China says Thai art show 'distorts' its policies on Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong
The exhibition, which opened on July 24, "promoted the fallacies of so-called 'Tibetan independence', 'the East Turkestan Islamic Movement' and 'Hong Kong independence'," distorted China's policies and "undermined China's core interests and political dignity", the foreign ministry replied to Reuters questions about the show.
Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre, one of Thailand's top galleries, removed or altered artworks on Hong Kong as well as the Chinese government's treatment of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang at the request of the Chinese embassy.
The foreign ministry neither confirmed nor denied that the Chinese embassy was behind the removal and alteration.
China has been building its influence in Southeast Asia, where governments tread cautiously as they balance cooperation with the regional economic giant against concerns over political sovereignty.
The Bangkok show, "Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity", had a theme of authoritarian governments and featured multiple works by artists in exile.
The co-curator, the gallery and Thailand's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The fact that the relevant country took timely measures precisely shows that the promotion of the fallacies of 'Tibetan independence', 'East Turkestan Islamic Movement' and 'Hong Kong independence' has no market internationally and is unpopular," the ministry said.
China is against anyone "using the guise of cultural and artistic exchange to engage in political manipulation and interfere in China's internal affairs", it added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
US treasury chief says status quo with China 'working pretty well'
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that the status quo situation with China was "working pretty well" as the world's two biggest economies have in recent days extended a truce in their bitter trade dispute surrounding tariffs. "China is right now the biggest revenue line in the tariff income," Bessent said in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" show. "We have had very good talks with China, I imagine we will be seeing them again before November," he added. "I think right now the status quo is working pretty well." Last week, Washington and Beijing extended a tariff truce for another 90 days to November, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods. The two sides initially announced a truce in their trade dispute in May after talks in Geneva, agreeing to a 90-day period to allow further talks. They met again in Sweden in late July after which U.S. negotiators returned to Washington with a recommendation that President Donald Trump extend the deadline. Washington has also been urging Beijing to stop buying Russian oil to pressure Moscow over its war in Ukraine, but Trump said on Friday there were no imminent plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on China, in light of talks on ending the war. Trump held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as well as NATO and European leaders, at the White House on Monday. After those meetings, he said Zelenskiy and Putin will hold a bilateral meeting before a trilateral meeting that would also include Trump. Bessent was asked on Fox News about reporting that Budapest could be a possible city for the three-way talks. He said that "could be" the case but that the bilateral meeting needed to happen first.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Bessent says US has had very good talks with China on tariffs
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Tuesday that the United States has had very good talks with China regarding tariffs as the countries attempt to reach a trade deal during a 90-day pause in tariff implementation. "China is right now the biggest revenue line in the tariff income," Bessent said in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" show. "We have had very good talks with China, I imagine we will be seeing them again before November," he added. "I think right now the status quo is working pretty well," Bessent said.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
China's growing nuclear arsenal
HONG KONG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Alongside a massive build-up in conventional military firepower, China has embarked on a rapid and sustained increase in the size and capability of its nuclear forces, according to the U.S. military and arms control experts. The commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, General Anthony Cotton, told Congress in March that the directive from Chinese leader Xi Jinping that China's military be ready to seize Taiwan by 2027 was driving a build-up of nuclear weapons that could be launched from land, air and sea. In its 2023 national defense policy, China renewed its longstanding pledge that it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances. The so-called 'no first use' policy also includes a promise that China will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear armed state. In response to questions, the defense ministry in Beijing said 'a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be waged.' China, it said, adhered to a 'nuclear strategy of self-defense and pursues a no-first-use policy.' [Read the special report on Japan and South Korea's shifting nuclear policies.] In its annual report on Chinese military power, the Pentagon said despite China's public stance, its strategy probably includes a possible first use in response to conventional attacks that threaten the viability of its nuclear forces, command and control or that approximates the effect of a nuclear strike. Beijing would also probably consider nuclear first use if a conventional military defeat in Taiwan 'gravely threatened' the Communist regime's survival, the Pentagon said in the report published late last year. China's defense ministry said it opposed 'any attempt to hype up the so-called 'Chinese nuclear threat' in an effort to smear and defame China and deliberately mislead the international community.' China is expanding and modernizing its weapons stockpile faster than any other nuclear-armed power and has accumulated about 600 warheads, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a Chicago-based non-profit. It said China is building about 350 new missile silos and several new bases for road mobile launchers. It estimated that China's military, the People's Liberation Army, had about 712 launchers for land-based missiles but not all were assigned for nuclear weapons. Of those launchers, 462 can be loaded with missiles 'that can reach the continental United States,' it said. Many of the PLA's launchers are for shorter range missiles intended to attack regional targets but most of those were not assigned for a nuclear strike, the Bulletin's assessment said. In its report, the Pentagon estimated that the PLA would have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030, as it seeks to build a bigger force ranging from low-yield precision strike missiles to intercontinental ballistic missiles with multi-megaton explosive impact.
