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China fires missiles near waters off Taiwan as live-fire drills intensify

China fires missiles near waters off Taiwan as live-fire drills intensify



CNN
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China fired multiple missiles toward waters near northeastern and southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, the island’s Defense Ministry said, as Beijing makes good on its promise that Taipei will pay a price for hosting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that multiple missiles had been fired into the sea off the eastern part of Taiwan. It said all the missiles hit their target accurately.

“The entire live-fire training mission has been successfully completed and the relevant air and sea area control is now lifted,” China’s statement said. Earlier, the Eastern Theater Command said it had conducted long-range, live-fire training in the Taiwan Strait, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as part of planned military exercises around the island.

Taiwan reported Chinese long-range rockets had fallen near its islands of Matsu, Wuqiu, Dongyin, which are in the Taiwan Strait, but located closer to the mainland than the main island of Taiwan. It later said a total of 11 Dongfeng (DF) missiles were fired to the waters north, south and east of the island between 1:56 pm and 4 pm local time (from 1:56 am ET to 4 am ET) on Thursday.

Chinese state media said that exercises to simulate an air and sea “blockade” around Taiwan had started Wednesday, but offered little solid evidence to back up the claim. Later Thursday, images showed military helicopters flying past Pingtan island, one of Taiwan’s closest points to mainland China.

The military posturing was a deliberate show of force after Pelosi left the island on Wednesday evening, bound for South Korea, one of the final stops on an Asia tour that ends in Japan this weekend.

Within hours of her departure from Taipei on Wednesday, the island’s Defense Ministry said China sent more than 20 fighter jets across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, the midway point between the mainland and Taiwan that Beijing says it does not recognize but usually respects.

Tourists look on as a Chinese military helicopter flies past Pingtan island, one of mainland China's closest point from Taiwan on August 4, 2022.

On Thursday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said its military was remaining in a “normal” but wary posture, and called the live-fire drills an “irrational act” that attempted to “change the status quo.”

“We are closely monitoring enemy activities around the sea of ​​Taiwan and that of outlying islands, and we will act appropriately,” the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan also accused China of “following North Korea’s example of arbitrary test-fire of missiles in waters close to other countries” in a statement issued by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

The exercises have caused disruption to flight and ship schedules, with some international flights canceled and vessels urged to use alternative routes for several ports around the island.

Well in advance of Pelosi’s near 24-hour visit to Taiwan, China had warned her presence was not welcome. The ruling Chinese Communist Party claims the self-governed island as its own territory, despite never having controlled it.

China issued a map showing six zones around Taiwan that would be the site of drills in coming days. But on Thursday, Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau said in a notice that China had added a seventh military exercise area for ships and aircraft to avoid “in the waters around eastern Taiwan.”

Chinese state media on Thursday outlined a broad range of objectives for the exercises, including strikes on land and sea targets.

“The exercises (are) focused on key training sessions including joint blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control operation, and the joint combat capabilities of the troops got tested in the military operations,” said an announcement from the Xinhua news agency attributed to the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, which has responsibility for the areas near Taiwan.

Chinese military helicopters fly past Pingtan island in Fujian province on Aug. 4.

Meanwhile, the Global Times tabloid said the drills involved some of China’s newest and most sophisticated weaponry, including J-20 stealth fighters and DF-17 hypersonic missiles, and that some missiles may be fired over the island – a move that would be extremely provocative.

“The exercises are unprecedented as the PLA conventional missiles are expected to fly over the island of Taiwan for the first time,” the Global Times said, citing experts.

“The PLA forces will enter areas within 12 nautical miles of the island and the so-called median line will cease to exist.”

Accounts from Taiwan of Chinese military movement included the fighter jets crossing the median line and a report from Taiwan’s government-run Central News Agency, citing government sources, that two of China’s most powerful warships – Type 55 destroyers – were sighted Tuesday off the central and southeastern coast of the island, the closest being within 37 miles (60 kilometers) of land.

