Chinese dissident Kwon Pyong, 35, was arrested after becoming stuck in mudflats near Incheon
A Chinese dissident previously jailed for criticising Xi Jinping has fled to South Korea by jetski, towing barrels of fuel behind him to ensure he completed the long journey.
The man identified by Chinese activist groups as Kwon Pyong, 35, was arrested last Wednesday night after he got stuck in mud flats near Incheon.
Continue reading...At least 177 officials reportedly under investigation amid revival of Xi Jinping’s decade-old anti-corruption drive
China’s graft-busters have set their sights on the country’s healthcare sector, in what has been described as the biggest crackdown on corruption in the history of the industry.
At least 177 hospital bosses and Chinese Communist party (CCP) secretaries have been placed under investigation this year according to local media reports – more than double the number last year. In a press conference on Tuesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said the campaign would focus on people who had used their position to procure kickbacks and corruption in the pharmaceutical sector, the state tabloid the Global Times reported.
Continue reading...Leader tightens grip over country’s military leadership with biggest shake-up in a decade
Two of China’s top generals overseeing its nuclear missiles have been replaced with scant explanation in the biggest shake-up of the country’s military leadership in a decade, underlining Xi Jinping’s commitment to tightening control over the armed forces.
Two men from outside the ranks of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) were appointed to head the unit, state media have reported. Wang Houbin, from the navy, was appointed as commander and Xu Xisheng, from the air force, its political commissar – a Chinese Communist party role of equal grade to military commander.
Continue reading...Mystery surrounds removal of Qin Gang as foreign minister, but one thing is clear: Xi Jinping retains tight control
Wang Yi’s return to the helm of China’s foreign ministry is a reminder that Chinese Communist party elite politics are as opaque and brutal as ever. His predecessor, Qin Gang, was abruptly removed with no explanation on Tuesday after just seven tumultuous months in the job.
The decision provided some closure to the weeks of speculation about Qin’s absence. But although Qin’s personal fate remains unclear – he has still not been seen in public since his final meetings as foreign minister on 25 June – the reinstatement of Wang underlines the fact that Beijing wants to maintain continuity in its foreign policy.
Continue reading...Sacked foreign minister’s rise was linked to his ties to president; his disappearance and dismissal have caused a scandal
The dismissal of Qin Gang, a key Xi Jinping loyalist, from the post of Chinese foreign minister is shaping up to be one of the country’s biggest political scandals in years. Qin spent just seven months in the role, the shortest tenure of any to have served, and mysteriously disappeared from view last month. He was sacked on Tuesday, replaced with his predecessor Wang Yi, and is yet to reappear in public.
Political purgings – if that is what has happened to Qin – are not rare in China. Thousands of officials, including high-ranking political rivals of Xi, have been targeted by anti-corruption campaigns or shuffled out of view – sometimes literally, as in the case of the former president Hu Jintao, who was physically removed from his seat at a Communist party meeting in Beijing last year.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Qin Gang’s mysterious absence and replacement follows a pattern of falls from grace for rising stars
Qin Gang, China’s erstwhile foreign minister, has officially been replaced by Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, in a surprise reshuffle that provided a sliver of clarity regarding Qin’s mysterious month-long absence. But many questions remain unanswered.
On Tuesday, the standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress convened a surprise session. The brief readout of the meeting stated that Qin had been removed as foreign minister, stalling, for now, the career of a former rising star of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) and close adviser to Xi Jinping, China’s leader.
Continue reading...Beijing announces former US ambassador has been removed from office after speculation about his whereabouts
China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public for almost a month amid a mysterious absence, has been removed from office and replaced by his predecessor, Wang Yi, China’s top legislative body has announced.
The sudden calling of a special meeting Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) with one day’s notice, had fuelled speculation there may be answers about the disappearance of Qin, who was last seen in public almost a month ago.
Continue reading...The hiring of former PM and Treasury chief was to lend credibility to broader Beijing brand, intelligence watchdog told
David Cameron’s appointment as vice-chair of the £1bn China-UK investment fund and Sir Danny Alexander’s appointment as vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank were in part engineered by the Chinese state, parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) found.
Their appointment was to lend credibility to Chinese investment as well as the broader Chinese brand, according to confidential evidence given to the intelligence watchdog.
Continue reading...Xi Jining reportedly warned Russian counterpart against using nuclear weapons on visit to Moscow in March
The Kremlin has denied a report that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, had personally warned his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“No, I can’t confirm it,” Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Wednesday when asked about a Financial Times report that said Xi delivered the message when he visited Moscow in March.
Continue reading...Amid rising global tensions, Chinese leader tells PM, Chris Hipkins, his visit to Beijing is meaningful
Xi Jinping has praised the “great importance” of China’s relationship with its “friend and partner” New Zealand, as Chris Hipkins visits Beijing to promote trade amid growing geopolitical tensions.
