Overseas News

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.

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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.

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“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.”

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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.

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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".

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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.

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?

Archived

Beijing prison officials slashed jailed Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun’s access to food and hygiene products late last year in a move that triggered official complaints from Australia’s top diplomat in China.

Yang was detained by Chinese authorities six years ago this week and was handed a suspended death sentence last February after being found guilty of mysterious espionage offences.

Yang’s supporters, who say he has been subjected to torture-like conditions since his arrest, are calling on the federal government to forcefully speak out about his treatment even if it offends the Chinese government.

Sources familiar with Yang’s prison conditions said his monthly spending allowance was cut from 200 Chinese yuan ($44) to 100 yuan ($22) in November for three months because eyesight problems meant he could not carry out his assigned chores.

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Yang, who was suffering from the flu at the time, said he had not eaten fruit for several months and that he felt humiliated to have to ask fellow prisoners for basic food products such as soup.

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Yang also reported that he could not afford to buy toothpaste despite suffering serious dental issues.

The Chinese-born pro-democracy blogger and academic worked for China’s Ministry of State Security before becoming an Australian citizen in 2002. His case was heard in secret in May 2021, with the details of the espionage charges never disclosed to the public.

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According to a 2018 Time Magazine report, incarcerated firefighters were four times more likely to sustain injuries compared with professional firefighters working on the same fires.

Using a statistical method called capture-recapture analysis, the researchers sought to assess the death toll from Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza between October 2023 and the end of June 2024.

They estimated 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injury during this period, about 41 per cent higher than the official Palestinian Health Ministry count. The study said 59.1 per cent were women, children and people over the age of 65. It did not provide an estimate of Palestinian combatants among the dead.

In short:

The fires started in Los Angeles and its surrounding communities earlier this week, and have resulted in the loss of thousands of homes and buildings.

Satellite images show the aftermath of the blazes, with houses and neighbourhoods left completely destroyed.

What's next?

Firefighters are continuing to battle blazes around the county while the City of Los Angeles houses residents in evacuation shelters.

In short:

Donald Trump has refused to rule out using military force to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.

Trump also said he would try to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America".

What's next?

Trump takes office on January 20.

KEY POINTS

• Justin Trudeau has announced he will resign as Canada's prime minister.
• He had been under pressure to quit amid polls showing the party will be crushed at the next election.
• Trudeau said he will stay on in his post until the party chooses a replacement.

Archived link

A leading US expert on China has urged Australia to be bolder in its dealings with Beijing and less afraid of upsetting the ruling Chinese Communist Party — or risk the political consequences of perceived weakness.

Oriana Skylar Mastro, assistant professor of political science at Stanford University and a United States Air Force reservist who serves as a strategic planner at Indo-Pacific Command, wrote one of the most definitive books of 2024 on the economic and military rise of China and its future strategy.

‘Upstart: How China Became a Great Power’, offers unique insights into Beijing’s rapid emergence from poverty to wealth and its current global ambitions as it challenges an international order that has long been based on the dominance of US military and financial might.

Plumbing authoritative Chinese sources, Ms Mastro charts Beijing’s leap over just three decades from having about 3 per cent of global GDP to becoming the second largest economy in the world and the biggest manufacturer and exporter.

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In an interview in Canberra, Ms Mastro urged the Australian Government to maintain a firm tone with Beijing.

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Moving forward, Australia should not be too “risk averse” over actions or opinions that could “provoke” China in an effort to pre-empt retaliatory measures, she said.

“The one thing I think is really important is deterring Chinese aggression,” she said, adding that Canberra was too unwilling to take necessary steps to protect itself out of fear of goading China’s leadership.

“If you deter China, you are restricting their options. They’re going to be unhappy. So, you can either have a China that is deterred from aggression and problematic behaviour, but is unhappy, or one that is happy and gets to do whatever it wants. You can’t really have both,” Ms Mastro argued.

“In Canberra, I see a lot of recognising that China is unhappy about something, and thinking and assuming that that is then going to lead to China to take unfavourable policies towards Australia,” she said.