But there was little corroboration or firm evidence provided by China to back up the sort of claims posted in the Global Times.

China’s state-run television offered video of fighter jets taking off, ships at sea and missiles on the move, but the dates of when that video was shot could not be verified.

Some analysts were skeptical Beijing could pull off what they were threatening, such as a blockade of Taiwan.

“The official announcement (of the blockade) refers to just a few days, which would make it hard to qualify it on practical terms to a blockade,” said Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College in London.

“Blockades are hard to execute and long to implement. This exercise is not that,” he said.

Patalano said the biggest impact of the exercises would be psychological.

“During the period of time in question, ships and aircraft will likely reroute to avoid the area, but this is one primary objective of the chosen locations: create disruption, discomfort, and fear of worse to come,” he said.

Chinese military helicopters fly past Pingtan island, one of mainland China's closest point from Taiwan on August 4, 2022.

China’s retaliatory exercises have already caused disruption to flight and ship schedules in Taiwan, though the island is trying to lessen their impact.

Taiwan’s transportation minister said agreements had been reached with Japan and the Philippines to reroute 18 international flight routes departing from the island – affecting about 300 flights in total – to avoid the PLA’s live-fire drills.

Korean Air told CNN on Thursday that it has canceled flights from Incheon to Taiwan scheduled for Friday and Saturday due to safety reasons while China conducts its military drills. Flights will resume on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau issued three notices, asking vessels to use alternative routes for seven ports around the island.

China’s planned live-fire drills were also causing unease in Japan.

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said the drills posed a threat to his country’s security.

One of the six exercise areas set up by China was near Japan’s Yonaguni Island, part of Okinawa prefecture and only 68 miles (110 kilometers) off the coast of Taiwan.

That same Chinese exercise zone is also close to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, a rocky uninhabited chain known as the Diaoyus in China, and over which Beijing claims sovereignty.

“In particular, a training area has been set up in the waters near Japan, and if China were to conduct live ammunition exercises in such an area, it could affect the security of Japan and its people,” Matsuno said.

Meanwhile, the United States military was silent on the Chinese exercises and did not provide any answers to CNN questions on Thursday.

Pelosi met Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on Aug. 3.

Besides keeping a close eye on Chinese military movements around the island, Taiwan also said it would strengthen security against cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.

Taiwan’s cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said in a Wednesday news conference that the government had enhanced security at key infrastructure points and increased the level of cybersecurity alertness across government offices.

Taiwan is anticipating increased “cognitive warfare,” referring to disinformation campaigns used to sway public opinion, Lo said.

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Categories
US

China claims ‘precision missile strikes’ in Taiwan Strait

China claims 'precision missile strikes' in Taiwan Strait

BEIJING (AP) — China says it conducted “precision missile strikes” in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as part of military exercises that have raised tensions in the region to their highest level in decades.

China earlier that announced military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments were underway in six zones surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

The drills were prompted by a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week and are intended to advertise China’s threat to attack the self-governing island republic. Along with its moves to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, China has long threatened military retaliation over moves by the island to solidify its de-facto independence with the support of key allies including the US

“Long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes were carried out on selected targets in the eastern area of ​​the Taiwan Strait,” the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party’s military wing, said in a statement on its social media platform.

“The expected outcome was achieved,” it added. No other details were given.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it tracked the firing of Chinese Dongfeng series missiles beginning around 1:56 pm on Thursday. It said in a statement it used various early warning surveillance systems to track the missile launches, which were directed at waters northeast and southwest of Taiwan.

Earlier during the day, Taiwa’s Defense ministry said its forces were on alert and monitoring the situation, while seeking to avoid escalating tensions. Civil defense drills have also been held and notices were placed on designated air raid shelters.

China’s “irrational behavior” intends to alter the status quo and disrupt regional peace and stability, the ministry said.

“The three service branches will combine efforts with all the people to jointly safeguard national security and territorial integrity” while adapting to the situation as it develops, the statement said.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported the exercises were joint operations focused on “blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control.”

