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CHINA

Volvo partner blacklisted by Swedish pension fund

Dong Feng, owners of a Chinese truckmaker in which Volvo recently purchased a 45 percent stake, has been blacklisted by a major Swedish state pension fund for allegedly violating a United Nations weapons embargo.

Volvo partner blacklisted by Swedish pension fund

Sweden’s Seventh AP fund, as well as Norway’s oil fund, blacklisted Dong Feng because the company sold military equipment to countries currently under a UN weapons embargo, Sweden’s TV4 news reported on Monday.

“They are really the wrong partner for Volvo,” Anna Ek, head of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (Svenska Freds- och skiljedomsföreningen) told TV4.

At the weekend, officials at Volvo AB hailed the 5.8 billion kronor ($900 million) deal as a “fantastic opportunity” for the Swedish truckmaker to take a leading position in China and in the global market for heavy trucks.

According to Volvo CEO Olof Persson the partnership was “the best of both worlds”, calling Dong Feng “a partner we know well”.

Volvo claimed the deal made it the largest manufacturer of large trucks.

The blacklisting by Sweden’s Seventh AP fund means the pension fund won’t be allowed to purchase any shares of Dong Feng.

However, there are no current plans to review the fund’s holdings in Volvo following the deal.

“We’ve told them what we think and they have told us that they don’t work like that any longer,” Volvo spokeswoman told TV4.

TT/The Local/dl

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CHINA

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as ‘political farce’

China on Tuesday blasted a democracy conference in Copenhagen attended by Taiwan's president and a Hong Kong activist alongside Danish government officials this week, qualifying it a "political farce".

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'
Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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