The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has told her visiting Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that Australians are “shocked” at the suspended death sentence imposed on the writer Dr Yang Hengjun. Wong raised the Australian citizen’s case – along with human rights more broadly – during a meeting that was largely aimed at stabilising the previously turbulent relationship with Australia’s largest trading partner. Acknowledging “important differences” between the two countries that would have to be navigated “wisely”, Wong said Anthony Albanese looked forward to welcoming the Chinese premier, Li Qiang,…
Day: March 19, 2024
China allows more durian from Vietnam as surging trade underpins new ‘codependency’ in ties
Vietnam’s durian exports to China this year are expected to expand in value by two-thirds over 2023 following permission from Beijing to let more of the Southeast Asian country’s pungent, lucrative fruit reach a still-unsaturated market. China has approved taking durian shipments from 27 more tracts of land in Binh Phuoc, an inland province north of Ho Chi Minh City, after the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association trade group had estimated that the value of all durian exports from Vietnam would swell to US$3.5 billion this year. Those 27 tracts…
China Envoy Meets Hamas Leader as Beijing Steps Into Israel Conflict
Tel Aviv, Israel — China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged a meeting between its diplomat Wang Kejian and the political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, on Sunday in Qatar to discuss the conflict in Gaza. In a short statement, the ministry said Wang and Haniyeh discussed the conflict but did not elaborate. The meeting is the first announced to have taken place between the Chinese envoy and Hamas since the militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking about 250 hostage. Israel’s…
How ultranationalists undercut China’s efforts to win world’s love
The spectre of ultranationalism is haunting Chinese social media. These ultranationalists comprise a fringe yet vocal minority of internet users whose comments are both unequivocally supportive of the Chinese state, and unreservedly vindictive towards those who are not. Targets include liberal Chinese intellectuals and moderates who have maintained cordial relations with the establishment. Mo Yan served one term in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He is hardly unpatriotic. Some have suggested that these ultranationalists are the products of the curated propaganda and top-down cultivation by the state apparatus to…
Are Sanctions Worsening Conditions for North Koreans?
washington — International sanctions have contributed to the worsening of human rights in North Korea, according to the nongovernmental group Human Rights Watch, while the U.S. State Department, which supports the sanctions, said the regime is mainly to blame. The rights organization said United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea in 2016 and 2017 have “disrupted general cross-border trade” with China and reduced the ability of people to conduct informal market activities to sustain their livelihoods. The government-approved, quasi-private markets have been operating in North Korea since the late 1990s.…
China launches relay satellite to allow communication with far side of the moon and further nation’s lunar ambitions
China has launched a new communications relay satellite to support its moon ambitions in the decade to come. Queqiao-2, or Magpie Bridge-2, lifted off atop a Long March 8 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on southern China’s Hainan island at 8.31am on Wednesday, according to the China National Space Administration. Queqiao-2 is planned to reach an elliptical orbit around the moon and unfold its 4.2 metre-wide (13.8 feet) parabolic antenna to make communications possible between Earth and the lunar far side, which never faces Earth. 02:49 Commercial US spacecraft…
EU chamber warns of ‘slow-motion train accident’ with China, says something needs to change
“Something will need to change because Europe cannot just accept that strategically viable industries constituting the European industrial base are being priced out of the market,” he said. “That is where trade becomes a security question.” As US, EU anxiety grows, will overcapacity curb exports of China’s ‘new three’? Tensions between China and the European Union increased after Brussels launched an anti-subsidy investigation into China’s electric-vehicle exports last year, which has the potential to deal a heavy blow to relations, while the bloc has also introduced a de-risking strategy to…
India’s ‘quid pro quo’ strategy for trade talks
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. In a more mercantilist world, a clear pattern is emerging in India’s trade policy strategy: if companies or countries want freer access to the big and growing markets of the world’s fifth-biggest economy, they must offer a quid pro quo. Switzerland and Tesla Motors last week each managed to get India to lower its high, jealously guarded tariff walls and offer improved access to its market of 1bn-plus people. On…
Chinese bottled water giant Nongfu Spring under fire from nationalists
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. China’s online nationalists have found the latest target for their ire: Nongfu Spring, the Hangzhou-based bottled water and soft drinks giant whose founder, Zhong Shanshan, is the country’s wealthiest person. Nongfu Spring’s Hong Kong shares fell for three consecutive days last week, wiping off about Rmb30bn ($4bn) in market cap as internet users heaped criticism on the company for, including other things, being “pro-Japan”. This came in stark contrast to…
In Hong Kong, China’s Grip Can Feel Like ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’
Once one of Asia’s most high-flying cities, Hong Kong is now grappling with a deep pessimism. The stock market is in the tank, home values have tumbled and emigration is fueling a brain drain. Some of the hottest restaurants, spas and shopping malls that local residents are flocking to are across the border, in the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen. “It pains me to say Hong Kong is over,” Stephen Roach, an economist and a former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia long known for his optimism about the city, wrote…