Cash-strapped Greece played host yesterday to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), hoping to drum up sorely needed investment as Athens battles to emerge from an unprecedented debt crisis.
Athens was Wen’s first port of call on a European tour, with the Greek government eager to build on the success of existing Chinese investment in the country where shipping giant Cosco (中國遠洋控股) is expanding facilities at the main harbor.
The Chinese premier arrived in the Greek capital in the mid--afternoon with a delegation of ministers and businesspeople in tow, including Cosco head Wei Jiafu (魏家福) and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川), airport officials said.
Wen was to sign bilateral agreements on investment and tourism with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and private sector accords on shipping, construction and technology, Papandreou’s office said.
Athens is desperate for investment as the country struggles to claw its way out of a deep -recession and a debt crisis that drove it to the brink of bankruptcy in May.
Crippled by debts of nearly 300 billion euros (US$414 billion), the country became the first eurozone member to need a financial bailout with a 110 billion euro EU and IMF rescue package.
After beginning his seven-day European tour in Greece with a three-day visit, Wen is to head to Belgium for summits with EU leaders before visiting Italy and Turkey.
Greece has for years sought Chinese investment on the grounds that the country’s location offers a strategic springboard in the Balkans for trade between Asia and southern Europe.
As Athens prepares to sell off state assets to raise desperately needed cash, Greek officials have tried to capitalize on the crisis by arguing that it makes Greece a good bargain for Chinese investors.
Ahead of the visit, Papandreou said in an interview with Chinese news agency Xinhua that it was “a show of a very strong strategic relationship we are developing.”
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a