Category Archives: China

China sends dozens of warplanes towards Taiwan as US urges restraint amid military drills

Posted on by

Show of force comes after Taiwanese president Tsai met US House speaker McCarthy this week, despite Beijing warning against it

China sent dozens of warplanes towards Taiwan for a second day of military drills on Sunday, launching simulated attacks in retaliation to the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, meeting the US House Speaker during a brief visit to the US.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said it was monitoring the movements of China’s missile forces, as the US said it too was on alert.

Continue reading...

China launches military drills around Taiwan after US House speaker meeting

Posted on by

Three-day operation comes after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen met with Kevin McCarthy in California

China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday, in what it called a “stern warning” to the self-ruled island’s government following a meeting between its president and the US House speaker.

The move sparked condemnation from Taipei and calls for restraint from Washington, which said it was “monitoring Beijing’s actions closely”.

Continue reading...

Saudi officials arrive in Iran to discuss reopening diplomatic missions

Posted on by

Visits comes two days after Middle Eastern powers met in China to restore relations

A Saudi delegation arrived in Tehran on Saturday to discuss reopening diplomatic missions with Iran after seven years.

The visit comes two days after the unprecedented meeting between Iran and Saudi Arabia’s heads of diplomacy in China after the two countries agreed to restore diplomatic ties last month.

Continue reading...

China to hold military drills around Taiwan after US speaker meeting

Posted on by

‘Combat readiness’ exercises come after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen met US house speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, angering Beijing

China’s military said on Saturday it had begun three days of drills around Taiwan, a day after the island’s president Tsai Ing-wen returned from a trip to the United States.

Tsai met the US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, while in Los Angeles in Wednesday, angering Beijing, which views Taiwan as its own territory.

Continue reading...

China enters riskier space by positioning itself as diplomatic alternative to US

Posted on by

Recent meetings in Beijing mark a return to the world stage but with that comes increased scrutiny

Beijing this week displaced New York and the UN as the diplomatic capital of the world, hosting two meetings that have the potential to unblock two of the deepest conflicts plaguing the globe – the nine-year-old conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the 30-year standoff between Riyadh and Tehran.

For Beijing, often described as neuralgic towards interventionist foreign policy, it marks a step into the biggest of diplomatic leagues, and a sign of the country’s return to the global stage post-Covid.

Continue reading...

China sanctions US figures after Taiwan president’s talks with House speaker

Posted on by

US thinktank and Reagan Foundation targeted, as well as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US, in row over President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip

China has imposed sanctions on US figures linked to the Taiwan president’s visit to the US this week, as well as further restrictions on Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States.

The sanctions targeted the Ronald Reagan library which hosted the meeting between Tsai and US House speak Kevin McCarthy, and the Hudson Institute which hosted Tsai in New York and presented her with an award.

Continue reading...

Macron urges Xi to bring Russia ‘back to reason’ over Ukraine

Posted on by

French president makes plea as two leaders hold first of series of high-level meetings in Beijing

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has urged China’s Xi Jinping to bring Russia “back to reason” over the war in Ukraine, as the two held the first of a series of high-level meetings in Beijing.

“The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to [international] stability,” Macron told Xi, standing alongside the Chinese leader outside the Great Hall of the People before their meeting. “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.”

Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia and Iran work to restore relations as foreign ministers meet

Posted on by

Faisal bin Farhan and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing for talks after Chinese-brokered agreement

The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers have met for the first time in seven years, weeks after the two countries came to an agreement, brokered by Chinese officials, to restore diplomatic relations.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Iran’s Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met in Beijing to discuss the reopening of embassies, the appointment of ambassadors and a planned visit to Saudi Arabia by Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president. They also discussed resuming flights between the two countries and issuing travel visas for each others’ citizens.

Continue reading...

New Zealand spy chiefs warn of ‘increasingly aggressive’ foreign interference

Posted on by

Analysts say country’s strategic importance in Pacific has attracted attention of nations such as China

New Zealand’s intelligence bosses have warned of “increasingly aggressive activity” in the country by people they believe are spies for foreign states.

The annual report by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), published this week, said unnamed states are making “enduring and persistent” efforts to collect intelligence against New Zealand’s government, target those with access to sensitive information, and interfere in all spheres of the country’s public life. Agents from one foreign government have cultivated “a range of relationships of significant concern”, the report said.

Continue reading...

Taiwan monitoring Chinese strike group off the coast after president meets US speaker

Posted on by

China has said it would take ‘resolute’ measures to defend sovereignty, after denouncing Tsai’s meeting in California with McCarthy

Taiwan authorities are monitoring Chinese military activity including a carrier strike group about 200 nautical miles (370km) off the main island’s coastline, after the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, met US House speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

In the meeting, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, McCarthy stressed the urgency of arms deliveries to Taiwan, while Tsai praised the “strong and unique partnership” with the US..

Continue reading...

