The prime minister of Solomon Islands has guaranteed there will never be a Chinese military base in his country, saying that any such deal with Beijing would undermine regional security, make Solomon Islands an “enemy” and “put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes”. He has also said that Australia remains the “security partner of choice” for Solomon Islands and he would only call on China to send security personnel to the country if there was a “gap” that Australia could not meet. Speaking exclusively to…
Month: July 2022
China’s Henan bank scandal not just a financial crisis, it may be a lasting political calamity: analysts
On Sunday, July 10, demonstrators hold up signs protesting against the freezing of deposits by some rural-based banks, outside a People’s Bank of China building in Zhengzhou, Henan province. The text in the foreground reads, “Henan Bank, return to us our legal deposits! The people’s life-saving deposits!” Photo: Reuters South China Morning Post
Xi Jinping has nurtured an ugly form of Chinese nationalism
“Abe is dead and that’s it,” a social-media user called Zhang Beihai wrote to her 2.6m followers on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform. “He deserved to perish.” Another Weibo user went further: “His whole family deserves to die.” The assassination of Abe Shinzo, Japan’s former prime minister, on July 8th elicited a wave of joyous reactions online in China, where he was widely reviled. “News just in,” quipped one. “us President Kennedy meets Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.” Japan is a common target of the nationalists who dominate China’s digital high…
‘We are family’: Anthony Albanese meets Solomon Islands PM amid tension over China deal
Anthony Albanese has met with the Solomon Islands prime minister in Suva to discuss their common interests of climate change and regional security issues, despite recent tensions between the two nations over China. It is the first time that Albanese has met Manasseh Sogavare. The relationship between the countries has become increasingly tense since the signing of the controversial security pact with China earlier this year, but ahead of the meeting Albanese reiterated the importance of the relationship and said it “will be even better after this afternoon”. The meeting…
Chinese FM Pledges Progress on South China Sea Code of Conduct
Advertisement Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi yesterday pledged to speed up consultations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the long-awaited Code of Conduct for the South China Sea. While it is unlikely to signal much progress on the perennially promised agreement, it does offer an insight into how Beijing is seeking to counter the recent U.S. diplomatic offensive in the region. Wang made the comments during a meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Putrajaya, the final stop of a five-nation tour of Southeast Asia that…
Police remove two Chinese defence attaches from Pacific Islands Forum meeting
Two Chinese defence attaches have been kicked out by Fijian police from a Pacific Islands Forum meeting at which the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, was giving a virtual address. The men were sitting in on a session of the forum’s fisheries agency at which Harris announced the step-up of US engagement in the region, believed to be in response to China’s growing influence. They were sitting with the media contingent, but one was identified as a Chinese embassy official by Lice Movono, a Fijian journalist who is covering the forum…
How Did Abe Shinzo Become an Unlikely Subject of Collective Grief in China?
Advertisement It is hard to imagine a Japanese leader who visited the Yasukuni Shrine would be mourned in China when he died – but that’s what happened since the assassination of Abe Shinzo. The killing of Japan’s former prime minister on July 8 tore China’s public opinion apart. One camp, marked by its usual strident nationalist tone, rejoiced at the incident in an unseemly outburst of schadenfreude. Another group, more capable of compassion and empathy, cautioned against gloating over a neighbor’s loss. In China, where consensus is elusive on almost…
China Protests Taiwan’s VP Paying Respects at Abe’s Memorial
Advertisement China has filed a formal protest with Japan over the presence of the Taiwanese vice president at a memorial for assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. China claims Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary and objects to any expression of its independent political identity. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said Taiwanese authorities had “latched onto the opportunity for political manipulation,” and that Beijing has “made stern complaints with Japan in Beijing and Tokyo and made clear its position.” “Its political…
Hong Kong to electronically tag Covid patients as it adopts China’s health code system
Hong Kong will mandate electronic tracking bracelets for people in home isolation and bring in a China-style electronic health code system as part of fresh measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The quarantine bracelets, to be introduced on Friday, will be mandatory for people who have tested positive and are quarantining at home to ensure they do not leave the building during their isolation period. “We have to make sure that home isolation is more precise while being humane,” Lo Chung-mau, the city’s new health secretary said, announcing…
Australia sees climate crisis as a national security issue, defence minister tells US
Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, has warned of the use of “force or coercion” in the South China Sea and “intensification of major power competition”, references to China’s rising power in the Indo-Pacific. Marles made the comments in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies on his visit to the US, committing Australia to closer cooperation with the US, higher defence spending and to address the climate crisis in part as a national security issue. It coincided with a separate announcement that the Australian and US governments…