While the US has not said it would intervene, it has bases and forward-deployed assets in the area, including aircraft carrier battle groups. US law requires the government to treat threats to Taiwan, including blockades, as matters of “grave concern.”

The drills are due to run from Thursday to Sunday and include missile strikes on targets in the seas north and south of the island in an echo of the last major Chinese military drills aimed at intimidating Taiwan’s leaders and voters held in 1995 and 1996.

While China has given no word on numbers of troops and military assets involved, the exercises appear to be the largest held near Taiwan in geographical terms.

The exercises involved troops from the navy, air force, rocket force, strategic support force and logistic support force, Xinhua reported.

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Categories
US

US-China ties on a precipice after Pelosi visit to Taiwan

US-China ties on a precipice after Pelosi visit to Taiwan

WASHINGTON (AP) — US-China relations are teetering on a precipice after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Pelosi received a rapturous welcome in Taipei and was applauded with strong bipartisan support in Washington, despite the Biden administration’s misgivings. But her trip from Ella has enraged Beijing and Chinese nationalists and will complicate already strained ties even after her departure.

Already, China is preparing new shows of force in the Taiwan Strait to make clear that its claims are non-negotiable on the island it regards as a renegade province. And, as the US presses ahead with demonstrations of support for Taiwan, arms sales and diplomatic lobbying, the escalating tensions have raised the risks of military confrontation, intentional or not.

And the trip could further muddle Washington’s already complicated relationship with Beijing as the two sides wrest with differences over trade, the war in Ukraine, human rights and more.

Wary of the reaction from China, the Biden administration discouraged but did not prevent Pelosi from visiting Taiwan. It has taken pains to stress to Beijing that the House speaker is not a member of the executive branch and her visit from her represents no change in the US “one-China” policy.

That was little comfort for Beijing. Pelosi, who is second in line to the US presidency, was no ordinary visitor and was greeted almost like a head of state. Taiwan’s skyline lit up with a message of welcome, and she met with the biggest names on the island, including its president, senior legislators and prominent rights activists.

Chinese officials were enraged.

“What Pelosi has done is definitely not a defense and maintenance of democracy, but a provocation and violation of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said after her departure.

“Pelosi’s dangerous provocation is purely for personal political capital, which is an absolute ugly political farce,” Hua said. “China-US relations and regional peace and stability is suffering.”

The timing of the visit may have added to the tensions. It came ahead of this year’s Chinese Communist Party’s Congress at which President Xi Jinping will try to further cement his power from him, using a hard line on Taiwan to blunt domestic criticism on COVID-19, the economy and other issues.

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Summoned to the Foreign Ministry to hear China’s complaints, US Ambassador Nicholas Burns insisted that the visit was nothing but routine. “The United States will not escalate and stands ready to work with China to prevent escalation altogether,” Burns said, according to the State Department.

The White House also said that Pelosi’s visit “doesn’t change anything” about the US posture toward China and Taiwan. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the US had expected the harsh reaction from China, even as she called it unwarranted.

“We are going to monitor, and we will manage what Beijing chooses to do,” she added.

Alarmed by the possibility of a new geo-strategic conflict at the same time the West sides with Ukraine in its resistance to Russia’s invasion, the US has rallied allies to its side.

The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 industrialized democracies released a statement Wednesday essentially telling China — by the initials of its formal name, the People’s Republic of China — to calm down.

“It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally,” the G-7 ministers said. “The PRC’s escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilizing the region. We call on the PRC not to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region, and to resolve cross-Strait differences by peaceful means.”

Still, that status quo — long identified as “strategic ambiguity” for the US and quiet but determined Chinese opposition to any figment of Taiwanese independence — appears to be no longer tenable for either side.

“It’s getting harder and harder to agree on Taiwan for both Beijing and Washington,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an emeritus professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.

In Taipei and the US Congress, moves are afoot to clarify the ambiguity that has defined US relations with Taiwan since the 1970s. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will soon consider a bill that would strengthen relations, require the executive branch to do more to bring Taiwan into the international system and take more determined steps to help the island defend itself.

