Category: Beijing

China Tightens Rules for Online Platforms, Requiring Companies to Authenticate Users’ Identities

The Cyberspace Administration of China issued new regulations on June 27 requiring all online platform operators to authenticate users’ identities and verify the account information submitted by users during registration. The new regulations require the network information service provider to display user IP addresses on their page of account information, which would facilitate Beijing’s monitoring of user…


Hong Kong in Limbo 25 Years After British Handover to China

HONG KONG—When the British handed Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, it was promised 50 years of self-government and freedoms of assembly, speech, and press that are not allowed on the communist-ruled Chinese mainland. As the city of 7.4 million people marks 25 years under Beijing’s rule on Friday, those promises are wearing thin. Hong…


US Business Group Calls for ‘Urgent’ Taiwan Free Trade Talks

TAIPEI—The United States should “urgently” start talks with Taiwan on a free trade agreement with the aim to present a completed text for passage in 2024, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taiwan said in an annual policy paper published on Wednesday. Taiwan has long campaigned for such a deal, in what would be…


Beijing May Have Tried to Discourage Canadians From Voting Conservative: Federal Unit

A federal research unit detected what might be a Chinese Communist Party information operation that aimed to discourage Canadians of Chinese heritage from voting for the Conservatives in the last federal election. The Sept. 13, 2021, analysis by Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, which tracks foreign interference, says researchers observed Communist party media accounts on Chinese…


Taiwan’s Missiles Can Strike Beijing, Three Gorges Dam, Island’s Politician Says

A top politician in Taiwan warned that the island’s government had missiles capable of targeting Beijing, and that it would defend itself from an invasion by China’s communist regime. You Si-kun, president of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, said that Taiwan had supersonic cruise missiles capable of striking Beijing should China’s communist regime invade. “Yun Feng missiles…


Taiwan Threatens WTO Action After China Stops Grouper Fish Imports

TAIPEI—Taiwan’s government threatened to take Beijing to the World Trade Organization on Saturday after China suspended the import of grouper fish from the island saying it had detected banned chemicals, the latest agricultural spat between the two. Last year China suspended imports of pineapples, sugar apples, and wax apples from Taiwan, citing concerns about pests,…


Beijing Only Needs to “Win Once” in South Pacific Contest: Former Intelligence Agency Boss

Australia needs to push China back “every time” in the South Pacific contest while Beijing only needs to win once to achieve its goal, warns the former head of Australia’s spy agency. The comment comes as Australia and China continue jostling for influence in the South Pacific, with Anthony Albanese recently making his first trip…


Beijing Could Intervene to Stabilize Markets as China’s Financial Risk Increases

China’s economy is shrinking and financial risks increasing under the impact of “zero-COVID” policies and regional lockdowns across the country. On March 25 the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) established the country’s first financial stability fund. Supplied by China’s banks and other institutions, the fund is intended to help shield the country from…


Chinese Researchers Reportedly View Elon Musk’s Starlink as a Military Threat

Chinese military researchers reportedly view the SpaceX-operated Starlink satellite internet system as a national security threat while suggesting Beijing needs to have the ability to destroy it. An expert suggests that the PLA has no capability to defeat Starlink. A Beijing-affiliated military TV program, “Crazy Warfare Show,” recently published an article analyzing the progress of…


University Students in Beijing Protest Against Campus Lockdowns

As Beijing’s COVID-19 cases increase, more and more neighborhoods are placed under strict lockdowns. But students at some university campuses in China’s capital city are protesting against the harsh measures, demanding administrators to allow them to return home. Since April 22, the number of infection cases from the omicron variant has increased from six to…