<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"6a59fbdc8f085bcdc0081ac6","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" When asked about the unverified comments made by Donald Trump, who on Thursday accused China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election, the Kremlin said Russia has never interfered in US elections, Reuters reports. ","elementId":"c285111c-6693-4a77-ab8d-f8aeada878aa"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow categorically rejected all allegations of past election meddling. ","elementId":"f7c556e0-42b6-4bca-bd2d-140e0ceb4680"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" A 2021 US intelligence community assessment determined that Russia conducted influence operations aimed at denigrating Biden’s campaign – but concluded that no foreign actor, China included, attempted to alter any technical aspect…
Tag: World news
ICE arrests human rights lawyer who fled Chinese crackdown
A Chinese human rights lawyer has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raising concerns he could be deported to China where he would face persecution. Wu Shaoping fled China at the end of 2019 amid a crackdown on human rights lawyers. He travelled to the US on a tourist visa and made an asylum claim in 2020, for which he is still awaiting a decision. In the US, he found work as an Amazon courier while remaining active in China’s embattled human rights community. On Wednesday, Wu…
Trump makes unverified claims of China ‘election meddling’ as critics fear ploy to challenge midterm results
Donald Trump accused China of interfering with the 2020 election in a primetime televised address that laid bare his continuing obsession with his defeat to Joe Biden, but which opponents warned was a smokescreen for him to meddle in the forthcoming congressional midterms. In a 25-minute speech on Thursday that had been hyped by Trump himself, the US president cast extraordinary doubts on the integrity of the US electoral process, saying it was “catastrophically” short of standards of fairness and trust, and vulnerable to trespassing by foreign powers. “No country…
China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with nationalisation of British Steel
China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced. The Department for Business and Trade said the move was essential to maintain steel production at the company’s site in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, to protect the company’s future and UK supply chains.…
China’s economy grows at 4.3%, one of its lowest rates on record
China has posted worse-than-expected growth figures for the three months to June as its economy expanded by just 4.3% – one of its lowest quarterly readings on record. The rate, which came in under the government’s target of 4.5% to 5%, was one of the weakest since reporting on official quarterly GDP figures began in the early 1990s. The last period when growth was lower was the final quarter of 2022 when the country was still under its three-year period of Covid-19 restrictions. The data released on Wednesday by the…
Inside the secret Laos shops selling pangolin scales, bear bile and tiger bones to tourists
The shop is dark and deserted. Though the door is open, there is clearly no expectation of any customers walking in off the street. Visits are likely by appointment and from a specific clientele. This shop is part of an organised crime network. What is being sold is highly illegal and incredibly unethical. Anyone wandering in would see large bags of specialist tea, local coffee, trinkets and cigarettes on the shelves. But the photographs of wild animals adorning the walls offer a clue to what is truly for sale here.…
China’s monthly car exports top 1m for first time as overall trade soars
China’s monthly car exports topped 1m for the first time in June as overall overseas shipments from the world’s second biggest economy rose 27%. Official Chinese customs data showed that a stronger-than-expected trade performance kept China on track to match or beat last year’s record trade surplus of $1tn (£748bn), achieved despite Donald Trump’s curtailed tariff war. Sales of Chinese brands ranging from BYD to Jaecoo are booming, eating into the market shares of long-established brands, particularly in Europe. Analysis by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics) in Berlin…
China’s graduate glut: millions enter a job market with little use for them
This time of year is graduation season in China: traditionally a bittersweet period of solemn goodbyes and family celebrations as university students transition from campus life into adulthood. Now it also increasingly represents trepidation about the future. Each year, millions more graduates are thrust into China’s already saturated jobs market. The situation for this year’s cohort, flooding into an increasingly crowded pool of applicants fighting for an insufficient number of positions, is arguably the bleakest yet. Jasmine, a 22-year-old who studied accounting in Shanghai, is among this year’s record 12.7…
China’s massive AI rollout – podcast
While the spread of AI has been met perhaps with a lot of scepticism in the west, China has fully embraced the technology, explains Amy Hawkins, from millions of users talking to AI doctors, to the use of intelligent robots in factories, and drones delivering food on the Great Wall of China. AI has also been eagerly taken up by the state, not least in the opportunities it provides for further surveillance, the Guardian’s senior China correspondent says. Amy talks to Annie Kelly about the prospects and pitfalls provided by…
Weather tracker: Typhoon leaves people stranded on rooftops in China
As the first typhoon to make landfall in China for the 2026 season, Maysak has caused devastating damage in southern and central regions. The Guangxi region received intense downpours of up to 280mm in 12 hours, causing rivers to swell and dam walls to break. By Monday morning, flooding across the city of Nanning and surrounding areas had resulted in many people being stranded on rooftops. Flood waters pose additional threats in China because of the presence of wild and farmed snakes. On Thursday local media reported that hundreds of…