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Xi: Leaders of China, U.S. need to chart right course for bilateral ties

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Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday during a meeting with Joe Biden, his U.S. counterpart, that the leaders of China and the U.S. need to the chart right course for bilateral ties.

Though the two leaders have remained in communication via video-conferences, phone calls and letters, none of them can really substitute face-to-face exchanges, Xi told Biden at the beginning of the meeting. 

“As leaders of two major countries, we need to play the leadership role, set the right course for the China-U.S. relationship and put it on an upward trajectory,” Xi said. 

‘History is the best textbook’

Xi pointed out that from the initial contact and the establishment of diplomatic relations to today, China and the U.S. have gone through 50-plus eventful years, with gains and losses as well as experience and lessons. 

“History is the best textbook. We should take it as a mirror and let it guide the future,” Xi told Biden. 

Currently, the state of China-U.S. relations is not in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples. It is not what the international community expects from us either, Xi said. 

‘Back to the track of healthy and stable growth’

During the meeting, Xi expressed hope that he could work with Biden to bring China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of the two countries and the world as a whole.

The Chinese president emphasized that, in this time and age, great changes are unfolding in ways like never before. 

The world expects China and the U.S. to properly handle their relationship, Xi said. 

“We should work with all countries to bring more hope to world peace, greater confidence in global stability, and stronger impetus to common development. As always, I am ready to have a candid and in-depth exchange of views with you on issues of strategic importance in China-U.S. relations and on major global and regional issues,” Xi said. 

The two leaders are in Bali, Indonesia for the 17th G20 Summit

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Nigerians lament over exorbitant UK visa application fees

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Nigerians on Thursday expressed concern over the exorbitant charges for various UK visa application fees, calling on the Foreign Affairs Minister to look into that area.

This complaint was done in a vox-pop interviews by different UK applicants in the country.

Some of them, however, complained about not getting the value for money spent, and the service delivery is also not efficient. 

Speaking on the matter, Mr. Ajayi Okon said that he feels they are beginning to make so much money out of Nigerians because most Nigerians love to go there based on proximity.

“I think it is high time the government intervenes; at times it looks like extortion to me. You will pay a priority visa, which is over a million naira, to get a response within 2 days.

“The next thing, you will get an email telling you because of high demand, it will take another 15 days, so what is the essence of the priority paid for?

“ If you are collecting money for a particular service, you should have factored in how you want to deliver efficient service.

However, Mrs. Sarah Mbah said that on the application portal, the self-service option, which is cheaper, is not accessible easily.

According to her, after paying so much on visa fees, you will still be denied without an option of appeal despite the money spent.

“I think the government needs to pay attention, especially in those areas of visa application to other countries.

“The fees are getting too high, and the service delivery is also not satisfactory. Nigerians will outright  be denied without any right to appeal after paying so much.

“ I feel is not right; some cases should be allowed to appeal, especially looking at the resources involved, so people won’t feel cheated,“ she added.

Furthermore, Favor Adamu said that the perception is usually that it is people who have the resources that apply for UK visas, but the truth is, people save up for those fees.

She said that because of the high rate of migration, they usually suspect that everyone coming to their country won’t want to return, and based on that, they use that to denial people.

Adamu said based on this, the fees should not be too much, so such a person won’t feel cheated because they cannot even appeal the decision.

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