'Unlimited possibilities': Key takeaways from Putin-Xi summit - CNA

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for two days of closely-watched talks on Monday (Mar 20) and Tuesday.

Here are five key takeaways from the Putin-Xi summit:

"A NEW ERA"

The two days of talks at the Kremlin were heavy on pomp and ceremony as Putin and Xi hailed a "new era" in the two countries' relationship. The Russian leader said that bilateral cooperation "has truly unlimited possibilities and prospects" and toasted the "prosperity" of Russian and Chinese people at a state dinner after the talks.

The summit was seen as a coup for internationally isolated Putin just days after the International Criminal Court announced it had issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader for the "unlawful deportation" of Ukrainian children.

China analyst Alexander Gabuev said that the Hague-based court's arrest warrant "only increases" China's leverage over Russia.

"Xi Jinping can't be embarrassed by meeting Putin, and the verdict only puts Xi's 'dear friend' in the Kremlin deeper into his pocket," said Gabuev, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

UKRAINE CONFLICT

Xi called for dialogue over the conflict, while Putin praised China's peace initiative for Ukraine and said it could form the basis of any future settlement if both Kyiv and the West are ready for it.

"However, so far we have not seen such readiness on their part," the Russian leader added.

The two leaders also signed a declaration saying it was important to "respect the legitimate concerns of all countries".

The declaration stressed it was important to prevent the Ukraine conflict from getting out of control.

"The parties call for an end to all steps that contribute to the escalation of tension and prolongation of hostilities, to avoid a further deterioration of the crisis," it read.

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2023-03-21 23:12:00Z
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Xi, Putin begin talks at Kremlin with Ukraine on agenda - CNA

Xi's trip coincides with a surprise visit to Kyiv by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who visited Bucha, a town where Russian forces were accused of committing atrocities during their occupation last year.

Ukraine's foreign ministry described the trip as "historic" and called it "a sign of solidarity and strong cooperation between (Ukraine and Japan)".

"CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE"

On Monday, Xi and Putin held four and a half hours of talks, calling each other "dear friend".

In a rare move, Putin escorted Xi to his car after the talks, and the two were seen smiling together.

During the meeting, the Russian leader said he was open to talks on Ukraine and praised Beijing's 12-point position paper on the conflict, which includes a call for dialogue and respect for all countries' territorial sovereignty.

Xi and Putin are also expected to discuss boosting economic cooperation as Russia boosts energy exports to China after being mostly shut out of European markets.

Ahead of the talks, Russian gas giant Gazprom said that supplies through the Power of Siberia pipeline to China had reached a daily record on Monday.

Xi's three-day visit began a day after Putin travelled to Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, his first trip to territory captured from Kyiv since the start of the assault in February 2022.

China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, but Washington has said Beijing's moves could be a "stalling tactic" to help Moscow.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Xi's Moscow visit "suggests that China feels no responsibility to hold the president accountable for the atrocities committed to Ukraine".

"And instead of even condemning, it would rather provide diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit those great crimes," he added.

The United States has accused Beijing of mulling arms exports to Moscow, claims China has vociferously denied.

Zelenskyy has said he would welcome talks with Xi, though there has been no indication from Beijing of any such plans.

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2023-03-21 12:17:00Z
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S$140m of expired COVID-19 vaccines was 'insurance' to avoid catastrophic economic impact, more deaths: Ong Ye Kung - CNA

SINGAPORE: About 15 per cent of Singapore's COVID-19 vaccine doses worth S$140 million have expired, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament on Tuesday (Mar 21), calling it a price the country was prepared to pay.

"The expiry of unused vaccines was an insurance premium – the price we were prepared to pay to stave off the risk of catastrophic consequences," he added.

Mr Ong noted that before COVID-19 vaccines became available, Singapore resorted to implementing a "circuit breaker" in April 2020 in a bid to contain the pandemic. 

"The two-month circuit breaker cost us around S$11 billion in terms of GDP loss. And we spent close to another S$60 billion over two financial years to cushion the hardship for businesses and workers, not to mention all the heartaches, the difficulties families had to go through," he said.

"Without vaccines, we would certainly have had to resort to further circuit breakers during the Delta and Omicron waves of late 2021 and then throughout 2022. But we did not have to, because the vaccines - we got them early, and they protected us.

"More importantly, our approach averted many deaths due to COVID-19 infections and protected Singaporeans against that catastrophic consequence."

Speaking during the debate on the White Paper on Singapore's response to COVID-19, the Health Minister said Singapore had "deliberately over-procured" to mitigate the uncertainty of selected vaccine candidates not working, and the possibility of supply chains being disrupted.

And this meant having spare vaccine stock, which would expire.

The White Paper, which drew on a review conducted by former head of civil service Peter Ho, concluded that Singapore's COVID-19 vaccine strategy paid off.

The government recognised “very early on” that vaccines were the most promising exit strategy and worked to secure early access, according to the White Paper which was published earlier this month.

This meant Singapore had to “place bets, at substantial cost, on potential game-changers” before trials were completed, it added.

As of Dec 31 last year, Singapore's mortality rate for COVID-19 was around 300 deaths per million, said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his closing speech later in the afternoon.

This was "much lower" compared to other countries with five or 10 times the mortality rate, he added.

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2023-03-21 07:13:00Z
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'Dear friends' Xi and Putin meet in Moscow as Russia welcomes China's Ukraine peace plan - CNA

WESTERN SCEPTICISM

Ukraine and its Western allies say any truce would just buy Putin time to reinforce ahead of a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive and that for Russia and China to uphold international law as they say they do, they must agree to Russia's withdrawal.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby reiterated that call, adding that US President Joe Biden wanted to speak with Xi to keep communication channels open.

