Overseas News

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/31221791

A small number of Melbourne residents have received anonymous letters purporting to offer a police bounty of $203,000 if they inform on Kevin Yam, an Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist wanted for alleged national security crimes in Hong Kong, linking him to two nearby locations.

A spokesperson for the [Australian] foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, [said] the letter was “deeply worrying” and that the matter would be raised directly with officials from China and Hong Kong.

The anonymous letter – mailed from Hong Kong and delivered to some Melbourne homes on Friday – contained a photograph of Yam with a headline alleging he was a “wanted person”. It then detailed a range of alleged “national security related offences” and offered HK$1m (A$203,000) from the Hong Kong police to anyone who provided information on his whereabouts or took him to Hong Kong or Australian police.

Yam is a lawyer who lived in Hong Kong for 20 years before returning to Australia in 2022. He is one of eight overseas-based activists, the subject of Hong Kong police arrest warrants, accused in July 2023 of breaching its controversial national security law that grants authorities sweeping extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the world that it deems criminal.

Yam has criticised the crackdown on dissent and erosion of judicial independence in the Chinese-controlled city and has been accused of encouraging foreign governments to impose sanctions against members of the judiciary, prosecutors and government officials.

[...]

Cross post from https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/31071924

Australia is scrambling to deploy new long-range missiles as the recent arrival of powerful Chinese warships off the Australian coast delivers a sharp reminder of Beijing’s growing naval muscle.

In a move to boost military firepower, Canberra plans to arm Australian soldiers with anti-ship missiles and advanced targeting radars to protect the country’s vast maritime approaches, according to contract announcements as well as a flurry of recent official speeches and ministerial statements.

[...]

The U.S. Army in June used two Precision Strike Missiles to successfully attack a moving target at sea during an exercise in the Pacific, the army said in a statement.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) jolted Australia’s security services with the deployment of three warships – one of its most potent cruisers, a frigate and a replenishment ship – close to the country’s biggest cities of Sydney and Melbourne late last month. Air traffic between Australia and New Zealand was disrupted with 49 flights diverted on February 21 when the Chinese flotilla held what appeared to be a live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea without notifying authorities in Canberra or Wellington.

[...]

In short:

Rodrigo Duterte is in the custody of the International Criminal Court after being arrested on charges of crimes against humanity.

His arrest is linked to his 'war on drugs' while president of the Philippines and mayor of Davao.

What's next?

He's expected to be transferred to a detention centre on the Dutch coast, ahead of a court hearing in the coming days.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30359615

China’s ambassador to Australia has warned that a decision to ban artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from government systems and devices risks further politicising trade and technology ties.

[...]

Ambassador Xiao Qian’s comments came as a Chinese naval task force continued to skirt Australia’s territorial waters in an apparent plan to circumnavigate the island nation. The warships 10 days ago held live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.

Writing in The Australian newspaper on March 3, Mr Xiao said the Chinese-developed AI program would “greatly benefit the world in various aspects” and encouraged Australia to work with Beijing to jointly develop new technologies.

“Taking restrictive measures against it under the pretext of ‘security risks’ is an attempt to overstretch the concept of national security and politicise trade and tech issues,” the ambassador said in his article.

In early February, Australia’s center-left Labour government became one of the first countries in the world to ban DeepSeek from official devices, a decision that it justified on national security grounds.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30359557

Archived

China has informed the Australian government to expect more visits from its warships amid the ongoing political standoff between Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and China.

The situation follows live-fire exercises conducted by a People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) taskforce in the Tasman Sea just over a week ago.

[...]

Both New Zealand and Australia condemn the live-fire exercises held on 21-22 February.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Defence Minister Judith Collins maintain that Wellington had no prior knowledge of the Chinese military operation.

Collins expresses disappointment over Beijing’s failure to inform Wellington about the arrival of a “highly capable” strike force with considerable firepower along Australia’s east coast.

[...]

