This comes a few days after the Biden administration announced the decision not to send an official US delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing….reports Asian Lite News
Australia has joined the US in announcing a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over concerns about human rights abuses in China.
This comes a few days after the Biden administration announced the decision not to send an official US delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that this decision should come as “no surprise” that their diplomats and politicians would boycott the event, citing the breakdown in the ties with China, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
“I’m doing it because it’s in Australia’s national interest,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Morrison said Beijing’s own diplomatic freeze on Australia had also fed into the decision for officials to boycott the Games because Australia had been unable to raise its concerns about human rights directly with Chinese leaders.
Earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said US athletes will still participate in the Olympics, but the administration will not be sending government officials to the games.
The move marks an escalation of pressure by the US on China over reports of forced labour and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, particularly against the Uyghur minority community, CNN reported.
During a White House briefing, Psaki said the US is looking to send a “clear message” that the human rights abuses in China mean there cannot be “business as usual.”
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it “fully respects” the US government’s decision of the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games 2022 which is set to be held in Beijing.
“The presence of government officials and diplomats is a purely political decision for each government, which the IOC in its political neutrality fully respects. At the same time, this announcement also makes clear that the Olympic Games and the participation of the athletes are beyond politics, and we welcome this,” IOC said in the statement on Monday. (ANI)
Lesson from Barbados - China's biggest target is Commonwealth
The 287,000 people who live in Barbados are just the latest pawns in the sights of the Beijing regime as part of its unwavering policy of world domination…reports Asian Lite News
“Barbados this week became a republic. But more significantly, as well as losing a monarch, the West Indian island gained an emperor. For, in place of Elizabeth II, a new ruler is lurking behind the scenes: the Chinese strongman leader-for-life Xi Jinping,” the report said.
Surely, too, it was not a coincidence that this week, in a highly unusual intervention, the head of MI6, Richard Moore, delivered a razor-edged warning about what he said are ‘debt traps and data traps’ that China is laying around the world.
Lesson from Barbados – China’s biggest target is Commonwealth
Yet the events in Barbados are a microcosm of China’s ever-growing influence over a swathe of the planet — one in which British influence was once unparalleled, the Daily Mail reported.
For years, experts have warned of Beijing’s creeping grip on poorer countries — and accused the Communist regime of locking these nations in the so-called ‘debt trap’.
This is best exemplified by the Belt and Road Initiative, which has seen China funding large infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa and Central Europe on seemingly tempting but punitive terms. The lesson from Barbados is that the dragon’s biggest target is the Commonwealth, the report said.
As Britain’s global, political and economic influence dwindles, China, patient and wily, is filling the gap — and the cooperative body that unites most of our former empire is ripe for picking. That would have seemed unthinkable only a few years ago, the report said.
The Commonwealth countries have traditionally been loyal British allies — with the memory of imperial dominance balanced by deep ties of history and culture. In the aftermath of empire, children in Commonwealth schools studied Shakespeare, played cricket and sang ‘God Save the Queen’.
But decades of neglect have taken their toll. Despite its name, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has consistently neglected our former empire. Dozens of embassies and missions in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean have closed as UK governments concentrated on promoting trade and investment in more promising climes, the report said.
And so China has been able to forge its new empire — not from old-style conquest, but through other tactics.
The Chinese imperialists’ main weapon — ironically given their dogged adherence to the Communist creed — is money.
Most of the Commonwealth comprises medium-sized and small countries that are tired of second-class treatment. They want better infrastructure — ports, airports, power grids, roads, railways, water and sewage treatment plants.
The international economic system run by the West has not provided these investments. But China offers them, built rapidly and on seemingly advantageous terms. Beijing has spent £685 billion since 2005 wooing Commonwealth countries, according to an estimate from the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, the report said.
Even that huge sum is trivial for Beijing, with its boundless ambition, colossal military budget and high-tech weaponry.
In poor countries that get a raw deal from the rich world, China’s cash brings clout. The spending includes £5 billion in five Commonwealth Caribbean nations: Barbados, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago, the report said.
