China, Vietnam Plan First Joint Army Drill Amid US Tariffs
The exercise aims to strengthen practical cooperation between the two militaries, the Chinese defense ministry said in a Sunday statement. It will take place in southern China's Guangxi region, which borders Vietnam.
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‘Fickle': Opposition echoes US AUKUS call
Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor says it is wrong to call the Coalition 'fickle' on AUKUS, but that he cannot say the same about Labor. Mr Taylor was asked on Wednesday to respond to comments made by Jerry Hendrix – the man heading a US ship building blitz in line with Donald Trump's mission to 'restore America's maritime dominance'. Mr Hendrix, a retired US Navy captain, has been vocal in his concerns about Australia's commitment to AUKUS, saying last year 'the Australians have been noticeably fickle', as reported overnight by the Sydney Morning Herald. In a separate criticism, he said the 'challenge for AUKUS' is two-fold. 'First there will be a question of whether the Australian government will sustain their commitment across the coming years and change of (governments),' Mr Hendrix posted on social media. 'Second will be whether the US will actually be willing to give up Virginia class boats.' Speaking to Sky News, Mr Taylor said the 'opposition's position on AUKUS is not fickle at all'. 'It is complete and utter commitment to what is an incredibly important initiative, both tranche one and tranche two – the nuclear submarines as well as the associated technology,' he said. Pressed on the criticism, he repeated his defence but suggested it was a fair shot at the Albanese government. 'The opposition's not fickle, that's for sure,' he said. 'I worry that the government – I think it's not just me worried, I think every expert looking at this is making these comments – they're deeply worried that we're not on our way to having the defence force we need in such an uncertain time. 'We've got authoritarian regimes around the world flexing their muscles.' Mr Taylor was also asked about the Netherlands' defence chief warning Australia should lift its military spending in response to the build up in China. General Onno Eichelsheim was in Australia for Talisman Sabre – annual war games hosted by the Australian Defence Force. He said the country should 'get ready for something that you hope will never happen', drawing parallels between Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's aggression in the Indo-Pacific. 'You should look at the facts that are around you … if Russia tells us that they want to have more, more influence, then take that seriously,' General Eichelsheim told the ABC. 'And if you see in this case in this region, China building up, take it seriously and get ready for something that you hope will never happen. 'If you prepare for war, you can avoid war. And that's how we look at it.' However, he said percentage of GDP was not the most important measure. Responding to the remarks, Mr Taylor said Australia 'definitely' needed to boost defence spending. 'We need to spend that money better,' he said. 'And (the Coalition has) made a commitment already to get to 3 per cent at least and that is exactly what the government should be doing.' Labor has committed billions in extra defence funding over the next decade, which will push it to about 2.3 per cent of GDP by 2034. But Anthony Albanese and his government have firmly rejected the US' call to boost it to 3.5 per cent, adding to friction with Washington.
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Hong Kong court backs transgender person's right to use toilets that match chosen gender identity
By Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong court ruled on Wednesday in favour of a transgender person who challenged laws that criminalise them for going into public toilets that align with their chosen gender identity. Judge Russell Coleman struck down the two provisions that made it criminal to do so but suspended the ruling for 12 months to let the government "consider whether it wishes to implement a way to deal with the contravention". The Hong Kong government did not immediately respond. "This is a matter of the line-drawing, which seems to me to be a question for the government or legislature to address," Coleman wrote in his judgment. He also said the question of where to draw the line between a "female person" and a "male person" is "an answer not appropriately given by the courts, and is more appropriately a matter for legislation". The legal challenge was launched by a transgender man, who identifies as K, born as a female and identifies as a man, and who sought to amend the Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulations to allow individuals undergoing Real Life Experience (RLE) treatment under medical supervision to use public toilets that align with their gender identity. This is the latest ruling from the city's judiciary in recent years that recognises the rights of transgender people. The city's Court of Final Appeal in February 2023 unanimously sided with appeals launched by transgender activists that barred transgender people from changing their gender on their mandatory ID cards unless they undergo full sex reassignment surgery, saying it violated their rights. The Hong Kong government last April revised the policy and allowed transgender people who have not completed full sex reassignment surgery to change gender on their ID cards.
