BLOGONITY

HELSINKI, Finland — Finnish authorities said Wednesday they have opened an investigation into the rupture of a data cable under the Baltic Sea, adding to a Swedish probe into the possible sabotage of that link and another cable. The C-Lion1 cable, which runs between Finland and Germany was damaged on Monday, the day after similar damage to a cable that crosses the Baltic between Lithuania and Sweden, with the incidents occurring off the Swedish islands of Oland and Gotland respectively. Germany’s defense minister said Tuesday that the damage appeared to have been caused by sabotage, though there is no proof at present. Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said it opened a criminal investigation into the rupture of the C-Lion1 cable on suspicion of “aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications.” Swedish police already opened a preliminary investigation Tuesday into suspected sabotage regarding the two cable breaches, and said Wednesday that “Swedish police and prosecutors are also interested in a ship that has been seen at the locations in question.” They didn’t give any details or identify the vessel but said that “it is not currently in Swedish waters.” The official investigations came as news reports said a Chinese-flagged vessel, the Yi Peng 3, had been in the area at the time of the ruptures. Vessel tracking information from the Marine Traffic website showed the 225-meter (738-foot) long bulk carrier not moving Wednesday afternoon off the coast of Denmark in the Baltic. The Royal Danish Navy did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press. …

It’s reported that Ukraine has fired British-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles into Russia for the first time. It follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s reported decision earlier this week to approve the use of American longer-range missiles on targets deep inside Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

Some U.S. weapons deliveries to Ukraine may take place after President Joe Biden’s term ends in January, Pentagon officials tell VOA, noting it will take time for certain capabilities to arrive in Ukraine. “As you know, some equipment and some systems can get to Ukraine very quickly, and you’ve seen that happen within days or weeks. Sometimes, it does take longer … and that could be longer than weeks; that could be months,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said November 14 in response to a question from VOA. Singh noted that under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI, weapon deliveries could take years. “The long and short of it is, is that some equipment does get to Ukraine exceptionally quickly. But then there are some that take longer,” she said. The United States has remaining funds for two main programs supporting Ukraine’s defense — PDA, or Presidential Drawdown Authority, and USAI. The first program allows weapons to be provided from existing U.S. stockpiles, ensuring faster delivery. The second program involves purchasing weapons from industry, a process that can take longer. As of November, the U.S. has around $9 billion left for military assistance for Ukraine, the Pentagon has reported. Of this, approximately $7 billion is available under the PDA program, including around $4 billion approved by Congress in April and an additional $2.8 billion made available after accounting adjustments by the Department of Defense. Some $2.2 billion is available through the USAI program. On November 20, the U.S. announced an additional security assistance package for Ukraine valued at $275 million. It included munitions for rocket systems, artillery rounds and anti-tank weapons. Pentagon officials have confirmed to VOA that the Department of Defense is committed to allocating all remaining PDA funds authorized by Congress before January 20 and additional funds made available due to recalculations. The exact total will depend on ongoing assessments of Ukraine’s defense needs and the logistics of assistance delivery. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that some weapons deliveries to Ukraine could take time. “Everything won’t be delivered immediately,” he told reporters during a visit to Italy in October. “Things that we’re purchasing now, for example, may wind up showing up a couple of months later.” The secretary added that some materiel from U.S. stocks is refurbished before being delivered to Ukraine. “And again, it’s not instantaneous, it may take weeks or in … “Some US weapons may be delivered to Ukraine after Biden’s term ends, Pentagon says” →

