Western governments struggle to coordinate response to Chinese hacking

With the announcement that the UK government would be imposing sanctions on two individuals and one entity accused of targeting – without success – UK parliamentarians in cyber-attacks in 2021, the phrase “tip of the iceberg” comes to mind. But that would underestimate the iceberg. James Cleverly, the home secretary, said the sanctions were a sign that “targeting our elected representatives and electoral processes will never go unchallenged”. But some experts saw it as a sign that the UK had been pushed into a corner by a decision in Washington…

Labour tells China it will act on interference in UK democracy

Labour has warned China that it will respond to any interference in UK democracy after the government announced fresh sanctions against hackers linked to Beijing. The warning came at the party’s first public meeting with the Chinese government since Keir Starmer became Labour leader. Catherine West, the shadow Asia minister, travelled to Beijing last week as part of a delegation of British MPs for meetings with senior Chinese government figures and businesses. On Thursday and Friday, West attended meetings with Wang Huning, one of Xi Jinping’s appointees to China’s powerful…

David Cameron to have first meeting with Chinese foreign minister

David Cameron is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this weekend for the first time since becoming British foreign secretary. The Foreign Office has pencilled in a meeting between Cameron and Wang at the Munich security conference, according to two government sources. It would be the first time Cameron has met a Chinese minister since his surprise appointment to Rishi Sunak’s cabinet in November last year. Cameron has come under pressure over his links to China since becoming foreign secretary, and he faces calls to raise human rights…

China’s human rights record criticised at UN as it faces rare scrutiny of policies

The UK, the US and several other countries criticised China’s human rights record on Tuesday as the country was subjected to rare scrutiny of its policies at the United Nations. The UK called on China to “cease the persecution and arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Tibetans and allow genuine freedom of religion or belief and cultural expression without fear of surveillance, torture, forced labour or sexual violence”, while the US said China should “release all arbitrarily detained individuals” and cease the operation of “forcible assimilation policies including boarding schools in…

Canada intelligence operation put diplomats in legal ‘grey zone’ – report

A controversial intelligence-gathering program run by Canada’s foreign affairs ministry operates in a “distinctly grey zone”, puts its officers at risk and breaches global diplomatic conventions, says a damning watchdog report. Canada’s global security reporting program (GSRP), a critical part of the foreign ministry’s security and intelligence footprint overseas, places officers in countries with “poor human rights records” including Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and China. The program has received renewed scrutiny in recent months following reports that Michael Spavor, a Canadian jailed in China for nearly three years, was…

David Cameron calls on Hong Kong to release Jimmy Lai

The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called for the release of the British citizen Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy newspaper publisher facing a “politically motivated prosecution” in a high-profile trial in Hong Kong. In a significant intervention, the former prime minister condemned the charges against Lai, 76, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national security law that China imposed after the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Lai is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious material. The trial…

Exit from Edinburgh zoo may signal end to era of China’s panda diplomacy

As the UK’s only giant pandas leave Edinburgh zoo , returning to their native country after a 12-year sojourn away from China, the era of panda diplomacy also looks to be coming to an end. Tian Tian and Yang Guang will board the panda express back to Sichuan less than a month after three giant pandas left the Smithsonian national zoo in Washington DC, ending the zoo’s five-decade panda programme. The homecoming of the five giant pandas in recent weeks reflects the end of long-agreed lease arrangements. Zoos typically pay…

UK white paper raises concerns over China’s growing foreign aid role

China’s growing role in international development marks a systemic global shift that will require robust challenge by Britain if its interests are threatened, a UK government white paper on aid has warned. With David Cameron starting as foreign secretary and under scrutiny for his previous business links with China, the document does not hold back in challenging the Chinese development model or its growing influence. The drawbacks listed include “operating with lower social and environmental standards, limited transparency, allegations of corruption and capture of local elites, and limited coordination through…

Biden’s China summit was a reminder: the US should talk to its rivals more often | Christopher S Chivvis

Wednesday’s meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping was a lot harder to pull off than the photographs of the two leaders ambling around the gardens of the Filoli mansion outside San Francisco may have made it appear. The White House has spent the last 10 months working to restore dialogue after years of mounting tension that most recently featured an errant Chinese observation balloon and possible Chinese military support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. In the process of working toward the meeting, the White House faced strong domestic political…

US and China’s joint climate plan leaves key questions unanswered

The US and China’s decision to rekindle a joint effort to tackle the climate crisis has provided sorely needed momentum ahead of crucial UN climate talks later this month, while still leaving some key questions unresolved around calling an end to the fossil fuel era. The difficult relationship between the world’s two largest carbon emitters has somewhat thawed over the issue of global heating, with both sides indicating they see it as a shared menace set aside from other tensions around trade or the status of Taiwan. The US and…