Police fire teargas outside Sri Lanka parliament

Police fire teargas outside Sri Lanka parliament

2016-12-03 19:15:08.0

COLOMBO, Dec 3, 2016 (AFP) - Police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse thousands of opposition-backed protestors outside parliament Saturday as law makers debated the annual budget.

          Demonstrators led by loyalists of former president Mahinda Rajapakse held up traffic and blocked the main access to the parliament complex for several hours in the capital.

          Opposition lawmaker Ranjith Soysa said protesters were demanding local elections which were due last year, but postponed to devise a new electoral system.

          "Police unleashed a vicious teargas attack and 10 opposition MPs, including myself, were hit," Soysa said in parliament while pointing to his drenched clothing.

          The latest police clash follows a protest by private bus operators and taxi drivers who stopped work over a proposed 50-fold increase in traffic fines in a bid to make Sri Lankan roads safer.

          During the bus and taxi strike, police fired teargas to disperse drivers who were holding up traffic along a main highway outside Colombo.

Merkel to chart 2017 election battle at party congress

Merkel to chart 2017 election battle at party congress

2016-12-03 19:14:31.0

BERLIN, Dec 3, 2016 (AFP) - After Donald Trump's shock victory, Francois Hollande's decision not to seek re-election and populism on the rise, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is next up on the campaign podium to set out her strategy for winning in 2017 polls.

          When her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) holds its annual two-day congress from Tuesday, she will seek to rally members behind her bid for a fourth term as Germany's leader.

          Merkel has admitted that the general election, likely to be held in September, will be "more difficult than any before it".

          Her opponents will seek to capitalise on resentment over her liberal refugee policy that brought one million asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy over the past two years.

          Here is an outline of what the CDU congress in the western city of Essen is about.

          What is expected to happen?

          The event opens Tuesday with a speech by Merkel, who has led the CDU for 16 years after ousting long-time leader Helmut Kohl.

          The 62-year-old is due to give a rundown on what she has achieved since their last congress, especially on the hot-button issue of reducing the mass influx of refugees and migrants.

          Crucially, the party faithful will be keen to hear how she expects to take the party forward into the coming election year, which will pit the CDU against its current coalition partner the Social Democrats and several smaller parties.

          Will anyone challenge her?

          There is no question Merkel will win a new two-year mandate to helm the CDU, but her score, and the length of the standing ovation, will be closely scrutinised for any signs of dissent.

          At the last vote in 2014, she scored a North Korean-style 96.7 percent, just below her record high of 97.9 percent from 2012.

          Several potential successors have been floated, but no one has caught the wider public's imagination -- among them Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

          Most German voters still feel comfortable with "Mutti" (Mummy) -- a survey found 64 percent welcomed her new candidacy against 33 percent who did not.

          Political analyst Hajo Funke of Berlin's Free University said Merkel had made "the correct decision, for both the party and for Germany's stability".

          Despite some grumbling from their Bavarian CSU allies, angered by the migrant influx, the conservative CDU rank-and-file "know who generates power for their party," Funke said.

          What else will they discuss?

          While CDU members approve of Merkel's fourth term bid as chancellor, not all are on board with her policies.

          Merkel will be called to account for the party's poor showing in five consecutive state elections this year in a voter backlash driven by the migrant crisis.

          Linked to that are questions on how the party can counter the leaching away of support to the right-wing populist and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling around 12 percent.

          To address some of the concerns, party chiefs will propose banning the full-face Muslim veil and cracking down on marriages involving minors.

          Some may seek a tougher stance on immigration. CDU deputy chairman Thomas Strobl last week set out a demand to streamline the extradition of rejected asylum seekers.

          But it remains unclear if his proposal will be put to the congress, or whether party leaders will try to quash unwelcomed suggestions through backroom compromises.

          What's next for Merkel?

          With the party congress, the CDU kicks off a long election campaign in which Merkel will seek to capture the middle ground.

