President says China in an ‘unstable and uncertain’ security situation amid tensions over Taiwan
Xi Jinping has told the People’s Liberation Army to “focus all its energy on fighting” in preparation for war, a Chinese Communist party mouthpiece has reported.
Pictures of Xi, who recently secured a third term as party leader, in his army uniform during a visit to a command centre featured prominently on the front page of the People’s Daily on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Senior Communist party official jailed over Tiananmen democracy movement became one of party’s most vociferous critics
Bao Tong, the most senior Chinese Communist party official jailed over the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement, has died four days after his 90th birthday.
The former top aide of the reformist leader Zhao Ziyang, a sympathiser of the student-led movement that was crushed by the military in 1989, died early on Wednesday morning in Beijing, his son Bao Pu said in a brief Twitter post.
Continue reading...US-China relations hit new low this year after Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty
• Cop27 live – latest news updates
China’s top climate official has said the US must take responsibility for any reconciliation between the two countries at the Cop27 climate summit, calling on the US to “clear the barriers” to talks.
Xie Zhenhua, the climate envoy for China, said he had met John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where governments and world leaders have gathered for a fortnight of talks on the climate crisis.
Continue reading...European diplomats say Charles Michel video referring to Russia’s ‘illegal’ and ‘brutal’ invasion was withdrawn from trade fair
Chinese authorities dropped a trade fair speech by the European Council president, Charles Michel, that was critical of Russia’s war in Ukraine, diplomats have said.
The recorded message by Michel was meant to be one of several from world leaders and heads of international bodies played at the opening on Friday last week of China’s International Import Expo in Shanghai. Three European diplomats said Michel’s speech, which was to have been heavily critical of Russia’s “illegal” war in Ukraine, had been removed, according to Reuters, which first reported the incident.
Continue reading...Harvesting data is the norm for social media apps, but the question that many have is where it goes and who has access to it
In 2021 Android phone users around the world spent 16.2tn minutes on TikTok. And while those millions and millions of users no doubt had an enjoyable time watching clips on the addictive social video app, they also generated a colossal amount of data.
TikTok collects information on how you consume its content, from the device you are using to how long you watch a post for and what categories you like, and uses that information to fine tune the algorithm for the app’s main feed.
Continue reading...The Hurun Rich list shows the Russia-Ukraine war and Beijing’s zero-Covid measures seriously affecting China’s most wealthy
China’s super-rich saw their wealth fall by the largest amount in over two decades, as the Russia-Ukraine war, Beijing’s zero-Covid measures and falling local stock markets pummelled fortunes, an annual rich list showed.
The Hurun Rich list, which ranks China’s wealthiest people with a minimum net worth of 5 billion yuan ($690m), said only 1,305 people made the threshold this year, down 11% from last year. Their total wealth was $3.5tn, down 18% from last year.
Continue reading...The prime minister’s comments come after a news report that Beijing had funded a ‘clandestine network’ of candidates in 2019
Justin Trudeau has warned that China is “play[ing] aggressive games” to undermine democratic institutions amid reports Beijing actively interfered in Canada’s federal elections.
His comments on Monday came after a news report that Beijing had funded a “clandestine network” of candidates in Canada’s 2019 election and just days after the federal police force said it was actively investigating a secret network of illegal Chinese “police stations” in Toronto.
Continue reading...Beijing ‘resolutely opposes’ official exchanges between Taipei and UK government, says foreign ministry
• UK politics live – latest news updates
China has criticised the British government for sending the trade minister Greg Hands to Taiwan and said the UK must cease “sending the wrong signals” to pro-independence forces on the self-ruled island that Beijing regards as its territory.
Hands began a two-day visit to Taipei on Monday, during which he is scheduled to meet the democracy’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, and co-host the 25th annual UK-Taiwan trade talks.
Continue reading...Prime minister’s judgment called into question after making Williamson minister again
Keir Starmer has said Gavin Williamson should be sacked, because he is “not fit” be a government minister.
But, speaking to journalists this morning, the Labour leader focused his criticism on Rishi Sunak for giving Williamson a job as a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office, with the right to attend cabinet.
It is so disappointing that yet again we’re having a discussion about the prime minister’s judgment, this time in relation to Gavin Williamson. He’s clearly got people around the cabinet table who are not fit to be there. That is because he was so weak and wanted to avoid an election within his own party and I think the only way out of this, because these debates are going to go on, because of the weak position the prime minister is in, I think we should say to the public, they should have a choice - do you want to carry on with this chaos or do you want the stability of a Labour government? That’s why I think there is such a powerful case for a general election.
I think that the prime minister has got people who are clearly not fit for the job around the cabinet table. Gavin Williamson has got history when it comes to breaches of security and leaking, etc. He is clearly not suitable, but the central focus really here is on the prime minister, to ask the question why has he put these people around the cabinet.