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“And what that means is the strategy is, ‘let’s just make sure we don’t do something that upsets China’.”

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"So, every country has to make a decision — in Australia, too, about the degree of sovereignty that they’re willing to give up in order to avoid conflict with China.”

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“I think we don’t even have the imagination to realise the degree to which our government sovereignty protects our everyday existence,” she said.

“Having a country like China be able to reach that deeply and touch our everyday lives is something that, while we don’t physically see a PLA (People’s Liberation Army) person in front of us enforcing some sort of law, the outcome is exactly the same.”

Shortly after the interview, a review calling for a funding cut to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), raised alarm in Canberra that it was being targeted for its hawkish analysis of the operations of the Chinese Communist Party.

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Summary

• Kamal Adwan hospital patients and others told to leave
• Palestinian health ministry says contact with staff lost
• Israel says it has taken steps to reduce harm to civilians
• Israel says militants were operating inside hospital

A growing number of Chinese are fleeing their home country, where rising authoritarianism under the rule of Xi Jinping and the difficulties of a faltering economy has prompted some people to look for a way out. The phenomenon has become so widely discussed online that it has its own nickname: runxue, or run philosophy, a coded term for emigration.

Some are relocating on student or business visas, joining growing diaspora communities in places like Japan or Thailand. But tens of thousands of others who don’t qualify or have the resources for such pathways are fleeing in other unconventional and often dangerous ways, known as zouxian, or walking the line.

Most head for the US, trekking from South America through the hostile jungle of the Darian Gap. In September the Guardian revealed a small but growing number were also flying into the Balkans to find smugglers to take them to Germany. Now, another emerging high-stakes escape route has been revealed, through the Indonesian archipelago to a smuggler’s boat destined for Australia.

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Experts say the arrival of Chinese people on this route signals growing discontent at home.

Some Chinese migrants in the US and Europe have said tightening restrictions on political, religious and social freedoms during Xi’s rule led them to flee. Others cited stifling public health policies during the pandemic, and the economic downturn, housing crunch, and youth unemployment crisis that followed.

Meredith Oyen, an associate professor at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, specialising in Chinese migration, says politics and economics are push factors.

“The zero-Covid policy ended up destroying a lot of small businesses and a lot of middle class people’s economic life … The combination of that and the draconian nature of some of those policies led to frustrations and more political dissatisfactions.

“Even if you’re not driven by political repression, the experience of bankruptcy in China is political, it has more blowback on your life compared to places like the US. So it feels like if you’re just going to be languishing in China and you don’t see hope for recovery in a way that makes you a welcome member of society, you might as well risk it.”

[...]

China does not release statistics on people leaving, but the UN’s refugee agency – which has registered around a third of all displaced people and refugees – recorded 137,143 asylum seekers from China in 2023, five times the number registered a decade earlier at the start of Xi’s rule. By July this year it had grown to 176,239.

[...]

Last week, a Chinese resident commented on a Douyin video about zouxian [a term used in mainland China usually for Chinese trying to escape to the U.S. via the -dangerous- Darien Gap in Latin America] to Australia. “I’m at the end of the road. I can’t survive any more. I want to go. I want to go very much,” he said.

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In short:

Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terror charges.

Mr Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel.

What's next?

Prosecutors say the state case is expected to run parallel to a federal prosecution.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17710409

Archived link

Hundreds of Tibetans protesting against a Chinese dam were rounded up in a harsh crackdown earlier this year, with some beaten and seriously injured, the BBC has learnt from sources and verified footage.

Such protests are extremely rare in Tibet, which China has tightly controlled since it annexed the region in the 1950s. That they still happened highlights China's controversial push to build dams in what has long been a sensitive area.

Claims of the arrests and beatings began trickling out shortly after the events in February. In the following days authorities further tightened restrictions, making it difficult for anyone to verify the story, especially journalists who cannot freely travel to Tibet.

