China

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong delayed a legislative session on a contentious extradition bill as thousands of protesters amassed to block entry to the building Wednesday out of concern the measure signaled greater Chinese control and further erosion of civil liberties in the semiautonomous territory.

The overwhelmingly young crowd of demonstrators filled nearby streets, overturned barriers and tussled with police outside the government headquarters and offices of the Legislative Council.

BEIJING, June 10 (APP): Secretary General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Vladimir Norov has said that the leaders of eight member countries would gather and address security and other topics during the summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan this week.

“We’ll discuss some hot international and regional issues, as well as topics related to peace and stability for SCO countries and the region,” Norov told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in an interview here.

SHANGHAI (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei said Tuesday it would have become the world’s number one smartphone maker by year’s end if it were not for “unexpected” circumstances — a hint that pressure from the U.S. may be hurting its sales.

“If we had not encountered anything unexpected, we would have become number one in the world by the fourth quarter,” Huawei’s chief strategist, Shao Yang, said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Shanghai.

BEIJING (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong over the weekend to protest a legislative proposal that would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. It was thought to be the territory’s largest protest in more than a decade and reflects growing apprehension about relations with the Communist Party-ruled mainland.

A closer look at the issue:

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WHY WERE PEOPLE PROTESTING?

BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The 21st round of China-European Union bilateral investment treaty (BIT) negotiations kicked off in Beijing Monday, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

This round is scheduled to last for five days.

The two sides will negotiate over the agreement text and list, and strive for positive headway, the MOC said.

The talks are one of China's most important trade and economic negotiations, which started the first round in 2013 and are expected to see a high-level agreement inked in 2020.

10 June 2019; AFP: Chinese media on Monday blamed foreign interference over the huge protest that brought central Hong Kong to a standstill at the weekend, accusing opponents of the city's pro-Beijing government of "collusion with the West".

Organisers say more than a million people marched through the streets of the territory against a proposed new law that would allow extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China.

10 June 2019; DW: Chinese exports rose 1.1% to $213.8 billion (€188.4 billion) and imports fell 8.5% to $172.2 billion in May, the Chinese customs agency said Monday.

China's trade surplus with the United States widened to a four-month high of $26.89 billion in May according to the data. The figure for April had been $21.01 billion.

Beijing, Jun 9 (PTI) Chinese telecom giant Huawei said it has obtained 46 commercial 5G contracts so far in 30 countries and shipped more than one lakh 5G stations globally, emerging as a top player in the race for setting up the super-fast telecommunications system despite the US ban on use of its 5G services.

The Shenzhen-headquartered firm, which is under immense pressure after the US issued the ban warning that Huawei systems could be manipulated by Beijing to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications, made the announcement on Thursday in a press statement.

Hong Kong, Jun 10 (AFP) Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader said Monday she had no plans to withdraw a controversial plan to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, a day after huge crowds came out to oppose the proposal.

"This is a very important piece of legislation that will help to uphold justice and also ensure that Hong Kong will fulfil her international obligations in terms of cross-boundary and transnational crimes," chief executive Carrie Lam told reporters.

Beijing, Jun 10 (PTI) Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping as "good friends", China on Monday hoped that the two leaders would discuss their respective trade frictions with the US and reach a consensus on opposing trade protectionism during their "very important" meeting this week on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek.