China News

Hours after authorities in Brazil found that the Chinese vaccine was only 50.7% effective against the variant in the country, Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese Center of Disease Control, said that inoculation using vaccines of different technical lines is being considered.

In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost.

"The two sides had a detailed exchange of views for the resolution of the remaining issues related to disengagement along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh," the defence ministry said about Friday's talks that lasted about 13 hours.

"We may not be able to fully catch up with China. So we are trying to develop some kind of a relationship with Western nations and see how better we can get some support from them during peacetime at least, which will help us to overcome this deficiency," Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat.

Confirming the development, a senior Army officer said, "The talks will be held in the Chushul sector on the Indian side."

"This would allow both sides to consider de-escalation of forces in eastern Ladakh as that alone will lead to the restoration of peace and tranquillity and provide conditions for the progress of our bilateral relationship," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

The findings were largely as expected and left many questions unanswered. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis.

The Chinese government has set a bizarre condition to allow Indians to visit the country as they did in the pre-pandemic era.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and US President Joe Biden met virtually for the first time to discuss the agendas covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies and the Indo-Pacific region.

 While Western countries have strongly condemned the February 1 coup, China has been more cautious, emphasising the importance of stability.