في العالم، بحسب وكالة “أسوشييتد برس”.
وتخضع كل من شركتي”لوكهيد مارتن” و”رايثيون” أيضًا لغرامات جراء مبيعات أسلحتهما إلى تايوان التي يعود تاريخها إلى سبتمبر 2020 ، كما سيُمنع كبار المسؤولين التنفيذيين من دخول الصين والعمل فيها.
ولم يتضح على الفور كيف ستنفذ بكين العقوبات.
وفي حين أن الولايات المتحدة تمنع بيع الأسلحة إلى الصين، فإن بعض المتعاقدين الدفاعيين الأميركيين لديهم علاقات بقطاعات مدنية.
وقال متحدث باسم شركة لوكهيد مارتن لشبكة “سي إن إن” في بيان: “إننا نتعامل مع أكثر من 70 دولة حول العالم، وجميع مبيعاتنا الدولية تخضع لرقابة صارمة من قبل الحكومة الأميركية”.
ولم ترد شركة “رايثيون” طلب للتعليق تقدمت به الشبكة الإخبارية الأميركية.
وبحسب وكالة “بلومبيرغ”، انخفضت أسهم شركة لوكهيد 1.3٪ في الساعة 11:22 صباحًا في نيويورك، بينما انخفض سهم رايثيون 0.6٪.
وكان تصاعد التوتر السياسي بين الولايات المتحدة والصين قد تفاقم بعد حادثة المنطاد التي تقول بكين إنه كان مخصصا للأبحاث العلمية وإنه قد خرج مساره.
لكن واشنطن اتهمت الصين في أعقاب تلك الحادثة بالإشراف على برنامج دولي للمراقبة والتجسس في مناطق عديدة من العالم.
ونفت بكين هذه المزاعم ، واتهمت بدورها الولايات المتحدة هذا الأسبوع بإطلاق مناطيد على ارتفاعات عالية “بشكل غير قانوني” في مجالها الجوي أكثر من 10 مرات منذ بداية العام 2022 ، بما في ذلك المناطق الغربية من شينجيانغ والتبت.
وأفادت شبكة “سي إن إن”، يوم الأربعاء، أن مسؤولي المخابرات الأميركية يقومون بتقييم احتمال أن منطاد التجسس المشتبه به لم يقتحم أجواء الولايات المتحدة بشكل مقصود.
وكان وزير الخارجية الأميركي، أنتوني بلينكين، قد أجل زيارته إلى الصين في وقت سابق من هذا الشهر.
وكان من المتوقع أن تساعد تلك الزيارة في تخفيف التوتر بين القوتين العظميين في أعقاب اجتماع بين الرئيس الأميركي، جو بايدن، والزعيم الصيني، شي جين بينغ خلال قمة مجموعة العشرين في بالي بأندونيسيا في نوفمبر.
وقال بايدن، يوم الخميس، إنه يتوقع التحدث قريبا إلى شي عقب حادثة المنطاد “للوصول إلى حقيقة الأمر”، لكنه شدد على أنه “لن يعتذر” عن “إسقاط ذلك المنطاد”.
وأكد بايدن أن الولايات المتحدة ستواصل التعامل مع الصين، مكرراً موقفه بأن بلاده تسعى إلى “المنافسة لا الصراع”.
وأوضح بايدن أن الوضع الحالي “يؤكد أهمية الحفاظ على خطوط اتصال مفتوحة” بين الدبلوماسيين الأميركيين ونظرائهم الصينيين”.
أتلانتا، الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية (CNN) — ستقوم الصين بـ”إجراءات مضادة” ضد الكيانات الأمريكية التي “تضعف سيادة وأمن الصين” رداً على إسقاط الولايات المتحدة للمنطاد الصيني والعقوبات على ست كيانات صينية، حسبما قال المتحدث باسم وزارة الخارجية الصينية وانغ وينبين يوم الأربعاء في مؤتمر صحفي.
ولم يحدد وانغ ما هي الإجراءات المضادة، والكيانات الأمريكية التي ستستهدفها بكين، ومتى سيبدأ سريانها.
