Category Archives: China

Chinese troop movement into Hong Kong prompts unease

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Movements, which have been portrayed as a scheduled troop rotation, come days ahead of anti-government protests

Chinese military vehicles have been seen moving across the border into Hong Kong, in what the military said were regular troop movements, as fears rose that the city could see a Beijing-led crackdown after months of political unrest.

Following witness reports of the movements in the early hours of Thursday, state-run news agency Xinhua released a report that the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was making a scheduled rotation and that it was an “annual normal routine”.

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Opening-day frenzy at first Costco store in China – video

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The US retailer Costco has said it will limit the number of shoppers at its first store in China after overcrowding forced it to shut early on the opening day. Large crowds caused traffic jams as they flocked to the store in Shanghai on Tuesday, and shoppers jostled to grab products off the shelves before joining the huge queues at checkouts 

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Crowds force Costco to limit numbers at first store in China

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Overcrowding and traffic jams forced first Costco in China to shut early

The American retailer Costco has said it will limit the number of shoppers at its first store in China after overcrowding forced it to shut early on the opening day.

No more than 2,000 shoppers at any given time will be allowed into the store in a Shanghai suburb and police will help to improve the flow of traffic near the store, it said on Wednesday.

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‘A nuclear option’: Hong Kong and the threat of the emergency law

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Analysts say use of draconian law that would allow censorship, arrest and deportation could push city into bigger crisis

The Hong Kong government’s hint that it may use a draconian law to quell its biggest crisis in decades has sparked widespread concern, with analysts saying it would plunge the city into a worse crisis.

The city’s leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the government will use existing laws to “put a stop to violence and chaos”, after the pro-Beijing newspaper Sing Tao Daily said the government was considering invoking the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, a colonial era law with sweeping powers that was last used in 1967, to put an end to the current political crisis.

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Hong Kong: anti-surveillance protesters tear down ‘smart’ lamp-post – video

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Activists targeted several 'smart' lamp-posts equipped with sensors, cameras and data networks in anti-surveillance protests over the weekend. Protesters, many of whom disguised their identities with masks and umbrellas, fear the devices can be used by China to collect personal information. Authorities insist the lamp-posts only collect air quality, traffic and weather data

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Shares across Asia fall sharply amid US-Chinese trade tensions

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Investors seek safe havens such as US treasuries and gold as the superpower standoff shows no sign of being resolved

Shares in Australia and across Asia Pacific have fallen sharply amid a new flare-up of US-Chinese trade tensions.

Despite a senior Chinese leader saying Beijing wanted to resolve the dispute with “calm negotiations”, indices were deep in the red on Monday.

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Police draw guns and deploy water cannon in clashes with Hong Kong protesters – video

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Hong Kong riot police fire warning shots and use water cannon for the first time since protests began in June to break through barricades and disperse crowds. The escalation in tensions came on the second consecutive day of violence, after clashes the night before during which police arrested 29 people

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Hong Kong protests: police use water cannon on demonstrators

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Hundreds of thousands had braved rain to stage peaceful march in triad-linked district

Hong Kong police have fired teargas and for the first time used a water cannon to disperse protesters as a weekend of violent clashes dashed hopes of a return to peace after a week of relative calm.

Hundreds of thousands of people had earlier braved rain on Sunday to stage a peaceful, police-sanctioned march in Tsuen Wan, an area of the city noted for its links with triad gangsters, after clashes on Saturday when police fired rounds of teargas, rubber bullets, pepper balls and sponge rounds at protesters.

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‘Sure. Why not?’: Trump admits to second thoughts on China trade war – video

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Donald Trump has admitted he may rethink his deepening trade war with China after criticism from fellow world leaders at the G7 summit in Biarritz. Asked at a working breakfast with Boris Johnson if he had had second thoughts about the standoff, the president replied: 'Yeah, sure. Why not? … I have second thoughts about everything'

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Trump’s bid to buy Greenland shows that the ‘scramble for the Arctic’ is truly upon us

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World powers are racing to exploit the vast untapped resources of the Arctic as global heating opens up a new frontier

Donald Trump’s cack-handed attempt to buy Greenland, and the shirty response of Denmark’s prime minister, provoked amusement last week. But it was mostly nervous laughter. The US intervention shone a cold light on a rapidly developing yet neglected crisis at the top of the world – the pillage of the Arctic.

Like the late 19th-century “scramble for Africa”, when European empires expanded colonial control of the continent’s land mass from 10% to 90% in 40 years, the Arctic region is up for grabs. As was the case then, the race for advantage is nationalistic, dangerously unregulated, and harmful to indigenous peoples and the environment.

