https://www.scmp.com/rss/324394/feed Zhenhua Lu worked at the Post from 2017 until 2019 as US correspondent covering US-China relations on diplomacy, security and trade. After six years' working overseas in Brussels and Washington DC, he is now based in Hong Kong and writes about China foreign policy. He has master's in international journalism. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Russia is going ahead with delivery of its S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to China, despite the arms deal between the two countries falling foul of US sanctions. Russian state news agency Tass said on Wednesday that Russia had begun delivering a second regiment set of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to China by sea. “A transport vessel with the first batch of hardware from the second S-400 regiment set for China has taken to the sea from the port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic coast,” Tass... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3020072/russia-and-china-defy-us-delivery-anti-aircraft-missile-systems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3020072/russia-and-china-defy-us-delivery-anti-aircraft-missile-systems?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2019 10:00:13 +0000 The United States has given its backing to South Korea and Japan in response to airspace incursions by Chinese and Russian warplanes in the Asia-Pacific region this week, in the latest sign of a rebalancing of military influence in the area. “The United States strongly supports our [South Korean] and Japanese allies and their responses to airspace incursions by Chinese and Russian aircraft,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said in response to a query from South Korean news... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019939/china-russia-seek-rebalance-military-might-asia-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019939/china-russia-seek-rebalance-military-might-asia-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jul 2019 13:30:06 +0000 Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister-designate, said his government would be very “pro-China”, in an interview with a Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster shortly before he was chosen to succeed Theresa May on Tuesday. Speaking to Phoenix TV, Johnson backed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s infrastructure-based Belt and Road Initiative and said his government would maintain an open market for Chinese investors in Britain. “We are very enthusiastic about the Belt and Road Initiative. We... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019884/pro-china-boris-johnson-enthusiastic-about-belt-and-road-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019884/pro-china-boris-johnson-enthusiastic-about-belt-and-road-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jul 2019 06:53:49 +0000 A formal agreement on fishing rights in the South China Sea would help ease tensions between Beijing and Manila, but reaching one without sparking a public outcry in either China or the Philippines might be easier said than done, according to observers. The problem, they say, is that negotiators will find it almost impossible to agree such a deal without reinforcing or supporting the two sides’ respective, but unresolved, territorial claims. Zhang Mingliang, an associate professor at Jinan... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019438/china-and-philippines-need-fishing-deal-south-china-sea-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019438/china-and-philippines-need-fishing-deal-south-china-sea-can?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Jul 2019 07:56:17 +0000 A senior Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has been tipped by diplomatic sources to take over as head of policy towards the US and Canada as part of a generational reshuffling of officials. The sources said Lu Kang, the director of the ministry’s information department, was expected to succeed Cong Peiwu, the current head of North America and Oceania affairs, “very soon”. Lu told a regular press conference on Thursday he would step down as the head of the ministry’s information department... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019208/chinese-foreign-ministry-spokesman-lu-kang-take-over-us-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019208/chinese-foreign-ministry-spokesman-lu-kang-take-over-us-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jul 2019 14:05:45 +0000 Iran is hoping to attract up to one million Chinese tourists from next month in a bid to shore up its falling economy, badly hit by US sanctions. Vali Teymouri, Iran's deputy director for tourism affairs, told the South China Morning Post that the Iranian government’s new visa waiver program for Chinese visitors – first announced in June – could be implemented as early as the end of this month. Teymouri said Iran expected to “attract one million Chinese in the near future” through the visa... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018695/iran-woo-chinese-tourists-visa-free-entry-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018695/iran-woo-chinese-tourists-visa-free-entry-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:30:07 +0000 There is no need to panic about Iran’s moves to stockpile uranium because the amount in question does not raise the risk of proliferation, China’s arms control chief has said. Fu Cong, the Chinese foreign ministry’s head of arms control affairs, told a meeting of the United Nations nuclear watchdog in Vienna on Wednesday that “we should not overreact to the actions taken by Iran because, in our view, these actions do not incur any proliferation risks and they do not contravene Iran's obligation... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018231/chinese-arms-control-chief-urges-world-keep-calm-after-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018231/chinese-arms-control-chief-urges-world-keep-calm-after-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2019 12:16:07 +0000 A former US ambassador to China has said the tariff war had become the “new normal” in the countries’ relationship despite the resumption of trade talks. Max Baucus, the top US envoy in Beijing from 2014 to 2017, said on the sidelines of a US-China trade relations event in Hong Kong that it would be difficult for the world’s two largest economies to cancel their existing tariffs on each other’s products. “We have a new normal that the tariffs will continue in the indefinite future,” Baucus, also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017992/tariffs-are-new-normal-and-may-be-difficult-remove-says-former?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017992/tariffs-are-new-normal-and-may-be-difficult-remove-says-former?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2019 05:17:03 +0000 A senior Chinese diplomat lashed out at the United States on Monday, saying it had imposed visa restrictions on academics from China and saw the country as “an enemy” – which he said could have “disastrous” consequences. Foreign Vice-Minister Le Yucheng said the problems faced by the US were not “China’s fault” and that Chinese people were finding it more difficult to engage in exchanges with their US counterparts. There have been growing reports of Chinese academics and students facing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017772/senior-chinese-diplomat-warns-disastrous-consequences-if-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017772/senior-chinese-diplomat-warns-disastrous-consequences-if-us?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jul 2019 14:30:07 +0000 Zhenhua Lu Zhenhua Lu Chinese agricultural scientists are using gene-editing tools to create soybean mutants that can adapt to warmer climates in low-altitude regions, in a bid to increase production of the crop in southern China. Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have knocked out two key genes that regulate soybean flowering to create mutants that “may have enormous yield potential for the tropics”, according to a research paper published in Plant Biotechnology Journal in late June. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017485/chinese-scientists-develop-gene-edited-soybean-can-grow-warmer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017485/chinese-scientists-develop-gene-edited-soybean-can-grow-warmer?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jul 2019 18:00:19 +0000 Beijing has urged Stockholm to send an alleged fugitive back to China despite the Swedish Supreme Court rejecting a similar request last month. In a meeting with a Swedish foreign ministry official, Chinese ambassador to Sweden Gui Congyou called on Stockholm to “agree to extradite Qiao Jianjun back to China as early as possible”, according to an embassy statement released on Friday. Gui said Qiao was the “Chinese people’s most hated embezzler” and Sweden should not be a “protector” and “safe... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017383/dont-be-safe-haven-criminals-china-urges-sweden-call-extradite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017383/dont-be-safe-haven-criminals-china-urges-sweden-call-extradite?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jul 2019 05:54:44 +0000 China said it was conducting a military drill over the South China Sea as tensions between Beijing and the waters’ other claimants continued to simmer. The maritime safety agency in Sansha – on Woody Island, known as Yongxing Island in China, the largest of the disputed Paracel Islands – said it had closed an area of the sea for a five-day military drill near the Spratly Islands from Saturday. Sailing into the area, near Macclesfield Bank and Spratly Bank, was prohibited during that period, it... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3016892/china-announces-drill-near-disputed-paracel-islands-us-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3016892/china-announces-drill-near-disputed-paracel-islands-us-official?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2019 05:28:18 +0000 Zhenhua Lu Zhenhua Lu China is using a number of tactics that fall in the “grey zone between peace and war” to advance its interests in the disputed East and South China seas, according a leading US defence think tank. In a report analysing China and Russia’s “coercive” actions, the Washington-based Rand Corporation also proposed a number of military and diplomatic measures America could take to counter China in the strategic waters. Rand, which is partly funded by the US government, said Washington expected its... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3016532/china-accused-entering-grey-zone-between-war-and-peace-assert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3016532/china-accused-entering-grey-zone-between-war-and-peace-assert?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jun 2019 11:49:29 +0000 China has increased the number of government-funded studies into the US and trade this year following criticism that gaps in the country’s understanding of America has left policymakers unprepared to deal with Donald Trump’s presidency and the subsequent trade war. When Trump started the still-unresolved dispute last July, Chinese academics faced heavy criticism that they had underestimated the US president and his administration’s resolve to confront Beijing. That month a number of academics... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3016396/china-tries-bridge-gap-knowledge-about-us-after-misreading?