Category Archives: China

‘Getting serious’: Kim Jong-un’s Beijing detour brings a second Trump summit closer

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China’s endorsement has strengthened Kim’s hand, while a second US summit could show his independence

Kim Jong-un has told Xi Jinping he wants a second meeting with Donald Trump and is committed to “achieving results” amid an impasse over denuclearisation, according to state media reports of their meeting in Beijing this week.

Kim told Xi that North Korea would “continue sticking to the stance of denuclearisation” and “make efforts for the second summit between the [North Korean] and US leaders to achieve results”, Chinese state media reported.

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Toe the line: China bans foot fetish videos and political spoofs as censorship tightens

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China’s new guidelines come after a year in which the government stepped up censorship efforts

China released new guidelines on censoring short videos on Wednesday, prohibiting everything from foot fetishes to spoofing the national anthem, as Beijing continues to clamp down on “harmful” information.

The China Netcasting Services Association, one of the country’s largest government-backed internet associations, published a detailed list of 100 types of content that short video platforms must scrub.

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China’s ambassador accuses Canada of ‘white supremacy’ in Huawei CFO arrest

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Ambassador Lu Shaye wrote in an op-ed for an Ottawa-based paper that western countries are employing a ‘double standard’

China’s ambassador to Canada has accused the country of “white supremacy” in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China last month.

The arrests were in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive in Canada.

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FTSE 100 hits five-week high as US-China trade talks end – business live

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Hopes of a ceasefire in the trade war between Washington and Beijing are boosting stocks

After three days of gains, Wall Street is expected to rise further when trading begins in under 90 minutes.

US Opening Calls:#DOW 23848 +0.27%#SPX 2579 +0.18%#NASDAQ 6570 +0.27%#IGOpeningCall

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has been doing his bit for US-China relations this week.

“We hope you can get a firm foothold and expand the market.

We hope your company can become an in-depth participant in China’s opening and a promoter of the stability of Chinese-U.S. relations.”

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‘Most extraordinary millennial’ – why does China focus on Kim Jong-un’s age?

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Mixed messages of welcome greet North Korean leader on three-day trip to Beijing

In China, Kim Jong-un is regarded not only as North Korea’s supreme leader, he is a millennial. As Kim arrived in Beijing on Monday for a three-day visit, Chinese media went out of their way to flatter the young leader.

“The millennial who commands the wind and clouds has arrived in Beijing,” wrote Liu Hong, the Chinese editor of a Xinhua affiliate, on his public WeChat account. “To come to China for a heart-to-heart ahead of such momentous change is a sign of the complexity of the situation and the ability of the millennial to seize the moment.”

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What does 2019 hold for Kim Jong-un and North Korea?

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Kim Jong-un goes into 2019 with momentum to build on after last year’s historic meeting with President Donald Trump. As Kim attempts to negotiate a fresh summit, the Guardian’s Tania Branigan looks at his leadership so far and Emma Graham-Harrison describes a rare trip to Pyongyan. Plus: Catherine Shoard on the annual film awards season

Donald Trump has revealed that negotiations are underway to secure a location for a new summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, after the historic meeting between the two men in Singapore last year.

It came after Kim warned in a New Year’s speech that Pyongyang may change its approach to nuclear talks if Washington persisted with sanctions.

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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un arrives in China for meeting with Xi Jinping

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Beijing meeting comes as denuclearisation talks with the US have stalled

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in China on Monday for a three-day visit at the invitation of Chinese president Xi Jinping, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

Kim’s visit, which state media confirmed would last for three days is his fourth summit with Xi, comes amid reports of advanced negotiations for a second summit between the North Korean leader and US president Donald Trump.

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China feels the squeeze of Trump’s trade war as more tariffs loom

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Talks begin this week in Beijing to end the trade war – and even titans such as Apple are feeling its impact

It epitomises China’s position in the global economy that a seismic warning about its health last week came from a US company: Apple. The iPhone maker cut sales forecasts, citing the unforeseen “magnitude” of the economic slowdown in China – a vital growth market. At the same time the head of Baidu, China’s biggest search engine, warned his employees that “winter is coming” in the world’s second-largest economy.

If China is indeed entering an economic winter, then the chill will spread around the globe. Forty years after communist China opened its doors to trade with the west in a dash for growth, the country’s mix of free-market policies and central planning faces one of its sternest tests.

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Fears grow in Africa that the flood of funds from China will start to ebb

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Slowing growth and rising debt at home may affect Beijing’s ability to keep up its vast investments in the developing world

Concerns over Chinese growth could spell problems for Africa and other parts of the developing world. Beijing funded an overseas investment boom in the past few decades as it strove to become the world’s second largest economic superpower, while also buying vast amounts of the natural resources produced by emerging nations.

The scale of the expansion forms part of China’s multibillion-dollar “Belt and Road” Initiative, a state-backed campaign to promote its influence around the world, while providing stimulus for its own slowing economy. The transcontinental development project, launched by China’s president, Xi Jinping, in 2013, aims to improve infrastructure links between Asia, Europe and Africa, with the aim for China to reap the benefits from increasing levels of global trade.

