China

A former Macanese pro-democracy lawmaker became the first person to be arrested under the territory’s national security law, with authorities yesterday alleging that he had ties to foreign groups endangering China.

The Chinese casino hub, which has its own legal system largely based on Portuguese law, enacted national security legislation in 2009 and widened its powers in 2023, to bring it in line with similar laws in Hong Kong and China.

Macanese Judiciary Police said a 68-year-old local man surnamed Au (歐) was arrested and handed over to public prosecutors on suspicion of “establishing connections ... outside Macau to commit acts endangering national security.”

Local media identified the man as Au Kam-san (歐錦新), a primary-school teacher who became one of Macau’s longest-serving pro-democracy legislators before deciding not to seek re-election in 2021.

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A stalwart of Macau’s tiny opposition camp, Au spent years campaigning on issues such as social welfare, corruption and electoral reform. He was one of the founders of several pro-democracy groups, including the New Macau Association.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39558082

Archived

Russian regulators on Wednesday banned the import and sale of trucks from several major Chinese manufacturers, citing what they called a “direct threat” to public health and safety.

The ban targets vehicles produced by Dongfeng, Foton, FAW and Sitrak, according to Rosstandart, the federal agency responsible for enforcing technical regulations and vehicle safety standards.

Inspectors cited issues including poor braking performance and faulty seatbelt mountings. Rosstandart said it has ordered the manufacturers to recall the affected vehicles and halt sales or face fines.

Dealers have reportedly suspended sales of the flagged models and are working on safety compliance plans that must be reviewed and approved by the agency, it said.

The move comes as Russia’s auto industry faces a deepening crisis. Last week, major domestic producers KAMAZ, AvtoVAZ and GAZ announced plans to shift to a four-day workweek amid falling demand.

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Archived

When the United Kingdom handed over Hong Kong to China in July 1997, the arrangement centered on a promise: China would govern the region with a “one country, two systems” approach that preserved much of Hong Kong’s autonomy and capitalist practices, at least for the next 50 years.

Barely halfway to that 2047 benchmark, however, Beijing is dismantling its pledge to Hong Kong and the world. Once “the pearl of the Orient,” the global financial hub’s appeal to many of its 7.2 million residents, investors and others has declined precipitously, especially since China invoked a national security law in 2020. Hong Kongers have immigrated to the U.K. and elsewhere. Companies and investors have soured on the region’s prospects and opened businesses in other financial centers such as Singapore and Tokyo.

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Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leaders passed legislation in March 2024 expanding the security law [imposed in 2019] and solidifying China’s rule. Local leaders and China’s National People’s Congress now must approve government directives.

Such moves were not envisioned under the agreement that preceded the handover of Hong Kong after 156 years as a U.K. colony. Intended as Hong Kong’s mini-constitution for the subsequent half-century, it said China would provide for the region’s diplomacy and defense while protecting freedoms of assembly, expression, the press and religion.

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In the most recent move, Hong Kong public universities were required to sign new accountability agreement to align with China's Xi Jinping's remarks, according to Hong Kong-based media outlet HKFP.

According to the new agreement, universities “should also strive to follow the advice and guidance of the Central Government on the future of Hong Kong [...] and observe President Xi Jinping’s remark [...]

The new agreement instructed universities to strengthen education on China’s Constitution, Hong Kong’s Basic Law, and the national security law, HKFP reported.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39573959

Archived

Joint China-Russia military drills in the Sea of Japan a “forced step for the Kremlin," expert says

In August, the Chinese and Russian navies will hold their annual Maritime Interaction 2025 exercises in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok, as well as a joint maritime patrol in the Pacific Ocean.

"For Russia, such exercises are a forced step, because they understand that China is a natural antagonist of the Russian Federation and will maintain a certain degree of cooperation with Russia only as long as it does not conflict with its own interests," says Valerii Riabyk, a military expert and development director at the information and consulting company Defense Express.

"This is also confirmed by leaked FSB documents, which describe an operation developed at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine aimed at strengthening counterintelligence measures in relations with the PRC," he says.

Riabykh added that recently such exercises have been taking place regularly.

"They plan them, and both sides need this in order to check and compare each other’s military capabilities. Some may see this as preparation for joint operations, but on the other hand, one should not exclude that such joint activities are primarily a way of probing the potential enemy's capabilities. Under the guise of partnership, they are keeping their finger on the pulse to be able to respond in time," the expert concluded.

