The Chinese Minister of Defense, Dong Jun, said in Beijing that “negotiation” and “a peaceful solution” are “the only way out” of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, reiterating that “the end of any conflict is reconciliation.”

“Each country has the right to safeguard its security as well as its interests and development, but a fair international order is needed to solve problems.

China, ready to achieve peace in Gaza and Ukraine

China is willing to build peace together with the armed forces of other countries,” Dong said when inaugurating the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, China’s largest annual military diplomacy event, with the participation of more than 90 countries and international organizations.

Dong held a meeting last night with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, who is in Beijing to attend the forum, in which the Russian said that relations between Beijing and Moscow “are of great importance for security and global and regional stability,” according to the Chinese Defense portfolio.

He also met separately with the defense ministers of Chile, Madagascar, Mauritania, Maldives, Tajikistan, Belarus and Armenia, meetings in which Dong stated that “in the face of the international and regional situation of chaos and unrest, we need to join closely, discuss global security plans and explore strategies for long-term peace and stability.”

In his speech today, Dong emphasized that China seeks to “make new and greater contributions to global security” and stressed that “only countries that make autonomous decisions will be respected by the international community.”

“No one is alien to threats such as climate change and terrorism. Countries, whether large or small, must unite and address them together on equal terms,” he said.

Thus, he called for “consensus” and “mutual respect and trust” to address global challenges since “the deeper the cooperation, the more stable the relations will be and the safer the world will be.”

First appearance of Dong

This is Dong’s first public appearance in a forum of these characteristics since he took office in 2023 replacing former Minister Li Shangfu, who was dismissed without explanation and was later expelled from the Chinese Communist Party after being accused of a crime of corruption.

The forum, which is also marked by the recent tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea and the Taiwane issue, is expected to attend the US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, Michael Chase.

A Ukrainian delegation composed of academics and former officials, including Oleksandr Chalyi, former Deputy Foreign Minister of that country, also participates in the forum.

The owner of the X platform, Elon Musk, called Australia “fascist” for proposing a law to fine social networks and digital platforms with 5% of their global income for spreading misleading or false news that causes serious damage.

“Fascist” Musk wrote on Thursday night on his X account, when sharing the news about this bill presented by the Canberra Executive to combat the serious damage caused by the distribution of misinformation and misinformation in the safety, health and well-being of Australians, as well as to the democracy, society and economy of the oceanic country.

The answer from Australia

For the assistant of the Australian Ministry of the Treasury, Stephen Jones, Musk’s comments are “crapid,” as he told the Australian public broadcaster ABC when he stressed that the bill responds to the exercise of the “sovereignty” of his country, as of any other, to keep its citizens “safe from scammers, safe from criminals.”

“I don’t understand how Elon Musk or anyone else, in the name of freedom of expression, thinks it’s okay to have social media platforms that publish content about scams (…) ultra-fake news, child pornography or live broadcast murder scenes,” he said.

“Is this what he believes freedom of expression is?” Jones said, alluding to Musk’s reaction when the Electronic Security Commissioner in Australia, Inman Grant, ordered social networks last April to remove the videos related to a stabbing of a bishop in an Assyrian church in Sydney, which the authorities described as terrorist.

X, who considered that the order was an attack on freedom of expression, only geoblocked the images in Australia, which motivated the commissioner to go to court to have the material removed worldwide, although she withdrew the lawsuit two months later on the grounds of wanting to focus on other pending trials.

Musk’s criticisms

Last night’s criticism from Musk refers to the 2024 Draft Amendment to the Communications Legislation (Fight against Misinformation and Misinformation), which was presented on Thursday to the Parliament in Canberra.

With the law, the Canberra Executive plans to give more powers to supervise and regulate the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which may impose a code of conduct, although it may not be able to withdraw individual content, among other measures.

This proposal is part of a series of initiatives that have been announced or presented to Parliament against ‘doxing’ (reveying information about a person online without their consent), online fraud, and the imposition of age limits for accessing social networks.

The former US president and Republican candidate for the White House, Donald Trump (2017-2021), proposed on Thursday to eliminate taxes on overtime to encourage employment.

“People who work overtime are among the most hardworking citizens in our country and, for too long, no one in Washington has taken care of them,” he said at a rally in Tucson (Arizona).

The New York tycoon said he had raised this proposal to some “great economists” and had received an answer that doing so would be something “incredible.”

Trump pointed out that police, nurses, factory or construction workers, as well as truck drivers, would be some of the employees who would mainly benefit from his initiative.

When the working week exceeds 40 hours per week, the excess hours will be tax-free: “It’s time for working men and women to finally get a break, and that’s what we’re doing. I think it will be excellent for the country,” he said.

This tax cut plan adds to another that has had a great media impact, that of not taxing tips in the services sector.

The former president proposed it in June in Nevada, a key and disputed state that concentrates a large number of employees who receive tips, and the vice president and Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, bet on that same idea there also in August, so the Republican campaign has crossed out the rival of plagiarism.

The White House later refused to answer if it was an idea that the Joe Biden Administration had raised at some point after his arrival in power in January 2021, and its spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, has only said that the president supports the proposal to eliminate taxes on tips.