Category: International Relations

China-Based Network Conspired to Deliver WMD Components to Iran, DOJ Charges

The DOJ is unsealing charges against a Chinese citizen who, it claims, helped to operate a network that provides WMD components to Iran. Authorities in New York unsealed the indictment May 16, charging Xiangjiang Qiao with sanctions evasion, money laundering, and bank fraud, alleging that Qiao participated in a scheme to use a sanctioned Chinese…


Pair Accused of Stealing Technology for China in New DOJ Charges

A joint task force is charging two men for their roles in separate schemes to steal and reproduce 3D modeling and autonomous vehicle technology for communist China. The two cases were announced with three others on May 16, as part of a tranche of prosecutions aimed at squashing crimes related to export violations, smuggling, and…


Australian PM Believes Breakthrough in Trade Relationship with China Is Possible

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese believed Australia would be able to make a breakthrough in resolving the trade war with China following a recent delegation to Beijing. Trade Minister Don Farrell has returned after visiting China on the week ending May 14 to discuss with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao the possibility of Beijing lifting…


Budget Neglects National Security

Commentary “Mr Speaker, I am announcing tonight a schedule to increase Australia’s defence expenditure to three percent of GDP over the next 10 years. “This is a necessary response to the Defence Strategic Review which the Albanese government commissioned, the recommendations of which we endorsed recently. It is a realistic response to the threats to our…


China Is Still Conducting Police Activities in Berlin, Germany Says

German officials said on May 15 that they believe the two unauthorized Chinese police outposts remain in operation in the country, though Beijing had promised to shut them down in February. These police outposts were “not fixed-location offices, but mobile facilities,” a spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of the Interior said at a daily briefing…


Fiji Leader Apologizes for 1987 Military Coup Ahead of India-Pacific Summit

Fiji’s prime minister on Sunday apologized for his actions during the nation’s 1987 military coup, which led to a mass exodus of Indian Fijians from the nation, ahead of the India-Pacific Islands summit next week. Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka made his apology at a church service held at the Vodafone Arena in Suva, which…


Dutch Cities Sever Ties With Chinese Sister Cities in Uncoupling From Communist Regime

At least 8 municipalities and 2 provinces in the Netherlands have severed ties with their Chinese sister municipalities as Dutch public representatives strive to uncouple from communist China, according to a new report. Many other Dutch cities and regions are reconsidering such relationships. Some 35 local authorities in the Netherlands currently have sister-city relationships or…


MPs Ask Why Chinese Diplomat Who Spied on Falun Gong, Uyghurs Not Expelled Sooner

Opposition MPs are again asking why expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei wasn’t sent packing sooner, given new revelations that the federal government knew for several years he was spying on Chinese dissidents in Canada, on top of targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong. “For three years, this government knew that a diplomat in Beijing’s Toronto consulate was…


Chinese State-Owned Baowu Group Eyes Western Australia for New Green Facility

Chinese state-owned iron and steel company, Baowu Group, has indicated an interest in building a new green steel plant in Western Australia. During talks with Australia’s Federal Trade Minister Don Farrell in Beijing on May 11, Baowu Group’s chairman Chen Dorong said Western Australia’s availability of clean energy, and ore made the state an ideal…


Chinese Companies Help CCP Manipulate Global Opinion on Social Media: Report

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) cyber influence campaigns against Western democracies on social media have become more frequent, sophisticated, and effective in recent years, according to a new report. More Chinese government agencies, such as Chinese company Qi An Xin, have been involved. Named “Gaming Public Opinion,” the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute…