For Australia, everything can seem China-adjacent. But the reverse is hardly ever true. It is unlikely Xi Jinping – confirmed as China’s national leader for a historic third term this week – is up to speed with the latest developments in Australia-China relations, and perhaps not even those with the US, despite the number of recent flashpoints in bilateral relations, from Taiwan to US restrictions on technology exports to China. But China’s centralisation and consolidation of power has major implications for Australia and the rest of the world. Xi is…
Day: October 26, 2022
Cautious US, EU responses to China’s party congress signal widening gulf with West
“It was very clear from the Communist Party congress that President Xi is continuing to reinforce the very assertive and self-reliant course China has taken,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as the week-long event drew to a close. “Clearly, China is continuing a mission to establish its dominance in East Asia and its influence globally.” The US State Department had “noted” the conclusion of the party meeting, spokesman Ned Price said on Monday, as he repeated the Biden administration’s long-standing China policy of cooperating in a handful…
An Era Just Ended in China
On the economic front, he faces smoldering crises, including an economy that is slowing sharply, a property sector meltdown and record-breaking youth unemployment. These problems have been exacerbated by the Covid controls and by Mr. Xi’s “common prosperity” campaign — a strategy for narrowing inequality and addressing monopolistic behavior by big tech firms and other private companies, which was punctuated by an abrupt and sweeping regulatory crackdown last year that has alarmed investors. The market backlash was intense: Within months, more than a trillion dollars in value at many of…
Protests break out in Tibetan capital against China’s strict Covid restrictions
UPDATED at 12:13 p.m. EDT on 11/01/2022 Angry residents in the Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the harsh COVID-19 lockdown that Chinese authorities have imposed on them for more than two months, Radio Free Asia has learned. They were the first major protests in the city since the 2008 Tibetan Uprising, a series of demonstrations against the Chinese government’s treatment of the ethnic minority group. Chinese police and military forces crushed that uprising, killing dozens. Videos obtained by RFA show scores of…
Authorities in Xinjiang increased detentions of Uyghurs before party congress
China detained hundreds of Uyghurs in its northwestern Xinjiang region during a new round of its “Strike Hard” campaign in the month leading up to last week’s Chinese Communist Party congress to ensure that the predominantly Muslim ethnic group would not stir up trouble, a Uyghur source and regional authorities said. Chinese authorities announced the “Strike Hard” crackdown on “violent terrorist activities” in May 2014 after officials blamed suicide bombers for an attack in the regional capital Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi) that left 31 people dead. Many Uyghurs believe that…
Dutch Are Investigating Reported Illegal Chinese Police Stations
The Dutch government said on Wednesday that it was investigating reports that Chinese law enforcement agencies illegally operate offices in the Netherlands — without Dutch knowledge or approval — to police Chinese citizens overseas. The Chinese embassy in the Netherlands said it was “not aware” of and “not involved” with the offices described in the reports. “China’s judicial and law-enforcement authorities strictly abide by international rules and fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries,” it said in a statement. The exchange came after the Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws and…
US State Department condemns ‘spurious’ fraud conviction of media mogul Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong
Under US policy, Washington determined in 2020 that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from Beijing because of the national security law. Price said the move against Lai “undermines” China’s obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which was supposed to guarantee Hong Kong a “high degree of autonomy” after the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. Advertisement “We urge PRC authorities to restore respect for press freedom in Hong Kong, where a once-vibrant independent media environment has all but disappeared,” Price said. “Efforts to stifle press freedom and restrict…
The 20th Party Congress and the Future of China-EU Relations
Advertisement In recent years, European capitals have become increasingly united in their assessment that China is managing its global political rise according to self-defined prerogatives, disregarding rules at home and abroad when deemed necessary. Presently the dominating topic in the European China debate has focused on the question of how to reduce dependencies on China. This is a lesson learned from Europe’s dependency on Russian energy recognized in the wake of the war in Ukraine. In this regard, the volatility of the Taiwan question too has become a widely debated…
China using illegal police bases in Netherlands to target dissidents, say reports
The Dutch government has said it is investigating reports that Chinese police forces have illegally opened at least two stations in the Netherlands since 2018, using them in part to keep tabs and put pressure on overseas dissidents. An investigation by RTL Nieuws and Follow the Money said the “overseas service stations” in Amsterdam and Rotterdam ostensibly served an administrative purpose, allowing Chinese nationals to renew driving licences and change their civil status. But the two outlets also spoke to Chinese critics of the Beijing regime living in the Netherlands…
China accused of illegal police stations in Netherlands
The units were ostensibly created to tackle transnational crime and conduct administrative duties, such as the renewal of Chinese drivers’ licences. But, according to Safeguard Defenders, in reality they carry out “persuasion operations”, aimed at coercing those suspected of speaking out against the Chinese regime to return home. BBC