World

The China-Russia border city of Heihe where harmony lies

Published

2 years ago

March 20, 2023

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If you want to understand the China-Russia relationship, the frozen border city of Heihe is a good place to start.

It is a bleak, bitterly cold place, even at this time of year.

Its most impressive feature by far is the sweeping, frozen Heilongjiang river that hugs it. On the other side is Russia.

It’s a place that’s much quieter than it used to be. COVID, a closed border and then a sanction-induced squeeze on Russia’s economy have stifled much of the previously booming tourist trade.

Prior to the pandemic, there was a lot of cross-border activity, with Chinese groups heading north to experience Siberia and Russians coming the other way.

Lots of people living in the border towns would regularly cross to go shopping, do business or socialise.

But despite the drop in traffic, signs of that close affinity are everywhere here, from the imposing Russian architecture to the Russian stores stacked with vodka, Russian dolls and (Vladimir) Lenin motif merchandise.

Mr Jia runs one such shop filled with faux and real fur hats and gloves.

The friendship is a good one, he says. He previously lived in Russia and Russians are his customers and his friends.

“They are nice and straightforward,” he remarks with a smile.

It’s a view that’s common here, as is his take on the war in Ukraine, the opinion that Russia isn’t entirely to blame.

“Wars have to be fought for a reason,” he says after pausing for thought.

“No one goes to war if they don’t have to. Some things are like having a ticking time bomb next to your pillow, and it’s not going to be easy to sleep.”

It is an opinion encouraged in China, the true horror of the war and who perpetrated it is largely censored here.

Indeed, China has trodden a very careful path throughout the conflict, never overtly condemning or condoning the invasion while insisting it is best placed to play peacemaker.

But it has quietly been providing Russia with finance, technology and diplomatic cover and the West now fears it could go further.

There are signs of that tacit support everywhere in Heihe and reminders of why China might want to maintain it.

The best example perhaps runs under our feet – the huge pipes that carry Russian gas into China.

Heihe is the entry point for the Power of Siberia 1 gas pipeline and China is now buying more of this gas than ever before, compensating Russia for much of the trade it has lost with Europe.

Further up the river, there is also an enormous bridge that facilitates the trade in commodities that still flows between the two.

It is also a reminder that this vast border is peaceful. It hasn’t always been the case and battles gone by destroyed communities around here. Maintaining today’s peace allows both sides to focus resources elsewhere.

‘No one else wants to be friends with us’

It is at this bridge we meet Slava, a Russian truck driver who lives just on the other side of the river.

He has driven to and from China for many years and spoke with unusual frankness about the position Russians are in.

“There is no one else,” he says about the incoming help from China. “No one else wants to be friends with us.

“Europe doesn’t want to work with us or be friends, so we have our neighbours left to work with. They give us work. We give them work. That’s it.”

“I hope they don’t send us to war,” he adds. “That’s the problem, Ukraine, you know? Ukraine.”

Indeed, while this relationship is nothing short of a lifeline to Russia, it offers huge value to China too that goes far beyond trade.

Crucially Russia offers China a like-minded ally in what it sees as a reshaping of the world order and its ever-increasing power struggle with America.

In short, a defeated Russia and a united, victorious West would be damaging to President Xi’s vision for an ascendant China.

That’s the bigger picture here, the standoff that’s pushing two neighbours closer.

China knows Xi’s visit to Moscow speaks volumes, it’s a big gesture he’s chosen to go regardless.

China is still treading its careful path, but be in no doubt, its number one interest is China.

World

Why Putin has suddenly offered an ‘Easter truce’ in Ukraine – and the interesting way it’s being presented

Published

5 hours ago

April 19, 2025

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Why Putin has suddenly offered an 'Easter truce' in Ukraine - and the interesting way it's being presented

Well it is something, but it’s by no means everything – a ceasefire for 30 hours, not 30 days.

This feels like a diplomatic dance, rather than a military, or moral, manoeuvre.

An Easter truce – announced by Vladimir Putin on Saturday – is significant in the sense that, if it holds, it’ll be the first actual cessation of hostilities since the war began.

Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates

And it’s significant in the sense that it’s the first actual concession made by Moscow since Donald Trump initiated peace negotiations two months ago.

But – and there’s always a “but” when it comes to the Kremlin – how much of a concession is it really? And how much difference will it make militarily?

It’s nowhere near what the White House has been asking for, and it’s nowhere near what Ukraine has previously consented to.

The American president’s first proposal was a full 30-day ceasefire. Kyiv agreed but Moscow didn’t, not without conditions.

