Category Archives: China

Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth

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After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on the planet. But its benefits mask enormous dangers to the planet, to human health – and to culture itself

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, the global building industry will have poured more than 19,000 bathtubs of concrete. By the time you are halfway through this article, the volume would fill the Albert Hall and spill out into Hyde Park. In a day it would be almost the size of China’s Three Gorges Dam. In a single year, there is enough to patio over every hill, dale, nook and cranny in England.

After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world with up to 2.8bn tonnes, surpassed only by China and the US.

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Donald Trump delays tariff hike on Chinese goods after ‘great’ trade talks

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The US president says he will hold a summit with Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement to end the year-long standoff

Donald Trump has said he will delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods that had been scheduled for Friday, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with China over the weekend.

Related: When multilateralism crumbles, so does our rules-based order | Mark Medish

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China says ‘preventive’ work in Xinjiang detention camps should be applauded

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Government steps up outreach to foreign envoys, explaining its achievements in the region home to Muslim minorities

China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation efforts in its far western region of Xinjiang should be applauded for creating a new method of tackling the problem, a senior diplomat told foreign envoys last week.

China is stepping up its diplomatic outreach over controversial detention camps in the heavily Muslim region, inviting more foreign diplomats to visit as it seeks to head off criticism from Muslim-majority nations and at the United Nations.

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The Guardian view on Britain and China: it’s complicated | Editorial

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Beijing’s might and ambitions, and the approach of Brexit, make the path ahead more difficult. It’s time for careful thought

A few years ago, George Osborne announced that Britain’s relations with China were entering a “golden era”. On Thursday, his successor as chancellor gave a more measured assessment: they are “complex”, Philip Hammond said, noting that they “had not been made simpler” by the defence secretary Gavin Williamson’s threat to deploy an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.

Britain, blanching as Brexit approaches, is more anxious than ever to keep Chinese cash flowing. Diplomats from other nations say London is already less willing to criticise Beijing because it knows how much it will need it. Yet some of the lustre is coming off bilateral dealings, as it is from China’s relationships elsewhere. The Trump administration is viscerally hostile, but Beijing’s increasingly repressive turn at home and forcefulness abroad has alarmed many who were more sympathetic to it.

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Daughter of Mao Zedong’s personal secretary boycotts funeral

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Nanyang Li says Communist party ceremony is taking place against wishes of her father Li Rui

The daughter of Mao Zedong’s personal secretary is boycotting her father’s funeral, which she says is taking place against his wishes in a cemetery reserved for high-ranking revolutionary figures.

According to Nanyang Li, her father Li Rui will be interred in the Babaoshan cemetery on Wednesday in an official ceremony at which the Chinese flag will be draped over his casket.

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Williamson accused of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ over China warship threat

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Philip Hammond’s planned trip to Beijing reportedly scuppered by defence secretary’s remarks

Philip Hammond is not going to China this weekend for trade talks, following reports that Beijing scuppered advanced preparations for a meeting after the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, threatened to deploy a warship in the Pacific.

The UK chancellor was expected to meet the Chinese vice premier, Hu Chunhua, but Treasury sources said the trip was never confirmed. It is believed that there is an internal row brewing between the Treasury and the defence department over Williamson’s remarks, which the former chancellor George Osborne described as a throwback to an era of “gunboat diplomacy”.

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Donald Trump hints at extension to China trade talks

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President said potential delay was justified as deal ‘must be the biggest in history’

President Donald Trump has conceded that he will delay planned increases in import duties on $200bn (£155bn) of Chinese goods if there is progress in trade talks in Washington next week.

Appearing to soften his demand for talks to conclude before 1 March, Trump said there could be a 30- or 60-day extension, should negotiators get closer to a deal. He said a delay was justified, based on the scope and scale of the talks. Speaking on the White House lawn, he said: “Trade with China – how big does that get? It must be the biggest deal in history.”

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China’s most popular app brings Xi Jinping to your pocket

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App’s amazing take-up is not entirely due to merit, the government has ordered members of the party download it

An app produced by the Chinese government has become the most popular in the country, rocketing up through the charts with a little help from the Chinese Communist Party.

The app’s name “Study (Xi) Strong Country”, is a pun – Xuexi being the word for “study” but also containing the president’s name, suggesting users are to “study Xi”.

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Sweden investigates its Beijing ambassador over ‘strange’ meetings

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Daughter of Swedish bookseller jailed in China says Anna Lindstedt set up meetings in Stockholm

Sweden is investigating its ambassador to China after she was accused of orchestrating a bizarre series of meetings between the daughter of a Swedish bookseller jailed in China and businessmen who said they could help secure his release.

