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Australia

Live updates: China’s ambassador to Australia to address National Press Club

Live updates: China's ambassador to Australia to address National Press Club

Here’s Will Jackson with the details.

The relationship between Australia and China has been battered by a series of acrimonious disputes over the last two years. But since Work won the election in May both countries have taken tentative steps towards stabilizing the relationship.

Both the Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the Defense Minister Richard Marles have held a one-on-one meetings with their Chinese counterparts, ending a two-year high level diplomatic freeze between Canberra and beijing.

But there are still structural barriers to serious improvement.

(ABCNews)

Australia remains deeply concerned about a raft of issues from China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang regionto the imprisonment of Australian journalist ChengLeirepression of rights and free speech in Hong Kong and Beijing’s moves to increase its influence in the Pacific.

And the recent taiwan crises have you seen China once again step up its verbal attacks on Australia, after the federal government raised concerns about Beijing’s military drills in the wake of the Nancy Pelosi visit to the island.

All of which should make for an interesting Q&A session at the end of Mr Xiao’s talk.

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Australia

China’s constant criticism amid Taiwan tensions cannot be avoided, acting PM says

A sad man in a suit walks down a hall

The acting Prime Minister insists there is little the federal government can do to ward off constant Chinese criticism of Australia, as Beijing lashes out against international condemnation of its military drills in the Taiwan Strait.

Australia has joined with other nations to condemn Beijing’s decision to extend military drills around Taiwan, triggered by a visit to the island from United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Chinese officials said condemnation by Australia was undermining regional peace and stability, and amounted to meddling in its affairs.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles dismissed that accusation and said it was up to China whether relations with Australia thawed or deteriorated again.

“If engaging in a more respectful, diplomatic way takes us some way down a path, it does — and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Mr Marles said.

“We can only control our end of this equation. But we will always be speaking up for the national interest.”

Taiwan has been preparing air raid shelters and conducting drills as Chinese military air and naval combat exercises have increased around the island.

Taiwan thanks ‘courageous’ nations stepping up to China

In a briefing to media yesterday, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, expressed his gratitude to the nations that had supported his country.

“Taiwan is grateful to all of its friends around the world who have stood up courageously to condemn China’s actions and to support Taiwan,” Mr Wu said.

“It also sends a clear message to the world that democracy will not bow to the intimidation of authoritarianism.”

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US

Taiwan warns China drills show ambitions beyond island

Taiwan warns China drills show ambitions beyond island

PINGTUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan warned Tuesday that Chinese military drills aren’t just a rehearsal for an invasion of the self-governing island but also reflect ambitions to control large swaths of the western Pacific, as Taipei conducted its own exercises to underscore it’s ready to defend itself.

Angered by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, China has sent military ships and plans across the midline that separates the two sides in the Taiwan Strait and launched missiles into waters surrounding the island. The drills, which began Thursday, have disrupted flights and shipping in one of the busiest zones for global trade.

Ignoring calls to calm tensions, Beijing instead extended the exercises without announcing when they will end.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that beyond aiming to annex the island democracy, which split with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, China wants to establish its dominance in the western Pacific. That would include controlling of the East and South China Seas via the Taiwan Strait and imposing a blockade to prevent the US and its allies from aiding Taiwan in the event of an attack, he told a news conference in Taipei.

The exercises show China’s “geostrategic ambition beyond Taiwan,” which Beijing claims as its own territory, Wu said.

“China has no right to interfere in or alter” Taiwan’s democracy or its interactions with other nations, he added.

Wu’s assessment of China’s maneuvers was grimmer than that of other observers but echoed widespread concerns that Beijing is seeking to expand its influence in the Pacific, where the US has military bases and extensive treaty partnerships.

China has said its drills were prompted by Pelosi’s visit, but Wu said Beijing was using her trip as a pretext for intimidating moves long in the works. China also banned some Taiwanese food imports after the visit and cut off dialogue with the US on a range of issues from military contacts to combating transnational crime and climate change.

