Hundreds of protesters have stormed the Hong Kong government building on the anniversary of the city's 1997 return to China, destroying pictures and painting walls with graffiti. More than 1 million people have taken to the streets in protest against planned legislation that would permit extraditions to China
Continue reading...Category Archives: China
Hong Kong’s protests are a personal challenge to strongman Xi Jinping
The scale of unrest may force the Chinese president to get involved. How will he respond?
The escalating protests in Hong Kong pose a personal challenge to the autocratic rule of Xi Jinping, whose implacable domination of Chinese public life since 2012 has drawn comparisons with Mao Zedong.
Related: Hong Kong protesters attempt to storm government headquarters – live
Continue reading...Protesters try to smash their way into Hong Kong government HQ – video report
Demonstrators have attempted to storm the legislative building using a metal trolley and poles on the 22nd anniversary of the territory's return to Chinese rule. More than 1 million people have taken to the streets in protest against planned legislation that would permit extraditions to China
Continue reading...Hong Kong handover anniversary: march and protests – in pictures
Frustration among opposition protesters in Hong Kong boiled over on Monday, with one group laying siege to the legislative council building and tens of thousands of others marching through the city to demand expanded democracy on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China.
Continue reading...Etiquette classes in Shanghai – in pictures
Against a soundtrack of classical music, children learn social skills, dining manners and deportment – hence the books on their heads to teach them how to walk gracefully. Other exercises include how to introduce themselves and greet people, with practice in ‘air kissing’, and what topics are appropriate to discuss at the dinner table
Continue reading...Police clash with protesters ahead of Hong Kong handover anniversary ceremony – video
Hundreds of protesters faced off with riot police early on Monday, the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, ahead of an annual rally that is expected to draw huge crowds amid widespread anger over a controversial extradition bill. Police sprayed pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators in protests that follow huge demonstrations in the city over the bill, which would allow more people to be sent to mainland China for trial
Continue reading...White House insists Trump Huawei reversal not ‘catastrophic mistake’
- Larry Kudlow defends move on sales ban after China talks
- Rubio and Barasso among Republicans concerned by ploy
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow insisted on Sunday Donald Trump is not backing off national security concerns, despite agreeing to allow US companies to sell some components to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Related: US-China trade talks back on track, says Trump
Continue reading...Donald Trump invites Kim Jong-un to US after entering North Korea
US president hails ‘great honour’ of crossing border at impromptu meeting
Donald Trump has invited Kim Jong-un to the US after becoming the first sitting American president to enter North Korea.
The apparently impromptu meeting came about after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Continue reading...‘They will definitely take revenge’: how China could respond to the Hong Kong protests
Hong Kong has seen its biggest political crisis in decades, but Beijing cannot afford to let the dissent go unpunished
The Communist Party has always been aware of the power of mass protests.
Mao Zedong in 1930 famously used the traditional saying: “a single spark can start a prairie fire” to remind fellow Communists the power of strikes and uprisings when they were a fledgling opposition party under the one-party Nationalist rule.
Continue reading...US-China trade talks back on track, says Trump
President says US will not impose further tariffs after meeting with Xi Jinping at G20
Donald Trump has declared US trade negotiations with China to be “right back on track” after a highly anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka.
Trump said the US would not impose further tariffs in a trade war that other world leaders have warned could threaten the global economy, and added that the world’s two biggest economies would restart negotiations on a trade deal.
Continue reading...Chinese human rights lawyer ‘totally changed man’ after being jailed
Wife of Wang Quanzhang says his health has deteriorated after four years incarceration
The wife of the jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang has described her husband as a “totally changed man” after she and her son were allowed to see him for the first time since he disappeared nearly four years ago.
Wang, 43, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in January for “subverting state power” after a closed-door trial.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison says quick resolution of US-China trade dispute ‘unrealistic’
PM says ‘substantial and difficult’ issues to be resolved in standoff after speaking with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G20 in Osaka
Scott Morrison says it is “unrealistic” to expect a quick resolution of the damaging trade dispute between the United States and China on Saturday at the G20 meeting in Osaka.
