Latest news with #China-friendly
Newsroom
5 days ago
- Business
- Newsroom
Luxon goes back to the future on China
Analysis: With Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea, a key Pacific partner signing a controversial strategic partnership with Beijing, and open letters from former politicians accusing the Prime Minister of positioning the country as an adversary of China, it has been a tough year for New Zealand's relations with the Asian superpower. But a successful – and drama-free – state visit can work wonders, if the tone at this year's China Business Summit is anything to go by. With last month's trip to Shanghai and Beijing still fresh in his mind, Christopher Luxon kept his rose-tinted glasses on, describing China as 'a vital part of New Zealand's economic story and … a key partner in our pursuit of growth, resilience and opportunity'. Echoing his remarks before his closed-door meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Luxon emphasised the country's global influence as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the world's second-largest economy. And for all that his Government has drawn criticism for allegedly neglecting the relationship with Beijing, there was an element of Sir John Key – arguably New Zealand's most China-friendly leader – in how Luxon spoke about the economic opportunities offered by the Chinese market. 'You've got a country there with 500 million middle-class people living middle-class standards of life – huge opportunity. We've got an economy growing at 5 percent a year, which is adding essentially an Argentinian economy to it every single year – huge.' Directly addressing Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong, the Prime Minister said New Zealand accounted for just 0.3 percent of China's overall trade. 'The opportunity for us is actually to say, 'Well, if you get it from 0.3 to 0.4, you're actually growing our business 25 percent.' There were some notes of caution. Luxon reiterated the Government's desire for greater trade diversification, while emphasising the policy wasn't about choosing other markets over China but instead increasing economic resilience. A question about the Government's efforts to build closer security ties with the US attracted a bit of snark – 'I've seen commentary from politicians and stuff, and that's lovely' – but also a reiteration of his previous line on the matter. 'We can't have prosperity if we don't have security: these issues are now linked, you can't have them in separate buckets, like we've previously done.' But Beijing would likely be pleased with Luxon's overall tone, along with his pledge to have 'a good number of ministers cycling through China' for the rest of the coalition's term. Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong said New Zealand and China had 'no conflict of fundamental interest'. Photo: Sam Sachdeva Luxon's positivity was picked up by Wang, who said New Zealand had 'mostly been at the forefront of China's relations with Western developed countries, bringing tangible benefits to the people of both nations'. There was no repeat of Wang's warning last year that any New Zealand involvement in the Aukus security pact would be seen by Beijing as taking sides; he may judge silence is the best approach for now as rumours swirl about whether the Trump administration will seek to substantially amend – or even withdraw from – the alliance. Instead, the ambassador emphasised 'tectonic shifts' in the international landscape, with the shift towards a multipolar world becoming unstoppable as developing nations turned into major players. 'Gone is the era when the world was dominated by one or a small number of countries, which used to monopolise international rule-making and unfairly reaped disproportionate, if not exclusive, benefits of development.' But if power is becoming more distributed among states, China still wants to lay claim to its fair share. Wang spoke about his country's contributions to cutting-edge technology like satellite technology, quantum communications and artificial intelligence, while arguing there was significant potential still to be unleashed in domestic consumption. 'For any nation, decoupling from China is giving up on one-third of global growth opportunities, on nearly half of the world's innovations, and on access to critical resources and capabilities needed for addressing common challenges.' China and New Zealand had 'no conflict of fundamental interest', he said, emphasising the need for mutual respect in the years ahead. 'Our common interests far exceed our differences, which, through common efforts, must not be allowed to be blown out of proportion or get in the way of our cooperation.' There is clearly some residual anxiety about the state of New Zealand-China relations, particularly among Kiwi businesses operating in China. Speaking about the NZ Business Roundtable in China's annual business outlook survey, board director David Boyle said 70 percent of those surveyed felt the bilateral relationship with China was strong – a 14-point drop on last year, and the lowest result since it began. The top recommendation for the Government? 'Continue to clearly articulate New Zealand's independent foreign policy and support for the international rules-based order.' Responding to such unease from Kiwi exporters, while maintaining the linkages between prosperity and security that he has spoken of, will continue to be a challenge for Luxon and his Government.