The cash-strapped, crime-ridden island of Jamaica is the biggest target, benefiting from Chinese ‘investment’ to the tune of 2 billion pounds.
China’s advance is underway across the Commonwealth, including in far larger member countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
China has also assiduously wooed Nigeria, the third-largest country (population 213 million).
Technological conquest is underway, too. In 2019, Guyana — a neighbouring Commonwealth country — launched the Safe City System in its capital Georgetown, using equipment designed by the Beijing-sponsored telecoms giant Huawei. This includes facial recognition technology of the kind used to repress Uighurs and other Muslims in western China. Similar technology is being used in Dominica, also a Commonwealth country, the report said.
These sinister systems are the backbone of China’s surveillance state at home. Used abroad, they enable the regime to harvest foreigners’ data, the report added.
Military influence is growing, too. A newspaper in Fiji, another Commonwealth country, disclosed in April that China had trained Fiji’s two most senior military officers.
China also established Namibia’s military staff college and trains Sri Lankan soldiers. Other African Commonwealth countries receiving Chinese military training include Cameroon and Rwanda in Africa, as well as Guyana in South America. China trains Kenya’s paramilitary National Youth Service and sponsors a ‘politico-military school’ in Uganda, the Daily Mail reported.
These ‘debt and data traps’, combined with China’s military influence, amount to nothing less than a redrawing of the world map, the report added.
And all this diplomatic clout is, understandably, peeling away Commonwealth countries that once reliably sided with Britain.
In a recent UN vote on Hong Kong, China received backing from 53 states, including Papua New Guinea and Antigua and Barbuda — Commonwealth countries that still have the Queen as head of state.
Other Commonwealth members voting to back Beijing included Sierra Leone, Zambia, Lesotho, Cameroon and Mozambique — all Commonwealth nations that have benefited from Chinese aid and investment, the Daily Mail reported.
The developments came days after the US and UK mulled upon the boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing,…reports Asian Lite News
Owing to China’s human rights violation in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, Taiwanese legislators from New Power Party (NPP) have made a call to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
At a press conference on Wednesday, NPP legislator Chen Jiau-hua stated on the party’s behalf that China is unqualified to host the Olympics due to its ongoing human rights violations against people of various ethnic groups, religious beliefs, and sexual orientations, which is exactly the opposite of what is written in the Olympic Creed, reported Taiwan News.
“The government should issue a resolution to boycott the Winter Games while protecting the nation’s competitive athletes,” said another NPP legislator Claire Wang.
“Women and female athletes are more vulnerable to sexual coercion under authoritarianism, which can be observed from former Chinese professional tennis star Peng Shuai’s accusation against former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and how the top Chinese authority reacted to the event,” Wang said.
Peng, 35, went missing on November 2 after she said on Chinese social media that she had been sexually assaulted and forced into a sexual relationship with Zhang Gaoli, 75, who was China’s vice premier from 2013 to 2018.
Olympics
The developments came days after the US and UK mulled upon the boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing,
The White House usually sends a delegation to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, but this time, under a diplomatic boycott, it would not send the delegation.
The diplomatic boycott call has been advocated by top US lawmakers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had called for such a boycott, a move to protest against China’s abuses of human rights, said CNN.
Responding to it, China said that the politicization of the Olympics will harm the global sports movement in the world.
Human rights activists have raised their voices against China’s detention of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province and crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
In March, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials and one entity for alleged human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to Sputnik. (ANI)
According to reports, Biden is expected to soon approve a recommendation to not send American officials to the games….reports Asian Lite News
The Biden administration is still weighing how to approach the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic Games, including the possibility of a diplomatic boycott, but hasn’t reached a final conclusion, officials familiar with the matter said Tuesday, CNN reported.
The issue did not arise during a highly anticipated virtual summit between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday, American officials said after the meeting, the report said.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Biden is expected to soon approve a recommendation to not send American officials to the games. Typically, the White House sends a delegation to the opening and closing ceremonies.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have advocated for such a diplomatic boycott in protest of China’s human rights abuses.
Some Republicans have gone further, insisting no American athletes attend either, CNN reported.
The White House declined Tuesday to say whether any boycott was planned for the upcoming games.
“I don’t have anything to add on that subject. But I can tell you that was not part of (Biden and Xi’s) conversation,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US and allies are in “active conversations” about how to approach the upcoming Winter Olympics in China.
Blinken, appearing virtually at the New York Times DealBook Summit, was asked whether he thinks US athletes should participate since he has said in the past that China is involved in genocide, given its policies toward Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province, the report said.
“We are talking to, to allies, to partners, to countries around the world about how they’re thinking about the games, how they’re thinking about participation,” Blinken said. “It’s an active conversation. We’re coming, we’re coming up on the games, but let me leave it at that for today.”
The games are set to begin on February 4 in Beijing and last until February 20. When asked what date the deadline is for the US and other countries to make a decision, Blinken sidestepped.
“Well, let’s see,” he said. “The games are coming up, when, in February, early in the year, so before then.”
Afghanistan represents something of a paradox for both China and Russia…reports Asian Lite News
When Russia hosted a meeting with senior Taliban leaders in Moscow this week — after both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping sent junior deputies to an earlier G-20 leaders’ meeting on Afghanistan — it raised the question of whether this is part of a broader strategic plan for how Beijing and Moscow plan to work together on the world stage, Nikkei reported.
Afghanistan represents something of a paradox for both China and Russia. Though fearful of the large American military presence that was on their doorsteps, Moscow and Beijing were secretly happy that Washington was taking responsibility for the security situation on the ground, the report said.
Now, irritated at the mess the US has left behind, China and Russia have decided that the way forward is to engage with the Taliban and explore options together. Both engaged publicly with the Taliban long before Kabul fell, and both have left a substantial diplomatic presence since the Taliban took over. At the United Nations, Russia and China have both pushed for Taliban sanctions to be lifted, something highlighted during this week’s Moscow Summit, the report said.
China has strengthened its small base in Tajikistan, undertaking a number of bilateral exercises with Tajik special forces, and the Russians have bolstered the Tajik armed forces as well as strengthened their own 7,000-strong military presence there and participated in larger regional exercises with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it added.
But it is hard to tell how many of these actions are coordinated, with some reports hinting at Moscow’s frustration at the lack of cooperation with Beijing on the ground in Tajikistan. At the other end of the scale, both have engaged in regular large-scale joint military exercises on Russian soil, including regular exercises overseen by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Eurasian security pact that includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan and Tajikistan, the report said.
China will continue to provide assistance to Iran in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and supports Iran to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he said…reports Asian Lite News.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian vowed to promote bilateral cooperation when they met here on Thursday.
Wang said that since the establishment of the new Iranian government, the bilateral relations have maintained a positive momentum of development with intensive communication at all levels, which shows that the two countries enjoy a high-level comprehensive strategic partnership.
China firmly supports Iran in opposing hegemony, and safeguarding its sovereignty, dignity, legitimate rights and interests, Wang said, adding that China is willing to work with Iran to implement the bilateral comprehensive cooperation plan, and promote cooperation in jointly building the Belt and Road and in such fields as energy and resources.
China will continue to provide assistance to Iran in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and supports Iran to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he said.
China is willing to work with Iran to strengthen coordination and cooperation on regional and international affairs, keep negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in the right direction and reach consensus on it at an early date, jointly promote the establishment of an inclusive political structure in Afghanistan, and take concrete actions to combat all forms of terrorism, he added.
Amir Abdollahian said that Iran-China relations have strategic significance and a solid foundation. The new Iranian government is willing to work with China to thoroughly implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries and accelerate cooperation in such areas as transportation, energy, culture, technology, and tourism.
Iran appreciates China’s great help with its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and hopes to strengthen vaccine cooperation with China, he said.
The new Iranian government attaches importance to neighbouring countries and Asia, appreciates China’s support for Iran to become a full member of the SCO, and is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China on the Iranian nuclear issue, the Afghanistan issue and others, he added. (ANI/Xinhua)
The reason given was that the Chinese side had earlier announced sanctions on seven UK parliamentarians…reports Asian Lite News.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly denounced the UK Parliament’s decision to ban China’s Ambassador to the UK from attending its events, and has vowed that it will come up with “necessary responses”, the Global Times reported.
Analysts predicted that the responses may include temporarily terminating or suspending certain exchanges between the two countries, such as the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue; and meting out necessary reciprocity treatment to UK diplomatic bodies in China.
Speakers of the House of Commons and the House of Lords made the decision to ban Zheng Zeguang, China’s Ambassador to the UK, from attending a summer reception of the All Party Parliamentary China Group, which was scheduled on Wednesday night.
The reason given was that the Chinese side had earlier announced sanctions on seven UK parliamentarians.
The Chinese Embassy in the UK claimed the decision reflects “the narrow and parochial mindset of some individuals in the UK… It is a shortsighted, reckless and cowardly move”.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that China strongly denounces such a move, and will be forced to come up with necessary responses, the Global Times reported.
Zhao said that China’s sanctions on a handful of anti-China parliamentarians of the UK, announced in March, were completely justified and reasonable, adding that China always staunchly pushes back on any words or deeds that hurt China’s core interests, and that it does not tolerate being attacked in this manner.
“This is a rare and hysteric move from the UK, since Beijing and London share established ties. It also reflected the UK’s condescending attitude towards China, which is ‘I can slap whatever sanction on you, but you cannot slap back’,” Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, told the Global Times.
The spokesperson also accused European Parliament of “distorted facts with ulterior motives.”…reports Asian Lite News.
China on Friday opposed a European Parliament resolution on Hong Kong, which had denounced the closure of the city’s pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, highlighting the rapid deterioration of press freedom in Hong Kong.
“Under the national security law in the HKSAR, Hong Kong society has returned to stability, the rule of law and justice have been upheld, and the extensive lawful rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents have been better protected in a more stable and secure environment,” the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said in a statement.
The spokesperson also accused European Parliament of “distorted facts with ulterior motives.”
This comes after European Parliament on Thursday had adopted with a landslide majority urgent resolution denouncing the closure of Apple Daily, and the rapid deterioration of press freedom in Hong Kong.
The European Parliament also called on the Hong Kong government to immediately and unconditionally release and drop charges against all journalists.
“This European Parliament resolution is an important step in addressing press freedom abuse in Hong Kong, but it is now paramount that all democratic governments and other international organisations join their voices in protest against the repressive campaign led by the Chinese regime,” said RSF East Asia bureau head, Cedric Alviani.
In the resolution, the European Parliament expressed its “strongest solidarity with all Hong Kong journalists who, despite the entry of National Security Law into force, have continued to strenuously defend media freedom and independent journalism and to keep reporting about the dramatic evolution of events” and called on the Hong Kong government “to end all legal harassment and all intimidation directed at journalists.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) commended this “much-needed resolution addressing the escalating crackdown on press freedom in the territory.” (ANI)
A generation ago, the route to success in China was to work hard, get married and have children….reports Asian Lite News
Young people in China have set off a nascent counter-culture movement that involves lying down and doing as little as possible and Beijing is not happy about it.
Five years ago, Luo Huazhong discovered that he enjoyed doing nothing. He quit his job as a factory worker in China, biked 1,300 miles from Sichuan Province to Tibet and decided he could get by on odd jobs and USD 60 a month from his savings. He called his new lifestyle “lying flat”, reported The New York Times.
“I have been chilling,” Luo, 31, wrote in a blog post in April, describing his way of life. “I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong.”
He titled his post “Lying Flat Is Justice,” attaching a photo of himself lying on his bed in a dark room with the curtains drawn. Before long, the post was being celebrated by Chinese millennials as an anti-consumerist manifesto. “Lying flat” went viral and has since become a broader statement about Chinese society.
Elsie Chen, writing in The New York Times explained that to lie flat means to forgo marriage, not have children, stay unemployed and eschew material wants such as a house or a car. It is the opposite of what China’s leaders have asked of their people.
