Xi unlikely to tolerate dissent as momentous protests shake China

Chinese leader will see widespread demonstrations against zero-Covid policy as threat to CCP’s authority

Just five weeks after being elected to a historic third term, President Xi Jinping suddenly faces cracks in the facade of unchallenged authority that he so successfully presented to the world at the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist party.

For groups of protesters, apparently without central coordination, to take to the streets across China and to social media, and for some then explicitly to call for Xi and the Communist party to stand aside, is a seismic shock.

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Anti-lockdown protests spread in China as anger rises over zero-Covid strategy

Beijing students shout ‘freedom will prevail’, as Urumqi fire prompts levels of disobedience unprecedented in Xi era

People opposed to China’s stringent Covid restrictions have protested in cities across the country in the biggest wave of civil disobedience on the mainland since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

Protests triggered by a deadly apartment fire in the far west of the country last week took place on Sunday in cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to footage shared on social media, in defiance of a series of heavy-handed arrests of demonstrators on Saturday night.

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Covid lockdown protests break out in western China after deadly fire

Protesters in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, blame restrictions for death toll of 10 in apartment block fire

Protests have broken out in China’s far western Xinjiang region, with crowds shouting at hazmat-suited guards after a deadly fire triggered anger over their prolonged Covid-19 lockdown as nationwide infections set another record.

Crowds chanted “End the lockdown,” pumping their fists in the air as they walked down a street, according to videos circulated on Chinese social media on Friday night. Reuters verified the footage was published from the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi.

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Asia must not become arena for ‘big power contest’, says China’s Xi ahead of Apec summit

Amid race for influence in Asia-Pacific region, Chinese president says no attempt to ‘wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by our times’

The Asia-Pacific is no one’s back yard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry, China’s president, Xi Jinping, has said, warning against cold war tensions in a region that is a flashpoint of competition between Beijing and Washington.

Xi’s remarks on Thursday came ahead of Friday’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok, and were an apparent reference to US efforts with regional allies and partners to blunt what they see as China’s growing coercive economic and military influence in the region.

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Ardern says she must be able to raise concerns in Xi Jinping meeting without ‘retaliatory acts’

Ahead of first meeting with China’s president in three years, New Zealand PM calls for environment where differences can be discussed

Jacinda Ardern has said she must be able to raise concerns with Beijing without prompting “retaliatory acts”, on the eve of her planned meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

The pair’s first in-person bilateral meeting since 2019 is due to take place on Friday evening on the sidelines of the Apec forum. It comes during a strained time in New Zealand-China relations, where ideological differences – and New Zealand’s economic reliance on China as an export market – have continued to grow.

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Xi Jinping’s cordial tone at G20 does not herald softer foreign policy

Apparent rapprochement with western leaders does not mean China is about to ditch its ‘wolf-warrior’ diplomacy

Fresh from consolidating power with a third term at home, Xi Jinping struck a largely cordial tone at the G20 summit in Indonesia, but don’t expect a change in China’s often aggressive “wolf-warrior” diplomacy.

While laying down a hard line on Taiwan, the Chinese president’s three-hour meeting with Joe Biden was described by the US president as “candid and clear” on subjects ranging from Taiwan to trade. After China accused the US of breaching the “One China” policy in its pledge to protect Taiwan, Biden reassured Xi that the US remained committed to the policy and “a new cold war” could be avoided.

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‘China can play mediating role’: Macron to visit Xi Jinping over war in Ukraine

French president believes China can help push Russia to de-escalate Ukraine war

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he intends to visit Beijing in the new year and believes his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, can play a mediating role that prevents a resumption of large-scale land fighting in Ukraine in February.

Speaking at the close of the G20 in Bali, a summit dominated by the Russian attack on Ukraine and its implications for the world economy, he said he believed China could take a mediating role in the conflict.

