China

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said Sunday it detected multiple waves of missile firings within China, days after Beijing said it successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. The ministry said in a statement that the missile firings were carried out by China's Rocket Force and the Chinese military in Inner Mongolia as well as Gansu and Qinghai provinces and the Xinjiang region in western China. Taiwan said it would continuously monitor developments and that its air defences would maintain a high level of vigilance and alert. China views the self-ruled island of Taiwan as a renegade province that must come under its control, by force if necessary. Taiwan closely monitors China's military activity, and China has in recent years ramped up drills around...

The Irish economy has been increasingly attracting Chinese investment, but does it come with a reputational cost? In 2020, 25 Chinese companies had operations in the Republic of Ireland. By this year the number had jumped to 40. For some this new flood of yuan into the country offers Ireland an opportunity to reduce its reliance on being the European base for US tech giants such as Apple and Alphabet. And it creates additional jobs. But for an increasing number of critics, Ireland being home to Chinese firms links the country to the human rights abuse allegations levelled against some such companies. These include Chinese clothing firm Shein, which since May 2023 has had its European headquarters in Dublin. Shein has long been attacked for how the workers who makes its cl...

China has announced it is investigating the company that owns US fashion brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein for suspected "discriminatory measures" against Xinjiang cotton companies. The move marks a new effort by Beijing to fight back against allegations from western officials and human rights activists that cotton and other goods in the region have been produced using forced labour from the Uyghur ethnic group. The US banned imports from the area in 2021, citing those concerns. China's Ministry of Commerce accused the firm of "boycotting Xinjiang cotton and other products without any factual basis". PVH, which owns the two brands and has a significant presence in China as well as the US, said it was in contact with Chinese authorities. It has 30 days to respond to off...

Beijing has this week unveiled a raft of measures to boost its ailing economy, which it has targeted to grow five percent this year -- an objective analysts say is optimistic given the many headwinds it faces. On Thursday, the ruling Communist Party convened a meeting of its top body, the Politburo, to "analyse and study the current economic situation". "Some new situations and problems have emerged in the current running of the economy," the Xinhua news agency reported after the meeting, which was attended by Xi. "We must view the current economic situation comprehensively, objectively and calmly, face difficulties squarely, (and) strengthen confidence," it added. Politburo members agreed on the need to "further improve the focus and effectiveness of policy measures" aimed at...

China's all-out stimulus package will fail to meaningfully reverse ongoing chaos in the nation's property market, JPMorgan said in new research. Though Beijing committed on Tuesday to reduce mortgage rates and downpayment rules, the bank said these efforts will not bolster housing consumption as hoped. "These measures are unlikely a game changer," strategists led by chief China economist Haibin Zhu wrote. "Hence we maintain a cautious view on near-term housing market outlook." For years, high debt and low demand have stalked China's housing sector, and both issues have proven near-impossible to shake. These conditions have led to massive developer defaults, and even notched comparisons to the 2008 financial crisis. Since Chinese real-estate accounts for as much as&nb...