The Morrison government has been accused of stalling action to prevent the importation of goods made using slave labour, as it insists it needs more time to consult business and upgrade IT systems. Despite repeatedly raising concerns about forced labour practices in China’s Xinjiang region, the government has cited “practical challenges” in a new report explaining why it cannot immediately take up recommendations of a bipartisan committee. Anti-slavery campaigners say they are “disillusioned that the ‘fair go’ values we hold as a people are not reflected in this government response”.…
Day: May 3, 2022
When the CCP Thought Taiwan Should Be Independent
Advertisement In his April 20 phone call with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is reported to have stated that “Taiwan is a part of China and no one can change that.” This is only the most recent example of the increasing stridency with which the PRC government in Beijing under Xi Jinping over the past few years has been emphasizing that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China” and has been since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The problem with Beijing’s position is twofold: first,…
Russia Wants to Sell More Energy to Asia, but Has to Slash Prices
BEIJING — Last year, the Grand Aniva, a Russian tanker with four spherical tanks for holding ultracold liquefied natural gas, sailed back and forth between a gas field in eastern Russia and depots in Japan and Taiwan. But two days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the ship switched routes, sailing to China instead. The voyages of the tanker, which is as long as three football fields, underlined that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia can still find buyers in Asia for his country’s fossil fuel exports despite Western sanctions. He needs…
Outcry in Shanghai as person declared dead and put in body bag found to be alive
Six people are under investigation in Shanghai after an elderly nursing home resident was mistakenly declared dead, put in a body bag and taken by coroners to a waiting van before mortuary workers noticed they were still alive. The incident, which took place on Sunday afternoon, was filmed by onlookers and footage quickly spread online, sparking a furious backlash in the city which has been under a gruelling lockdown for five weeks. It also prompted concerns over the city’s overwhelmed medical system. In the footage, workers wearing protective clothing are…
Beijing’s Covid Lockdowns: Close to My Home
Beijing’s Covid Lockdowns: Close to My Home Keith Bradsher�� Reporting from Beijing Keith Bradsher/The New York Times When the authorities admitted on April 24 that the city had a problem, residents quickly emptied supermarket shelves. With the city’s help, businesses fully restocked, and stockpiling by residents has slowed. NYT