Category Archives: China

Samoa signs China bilateral agreement during Pacific push by Beijing

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Scant details released apart from promises of infrastructure support, amid western concerns that China is seeking to expand its security presence in region

Samoa signed a bilateral agreement with China on Saturday, promising “greater collaboration”, as Beijing’s foreign minister continues a tour of the Pacific that has sparked concern among western allies.

The deal’s details are unclear, and come midway through a Chinese delegation’s eight-nation trip – but an earlier leaked draft agreement sent to several Pacific countries outlined plans to expand security and economic engagement.

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Penny Wong urges Pacific nations to weigh up ‘consequences’ of China security offers

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Australia wants to show region it is a reliable partner, says foreign minister, and to make up for a ‘lost decade on climate action’

Australia’s foreign affairs minister has used a visit to Fiji to urge Pacific countries to weigh up the “consequences” of accepting security offers from Beijing, saying the region should determine its own security.

Speaking on the second day of her trip, Penny Wong said Australia wanted to show it was a reliable and trustworthy partner, and was also “determined to make up for” what she described as “a lost decade on climate action”.

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Chinese technology shares jump as Alibaba sales exceed forecasts

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E-commerce company’s revenues rise 9% to 204bn yuan despite weakening economy

Chinese technology shares jumped after strong results from internet companies, including better-than-expected sales at the e-commerce firm Alibaba despite an economic slowdown driven by Beijing’s Covid-19 lockdowns.

The Hangzhou-based company beat analysts’ forecasts with its sales and profit figures for the first quarter despite a weakening economy, and it did better than local rivals such as Tencent. Revenues rose 9% to 204bn yuan (£24bn) in the first three months of the year.

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New Zealand and allies allowed ‘vacuum’ to develop in Pacific, former foreign minister says

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Comments by Winston Peters come as China hopes 10 Pacific countries will sign wide-ranging security deal

New Zealand and its allies have failed to listen to “alarm bells” about China’s growing influence, and allowed a “vacuum” to develop in the Pacific, New Zealand’s former foreign minister Winston Peters has said.

His comments come amid news that China hopes 10 Pacific countries will sign a wide-ranging draft deal covering security, trade and investment. The agreement would dramatically increase China’s influence in the region.

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Antony Blinken says US is not seeking ‘cold war’ with China

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US secretary of state vigorously defends existing global order but admits Washington sees Beijing a ‘long-term challenge’

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has called for a vigorous defence of the existing global order, but stressed that Joe Biden’s administration did not seek a “cold war” with China.

“President Biden believes this decade will be decisive,” Blinken said in a China policy speech on Thursday. “The actions we take at home and with countries worldwide will determine whether our shared vision of the future will be realised.”

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Hong Kong judicial independence under systematic attack, legal figures warn

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Signatories of legal opinion say territory’s government is using continued presence of overseas judges as ‘vote of confidence’

International judicial figures including the former UK attorney general Sir Robert Buckland have warned the remaining British, Australian and Canadian judges operating in Hong Kong that they are working in an environment where judicial independence has been wholly undermined and the Chinese Communist party can dictate the outcome of cases.

The group has backed a legal opinion that says the systematic threats to Hong Kong’s judicial independence will continue to intensify, and that the continued presence of overseas judges is being used by the territory’s government as a vote of confidence.

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Penny Wong tells Pacific nations ‘we have heard you’ as Australia and China battle for influence

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Foreign minister uses speech in Fiji to declare ‘this is a different Australian government’ that will act responsibly on climate change

The new foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has promised to treat Pacific island countries with respect, telling an audience in Fiji that Australia is “a partner that doesn’t come with strings attached” and won’t “impose unsustainable financial burdens”.

Wong promised to respect Pacific priorities and institutions as she set out an implicit contrast with China, which is pursuing a sweeping regional economic and security deal with Pacific nations that would dramatically expand Beijing’s influence and reach into those countries.

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Deal proposed by China would dramatically expand security influence in Pacific

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Leaked copy of draft shows Beijing wants more involvement in policing, cybersecurity and marine mapping

China is pursuing a sweeping regional economic security deal with Pacific nations that would dramatically expand its influence and reach into those countries, in a pact that has western countries and some Pacific leaders deeply worried.

The wide-ranging deal lays out China’s vision for a much closer relationship with the Pacific, especially on security matters, with China proposing it would be involved in training police, cybersecurity, sensitive marine mapping and gaining greater access to natural resources.

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Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand ‘ready to respond’ to Pacific’s security needs as China seeks deal in region

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Prime minister says ‘the Pacific is our home’ as Beijing plans a regional security pact with almost a dozen island nations

Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is “ready to respond” to security needs in the Pacific, after it emerged China is planning a Pacific-wide security deal with almost a dozen island nations.

The prime minister, who is touring the US, said she believed the Pacific could meet its security needs internally, implying it should do so without intervention from China or elsewhere. “On anything related to security arrangements, we are very strongly of the view that we have within the Pacific the means and ability to respond to any security challenges that exist and New Zealand is willing to do that,” Ardern said.

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Fears Biden’s Taiwan comments may raise tensions despite rowback

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President said US would ‘get involved ’ if China attacked Taiwan, which some saw as policy shift

Comments by Joe Biden suggesting major US policy changes in regard to defending Taiwan before Washington quickly rowed back have sparked concern that the confusion could escalate tensions.

On Monday, in answer to a reporter’s question at a meeting of the informal Quad alliance, the US president said the US would “get involved militarily” to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China. The answer was interpreted by some as an indication of a major policy shift. However, within minutes the state department began walking back the comments, and Biden himself clarified on Tuesday that there was no change to US policy.

