Month: September 2023

Former Chinese central bank chief calls for end to ‘hukou’ red tape

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A former governor of China’s central bank has called on the country’s leaders to relax “hukou” household registration rules to allow people to move into cities as the leaders struggle to boost a flagging property market and stimulate domestic consumption. Former People’s Bank of China Gov. Yi Gang called in a Sept. 19 article published by a national political advisory body for policy measures to boost consumption, including pressing ahead with ongoing urbanization plans by cutting through the red tape that prevents people from easily moving to live and work…

US to help Philippines upgrade key defence bases amid rising South China Sea tensions

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“We are not just looking at how we can operate together more efficiently, but also we are looking at the future operations that we are going to conduct,” Brawner said. “All of these factors should come in as we decide on which projects we’re really going to pursue.” 02:05 US and Philippines launch ‘biggest ever’ joint marine exercises near disputed waters US and Philippines launch ‘biggest ever’ joint marine exercises near disputed waters The EDCA is a defence agreement signed between the US and the Philippines in 2014 that allows…

Who wants to rule the world? I will, says Joe. No, it’ll be me, says Xi | Simon Tisdall

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The EU is talking about admitting new members again, after years of blanking Balkan neighbours. The US is strengthening security ties with India’s authoritarian leader and assorted Asia-Pacific “strongmen”. Even the Saudi outcast, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is back in western favour. China is courting African and Arab countries and the “global south” with seductive talk of a brave new multipolar world, an expanded Brics and an egalitarian G20. Ostracised Russia clings ever more desperately to Beijing, North Korea and like-minded rogue states. Say hello to the new “new world…

China steps in to save Uganda oil pipeline as Western lenders back out over environmental concerns

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Uganda needs about US$5 billion for the pipeline running from Lake Albert’s oilfields to a storage and loading terminal in the Tanzanian port of Tanga. Financing is set at a 60:40 debt-to-equity ratio, meaning US$3 billion will be secured as debt with the remaining US$2 billion to be financed by shareholders through equity contributions. TotalEnergies controls a 62 per cent interest in the pipeline; the Uganda National Oil Company holds 15 per cent; Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation has 15 per cent; leaving 8 per cent for Chinese oil giant China…

Vietnam executes death row prisoner Le Van Manh

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Death row prisoner Le Van Manh was executed on Friday morning, lawyer Le Van Luan posted on Facebook, in a case with evidence which lawyers said was not clear enough to convict. “News and official documents said that defendant Le Van Manh was executed on the morning of September 22, 2023,” said Luan. A death notice dated September 22, 2023 from the People’s Committee of Thu Phong commune, Cao Phong district, Hoa Binh province, posted widely on social media said that death row prisoner Le Van Manh, born in 1982,…

#MeToo Journalist, Labor Activist On Trial for Subversion in China

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TAIPEI —  Two prominent Chinese activists were tried for subversion Friday in Guangzhou in a closed-door proceeding, while supporters and activists criticized Chinese authorities for putting on a “sham trial” and calling for their immediate release. Independent Chinese journalist Huang Xueqin, who became prominent after covering China’s #MeToo Movement, and labor rights activist Wang Jianbing were arrested by Chinese police in September 2021 in Guangzhou. They were charged with “inciting subversion of state power” the following month. Huang and Wang have been in detention for two years without trial and…

Blasting Bullhorns and Water Cannons, Chinese Ships Wall Off the Sea

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The Chinese military base on Mischief Reef, off the Philippine island of Palawan, loomed in front of our boat, obvious even in the predawn dark. Radar domes, used for military surveillance, floated like nimbus clouds. Lights pointed to a runway made for fighter jets, backed by warehouses perfect for cruise missile launchers. More than 900 miles from the Chinese mainland, in an area of the South China Sea that an international tribunal has unequivocally determined does not belong to China, cellphones pinged with a message: “Welcome to China.” The world’s…

Henry Kissinger warns US-China decoupling would harm AI governance

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“In this sense, it is essential that we learn from each other,” he said via video link at the Bund Summit, a finance forum in China’s financial hub of Shanghai. “It is essential that we should not proceed in the decoupled way.” Kissinger said China’s deep integration into the global economy has strengthened the US-China relationship because the two have become dependent on each other for trade. However, in recent years the US and EU have attempted to “de-risk” from China and other rivals by moving to confine the supply…

Uyghur News Recap: Sept. 15– 22, 2023 

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WASHINGTON —  Hungary Quietly Hosts Xinjiang Official Sanctioned by the US for Alleged Human Rights Abuses Hungary’s discreet hosting of Erkin Tuniyaz, a U.S. sanctioned Xinjiang official accused of human rights abuses, aligns with China’s soft power strategy to whitewash the Uyghur genocide and boost business ties, according to experts. Experts stress the need for unified action against abuses, emphasizing accountability over providing a platform for officials like Tuniyaz. Speculation hints at a connection to plans for a chemical materials warehouse, considering the surge of Chinese battery producers in Hungary.…

EU trade chief warns of “new areas of concern” in China relationship

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Receive free EU-China relations updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest EU-China relations news every morning. European Union trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis has warned over “new areas of concern” in the bloc’s relationship with China, as part of a maiden visit that aims to confront “unbalanced” dealings between the two regions. In an interview with the Financial Times in Shanghai, the EU vice-president cited “implications of the anti-espionage law” in China and “data flows” as concerns, alongside market access for foreign companies in the…