Category Archives: China

Taiwan fires warning shots at Chinese drone

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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.

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China’s Communist party to hold congress set to cement Xi’s rule

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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.

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Rain eases China’s record heatwave but fresh energy crisis looms

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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.

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China charges 28 people over restaurant attack on group of women

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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.

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Penny Wong visits PNG and Timor-Leste as expert warns neighbours are ‘playing the China card’

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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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British Museum receives major bequest of Chinese porcelain and jades

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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.

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India accuses China of ‘militarisation of the Taiwan Strait’ as row over navy vessel grows

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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.

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US warships sail through Taiwan Strait for first time since Pelosi visit

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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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Point of no return: crunch time as China tries to fend off property crash

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With the global economy also at a crossroads, Beijing’s leadership faces a perilous test of nerve on its lending crackdown and zero-Covid strategy

China has reached a point of no return in its battle to contain what could be the biggest property crash the world has ever seen, experts believe, creating a perilous moment for the country’s Communist leadership and the global economy.

As western countries stand on the edge of a potentially ruinous recession in the coming year, China is also facing a slump thanks to “total collapse” of confidence among ordinary people in the once-buoyant housing market, the continued ravages of Beijing’s draconian zero-Covid strategy and an extreme heatwave that is affecting the supply of power and food.

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‘We are Chinese’: meet the Taiwanese who want to embrace Beijing rule

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Surveys reveal that up to 12% of the country supports unification with China, including five of its citizens in a Taipei restaurant

At a Cantonese restaurant in Taipei, Harry Chen and four old friends are shouting at each other over a Lazy Susan, stopping occasionally to toast each other with Canadian whisky or translate their argument into English.

All are retired men in their 70s – the sons of Chinese nationalist soldiers – and were born or grew up in Taiwan during its brutal decades of martial law.

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Chinese city’s residents made to queue for Covid tests in heat above 40C

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Chongqing authorities criticised for move as area faces heatwave, wildfires, severe drought and power outages

Residents of the south-western Chinese city of Chongqing have been queueing on the streets to be tested for Covid, despite extreme temperatures that have soared past 40C (104F) this week.

Photos posted on Chinese social media also showed health workers testing residents while wearing full hazmat suits in the heatwave. Other images showed that the tests were being carried out while bushfires raged in the background, prompting descriptions of the situation as “apocalyptic”.

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US ship unable to get Solomon Islands’ permission to dock, says Washington

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Honiara did not respond to request for coast guard vessel to refuel amid tensions over security pact with China

A United States coast guard vessel was unable to enter Solomon Islands for a routine port call because its government did not respond to a request to refuel and provision, a US official said.

The Solomons government did not immediately answer a Reuters request for comment. It has had a tense relationship with the US and its allies since striking a security pact with China in May.

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Huawei founder sparks alarm in China with warning of ‘painful’ next decade

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Ren Zhengfei writes in leaked memo that ‘chill will be felt by everyone’ and company must focus on survival

The founder of Huawei has delivered a stark warning for the tech company’s future, sparking alarm with the frankness of his assessment and what it signals for smaller businesses amid China’s economic troubles and a global downturn.

In a leaked internal memo, Ren Zhengfei told Huawei staff “the chill will be felt by everyone” and the company must focus on profit over cashflow and expansion if it is to survive the next three years, indicating further job cuts and divestments.

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China warns Canada over planned Taiwan visit by parliamentarians

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Beijing threatens ‘forceful measures’ if Canada ‘interferes’ as MPs plan trade delegation to Taipei later this year

China warned it will take “forceful measures” if Canada “interferes” in Taiwan, a week after it emerged that a delegation of Canadian parliamentarians was planning to visit the island later this year to explore trade opportunities.

China claims Taiwan as its territory under its “one-China principle” and objects to foreign politicians visiting the island. Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China’s claims.

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China issues alert as drought and heatwave put crops at risk

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Local authorities told to take measures and ‘use every unit of water carefully’ in effort to save autumn harvest

A drought in China is threatening food production, prompting the government to order local authorities to take all available measures to ensure crops survive the hottest summer on record.

On Tuesday, four government departments issued an urgent joint emergency notice, warning that the autumn harvest was under “severe threat”. It urged local authorities to ensure “every unit of water … be used carefully”, and called for methods included staggered irrigation, the diversion of new water sources, and cloud seeding.

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China increases warship capability with production of guided-missile destroyers, experts say

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Prof John Blaxland says China’s navy expansion is ‘in stark contrast’ to trajectories of other countries including Australia

China is “exponentially” increasing its warship capability and has reportedly re-started mass production of guided-missile destroyers.

The Chinese Communist party-controlled newspaper, the Global Times, reported on Tuesday that China would complete its military expansion and modernisation by 2035, “including the development of a blue-water navy, to match the country’s international status and better defend its interests”.

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Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai to plead not guilty in national security case

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Democracy activist and Apple Daily founder will stand trial without jury and could face up to life in prison

The founder of Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, will stand trial without a jury in Hong Kong, after he told a court he would plead not guilty to national security charges.

On Monday, prosecutors told a case management hearing that Lai would challenge the accusations but six fellow executives and manager from the now-defunct Apple Daily or its parent company, Next Digital, intended to plead guilty.

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China punishes 27 people over ‘tragically ugly’ illustrations in maths textbook

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Investigation finds the books did not ‘properly reflect the sunny image of China’s children’

Chinese authorities have punished 27 people over the publication of a maths textbook that went viral over its “tragically ugly” illustrations.

A months-long investigation by a ministry of education working group found the books were “not beautiful”, and some illustrations were “quite ugly” and did not “properly reflect the sunny image of China’s children”.

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Chinese censors alter ending of Minions: The Rise of Gru film

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Viewers mock addendum explaining Gru’s family values and arrest of thief Wild Knuckles

Censors in China have changed the ending of the animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru for its domestic release, according to viewers in the country, in yet another example of China altering a popular Hollywood film.

According to posts and screenshots of the film, shared on Weibo, a platform similar to Twitter, there is an addendum by censors showing that Wild Knuckles, a main character in the heist film, was caught by police and served 20 years in jail.

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Chinese firm Miniso apologises for Japanese branding after outcry

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Consumers complained the homeware and electronics company was not supporting its national roots

A Chinese retail company has apologised for styling itself as a Japanese store, saying it made “serious mistakes”.

Miniso, which sells homeware and electronics, used a logo and branding that appeared similar to that of the Japanese clothing firm Uniqlo. It has been under criticism from Chinese consumers who believed it was not supporting its Chinese roots.

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