Pelosi also dismissed China’s outrage as a public stunt, noting on NBC’s “Today” show that “nobody said a word” about a Senate delegation a few visit months ago. Later on the MSNBC news network, she said Chinese President Xi Jinping was acting like a “scared bully.”

“I don’t think the president of China should control the schedules of members of Congress,” she said.

Through its maneuvers, China has pushed closer to Taiwan’s borders and may be seeking to establish a new normal in which it could eventually control access to the island’s ports and airspace. But that would likely elicit a strong response from the military on the island, whose people strongly favor the status quo of de-facto independence.

The US, Taipei’s main backer, has also shown itself to be willing to face down Beijing’s threats. Washington has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in deference to Beijing, but is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats against it as matters of grave concern.

That leaves open the question of whether Washington would dispatch forces if China attacked Taiwan. US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the US is bound to do so — but staff members have quickly walked back those comments.

Beyond the geopolitical risks, an extended crisis in the Taiwan Strait, a significant thoroughfare for global trade, could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruptions and uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In particular, Taiwan is a crucial provider of computer chips for the global economy, including China’s high-tech sectors.

In response to the drills, Taiwan has put its forces on alert, but has so far refrained from taking active counter measures.

On Tuesday, its military held live-fire artillery drills in Pingtung County on its southeastern coast.

The army will continue to train and accumulate strength to deal with the threat from China, said Maj. Gen. Lou Woei-jye, spokesperson for Taiwan’s 8th Army Command. “No matter what the situation is… this is the best way to defend our country.”

Taiwan, once a Japanese colony, had only loose connections to imperial China and then split with the mainland in 1949. Despite never having governed the island, China’s ruling Communist Party regards it as its own territory and has sought to isolate it diplomatically and economically in addition to ratcheting up military threats.

Washington has insisted Pelosi’s visit did not change its “one China policy,” which holds that the United States has no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute settled peacefully.

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Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil in Washington contributed to this report.

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Categories
US

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images

Taiwan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that China was using the military drills it launched in protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit as a game-plan to prepare for an invasion of the
self-ruled island.

Joseph Wu, speaking at a press conference in Taipei, offered no timetable for a possible invasion of Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own.

He said Taiwan would not be intimidated even as the drills continued with China often breaching the unofficial median line down the Taiwan Strait.

“China has used the drills in its military play-book to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said.

“It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.

“After the drills conclude, China may try to routinize its action in an attempt to wreck the long-term status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.

Such moves threatened regional security and provided “a clear image of China’s geostrategic ambitions beyond Taiwan”, Wu said, urging greater international support to stop China effectively controlling the strait.

A Pentagon official said on Monday that Washington was sticking to its assessment that China would not try to invade Taiwan for the next two years.

Wu spoke as military tensions simmer after the scheduled end on Sunday of four days of the largest-ever Chinese exercises surrounding the island – drills that included ballistic missile launches and simulated sea and air attacks in the skies and seas surrounding Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday that it would conduct fresh joint drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations – confirming the fears of some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would keep up the pressure on Taiwan’s defences.

On Tuesday, the command said it continued to hold military drills and exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, with a focus on blockades and resupply logistics.

A person familiar with security planning in the areas around Taiwan described to Reuters on Tuesday a continuing “standoff” around the median line involving about 10 warships each from China and Taiwan.

“China continued to try to press in to the median line,” the person said.

“Taiwan forces there have been trying to keep the international waterways open.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that China’s continued military exercises “highlight that its threat of force has not decreased.”

As Pelosi left the region last Friday, China also ditched some lines of communication with the United States, including theater level military talks and discussions on climate change.

Taiwan started its own long-scheduled drills on Tuesday, firing howitzer artillery out to sea in the southern county of Pingtung, attracting a small crowd of curious onlookers to a nearby beach.

US President Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the issue since Pelosi’s visit, said on Monday he was concerned about China’s actions in the region but he was not worried about Taiwan.

“I’m concerned they are moving as much as they are,” Biden told reporters in Delaware, referring to China. “But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said the US military would continue to carry out voyages through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks.

China has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force and on Monday Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China was conducting normal military exercises “in our waters” in an open, transparent and professional way, adding Taiwan was part of China.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

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Categories
Australia

James Marape will be Papua New Guinea’s prime minister after an election marred by violence

A man speaks into a microphone in front of a clapping supporter

Papua New Guinea’s incumbent Prime Minister, James Marape, has been returned to the top job.

Mr Marape was voted in as prime minister unopposed, with unanimous support from all MPs present in the first parliamentary sitting following the country’s controversial, and at times violent, national election.

He is set to lead at least 17 parties in a coalition government.

Mr Marape first became PNG’s leader in 2019 after leading a walk-out on then-prime-minister Peter O’Neill.

Mr Marape fended off similar attempts to oust him from the job the following year, before leading the country to the polls in July.

PNG’s ‘worst’ election in living memory

The first parliamentary sitting was delayed for almost three hours while some late writs were delivered.

As the country’s newly elected MPs gathered, some of the 118 seats were empty.

The results for 105 MPs were presented to parliament.

After a series of delays and extensions, vote is continuing counting in most of the outstanding 13 seats.

Politicians sit at their seats in a bright green carpeted chamber. Several chairs are empty
A handful of seats remained empty at the first parliamentary sitting after the election.(ABC News: Natalie Whiting)

Extensions have been granted for electorates that need more time to declare a winner, which is not uncommon in PNG elections.

Controversy hangs over several seats where counting was interrupted or completed ballots were burned, or in areas where there is mounting evidence of vote-rigging.

The prime minister’s political rival and predecessor Mr O’Neill went to the Supreme Court in an attempt to have the parliamentary sitting delayed until counting was completed, but the bid failed.

At a ceremony at Government House yesterday, Mr Marape’s PANGU Party was invited to attempt to form government on the floor of parliament after securing the most seats of any party in the election, with at least 36.

“The greater the responsibility, the greater the mandate, the higher and greater the obligation of those of us elected to parliament, to give back the trust you’ve given to us,” he said after the ceremony.

Peter O'Neill wearing a blue suit jacket and brown hat.
Former prime minister Peter O’Neill had pushed to have the first parliamentary sitting delayed to allow more time for counting votes.(ABC News: Natalie Whiting)

The election has been described by several analysts and MPs as the worst they have seen.

Mr Marape insists the issues in the election affected all candidates evenly and said most of the country polled well, describing the issues as a “minor difficulty”.

He defended the government funding of what he said was an independently run process, adding: “We have washed our hands clean of the electoral process.”

But he said his government would implement changes to try to address issues with transparency and the problems with the common roll, which saw an estimated 1 million people unable to vote.

“The census that will take place in 2023, from that we will overlap with a modernized electronic voter ID system,” he said.

Women return to PNG parliament for the first time since 2017

For the past five years, Papua New Guinea had no female MPs, making it one of only four countries in the world where that was the case.

This election, at least two women have secured seats in parliament.

Rufina Peter has been elected as the governor for Central Province, as a member of Mr O’Neill’s People’s National Congress (PNC) Party.

Rufina Peter
The PNC Party’s Rufina Peter (left) has been elected governor for Central Province.(Supplied)

She took a seat on the opposition benches next to Mr O’Neill.

At her declaration, Ms Peter paid tribute to the women and men of her province for voting in their first female leader.

“You decided it was time to give women a chance, and so we have come into this victory,” she said to applause from her supporters.

While parliament was sitting, another female candidate, Kessy Sawang, was elected in the Rai Coast Open seat.

Counting there finished this morning and her declaration was underway while her fellow MPs were being sworn in. She will join parliament when it next sits.

MPs ‘camp’ at private resort while public calls for basic services

Members of the new government’s coalition have been gathered at an island resort in the days leading up to Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting.

The system of “camping” is a standard practice to illustrate and control the numbers needed to govern in PNG, where coalitions are vital and notoriously unstable.

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Categories
US

Biden says he’s ‘not worried’ about China’s increased aggression toward Taiwan following Pelosi visit

Biden says he's 'not worried' about China's increased aggression toward Taiwan following Pelosi visit

US President Joe Biden talks to reporters while boarding Air Force One on travel to Eastern Kentucky to visit families affected by devastation from recent flooding, as he departs from Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, US, August 8, 2022.