Then there was the attempted maritime truce. Again, Moscow’s agreement came with strings attached, in the form of sanctions relief, so it never got off the ground.

So why suddenly suggest a truce now?

America had made no secret of its growing frustration at the lack of progress in peace negotiations.

Trump threatened to “take a pass” on attempts to reach an agreement on Friday after his secretary of state said the US might “walk away”.

I don’t think that in itself would be a problem for Russia, given its military dominance. But I think it could be a problem if Trump blames Putin for the lack of progress, and then pulls the plug on their thaw in relations as well.

So this feels like Putin is giving Trump just enough to keep him on side, without actually making any major concession.

And the way it’s being presented is interesting too – at Russia’s initiative, on humanitarian grounds, Ukraine must “follow our example”.

He’s trying to cast himself as the peacemaker in the eyes of the US president – as the one who give solutions, not problems – which appears contrary to Trump’s opinion of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

World

More than 90 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in 48 hours, says Gaza health ministry

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2025

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More than 90 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in 48 hours, says Gaza health ministry

Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 90 people in the past 48 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory has said.

Women and children were among 15 people who were killed overnight on Friday in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital staff.

At least 11 of those who were killed were sheltering in a tent in the designated humanitarian zone of al Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living, the hospital workers said.

A further four people were killed in separate strikes on the city of Rafah, including a mother and her daughter, according to Gaza’s European Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

Israel – which has not commented publicly on the latest strikes – has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy large “security zones” inside the area.

It says this is to put pressure on Hamas to release more hostages and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory.

For weeks, Israeli troops have also blockaded Gaza, barring the entry of food and other goods.

Last month, 15 aid workers were killed and buried in a shallow grave after being fired upon by Israeli troops.

Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

The group says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year.

Hamas’s armed wing said the fate of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander was unknown after a guard who was holding him was found killed.

On Tuesday, Hamas said it had lost contact with a group of militants holding Mr Alexander in Gaza.

Earlier this week, the United Nations warned that almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people is relying on the one million prepared meals produced daily by charity kitchens.

The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets, but rising prices make them unaffordable for most, according to the World Food Programme. The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, called it Gaza’s “worst humanitarian crisis” since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023.

Dr Hanan Balkhy, head of the World Health Organisation’s eastern Mediterranean office, urged the new US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push Israel to lift Gaza’s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter the strip.

“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation first hand,” she said on Friday.

In his first appearance as ambassador, Mr Huckabee visited the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. He inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by US President Donald Trump.

Mr Huckabee said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining Israeli hostages.

Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 251.

Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

World

British couple killed in Naples cable car crash named

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2025

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British couple killed in Naples cable car crash named

Two Britons killed in a cable car crash near Naples have been named by Italian media.

Graeme Derek Winn, 65, and his wife Margaret Elaine Winn, 58, were among four people – including an Israeli woman and an Italian man, the cable car operator – who died in the incident on Thursday, which officials said happened after the cable snapped.

The only survivor, a second Israeli tourist, was in a stable but critical condition, the Naples hospital treating him said on Friday.

Ms Winn was initially named by Italian media as Margaret Elaine Winn, but it is understood she was known as Elaine.

The couple were described as “good friends” by Chris Mann, who posted on social media saying they were “enjoying retirement with lots of motorbike tours and holidays”.

“How incredibly sad,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities.”

Nine passengers were helped out of a separate cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident.

They were freed one by one in a difficult operation using harnesses, footage on RAI television and other media showed.

Italy’s alpine rescue, along with firefighters, police and civil protection services, responded to the incident.

It occurred just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. It averages around 110,000 visitors each year.

Umberto De Gregorio, chairman of the EAV public transport company that runs the Mount Faito cable car, described the incident as “a tragedy” and said the service would remain shut “for a long time” following the crash.

He told Sky News the cause of the incident was being investigated, and that before its reopening, the cable car service had undergone three months of tests with checks carried out every morning.

“Everything we had to do was done,” he said.

“Evidently something went wrong, we don’t know what, whether an exceptional unforeseen event or human error. The investigators will discover all this.”

He added: “Furthermore, I knew very well one of the four victims, our employee. He is the brother of my driver – who is also my friend, since we lived together practically every day.

“I knew him and yesterday I saw his heartbroken wife, we hugged each other. There is so much emotion.”

The UK Foreign Office said: “We are dealing with an incident in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities. Our thoughts are with those affected.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences for the victims and their families and said she was in touch with rescuers. She spoke from Washington, where she was meeting US President Donald Trump.