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- One protester has claimed the Australian Federal Police used "brutalising" force in Canberra, as China's premier met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and dignitaries at Parliament House.

- Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was freed last year after being detained in China for three years, claims she was blocked by Chinese officials during a signing ceremony during official proceedings.

- "I think the worry is that my being there is a symbol of some sort, and maybe they didn't want that for the domestic audience," Cheng Lei said. "Having dealt with Chinese officialdom on these sorts of events, they are very, very control freak-ish, so they want to know everything and they want to stage-manage everything."--

Critics of the Chinese Communist Party have accused Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers of using "unnecessary" force against demonstrators who were protesting against a visit by a Chinese official on the lawns of Parliament House.

Chinese premier Li Qiang's four-day visit to Australia sparked a face-off between protesters in Canberra on Monday, with pro-China demonstrators colliding with the Australian Tibetan community and the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, vocally opposing his visit.

Human rights activist and journalist Vicky Xu criticised the AFP after she was filmed being dragged by officers as she held the Chinese flag on Monday.

"A friend of mine had a Chinese Communist Party flag, that he was planning to burn," she told SBS News.

"I saw that the police were trying to forcefully take the flag away from him, so I intervened and tried to understand what was happening.

"Next thing I knew I was being shoved by the police."

She claims an officer had a hand on her neck and that her finger was twisted during the incident.

While she understood the need for the AFP to reduce the temperature and ensure peaceful protesting, she said it was "too much force", labelling it "brutalising" on X.

SBS News has contacted ACT Policing for comment.

In a statement, it said: "The AFP has received no complaint in relation to police conduct in managing protests today at Parliament House".

Police have been forced to intervene from time to time as the protesters confront one another.

One person was arrested at the protests outside Parliament House for what ACT Policing said was "a breach of the peace".

The tense moments contrasted with the official reception for Beijing's second most powerful leader, with the day starting with a ceremonial welcome, including a cannon salute, on the forecourt of Parliament House in Canberra.

Li declared that Chinese-Australian ties were "back on track after a period of twists and turns" when he arrived on the weekend, for the first visit by a Chinese premier in seven years.

Cheng Lei says she was 'blocked' at Parliament House

But another moment during the proceedings has also raised eyebrows.

Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was freed last year after being detained in China for three years, claims she was blocked by Chinese officials during a signing ceremony during official proceedings.

A video of the signing ceremony appears to show two Chinese officials blocking her from the view of cameras broadcasting the event and refusing to move when asked.

She told Sky News she believes this was done to prevent audiences from seeing her as a symbol of defiance of the Chinese government.

"I think the worry is that my being there is a symbol of some sort, and maybe they didn't want that for the domestic audience.

"Having dealt with Chinese officialdom on these sorts of events, they are very, very control freak-ish, so they want to know everything and they want to stage-manage everything."

China-Australia relations 'on right track'

Premier Li arrived at Parliament House to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and several cabinet members including Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Trade Minister Don Farrell and Resources Minister Madeleine King.

The prime minister's November 2023 trip to China followed by Li's current visit to Australia showed both countries attached "great importance" to their relationship, the premier said.

"This relationship is on the right track of steady improvement," he said. "Prime Minister Albanese and I have had a candid, in-depth and fruitful discussion that has reached a lot of common consensus."

Albanese said the bilateral talks were crucial for the Australia-China relationship which had been "renewed and revitalised" by the engagement.

The politicians signed four memoranda of understanding on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, climate change, education and research, strategic economic dialogue, and cultural cooperation.

Representatives of both nations then attended a state lunch with business and community leaders where they were served wine, wagyu beef and, most notably, Australian rock lobster - which remains subject to trade restrictions.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt noted there had been "enormous progress" in restoring trade with China in the past few years after sanctions on coal, wine and barley were lifted.

The remaining trade bans are expected to be lifted within the coming weeks.

Also on the battle agenda of the high-level talks was the case of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who languishes ill in a Chinese jail, and tensions in the South China Sea.

- One protester has claimed the Australian Federal Police used "brutalising" force in Canberra, as China's premier met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and dignitaries at Parliament House.

- Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was freed last year after being detained in China for three years, claims she was blocked by Chinese officials during a signing ceremony during official proceedings.

- "I think the worry is that my being there is a symbol of some sort, and maybe they didn't want that for the domestic audience," Cheng Lei said. "Having dealt with Chinese officialdom on these sorts of events, they are very, very control freak-ish, so they want to know everything and they want to stage-manage everything."--

Critics of the Chinese Communist Party have accused Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers of using "unnecessary" force against demonstrators who were protesting against a visit by a Chinese official on the lawns of Parliament House.

Chinese premier Li Qiang's four-day visit to Australia sparked a face-off between protesters in Canberra on Monday, with pro-China demonstrators colliding with the Australian Tibetan community and the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, vocally opposing his visit.

Human rights activist and journalist Vicky Xu criticised the AFP after she was filmed being dragged by officers as she held the Chinese flag on Monday.

"A friend of mine had a Chinese Communist Party flag, that he was planning to burn," she told SBS News.

"I saw that the police were trying to forcefully take the flag away from him, so I intervened and tried to understand what was happening.

"Next thing I knew I was being shoved by the police."

She claims an officer had a hand on her neck and that her finger was twisted during the incident.

While she understood the need for the AFP to reduce the temperature and ensure peaceful protesting, she said it was "too much force", labelling it "brutalising" on X.

SBS News has contacted ACT Policing for comment.

In a statement, it said: "The AFP has received no complaint in relation to police conduct in managing protests today at Parliament House".

Police have been forced to intervene from time to time as the protesters confront one another.

One person was arrested at the protests outside Parliament House for what ACT Policing said was "a breach of the peace".