وبشكل منفصل، أعلن المسؤول الصيني أن المناطيد الأمريكية عالية الارتفاع، التي دخلت المجال الجو الصيني بشكل غير قانوني دون موافقة بكين أكثر من عشر مرات منذ مايو/أيار 2022، حلقت فوق شينغيانغ وتايبيه، وهذه هي المرة الأولى التي تؤكد فيها بكين المواقع التي يُزعم أن المناطيد الأمريكية حلقت فوقها.
وأضاف وانغ قائلا: “نأمل أن يتبنى الجانب الأمريكي موقفًا هادئًا ومهنيًا ويعمل مع الصين لتسوية الحوادث ذات الصلة بشكل مناسب، من أجل مواصلة الجهود والتقدم المحرز في تحقيق الاستقرار في العلاقات الثنائية منذ اجتماع قادة بلدينا في بالي”، حسب قوله.
قال مؤسس صندوق التحوط “بريدج ووتر”، راي داليو، إن الصين تحتل الصدارة في الحرب التجارية مع الولايات المتحدة، على الرغم من أن المواجهة بين أكبر اقتصادين في العالم لن تتصاعد على الأرجح إلى صراع عسكري.
وخلال مؤتمر في دبي يوم الأربعاء، قال المستثمر الملياردير، إن الرنمينبي (اليوان الصيني) بدأ يستخدم على نطاق أوسع في التجارة الدولية وإن الفائزين الحقيقيين في المواجهة سيكونون أولئك القادرين على الاستفادة من كل من الولايات المتحدة والصين.
وأضاف داليو: “بحسابات الأرقام فقط، فقد انتصرت الصين في الحرب التجارية، من حيث النسبة المئوية للتجارة العالمية والهيمنة”.
يأتي ذلك، فيما اشتبكت واشنطن وبكين حول قضايا من بينها حقوق الإنسان والتجارة والمنافسة على التكنولوجيا والأسواق. ووصلت العلاقات إلى مستوى متدنٍ جديد مع إسقاط منطاد تجسس صيني مزعوم فوق الأراضي الأميركية.
كما أن إدارة بايدن تمضي قدماً في خططها للحد من وصول الصين إلى تكنولوجيا أشباه الموصلات الحساسة وتحاول إقناع الدول التي تعتبرها حليفة بفعل الشيء نفسه. كما تعمل أيضاً على تقليل اعتماد الولايات المتحدة على الصين في البضائع.
داليو، الذي حذر أواخر العام الماضي من أن الدول “قريبة بشكل خطير من حرب عسكرية، قال إن الولايات المتحدة لا تزال تبدو” على شفا صراع مع الصين.
لكن بالنسبة لداليو، فإن التحدي الأكبر بكثير لأميركا هو من الداخل.
وقال إن تدهور البنية التحتية والتعليم والصراع السياسي والقيادة، إلى جانب أزمة المواد الأفيونية والانقسام المتزايد بين الفقراء والأغنياء، من بين أعراض التراجع.
ويرى أن التهديد الأساسي لاقتصاد الولايات المتحدة داخلي. وقال “كن قويا في الأساس. إذا كنت قوياً وصحياً، فستكون ميسوراً محلياً ودولياً”.
نشرت مجلة “ذي دبلومات” مقالا للسفير الباكستاني السابق في الأمم المتحدة حسين حقاني، ومديرة مبادرة مستقبل الهند وجنوب آسيا بمعهد هدسون في واشنطن، أبارنا باندي، أشارا فيه إلى أن الرد الهندي على كارثة الزلزال في تركيا وسوريا لم يكن بدوافع إنسانية بحتة.
وأوضح الكاتبان أن الرد الهندي على كارثة الزلزال في تركيا وسوريا يعكس التحولات في السياسة الخارجية الهندية لكي تكون لاعبا في السياسة الدولية وبعمق في منطقة الشرق الأوسط.
وقالا إن تحرك الهند السريع للمساعدة يعكس سياسة نيودلهي بالتواصل مع الشرق الأوسط. وتأتي بعد زيارة للرئيس المصري عبد الفتاح السيسي وتوسيع العلاقات مع “إسرائيل” والدول العربية المترافقة مع العلاقات القوية والقديمة مع إيران.
فتقارب الهند مع تركيا و”إسرائيل” والدول العربية يعطيها فرصة للعب دور في الشرق الأوسط وسط ما يبدو تراجعا أو تخفيضا للتواصل والتأثير الأمريكي في المنطقة.