Putin signed a "no limits" partnership with Xi last year shortly before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine to end what he said was a threat to Russia from its neighbour's moves towards the West. The year-long war has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed cities and forced millions to flee.

The Kremlin said Putin would provide Xi with detailed "clarifications" of Russia's position, without elaborating.

Washington has noted that China has declined to condemn Russia and has given it an economic lifeline.

Putin said Russia was helping to build nuclear power reactors in China and the two countries were deepening cooperation in space exploration and new technologies.

As Western pressure on Russia grows, Putin's administration has told officials to stop using Apple iPhones because of concerns the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, a newspaper reported on Monday.

"Either throw it away or give it to the children," the Kommersant daily quoted a participant of the meeting as saying.

Justice ministers from around the world met in London on Monday to discuss support for the ICC, whose chief prosecutor Karim Khan called on Russia to repatriate the Ukrainian children to prove it is acting in their best interests as it says it is.

Several European Union countries agreed in Brussels to jointly buy 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine, which sees them as critical as both sides fire thousands of rounds every day.

Fierce fighting continued in the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut where Ukrainian forces have held out since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

Giving its regular morning roundup from the front, Ukraine's military said defenders in Bakhmut, Lyman, Ivanivske, Bohdanivka and Hryhorivka - all towns in the Donetsk region - had repelled 69 Russian attacks in the past day.

British intelligence said Ukrainian supply lines both west of Bakhmut and west of the town of Avdiivka, further south, were under pressure.

Ukraine's military said that Russian forces were on the defensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to the south.

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2023-03-20 14:20:00Z
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Thailand dissolves parliament ahead of May general election - CNA

BANGKOK: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has issued a royal decree on the dissolution of parliament, according to an announcement published in the Royal Gazette on Monday (Mar 20), paving the way for a general election to be held in May.

The royal decree, which was issued on Mar 17, is effective on Monday. The Thai constitution stipulates that polls must be held between 45 and 60 days after the dissolution of parliament. This means the polls will take place between May 4 and 19.

The exact date of the election will be announced by the Election Commission and published in the Royal Gazette.

Last week, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha requested a royal decree to dissolve parliament prior to the end of the government's four-year term on Mar 23.

Thailand held its previous election on Mar 24, 2019, marking a transition from nearly five years of military regime towards re-establishing a democratically elected government.

Junta leader Gen Prayut – a candidate from Palang Pracharat Party at that time – was elected prime minister. He staged a military coup in 2014 to seize power from Yingluck Shinawatra’s democratically elected government. 

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2023-03-20 08:30:00Z
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China's Xi Jinping arrives in Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin - CNA

MOSCOW: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday (Mar 20) where he was expected to press Beijing's role as a potential peacemaker in the Ukraine conflict while Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped for support against Western pressure.

Xi's three-day trip to Russia - his first in nearly four years - has been touted by Beijing as a "visit for peace" as China seeks to play neutral mediator in Putin's invasion of Ukraine. 

He said his first state visit to Russia since the Ukraine conflict broke out would give "new momentum" to bilateral ties.

Landing at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, Xi was greeted by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko on a red carpet as a military brass band played the countries' anthems, Russian state media showed.

"I am confident the visit will be fruitful and give new momentum to the healthy and stable development of Chinese-Russian relations," Xi told journalists, including from Russian state media, on the runway of a Moscow airport, describing Russia and China as "good neighbours" and "reliable partners".

"In a world of volatility and transformation, China will continue to work with Russia to safeguard the international system with the UN at its core," he said.

Xi will be the first national leader to shake Putin's hand since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him on Friday over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since its invasion.

Moscow said the charge was among a number of "clearly hostile displays" and Beijing said it reflects double standards.

Russia is presenting Xi's trip as evidence that it has a powerful friend prepared to stand with it against a hostile West that it accuses of trying to isolate and defeat Moscow.

"We can feel the geopolitical landscape in the outside world undergoing drastic changes," Putin said in an article in China's People's Daily published on the Kremlin website, adding that he had high hopes for the visit from his "good old friend".

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2023-03-20 10:57:00Z
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Steps taken to tighten process chain in shoe recycling project led by SportSG, Dow - CNA

SINGAPORE: Partners of a shoe recycling programme led by Sport Singapore (SportSG) and US company Dow have taken steps to tighten the process chain, after a Reuters investigation found that several pairs of donated shoes were sent to Indonesia where they were put on sale.

Measures to tighten the process include appointing only contractors and subcontractors that are not involved in any secondhand trading of textiles or shoes.

The recycling programme, which was set up in 2021, harvests the rubberised soles and midsoles of donated footwear. The recycled granules are then used in sports infrastructure in Singapore. 

Responding to parliamentary questions on the matter, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said on Monday (Mar 20) that the services of a subcontractor, Yok Impex, were terminated after project partners looked into issues raised in the Reuters report.

Yok Impex had been engaged by one of the project partners, waste collector Alba-WH, to help with collecting donated shoes from recycling bins in selected parts of Singapore.

These bins were sorted at Yok Impex’s premises before being sent to Alba-WH’s warehouse for registering and weighing.

They were then delivered to a grinding facility managed by BT Sports, said Mr Tong. The facility is the first in Singapore that is able to grind recycled shoes into granules for use as building materials. 

According to Reuters, which tracked 11 pairs of shoes, nearly all the footwear ended up with Yok Impex. Ten pairs were later exported to Indonesia. One remains in Singapore, with its tracking device still intact. 

"The investigation found that the shoe recycling bins at Yok Impex’s premises were not properly segregated from their other sorting activities, resulting in some shoes which were meant for recycling being exported to other countries for resale," Mr Tong said on Monday.

"Alba-WH has since terminated the services of Yok Impex."

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2023-03-20 06:06:57Z
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