Category Archives: Xi Jinping

Global report: Trump threat to cut trade ties over Covid-19 branded ‘lunacy’ by Chinese media

Posted on by

President says he doesn’t want to speak to counterpart Xi; Brazil passes 200,000 infections; Baltic travel ‘bubble’ begins

An escalation of rhetoric between Donald Trump and China over the coronavirus pandemic has sparked concerns that a trade deal between the nations is in peril, as Chinese state media dismissed as “lunacy” a suggestion by the US president that he could “cut off relations” with Beijing.

The US president said he was very disappointed with China’s failure to contain Covid-19 in an interview with Fox Business news. Trump said the pandemic had cast a pall over his January trade deal with Beijing and that he had no interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping at the moment.

Continue reading...

Trump is playing a deadly game in deflecting Covid-19 blame to China

Posted on by

As Mr ‘Total Authority’ keeps his focus firmly on re-election, he risks lives far beyond the United States

Many had wondered what would happen when Donald Trump, failed salesman and gameshow host, faced a real crisis. Now they know. The man who pledged to stop “American carnage” in his inaugural address now owns it. Covid-19 has crowned him lord of misrule.

That’s fitting for a man who last week claimed to exercise “total authority”. Andrew Cuomo, the New York governor who understands what leadership means, reminded him the US does not do kings. But Trump and America’s last monarch, George III, share much in common, tyranny-wise.

Trump is more instinctive dictator than democrat, in the style of his favourite potentate, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Just look at his recent threat to shut down Congress, and his enthusiasm for suppressing minority voter turnout.

It’s worth recalling that old King George became mentally ill, since Trumpism is clearly dangerous for your health. It’s beyond reasonable dispute that his coronavirus posturing, preening, prevarication and paranoia fatally hindered the early US response.

Continue reading...

Xi Jinping visits Wuhan for first time since coronavirus outbreak began

Posted on by

Leader’s arrival at the centre of the epidemic signals that Beijing believes the tide has turned in its fight against Covid-19

China’s leader Xi Jinping has visited Wuhan for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak began, a signal that the nation’s leadership believes its fight against the epidemic has been largely won.

According to the official state news agency Xinhua, Xi landed in Wuhan on Tuesday where he planned to “visit and express his regards” for frontline medical workers, military, community staff, local party officials, as well as patients and residents.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: WHO plays down pandemic fears after sixth person dies in Italy – live updates

Posted on by

Latest updates amid alarm over sudden rise in cases in Italy and Iran

The World Health Organization has played down fears of a coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, despite sudden serious outbreaks in Italy and Iran, but some experts said they believed it was now inevitable.

“Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear,” said the WHO’s director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a briefing.

Related: Coronavirus outbreak a pandemic 'in all but name', says expert

Austria has said it will stop people suspected of carrying the coronavirus from crossing its border, after parts of northern Italy were put into lockdown over the weekend following a surge in cases.

The Austrian government released a travel warning for affected areas of Lombardy and Veneto, following a meeting of the government’s coronavirus taskforce that included the chancellor, Sebastian Kurz.

Related: Austria to close border for those suspected of carrying coronavirus

Continue reading...

China’s new Hong Kong chief a hardliner known for crusade against Christian churches

Posted on by

Xia Baolong is a long-time ally of Xi Jinping who represents a sign Beijing wants to exert more control over the city

A hardliner notorious for the demolition of thousands of Christian crosses on churches has been appointed the new head of China’s office in Hong Kong, a sign that Beijing aims to further tighten control over the semi-autonomous city, analysts say.

Xia Baolong, an ally of president Xi Jinping, has been appointed director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, replacing Zhang Xiaoming, State media reported on Thursday. His appointment came amid a purge of officials in Hubei, the province wracked by the coronavirus outbreak.

Zhang has become the most senior Beijing-appointed official to lose his job in the wake of months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. The city has been roiled by more than seven months of protests over an extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.

Related: Coronavirus: China purges regional leaders hours after spike in deaths and new cases

Continue reading...

