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SUBJECT [May 31] Saudi King hosts GCC, Arab League, OIC Summit, China accuses U.S. of "economic terrorism", India's Prime Minister Modi sworn in for a second term
DATE 2019-05-31
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PHOTO: Al Arabiya English. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman addresses the emergency Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on May 30, 2019.

 

On May 30, 2019, Saudi Arabia’s King convened an emergency Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit and meeting of the Arab League, which coincides with the 14th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Makkah.

 

King Salman chaired the OIC Summit, a gathering of monarchs, heads of state and government every three years to deliberate, make decisions and try to resolve crises in Muslim-majority countries.

 

This year, the summit coincides with two emergency meetings — the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summits — called by King Salman amid escalating tensions between Iran on one side and the US and its Gulf allies on the other.

 

Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani, whose country hosts the largest U.S. military base in the region, attended the summits, the most senior Qatari official to visit the kingdom since the 2017 embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt.

 

During the meetings, Saudi Arabia’s king accused Iran of developing nuclear and ballistic missiles which threaten regional and global stability, telling regional leaders that action is needed to stop Iranian “escalations” following a series of attacks on oil assets in the Gulf. Tehran has denied any involvement in the attacks, and an Iranian official dismissed U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton’s allegation on Wednesday that Iranian mines were “almost certainly” used in the tanker operation, calling the remarks “a ludicrous claim”.

 

A Gulf Arab statement and a separate communique issued after the wider summit both supported the right of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to defend their interests after the attacks on oil pumping stations in the kingdom and tankers off the UAE.

 

Iraq said it objected to the Arab communique, which stated that any cooperation with Tehran should be based on “non-interference in other countries”.

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/saudi-king-blasts-iran-naked-aggression-gulf-190530200800718.html

https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/emergency-saudi-arabia-summit-to-focus-on-defusing-iran-tension-1.867666

 

 

 

 

PHOTO: CNN. Chinese President Xi Jinping at JL Mag Rare-Earth Co.Ltd. in the city of Ganzhou in east China’s Jiangxi Province on May 20.

 

China accused the Trump administration of committing "economic terrorism" on Thursday, escalating its war of words with the United States amid rising trade tensions between the two countries.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the White House had "brought huge damage to the economy of other countries and the US itself," spokesperson Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing on Thursday. Lu described US trade policy as "typical economic terrorism, economic hegemonism, and economic unilateralism."

 

The statement followed similarly ominous rhetoric from Chinese state media, which issued a stern message to Washington on Wednesday: "At present, the United States completely overestimates its ability to control the global supply chain and is due to slap itself in the face when it sobers up from its happy, ignorant self-indulgence," said the commentary published under the pseudonym Wuyuehe. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

 

The phrase has, in the past, been reserved by the Chinese state media for times of serious conflict. The People's Daily used it in 1962 before going into armed conflict against India and again in 1978 before the Vietnam invasion. More recently, though it has appeared in several People's Daily commentaries on issues ranging from Taiwan to the trade war.

 

The warning came as China's top economic planning agency suggested it would be willing curb exports of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for high-tech manufacturing.

 

On May 15, the Trump administration signed an order that potentially banned major Chinese companies, such as technology giant Huawei, from buying vital components such as computer chips from the US. Many of those chips are made using rare earths, of which China is a major exporter.

 

On May 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a rare earth factory in Jiangxi Province, in what many saw as a clear message to Washington.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/30/asia/china-us-peoples-daily-trade-war-intl/index.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-accuses-us-of-economic-terrorism-in-trade-war-2019-5

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO: Adnan Abidi/Reuters. India’s President Ram Nath Kovind, left, attended Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bravan in New Dalhi.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on May 31, 2019 as India’s Prime Minister after his party won a landslide majority in the recent election. The election was seen as a referendum on Mr Modi, 68, who ran a campaign dominated by his personal image and national security after tensions with Pakistan spiked in February in the disputed region of Kashmir.

 

PM Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance won 254 seats in the 545-member Lok Sahba, and has become the first leader since 1971 to secure a single party majority in back-to-back elections.

 

24 cabinet ministers, 9 ministers with independent charge, and 24 ministers of state were sworn in. Amit Shan, the president of BJP will be serving as Finance Minister. The new government suffered a blow on Wednesday when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he was standing down for health reasons.

 

8000 guests including leaders of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan, as well key opposition politicians attended the ceremony. Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi – who led the main opposition that lost to Prime Minister Modi and the BJP – attended alongside his mother, Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi.

 

https://www.business-standard.com/article/elections/narendra-modi-oath-taking-ceremony-live-prime-minister-swearin-in-today-modi-cabinet-list-2019-119053000137_1.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48455829

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/india-modi-sworn-term-prime-minister-190530141633546.html

 

 

BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)