Archived

On July 30, 2025, the Changsha Intermediate Court in [China's] Hunan Province tried human rights lawyer Xie Yang behind closed doors on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” Those charges stem from Xie Yang’s remarks online and to foreign journalists about political and legal affairs, and human rights violations, in China. Authorities convened the trial after Xie Yang had been held in pre-trial detention for over three and a half years, during which he alleged he was repeatedly tortured.

“Xie Yang did nothing other than exercise his rights to free speech as guaranteed by China’s Constitution and international law,” said Sophie Richardson, Co-Executive Director of the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders. “Chinese authorities compounded his wrongful detention by holding him in excessive pretrial detention, ignoring his allegations of torture, and denying him the right to a fair trial.”

The July 30 hearing was marred by numerous legal violations, including authorities failing to notify one of Xie Yang’s lawyers of the hearing, and opening the trial despite denying Xie and his other lawyer access to copy case files during the pre-trial meeting on July 28 that would be used as evidence. Authorities classified all 18 case files as confidential despite eight not bearing a “secret” classification marking. To protest these violations of his fair trial rights, Xie dismissed his lawyer, Li Guobei at the July 30 hearing. The trial has not yet concluded.

Xie Yang is a human rights lawyer who represented many human rights defenders before facing government retaliation for his work. He was detained and tortured during the government’s “709” Crackdown on human rights lawyers in 2015, an unprecedented assault on human rights lawyers and rule of law activists, and then stripped of his law license in 2020.

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Floods have caused extensive damage in Beijing and northern China, killing 30 people and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39451341

Archived

A visiting US-based Chinese human rights advocate on Sunday urged Taiwanese to better understand authoritarianism in China, after observing the outcome of Saturday’s recall elections against 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.

Sophie Luo Shengchun (羅勝春), the wife of jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜), said that witnessing the elections firsthand reminded her of how precious and resilient Taiwanese democracy is.

“If people do not understand China’s authoritarianism, they cannot truly appreciate Taiwan’s freedom,” she said, recounting her experience of being forced to flee China due to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of her husband.

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The CCP’s “suppression of free speech, arbitrary detention, torture and acts of genocide are serious threats that the democratic world should remain highly vigilant against,” she said, urging Taiwanese to gain a deeper understanding of the situation in China.

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Wester Yang (楊若暉), public affairs director of the overseas Chinese student group Assembly of Citizens, said Taiwan’s open environment shows how valuable freedom is.

“Even the air here feels fresh,” he said, adding that China’s influence operations in Taiwan is not fictional, but a “bloodless yet profound silent war.”

Yang called on Taiwanese to remain vigilant and to support global efforts for human rights and democratic transformation in China.

Archived

• Once China's top property developer Evergrande faces Hong Kong delisting
• Delisting will come after 18-month trading suspension
• Property crisis continues to weigh heavily on China's economy
• Developers debt revamp talks delayed due to lack of recovery
• New defaults and more restructuring rounds expected - advisers

China Evergrande Group looks set to be kicked off the Hong Kong exchange next month after failing to revamp its debt and being pushed into liquidation, with the stubbornly weak Chinese property sector clouding the outlook for debt restructuring by its peers.

China's property market, once a key growth driver for the world's second-largest economy, has been in a multi-year tailspin despite repeated government attempts to revive weak consumer demand.

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The liquidation order came after it failed to provide a viable restructuring plan for its $23 billion offshore debt.

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With Chinese new home prices falling at the fastest pace in 8 months in June, even developers who have completed first round debt revamps are weighing fresh negotiations and those that have not defaulted are also contemplating such a move to slash debt, financial advisers said.

"There's no light at the end of the tunnel," said Glen Ho, national turnaround & restructuring leader at Deloitte, referring to the property market.

"Companies want to delay their restructuring effective date and use time to exchange for more breathing room, but they cannot create new funds out of nothing."

More than $140 billion, or more than 70%, of China property dollar bonds have defaulted since 2021, according to investment platform FSMOne Hong Kong, and the majority of them are still in various stages of being restructured.

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Property construction in China is expected to decline another 30% by 2035 due to structural changes in demand, ANZ analysts said in a June report, which could cast a long shadow over debt restructuring efforts in the near to medium term.

Private developer Country Garden, which defaulted on $14 billion offshore debt in 2023, is still trying to get its lenders' approval on its debt restructuring proposal before the next liquidation hearing on August 11.

