China News
Politics & Law
China now claims Bhutan’s territory, Bhutan rejects Chinese claims
In yet another new move to claim land in Bhutan, China at the 58th meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council tried to “oppose” funding to a project for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Bhutan saying that it was “disputed” territory. In reality, there has never been any dispute about where the sanctuary lay … Continue reading
Pyongyang helping Beijing strengthen ties with Seoul
North Korea kept its promise to dismantle its nuclear facilities but still the US refused to lift the economic sanctions. What was worse was that Washington did not allow Seoul to engage in normal trade with Pyongyang within the Korean Peninsula. It is so silly and illogical that when the two Koreas want to enjoy … Continue reading
Australians at risk of arbitrary arrest in China, Australian government travel advice warns
The Federal Government has issued new travel advice warning Australians they could face “arbitrary detention” if they go to mainland China. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also said Chinese Government authorities have detained foreigners because they were allegedly “endangering national security”. The department was already advising travellers not to travel to China — … Continue reading
The world is finally uniting against China’s bully tactics
Twenty Indian soldiers are murdered in a surprise cross-border attack by the People’s Liberation Army. A Philippine fishing boat is sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. Peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong are beaten bloody by riot police on Beijing’s orders. Australia’s farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions … Continue reading
Hong Kong man accused of terrorism in first use of China’s new security law
A man carrying a “Liberate Hong Kong” sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory’s Chinese rulers became on Friday the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under a new security law Beijing imposed the legislation on the former British colony earlier this week despite protests from … Continue reading
Vietnam could face blowback from legal row with China
If Hanoi files an official complaint in its South China Sea dispute with Beijing, it could lose more than it win. Pundits are predicting that Vietnam will soon file a complaint under the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) dispute-settlement mechanism regarding China’s actions in the South China Sea. As an indication that … Continue reading
Trump’s national-security adviser says U.S. ‘has finally awoken to the threat’ posed by China
President Donald Trump’s national-security adviser warned China on Wednesday that the United States is waking up to the threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses “to our great way of life” and will act to check the spread of Beijing’s ideology. Robert O’Brien said his speech challenging China was the first of many planned for … Continue reading
World War III is getting uglier
Continue Reading From Part 1: This is a regular working day in New York City, U.S.A. The lines outside the ATMs and Bank tellers are getting serpentine, and people are losing their patience, the banking servers have crashed. In a short while stock market servers crash, and airlines & train bookings are not accessible. Almost … Continue reading
As ‘not-re-elected’ Trump may refuse to quit, Beijing is preparing for US chaos
“… the military will escort Mr. Trump out of the White House if he loses the election and doesn’t leave …” said Joe Biden when being asked about such a scenario (CBS News June 11). Do not be so naïve because should Trump really refuse to step down, he probably had had some sort of … Continue reading
Understanding and navigating Hong Kong’s security law
US Secretary of State Pompeo says new security law will be a ‘death knell’ for Hong Kong’s autonomy.” “China warns UK of economic damage unless it backs down.” “National security law for Hong Kong to boost ‘one country, two systems’ and ensure freedoms beyond 2047.” What are business leaders to think as they wake up … Continue reading
ASEAN, C-19 and Vietnam’s Chairmanship
COVID-19 (C-19) event is posing serious challenges for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020. But Vietnam, as current ASEAN chair, is trying to make the best of the situation and demonstrate leadership. As 2020 marks a mid-term review of the implementation of the ASEAN Community Building Blueprints 2015–25, Vietnam chose ‘Cohesive … Continue reading
America and China: A possible post COVID-19 future
“Americans performed three very different policies on the People’s Republic: From a total negation (and the Mao-time mutual annihilation assurances), to Nixon’s sudden cohabitation. Finally, a Copernican-turn: the US spotted no real ideological differences between them and the post-Deng China. This signalled a ‘new opening’: West imagined China’s coastal areas as its own industrial suburbia. … Continue reading
How to avoid a China-led world order
As the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded, it has opened our eyes to China’s rapidly expanding role in the international order and global economy. Beijing’s outsize role in the World Health Organization has come under attack, as has the muscular diplomacy used by China’s foreign ministry in responding to criticism. Three decades of American global hegemony after the … Continue reading
MPs from eight countries form new global coalition to counter China
What does the chair of the Australian parliament’s Intelligence Committee have in common with a Greens MP, a former Japanese Defence Minister, and a former Liberal Canadian attorney-general? The answer is China. Today, a group of 19 MPs from eight countries and the European Parliament, representing a swathe of parties from right across the political … Continue reading
Meritocracy: from China to worldwide in the 21st Century
At the end of my 2019 Sept 11 China News post ‘Mooncake and China’s ascending culture’, I said “… I will start a series of articles explaining the nature of the present regime in China, so as to let readers realize why it may be able to survive, and maintain a balance against the liberal … Continue reading
Policy beyond politics – The UN Security Council should urgently address Covid-19 (part 2)
Further to the points of view undersigned authors expressed nearly two months ago (see: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/the-un-security-council-should-urgently-address-covid-19/), it is to a deep regret that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) still misses to adopt the much-needed Council Resolution to address the COVID-19 (C-19) pandemic event. This paralysis is largely due to the tensions between two of its … Continue reading
What next after US sanctions China’s Hong Kong SAR?
Washington has been deadly sure to sanction China in certain way (Bloomberg May 26). While the COVID-19 pandemic may not be a sufficiently justified excuse, Beijing’s move to enact a national security law (Guardian May 28) for its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK) is more than welcome by President Trump and the ‘Deep State’. … Continue reading
Policy beyond politics – The UN Security Council should urgently address Covid-19
Further to the points of view undersigned authors expressed nearly two months ago (see: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/the-un-security-council-should-urgently-address-covid-19/), it is to a deep regret that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) still misses to adopt the much-needed Council Resolution to address the COVID-19 (C-19) pandemic event. This paralysis is largely due to the tensions between two of its … Continue reading
Obama’s man in China is now Beijing’s man in Washington
As the novel coronavirus wreaks havoc across the world, the Obama administration’s ambassador to China has found a second lease on life as a pro-China talking head on regime propaganda outlets. Former ambassador Max Baucus has given at least four different interviews to Chinese propaganda outlets in the last two weeks, repeatedly comparing the U.S. … Continue reading
China’s proposed national security law could end Hong Kong as we know it
Hong Kong is known for being a “city of protest,” with people taking to the streets by the hundreds of thousands to hold their government to account. Long before the Umbrella Movement or last year’s sustained political unrest, this reputation was cemented in 2003, when mass marches against a proposed anti-sedition law known as Article … Continue reading
South Africa asks Hong Kong to remove its citizens from government quarantine list
South Africa has asked the Hong Kong government not to routinely send travellers from the country to quarantine camps when they arrive in the city. Madoda Ntshinga, Pretoria’s consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, said the policy could be seen as discriminatory, when arrivals from Britain and the United States, two countries that have … Continue reading
How could the isolated post-pandemic China survive?
Both COVID-19 and political tensions will obstruct cross-border human traffic as well as civilian purchases in the coming, at least, two years. Realistically speaking, for example, Chinese tourists will be much less welcome in the retail streets of the ANZ, Canada, the US and western European countries. It is therefore definitely not a surprise to … Continue reading
Learning in the light of the coronavirus crisis
The global pandamic of COVID 19 has hit the world in a way nobody has foreseen, let alone prepared to respond. It shakes the core of humanity – no matter how far we have progressed scientifically, we are a speck of dust in the universe trying to understand nature and be a part of it … Continue reading
Why are countries breaking with the Chinese regime?