Continue reading...Tech company says customers will experience longer wait times as the plant in China is operating at reduced capacity
Apple has said it expects fewer iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max shipments than previously anticipated as Covid-19 restrictions temporarily disrupt production at an assembly facility in Zhengzhou, China.
“The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity,” Apple said in a statement. “Customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products.”
Continue reading...Unexpected announcement quashes hopes of lifting lockdowns, quarantining and rigorous testing
Health officials in China on Saturday dashed hopes there would be a relaxation of the country’s strict Covid-19 restrictions. At a news conference, they insisted China would “unswervingly” stick to its zero-Covid policy which includes lockdowns, quarantining and rigorous testing aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
The announcement follows several days’ speculation that they were considering changing a disease containment policy that has disrupted economic growth and daily life, and is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world.
Continue reading...China and Russia, meanwhile, accuse US of inflaming tensions with large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea
The United States has accused Russia and China of providing “blanket protection” to North Korea from further UN Security Council action and said the pair had “bent over backwards” to justify Pyongyang’s ballistic missile launches.
The US, Britain, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway requested that the Security Council meet on Friday after North Korea, formally known as the DPRK, fired multiple missiles, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile.
Continue reading...Despite relatively low case numbers, there are reportedly about 200 lockdowns across the country
Waves of outrage and frustration over China’s lockdown measures this week have demonstrated widening cracks in the general compliance with the government’s zero-Covid policy.
Rising anger has been driven by the tragic death of a toddler, and highly public problematic lockdowns in the Henan capital, Zhengzhou. Officials were left scrambling to control the narrative, amid swirling rumours of imminent policy shifts and a former government health expert saying on Friday that “substantive changes will happen soon”.
Continue reading...Huge chunk of Long March 5B rocket launched four days previously re-enters atmosphere
A hefty chunk of the massive rocket used to deliver the third module of China’s Tiangong space station has fallen back to Earth uncontrolled, triggering the closure of some of Spain’s airspace and leading to hundreds of flight delays.
Four days after blasting off from southern China, a large part of the Long March 5B (CZ-5B) rocket broke up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the south-central Pacific ocean at 10.01 UTC, according to European and US space authorities.
Continue reading...Xi Jinping tells Olaf Scholz of the need for greater cooperation during ‘times of change and turmoil’
Xi Jinping and Olaf Scholz have condemned Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, with both leaders expressing their desire for the conflict to end.
The Chinese president stressed the need for greater cooperation between China and Germany in what he referred to as “times of change and turmoil”, and said both leaders “jointly oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons,” although he stopped short of criticising Russia or calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Continue reading...Move comes after ‘multi-step’ review by Canada’s national security and intelligence agencies
Canada has ordered China to immediately sell its holdings in three Canadian mining companies, as the need for investments in the extraction of critical minerals clashes with growing concerns over national security.
On Wednesday Canada’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said three Chinese companies would be required to divest from junior mining companies.
Continue reading...Activists fear for their safety after limited UK riposte to assault on demonstrator outside Chinese consulate
Hong Kong migrants who fled repression by China said they fear for their safety and are calling on the UK government to take a bolder stance after a pro-democracy protester was beaten in the grounds of a Chinese consulate two weeks ago.
The assault in Manchester drew swift condemnation from activists and politicians across the Commons as videos circulated showing a senior Chinese diplomat forcefully grabbing a pro-democracy protester’s hair before the protester was wrestled to the ground and beaten by a group of men.
Continue reading...Scholz’s coalition government seems uncertain about what sort of relationship it wants with Beijing
Russia’s war in Ukraine has woken Germany up to the risk of having an economy that is too reliant on raw materials provided by an autocratic strongman. But as the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, heads to Beijing at the end of this week, there are questions as to whether he would rather leave lessons from the recent past at home in Berlin.
Scholz is the first representative of a liberal democracy to be granted a state visit to China since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in 2019, and will be the first major political leader to meet Xi Jinping since the Chinese president consolidated his power with a shake-up at the top of the Communist party.
Continue reading...Tuo Shilei said his son was delayed in receiving treatment due to strict lockdown conditions in city of Lanzhou
The father of a three-year-old boy who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in north-west China said strict Covid-19 policies “indirectly killed” his son by causing delays obtaining treatment.
The boy’s death on Tuesday sparked outrage on social media and is the latest incident to trigger blowback against China’s strict zero-Covid policy.
Continue reading...Privacy policy update confirms data of continent’s users available to range of TikTok bases including in Brazil, Israel and US
TikTok is spelling out to its European users that their data can be accessed by employees outside the continent, including in China, amid political and regulatory concerns about Chinese access to user information on the platform.
The Chinese-owned social video app is updating its privacy policy to confirm that staff in countries, including China, are allowed to access user data to ensure their experience of the platform is “consistent, enjoyable and safe”.
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