File photo: A man walks past a logo during the presentation the Huawei's new smartphone, the Ascend P7, launched by China's Huawei Technologies in Paris
Australia has banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network, citing risks of foreign interference and hacking which Beijing dismissed as an "excuse" to tilt the playing field against a Chinese firm.
The move, following advice from security agencies, signals a hardening of Australia's stance toward its biggest trading partner as relations have soured over Canberra's allegations of Chinese meddling in Australian politics.
It also brings Australia in line with the United States, which has restricted Huawei and compatriot ZTE Corp from its lucrative market for similar reasons.
The government said in an emailed statement on Thursday that national security regulations typically applied to telecom carriers would now be extended to equipment suppliers.
Firms "who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government" would leave the nation's network vulnerable to unauthorised access or interference, and presented a security risk, the statement said.
It did not name the Chinese firm specifically, but an Australian government official said the order was aimed at Huawei and precluded its involvement in the network.
Huawei's Australian arm, which strenuously denies it is controlled by Beijing, said on Twitter on Thursday that the action was an "extremely disappointing result for consumers".
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China expressed "serious concern", adding that Australia should not "use various excuses to artificially erect barriers".
"We urge the Australian government to abandon ideological prejudices and provide a fair competitive environment for Chinese companies' operations in Australia," Lu said at a daily news briefing.
Chinese law requires organisations and citizens to support, assist and cooperate with intelligence work, which analysts say can make Huawei's equipment a conduit for espionage.
"That's what you get when you have the aligned strategy of a Chinese company with the Chinese government," said John Watters, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Strategy Officer of cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc.
"(Australia) basically made a decision to spend more money to have more control over their national communication system, because they're up against a competitor that will sacrifice near-term margin for long-term intelligence advantage," he said.
Australia had previously banned Huawei, the world's largest maker of telecommunications network gear, from providing equipment for its fibre-optic network and moved to block it from laying submarine cables in the Pacific.
But Huawei's exclusion from the mobile network comes at a time of particularly strained relations between Australia and China, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had two weeks ago sought to reset with a conciliatory speech.
"It is ... out of step with this attempt to reset the relationship," said James Leibold, Associate Professor of Politics and Asian Studies at La Trobe University.
"They're not going to forget Turnbull's earlier strident language anytime soon," he said.
Turnbull's tenure as prime minister appeared doomed on Thursday as his ruling party struggled with an internecine leadership battle which saw ministers desert Turnbull and call for a leadership vote.
U.S. and Chinese officials are set to resume contentious trade talks on Wednesday under the cloud of a prediction by U.S. President Donald Trump that there would be no real progress.The discussions among mid-level officials could set a framework for further negotiations as each country prepares to hit the other with new tariffs on Thursday in a deepening dispute over China's economic policies.Trump has threatened to impose duties on virtually all of the more than $500 billion of Chinese goods exported to the United States unless it meets his demands.The two days of meetings are the first formal U.S.-China trade talks since U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met Chinese economic adviser Liu He in Beijing in June.After negotiations in May, Beijing believed it had assurances from the U.S. that tariffs were off the table. But less than 10 days later, the White House said it would push forward on punitive measures.China has said it hopes for quiet, steady talks to get "a good result on the basis of equality, parity and trust."But Trump told Reuters on Monday that he did not "anticipate much". In an interview, he said resolving the trade dispute will "take time because China's done too well for too long, and they've become spoiled."Trump also accused China of manipulating its yuan currency to make up for the effect of tariffs, while arguing the U.S. central bank should be more accommodating.On Tuesday, however, Trump administration officials were largely silent about the latest round of talks. Spokespersons for the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative's office and the U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to queries about the Treasury-led meetings.China expands internment camps targeting Uighurs"These are working-level discussions with representatives from across the administration," a White House official told Reuters. The official declined further comment but pointed out Trump's own pessimistic comments in the Reuters interview."This is to some extent a temperature-taking exercise," said Scott Kennedy, director of China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Expectations are probably low on both sides."Previous talks were held by cabinet-level ministers, including Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce's Ross.China's Xi says military must resist 'corrosion' of corruptionThe talks on Wednesday and Thursday will led by lower-level officials, Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass and Chinese Commerce Vice Minister Wang Shouwen. Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish is also expected to participate."The vice minister from Mofcom is not going to be authorized to make some great offer, but if the Chinese say one interesting thing, maybe you set up a second meeting and the level goes up a step," said Derek Scissors, a China scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank."But I'd say there's an 80-90 percent chance they are a total waste of time, and that's why no one in the administration is talking about this," he added.Ultimately Trump will need to personally be involved in settling the dispute with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Scissors said.China reiterates support for Turkey's economyLengthy DemandsTrump's administration is pressing China to make sweeping economic policy changes to better protect U.S. intellectual property, end its industrial subsidy efforts and open its markets to foreign competition.In May, U.S. officials presented China with a lengthy list of demands that also included reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China by $200 billion annually. It is unclear whether that list has been revised for the latest round.Beijing denies U.S. allegations that it systematically forces the unfair transfer of U.S. technology and insists that it adheres to World Trade Organization rules.China complains about Pentagon report, says it is 'pure guesswork'The discussions this week were expected to do little to stop the scheduled activation of 25 percent U.S. tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT), along with immediate retaliatory tariffs expected from China on $16 billion of U.S. goods.But this could soon trigger Trump's unveiling of a second $200 billion to $300 billion list of Chinese goods to be targeted with U.S. tariffs.On June 16, when Trump first threatened to dramatically escalate his tariffs with an initial $200 billion list of Chinese goods, he said would hit China with tariffs on another $200 billion in goods if Beijing retaliated a second time.Erin Ennis, senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said it was probably good for the two sides to start with lower level officials who could "get into the weeds" on the IP protection problems that U.S. companies are facing in China."It's good that they're talking because not talking isn’t solving the issues and is only leading to more tariffs," she said.