One would think that Beijing would see that unleashing a pandemic is no way to gain favor with the world. Lying about doing so doesn’t help, either; nor does blaming others for the outbreak. And exporting tainted medical supplies to nations asking for help, while criticizing them for failing to protect their people from the … Continue reading
China will bar international investigators until ‘final victory’ over pandemic is achieved
China’s ambassador to the United Nations revealed Wednesday that Beijing will block international investigators from examining the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus until “final victory” over the pandemic has been achieved. “The top priority, for the time being, is to focus on the fight against the pandemic until we win the final victory,” Chen Xu … Continue reading
Global backlash builds against China over coronavirus
As calls for inquiries and reparations spread, Beijing has responded aggressively, mixing threats with aid and adding to a growing mistrust of China. Australia has called for an inquiry into the origin of the virus. Germany and Britain are hesitating anew about inviting in the Chinese tech giant Huawei. President Trump has blamed China for … Continue reading
China parliament to open key session on May 22 as they claim the epidemic is subsiding
China announced on Wednesday that its parliament will open a key annual session on May 22, signaling that Beijing sees the country returning to normal after being reduced to a near-standstill for months by the COVID-19 epidemic. During the gathering of the National People’s Congress in the capital, delegates will ratify major legislation, and the … Continue reading
Non-Permanent members lead the Security Council through COVID-19
Building up on the recent analysis of the IFIMES (International Institute of the Special Consultative status with the UN Eco-Soc) and its call for a formidable multilateral action; “The International Security Dimension of Covid-19 and the Pivotal role of the UN SC”, the founder and CEO of the London-based think-tank furthers that argument, while explaining … Continue reading
The post-Corona epilogue of an overheated Sino-American relationship
We have a Winner; Will we have a Game-changer too? Americans performed three very different policies on the People’s Republic: From a total negation (and the Mao-time mutual annihilation assurances), to Nixon’s sudden cohabitation. Finally, a Copernican-turn: the US spotted no real ideological differences between them and the post-Deng China. This signalled a ‘new opening’: … Continue reading
Why China’s propaganda efforts so often backfire
On April 13, China’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun for a news commentary blaming the communist party of China for the COVID-19 crisis. The Global Times followed suit with an editorial to criticize the article, stating that the writer should “be spiritually and mindfully independent and morally integrated as a Japanese.” … Continue reading
China’s coronavirus diplomacy has finally pushed Europe too far
With a series of high-level summits culminating in a visit to Germany in the fall by President Xi Jinping, this was supposed to be the year of Europe-China diplomacy. Instead, Europeans are warning of a damaging rift. Diplomats talk of mounting anger over China’s behavior during the coronavirus pandemic including claims of price gouging by … Continue reading
As global economies dwindle, world wakes up to China’s hostile takeovers amid pandemic
India is the latest country to join the move to resist hostile business takeovers by China. Countries around the world have been tightening rules on foreign investments in critical sectors to ensure that their economies do not become vulnerable and exposed to foreign hands. As reports suggest that Beijing is on a buying spree owing … Continue reading
Angela Merkel urges Chinese transparency over coronavirus
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday joined a growing chorus of countries demanding China tell the truth about the origins of the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Merkel called for the Communist Chinese government to be as transparent as possible as Beijing faces mounting pressure over reports is sought to downplay the virus … Continue reading
Can China recover faster and better after Coronavirus ?
The Plague of Athens (429-426 BC), probably an outbreak of smallpox or typhus after the arrival of a ship from Ethiopia, claimed between 75,000 to 100,000 lives in the city-state. Yet, Athens managed to survive after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) against Sparta. After Socrates’ death in 399 BC, Plato (424-348 BC) laid down the … Continue reading
France summons Chinese envoy after coronavirus ‘slur’
The French foreign office on Tuesday summoned the Chinese ambassador, Lu Shaye, to express its deep disapproval about Chinese diplomats’ claims that France had left its older citizens to die. The allegation, and similar attacks, are linked to Chinese “wolf warriors” on social media. The new, assertive brand of diplomacy is favoured not only by … Continue reading
After 70 years of ties, China and Indonesia have a fruitful, complicated relationship
Freelance writer Sylvie Tanaga, 33, has been learning Mandarin since she was a little girl – but her first lessons were held secretly in a church in Bandung, as Indonesias second president, Suharto, had for decades banned Chinese Indonesians from publicly expressing their culture. Tanaga’s paternal grandfather and her maternal grandparents were born in China … Continue reading
Iranian official backtracks after calling Chinese Covid-19 figures a ‘joke’
