Ezra Jin, founder of Zion Church, lands in the US and reunites with family who are ‘overwhelmed with joy’
The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches has been released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States.
Ezra Jin, the founder of Zion Church, landed in the US on Friday evening. He was one of dozens of church members who were detained in a sweeping crackdown on Christians in October.
Continue reading...Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in Beijing
Chinese authorities said the man who flew a small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old who had mental health problems.
The statement published on Thursday offered the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual incident that occurred in Beijing’s central business district on the evening of 26 June.
Continue reading...Poll also finds perception of Donald Trump has soured since his re-election, with fewer than a third of respondents viewing him positively
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Australians have a more negative view of Israel than of China, the latest Guardian Essential poll has found, with women and middle-aged people exhibiting the least positive perception of Israel.
The poll also finds Australians’ perceptions of Donald Trump have tumbled since his re-election, with fewer than a third of voters having a positive response to the US president.
Continue reading...Law comes into effect that critics fear will further erode rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as allow Beijing to pursue dissidents abroad
A new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups that it could threaten freedoms, especially for minorities.
The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups, for example by strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, such as Uyghurs and Tibetans, that Beijing is accused of persecuting.
Continue reading...Beijing, whose stockpiles and renewables industry allowed it to withstand energy shock, is now gaining from global solar and EV push
China has emerged as the sole winner in Asia from the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The report by the Asia Group thinktank concluded that China had weathered the storm of the global commodities crisis resulting from the closure of the Middle Eastern waterway, and also stood to gain from the economic and geopolitical trends sparked by the wider conflict.
Continue reading...China’s LineShine debuts at number one in Top500 – a list sometimes viewed as a national measure of global tech prowess
A supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world’s most powerful. It is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped a list sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation’s technological prowess.
The LineShine computer in Shenzhen displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the Top500 rankings released on Tuesday. It was LineShine’s debut on the list.
Continue reading...Online uproar follows Canadian brand’s use of taiko drum at sponsored festival held to celebrate Chinese culture
The activewear brand Lululemon has apologised after a promotional event held on the Great Wall of China appeared to mistakenly feature a Japanese drum, prompting an uproar.
The Canadian-headquartered company, known for its upmarket leggings, has been growing rapidly in China and arranged for a yoga festival to take place in late May on a section of the wall near Beijing.
Continue reading...Brian Gu says he sees Chinese car firms competing on quality rather than launching price war as at home
Motorists in the UK and EU should not expect a sharp drop in the cost of electric vehicles despite increased competition among Chinese manufacturers, one of the country’s biggest electric carmakers has said.
Brian Gu, the vice-chair of the manufacturer Xpeng, said that Chinese carmakers could compete on quality to win customers in the EU and UK, rather than unleashing a brutal price war as they have in China.
Continue reading...Other western acts have attempted to crack country’s music scene since singer’s breakout success in 2018
One week after announcing she was “cancer free”, the British pop star Jessie J did what any recovering patient would do and travelled thousands of miles around the world to perform for an audience of more than a billion people.
On 29 May, the singer-songwriter, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, belted out a stage-rattling rendition of Frank Sinatra’s My Way on the stage of Singer, a hugely popular Chinese singing competition similar to The Voice. She also performed her new song, California, briefly adapting the lyrics to change California to Changsha, the Chinese city where Singer is hosted.
Continue reading...Arrest of Min Zin, who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy, comes just month after Trump visit to Beijing
China has arrested a US scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of spying.
Min Zin was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday.
Continue reading...Twenty people were killed and 120 injured in the attack at the Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination
A Thai court has handed out death sentences to two Uyghur men from the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang for a 2015 bombing in the centre of Bangkok that killed 20 people.
The explosion occurred at the Erawan Shrine in the centre of Bangkok, an area popular with foreign tourists. As well as the 20 people killed, another 120 were injured. Five of the dead were from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.
Continue reading...The China-North Korea relationship has been strained by a fall in trade during the pandemic and Pyongyang’s increasing ties with Russia
Xi Jinping visits North Korea on Monday for a two-day trip, his first in nearly seven years, as China’s president looks to revitalise ties with his junior ally.
Xi is expected to meet North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang. North Korea is China’s only formal treaty ally but in recent years their relationship has been strained by a virtual freeze in trade during the Covid-19 pandemic and Pyongyang’s increasingly close relationship with Russia.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dr David Wilson says former British police officer approached him as part of efforts to influence his work
The author of a Home Office-sponsored report on the Chinese state and organised crime in the UK was the target of failed honey traps and a suspected attempt to compromise him by a former British police officer, it is claimed.
Dr David Wilson, whose groundbreaking analysis was declassified in February, has told of multiple attempts to influence him or discredit his work as he sought to examine the policing challenges posed by the Chinese Communist party (CCP) and criminal gangs.
Continue reading...Home secretary says officer wrongly linked to case had to relocate after footage emerged of victim being handcuffed while dying
BBC Scotland has more details of the Peter Murrell hearing this morning on its live blog. And, on its live blog, Sky News has pictures of some of the items purchased by Murrell with stolen SNP funds.
Andy Burnham will not call an early election if he becomes prime minister after the Makerfield byelection, a spokesperson for the Greater Manchester mayor has said.
Continue reading...Shinjiro Koizumi says Japan valued as a ‘peace-loving’ nation while China expands military capabilities ‘without sufficient transparency’
Japan’s defence minister took a veiled swipe at China on Sunday, pledging to keep strengthening the military despite Beijing’s criticism of Tokyo’s increasingly muscular security stance.
Under the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, Japan has quickened its pivot to a more proactive defence policy, further shaking off – with US encouragement – its pacifist outlook in place since the end of the second world war.
Continue reading...Minister at Singapore defence summit also reveals Australia to buy only secondhand Aukus submarines from US
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The defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels.
The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables.
Continue reading...Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of ‘alarm’ at China’s military buildup but says US does not seek ‘needless confrontation’
The US warned on Saturday it was “more than capable” of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to develop nuclear weapons.
The White House had signalled Trump was close to a decision on an initial deal on Friday after weeks of mixed signals in tenuous negotiations, though Tehran denied there was a final agreement on ending the Middle East conflict that has jolted the global economy.
Continue reading...European Commission finds shoppers on Chinese website very likely to find unsafe items and imposes €200m penalty
EU regulators have fined the Chinese shopping website Temu €200m (£173m) for failing to stop the sale of illegal and dangerous products.
The European Commission imposed the penalty after a 19-month investigation that found consumers were very likely to encounter illegal or unsafe products including baby toys and electronics on the firm’s website.
Continue reading...Dong Guangping has tried to escape on several previous occasions after being jailed for his activism in China
A Chinese dissident has washed up on the shores of South Korea after attempting to flee China in a rubber boat.
Dong Guangping, 68, is in custody in South Korea, having been detained by the coastguard on Monday evening. He is thought to have travelled more than 30 hours by sea to reach the shores of China’s democratic neighbour.
Continue reading...Anne Keast-Butler will also warn of narrowing window to stay ahead of China in ‘new era of radical uncertainty’
Russia is relentlessly targeting Britain’s infrastructure and democracy while there is only a narrowing technological window to stay ahead of a fast-developing China, the head of the spy agency GCHQ will warn in a lecture on Wednesday.
Anne Keast-Butler, giving an inaugural annual lecture, will say that the UK is caught in a “new era of radical uncertainty” and that “the risk of miscalculation” is as high as she has ever seen it as hacker attacks from the two states continue.
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