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on defense. In a statement, Trump described Whitaker, 55, as “a strong warrior and loyal patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO allies and stand firm in the face of threats to peace and stability.” As with several of Trump’s choices for positions in his new administration, the nomination of Whitaker to the 32-country North Atlantic Treaty Organization based in Brussels is unusual in that his professional background does not match the job to which he is being named. Whitaker has a long career as a lawyer but is not steeped in foreign or military policy. Whitaker, like numerous other Trump appointees, has been an ardent Trump loyalist. Whitaker has been a vocal critic of the two federal criminal cases brought against Trump that are now likely to be erased as he assumes power again on January 20. During his first administration, Trump goaded other NATO countries that did not meet the alliance’s military spending goal: 2% of their national economic output. As he left office in 2021, six of the NATO countries were spending that much on defense. But 23 of the 32 do now as the threat of Russian aggression against nearby NATO countries mounted after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which is not a NATO country but wants to join. During his presidency, Trump assailed the countries who were not spending enough on defense, saying they were in arrears in their “dues” to NATO. “NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said at a political rally earlier this year. “I said, ‘Everybody’s going to pay.’” Trump said that “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the U.S. would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.” “I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.” “No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled saying to that president. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” Under the NATO treaty, member nations are obligated to protect each … “Trump picks former acting attorney general as US envoy to NATO” →

Many Ukrainians welcome the U.S. decision to let Ukraine use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. But on the streets of Ukraine’s capital, many also say they feel the decision, coming 1,000 days into the war, is too little too late. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv. VOA footage by Vladyslav Smilianets. …

belgrade, serbia — Scuffles erupted for a second day Wednesday in a northern Serbian city between police and opposition protesters demanding arrests over a deadly roof collapse at the city’s railway station earlier this month. Anti-government protesters sought to block a courthouse in Novi Sad, where the roof collapse at the station on Nov. 1 killed 15 people and injured two others. Riot police pushed the protesters away from the building. A similar opposition action on Tuesday resulted in an hours-long standoff. The collapse in Novi Sad has triggered a wave of protests against the populist authorities and arrests of several activists who have taken part. Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption led to sloppy renovation work at the station and consequently to the roof collapse. Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on Wednesday warned protesters in a statement that police “won’t tolerate disruption of public law and order, threats to the security of the country and state institutions, as well as attacks on police.” Separately, police detained two activists in Belgrade who were protesting against plans to demolish a World War II-era bridge that carries trams as well as vehicle traffic over the Sava river between the new and old parts of the city. Authorities plan to build a new bridge in its place, a process that will take at least three years. Opposition activists say the existing bridge should be preserved and that the process of awarding contracts for the building work lacks transparency. In Novi Sad, a group of opposition lawmakers managed to enter the court building on Wednesday while police pushed away others who were standing outside. Protesters are also demanding the release from detention of activists jailed during the recent protests over the collapse. The huge concrete outer roof of the railway station building suddenly crashed on Nov. 1, falling on people sitting on benches or standing below. Initially 14 people died and three were severely injured but one of the injured people died on Sunday. The authorities have promised a thorough investigation and Serbia’s construction minister, Goran Vesic, resigned shortly after the tragedy. Populist President Aleksandar Vucic has said more resignations will follow, and on Wednesday a former construction minister now in charge of trade, Tomislav Momirovic, also said he was stepping down. No one has been arrested, however, and no charges have been brought, though prosecutors said dozens of people have been questioned as part … “Protesters scuffle with police in Serbia as they demand arrests over a deadly roof collapse” →

STOCKHOLM — The Danish military said on Wednesday that it was staying close to a Chinese ship currently sitting idle in Danish waters, days after two fiber-optic data telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea were severed. Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden on Wednesday, with a Danish navy patrol ship at anchor nearby, MarineTraffic vessel tracking data showed. “The Danish Defence can confirm that we are present in the area near the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3,” the military said in a post on social media platform X, adding it had no further comments. It is rare for Denmark’s military to comment publicly on individual vessels traveling in Danish waters. It did not mention the cable breaches or say why it was staying with the ship. The Chinese ship left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15 and was in the areas where the cable damages occurred, according to traffic data, which showed other ships to also have been in the areas. One cable running between Sweden and Lithuania was cut on Sunday, and another one between Finland and Germany was severed less than 24 hours later. The breaches happened in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone, and Swedish prosecutors started a preliminary investigation Tuesday on suspicion of possible sabotage. Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin told Reuters on Tuesday that the country’s armed forces and coast guard had picked up ship movements that corresponded with the interruption of two telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea. A Chinese government spokesperson told a daily news briefing on Wednesday that it always required its vessels to abide by relevant laws and regulations. “We also attach great importance to the protection of seabed infrastructure and, together with the international community, we are actively promoting the construction and protection of submarine cables and other global information infrastructures,” the spokesperson said. Russia dismissed on Wednesday any suggestion that it had been involved in damaging the two cables. European governments accused Russia on Tuesday of escalating hybrid attacks on Ukraine’s Western allies, but they stopped short of directly accusing Russia of destroying the cables. Asked about the matter on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing: “It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.” …