Writing in The New York Times, committee Chairman Robert Menendez, DN.J., lambasted China’s response to Pelosi’s visit.

“The result of Beijing’s bluster should be to stiffen resolve in Taipei, in Washington and across the region,” he said. “There are many strategies to continue standing up to Chinese aggression. There is a clear bipartisan congressional agreement on the importance of acting now to provide the people of Taiwan with the type of support they desperately need.”

But China appears to be pressing ahead with steps that could prove to be escalatory, including live-fire military exercises planned for this week and a steady uptick in flights of fighter jets in and near Taiwan’s self-declared air defense zone.

“They are going to test the Taiwanese and the Americans,” said Cabestan, the professor in Hong Kong. He said the actions of the US military in the area, including a naval force led by the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, will be critical.

China had ratcheted up potential confrontation weeks ago by declaring that the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from the mainland is not international waters. The US rejected this and responded to by sending more vessels through it. Cabestan said that he showed that “something had to be done on the US side to draw red lines to prevent the Chinese from going too far.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan is on edge, air raid shelters have been prepared and the government is increasing training for recruits serving their four months of required military service —- generally considered inadequate — along with annual two-week annual refresher courses for reservists.

“The Chinese feel that if they don’t act, that the United States is going to continue to slice the salami to take incremental actions toward supporting Taiwan independence,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund .

She said that domestic US support for Taiwan actually gives China added incentive to take a strong stance: “China does feel under pressure to do more to signal that this is an issue in which China cannot compromise.”

Despite the immediate concerns about escalation and potential miscalculation, there are others who don’t believe the damage to US-China ties will be more long-lasting than that caused by other, non-Taiwan-related issues.

China is “going to raise a huge fuss and there will be military exercises and there will be embargoes on importing Taiwan goods. And after the shouting is over, you will see a gradual easing,” said June Teufel Dreyer, a Chinese politics specialist at the University of Miami.

“The situation never goes back to completely normal, whatever normal is, but it will definitely die down,” she said.

___

AP writers Zeke Miller in Washington, Joe McDonald in Beijing and David Rising in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.

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Categories
US

Pelosi tells Taiwan US commitment to democracy is ‘ironclad’

Pelosi tells Taiwan US commitment to democracy is 'ironclad'

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — After a trip that drew China’s wrath, a defiant Nancy Pelosi concluded her visit to Taiwan on Wednesday with a pledge that the American commitment to democracy on the self-governing island and elsewhere “remains ironclad.”

Pelosi was the first US House speaker to visit the island in more than 25 years, and China swiftly responded by announcing multiple military exercises nearby.

The speaker’s departure for South Korea came just a day before China was scheduled to launch its largest maneuvers aimed at Taiwan in more than a quarter of a century.

Before leaving, a calm but resolute Pelosi repeated previous remarks about the world facing “a choice between democracy and autocracy.”

“America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad,” she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments.

The Biden administration, and Pelosi, have said that the United States remains committed to the so-called one-China policywhich recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.

Nevertheless, China issued a series of harsh statements after the American delegation touched down late Tuesday in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.

Taiwanese President Tsai pushed back firmly against Beijing’s military exercises, parts of which will enter Taiwanese waters.

“Facing deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down,” Tsai said at her meeting with Pelosi. “We will firmly uphold our nation’s sovereignty and continue to hold the line of defense for democracy.”

The exercises, including those involving live fire, are to start Thursday and will be the biggest aimed at Taiwan since 1995, when China fired missiles in a large-scale exercise to show its displeasure over a visit by then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to the US

In other activities, Pelosi visited a human rights museum in Taipei that details the history of the island’s martial-law era. She also met with some of Taiwan’s most prominent rights activists, including an exiled former Hong Kong bookseller who was detained by Chinese authorities, Lam Wing-kee.

Thanking Pelosi for her decades of support for Taiwan, the president presented her with a civilian honor, the Order of the Propitious Clouds.

