Category Archives: China

UK espionage saga a ‘wake-up call’ for Australian parliament, opposition says

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Calls for further security measures including vetting of staffers after UK parliamentary aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China

An espionage scandal in the UK should serve as a “major wake-up call” for Australia, a senior opposition member has said.

Australia’s shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, called on both countries to “harden” their political systems to reduce the risk of alleged compromise, including wider use of vetting of staff members.

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Rishi Sunak says he told China actions to undermine British democracy are ‘completely unacceptable’

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Prime minister says he told Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, at G20 that Chinese interference with the work of parliament will ‘never be tolerated’

Simon Clarke, who was the levelling up secretary during the Liz Truss premiership, has defended the government’s decision not to explicitly label China as a threat. In posts on X, or Twitter as many of us still call it, he said:

There are legitimate reasons why it is difficult for ministers to say China is a threat – that’s the nature of international relations. What matters more than words is that our policy choices change to reflect the undoubted danger of China’s actions.

Here I think the Government’s record stands up pretty well. You have the soft power of our new Pacific trade bloc membership in the CPTPP (which notably does not include China) and you have the hard power of the new AUKUS alliance - itself a response to Chinese aggression.

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Spy allegations add fuel to heated Tory debate over China

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Investigation into parliamentary aide comes as two main groups on China have descended into rivalry

Many of the debates inside the Conservative party about how western democracies should handle China are entirely common across Europe and the US, but somehow they have been conducted in a more heated and personalised way.

One reason may be the confused and slow leadership on China shown by the government, symbolised by the refusal to follow Germany in publishing a China strategy. Others blame the entrenched factionalist political culture created by Brexit, and the narcissism of small differences. But the revelations that someone under investigation for allegedly being a Chinese spy was operating at the centre of Tory debates will only make the atmosphere worse. The person in question has insisted he is completely innocent.

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MPs express anger after arrest of parliamentary researcher over alleged spying for China

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Man is known to have had unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate

MPs have reacted with alarm after it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information had been arrested over allegations of spying for China.

The man, who is in his 20s and was arrested in March along with another person, is known to have held a parliamentary pass, allowing him unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate.

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Joe Biden calls for stable US-China relationship during south-east Asia tour

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The US president’s remarks came after after meeting in Vietnam with Communist party official to secure global supply chain

Joe Biden’s national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country.

“I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said. “I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.”

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Chinese academic raided by Australian police and offered $2,000 for information during trip

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Exclusive: Sino-Australian relations expert had phone confiscated and was asked to provide information during ‘heavy-handed’ and ‘counterproductive’ episode

A Chinese academic visiting Australia on a research trip had his accommodation raided by Asio and the Australian federal police, and was offered $2,000 in cash by a man purporting to be from “the federal government” for information on his networks and contacts in China.

The academic, an associate professor at a major Chinese research university, is an expert on Sino-Australian relations and was visiting Australia between July and August. His surveillance comes as Australia seeks to restore its relations with China, with a confirmed prime ministerial visit to Beijing later this year.

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Watered-down G20 statement on Ukraine is sign of India’s growing influence

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Joe Biden’s need to nurture alliances to contain China sees Ukraine perceptibly slipping down list of priorities

It took exhausted Indian diplomats 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts, but in the end the G20 countries reached a consensus declaration on the war in Ukraine – one that largely retreated into generalised principles rather than the specific condemnation of Russia that the same group of leaders agreed when they met in Bali a year ago.

Moreover, no invitation was extended to Ukrainie’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to address the gathering, meaning the only direct combatant around the table was Russia, represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

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‘It’s offensive’: backlash against China’s ‘good for marriage’ women’s trend

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Style featuring pastel makeup and modest clothing has taken off, but many are objecting to the ethos behind it

A social media debate has erupted in China over a trend among some women to dress and behave in a way that’s “good for marriage”, with detractors saying it discourages independence.

China, like much of east Asia, is battling with a demographic crisis and young people increasingly choose to forgo marriage and children. Last year China officially recorded its first decline in population for more than 60 years.

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Chinese economy out of deflation but faces threat of relapse

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Slow domestic consumption, high youth unemployment and decline in exports among factors dragging on post-Covid recovery

China’s consumer price index rebounded in August as the world’s second-largest economy emerged from deflation, official data released on Saturday suggested, despite sluggish domestic consumption that is complicating its post-Covid economic recovery.

Last month’s CPI, the main gauge of inflation, rose 0.1% year on year, the national statistics bureau said.

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China reportedly extends iPhone ban to more workers as tensions with US rise

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Apple shares fall as local government and state-owned firms latest to face restrictions on devices at work

China’s government has reportedly expanded its ban of iPhones to local government workers and state-owned companies, a day after it emerged central government employees were forbidden from bringing the devices to work.

Several agencies had begun instructing employees not to bring iPhones to work and the ban was expected to be further extended, Bloomberg reported. Nikkei reported at least one state-owned company had told its employees that anyone working with trade secrets could not bring their iPhones, Apple Watches or AirPods into work from next month.

