
Hong Kong Bolsters Top Court With First Foreign Judge in a Year
Hong Kong has appointed a retired New Zealand judge to its top court, the first foreign justice named to the appellate body in over a year following record resignations that threatened to undermine confidence in the judicial system.
The city's lawmakers on Wednesday approved William Young's appointment as a non-permanent judge at the Court of Final Appeal. The move partly restores overseas judges who quit after Beijing imposed a national security law and curbed political freedoms.

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Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Even after Trump-Xi call, China's rare earth controls aren't going away
China is unlikely to loosen its grip over the export of rare earths needed to manufacture electric vehicles, fighter jets and microchips — despite a friendly call between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday. The two leaders, speaking for the first time since Trump became president, agreed to another round of high-level trade talks to follow up on the truce reached in Geneva last month, and exchanged invitations for state visits.


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
China Allows Limited Exports of Rare Earths as Shortages Continue
China's Ministry of Commerce has started issuing more export licenses for shipments of rare earth magnets this week, but the pace remains slow and China appears committed to the licensing requirements introduced two months ago. Many factories in the automotive sector and other industries in Europe and the United States, and a few in Japan, are running low on the magnets. China makes 90 percent of the world's supply of these magnets, which are essential for cars, drones, factory robots, missiles and many other technologies. After a lengthy call on Thursday with Xi Jinping, China's top leader, President Trump wrote on social media that the two men had discussed rare earths. Mr. Trump mentioned that rare earths were a complex subject but did not indicate whether anything had been decided about China's strict export licensing requirement, which Beijing imposed on April 4. The presidents agreed that their senior aides would meet soon for further discussions. China's statement about the call did not mention rare earths. Lin Jian, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, declined to answer a question about the minerals on Friday at the ministry's daily briefing, saying that it was a matter for other agencies. On Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce said only that it would issue export licenses according to its new rules. The American and European chambers of commerce in China each said on Friday that somewhat more export licenses had been issued in recent days. But both groups emphasized that more were needed, as the Ministry of Commerce faces a huge backlog of detailed applications for licenses. Jens Eskelund, the president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, called for more exports from China. 'Our members are still struggling with the export license approval process, due to both the time it takes and the lack of transparency, and this is now negatively impacting production lines in Europe and other countries,' he said in a statement. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Xi's Message to Trump: Rein in the Hawks Trying to Derail the Truce
During his phone call with President Trump, Xi Jinping leaned on a maritime analogy to try to salvage the fragile trade truce that seemed to be fracturing from a series of escalating punitive economic measures. The Chinese leader compared the relationship between the United States and China to a large ship, with the two men serving as powerful captains holding the rudder firmly to maintain the proper course. The analogy also came with a warning. Do not let others steer the ship off course and jeopardize the relationship. For weeks, the White House seemed to openly lobby for a direct conversation between the two leaders — a point underscored by China stating that Mr. Xi had agreed to the call on Thursday at Mr. Trump's behest. With the United States ratcheting up the pressure on Beijing with technology and other restrictions, China may have acquiesced partly out of concern in Beijing that the China hawks in Mr. Trump's administration were succeeding in undermining the truce, analysts said. In a readout from the Chinese government, Mr. Xi emphasized on the 90-minute call that the two leaders needed to 'steer clear of various disturbances or even sabotage.' 'China is quite concerned about this,' said Wu Xinbo, the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. 'There has to be communication at the leadership level to stop the momentum of the rapid deterioration of the U.S.-China relationship.' The call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi came at an especially precarious moment. Less than one month after the two countries agreed to roll back punishing tariffs for 90 days and negotiate a trade deal, the truce seemed to be crumbling. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.