Acting prime minister criticises Chinese ship’s ‘unsafe and unprofessional conduct’ after Australian sailors had requested it stay clear
Australian naval divers have been injured after an “unsafe and unprofessional” run-in with a Chinese warship.
The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, on Saturday said the Australian government had expressed “serious concerns” to Chinese officials after the HMAS Toowoomba encountered a People’s Liberation Army-Navy destroyer on Tuesday.
Continue reading...At least 38 injured in the blaze at Yongju coal mine company in Lyuliang City, north China’s Shanxi province.
A fire that erupted in the office of a coal company in northern China has killed 26 people, state media said on Thursday, the latest in a series of deadly accidents in the coal industry.
At least 38 people were injured in the blaze, which broke out at the four-storey Yongju Coal Industry Joint Building in the country’s top coal-producing hub of Shanxi. Calls to the company by the Reuters news agency were not answered.
Continue reading...Colonel Medel Aguilar says the Philippines will not stop resupply missions to a grounded warship that have developed into a potential flashpoint with Beijing
The Philippines has accused China of seeking to bully smaller countries into submission and vowed it will continue its missions to deliver supplies to a grounded derelict warship that serves as an outpost in the South China Sea.
The Philippines deliberately grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, in 1999 to guard against expansion by China, and the ship has become a growing flashpoint in the fiercely disputed water.
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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says
Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:
If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.
At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.
I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.
Continue reading...Scientists in eastern China find 24 out of 28 water samples have plastic particles commonly seen in synthetic fibers and packaging
Air, water, soil, food and even blood – microplastics have found their way virtually everywhere on Earth, and now that list includes clouds.
Bits of plastic particles were recently discovered above eastern China, with new research showing that these microplastics could influence cloud formation and the weather.
Continue reading...Foreign ministry says US and China have ‘most important bilateral relationship in the world’ after leaders’ talks
China has praised the “warm” meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in California, in a marked shift of rhetoric after months of negotiations aimed at restabilising what has been a testy relationship.
A readout from China’s foreign ministry said the US-China relationship was “the most important bilateral relationship in the world” and that “a stable and growing China is good for the United States and the whole world”.
Continue reading...Chinese president signalled that the pandas would be sent after his first face-to-face meeting with Joe Biden in 12 months
Chinese president Xi Jinping signalled on Wednesday evening that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples”.
“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said during a dinner speech with business leaders.
Continue reading...Account of the summit from China’s foreign ministry was mixed, portraying Xi as having taken a tough line, telling Biden to stop arming Taiwan
Joe Biden has claimed that his summit meeting with Xi Jinping has brought substantial progress, including agreements on limiting narcotics trafficking, restoring militaries lines of communication, and to start talking about the global risks posed by artificial intelligence.
However, it was clear that after more than four hours of talks in a mansion outside San Francisco, the meeting had not brought the US and China any closer on the fate of Taiwan, which Xi reportedly told Biden was “the biggest, most potentially dangerous issue in US-China relations”.
Continue reading...US and Chinese presidents meet in San Francisco to discuss the economy, climate, military relations and Taiwan
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California on Wednesday, exchanging handshakes and smiles as they embarked on face-to-face dialogues that both sides hope will stabilise US-China relations.
The US president opened his remarks by saying that tensions between the two countries should “not veer into conflict”.
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Despite the US and China’s joint climate plan being welcomed by experts, the plan lacks specific emission reductions or a commitment to phase out fossil fuels.
The Guardian’s Oliver Milman reports:
Continue reading...The breakthrough has been welcomed by experts – but it lacks specific emissions cuts or a commitment to phase out fossil fuels
The US and China’s decision to rekindle a joint effort to tackle the climate crisis has provided sorely needed momentum ahead of crucial UN climate talks later this month, while still leaving some key questions unresolved around calling an end to the fossil fuel era.
The difficult relationship between the world’s two largest carbon emitters has somewhat thawed over the issue of global heating, with both sides indicating they see it as a shared menace set aside from other tensions around trade or the status of Taiwan. The US and China are “alarmed” by the state of “one of the greatest challenges of our time” and will work to resolve it despite other differences, as the countries’ joint statement on Tuesday put it.
Continue reading...Critics raise concerns that PM during ‘golden era’ of UK-China relations has maintained ties with Beijing
Chinese state media have welcomed the appointment of the former prime minister David Cameron as the UK’s foreign secretary, as opponents of Beijing raised concerns about the return of a figure closely associated with the “golden era” of UK-China relations.