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China’s faltering economy gives US stronger hand in trade talks, Trump says

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As US officials fly to Beijing for negotiations, the president says the Chinese ‘sort of have to’ make a deal on tariffs

Donald Trump has said China’s weakening economic growth puts the United States in a strong position as negotiators from the world’s two largest economies prepare for trade talks on Monday.

US officials are heading to Beijing this weekend for the first face-to-face talks since Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, agreed in December to a 90-day truce in the trade war as they sought to strike a deal.

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Canada says 13 citizens detained in China since Huawei CFO’s arrest

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Diplomatic tensions between the two countries have escalated since Meng Wanzhou’s arrest on 1 December

Canada has said 13 of its citizens have been detained in China since the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in December in Vancouver at the request of the US.

“At least” eight of those 13 have since been released, a Canadian government statement said, without disclosing what charges if any had been laid.

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China thinks it can arbitrarily detain anyone. It is time for change | Michael Caster

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The lack of global outcry over the detention of two Canadians virtually guarantees the next such case

Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has called China’s detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor a “worrying precedent” but for many China watchers it is all too familiar.

It reminds us of the detentions of other foreign citizens, such as Canadian Kevin Garratt, Briton Peter Humphrey, Sweden’s Gui Minhai, or Taiwanese Lee Ming-che, and that over the years China has institutionalised arbitrary and secret detention affecting innumerable Chinese citizens, and with little international consequence.

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iPhone slump: the rivals taking a bite out of Apple

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As firm’s stock falls over sales warnings, it has competition in bid to be the best smartphone

As Apple’s shares tumble after its cut in forecasts, the company is laying the blame squarely on the economic slowdown in China. But that is only part of the problem.

Never before has Apple faced such fierce competition from a multitude of rivals from around the globe, all vying for a slice of the lucrative premium smartphone market. Matching or exceeding Apple’s iPhone on hardware quality, these phones are arguably more capable, often cheaper and, perhaps crucially for China, made by local firms, not only those from the US and South Korea.

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Far side of the moon: China’s Chang’e 4 probe makes historic touchdown

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Lander sends back first close-up shot of previously unexplored side of the moon

A Chinese spacecraft has become the first ever to land on the far side of the moon, according to state-run media, in a giant leap for human space exploration.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) landed the robotic probe Chang’e 4 in the unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest, oldest, deepest, crater on the moon’s surface.

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Apple’s shock profit warning sends Wall Street shares sliding

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Firms with exposure to China hit over fears the Silicon Valley giant’s slowdown could spread

Apple’s shock downgrade has sent shares in European and US-listed companies with exposure to China – from Burberry and the Gucci owner, Kering, to chipmakers and miners – tumbling over fears the slowdown that has hit the Silicon Valley giant is set to spread.

In New York the Dow Industrial Average fell over 2% in morning trading and all the major markets suffered sharp losses as investors reacted to the Apple news, reports of a slowdown in US factory activity and an ongoing government shutdown over the funding of Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico.

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US markets start 2019 with a whimper as Trump blames ‘glitch’ for 2018 losses

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Trump claims ‘We’re the talk of the world’ as weak data in Asia and Europe confirmed fears of a global economic slowdown

After their worst year in close to a decade US stocks started the new year with a more than 1% decline on Wednesday before inching their way back into the black as Donald Trump blamed a “glitch” for last year’s losses.

Markets wobbled between gains and losses all day on Wednesday as weak data in Asia and Europe confirmed fears of a global economic slowdown while the US government shutdown dragged on.

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Chinese spacecraft to become first to land on far side of moon

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Chang’e 4 will explore giant crater, possibly offering more clues as to moon’s formation

A Chinese spacecraft could become the first ever to land on the “far side” of the moon tomorrow, in a milestone for human space exploration. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is aiming to land the craft in the unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest, oldest, deepest, crater on the moon’s surface.

The robotic probe, Chang’e 4, entered an elliptical path around the moon last weekend, drawing as close as 15km (9 miles) from the surface. China’s mission control has not confirmed a time for the touchdown attempt but reports in state-run media suggested it would be early Thursday morning UK time.

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Stocks start 2019 in retreat as China factory output shrinks – business live

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Chinese manufacturing sector declines for first time in 19 months amid new year global growth concerns

UK manufacturing activity came in significantly higher than expected at the end of 2018 thanks in part to a steep rise in stockpiling ahead of Brexit, according to a closely followed survey.

The manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 54.2 in December, up from 53.1 in November, data firm IHS Markit reported. Economists had expected a slowdown to 52.5.

The rise in the PMI level during December was mainly driven by stronger inflows of new business and a solid increase in stocks of purchases. Movements in both mainly reflected Brexit preparations by manufacturers and their clients.

The European Central Bank has been busy celebrating 20 years of the euro this new year, but today it was forced to announce less pleasant news: Italian lender Banca Carige has been put in administration.

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‘All necessary means’: Xi Jinping reserves right to use force against Taiwan

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Chinese leader calls for reunification and says independence would be a ‘disaster’

Taiwan independence would lead to “disaster”, Chinese president Xi Jinping has said, pledging efforts for peaceful “reunification” with the self-ruled island but warning China would not renounce the use of force.

Speaking at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the 40th anniversary of a key Taiwan policy statement, Xi said reunification must come under a one-China principle that accepts Taiwan as part of China, anathema to supporters of Taiwan independence.

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