The Nation Newspaper

Tag: china

  • Seeds of 5,000-year-old tree bud after returning from space

    Seeds of 5,000-year-old tree bud after returning from space

    Seeds from an over 5,000-year-old cypress in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province have sprouted after being taken into space by Chinese astronauts in 2016, a research group have said.

    “Twenty-eight seeds had sprouted by the end of May,’’ Zhao Xia, from the rare tree germ plasm resources group, said Monday.

    According to Zhao, the seedlings are now between three to five cm tall.

    The over 20-metre-tall cypress is located in Shaanxi’s Huangling County.

    It is said to have been planted by Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who is regarded as the common ancestor for all Chinese.

    “Some 150 seeds, collected in August 2016, were taken into space on the Shenzhou-11 mission and kept at the Tiangong-II lab from Sept. 15 to Nov. 18, 2016.

    “The sprouting project began on May 15, and another 150 seeds that had not gone into space were germinated at the same time in a comparative study,’’ Zhao said.

    Staff have monitored the sprouting process around the clock and taken records every two hours.

  • Customs seize two cocaine-made suitcases in Shanghai

    Shanghai customs have seized two suitcases made from over 10 kg of cocaine.

    “Listed among “high-risk passengers involved in drugs” in a database, a woman from Southeast Asia was spotted at Shanghai Pudong International Airport while flying from a South American country.

    “X-ray machine showed her luggage looked darker in colour, and the suitcases were heavier than ordinary ones after being emptied,’’ a Shanghai customs official said.

    The suitcases tested positive during a fast drug test, and were later found to have been made from 10.2 kg of cocaine.

    The event occurred in February, but was disclosed on Tuesday ahead of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on June 26.

    Report says it is the only drug-made-suitcase case ever reported in China.

    According to Chinese law, anyone convicted of trafficking 50 grams of cocaine or more will be given a mandatory death sentence.

  • Eight killed in China’s plant explosion

    Eight killed in China’s plant explosion

    An explosion rocked a petrochemical plant in China’s eastern province of Shandong on Monday, killing eight people and injuring nine, state media and local government officials said.

    Deadly accidents are common at industrial plants in China, where anger is growing over lax standards after three decades of rapid economic growth marred by incidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires.

    Monday’s blast took place about an hour after midnight, triggering fires at the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. Ltd. in the Linyi Lingang economic development zone, the state news agency said.

    The toll rose to eight, as authorities confirmed the deaths of seven people who had been reported missing, in addition to one death reported earlier, the local government said on its microblog.

    Authorities said that nine people were injured and the fires have been put out.

    The “responsible person” at the company that runs the plant has been detained, without giving details.

    In 2015, huge chemical explosions in the port city of Tianjin killed more than 170 people, prompting a vow by President Xi Jinping that the authorities would learn the lessons paid for in blood.

  • China is behaving like a ‘bully’ in South China Sea: McCain

    China is behaving like a ‘bully’ in South China Sea: McCain

    Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said on Tuesday, China is behaving like a “bully” with its militarisation of islands in the South China Sea,an activity Washington must confront with its allies to find a peaceful solution.

    In a speech in Sydney, McCain said China was asserting itself globally, best illustrated by militarising artificial islands in the South China Sea, a claim repeatedly rejected by Beijing.

    “I think it is very clear that the Chinese by filling in these islands are militarizing them and that is in violation of international law,” the Arizona senator said.

    McCain’s comments are set to escalate tensions between the U.S. and China just days before delegates from both countries are scheduled to attend a regional security conference in Singapore.

    China claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which about five trillion dollars in ship-borne trade passes every year.

    Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the strategic waterway.

    The U.S. estimates Beijing has added more than 1,300 hectares of land on seven features in the South China Sea over the past three years, building runways, ports, aircraft hangars and communications equipment.

    To counter the perceived Chinese aggression, the U.S. has conducted so-called freedom-of-navigation exercises, the most recent of which was conducted by a U.S navy warship near Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands.

    At the same time, U.S.  is seeking China’s cooperation to rein in ally North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

    Allies such as Australia have so far refused to participate in freedom-of-navigation exercises in the fear of alienating Beijing

    .

    While McCain stopped short of calling on Australia to undertake the exercises, the former U.S. presidential nominee said allies must work together to find a peaceful solution.

  • FG begins prisoners transfer arrangement with China

    FG begins prisoners transfer arrangement with China

    Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama has revealed that Nigeria and China are working on prisoner exchange agreement.

