China and Costa Rica were to launch free trade talks yesterday in a historic visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) at the start of a Latin America tour including Cuba and Peru.
China has increased diplomacy and investment in the region in recent years, with an eye on natural resources and developing markets for manufactured goods and even arms.
The Costa Rican capital was partially closed for the highest-level visit by a Chinese official to the country, just over a year after it gave up six decades of ties with Taiwan.
Hu, who arrived with scores of businessmen and Communist Party officials on Sunday, was due to announce the start of talks for a joint, free trade accord with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias yesterday morning.
They were also due to sign 11 cooperation deals, from building a joint oil refinery to setting up a Chinese language institute.
Costa Rica has dismissed fears of an invasion of Chinese products into the country under the free trade deal, which could be signed in 2010, diplomats said.
The trade balance has favored Costa Rica up until now, with US$803 million of exports up to September this year, compared with US$671 million of Chinese imports. China, however, deals in a much more diverse range of products.
Costa Rica would be the third Latin American country to negotiate a free trade deal with China, after Chile and Peru, which has not yet concluded its accord.
Costa Rica broke off more than 60 years of relations with Taiwan when it became the first Central American country to begin diplomatic ties with China on June 1, last year.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS