Scott Morrison’s efforts to politicise Australia’s complex relationship with China seems to be further soiling his own flagging reputation. Like a bull in the proverbial, he has spent the past fortnight bombarding the airwaves with hastily googled dossiers and cold war-era panics to suggest an Albanese government would become an antipodean branch office of the Beijing Politburo. Large sections of the national gallery have embraced his China pivot, breathlessly reporting the attacks on Labor, amplifying intelligence community blowback and catastrophising operational incidents that would normally demand sober assessment rather than…
Day: February 21, 2022
Beijing Olympic Ratings Were the Worst of Any Winter Games
An average of 11.4 million viewers watched the Beijing Olympics on NBC Universal platforms each night — the smallest prime-time audience on record for any Winter Games and well off the 19.8 million nightly viewers for the Pyeongchang Games in 2018. More than two weeks of coverage, starting with the frigid opening show on Feb. 4 and ending Sunday, drew 160 million total viewers across the NBC television channel, the Peacock streaming service and other platforms, NBC Universal said on Monday. Dramatic story lines proliferated during NBC Universal’s 2,800 hours…
China accuses Australian defence force of ‘spiteful’ actions after laser accusation
China’s national defence ministry has accused the Australian defence force of “spiteful and provocative actions” as it brushed off the accusation that its warship had shone a laser at an Australian surveillance plane. But the Australian government hit back on Tuesday, confirming that the Australian plane had dropped buoys in the water to detect acoustic signals but only after the laser was detected. It said the Royal Australian Air Force had acted “within international law at all times”. The Australian government had demanded an explanation from Beijing over a “dangerous,…
In an Uneven Fight With China, Lithuania’s Brand Becomes Toxic
VILNIUS, Lithuania — A family-owned semiconductor company in Lithuania sold nothing to China, so it did not worry much last year when Beijing, furious at the Baltic nation for cozying up to Taiwan, began blocking imports of milk products, peat and anything else it could find with a “Made in Lithuania” label. Closing the door on Lithuanian exports, however, was just the start. Today, said Kristijonas Vizbaras, a founder of the successful chip maker Brolis Group, anything with a “Lithuanian smell,” no matter how faint — say, a German car…
Times photographers sought to…
Our Photographers’ Favorite Olympic Images Times photographers sought to capture every aspect of the Olympic Games in Beijing. These pictures were special to them. Over the last several weeks, a team of New York Times photographers sought to capture every aspect of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Gabriela Bhaskar I thought a lot about the implications of photographing women, many of whom are still teenagers, figure skating in revealing costumes as they executed incredible feats of athleticism. Nicole Schott, 25, of Germany, wore a costume with a massive cutout on…
Laser incident involving Chinese warship most serious in growing trend, ADF says
The Australian defence force has confirmed an “increase in the use of lasers by some vessels” but regards the latest incident involving a Chinese warship as “more serious”, officials have revealed. Experts said the shining of a laser at an Australian surveillance aircraft by a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warship last week represented an escalation from a previous incident in the South China Sea in 2019 when Australian helicopter pilots were forced to land as a precaution. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said on Monday that “all the countries…