US president and senior aides meet with Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, after which White House says it is ‘working towards’ top-level talks
The US and China have agreed to work towards setting up a meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping after the US president met with China’s foreign minister on Friday.
Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit. The Chinese president has not yet confirmed he will come.
Continue reading...International Crisis Group urges all parties including US to re-establish a baseline level of trust
Taiwan’s presidential election in January is a window of opportunity to resume dialogue between Taipei and Beijing, reduce tensions and lower the risk of conflict, an NGO has said.
A war over Taiwan is not inevitable but “the current trajectory is dangerous”, a report by the International Crisis Group says.
Continue reading...Li served as China’s number two leader for 10 years before being sidelined by Xi Jinping
China’s former premier, Li Keqiang, has died suddenly at the age of 68, according to Chinese state media. Li had a heart attack and died in Shanghai early on Friday, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.
“Comrade Li Keqiang, while resting in Shanghai in recent days, experienced a sudden heart attack on Oct 26 and after all-out efforts to revive him failed, died in Shanghai at ten minutes past midnight on Oct 27,” the state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Continue reading...Getting approval for nuclear submarine plan through legislature a question of ‘not if, but when’
Joe Biden has played down congressional jitters over the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine deal and has revealed he assured Xi Jinping that the countries involved are not aiming to “surround China”.
The US president welcomed the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to the White House and insisted he was “confident that we’re going to be able to get the money for Aukus because it’s overwhelmingly in our interest”.
Continue reading...Xi Jinping says whether or not two countries can find right way of getting along is crucial to the world
The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, has said China is willing to cooperate with the US as both sides manage their differences and work together to respond to global challenges, raising hopes of a meeting between Xi and the US president, Joe Biden, this year.
In a letter delivered at an annual dinner of the National Committee on US-China Relations in New York, Xi said whether or not the US and China could establish the “right” way of getting along would be crucial to the world, according to state media.
Continue reading...Fellow tech company Intel ‘reviewing regulations’ as timing of move brought forward
The chip designer Nvidia has said the US has told it to immediately halt the export of some of its high-end artificial intelligence chips to China as regulators advanced the deadline.
The restrictions were supposed to come into effect 30 days after 17 October, when the Biden administration announced measures to stop countries, including China, Iran and Russia, from receiving advanced AI chips designed by Nvidia and others.
Continue reading...China’s Tsingtao beer reportedly experiences a consumer backlash in South Korea after video of a worker appearing to urinate into a beer tank goes viral
Restaurants and consumers in South Korea have quickly lost their taste for Tsingtao beer, according to media reports, after a video that appeared to show a brewery worker urinating into a tank at one of the firm’s plants in China went viral.
The clip, which has been viewed tens of millions of times on social media since it appeared last Thursday, shows a man wearing a helmet and blue uniform clambering over the side of a high-walled container and apparently relieving himself over its contents.
Continue reading...Defence minister, Li Shangfu, sacked and ex-foreign minister Qin Gang removed from cabinet
China has removed the defence minister, Li Shangfu, and ousted ex-foreign minister Qin Gang from its cabinet, according to state media, in a major reshuffle of top leadership.
The news came after months of speculation about the country’s cabinet, including confusion over the abrupt removal of Qin from office in July without explanation and the months-long absence of Li from public view.
Continue reading...Foreign ministry says bots posted conspiracy theories, lies and abuse as comments on feeds including that of prime minister Justin Trudeau
The Canadian government has said it has detected a China-linked campaign that involved bots posting disinformation and propaganda as comments on the social media feeds of members of parliament, including the prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
The “spamouflage” campaign, using networks of new and hijacked social media accounts to post bulk messages, took place in August and September, and targeted dozens of lawmakers from across the political spectrum, Canada’s foreign ministry announced.
Continue reading...Tax audits and land use inquiries follow company founder announcing run for Taiwan presidency
China’s tax authorities have launched multiple investigations into the company that makes the iPhone, months after its billionaire founder announced he would run in Taiwan’s presidential elections.
Foxconn faces tax audits of its operations in China, as well as investigations into land use in two Chinese provinces, according to reports by local media.
Continue reading...Daniel Duggan’s lawyer seeks classified government material to prove US request is politically motivated
An Australian former fighter pilot accused of breaking an arms embargo by training Chinese military pilots wants access to classified government documents to demonstrate that a US request to extradite him is politically motivated, his lawyer has said.
