Category Archives: China

Top US and Chinese diplomats meet in Malta to smooth strained relations

Posted on by

‘Candid, substantive and constructive’ talks were held as a possible prelude to a Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting in November

Top US and Chinese diplomats met in Malta over the weekend as the world’s two largest economies attempted to smooth strained relations and clear a path for their respective presidents – Joe Biden and Xi Jinping – to meet in November.

According to both Beijing and Washington, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met multiple times with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, in Malta, where – according to separate statements – “candid, substantive and constructive” talks were held.

Continue reading...

Li Shangfu: speculation grows over fate of China’s missing defence minister

Posted on by

Li Shangfu, who has not been seen for nearly three weeks, is under house arrest, claims US ambassador to Japan

China’s defence minister has not been seen in almost three weeks, amid reports that he is under investigation, in the latest case of a senior Communist party official to disappear from public view.

Gen Li Shangfu was last seen on 29 August when he gave a speech to the China-Africa peace and security forum. His last overseas trip was to Moscow and Minsk in mid-August, where he met Russian officials on the sidelines of a security conference, and with the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Continue reading...

‘Farcical’: China’s media gives short shrift to British spying allegations

Posted on by

Fallout from revelations has dominated news in UK but in China it has caused barely a ripple

The fallout from revelations that two people were arrested in the UK for allegedly spying for China has dominated British news since the story broke. In the heavily state-controlled media in China, however, it has caused barely a ripple.

It took more than a day for state-controlled press to run the story, reporting a short statement from its embassy in London and then comments from the foreign affairs ministry.

Continue reading...

China unveils Taiwan economic ‘integration’ plan as warships conduct manoeuvres off coast

Posted on by

Measures include making it easier for Taiwanese people to live and work in China, but the plan comes amid major military exercises

China’s government has unveiled a “new path towards integrated development” with Taiwan, including proposals to make it easier for Taiwanese people to live, study and work in China.

At the same time, it sent the largest number of warships to gather in years to the waters on Taiwan’s east, in what analysts said signalled a choice between peaceful “reunification” and military violence, just months out from Taiwan’s presidential election.

Continue reading...

Exiled Chinese dissidents alarmed by ‘spy’ arrest of Westminster researcher

Posted on by

Activists call for reassurances to be given to those who gave information to parliamentarians

Finn Lau’s meeting with a Westminster researcher who was later arrested on suspicion of spying for China lasted just 20 minutes. Nearly a year later he is mulling the potential consequences.

Lau, an exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist with a £100,000 bounty on his head, has a lingering suspicion that some of his ideas for putting more pressure on China appear not to have made it beyond their meeting.

Continue reading...

Hunt for nearly 70 crocodiles that escaped during China floods

Posted on by

Extreme weather in the city of Maoming in Guangdong province caused lake to flood, allowing dozens of crocodiles to escape

A Chinese city has launched an operation to find a large number of crocodiles that escaped when floods hit the region in recent days, authorities have said.

A typhoon brought sustained heavy rains to southern China last week, triggering inundations in Hong Kong and other areas.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Spy allegations add fuel to heated Tory debate over China

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.”

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

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

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Chinese economy out of deflation but faces threat of relapse

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

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

Continue reading...

Marise Payne to quit parliament – as it happened

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...