A day earlier, China’s official Xinhua News Agency announced the military operations and showed a map outlining six different areas around Taiwan.

Arthur Zhin-Sheng Wang, a defense studies expert at Taiwan’s Central Police University, said three of the areas infringe on Taiwanese waters, meaning they are within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of shore.

Using live fire in a country’s territorial airspace or waters is risky, Wang said, because under international rules of engagement, it can be seen as an act of war.

In Washington, John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, sought to tamp down fears. He told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that US officials “don’t believe we’re at the brink now, and there’s certainly no reason for anybody to be talking about being at the brink going forward.”

Pelosi’s trip heightened US-China tensions more than visits by other members of Congress because of her high-level position as leader of the House of Representatives. The last House speaker to visit Taiwan was Newt Gingrich in 1997.

China’s response came on multiple fronts—military, diplomatic and economic.

Shortly after Pelosi landed Tuesday night, China announced live-fire drills that reportedly started that night, as well as the four-day exercises starting Thursday. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force also flew a contingent of 21 warplanes toward Taiwan.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng summoned the US ambassador in Beijing to convey the country’s protests the same night.

On Wednesday, China banned some imports from Taiwan, including citrus fruit and fish. That night, China flew an additional 27 fighter jets toward Taiwan.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said a Taiwanese citizen was detained on suspicion of inciting separatism. Yang Chih-yuan, originally from the city of Taichung, was shown surrounded by police in a CCTV video. Yang had been a candidate for a legislative position in New Taipei City, according to local media.

Addressing Beijing’s threats, Pelosi said she hopes it’s clear that while China has prevented Taiwan from attending certain international meetings, “that they understand they will not stand in the way of people coming to Taiwan as a show of friendship and of support.”

Pelosi noted that congressional support for Taiwan is bipartisan, and she praised the island’s democracy. She stopped short of saying that the US would defend Taiwan militarily, emphasizing that Congress is “committed to the security of Taiwan, in order to have Taiwan be able to most effectively defend themselves.”

Her focus has always been the same, she said, going back to her 1991 visit to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, when she and other lawmakers unfurled a small banner supporting democracy two years after a bloody military crackdown on protesters at the square. That visit was also about human rights and what she called dangerous technology transfers to “rogue countries.”

On this trip, Pelosi met with representatives from Taiwan’s legislature.

The speaker’s visit is “the strongest defense” of human rights, democratic values ​​and freedom, Tsai Chi-chang, vice president of Taiwan’s legislature, said in welcome.

Pelosi’s five-member delegation included Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi from the House Intelligence Committee. Rep. Andy Kim and Mark Takano also traveled with the speaker.

She also mentioned Rep. Suzan DelBene, whom Pelosi said was instrumental in the passage of a $280 billion bill aimed at boosting American manufacturing and research in semiconductor chips — an industry that Taiwan dominates and is vital for modern electronics.

Pelosi arrived Wednesday evening at a South Korea military base ahead of meetings with political leaders in Seoul, after which she will visit Japan.

Both countries are US alliance partners, together hosting about 80,000 American personnel as a bulwark against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and China’s increased assertiveness in the South China and East China seas.

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Categories
Business

China mocks Scott Morrison, Australia’s ‘arrogance’ after ACCC gas report

China mocks Scott Morrison, Australia's 'arrogance' after ACCC gas report

China has branded Australia “laughable”, mocking the Government and former prime minister Scott Morrison in the wake of a “damning” gas report.

The comments were made as part of a scornful article published by the CCP-controlled Global Times.

The piece mocks a suggestion that Australia could step in and help with supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to European allies impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

At the start of 2022, the then-prime minister Mr Morrison said his government was looking at options that would allow Australia to fill international demand for gas if Russia stops exporting to Europe.

“Awkwardly, some in Australia are now warning of a potential shortage in the country and urging to set aside gas for Australia’s own electricity network before selling to the rest of the world,” the Global Times article noted.

