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Xi Jinping’s debt-relief recipe: how China’s biggest bond defaulter unloaded its liabilities

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The massive steel plant in Dengshahe, which dominates a brutal, industrial landscape 50km northeast of downtown Dalian, is a source of pride and shame for the local economy. Ultimately owned by Liaoning’s provincial government, it produces the country’s best steel, with its high-quality products used in Chinese spaceships and rockets. But it is also the country’s biggest ever bond defaulter and a textbook example of President Xi Jinping’s approach to tackling China’s ballooning corporate debt. Dongbei Special Steel has failed to repay 10 batches of corporate bonds worth 7.1 billion yuan (US$1 billion) since March last year, leading to a year-long legal battle between the company and its 1,911 creditors, which include state banks, local lenders and small investors. In the past two years, as Dongbei Special Steel was talking with its creditors, China’s steelmaking landscape changed dramatically, with more than 100 million tonnes of obsolete or unwanted capacity shut down. Meanwhile, the benchmark Shanghai rebar price has almost doubled in the past 18 months, giving those steelmakers allowed to keep operating fat profits. According to official data, steelmakers’ profits were up 106.9 per cent year on year in the first eight months of this year. The Dengshahe steel plant, a key underlying asset of Dongbei Special Steel, made a gross profit of 320 million yuan in the first half of this year, ending years of operating losses, the official China News Service reported.

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Saudi Arabia welcomes ‘firm’ US strategy on Iran

in MIDLE EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Saudi Arabia has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s “firm” strategy on Iran. Trump on Friday said he would not certify that Tehran is complying with the nuclear agreement struck with other world powers, warning he might ultimately terminate it. He announced the major shift in US policy in a speech in which he detailed a more confrontational approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and alleged support for extremist groups in the Middle East, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia praised Trump’s “vision” and commitment to work with US allies in the region in order to face “common challenges, particularly Iran’s aggressive policies and actions”. A statement stressed that Saudi Arabia had previously supported the nuclear agreement between Iran and the “5 + 1” powers, in the belief that it is necessary to limit proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. But it added that Iran had “exploited” the economic benefits of eased sanctions and continued to “destabilize the region”.

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Girl group leader becomes powerful political figure in North Korea

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Hyon Song-wol, the leader of North Korea’s all-girl propaganda band Moranbong Band, is among the noteworthy figures joining the North Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee at the party’s recent reshuffle. She now co-serves as an alternate member of the committee’s political bureau, its most powerful body. There have been prior cases of artists joining the party’s Central Committee, as either regular or alternate members, according to sources, Wednesday. But Hyon’s rise still surprised many because she was once believed to have been executed by Kim Jong-un after being embroiled in a pornography scandal in 2013. The sources speculated Kim “highly assessed” Hyon’s loyalty in December 2015 when her band visited Beijing. The band had been scheduled to perform before high-ranking Chinese officials as part of efforts to bolster Pyongyang-Beijing ties. But Hyon called off the gig abruptly and returned to Pyongyang with her band just hours before the performance, after Chinese authorities asked them to modify part of the programme. The authorities reportedly found the programme problematic for excessively idolising Kim. But Hyon refused their request and decided to cancel the performance instead. She reportedly claimed “not a single dot can be taken out of the programme because it is already supervised by our leader”. Kim would promote her to join the Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, Meanwhile, there are growing complaints among senior North Korean officials over Hyon excessively wielding power, the sources said.

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Fear of forced repatriation rising among defectors in China

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North Korean defectors living in northeast China continue to fear for their safety as North Korean and Chinese authorities ramp up efforts to arrest and repatriate them back to the North. Although such individuals have always been mindful of their illegal status, the past year has seen a shift in policy to a point where even the children of defectors are being forcefully repatriated to North Korea. Daily NK has been collecting their stories since June last year and found over 120 instances of forced repatriation of North Koreans residing in areas across China’s northeast, including Shenyang in Liaoning Province, Kunming in Yunnan Province, Changbai, Tumen, and Yanji in Jilin Province, Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province, and other regions. While a considerable number of defectors have already been repatriated to North Korea, many more sit languishing in detention centers in China, awaiting their own deportation. A source in China informed Daily NK that “unlike previously, when defectors could easily pass through these routes simply by blending in, the authorities have stepped up their surveillance and questioning, establishing more checkpoints and generally making it much more challenging. Making their way to third countries like Thailand or Laos has now become much harder than crossing the China-North Korea border itself. International human rights organizations are also sounding the alarm at the increase in arrests and forced repatriations in China. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported earlier this month that in July and August of this year alone, at least 41 North Koreans were detained on suspicion of defection. From July 2016 until this June 2017, HRW recorded 51 separate instances, bringing the total during this period to at least 92 persons, including a newborn baby, an 11 year-old child, and four elderly women.