In an editorial published on Tuesday, the Chinese state tabloid the Global Times said Cameron “could potentially play a constructive role, both in mending the UK’s relations with China and in rebuilding and advancing the UK’s post-Brexit diplomatic landscape”.
Continue reading...Announcement fuels hope rivals can use Apec summit as a chance to reduce tensions
China and the US have pledged to work together more closely to fight global heating, declaring the climate crisis “one of the greatest challenges of our time”, hours before a key meeting in San Francisco between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
The announcement further fuels hopes that the two nations can mend relations after years of turmoil over issues including trade, human rights and the future of Taiwan.
Continue reading...Research in 21 countries suggests a growing ‘a la carte’ approach where states ‘mix and match’ partners on different issues
As the US and Chinese presidents meet on Wednesday in high-stakes diplomacy intended to reduce tensions between the world’s two superpowers, a survey of 21 countries shows that geopolitical alliances no longer fit a “west v the rest” frame.
Many in the west think it is in decline, many outside it want China to be more active in their economies and believe Russia will win its war against Ukraine, and many beyond Europe reckon the EU will not last another 20 years, according to the research, which concludes that global relations are becoming increasingly “a la carte”.
Continue reading...Under deal, China will go after chemical companies to halt flow of fentanyl while US will lift restrictions on forensic police institute
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are set to announce an agreement for China to crack down on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, the primary culprit in a synthetic drug epidemic blamed as the leading killer of Americans between 18 and 49.
Bloomberg reported that under the deal – which the US and Chinese presidents are still finalizing – China would go after chemical companies to halt the flow of fentanyl and the source material used to make it.
Continue reading...Timothy Owen, who in May was blocked from representing the activist Jimmy Lai, was due to give a talk on law and democracy
A lecture in Hong Kong by the British barrister embroiled in a legal battle over whether he can represent the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been cancelled without explanation, raising concerns about the diminishing space for free speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Timothy Owen KC was due to give a talk entitled “Judges, Democracy and the Criminal Law” at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on 17 November. But on Tuesday, the lecture was cancelled without explanation, with the university citing “unforeseen circumstances”. The website for the law faculty appears to be offline.
Continue reading...Whistleblower claims hospital director colluded with ‘online intermediaries’ to sell birth certificates for about £10,750
Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities.
The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750).
Continue reading...Beijing says labour transfers are poverty alleviation tool, but research raises concerns schemes are not voluntary
Xinjiang, a region of north-west China that is about three times the size of France, is an area that has become associated around the world with detention camps. The facilities are referred to by Beijing as vocational education and training centres. But critics say they are used to indoctrinate Uyghurs and other minority ethnic groups with the goal of transforming them into devotees of the Chinese Communist party.
After unrest in the region and a series of riots and violent attacks by Uyghur separatists between 2014 to 2017, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, launched his Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism, leading to the establishment of the camps. The UN has estimated that since then about 1 million people have been detained in these extrajudicial centres.
Continue reading...Chinese and US presidents meeting amid a deteriorating geopolitical climate, with the countries on opposing sides of two major conflicts
One year after their last in-person talks, Xi Jinping and Joe Biden will come face to face once again on Wednesday in San Francisco, in an encounter that will dominate events at the Apec summit as the Chinese and US presidents seek to stabilise relations in an increasingly fraught geopolitical climate.
The meeting, which could last several hours, is the culmination of months of lower level dialogues which took place over the summer, with Washington sending more delegates to China than Beijing did to the US.
Continue reading...Activists have secured a string of legal victories in Hong Kong but it is a very different story on the mainland
After months of pandemic-related delays, Asia’s first Gay Games was held in Hong Kong last week, with nearly 2,400 athletes competing. At the opening ceremony, Regina Ip, the convenor of Hong Kong’s executive council, said the competition represented the city’s commitment to “equal opportunity and non-discrimination”, and praised Hong Kong’s courts for the “numerous judgments” handed down in favour of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade.
This was met with bemusement by activists and lawyers, who pointed out that Ip’s government has opposed each of those judgments, losing in nearly every single case. Since 2018, there have been at least seven cases relating to LGBTQ+ rights heard by Hong Kong’s courts, with many reaching the Court of Final Appeal, the city’s highest bench. “Why are they still wasting taxpayers’ money fighting these tooth-and-nail litigations when they’re recycling the same arguments and losing?” said Mark Daly, a human rights lawyer who has worked on a number of the cases.
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