Are you looking for a way to stay sane in an environment that has been torn apart by war? Then perhaps what you need is a bubble tea. That is the philosophy guiding Brother Dong, a Chinese-German volunteer in Ukraine. The 52-year-old former officer in China’s People’s Armed Police drives once a month from his home in Frankfurt to collect a haul of tapioca pearls from a warehouse in Berlin. From there he drives across Poland to reach Ukraine. Brother Dong, who asked that the Guardian use his nickname for…
Tag: Asia Pacific
Trump not worried by China’s simulated attack on Taiwan, he says, as live-fire drills enter second day
Donald Trump has said he is not worried by China’s live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan and that he has a great relationship with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who “hasn’t told me anything about it”. The US president made the comments one day into the surprise attack simulation launched by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday, and which continued into Tuesday with live missile launches into the Taiwan Strait. The PLA, which is the armed wing of China’s ruling Communist party, said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers,…
Influx of cheap Chinese imports could drive down UK inflation, economists say
As Trump’s tariffs take effect, Britain is likely alternative destination for cars, telecoms and sound equipment Business live – latest updates The UK is poised for an influx of cheap Chinese imports that could bring down inflation amid the fallout from Donald Trump’s global trade war, leading economists have said. After figures showed China’s trade surplus surpassed $1tn (£750bn) despite Washington’s tariff policies hitting exports to the US, the Bank of England said the UK was among the nations emerging as alternative destinations for the goods. Continue reading… The Guardian
‘They want to destroy my career’: Kiwi Chow on life as a dissenting director in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, where dissent is now characterised by silence, few dare openly criticise the government or the Chinese Communist party (CCP) that controls it. Film-maker Kiwi Chow is one of the few. “The Chinese Communist party’s practice is to try and destroy history and truth,” the 46-year-old director says from his home in the region. “It’s ridiculous that I can still live in Hong Kong without being in jail.” In a society where someone can be jailed for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt, his surprise is understandable. Chow is best…
Search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 expected to resume on Tuesday
The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to resume on 30 December, more than a decade after the plane disappeared with 239 people onboard in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. A renewed search by Ocean Infinity, a UK and US-based marine robotics company, had begun earlier this year but was called off in April because of bad weather. The Malaysian transport ministry announced this month that the search of the seabed would be conducted intermittently over 55 days from 30 December. Ocean Infinity has agreed a “no find,…
China launches live-fire drills encircling Taiwan
China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, in what it calls a warning to “separatist” forces in Taiwan and “external interference” by foreign parties. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China – said it had sent naval, air force and rocket forces to surround Taiwan on Monday morning. The exercise, named Justice Mission 2025, was a “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces”, said a spokesperson for the PLA’s eastern theatre command, Col Shi Yi.…
Through the lens of history, Trump’s legacy will be more of a blotch than a Maga masterpiece | Simon Tisdall
For those who lived through the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, was an unforgettable moment. The sinister watch towers with their searchlights and armed guards, the minefields in no-man’s land, the notorious Checkpoint Charlie border post, and the Wall itself – all were swept aside in an extraordinary, popular lunge for freedom. Less than a month later, on 3 December 1989, at a summit in Malta, US president George HW Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared that after more than 40 years,…
‘Ferryman of the souls’: the man who helps Taiwan’s dead return home to China
In the leafy back blocks of a military cemetery in northern Taiwan, Liu De-wen strides through a room holding rows and rows of shelves. He stops and stoops to the lowest row, opening a small, ornate gold door. He pulls out an urn, bundles it into his lap, and hugs it. “Grandpa Lin, follow me closely,” Liu says. “I am bringing you back home to Fujian as you wished. Stay close.” Inside the jade green urn are the ashes of Lin Ru Min, a former soldier who was 103 when…
Myanmar is going to the polls. But it’s not the people who hold the power – it’s China
Myanmar’s military has managed to regain momentum in its battle against a determined patchwork of opposition groups, retaking some territory, and pushing ahead with a widely condemned election that begins on Sunday. It is a turnaround for the military, which had appeared so beleaguered that some dared to question if it could collapse. Analysts point to China, and its shifting support, as one of the most important factors that has changed the dynamics in a five-year conflict that first erupted after the 2021 coup. “This is really all China playing…
China imposes sanctions on US defence firms over Taiwan arms deal
China’s foreign ministry has hit US defence companies including Boeing with sanctions after Donald Trump approved a large package of arms sales to Taiwan. The ministry said on Friday that the measures – against 10 individuals and 20 US firms including Boeing’s production hub at St Louis in Missouri – would freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them. It comes after the Trump administration last week announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at…