The tense moments contrasted with the official reception for Beijing's second most powerful leader, with the day starting with a ceremonial welcome, including a cannon salute, on the forecourt of Parliament House in Canberra.

Li declared that Chinese-Australian ties were "back on track after a period of twists and turns" when he arrived on the weekend, for the first visit by a Chinese premier in seven years.

Cheng Lei says she was 'blocked' at Parliament House

But another moment during the proceedings has also raised eyebrows.

Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was freed last year after being detained in China for three years, claims she was blocked by Chinese officials during a signing ceremony during official proceedings.

A video of the signing ceremony appears to show two Chinese officials blocking her from the view of cameras broadcasting the event and refusing to move when asked.

She told Sky News she believes this was done to prevent audiences from seeing her as a symbol of defiance of the Chinese government.

"I think the worry is that my being there is a symbol of some sort, and maybe they didn't want that for the domestic audience.

"Having dealt with Chinese officialdom on these sorts of events, they are very, very control freak-ish, so they want to know everything and they want to stage-manage everything."

China-Australia relations 'on right track'

Premier Li arrived at Parliament House to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and several cabinet members including Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Trade Minister Don Farrell and Resources Minister Madeleine King.

The prime minister's November 2023 trip to China followed by Li's current visit to Australia showed both countries attached "great importance" to their relationship, the premier said.

"This relationship is on the right track of steady improvement," he said. "Prime Minister Albanese and I have had a candid, in-depth and fruitful discussion that has reached a lot of common consensus."

Albanese said the bilateral talks were crucial for the Australia-China relationship which had been "renewed and revitalised" by the engagement.

The politicians signed four memoranda of understanding on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, climate change, education and research, strategic economic dialogue, and cultural cooperation.

Representatives of both nations then attended a state lunch with business and community leaders where they were served wine, wagyu beef and, most notably, Australian rock lobster - which remains subject to trade restrictions.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt noted there had been "enormous progress" in restoring trade with China in the past few years after sanctions on coal, wine and barley were lifted.

The remaining trade bans are expected to be lifted within the coming weeks.

Also on the battle agenda of the high-level talks was the case of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who languishes ill in a Chinese jail, and tensions in the South China Sea.

Revelation of emails to Imperial College scientists comes amid growing concerns about security risk posed by academic tie-ups with China

A Chinese state-owned company sought to use a partnership with a leading British university in order to access AI technology for potential use in “smart military bases”, the Guardian has learned.

Emails show that China’s Jiangsu Automation Research Institute (Jari) discussed deploying software developed by scientists at Imperial College London for military use.

The company, which is the leading designer of China’s drone warships, shared this objective with two Imperial employees before signing a £3m deal with the university in 2019.

Ministers have spent the past year stepping up warnings about the potential security risk posed by academic collaborations with China, with MI5 telling vice-chancellors in April that hostile states are targeting sensitive research that can “deliver their authoritarian, military and commercial priorities”.

The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “Our universities are like lambs to the slaughter. They try to believe in independent scientific investigation, but in China it doesn’t work like that. What they’re doing is running a very significant risk.”

The Future Digital Ocean Innovation Centre was to be based at Imperial’s Data Science Institute, under the directorship of Prof Yike Guo. Guo left Imperial in late 2022 to become provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The centre’s stated goals were to advance maritime forecasting, computer vision and intelligent manufacturing “for civilian applications”. However, correspondence sent before the partnership was formalised suggests Jari was also considering military end-uses.

The emails were obtained through freedom of information request by the charity UK-China Transparency.

A Mandarin-language email from Jari’s research director to an Imperial College professor, whose name is redacted, and another Imperial employee, dated November 2018, states that a key Jari objective for the centre is testing whether software developed by Imperial’s Data Science Institute could be integrated into its own “JariPilot” technology to “form a more powerful product”.

Suggested applications are listed as “smart institutes, smart military bases and smart oceans”.

“Our research presents evidence of an attempt to link Imperial College London’s expertise and resources into China’s national military marine combat drone research programmes,” said Sam Dunning, the director of UK-China Transparency, which carried out the investigation.

"Partnerships such as this have taken place across the university sector. They together raise questions about whether British science faculties understand that China has become increasingly authoritarian and militarised under Xi Jinping, and that proper due diligence is required in dealings with this state.”

There appears to have been a launch event for the joint centre in September 2019 and funding from Jari is cited in Imperial’s annual summary in 2021 under prestigious industry grants it attracted.

However, the partnership was ultimately terminated in 2021. Imperial said no research went ahead and the £500,000 of funding that had been received was returned in October 2021 after discussion with government officials.

“Under Imperial’s policies, partnerships and collaborations are subject to due diligence and regular review,” an Imperial spokesperson said. “The decision to terminate the partnership was made after consideration of UK export control legislation and consultation with the government, taking into consideration national security concerns.”

Charles Parton, a China expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the partnership was “clearly highly inappropriate” and should never have been signed off.

“How much effort does it take to work out that Jari is producing military weapons that could be used in future against our naval forces?” Parton said. “These people should have been doing proper due diligence way before this. It’s not good enough, late in the day having signed the contract, to get permission from [government].”

At the time of the deal, Imperial’s Data Science Institute was led by Prof Guo, an internationally recognised AI researcher. A Channel 4 documentary last year revealed that Guo had written eight papers with Chinese collaborators at Shanghai University on missile design and using AI to control fleets of marine combat drones. Guo is no longer affiliated with Imperial.

Imperial received more than £18m in funding from Chinese military-linked institutes and companies between 2017 and 2022, but since then it has been forced to shut down several joint-ventures as government policy on scientific collaboration has hardened.