Other developers including KWG and Agile have yet to announce detailed restructuring proposals after having started the process in 2023 and 2024, respectively, soon after defaulting on their repayment obligations.

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China's property sector accounted for about a quarter of the country's economic activity before it collapsed.

But despite repeated attempts by authorities to stabilise the market, property investment in China declined 11.2% in the first half of this year from a year earlier, while property sales by floor area fell 3.5% and new construction starts dropped 20%.

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Most of the population of China cannot afford or obtain a VPN (Virtual Private Network). For the privileged portion who do manage to purchase and install a VPN, does that solve their global internet access problem?

In a story that topped headlines and internet chatter in China last week, Dalian Polytechnic University in China’s northern Liaoning province sparked outrage by expelling a 21-year-old female student for appearing in videos posted nearly seven months ago to the Telegram account of a visiting Ukrainian esports player. Videos of the student in the visitor’s hotel room showed nothing sexually explicit, and it was unclear why the videos had become an issue now, but the university responded vehemently with a public statement naming the student and accusing her of “improper association with foreigners” (与外国人不当交往) that had “damaged national dignity and the school’s reputation” (有损国格、校誉).

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39423227

Archived

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The European Union (EU) and China have made headlines with their latest joint climate statement ahead of COP30. While the agreement emphasizes clean energy and green technology, it stops short of committing to reducing coal use—a decision that has left many environmental groups concerned.

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The EU and China’s climate focus now leans heavily toward clean technology development and cooperation.

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China’s Medog Dam: Climate Win or Ecological Fallout?

One of the most ambitious pieces in China’s green energy puzzle is the Medog Dam project in Tibet. With an estimated cost of $137 billion, the dam will become the largest hydropower station in the world.

However, the project has drawn criticism for its environmental and geopolitical risks:

• Built in a fragile ecosystem, near the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, the dam could harm biodiversity, impact river flows, and disrupt agriculture downstream.
• Local communities face displacement, raising humanitarian concerns.
• The dam’s location near the India-China border adds fuel to regional tensions, especially over shared water resources.

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Is China Exporting Clean? And at What Cost?

China is stepping up its global presence as a major exporter of clean technologies [...] However, there’s one more side of the leaf which isn’t so green. The environmental costs of producing these technologies can be significant. Mining and manufacturing components like lithium and rare earth elements often lead to high emissions.

If these upstream processes are not cleaned up, China could end up exporting “dirty green” solutions that undermine the broader climate goals. Life-cycle emissions, i.e., from raw material extraction to final product delivery, must be included when evaluating the real impact of these exports.

Thus, China needs to decarbonize its supply chains and ensure the climate benefits of its clean-tech exports are genuine and lasting.

It is noteworthy that China’s proposed coal mine developments risk creating an oversupply and derailing climate goals, according to Global Energy Monitor.

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Carbon markets are only effective if they are transparent and based on actual, verified reductions in emissions. Strict rules and enforcement are necessary to prevent greenwashing and to ensure the system does not simply shift emissions from one place to another.

Without trust, data accuracy, and mutual accountability, the effectiveness of carbon markets will remain limited. Both the EU and China must ensure that any expansion of the carbon credit system is built on strong governance and integrity.

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Myanmar is not listed among the countries with the largest rare earth reserves, despite intensive mining activities, especially in Shan and Kachin states.

This clearly indicates that while Myanmar may “produce” rare earth minerals, it does not “own” the resources. It serves primarily as a transit point for initial extraction, with the minerals being sent to other countries, particularly China, for further processing.

[...]

The true source of China’s rare earth dominance lies in Myanmar’s border regions, where Shan and Kachin states are emerging as key centres for the mining of rare earth elements like terbium and dysprosium. These areas are experiencing rapid and uncontrolled growth in mining activities.

In Shan State, rare earth mining has proliferated, particularly in the town of Poke, which falls under the influence of the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The number of mines has increased from just 3 in 2005 to 26 in 2025, an eightfold growth in just one decade. The mining technique used, “ore leaching,” has led to chemical runoff contaminating major water sources, including the Kok and Sai rivers, which flow into northern Thailand.

In the northern part of Myanmar, Kachin State, areas like Pang Wa, Manse, Momok, and Loy Ja have become intensive mining zones. In 2023, over 300 mines were operating, with more than 3,000 extraction pits. After the 2021 coup, production surged by 40%, and China purchased 41,700 tons of rare earth minerals from Myanmar within the same year.

