Faced with an imminent financial crisis, Sri Lanka has reached an agreement with the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China to cover around $4.2 billion of the island nation’s outstanding debt, according to a statement issued by the finance ministry on Thursday. The government of the cash-strapped nation, which was hit by its worst economic crisis in history when its foreign exchange reserves fell to a critical low, stated that the proposed terms would offer the required fiscal flexibility for Sri Lanka to carry out its ambitious reform program. However, no specific details about the agreement were disclosed in the announcement. The government also expressed hope that the deal would expedite the release of a portion of the $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, which aims to alleviate Sri Lanka’s mounting debt burden. This, in turn, would pave the way for the disbursement of the second IMF tranche, totaling around $330 million....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/sri-lanka-signs-covert-debt-deal-with-china-5509037
Troubled Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup WM Motor has filed for bankruptcy, underscoring the difficulties faced in the highly competitive EV market that once positioned it as a rising star in the industry. A Shanghai court will review the WM case, according to a filing on the national enterprise bankruptcy information disclosure platform on Monday, Reuters reported. The company attributed its operational challenges to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a sluggish capital market, and rising costs in raw materials. Nevertheless, the company pledged to make a comeback once it finalizes a restructuring plan in collaboration with global investors. The company said on its official Weibo account, China’s popular Twitter-like microblog, on Oct. 10, “WM Motor’s planned reorganization will introduce strategic investors from across the globe to achieve its rebirth.”...
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Oct. 10 said Beijing agreed to “look into” his request to appoint an official responsible for the deadly fentanyl. Mr. Schumer, along with five other Democrat and Republican senators, arrived in China on Oct. 7. The delegation had meetings with high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and its top leader, Xi Jinping, on Oct. 9. “I asked Xi to appoint a senior official on the China side, and we would appoint a senior official” on fentanyl, Mr. Schumer said during a briefing at the Beijing residence of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns. “They said they would look into that.”...
The U.S. State Department is demanding answers from China on the well-being of a Chinese human rights lawyer who has been deported back to China from Laos. “The United States condemns the forced repatriation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) national and human rights lawyer Lu Siwei to the PRC from Laos, at the request of PRC authorities,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Oct. 11. Mr. Lu, 50, fled China in late July, crossing into Vietnam before arriving in Laos. On July 28, he was arrested in Laos en route to Thailand to board a flight to the United States to reunite with his wife and daughter. He was accused of entering Laos on a fake visa, an assertion dismissed by Bob Fu, founder of Texas-based rights group China Aid. Mr. Fu had sent pictures of Mr. Lu’s passport to The Associated Press to back up his claims....