Australian officials stayed in “regular contact” with the Chinese embassy in Canberra to “explain our decisions” even when Australian ministers were subjected to a two-year diplomatic freeze, newly released documents show. The former Morrison government had been “willing to engage with China in dialogue at any time”, according to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade briefing notes, which also described the relationship as being under “considerable strain”. Australian government ministers were blocked from meetings or calls with their direct Chinese counterparts for more than two years, although lower-level diplomats and…
Day: June 23, 2022
Hong Kong’s most famous floating restaurant sinks
The iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant had sat in Hong Kong’s Aberdeen harbour for 46 years. Built in the style of an imperial palace, it attracted locals, tourists and celebrities. But it was losing money when it closed in 2020. On June 14th it was towed away. Wherever it was heading, it never made it: the vessel sank on June 18th. Some saw a metaphor in its demise. China’s Communist Party has undermined Hong Kong’s democratic institutions in recent years. Jumbo represented a more hopeful era, now gone. Listen to this…
America and China spar over the Taiwan Strait
To chinese nationalists, keen to see America pushed from their country’s backyard, the words of a foreign-ministry official have brought hope. Describing the Taiwan Strait as international waters is a “false claim”, the spokesman said on June 13th. China, he insisted, has “sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over the waterway. His words were aimed at America, which calls it international waters and often angers China by sailing warships through it. Soon “the dragon will fight the tiger” in the strait, a Chinese academic warned in an online article. The strait…
What to make of China’s new aircraft-carrier
The aircraft-carrier has long been a symbol of military might. Admiral William Halsey, who commanded an early American one and led Allied forces in the South Pacific during the second world war, described it in 1942 as the best way to “get to the other fellow with everything you have, as fast as you can, and to dump it on him.” That has held true for most of the eight decades since, during which carriers played a key role in conflicts from Korea to Libya. They remain critical to ensuring…
China’s Political Surveillance System Keeps Growing
Advertisement While countries in North America and Europe are gradually lifting pandemic restrictions, vaccine passports, and COVID testing requirements, China continues to implement relatively strict measures to eliminate COVID-19 cases within its borders, despite the World Health Organization warning that such an approach is unsustainable. Through harsh lockdowns and stringent testing requirements in multiple regions of the country, China racked up high economic costs and severe impacts on its residents’ livelihoods in the first half of 2022. The COVID-zero strategy that China implements relies on a digital identification: the health…
What ‘Zhong Sheng’ Says About China’s Perceptions of the Ukraine Conflict
Advertisement Pundits have gone to great lengths to project their interpretations of Chinese perceptions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sadly, few examine exactly what China communicates about the conflict. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) focuses mainly on placing the blame for the conflict squarely on the West while also offering tepid support for Russia. These views represent an evolution of cooperation between Russia and China, with a recent communique vowing that the “friendship between the two States has no limits.” But of course, there are limits. In analyzing the…
Albanese to meet Macron in Paris for ‘important reset’ of Australia’s relationship with France
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed he will visit France to meet President Emmanuel Macron, and is considering travelling to Ukraine, during next week’s trip to Europe for the Nato summit. Albanese said he was also looking forward to “having further dialogue” with the Chinese government, but admitted the relationship would remain “problematic” for some time, despite a recent end to the freeze on diplomatic relations. “Already there have been some improvements but it’s a long way to go,” the prime minister told the ABC’s 7.30 program. Albanese will on…