Chinese wholesalers have set up shop in the Moroccan port of Casablanca, causing a wave of panic among local traders fearful of competition. \n"Chinese wholesale centre," reads a sign in Arabic, French and Chinese at one Chinese trader's shop. \n"I don't speak English and French very well, and Arabic is difficult," said Lin Xue-yun, 32, who manages a shop selling mirrors, sandals, shoes, chessboards and electronic toys. \nLanguage is the main obstacle for her and her compatriots who arrive unable to converse in Morocco's main languages, Arabic and French. Moroccan nationals are employed in an intermediary role in their shops. \n"I've only been here for four months," Lin said. "I have an 11-year-old son I left in Fujian," the province most wholesalers originate from. \n"Watch out, the Chinese are landing!" headlined the daily newspaper Aujourd'hui Le Maroc last week, saying "an army of Chinese businessmen (estimated at 1,200) has decamped in the kingdom's main towns and villages." \n"Business in Casa is good," said Yen Tieh, 39, in halting English, a sxi-months resident in Morocco. \nGhita, 21, a Moroccan employed in a Chinese shop in Derb Omar, the bustling trading area of Casablanca, said she was happy working where she was. "We sell sandals, photo and picture frames, and small gifts," she said, adding that her wages were "very satisfying." \nBut Nadia, writing out a bill on the counter of her neighboring shop, railed against the Chinese influx, claiming the new traders had "destroyed the economy and job market" in Casablanca. \n"The product for which I pay 25 dirhams in duty, they sell at 10 dirhams. They could sell sandals for only 18 dirhams (US$1.95)." \n"Their products are of a very bad quality," Nadia said, adding that some Chinese traders were going "door-to-door, suitcase in hand." \nSalah, a fellow Moroccan worker in Derb Omar, added: "I've seen them unload their own container at Casablanca port." \nThe Moroccan association for game importers says Chinese traders are engaged in "unfair and anti-competitive practices." \nIn a recent statement, the association said it wanted to "sound the alarm bell." \nShop manager Fatima Lmoussi, however, disagrees: "Trade is open to all. The arrival of the Chinese is even positive, because it creates a business dynamic." \nAccording to one taxi driver, the Chinese came across as "nice, extremely polite, and they pay the Moroccans they employ very well."
‘IRRATIONAL ACTS’: The defense ministry condemned the drills, during which China tested successors to missiles deployed during the Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1995 and 1996 China yesterday fired several Dongfeng ballistic missiles as it began four days of unprecedented military drills off Taiwan proper following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei the previous day. On Tuesday, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said Beijing would “take all necessary measures” in retaliation should Pelosi visit Taiwan during her Asia tour. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from 1:56pm to 4pm fired 11 Dongfeng missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan proper, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Taiwanese armed forces, using “forward warning and surveillance mechanisms,” monitored the missile tests
ANNEXATION PLANS: Remarks by the Chinese ambassador to France showed that Beijing seeks to normalize genocide, re-education and gulags, a US official said European and US officials condemned comments from Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野), after he on Wednesday said that Taiwanese would be “re-educated” after any annexation by China. In an interview on French television, Lu accused the Democratic Progressive Party of “extremist” propaganda and turning Taiwanese against “reunification” with China. “We will re-educate. I’m sure that the Taiwanese population will again become favorable of the reunification and will become patriots again,” Lu told BFM TV. The term “re-education” has been used to describe Chinese authorities’ treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defense Chairwoman
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
‘SIMULATED ATTACKS’: Ten warships each from China and Taiwan were maneuvering at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line Taiwan yesterday reiterated that it would not succumb to pressure from Beijing after China carried out its most provocative military drills in decades in retaliation for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last week. “We will never bow to pressure. We uphold freedom and democracy, and believe Taiwanese disapprove [of] China’s bullying actions with force and saber rattling at our door,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. China had “arrogantly” disrupted regional peace and stability, he said, calling on Beijing to not flex its military muscles. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has also called on the international community to “support