    If this agreement scales through, the over 600 Nigerians serving various jail terms in China would be brought back home to continue their jail terms.

    Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama made the disclosure Thursday while briefing the journalists on the activities of the government in the last two years.

    Onyeama said “Nigerians in prison in China is what we are dealing with right now.  We are working on prisoner exchange system. It is a system we have to plan to have an agreement with China. The prisoners I think who are facing capital punishment on death row. We will reach out to the government commit the death sentences and those that are there we are making an effort to get them back home to serve their sentences.

    “Prison exchange is a special agreement with China but we are working to have one in place. We have taken that on board and we are trying to see what we can do to have such a transfer arrangement and to get our prisoners back,” he said.

    ” There is also  a mechanism for prisoner transfer for those that would serve their prison terms in Nigeria because some of them want to serve there prison term in Nigeria but yesterday the minister of interior presented during executive council a memo on reforming  the whole prison system in Nigeria and he feel somehow  on Nigeria prison.

    He also narrated that a Nigerian who have served in Chinese prison wrote a book on his experiences offered to train Nigerians in prison.

    “We got a letter of a Nigerian in Chinese prison who admitted that he was carrying drugs and he confessed and said he has served about 10 or 12years in Chinese prison. He has written about 4 or 5 books in prison and he is very much interested in using his experience to train and help others.”

     

     

  • Failure to develop sports at grassroots threatens our growth – Gora

    Failure to develop sports at grassroots threatens our growth – Gora

    A retired sports administrator, Elias Gora, on Tuesday said the country’s grassroots development programme was not good enough to help build world-beaters and return Nigeria to winning ways.

    Gora told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that there should have by now been a replacement for sprinter Blessing Okagbare if the programme was yielding the desired result.

    Speaking against the background of recent unimpressive performances by Okagbare, Gora lamented that Nigeria’s athletics administrators had been paying lip service to grassroots development and this was rather unfortunate.

    “I said this same thing sometime last year, and up till this moment there is nobody we can pinpoint or point at as a possible replacement for this talented athlete that nature has began to take its course on.

    “In Nigerian athletics unfortunately, there is a talk of ‘catch them young’ grassroots development. But I haven’t seen anything in that direction.

    “If that was the case and we are quite serious with it, we would have had young and talented athletes replacing Okagbare,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that Okagbare, one of Africa’s most successful sprinters, will not be in action when the IAAF Diamond League makes its second of 14 stops this weekend in Shanghai, China.

    She finished with an uninspiring 23.15 seconds to place sixth in the opening leg of the money-spinning one day meeting last weekend in Doha, Qatar.

    This would be the second straight season the Nigerian 100m record holder at 10.79 seconds will be missing the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.

    She had made her debut in 2011, coming third in 11.23 seconds in the 100m.

    Gora, who was Nigeria’s Chef de Mission at the 2011 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, “By now, there should be a replacement for Okagbare already if the grassroots development programme was yielding the desired result.

    “She’s a wonderful woman, well determined and her passion for this country is highly commendable, but by now somebody would have replaced her.

    “We should by now not only have one, but very many other new crop of young athletes coming up to do Nigeria proud.

    “So, I don’t know what we are really doing in grassroots sports development,’’ he said.

    Gora lamented that what the country was having was a situation of having individual athletes attending competitions without training.

    “They cannot embark on any serious training because first they don’t have a coach, and that’s the truth, as sad as it is. We can’t take good coaching away from sports,’’ he said.

    Gora said the importance of knowledgeable coaching in the life of athletes could not be over-emphasised.

    “You cannot have sports without coaches who are up to date with current techniques. Sports keeps evolving and there are procedures.

    “I have said it times without number, but nobody is listening,’’ he said.

    Gora then urged the incoming President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to ensure that his administration’s focus was mainly on grassroots development.

    “It is never too late to make amends. After the election, whoever emerges the new AFN President should give more priority to grassroots development.

    “We cannot over-emphasise the need for it, given the decline we have suffered in the recent past,’’ he said.

     

  • ‘Nigeria can do a lot to address trade imbalance with China’

    ‘Nigeria can do a lot to address trade imbalance with China’

    Mr. Festus Mbisiogu is the Chairman/CEO of Blue Diamond Logistics, China. In this interview he speaks on how best the trade between Nigeria and China can be balanced. He also spoke on other issues beneficial to the bilateral relations between both countries. Mbisiogu spoke to NNEKA NWANERI in Guangzhou, China on trade relations between the two countries and how Nigeria can have trade balance with China. Excerpts:

    Population of Nigerians in China

    Eighty percent of the Africans in China live in Gungzhou and statistics have shown that Nigerians in Gunagdon Province contributes about 20 percent to the economy. Statistics too shows that 10-20million dollars comes in from Nigeria into Tanishilo market on a daily basis. Because the Igbo people in China are gurus with business so the Chinese are getting closer to us to use us to know our modus operandi so that they can take the trade from us. These Igbos contribute a lot to their economy, yet, are not recognised. It almost feels like being used and dumped. Before, we were like sheep without shepherd, but with the Nigerian consular office here, things are getting better.

    Also, there is a stereotype that the there are no good people here, especially because some Nigerians are committing one form of offence or the other so they are denying us benefits accruing to us. But my argument with them is that since it is on record that Igbos here contribute to the economy, they should be given a special status. Prediction has it that in the next 10 years too, 20 percent of Chinese people will be billionaires in the world, which are 450 million people.

    China as home of substandard goods

    Just with a sample, they can produce anything in the world after looking at it. They are too creative. No Nigerian that wants his name to fly would like to mess it up. Some of the problem we have is when an order is placed to Chinese; we go without any knowledge of what they are producing. Most of the substandard goods imported are not the fault of the importers or sellers. We have no knowledge of how it is produced. Even at that, when the goods arrive, we can’t send it back. So Festus Odimegwu deserves praise for carrying out factory tour on some products before shipment.  Both Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) do pre-inspection before shipment. I recalled that when former President Goodluck Jonathan visited China some years ago to know investors, so many memoranda of understandings were signed especially on power, agriculture, mining and some major constructions like airports, etc. There was no follow-up. This has been the major challenge. I have witnessed several MoUs signed between the Nigerian government and Chinese government. I have been involved in some of these investments but there have been no follow-ups afterwards.

    Justification for non implementation of MoUs

    Some of the Chinese investors going to Nigeria are not doing the country so much good because there is no conducive environment for them to go into areas we want them to. Areas like industrialising the nation, in Greenfield investment where they bring their own plant, install it on Nigerian land and employ people, train them up and that will allow for transfer of skills and technology. In this area, it is zero balance.

    The only thing Chinese are doing is majorly on roads and airport construction. 90 percent of road contracts go to Chinese companies. The remaining 10 percent goes to indigenes. These foreigners come to the country with portfolios and are back to China with billions of dollars. I’m not so comfortable with that and it gives me great concern. An analysis shows that if a unit cost of item produced in Nigeria is N1000, it will be N800 in Ghana and N600 in China all because of unavailability of steady power supply.

    Why buying from China is better than producing from Nigeria?

    After an extensive market research, I found that it is better I buy products from China than produce in Nigeria. The cost analysis shows that it is one digit interest rate and other incentives such as 10 percent rebate on every export. There are other incentives that make them conquer the world including giving you accessibility to factories and other supports in its fullness. I have lived here for 13 years and I have seen that there is no magic to their booming economy.

    Daily, I ship loads of containers of goods daily and we private businessmen find it difficult to woo them into the country because of underlying factors. Only few have succeeded so far. The rate at which they are growing, a city here can give Nigeria light within six months. But I still don’t know why the federal government is not thinking in this positive direction.

    Way forward

    The only way we can have a win-win approach between the two nations is when we allow the Chinese to grab the money but we should have the skills and technology. They too haven’t taught in this direction due to Nigeria’s unsteady power supply. The environment is harsh and the north is no go area because of insecurity. Thus, they venture into construction. Nigerians can hire them as expatriates so that they can train us.

    No wise investor would like to invest in a country where there is no steady power supply because 80 percent of profit in companies goes to power. When the Nigeria Governors Forum came here, I made them know that 80 percent of what the world uses is from China. They are going fast and will soon take over the world.  There are a lot we need to learn from them. I made them understand that they should focus on industrialising states by identifying potential business men and women and try to create an industrial zone, loan money to them and order them to get the needed machinery.

    Furniture and fruit juices are from China. So many things used in Nigeria are from China, including toothpick. I am a shipper here and I know these things first hand. Why can’t they think in such direction by mapping out particular money and share processing plants among states?

    For example, Benue State can go into cassava and soy beans processing, do the processing line and then get Chinese to work on it through private partnership. From there, the country will have enough to feed from and still export to other parts of the world.

    This way, no state in Nigeria will be unable to pay salaries instead of waiting for federal allocation. It beats me that each time government is in China; their only focus is on construction. Nobody talks about industrialisation.

