Category Archives: China

Mesut Özil row: China’s Arsenal fans burn shirts in anger at Xinjiang post

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Player, who has 4 million followers on Chinese microblog Weibo, is called a ‘dirty ant’ for attacking China

Chinese football fans have burned Arsenal football shirts and called on the club to fire star player Mesut Özil after he publicly criticised China’s treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang.

On Friday, Özil, who is usually quiet on social media, posted a message on his Instagram profile describing Uighurs in the far north-western region of China as “warriors who resist persecution”.

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US covertly expelled Chinese officials who drove on to military base – report

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The US government covertly moved to expel two officials from the Chinese embassy earlier this year after they drove onto a military base, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

The newspaper reported that one of the two officials is believed to be an intelligence officer operating under diplomatic cover.

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US-China trade deal ‘totally done’, Trump aide Lighthizer says

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The “phase one” US-China trade deal will nearly double US exports to China over the next two years and is “totally done” despite the need for translation and revisions to its text, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said on Sunday.

Related: 'Amazing deal' or 'capitulation'? Why the US-China trade truce may not last

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Chinese state broadcaster pulls Arsenal v Man City after Mesut Özil criticism

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• Özil posted message about China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims
• Chinese FA ‘outraged and disappointed’ by German’s remarks

China’s state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday removed Arsenal’s Premier League game against Manchester City from its broadcast schedule following Mesut Özil’s messages that criticised the country’s policy towards its Muslim Uighur minority.

The Global Times Newspaper said on its Twitter account on Sunday that CCTV took the decision after midfielder Özil’s comments on Saturday had “disappointed fans and football governing authorities”.

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Hong Kong violence breaks out again in shopping centres

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Police make arrests and use pepper spray as flashmobs and vandalism break out

Hong Kong police used pepper spray and made arrests on Sunday as small groups of black-clad pro-democracy protesters targeted some of the city’s shopping centres, ending a rare lull in violence.

Flashmob protests and vandalism broke out in several locations. Riot police responded with pepper spray in at least two shopping centres as members of the public heckled them.

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Arsenal distance themselves from Mesut Özil comments on Uighurs’ plight

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• Midfielder highlighted persecution of Muslims in China
• Club says it ‘does not involve itself in politics’ in statement

Arsenal have distanced themselves from comments made by Mesut Özil on Instagram, in which he spoke out strongly against China’s persecution of the Uighur population in the north-western region of Xinjiang and criticised Muslims for not doing more to highlight the issue.

The club sought to limit any damage caused to its business in China, where it has numerous commercial interests including a chain of restaurants, by releasing a statement on Weibo – a leading Chinese social media site – as well as other platforms stressing it is apolitical and does not associate itself with Özil’s views.

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China confirms ‘phase one’ trade deal with US

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  • Beijing says deal includes rollback of tariffs in phases
  • Trump hails ‘amazing deal for all’

China and the US have reached an initial deal to resolve a bruising trade war between the two countries, according to statements from both sides.

China’s vice-commerce minister Wang Shouwen said in a late night briefing on Friday that the US had agreed to cancel some of its existing tariffs on Chinese goods, while Donald Trump tweeted that the two countries had agreed to a “very large Phase One Deal”.

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Around the world in a day, without leaving Shenzhen – a photo essay

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For Chinese tourists who cannot travel, the Window of the World theme park offers versions of 130 global attractions. Photojournalist Anthony Micallef took a whistlestop tour

More than 3 million visitors a year flock to the Window of the World theme park in the megacity of Shenzhen to see 130 copies of the world’s largest tourist sites gathered in a single place.

For Chinese tourists who may not be able to travel out of the country this is their only chance of seeing the New York skyline, the pyramids of Giza or the Taj Mahal – or smaller replicas of them, at least.

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US reaches ‘deal in principle’ with China to end trade war

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  • White House expected to announce accord later on Thursday
  • US offered to halt new tariffs and up to 50% cuts on existing ones

The White House has reached a “deal in principle” with Beijing to resolve the 17-month US-China trade war, according to a source briefed on the trade talks.

The White House was expected to make an announcement later on Thursday, the source said.

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China steps in as Zambia runs out of loan options

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Southern Africa’s third largest economy is a textbook example of the increasing debt facing a fast-growing continent

Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, was having a power cut, so the only light in the restaurant was from Fumba Chama’s mobile phone. The rapper, better known as PilAto, had just finished uploading a new track to Twitter. The bitter-sweet lyrics (in Bemba) of Yama Chinese describe the concerns of many Zambians: “They put on smart suits and fly to China to sell our country. The roads belong to China. The hotels are for the Chinese. The chicken farms are Chinese. Even the brickworks are Chinese.”

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Hong Kong democracy protester says he was ambushed by masked Chinese men in Australia

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Exclusive: ‘Frontline’ protester alleges he was chased by group but Chinese embassy says allegations are ‘nonsense’

A “frontline” Hong Kong democracy protester who recently fled the territory in fear of his safety says he was ambushed and chased in an Australian city by a group of masked Chinese men.

“They were nearby my house and waiting for me,” Jack* told Guardian Australia. “They knew my address, they knew where I was going to be.

“I think they don’t want to hurt me, they just want to make me scared. It was like intimidation, a message that ‘we know where you are’.”