US, China to resume trade talks in Washington amid low expectations
China is supporting Turkey's efforts for national security, stability and economy, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said after speaking with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the phone on Saturday.The duo exchanged ideas during the phone call; Wang said China supports efforts to boost China-Turkey Strategic Cooperation, according to a written statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.Wang said the Turks led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will overcome their temporary difficulties, adding that China believes Turkey will develop in a stable way.He added that China remains ready to protect developing countries and the legitimate rights of rising economies.Cavusoglu said Turkey is ready to strengthen its strategic dialogue with China, read the statement."We are expecting to deepen cooperation based on mutual interests with China. We will join the 'One Belt One Road' initiative more actively," the Chinese ministry cited the Turkish foreign minister as saying.The One Belt One Road initiative -- which brings together China, 11 EU member states and five Balkan states -- has been part of Beijing’s ambitious trade plan; it is also referred to as the New Silk Road.China has significantly increased its investments in the region since it introduced the One Belt One Road initiative in 2013, which involves grand infrastructure projects to connect Eurasian countries with China.
China reiterates support for Turkey's economy
China's Defence Ministry has lodged a complaint with the United States about a Pentagon report that said China's military was likely training for strikes against the United States and its allies, saying it was "pure guesswork".The assessment, at a time of heightened U.S.-China tensions over trade, was contained in an annual report that highlighted China's efforts to increase its global influence, with defence spending that the Pentagon estimated exceeded $190 billion in 2017.China's Defence Ministry said in a statement late on Friday that the Pentagon report misrepresented China's strategic intentions and exaggerated the "so-called China military threat."Chinese President Xi to visit North Korea next month"China's military expresses resolute opposition to this and has lodged stern representations with the U.S. side," it said.China is on the path of peaceful development and pursues a defensive national strategy, and has always been a contributor to world peace and protector of the global order, the ministry said."The Chinese military's strengthening of modernisation is to protect the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as global peace, stability and prosperity," it said.Chinese tech tariffs may cost US consumers $3.2 billion"The Chinese military's reform, weapons development and defensive capabilities in the internet space are just and reasonable. The criticism in the U.S. report is pure guesswork."The Pentagon report said that while the People's Liberation Army had continued to extend operations, it was not clear what message Beijing was looking to send by carrying out bomber flights "beyond a demonstration of improved capabilities."This year, China's air force landed bombers on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of a training exercise in the disputed region.Duterte slams US warning over Russian military dealsIn January the Pentagon put countering Beijing, along with Russia, at the centre of a new national defence strategy.China's Defence Ministry said the "peaceful construction work" in the South China Sea was its right as a sovereign country, and it criticised the United States for its freedom of navigation operations there.It said the report by the United States harms mutual trust between the two countries, the ministry said."We demand the U.S. side abandons Cold War thinking, objectively and rationally views China's defence and military construction, stops issuing the relevant reports, and takes actual steps to promote and protect the stable development of military-to-military relations," it said.While Washington and Beijing maintain a military-to-military relationship aimed at containing tensions, this has been tested in recent months, notably in May when the Pentagon withdrew an invitation to China to join a multinational naval exercise.In June, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis became the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014. 
China complains about Pentagon report, says it is 'pure guesswork'
A proposal by two Chinese researchers to force couples with fewer than two children to pay into a "procreation fund" backfired on Friday, with critics calling it a "thoughtless" and "absurd" way to battle the problem of an ageing population.Since 2016, China has allowed urban couples to have two children, replacing a decades-old one-child policy blamed for falling birth rates and a greying society, but the changes have not ushered in the hoped-for baby boom.Births in mainland China fell by 3.5 percent last year due to fewer women of fertile age and the growing number of people delaying marriage and pregnancy.But the suggestion of a fund to subsidise large families, out of annual contributions from people younger than 40 who have fewer than two children, or none, was widely panned."I'm really upset by its stupidity," 21-year-old Ranny Lou responded to the suggestion of the procreation fund after it went viral on social media."Shall we hoard condoms and contraceptive pills now to profit when the government imposes curbs on purchasing these things in the future?"Two researchers at a state-backed institute suggested the fund, as they looked for ways to counter the "precipitous fall" they anticipate in the birth rate in the next two to three years.Until withdrawn on retirement of the contributor, or on the birth of a second child, the contributions will subsidise other families with more babies."The consequences of this trend of couples having fewer children will be very serious," the researchers from the Yangtze River Industrial Economic Research Institute wrote.State television took aim at the researchers' proposal, published on Tuesday in the Xinhua Daily newspaper of the Communist Party in Jiangsu province, calling it "absurd" and "unbelievable"."We can encourage people to have more babies through propaganda and policy incentives, but we can't punish families which opt to be childless or have fewer children in the name of creating a 'procreation fund'," CCTV said on its website on Friday.Policymakers must offer tax cuts, incentives and greater public spending to allay young people's concerns about the high cost of child rearing, CCTV added.Authorities in some regions and cities have in recent months rolled out longer maternity leave and more subsidies for mothers bearing a second child.But some critics worry the improved benefits will worsen deep-rooted discrimination against women at work as companies frown at rising costs. 
China think tank slammed for "procreation fund" idea