News18
5 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Pakistan Govt, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar Openly Support Lashkar And TRF: Sources
Ishaq Dar later publicly confirmed his role in having TRF's name struck from the final UNSC statement Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, is being accused of actively enabling terrorism through diplomatic means, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating April 22 Pahalgam massacre in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), publicly claiming responsibility for the attack and compelling forensic links tying it to LeT, Dar's actions at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) aimed to shield the terror outfit from international condemnation, top Indian government sources told CNN-News18. Dar's alleged support for Lashkar and TRF was strikingly visible even after the Pahalgam attack. He personally intervened during the UNSC closed-door session on the incident, reportedly demanding the removal of TRF from the draft statement condemning the attack. His primary contention was a claimed 'lack of verified attribution", a stance that directly contradicted TRF's own public claim of responsibility and intelligence confirmation from both Indian and US agencies linking the group to LeT's infrastructure. Furthermore, the sources said Dar pushed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members and other China-friendly nations within the Security Council to block any reference to LeT proxies in the statement. He sought to frame the Pahalgam attack not as a terrorist act, but rather as a 'reaction to state repression in Kashmir", thereby attempting to legitimise terrorist violence in India as 'indigenous resistance". This diplomatic manoeuvre was aimed at forcing the world to ignore the compelling digital and human intelligence linking the group to Lashkar's extensive infrastructure, said the sources. Ultimately, with Pakistan's active lobbying and support, the UNSC's initial draft condemnation, which had named TRF, was altered. Ishaq Dar later publicly confirmed his role in having TRF's name struck from the final UNSC statement, a candid admission that underscored deliberate diplomatic interference to shield a designated terror proxy. He even circulated a classified diplomatic note to over a dozen states, arguing that naming TRF would 'politicise the Council". Critics say that Dar's actions provided not just ideological cover and diplomatic protection but also facilitated sanction evasion for TRF, thereby enabling its continued recruitment, fundraising, and the execution of further attacks, such as the 2024 Z-Morh Tunnel ambush. view comments First Published: July 19, 2025, 00:39 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Straits Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Pandas on Japanese lawmakers' wish list as China's vice-premier plans visit to Osaka World Expo
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Four pandas had been returned to China from Japan in June. Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng plans to visit Japan for a World Exposition event in Osaka on July 11 , with Japanese lawmakers looking to request a new lease of giant pandas to promote bilateral ties, diplomatic sources said on J uly 6 . July 11 marks China's national day at the expo. During Mr He's stay in Japan, he is expected to meet with Mr Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who leads a cross-party group of China-friendly Japanese lawmakers. Mr Moriyama, a close aide to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, is also likely to call for the resumption of China's imports of Japanese beef, which have been suspended since 2001 due to an outbreak of mad cow disease. In contrast, China in June lifted its ban on Japanese seafood imports . The restriction was imposed in August 2023 after Japan began releasing treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. Mr Moriyama's request for the panda lease would come as the return of four pandas to China from Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, in June left only two in the country – a pair displayed at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo whose lease contract will expire in Februar y 2026 . KYODO NEWS
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lee Jae-myung Hopes to Heal South Korea. That Won't Be Easy
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of South Korea, arrives during a rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul in the early hours of June 4, 2025, after he was certain to win the election after the vote count surpassed the halfway point. Credit - Chung Sung-Jun—Getty Images The result was never really in doubt. Lee Jae-myung is the new President of South Korea after winning a commanding 49% of the vote in Tuesday's snap election, which was called following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who plunged Asia's fourth biggest economy into turmoil with his December declaration of martial law. The real question is which version of Lee will now govern this highly polarized East Asian nation of 50 million. The former labor-rights lawyer and activist is a political chameleon who has lurched from being a U.S.