“Governments of all stripes have taken a long time to understand what the threat is from China and universities for a long period have got away with this,” said Duncan Smith, who has had sanctions imposed on him by China for criticising its government. “There’s been a progressive and slow tightening up, but it’s still not good enough. Universities need to be in lockstep with the security services.”

An Imperial College London spokesperson said: “Imperial takes its national security responsibilities very seriously. We regularly review our policies in line with evolving government guidance and legislation, working closely with the appropriate government departments, and in line with our commitments to UK national security.

“Imperial’s research is open and routinely published in leading international journals and we conduct no classified research on our campuses.”

Guo declined to comment on the Jari partnership, noting that he left Imperial at the end of 2022. Of his previous collaborations, he said that the papers were classified as “basic research” and were written to help advance scientific knowledge in a broad range of fields rather than solving specific, real-world problems.

Revelation of emails to Imperial College scientists comes amid growing concerns about security risk posed by academic tie-ups with China

A Chinese state-owned company sought to use a partnership with a leading British university in order to access AI technology for potential use in “smart military bases”, the Guardian has learned.

Emails show that China’s Jiangsu Automation Research Institute (Jari) discussed deploying software developed by scientists at Imperial College London for military use.

The company, which is the leading designer of China’s drone warships, shared this objective with two Imperial employees before signing a £3m deal with the university in 2019.

Ministers have spent the past year stepping up warnings about the potential security risk posed by academic collaborations with China, with MI5 telling vice-chancellors in April that hostile states are targeting sensitive research that can “deliver their authoritarian, military and commercial priorities”.

The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “Our universities are like lambs to the slaughter. They try to believe in independent scientific investigation, but in China it doesn’t work like that. What they’re doing is running a very significant risk.”

The Future Digital Ocean Innovation Centre was to be based at Imperial’s Data Science Institute, under the directorship of Prof Yike Guo. Guo left Imperial in late 2022 to become provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The centre’s stated goals were to advance maritime forecasting, computer vision and intelligent manufacturing “for civilian applications”. However, correspondence sent before the partnership was formalised suggests Jari was also considering military end-uses.

The emails were obtained through freedom of information request by the charity UK-China Transparency.

A Mandarin-language email from Jari’s research director to an Imperial College professor, whose name is redacted, and another Imperial employee, dated November 2018, states that a key Jari objective for the centre is testing whether software developed by Imperial’s Data Science Institute could be integrated into its own “JariPilot” technology to “form a more powerful product”.

Suggested applications are listed as “smart institutes, smart military bases and smart oceans”.

“Our research presents evidence of an attempt to link Imperial College London’s expertise and resources into China’s national military marine combat drone research programmes,” said Sam Dunning, the director of UK-China Transparency, which carried out the investigation.

"Partnerships such as this have taken place across the university sector. They together raise questions about whether British science faculties understand that China has become increasingly authoritarian and militarised under Xi Jinping, and that proper due diligence is required in dealings with this state.”

There appears to have been a launch event for the joint centre in September 2019 and funding from Jari is cited in Imperial’s annual summary in 2021 under prestigious industry grants it attracted.

However, the partnership was ultimately terminated in 2021. Imperial said no research went ahead and the £500,000 of funding that had been received was returned in October 2021 after discussion with government officials.

“Under Imperial’s policies, partnerships and collaborations are subject to due diligence and regular review,” an Imperial spokesperson said. “The decision to terminate the partnership was made after consideration of UK export control legislation and consultation with the government, taking into consideration national security concerns.”

Charles Parton, a China expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the partnership was “clearly highly inappropriate” and should never have been signed off.

“How much effort does it take to work out that Jari is producing military weapons that could be used in future against our naval forces?” Parton said. “These people should have been doing proper due diligence way before this. It’s not good enough, late in the day having signed the contract, to get permission from [government].”

At the time of the deal, Imperial’s Data Science Institute was led by Prof Guo, an internationally recognised AI researcher. A Channel 4 documentary last year revealed that Guo had written eight papers with Chinese collaborators at Shanghai University on missile design and using AI to control fleets of marine combat drones. Guo is no longer affiliated with Imperial.

Imperial received more than £18m in funding from Chinese military-linked institutes and companies between 2017 and 2022, but since then it has been forced to shut down several joint-ventures as government policy on scientific collaboration has hardened.

“Governments of all stripes have taken a long time to understand what the threat is from China and universities for a long period have got away with this,” said Duncan Smith, who has had sanctions imposed on him by China for criticising its government. “There’s been a progressive and slow tightening up, but it’s still not good enough. Universities need to be in lockstep with the security services.”

An Imperial College London spokesperson said: “Imperial takes its national security responsibilities very seriously. We regularly review our policies in line with evolving government guidance and legislation, working closely with the appropriate government departments, and in line with our commitments to UK national security.

“Imperial’s research is open and routinely published in leading international journals and we conduct no classified research on our campuses.”

Guo declined to comment on the Jari partnership, noting that he left Imperial at the end of 2022. Of his previous collaborations, he said that the papers were classified as “basic research” and were written to help advance scientific knowledge in a broad range of fields rather than solving specific, real-world problems.

Revelation of emails to Imperial College scientists comes amid growing concerns about security risk posed by academic tie-ups with China

A Chinese state-owned company sought to use a partnership with a leading British university in order to access AI technology for potential use in “smart military bases”, the Guardian has learned.

Emails show that China’s Jiangsu Automation Research Institute (Jari) discussed deploying software developed by scientists at Imperial College London for military use.

The company, which is the leading designer of China’s drone warships, shared this objective with two Imperial employees before signing a £3m deal with the university in 2019.