MADRID — Spain will legalize about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year, starting next May and through 2027, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday. The policy aims to expand the aging country’s workforce and allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even as other European nations seek to tighten their borders to illegal crossings and asylum seekers. Spain needs around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said in an interview on Wednesday. She contended that the legalization policy is not aimed solely at “cultural wealth and respect for human rights; it’s also prosperity.” “Today, we can say Spain is a better country,” Saiz told national broadcaster Radiotelevision Espanola. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has often described his government’s migration policies as a means to combat the country’s low birthrate. In August, Sanchez visited three West African nations in an effort to tackle irregular migration to Spain’s Canary Islands. The archipelago off the coast of Africa is seen by many as a step toward continental Europe with young men from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and elsewhere embarking on dangerous sea voyages there seeking better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability at home. The new policy, approved Tuesday by Spain’s leftist minority coalition government, simplifies administrative procedures for short and long-term visas and provides migrants with additional labor protections. It extends a visa offered previously to job-seekers for three months to one year. By mid-November, some 54,000 undocumented migrants had reached Spain this year by sea or land, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. The exact number of foreigners living in Spain without documentation is unclear. Many irregular migrants make a living in Spain’s underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers or other low-paid but essential jobs often passed over by Spaniards. Without legal protections, they can be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Saiz said the new policy would help prevent such abuse and “serve to combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights.” Spain’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the European Union this year, boosted in part by immigration and a strong rebound in tourism after the pandemic. In 2023, Spain issued 1.3 million visas to foreigners, according to the government. …

BERLIN — China has overtaken Germany in the use of robots in industry, an annual report published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed on Wednesday, underscoring the challenges facing Europe’s biggest economy from Beijing. In terms of robot density, an important indicator for international comparisons of the automation of the manufacturing industry, South Korea is the world leader with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees, up 5% since 2018, said the IFR, which is based in Germany. Singapore comes next, followed by China with 470 robots per 10,000 workers – more than double the density it had in 2019. That compares with 429 per 10,000 employees in Germany, which has had an annual growth rate of 5% since 2018, said IFR. “China has invested heavily in automation technology and ranks third in robot density in 2023 after South Korea and Singapore, ahead of Germany and Japan,” said IFR president Takayuki Ito. Germany has in the past relied heavily on its industrial base and exports for growth but is facing ever tougher competition from countries like China. It expects economic contraction for the second year running in 2024, making it the worst performer among the Group of Seven rich democracies. …

