 US brands Chinese curbs on American diplomats 'escalation' Washington (AFP) Sept 13, 2020 - The US on Saturday called a decision by Beijing to impose restrictions on all American diplomats on Chinese soil an "escalation," the latest rebuke in an ongoing tit-for-tat dispute over foreign missions. Relations between the world's top two economies have deteriorated in recent months, with both sides locked in fierce recriminations over trade disputes, human rights and the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday China announced "reciprocal restrictions" against US diplomats, days after Washington announced new restrictions on staff working for Beijing's foreign missions. Beijing said that the unspecified countermeasures will apply to all US embassy and consulate staff, including the consulate-general in Hong Kong and its personnel, and called the move a "legitimate and necessary response." But the US said Saturday that the Chinese measures went further than anything it had done. A State Department spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity said Beijing's move was an "escalation," citing the targeting of its representative in Hong Kong and restrictions on Chinese citizens meeting with Americans in the form of a "new meeting pre-notification requirement." "These notification requirements now include American citizens with no affiliation to the US government. We have no such requirement for PRC citizens," the spokesperson said, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China. The dispute over foreign missions flared up in July when Washington ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, prompting Beijing to shutter the American presence in Chengdu. The battle over diplomatic outposts is only one front in an escalating confrontation between the US and China. Washington has imposed sanctions on officials accused of helping orchestrate China's mass internment of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in the country's Xinjiang region, a program that has prompted a global human rights outcry. Last month it blacklisted officials it accused of suppressing "freedom and democratic processes" in Hong Kong, after the imposition of a national security law aimed at quelling civil unrest in the financial hub. The move prompted China to issue its own sanctions against several prominent Americans. President Donald Trump has also provoked a furious reaction from Chinese officials by blaming Beijing for the global spread of the coronavirus And Washington has additionally accused Chinese tech firms and platforms -- from Huawei to TikTok -- of working in the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. Beijing denied on Friday it was attempting to meddle in the upcoming US presidential election after tech giant Microsoft said it thwarted cyberattacks from overseas groups -- including from China.
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Chinese investment in Australia almost halved in 2019, new data released Monday showed, as relations between the two countries deteriorated.
Researchers from the Australian National University said Chinese investment Down Under plunged from Aus$4.8 billion (US$3.5 billion) to just Aus$2.5 billion last year.
Professor Peter Drysdale, who led the data research, said the Aus$1.43 billion purchase of infant formula producer Bellamy's Australia by China's Mengniu Dairy accounted for more than half of that investment.
It was the third consecutive year that Chinese investment in Australia dropped since peaking at Aus$15.8 billion in 2016.
The steep fall far outpaced a global decline in China's overseas ventures of 9.8 percent last year, reflecting the bilateral political tensions, Drysdale said.
"(In) the last few years, clearly Chinese investors have found the investment environment in Australia less certain and have been more cautious about undertaking investment in Australia," he told AFP.
In June, Australia announced tougher measures to block or overturn new foreign investments deemed to compromise national security -- a move widely viewed as an effort to limit growing Chinese influence.
The country has barred Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from being a major player in its 5G rollout owing to concerns about its relationship with state security agencies, a decision that riled Beijing.
Drysdale said structural changes were also partly to blame, with Chinese investors retreating from mining and resources as the commodity boom weakened.
While Chinese investment in Australian real estate and agriculture also fell in 2019, the ANU researchers found some "modest gains" in the construction, education and finance sectors.
Drysdale said it was important for Australia to consider how to reverse the "continuing downward trend" due to the key role of foreign investment in supporting economic growth and trade.
"Whether that can be changed quickly or not is another question altogether because it very much depends on how purposeful (an) approach there is to mending the relationship between the two countries," he said.
Sino-Australian relations have nosedived in recent months after a series of diplomatic clashes.
Beijing was particularly infuriated by Canberra's role in international calls for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
China -- Australia's biggest trade partner -- has since imposed tariffs on Australian products from beef to barley and has discouraged Chinese students and tourists from heading Down Under.
EU and China talk trade despite rifts
Brussels (AFP) Sept 14, 2020 -
EU leaders will talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping seeking trade and investment Monday, despite tensions over Hong Kong's freedoms and Beijing's treatment of its Uighur minority.
Chinese officials, EU chiefs Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a video-conference to replace a full summit with all 27 EU leaders cancelled because of coronavirus.
China says an investment deal -- already seven years in the making -- can be agreed this year, but EU officials warn obstacles remain and insist they will not swallow unfavourable terms simply to cut a deal.
"Even if there is a political objective to accelerate negotiations and conclude them by the end of the year, we will have this only if it is something worth having," an EU official said.
Brussels says "significant progress" has been made in talks since a similar video summit in June, and officials hope to agree a roadmap to a deal by the end of the year -- they also want Beijing to improve market access for European companies.
"The EU must define its own interests, and must be strong and independent of both China and the United States," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the German weekly Welt am Sonntag.
Brussels wants to reinforce respect for intellectual property, to end obligations to transfer technology and to reduce subsidies for Chinese public enterprises.
- China-US tensions -
No major breakthrough is expected on Monday but the EU side hopes to persuade Xi to give fresh political impetus to the talks -- and to allow his negotiators more room to compromise.
The meeting comes as ties between China and the US deteriorate, with both sides locked in fierce recriminations over trade disputes, human rights and the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Washington and Beijing have imposed curbs on each other's diplomats, after another tit-for-tat move in July when the two governments ordered the closure of consulates in Houston and Chengdu.
Both sides have sought to enlist the EU in their spat and, during a visit to Brussels by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in June, EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell mooted talks to forge a common transatlantic front against China.
But little progress has been made on this initiative and broadly Brussels has preferred a middle path, treating Beijing as both a potential partner and a "systemic rival".
"The EU stands firm on its interests and values but also wants to cooperate with China," a senior EU official said.
- Hong Kong -
The EU will press Xi on Hong Kong, where Beijing has imposed a controversial new security law -- a move denounced by the West as an assault on the city's freedoms.
After the June summit, von der Leyen warned China would face "very negative consequences" if it pressed ahead with the law and the EU would limit exports to Hong Kong of equipment that could be used for surveillance and repression.
European concerns about Beijing's rights record are growing. During a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Berlin earlier this month, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called China out over Hong Kong and its treatment of minority Uighurs.
But the European Union is far from united on how to deal with China, with some member states urging a tougher stance on rights and the environment, and others wanting to boost trade.
But China as its own concerns.
China announced Saturday it was banning imports of pork products from Germany after the European country confirmed its first case of African swine fever.
Germany is Europe's biggest pork producer and recently saw a surge in demand from China after it suffered an outbreak of the same disease.
Meanwhile, Beijing has used its mammoth "Belt and Road" infrastructure scheme to effectively pick off investment-hungry EU member states such as Greece, Portugal and Italy.
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