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Xi angrily rebukes Trudeau over ‘leaks’ to media about Canada-China relations

Chinese president’s testy remarks about briefings on earlier conversation captured by media pool at G20 summit in Indonesia

Xi Jinping has angrily rebuked Justin Trudeau after Canadian officials shared details of a previous meeting, highlighting the frosty relationship between the two leaders.

In a clip recorded by the media pool at the G20 summit in Indonesia, a visibly frustrated Xi pulls the Canadian prime minister aside and says it was “not appropriate” for details about a previous conversation between the two leaders to have been shared with media, suggesting Trudeau lacked “sincerity” in his approach.

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Trudeau raises ‘serious concerns’ about Chinese interference in talks with Xi

Canadian prime minister met China’s president at G20 summit in Bali amid tensions over aggressive interventions by Beijing

Justin Trudeau has raised “serious concerns” over suspected domestic interference by China in his first talks with President Xi Jinping in more than three years, amid growing frustration over increasingly aggressive interventions by Beijing.

Trudeau discussed his concerns about Chinese “interference activities” in Canada on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali, a government source told AFP.

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G20 summit 2022 live: Volodymyr Zelenskiy lays out ‘Ukrainian formula for peace’ – as it happened

World leaders meet in Bali with a packed agenda of events, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to overshadow the summit

Britain has announced it will spend $4.9bn on five new Navy ships to bolster security “in the face of increased Russian threats”.

The announcement came with prime minister Rishi Sunak set to begin his first full day of official events at the G20 summit in Bali.

Russia’s actions put all of us at risk. As we give the Ukrainian people the support they need, we are also harnessing the breadth and depth of UK expertise to protect ourselves and our allies. This includes building the next generation of British warships.

This week’s travel has brought together the broadest possible coalition of partners to confront this moment of great global challenges — from global inflation, to the climate crisis, to Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.

At the G20 meetings, we’ll speak on the very issues that matter to people’s lives, not only at home but around the world. This forum is crucial for the world’s largest economies to work together for the good of people everywhere, and I’m looking forward to convening.”

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Biden says unclear if China can stop another North Korea nuclear test

US president says he told Xi Jinping that Beijing had an ‘obligation’ to tell Kim Jong-un to avoid a seventh test

Joe Biden has said he told Xi Jinping that China has an obligation to try to talk North Korea out of conducting a seventh nuclear test, although the US president said it was unclear whether Beijing had the ability to do so.

Biden met Xi for more than three hours on Monday, ahead of the G20 summit in Bali, their first face-to-face meeting since Biden took power. At a press conference after the meeting, Biden said he told Xi “that I thought they had an obligation to attempt to make it clear” to North Korea that it should not go ahead with a test.

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‘Dialogue is always good’: Anthony Albanese to meet Xi Jinping on sidelines of G20 in Bali

Prime minister says ‘we need to talk to develop mutual understanding’ as China declares it’s ready to meet Australia ‘halfway’

Anthony Albanese will meet the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, ending three years of diplomatic deep freeze between the two countries.

Australia’s prime minister confirmed the conversation would take place on Tuesday evening on the sidelines of the G20. It will follow a landmark meeting on Monday night between Joe Biden and the Chinese president – the first face-to-face talks between the two men during Biden’s presidency.

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PM’s meeting with Chinese president confirmed – as it happened

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Andrews rules out deal with the Greens and independents in event of minority government

Dan Andrews was also asked what would happen if Labor finds itself in a minority government situation – will it do a deal with the Greens?

No deal will be offered and no deal will be done.

And independents – no deals with independents?

No deal will be offered and no deal will be done.

So if you’re in a minority situation and you hold more seats than the Liberal party, what happens? You go back to another election?

Well, I think what the best thing to do, and what happens, Michael, is we work hard for the next 13 days, we work hard to put a positive and optimistic plan out there, and we’ll see what the verdict of Victorian voters is. I’m arguing, I’m urging people to vote for a strong, stable majority Labor government, to vote for your local Labor candidate.