          CDU general secretary Peter Tauber said "all the questions that currently preoccupy the population also preoccupy CDU members".

          Merkel's party next year faces three state elections, with momentum steadily building to the last regional poll in May in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

          The new year promises to throw up a host of new international challenges. It will see Trump move into the White House and Britain start its EU exit negotiations.

          Merkel will also watch carefully the hotly contested French presidential election and its impact on key EU issues, including migration and attitude towards Russia.

US moves to block Chinese purchase of German tech firm Aixtron

US moves to block Chinese purchase of German tech firm Aixtron
2016-12-03 19:14:04.0

WASHINGTON, Dec 3, 2016 (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Friday moved to block a Chinese company's purchase of German semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron by rejecting the inclusion of Aixtron's US business in the deal.

          The US Treasury Department said a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) chaired by Obama found the risks posed by the deal, which could place sensitive technology with potential military applications in Chinese hands, were too great.

          "CFIUS and the president assess that the transaction poses a risk to the national security of the United States that cannot be resolved through mitigation," the Treasury said in a statement.

          It said publicly traded Aixtron SE's expertise in technology key to making advanced compound semiconductors used for LED lighting, lasers and solar cells also has military applications.

          Washington does not want to see such technology end up in the hands of the Chinese government-backed company which wants to buy Aixtron, Grand Chip Investment.

          The Treasury said Aixtron's US business is an important contributor to that technology.

          In late October, the German government withdrew its initial approval for the 670 million euro ($714 million) takeover after Washington raised security concerns.

          Citing German intelligence sources, Handelsblatt daily reported that the United States had expressed fears that China could use Aixtron technology to bolster its nuclear program.

          After receiving the information, the German economy ministry said on October 24 that it would reopen its review of the deal.

- Chinese government role cited -

          The US Treasury said Friday that Grand Chip is a German company expressly set up for the deal and is "ultimately owned by investors in China, some of whom have Chinese government ownership."

          It added that the deal would be financed by a unit of China IC Industry Investment Fund, a Chinese government-supported industrial investment fund designed to support the country's integrated circuit industry.

          The Treasury statement did not say what military application of the German company's technology had concerned US officials.

          Aixtron's specialty is a technology for depositing thin layers of atoms on semiconductor wafers that are used in electronic devices and systems that produce, control and convert light. It is popularly used in making solar cells.

          Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang warned against interference, in comments to AFP.

          "This acquisition you mentioned is a normal business activity," he said.

          "Since it's a normal commercial acquisition, it should follow the normal principles and the rules of the market. We hope that there will not be an excessive political interpretation on this acquisition or political interference in it."

          There was no immediate reaction from Aixtron or Grand Chip. In a November 21 US securities filing, the two said they were awaiting the US presidential review and that they "plan to continue to actively engage in further discussions to explore means of resolving the US national security concerns identified by CFIUS."

          If the US rejected the deal, they said there were no assurances that they would be able to proceed with the transaction.

          CFIUS reviews foreign investments in US companies, and has both approved and turned down a number of Chinese takeovers in recent years.

          In 2005 it blocked China National Offshore Oil Corporation's bid for Unocal, and in 2008 electronics giant Huawei dropped its offer for US communications company 3Com before an expected rejection by the committee.

          In 2014 it approved Lenovo's purchase of IBM's computer server unit, but early this year its concerns led to Dutch electronics giant Philips dropping a planned $2.8-billion majority share sale of its Lumileds lighting unit to Beijing-based GO Scale Capital.

          Also early this year Chinese tech firm Unisplendour Corp dropped its $3.8 billion offer for 15 percent of US hard disk maker Western Digital before a CFIUS review.

          But in August the committee gave its OK for state-owned China National Chemical Corp's $43 billion takeover of Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta.

          The Treasury statement Friday said the CFIUS panel was not opposed to foreign investment and was only focused on national security issues.

          "The president's decision is specific to this transaction and is not a determination with regard to any other foreign direct investment from China or any other country," it said.