News

China’s foreign ministry releases report on state of democracy in U.S. in 2022

Published

2 months ago

21/03/2023

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) — China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday released a report on its website titled “The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022.”

Based on facts, media comments and expert opinions, the report aims to present a real picture of American democracy over the past year.

It reveals that American democracy was in chaos at home and that a trail of havoc and disasters were left behind as the United States peddled and imposed its democracy around the globe. It is hoped that the report will help remove the facade of American democracy for more people worldwide, the report says.

In addition to the preamble and conclusion, the report has two parts titled “American democracy in chronic ills” and “The United States’ imposition of ‘democracy’ has caused chaos around the world.”

In 2022, the vicious cycle of democratic pretensions, dysfunctional politics and a divided society continued in the United States, the report says, adding that problems such as money politics, identity politics, social rifts, and the gulf between the rich and the poor worsened.

The maladies afflicting American democracy deeply infected the cells of U.S. politics and society, and further revealed U.S. governance failure and institutional defects, it says.

However, the United States refuses to acknowledge the many problems and institutional crises confronting its democracy at home and stubbornly claims to be the template and beacon of democracy for the world. Such imperiousness perpetuates the ills of its democracy and causes dire consequences for other countries, says the report.

Democracy is humanity’s common value. However, there is no single model of political system that is applicable to all countries in the world, says the report. It goes on to say that it should be up to the people of a country to judge whether the country is democratic or not and how to better promote democracy in their country. The few self-righteous countries have no right to point fingers.

Those who have many flaws themselves have little credibility to lecture others, and attempts to undermine others for one’s own profit and destabilize the world must be unanimously opposed, says the report, adding that black-and-white division of countries as democratic or authoritarian is both anachronistic and arbitrary.

What our world needs today is not to stoke division in the name of democracy and pursue de facto supremacy-oriented unilateralism, but to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and uphold true multilateralism on the basis of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, according to the report.

It continues by saying that what our world needs today is not to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs under the guise of democracy, but to advocate genuine democracy, reject pseudo-democracy and jointly promote greater democracy in international relations.

What our world needs today is not a “Summit for Democracy” that hypes up confrontation and contributes nothing to the collective response to global challenges, but a conference of solidarity that focuses on taking real actions to solve prominent global challenges, the report says.

News

Nasheed touts parliamentary system as fix for delay in ministers’ response

Published

2 days ago

30/05/2023

Speaker Mohamed Nasheed stated during the parliamentary sitting Tuesday that switching to a parliamentary system is the solution to delays in response from government ministers to queries by MPs.

During Tuesday’s sitting, Thimarafushi MP Abdulla Riyaz expressed concern over the delay in getting a response from government ministers.

He said that while parliamentary regulations require ministers to respond to question from MPs within 14 days, ministers usually take two-three months to send a response.

Riyaz asked the Speaker to solve the issue.

“I called the Secretariat of the Parliament even yesterday, because of the lack of response to some of the questions I have sent. I was told the ministers hadn’t had time to send a response because they are so busy. I don’t believe the regulations states that ministers must send answers when they have the time,” he said.

Nasheed responded that he doesn’t believe the delay in response is from ministers alone, and said it would continue to be a recurrent problem so long as the Parliament doesn’t switch to a parliamentary system.

“All of you would agree that expediting this requires changing the entire system of the Parliament. This will continue to happen as long as the Parliament does not switch to a parliamentary system,” he said.

MPs are waiting for answers to 45 questions from ministers, 22 of them in writing.

Nasheed said the Parliament will not be able to clear the backlog even if 10 ministers are summoned for questioning in a single day.

Nasheed has long advocated for a parliamentary system in Maldives, something which he often finds himself at odds with other political leaders over.

Source(s): sun.mv

World

Sri Lanka to require heavy metals report for fruit imports

Published

2 days ago

30/05/2023

COLOMBO, May 30 (Xinhua) — Importers of fruit into Sri Lanka will be required to obtain a report on heavy metals starting from June 1 as part of the country’s efforts to improve food safety, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The new requirement came after a recent survey by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, which found that many imported fruit samples were contaminated with lead, the ministry said in a statement.

The heavy metals report must come from an accredited and independent laboratory from the exporting country and will be a mandatory requirement for the release of fruit consignments into the country.

Importers are advised not to import any fruit with heavy metals above the Codex levels, as they will be rejected at the port of entry, said the ministry.

The country has been working to strengthen its food safety regulations in recent years, in response to concerns about the safety of imported food.

Source(s): Xinhua

World

India launches next-gen navigational satellite

Published

2 days ago

30/05/2023

NEW DELHI, May 29 (Xinhua) — The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched a second-generation navigation satellite NVS-01, officials said.

The navigational satellite weighing about 2,232 kg was launched on board an expendable Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh state.

According to the ISRO, NVS-01 is the country’s first second-generation satellites envisaged for the Navigation with Indian Constellation services.

Officials said an indigenous atomic clock was flown in NVS-01 for the first time.

Source(s): Xinhua