Boost to Taiwanese air defences forms biggest part of deal amid heightened tensions after Beijing’s enhanced military drills around island
The Biden administration has announced a $1.1bn arms sale to Taiwan as US-China tensions escalate over its status.
The sale included $355m for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles and $85m for Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, the state department said.
Continue reading...Gerry Brownlee says report on human rights violations in Xinjiang recognises China is ‘dealing with a terrorist problem’
New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson said a UN report on the human rights abuses of Uyghurs includes recognition that China is “dealing with a terrorist problem essentially”, in remarks criticised by China analysts.
“It’s good that it acknowledges that there has been a terrorism problem in the particular part of China that the report is on,” Gerry Brownlee, a lawmaker for the centre-right National party, told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Thursday in an interview about the UN findings.
Continue reading...Strongest tropical storm of the year also forecast to hit China’s mainland this weekend after winds reach 160mph
Destruction is imminent across southern Japan and South Korea as super typhoon Hinnamnor barrels northwards through the East China Sea this weekend.
The typhoon is so far the strongest tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season and developed gradually this week out in the Pacific, edging towards the Philippines and Taiwan. By Thursday, maximum sustained winds had reached 160mph, leading to classification as a category 5 tropical cyclone, or a super typhoon.
Continue reading...Robert Tsao, a microchip entrepreneur, pledges $32m to train and equip civil defence force to combat threat of Chinese attack
A Taiwanese tycoon has announced his plan to train 3.3 million “civilian warriors” and marksmen to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, using one billion Taiwan dollars ($32m) of his own money.
The announcement by Robert Tsao, a well-known Taiwanese businessman and founder of United Microelectronics Corp, a major microchip producer, comes amid increasing military activity between Taiwan and China. On Thursday Taiwan’s defence ministry announced its soldiers had shot down a Chinese drone over Taiwan’s Kinmen islands.
Continue reading...Sir Geoffrey Nice QC says outgoing human rights chief’s report on China makes it easier for international community to do nothing
The UN’s failure to mention the word genocide in its report alleging serious human rights violations by China against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province is an “astonishing” lapse, according to a leading British human rights lawyer.
The 45-page report from the outgoing UN human rights commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, landed minutes before her term ended on Wednesday, outlining allegations of torture, including forced medical procedures, as well as sexual violence against Uyghur Muslims.
Continue reading...Authorities impose sweeping restrictions as China holds fast to zero-Covid policy
About 21 million people in the Chinese city of Chengdu have gone into lockdown as authorities raced to snuff out a new Covid-19 outbreak.
China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid policy, stamping out virus flare-ups with snap shutdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.
Continue reading...Damning report cites human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in north-west Chinese province
China has committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province which may amount to crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights commissioner has said in a long-awaited and damning report.
Continue reading...Governments urged to launch formal investigations after UN findings on treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang
Governments around the world should establish formal independent investigations into human rights abuses in Xinjiang, victims and human rights groups have said, after the 11th-hour release of a long-awaited UN report.
The report by the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) was published minutes before Michelle Bachelet ended her tenure.
Continue reading...Funding still needs to be approved but could offer breathing space amid country’s economic turmoil
The International Monetary Fund has tentatively offered Sri Lanka a $2.9bn (£2.5bn) loan to help the country recover from the worst economic crisis since it gained independence from Britain in 1948.
The funding is meant to provide some breathing space for Sri Lanka, which is scrambling to restructure nearly $30bn in debt to creditors including China, India and a string of international banks.
Continue reading...Action near islet comes after Taipei vowed to take tough measures to deal with increase in such intrusions
Taiwan’s military has shot down for the first time an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace near an islet off the Chinese coast, after the government vowed to take tough measures to deal with an increase in such intrusions.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own against the objections of the Taipei government, has held military exercises around the island since early last month in reaction to a visit to Taipei by the US House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Continue reading...Ban on Nvidia and AMD sales marks a major escalation of US efforts to restrict China’s military technology capabilities as tensions bubble over Taiwan
Chip designer Nvidia said that US officials told it to stop exporting two top computing chips for artificial intelligence work to China, a move that could cripple Chinese firms’ ability to carry out advanced work like image recognition.