After conversations with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Morrison told travelling reporters on Friday there was a determination to resolve the standoff but he was not “naive” about how quickly the two countries would come to terms because there were “real, substantial and difficult issues to be resolved”.
Continue reading...Beijing will not rest until it controls Hong Kong. We must keep fighting | Joshua Wong and Johnson Yeung
In Hong Kong, we have pushed back against the extradition bill. But China is finding other ways to attack our freedom
Let’s put it in plain words: the people of Hong Kong haven’t defeated the proposed extradition law to China yet – we have only earned a small window to catch our breath. And so have the hardliners in the administration and the Chinese government.
Related: Hong Kong protesters hold noisy rally outside police headquarters
Continue reading...Iran holds back on threat to breach nuclear deal
Country may be waiting on outcome of talks setting out plans to kickstart trade with EU
Iran has held back on its threat to make its first breach of the nuclear deal and may be waiting for the outcome of talks with EU powers, China and Russia in Vienna.
At the talks on Friday the EU countries will set out plans to kickstart trade between Tehran and the bloc, one of the Iranian preconditions for sticking with the deal.
Continue reading...Why aren’t Hong Kong’s protesters backing down? – podcast
Millions of people have taken to the streets over the past three weeks in opposition to an extradition law. The Guardian correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison discusses covering the demonstrations and what could happen next. Plus: Angie Zelter on why she doesn’t regret being arrested at an Extinction Rebellion protest
Hong Kong has been rocked by its biggest political crisis in decades, with millions of people taking to the streets in central business districts to protest against a proposed law that would allow the extradition of suspects to mainland China, where the court system has a conviction rate as high as 99%.
The chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, eventually suspended the bill and apologised. Emma Graham-Harrison, who has been reporting from the special administrative region, tells India Rakusen about the murder case that prompted the extradition legislation and why those in Hong Kong fear Beijing is attempting to erode their democracy.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protesters call on foreign leaders to raise crisis at G20
Demonstrators march on consulates to petition overseas governments to assist in fight against ‘authoritarian regime’
Hundreds have gathered at a rally in Hong Kong and marched to foreign consulates to lobby international governments about the city’s political crisis during the G20 summit this week.
President Xi Jinping of China and the US president, Donald Trump, are expected to meet at the summit in Japan amid heightened trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Continue reading...Timor-Leste rejects report it is taking $16bn loan from China’s Exim bank for gas project
State-owned company seeks partners to develop $50bn of untapped reserves in Timor Sea
Timor-Leste’s state-owned gas company has rejected reports it is set to take a $16bn loan from China’s Exim bank to finance the Greater Sunrise project.
The Timor-Leste government recently took majority ownership of the project after buying out its former partners – ConocoPhillips and Shell – with the aim of ensuring the gas is piped to its shores instead of Australia’s.
Continue reading...‘We have no other choice’: as China erodes democracy Hong Kong citizens prepare to leave
The extradition bill, exorbitant house prices and high cost of living are driving a rise in emigration
Elisa Wong had always thought she would move away from Hong Kong when her seven-year-old daughter reached university age. But the recent political crisis has prompted her to reach for an application form to emigrate to Australia now.
“I must put in an application as quickly as possible,” the 45-year-old former manager at a bank said. “It’s hard to uproot your family and start again in a new country, but the upheavals in the past weeks have made up my mind.”
Continue reading...Humans v the city: the staggering scale of Chongqing – in pictures
Chongqing’s population is estimated at just below 10 million but that rises to more than 31 million if the built-up surroundings are included. Belgian photographer Kris Provoost finds that in a city so large, individuals can get lost
Continue reading...China will not allow G20 to discuss Hong Kong, says foreign minister
Foreign powers have no right to interfere in ‘internal affair’, says Zhang Jun, as Beijing also calls for trade compromise
China has said it will not allow the G20 nations to discuss the Hong Kong issue at its summit this week, assistant foreign minister Zhang Jun said on Monday.
Millions of people demonstrated on the streets of the city this month against a bill that would allow people to be extradited to the mainland to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist party.
Continue reading...