But the BBC has spent months tracking down Tibetan sources whose family and friends were detained and beaten. BBC Verify has also examined satellite imagery and verified leaked videos which show mass protests and monks begging the authorities for mercy.

The sources live outside of China and are not associated with activist groups. But they did not wish to be named for safety reasons.

[...]

The protests, followed by the crackdown, took place in a territory home to Tibetans in Sichuan province. For years, Chinese authorities have been planning to build the massive Gangtuo dam and hydropower plant, also known as Kamtok in Tibetan, in the valley straddling the Dege (Derge) and Jiangda (Jomda) counties.

Once built, the dam's reservoir would submerge an area that is culturally and religiously significant to Tibetans, and home to several villages and ancient monasteries containing sacred relics.

One of them, the 700-year-old Wangdui (Wontoe) Monastery, has particular historical value as its walls feature rare Buddhist murals.

The Gangtuo dam would also displace thousands of Tibetans. The BBC has seen what appears to be a public tender document for the relocation of 4,287 residents to make way for the dam.

[...]

China is no stranger to controversy when it comes to dams.

When the government constructed the world's biggest dam in the 90s - the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River - it saw protests and criticism over its handling of relocation and compensation for thousands of villagers.

In more recent years, as China has accelerated its pivot from coal to clean energy sources, such moves have become especially sensitive in Tibetan territories.

Beijing has been eyeing the steep valleys and mighty rivers here, in the rural west, to build mega-dams and hydropower stations that can sustain China's electricity-hungry eastern metropolises. President Xi Jinping has personally pushed for this, a policy called "xidiandongsong", or "sending western electricity eastwards".

[...]

The Chinese government has long been accused of violating Tibetans' rights. Activists say the dams are the latest example of Beijing's exploitation of Tibetans and their land.

"What we are seeing is the accelerated destruction of Tibetan religious, cultural and linguistic heritage," said Tenzin Choekyi, a researcher with rights group Tibet Watch. "This is the 'high-quality development' and 'ecological civilisation' that the Chinese government is implementing in Tibet."

One key issue is China's relocation policy that evicts Tibetans from their homes to make way for development - it is what drove the protests by villagers and monks living near the Gangtuo dam. More than 930,000 rural Tibetans are estimated to have been relocated since 2000, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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Multiple Tibetan rights groups [...] argue that any large-scale development in Tibetan territory, including dams such as Gangtuo, should be halted.

They have staged protests overseas and called for an international moratorium, arguing that companies participating in such projects would be "allowing the Chinese government to profit from the occupation and oppression of Tibetans".

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gday everyone. In response to the recent meta discussion, I've volunteered as a moderator for /c/worldnews.

The main reasons I volunteered is to make this comm less generic and more suited to aussie.zone, as well as reducing the stream of drive-by spam posts.

There are a few ways I aim to achieve this:

• We'll change the community title. I've already picked an example title, Overseas News, although this is temporary for now so critique and suggestions are welcome! I picked this name to keep the basic idea of this comm clear while distinguishing us from generic "World News" clones, and so even a federated Lemmy user searching for world news comms to post to will have a fair chance to see we aren't just an extra opportunity for attention. (I understand it might be confusing that this is still https://aussie.zone/c/worldnews, but changing the comm's id is much harder and needs a serious discussion first)
• We'll create basic rules to codify our expectations. I've added some already, and again, feedback is wanted. I've tried to keep them direct and lenient, based on the previous meta discussion and prior deletions from the modlog. Once we reach a general consensus, I will apply them to posts from the past few months, to set the stage. [edit: this is now in motion]

Let me know if you have other ideas. I'll be pretty hands-off beyond removing blatant agenda spamming from outsiders and global rule violations, since this is a casual and open community and I have a job and hobbies ;)

In short:

The Red Cross, citing government sources, says at least 14 people have died after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck off Vanuatu on Tuesday.

Locals have reported "mass casualties" and say Port Vila's hospital is overwhelmed.

What's next?

Australia is sending "immediate" assistance including urban search and rescue teams.