Ministers have spent the past year stepping up warnings about the potential security risk posed by academic collaborations with China, with MI5 telling vice-chancellors in April that hostile states are targeting sensitive research that can “deliver their authoritarian, military and commercial priorities”.

The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “Our universities are like lambs to the slaughter. They try to believe in independent scientific investigation, but in China it doesn’t work like that. What they’re doing is running a very significant risk.”

The Future Digital Ocean Innovation Centre was to be based at Imperial’s Data Science Institute, under the directorship of Prof Yike Guo. Guo left Imperial in late 2022 to become provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The centre’s stated goals were to advance maritime forecasting, computer vision and intelligent manufacturing “for civilian applications”. However, correspondence sent before the partnership was formalised suggests Jari was also considering military end-uses.

The emails were obtained through freedom of information request by the charity UK-China Transparency.

A Mandarin-language email from Jari’s research director to an Imperial College professor, whose name is redacted, and another Imperial employee, dated November 2018, states that a key Jari objective for the centre is testing whether software developed by Imperial’s Data Science Institute could be integrated into its own “JariPilot” technology to “form a more powerful product”.

Suggested applications are listed as “smart institutes, smart military bases and smart oceans”.

“Our research presents evidence of an attempt to link Imperial College London’s expertise and resources into China’s national military marine combat drone research programmes,” said Sam Dunning, the director of UK-China Transparency, which carried out the investigation.

"Partnerships such as this have taken place across the university sector. They together raise questions about whether British science faculties understand that China has become increasingly authoritarian and militarised under Xi Jinping, and that proper due diligence is required in dealings with this state.”

There appears to have been a launch event for the joint centre in September 2019 and funding from Jari is cited in Imperial’s annual summary in 2021 under prestigious industry grants it attracted.

However, the partnership was ultimately terminated in 2021. Imperial said no research went ahead and the £500,000 of funding that had been received was returned in October 2021 after discussion with government officials.

“Under Imperial’s policies, partnerships and collaborations are subject to due diligence and regular review,” an Imperial spokesperson said. “The decision to terminate the partnership was made after consideration of UK export control legislation and consultation with the government, taking into consideration national security concerns.”

Charles Parton, a China expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the partnership was “clearly highly inappropriate” and should never have been signed off.

“How much effort does it take to work out that Jari is producing military weapons that could be used in future against our naval forces?” Parton said. “These people should have been doing proper due diligence way before this. It’s not good enough, late in the day having signed the contract, to get permission from [government].”

At the time of the deal, Imperial’s Data Science Institute was led by Prof Guo, an internationally recognised AI researcher. A Channel 4 documentary last year revealed that Guo had written eight papers with Chinese collaborators at Shanghai University on missile design and using AI to control fleets of marine combat drones. Guo is no longer affiliated with Imperial.

Imperial received more than £18m in funding from Chinese military-linked institutes and companies between 2017 and 2022, but since then it has been forced to shut down several joint-ventures as government policy on scientific collaboration has hardened.

“Governments of all stripes have taken a long time to understand what the threat is from China and universities for a long period have got away with this,” said Duncan Smith, who has had sanctions imposed on him by China for criticising its government. “There’s been a progressive and slow tightening up, but it’s still not good enough. Universities need to be in lockstep with the security services.”

An Imperial College London spokesperson said: “Imperial takes its national security responsibilities very seriously. We regularly review our policies in line with evolving government guidance and legislation, working closely with the appropriate government departments, and in line with our commitments to UK national security.

“Imperial’s research is open and routinely published in leading international journals and we conduct no classified research on our campuses.”

Guo declined to comment on the Jari partnership, noting that he left Imperial at the end of 2022. Of his previous collaborations, he said that the papers were classified as “basic research” and were written to help advance scientific knowledge in a broad range of fields rather than solving specific, real-world problems.

Original article behind paywall

Adidas has launched an investigation into allegations of large-scale bribery in China after the company received a whistleblower complaint that accused senior staff of embezzling "millions of euros", the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The anonymous letter, which claims to have been written by "employees of Adidas China", names several Chinese Adidas employees including a senior manager involved with the marketing budget in the country, which the document said stood at 250 million euros ($267.5 million) a year, the FT reported.

Adidas confirmed that it had received an anonymous letter on June 7 indicating potential compliance violations in China. The German sportswear company said it was investigating this matter together with external legal counsel.

"Adidas takes allegations of possible compliance violations very seriously and is clearly committed to complying with legal and internal regulations and ethical standards in all markets where we operate," it said in a statement issued in response to a Reuters query. Adidas said it could not provide further information until the investigation was completed.

According to the FT, the letter alleges that Adidas staff received kickbacks from external service providers who were commissioned by the company that include "millions in cash from suppliers, and physical items such as real estate". China sales of the German sportswear giant grew by 8% in the first-quarter, the company reported earlier.

Archived link

Original article behind paywall

British daily Financial Times claims Xi issued the warning in meeting with Ursula von der Leyen in April 2023.

China's President Xi Jinping told European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen that Washington was trying to “goad Beijing into attacking Taiwan,” the Financial Times said on Saturday.

In a report based on information from people familiar with the matter, the British daily said Xi issued the warning in a meeting with von der Leyen in April 2023. She paid an official visit to China last year which coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the newspaper, Xi said the US was trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but that he would not take the bait.

The revelation comes as tensions are high across the Taiwan Strait. China responded to last month's inauguration of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan's new president with military drills around the island, which it claims as its own. Taipei, however, insists on its independence since 1949.

Xi's remarks are probably the first known case of him making the claim to a foreign leader.

The Chinese leader also said that a conflict with the US would undermine his goal of achieving a “great rejuvenation” by 2049.