Rival protests in Los Angeles as Taiwan’s president arrives for visit

Posted on by

Tsai Ing-wen to meet the US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, which China has called a ‘provocation’

Pro- and anti-Taiwan protesters gathered at Los Angeles airport for the arrival of Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, before a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with the US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

Protesters also crowded outside Tsai’s LA hotel on Tuesday evening, banging drums, chanting and holding Taiwanese flags and photos of the president, who shook hands with supporters as she entered. A smaller, pro-Beijing group gathered nearby on the pavement, separated by a police line, at times chanting “One China”.

Continue reading...

Macron arrives in China hoping to talk Xi into changing stance on Ukraine

Posted on by

French leader sees Beijing as possible ‘gamechanger’ and will also discuss European trade on three-day visit

Emmanuel Macron has arrived in China for a three-day state visit during which he hopes to dissuade Xi Jinping from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also developing European trade ties with Beijing.

Shortly after arriving in the Chinese capital, Macron said he wanted to push back against the idea that there was an “inescapable spiral of mounting tensions” between China and the west.

Continue reading...

Mexican president bemoans ‘rude’ US fentanyl pressure in plea to Xi Jinping

Posted on by

Andrés Manuel López Obrador asks China to curb exports of opioid after lengthy denunciation of similar calls from US

Mexico’s president has written to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, urging him to help control shipments of fentanyl, while also complaining of “rude” US pressure to curb the drug trade.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has previously said that fentanyl is the US’s problem and is caused by “a lack of hugs” in US families. On Tuesday he read out the letter to Xi dated 22 March in which he defended efforts to curb supply of the deadly drug, while rounding on US critics.

Continue reading...

ABC to review use of TikTok after app banned from Australian government devices

Posted on by

Ban only applies to non-corporate government entities but may have flow-on effects to other agencies and businesses

The ABC is reviewing its use of TikTok following the federal government’s ban of the Chinese-owned social media app on government-issued devices.

The ban announced by the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, on Tuesday only applies to non-corporate government entities, meaning a range of government-owned businesses and agencies are not subject to the ban, including the ABC, SBS, Australia Post and NBN Co.

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

Continue reading...

Australia-wide ban of TikTok on government devices announced as senior politicians quit the app

Posted on by

Prohibition of Chinese social media app follows similar bans in other western countries

The Australian government has banned the use of Chinese social media app TikTok on government devices, following similar bans in other western countries.

The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said he had authorised the secretary of his department to issue a mandatory direction to prohibit the TikTok app on devices issued by commonwealth departments and agencies.

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

Continue reading...

US house speaker Kevin McCarthy confirms he will meet Taiwan president in California

Posted on by

China previously warned McCarthy he is ‘playing with fire’ over the meeting and risks ‘serious confrontation’

Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen will meet with US House speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, the Republican’s office has confirmed, in defiance of warnings from Beijing that such a meeting would be a “provocation”.

Tsai is scheduled to make a stopover in California after state visits to Belize and Guatemala, Taiwan’s last remaining Central American diplomatic allies. McCarthy’s office said on Monday the “bipartisan” meeting would take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, outside Los Angeles.

Continue reading...

US to open embassy in Vanuatu as it seeks to counter China in the Pacific

Posted on by

Washington, which has ties with the island nation but has been represented by diplomats based in New Guinea, also plans embassies in Kiribati and Tonga

The United States plans to open an embassy in Vanuatu, the state department has confirmed, as Washington moves to boost its diplomatic presence in the Pacific to counter China’s growing influence.

“Consistent with the US Indo-Pacific strategy, a permanent diplomatic presence in Vanuatu would allow the US government to deepen relationships with Ni-Vanuatu officials and society,” the department said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews returns from media-free China trip as opposition vows to pursue unanswered questions

Posted on by

Victorian premier reveals it was his decision not to invite media on his four-day mission to China

The Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says it was his decision not to invite journalists or key stakeholders on his four-day trip to China and has batted off criticism he had failed to be transparent about the visit.

Andrews this week became the first Australian leader to travel to China since the start of the pandemic and the announcement of the Aukus defence pact, visiting Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan before returning on Saturday.

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

Continue reading...

Pacific trade deal is more useful to Joe Biden than it is to the UK’s economy

Posted on by

Hailed by Tory MPs as a Brexit benefit, CPTPP membership actually turns the UK into a willing pawn in Washington’s geopolitical game

Tory MPs hailed the UK’s entry last week into the Indo-Pacific trading bloc as a major step on the road to re-establishing Britain as a pioneer of free trade.

It was a coup for Rishi Sunak, said David Jones, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics, who was excited to be aligned with “some of the most dynamic economies in the world”.

Continue reading...

Ten Chinese aircraft cross Taiwan Strait median line, island’s defence ministry says

Posted on by

Taiwan sends aircraft to warn away nine Chinese fighter jets and one drone that breached unofficial barrier between two sides

Ten Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, normally an unofficial barrier between the mainland and the island, Taiwan’s defence ministry has said.

Nine Chinese fighter jets and one military drone crossed the median line in the 24 hours to 6am on Saturday, the ministry said in its daily report on Chinese military activities.

Continue reading...