وأقامت الهند علاقات مع الشرق الأوسط ومنذ استقلالها، لكن نوعية وكفاءة التواصل تغيرت في السنوات الأخيرة وعكس رغبة الهند في أن تكون لاعبا دوليا في عالم متعدد الأقطاب.
وكان رد الهند السريع على الكارثة في تركيا وسوريا صورة عن رغبتها في النظر إليها كدولة أولى في الرد السريع وتقديم المساعدات الإنسانية لجوارها الواسع. إلا أن الرد الطارئ الأخير والذي شمل مستشفى ميدانيا وفريقا طبيا وأدوية ومعدات وأسرة مستشفى، كان استراتيجيا وليس إنسانيا فقط، وهو جزء من تحسين صورة الهند وتعزيزها في الشرق الأوسط.
وزار الرئيس المصري السيسي الهند في 26 كانون الثاني/ يناير، وكان الضيف الرئيسي في يوم الجمهورية الـ74. وقبل ذلك أعلنت الهند عن استثمارات واسعة في الرباعية لغرب آسيا “آي تو يو تو” والتي تضم الهند و”إسرائيل” والإمارات والولايات المتحدة.
وتهدف الهند إلى التأكيد على حماية مصالحها وسط الفراغ الحادث في الشرق الأوسط، بسبب انشغال الولايات المتحدة بالمنافسة مع الصين أو مواجهة أفعال روسيا في أوراسيا.
ويعتبر الشرق الأوسط مصدرا مهما للاستثمار والطاقة وتحويلات الهنود. وتشترك المنطقة مع الهند في قلقها الأمني وبخاصة التطرف الإسلامي والإرهاب. وتريد الهند التحضير لتداعيات انسحاب الولايات المتحدة من الشرق الأوسط.
ويتحدث الهنود عن العلاقات التاريخية والحضارية مع الشرق الأوسط التي تعود إلى ألفي عام، وكذا العلاقات الوثيقة بين قادة حركات الاستقلال. وفي أثناء الحرب الباردة كانت دول الشرق الأوسط في حركة عدم الانحياز التي أنشأتها الهند ومصر مع دول أخرى.
ورغم ما تحمله العلاقات الحالية من عاطفة تاريخية وإقبال على مشاهدة أفلام بوليوود فإن جوهر العلاقات الهندية الجديدة يقوم على التجارة والاستثمار.
ويعيش في منطقة الخليج حوالي 8.9 مليون هندي، منهم 3.4 مليون في الإمارات، و 2.5 مليون في السعودية. وتمثل تحويلات الهنود السنوية من الخليج نسبة 50 بالمئة من مجمل تحويلات الهنود في الخارج وهي فوق الـ80 مليار دولار سنويا.
وزادت العلاقات التجارية بين الهند ودول الشرق الأوسط بشكل كبير خلال العقد الماضي، فالتجارة المتبادلة مع مصر تصل إلى 7.26 مليار دولار، وتستثمر 50 شركة هندية في الاقتصاد المصري 3.15 مليار دولار.
وتعتبر الإمارات ثالث شريك تجاري عالمي، ومنذ توقيع اتفاقية الشراكة التجارية الشاملة في 2022، فإنه زاد حجم التجارة الهندية مع الإمارات بنسبة 38 بالمئة إلى 88 مليار دولار. والعلاقة الاستراتيجية الهندية مع الإمارات هي في قلب مجموعة آي تو يو تو”.
وكذا زاد التعاون التجاري الهندي-السعودي، من صادرات النفط الخام إلى الهند بنسبة 18بالمئة. وزادت الاستثمارات السعودية التي تدر أرباحا للهند في مجال السكك الحديدية والطرق والمطارات والملاحة البحرية، والنسبة تتزايد في التصنيع والقطاعات الرقمية.
وتحصل الهند التي تستورد نسبة 80% من احتياجاتها النفطية على نسبة 60% منه من دول الخليج. وتعمل الإمارات على مساعدة الهند مواجهة مشاكل الأمن في مجال الطاقة من خلال المساهمة في مجال احتياطيات النفط الاستراتيجية.
وزاد التعاون بين الهند ودول الشرق الأوسط في مجال الطاقة المتجددة. ولم تقتصر علاقات الهند مع دول الخليج فقط، بل ومع تركيا و”إسرائيل” وإيران.
