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NSW State Government to Keep Powerhouse in Ultimo Open

Canada Restricts Dealings With Hong Kong Over New Security Law

OTTAWA—Foreign Affairs Minister Francois−Philippe Champagne says Canada is suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong as part of a package of responses to the new security law China has imposed on the territory. In a statement, Champagne says Canada will also treat sensitive goods being exported to Hong Kong as if they were being sent to mainland China. That means outright banning some military−related goods from being traded there. China imposed strict new controls on Hong Kong this week, in what Champagne calls a violation of the “one country, two systems” philosophy that was supposed to last 50 years after Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. Champagne’s statement says Hong Kong’s place in the global economy was based on that promise and needs to be reassessed. Canada’s moves…

NSW State Government to Keep Powerhouse in Ultimo Open

The NSW government has backflipped on its decision to relocate Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, more than five years after the announcement was made.

The industrial science museum in inner-Sydney Ultimo will not be closed and moved to Parramatta, but will stay open and operate along with the new Powerhouse facility planned for western Sydney.

The relocation was slated to cost between $420 million and $645 million, with the staged closure of the Ultimo site due to have begun on July 1.

A joint statement from Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet on July 4 described the new Powerhouse at Parramatta as the “jewel-in-the-crown” for the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.

“What’s most important is that the destination that we’ve reached is the right decision for the people of our state,” Perrottet told reporters in Ultimo on Saturday.

“In a COVID world we’ve had to look at new ways of doing things.

“We’ll have a world class facility for the people of western Sydney, a world class facility here in Ultimo and that’s what our people deserve here in our state.”

In February 2015, a month before the NSW election, then-premier Mike Baird announced the controversial plans for the Powerhouse move.

“Now the government has reached a final decision that we preserve this site to ensure that the people of central Sydney maintain this great cultural facility here in Sydney.”

The government had planned to sell the Ultimo site for up to $195 million with these funds to be put towards the cost of building the new museum at Parramatta, the joint statement said.

Parramatta Lord Mayor Bob Dwyer said he is pleased the government confirmed it’s “still committed to delivering a world-class museum in Parramatta”.

Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich said: “The passionate community campaign to save the Powerhouse speaks volumes to its special significance to Sydneysiders,” .

Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little also welcomed the decision.

The new museum in western Sydney will create more than 1100 construction jobs, 2400 indirect jobs, and employ hundreds more people once opened.

The state government last year said the Powerhouse Precinct in Parramatta was on track for opening in 2023.

Heather McNab in Sydney

 

Focus News: NSW State Government to Keep Powerhouse in Ultimo Open

Nasdaq-Listed Chinese Company Cheated Creditors by Using Fake Gold as Loan Collateral

Nasdaq-listed Chinese jeweler Kingold Jewelry Inc. (KGJI) has received 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) loans by claiming to use tons of gold as collateral in the past five years. However, the creditors discovered that some of the gold bars are gilded copper alloy. The loans were protected by insurance issued by Chinese state-run PICC Property and Casualty Company (PICC) and some smaller insurers. But the insurers refuse to pay for the loss of Kingold’s creditors by claiming that the insurance contracts defined that they won’t take care of the loss that was created by the policyholder. However, the creditors emphasized that the insurance agreement ruled that insurers will take responsibility if the gold that is supplied by the policyholder doesn’t meet the standard. Kingold designs and manufactures jewelry. It was…