Category Archives: China

Evergrande founder ‘being investigated for suspected crimes’

Posted on by

Chinese group’s statement about chair Hui Ka Yan piles on the woe for once top-selling property developer

The founder of China’s Evergrande is being investigated over suspected “illegal crimes”, the group has said, as creditors become increasingly concerned about the prospects of the world’s most indebted property developer.

Evergrande Group, which has more than $300bn (£245bn) in total liabilities, did not say whether Hui Ka Yan was still in a position to run the company, or what crimes he was being investigated for.

Continue reading...

Evergrande halts share trading as woes mount for China’ property giant

Posted on by

Suspension comes a month after developer resumed trading and follows its chair reportedly being put under police surveillance

Embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande has suspended share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange only a month after it resumed trading after a 17-month suspension.

Trading in its two other units – the property services and electric vehicle groups – also stopped at 9am on Thursday, according to notices posted by the stock exchange.

Continue reading...

Solomon Islands prime minister says US must respect Pacific leaders

Posted on by

Manasseh Sogavare hits out at US after skipping Biden summit as $200m in funding for Pacific nations draws criticism for ‘trying to play catch up’

The prime minister of Solomon Islands has criticised Washington, saying the US must respect Pacific leaders, after Joe Biden pledged $200m for the region in an effort widely seen as a push against China’s growing presence.

Biden hosted a group of Pacific leaders at a summit in Washington this week, after a similar meeting a year earlier.

Continue reading...

Chair of China’s Evergrande reportedly put under police surveillance

Posted on by

Another missed bond payment raises doubts over future of world’s most indebted property developer

The chair of China’s Evergrande Group has reportedly been put under police surveillance as another missed bond payment casts further doubt over the future of the world’s most indebted property developer.

Hui Ka Yan, who founded Evergrande in 1996, was taken away earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location, according to Bloomberg.

Continue reading...

Military exercises near Taiwan aimed at combating ‘arrogance’ of separatists, says China

Posted on by

Increased frequency of Chinese drills has raised the risk of events ‘getting out of hand’, the island’s defence minister said

China’s government has said that recent drills near Taiwan were aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces, after Taipei reported a rise in military activity in recent weeks, including exercises on land facing the island.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory – a claim Taipei rejects – has said this month that it had observed dozens of fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby.

Continue reading...

China, Japan and South Korea agree talks to calm fears over US ties

Posted on by

Trilateral discussions to resume in response to Beijing’s fears over growing US influence in region

The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea will hold three-way talks “as soon as possible” after a meeting intended to ease Chinese concerns over Washington’s stronger security presence in the region.

Official said on Tuesday that the three countries’ deputy foreign ministers had agreed to revive trilateral talks after a four-year hiatus during which tensions have risen over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and Chinese military activity.

Continue reading...

Biden pledges more aid to Pacific islands to counter growing Chinese influence

Posted on by

Leaders of Pacific island states have been given star treatment in Washington but Chinese influence is the spectre at the feast

Joe Biden has offered more economic aid to Pacific islands at a White House meeting with leaders from the region aimed at bolstering US engagement in the face of a growing Chinese presence.

The president also announced formal US recognition of two new island nations, the Cook Islands and Niue, at the start of the Pacific Islands Forum, two days of Washington meetings with leaders from the group’s 18 members.

Continue reading...

Chinese authorities reportedly sentence Uyghur professor to life in prison

Posted on by

Human rights group says Rahile Dawut lost appeal after being convicted in 2018 on charges of promoting ‘splittism’

A leading Uyghur professor who disappeared six years ago is reported to have sentenced to life in prison by Chinese authorities for “endangering state security”.

Rahile Dawut, 57, who specialises in the study of Uyghur folklore and traditions and is considered an expert in her field, lost an appeal over her sentence after being convicted in 2018 on charges of promoting “splittism”, according to the US-based Dui Hua Foundation human rights group.

Continue reading...

China coast guard deploys ‘floating barrier’ to cut off disputed South China Sea shoal

Posted on by

Philippines says it ‘strongly condemns’ move at Scarborough Shoal which prevents its fishing boats from gaining access

The Philippines has accused China’s coast guard of installing a “floating barrier” in a disputed area of the South China Sea, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area.

Manila’s coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources “strongly condemn” China’s installation of the barrier in part of the Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter.

Continue reading...

Biden Pacific summit suffers setback as Solomon Islands PM skips meeting

Posted on by

US says it is disappointed prime minister Manasseh Sogavare will not attend Monday’s summit, amid race for influence with China

The White House has said it is disappointed the Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, will not attend a Pacific Islands summit with Joe Biden next week.

The US president will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the US is in a battle for influence with China.

Continue reading...

Australian government says ‘yeah, no’ to deal with China to drop wine tariffs

Posted on by

Reported package offer from Beijing was attempt to ‘meet Australian side halfway’ but Australia sees issues as ‘entirely separate matters’

The Australian government has said “yeah, no” to a reported package deal offer from China to drop its tariffs on Australian wine in return for more favourable treatment of its wind towers, railway wheels and stainless steel sinks.

