HONG KONG (AP) — A senior Hong Kong official says Chinese President Xi Jinping’s surprise meeting with the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, is a “vote of confidence” in her government’s ability to tackle five months of anti-government protests. Xi met Lam on the sidelines of a trade event in Shanghai on Monday night amid signals […]
Tag: China
Posted inPacific News
China at 70: religion under threat
This month marked the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Patriotic processions made their way across the country, prompting fresh protests in Hong Kong and the trending of a new hashtag: #NotMyNationalDay. The credentials of the PRC at 70 are indeed impressive: the world’s most populous nation, the largest exporter and the second […]
Posted inPacific News
China cites ‘early harvest’ benefits in Guadalcanal deal
HONIARA, 31 OCTOBER 2019 (REUTERS) — Chinese companies will build and control power and port facilities, roads, rail and bridges on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, as part of an US$825 million deal to revive an abandoned gold mine, according to new contract details. The gold project agreement, described by Chinese ambassador Xue Bing as […]
Posted inOpinion
Why the US may struggle to entice Pacific partners to help contain China
WASHINGTON, 29 OCTOBER 2019 (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST) — China is actually gaining ground on the US in this battle for hearts and minds, as Beijing’s recent poaching of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and the Solomon Islands has shown – there is even speculation that the Chinese an island in the latter as a naval base. […]
Posted inOpinion
China’s ‘Belt and Road’ key to Pacific’s plan of action
APIA, 28 OCTOBER 2019 (SAMOA OBSERVER)—The implementation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is key to progressing a “programme of action” by the 10 Pacific Island countries, that recently attended the 3rd China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum in Samoa. The BRI, which is the Chinese government’s global development strategy, was formally […]
Posted inOpinion
China, the Pacific, and the “debt trap” question
SYDNEY, 23 OCTOBER 2019 (THE INTERPRETER/Pacnews) — “Debt trap” diplomacy has been a recurrent rallying cry for critics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its overseas infrastructure lending activities. Over the past two years, this debate has taken centre stage in the Pacific, with China accused of drowning these tiny economies in unsustainable […]