The Morrison government has been hit by an election-eve leak that cabinet’s national security committee blocked a proposal by the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, to double Australia’s support to the Pacific. Labor said the “extraordinary” pre-election leak, first reported by the Australian newspaper, showed the government was “falling apart”, while Scott Morrison insisted the committee was “extremely tight”. The revelation was expected to trigger renewed debate about the government’s Pacific policy in the wake of China signing a security deal with Solomon Islands. Guardian Australia has confirmed that the…
Day: May 19, 2022
Biden Begins Trip to Asia Meant to Reassure Allies of Focus on China
SEOUL — President Biden embarked Thursday on his first diplomatic mission to Asia since taking office, hoping to demonstrate that the United States remained focused on countering China, even as his administration stage-managed a war against Russia in Europe. With his original strategy of pivoting foreign policy attention to Asia effectively blown up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Biden has now shifted to the argument that there can be no trade-off between Europe and Asia and that only the United States can bring together the democracies of the East…
Covid shows that in China, politics matters more than pragmatism
It is very possible that Wu Lien-teh, the father of China’s public health system, saved the world from a pandemic. Sent by the imperial government in 1910 to investigate a disease raging through China’s frozen north-east, Dr Wu identified it as the plague. After conducting China’s first autopsies, he overcame the disbelief of colleagues to insist that plague was spreading by droplets in human breath, as well as by fleas from marmots and other rodents hunted for fur. He ordered the wearing of face-masks, the isolation of the sick and…
The Chinese capital tries to avoid a lockdown
On may 17th the authorities in Shanghai announced that a milestone had been reached in the city’s draconian lockdown that has lasted nearly two months: no new cases for three days outside quarantine areas. But officials say people across China must not let their guard down. Despite growing signs of discontent and severe damage to the economy, the country’s health chief, Ma Xiaowei, said on May 16th: “We’re a long way off being able to relax.” Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser…
Hong Kong arrests a Catholic priest for siding with democrats
Cardinal joseph zen is no friend of the Chinese Communist Party. Since the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997 he has been a thorn in the party’s side, criticising its human-rights record and its squeezing of the former British colony’s autonomy. On May 11th he was arrested under the new national security law. His alleged crime was raising funds for activists during the pro-democracy protests of 2019. He was released on bail shortly after. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your…
The UN’s human-rights chief is finally about to visit Xinjiang
On the surface, much has changed in the western region of Xinjiang since Michelle Bachelet, the un High Commissioner for Human Rights, first proposed a visit there in 2018. Many of the camps where some 1m Uyghurs and other minorities were “re-educated” in 2017-2019 have been dismantled. This does not mean the situation has improved. Some camps have been transformed into forced labour sites, with the barbed wire taken down and new signs declaring that they are factories. Satellite imagery shows that new detention camps have sprung up in remote…
A new Twitter account shows how the Chinese Communist Party stirs up ultra-nationalism
War has made the Kremlin try harder to envelop Russians in a parallel information universe, in which Ukraine is run by Nazis and Russian soldiers are liberators. China’s government is doing something similar. Whereas its propaganda for foreign ears stresses China’s desire for global harmony, at home it not only allows but even encourages the expression of caustically nationalist views online, especially on topics such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, covid-19 and Ukraine. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the…
Chinese Hackers Tried to Steal Russian Defense Data, Report Says
Under China’s authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping, Beijing has refined its approach to cyberspying, transforming over the past decade into a far more sophisticated actor. China’s premier spy agency, borrowing a page from Russia, has recruited beyond its ranks, pulling from the country’s growing pool of tech workers. The strategy has made its attacks more scattershot and unpredictable, but analysts say it has also helped strengthen the country’s efforts, enabling spies to run stealthy attacks that target intellectual property as well as political and military intelligence around the world. Mr. Xi…