US officials have, in recent years, increased engagement with Taiwan but the administration says it remains committed to its longstanding one-China policy.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said the country's military was ready to “forcefully” stop Taiwan's independence.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry said those supporting independence for Taiwan would find themselves “crushed.”

Archived link

Original article behind paywall

British daily Financial Times claims Xi issued the warning in meeting with Ursula von der Leyen in April 2023.

China's President Xi Jinping told European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen that Washington was trying to “goad Beijing into attacking Taiwan,” the Financial Times said on Saturday.

In a report based on information from people familiar with the matter, the British daily said Xi issued the warning in a meeting with von der Leyen in April 2023. She paid an official visit to China last year which coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the newspaper, Xi said the US was trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but that he would not take the bait.

The revelation comes as tensions are high across the Taiwan Strait. China responded to last month's inauguration of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan's new president with military drills around the island, which it claims as its own. Taipei, however, insists on its independence since 1949.

Xi's remarks are probably the first known case of him making the claim to a foreign leader.

The Chinese leader also said that a conflict with the US would undermine his goal of achieving a “great rejuvenation” by 2049.

US officials have, in recent years, increased engagement with Taiwan but the administration says it remains committed to its longstanding one-China policy.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said the country's military was ready to “forcefully” stop Taiwan's independence.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry said those supporting independence for Taiwan would find themselves “crushed.”

Archived link

Original article behind paywall

British daily Financial Times claims Xi issued the warning in meeting with Ursula von der Leyen in April 2023.

China's President Xi Jinping told European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen that Washington was trying to “goad Beijing into attacking Taiwan,” the Financial Times said on Saturday.

In a report based on information from people familiar with the matter, the British daily said Xi issued the warning in a meeting with von der Leyen in April 2023. She paid an official visit to China last year which coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the newspaper, Xi said the US was trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but that he would not take the bait.

The revelation comes as tensions are high across the Taiwan Strait. China responded to last month's inauguration of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan's new president with military drills around the island, which it claims as its own. Taipei, however, insists on its independence since 1949.

Xi's remarks are probably the first known case of him making the claim to a foreign leader.

The Chinese leader also said that a conflict with the US would undermine his goal of achieving a “great rejuvenation” by 2049.

US officials have, in recent years, increased engagement with Taiwan but the administration says it remains committed to its longstanding one-China policy.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said the country's military was ready to “forcefully” stop Taiwan's independence.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry said those supporting independence for Taiwan would find themselves “crushed.”

Der türkische Außenminister Hakan Fidan zeigte sich aufmunternd. Würde China aktiv werden, um die Wahrnehmung zu verändern, die die Welt von dessen Umgang mit den Uiguren habe, käme das China ebenso entgegen wie allen anderen Staaten, erklärte er während seines Aufenthalts in Xinjiang Anfang Juni.

Der Besuch Fidans in der Region sei zwar bedeutend, da erstmals seit zehn Jahren wieder ein hochrangiger Vertreter der Türkei nach "Ost-Turkestan" - so bezeichnen Uiguren, vor allem aus der Unabhängigkeitsbewegung, die Provinz im Westen Chinas, die in China selbst offiziell "Xinjiang" heißt - reiste, sagt Zumretay Arkin, Sprecherin des World Uyghur Congress in München. Der Verband nimmt für sich in Anspruch, die Interessen der Uiguren in der Provinz Xinjiang wie auch in der übrigen Welt zu vertreten. Bereits im Vorfeld sei der Besuch von den Uiguren aufmerksam registriert worden. "Aber große Erwartungen haben wir mit dieser Reise dennoch nicht verknüpft."

Man habe registriert, dass sich Fidan nicht das chinesische Wort von der Terrorismusbekämpfung zu eigen gemacht habe, das die chinesische Regierung mit Bezug auf Xinjiang immer wieder gebrauche, sagte Zumretay Arkin im DW-Interview. Auch habe man es begrüßt, dass Fidan von "islamischer Identität" gesprochen habe. Enttäuschend sei es aber gewesen, dass der Minister nicht über die Menschenrechtsverletzungen in der Region gesprochen habe.

Ein schmaler diplomatischer Pfad

Tatsächlich hat sich Fidan während seines Besuchs auf einem schmalen diplomatischen Pfad bewegt. So sahen einige Beobachter

in seiner auf weißem Hemd getragenen hellblauen Krawatte zwar eine Anspielung seiner Verbundenheit mit "Ost-Turkestan". Gegenüber seinen chinesischen Gesprächspartnern bezeichnete er die Provinz allerdings mit dem chinesischen Namen: Xinjiang. Doch die dortigen, überwiegend von Uiguren bewohnten Städte Urumqui und Kashgar, beide Stationen seiner Reise Anfang Juni, bezeichnete Fidan als "historisch türkisch-muslimische Städte."

Diese Äußerungen seien relativ brisant, sagt der Anthropologe und China-Experte Adrian Zenz von der Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington D.C. "Denn für die Chinesen sind die Verbindungen der Uiguren zu den Turkvölkern ein wunder Punkt. Sie sehen diese Verbindung als Separatismus und betonen stattdessen die Verbindung zu China, zu Peking." Allerdings, bedauert Zenz, habe Fidan Kritik an der chinesischen Uiguren-Politik nur hinter verschlossenen Türen geäußert. "Hätte er sie öffentlich, etwa auf einer Pressekonferenz artikuliert, wäre das viel wirksamer gewesen."