Daniel Duggan, who became an Australian citizen in 2012, is accused of breaching US arms trafficking laws by training Chinese pilots while working at a South African flight school in the early 2010s. Duggan faces up to 60 years in prison if he is convicted.
Continue reading...The Philippine coast guard claims that ships were ‘bumped’ by Chinese vessels in incidents close to outposts in the Spratly Islands
Manila has summoned Beijing’s ambassador after accusing China of “illegal and dangerous” behaviour that resulted in two collisions in the highly disputed South China Sea.
Philippine foreign ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza said Manila was “making full use of diplomatic processes” after the incidents involving vessels belonging to China and the Philippines, and had summoned the Chinese ambassador on Monday morning.
Continue reading...Countries agree to halt World Trade Organization dispute pending outcome of China’s ‘expedited review’ of duties imposed on Australian wine in 2020
China has agreed to review the tariffs it places on Australian wine producers after a breakthrough in negotiations before Anthony Albanese’s trip to Beijing next month.
Albanese said on Sunday the two countries had agreed to suspend their long-running World Trade Organization dispute while Beijing undertakes an “expedited review” of duties, which is expected to take five months.
Continue reading...Police focusing on Newnew Polar Bear cargo ship that was in the area when gas pipeline was damaged
Finnish police have said a Chinese ship whose movement coincided with the time and place of the suspected sabotage of a pipeline between Finland and Estonia that was damaged this month is now the focus of their investigation.
After a leak led to the shutdown of the Balticconnector pipeline on 8 October, Finnish authorities have been investigating the damage they say was caused by “external” activity.
Continue reading...Government also presses for removal of imposts on wine ahead of Anthony Albanese’s visit to Beijing next month
Australia is moving to repair ties with China ahead of Anthony Albanese’s trip to Beijing, ruling out cancelling a Chinese company’s lease over the strategically important Port of Darwin.
The move, which is likely to be welcomed by the Chinese government, comes as Australia also prepares to scrap tariffs on imports of Chinese wind towers, potentially defusing one of Beijing’s trade complaints.
Continue reading...Czech president calls on western capitals not to fall for Russian leader’s tactic to break European unity
European leaders must not “fall” for the tactics of Vladimir Putin, the Czech president, Petr Pavel, has said, two days after Hungary’s prime minister shook hands with Russia’s leader.
Viktor Orbán, in a rare move for the leader of a country that belongs to the EU and Nato, met Putin in Beijing on Tuesday for what the Hungarian leader’s office described as a discussion on energy cooperation and peace.
Continue reading...Property developer denies claims founder and chair have left country amid reports it missed key deadline
The crisis in China’s property sector deepened as Country Garden, the country’s biggest developer by sales, reportedly missed its final deadline for an interest payment on a dollar bond, putting it at risk of default.
The company, which has about $200bn (£163bn) in liabilities and nearly $11bn in dollar-denominated offshore bonds, was due to make a $15.4m coupon repayment this week, but failed to do so, according to reports. Its share price fell 4% in Hong Kong on Thursday, and is down 74% since the beginning of the year.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
No move on paying super to people on paid parental leave
But so far, the government has not moved on paying superannuation to parents (mostly women) on paid parental leave.
Super, of course, is really important and it’s something we would very much like to look to in the future when the budget can afford it. But this is a very big step forward, the current arrangements, but we’ll continue to look around superannuation into the future and consider it in each budget context.
I think with the reserved period as well, we’re going to see an increase in shared care, both parents taking some time out, which is really, really important if we want to get a more equal burden of, you know, of that share of care.
So that is really important as well.
Continue reading...People’s Republic is granted immunity from paying cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting tab after diplomat vacated Wellington house
A landlord in New Zealand has run up against an unusual problem while trying to make his tenant pay $900 for rubbish removal: diplomatic immunity.
Chandler Investments Limited claimed its tenant, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, left a rented mews house in the capital, Wellington, without covering costs for cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting.
Continue reading...Attorney general still yet to consent to Alexander Csergo’s prosecution with never-before-proven charge as time in custody exceeds six months
More than six months after Sydney businessman Alexander Csergo was arrested on allegations he was providing sensitive material to Chinese agents, Australia’s attorney general has still not consented to his prosecution.
Lawyers for Csergo say he is being used as a “guinea pig” on a never-before-proven charge, and will seek to have him released on bail after prosecutors secured more time to confirm the charge against him.
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