MOSCOW/IRTYSH VILLAGE, RUSSIA — Russian farmers say they will sow less wheat after heavy losses this year, switching to more profitable crops such as peas, lentils, or sunflowers. Such decisions will have direct implications for global wheat prices and inflation in major buyers like Egypt, as Russia is the world’s top exporter of the grain. The trend represents a challenge for President Vladimir Putin’s plan to expand exports and cement Russia’s position as an agriculture superpower, while trying to gain more international clout amid confrontation with the West over its actions in Ukraine. The country’s wheat harvest will decline to 83 million tons this year due to frosts and drought, down from 92.8 million tons in 2023 and a record 104.2 million tons in 2022. New forecasts point to a clouded outlook for next year as well. Although Russia has been exporting wheat at a near record pace in the recent months, exports are expected to slow due to a bad harvest and export curbs aimed at containing domestic price growth, including an expected cut in export quota by two-thirds from January 2025. At a farm in Siberia’s Omsk region, which was hit by heavy rain during the peak of the harvesting season, farmer Maxim Levshunov takes advantage of a rare sunny day to collect what remains in the fields. He chuckles as he picks up ears of wheat that sprouted early due to the moisture. Now, most of his crops are only suitable for animal feed, meaning the farm will receive a fraction of the price, and income, it had hoped for. “We’ll probably start moving away from wheat, cutting back as much as possible. So, we’ll be thinking about what more profitable crops we can replace it with right now,” Levshunov told Reuters. As this year’s harvesting campaign comes to an end, Russian farmers are assessing their losses from the exceptionally bad weather and considering their next steps amid falling profit margins for wheat, Russia’s main agricultural export. Winter wheat became the first victim as areas sown with it are set to shrink by 10% this year, the lowest since 2019, according to data from Rusagrotrans, Russia’s flagship grain rail carrier. “There are losses on each ton. The selling price does not cover the cost,” said Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Russian Grain Union industry lobby, predicting that Russia’s 26% share of the global wheat trade will shrink. Agriculture … “Russian farmers ditch wheat for other crops after heavy losses” →

Rovaniemi, Finland — Thousands of NATO soldiers are taking part in large-scale artillery exercises in Finland’s Arctic this month, seen by some as a signal to neighboring Russia over its war on Ukraine. Sounds of cannon fire and rocket artillery echo across the snowy, hilly Lapland landscape as some 3,600 soldiers from the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France and other NATO members conduct live fire drills throughout November. They are part of NATO’s largest artillery exercise ever held in Europe, dubbed Dynamic Front 25, which also includes drills in Estonia, Germany, Romania and Poland involving a total of around 5,000 soldiers. Joel Linnainmaki, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said the massive exercises should be interpreted as a message to Russia, with which Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border.  “These NATO exercises are increasingly intended to show other countries, in this case especially Russia of course, that the alliance is united and is capable of defending its members,” he said. The exercises are the first large-scale maneuvers held in Finland since the Nordic country joined NATO last year, when it dropped decades of military non-alignment following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The move angered Moscow, which has long opposed any expansion of NATO. Colonel Janne Makitalo, director of the Dynamic Front 25 exercise in Finland, said the main goal was to train and develop inter-operability within the alliance’s artillery units, and prepare troops for harsh Arctic conditions, now that Norway, Sweden and Finland are all NATO members. “Of course this sends a message that we are able to train together and we are developing our assets,” he told reporters. “Artillery is basically the king and queen of the battlefield, as we have seen from experience of combat in Ukraine,” Makitalo said. He dismissed the notion that NATO could provoke Moscow by flexing its military might in Russia’s backyard. “It is not any sort of show of force,” he insisted. That said, Finland joining NATO brought “280,000 soldiers to NATO’s northern flank,” he said. In the hilly Rovajarvi area, troops are camped and stationed at gun positions covered in thin layers of snow and ice. The sun rises at around 9:30 am this time of year above the Arctic Circle and sets less than six hours later, before 3:00 pm. Measuring more than 1,000 square kilometers, it is Europe’s largest firing range and training area, and allies … “NATO holds large Arctic exercises in Russia’s backyard” →

The United States will soon provide antipersonnel mines to Ukraine, a U.S. official confirmed late Tuesday, in a move that followed Ukraine’s first deployment of long-range U.S.-supplied ballistic missiles in an attack on Russia. The official said the United States sought commitments from Ukraine on how it will use the mines, with the expectation they will be deployed only on Ukrainian territory in areas where Ukrainian civilians are not living. The official also pointed to the function of the mines, which they said require a battery for operation and will not detonate once the battery runs out after a period of a few hours to a few weeks. Ukrainian forces hit ammunition warehouses in Russia’s Bryansk region before dawn Tuesday using the long-range missiles that Ukrainian officials long sought to hit areas Russia has used to deploy daily waves of rocket and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities. The two sides disputed the effectiveness of the attack, which came two days after it was reported that President Joe Biden had reversed U.S. policy and approved use of the longer-range missiles as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reached the 1,000-day mark. Two U.S. officials confirmed to VOA on Tuesday that the policy prohibiting Ukrainians’ use of U.S.-provided, long-range weapons to hit military targets deep inside Russia “has changed.” The Russian defense ministry said in a statement, “Ukraine’s armed forces last night struck a facility in the Bryansk region” with six U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System rockets, or ATACMS, but that its forces shot down five of them and damaged the sixth. It said falling fragments from the exploding rockets caused a fire at the military facility, but there were no casualties. Ukraine’s military general staff said in a post on Facebook that its forces had “caused fire damage” to “warehouses with ammunition for the army of the Russian occupiers” in Bryansk, about 100 kilometers from Ukraine’s border. The attack caused “12 secondary explosions and detonations in the area of the target,” the statement said, while not specifying that ATACMS had been used. But a Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations, confirmed the use of the American weapons system. The initial target using the long-range missile system was far short of the 300-kilometer range of the missile system. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had long sought U.S. approval of its use to launch attacks on military sites deep inside Russia. … “US to send antipersonnel mines to Ukraine” →

Several international human rights organizations have raised alarm about Azerbaijan’s crackdown on rights defenders, government critics and journalists before the start of the COP29 climate change conference currently being held in its capital, Baku.  “We urge every delegation attending COP29 to press the Azerbaijani government to end its clampdown on civil society, guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly throughout and beyond the conference, and take meaningful action to reverse the deterioration of human rights in the country,” Amnesty International said in a statement before the start of the event on Nov. 11. The United Nations’ annual conference on combating global warming, COP29, began last week as the Azerbaijani government escalated its crackdown on government critics. Azerbaijani authorities have jailed at least 14 journalists since November 2023. Many of them are facing charges of currency smuggling. All of them deny the allegations, calling them bogus. On November 12, a group of Azerbaijani civil society representatives issued an open appeal to COP29 participants, claiming that after Azerbaijan was announced as the conference host in December 2023, the country’s government began to silence dissidents and alternative voices. “In a short period of time, opposition leaders, human rights defenders, socio-political activists, independent media organizations, including the leaders and employees of ‘Abzas Media,’ ‘Toplum TV,’ ‘Kanal 13,’ and the civil society organization Institute for Democratic Initiatives, were detained on politically motivated charges. The trial of those arrested was postponed until December, as they coincided with COP29,” they said. The Azerbaijani government, which has rejected accusations that the arrests were politically motivated, insists that journalists and activists are being detained “on the basis of credible suspicions of violations of individual articles of the Criminal Code [of the Republic of Azerbaijan].”  Climate change and human rights On Tuesday, COP29 hosted a debate titled “No Climate Justice Without Civic Space and Meaningful Participation,” organized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations. After the event, Fuad Hasanov, head of the nongovernmental organization Democratic Monitor, told VOA that the main theme of the debate was that it is impossible to hold discussions on climate change in an environment where the space for civil society is limited. Panel members also called on Azerbaijani authorities to release all political prisoners, including journalists, and to create conditions for the free operation of independent civil society institutions and the media. In a letter to … “Azerbaijan accused of cracking down on critics ahead of COP29” →

BARCELONA, Spain — Spain’s royal couple returned Tuesday to the area devastated by last month’s catastrophic flooding for the first time since enraged survivors pelted them and top elected officials with mud on their first visit to the disaster zone. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the town of Chiva along with a central government minister and the regional leader of eastern Valencia, whom many citizens have slammed for bungling the flood response. No mud flew this time as Felipe and Letizia shook hands with people at the beginning of their tour of the village. Other spectators took photos. Chiva, a hilltop town some 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the west of Valencia city, was ripped apart by a crushing wall of water that overflowed a normally dry gorge on the night of Oct. 29. Two of the four bridges spanning the gorge were demolished and several houses were washed away. The royals, Spain’s prime minister and Valencia’s leader had attempted to visit a hard-hit neighborhood of Valencia’s southern outskirts on Nov. 3 just a few days after the floods. But they had to cut it short when angry locals tossed mud and other objects on their arrival in Paiporta. The royals withstood the vitriol for half an hour and spoke to several furious residents, but they eventually had to cancel the visit and postpone a subsequent stop planned for later that day in Chiva. The floods claimed a confirmed 227 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and vehicles. The cleanup effort continues three weeks on. …

