China

China provides disaster relief assistance to Tonga

The fund will assist in rehabilitation following the devastation of Cyclone Gita on Tongatapu and Eua earlier this week.

China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi sent a message to Prime Minister, a day after Cyclone Gita hit Tonga extending heartfelt sympathy to the Government and people of Tonga, vowing that China is ready to provide emergency disaster relief assistance within its capacity, and believing that with the joint efforts of the Tongan government and people, Tonga will be able to overcome the disaster and rebuild the country.

Tonga Customs seize fake exercise books

Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Commerce, Consumer, Innovation, Trade, and Labour , Edgar Cocker, said the container contained materials designed to look like Warwick
Croxley Red exercise books.

Cocker told Kaniva News the book was an example of professional intention to counterfeit a New Zealand idea and concept.

The fake textbooks were made in China.

“This is against the Consumer Act and therefore we have the right to hold the materials and confiscate,” Cocker said.

Australian Minister accuses China of funding 'roads that go nowhere' in Pacific

Australian officials are increasingly worried by China's growing presence in the Pacific, and the way it is using concessional loans to bolster its influence.

They have also privately accused China of trying to win favour by funding projects which funnel money directly to leaders in the region.

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells told The Australian newspaper that China was constructing "useless buildings" in the Pacific.

US blocks sale of Moneygram to China's Ant Financial

It is the highest profile Chinese deal to be rejected by Washington since Donald Trump came to power.

Regulators overseeing foreign investments in the US had refused to support the takeover, the firms said.

The geopolitical environment had "changed considerably" since the merger was announced last year, they added.

'Disappointed'

The collapse is a blow to the ambitions of Alibaba's billionaire executive chairman Jack Ma, who had promised President Trump that he would create a million US jobs.

Skype removed from China Apple and Android app stores

Apple says it is one of several apps to have been removed after the government said it does not comply with local law.

Skype owner Microsoft told the BBC the app had been "temporarily removed" and the company was "working to reinstate the app as soon as possible".

The app is also no longer available for download on Android app stores in China.

Media reports suggest the disruption to Skype started in October.

In China, free fish heads for life for an underwater rescuer

Liu Xinting was driving on his lunch break from work when an oncoming car swerved off the road and into a lake.

Mr Liu dived in to the lake as the car sank, rescuing all four people inside including a pregnant woman.

Hearing of the rescue, a local company offered the unusual fish head reward.

"There was no time for me to think or be scared, the fastest thing I could do was save lives," Mr Liu told the local Hangzhou Daily.

"It is hazardous to jump into the water without taking off your shoes and clothes," he said. "But the situation was too urgent."

Increased meth production in China aimed at Oceania

The head of the secretariat, Seve Paeniu, said it believed this stems from a significant increase in production in China, driven by demand for the drug in Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Paeniu said countries in Micronesia and Melanesia were also experiencing an increase in the use of methamphetamines, with a resulting rise in criminal acitivity and accompanying societal issues.

He said efforts to combat the trend had uncovered both local and foreign involvement in the illegal trade alongside the increase in criminals being deported in the region.

Trump in China for talks with Xi amid N Korea tensions

His arrival came after a speech to the South Korean parliament in which Mr Trump urged China to further isolate North Korea.

The White House sees China as pivotal in reining in the North's nuclear aims but Beijing says it is doing enough.

Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a lavish welcome to Mr Trump in what has been called a "state visit-plus".

Before his visit, Mr Trump piled praise on Mr Xi, saying he was looking forward to meeting the Chinese president after "his great political victory".

'Strategic' risks to Australia from China trade plan

The ABC has confirmed the heads of the immigration and defence departments were among those opposed to Beijing's ambitious 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, firmly advising the Turnbull Government earlier this year not to join it.

Several government sources said the Chinese plan also provoked a schism inside the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with trade bureaucrats broadly in favour of joining while the diplomatic corps was reticent.

Diplomat's China speech renews Australia university debate

Frances Adamson, Australia's chief foreign affairs bureaucrat, called for debate not to be stifled in classrooms.

It follows recent claims of embassy influence on campuses - dismissed as "smear" by Chinese diplomats in June.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said students should think critically.