The story is detailed in a blogpost by Angela Gui, the daughter of Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish bookseller who has disappeared twice and is currently held in Chinese custody.

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Huawei tells New Zealand: banning us is like banning the All Blacks

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Chinese tech company uses full-page ads to push for inclusion in 5G rollout despite concerns it is a security risk

China’s Huawei has taken out full-page ads in major New Zealand newspapers in which they equate the idea of ban on the company to a rugby tournament without the All Blacks.

The advertisement reads: “5G without Huawei is like rugby without New Zealand”, referring to the upcoming nationwide rollout of the mobile technology.

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‘I’ll talk, but then I have to call Putin’: steakhouse at centre of EU spy alert

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Flabbergasted owner says EU must have been referring to his place when warning diplomats to avoid a Brussels restaurant

Eleven years since opening his restaurant in the shadow of the European commission’s vast Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels, Philippe Weiner can safely boast that the Meet Meat Steak and Wine House is a firm favourite of the better-fed Eurocrat.

Sharp-suited diplomats and officials flock to its minimalist dining room for lunch and dinner. The president of the European council, Donald Tusk, and his team have been known to enjoy the kitchen’s meat offerings, best served à point or saignant.

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China gets its first blockbuster sci-fi film

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Wandering Earth on track to be one of highest-grossing films in country’s history

China has entered the cinematic space race. Wandering Earth, the country’s first blockbuster sci-fi film, is on track to be one of the highest-grossing films in China’s history.

The film has brought in more than 2bn yuan (£232m) in the six days since its release on 5 February, lunar new year. So far, it is the highest-grossing film released over the holiday season, a peak time for the Chinese box office.

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China releases video of Uighur poet said to have died in custody

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Beijing releases footage of poet Abdurehim Heyit after Turkey said treatment of Uighurs was an ‘embarrassment’

China has hit back against claims by Turkey that a famous Uighur poet and musician has died while imprisoned in Xinjiang, where Beijing’s severe policies toward the Muslim minority group have prompted international outcry.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it had learned that poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit had died while serving an eight-year prison sentence. In a rare rebuke of China, the ministry said Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs was “a great embarrassment for humanity”.

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Revealed: 17 Australian residents believed detained in China’s Uighur crackdown

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Exclusive: Activists urge embassy to ‘tell us if they’re alive or dead’ amid claims of inaction by Canberra

Seventeen Australian residents are believed to be under house arrest, in prison or detained in China’s secretive “re-education” centres in Xinjiang, the Guardian can reveal.

The 17 cases – 15 Australian permanent residents and two on spouse visas – have been collected by Nurgul Sawut, an advocate for Uighurs in Australia, through interviews with their family members.

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China’s treatment of Uighurs is ’embarrassment for humanity’, says Turkey

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Ankara calls for UN to act on ‘human tragedy’ of re-education of the Turkic-speaking minority in Xinjiang province

Turkey has condemned China’s treatment of its Muslim ethnic Uighur people as “a great embarrassment for humanity”, adding to rights groups’ recent criticism over mass detentions of the Turkic-speaking minority.

“The systematic assimilation policy of Chinese authorities towards Uighur Turks is a great embarrassment for humanity,” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

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Risk of global recession may be low but we are heading for slowdown

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Although there is a cloud over economy, the silver lining is central banks are more dovish

After the synchronised global economic expansion of 2017 came the asynchronous growth of 2018, when most countries other than the US started to experience slowdowns. Worries about US inflation, the US Federal Reserve’s policy trajectory, trade wars, Italian budget and debt woes, China’s slowdown and emerging-market fragilities led to a sharp fall in global equity markets toward the end of the year.

The good news at the start of 2019 is that the risk of an outright global recession is low. The bad news is that we are heading into a year of synchronised global deceleration; growth will fall toward – and, in some cases, below – potential in most regions.

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Record numbers from China and Hong Kong applying to study in UK

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Chinese and Hongkonger university applicants now outnumber those from Wales

Record numbers of students from China and Hong Kong are applying for places at British universities, overtaking the number of applicants from Wales, according to official figures.

Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) shows a spike in demand for undergraduate places from mainland China and a small rise in applications from the EU, despite fears over Brexit.

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A third of Himalayan ice cap doomed, finds report

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Even radical climate change action won’t save glaciers, endangering 2 billion people

At least a third of the huge ice fields in Asia’s towering mountain chain are doomed to melt due to climate change, according to a landmark report, with serious consequences for almost 2 billion people.

Even if carbon emissions are dramatically and rapidly cut and succeed in limiting global warming to 1.5C, 36% of the glaciers along in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya range will have gone by 2100. If emissions are not cut, the loss soars to two-thirds, the report found.

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