Tag: Diplomatic Service, Embassies and Consulates

China Withdraws 6 Diplomats From U.K. After Consulate Scuffle

Chin@Strategy

LONDON — China is withdrawing six diplomats from Britain after a police inquiry into a violent clash during a demonstration at China’s Consulate in Manchester led to a standoff between London and Beijing, Britain’s foreign secretary said on Wednesday. The British authorities had asked six Chinese officials to waive diplomatic immunity and allow an investigation into how a pro-democracy protester from Hong Kong was injured after being dragged onto the consulate grounds and beaten on Oct. 16. Instead, the Chinese authorities decided to repatriate six officials, including one of its…

Dutch Are Investigating Reported Illegal Chinese Police Stations

Chin@Strategy

The Dutch government said on Wednesday that it was investigating reports that Chinese law enforcement agencies illegally operate offices in the Netherlands — without Dutch knowledge or approval — to police Chinese citizens overseas. The Chinese embassy in the Netherlands said it was “not aware” of and “not involved” with the offices described in the reports. “China’s judicial and law-enforcement authorities strictly abide by international rules and fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries,” it said in a statement. The exchange came after the Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws and…

How Taiwan’s Ambitious Diplomacy Aims to Keep the Island Safe From China

Chin@Strategy

TAIPEI, Taiwan — To maintain diplomatic ties with Guatemala, Taiwan pays the country’s lobbyists in Washington. With its allies in the Pacific, Taiwan has promised to help preserve indigenous cultures, and to thank Lithuania, Taiwan’s newest unofficial ally, the government and local shoppers have embraced its imports, from lasers to bacon-flavored schnapps. The fear of being swallowed by China — increasingly adamant in its authoritarian claims over the self-ruled democracy — focuses the diplomatic mind. Few places in the world can claim to be as scrappy with statecraft or as…

In Britain, Demands for Tough Response After Beating at Chinese Consulate

Chin@Strategy

LONDON — The rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester, in northern England, began like others before it, with demonstrators against repression in Hong Kong hanging banners and preparing to shout slogans. But the scene turned violent on Sunday after a group of men emerged from the consulate, removed a poster of Xi Jinping, China’s leader, and then dragged one protester through the gates. They kicked and beat him as police officers and other protesters rushed to separate them. Journalists at the scene caught the melee on video seen around…

Why China Is Miles Ahead in a Pacific Race for Influence

Chin@Strategy

SUVA, Fiji — Take a walk through the city where China’s foreign minister met on Monday with the leaders of nearly a dozen Pacific Island nations, and China’s imprint is unmistakable. On one side of Suva, the capital of Fiji, there’s a bridge rebuilt with Chinese loans and unveiled with the country’s prime minister standing beside China’s ambassador. On the other, down Queen Elizabeth Drive, sits Beijing’s hulking new embassy, where the road out front has been fixed by workers in neon vests bearing the name of a Chinese state-owned…

Why the Chinese Internet Is Cheering Russia’s Invasion

Chin@Strategy

The countries’ friendship has “no limits,” they declared. Given that the leaders met just weeks before the invasion, it would be understandable to conclude that China should have had better knowledge of the Kremlin’s plans. But growing evidence suggests that the echo chamber of China’s foreign policy establishment might have misled not only the country’s internet users, but its own officials. My colleague Edward Wong reported that over a period of three months, senior U.S. officials held meetings with their Chinese counterparts and shared intelligence that detailed Russia’s troop buildup…

The Secret Talks Behind the U.S. Deal That France Called a ‘Betrayal’

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According to French officials, Mr. Blinken also stayed silent on June 25 when his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, welcomed him back to Paris — where Mr. Blinken spent his high school years — and extolled the importance of the French submarine deal. And as recently as Aug. 30, when the French and Australian defense and foreign ministers held their annual “consultation,” they issued a joint communiqué that said the two countries were committed to deepening cooperation in the defense industry and “underlined the importance of the Future Submarine program.”…

Biden Taps Burns and Emanuel as Ambassadors to China and Japan

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — President Biden on Friday nominated R. Nicholas Burns, a veteran Foreign Service officer and a former ambassador to NATO, as ambassador to China and Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago and former President Barack Obama’s first chief of staff, as ambassador to Japan. Mr. Biden settled on both nominees months ago, people involved in the process said. But the official announcement was delayed in part because the United States needs the host countries to sign off on such selections before proceeding. The nominations were announced on Friday…