Help or hindrance? How Chinese politics affected coronavirus response

Posted on by

Authoritarian bureaucracy has allowed dramatic response but also let virus fester

When Wuhan’s mayor took to live national television to discuss the rapidly escalating outbreak of coronavirus in his city, he came primed for a rare – and very prolonged – display of self criticism.

Over nearly an hour Zhou Xianwang said his work “wasn’t performed well enough”, that the city government had failed to provide timely information or act on what it knew, and offered his own resignation, although it is yet to be accepted.

Continue reading...

The Guardian view on China, Hong Kong and Xinjiang: will the truth hurt? | Editorial

Posted on by

It has been a bad week for Beijing, with new support for pro-democracy protesters and detailed evidence of the repression in the north-western region

Beijing was never going to welcome the news that the US had passed a law backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. But its anger today at Donald Trump’s signing of a bill it condemns as “full of prejudice and arrogance” perhaps had extra bite. This was its third blow in a week. On Monday, leaders woke up to a pro-democracy landslide in Hong Kong’s local elections, and the publication of leaked documents exposing the workings of internment camps in Xinjiang, where at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims are believed to be detained.

China’s bullishness has already been challenged by the trade war and slowing economic growth, now at a 27-year low. Mr Trump has previously made it clear that he regards Hong Kong’s protesters as leverage, and has shown he does not want this law to hinder a trade deal that both sides need and appear to be close to agreeing. China is hoping he will not implement the law, which enables sanctions on individuals and the revocation of the region’s special trade status if annual reviews find that it has not retained sufficient autonomy.

Continue reading...

China cables: Chinese ambassador says ‘don’t listen to fake news’ about Xinjiang camps – video

Posted on by

These were the words of China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, after he was asked about a chain of detention camps holding more than a million people from the country's Muslim minority population in Xinjiang. The footage, due to be broadcast by BBC Panorama on Monday evening, was recorded prior to publication of the China Cables, a leak of what appear to be classified documents from within the Communist party. The BBC's Richard Bilton asked Liu to tell him the truth about these camps. The ambassador responded: 'There's no so-called labour camps, they are what we call vocational, education and training centres. They are there for the prevention of terrorists'

'Don't listen to fake news': Chinese ambassador pressed over detention camps in Xinjiang – video


Read the Guardian's coverage of the China cables:

Continue reading...

Support for Hong Kong’s rebels wavers after most violent week yet

Posted on by

Although many remain sympathetic to the cause, citizens are becoming increasingly fearful

One crisp and sunny morning last week, the normally busy road outside the main entrance to the University of Hong Kong was eerily quiet. Overlooked by mango trees, the road was empty, save for piles of bricks that protesters had scattered across it overnight as a barricade to paralyse traffic.

As students guarded the entrance against the potential arrival of riot police, a woman shouted “We support you!” across the road. As soon as she had finished, another man shouted: “I don’t! You people are university students, for crying out loud!”

Continue reading...

‘Show no mercy’: leaked documents reveal details of China’s Xinjiang detentions

Posted on by

More than 400 pages leaked to New York Times by Chinese political insider document brutal crackdown on Muslim minority

Hundreds of pages of leaked internal government documents reveal how China’s mass detention of Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang came from directives by Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to “show absolutely no mercy” in the “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism”.

More than 400 pages of documents obtained by the New York Times show the government was aware its campaign of mass internment would tear families apart and could provoke backlash if it became widely known.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong: Chinese troops deployed to help clear roadblocks

Posted on by

Controversial move could exacerbate tensions in territory dealing with months of anti-government protests

Chinese troops in Hong Kong have been deployed to help clear roads blockaded by anti-government protesters in a controversial move that could escalate the already high tensions in the Chinese territory.

Dozens of soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), dressed in shorts and T-shirts, jogged from their barracks in Kowloon to the Hong Kong Baptist University where protesters had built barricades to stop riot police entering the campus. Joining a group of residents, they moved desks, signposts, and bricks blocking a road.

Continue reading...

US-China trade war: hopes of deal rise after partial easing of tariffs

Posted on by

IMF says deal to alleviate trade tensions could persuade it to revise up growth forecasts

China has raised hopes that a deal can be reached to end its trade war with the US after agreeing with Washington to roll back some tariffs.

