U. S. President-elect Donald Trump ‘s nominee for secretary of state set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing on Wednesday, saying China should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.
In comments expected to enrage Beijing, Rex Tillerson told his confirmation hearing before the U. S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that China’s building of islands and putting military assets on those islands was « akin to Russia’s taking Crimea » from Ukraine.
Asked whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China, he said: « We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.  »
The former Exxon Mobil chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands it has built up from South China Sea reefs, equipped with military-length airstrips and fortified with weapons.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for specifics on how China might be blocked from the artificial islands.
Tillerson also said Washington needed to reaffirm its commitment to Taiwan , which Beijing regards as a renegade province, but stopped short of Trump’s questioning of Washington’s long-standing policy on the issue.
« I don’t know of any plans to alter the ‘one China’ position, » he said.
Tillerson said he considered China’s South China Sea activity « extremely worrisome » and that it would be a threat to the « entire global economy » if Beijing were able to dictate access to the waterway, which is of strategic military importance and a major trade route.
He blamed the current situation on what he termed an inadequate U. S. response. « The failure of a response has allowed them just to keep pushing the envelop on this, » Tillerson said.
« The way we’ve got to deal with this is we’ve got to show back up in the region with our traditional allies in Southeast Asia, » he said.
Democratic President Barack Obama ‘s administration conducted periodic air and naval patrols to assert the right of free navigation in the South China Sea. These have angered Beijing, but seeking to blockade China’s man-made islands would be a major step further and a step that Washington has never raised as an option.
Under his strategic « pivot » to Asia, Obama has increased the U. S. military presence in the region, and Trump has vowed a major naval buildup.
Tillerson’s words also went beyond Trump’s own tough rhetoric on China.
Obama has sought to forge a united front in Southeast Asia against China’s pursuit of its territorial claims, but some allies and partners who are rival claimants have been reluctant to challenge Beijing.
Tillerson called China’s South China Sea island-building and declaration of an air defense zone in waters of the East China Sea it contests with Japan « illegal actions.  »
« They’re taking territory or control, or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s, » he said.
Tillerson also said the United States could not continue to accept « empty promises » China had made about putting pressure on North Korea over that country’s nuclear and missile programs.
He said his approach to dealing with North Korea – which recently declared it is close to carrying out its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile – would be « a long-term plan » based on sanctions and their proper implementation.
Asked if Washington should consider imposing « secondary sanctions » on Chinese entities found to be violating existing sanctions on North Korea, Tillerson said: « If China is not going to comply with those U. N. sanctions, then it’s appropriate … for the United States to consider actions to compel them to comply.  »
He accused China of failing to live up to global agreements on trade and intellectual property, echoing past remarks by Trump, who has threatened to impose high, retaliatory tariffs on China. But Tillerson also stressed the « deeply intertwined » nature of the world’s two biggest economies.
« We should not let disagreements over other issues exclude areas for productive partnership, » he said.
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Tourists in southwestern China apparently broke the wings of several black-headed gulls just to take pictures with them, and police reportedly had to get involved Wednesday.
Four tourists in Yunnan grabbed the birds and intentionally maimed them to prevent them from flying away, reports the People’s Daily.
Cruel: Tourists in southwest China break gulls’ wings just to take pictures with them https://t.co/YkSP2zrXxD pic.twitter.com/cQ3kynnTNi
— People’s Daily,China (@PDChina) January 10, 2017
Thousands of migratory gulls from Siberia spend the winter at Haigeng Dam in Kunming, Yunnan, every year.
In one of the most serious recent incidents, one tourist came close to ripping a bird’s wing in half, causing it to bleed severely.
When the 50-year-old tourist grabbed hold of the gull, a nearby security guard told him to release it immediately. The man angrily threw the bird into the ground by its wing, ripping it open.
Unable to take to flight, the bird just laid on the ground. The other tourists nearby were shocked.
“Although everyone was concerned about the animal, no one was willing to step forward and intervene for fear of getting in trouble,” said one of the bystanders.
“I had no idea we couldn’t grab the birds. In fact, I thought we could take them home with us,” another tourist busted for abusing the animals said.
The four tourists were reportedly fined heavily for their destructive actions at the dam.
China does not currently have laws preventing animal abuse; however, there is a burgeoning animal rights movement in China. The latest incident stirred a lot of outrage online.
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CHONGQING, China, Jan. 11 (UPI) — Police in China said they failed to apprehend a thieving monkey caught on camera going into apartments to steal food.
Video filmed Jan. 4 in Chongqing’s Qijiang district shows the monkey climbing on the exterior of an apartment building and entering residences through the balconies.
The monkey was also filmed climbing its way through the building’s inside hallways.
Police said they were unable to catch the monkey, which took food and left messes in some apartments.
Officers said the monkey may have previously been fed by someone in the neighborhood, leading it to return for more food.