Tatsächlich seien Reisen in die Region - rund zehn Millionen ihrer insgesamt 22 Millionen Einwohner sind Uiguren - für offizielle Besuche weiterhin ein zweischneidiges Schwert, sagt der Sinologe und Politikwissenschaftler Björn Alpermann von der Universität Würzburg. "Einerseits versuchen Besucher durch die Reisen natürlich etwas zu bewirken und sich ein Bild von möglichen Veränderungen zu machen. Andererseits ermöglichen sie es der chinesischen Propaganda, die ihr passenden Bilder und Statements rauszuschneiden und für ihre Zwecke einzusetzen." In diesem Fall wolle sie den Eindruck vermitteln, selbst frühere Kritiker der chinesischen Vorgehensweise gegen die Uiguren seien inzwischen mit der Situation vor Ort zufrieden", so Alpermann im DW-Interview.

Komplexe Interessenlage

Fidan absolvierte seinen Besuch vor dem Hintergrund einer komplexen Interessenslage. So leben in der Türkei rund 60 000 Uiguren, die sich erheblicher Sympathien ihrer Gastgeber erfreuen. Türkisch und Uigurisch sind zwei miteinander verwandte Sprachen. Viele Uiguren waren bereits in den 1950er Jahren in ihre neue Heimat geflohen. In seiner Zeit als Ministerpräsident hatte sich der heutige türkische Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan zu einem entschiedenen Fürsprecher der Anliegen der in China lebenden Uiguren gemacht. So sprach er während der ethnischen Unruhen in Xinjiang 2009 von einem "Genozid" an der Volksgruppe.

Doch derartige Töne sind längst verstummt. Heute ist die Türkei auch an guten wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen zu China interessiert. So standen während des Besuchs von Außenminister Fidan auch die diplomatischen Beziehungen der beiden Länder und verbesserte bilaterale Handelsbeziehungen im Vordergrund. Die Zeitung Asia Times wertet

den Besuch als Versuch der Türkei, sich einen Weg zur Mitgliedschaft in der Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft BRICS zu ebnen. Auch strebe die Türkei die Mitgliedschaft in der Shanghai Organisation für Zusammenarbeit an, sagt Björn Alpermann.

Dennoch vertrete die türkische Regierung ihre Position vergleichsweise deutlich, sagt Alpermann. "Viele Staaten der islamischen Welt vermeiden hinsichtlich der Uiguren eine klare Haltung gegenüber Peking oder stärken der chinesischen Regierung sogar den Rücken. Insofern setzt der Besuch Fidans in Xinjiang schon ein besonderes Zeichen."

"China verschleiert Zwangsarbeit"

Dennoch dürfte der Besuch hinsichtlich der Rechte der Uiguren kurzfristig wenig bewegen, sagt Zumretay Arkin vom World Uyghur Congress. Sie habe bereits viele derartiger Besuche gesehen. Die chinesische Regierung nutze sie immer wieder, um ihre eigene Propaganda zu verbreiten. "In diesem Kontext erklärt sie dann etwa, sie habe Arbeitsprogramme aufgelegt, um den Menschen Arbeit zu geben und sie aus der Armut zu holen. Tatsächlich verschleiert sie damit den Umstand, dass sie Menschen zur Zwangsarbeit verurteilt."

Allerdings sei die chinesische Regierung mit Blick auf die islamische Welt besonders darauf bedacht, dass dort keine offene Kritik aufkomme, sagt Adrian Zenz. Der Regierung in Peking geht es darum, den Westen politisch so weit wie möglich zu isolieren. "Darum inszeniert sie sich selbst als antikoloniale Macht, als Champion des so genannten 'Globalen Südens', der sich auch um die muslimischen Staaten bemüht. Die Türkei gehört sicher zu den Ländern, die China international mit am wirkungsvollsten kritisieren könnten. Das will China nach Möglichkeit verhindern. So war es aus Sicht Pekings schon ein Erfolg, dass es keine öffentliche Kritik gab."

Auf eben diese Kritik hofft Zumretay Arkin. Es wäre wünschenswert, wenn Besuche wie der von Hakan Fidan konsequent die Menschenrechtslage in Xinjang zur Sprache brächten. Es gehe darum, dass Besucher zu den Menschenrechtsverletzungen nicht schweigen. "Das erwarten wir auch von westlichen Regierungen."

Diesem Wunsch könnte der Besuch Fidan letztlich zugearbeitet haben, sagt Adrian Zenz. "Der Endeffekt des Besuchs ist sicherlich, dass die Chinesen sich jetzt stärker beobachtet fühlen."

Alexander Kirschner, stell­vertretender Leiter des Fach­bereichs für Wasser­qualität und Gesundheit an der Karl Landsteiner Privat­universität für Ge­sundheits­wissen­schaften in Krems an der Donau in Österreich, hat die Verbreitung von Antibiotikaresistenzen an der Donau untersucht. Sein Fazit: Vor allem menschliche Fäkalien sind ein Problem.--

Frage: Herr Kirschner, antibiotikaresistente Bakterien können gut behandelbare Infektionen lebensbedrohlich werden lassen. Sie haben entlang der Donau von Deutschland bis Rumänien Wasserproben in der Nähe von Kläranlagen und anderen Zuflüssen genommen, um die Belastung mit Antibiotikaresistenzen zu analysieren.

Alexander Kirschner: Diese Studie war die erste, die entlang der gesamten schiffbaren Donau die Belastung mit Antibiotikaresistenz-Genen an 36 verschiedenen Probenstellen analysiert hat. Weltweit gibt es bislang keine derart große Studie in einem Flusssystem. Wir haben mit Fischökologen zusammengearbeitet, die uns im Schlauchboot auf die Donau gefahren haben. So konnten wir Wasserproben nehmen und haben Biofilme von Steinen gekratzt. Wir konnten damit erstmals die Hotspots der Resistenzbelastung und die Hauptquellen und Einflussfaktoren entlang der gesamten Donau identifizieren.

Was sind Biofilme genau?