Luxon and Collins’ Australian counterparts, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles, also criticise China for not providing “sufficient notice” on the live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea.

[...]

The live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea follow another incident in which a Chinese Air Force J-16 fighter jet releases flares 30 metres from an Australian P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft in the South China Sea.

Australia’s Department of Defence criticises the interaction as “unsafe and unprofessional”.

The flare release, reported on 13 February, is the fifth known incident of unsafe behaviour by the Chinese military towards the Australian Defence Force since 2022.

Analysts warn that these military interactions with China are now becoming increasingly routine.

Reports by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reveal that China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea and beyond make it much harder for the Albanese government to stabilise its relationship with Beijing, particularly under its strategy of ‘cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in the national interest’.

[...]

Key Points

• Keir Starmer says Europe will draft a Ukraine peace plan to present to the US.
• EU leaders pledged stronger support for Ukraine after Zelenskyy's clash with Donald Trump.
• Europe plans to increase defence spending to show it can protect itself.

In short:

One of the biggest protests in Greece in years has turned violent as hundreds of thousands of people gather on the second anniversary of the country's deadliest-ever train crash.

57 people were killed in 2023 when a passenger train filled with students collided with a freight train.

What's next?

Two years later, the safety gaps that caused the crash have not been filled, a recent inquiry found.

Pilots first heard about a Chinese live-fire naval exercise near Australia last week when already in the air, receiving messages that forced some to change paths through a busy air corridor, satellite text messages to and from pilots seen by Reuters show.

The incident highlights how airlines are increasingly having to react at short notice to geopolitical disruptions and military hazards, such as missile and drone barrages between Israel and Iran last year.

It also shows how China's military, in its first drills in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, is raising tensions by being more assertive across the Indo-Pacific region, according to Western defence analysts, including near Taiwan.

[...]

Archived

Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has called on European governments to make Russian assets and “elite interests” pay for the war in Ukraine, as his charity made another multimillion-dollar donation to the war-torn country.

Following the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Minderoo Foundation announced another $5 million funding package to de-mine agricultural areas, launch peace-building activities and financially support households.

[...]

“While philanthropy can play a crucial role, governments across Europe should redouble their efforts to make Russian assets and elite interests pay for the war of aggression they have waged on Ukraine.

“Looking forward, Ukraine has the capability to draw on her deep pools of talent, vast natural resources and remarkable resilience to drive a powerful economic recovery. I look forward to working with president Zelensky and his team to recover Ukraine’s peaceful growth.”

[...]

The comments come as the US and Ukraine are reportedly on the cusp of inking a critical minerals deal Zelensky hopes will secure the support of Washington and bring an end to the war.

[...]

In short:

More than 50 people in the north-western of the Democratic Republic of Congo have died of an unidentified illness.

The outbreak began on January 21, with 419 cases having been recorded since.

The first outbreak in the town of Boloko began after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours.

One of Australia's most senior intelligence figures says aspects of China's deployment of three warships to the Tasman Sea appear "designed to be provocative", as the naval task group continues to be closely tracked heading back towards Tasmania.

Director-general of the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) Andrew Shearer this week delivered a blunt assessment of Beijing's strategic aims for sending the heavily armed flotilla to the region, saying it was to "shape" the behaviour of states like Australia.

He also described its recent live-fire exercises as unprecedented and said they demonstrated "China's growing capability to project military power into our immediate region" was "now matched by an increasing intent to do so".

...

"We judge Beijing intends to normalise this sort of presence, shape the responses of those in the region, and observe and learn from our reactions," he told the Senate estimates hearing.

"The largest and least transparent military build-up since the Second World War will mean the PLA will be able to operate at greater distances from mainland China, in greater numbers, including into Australia's immediate seas and skies," he said.

...

Planes flying between Australia and New Zealand have been diverted as China conducts a closely-scrutinised military exercise in nearby waters that may involve live fire.

The rare presence of three Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea has put both antipodean countries on alert in recent days, with Australia calling it "unusual".