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Australia ‘louder than we should have been’ in criticising China says former Asio chief

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Sharp critique from Duncan Lewis comes as Chinese foreign minister embarks on ‘extraordinary’ Pacific island nation tour

Australia’s former intelligence chief Duncan Lewis says Australia has been “rather louder than we should have been” in public criticism of China when a better approach, given escalating regional tensions, should have been “speak softly and carry a big stick”.

Lewis has told the Australian National University’s national security podcast Australia had been at the forefront of China criticism in recent years “when we might well have been better to have been one back and one wide”.

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Xi Jinping defends China’s human rights record to visiting UN commissioner

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Leader warns against using issue as ‘excuse to interfere in internal affairs of other countries’ as Michelle Bachelet goes to Xinjiang

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has spoken with the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, as she visited the Xinjiang region, warning against the politicisation of human rights as an “excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries” and defending his government’s record.

It comes amid renewed defensiveness in Beijing after the publication of a significant data leak from Xinjiang’s security apparatus, including mugshots of thousands of detained Uyghurs and internal documents outlining shoot-to-kill policies for those who try to escape.

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China’s Pacific plan is ‘clear’ but so is Australia’s intention to be regional partner of choice, Penny Wong says

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As China pursues Pacific-wide security pact, foreign minister says ‘after a lost decade we’ve got a lot of work to do to regain Australia’s position’

Australia has responded to reports that China is pursuing a Pacific-wide security pact with almost a dozen nations, stating that while Beijing’s intentions were clear “so too are the intentions of the new Australian government” to be the partner of choice in the region.

China will seek a regional deal with 10 Pacific island nations covering policing, security and data communications cooperation when the foreign minister, Wang Yi, hosts a meeting in Fiji next week, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

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Solomon Islands journalists shut out of China foreign minister visit, raising secrecy concerns

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Wang Yi will visit eight countries in 10 days, but media access to his diplomatic push has been severely restricted

Pacific journalists have raised serious concerns about secrecy surrounding the upcoming marathon tour of the Pacific by China’s foreign minister, who will be visiting eight countries in 10 days.

Wang Yi will visit Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Fiji between 26 May and 4 June, on a tour of the region that has been labelled “extraordinary and unprecedented” by Pacific experts.

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Airbnb to close in China amid repeated Covid lockdowns

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With pandemic restrictions showing no sign of ending, home rental service says it will cease taking bookings for accommodation inside China from 30 July

Airbnb is closing down its business inside China indefinitely, as the country’s zero-Covid policy, lockdowns and travel restrictions continue.

On Tuesday Airbnb told its China-based users it would cease taking all bookings for accommodation and experiences in China from 30 July. The ability to book for dates beyond 29 July was suspended on Tuesday morning, according to screenshots of the Airbnb notice shared across Chinese social media. An attempt by the Guardian to make bookings from outside China after that date produced an error message.

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UN rights chief’s visit to China will be held in ‘closed loop’, Beijing says

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Michelle Bachelet begins trip amid fears that authorities will use Covid restrictions as cover to limit her access

China has said the UN rights chief’s visit to the country this week will be conducted in a “closed loop” as previously agreed with the UN, referring to the Chinese model of isolating people inside a “bubble” in order to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, embarked on a six-day trip to China on Monday. She will be visiting the southern city of Guangzhou and two locations in the Xinjiang region, where Chinese authorities have been accused of human rights abuses against Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group.

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US would defend Taiwan if attacked by China, says Joe Biden

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President says US’s responsibility to protect island is ‘even stronger’ after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Joe Biden has said the US would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China, in an unusually forceful presidential statement in support of self-governing that drew a defiant response from Beijing.

Speaking in Tokyo on the second day of his visit to Japan, and against the backdrop of growing concern over Chinese military activity in the region, Biden said the US’s responsibility to protect the self-ruled island – which China considers a renegade province – was “even stronger” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Australia to stand with Pacific islands on climate crisis and ‘respect’ region, Penny Wong says

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New foreign affairs minister tells Pacific leaders Australia ‘will listen because we care’ after reports China may be seeking security agreement with Kiribati

Australia’s new foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, will seek to improve relations with Pacific island countries, flagging an early visit to the region and promising to be “a generous, respectful and reliable” partner.

China’s new security deal with Solomon Islands was a point of political dispute during the Australian election campaign and there are now reports that Beijing could be planning to strike a similar agreement with Kiribati.

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Shanghai reopens some public transport after months-long Covid lockdown

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Partial restart comes as curbs tightened in other areas, highlighting difficulties of resuming life under China’s strict zero-Covid policy

Shanghai has reopened a small part of the world’s longest subway system after some lines had been closed for almost two months, as the city paves the way for a more complete lifting of its Covid-19 lockdown next week.

With most residents not allowed to leave their homes and restrictions tightening in parts of China’s most populous city, commuters early on Sunday needed strong reasons to travel.

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UN human rights commissioner criticised over planned Xinjiang visit

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Exclusive: Politicians accuse China of organising a ‘Potemkin-style tour’ for Michelle Bachelet

A group of 40 politicians from 18 countries have told the UN high commissioner for human rights that she risks causing lasting damage to the credibility of her office if she goes ahead with a visit to China’s Xinjiang region next week.

Michelle Bachelet is scheduled to visit Kashgar and Ürümqi in Xinjiang during her trip, which starts on Monday. Human rights organisations say China has forced an estimated 1 million or more people into internment camps and prisons in the region. The US and a number of other western countries have described China’s treatment of the Uyghur minority living there as genocidal, a charge Beijing calls the “lie of the century”.

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