Category Archives: China

Size of UK’s nuclear submarine fleet could double under Aukus plans

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First of new vessels expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in early 2040s

The UK’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet could double in size as plans were revealed for the new “Aukus” vessels to be based on a British design.

In a bid to counter the growing threat from China, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed alongside his US and Australian counterparts to stand “shoulder to shoulder” to protect peace in the Indo-Pacific given its implications for security across the world.

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China’s top property developer expects first loss since 2007 flotation

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Country Garden’s 2022 forecast is another blow for country’s embattled sector

China’s top property developer expects to record a loss in 2022 – its first since the company went public in 2007 – in another blow for the country’s embattled property sector.

In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Country Garden said that the losses for 2022 would amount to between 5.5bn yuan and 7.5bn yuan (£663.6m-£904.9m). In 2021 Country Garden’s profits reached 26.8bn yuan.

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After years of isolation, Xi’s China looks to dominate world stage

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President expected to visit Iran and to meet Vladimir Putin soon as he aims to build ties abroad

In Xi Jinping’s closing speech at China’s annual parliamentary meeting on Monday, his message was clear: China is back. Speaking to nearly 3,000 delegates in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi, newly anointed as president for a precedent-busting third term, said: “After a century of struggle, our national humiliation has been erased … the Chinese nation’s great revival is on an irreversible path.”

The speech comes as Xi is trying to position himself as a global statesman, leading a China that is ready to dominate the world stage. After three years of isolation caused by the zero-Covid policy, Chinese diplomats and Xi himself are jetting across borders to participate in international summits once again.

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Sunak heads to US to unveil latest news on Australian nuclear sub deal

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Latest phase of Aukus scheme comes amid concerns about growing threat from China

Rishi Sunak will fly to San Diego on Sunday to unveil plans for supplying Australia with nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus scheme amid concerns about the growing threat from China.

A major announcement 18 months in the making is expected when the UK prime minister meets his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and US president Joe Biden.

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Hong Kong court jails Tiananmen anniversary vigil organisers

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Prosecutors said Chow Hang-Tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were under foreign influence but refused to say who it was

A Hong Kong court has jailed three former members of a group that organised annual vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in China.

Chow Hang-tung, 38, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was among those convicted by a magistrate’s court. The two others were Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong.

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Li Qiang: Xi Jinping, China’s president, names next premier

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Nomination at annual meeting of National People’s Congress confirms replacement of Li Keqiang

‘A defeated person’: sidelined by Xi, Li Keqiang bows out as premier

Xi Jinping has nominated Li Qiang, 63, to become premier during the continuing annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

Li Qiang will replace Li Keqiang, who became premier in 2013 amid high hopes he would usher in liberal reforms. But his power was curbed by Xi, who increasingly sidelined Li Keqiang and placed allies in key strategic positions over him.

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Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties after China-brokered talks

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Embassies to reopen in move that could have wide implications for Iran nuclear deal and Yemen war

Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two great oil-producing rivals of the Middle East, have agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies seven years after relations were severed.

The agreement came after Chinese-brokered talks held in Beijing. “As a result of the talks, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies … within two months,” Iran’s state news agency Irna reported, citing a joint statement.

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Drawing closer to US while seeking warmer China ties leaves Australia with a tough balancing act

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Bid to maintain ‘strategic equilibrium’ through the Aukus pact and a better relationship with Beijing is quite the needle to thread

There was a moment in federal parliament this week when the seriousness of the looming Aukus announcement seemed to dawn on the defence minister, Richard Marles.

“It is difficult to overstate the step that, as a nation, we are about to take,” Marles, in the acting prime minister’s chair, solemnly told the chamber on Thursday.

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Outgoing president of Micronesia accuses China of bribery, threats and interference

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In his letter, Panuelo openly canvassed the country switching its diplomatic recognition from Beijing to Taipei

China is engaged in “political warfare” in the Pacific, the outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia has alleged in an excoriating letter, accusing Beijing officials of bribing elected officials in Micronesia, and even “direct threats against my personal safety”.

Two months before his term as president expires, David Panuelo’s letter alleged China was preparing for conflict over the island of Taiwan, and that its goal in interfering in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was to render the country neutral in any potential Pacific war.

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Xi Jinping handed unprecedented third term as China’s president

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Coronation sets up Xi, who has overseen consolidation of power, to become modern China’s longest-serving head of state

Xi Jinping has been handed an unprecedented third term as president, capping an ascent in which he has become China’s most powerful leader in generations.

In a carefully choreographed ceremony in Beijing, Xi held up his right fist and placed his left hand on a red leather copy of China’s constitution. In the oath – beamed live on state television across China – he vowed to “build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and great modern socialist country”.

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Biden budget includes billions for Pacific islands in bid to ‘out-compete’ China

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Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau stand to benefit as White House warns of Beijing’s intent and ability to ‘reshape the international order’

Alarmed by China’s success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions from its federal budget to keep three of those countries in the US orbit.