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Hong Kong riot police beat protesters at anti-surveillance rally

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Teargas thrown at masked demonstrators angry over lamp posts equipped with CCTV

Hong Kong riot police have fired rounds of teargas, rubber bullets, pepper balls and sponge rounds, and beaten people, as protesters led them on a game of cat-and-mouse across the city. The actions took place after a peaceful afternoon march into a confrontation and split into several impromptu marches in different locations.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in an anti-government rally in the Kwun Tong district in Kowloon on Saturday, marking the city’s 12th week of protests. The peaceful march, sanctioned by police, turned into a tense standoff between riot police and protesters by mid-afternoon after demonstrators built barricades with bamboo rods and plastic traffic barriers outside a police station.

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Trump escalates attacks on China and threatens to raise tariffs

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President ‘hereby orders’ US firms to seek alternative locations and suggests Fed Chair is an ‘enemy’

Donald Trump escalated his attacks on China on Friday, bumping up tariffs on Chinese imports and ordering US companies to leave China.

Trump’s announcements on Friday – all on Twitter – came after the president launched another blistering criticism of the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, asking: “Who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or [China’s] Chairman Xi?”

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Iran sanctions scandal: Australian company offloads $15m cargo it says it was duped into carrying

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Quantum Fertiliser, part of ASX-listed Incitec Pivot, says it is reviewing its operations to avoid a recurrence

The Australian multinational at the centre of an Iran sanctions scandal has offloaded a $15m shipment of Iranian cargo it says it was duped into taking, and is reviewing its operations to avoid a repeat.

A subsidiary of ASX-listed company Incitec Pivot took hold of a cargo shipment of fertiliser from Iran late last month, potentially risking a contravention of strict United States sanctions.

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Here are the reasons for Trump’s economic war with China

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On Friday the US president ‘hereby ordered’ companies to halt business with China, among other attacks – how did we get here?

Even by Donald Trump’s standards his Twitter rant attacking China on Friday was extraordinary. In a series of outbursts Trump “hereby ordered” US companies to stop doing business with China, accused the country of killing 100,000 Americans a year with imported fentanyl and stealing hundred of billions in intellectual property.

The attack marked a new low in Sino-US relations and looks certain to escalate a trade war already worrying investors, manufacturers and economists who are concerned that the dispute between the two economic superpowers could trigger a recession.

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Hong Kong protesters form 30-mile human chain across city – video

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Thousands of protesters have formed a human chain across Hong Kong on the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way, when about 2 million people created a chain across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to protest against Soviet occupation. More than two months of protests began in June over a now-suspended extradition bill, but have and have since expanded into a wider movement against the erosion of liberties under Chinese rule

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China puts $75bn of retaliatory tariffs on US goods

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Move puts additional 5% and 10% on imports in latest tit-for-tat between top two economies

China has unveiled retaliatory tariffs against about $75bn (£60bn) worth of US goods, putting up to 10% on top of existing rates in the latest tit-for-tat in the dispute between the world’s top two economies.

The salvo from China on Friday comes after the US unveiled tariffs on an additional $300bn of Chinese goods, including consumer electronics, scheduled to go into effect in two stages on 1 September and 15 December.

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‘We are trying to save Hong Kong’: the political uprising through the eyes of a protester – video

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As protests in Hong Kong entered their 11th week, the Guardian's Lily Kuo shadowed a protester for the day as he joined a major anti-government rally. Organisers say the march, banned by police, was attended by as many as 1.7 million people. It was the first peaceful gathering of protesters for many weeks.

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China’s state media accuses worker at UK consulate ‘of visiting prostitutes’

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Allegation directed at employee of consulate in Hong Kong is often used by Bejing authorities to smear critics

Chinese state media has accused a worker at the British consulate in Hong Kong who is detained in mainland China of visiting prostitutes – an accusation often used by the authorities to smear the reputation of government critics.

Simon Cheng, 28, a trade and investment officer for Scottish Development International, travelled to Shenzhen, a city that borders Hong Kong, on 8 August. He sent messages to his girlfriend as he was about to cross back over the border at about 10pm and has not been heard from since.

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‘We feel helpless’: Hong Kong family’s fears for detained UK consulate worker

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China says it detained Simon Cheng after he made business trip two weeks ago

The family of a UK consulate worker who was detained in mainland China during a trip from Hong Kong nearly two weeks ago have voiced their fears for his safety and said they feel helpless.

China said later that Simon Cheng, 28, had been made to serve 15 days of administrative detention in Shenzhen.

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