-skeptic, China-friendly progressive to a pragmatic moderate on the campaign trail, lavishing praise on U.S. President Donald Trump in an exclusive interview with TIME. At the least, South Koreans will hope Lee, 61, can restore stability following six months of political paralysis that has hampered efforts to negotiate a vital reprieve for this export-reliant economy from April's 'reciprocal' U.S. tariffs. Lee has promised a fiscal stimulus package to boost growth from just 2% last year, though tackling chaos in schools—both empty classrooms and teachers quitting in droves—and reversing the world's lowest fertility rate of just 0.75 births per woman won't have easy fixes. Speaking to around 5,000 supporters gathered near Seoul's National Assembly, Lee promised to restore democracy, focus on mending a riven society, and work to alleviate rising costs of living to 'prevent people's livelihoods from further worsening.' Other than reasserting South Korea's democratic foundation following the martial law debacle, Lee's victory has huge implications for America's East Asian security alliances, as well as South Korea's ties with China and relations with estranged, nuclear-armed sibling North Korea across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that has split the peninsula since the 1950–53 Korean war. 'It's critical that we secure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,' Lee told TIME in his only media interview on the campaign trail. 'And in so doing, the cornerstone is the military alliance between South Korea and the United States.' In hailing links with Washington, Lee is going against Democratic Party orthodoxy, which has typically been skeptical of U.S. ties. Indeed, historically Lee had been colder towards the U.S. and more positive toward China, though he tempered these views on the campaign trail to keep his tent as wide as possible, declaring at the stump that the Democratic Party is 'originally center-right, not progressive.' While domestic issues such as a cost of living crisis, stagnant economy, and record youth unemployment dominated the vote, inter-Korean relations as ever loom in the background. North Korean 'Supreme Leader' Kim Jong Un has sent troops, weapons, and ammunition to aid Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, while Pyongyang conducted 47 missile tests last year alone and has an estimated arsenal of some 70 nuclear bombs. 'The security environment in Northeast Asia is unfolding very unfavorably for us,' said Lee. 'South Korea and the U.S. need to keep a very close watch and make sure that we build on our deterrence and eventually move to disarmament of nuclear and missile capabilities and to denuclearization.' Trump has indicated his willingness to restart negotiations with Kim following their failed 2019 Hanoi summit and Lee will want to ensure that his government doesn't get squeezed out of talks as happened under his Democratic Party predecessor, former President Moon Jae-in. 'When it comes to the U.S. and North Korea, the role the South Korean government can render regarding dialogue and cooperation will be required,' said Lee. 'I don't think there will be any need to sideline South Korea.' It's not the only Moon misstep that Lee will be keen to avoid. A son of refugees from the North, Moon was so personally invested in rapprochement across the DMZ that he plowed endless time and political capital into that ultimately fruitless endeavor. The result was his own citizens felt overlooked and ignored, especially as the country was gripped by soaring real estate prices just as government officials were accused of leveraging insider information to profit from state land sales. 'A lot of people lost confidence in Moon's leadership because of the real estate issues,' says Youngmi Kim, a senior lecturer in the department of Asian studies at Edinburgh University. 'Lee Jae-myung won't want to repeat those mistakes and will likely focus more on economic sectors rather than North Korean politics.' Another issue will be healing a nation that feels as polarized as at any time in living memory. When TIME sat down with Lee on May 25, the meeting room had to be swept for explosives by a sniffer dog, and the future President showed off the neck scar where he had been stabbed by a would-be assassin in January last year. During campaign events, Lee, who grew up in an impoverished farming household and toiled in factories as a child, spoke from behind bullet-proof glass to crowds, which were surveyed by rooftop police snipers. While Lee stressed the importance of 'engaging in dialogue and really understanding the differences of one another' while speaking to TIME, at the stump he attacked Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) as a 'far-right criminal organization' and warned how 'the return of rebellion forces' would lead to 'the destruction of democracy, the deprival of people's human rights, the normalization of martial law, and our country's downfall into a backward, third-world nation.' Lee led the charge for Yoon's impeachment and successfully segued that perceived moral high ground into the subsequent presidential campaign despite himself being embroiled in a slew of criminal cases, including for alleged bribery, violating the nation's election law during his 2022 campaign for President, and corruption linked to a $1 billion property development scandal. (Lee denies any wrongdoing.) Though Yoon was the first President in South Korean history to be detained on criminal charges while still in office, the position has long been a poisoned chalice, with four South Korean Presidents imprisoned, one killing himself amid a corruption investigation, and three now impeached. After losing control of the National Assembly in April 2024 legislative elections, Yoon, a former prosecutor general, found it impossible to enact his agenda, even to pass a budget. This prompted him on Dec. 3 to declare martial law, calling the opposition-controlled legislature an anti-state 'monster' allied to North Korea that had 'paralyzed' his administration. The folly of his autogolpe, or self-coup, shouldn't disguise the fact that South Korean politics requires urgent reform. South Korean Presidents serve a single five-year term, with lawmakers elected every four years. While separation of powers is a vital feature of democracies, critics argue that the propensity of South Korean