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Bambawale appointment comes at a time when India and China are trying to put behind the Dokalam stand-off Seasoned diplomat  Gautam Bambawale , India's high commissioner to Pakistan, was today appointed as the country's next envoy to China. This was announced tonight by the external affairs ministry. A 1984 India Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Bambawale is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the ministry said. He will replace Vijay Gokhale. A deft hand in Sino-India relations, Bambawale opted to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1985 and 1991. He was first the desk officer for China in the Ministry of External Affairs and served as director in the Americas Division of the ministry, responsible for relations with the US and Canada (1993-94). He has also functioned as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Beijing. His appointment comes at a time when India and China are t...

China opens South China Sea website China   on Wednesday opened a website on the South China Sea, complete with historical maps, articles and research, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). Run by the National Marine Data & Information Service, the Chinese language site has 10 sections that cover basic information, news, historical archives, development and management, expert opinion, law and regulations, a timeline of major events, pictures and videos and Q&A. "The   South China Sea   has drawn huge attention, but some information online is not accurate,"   Xinhua   news agency quoted Zhang Haiwen,   SOA   official in charge of international cooperation, as saying. "We hope that this website will enable domestic and overseas people to better understand it and learn about the truth behind the 'dispute' over it." The website has now six domain names, including   中国南海网   and   中国南海网 , due to "informatio...

Chinese fury continues against South China Sea judgement China   continues to resolutely oppose the Permanent   Court   of Arbitration's (PCA) landmark decision handed down on July 12 against its maritime claims in the South China Sea. Indeed,   Beijing   has redoubled its months-long campaign to invalidate the 2013 case that The Philippines   brought against it. The PCA gave a comprehensive verdict in Manila's favour. In its 501-page report the tribunal found Beijing violated no fewer than 14 United Nations Convention on the   Law   of the Sea (UNCLOS) provisions, six international regulations preventing collisions at sea and one general rule of international law. China's recalcitrance was highly visible during the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement held in   Hong Kong   on July 15 and 16, jointly organised by the Chinese Society of International Law (CSIL).   Read More

Chinese automaker plans self-driving, electric car by 2020 An automotive venture backed by China tech giant Tencent aims to launch an electric   self driving car   before 2020, entering a crowded field dominated by US-based Tesla, the chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday. Future Mobility, backed by Tencent and Hon Hai Precision Industries, is one of an expanding field of China-backed ventures that aim to take on   Tesla   Motors Inc as green energy car sales boom in China. Although the venture sought to produce premium cars like Tesla, it would attempt a different strategy from the US company that began with relatively limited production and focuses on a single model at a time, CEO Carsten Breitfeld said in an interview. "Right from the beginning we define the platform, right from the beginning we define the production process to be mass production and right from the beginning we think of more than one model, a family of models, defined from this platf...

China pulls up chief negotiator for limited global support for anti-India position at NSG The Chinese leadership has pulled up Wang Qun, its lead negotiator and Director General of the Arms Control Division at the Foreign Ministry, for failing to drum up significant global support for China's position in Seoul which blocked India's entry into the   NSG . Highly placed Western and Chinese sources said that Wang Qun had told   Beijing   that at least one third of the NSG nations would endorse China's position. However, the position was totally in the reverse, with as many as 44 nations backing   India   and   China   only having the support of four nations. Beijing now fears that the fallout of the NSG outcome could have an impact on a crucial verdict expected soon from the Permanent Court   of Arbitration in The Hague in a case brought by the   Philippines   concerning China's territorial reclamation activities in the South Chin...

Win or lose, Trump won't dent US biz in Asia: Wagar The US private sector will not sever seven decades of investment in Southeast Asia because of who occupies the White House, said US ambassador to Singapore   Kirk Wagar . Acknowledging a high number of inquiries generated by Donald Trump's presidential bid, Wagar said while his country's democratic process was noisy, it had built-in checks and balances. "The one that is always forgotten is the private sector," Wagar said in an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore. Estimating that around 50 million Southeast Asian citizens had either worked for or had interaction with a US company over the last 70 years, Wagar said he did not "think that the chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, of Facebook or General Motors is going to decide on their investment strategy on whether Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or   Donald Trump   are president....

 Facebook wins trademark case in China Facebook has warded off a threat by a Chinese firm to use its famous name for a refreshing beverage after a Beijingcourt ruled in favour of the US social networking giant in a rare   trademark case . The court saidthe local firm had "violated moral principles" with "obvious intention to duplicate and copy from another high-profile trademark", BBC reported. Zhongshan-based Zhujiang Beverage, which sells products like milk-flavored drinks and porridge, said it registered its trademark "face book" in 2011. The company faced objections from Facebook, but gained approval from the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board the country's trademark authority in 2014 to use it. Facebook is blocked in China since 2009 but its founderMark Zuckerberg who is married to a Chinese has recently gone on a charm offensive to access the Chinese market. The court judgement was a reprieve of sorts for the Facebook as Appl...

Chinese lawmakers are considering amending the family planning law to allow couples to have two children amidst efforts to counter shrinkage of the work force and an ageing population. “The State advocates that  one couple can give birth to two children ,” Xinhua cited a draft amendment submitted for review at the bi-monthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee which opened on Monday. The draft came after the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee decided in October, to give the go ahead for the universal two-child rule, which will replace the decade-long “one couple, one child” policy. Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), said the CPC’s decision was made to adapt to the transition of China’s population from young to old currently underway. In order to implement the decision, the top legislature must amend the family planning law which took effect in 2002. Under the current law, citizens who ...

The Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda boss, Liu Qibao, has extolled the success of  Alibaba , the giant Internet company, as the kind of uplifting story that offsets the country’s reputation abroad as corrupt and authoritarian. “We have many iconic brands and archetypal individuals with many stories that people love to hear,” Liu told a conference of officials in January. Alibaba and similar success stories, he said, should be seen as “shining calling cards for the image of contemporary China.” The Alibaba Group, and party propaganda overseers in Beijing, are about to take that premise a step further, going beyond using the narrative of one of China’s most lucrative businesses to improve China’s reputation - and instead using its cash and digital skills. On Friday, the company announced that it would attempt to directly reshape global news coverage of China, which it says is too negative, by buying the media assets of the SCMP Group, including The South China Morning Post,...