The agriculture, forestries and fisheries minister, Murray Watt, said on Sunday that the Albanese government regards these as “entirely separate matters” but will seek to resolve remaining trade issues through dialogue.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Chinese dissident who held Tiananmen Square vigils flees to Taiwan

Posted on by

Chen Siming posts video from Taoyuan airport saying he is seeking asylum from political persecution

A Chinese dissident known for regularly commemorating the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square has fled to Taiwan where he pleaded for help in seeking asylum in the US or Canada.

In a video posted online on Friday, Chen Siming said he was in the transit area at Taoyuan international airport to escape Chinese political persecution.

Continue reading...

Trial of Chinese #MeToo journalist and labour rights activist begins in secret

Posted on by

Huang Xueqin, a feminist who was due to move to UK, and Wang Jianbing charged with ‘inciting subversion of state power’

The trial of two prominent activists detained since 2021 has begun in secret in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, in a case that has attracted widespread attention to Beijing’s repression of civil society.

Huang Xueqin, a feminist activist and journalist who covered China’s #MeToo movement, and Wang Jianbing, a labour rights activist, were detained in Guangzhou in September 2021, shortly before Huang was due to move to the UK to study at the University of Sussex. The pair were charged with “inciting subversion of state power” the following month. The charge normally carries a sentence of up to five years, although terms can be longer in cases deemed severe.

Continue reading...

TikTok has matchmaking service for staff to play cupid for co-workers

Posted on by

Meet Cute on company’s intranet allows employees to advertise family and acquaintances to colleagues

TikTok has an internal matchmaking service for employees to introduce their colleagues to friends and family members, it has been revealed.

The channel, called Meet Cute, sits on the workplace tool used by thousands of TikTok employees around the world for document hosting, video conferencing. It also helps people find a potential romantic partner from among their colleagues.

Continue reading...

China fuels global surge in mpox cases as LGBTQ+ stigma hampers response

Posted on by

WHO says China facing ‘sustained community transmission’ of virus first detected as imported case last year

China is fuelling a global surge in mpox cases, accounting for the majority of new cases reported in September, according to the World Health Organization.

The number of weekly cases reported globally increased by 328% in the week to 10 September, data shows. Most of that rise came from China, where more than 500 new cases were reported in August. The WHO said China was experiencing “sustained community transmission” of the virus, which was first detected as an imported case in September last year.

Continue reading...

Viral series about Chinese teapot escaping from British Museum to become film

Posted on by

Series with 370m views echoes Chinese state media calls for return of cultural relics

A viral series on the Chinese version of TikTok about a jade teapot that turns into a woman and escapes from the British Museum is to be adapted into an animated film.

The plot of Escape from the British Museum, a series made by two social media influencers, echoes Chinese state media calls for the British government to make amends for “historical sins” and return Chinese cultural relics.

Continue reading...

China orders foreign consulates in Hong Kong to hand over staff personal details

Posted on by

Forms have been sent out requiring names, positions, residential addresses and identity document numbers of locally employed staff

China has given foreign consulates in Hong Kong a month to submit the names, home addresses and job descriptions of their local staff, according to diplomatic sources and documents seen by several media outlets on Tuesday.

The documents include a letter in English and Chinese bearing Monday’s date from Beijing’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (OCMFA), as well as two forms for consulates to fill in with their local staff details.

Continue reading...

Where is Li Shangfu? China’s missing defence minister highlights Xi’s total grip on power

Posted on by

China’s latest missing minister underscores the move to centralised rule, and how questioning Xi’s judgement has become increasingly dangerous

Three weeks after he was last seen in public, there is still no official confirmation about what has happened to Gen Li Shangfu, China’s defence minister and the latest senior official to be seemingly swept up in China’s political purges.

Last week, Reuters reported that Li, along with eight other senior officials, was under investigation for the corrupt procurement of military equipment relating to his time at the helm of the equipment division of the Central Military Commission, the military’s ruling body, between September 2017 and October 2022. US intelligence has also made similar conclusions.

Continue reading...

Taiwan urges China to stop ‘destructive’ military activities as fighter jets cross median line

Posted on by

Taiwan’s defence ministry said that since Sunday it had spotted 103 Chinese military aircraft over the sea, a number it called a ‘recent high’

Taiwan’s defence ministry has urged China to stop “destructive, unilateral action” after reporting a sharp rise in Chinese military activities near the island, warning such behaviour could lead to an increase in tensions.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has in recent years regularly carried out military drills around the island as it seeks to assert its sovereignty claims and pressure Taipei.

Continue reading...

Evergrande arrests: China police detain staff at property giant’s wealth management arm

Posted on by

Police do not list charges against arrested workers but urge public to report any suspected fraud

Police in China have arrested several employees at a subsidiary of Evergrande, the troubled property giant that is struggling under debts running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Employees at Evergrande’s financial subsidiary, Evergrande Wealth Management, were arrested, police in the southern city of Shenzhen said in a statement, without specifying the number of employees or the charges against them.

Continue reading...