وتعتبر “إسرائيل” ثالث مزود للسلاح لها بنسبة 43 بالمئة من صادرات السلاح الإسرائيلية تذهب للهند.
وفي الوقت ذاته، كانت حذرة في عدم عرقلة علاقاتها مع إيران رغم التحديات الجيوسياسية. في التسعينيات من القرن الماضي تبنت الهند سياسة “التوجه للشرق” حيث قوت علاقاتها مع دول شرق وجنوب شرق آسيا. ويبدو أن الهند اليوم تتبنى سياسة مماثلة ولكنها موجهة نحو الغرب لأسباب اقتصادية واستراتيجية أيضا.
دبي، الإمارات العربية المتحدة (CNN) — افتتحت الهند القسم الأول من طريق سريع يبلغ طوله 1،386 كيلومترًا، ويربط عاصمتها نيودلهي بمركزها المالي مومباي، الذي يعد علامة بارزة في سعي الدولة الواقعة في جنوب آسيا لتحديث بنيتها التحتية واللحاق بجارتها الصين.
بمجرد اكتماله، سيكون الطريق السريع المكون من ثمانية حارات، أربعة في كل اتجاه، أطول طريق في الهند، ويتوقّع أن يقلّل وقت السفر بين المدينتين إلى 12 ساعة، أي إلى النصف.
وافتتح رئيس الوزراء الهندي ناريندرا مودي، الأحد، قسمًا طوله 246 كيلومترًا من الطريق السريع الذي يربط دلهي بمدينة لالسوت في ولاية راجاستان الشمالية الغربية، وهي وجهة سياحية شهيرة تجذب عشرات الآلاف من المسافرين بقصورها المترامية الأطراف وتضاريسها الجبلية.
طريق دلهي مومباي السريعCredit: Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
وقال مودي خلال حفل الافتتاح إنّ “طريق دلهي مومباي السريع يعد أحد أكثر الطرق السريعة تقدمًا في العالم ويقدّم صورة كبيرة عن نمو الهند ،”مضيفًا أن تطويره من المتوقع أن يعزز النمو الاقتصادي والاستثمار في الهند.
وقالت الحكومة الهندية في وقت سابق إنّها استثمرت حوالي 13 مليار دولار في المشروع الذي يهدف إلى توفير رابط أسرع بين العاصمة وخمس ولايات هي هاريانا، وراجستان، وماديا براديش، وغوجارات، ومهاراشترا.
وأضافت في بيان صحفي، الأحد، أنّ القسم الأول وحده كلف 1.4 مليار دولار.
ويعد افتتاح المرحلة الأولى بمثابة دفعة كبيرة لخامس أكبر اقتصاد في العالم، والبلد الذي سيصبح قريبًا الأكثر اكتظاظًا بالسكان، حتى مع بقاء البنية التحتية للهند متخلّفة عن تلك الموجودة في الصين.
وخلال السنوات الأخيرة، استثمرت الصين المليارات في مشاريع بنية تحتية طموحة، ضمنًا أطول شبكة سكة حديد عالية السرعة في العالم، ونظام طرق سريع واسع النطاق.
في المقابل، تشتهر القطارات الهندية بأنها غير موثوقة، والطرق الضيقة ذات الحفر تؤثر بشدة على مدة السفر في جميع أنحاء البلاد.
وأحد المشاريع التي تهدف إلى تحسين السكك الحديدية في البلاد هو ممر الشحن الغربي المخصص.
ويربط الطريق قيد الإنشاء، بطول 1،506 كيلومترات، مدينة دادري في ولاية أتر برديش الشمالية بمدينة نافي مومباي، بولاية ماهاراشترا.
ومن المتوقع أن يخفف الطريق الازدحام بشبكة السكك الحديدية في الهند، ويزيد متوسط سرعة قطارات نقل البضائع.
وبالنسبة لمودي، الذي وصل إلى السلطة عام 2014، بوعود عن العظمة المستقبلية، يمكن اعتبار هذه المشاريع كأداة قوية للتكامل الاجتماعي والتأثير السياسي، وربط المناطق المتباينة بالمدن الرئيسية.
وقال مودي، الأحد، إن “طريق دلهي – مومباي السريع وممر الشحن الغربي المخصص سيصبحان ركيزتين قويتين للتقدم لراجستان والبلاد”.