Guardian Australia has been able to confirm some elements of Jack’s story, including that he arrived in Australia a few months ago and has attended pro-Hong Kong demonstrations since arriving. He has since reported the incident to police.

Human rights advocates and China experts say the claims match a trend of intimidation and surveillance on Australian soil. Several recent incidents – including a brawl at the University of Queensland where pro-China participants were praised by the consulate – have raised concerns about the extraterritorial activities of China, including the state’s pursuit of critics beyond its borders.

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Swedish diplomat faces trial for trying to free China dissident

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Anna Lindstedt accused of brokering unauthorised meeting over fate of Gui Minhai

Sweden’s former ambassador to Beijing is to go on trial for overstepping her duties by trying to negotiate the release of a Chinese-Swedish dissident held in China.

Anna Lindstedt is accused of brokering an unauthorised meeting to try to get Gui Minhai freed, prosecutors said.

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Japanese officials helped procure wartime sex slaves, report claims

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News agency says diplomatic dispatches contradict claims that so-called ‘comfort women’ worked willingly

The Japanese imperial army asked the government to provide one wartime sex slave for every 70 soldiers serving in China in the late 1930s, according to dispatches that offer evidence of official involvement in the recruitment of women to work in military brothels.

The dispatches from Japanese diplomatic missions in China include requests to the foreign ministry in Tokyo to provide “comfort women”, Kyodo news agency reported. The term was a euphemism used to describe tens of thousands of women from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and other countries who were forced into sexual servitude before and during the second world war.

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China tells government offices to remove all foreign computer equipment

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Directive is likely to be a blow to US multinational companies like HP, Dell and Microsoft

China has ordered that all foreign computer equipment and software be removed from government offices and public institutions within three years, the Financial Times reports.

The government directive is likely to be a blow to US multinational companies like HP, Dell and Microsoft and mirrors attempts by Washington to limit the use of Chinese technology, as the trade war between the countries turns into a tech cold war.

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Hong Kong: mammoth rally marks six months of pro-democracy protests

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Sea of protesters pour on to streets calling for elections and inquiry into police tactics

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have once again poured on to the streets of Hong Kong, their chants echoing off high-rise buildings, in a mass show of support for a protest movement that shows no signs of flagging as it enters a seventh month.

Chanting “Fight for freedom” and “Stand with Hong Kong”, a sea of protesters formed a mile-long human snake winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone.

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US business leaders in Hong Kong detained and denied entry to Macau

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President and chairman of American Chamber of Commerce told to sign statement saying decision not to enter Macau was voluntary

The chairman and president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong were separately denied entry to the neighbouring Chinese-ruled city of Macau after being detained by immigration officials.

Chairman Robert Grieves and president Tara Joseph were travelling to the former Portuguese colony for the chamber’s annual Macau ball on Saturday. They said authorities did not provide a reason for refusing them entry.

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US is losing the battle for Pacific power

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Trump’s neglect of the region has left a political vacuum that China is rushing to fill – and small nations such as the Solomon Islands are stuck in the middle

If anything demonstrates the interconnectedness of the 21st-century world, it is how a decision made in the Solomon Islands, population 650,000, in the remote South Pacific, can affect the behaviour of powerful countries on the other side of the globe. That, in a way, is exactly what happened last week when Nato leaders met in London. Top of their agenda was Donald Trump’s demand that Europe pay more for its defence. But why is the US so exercised about so-called “burden-sharing”? In part because, these days, it is looking west, not east.

The US has identified China, not Russia, as the biggest strategic, economic and potential military rival to its global leadership. Barack Obama, who was dubbed the “Pacific president”, formalised this shift with his 2011 “pivot to Asia”, which prioritised the region.

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‘Just leave’: Delhi, Beijing and Mexico City residents on how to cope with pollution

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As air quality plummets on the Australian east coast as a result of devastating bush fires, residents of cities clogged with smog share their coping strategies

The east coast of Australia is in the grip of a bushfire and air pollution crisis. But plummeting air quality levels are a regular occurrence in cities in India, Latin America and China. Here, residents and experts from Delhi, Beijing and Mexico City explain how they survive the smog.

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Donald Trump calls for World Bank to halt all China lending

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President says China has plenty of money amid market jitters about trade talks and Beijing vow to be ‘strong backup’ for Hong Kong police

Donald Trump has called for the World Bank to stop lending money to China, a day after the institution adopted a lending plan to Beijing despite Washington’s objections.

The World Bank on Thursday adopted a plan to aid China with $1bn to $1.5bn in low-interest loans annually until 2025. The plan called for lending to “gradually decline” from the previous five-year average of $1.8bn.

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‘Atrocity of the century’: Uighur activist urges Australia to take tougher stance against China

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Rushan Abbas says countries doing business with China are enabling its mass detention of 3 million people, including her sister

A leading Uighur activist, Rushan Abbas, has urged Australian MPs to take a stronger stance against the Chinese regime, while backing controversial comparisons between the state’s authoritarianism and Nazi Germany.

Abbas, who met with MPs in Canberra on Thursday and held a roundtable at the US Embassy on the plight of the Uighur Muslim minority in western China’s Xinjiang province, said that “modern day” concentration camps holding as many as 3 million Uighurs were a case of “history repeating itself”.

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