Australian airline Qantas told the BBC it "temporarily adjusted" the routes of its planes and other carriers have reportedly done the same.

...

Australia and New Zealand have been closely monitoring the Chinese fleet - a frigate, a cruiser and a supply tanker - since last week, and have dispatched their own ships to observe them.

Earlier this week, New Zealand's Defence Minister Judith Collins said China had not informed them they would be sending warships to their region and "have not deigned to advise us on what they are doing in the Tasman Sea", according to the New Zealand Herald.

Meanwhile, Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said that the ships' presence was "not unprecedented, but it is an unusual event".

...

The drill comes just days after Australia and China held a defence dialogue in Beijing where they had discussed military transparency and communication, among other things.

The two countries have seen several recent tense maritime encounters.

Earlier this month, Canberra said a Chinese fighter jet had released flares in front of an Australian military aircraft while flying over the South China Sea. Beijing said the aircraft had "intentionally intruded" into its airspace.

In May last year, Australia accused a Chinese fighter plane of dropping flares close to an Australian navy helicopter that was part of a UN Security Council mission on the Yellow Sea.

And in November 2023, Canberra accused Beijing's navy of using sonar pulses in international waters off Japan, resulting in Australian divers suffering injuries.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29827812

Archived

An Australian man says an extortion attempt at an electronics repair store landed him in a Beijing jail, where he was forced to confess to stealing his own phone.

Australian Matthew Radalj was running a clothing business out of Beijing in January 2020 when he left his apartment one morning to collect his phone from an electronics market, where he had dropped it off days earlier for repairs.

What happened next would land him in jail for nearly the next five years, the victim, in his retelling of events, of an extortion attempt and a justice system that convicts 99 per cent of those who come before it.

Under what he says were torturous conditions, he would be forced to confess to robbery charges for stealing his own phone and cash and to violently resisting arrest.

[...]

Each morning, the inmates would be forced to march into the factory to the tune of Chinese Communist Party propaganda “red” songs. The lyrics are burnt into his brain: Wo ai ni zhongguo.

“It means ‘I love you, China’,” says Radalj. “The Chinese system is designed to extract as much suffering from you as possible. At a certain point, you’re not even human any more.”

[...]

Radalj says when he arrived at the electronics market on January 3, 2020, the shop owner, a man called Wei, had more than doubled the agreed price to fix his smashed yellow iPhone 11 and put a new deal on the table. It was now going to cost him 3500 yuan ($767), but Wei’s friend would buy the phone for 1000 yuan and settle his debt. Radalj rejected the deal, paid the original price, took his phone and left.

But as he was exiting the market, he was set upon by security guards carrying pepper spray and electric batons. He fought back, he says, grabbing the pepper spray and using it on one of the security officers and stunning another with a baton he seized in the brawl before being chased into the street, where he was subdued by a mob.

“I had to basically fight for my life,” he says.

[...]

After his arrest, Radalj says he endured cruel treatment at a detention centre until he agreed to sign a “leniency document” confessing to the robbery charges. He was left in rooms for long stretches with static playing through speakers, and he was forced to strip naked and go outside in Beijing’s sub-zero winter. For 10 months, he had no access to money, meaning he couldn’t buy a toothbrush, toilet paper or underwear, nor could he call his family or friends, who were becoming increasingly worried.

[...]

Radalj says he was held in Beijing Number 3 Detention Centre for 504 days before being transferred to Beijing Number 2 Prison, where he spent 1230 days.

[...]

Radalj’s story is an apparent example of how a confluence of circumstance, harsh laws and policing, and geopolitical jostling can conspire in a devastating way to leave foreigners at the mercy of China’s unflinching legal system.

His situation was worsened by the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, during which the prison was sealed off. It also made consular access difficult and soured the Australia-China relationship during the Morrison government era.

“Even in the police station, they were saying, ‘You’re Australian. This is China. Australia is not our friend’,” Radalj says.

[...]