    We should also talk of transfer of skill and technology, else, we gain nothing from them and that win-win approach becomes a futile mission. No one should take advantage of our inability to think beyond the areas they are playing on.

    Even when foreign investors bring money into Nigeria, they demand for Sovereign guarantee and this, government does not have. They have seen that without this, it won’t be possible to finance projects, thus, they switched to construction.

    That explains why bids tendered are always won by Chinese. No local construction company ever gets contracts when Chinese are bidding alongside with them. This too is a problem. I have seen that the relationship between our both countries is not balanced and as the only Nigerian representative of the One Belt one Road initiative so I stand to tell you beyond reasonable doubt that that is one solution Nigeria needs to come out our economic woes.

    To have partnership with any investor, they need partner with me in a conducive environment. I run an NGO on steady power supply. If we fix power, we don’t need advertise to investors to come because we have the man power and human resources as the largest population in Africa. My having lured 21 governors to China is a welcome development. For the past five years, I have been working with the consulate in Beijing to ensure that a consulate is in Guangzhou because it is the commercial city and can’t be toyed with in the world. They are the number one in the world for building materials. Every province here has been mandate by their government to be number one in a specific area of specialisation

    My advice to government is that they take home the need to target on Greenfield investment and transfer plants from china to Nigeria thereby creating jobs, reduce unemployment and transfer of skill and technology, not only construction. Government can also suggest a 50-50 win whereby Nigerians provide land, 30 percent capital and workers while the expatriates come and team up with us. That way, we will get it. Also, each region should have a product. Imagine how much we would realise from exporting our cassava processing.

    A major production line in each state would mean a big boost for the country. The visiting forum has opened their eyes to a lot of things. Like Abia State government that is partnering with Chinese shoe and textile factories. That too is a welcome development because many any of them were amazed at the level of development in China. Now they are thinking of a long term benefit of the visit.

    Challenges of investors in Nigeria

    Investors contend with a number of challenges such as high interest rate, epileptic power supply and lack of sovereign guarantee.

    Why Nigeria was left out of the list of countries for the One Road One Belt initiative

    It was discovered during the Jonathan regime that Nigeria was left out of the $61bn the Chinese government is putting into Africa. But having discovered it, they are working on modalities to include Nigeria. African countries should try to know why China is supporting Africa. They see more than us. They are trying to penetrate the African region and are doing that already to get businesses. It is a good one but my concern is how we can grab from whatever they are doing for the development of our country.

    10-15 years ago, they had 230 million people living below the poverty line but in the last 10 years, they have 23million and are working towards getting to zero in the next 10 years. China is doing a good job by supporting Africa but I really want Nigerian government to look inward and utilise resources that are coming in for industrialisation. Once there can’t be taken away. By that, jobs are created and technology spreads. That is the essence of cooperation.

    How to have trade balance

    The only thing Nigeria exports to China are wood and mahogany, which is a major market for them. They use it and sell back to us. Oil too is another product exported to China. We should export a lot to be able to export so that the country can generate money. It can only be done through industrialisation and employment that takes the youth off the streets. For the South western states close to the seaport and Lagos can concentrate on building materials and furniture so they can export through the seaports. Let them not focus on agriculture. It is on record that 102 containers of metro tiles go into Nigeria from China monthly.

     

  • Chinese jets intercept U.S. radiation-sniffing plane – U.S.

    Chinese jets intercept U.S. radiation-sniffing plane – U.S.

    Two Chinese “SU-30” jets carried out what the U.S. military described as an “unprofessional” intercept of a U.S. aircraft designed to detect radiation while it was flying in international airspace over the East China Sea.

    U.S. Air Force spokesperson, Lt.-Col. Lori Hodge said: “the issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels.”

    Hodge said the U.S. characterisation of the incident was based on initial reports from the aircrew aboard the “WC-135`’ Constant Phoenix aircraft “due to the maneuvers by the Chinese pilot, as well as the speeds and proximity of both aircraft.”

    “Distances always have a bearing on how we characterise interactions,” Hodge said, adding a U.S. military investigation into the intercept was underway.

    She said the “WC-135” was carrying out a routine mission at the time and was operating in accordance with international law.

    Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying declined to comment on the specific incident and referred questions to the defence ministry which has yet to comment.

    “For a long time U.S. ships and aircraft have been carrying out close up surveillance of China which can really easily cause misunderstandings or misjudgments or cause unexpected incidents at sea or in the air,” she said.

    “We hope that the U.S. side can respect China’s reasonable security concerns.”