President Joe Biden’s spending plan, released on Thursday, includes more than $7.1bn in funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The money is included in the $63.1bn request for the state department and the US Agency for International Development.

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Trudeau faces fury of Canadian MPs over alleged Chinese election meddling

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Prime minister faces accusations of not taking issue seriously amid reports of 11 candidates receiving Chinese money

• Canada roiled by leaked intelligence reports of Chinese election ‘meddling’

Justin Trudeau is under mounting pressure to explain how seriously his government has responded to the threat of Chinese interference in Canadian elections in the wake of damning intelligence leaks.

Allegations that the prime minister’s government has failed to act on meddling efforts featured prominently in a raucous session of parliament on Wednesday, as concern over Beijing’s efforts to undermine Canadian elections continues to dominate the country’s politics.

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Cabinet Office ‘told Matt Hancock to tone down lab leak claims’

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Former health secretary was asked to make clear in Pandemic Diaries that he was not reflecting government’s view

Matt Hancock was instructed by the Cabinet Office to tone down claims in his memoir that the Covid-19 pandemic originated from a laboratory leak in China, according to leaked correspondence.

Officials warned it would “cause problems” if Hancock repeated the claim in his Pandemic Diaries and insisted he must make clear he was not reflecting the government’s view, the Daily Telegraph reported.

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TikTok unveils European data security plan amid calls for US ban

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Move comes as White House backs bill that could give it power to ban Chinese-owned app nationwide

TikTok has announced a data security regime for protecting user information across Europe, as political pressure increases in the US to ban the social video app.

The plan, known as Project Clover, involves user data being stored on servers in Ireland and Norway at an annual cost of €1.2bn (£1.1bn), while any data transfers outside Europe will be vetted by a third-party IT company.

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US expected to ease Covid testing for arrivals from China

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Improving situation in China prompts decision, say news reports quoting Biden administration officials

The US is preparing to relax Covid-19 testing restrictions for travellers from China as soon as Friday, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The people, who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration had decided to roll back the testing requirements as cases, hospitalisations and deaths were declining in China and the US had gathered better information about the surge. The Washington Post was first to report on Tuesday about the easing of requirements.

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Chinese cities hit record high temperatures for early March

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After months of extreme heat, Wuhan has registered spring temperatures of 26C, while Beijing and surrounding cities hit 25C

Temperatures in more than a dozen Chinese cities have hit record seasonal highs this week, with central China’s Wuhan and Zhengzhou more than 10C hotter than average for early March, official data showed.

Wuhan, located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, registered temperatures of 26C on Monday, 12 degrees higher than the long-term early March average, while Beijing and surrounding cities also saw temperatures reach 25C earlier this week.

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China to set up new financial watchdog as part of reforms

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New body will replace banking and insurance regulators after concerns over creaking property market

China will set up a new financial watchdog to replace its banking and insurance regulators as part of an overhaul of state institutions after concern about exposure to its creaking property market.

The new body, which does not have an official name yet, would bring oversight of China’s financial system under direct control of the State Council, the top government body. There are also reports that the president, Xi Jinping, who will in all likelihood be granted a third presidential term on Friday, will revive the Central Financial Work Commission, an organisation that would supervise the financial system on behalf of the Chinese Communist party, although this has yet to be announced publicly.

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Canada roiled by leaked intelligence reports of Chinese election ‘meddling’

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Trudeau resists calls for public inquiry as leaks spark fierce debate and threaten to dent country’s reputation with allies

A flurry of leaked intelligence reports has reignited allegations that China interfered in Canada’s recent federal elections, kicking off a fierce debate over possible responses to Beijing’s meddling.

But the leaks also run the risk of harming Canada’s reputation among its allies, experts warn, as the country’s spy agency struggles to respond to mounting public concern.

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Paul Keating blasts Age and SMH for ‘provocative’ China war story

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Former Australian PM criticises ‘extent of the bias’ in newspapers’ front-page report warning of armed conflict in Indo-Pacific

The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has accused two of the country’s biggest newspapers of “the most egregious and provocative news presentation” in five decades, after they published front-page stories warning the country faced war with China within three years.

The former Labor leader, who has long argued Australia should not be drawn into a war over the status of democratically governed Taiwan, took aim at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age on Tuesday.

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China foreign minister warns of potential for conflict with US and hails Russia ties

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In a bellicose first press conference, Qin Gang rebuked Washington over its Taiwan policy and the balloon incident, while praising Beijing’s relationship with Russia

The US and China are heading towards inevitable conflict if Washington does not change its approach, China’s new foreign minister has said in a fiery press conference in which he defended his country’s strengthening relationship with Russia.

In his first media appearance as foreign minister, held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the “two sessions” political gathering, Qin Gang outlined China’s foreign policy agenda for the coming years, presenting China and its relationship with Russia as a beacon of strength and stability, and the US and its allies as a source of tension and conflict.

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