*Speaking of Chinese ties, did you know that, China rebukes...

*Speaking of Chinese ties, did you know that,

China rebukes Australia amid suspended trade talks

A top official from the Chinese government has put the blame on suspended economic discussions squarely on Canberra and demanded Australia “take full responsibility” for damaged ties.

Last Thursday, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission declared it would “indefinitely suspend” economic dialogue between the two nations over what the Commission described as Australia’s “Cold War mindset” and “ideological discrimination”.

In fresh criticism, China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng defended the diplomatic freeze and instead pointed the finger at Australia.

“Recently, the Australian government has unreasonably restricted and suppressed China-Australia economic and trade cooperation projects and the existing achievements,” he said on Thursday.

This has “damaged” mutual trust between the two countries and “seriously affected” business confidence,” he added.

“Relevant Chinese authorities have to make a proper and necessary response, and the Australian side should take full responsibility for this.”

The Morrison Government ignited China’s fury after it tore up Victoria’s controversial Belt and Road agreement, a move that has further inflamed tensions between two countries that have been simmering for months.

The Chinese embassy responded swiftly, saying the move would further damage bilateral relations and Canberra would “only end up hurting itself”.

"This is another unreasonable and provocative move taken by the Australian side against China," a Chinese embassy spokesperson said at the time.

"It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations.”

On Thursday, Gao echoed these sentiments, adding: “We urge the Australian side to view China-Australia cooperation in an objective and rational way and treat Chinese companies in a fair and impartial way,” Gao added.

A port in Darwin, dubbed by analysts as strategically significant, has also become a recent battleground in the stoush between the two nations.

In 2015, the Northern Territory government struck a deal with a Chinese company to give it full control over the Darwin Port that also serves as a military base for Australian and US armed forces.

But the deal is now under fresh review by the Federal Government, which is scrutinising the deal’s national security implications.

Relations with China, Australia’s largest trading partner, began to sour after Canberra led the call for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/


$700 Million Job to Rip-And-Replace Huawei 5G Begins

Telecom engineers in hard hats and fluorescent jackets spent a decade scaling buildings to install Huawei Technologies Co. equipment across the U.K. Now, starting atop the Muswell Court tower block in Hull, they’re beginning a seven-year and $700 million task of ripping it all down because of a U.S.-led campaign against the Chinese company.

Hull is the first British city where Huawei will be eradicated from the country’s biggest network, BT Group Plc. The London-based company said it’s on track to cut out all of Huawei’s equipment there by July, substituting in components from Nokia Oyj.

“We were quite keen to pick one city area and do the whole of that, and make sure that we can really check that we’re not having an adverse impact on customer service,” BT Chief Technology Officer Howard Watson said in an interview with Bloomberg.

“The signs are really good for that so far.”

Nation-wide, engineers will have to repeat this surgery on 12,000 of BT’s 18,000 mobile masts, rooftops, and other sites.

About 130 have been completed so far because of the time-consuming process of seeking landlord permissions, closing roads, and ultimately mobilizing hundreds of people at any one time, Watson said.

It’s a costly exercise, too: BT’s set aside 500 million pounds ($701 million) to pay for replacement kit from Nokia and Ericsson AB.

The U.K.’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the ban would delay Britain’s 5G roll out by as many as three years and cost the industry 2 billion pounds overall.

BT’s work in Hull offers an early glimpse at the reality of a rip-and-replace mandate set in motion by the U.S., which alleges Shenzhen-based Huawei is an unacceptable security threat because of its proximity to Beijing’s government.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its equipment poses any risk.

Still, Britain ordered the Chinese telecom giant to be completely removed from 5G infrastructure by 2027.

It’s not just Huawei’s recently installed 5G equipment that has to be removed, but its far more ubiquitous 4G base stations, too.

That’s because the first generation of 5G is woven inextricably into 4G, and Huawei equipment is not interoperable with equivalents from its rivals.

But although decisions made in the halls of Washington and Westminster mean hundreds of telecom engineers now face the task of taking down antennas and gadgets they’d just finished installing, there's a silver lining: Amid financial turmoil in the wake of Brexit and coronavirus, it's won them years of extra paid work.


https://twitter.com/i/events/1393158717848363016






Food for thought - Chinese Takeaway

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