Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested a ‘personal meeting’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the issue of Hong Kong.
He also said that Xi can ‘quickly and humanely solve’ the Hong Kong standoff.
“I know President Xi of China very well. He is a great leader who very much has the respect of his people. He is also a good man in a ‘tough business.’ I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?,” Trump said.
It may be noted that China and the United States are engaged in a trade war and both nations are holding high-level talks in an effort to resolve the issue.
However, Trump indicated that trade talks can wait as presently deteriorating law and order condition of Hong Kong is a major concern.
In a series of tweet, Trump said: “Good things were stated on the call with China the other day. They are eating the Tariffs with the devaluation of their currency and “pouring” money into their system. The American consumer is fine with or without the September date, but much good will come from the short deferral to December.”
“It actually helps China more than us but will be reciprocated. Millions of jobs are being lost in China to other non-Tariffed countries. Thousands of companies are leaving. Of course, China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!,” he added.
Hong Kong has been in the throes of protests since early June. The demonstrations were triggered by a now-suspended bill which would allow suspects to be extradited to China to face trial.
This comes a day after Trump claimed that the Chinese government was moving troops to the border with Hong Kong.
Even though the bill has been suspended by local authorities, the protests have continued and taken on a more pro-democracy outlook. Protesters have also demanded an inquiry into police authority and alleged brutality. Several clashes have taken place between protesters and the police ever since the beginning of the agitation.
China has decried the protests, with one Chinese official alleging that the demonstrations have “begun to showWashington D.C. [USA], Aug 14 (ANI): Researchers have found a new species of giant penguin, which is about 1.6 metres tall, from fossils in Waipara, North Canterbury.
The discovery of Crossvallia Waiparensis, a monster penguin from the Paleocene Epoch (between 66 and 56 million years ago), added to the list of gigantic, but extinct, New Zealand fauna.
These include the world’s largest parrot, a giant eagle, giant burrowing bat, the moa and other giant penguins, according to the study published in the journal of Palaeontology.
C. Waiparensis is one of the world’s oldest known penguin species and also one of the largest, taller even than today’s 1.2 metre Emperor Penguin and weighing up to 70 to 80 kg.
A team comprising Canterbury Museum curators Dr Paul Scofield and Dr Vanesa De Pietri, and Dr Gerald Mayr of Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, analysed the bones and concluded they belonged to a previously unknown penguin species.
Researchers concluded that the closest known relative of C. Waiparensis is a fellow Paleocene species Crossvallia unienwillia, which was identified from a fossilised partial skeleton found in the Cross Valley in Antarctica in 2000.
Canterbury Museum Senior Curator Natural History Dr Paul Scofield said finding closely related birds in New Zealand and Antarctica shows our close connection to the icy continent.
“When the Crossvallia species were alive, New Zealand and Antarctica were very different from today, Antarctica was covered in forest and both had much warmer climates,” he said.
The leg bones of both Crossvallia penguins suggest their feet played a greater role in swimming than those of modern penguins, or that they hadn’t yet adapted to standing upright like modern penguins.
C. Waiparensis is the fifth ancient penguin species described from fossils uncovered at the Waipara Greensand site.
Dr Gerald Mayr said the Waipara Greensand is arguably the world’s most significant site for penguin fossils from the Paleocene Epoch. “The fossils discovered there have made our understanding of penguin evolution a whole lot clearer. There’s more to come, too — more fossils which we think represent new species are still awaiting description,” he said.
Dr Vanesa De Pietri, Canterbury Museum Research Curator Natural History, said discovering a second giant penguin from the Paleocene Epoch is further evidence that early penguins were huge. “It further reinforces our theory that penguins attained a giant size very early in their evolution,” she said.
The fossils of several giant species, including C. Wiparensis, will be displayed in a new exhibition about prehistoric New Zealand at Canterbury Museum later this year. (ANI)signs of terrorism.