The new SEC – government-owned, not private for-profit, but government-owned electricity, so owned by every single Victorian – creates nearly 60,000 jobs – 6,000 of those will be apprentices. It will be 100% renewable electricity. These companies can’t be relied upon to replace themselves. They’ll just put another profit machine in place. We need to make sure that we’re looking after pensioners, we’re looking after families and, indeed, businesses. And without electricity, there is no economy, so we have to replace them. And we choose to replace them with a public option – a government-owned option. An option that’s owned by every single Victorian.

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China eases some Covid rules amid growing discontent and economic pressure

Quarantine periods shortened by two days but Beijing government ‘will not waver’ from strict zero-Covid policy

China has eased some of its strict Covid rules in an apparent attempt to alleviate economic pressures and cool escalating discontent, though authorities insist their “war” against the pandemic remains unchanged.

The changes include shortening quarantine periods by two days for close contacts of infected people and for travellers arriving in the country, as well as scrapping a rule that penalises airlines for bringing in too many cases.

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Biden to meet Xi Jinping at G20 in first face-to-face talks as president

Taiwan, human rights, and North Korea expected to be discussed as Biden seeks to ‘build a floor’ for US-China relationship

Joe Biden will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the White House has said, in their first face-to-face talks since the US leader became president.

Biden hopes the meeting on Monday will allow him to build a “floor” for relations between the two countries, but he will be honest about US concerns, including on Taiwan and human rights, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

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Speculation grows Anthony Albanese will meet Chinese leader during hectic summit season

Prime minister to see Britain’s Rishi Sunak and leaders of Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand and is likely to catch up with Joe Biden

Speculation is mounting that Anthony Albanese will meet either the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, or the president, Xi Jinping, during the hectic November summit season, which kicks off in Cambodia this weekend.

Australia’s prime minister leaves on Friday for the East Asia and Australia-Asean summits in Phnom Penh before travelling to the G20 in Bali and completing his trip at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok towards the end of next week.

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Xi Jinping tells China’s army to focus on preparation for war

President says China in an ‘unstable and uncertain’ security situation amid tensions over Taiwan

Xi Jinping has told the People’s Liberation Army to “focus all its energy on fighting” in preparation for war, a Chinese Communist party mouthpiece has reported.

Pictures of Xi, who recently secured a third term as party leader, in his army uniform during a visit to a command centre featured prominently on the front page of the People’s Daily on Wednesday.

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Rumours of zero-Covid easing spread in China amid anger at restrictions

Despite relatively low case numbers, there are reportedly about 200 lockdowns across the country

Waves of outrage and frustration over China’s lockdown measures this week have demonstrated widening cracks in the general compliance with the government’s zero-Covid policy.

Rising anger has been driven by the tragic death of a toddler, and highly public problematic lockdowns in the Henan capital, Zhengzhou. Officials were left scrambling to control the narrative, amid swirling rumours of imminent policy shifts and a former government health expert saying on Friday that “substantive changes will happen soon”.

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China and Germany condemn Russian threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Xi Jinping tells Olaf Scholz of the need for greater cooperation during ‘times of change and turmoil’

Xi Jinping and Olaf Scholz have condemned Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, with both leaders expressing their desire for the conflict to end.

The Chinese president stressed the need for greater cooperation between China and Germany in what he referred to as “times of change and turmoil”, and said both leaders “jointly oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons,” although he stopped short of criticising Russia or calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.

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Was Hu Jintao’s removal from China’s 20th party congress suspicious or not?

Incident has split China watchers with some saying former leader was unwell and others it was political purge by Xi Jinping

After eight days of China’s most important political meeting, in which the autocratic leader Xi Jinping’s precedent-breaking third term was confirmed, belligerent foreign policy reaffirmed, and the leader of the world’s largest population and second-largest economy announced through the next five years, one question was on everyone’s lips: what on earth happened to Hu Jintao and where is he now?

The drama happened on Saturday morning. In a short window between foreign media being allowed into Beijing’s Great Hall and the start of the final public meeting of the 20th party congress, the former Chinese leader Hu was physically removed from his seat next to his successor, Xi, and out of the Great Hall of the People.

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