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On Monday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) gas inquiry 2017-2025 interim report warned businesses could shut down and there could be a record shortage of gas in the southern states next year unless something is done about the nation’s energy crisis.

The ACCC predicted a 56 petajoule shortfall in east coast gas supply by 2023, a figure it called a “significant risk to energy security” that was equivalent to 10 per cent of expected domestic demand.

China said the situation currently facing Australia was both “laughable and serious”.

“Laughable, because this reflects Australian officials’ overconfidence and arrogance in making empty promises it cannot deliver; serious, because a potential move could significantly affect already disrupted global energy supplies, given that Australia is known as one of the world’s top LNG exporters,” the newspaper noted.

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has seen international demand for LNG soar, with Beijing claiming a decision from Australia to impose export restrictions could “hurt some of its European and Asian allies the most”.

The article blasted Mr Morrison for his “empty promises” for saying Australia will help its allies when they are in need.

“It is clear that a possible reduction in Australia’s LNG exports would further exacerbate the global energy crisis and push up prices, while increasing the energy anxiety in countries that used to see Australia as a reliable source of supplies,” the Global Times said.

“Some of its allies may also be annoyed by Australia’s inability to actually offer help in areas where it apparently has an advantage.”

The article noted that China has recently made efforts to diversify its energy imports following recent tensions with Australia, with Beijing last year signing new LNG contracts with the US instead.

However, the outlet assured readers that any decision by Australia would not “fundamentally undermine” China’s energy security.

Government reacts to ‘damning’ gas report

Australia’s Resources Minister Madeleine King branded the new ACCC report as “damning” of gas exporters after it found they were not engaging locally “in the spirit” of the heads of agreement.

“We remain concerned that some (liquefied) natural gas LNG exporters are not engaging with the domestic market in the spirit in which the heads of agreement was signed,” the report said.

“LNG producers will need to divert a significant proportion of their excess gas into the domestic market.”

Ms King said gas producers “know” the report is “damning for them”.

“The ACCC report is damning, no doubt about it,” she said.

“It sets out patterns and instances of behavior that are clearly not acceptable in an environment where we do have an international and domestic energy supply crisis.”

The ACCC described the outlook for 2023 as “very concerning” with gas prices likely to increase.

“The outlook for 2023 is very concerning and is likely to place further upward pressure on prices, which could result in some commercial and industry users no longer being able to operate,” the report said.

“It could also lead to demand having to be curtailed.”

This shortfall will mainly affect NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, where “resources have been diminishing for some time”, though Queensland may also be impacted.

– with NCA NewsWire

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Categories
Entertainment

Globally acclaimed author Yan Geling considering giving up writing in native Chinese over censorship

A profile photo of author Yan Geling who looks near the camera and smiles.

If you watch the Chinese film One Second on a streaming platform, you won’t see a credit for the author whose book inspired the movie.

That’s because Chinese authorities have successfully erased any mention of globally renowned Chinese-American writer Yan Geling, both in China and overseas.

The movie — directed by celebrated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou — is available in Australia from platforms including Prime Video, Google Play and Apple TV.

“I can understand if you don’t want to put my name on it because censorship doesn’t allow it in China,” Yan told the ABC from her home in Berlin.

“However, practices like this are not acceptable overseas. The initial spirit and life of a work are given by the original author.”

The director looks at the camera smiling and waving as he walks past a red backdrop illustrated with small yellow bears.
Director Zhang Yimou directed the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and 2022.(Reuters: Christina Charisius)

Born in Shanghai into a family of artists, Yan – a prolific book author and screenwriter who has won more than 30 literary and film awards and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science – started her writing career in the 1980s.

She has published more than 40 books in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, the UK and elsewhere.

But she is now considering giving up writing in Chinese and writing in English instead.

“If this is a price I need to pay, then I will pay it. There is no other way,” she said.

A woman, in focus, sits well behind a blurred book cover as she is interviewed. She has her hands outstretched, palms upwards
Yan Geling says she will write her next book in English instead of Chinese.(Reuters: Bobby Yip)

The 63-year-old wondered if she had already been subconsciously self-censoring her writing because of China’s strict censorship practices.