Das sind Gemeinschaften von Bakterien auf Oberflächen, die viele Vorteile bieten: Bakterien können hier kommunizieren, genetisches Material, darunter auch Resistenz-Gene, austauschen und sind durch schleimartige Substanzen besser vor Schadstoffen geschützt. Zudem ist die Nährstoffversorgung in einem Biofilm besser. Das sind dann dreidimensionale Gebilde, die etwa auf Steinen im Fluss ein paar Millimeter dicke Ablagerungen darstellen. Dabei können auch Algen und Moos eingewachsen sein. Auf der Wasseroberfläche gibt es keine derart stabilen Biofilme.

Und in diesem Biofilm fanden sich mehr Resistenz-Gene?

Genau, weil in diesen permanenten Strukturen die Wahrscheinlichkeit höher ist, resistente Bakterien zu finden, als in einer kurzfristig vorbeifließenden Wasserprobe und weil der Genaustausch hier effektiver funktioniert. Wir haben in einer weiteren Studie das Bakterium Escherichia coli untersucht, das ist ein Modellorganismus, der weit verbreitet und Haupterreger von Harnwegsinfekten ist. Dafür haben wir uns E. coli-Isolate aus einem Krankenhaus in St. Pölten geholt und diese mit Isolaten aus Wasser- und Biofilmproben oberhalb und unterhalb der dazugehörigen Kläranlage verglichen. Wir haben sie auf die Empfindlichkeit gegenüber 20 verschiedenen Antibiotika untersucht. Und es hat sich gezeigt, was nicht verwunderlich war, dass in den klinischen Proben mehr multiresistente Keime vorhanden waren als in den Umweltproben.

Allerdings fanden sich in den Biofilm-Proben deutlich erhöhte Belastungen im Vergleich zu den Wasserproben sowohl oberhalb als auch unterhalb der Kläranlage. Wir vermuten, dass die Donau eine generelle Grundbelastung aus flussaufwärts liegenden Kläranlagen aufweist, sodass ein kleiner Zulauf aus einer einzelnen Kläranlage in dem großen Fluss schnell verdünnt wird.

Wie sind diese Messungen medizinisch einzuschätzen?

In den Isolaten aus Urin-Proben von Patienten fanden wir keine Resistenzen gegen die Reserve-Antibiotika Imipenem, Tigecylin und Colistin, in einem Biofilm-Isolat konnten wir eine Resistenz gegen Tigecyclin nachweisen, was die Verbreitung dieser Resistenzen in der Umwelt beweist. Generell haben wir in Österreich keine alarmierende Situation. Das gilt auch für Deutschland. Dennoch sollten Antibiotikaresistenzen weiterhin minimiert werden. Daten aus unserer Studie sollen dazu beitragen, lokale und zeitliche Trends zu bewerten.

Sie haben auch herausgefunden, dass bei normaler Wasserführung der Donau vor allem humane Fäkalien und nicht die Landwirtschaft die Belastung erklären. Hatten Sie dazu eine andere Hypothese?

Die Donau ist ein stark von Menschen geprägter Flusslauf, darum hat uns dieses Ergebnis nicht verwundert. An der Donau liegen zahlreiche Großstädte wie Wien, Budapest oder Belgrad, die ihre Abwässer in die Donau einleiten. Unsere Partner an der Technischen Universität Wien und der Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften haben im Vorfeld der Studie spezielle Testverfahren entwickelt, mit dem wir die Fäkalienbelastung auf ihren Ursprung zurückverfolgen konnten. Also, ob es sich um Belastungen vom Menschen, vom Wiederkäuer wie Rind und Schaf, oder vom Schwein handelt.

Die Landwirtschaft, die auch als Quelle von Antibiotikaresistenzen gilt – immerhin werden 80 Prozent aller Antibiotika in der Tiermast eingesetzt – war weniger einflussreich?

Ja. Wenn es allerdings zu starkem Regen und Hochwasser kommt, werden Felder geflutet, und dann steigt die Belastung mit Resistenzen aus der Viehzucht. Starkregen ist generell ein Problem, weil dann auch Kläranlagen überlaufen und die Belastung der Gewässer stark zunimmt, und zwar nicht nur mit Resistenzgenen, sondern auch mit Substanzen wie Pestiziden, Pharmazeutika oder Mikroplastik.

Die Verbreitung von Antibiotikaresistenzen hängt also auch von der Kläranlage selbst ab?

Genau. Dabei gibt es erhebliche Unterschiede zwischen den Ländern entlang der Donau, was die Qualität der Abwasserinfrastruktur betrifft. Vor allem Länder wie Serbien, Bulgarien oder Rumänien haben keine oder noch eine mangelhafte Abwasserinfrastruktur, teilsweise laufen die Abwässer ungereinigt in die Donau. Das sind dann Hotspots, wo wir auch extrem hohe Belastungen mit Resistenz-Genen, aber auch mit Pestiziden und Schwermetallen gefunden haben.

Wozu haben Sie obendrein Schwermetalle und Pestizide untersucht?

Es gibt die Hypothese, dass Umweltbelastungen aller Art, also nicht nur die Belastung mit Antibiotika, die Entstehung von Resistenz-Genen in Bakterien fördert. Denn das Bakterium mag keine Fremdstoffe, da diese zur Zerstörung der Zelle führen können. Es pumpt daher diese Chemikalie aus seiner Zelle, hat also einen entsprechenden Mechanismus, der auch gegen andere Fremdstoffe wie Antibiotika resistent machen könnte, wir sprechen von Co-Selektion. In Folgestudien wollen wir in Hotspots schauen, ob etwa eine starke Schwermetallbelastung auch wirklich die Antibiotikaresistenzen fördert.