Kevin Lamarques | Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday he is “not worried” about China’s military exercises around Taiwan, adding that while he is “concerned that they’re moving as much as they are,” he does not think they’re going to continue to increase the pressure.

The remarks came one day after Beijing concluded 72 hours of intense maneuvers and missile tests over and around Taiwan. The exercises involved dozens of Chinese fighter jets and warships to mimic a military blockade of the self-governing island that Beijing considers a province.

Biden’s relative calm reflected the deliberate American strategy of not responding to Chinese bellicosity with equally hot saber-rattling.

It also reflects a broader opinion within the Biden administration that Beijing does not intend to make good on its implicit threat to invade Taiwan, at least not in the near term.

Given this assessment, the United States has adopted an approach, for now, of heightened vigilance, but steadfastly refused to be drawn into a military game of chicken in the Pacific.

Last Thursday, the White House announced that Biden would keep a US naval aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea longer than originally planned, in response to Beijing’s increased aggression toward Taiwan.

At the same time, a Biden spokesman said the United States would postpone a previously scheduled intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, test.

The decisions signaled Washington’s desire to maintain American military alertness in the region, while also denying Beijing the opportunity to point to the long-planned US missile test as evidence that America was responding to China’s own missile launches near Taiwan with military preparations of its own.

Beijing claimed its military exercises were conducted in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.

The visit by the California Democrat, which the Biden White House publicly defended but privately opposed, marked the first time in 25 years that an American House speaker, a position second in line to the presidency, had visited Taiwan.

Asked Monday whether it was wise for Pelosi to have traveled to Taiwan given the tense US-China relationship, Biden gave the standard response his administration has used for weeks.

“That was her decision,” he said, before boarding Air Force One en route to Kentucky, where Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit communities impacted by catastrophic flooding last week.

CNBC Politics

Read more of CNBC’s political coverage:

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Categories
Australia

Peter Dutton urges the Albanese Government to acquire military ‘deterrent’ as he warns of conflict amid China-Taiwan tensions

Peter Dutton urges the Albanese Government to acquire military 'deterrent' as he warns of conflict amid China-Taiwan tensions

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has lashed China for its “completely over the top” reaction to Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip and has urged the Australian government to “provide a deterrent” for potential regional conflict.

China has ramped up military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and East China Sea following the US Speaker of the House’s visit to Taipei.

The People’s Liberation Army launched five high-powered missiles across the strait with one entering Japan’s exclusive economic zone over the weekend.

Mr Dutton said China’s recent ratcheting up of aggression could result in “conflict or war” and labeled Beijing’s actions as “quite phenomenal”.

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In the wake of the military build-up, Mr Dutton also welcomed the Albanese Government’s openness to purchasing nuclear-powered submarines to fill a potentially decades long capability gap.

“It’s absolutely essential that we acquire the capability to provide a deterrent,” Mr Dutton said.

“We’re an island nation in the middle of the pacific and we have a particular responsibility not just to our own country but to keep peace within our region as well.”

Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the government would prioritize “strategic need” over local manufacturing after Labor launched a major defense capability review last week.

Mr Marles told the Nine newspapers that acquiring the nuclear submarines early was an option, but the extent of the capability gap needed to be determined first.

“To the extent a capability gap exists when we determine how quickly we can get the nuclear-powered submarines, we need to be looking at every option about how we plug that gap,” he said.

“The point is that we must have an evolving and improving submarine capability in this country from this day forth. And that necessitates plugging the gap. And there are lots of ways one can do that.”

China launched its military drills on Thursday following Ms Pelosi’s visit to Taipei earlier in the week.

Beijing also sanctioned the US Speaker in response to what the government described as a “egregious provocation”.

Mr Dutton praised Ms Pelosi’s visit and said it exposed China’s “disproportionate” reaction.

“Yes, she should have (gone) and I’m pleased that she did because the reaction from China is completely over the top,” Mr Dutton said at a press conference in Brisbane on Monday.