The company on Wednesday said the ban, which affects its A100 and H100 chips designed to speed up machine learning tasks, could interfere with completion of developing the H100, the flagship chip Nvidia announced this year.
Continue reading...Analysts say announcement of a date for gathering suggests any in-party disputes have been reined in
The announcement of a Communist party meeting that is expected to cement Xi Jinping’s agenda for the coming years shows the strength of Xi’s “ultimate authority”, analysts have said.
The CCP’s twice-a-decade meeting will begin on 16 October and is likely to run for several days. Xi, considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, is expected to further consolidate his political power, which he has wielded with increasing authoritarianism since taking charge of the party in late 2012.
Continue reading...Island country’s president says Taiwan could take ‘strong countermeasures’ if necessary
Taiwan fired warning shots at a Chinese drone that buzzed an offshore islet shortly after President Tsai Ing-wen said she had ordered Taiwan’s military to take “strong countermeasures” against what she termed Chinese provocations.
It was the first time warning shots have been fired in such an incident amid a period of heightened tension between China and Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory. Taiwan strongly disputes China’s sovereignty claims.
Continue reading...Xi Jinping expected to be given third term and be anointed as country’s most powerful leader in decades
China’s ruling Communist party will begin its 20th congress on 16 October, state media has reported, a meeting at which President Xi Jinping is expected to be anointed as the country’s most powerful leader in decades.
The congress in Beijing comes as Xi faces significant political headwinds, including an ailing economy, deteriorating relations with the US and a strict zero-Covid policy that has accelerated China’s inward turn from the world.
Continue reading...Weather agencies warn of flooding as analyst warns a winter energy crunch is ‘highly likely’
Rain across central China this week is expected to relieve the country’s worst heatwave on record, but weather agencies are now warning of potential floods, while analysts say the energy crisis exacerbated by the months-long drought is not over.
Almost half of China has been affected by the latest heatwave, the hottest since record-keeping began in 1961. Hundreds of temperature records have been broken, and the heat has exacerbated the effects of low rainfall, drying up rivers and reservoirs across the country.
Continue reading...Incident in Tangshan sparked outrage over gender-based violence when video went viral
Chinese authorities said they had charged 28 people and were investigating 15 officials including police for corruption more than two months after a shocking incident in which a group of men assaulted four women at a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan, north-east China.
The men carried out the assault after the women rejected their apparent sexual advances on 10 June. CCTV footage circulated online showed a man placing his hand on a woman’s back as she shared a meal with two companions. After the woman pushed him away, the man struck her before others dragged her outside and dealt a barrage of blows as she lay on the ground. Another woman was knocked to the floor.
Continue reading...Foreign affairs minister met PNG leaders on Monday in Port Moresby and will continue to Timor-Leste on Wednesday
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says Australian aid in the Pacific comes with “no strings attached”, in a veiled reference to China’s expanding power in the region.
Visiting Port Moresby on Monday, Wong said Australia wanted the “closest possible relationship” with Papua New Guinea and would work with, and listen to, its government and people.
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Continue reading...Sir Joseph Hotung’s gift is ‘one of the most generous ever received’ by museum
An outstanding collection of Chinese porcelain and jades has been left to the British Museum in “one of the most significant bequests” of its history.
The artworks come from the collections of Sir Joseph Hotung, a businessman, philanthropist and art collector, who died last year.
Continue reading...Accusation is reportedly the first time the Indian government has used the descriptor and comes as tensions rise over Sri Lanka port visit
India has accused China of “militarisation of the Taiwan Strait”, in an escalating war of words triggered by a Chinese military ship docking in a controversial Sri Lankan port.
The accusation, referenced in a statement by the Indian high commission in Sri Lanka on Sunday, is reportedly the first time the Indian government has used the descriptor, and is a rare intervention on the cross-straits issues as India contends with tensions on its own border with China.
Continue reading...China’s military says it is monitoring the US ships, maintaining a high alert and ready to defeat any provocations
The US Navy said two warships were sailing through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such operation since heightened tensions with China over the Taiwan visit of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
The guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville were conducting a “routine Taiwan Strait transit”, the US 7th fleet said in a statement.
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