BEIJING – Chinese Premier Li Qiang emphasized the need to actively respond to population aging and promote the high-quality development of elderly care services.

Li made the remarks at a study session held by the State Council.

Noting that population aging will be a basic part of the Chinese situation for quite some time to come, Li said it is not only necessary to attach great importance to the challenges brought about by aging, but also to recognize the new development opportunities that aging presents.

Li stressed the need to develop home and community-based elderly care services, improve the rural elderly care services network, and support local governments in providing mutual-aid elderly care based on actual local conditions.

To respond to the care needs of elderly people with disabilities, Li called for efforts to promote the integration of medical and health care with elderly care, increase the supply of nursing home beds, and develop long-term care services.

The government will strengthen financial security to support the elderly, improve the unified national management system for basic old-age insurance funds, and develop a multi-tiered and multi-pillar old-age insurance system, he said.

He called for active efforts to tap into elderly human resources and create diverse jobs that are tailored to the population group.

He also stressed the importance of expanding and improving the silver economy to meet the needs of the elderly in an improved manner.

Wu Yushao, a professor at Fudan University, gave a lecture at the session. Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, State Councilor Wang Xiaohong and State Councilor Shen Yiqin participated in discussions.

China, like many other nations, is undergoing a demographic shift. By the end of 2023, the population aged 60 or above had reached 297 million, including 217 million people aged 65 or above, which accounted for 15.4 percent of the total population. (Xinhua)

Photo: Chinese Premier Li Qiang presides over a study session held by the State Council in Beijing. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)…[+]

PARIS   –  France’s left-wing leaders have backed protests against President Emmanuel Macron, after he refused to nominate a government led by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance (NFP).

The four-party coalition won the most seats in last month’s parliamentary elections and said its candidate, Paris civil servant Lucie Castets, should be named prime minister, even though they fell far short of a majority. President Macron said France needed institutional stability and the left could not win a confidence vote that would come immediately from its opponents in parliament.

Mr Macron, whose centrist Ensemble alliance came second in the election, began new consultations with party leaders on Tuesday. President Macron said France needed institutional stability and the left could not win a confidence vote that would come immediately from its opponents in parliament. He appealed to three of the four left-wing parties – the Socialists, Greens and Communists – to work with “other political forces” to find a way out of the impasse, without mentioning the radical left France Unbowed, which won the most seats of the four.

However, the three parties refused to take up his offer. Socialist leader Olivier Faure said he would not be an “accomplice in a parody of democracy”. Marine Tondelier of the Greens said her party would not “continue this circus, this sham consultation”.

No one group was able to win a majority in the elections, with the NFP gaining more than 190 seats, Mr Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance about 160 and the far-right National Rally (RN) 140.

Mr Macron’s term in office continues until 2027, and the French government tends to be formed from the president’s party as parliamentary elections usually follow soon after the presidential vote. But that changed when he called snap parliamentary elections this summer.

A caretaker government has led France since the 7 July vote, including during the Paris Olympics, to the anger of the NFP alliance. “My responsibility is that the country is not blocked nor weakened,” Mr Macron said after a first round of talks on Monday evening. “The Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communists have not yet proposed ways to co-operate with other political forces. It is now up to them to do so,” he added.

France Unbowed (LFI) reacted angrily to the president’s words, with national coordinator Manuel Bompard complaining of an “unacceptable anti-democratic coup”. LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon went further, with a threat to impeach the president.

The party called on youth organisations and other groups to take part in a “big mobilisation” on 7 September, accusing the president of seriously endangering democracy. Communist leader Fabien Roussel urged the French people to protest wherever they were, “in town centres and in front of prefectures”. (BBC)

Photo: President Emmanuel Macron. (EPA) …[+]

TEXAS –  A federal judge in Texas has issued an order temporarily halting a new immigration programme from the Biden White House that officials say could protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented spouses of US citizens from deportation.

The 14-day stay issued comes in response to a lawsuit from 16 Republican-led states that sued the Biden administration over the programme.

The “Keeping Families Together” programme, which took effect last week, would apply to those who have been in the country for at least 10 years and allow them to work in the US legally.

Polls show that the immigration is a primary concern for many voters ahead of November’s presidential election.

When the White House announced the new programme in June, officials said that more than 500,000 spouses would be eligible.

They said the policy will also benefit 50,000 people under 21 whose parent is married to an American citizen.

The announcement marked the most significant relief programme for undocumented migrants already in the US since the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or Daca, in 2012.

Under the now-temporarily suspended programme, the undocumented spouses of US citizens would qualify if they had lived in the country for a decade and been married as of 17 June.

Those who qualify will have three years to apply for permanent residency and will be eligible for a three-year work permit.

Unlike the old system, in which applicants must leave the US to apply, the new plan would allow them to remain in the country as they seek legal status.

Judge J Campbell Barker’s order puts the plan on hold for two weeks as the court considers the case, but has the option to be extended.

The Department of Homeland Security can continue receiving applications in the meantime but cannot process them.

“The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” Judge Barker, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, wrote in his order.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the order, writing on social media: “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law.”

Critics of the Biden plan argue that it offers amnesty for migrants who entered the country illegally.

Proponents argue that it will allow families to remain together, and that the old system “separates families”. (BBC)

Photo: President Biden. (Getty Images) …[+]