“And it’s disproportionate to the visit by a Speaker of the House of Representatives in the world’s biggest democracy to visit an independent country.”

While supporting the speaker’s decision, Mr Dutton said he would not partake in a similar “political stunt” but warned that China’s military build-up was reminiscent of 1930s Europe.

“Nobody’s arguing for there to be a breaking of the current arrangement, but at the same time the Chinese government’s reaction under President Xi has been wildly disproportionate,” he said.

“This has been entirely predictable, China is amassing nuclear weapons and when we say that we’re in a period similar to the 1930s that is not made up, it’s not exaggerated.”

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Categories
Australia

Penny Wong defends push for China to ‘de-escalate’ tensions in Taiwan Strait and says region is concerned of ‘risk of conflict’

Penny Wong defends push for China to 'de-escalate' tensions in Taiwan Strait and says region is concerned of 'risk of conflict'

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has hit back at China for singling out Australia over calls to restore stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Senator Wong joined her counterparts from the United States and Japan on Saturday to condemn Chinese military escalation which saw high-powered missiles launched towards Taiwan and Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The reaction drew the ire of the Chinese government which accused Senator Wong of “finger-pointing” while claiming it was the “victim” of “political provocation”.

But the Foreign Minister doubled down on her concerns on Monday and said Australia and regional partners would continue to “urge restraint”.

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“What is most critical at the moment is that the temperature is lowered and calm is restored when it comes to cross-strait tensions,” Senator Wong said in a press conference in Canberra.

“Australia continues to urge restraint, Australia continues to urge de-escalation and this is not something that solely Australia is calling for.

“The whole region is concerned about the current situation, the whole region is calling for stability to be restored.”

Over the weekend, the Taiwanese government accused Beijing of simulating an attack after the first trip to the island from a US House Speaker in a quarter of a century.

The Defense Ministry said China used 66 plans and 14 warships in the exercise on Sunday and had launched 11 ballistic missiles during live-fire drills on Thursday.

The US, Japan and Australia responded on Saturday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Senator Wong calling for China to “immediately cease” its military exercises.

The trio also expressed concerns that China’s actions would “gravely affect international peace and stability”.

“They condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government reported landed in its exclusive economic zones, raising tension and destabilizing the region,” a joint statement said.

The Chinese Embassy in Canberra on Sunday defended the central government’s military exercises, describing them as actions to “safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

But the statement singled out Australia and said Canberra had “condemned the victim”.

Senator Wong hit back and said Australia was “not the only country concerned about escalation” and raised concerns of potential conflict in the Pacific.

“The region is concerned about the risk of conflict,” she said on Monday.

“We will continue, in a calm and considered way, to articulate our national interests.”

“Our interests are the interest of the region and that is restraint and de-escalation.”

Taipei was forced to scramble fighter jets and put shore-based missiles on stand-by with the Chinese Defense Ministry saying it was “testing the capabilities” of assault systems.

China has never ruled Taiwan but considers the island its territory.

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Categories
US

China extends threatening military exercises around Taiwan

China extends threatening military exercises around Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — China said Monday it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to global trade.

The announcement increases uncertainty in the crisis that developed last week with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

The exercises will include anti-submarine drills, apparently targeting US support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion, according to social media posts from the eastern leadership of China’s ruling Communist Party’s military arm, the People’s Liberation Army.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and its leader, Xi Jinping, has focused on bringing the self-governing island democracy under the mainland’s control, by force if necessary. The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war, but Beijing considers visits to Taiwan by foreign officials as recognizing its sovereignty.

Xi is seeking a third term as Communist Party leader later this year. His control of him over the armed forces and what he has defined as China’s “core interests” — including Taiwan, territorial claims in the South China Sea and historic adversary Japan — are key to maintaining his nationalist credentials of him.

The military has said the exercises, involving missile strikes, warplanes and ship movements crossing the midline of the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides, were a response to Pelosi’s visit.

China has ignored calls to calm the tensions, and there was no immediate indication of when it would end what amounts to a blockade.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China would “firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, resolutely deter the US from containing China with the Taiwan issue and resolutely shatter the Taiwan authorities’ illusion of “relying on the US for independence.”

