分类： politics

BEIJING, China – In a dramatic opening to a high-stakes 2017 superpower summit held in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a blunt warning to visiting U.S. President Donald Trump that mismanagement of the long-simmering Taiwan issue could spark open conflict between the world’s two largest powers. The meeting marked the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to China in nearly a decade, an occasion wrapped in elaborate ceremonial pageantry that masked deep, unresolved frictions spanning trade, geopolitics and regional security.

Trump arrived in Beijing with warm public praise for his Chinese counterpart, hailing Xi as both a “great leader” and a personal friend, and extended a formal invitation for Xi to visit the White House the following September. Despite the lavish red-carpet welcome complete with a military fanfare, 21-gun salute, and cheering schoolchildren waving welcome signs at the Great Hall of the People, Xi struck a measured, firm tone in his opening remarks, cutting directly to the core of Beijing’s most sensitive territorial priority.

“ The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi stated, according to official readouts published by Chinese state media shortly after the 135-minute talks wrapped. “If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation.”

In a nod to longstanding debates over great power competition, Xi referenced the “Thucydides Trap” – the theory popularized by ancient Greek historian Thucydides that warns rising powers inevitably clash with existing ruling powers – asking whether the two nations could escape this pattern and build a new framework for peaceful major-power relations. By the evening state banquet, Xi struck a more cooperative note, framing the countries’ core national goals as mutually compatible: “Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can totally go hand in hand… and advance the wellbeing of the whole world,” he said, nodding explicitly to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” political platform.

Despite the public displays of cordiality, the Taiwan issue has remained the single most volatile flashpoint in bilateral ties for decades. Beijing claims the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan as an integral part of its sovereign territory, has repeatedly vowed to unite it with the mainland, and has ramped up military pressure on the island in recent years. While the U.S. officially recognizes Beijing’s government, decades-old U.S. law mandates that Washington provide defensive arms to Taiwan, a policy that has consistently drawn fierce condemnation from China.

Following Xi’s comments, Taiwan’s government responded quickly, calling Beijing the “sole risk” to cross-strait and regional peace, and reaffirmed that Washington has repeatedly made clear its firm support for Taipei. In a notable shift from previous U.S. policy, Trump had indicated days before the summit that he planned to discuss U.S. arms sales to Taiwan with Xi, breaking with longstanding Washington practice of refusing to consult Beijing on the matter. While the White House called the initial talks “good,” it made no mention of Taiwan in its official public readout, and Trump did not address questions about the issue from reporters on Thursday.

Analysts note that Xi’s direct, unvarnished framing of the Taiwan risk marked an unusual step for a Chinese leader. Adam Ni, editor of the China-focused newsletter China Neican, told Agence France-Presse that while blunt language on Taiwan is common in Chinese state party media, it is rare for the country’s top leader to deliver such stark warnings directly to a U.S. president during a summit. Chong Ja Ian, a China affairs analyst at the National University of Singapore, told AFP that the comments signal Beijing’s hope to win concessions from Trump on the Taiwan issue. “Xi’s demand could suggest they see some opportunity to convince Trump,” he explained. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Trump would share more details on his discussions of the issue in the following days.

Beyond Taiwan, the ongoing Iran conflict overshadowed portions of the summit, an issue that had already forced Trump to postpone his trip to China and that analysts say weakened the U.S. president’s negotiating position. In its readout, the White House confirmed that the two leaders agreed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint, must remain open for unimpeded energy trade. According to U.S. officials, Xi also stated China opposes any efforts to militarize the waterway or impose tolls on transit through the strait. The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed the Middle East was discussed but offered no additional details.

Economic cooperation and trade were also key items on the agenda, with Trump seeking to lock in new business deals for U.S. companies in key sectors including agriculture, commercial aviation and manufacturing. A delegation of top U.S. business leaders, including Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, attended the welcome ceremony and joined part of the one-on-one talks between the two leaders, the White House confirmed. After the day of formal discussions, as the two leaders prepared for a state banquet featuring a menu of lobster and iconic Beijing roast duck, Trump called the talks “extremely positive” and described the evening as “another cherished opportunity to discuss among friends.”

As meteorologists across the Caribbean sound the alarm over looming higher temperatures and heightened drought risk driven by the approaching El Niño weather pattern, Jamaica’s government has moved proactively to safeguard agricultural production and water access with a $145 million investment in upgraded water capture infrastructure islandwide. The landmark investment was announced Wednesday by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green during his address to the House of Representatives, as part of the ongoing 2026/27 Sectoral Debate.

