A Pacific Island multinational military training exercise involving the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji has concluded in Fiji. The 11-day Exercise Cartwheel 2022 drew criticism from China which has been seeking to expand influence in the South Pacific. The exercise, named after Operation Cartwheel – a major military operation for the Allies Read more
Posts Tagged ‘China’
Why China feels threatened by the moral authority of a 90-year-old Catholic bishop
Thursday, September 29th, 2022
Cardinal Joseph Zen trial began on Sept. 19, 2022, in Hong Kong for his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. This organisation paid legal fees and medical bills for Hong Kongers protesting the Extradition Law Amendment Bill. This 2019 legislation would have allowed extradition to the People’s Republic of China. Many Read more
Is Pope Francis’ diplomacy of dialogue failing?
Thursday, September 22nd, 2022
Pope Francis returned from his brief trip to Kazakhstan, a country nestled between Russia and China, having failed to sit down with his Russian counterpart Patriarch Kirill or the delegation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. With the pope surrounded by empty seats in Kazakhstan, critics questioned the efficacy of his diplomacy of encounter and his Read more
‘Environment friendly’ electric cars exploit 40,000 child mine workers
Monday, July 18th, 2022
China is exploiting children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in its cobalt mines. They’re being forced to work under hazardous conditions to mine the cobalt that powers electronic devices and electric cars. “On the backs of trafficked workers and child labourers, China exploits the vast cobalt resources of the DRC to fuel its Read more
Church in Hong Kong existing like plants in pavement cracks
Thursday, June 16th, 2022
The Bishop of Hong Kong has likened the existence of the Church in the former British colony to plants growing in pavement cracks. Bishop Stephen Chow commented in the Sunday Examiner that these plants “are proofs of the amazing power of life that comes from the Creator. How can they grow up in such a Read more
Mosques disappear as China strives to ‘build a beautiful Xinjiang’
Thursday, May 20th, 2021
In late April, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, two ethnic Uyghur women sat behind a tiny mesh grate, underneath a surveillance camera, inside the compound of what had long been the city’s largest place of worship. Reuters could not establish if the place was currently functioning as a mosque. Within minutes of reporters Read more
Wellington’s new buses being made by forced Uyghur labour
Thursday, May 6th, 2021The Greater Wellington Regional Council is investigating whether the 98 electric buses it is on the verge of leasing were made by forced Uyghur labour in China. The potential links highlight the challenges in buying goods made in China, where the supply chains are often opaque, and come amid a broader effort to ensure New Read more
NZ and Australia’s deep concerns about China’s human rights abuses
Thursday, March 25th, 2021
Australia and New Zealand have raised deep concerns about human rights abuses against Muslim minorities in China. Citing “the growing number of credible reports” of severe violations, both countries’ foreign ministers say the abuses are occurring in the Xinjiang region. The violations include “restrictions on freedom of religion, mass surveillance, large-scale extra-judicial detentions, as well Read more
Uighurs could be allowed to seek genocide ruling against China in UK
Thursday, October 1st, 2020Uighurs and other Muslim minorities would be given the right to petition a UK high court judge to declare that genocide is taking place in China, requiring the UK government to curtail trade ties with Beijing, under proposals brought by MPs and peers. The cross-party parliamentary revolt is causing deep concern in government, where there Read more
Mike Pompeo Attacks Pope Francis & The ‘Moral Authority’ Of The Vatican
Monday, September 21st, 2020Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has hit out at Pope Francis following the news that diplomats from the Holy See are meeting later this month with members of the Chinese Communist Party to renew a two-year-old agreement between China and the Vatican. Though the Middle Kingdom nominally adheres to the principle of religious freedom, it Read more