rio de janeiro — Leaders of the world’s largest economies ended their two-day G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro with a statement supporting the priorities of the Global South: climate change, poverty reduction and taxing billionaires. The Global South is generally considered to be developing countries, as well as Russia and China. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, host of the G20 summit, focused the talks around three key pillars: social inclusion and tackling hunger and poverty; energy, transitions and climate action, and reforming global governance. Globalization has failed, Lula said. “In the midst of growing turbulence, the international community seems resigned to sailing aimlessly through hegemonic disputes,” he said. “We remain adrift as if swept along by a torrent pushing us towards tragedy.” In their joint statement, the group underscored the need to slow global warming and reduce poverty. They agreed to work together to “ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed.” The communique states that progressive taxation “is one of the key tools to reduce domestic inequalities … promote strong, sustainable balanced and inclusive growth and facilitate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs].” Call for expansion The G20 again called to expand the United Nations Security Council beyond its five current permanent members. The outcomes are a reasonable reflection of Biden administration priorities, said Matthew Goodman, director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “But it isn’t clear how much of this will carry forward into a second Trump administration,” he said. President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated in January. A senior Biden administration official said they’re working to ensure the durability of U.S. commitments with a “multiprong, multitier approach,” including through civil society, so “there is some real staying power.” At the summit, President Joe Biden continued his “legacy of leadership,” the White House said, including rallying leaders “to invest in their futures, accelerate the global clean energy transition, tackle global health threats, and champion an inclusive digital transformation” while building on the U.S.’s “longstanding leadership on food security.” Global conflicts The group called for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon but did not mention Israel’s right to defend itself, a line that Biden pushes for in various global forums. “I ask everyone here to increase the pressure on Hamas, which is currently refusing this deal,” Biden said. As in last year’s summit, G20 leaders highlighted the human … “G20 wraps with talk of climate change, poverty reduction, tax on billionaires” →

In Ukraine, wounded veterans who need long rehabilitation are mostly cared for by relatives. They face the difficult job with little help from the state. Lesia Bakalets has more from Kyiv. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets …

China has asked Germany to support efforts to resolve a dispute between the European Union and Beijing over electric vehicle tariffs. Last month, the EU decided to raise tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China to as much as 45.3%. Beijing has been negotiating with the EU to repeal the tariffs and sees Germany – the bloc’s biggest economy and Beijing’s largest trading partner in Europe – potentially playing a key role. In a meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, China’s President Xi Jinping told Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz that, in return Beijing would “continue to provide broad market opportunities for German companies,” according to readout of the meeting from state news agency Xinhua. “China regards Germany as an important partner in advancing Chinese modernization,” Xi said. “It is hoped that Europe and China will resolve the issue of electric vehicles through dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible, and the German side is willing to make active efforts in this regard.” Xi also urged Beijing and Berlin to strengthen their “long-term” strategic partnership. “China and Germany are both major countries with significant influence,” Xi told Scholz, according to Xinhua. He also said: “The two countries need to view and develop bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective.” A German government spokesman said the meeting between Scholz and Xi lasted 30 minutes and that the chancellor also discussed the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. “In particular, he warned of (the dangers of) escalation due to the deployment of North Korean troops, the statement said, a reference to the deployment of what the U.S. estimates is at least 11,000 North Korean troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine. The meeting between Germany’s chancellor and China’s president was their first since April in Beijing, where Scholz urged Xi to leverage his influence over Russia to help end the war in Ukraine. Some material in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse. …