Green outlined that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority will ramp up its comprehensive drought mitigation strategy throughout the upcoming fiscal year, anchored by a large-scale program to construct a network of new small-format water catchment ponds across high-risk regions. “In high-production agricultural zones, we’re going to be building out water catchment ponds and we’re targeting those parishes that are historically prone to drought,” Green told legislators.

Beyond the construction of new capture infrastructure, the government will deploy emergency water trucking to vulnerable communities facing acute shortages when necessary. To bolster this emergency response capacity, the Ministry of Agriculture will acquire two additional water trucks for the National Irrigation Commission, specifically to serve underserved rural areas that have long lacked reliable drought relief.

The ministry will also carry out systematic rehabilitation of existing aging catchment ponds and storage tanks, while distributing plastic and grass mulch to farmers across affected regions. Green emphasized that adapting agricultural practices is as critical as building new infrastructure, noting that changing planting and soil management techniques to retain soil moisture is a core component of the strategy. Farmers in St Elizabeth, Jamaica’s key agricultural breadbasket parish that has endured repeated severe water shortages over decades, have already adopted mulching as a proven method to keep crops viable through extended dry periods.

Additional support for impacted producers includes targeted distribution of drip irrigation systems and individual water storage tanks, Green confirmed. These on-the-ground interventions have already begun rolling out across the island, and every Member of Parliament will receive a dedicated budget allocation to support local farmers in preparing for the approaching dry conditions. “We want to start now before it is too late,” Green stressed, underscoring the government’s commitment to proactive rather than reactive drought response.

Addressing long-term water security beyond the immediate El Niño threat, Green noted that mitigating the upcoming drought is only one piece of the island’s water challenge. “Where will the water of the future come from? Yes, we’re in the land of wood and water, but water is always in demand and that is why the National Irrigation Commission will start this year to truly explore non-traditional water sources,” he said. Long-term resilience efforts will include feasibility and development work for desalination facilities to supply reliable irrigation water for agricultural producers, alongside research and deployment of grey water recycling technologies that can repurpose wastewater for agricultural use.

In broader irrigation expansion plans, the government has targeted 6,000 hectares of new arable land to be brought under formal irrigation coverage over the next five years. When complete, this expansion will push the share of Jamaica’s arable land with access to controlled irrigation water past 50%. Flagship projects include the 4,000-hectare Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion System, paired with four smaller local projects that will bring an additional 2,000 hectares of farmland online with reliable water access.

Green made specific timeline commitments to farming communities, confirming that irrigation access for producers in Essex Valley will be activated before the end of 2026. The Hamity Hall and Bridge Pen irrigation systems are on track to go live by the second quarter of 2027, he added. “We’re building a better Jamaica through irrigation,” Green concluded in his address.

The announcement comes alongside on-the-ground evidence of past drought stress, captured in file photos showing tomato and scotch bonnet pepper crops affected by drought-like conditions in St Ann’s Walkerswood region, highlighting the urgent need for the new mitigation measures.

During Tuesday’s Sectoral Debate on the 2026/27 national budget in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Opposition trade, industry and global logistics spokesperson Anthony Hylland launched a pointed critique of the country’s decade-long economic trajectory, arguing that years of strict fiscal discipline have failed to deliver the structural transformation ordinary Jamaicans desperately need – a gap that hits low-income households the hardest.

Drawing on the core lesson of the popular business fable *Who Moved My Cheese?*, Hylton pressed the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration for clear action. “As we continue this Sectoral Debate on the 2026/27 Budget, I ask this Government a very simple question: You clearly see that the cheese has moved, so where is the strategy to find it?” he said.

In a measured assessment, Hylton did not dismiss the progress the country has made on macroeconomic stability over the past ten years. He acknowledged that substantial fiscal consolidation has delivered tangible results: debt-to-GDP ratios have fallen consistently, primary budget surpluses have been maintained, inflation control has improved, and the hard-won macroeconomic stability is a real achievement. “Both administrations deserve measured credit for maintaining that discipline because the sacrifices required to achieve it were significant and felt by the Jamaican people,” Hylton noted.

But he pushed back against framing stability as an end goal in itself. “Stability is not development. Stability is simply the foundation upon which development must be built. A stable foundation only matters if something transformative is eventually constructed upon it,” he added.

After a full decade of JLP leadership, Hylton argued, the deep structural change Jamaica’s economy requires has yet to materialize, with evidence of stagnation visible across multiple key sectors. Manufacturing’s contribution to national GDP has seen no meaningful expansion, value-added exports remain stuck at low growth levels, and the country is still overly reliant on the same core economic pillars – tourism, bauxite and remittances – that supported the economy a generation ago.

