US undermining stability: China

Beijing, February 25

The Chinese military criticised the United States (US) on Thursday for undermining regional peace and stability after a US Navy warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier.

A spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement the Chinese military tracked the USS Curtis Wilbur as the destroyer made what the US Navy called a “routine Taiwan Strait transit”.

In the US, a legislation has been introduced in the Congress for countering the Chinese propaganda by creating a new sanctions authority against state-backed disinformation networks. Republican Study Committee Chairman Congressman Jim Banks and Senator Tom Cotton on Wednesday introduced the Countering Chinese Propaganda Act.

The Bill requires the Secretary of State to examine whether or not the United Front Work Department meets the criteria to be sanctioned under this new authority. The legislation is based on recommendations from the Republican Study Committee's National Security Strategy and authorises sanctions against the United Front Work Department, which is an overseas influence arm of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

The United Front participated directly in the Uyghur genocide and the oppression of Christians in China, but its ultimate goal is to spread those persecutory tactics around the globe, Banks said. “The leadership in Washington may have changed, but China's political warfare hasn’t. It's fallen to Congress to expose and counter Communist Party disinformation. We can't back down now,” he said.

“The Chinese Communist Party expands its disinformation campaign each day - concealing information on the origin of Covid-19, lying about its oppression of Uighurs and other religious minorities,” Cotton said. — Agencies

Xi claims victory in eradicating poverty

President Xi Jinping on Thursday declared that China has scored a “complete victory” in its fight against poverty by lifting over 770 million people out of it in the last four decades, calling it another “miracle” created by the country that will go down in history. Absolute poverty has been eradicated in the world's most populous country, Xi announced while addressing a gathering held here to mark the country’s accomplishments in poverty alleviation. PTI