International

By Xinqi SU Hong Kong’s oldest university launched an overnight operation Thursday to dismantle a statue commemorating those killed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in the latest blow to academic freedoms as China cracks down. The eight-metre (26-feet) high “Pillar of Shame” by Jens Galschiot has sat on the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) campus since […]

The World Health Organization chief warned Wednesday that the rush in wealthy countries to roll out additional Covid vaccine doses was deepening the inequity in access to jabs that is prolonging the pandemic. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that the priority must remain to get vaccines to vulnerable people everywhere rather than giving additional […]

World powers on Monday condemned Hong’s Kong tightly vetted legislature vote, saying rules imposed by Beijing that reduced directly elected seats and controlled who could stand had eroded democracy in the Chinese territory. China has overseen a sweeping crackdown in Hong Kong in response to huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago. It imposed […]

A Polish soldier patrolling the European Union’s eastern border with authoritarian Belarus has deserted and asked for political asylum there, Polish and Belarusian officials said on Friday. Tensions on the Poland-Belarus border have been high for months as thousands of migrants have tried to cross into EU member Poland in a crisis the West and […]

By Francesco Fontemaggi US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged China to cease “aggressive actions” in the Asia-Pacific, speaking during a visit to the region, as Washington seeks to bolster alliances against Beijing. President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to reset relations and reassert its influence in Asia after the turbulence and unpredictability […]

Time magazine on Monday named Tesla chief and space entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, citing his embodiment of the technological shifts but also troubling trends reshaping people’s lives. Musk — who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this year to become the world’s wealthiest person — wields impact on Earth with his […]

China branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction” on Saturday, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes. China was left out of the two-day virtual summit — along with countries including Russia and Hungary — and responded by angrily accusing US President […]

By Sebastian Smith President Joe Biden said Friday that democracy “knows no borders” as he closed a two-day summit on democratic freedoms while fending off a storm of criticism from China and domestic critics alike. Biden’s presidency has focused on restoring America to what Ronald Reagan liked to call a “shining city on the hill,” […]

Chinese human rights lawyers and activists said they have been blocked from leaving their homes this week ahead of events to mark Friday’s UN Human Rights Day. China has seen a dramatic crackdown on civil liberties and freedoms since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, with hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists detained […]

The United States unveiled a raft of new rights-abuse sanctions Friday on senior officials and entities in eight countries, with targets ranging from a Chinese firm specializing in facial recognition technology to a giant cartoon studio in North Korea. Timed for International Human Rights Day and supported in part by Britain and Canada, the sanctions […]

Nicaragua switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China on Thursday in a diplomatic coup for Beijing as it seeks to isolate the democratic island it has vowed to one day seize. The announcement now leaves Taiwan with just 14 diplomatic allies but comes as Taipei strengthens ties with multiple unofficial Western friends including the United […]

France is still considering along with other EU countries its position on joining a diplomatic boycott by Western allies of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, an official said Thursday, after a minister indicated French officials would be present. Asked about a boycott announced by the United States, Australia, Britain and Canada, Education and Sports Minister […]

China warned Western nations on Thursday that they would “pay the price” for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as a French minister said they would not be joining the US-backed effort. Washington unveiled its decision not to send a diplomatic delegation earlier in the week, saying it was prompted by widespread […]

Britain, Canada and Australia on Wednesday joined the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics in February, prompted by what the Western allies argue are widespread rights abuses by China. Britain will not send ministers to the Winter Games in the Chinese capital, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament, as discord over a […]

Australia will not send officials to the upcoming winter Olympics in Beijing, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday, joining a US diplomatic boycott of the event. Canberra’s decision comes amid “disagreement” with China over a slew of issues, from Australia’s foreign interference laws to a recent decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, Morrison said. He also […]