China’s slowing economic growth, which has reduced options among migrant workers as well as college graduates, has raised the specter of social unrest. The party has maintained its power through total control of the press and social media, along with suppression of political opponents, independent lawyers and activists working on issues from online free speech to LGBQT rights.

China doesn’t allow public opinion polls, and popular opinion is hard to judge. However, it generally skews in favor of the government and its efforts to restore China’s former dominant role in the region that puts it in conflict with the United States and its allies, including Japan and Australia.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said Sunday it detected a total of 66 aircraft and 14 warships conducting the naval and air exercises. The island has responded by putting its military on alert and deploying ships, plans and other assets to monitor Chinese aircraft, ships and drones that are “simulating attacks on the island of Taiwan and our ships at sea.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported that Taiwan’s army will conduct live-fire artillery drills in southern Pingtung county on Tuesday and Thursday, in response to the Chinese exercises.

The drills will include snipers, combat vehicles, armored vehicles as well as attack helicopters, said the report, which cited an anonymous source.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has called on the international community to “support democratic Taiwan” and “halt any escalation of the regional security situation.” The Group of Seven industrialized nations has also criticized China’s actions, prompting Beijing to cancel a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi.

China has cut off defense and climate talks with the US and imposed sanctions on Pelosi in retaliation for her visit.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia over the weekend that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful and did not represent a change in American policy toward Taiwan. He accused China of using the trip as a “pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”

The Biden administration and Pelosi say the US remains committed to the “one-China” policy that extends formal diplomatic recognition to Beijing while allowing robust informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.

The US, however, criticized Beijing’s actions in the Taiwan Strait, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling them “fundamentally irresponsible.”

“There’s no need and no reason for this escalation,” Jean-Pierre said.

In Washington, Taiwanese de facto ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao said China had no reason to “be so furious” over Pelosi’s visit, which follows a long tradition of American lawmakers visiting Taiwan.

“Well, you know, we have been living under the threat from China for decades,” Hsiao told CBS News on Sunday. “If you have a kid being bullied at school, you don’t say you don’t go to school. You try to find a way to deal with the bully.

“The risks are posed by Beijing,” Hsiao said.

On a visit to Myanmar, whose Chinese-backed military government has been accused of murdering its opponents, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington was “taking the opportunity to build up its military deployment in the region, which deserves high vigilance and resolute boycott from all sides.”

“China’s firm stance” is aimed at “earnestly safeguarding peace across the Taiwan Strait and regional stability,” Wang was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called for a cooling of tensions. “Australia continues to urge restraint, Australia continues to urge deescalation, and this is not something that solely Australia is calling for, and the whole region is concerned about the current situation, the whole region is calling for stability to be restored,” Wong told reporters in Canberra.

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Categories
Business

Metricon QLD GM Luke Fryer quits, national restructure update this week

Metricon QLD GM Luke Fryer quits, national restructure update this week

The Queensland general manager of troubled builder Metricon has resigned, days after the company announced around 225 staff would be sacked in a national restructure.

Luke Fryer, who had been with the company for 15 years starting as a sales estimator in 2007, was previously NSW GM before moving back to his home state of Queensland in 2020.

Metricon director Jason Biasin announced Mr Fryer’s resignation in an email to staff on Friday.

“The last two years have seen more challenges in our industry than ever before,” Mr Biasin wrote.

“Luke’s commitment to our people, to me personally and our business has been unwavering and will not be forgotten. We wish Luke all the best for the future and he will always remain a part of the Metricon family.”

He added, “I know this week has been very difficult for everyone and I thank you all for your professional and compassionate approach to the tasks at hand and looking after each other. I look forward to sharing more positive news with you next week.”

Metricon has been contacted for comment.

Last Monday, Metricon announced it would be shedding 9 per cent, or about 225 of its 2500-strong national workforce, in a restructure “to better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market“.

The affected roles are largely in sales and marketing.

