China and Iceland announced a deal on the oil-rich Arctic region after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) flew in to Reykjavik on Friday on the first stage of a four-nation European tour.
The deal was part of a package of six agreements signed on the first day of the Chinese premier’s visit to the country, during which he held talks with his Icelandic counterpart Johanna Sigurdardottir.
The Arctic’s oil reserves were high on the agenda for energy-hungry China during the high-powered delegation’s visit to Iceland — though Sigurdardottir touted the Arctic deal as a research collaboration.
“These agreements will provide various opportunities for increased cooperation on research between Icelandic and Chinese scientists in this area,” her office said on its Web site.
Iceland’s strategic location near the Arctic has not gone unnoticed in China, the world’s biggest energy consumer: The shrinking of the polar ice cap is making the region’s mineral resources more accessible.
The retreat of the ice has also opened up the potential for a shorter cargo shipping route with Asia, which would cut the sea voyage between Shanghai and northern Europe by about 6,400km.
China’s interest in Iceland came to the fore last year when a Chinese property tycoon tried to buy a large swathe of land in the north of the country for a tourism project.
Some observers suggested property magnate Huang Nubo’s (黃怒波) purchase would help China win a foothold in the Arctic, amid general concern over Chinese investment in Europe.
That deal was eventually blocked by the Icelandic government, after officials there said China had mooted using the island as a trans-Arctic shipping port.
Wen’s visit is the first to Iceland by a Chinese premier. Sigurdardottir used the occasion to give Beijing a diplomatic nudge over human rights concerns.
Sigurdardottir had “also discussed human rights issues, civil rights and international commitments,” her office said.
“The prime minister and premier agreed to enhance relations and cooperation on gender equality in the near future,” it said.
Besides the Arctic cooperation agreement, the two sides signed five other accords, with 11 ministers and deputy ministers accompanying the Chinese leader.
They included agreements on geothermal sciences; marine and polar sciences; geothermal research; and a solar project in Iceland.
Iceland’s Orka Energy signed a deal with China Petrochemical Corporation (中國石化) of the Sinopec Group on using geothermal energy in China for heating homes and generating electricity.
As part of its ambitions in the polar region, Beijing is seeking permanent observer status on the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation among eight states bordering the region.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
RSS