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Pianporn Deetes, Director of Southeast Asia Campaigns at International Rivers, stated in an interview with Bangkok Business that the cross-border pollution crisis is severely impacting millions of people in Chiang Rai, who are facing risks to their lives and health due to heavy metal contamination, particularly arsenic, in the Kok River, which flows into the Mekong and Sai rivers.

“Local residents can no longer engage in traditional activities like fishing or operating tour boats, and farmers are worried that rice grown using water from the Kok River may be contaminated with arsenic, as rice tends to absorb arsenic well. Additionally, there have been reports of fish with unusual parasites, which correlate with mining activities disturbing the soil.”

She further called for the Thai government to urgently negotiate with Myanmar and China, using various measures, including economic, diplomatic, and even food-related pressures, to halt mining activities. “If the soil continues to be disturbed and mining continues, the people of Chiang Rai will be ‘slowly dying.’ The restoration of rivers contaminated with heavy metals is extremely difficult and time-consuming, as seen with the unresolved issue of the Klity Creek contamination, which has persisted for over 30 years.”

This documentary offers, for the first time, an authoritative overall account and analysis of the 709 Crackdown on human rights lawyers in China that began ten years ago in 2015, covering all aspects of the incident: arrests, smear campaign, torture, forced confession, trials, and more.

Eleven lawyers appear on camera: Wang Yu, Bao Longjun, Zhou Shifeng, Li Heping, Wang Quanzhang, Xie Yanyi, Jiang Tianyong, Sui Muqing, Chen Taihe, Xie Yang, Chen Jiangang; rights activist Wu Gan; and three 709 lawyers’ wives: Wang Qiaoling, Li Wenzu, and Yuan Shanshan.

The film also explains the intrinsic logic of the Chinese Communist Party’s suppression of lawyers and rights defense citizens against the backdrop of a rapidly changing China in recent decades.

Through a diverse montage of human rights lawyers, it reveals the true scope of the crackdown that’s still ongoing to this day with no relief in sight.

The 709 Crackdown is a sign of the direction the CCP has been taking China in recent decade, and it also serves as a barometer of China’s future as a country.

Early results of an unprecedented vote in Taiwan aimed at ousting politicians accused of being too close to China indicate that all have retained their seats.

Thousands of Taiwanese went to the polls on Saturday in what has been termed as the "dabamian", or Great Recall vote, initiated by a civic movement.

Early results show that a majority of voters in every district voted no, which means none of the lawmakers have to vacate their seats.

The opposition maintains its slim majority - for now. Another round of recall voting will be held in August for seven other seats.

crosspostato da: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39313413

Archived

• Ukraine has arrested Chinese nationals on espionage charges and sanctioned Chinese companies, signaling a hardened stance toward Beijing due to its perceived support for Russia's war.
• Despite China's claims of neutrality, evidence suggests it is providing significant support to Russia, including dual-use technology and military systems, leading Ukraine to abandon hopes of Beijing brokering peace.
• The growing distance between Kyiv and Beijing is underscored by Ukraine's actions and the US-Ukraine agreement on critical minerals, though Ukraine continues to tread carefully due to China being its largest trading partner.

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From the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Beijing has claimed neutrality while buying up Russian oil and gas –- Moscow’s financial lifeline –- and supplying dual-use technology to its military. Kyiv, like many in the West, had hoped China would use its leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin to press for peace.

That hope appears to be fading.

China, once content to provide components like microchips, is now believed to be delivering entire systems. In May, pro-Russian Telegram channels claimed Moscow was using a new Chinese laser weapon to shoot down Ukrainian drones.

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Meanwhile, Beijing has been welcoming officials from Ukraine’s occupied territories at trade shows while Chinese companies have been selling heavy equipment to Russian companies operating in those territories.

The shift in Beijing’s behavior comes amid reports that China is no longer even pretending to be neutral.

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“I think there has been a certain evolution,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

“At the very beginning, there was some hope China could be involved in the [peace] process. But now we’ve become more realistic and speak more openly: China supports Russia.”

Beijing declined an invitation to attend the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland last year, which drew representatives from more than 100 nations and organizations.

[...]

For now, Ukraine isn’t severing ties, but the illusion of China’s neutrality has evaporated in Kyiv.

Heavy rain around Beijing and across north and northeast China has killed two and forced thousands to relocate as authorities warned of further widespread rain and risks of disasters including landslides and flooding.

Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 mm (5.7 inches) per hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding.

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Rain will intensify in most areas of the capital, with the expected cumulative rainfall in some areas nearby including Miyun reaching more than 100 mm over six hours, Beijing's Meteorological Observatory said. Low-lying areas are prone to waterlogging, it said.

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Beijing issued a warning on Saturday for geological disasters, including landslides and mudslides, after intense rainfall unleashed, for a second time, a year’s worth of rain on nearby Baoding.

Northern China has experienced record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China’s usually arid north to global warming.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Dr. Michael (Yechiel) Leiter warned Thursday of “troubling signs” that China is helping Iran rebuild its ballistic missile program, damaged significantly during recent hostilities between the two countries.

Asked about Israel’s message to Beijing, Leiter acknowledged that Israel cannot unilaterally influence Chinese policy. However, he stressed that Israel stands with the United States in efforts to limit China’s regional influence.

“There's no reason why we couldn't have good relations with the people of China,” he said. “But we certainly don't want to see China acting alongside those who threaten our very existence. Let's not forget—even after the 12-day war, [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei continues to say that his objective is to destroy the Jewish state. Why would anybody want to be partners with somebody who says they want to destroy a state?”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39259067

Archived

An Australian pro-democracy academic has labelled a warrant for his arrest by Hong Kong’s national security police as “ridiculous”, as authorities there pursue 19 overseas-based members of what they describe as a subversive organisation.

University of Technology Sydney China studies professor Dr Feng Chongyi – who in 2017 was detained for 10 days while on a research trip to China – now has a bounty on him over his involvement in an unofficial pro-democracy group, Hong Kong Parliament.

He is accused of helping to organise or participate in the largely Canada-based group, which authorities in Hong Kong say aimed to subvert state power under a national security law that China imposed on the territory in 2020, following months of pro-democracy protests the year before.

Feng and the others are accused of having launched a referendum or run as candidates in the unofficial “Hong Kong Parliament” group, which authorities say aims at achieving self-determination and drafting a “Hong Kong constitution”.

Hong Kong police said the organisation sought to overthrow the governments of China and Hong Kong by unlawful means, that they were still investigating, and further arrests could follow.

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Feng isn’t from Hong Kong, but said he had agreed to join the group as an academic.

“It’s certainly ridiculous, it does not offend me in any sense … they’ve got the power, they’ve got the influence overseas, they want to control everything even overseas,” Feng told this masthead on Saturday.

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[Australian] Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday that the Australian government “strongly objects” to the arrest warrants.

“Freedom of expression and assembly are essential to our democracy,” she wrote in a post on X.

“We have consistently expressed our strong objections to China and Hong Kong on the broad and extraterritorial application of Hong Kong’s national security legislation, and we will continue to do so.”

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[Hong Kong] Police offered a $HK200,000 ($39,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of Feng and 14 others.

Four others – activists Elmer Yuen, Johnny Fok, Tony Choi and Victor Ho – are subject to previous arrest warrants, each carrying a bounty of $HK1 million.

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In a joint statement UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to put an end to the deliberate targeting of critical voices overseas.

“The Hong Kong Police Force’s issuing of further arrest warrants and bounties on individuals living in the UK is another example of transnational repression. It encourages reckless behaviour on UK soil and damages Hong Kong’s international reputation,” the statement said.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39251192

Archived

Although not the main item on the agenda, the European Union (EU) has on Jul 24 strongly raised its concerns on the human rights abuses in Tibet, including religious repression and political interference in the Dalai Lama reincarnation-succession, reported ANI news service Jul 25. The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at Dharamshala, India, has welcomed the EU’s stance and urged concrete action to hold China accountable.

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The report said those who took part in the meeting included the European Council President Antonio Costa, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Premier Li Qiang was stated to have co-chaired the summit.

On the globally raging issue of the Dalai Lama reincarnation-succession issue, the EU underscored that this spiritual process must be determined solely by Tibetan Buddhist traditions, free from political manipulation, the report said.

The EU has also highlighted the repression of Tibetan human rights defenders and the widespread curtailment of freedoms of expression, religion, and movement across Tibet.

Specific individual cases involving detained or disappeared Tibetan figures were also stated to have been raised, reinforcing the EU’s position that such violations must cease, the report noted.

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Activists across Taiwan are pushing for the expulsion of dozens of ‘pro-Beijing’ legislators, leading to uproar