Prime minister Anthony Albanese is set to commit Australia to the biggest national industrial redevelopment project since the Snowy Hydro electricity scheme and the British-Australian nuclear weapons research collaboration of the 1950s. The project involves considerable risk. Spanning three nations (each with multiple jurisdictions) over two or more decades, including the governments of multiple presidents and prime ministers in three countries. This seems inconceivably difficult on one level – were it not for the galvanising effects of: the rise of an increasingly authoritarian and adversarial China; the fallout from Brexit,…
Day: March 12, 2023
China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: the road ahead according to Premier Li Qiang
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing and get 25 per cent off an annual plan. China’s new premier, Li Qiang, will hold his first press conference following the closing ceremony of the National People’s Congress on Monday. As a long-time aide to President Xi Jinping, Li is expected to have more leeway to express his thoughts in public without being seen as a challenge to Xi. Observers will be scrutinising his performance for signs of…
Is India-China infrastructure race damaging Himalayas?
“Many are at extraordinarily high altitude, over 4,000m, where there has never been human settlement that we know of, and where human settlement would seem impractical if not impossible, without extensive construction, supplies, inputs and so forth.” BBC
China’s ‘rotten girls’ are escaping into erotic fiction about gay men
“The hand around his waist held him tighter, their bodies pressed closer together, and Xie Lian’s struggling hands were firmly folded and crushed against his own chest; unable to move. His lips were still securely sealed, the kiss deepening, and a stream of gentle, chilled air slowly passed through.” A god kisses a ghost king, and a love story, movie deal and KFC sponsorship are born. The kiss appears in the book Heaven Official’s Blessing, a danmei or “boys love” story. Danmei is romantic fiction about men or male beings…
Ohtani HR Powers Japan; Italy Advances at World Baseball Classic
Tokyo — Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer that landed just below his image on a video advertising board, sending Japan to a 7-1 victory over Australia in the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night. Ohtani also walked twice and finished with four RBIs. His first-inning drive traveled an estimated 448 feet. Japan won Group B with a 4-0 record and will play a quarterfinal Wednesday against Italy, which advanced along with Cuba from Group A on tiebreakers. Matt Harvey got the win as Italy defeated the Netherlands 7-1, causing…
Sunak’s focus may be on China, but it’s Europe’s security that is vital for the UK
The refresh of the integrated review of defence and foreign policy comes only two years after the original, and if Labour were to win the election it may only last a similar amount of time. Nor would it have happened if it hadn’t been for Conservative chaos, as reopening the review was the brainchild of the short-lived Liz Truss. To be fair, the war in Ukraine has upended previous assumptions, but this is not really the path taken by Rishi Sunak. A large part of what is announced focuses on…
Rishi Sunak risks row with Tory hawks over China balancing act
Rishi Sunak has warned that China’s plans to “reshape the world order” represent an era-defining challenge for Britain, but risked sparking a row with hawks in his own party by dismissing calls for Beijing to be categorised as a threat. As he flew to a summit designed to shift the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region, the prime minister signalled a major refreshing of the UK’s national security strategy and uplift in defence spending. The moves are meant to curb the influence of China, which Sunak said was becoming…
North Korea Launches Submarine Missiles, Condemns US-South Korea Drills
Seoul — North Korea fired two “strategic cruise missiles” from a submarine off its east coast, state media reported Monday, a day after Pyongyang warned of a “powerful” response to U.S.-South Korea military drills that begin this week. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the early Sunday launch demonstrated North Korea’s ability to respond with “overwhelming powerful force” to the “U.S. imperialists and South Korean puppet forces.” The missiles flew for about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) in a figure-eight pattern and stayed in the air for about 125 minutes,…
China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: link ID cards to internet accounts to rein in online scams, says lawmaker
Users can submit their national ID, mobile phone number or another form of identification such as a unified social credit code, a unique company registration number. Cheng said he proposed the registration change because telecom and internet fraud was rampant, posing serious threats to public security and social stability. Advertisement “Fraud syndicates use a large number of internet accounts, phone applications and other technology for scams,” Cheng said. “Although mobile phone numbers that have been used in frauds can be cancelled, [criminals] can continue their criminal activities with the associated…
Favoring Continuity, China Reappoints Central Bank Governor
Beijing — China reappointed Yi Gang as head of the central bank Sunday to reassure entrepreneurs and financial markets by showing continuity at the top while other economic officials change during a period of uncertainty in the world’s second-largest economy. Yi, whose official title is governor of the People’s Bank of China, plays no role in making monetary policy, unlike his counterparts in other major economies. His official duties lie in “implementing monetary policy,” or carrying out decisions made by a policymaking body whose membership is a secret. But the…