April 5:
Cheng Sihai, a Shanghai-based Chinese national, was arrested on February 7 at London’s Heathrow Airport and charged with conspiring to export devices to Iran for enriching uranium. U.S. prosecutors say Cheng conspired with Seyed Abolfazl Shahab Jamili of Tehran and the Iranian companies Nicaro Eng. Co. and Eyvaz Technic Manufacturing Co. to export American-made pressure transducers for gas centrifuges to “convert natural uranium into a form that can be used for nuclear weapons.” MKS Instruments Inc. produced the parts, which the indictment said were shown attached to Iran’s gas centrifuge cascades in “numerous” photographs of Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility. Between April 2009 and January 2011, Cheng purchased 1,000 MKS pressure transducers for more than $1.8 million dollars then is accused of reshipping them from China to Iran, Agence France Presse reports.
April 6:
Beijing and Dhaka have reached a deal on the sale of two submarines to Bangladesh for $193 million. The type 035g Ming-class diesel-electric submarines are scheduled to reach Bangladesh in 2019 after Dhaka pays China’s state-owned suppliers in five yearly installments. About 17 Bangladesh navy sailors are training to operate the submarines and the navy acquired land in Kutubdia Island in Cox’s Bazar to set up a submarine base. In 2010 Bangladesh’s navy began actively seeking to purchase submarines from its counterparts in China, France, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, South Korea and Turkey. Only China came forward, but insisted that Bangladesh pay the refurbishment costs, the New Age reports.
April 7:
Beijing has accused Washington of “meddling” in China’s internal affairs after vice-president Joe Biden met two democrats from Hong Kong: Anson Chan, the former chief secretary and the convener of pro-democracy group Hong Kong 2020, and Martin Lee, founding chairman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party. They told him that Beijing has been “tightening its controls” and voiced fears that only candidates “hand-picked” by Beijing would be allowed to run in the 2017 chief executive election. They also expressed concern over a fall in press freedom in the city, with Beijing pressuring advertisers to shun media critical of the government. The South China Morning Post reports that the pair also met Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of House of Representatives. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Hong Kong said in comments carried by the official China Daily: “Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs. We firmly oppose any countries meddling in the city's internal affairs in any way.” He added that: “We would hope the U.S. would be cautious of their words and actions regarding Hong Kong affairs and not let Hong Kong issues impede Sino-American relations.”
April 9:
Japanese fighter jets were scrambled a record 415 times in 2013, many in response to China’s aircraft approaching Japan’s airspace, Kyodo reports. That number surpassed the previous record of 306 times in 2012, said the country’s defense ministry.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou has urged the U.S. to help build diesel-electric submarines to strengthen the island’s defenses, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reports. Ma made the comments in a videoconference on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, which obliges the U.S. “to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.” Ma also defended the China-Taiwan trade pact, which has sparked mass protests and a three-week occupation of the self-governing island’s legislature building. He said there needs to be more public education on the benefits of the pact, which would allow Taiwanese and Chinese service companies to open branches or shops within the other’s boundaries. Ma said: “There have always been some inexplicable fears of too much dependence on mainland China. This really is a good opportunity for Taiwan’s services industry to expand itself by getting into the mainland market.” Opponents claim the pact would hurt Taiwanese businesses that will be unable to compete with China’s cash-rich state-run companies, AP reports.