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China’s President Xi Jinping will promote « inclusive globalization » at this month’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and will warn that populist approaches can lead to « war and poverty », Chinese officials said on Wednesday.
This year’s forum, from Jan. 17-20, is expected to be dominated by discussion of a surge in public hostility toward globalization and the rise of U. S. President-elect Donald Trump , whose tough talk on trade, including promises of tariffs against China and Mexico , helped win him the White House. Trump will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
Xi is the first Chinese president to ever attend the WEF’s annual forum in Davos, which brings together top-level political and business leaders.
Jiang Jianguo, head of the State Council Information Office, told a symposium hosted by the World Trade Organization in Geneva that President Xi would go to Davos to push for development, cooperation and economic globalization in order to build « a human community with shared destiny.  »
« With the rise of populism, protectionism, and nativism, the world has come to a historic crossroad where one road leads to war, poverty, confrontation and domination while the other road leads to peace, development, cooperation and win-win solutions, » Jiang said.
At a briefing in Beijing on the Davos visit, Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said China would respond to the international community’s concern over globalization by putting forward Beijing’s opinions on how to « steer economic globalization toward greater inclusiveness. « .
Li said criticism of trade protectionism leveled at China, by Trump and others, was unjust. « Trade protectionism will lead to isolation and is in the interest of no one, » he said.
« Channels of communication are open » between China and Trump’s transition team at the forum, Li said, but warned that scheduling a meeting might be difficult.
Days after Trump’s victory, Xi vowed to fight protectionism and to push forward with multilateral trade deals. Foreign businesses in China have long complained about a lack of market access and protectionist Chinese policies.
Xi will attend the Davos forum on Jan. 17, part of a three-day state visit to Switzerland from Jan. 15 to 18.
The United States will be represented at Davos by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry , days before they leave office, as well as someone from the Trump transition team, the WEF said on Tuesday.
Separately, China’s commerce ministry said that China is facing a challenging and complicated trade outlook this year with big downward pressure, and will « try all methods » to stabilize trade,
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The Obama administration is expected to launch on Thursday a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization against China over subsidies Beijing provides to the country’s aluminum industry, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The complaint is expected to accuse China of granting cheap loans from state-run banks to its aluminum producers, helping companies to enhance their production, the newspaper reported, citing sources.
China also subsidizes aluminum production by providing cheaper coal and electricity to producers, the sources said, according to the newspaper.
Neither the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D. C., nor the U. S. Trade Department were immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

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Chinese mark checks on Bitcoin trade have strike a digital currency’s value.
China’s executive bank pronounced it wanted to examine marketplace manipulation, income laundering and unapproved financing.
Chinese exchanges trade in a banking have seen a cost of Bitcoin tumble some-more than 16%.
The pierce comes as Beijing’s tries to moment down on income issuing out of a nation illegally. The weakening yuan has stirred many people to try to buy unfamiliar currencies.
The Bitcoin banking had soared to record highs in a initial days of 2017, a arise attributed mostly to clever direct from China, where many Bitcoin trade takes place.
The Chinese executive bank pronounced that a “spot checks were focused on how a exchanges exercise policies including forex supervision and anti-money laundering”.
The banking traded during $760 (£624) on Thursday morning, down from some-more than $915 a prior day. Earlier in January, Bitcoin strike a $1,129 high. Anonymous banking movements
The crypto-currency relies on web-based sell rubbed opposite thousands of computers and is used as an unknown approach to pierce income globally.
As a result, some assume that people in China are regulating it to detour despotic supervision manners directed during preventing income from withdrawal a country.
Currently, there’s an annual limit that people are legally authorised to change into a unfamiliar currency.
The value of a yuan fell by about 7% final year.
In contrast, Bitcoin’s value rose by 125% in 2016, creation it a world’s best-performing banking when compared with a executive bank-issued peers. How Bitcoin works
Bitcoin is mostly referred to as a new kind of currency. Yet like all currencies a value is dynamic by how most people are peaceful to sell it for.
To routine Bitcoin transactions, a procession called “mining” contingency take place, that involves a mechanism elucidate a formidable mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.
For any problem solved, one retard of Bitcoins is processed. In further a miner is rewarded with new Bitcoins.
To recompense for a flourishing energy of mechanism chips, a problem of a puzzles is practiced to safeguard a solid tide of new Bitcoins are constructed any day.
There are now about 15 million Bitcoins in existence.
To accept a Bitcoin, a user contingency have a Bitcoin residence – a fibre of 27-34 letters and numbers – that acts as a kind of practical post-box to and from that a Bitcoins are sent.
Since there is no register of these addresses, people can use them to strengthen their anonymity when creation a transaction.
These addresses are in spin stored in Bitcoin wallets, that are used to conduct savings.

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