Chinese premier meets Uzbek president on bilateral ties

Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Tuesday in Beijing.

Mirziyoyev is in China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, as well as commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

China stands ready to work with Uzbekistan to carry forward traditional friendship, consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen mutual support, expand practical cooperation, and further advance the China-Uzbekistan all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era, in order to bring more benefits to the two peoples, Li said.

Li said that China is ready to further synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with the "Uzbekistan-2030" strategy, continue to leverage the role of the China-Uzbekistan intergovernmental cooperation committee, expand trade and investment, advance the high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, and deepen cooperation in connectivity, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, modern agriculture and other fields to inject more impetus into the two countries' respective modernization endeavors.

China is ready to strengthen multilateral communication and coordination with Uzbekistan, jointly implement the outcomes of the SCO Tianjin Summit, and work with Uzbekistan and other Central Asian partners to make the China-Central Asia mechanism more fruitful and robust and achieve new progress in building a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, Li said.

Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan fully supports the Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, and looks forward to maintaining high-level exchanges with China and deepening cooperation in economy and trade, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, poverty reduction, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other fields.

Uzbekistan welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and do business in Uzbekistan, Mirziyoyev said.

Uzbekistan firmly supports the one-China principle and stands ready to work with China to combat the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, said Mirziyoyev.

Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan is ready to further enhance communication and coordination with China within the SCO, China-Central Asia mechanism and other frameworks to jointly uphold international fairness and justice.

Chinese premier meets Uzbek president on bilateral ties

Chinese premier meets Uzbek president on bilateral ties

The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s former impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday was sentenced to five years in prison on arrest obstruction charges.

The criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court in charge of Yoon's obstruction of justice case handed down the prison sentence to Yoon for abusing the presidential security service to hinder the anti-corruption agency from executing its arrest warrant in January 2025.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) was once thwarted in its attempt to arrest Yoon as the presidential security service formed human shields and bus blockades to prevent investigators from entering the presidential residence.

The team of Cho Eun-suk, an independent counsel who led investigations into Yoon's insurrection and other charges, demanded a 10-year prison term for Yoon.

The court said Yoon privatized the presidential security service for personal safety and private interests by blocking the law enforcement agencies' lawful execution of an arrest warrant and attempting to destroy evidence, pointing out that despite the very bad nature of his crime, he consistently offered unconvincing excuses and showed no remorse.

The court stressed that severe punishment was necessary, considering the need to restore the rule of law damaged by Yoon's crime, but it noted that the fact that he was a first-time offender with no criminal record was considered a favorable factor.

The sentencing, which was broadcast live, was Yoon's first verdict coming from his botched martial law bid.

The first-instance sentencing for Yoon's insurrection charges was scheduled for Feb 19. The special counsel sought a death penalty for Yoon on the charges.

Yoon declared emergency martial law on the night of Dec 3 in 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.

The constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach Yoon in April 2025, officially removing him from office.

The ousted leader was indicted while in detention in January 2025 on charges of leading an insurrection, becoming the first sitting ROK president facing such prosecution.

ROK ex-president Yoon sentenced to 5 years in prison on arrest obstruction charges