Beijing/Hanoi: Visiting Vietnam to enhance political and trade ties amid a major tariff row with the US, Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday said that China will ensure continuity and stability in its neighbourhood diplomacy and jointly advance the modernisation of Asia.
Xi arrived in Hanoi on his first visit abroad after US President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs against China while pausing levies on a host of other countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia – the three countries on the Chinese president’s current itinerary.
In an article published in Vietnam’s Nhan Dan newspaper ahead of his visit, Xi said China would deepen friendly cooperation with neighbouring countries by ensuring continuity and stability of its neighbourhood diplomacy. “We will stay committed to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness,” he wrote. “We will continue to pursue the policy of forging friendship and partnership with our neighbours,” he added.
Xi, who is under pressure after Trump’s unprecedented 145 per cent tariffs against Chinese exports to the US which amounted to over USD 438 billion last year, spoke of focussing on joint modernisation of Asia along with China’s neighbours as part of its new policy to reduce trade dependence on the US and the EU.
While Beijing hit back with 125 per cent tariffs against US goods in tit-for-tat retaliation, foreign trade-dependent China looks to fast-paced diversion of its commerce to make up the losses. “Asia represents a new elevation in global cooperation and development. At a new starting point toward revitalisation of the whole region, Asia faces both unprecedented opportunities and challenges”, Xi said.
Amid the tariff war with the US, Xi is visiting the three Southeast Asian countries which are part of the ASEAN bloc with which Beijing has its largest foreign trade, totalling over USD 962 billion. The ASEAN countries, Vietnam in particular also faced a major crisis as the US tariffs targeted the country which prospered by reshoring Chinese industries and products and exporting them to the US, benefiting from Trump’s tariffs against China in his previous term.
Vietnam became the biggest beneficiary of the China Plus One strategy of several multinational firms like Apple besides Chinese companies moving their investments there to escape the US tariffs, becoming one of the key trade routes for exports to America.
Last year alone, Vietnam’s exports to the US amounted to over USD 142 billion. Trump last week hit Vietnam with 46 per cent tariffs, one of the highest besides China, in an apparent bid to target Hanoi’s reshoring policy. After fervent appeals from Vietnam, Trump agreed to negotiate a new tariff deal during the 90-day pause in the levies on many countries except China.
Before the key visit to three Southeast nations, Xi pledged to strengthen strategic bonds with neighbouring nations by “appropriately” managing differences and enhanced supply chain ties as the tariff war with the US escalated.
In his first public speech after Trump’s tariffs, Xi called for breaking new ground for China’s neighbourhood diplomacy at a meeting of the ruling Communist Party of China in Beijing on April 9. China sought to improve ties with several countries in its fraught neighbourhood.
Beijing in recent months winded down border tensions with India and sought to improve its relations with other major neighbours like Japan and South Korea, bracing for tough times under the Trump presidency on trade and strategic fronts.
The India-China relations, which remained frozen for over four years over the Eastern Ladakh military standoff, showed signs of improvement after the meeting between Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kazan in Russia last October.
Recently, China held trade talks with South Korea and Japan, the first economic dialogue between the three countries in five years, to discuss regional trade facilitation. China is also ramping up trade relations with several other countries in the neighbourhood under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation.
Hyderabad: The misfiring Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope for a happy homecoming when they take on a resurrected Mumbai Indians here on Wednesday, eyeing a much-needed victory to revive their campaign in the Indian Premier League.
With only two wins in seven outings, SRH are in a desperate situation. Their power-packed batting has let them down more often than not while their bowlers are not making any strong impression either.
That SRH are a one-dimensional side has been proven by the manner in which it has struggled on slow and turning pitches.
SRH batters thrive on flat wickets which produce high-scoring contests and having a favourable surface against MI would give the them the best chance to find some momentum.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head will have their task cut out against MI given SRH’s chances of winning hinge, to a large extent, on the left-handed opening pair. Their success in the powerplay defines the team’s fortunes in a contest.
Abhishek smacked a 55-ball 141 in his last outing here against Punjab Kings to record the highest individual total for any batter in this IPL.
There will be, however, some concerns around Head who hasn’t gone all guns blazing like he usually does and SRH will want their Australian star to be at the top of his game.
A defeat would put SRH in a tough situation.
For Mumbai Indians, it is a perfect opportunity to test their resurgence in an away game before they return home to face Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai on Sunday.
Mumbai Indians have put their disappointing start to the IPL behind with three consecutive wins.
The five-time champions are coming off a massive nine-wicket hammering of Chennai Super Kings on a batting-friendly wicket on which they went over the line chasing a target near 180 with more than four overs to spare.
Rohit Sharma’s sensational 76 not out and Suryakumar Yadav’s 68 not out with all his trademark shots coming out fluently signalled the return to form of MI’s two batting pillars.
Tilak Varma did not get to bat against CSK but the left-hander has been in prime form, while Naman Dhir has shown signs of hitting his strides as a finisher alongside skipper Hardik Pandya.
Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t been at his menacing best when it comes to taking wickets but the ace India bowler has begun nailing his line and lengths perfectly.
This could be a warning sign for the SRH batters given MI tend to use Bumrah more strategically, with Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar sharing the new ball.
