Solomon Islands has said it won’t allow China to build a military base as it seeks to counter international fears over its new security alliance with China. But that insistence will do little to ease concerns about the pact from the nation’s traditional partners that include New Zealand, Australia and the United States. The leader of Micronesia added his voice to those expressing trepidation by invoking the bloody battles of the second world war and warning that the pact could again see the South Pacific region become a battleground for…
Month: March 2022
China: Peeking into the private lives of livestreamers
It was not just viewers who were hooked. More digitally-savvy entrepreneurs also went online to peddle goods. In February 2020 at the height of China’s Covid-19 epidemic, Taobao, the Chinese platform which sees the largest number of livestreaming sales, saw an increase of 719% in new sellers across the country. BBC
N.B.A. Basketball Returns to Chinese TV After a Long Absence
China Central Television, China’s state-run TV network, has begun to broadcast N.B.A. games again, signaling that the rift between the league and the authoritarian government that has persisted since 2019 appears to be coming to an end. The news was first reported by Global Times, a state-run Chinese media outlet, and confirmed by a spokesman for the N.B.A. The first game this year on state TV, according to Global Times, was Tuesday night’s matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz. According to Global Times, the broadcast was…
Your Friday Briefing: Biden Releases Oil Reserves
Good morning. We’re covering global energy challenges, missile deception in North Korea and the wild world of Wikipedia. War roils global energy access On Thursday, the White House announced a plan to release up to 180 million barrels of oil from U.S. strategic reserves, the largest release since it was created, hoping to push gas prices down. Oil prices, which had been surging since the fighting in Ukraine began, fell modestly on expectations of the announcement. But diesel prices are still soaring. At the same time, OPEC and its allies,…
Xiongan New Area, 5 Years on
Advertisement Xiongan, a centrally planned city situated 100 kilometers to the south of Beijing, is China’s latest “New Area.” Designed to be larger than New York City, Xiongan represents the aspiration of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to relieve the capital of non-essential functions and reduce its population, while also creating an innovation hub for the surrounding region. But five years on from its launch, all evidence suggests that Xiongan’s enduring function will be as a political legacy-building project for Xi, as he seeks to redraw the role of capital in…
Chinese Communist party expels former justice minister in latest purge
Beijing has expelled its high-profile former justice minister and deputy police chief from the ruling Communist party, denouncing him as being “extremely despicable” and accusing him of befriending “political frauds”. Fu Zhenghua – who had reportedly helped bring down China’s former security chief Zhou Yongkang a few years ago – has been removed from public office over serious violations of party discipline and laws, said the state news agency Xinhua in a brief announcement that attributed the decisions to Beijing’s top anti-graft body. The Chinese version of Thursday’s announcement –…
Covid, Russia and Economy Put the ‘China Model’ to the Test
A year ago, while many countries were still reeling from Covid-19, China seemed to be one of few places prospering through the pandemic. It was also the only major economy that reported growth in 2020. Global investors were bullish on Chinese stocks even as Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on its private sector became more like a political campaign. That led some people in China to argue that its one-party authoritarian rule offered a compelling alternative to traditional liberal democracy. The United States was declining politically and economically, they said, and the…
Cheng Lei: Australian journalist on trial in China for spy charge
“This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and regrettable. We can have no confidence in the validity of the process which is conducted in secret,” he said, adding that Australia would continue to “advocate strongly for Ms Cheng Lei’s rights and interests”. BBC
Australian ambassador barred from Beijing security trial of journalist Cheng Lei
The national security trial of Australian journalist Cheng Lei is scheduled to begin in Beijing under tight security and behind closed doors – with foreign journalists and diplomats denied entry. Cheng, a former anchor for Chinese state TV broadcaster CGTN, has been detained for 19 months after a shock arrest in 2020. She was formally arrested in February 2021 on “suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas” but no further details were provided. Cheng’s family have insisted she is innocent. Outside the No 2 intermediate people’s court in Beijing on…
OPEC and Russia to Meet as War in Ukraine Roils Oil Market
In the last month, oil markets have been shaken by a war that has sparked a jump in prices and threatened a critical shortfall in crude and other petroleum products. But when most of the world’s largest oil producers meet by teleconference on Thursday to discuss supplies, analysts don’t expect much action. Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia are likely to do little more than announce their usual modest monthly production increases, leading to questions about how much oil the group really does have in…