Advertisement As both sides prepare for the virtual China-EU summit on April 1, China-EU relations have reached an unprecedented stalemate. Reactions to the war in Ukraine and perceptions about the ensuing political crisis differ widely. Although the war is a major concern for Chinese diplomacy, and President Xi Jinping pointed out that “China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine to come to this,” Chinese and European assessments of the situation mostly lie worlds apart. The understanding of the war’s root causes, the assessment of implications, risks, or…
Month: March 2022
Shanghai’s Lockdown Tests Covid-Zero Policy, and People’s Limits
Even before Shanghai imposed a lockdown to curb a rapidly spreading Covid outbreak, life for many in China’s wealthiest city had been upended by the virus — and the government’s response. Residents raced to hoard groceries in case they were ordered to stay home. Some protested at the gates of housing complexes that were locked with little notice. Others, sent to government isolation facilities, were forced to sleep on the floor because of a shortage of beds. For still others, the city’s Covid-19 restrictions have had life-threatening implications. Some residents…
‘Utter nonsense’: Solomon Islands PM says China is not a threat to regional stability – video
Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has dismissed foreign criticism of the country’s security negotiations with China as ‘insulting’ and called those who leaked the draft agreement ‘lunatics’, in his first comments to parliament on the proposed treaty. ‘We find it very insulting, Mr Speaker, to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs,’ Sogavare said ► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube The Guardian
Shanghai Starts China’s Biggest COVID-19 Lockdown in 2 Years
Advertisement China began its most extensive coronavirus lockdown in two years Monday to conduct mass testing and control a growing outbreak in Shanghai as questions are raised about the economic toll of the nation’s “zero-COVID” strategy. Shanghai, China’s financial capital and largest city with 26 million people, had managed its smaller previous outbreaks with limited lockdowns of housing compounds and workplaces where the virus was spreading. But the citywide lockdown that will be conducted in two phases will be China’s most extensive since the central city of Wuhan, where the…
Shanghai begins locking down millions as China’s Covid cases surge
Shanghai has begun its phased lockdown as an Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 wave spreads through mainland China’s most significant financial hub, resulting in the highest caseloads in the country since the early days of the pandemic. The eastern side of the Huangpu River, which divides Shanghai, would be under lockdown between Monday and Friday, officials said, followed by similar restrictions across its western side from 1 April. Massing Covid testing across the city is also under way. The metropolis of 25 million people has in recent days become the leading hotspot in…
What Did China’s Flurry of African Engagements Have to Do With Ukraine?
Advertisement While much of the world’s gaze has been fixed upon developments in Ukraine, China’s leadership has been meeting with a number of African counterparts. This has been interpreted by some to suggest that China is looking to shore up its own position on the Russia-Ukraine war. But this is a simplistic and one-sided interpretation. These meetings, organized prior to the crisis and not because of it, met African goals as much as they met China’s. In addition, evidence suggests they were not conditioned on African governments’ positions on Ukraine…
China’s Huawei Says 2021 Sales Down, Profit Up
Advertisement Six months after being released by Canadian authorities following a diplomatic standoff involving Washington and Beijing, Huawei’s chief financial officer said Monday the telecom equipment giant may be emerging from a “black zone” of business disruptions due to U.S. sanctions. Huawei Technologies Ltd. reported its 2021 profit rose 75.9 percent while sales fell under pressure from curbs on access to most U.S. technology that crippled its smartphone business and led to an overhaul of its global operations. Sanctions have “significantly affected our business,” but Huawei might be recovering as…
Turning Cities Into Sponges to Save Lives and Property
Imagine a sponge. Swipe it over a wet surface and it will draw up water; squeeze it and the water will trickle out. Now imagine a city made of sponges, or spongelike surfaces, able to soak up rainwater, overflowing rivers or ocean storm surges and release stored water during droughts. Engineers, architects, urban planners and officials around the world are seeking ways to retrofit or reconstruct cities to better deal with water — basically, to act more like sponges. While water management has always been an essential service in cities,…
Australia’s lost influence in Pacific on display in Solomon Islands-China deal, Anthony Albanese says
Australia has lost influence in the Pacific by failing to act on climate and cutting foreign aid, Anthony Albanese says, amid concerns about China’s proposed security deal with Solomon Islands. Australia and New Zealand are worried the draft agreement could jeopardise regional stability, with China having the opportunity to base navy warships in the Pacific less than 2,000km off the Australian coast. The prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, is due to address parliament in Honiara on Tuesday about security cooperation with China. But the leaking of the draft…
The Guardian view on Putin and the world: it’s not just about China | Editorial
When Vladimir Putin recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics, days before his invasion of Ukraine, one of the most powerful denunciations came from Kenya’s envoy to the UN. Martin Kimani cited his country’s own history as he warned against irredentism and expansionism: “We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression,” he said. On two general assembly resolutions – the first denouncing the invasion, the second blaming Russia for creating a…