CNBC
3 minutes ago
- CNBC
Chinese and EU leaders are about to meet — but the U.S. is complicating things
China and the European Union will hold a top-level meeting in Beijing on Thursday, while the U.S. is making their already tense relationship more complicated. Clashes over trade and economic policy, technological issues and defense and security have been commonplace between China and the EU — and tensions have recently been heating up. For example, the EU imposed restrictions on Chinese companies taking part in public tenders for medical devices in the bloc, prompting China to respond with countermeasures. In large part, the strain between the two trading partners is linked to concerns about how domestic economies and companies could be impacted by imports. The high-stakes summit, which is the 25th between the partners and marks 50 years of bilateral relations, was therefore already taking place under less than ideal circumstances. Initially scheduled to take place in Brussels, the meeting was then cut from two days to one — which was widely understood as another sign of fragile EU-China ties. "Relations between Brussels and Beijing are particularly tense," Jörn Fleck, senior director at the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council, told CNBC. "The EU and China have more to argue about than they agree on, even if neither side can afford to let the relationship deteriorate much further given the global outlook and their respective economic positions," Fleck said. And then, there is U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy to contend with. "Largely irreconcilable EU-China differences will severely constrain potential cooperation, despite mutual interest in countering some of President Trump's policies — led by US trade measures and unilateralism," Emre Peker, director for Europe at Eurasia Group, told CNBC. The U.S.' actions could even trigger a worsening of EU-China relations, Peker said. Brussels, for example, could sharpen its position on measures targeting China if the U.S. puts pressure on the bloc to do so as part of trade talks, he continued. "The extent of Brussels's alignment with Washington on supply chains, export controls, and other issues will signal the level of EU frustration with China — and influence their relationship," Peker said. The EU and China together account for almost 30% of global trade, according to the European Council. When taking goods and services into account, EU-China trade was valued at over 845 billion euros ($989 billion) in 2024. Henrietta Levin, a senior fellow at the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, told CNBC that China may try and influence the EU with regards to its talks with the U.S. "Chinese leaders may press their European counterparts on the EU's ongoing trade negotiations with the United States, urging them to reject any measures that would disadvantage China," Levin said. The EU and U.S. have so far not agreed on a trade framework, with talks ongoing as the bloc faces a 30% tariff on most of its exports from Aug. 1. China and the U.S. meanwhile in June said they had come to an agreement, which covers tech regulations and provisions around hotly contested rare earths, which are often used in the automotive, defense and energy sectors. Additionally, Levin also noted that Trump's more adversarial approach to the EU may complicate the bloc's ability to counter China. "It will be difficult for the EU to stand up to China's economic coercion while also managing largescale economic coercion from its American allies," she said. Analyst expectations for the summit appear relatively low. "That the summit is going forward is likely to be the biggest deliverable," the Atlantic Council's Fleck said. "The best possible outcome is that the EU and China's negotiators will agree to keep talking on the various issues at play, including tariffs, market access, and Chinese subsidies and overcapacity," Fleck said, pointing to some of the many points of contention between the partners. One positive sign, Fleck said, was confirmation that Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. There may also be other, smaller hints of change in EU-China relations, Lukas Fiala, project coordinator of the China Foresight programme at LSE IDEAS, told CNBC. "The summit can hardly reset years of economic and geopolitical tensions between the two sides," Fiala said, saying that the worsening of EU-China relations had "structural and longer-term" reasons. EU member states also have differing views on China, which makes it hard for the EU to express a united position, he added. "I will look out for smaller changes and language related to export controls on EVs and rare earths during and after the summit, but do not expect a big shift in the status quo," Fiala said.
