Tag: Great Britain

U.K. to Accuse China of Cyberattacks Targeting Voter Data and Lawmakers

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The British government is expected to publicly link China to cyberattacks that compromised the voting records of tens of millions of people, another notable hardening of Britain’s stance toward China since its leaders heralded a “golden era” in British-Chinese relations nearly a decade ago. The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, will make a statement about the matter in Parliament on Monday afternoon, and is expected to announce sanctions against state-affiliated individuals and entities implicated in the attacks. The government disclosed the attack on the Electoral Commission last year but did…

U.S. Call for Gaza Cease-Fire Runs Into Russia-China Veto

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A U.S. bid to have the U.N. Security Council call for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip failed on Friday, after Russia and China vetoed the American resolution that included some of Washington’s strongest language since the start of the war. The resolution reflected the Biden administration’s growing frustration both with the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s conduct in a war that has killed about 30,000 people and reduced much of the enclave to ruins. The administration has been pressuring Israel not to attack the…

China Says It Has Imprisoned Ian Stones, a British Businessman, on Spy Charges

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A British businessman who disappeared from public view in China in 2018 was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday, in its first public acknowledgment of the case. The businessman, Ian J. Stones, had lived in China since the 1970s, working for companies such as General Motors and Pfizer. For years after he vanished, there was no public information about his whereabouts, though some in the business community privately discussed his secret detention. A spokesman for the foreign ministry said that Mr. Stones…

China Says It Detained a Foreign Consultant for Spying for Britain

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China’s top intelligence agency said Monday that it had detained the head of an overseas consulting agency for working as a spy for the British government to collect Chinese state secrets. The Chinese Ministry of State Security said it caught a consultant with the surname Huang, who collected China-related intelligence and found personnel on behalf of MI6. The British intelligence agency recruited and trained Huang — who is from an unspecified “third country” — in the United Kingdom and other places, the ministry said in a post on its official…

Hong Kong Activist Flees to Britain, Citing Police Pressure

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A political activist in Hong Kong previously imprisoned under its sweeping national security law said he had fled to Britain and would apply for asylum there, becoming the second high-profile dissident this month to announce going into exile from the territory. The activist, Tony Chung, revealed on Thursday that he had arrived in Britain, and, in several social media posts, said that he had decided to leave Hong Kong after enduring oppressive restrictions, pressure to act as informant and severe stress after his release from prison in June. Mr. Chung,…

Britain Says Bye-Bye to Its Only Pandas as They’ll Soon Depart for China

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Britain’s only two pandas will soon be returned to China, officials said, in a send-off that has dispirited fans of the playful, waddling bears and signals what appears to be the end, at least for now, of panda diplomacy. “Bamboo bon voyage,” the Edinburgh Zoo of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said on its website, noting that there would be “a giant farewell” on Thursday for the bears, whose names are Yang Guang and Tian Tian. The pair of giant pandas will be prepared to return to China in…

Global Markets Cheer on Better Than Expected Inflation Data

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Good news for global markets Yesterday’s impressive rally in U.S. stocks and bonds has gone worldwide this morning, as investors see central banks making gains in their fight against inflation. Adding to the good news was a breakthrough in the House last night that could avert a government shutdown. S&P 500 futures signal further gains at the opening bell. The question now is whether this represents a false dawn on inflation, or the start of a durable decline in rising costs — and interest rates. Here’s what’s exciting investors: Yesterday’s…

$100 Oil Could Scramble the Fed’s Efforts to Ease Inflation

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What rising oil prices mean for the Fed Crude oil has slipped below the 10-month high it hit on Tuesday. But analysts say the monthslong rally that has sent prices close to $100 a barrel isn’t over, posing a big risk for global growth and complicating central bankers’ efforts to tame inflation. Expect Jay Powell to field plenty of questions about oil prices at his news conference on Wednesday. The crude rally has become a wild card for the Fed chair and other policymakers grappling with high inflation. The Fed…

U.K.’s Arrest of Suspected Spy Fuels Calls for Tougher Stance on China

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Even by the prolific standards of China’s foreign influence operations, it would represent a sensational case of infiltration. A 28-year-old British man who worked as a researcher deep inside Britain’s Parliament was arrested in March on suspicion of working for the Chinese government. The man, who denies being a spy, worked with prominent lawmakers on China policy, raising fears of possible security breaches and widening a rift within the governing Conservative Party over how London should engage with an increasingly assertive Beijing. “The Chinese are infiltrating across the board; they…

Vetoes in U.N. Security Council Imperil Cross-Border Humanitarian Aid to Syria

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The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt two rival resolutions to extend cross-border aid deliveries into northern Syria from Turkey, effectively cutting off a vital lifeline to about 4.1 million people in opposition-held territories. Russia vetoed a bid put forth by Brazil and Switzerland to extend one resolution for nine months, a compromise from an initial 12-month extension called for by the United Nations and international aid agencies. A second resolution put forth by Russia for a six-month extension was vetoed by Britain, France and the United…