    On Feb. 8, a U.S. Navy “P-3” spy plane and a Chinese military aircraft came close to each other over the South China Sea in an incident the Navy saw as unsafe but also inadvertent.

    Reuters reported at the time that the aircraft came within 1,000 feet of each other in the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal, between the Philippines and the Chinese mainland.

    China is deeply suspicious of any U.S. military activity in the resource-rich South China Sea, parts of which are disputed by China and its smaller neighbors including the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia

     

  • Ex-banker in court over N6.8m theft

    A 38-year-old ex-banker, Chidi Idems, who allegedly obtained N6.8 million from a customer under false pretences, on Wednesday appeared before an IkejaMagistrates’ Court.

    Idems, a resident of Abule-Egba area of Lagos, pleaded not guilty to a five -count charge of conspiracy, stealing, obtaining under false pretences, forgery and presumption as to false pretences under certain circumstances.

    The prosecutor, Sgt. Mike Unah, told the court that the accused committed the offences on June 2, 2016 at Agidingbi area of Ikeja.

    Unah alleged that the accused, with others now at large, fraudulently obtained N6.8 million from one Olabisi Shittu on the pretext of assisting her to transfer the money to her customer in China.

    He said that the complainant, who had no idea that Idems had been sacked at the bank, transferred N6.8 million to him.

    Unah said that the accused converted the money to his own personal use and forged a telex transfer form showing that he had paid the money to the complainant’s customer.

    The prosecutor said that Idems gave the forged document to Shittu, who had no idea it was fake.

    Unah said that Shittu did not know she had been duped until she received a call from her customer in China, who claimed he had not received the money.

    “Shittu quickly rushed to the bank to report the accused to the head of operations, only to discover that Idems had been sacked from the bank months ago for another offence.

    “The complainant said that when she called the accused on phone to demand for her money, he started making up flimsy excuses.

    “She said that after so much persistence on her part, Idems gave her a Zenith bank cheque of N6.8 million.

    “Shittu said that when she presented the cheque at the bank it was dishonoured due to insufficient funds in the accused’s account.

    “The complainant reported the case to the police and the accused was apprehended and taken to the police station for further questioning, ”Unah said.

    The offences contravened Sections 285, 312, 319, 363 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused risks a 15-year jail term on conviction for obtaining by false pretences, according to the provisions of the Criminal Law.

    The Magistrate, Mrs A.O Gbajumo, granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum. She adjourned the case until July 12 for mention.

  • China votes $6.7b to develop Nigeria’s agriculture

    China votes $6.7b to develop Nigeria’s agriculture

    Chinese Economic and Commercial Counselor, Mr Zhao Linxiang, has said his country promised $6.7 billion to develop Nigeria’s agriculture through training of hundreds of Nigerians to achieve food sufficiency.

    He spoke at the China-Nigeria Agricultural Modernisation Cooperation Forum in Abuja yesterday.

    The envoy further stated that China was ready to share its experience in agricultural development with Nigeria in order to transform the sector to enhance productivity.

    ‘‘China, the most populated country in the world and also the biggest developing country, has produced food for 20 per cent of the world’s population.

    ‘‘China and Nigeria are both major agricultural nations, having a strong complementarity in the field of agriculture development.

    ‘‘In the past 15 years, Chinese government has provided agricultural training courses for hundreds of Nigerian candidates which has promoted the level of Nigeria’s agricultural development.

    ‘‘In 2016, we held the China-Nigeria Agricultural Technical Training Programme; 40 Nigerian officials and technicians got trained in Abuja on different agricultural innovations with good results; we have also started training for 2017.

    ‘‘We are going to train 40 participants from all the 36 states, including FCT, on pest control, mechanisation, application of farm inputs and so on,” he said.

    He assured that the Chinese government would encourage Chinese companies to invest in Nigeria.

    Linxiang, however, expressed hope that the Nigerian government would provide them with better business environment and industrial policies.

    China’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Zhou Pingjiansaid that China had been implementing 10 cooperation agricultural mechanisation plans with Africa after the Johannesburg Summit in 2015.

    He also said that China was willing to transfer technologies and management expertise in agriculture with Africa without any reservations.

    Pingjian, however, expressed the optimism that the cooperation on agriculture modernisation between China and Nigeria would continue to serve as a pacesetter for China-Nigeria’s future agricultural cooperation.

    The Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said mechanised agriculture was the way to go in order to achieve food sufficiency for the country.

    MrYakubuBuba, Chairman, Nigeria-China Relationship Commission, represented Dogara at the occasion.