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China a threat to global economy: France

China's faltering growth poses a threat to a recovery in the global economy, France's economy minister Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, calling for urgent action to bolster the eurozone.

China a threat to global economy: France
An investor looks at screens showing share prices at a securities firm in Qingdao, in eastern China's Shandong province . Photo: AFP
“The world economy is recovering but not as much as we wish. It's a very long process. On the one hand, we have opportunities… but on the other hand, there are many risks, particularly China today,” he told a conference of German ambassadors in Berlin.
   
“In its in our interest that China succeeds” its transition from an export-heavy economy to a new model of growth, he said.
   
Macron however pointed out that other emerging giants like Russia, Turkey and Brazil were experiencing far greater economic difficulties at the moment.
   
“All this makes it all the more important to have a eurozone that is strong and stable,” Macron said.
   
Speaking in Paris on Tuesday, France's President Francois Hollande said that he “trusts” China can overcome the financial crisis.
 
A day earlier, he had assessed that the world economy was “strong enough” to withstand any shock from China's slowing growth.
   
Fears over a downturn in the world's second biggest economy set off panic selling around the globe on Monday.
   
The rout continued on Tuesday in some Asian bourses including Shanghai and Tokyo, but European markets rebounded as investors returned for bargain hunting.
   
Slowing growth in Asia's largest economy has long kept investors on edge but China's shock devaluation of the yuan two weeks ago, following a string of weak economic data, has riled world markets.

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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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