A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air”, campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furore over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies”. The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint…
Tag: World news
UK ‘woefully’ unprepared for Chinese and Russian undersea cable sabotage, says report
China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis. A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents where national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership. The involvement of “shadow fleet” commercial vessels in these incidents is consistent with…
Tariff dodgers take big risks to cut small corners | Gene Marks
If you put up a barrier, people will find a way around it. So its not shocking to read recent news stories about how some businesses are trying to skirt around tariffs – particularly from China. They’re shipping goods through third countries, rather than directly from China, using special “shoppers” to skirt minimum quantity amounts, colluding with suppliers to falsify country-of-origin labels, undervaluing goods, or “assembling” products out of China where tariffs are lower. They’re creating shell companies in more tariff-friendly countries and even going so far as forging certificates…
China considers lifting sanctions on UK parliamentarians as relations warm
China is considering lifting the sanctions it imposed on UK parliamentarians in 2021, in the latest sign of warming relations between London and Beijing. The Chinese government is reviewing the sanctions, which it introduced four years ago in response to what it called “lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, according to two UK government sources familiar with the conversations. Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: “China has always attached importance to developing relations with the UK. Currently, UK-China relations are showing…
Trump’s military parade taps an ancient tradition of power: from Mesopotamia to Maga
To Donald Trump, the inspiration is the pomp and pageantry of Bastille Day, France’s annual celebration of the 1789 revolution. For his critics, it is redolent of the authoritarian militarism proudly projected by autocracies such as Russia, China and North Korea. Despite its military prowess and undoubted superpowers status, overt military displays in civilian settings are the exception rather than the rule in US history. But in bringing to the streets of Washington DC on Saturday, the military parade Trump has long hankered after he – consciously or otherwise –…
Weather tracker: Europe and China in midst of record-breaking heat
Temperature records for early June are being broken across large parts of Europe, with the mercury reaching 40.5C (104.9F) in Mértola, Portugal, on Sunday. On the same day, several weather stations in Spain recorded temperatures in excess of 42C, with dozens of sites at record levels for early summer. Across the Balkans, temperatures reached 37C. On Monday, 37.6C was recorded in Tirana, Albania, while in Greece night-time minimum temperatures have stayed mostly over 30C for much of this week. Hot conditions are to intensify across central and western Europe over…
New Zealand PM to meet Xi Jinping as former leaders warn against becoming an ‘adversary’ of China
New Zealand’s prime minister will meet Xi Jinping on a formal visit to China next week, his office has confirmed, a week after an open letter signed by some of his predecessors warned against positioning New Zealand as an “adversary” of its biggest trading partner. Christopher Luxon is scheduled to travel to Shanghai and Beijing, before going to Europe. His office said he will meet Xi and China’s premier, Li Qiang, for a visit focused on trade, but which would also discuss “the comprehensive bilateral relationship and key regional and…
BYD launches cheapest UK model in bid to overtake Tesla as biggest electric carmaker
The Chinese manufacturer BYD has launched its cheapest model in the UK, in the latest stage of its efforts to overtake Tesla as the world’s biggest electric carmaker. The Dolphin Surf will start at £18,650, a price that puts it among the cheapest new vehicles on sale in Britain. BYD is vying with American rival Tesla, run by Elon Musk, for the crown of world’s biggest battery carmaker, although BYD already beats Tesla when including figures for hybrid cars, which combine a battery with a petrol engine. The Chinese carmaker…
Trump trade deal shows how vital China’s rare-earth metals are to US defense firms
The draft trade agreement with China announced by Donald Trump on Wednesday would ease concerns from top US military suppliers about rare-earth metals and magnets that, if cut off permanently, could hobble production of everything from smart bombs to fighter jets to submarines and other weapons in the US arsenal. While the deal has not yet been finalised, it may reassure major defense companies such as Lockheed Martin, the largest US user of samarium – a rare-earth metal used in military-grade magnets – whose supply is entirely controlled by China.…
Hong Kong police tell people not to download ‘secessionist’ mobile game
Hong Kong police have warned people against downloading a Taiwan-developed mobile game which they say is “secessionist” and could lead to arrest. The game, Reversed Front: Bonfire, allows users to “pledge allegiance” to various groups linked to locations that have been major flashpoints or targets for China including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Manchuria, in order to “overthrow the communist regime” known as the “People’s Republic”. While some aspects and place names of the game’s worldview are imagined, the website says the game is “a work of NON-FICTION”…