🇨🇳 🇨🇦 Detained Canadian Michael Spavor was given an 11-year sentence in China after being charged with spying last June, in a case seen by Western observers as part of a wider diplomatic spat with Beijing. The court also said Spavor would be deported, but gave no details about the timing. Western observers say that ambiguity offers room for negotiation. University of Toronto professor Lynette Ong tells me: "From a Chinese perspective, it gives them bargaining power, and from Canadian perspective, it allows us to to expect a more favorable outcome than 11 years' sentencing." Spavor was detained since December 2018 alongside Canadian Michael Kovrig on espionage charges and later charged in June last year. Both were arrested after Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of the Chinese tech giant Huawei. The latest. 🙏🏽 @jadynbsham

[Summer Palace, Beijing] The Stone Boat by Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace was built by Emperor Qianlong for a special purpose, in the “Imperial Record of the Stone Boat” (《御制石舫记》, he wrote: “The lesson learnt from the relationship between water and boat lays a solid foundation for our country,” (凛载舟之戒，奠磐石之安。), which means that “water can not only float the boat but can also overturn it.” This stone boat was built to remind later generations to win support from the people all the time and to indicate that the Qing dynasty was as solid as a massive rock. It’s a pity that the stone boat which seemed solid was eventually burnt. In 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Forces requested to see Emperor Xianfeng (咸丰皇帝) and required the Qing government to sigh a series of unjust treaties. The negotiation broke down and the British and French forces marched into Beijing. They burnt down the Old Summer Palace (圆明园), together with some of its neighbouring royal gardens including the Summer Garden after learning how their foreign envoys were captured and ill-treated before the war. The fire burnt for 3 days and 3 nights, it was said that Emperor Xianfeng spat blood on the spot upon hearing that both imperial gardens were almost razed to ground. The Summer Garden built with great efforts of Emperor Qianlong was destroyed all of a sudden and was left in desolation for 26 years. The stone boat wasn’t spared from the fire, until 1893 when Empress Dowager Cixi ordered a restoration. 📍Beijing, China. 中国北京。🇨🇳 . . . #china #beijing #forbiddencity #travelthroughthelenses #nonmainstream #ancientchina #travelgram #igchina #history #love #snow #seetheworld #bitesize #beijinger #chinese #chinesearchitecture #citygrammers #oldplaces #chinaexplorer #discoverchina #createexplore #summerpalace #instatravel #sihantravels #igdaily #instabeijing #notatourist #中国 #北京 #颐和园

石油輸出國組織及其他產油國聯盟（OPEC+）等成員國未能在2日的會議上就石油增產協議達成共識，而原訂於5日舉行的第三次增產線上談判也因沙烏地阿拉伯（以下簡稱沙國）和阿拉伯聯合大公國（以下簡稱阿聯）罕見公開對峙而臨時取消。增產協議的破局也導致國際油價上漲，創下3年來最高紀錄。 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 為了抑制不斷上漲的國際油價，沙國提議石油輸出國組織在今年8月至12月間，將每日石油產量提高約200萬桶，並將之後的石油減產期限從明年4月延長至明年年底。根據提議，阿聯明年石油減產量將按比例消減18%，而沙國則減產5%。對此，阿聯能源部長馬茲魯伊（Suhail Al Mazrouei）公開抨擊減產安排非常不公平，並指出目前市場迫切需要提高石油產量。整起事件的爭議核心在於阿聯無法接受其生產基線（baseline）被訂於每日320桶的產量，阿聯認為這樣的配額會導致其國內約1/3的產能被閒置。除此之外，阿聯在石油和天然氣領域引進英國石油（BP）、道達爾（Total）等國際企業的股權投資，產量下降會損害阿聯和外國投資者的利益。而在沙國和阿聯都不願就協議內容讓步的情況下，OPEC+的談判也因此破局，甚至部分人士擔心阿聯恐退出該組織。 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🇸🇦🇦🇪這次沙國和阿聯分歧的檯面化也使外界重新思考兩國的關係，沙國和阿聯是傳統盟邦並建立地區聯盟，但近年來兩國分歧日益擴大，包括阿聯停止在葉門的軍事部署和反對解除對卡達的封鎖等，而沙國則不斷挑戰阿聯在該地區商業中心的地位。然而，標準普爾（S&P Global Platts）首席地緣政治顧問謝爾頓（Paul Sheldon）表示，「沙國和阿聯在維繫OPEC+凝聚力和平衡國際石油市場方面仍有許多共同利益，加上兩國的地緣政治聯盟，近期雙方仍有可能達成妥協」。 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 📍OPEC+：2016年，石油輸出國組織與以俄羅斯為首的10個產油國達成減產協議，此後OPEC+便用來指簽訂該協議的全球主要產油國，除原石油輸出國組織成員外，包括俄羅斯、亞塞拜然、巴林、汶萊、哈薩克、馬來西亞、墨西哥、阿曼、南蘇丹和蘇丹 ———————————— #沙烏地阿拉伯 #阿拉伯聯合大公國 #石油 #石油輸出國組織 #分歧 #中東 #國際時事 #國際新聞 #國際內世鏡 #saudiarabia #uae #oil #opec #clash #middleeast #insightintoissues- - 資料來源：中央社、鉅亨新聞、關鍵評論網、中央廣播電台、路透社、美聯社、CNBC News、The New York Times、Bloomberg、Al Jazeera 圖片來源：路透社 - 🌐補充資料： From Saudi-UAE spat to 2020 price war, OPEC drama is nothing new（Al Jazeera）｜https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/6/from-saudi-uae-spat-to-2020-price-war-opec-drama-is-nothing-new