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3016396/china-tries-bridge-gap-knowledge-about-us-after-misreading?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jun 2019 23:30:16 +0000 Security analysts have dismissed suggestions that Donald Trump would pull out of the defence treaty with Japan, saying it was likely to be a negotiating tactic aimed at extorting greater trade concessions from Tokyo. They also warned that if Japan was freed from the restrictions imposed by the post-World War II alliance, it would build up its military – possibly acquiring nuclear weapons – which would unsettle China and trigger an “unrestricted” arms race in the region. The US president is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3016225/donald-trumps-threat-quit-japan-defence-pact-just-negotiating?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3016225/donald-trumps-threat-quit-japan-defence-pact-just-negotiating?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Jun 2019 18:30:15 +0000 A prominent Chinese specialist in American affairs has rejected claims that he plagiarised research on the roots of the China-US trade war at a symposium last week, saying he simply “quoted” the data to support his arguments. In a statement published on social media platform WeChat on Monday, a user identified as Mu Feng accused Wu Baiyi, the head of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), of plagiarism. Mu accused Wu of not attributing his research in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3014045/top-chinese-academic-hits-back-plagiarism-claims-over-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3014045/top-chinese-academic-hits-back-plagiarism-claims-over-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jun 2019 23:00:14 +0000 China and Russia have signed more than US$20 billion of deals to boost economic ties in areas such as technology and energy following Xi Jinping’s summit with his “best friend” Vladimir Putin. Wednesday’s meeting between the two presidents, who have spoken of their desire to boost practical cooperation in the face of increasing rivalry with the United States, marked the start of Xi’s three-day visit to Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3013483/russia-and-china-sign-deals-worth-us20bn-xi-jinping-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3013483/russia-and-china-sign-deals-worth-us20bn-xi-jinping-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2019 14:58:36 +0000 The US government has set out an extensive strategy to reduce its reliance on rare earths exports from China after Beijing threatened to stop selling the strategically vital minerals. The US Department of Commerce published a 50-page report on Tuesday outlining a slew of measures, including steps to boost domestic supplies, to reduce the “strategic vulnerabilities” caused by its dependence on imports. Around 59 per cent of the US’ imports of rare earths – which are critical for consumer... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3013227/us-moves-reduce-reliance-chinese-rare-earth-exports-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3013227/us-moves-reduce-reliance-chinese-rare-earth-exports-after?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 10:15:09 +0000 China said on Monday that it had Germany’s support in defending the global multilateral order, as its trade war with the US continues to escalate. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the two sides had “reached an agreement that in facing a complicated and ever-changing international environment, both China and Germany should jointly uphold multilateralism, maintain the current international order and oppose behaviour that will damage the current order with abusive sanctions”. “Both... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012954/china-germany-agree-uphold-global-multilateral-order-berlin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012954/china-germany-agree-uphold-global-multilateral-order-berlin?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jun 2019 15:01:13 +0000 China and Russia will join the Palestinian Authority in shunning a US-led conference designed to kick-start the Middle East peace process by unveiling the “deal of the century”. Last week the US announced that the “Peace to Prosperity” workshop, to be held in Bahrain on June 25 and 26, would explore “potential economic investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement” between the Israelis and Palestinians. But the Palestinians refused to attend the meeting, saying... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012507/china-sides-palestinians-snubbing-showcase-donald-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012507/china-sides-palestinians-snubbing-showcase-donald-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 May 2019 13:51:44 +0000 Japan’s decision to buy 105 F-35 Lightning jet fighters from the United States may further fuel the arms race in Asia, analysts have warned. The deal, first announced in December, was confirmed on Monday during US President Donald Trump’s four-day state visit to Japan. Japan “has just announced its intent to purchase 105 brand new F-35 stealth aircraft. Stealth, because, the fact is you can’t see them”, Trump said at Japan’s Akasaka Palace. “This purchase would give Japan the largest F-35 fleet... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012186/japans-deal-buy-f-35-lightning-jets-us-may-fuel-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012186/japans-deal-buy-f-35-lightning-jets-us-may-fuel-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2019 19:30:11 +0000 A Chinese-American scientist, who along with this wife was sacked by US-based Emory University for allegedly undisclosed funding ties to China, has disputed the “unusual and abrupt” way he was thrown out of a job. Li Xiaojiang, a biologist at Emory for more than 20 years, said he was “shocked” that the private university in Atlanta, Georgia, sacked him without “specific details” to explain why, a report on Science magazine’s website said. Emory said Li and his wife Li Shihua – both US citizens... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012013/scientist-hits-back-us-university-over-unusual-and-abrupt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012013/scientist-hits-back-us-university-over-unusual-and-abrupt?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2019 18:00:14 +0000 Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has dismissed Donald Trump’s suggestion that the company be included in a trade deal between the United States and China. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Ren said the idea was a “big joke”, adding that the Chinese telecoms giant had nothing to do with the US-China trade war. “The US has never bought products from us. Even if the US wants to buy our products in the future, I may not sell to them. There is no need for negotiation,” said Ren. “I will ignore... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011961/huawei-chief-ren-zhengfei-dismisses-donald-trumps-suggestion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011961/huawei-chief-ren-zhengfei-dismisses-donald-trumps-suggestion?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2019 08:29:07 +0000 Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, has sacked two US government-funded scientists for allegedly failing to disclose their sources of overseas financing and research ties in China. The university said on Thursday that an investigation revealed that the two faculty members had “failed to fully disclose foreign sources of research funding and the extent of their work for research institutions and universities in China”. “Emory has shared this information with the National Institutes of Health... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011732/us-emory-university-fires-scientists-over-undisclosed-funding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011732/us-emory-university-fires-scientists-over-undisclosed-funding?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 May 2019 12:00:11 +0000 The Chinese foreign ministry hit back on Thursday at a US Senate proposal to punish Chinese individuals and entities for “illegal and dangerous” activities in the South China Sea. Lu Kang, a spokesman for the ministry, said the “legislation violates the basic norms of international law and international relations and the Chinese side, of course, firmly objects”. He said the construction of reefs on disputed territory – one of the activities cited in the draft legislation – was “fully within the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011544/beijing-hits-back-us-senates-plan-south-china-sea-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011544/beijing-hits-back-us-senates-plan-south-china-sea-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2019 10:49:21 +0000 China and the United States have entered a “contest of wills” in the South China Sea, according to analysts. The assessment follows the latest passage of a US warship through disputed waters near the Scarborough Shoal on Sunday. It was the second such incident this month and follows a number of missions earlier this year, as the US seeks to challenge China’s activities in the South China Sea. But analysts predicted that China would step up its countermeasures to show that it would not compromise... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011209/washington-and-beijing-contest-wills-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011209/washington-and-beijing-contest-wills-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2019 18:00:04 +0000 China and Japan should work together to defend multilateralism and the global trading system, a top Chinese diplomat said in Tokyo on Friday as trade tensions with the United States continue to rise. Speaking in a meeting with Shotaro Yachi, Japan’s national security adviser, Yang Jiechi, a member of China’s Politburo, said the two countries “should strengthen coordination and collaboration under the multilateral mechanism and promote fair and reasonable global governance”, according to a Xinhua... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010704/china-japan-must-work-together-defend-global-trade-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010704/china-japan-must-work-together-defend-global-trade-party?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 May 2019 12:00:13 +0000 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has issued a veiled warning to the United States not to undermine China’s relations with Russia and criticised “outside interference” in the relationship between the two countries. Visiting Sochi on Monday for meetings with counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin – a day before the Russian pair met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – Wang said China-Russia relations set an example “beyond compare”, while the world was “in chaos and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010185/china-russia-relations-are-unrivalled-beijing-warns-us-mike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010185/china-russia-relations-are-unrivalled-beijing-warns-us-mike?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 May 2019 11:00:14 +0000 A senior US diplomat has accused China of enabling corruption and undermining national security and the sovereignty of countries across Latin America. Kimberly Breier, assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs at the US State Department, told an Americas Society event in Washington that China failed to meet the America’s standards for transparency, anti-corruption and debt sustainability. “In Latin America and the Caribbean, we have seen that China too often departs from these... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3008269/us-accuses-china-enabling-corruption-and-undermining-national?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3008269/us-accuses-china-enabling-corruption-and-undermining-national?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Apr 2019 10:30:05 +0000 France and China should value their strong relationship and not take actions that disrupt it, China’s foreign minister told his French counterpart on Thursday, just days after Beijing expressed its upset at Paris for sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait earlier this month. Speaking at a meeting on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, Wang Yi told Jean-Yves Le Drian that the two nations “should cherish their hard-won and good relations”. “[We should] avoid unnecessary... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007941/cherish-love-china-and-france-should-avoid-causing-unnecessary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007941/cherish-love-china-and-france-should-avoid-causing-unnecessary?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Apr 2019 07:00:48 +0000 President Xi Jinping sought to allay mounting scepticism and fears over his global infrastructure and trade plans on Friday, promising to prevent debt risk, promote sustainable growth and make the Belt and Road Initiative more transparent and inclusive. In a speech to almost 40 world leaders in Beijing, the Chinese leader also made a series of commitments designed to address concerns over the country’s domestic reforms. Xi’s promises to abolish China’s much-criticised anticompetitive state... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007892/chinese-president-xi-jinping-tries-stem-rising-chorus-doubts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007892/chinese-president-xi-jinping-tries-stem-rising-chorus-doubts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2019 14:00:09 +0000 American academics have warned that a tit-for-tat visa war targeting scholars from China and the US will only hurt both sides, fuel mutual suspicion and damage academic channels of communication. The assessment came after several prominent Chinese academics said they had been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations on suspicion of spying and have had their 10-year, multi-entry US visas revoked. But some of their American counterparts pointed out that China had been imposing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007372/us-and-china-urged-stop-race-bottom-blocking-academic-visas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007372/us-and-china-urged-stop-race-bottom-blocking-academic-visas?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2019 14:00:17 +0000 Donald Trump’s top China expert Michael Pillsbury has called for a “visa war” ceasefire after Beijing failed to approve his visa application. Pillsbury, director for Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute, has advised Trump on his China policy and was described by the president as “the leading authority on China.” But the frequent China traveler was unable to speak at a forum in Beijing as planned this week, because the Chinese embassy in America was still processing his visa. “We need to... https://www.scmp.com/politics/michael-pillsbury-calls-visa-war-ceasefire-after-being-denied-china-visa/article/3006852?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/michael-pillsbury-calls-visa-war-ceasefire-after-being-denied-china-visa/article/3006852?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2019 09:54:40 +0000 China and the United States may be close to reaching a deal on the trade war, but strains persist in the academic exchanges that have played a vital role in relations between the two countries. Several prominent Chinese specialists in American affairs at universities and government-affiliated think tanks said they were questioned by FBI agents during trips to the US about alleged spying for Chinese intelligence agencies. Some said their visas were revoked and complained that paperwork took so... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3006786/calls-cease-fire-visa-war-targeting-chinese-and-us-academics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3006786/calls-cease-fire-visa-war-targeting-chinese-and-us-academics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Apr 2019 20:00:05 +0000 A US coastguard vessel that sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait in late March has made a port call in Hong Kong despite protests from Beijing about the warship transiting the strategic waterway. Experts said the Chinese government’s decision to approve the local visit indicated its priority was on keeping relations stable to secure a deal with Washington to end the protracted US-China trade war. Flying a Chinese national flag in a show of friendship, the United States Coast Guard Cutter... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3006290/us-coastguard-vessel-visits-hong-kong-flying-flag-friendship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3006290/us-coastguard-vessel-visits-hong-kong-flying-flag-friendship?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2019 15:26:20 +0000 China’s deployment of a large fleet of vessels to the Philippines-held Thitu Island in the South China Sea is aimed at blocking the country’s construction of military facilities on the disputed island in the Spratly chain because it is concerned that the United States will be able to use such facilities, diplomatic observers said. The two countries have been involved in a diplomatic stand-off over an increased presence of about 275 Chinese vessels near Thitu island from January to March. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3006012/beijing-tried-block-philippine-military-facilities-disputed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3006012/beijing-tried-block-philippine-military-facilities-disputed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Apr 2019 06:46:33 +0000 US President Donald Trump has suggested that China and Russia should join America in discussing arms controls once Washington and Beijing have settled their trade war. Moscow responded on Friday that the idea deserved attention and further discussion. There has been no immediate official response from Beijing, but analysts said China was unlikely to accept Trump’s proposal. Addressing this year’s 40th anniversary of the establishment of formal Washington-Beijing diplomatic relations in 1979,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3004886/donald-trump-suggests-china-and-russia-should-join-us-arms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3004886/donald-trump-suggests-china-and-russia-should-join-us-arms?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Apr 2019 15:00:06 +0000 US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he expects a “monumental” deal with China on trade within the next four weeks, with progress “being made at a very rapid pace” after the latest round of trade talks in Washington. After the truce in the two countries’ trade war that was reached on December 1 at a Buenos Aires summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Washington demanded Beijing make “structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004807/what-changes-has-china-already-made-meet-us-trade-war-demands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004807/what-changes-has-china-already-made-meet-us-trade-war-demands?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Apr 2019 09:00:09 +0000 Washington and Manila have been discussing the potential deployment of an upgraded US rocket system in a bid to deter Beijing’s “militarisation” of its artificial islands in the contested South China Sea, according to regional security experts. But the two sides have been unable to reach a deal because the high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) could be too expensive for Manila given its tight defence budget, they said. The allies’ defence chiefs, however, reaffirmed their “enduring... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004372/us-philippines-said-be-talks-rocket-system-deter-beijings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004372/us-philippines-said-be-talks-rocket-system-deter-beijings?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Apr 2019 14:00:16 +0000 The Philippine defence minister has protested against Chinese “encroachment” on the country’s maritime rights after the appearance of a large fleet of vessels in a disputed part of the South China Sea. Delfin Lorenzana told reporters at a meeting with his US counterpart in Washington on Monday that China’s increased presence in the disputed waterways was “very concerning”. “They have been building islands from reefs since, I think, 2011 [or] 2012,” Lorenzana said, according to a transcript... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004308/philippine-defence-minister-delfin-lorenzana-protests-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004308/philippine-defence-minister-delfin-lorenzana-protests-over?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Apr 2019 10:15:05 +0000 Numerous former US officials have warned of a tense year ahead in relations across the Taiwan Strait under an increasingly anti-China US Congress and a whole-of-government approach advocating for closer US ties with the self-ruled island. They include Susan Thornton, a former top US diplomat for East Asian affairs, who is also concerned that President Donald Trump may lack sufficient understanding of the sensitivity of cross-strait relations, which could quickly become a flashpoint in US-China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004175/us-china-tensions-could-ignite-over-taiwan-former-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3004175/us-china-tensions-could-ignite-over-taiwan-former-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2019 15:00:05 +0000 China’s President Xi Jinping has sought to reassure France that their relationship should not be built on zero-sum competition ahead of a meeting with the German leader and head of the European Commission on Tuesday. In a meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday, Xi said the two countries should build their relationship on “mutual trust, practical cooperation and friendly sentiments”, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua. Macron will host German Chancellor Angela... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003339/xi-jinping-urges-france-help-build-trust-china-ahead-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003339/xi-jinping-urges-france-help-build-trust-china-ahead-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Mar 2019 09:52:56 +0000 The United States sent a guided-missile destroyer and a coastguard vessel through the Taiwan Strait at the weekend, the US Seventh Fleet said. It was the first such voyage involving a coastguard ship. “USS Curtis Wilbur and the coastguard cutter USCGC Bertholf conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit [on] March 24-25 in accordance with international law,” US Seventh Fleet spokesman Lieutenant Joseph Keiley said on Monday. “The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US’... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003105/us-freedom-navigation-operation-through-taiwan-strait-involves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003105/us-freedom-navigation-operation-through-taiwan-strait-involves?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Mar 2019 05:04:12 +0000 The increasing number of submarines various countries are deploying to the Indo-Pacific region has fuelled calls for an underwater code of conduct to reduce the risk of accidents in the busiest waterways. The warning comes as Asian Pacific countries are engaged in a submarine arms race, with an estimated 228 full-sized submarines operating in the East and South China Seas – a number that is expected to rise to 300 within a decade. Unlike other warships, submarines are by definition difficult to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3002736/us-and-chinas-underwater-rivalry-fuels-calls-submarine-code?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3002736/us-and-chinas-underwater-rivalry-fuels-calls-submarine-code?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Mar 2019 14:00:12 +0000 China has gone on the offensive in defending its policies in Xinjiang by inviting European diplomats based in Beijing to visit the region, where it has been accused of locking up more than a million mainly Uygur Muslims in mass internment camps. In a statement released on Wednesday, the foreign ministry confirmed the invitation, saying the diplomats were welcome to come and see the situation in the far western region for themselves. “Seeing is believing. [We] believe the European diplomats will... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3002561/china-invites-european-diplomats-visit-xinjiang-amid-growing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3002561/china-invites-european-diplomats-visit-xinjiang-amid-growing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Mar 2019 15:00:06 +0000 The southernmost Chinese territory in the South China Sea, Sansha, will press ahead with a plan to build an “island city” on Woody Island and two smaller neighbouring islets in the contested waters. Zhang Jun, the Communist Party secretary of Sansha, which is located on the island in the Paracels, led a meeting on the development plan there on Friday, according to a statement on the city government’s website. Sansha, part of Hainan province, was established by the Chinese government in 2012. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3002229/beijing-plans-strategic-service-and-logistics-base-woody?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3002229/beijing-plans-strategic-service-and-logistics-base-woody?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Mar 2019 13:33:39 +0000 China’s decision to ground the Boeing model involved in the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash within the first 20 hours of the March 10 tragedy was a result of an ever-increasing and deep-rooted risk averse culture, industry insiders said. Portrayed as a rare victory for China in the court of international public opinion, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said its decision was made due to safety concerns, with no suggestion of undermining the United States despite the widely... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3002199/chinas-zero-tolerance-attitude-means-grounding-troubled?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3002199/chinas-zero-tolerance-attitude-means-grounding-troubled?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Mar 2019 09:59:43 +0000 The United States is offering little to counter China’s massive infrastructure drive, failing to invest the attention and resources needed to make its Indo-Pacific strategy a major force in the region, according to David Shear, a former US ambassador to Vietnam. Shear, who was also assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific security affairs from 2014 to 2016, said China and the US were competing for dominance in the region and both countries needed to build strong bonds with regional... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3002060/united-states-must-go-beyond-baby-steps-infrastructure-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3002060/united-states-must-go-beyond-baby-steps-infrastructure-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Mar 2019 11:27:43 +0000 Two US B-52 strategic bombers flew over the contested South China Sea on Wednesday, according to the US Pacific Air Force, the second such flight in 10 days despite China’s objections. “Two B-52H Stratofortress bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and conducted routine training in the vicinity of the South China Sea on March 13 [Hawaii Standard Time], before returning to base,” a spokeswoman for the Pacific Air Force said in a statement released on Thursday. “US aircraft... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3001655/us-b-52-bombers-fly-over-disputed-south-china-sea-second-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3001655/us-b-52-bombers-fly-over-disputed-south-china-sea-second-time?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Mar 2019 05:28:34 +0000 46%: Americans who believe China’s economic power represents a “critical threat.” Almost half of the Americans surveyed in a recent opinion poll by Gallup said they considered China’s growing economic power to be a “critical threat” to the US. The poll also found that only 41% of Americans held a “favorable view” of China – a 12-point drop compared with the previous year and the lowest level recorded since 2012. Gallup noted that the sharp decline followed “a year of escalating trade... https://www.scmp.com/china/inkstone-index-american-fear-chinas-rise/article/3001513?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/inkstone-index-american-fear-chinas-rise/article/3001513?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Mar 2019 09:23:00 +0000