Vanuatu remains open to signing a wide-ranging deal with Australia but must assert its sovereignty and will not be subject to pressure or “bullying” from larger countries, the country’s internal affairs minister, Andrew Napuat, said. Australia failed to seal the $500m Nakamal agreement in Port Vila last month amid concerns from Vanuatu that it would block other countries providing infrastructure funding. Weeks later, Vanuatu said it planned to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deepen policing cooperation with China. While Napuat said the two deals were separate, the stalled…
Tag: Asia Pacific
China replaces high-level diplomat after reported detention
China’s ruling Communist party (CCP) has replaced the head of its powerful international department two months after he disappeared from public life. Liu Jianchao, an influential official who had been widely tipped to be the next foreign minister, was reportedly detained while returning from an overseas trip in late July. He has not been seen publicly since. Liu’s profile on the CCP’s international department website has been replaced by one of Liu Haixing, a former director of the foreign ministry’s European department. The change was apparent on Tuesday but was…
AfD politician’s former aide convicted of spying for China
A former aide to a member of parliament for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party has been sentenced to almost five years in prison for spying on behalf of China. Jian Guo was convicted on Tuesday of acting as an agent for the Chinese intelligence service while working for Maximilian Krah, a former member of the European parliament who now sits for the AfD in Germany’s Bundestag. The case has stirred concern about the extent to which Europe is being targeted by Chinese spymasters. Guo, a German national, was found…
‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support
As Zhang Yadi toured remote villages in the Chinese province of Sichuan last year, she updated her friends with messages and photos of lush forest landscapes, colourful streets and locals wearing traditional Tibetan clothing. The largely Tibetan parts of the province have become a popular tourist destination for holidaymakers. But the 22-year-old, on a break from her studies in Europe, told friends she was saddened by what she saw. While she could hear conversations in Tibetan everywhere, all of the signage was in Mandarin Chinese. Every shop and restaurant she…
China court sentences 11 people to death over alleged role in family-run Myanmar scam operations
A court in China has sentenced 11 people to death for their alleged roles in a family-run crime syndicate accused of running illegal gambling and scam operations worth more than $1.4bn, and for the deaths of workers who disobeyed them. The Wenzhou intermediate people’s court on Monday sentenced 11 members of the powerful Ming family in Kokang, Myanmar to death while another five were handed death sentences suspended for two years. A further 12 defendants received jail sentences of between five and 24 years. Two-year suspended death sentences are often…
Super Typhoon Ragasa rampages through Taiwan, Hong Kong and southern China
Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded Taiwan, Hong Kong and China before moving into Vietnam on Thursday night, though as a much-weakened storm. At its peak Ragasa had mean wind speeds of 165mph as it moved to the south of Taiwan, where it brought significant heavy rain resulting in 17 deaths as a barrier lake burst. The storms then moved westwards just to the south of Hong Kong, before making landfall on Wednesday in the Guangdong province of China, with mean wind speeds of 150mph – equivalent to a category 4 hurricane.…
Trump signs executive order to transfer TikTok to US owners
Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday outlining the terms of a deal to transfer TikTok to a US owner. Trump said he and China’s president Xi Jinping had come to an agreement to allow TikTok to continue operating in the US, separating the social media platform from its Chinese owner ByteDance. Trump said the deal complies with a law that would have forced the shutdown of the app for American users had it not been divested and sold to a US owner. “I spoke with President Xi and…
China has announced its first target to cut emissions in real terms. What does it mean for Australia?
Anything China does on energy and climate change is very big news. Its plans ripple around the world, whether that’s in changing the demand for fossil fuels or affecting the impacts on the planet from global heating. On Thursday, Australia woke to the news that China’s president, Xi Jinping, had told the United Nations that for the first time his country was setting a target to cut – in absolute terms – its greenhouse gas emissions. In a video address, Xi said China’s emissions would fall by 7% to 10%…
Super Typhoon Ragasa batters Hong Kong – video
Super Typhoon Ragasa has caused widespread flooding and damaged roads in Hong Kong, which resumed international flights on Thursday but kept kindergartens and some schools closed. Ragasa, the strongest storm so far this year, killed 14 people in Taiwan and 11 in the Philippines, according to officials. More than 100 people were injured in Hong Kong The Guardian
Taiwan convicts four former ruling party officials of spying for China
Four former employees of Taiwan’s ruling political party have been convicted of spying for China and handed prison sentences of up to 10 years. The four include a former aide to Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, when he was vice-president and for a time during his current presidency, and a senior staffer to Joseph Wu, then foreign minister and now the national security chief. The aides worked for the Democratic Progressive party (DPP), Taiwan’s ruling party. Huang Chu-jung, a former assistant to a New Taipei city councillor, received the lengthiest sentence…