Category Archives: China

Dutton calling Albanese ‘limp-wristed’ over Chinese ships ‘unsurprising’, Wong says

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Opposition leader criticised for using historical slur against gay men, with a spokesperson for Dutton saying ‘no offence was intended’

Penny Wong says it’s “unsurprising” Peter Dutton would use an historical slur to attack the prime minister’s response to China, noting the opposition leader had opposed marriage equality.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Dutton said: “It was a phrase that shouldn’t have been used, and no offence was intended from Mr Dutton.”

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Sales of Vietnamese doll plunge over face marking like China’s ‘nine-dash line’

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One version of Baby Three doll appears to bear a mark resembling the shape of the ocean border on which China bases its illegitimate claim to most of the South China Sea

Regional tensions over the South China Sea have tanked the sales of a popular children’s doll in Vietnam after it was put under investigation and accused of being unpatriotic because a design marking appeared to resemble China’s “nine-dash line”.

The Baby Three doll is Chinese-made and had reportedly been hugely popular among children and Gen Z in Vietnam earlier this year. Between September, when it first gained popularity, and December the dolls reportedly generated US$1.6m in sales.

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Foreign minister ‘strongly condemns’ China’s executions of four Canadians

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Mélanie Joly says Ottawa would ask for leniency for other Canadians facing the same fate

Canada has strongly condemned the execution of four of its citizens who were put to death in China on drug-smuggling charges, amid lingering diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The minister of foreign affairs, Mélanie Joly, said on Wednesday that all four were dual citizens and were executed earlier this year. She added that Ottawa would ask for leniency for other Canadians facing the same fate.

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‘Disgusting’ antisemitic tactics used to threaten exiled Hong Kong man in Adelaide, Jewish group says

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Exclusive: Ted Hui and Melbourne resident Kevin Yam are both subjects of anonymous letters and pamphlets mailed from Chinese-controlled territories

A prominent Jewish group has condemned a “disgusting” attempt to intimidate an exiled pro-democracy campaigner who fled to Adelaide from Hong Kong, with the federal opposition accusing a foreign actor of weaponising antisemitism.

Human Rights Watch said a separate attempt that encouraged people to inform on another dissident, Kevin Yam in Melbourne, was designed to make critics of the Hong Kong government feel “unsafe and hunted, no matter where they are in the world”.

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Chinese state media celebrates Trump’s cuts to Voice of America and Radio Free Asia

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Global Times hails US president’s order to strip back government funding to news organisations he deems ‘radical’

Chinese state media has reacted gleefully to the Trump administration’s decision to slash government funding to media organisations such as Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA).

The Global Times, a daily English-language tabloid and Chinese Communist party mouthpiece, celebrated the cuts to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees broadcasters such as VOA and RFA.

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Chinese EV maker BYD says fast-charging system could be as quick as filling up a tank

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BYD unveils platform with charging power of 1,000 kW, which would be twice as fast as Tesla’s supercharging

The Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has unveiled a new charging system that it said could make it possible for EVs to charge as quickly as it takes to refill with petrol.

BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares gained 4.1% on Tuesday to hit a record high of 408.80 Hong Kong dollars, as investors bet that the company could strengthen its already commanding position as one of the world’s biggest electric carmakers.

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Melbourne residents receive letter offering $200k for information on Hong Kong pro-democracy activist

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Exclusive: The anonymous ‘wanted’ letter contained a photograph of Kevin Yam, a lawyer who has criticised the crackdown on dissent in the territory

A small number of Melbourne residents have received anonymous letters purporting to offer a police bounty of $203,000 if they inform on Kevin Yam, an Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist wanted for alleged national security crimes in Hong Kong, linking him to two nearby locations.

A spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told Guardian Australia the letter was “deeply worrying” and that the matter would be raised directly with officials from China and Hong Kong.

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China plans to ‘vigorously boost consumption’ to shore up economy

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Communist party aims to ‘promote reasonable wage growth’ and to reduce financial burdens amid Trump tariffs

China’s government has announced ambitious plans to “vigorously boost consumption” by putting up pay and reducing financial burdens, in its latest attempt to increase consumer confidence and lift its struggling economy.

The plans, announced by the ruling Chinese Communist party’s (CCP) central committee and state council on Sunday, include aims to “promote reasonable wage growth” and to improve the mechanisms for adjusting the minimum wage.

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Japan to deploy long-range missiles able to hit North Korea and China

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Planned missiles on Kyushu said to be part of ‘counterstrike capabilities’, as fears grow over US security pact

Japan is planning to deploy long-range missiles on its southern island of Kyushu amid concerns around the Trump administration’s stance towards its security pacts and continuing regional tensions.

The missiles, with a range of about 1,000km, would be capable of hitting targets in North Korea and China’s coastal regions, and are due to be deployed next year in two bases with existing missile garrisons. They would bolster the defences of the strategically important Okinawa island chain and are part of Japan’s development of “counterstrike capabilities” in the event it is attacked, according to reports from Kyodo News agency, citing government sources.