leaders to quickly become lame ducks without any hope of redemption engenders a hyper-polarized system whereby the legislature is incentivized to thwart executive power at every turn. Lee, who will enjoy a healthy legislative majority for at least three years, has advocated amending the constitution to allow two, four-year presidential terms mirroring the U.S., though this is a deeply contentious issue despite a constitutional provision barring an incumbent from benefiting from any amendments. But looming in the background is Lee's case for violating South Korea's election law that could potentially bar him from politics for at least five years. In March, an appeals court cleared Lee only for the Supreme Court to overrule its verdict and send the case back for judgement, which is expected in coming months. The potential for South Korea to be plunged into yet another constitutional crisis is deeply unsettling for a nation longing for a return to stability and the addressing of pocketbook issues. 'There's a lot of a lot of legal issues that will be parsed over the next six or eight months and we'll just have to see how the chips fall and if that has a great effect on Lee,' says Sean O'Malley, a professor and political scientist at Dongseo University in Busan. The Democratic Party is trying to push through a new law that will protect Presidents from undergoing investigation and criminal prosecution during their term, which would solve Lee's problems but risks deepening fissures in South Korean society, especially as his predecessor is due in the dock over subsequent months to answer charges of insurrection. On the final day of campaigning, Lee's PPP opponent Kim Moon-soo, a former labor minister under Yoon, told supporters in the southeastern city of Busan that Lee planned to 'seize all power in South Korea and establish a Hitler-like dictatorship' by using his party's legislative majority to shield him from prosecution while retaliating against his political opponents. Speaking to TIME, Lee insisted that he has 'a very firm commitment not to resort to any retaliation. I will not be doing things that they have done to us.' While that sentiment is laudable, elections are no panacea, and Lee's evocation of 'they' and 'us' may portend tempestuous waters ahead. Write to Charlie Campbell at
Time Magazine
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
Lee Jae-myung Hopes to Heal South Korea. That Won't Be Easy
The result was never really in doubt. Lee Jae-myung is the new President of South Korea after winning a commanding 49% of the vote in Tuesday's snap election, which was called following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who plunged Asia's fourth biggest economy into turmoil with his December declaration of martial law. The real question is which version of Lee will now govern this highly polarized East Asian nation of 50 million. The former labor-rights lawyer and activist is a political chameleon who has lurched from being a U.S.-skeptic, China-friendly progressive to a pragmatic moderate on the campaign trail, lavishing praise on U.S. President Donald Trump in an exclusive interview with TIME. At the least, South Koreans will hope Lee, 61, can restore stability following six months of political paralysis that has hampered efforts to negotiate a vital reprieve for this export-reliant economy from April's 'reciprocal' U.S. tariffs. Lee has promised a fiscal stimulus package to boost growth from just 2% last year, though tackling chaos in schools—both empty classrooms and teachers quitting in droves—and reversing the world's lowest fertility rate of just 0.75 births per woman won't have easy fixes. Speaking to around 5,000 supporters gathered near Seoul's National Assembly, Lee promised to restore democracy, focus on mending a riven society, and work to alleviate rising costs of living to 'prevent people's livelihoods from further worsening.' Other than reasserting South Korea's democratic foundation following the martial law debacle, Lee's victory has huge implications for America's East Asian security alliances, as well as South Korea's ties with China and relations with estranged, nuclear-armed sibling North Korea across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that has split the peninsula since the 1950–53 Korean war. 'It's critical that we secure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,' Lee told TIME in his only media interview on the campaign trail. 'And in so doing, the cornerstone is the military alliance between South Korea and the United States.' In hailing links with Washington, Lee is going against Democratic Party orthodoxy, which has typically been skeptical of U.S. ties. Indeed, historically Lee had been colder towards the U.S. and more positive toward China, though he tempered these views on the campaign trail to keep his tent as wide as possible, declaring at the stump that the Democratic Party is 'originally center-right, not progressive.' While domestic issues such as a cost of living crisis, stagnant economy, and record youth unemployment dominated the vote, inter-Korean relations as ever loom in the background. North Korean 'Supreme Leader' Kim Jong Un has sent troops, weapons, and ammunition to aid Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, while Pyongyang conducted 47 missile tests last year alone and has an estimated arsenal of some 70 nuclear bombs. 'The security environment in Northeast Asia is unfolding very unfavorably for us,' said Lee. 'South Korea and the U.S. need to keep a very close watch and make sure that we build on our deterrence and eventually move to disarmament of nuclear and missile capabilities and to denuclearization.' Trump has indicated his willingness to restart negotiations with Kim following their failed 2019 Hanoi summit and Lee will want to ensure that his government doesn't get squeezed out of talks as happened under his Democratic Party predecessor, former President Moon Jae-in. 