He also flagged growing risks to the once-promising business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which was long billed as a engine for middle-class job growth and opportunity. Hylton said the sector has now hit a plateau, and faces an existential threat from rapid automation and artificial intelligence advancement – a major risk that the 2026/27 budget barely acknowledges. The government’s flagship logistics hub project, he added, remains more of an unfulfilled vision than a fully implemented initiative. Even the country’s long-term development blueprint, Vision 2030, has struggled to meet its targets: now past its midpoint, key structural goals have been quietly deferred, delayed or scrapped entirely, according to Hylton.

Turning directly to the new 2026/27 budget tabled by Finance Minister Fayval Williams, Hylton argued that the proposal is little more than a hurricane recovery package repackaged as a growth-focused budget. While the Opposition fully recognizes the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Melissa, which caused an estimated US$12.2 billion in damages – equal to nearly 57% of Jamaica’s total GDP – and destroyed countless lives and livelihoods, Hylton said the government has failed to outline any clear strategy for long-term transformative growth beyond emergency response.

“The Jamaican people deserve more than crisis management, they deserve a coherent plan for growth and national advancement. And the pressures facing ordinary Jamaicans continue to intensify,” he told the chamber.

Hylton highlighted the gap between the budget’s assumptions and on-the-ground realities for working people. When the budget was drafted, policymakers assumed oil prices would sit around US$60 per barrel, but current prices hover near US$100. That difference will not be absorbed by government ministers, he noted – it will be paid by the single mother filling up her gas tank, the small farmer running an irrigation pump, and the small domestic manufacturer seeing electricity costs eat into already thin profit margins.

“These are the realities confronting Jamaicans every day; realities that cannot be solved by macroeconomic talking points alone,” Hylton said.

The West St Andrew Member of Parliament concluded that the projected 1-2% GDP growth forecast in the wake of Hurricane Melissa is not evidence of transformation – it is merely survival. “Jamaica deserves more than endurance, it deserves direction. Discipline without direction ultimately becomes endurance without destination, and the Jamaican people have endured long enough without seeing the level of transformation their sacrifices were supposed to produce,” he said.

HAVANA, Cuba – In a pointed rebuke of Washington’s latest policy toward the Caribbean island, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel publicly called on the United States Thursday to abandon its decades-long economic blockade of Cuba, arguing that lifting the restrictive trade measures would address the country’s deepening hardship far more effectively than the conditional aid package recently proposed by US authorities.

Jamaica’s main opposition party has launched a scathing attack on the current administration, accusing it of allowing the nation’s flagship public transit provider, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), to fall into the worst crisis in its institutional history.

Speaking during the ongoing sectoral debate in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, opposition transport spokesperson Mikael Phillips drew a stark medical metaphor to describe the state-owned bus operator’s decline, saying the JUTC has spent a full decade lingering in the “accident and emergency department” amid ballooning financial losses and sustained government policy neglect. He called the current situation the “most pathetic state” the agency has faced since its founding.

Phillips pushed back against government claims of progress, pointing out that successive ruling party budgets have poured billions of dollars in public subsidies into the JUTC and greenlit the purchase of hundreds of new transit vehicles—yet the agency continues to drift deeper into systemic financial and operational failure. He derided the government’s half-hearted interventions, comparing them to “calling on a carpenter to examine a critical patient, when what is truly required is oxygen and a skilled physician to diagnose the ailment and prescribe the cure.”

The opposition spokesperson laid out grim financial figures to back his criticism, noting that cumulative losses for the JUTC have topped $100 billion over the past 10 years. This fiscal year alone, the agency is projected to post a staggering $14.8 billion deficit, and remains operational only through an emergency $11 billion government grant that keeps it afloat month to month.

Even with major capital investments in the fleet, Phillips argued, core performance metrics for the JUTC have failed to improve. He raised pointed questions about the agency’s soaring maintenance and fuel costs, particularly perplexing given that a large share of the updated fleet now runs on lower-cost compressed natural gas or electric power.

Beyond financial mismanagement, Phillips also criticized the current administration’s decision to expand JUTC routes into rural parts of the island. That expansion, he argued, has sparked unnecessary and escalating friction between the state-owned transit giant and smaller private transport providers that already serve those communities.

At its core, Phillips argued, the JUTC’s deepening crisis is a symptom of a larger failing: the complete absence of a coherent, long-term national public transportation policy from the current government. He issued a clear warning that continued delays to comprehensive structural reform will only further erode public transit access and reliability across the entire island of Jamaica.