Mandarin-speaking Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has expressed concern over a spike in tensions between the US and China over US naval visits to Hong Kong, a report said yesterday.
Rudd said that the row, sparked last month when Chinese authorities denied US military vessels access to Hong Kong's port, appeared to be a "breakdown in communications" and called on Beijing to allow distressed vessels into its ports.
"I am concerned about this apparent breakdown in communications, at least between the United States Navy and the Chinese authorities," Rudd said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
"I would hope that normal arrangements can be restored as quickly as possible for assisting distressed vessels at sea," Rudd said.
The tensions erupted last month when Beijing barred US warships from seeking fuel and shelter in Hong Kong before a storm and also withdrew permission for the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk to dock there.
China implied that the actions were a response to US arms sales to Taiwan and US President George W. Bush's recent meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Rudd's comments marked his first since formally taking power on Monday on the importance for Australia of a smooth relationship between the US, Canberra's primary ally, and China, the regional superpower.
The former diplomat, who won a general election two weeks ago, has indicated he would like to play a role in bridging the gap between China and the West.
The newspaper quoted Rudd as saying he intended to hold discussions with officials about how to bring China and the US together for talks about nuclear arms reductions.
"I believe this needs a multi-faceted diplomatic strategy. I believe that Australia has a role to play here," he said.
Earlier this week, Rudd told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Rudd has said he intends to visit both the US and China next year.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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