“I think being censored for a long time, one will develop a subconscious of self-censorship,” she said.

“And it will dominate you when you are making words and sentences.”

Prime Video, Google Play or Apple TV were all contacted for comment but have yet to respond.

Self-censorship widespread in China’s film industry

A movie scene showing a group of girls hanging film reels on railings.
Yan Geling says the film One Second is inspired by her novel, The Criminal Lu Yanshi.(Weibo: @Dianying Yimiaozhong)

Censorship in China is back in the spotlight after the country’s National Radio and Television Administration this month decreed artists should produce more “high-quality works” that “adhere to the correct political direction” of China.

It came after President Xi Jinping ordered the arts industry to “tell China’s stories and spread Chinese voices to strengthen the country’s international communication capacity.”

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Categories
US

Pelosi confirms trip to Asia, but no mention of Taiwan

Pelosi confirms trip to Asia, but no mention of Taiwan

BEIJNG (AP) — The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, confirmed Sunday she will visit four Asian countries this week but made no mention of a possible stop in Taiwan that has fueled tension with Beijing, which claims the island democracy as its own territory.

Pelosi said in a statement she is leading a congressional delegation to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan to discuss trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, security and “democratic governance.”

Pelosi has yet to confirm news reports that she might visit Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in Beijing’s dealings with the island in a phone call Thursday with his American counterpart, Joe Biden.

Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step US leaders say they don’t support. Pelosi, head of one of three branches of the US government, would be the highest-ranking elected American official to visit Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.

The Biden administration didn’t explicitly urge Pelosi to avoid Taiwan but tried to assure Beijing there was no reason to “come to blows” and that if such a visit occurred, it would signal no change in US policy.

“Under the strong leadership of President Biden, America is firmly committed to smart, strategic engagement in the region, understanding that a free and flourishing Indo-Pacific is crucial to prosperity in our nation and around the globe,” Pelosi’s statement said.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the communists won a civil war on the mainland. Both sides say they are one country but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but maintains informal relations with the island. Washington is obliged by federal law to see that Taiwan has the means to defend itself.

Washington’s “One China policy” says it takes no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute resolved peacefully. Beijing promotes an alternative “One China principle” that says they are one country and the Communist Party is its leader.

Members of Congress publicly backed Pelosi’s interest in visiting Taiwan despite Chinese opposition. They want to avoid being seen as yielding to Beijing.

Beijing has given no details of how it might react if Pelosi goes to Taiwan, but the Ministry of Defense warned last week the military would take “strong measures to thwart any external interference.” The foreign ministry said, “those who play with fire will perish by it.”

The ruling party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, has flown growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers around Taiwan to intimidate the island.

“The Air Force’s multi-type fighter jets fly around the treasured island of the motherland, tempering and enhancing the ability to maintain national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” military spokesman Col. Shen Jinke said on Sunday, referring to Taiwan.

Pelosi said her delegation includes US Reps. Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Mark Takano, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; Suzan DelBene, vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chair of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Andy Kim, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.

A visit to Taiwan would be a career capstone for Pelosi, who increasingly uses her position in Congress as a US emissary on the global stage. She has long challenged China on human rights and wanted to visit Taiwan earlier this year.

In 1991, as a new member of Congress, Pelosi irked Chinese authorities by unfurling a banner on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing commemorating those killed when the Communist Party crushed pro-democracy protests two years earlier.

“It’s important for us to show support for Taiwan,” Pelosi, a Democrat from California, told reporters this month.

But she had made clear she was not advocating US policy changes.

“None of us has ever said we’re for independence, when it comes to Taiwan,” she said. “That’s up to Taiwan to decide.”

On Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tried to tamp down concerns.

“There’s no reason for it to come to that, to come to blows,” Kirby said at the White House. “There’s no reason for that because there’s been no change in American policy with respect to One China.”

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Mascaro reported from Washington.

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