'When it comes to the U.S. and North Korea, the role the South Korean government can render regarding dialogue and cooperation will be required,' said Lee. 'I don't think there will be any need to sideline South Korea.' It's not the only Moon misstep that Lee will be keen to avoid. A son of refugees from the North, Moon was so personally invested in rapprochement across the DMZ that he plowed endless time and political capital into that ultimately fruitless endeavor. The result was his own citizens felt overlooked and ignored, especially as the country was gripped by soaring real estate prices just as government officials were accused of leveraging insider information to profit from state land sales. 'A lot of people lost confidence in Moon's leadership because of the real estate issues,' says Youngmi Kim, a senior lecturer in the department of Asian studies at Edinburgh University. 'Lee Jae-myung won't want to repeat those mistakes and will likely focus more on economic sectors rather than North Korean politics.' Another issue will be healing a nation that feels as polarized as at any time in living memory. When TIME sat down with Lee on May 25, the meeting room had to be swept for explosives by a sniffer dog, and the future President showed off the neck scar where he had been stabbed by a would-be assassin in January last year. During campaign events, Lee, who grew up in an impoverished farming household and toiled in factories as a child, spoke from behind bullet-proof glass to crowds, which were surveyed by rooftop police snipers. While Lee stressed the importance of 'engaging in dialogue and really understanding the differences of one another' while speaking to TIME, at the stump he attacked Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) as a 'far-right criminal organization' and warned how 'the return of rebellion forces' would lead to 'the destruction of democracy, the deprival of people's human rights, the normalization of martial law, and our country's downfall into a backward, third-world nation.' Lee led the charge for Yoon's impeachment and successfully segued that perceived moral high ground into the subsequent presidential campaign despite himself being embroiled in a slew of criminal cases, including for alleged bribery, violating the nation's election law during his 2022 campaign for President, and corruption linked to a $1 billion property development scandal. (Lee denies any wrongdoing.) Though Yoon was the first President in South Korean history to be detained on criminal charges while still in office, the position has long been a poisoned chalice, with four South Korean Presidents imprisoned, one killing himself amid a corruption investigation, and three now impeached. After losing control of the National Assembly in April 2024 legislative elections, Yoon, a former prosecutor general, found it impossible to enact his agenda, even to pass a budget. This prompted him on Dec. 3 to declare martial law, calling the opposition-controlled legislature an anti-state 'monster' allied to North Korea that had 'paralyzed' his administration. The folly of his autogolpe, or self-coup, shouldn't disguise the fact that South Korean politics requires urgent reform. South Korean Presidents serve a single five-year term, with lawmakers elected every four years. While separation of powers is a vital feature of democracies, critics argue that the propensity of South Korean leaders to quickly become lame ducks without any hope of redemption engenders a hyper-polarized system whereby the legislature is incentivized to thwart executive power at every turn. Lee, who will enjoy a healthy legislative majority for at least three years, has advocated amending the constitution to allow two, four-year presidential terms mirroring the U.S., though this is a deeply contentious issue despite a constitutional provision barring an incumbent from benefiting from any amendments. But looming in the background is Lee's case for violating South Korea's election law that could potentially bar him from politics for at least five years. In March, an appeals court cleared Lee only for the Supreme Court to overrule its verdict and send the case back for judgement, which is expected in coming months. The potential for South Korea to be plunged into yet another constitutional crisis is deeply unsettling for a nation longing for a return to stability and the addressing of pocketbook issues. 'There's a lot of a lot of legal issues that will be parsed over the next six or eight months and we'll just have to see how the chips fall and if that has a great effect on Lee,' says Sean O'Malley, a professor and political scientist at Dongseo University in Busan. The Democratic Party is trying to push through a new law that will protect Presidents from undergoing investigation and criminal prosecution during their term, which would solve Lee's problems but risks deepening fissures in South Korean society, especially as his predecessor is due in the dock over subsequent months to answer charges of insurrection. On the final day of campaigning, Lee's PPP opponent Kim Moon-soo, a former labor minister under Yoon, told supporters in the southeastern city of Busan that Lee planned to 'seize all power in South Korea and establish a Hitler-like dictatorship' by using his party's legislative majority to shield him from prosecution while retaliating against his political opponents. Speaking to TIME, Lee insisted that he has 'a very firm commitment not to resort to any retaliation. I will not be doing things that they have done to us.' While that sentiment is laudable, elections are no panacea, and Lee's evocation of 'they' and 'us' may portend tempestuous waters ahead.