A generation ago, the route to success in China was to work hard, get married and have children. The country’s authoritarianism was seen as a fair trade-off as millions were lifted out of poverty.
But with employees working longer hours and housing prices rising faster than incomes, many young Chinese fear they will be the first generation not to do better than their parents.
They are now defying the country’s long-held prosperity narrative by refusing to participate in it, wrote Elsie.
Luo’s blog post was removed by censors, who saw it as an affront to Beijing’s economic ambitions. Mentions of “lying flat” — tangping, as it’s known in Mandarin — are heavily restricted on the Chinese internet. An official counter-narrative has also emerged, encouraging young people to work hard for the sake of the country’s future.
“After working for so long, I just felt numb, like a machine,” Luo said in an interview. “And so I resigned.”
While plenty of Chinese millennials continue to adhere to the country’s traditional work ethic, “lying flat” reflects both a nascent counter-culture movement and a backlash against China’s hyper-competitive work environment, reported The New York Times.
Xiang Biao, a professor of social anthropology at Oxford University who focuses on Chinese society, called tangping culture a turning point for China.
“Young people feel a kind of pressure that they cannot explain and they feel that promises were broken,” he said. “People realize that material betterment is no longer the single most important source of meaning in life”, said Xiang.
The ruling Communist Party, wary of any form of social instability, has targeted the “lying flat” idea as a threat to stability in China.
Censors have deleted a tangping group with more than 9,000 members on Douban, a popular internet forum. The authorities also barred posts on another tangping forum with more than 200,000 members, wrote Elsie.
In May, China’s internet regulator ordered online platforms to “strictly restrict” new posts on tangping, according to a directive obtained by The New York Times.
A second directive required e-commerce platforms to stop selling clothes, phone cases and other merchandise branded with “tangping.”
The state news media has called tangping “shameful,” and a newspaper warned against “lying flat before getting rich”, reported The New York Times. (ANI)
The countries expressed conflict situations in Ukraine, Belarus, Ethiopia, Chad, Mali and Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News.
The leaders of the G7 countries on Sunday pledged to promote shared values by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Xinjiang where Beijing is accused of committing serious human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority, and in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, while agreeing to consult on collective approaches on Beijing’s practices to undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy.
In the Carbis Bay communique, the G7 leaders said: “We recognise the particular responsibility of the largest countries and economies in upholding the rules-based international system and international law…We will do this based on our shared agenda and democratic values. With regard to China, and competition in the global economy, we will continue to consult on collective approaches to challenging non-market policies and practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy.”
“At the same time and in so doing, we will promote our values, including by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law,” the communique further read.
The leaders, along with guest countries – India, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa – pledged to promote shared values as open societies in the international system, increase cooperation on supporting democracy, strengthen media freedom, address human rights abuses, recognise the need for action on corruption and more.
The countries expressed conflict situations in Ukraine, Belarus, Ethiopia, Chad, Mali and Afghanistan.
“In Afghanistan, a sustainable, inclusive political settlement is the only way to achieve a just and durable peace that benefits all Afghans. We are determined to maintain our support for the Afghan government to address the country’s urgent security and humanitarian needs, and to help the people of Afghanistan, including women, young people and minority groups, as they seek to preserve hard-won rights and freedoms,” read the communique.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson poses for a family photograph with US President Joe Biden, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel during the G7 Leaders summit in Carbis Bay. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street
The G7 summit began formally on Friday as the leaders of the world’s most advanced economies gathered on the Cornish coast for the first time since the outbreak of global coronavirus pandemic. The gathered nations will pledge to donate 1 billion COVID vaccine doses, with the US providing about half of those shots.
The UK is the current G7 President. This is the 7th time UK is heading the G7. The theme selected by the UK for its G7 Presidency is ‘Build Back Better’ in a nod to global recovery efforts post-COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s actions in Xinjiang against Uyghurs and in Hong Kong have been major talking points in international fora. Several countries have publicly condemned China’s oppressive policies in the regions. (ANI)