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China criticises Hong Kong firm’s sale of majority stake in Panama ports

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Commentary urged CK Hutchison to ‘think twice’ about ‘what position and side they are on’ in sale to US investors

China has criticised the sale of the business that controls ports in Panama to US investors, saying the Hong Kong-based parent company should “think twice” and that the $22.8bn deal is “power politics” that is not in the country’s national interest.

Shares in the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison fell more than 6% on Friday after a critical commentary appeared in the Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong.

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UK hoping to work with China to counteract Trump’s climate-hostile policies

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Ed Miliband visits Beijing as part of plan to create global axis working in favour of climate action

The UK is hoping to shape a new global axis in favour of climate action along with China and a host of developing countries, to offset the impact of Donald Trump’s abandonment of green policies and his sharp veer towards climate-hostile countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Ed Miliband, the UK’s energy and net zero secretary, arrived in Beijing on Friday for three days of talks with top Chinese officials, including discussions on green technology supply chains, coal and the critical minerals needed for clean energy. The UK’s green economy is growing three times faster than the rest of the economy, but access to components and materials will be crucial for that to continue.

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‘All the birds returned’: How a Chinese project led the way in water and soil conservation

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The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farming

It was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.

The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.

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Taiwan’s president labels China a ‘foreign hostile force’ and ramps up security measures citing ‘infiltration’

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Lai Ching-te’s speech – which included a proposal to set up military courts – prompted an angry reaction from Beijing, which called him a ‘creator of crisis’

Taiwan’s new president has formally labelled China a “foreign hostile force” and ramped up national security measures in the face of growing threats and a string of spying cases.

The new measures announced on Thursday include a controversial proposal to restore a military court system in Taiwan, which was under martial law until the late 1980s.

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‘Several people’ arrested in EU bribery investigation linked to Huawei

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Homes searched in inquiry into alleged corruption at European parliament relating to Chinese technology giant

Several people have been arrested and homes searched as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption at the European parliament relating to the Chinese technology giant Huawei, Belgian prosecutors have said.

The investigating judge in charge of the case has asked for seals to be fixed to the offices of two European parliament assistants alleged to be involved.

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New Vanuatu PM says he will ‘revisit’ 2022 security agreement with Australia

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Exclusive: Jotham Napat said pact must be taken ‘back to the drawing board’ and should reflect climate change as security issue

Vanuatu’s new prime minister has said his government intends to “revisit” a security agreement with Australia, arguing it does not reflect his country’s priorities including climate change and travel mobility for its citizens.

Jotham Napat, who was elected in February, said the pact with Canberra had to be taken “back to the drawing board” as he sought a “win-win situation” in a renegotiated deal.

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Dalai Lama says his successor will be born outside China in the ‘free world’

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New book by spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism will raise the stakes in a dispute with Beijing over control of Tibet

The Dalai Lama’s successor will be born outside China, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism says in a new book, raising the stakes in a dispute with Beijing over control of the Himalayan region he fled more than six decades ago.

Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after the 89-year-old’s death, he writes in Voice for the Voiceless, which was reviewed by Reuters and is being released on Tuesday.

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Trump vows to take ‘hundreds of billions’ in tariffs as Australia’s hopes of getting exemption fades

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Australia unlikely to escape US president’s global steel and aluminium tariffs despite intense lobbying to be carved out

Australia’s chances of escaping America’s global steel and aluminium tariffs appear all but extinguished, with the US president reconfirming his commitment to a comprehensive tariff regime he argues will be “the greatest thing we’ve ever done as a country”.

“We’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money,” Donald Trump told reporters on board Air Force One flying from Florida to Washington DC.

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Myanmar junta’s promise of elections denounced as ‘sham’ by experts

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There are fears military will deploy further violence in run-up to any poll, which is unlikely to be viewed as credible

The Myanmar military’s promise to hold elections in December 2025 or January 2026 has been condemned as a “sham” that risks bringing even greater violence.

Myanmar’s military junta announced on Saturday, in comments reported in state media, that it would hold a long-promised election, specifying a timeframe for the first time since seizing power in a 2021 coup.

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China’s foreign minister condemns US imposition of tariffs as ‘two-faced’

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Wang Yi hits out at 20% levy on Chinese goods and warns ‘law of the jungle’ could emerge from Donald Trump’s policy

China’s foreign minister has accused the US of “two-faced” behaviour, condemning the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods and warning against the “law of the jungle” that could emerge from Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.

Speaking at the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary gathering, Wang Yi said China would “firmly counter” US pressure. “No country should think that it can suppress China and maintain good relations,” he added.

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Taiwan hails ‘historic’ TSMC deal with US, but will it lose the ‘silicon shield’ protecting it from China?

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The producer of the world’s most advanced chip technology is investing on US soil but some fear that could reduce the leverage Taiwan holds to ensure its future security

TSMC’s chief executive, CC Wei, smiled broadly as he stood next to Donald Trump in the White House on Monday, announcing what he said was the biggest foreign direct investment on US soil in history. His company – the producer of most of the world’s most advanced semiconductors – would boost its existing $65bn US presence by a whopping $100bn.

For TSMC the deal meant they would avoid massive tariffs Trump had flagged for the global chip industry. For the US it mean tens of thousands of construction jobs, and the eventual development of crucial technology on US soil, far away from the threat of China taking control of it if it one day annexed Taiwan.

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