Head-to-head record:
Mumbai Indians boasts a good head-to-head record against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The team has won 14 out of their 24 matches.
In their last encounter in Mumbai on a tricky Wankhede pitch favored the hosts as MI registered a four-wicket win exposing SRH’s frailties in challenging conditions.
Winning Probability:
The pitch at the Ragiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal is traditionally flat and a batting haven. The nature of the surface could have a bearing on the outcome with SRH’s two wins here coming on flat decks ensuring run-fests in their contests against Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings earlier. However, the Pat Cummins-led outfit has lost two home matches too.
A confident Mumbai, on the other hand, is improving by the day. With the addition of Bumrah and Rohit Sharma finding form, Hardik-led side would be walking into the game as favorites.
Teams (from):
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Smaran Ravichandran, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Travis Head, Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Wiaan Mulder, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.
Match starts at 7:30pm IST.
An email threatening that a bomb has been planted in the Kerala High Court on Tuesday afternoon turned out to be a hoax. The court registrar received the threatening email, following which the Kochi City police were alerted. But a detailed examination of the court premises found nothing suspicious, the police said.
Published – April 23, 2025 09:09 am IST
A file photo of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey being conducted in Mandya.
The release of the population data of castes/sub-castes in Karnataka, as part of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (popularly called caste census), has generated much political heat. Though the dominant Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities have termed the survey “unscientific” and have called for a new survey, the real underlying fact is the fear among the communities over a possible change in the political landscape and power dynamics between castes at the local level.
Political dominance in most places depends on the sway that certain castes hold locally. The numbers that have now been published are likely to allow the other backward classes (OBCs) to challenge the dominance of a community, which the land-owning Vokkaliga or Veerashaiva-Lingayats normally hold.
“Feudal structure at the grassroots can get shaken. If other castes come together, these traditional structures will also come under pressure. Political parties may also start looking at the numbers carefully and distribute the ticket,” said P.R. Ramesh, former Congress MLC. “A big political implication from the published data can be that the parties could try social engineering and justice in the distribution of ticket.”
The 2015 survey by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes puts the percentage of the Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities, which have so far dominated the State’s politics, of the total population in the State to be 10.29 and 11, respectively, far below their claimed figure of about 13% to 15% and 17% to 22%, respectively.
In the current classification of the backward classes, barring about 24 castes among the about 197 castes/550 sub-castes classified as backward class in the State, the rest have had no political representation so far in the Assembly or Parliament through elections, commission sources said. Though many castes get represented in local bodies, there are still castes that have not had any representation at any level.
“It has been observed that many of the castes do not have adequate population or money power. Parties do not distribute the ticket to leaders from such castes, which results in a lack of representation. Leadership has also not evolved in such communities,” said K.N. Lingappa, a member of H. Kantharaj commission, which conducted the survey.
Acknowledging the fear of power structure altering on the ground, Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha secretary H.M. Renuka Prasanna said, “We also fear that the same population data could be used for reservation in local bodies. Already, with 50% reservation in local bodies, efforts are made to reserve the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community-dominated wards to other communities and keep the wards where the caste population is not dominant in the general category. This will reduce the chances of candidates from the community winning elections. Our political representation will come down drastically.”
He also blamed the delimitation exercise, after which the State went to the polls in 2008, for reducing the number of Veerashaiva-Lingayat legislators in the Assembly. “As many as 24 constituencies that Lingayat legislators would win were reserved, including five each in Raichur and Ballari districts. Today, in Ballari, which produced several Lingayat leaders, Lingayats cannot win even one seat,” he claimed.
The fear of both Vokkaligas and Lingayats remains common, and a Vokkaliga leader in the Janata Dal (Secular) said that once the number of winnable constituencies gets reduced, it automatically influences the power structure. “In local bodies, the position of president and vice-president is also reserved. If the number of winnable wards is reduced, the total number of elected representatives from the community also gets reduced. The claim on the president or vice-president posts becomes difficult.” The political manoeuvres become difficult at the local level if the number of other castes are also big, he said.
Published – April 23, 2025 07:50 am IST
J-Hope Gears Up to Release New Single ‘Sweet Dreams’ With Miguel
Kim Soo Hyun’s agency CONFIRMS past relationship with Kim Sae Ron in official statement; rubbish claims of involvement in actress’ death by suicide | – The Times of India
Purav Jha creates a parody of Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent, internet reacts: ‘Pakka FIR hoga’ | – The Times of India
Aamir Khan reveals Javed Akhtar and Amitabh Bachchan told him, ‘Lagaan would definitely be a flop’ | Hindi Movie News – The Times of India
Hampi rape case: 3rd suspect arrested from TN | Bengaluru News – The Times of India
Sunita Williams is returning to Earth on… : Know how and when NASA astronaut will return from space | – The Times of India
Anupam Kher shares a fun video with Satish Kaushik’s daughter Vanshika on Holi: ‘They are back’ | Hindi Movie News – The Times of India
Pritam breaks silence on claims of BLACKPINK’s Jennie copying Alia Bhatt’s Rani intro song from RARKPK: ‘Rather than tearing…’