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Systemic solution against abuse of security services

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

 A public debate on the Government’s reforms in the security system, including the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK) and the Law on Interception of Electronic Communications, is to open in less than a month. The objective is to offer a solution that guarantees no abuses in the system, the Government said on Thursday. According to Government Spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski , the Government’s motion to halt the Constitutional Court procedure over assessment of the constitutionality of Article 175 of the Law on Electronic Communications aims at avoiding partial solutions until a specific systemic solution is available, one ensuring that abuses of the system would not occur.Therefore, the Government believes that the Law on Interception of Communications in general can be subject of assessment regarding its constitutionality, but not Article 175 as a separate provision. The Government is committed to the reforms in UBK and the Law on Interception of Electronic Communications, which are in the final stages.

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FM Dimitrov attends meeting of OSCE permanent council

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said in an address Thursday before the Permanent Representatives of OSCE members as part of a session Thursday of the OSCE Permanent Council that Macedonia is strongly determined to use the new chance it is given to finally affirm the country in the family of developed democratic societies Dimitrov presented the optimism prevailing in Macedonia’s society after the prolonged crisis saying the citizens had great expectations both from the new government and the international community as well involving a long-awaited fulfillment of the aspirations to join NATO and the EU, the Foreign Ministry (MoFA) said.The Macedonian Minister presented the reform agenda included in the government’s Plan 3-6-9 all the while referring to the areas covered by the reforms in separate fields, namely rule of law, electoral system, strong, professional institutions, development of sound control mechanisms, especially independent judiciary and freedom of the press.

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AEOI Chief: Iran’s Nuclear Activities Meant for Peaceful Purposes

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Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi underlined that Tehran has always sought nuclear activities for only peaceful purposes. “Despite the fact that Iran’s original interest in the nuclear industry dates back to the post-WWII ‘Atom for Peace Program’ era, its nuclear program is yet at a humble stage in comparison with the state of the industry in more advanced countries”, Salehi said on Tuesday, addressing the 20th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on International Cooperation for Enhancing Nuclear Safety, Security, Safeguards and Non-Proliferation. He reiterated that nowadays nothing appears to be more pressing and important than the fate of Iran nuclear deal, also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said, “So, that constitutes the thrust of my remarks here today; what it means for us and presumably for the international community”.

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Turkey won’t ask US for permission to detain suspects, PM Yıldırım says

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Turkey will not ask for permission from the U.S. to detain or prosecute suspects, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said Tuesday, as he criticized the NATO ally for suspending visa applications over the detention of a terrorist suspect. peaking at his party’s weekly parliamentary group meeting, Yıldırım said that the U.S.’s attitude regarding the detention of a consulate staff for alleged links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), contradicts the spirit of alliance. “There is rule of law in Turkey and if someone from the U.S. diplomatic mission commits a crime he/she will not have any privileges [to avoid prosecution]” Yıldırım said, adding that U.S. authorities never asked for Turkey’s permission when they detained a state-owned bank’s deputy general manager. Yıldırım was referring to the arrest of Deputy General Manager of International Banking at Halkbank Mehmet Hakan Atilla by the U.S.. “The issue needs to be immediately resolved” the prime minister said, adding that Turkey is open to all channels of communication with all countries.

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Erdoğan says ‘nothing to discuss’ with US if administration initiated visa row

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

President Tayyip Erdoğan blamed the U.S. ambassador to Turkey on Tuesday for a diplomatic crisis between the two countries and said Ankara no longer considered him Washington’s envoy. In a blunt and personal attack on outgoing ambassador John Bass, Erdoğan suggested Bass acted unilaterally in suspending visa services in Turkey after the arrest of a U.S. consulate worker, and said “agents” had infiltrated U.S. missions. The dispute has plunged already fragile relations between the two NATO allies to a new low after months of tension linked to the conflict in Syria, last year’s failed military coup in Turkey, and U.S. court cases against Turkish officials. The U.S. embassy said on Sunday night it was suspending visa services while it assessed Turkey’s commitment to the safety of its missions and its staff, a message reiterated in a video released by Bass late on Monday. The embassy said allegations that the arrested employee had links to Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the failed coup against Erdoğan last year, were baseless.

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North Korea: cargo ships tracked in Chinese waters after UN imposes all-ports ban for violating sanctions

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The UN Security Council has banned all nations from allowing four ships that transported prohibited goods to and from North Korea to enter any port in their country. Hugh Griffiths, head of the panel of experts investigating the implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea, announced the port bans at a briefing to UN member states on Monday. Griffiths later told several reporters that “this is the first time in UN history”. He identified the four cargo ships as the Petrel 8, Hao Fan 6, Tong San 2 and Jie Shun. According to MarineTraffic, a maritime database that monitors vessels and their moments, Petrel 8 is registered in Comoros, Hao Fan 6 in St Kitts and Nevis, and Tong San 2 in North Korea. It does not list the flag of Tong San 2 but said that on October 3 it was in the Bohai Sea off north China. Griffiths said the four ships were officially listed on October 5 “for transporting prohibited goods”, stressing that this was “swift action” by the sanctions committee following the August 6 Security Council resolution that authorised port bans. Griffiths told UN diplomats that: “is continuing its attempts to export coal” in violation of UN sanctions.

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