News

Does she really think Xi’s threats to Taiwan will be stopped by the sabre-rattling of the failed PM of a former colonial power?
There is a serious, calm and thoughtful discussion to be had about the western democracies’ future security and economic relationship with China, and it is under way in Washington and European capitals. Judging by her confrontational, attention-seeking today, Britain’s disgraced former prime minister Liz Truss is not part of it.
Truss, short of new ideas and insights, has defaulted to crowd-pleasing, hawkish positions that appear principally designed to facilitate a domestic political comeback at Rishi Sunak’s expense. A “totalitarian” China, she says, poses a global threat to the “free world”. Britain should help rally regional countries against Beijing by building a “Pacific defence alliance” and an “economic Nato”.
Simon Tisdall is a foreign affairs commentator and former Guardian foreign editor

Quan in Disney+'s upcoming original series, 'American Born Chinese.' With Golden Globes trophies and Oscar nominations in hand, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan will headline Disney+ Original series ...

With a wide range topics and subgenres covered, here are some great romantic comedies with Asian-American lead characters. For about as long as the medium of film has existed there have been great ...

Special legislation passed by the Albanese government with Coalition support. This blog is now closed
Marles says Australia able to track balloons
The defence minister, Richard Marles, says government would have capability to track a balloon if one was to appear over Australia as it did in the US a couple weeks ago.
Well, I think it’s important that this statement’s been made by the president to clarify the circumstances. There’s obviously been a particular fascination about balloons over the last month given the original spy balloon that we saw over the United States. I think from an Australian point of view, what’s important to say is that we’ve had no advice of any balloon of that kind being over Australia but we very much do have the capability to track such an object if there was one-to-and to deal with it.
Look, human rights matter and need to be central in the way we engage with the world. For this government, we will always call out human rights concerns where we have them and we’ve done that in respect of Xinjiang and the Uyghur population. I’ve done it publicly in China.
It forms part of the way in which we speak with China in our relationship. I think it’s also important, though, that in doing that, you know, be we raise those issues in a respectful way with China and in the context of the broader relationship and in the context of seeking to take steps which actually make a difference and it is important that we are stabilising our relationship with China.
There is no room for any harmful practices in NSW, particularly if they affect our young and vulnerable.
When the parliament returns, my government will provide in principle support for legislation that brings an end to any harmful practices. This is a complex matter and in working through it with parliamentary colleagues we will carefully consider the legal expression and effect of such laws.

What information China was able to gather with a balloon that it could not obtain through satellite surveillance is unclear, but other important questions need to be answered.

Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that the alleged Chinese spy balloon was "not helpful," addressing concerns over President Joe Biden's decision to shoot it down earlier this month. "We will ...

Some of the largest and most competitive universities in the United States have invested massive amounts in cash with a shady private equity firm linked to the Chinese government's genocide of Uyghur ...

Australia’s former PM urges new government to apply sanctions amid questions why he stopped short of taking such action when in power
The former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has defended his failure to introduce sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses, saying he ran out of time before his election loss.
His on Friday prompted the Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, to declare: “I’m not sure how much advice it would be sensible to take from Mr Morrison on foreign policy.”

Relations between Beijing and Washington have soured since the US accused China of sending a spy balloon into its airspace
A top Pentagon official will visit Taiwan in coming days, according to reports, as attempts between the US and China to repair relations continue to backslide after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon in its airspace.
Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, is expected to visit Taiwan in coming days, according to the Financial Times, after he leaves Mongolia where he is meeting its military.

This week, Jonathan Freedland and look into why a story about spy balloons launched by China quickly led to the White House having to deny the existence of aliens, and how communication on this could further deepen the wedge between the US and China
Archive: CSPAN, Sky News, CBS, CNBC

Former PM will warn in Tokyo ‘free world is in danger’ in apparent attempt to put pressure on Rishi Sunak
Britain and the rest of the G7 should urgently agree a tough package of sanctions to impose on China if it escalates military tensions with Taiwan, Liz Truss will argue, as she uses her first public overseas speech to pile pressure on Rishi Sunak.
Speaking in Tokyo on Friday, the former prime minister will urge her successor to be more hawkish in standing up to Beijing, warning coordinated action is needed to block “the rise of a totalitarian China” given “the free world is in danger”.