Archived

TLDR:

• China’s military has once again escalated tensions near Australia. A Chinese J-16 fighter dangerously engaged an Australian P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft, releasing flares just 30 meters away—the fifth such incident since 2022.

• Meanwhile, a Chinese naval flotilla, including a Type 055 Renhai cruiser, sailed near Australia’s northeastern maritime approaches, marking Beijing’s growing naval presence beyond the First Island Chain.

• While Canberra insists on respecting international law, China’s continued provocations raise serious concerns about regional stability. With China targeting smaller nations like Australia, how should Defence and the Albanese government respond to these growing threats?

The Australian government revealed a week ago that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea and were approaching northeast Australia.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that the Chinese ships — the naval frigate Hengyang, cruiser Zunyi and replenishment vessel Weishanhu — were “off the east coast of Australia.”

Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from China's military, the People's Liberation Army, was 150 nautical miles (278 kilometers) east of Sydney.

“There is no doubt that this is, not unprecedented, but an unusual event,” Marles [said].

Marles said Australian navy ships and air force planes were monitoring the Chinese ships’ movements through international waters that are in Australia's exclusive economic zone, the area beyond its territorial waters where a nation has exclusive economic rights.

[...]

In short:

New Zealand's Waitangi Day was overshadowed by controversy as Māori leaders condemned a proposed bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi.

Methodist Church president Te Aroha Rountree likened the move to "the crown filing for divorce."

What's next?

The proposed Treaty Principles Bill will continue to face resistance, with Māori leaders vowing to fight any changes that undermine their rights.

In short:

Donald Trump has suggested during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House that the United States "will take over the Gaza Strip".

Mr Trump also suggested Palestinians could be permanently relocated from Gaza to neighbouring nations.

What's next?

Mr Trump has announced plans to visit Gaza and is set to host the king of Jordan next week to discuss the next phase of the ceasefire deal.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28973386

Archived

An Australian economist has argued China has “hoodwinked” the world on net zero in what he acknowledges could be seen as a “controversial” take.

Leith Van Onselen, chief economist at the MB Fund and MB Super and co-founder of MacroBusiness, told 4BC host Mike Jeffreys that while Australia and other countries are making sacrifices for the good of the planet, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter is not, and therefore “we’re basically shooting ourselves in the foot”.

“I’d argue China is the largest beneficiary of the West’s net zero policies,” Mr Van Onselen said on the radio show.

“It’s not abiding by the same rules and what we’re effectively doing is, while we’re reducing our carbon footprints through these sorts of policies and giving us expensive energy and shutting down manufacturing and becoming less diversified economies, China is simply expanding its carbon output and expanding its manufacturing sector at our expense.

“The world’s not getting cleaner. We’re just shifting the pollution away from us, to China, and it’s actually less regulated in China.”

...

He referred to a Reuters report from August that found China had boosted domestic coal production and imports to record highs.

It said production from China’s mines hit a seasonal record of 390 million tonnes in July 2024, up from 378 million in the same month a year earlier, and imports surged to a seasonal record of 296 million tonnes in the first seven months from 261 million tonnes in 2023.

Mr Van Onselen concluded: “I think we can all agree we’d like to have a cleaner planet but the whole idea of net zero is completely impossible or ridiculous if China is not involved.

“If we’re going to make sacrifices, China has to make sacrifices.”

You guys are f---ing stupid and white. - Sam Kerr 2023 - not racist apparently 🙂

In short:

Mohammad al-Halabi, the former head of a World Vision Australian aid program in Gaza, was released from an Israeli prison on Saturday.

Mr al-Halabi was convicted in 2022 of funnelling money from the program to Hamas, though he maintained his innocence and investigations by both World Vision and the Australian government found no money was missing.

What's next?

Israel and Hamas continue to exchange hostages and prisoners as the ceasefire deal remains in place, but the second stage of negotiations is yet to take place.

What gave it away? When someone yelled out "walkies"?