China will seek talks with whichever party wins Saturday’s Australian federal election, with diplomatic sources declaring that they see “a good opportunity” to ease tensions in the period after the vote. A Chinese diplomatic source, who did not wish to be named, said China was “genuine in our wish to improve the relationship” with Australia, although to date it has not publicly detailed any specific actions it is willing to take. The source also pushed back at a description by the defence minister, Peter Dutton, that a Chinese intelligence gathering…
Day: May 17, 2022
U.S. Accuses Steve Wynn of Lobbying Trump on Behalf of China
The Justice Department sued the former casino mogul Stephen Wynn on Tuesday, saying he had made repeated requests on behalf of the Chinese government to Donald J. Trump when he was president and seeking to force Mr. Wynn to register as a foreign agent. In 2017, Mr. Wynn pushed Mr. Trump to deport a Chinese businessman who had sought asylum in the United States, according to the lawsuit. At the time, Mr. Wynn was the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, a role he had been handpicked for by…
China’s silenced feminist: How Sophia Huang Xueqin went missing
BBC Eye investigates the disappearance of Sophia Huang Xueqin, a high-profile feminist journalist who kick-started China’s #MeToo movement. In the summer of 2021, Sophia was awarded a prestigious Chevening scholarship funded by the British government to pursue gender studies at the University of Sussex. But in September, on the way to the airport to catch her flight to the United Kingdom, Sophia and fellow activist Wang Jianbing “vanished.” Sophia and Jianbing are among tens of thousands in China being rounded up and detained in a wider state crackdown on activists…
US sues casino mogul Steve Wynn to compel him to register as an agent of China
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Steve Wynn, the billionaire former casino mogul and senior Republican fund raiser, to compel him to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of China. The department said Wynn, 80, had contacted then-US president Donald Trump and members of his Republican administration in 2017 to convey China’s request to cancel the visa of or otherwise remove a Chinese businessperson who had sought political asylum in the United States. In a statement the Department of Justice said it was seeking…
China’s Censors Aim to Contain Dissent During Harsh COVID-19 Lockdowns
Advertisement As Shanghai enters its seventh week of COVID-19 lockdowns, China’s censors have been hard at work trying to contain an eruption of public outrage and enforce the leadership’s prohibition of any public debate or calls to reconsider its strategy. Spikes in censorship and social media activism occur periodically in China, particularly in moments of crisis. As in past periods of extreme regime sensitivity, there are ample examples from recent weeks of censorship “overkill,” including restrictions on a WeChat account belonging to the National People’s Congress, seemingly innocuous phrases like…
Shanghai Declares Victory in Covid Outbreak, but Lockdowns Continue
Shanghai health officials said on Tuesday that the city had brought the Covid outbreak there under control, after a nearly two-month lockdown that disrupted residents’ access to food and medicine, stoked widespread public outrage and brought China’s financial center to a standstill. At a news conference, officials pledged to restart normal life as soon as possible, with a goal of reopening fully by June. Some businesses, bus lines and parks had been allowed to resume operations on Monday. Twelve trains were also allowed to leave from Shanghai’s Hongqiao train station…
Understanding the Extent (and Limits) of Chinese Public Support for Russia
Advertisement The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to devastating destruction and casualties in the latter, with thousands killed and millions displaced by the ongoing conflict. The war will have a lasting impact on Sino-Russian relations (dubbed in some quarters a “friendship without limits”), as well as – by extension – Sino-European and Sino-American relations. In making sense of China’s stance on the matter, it is imperative that we investigate thoroughly the origins and manifestations of the Chinese public’s views on the matter. The Carter Center China Focus-RIWI joint project…
Beijing’s rhetoric in spotlight as Taiwan condemns California shooting
Taiwan’s president has condemned the deadly shooting at a Taiwanese church in California by a man reportedly driven by hatred of the self-governing island, where debate about cross-strait tensions has intensified along with Beijing’s reunification rhetoric. Tsai Ing-wen’s office issued a statement saying she condemned “any form of violence” and extended her condolences to those killed and injured, and that she had asked the island’s chief representative in the US to fly to California to provide assistance. David Chou, 68, was arrested on Sunday at Laguna Woods, Orange County, after…