Speaking after the two leaders met in the Chinese capital on Tuesday evening, Xi told reporters through an interpreter: “I myself [am] attaching great importance to our relations with New Zealand,” and “China always views New Zealand as a friend and a partner”.
Continue reading...US president sought to play down the impact of his comments, saying ‘I don’t think it’s had any real consequence’
The Chinese government has reportedly reprimanded the US ambassador to China over comments made by President Joe Biden in which he referred to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator”.
Nicholas Burns received the diplomatic note hours after Biden made comments about Xi at a fundraiser in California, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing three unnamed US officials.
Continue reading...Meeting between US secretary of state and Chinese leader was a diplomatic coup, but yielded few breakthroughs
Antony Blinken’s meeting with Xi Jinping on Monday may have lasted only 35 minutes, but both sides insisted that it represented progress in the strained relationship. The two men exchanged warm words while both refusing to budge on their respective core interests.
That the US secretary of state was able to meet China’s leader at all was a diplomatic coup for the highly anticipated visit. Blinken is the highest-ranking US official to visit Beijing since 2018, but until he arrived in the Chinese capital it was not confirmed that he would meet China’s leader.
Continue reading...Meeting between China’s president and US secretary of state takes place at time of heightened tension
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has wrapped up a rare trip to Beijing where he met China’s president, Xi Jinping, concluding a high-stakes visit aimed at stabilising spiralling relations.
Speaking at a press briefing in Beijing before his departure, Blinken said he had had “an important conversation” with Xi during the 35-minute encounter and stressed it was the responsibility of both countries to find a path forward.
Continue reading...A meeting is yet to be confirmed, a day after ‘candid’ talks with China’s foreign minister, who said ties were at their lowest point since diplomatic relations began
Antony Blinken was greeted by China’s top diplomat on Monday, and will perhaps meet its president, on the final day of a rare visit aimed at trying to resurrect relations between Washington and Beijing from historic lows.
Neither Blinken nor Wang Yi made any comment to reporters as they greeted each other and sat for their discussion during what is the first visit by a US secretary of state to China in five years.
Continue reading...US secretary of state’s trip seeks to clear the air but issues such as Taiwan and Ukraine leave limited room for compromise
Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing on the highest-level trip by a US official since 2018, with his aides signalling he was seeking to build lines of communication rather than secure any practical breakthrough agreements.
The expectations, set deliberately low for the two-day talks, allow room for the world’s two largest economies to air their differences over the Taiwan strait, technology, human rights and the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Australian consular officials will attend the opening of Badiucao’s show in Poland after Chinese ambassador demanded it be closed down
Australian consular officials in Poland will attend the opening of an exhibition in the country’s capital by Chinese-Australian artist Badiucao on Friday, to send a message to Chinese authorities who have allegedly tried to stop the show going ahead.
On Wednesday, Australia’s ambassador to Poland, Lloyd Brodrick, met Shanghai-born Australian artist Badiucao, as well as executives from the museum where the show is being held, Warsaw’s Ujazdowski Castle, Center for Contemporary Art (CCA Ujazdowski Castle).
Continue reading...Amid usual scrubbing for Tiananmen Square anniversary, searches for bridge where protest was held in 2022 return no results
Chinese censors scrubbing the internet of any words or symbols that could be used to reference the Tiananmen Square massacre in the run-up to Sunday’s anniversary have a new target in their sights: a bridge in Beijing where a rare protest was staged last year.
As the 34th anniversary of the 1989 massacre approaches, anyone searching in Chinese for Sitong Bridge on Baidu maps will draw a blank.
Continue reading...President says national security threats are increasing and urged greater oversight of artificial intelligence and data security
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and top officials have called for greater state oversight of artificial intelligence as part of work to counter “dangerous storms” facing the country, state media reported.
The president and other ruling Communist party officials agreed at a meeting of the National Security Commission to “improve security governance of network data and artificial intelligence”.
Continue reading...Experts point to crackdown on national security and legal system that encourages guilty pleas
Chinese courts prosecuted 8.3 million people in the five years to 2022, a 12% increase on the previous period. There was also a nearly 20% increase in the number of protests against court rulings.
The figures released by the supreme people’s procuratorate (SPP) in March give a glimpse of how China’s notoriously opaque justice system has operated in recent years, amid a tightening domestic security environment.
Continue reading...Russian PM holds talks with Xi Jinping and signs bilateral pacts to further investment, exports and sports cooperation
Russia and China have agreed to deepen investment in trade services, promote agricultural exports and boost sports cooperation, as Mikhail Mishustin, Russia’s prime minister, signed a set of bilateral agreements on a visit to Beijing.
Mishustin is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit Beijing since the start of the war in Ukraine. In March, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow in a show of support for his “dear friend”.
Continue reading...