The country’s largest home builder was plunged into crisis in May amid reports it was on the verge of financial ruin and engaging in crisis talks with the Victorian government, following the sudden death of its founder Mario Biasin.

Acting chief executive Peter Langfelder has repeatedly shot down those allegations, but a question mark still hangs over Metricon’s future despite the company’s directors injecting $30 million into its business to allay fears about its survival, and a rescue deal being struck with Commonwealth Bank.

Last month, Metricon listed nearly 60 display homes for sale across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, worth a total of around $65 million.

Staff who were informed of the restructure during a Microsoft Teams meeting last week said those who had remained with the company rather than jumping ship “basically had the rug pulled out from under them”.

“It has not been received well by some of them,” one NSW staff member told news.com.au. “I’m a little bit burned by the whole situation.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Metricon confirmed it was in the “process of an internal restructure of the business, with an increased focus on delivering homes to more than 6000 Australians whose houses will be constructed this year”.

“To better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market and ensure the most appropriate deployment of resources, Metricon is working to appropriately reduce its sales and marketing capability while it focuses on the construction and delivery of more than 6000 homes,” a spokeswoman said .

“We have commenced a consultation process with our people. This process is proposed to lead to a reduction of personnel and redundancies across the national business.”

The spokeswoman said 2020 and 2021 saw record demand for homebuilding and that Metricon “expects demand to settle at pre-pandemic levels”. “As a result, the business will rebalance towards construction on homes it is currently building and the thousands more in the pipeline – the biggest volume in the company’s history,” she said.

The impacted roles will be at the “front-end of the business, predominantly in sales and marketing roles, representing approximately 9 per cent of the national workforce”.

“With the headwinds buffeting the industry, specifically labor costs due to competition for skills, combined with present global material cost hikes and with our very strong existing pipeline of work, we need to carefully balance the current pipeline of new builds with the construction side of the business,” Mr Langfelder said in the statement.

“We are working to restructure our front-end of the business given the current climate and the need to move forward efficiently. We are committed to looking after any of our people who may be impacted by these proposed changes, and they will continue to have ongoing access to the company’s support and mental health services.”

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was rebalancing the business’ focus over the next 18 months on executing builds as quickly and efficiently as possible whilst maintaining equilibrium in the pipeline.

“We have previously said that our company has a proven history of success and remains profitable and viable, with the full support of our key stakeholders – this remains the case today,” he said.

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was still expected to continue to contract on average 100 homes per week, in line with pre-pandemic levels. “Our future construction pipeline shows no sign of slowing down with more than 600 site-starts scheduled for 2023,” he said.

In an email to staff on Tuesday, Metricon said it would be holding a virtual town hall this week “to provide you with further updates on our business, current market conditions and plans for the future”.

“We do not underestimate the effect that this review is likely to have on some of you,” the directors wrote.

“We are committed to working through this process as thoroughly and efficiently as possible, and to keep you updated as we progress… Despite the current challenges across our industry, we remain stable as a business with full support from our key stakeholders.”

The Australian building industry has been plagued with escalating issues that have already seen Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild enter into liquidation in recent months, while smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Hobart and Perth firms Home Innovation Builders and New Sensation Homes, as well as Sydney-based firm Next have also failed, leaving homeowners out of pocket and with unfinished houses.

The crisis is the result of a perfect storm of conditions hitting one after the other, including supply chain disruptions due largely to the pandemic and then the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics and extreme weather events .

The industry’s traditional reliance on fixed-price contracts has also seriously exacerbated the problem, with contracts signed months before a build gets underway, including the surging costs of essential materials such as timber and steel.

It comes after it recently emerged that Australia recorded a staggering 3917 liquidations or administration appointments across all industries during the 2021-22 financial year.

The construction sector led the charge, representing 28 per cent of all insolvencies, although firms from countless industries also failed in the face of soaring inflation and interest rate pressures, Covid chaos, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

There were 1536 collapses in NSW, with Victoria recording 1022, Queensland 665, WA 350, South Australia 196, 91 for the ACT, 29 for Tasmania and 28 in the Northern Territory.

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— with Alexis Carey

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