Iran’s health ministry spokesman has backtracked after he described China’s official figures on the coronavirus outbreak as a “joke”. Kianoush Jahanpour made the remarks at a press conference and a tweet on Sunday, adding that China had given the impression that coronavirus was like influenza but with fewer deaths. His tweet led led to a … Continue reading
Coronavirus drives the U.S. and China deeper Into global power struggle
Many experts warn that an international health and economic crisis calls for more cooperation, not confrontation, between Washington and Beijing. When President Trump took the podium at the White House briefing room one afternoon last week, his prepared remarks included a reference to the “corona virus.” But a close-up photograph revealed that Mr. Trump had … Continue reading
Photo shows “corona” crossed out and replaced with “Chinese” in Trump’s briefing notes
President Trump’s notes from Thursday’s coronavirus briefing show someone crossed out the word “Corona” in coronavirus and replaced it with the word “Chinese.” This picture captured by Washington Post Photographer Jabin Botsford, comes as Trump has stepped up his efforts to scapegoat China for the spread of the coronavirus. The change in tone from the White House comes as the … Continue reading
China’s handling of coronavirus ‘ruined their international brand’
Hoover Institution Fellow Victor Davis Hanson said on Wednesday that China’s handling of the coronavirus “ruined their international brand,” having potential serious repercussions on its economy as foreign companies may exit. “[China] knew that that virus was not only epidemic but infectious and could be deadly to older people. They didn’t tell anybody. They didn’t … Continue reading
Coronavirus outbreak tests China’s president Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping is surely having the worst 2020 of any major international leader to date. Much of this can be put down to the knock-on effects of the COVID-19 outbreak in the city of Wuhan and Xi’s belated attempts to show he was in charge after an awkward start during which he was almost invisible … Continue reading
China’s coronavirus problem is an opportunity for Taiwan
The island nation has been showing its East Asian neighbors the advantages of democracy and free markets. As the coronavirus wreaks political and economic havoc on the nations of East Asia, one has stood out as a literal island of responsibility and efficiency: Taiwan. Its public-health response is being held up as a global model … Continue reading
Solomon Islands seeks $100 billion loan from Chinese interests
The Solomon Islands is seeking a $100-billion loan from Chinese interests in talks begun soon after the small South Pacific archipelago switched diplomatic ties to Beijing from Taiwan last year. Details of the proposal, reviewed by Reuters, have sparked concern over whether the small economy can handle a loan that represents more than 66 times … Continue reading
The three mistakes the Chinese government has made in its mishandling of the coronavirus crisis
Even though the SSRS disaster demonstrated the need for greater openness, China has made the same mistakes in the current crisis while expecting a different outcome. Wuhan’s decision to suppress the bad news was particularly dire. Given the Communist Party’s tight grip on power, it is hardly surprising that it would mortgage the health of … Continue reading
Rulers for life? How Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi are posing a challenge to the West
Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping have established themselves as the world’s most powerful authoritarian leaders in decades. Now it looks like they want to hang on to those roles indefinitely. Putin’s sudden announcement this week of constitutional changes that could allow him to extend control way beyond the end of his term in … Continue reading
What Americans don’t understand about China’s power
Chinese leaders stretching back to Deng Xiaoping have often thought in terms of decades. A decade encompasses two of China’s famous five-year plans, and it’s a long-enough period to notice real changes in a country’s trajectory. As it happens, I spent time in China at both ends of the decade that just ended, first in … Continue reading
Germany investigates three suspected of spying for China
German authorities raided the homes and offices of three people suspected of spying for the Chinese government, officials said on Thursday, giving no details about their identities or the nature of the alleged espionage. “This is a preliminary investigation against three known persons,” said Markus Schmitt, a spokesman for the German federal prosecutor, Peter Frank. … Continue reading
China says it won’t back off position that Taiwan is its territory
China will not change its position that Taiwan belongs to it, Beijing said on Sunday, after President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election and said she would not submit to China’s threats, as state media warned she was courting disaster. The election campaign was dominated by China’s ramped-up efforts to get the democratic island to accept Beijing’s … Continue reading
How China may help its enemy get elected in Taiwan
Taiwan’s President Tsai can thank Beijing for its stupidity if she stays in power. This Saturday, voters in Taiwan will choose their next president and the national Legislature. Tsai Ing-wen, the incumbent president who is detested by the Chinese government because of her tough — if, until recently, low-key — anti-China stance, has chosen as … Continue reading
U.S.-North Korea tension looms as leaders from China, Japan, South Korea meet
The specter of new confrontation between Pyongyang and Washington hangs over meetings between China, Japan and South Korea this week, with growing risks North Korean actions could end an uneasy detente and upend recent diplomatic efforts. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping … Continue reading