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Chinese law to ban comments that harm China’s ‘feelings’ prompts concern

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Legal experts and bloggers say proposed crimes could be used arbitrarily and lead to more censorship

Proposed changes to a Chinese public security law to criminalise comments, clothing or symbols that “undermine the spirit” or “harm the feelings” of China have triggered the concern of legal experts, who say the amendments could be used arbitrarily.

The changes were first made public last week as part of a mandatory “soliciting opinion” process, as concerns mount about the increasingly authoritarian and nationalistic rule of China’s president, Xi Jinping.

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Albanese’s China trip suggests a smoother relationship rather than a cosy one

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A key calculation of the Australian PM’s team is that dialogue is of value, even if both sides agree to disagree

In a far cry from Henry Kissinger’s secret trips to China in the 1970s, Anthony Albanese’s planned travel to the country has been an open secret for months.

Still, the Australian prime minister’s confirmation this week that he had accepted an invitation to fly to Beijing is another key step in his government’s efforts to “stabilise” a relationship that hit rock bottom in 2020.

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Marise Payne to quit parliament – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

The Bureau of Meteorology is urging people in western Sydney, southern and central ranges and the Hunter region to tidy up loose items around their yards as damaging winds are extending over the areas today.

Gusty storms may hit Sydney and the Central Coast today, while there are possible severe storms heading to the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast this afternoon, with a risk of damaging winds and large hail, the BoM says.

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Two dead after Hong Kong’s heaviest rain in at least 140 years

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More than 200mm of rain recorded on Hong Kong’s main island and there is also disruption in Shenzhen

Hong Kong’s heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago has left two people dead and more than 100 injured, as unusually wet weather caused by typhoons brought more disruption to southern China.

Videos showed water cascading down steep hillsides in the former British colony, causing waist-deep flooding in narrow streets and inundating malls, railway stations and tunnels.

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G20: battle for influence as US seeks to rival China in the global south

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There will be pressure on rich countries to fulfil a commitment to provide climate finance to poorer nations

The run-up to this weekend’s G20 summit in Delhi has largely been dominated by two issues: the host’s efforts to project India as a superpower; and the intriguing decision of Xi Jinping not to attend. The substance of what world leaders will discuss during their two days together has struggled to surface.

Yet this year’s G20 – the 24th since the format was inaugurated in 1999 – is potentially a make or break moment for the organisation that includes the world’s 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union as a bloc. With one part of the world increasingly gathering in the now expanded Brics format where China has a leading role, and the west comfortable with its annual G7 summitry, the G20 is the best remaining hope of keeping the principle of multilateralism alive. The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, spoke on Thursday of a real risk of fragmentation of the world order, while his own organisation is paralysed by the war in Ukraine.

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Global economic fears deepen as service sector dips in China and Europe

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Fresh signs of weakness in Chinese economy and weak UK and eurozone data spook investors

Fears about the health of the global economy have intensified following downbeat news about service sector activity in China, the eurozone and the UK.

Share prices fell in Asia and the pound dropped to a 12-week low against the US dollar after fresh signs of weakness in China triggered speculation that its post-lockdown recovery was running out of steam.

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China on the agenda: 2024 candidates fret over how to deal with Beijing

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Republicans showcase range of hawkish policies designed to counter perceived threat amid diplomatic push by Biden

The United States’ tangled and increasingly fraught relationship with China is emerging centre stage in the 2024 presidential campaign in a rare case of foreign policy capturing the limelight in the race for the White House.

Half a century since a Republican president, Richard Nixon, made a historic visit to communist China to carve out a lauded strategic opening in the election year of 1972, Republican candidates vying to succeed him in the Oval Office are showcasing a range of hawkish policies designed to counter the perceived threat from Beijing.

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Two people detained for digging shortcut through Great Wall of China

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Suspects admit using excavator to smash hole in Ming-era section in Shanxi province, state media say

Two people have been detained after using an excavator to dig a hole in the Great Wall of China, said the state broadcaster CCTV.

Police in Shanxi province followed tracks made by machinery used to dig a shortcut through a segment of the wall – remains of the immense structure built by China’s emperors to deter foreign invaders.

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Australia to roll out new south-east Asia trade strategy to hedge against China

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Anthony Albanese is expected to announce the new economic blueprint during his trip to the Indonesian capital Jakarta

Anthony Albanese will fly to Jakarta this week to launch a major new strategy to deepen Australia’s trade and investment ties with south-east Asia and hedge against top trading partner China.

Despite China recently reopening the door to key Australian exports that it shunned at the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020, the Albanese government wants to diversify economic ties to reduce exposure to further political tumult.

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China’s share of Europe’s electric car market accelerates as UK leads sales

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Chinese-owned MG’s MG4 is Britain’s bestselling EV after Tesla’s Model Y in first seven months of year

China’s share of the European electric car market has more than doubled in less than two years as the world’s second largest economy tries to take the lead in the transition away from petrol and diesel cars.

The UK is the largest market in Europe for Chinese electric car brands, accounting for almost a third of sales in 2023 so far, according to data from Schmidt Automotive Research on the 18 largest European car markets. About 5% of all new car sales in the UK were from Chinese brands in the first seven months of 2023, a market share second only to Sweden.

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