The prospect of an agreement sent stock markets soaring to all-time highs and prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to say a deal easing trade tensions between the US and China could persuade its officials to revise up forecasts for global growth next year.

Continue reading...

China bans children from late-night gaming to combat addiction

Posted on by

Under-18s barred from playing between 10pm and 8am and are allotted 90 minutes a day during the week

China has imposed curfews on minors playing video games to combat what the government says is a serious addiction “harming the physical and mental health of minors”.

In regulations released by the National Press and Publication Administration on Tuesday, gamers under the age of 18 are now barred from playing online games between 10pm and 8am. During the week, minors are allowed just 90 minutes a day, an allotment that stretches to three hours on weekends and public holidays.

Continue reading...

China signals desire to bring Hong Kong under tighter control

Posted on by

Beijing issues strongly-worded warning it will not tolerate ‘any actions that split the country’

China has issued unusually tough warnings for Hong Kong, signalling a desire to bring the semi-autonomous city under tighter control, and “perfect” its governance of the territory, after five months of increasingly violent protests.

China’s Communist party, in a statement issued after a meeting of key leaders, said national interest should take priority over the “two systems” policy that has allowed Hong Kong extensive autonomy since the handover from British colonial rule, and warned that it would not tolerate “any actions that split the country”.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protests are at ‘life-threatening level’, say police

Posted on by

Warning follows another night of violent skirmishes between police and protesters in city

Violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have escalated to a “life-threatening level”, police have said, after a small bomb exploded and a police officer was stabbed in clashes overnight.

Peaceful rallies descended into chaos in the Chinese-ruled city on Sunday with running skirmishes between protesters and police in shopping malls and on streets. Black-clad activists threw 20 petrol bombs at one police station, while others trashed shops and metro stations.

Continue reading...

Former world leaders warn US-China trade dispute could lead to new cold war

Posted on by

Kevin Rudd is among a coalition of former leaders who have urged the US and China to settle their differences

The ongoing trade war between the US and China, with its associated decoupling of the two powerhouse economies, was a step in the direction of a new cold war, a coalition of former world leaders has warned.

Writing on behalf of the global leadership foundation in an opinion piece published in the New York Times overnight, former prime ministers Kevin Rudd of Australia, Helen Clark of New Zealand and Carl Bildt of Sweden have urged presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to end their trade dispute for the sake of the world at large.

Continue reading...

China and North Korea hail ‘immortal and invincible’ friendship

Posted on by

Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un exchange compliments as their countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations

Xi Jinping has promised to promote a “long-term, sound and stable” relationship with North Korea as the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, also sent a message to the Chinese president, saying their countries’ “invincible friendship will be immortal on the road of accomplishing the cause of socialism,” said Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protester shot as China National Day demonstrations intensify – video

Posted on by

Hong Kong police shot an 18-year-old protester in the chest with live ammunition as demonstrations in the city intensified. 

The incident came as many Hongkongers defied a ban on demonstrations on the day marking the 70th anniversary of communist rule in China.

Protests called to mark a 'national day of grief' saw tens of thousands of people demonstrate across the city in what was the most widespread show of public anger towards Beijing yet.

Continue reading...

China celebrates 70th anniversary as Xi warns ‘no force can shake great nation’

Posted on by

New weapons make public debut in sweeping military parade, but Hong Kong protests overshadow show of unity

Hong Kong protester shot in chest as demos turn violent - live

China has celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule and its rise to global superpower status with a military parade showcasing the country’s technology, and a promise from President Xi Jinping that “no force can shake the status of this great nation”.

But huge and violent protests in Hong Kongcast a long shadow over Beijing’s carefully-choreographed projection of national unity and power.

Continue reading...

China marks 70th anniversary with military parade – video

Posted on by

The 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China has been marked with a huge military parade showcasing new weapons technology – including nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles and supersonic drones. 

President Xi Jinping and other leaders stood on the Tiananmen rostrum overlooking the packed square. During a speech, Xi declared that 'no force can shake this great nation'. He also said he was committed to a 'peaceful reunification and one country, two systems' for Hong Kong and Macau, and 'peace' and 'reunification' with Taiwan

Continue reading...