Wie wären nun mögliche Verbreitungswege der Resistenzen in der Donau auf den Menschen?

Auch das müssen wir in Folgestudien untersuchen. Dazu brauchen wir auch epidemiologische Daten, also, wo sind wie viele Menschen mit multiresistenten Erregern infiziert und stammt ein spezieller resistenter Keim aus der Donau, weil der Betroffene dort gebadet hat oder von einem Fisch, der dort gefangen wurde?

Wasser aus der Donau wird zudem für die Trinkwasserversorgung genutzt, die Wässerung von Feldern oder die Tränken von Tieren, auch hier wären also Übertragungen möglich. Im Krankenhaus sind die Infektionswege leicht nachvollziehbar, in der Umwelt aber nicht. Daher können wir die Übertragungswege momentan nur annehmen.

Was wären wichtige politische Konsequenzen?

Wir brauchen eine verbesserte Aufbereitung der Abwässer, müssten also die bestehenden Kläranlagen mit weiteren Aufbereitungsschritten aufrüsten. Aber so, dass nicht nur Bakterien eliminiert werden, sondern auch andere Schadstoffe wie Mikroplastik, Pharmazeutika oder Pestizide. Zudem muss weiterhin der Eintrag von Antibiotika in die Umwelt reduziert werden. Es sollten Antibiotika also sowohl in der Humanmedizin als auch in der Tierzucht noch weniger eingesetzt werden. Unsere Studie bestätigt, dass man ganzheitlich denken muss, nach dem „One Health Concept“: Nur wenn die Umwelt gesund ist, kann auch der Mensch gesund sein.

Environmental organizations were incredulous when they learned that COP29, the next United Nations World Climate Change Conference, would be held in Baku, Azerbaijan this November.

A fossil-fuels heavyweight, the small Caucasus country [with a population of 10 million] the size of Austria produces 34 billion cubic meters of gas and 35 million tons of oil per year. And fossil fuels amount to around 90% of the country's exports.

On the sidelines of the COP preparatory conference in Bonn over the last two weeks, Environment Minister Mukhtar Babayev said that his country plans to continue expanding natural gas production in the coming years. However, Baku also wants to invest in renewable energies "at the same time," the minister, who will also chair COP29, told news agency AFP.

"I think in parallel — natural gas production and renewables — possibly will move together at the same time," he said.

'Authoritarian petrostate'

Critics are unimpressed with his plans. Babayev is a "former oil executive from an authoritarian petrostate," Alice Harrison from the international environmental organization Global Witness said back in January. German climate NGO Germanwatch declared around the same time that Baku was a "highly problematic" choice for COP29.

While such criticism can be voiced safely from abroad, domestic media and environmental activists in Azerbaijan don't enjoy the same freedom. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 25 such critics have been arrested or sentenced in the last year as the conference approaches. Numerous environmental activists and organizations there have also stated that their work is being hindered by the repressive atmosphere in the country.

Azerbaijani journalist Arzu Geybulla, who now lives in Istanbul, warned on the social media platform X that civil society in her country is in danger of being completely silenced before the start of the conference in November.

Autocratic rule

Azerbaijani authorities reject these accusations. But Azerbaijan has been ruled by the same family since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. President Ilham Aliyev, son of the first president Heydar Aliyev, has now been in power since 2003.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly alleged that political opposition and freedom of expression and assembly are being severely restricted. Azerbaijan is also said to be holding a "three-digit number" of political prisoners.

The intensifying crackdown on journalists is due in part to a stricter media law that was enacted in 2022. Since November 2023, several legal steps have also been taken to close down the remaining independent media outlets, Amnesty International reported.

Meanwhile, Aliyev's autocratic rule has further solidified as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia, in which he claimed victory. For more than 30 years, dispute over the enclave, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, has strained relations with Azerbaijan's western neighbor. In September 2023, Azerbaijani troops invaded Nagorno-Karabakh and expelled more than 100,000 Armenians. This escalation was preceded by a nine-month blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, which triggered a humanitarian crisis in the region. War crimes, including the killing of civilians and prisoners of war, were reportedly committed by the Azerbaijani military during the conflict.

Corruption reaches Council of Europe

Azerbaijan is also one of the most corrupt countries in the world. In Transparency International's annual ranking in 2023, it came in at 154th out of 180 countries. The organization writes in its report that corruption "erodes various levels of society and state, while undermining civic and political rights." It thus contributes significantly to Aliyev's hold on power.

Bribery has also been deliberately deployed by Baku outside the country — including of officials associated with the Council of Europe, an international organization that upholds human rights and rule of law, but is not affiliated with the European Union.

Azerbaijan has been a member since 2001. In 2012, Baku was revealed to have hosted up to 40 officials from the Council of Europe annually, showering them with expensive gifts. With this "caviar diplomacy," Aliyev was apparently trying to buy favorable assessments of the human rights situation in his country.

Europe looks the other way

The fact that the European Union has not yet criticized such corruption more harshly is due to Azerbaijan's role as an increasingly important supplier of oil and gas, observers say. Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, the EU has worked to become less dependent on Russian fossil fuels.

In 2022, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen therefore signed a declaration of intent with President Aliyev, according to which Brussels intends to double its gas imports from Azerbaijan in the coming years. Environment Minister Babayev's statement this week about increasing gas production must therefore be seen within this context.

This role as an energy supplier for Europe lends additional legitimacy to Aliyev's role as head of state. Following what he would consider to be a successful conclusion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he is now primarily concerned with internal stability and brought the schedule for new presidential elections forward to take political advantage of his current popularity.

Aliyev will no doubt also want to use COP29 to present himself as a global player. But without any unwelcome criticism and dissent.