This week, the White House will host its first-ever summit with Pacific Islands leaders. The Pacific spans nearly a third of the globe and is home to 16 island nations. In geostrategic terms, the region is more important today than any time since the second world war. The summit is a direct response to China’s growing influence in a region where western strategic interests have long gone unchallenged. The significance of this development is amplified by persistent whispers that China’s navy seeks permanent access to Pacific port facilities. Yet forceful…
Day: September 27, 2022
Apple shifts some iPhone 14 production from China to India
Apple has begun making iPhone 14s in India, as it moves some production away from China for the first time against a backdrop of Chinese Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and geopolitical tensions between the US and the country’s communist government. A production line in Chennai has begun operation, assembling the iPhone 14 for the domestic Indian market. The move, which marks the first time the company has assembled iPhones outside of China in the same year they were released, is part of a plan to disentangle its manufacturing operations from the…
Meta takes down ‘influence operations’ run by China and Russia
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has said it has removed a pair of “influence operations” run by China and Russia, which aimed to sway views on the US elections and the war in Ukraine. The Russian network, the largest the company has disrupted since the war began, targeted audiences across Europe and the UK, and incorporated a “sprawling network” of websites impersonating news websites including the Guardian, according to Meta. “It presented an unusual combination of sophistication and brute force,” said Meta’s Ben Nimmo and David Agranovich in a blogpost announcing…
Meta Removes Chinese Effort to Influence U.S. Elections
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said on Tuesday that it had discovered and taken down what it described as the first targeted Chinese campaign to interfere in U.S. politics ahead of the midterm elections in November. Unlike the Russian efforts over the last two presidential elections, however, the Chinese campaign appeared limited in scope — and clumsy at times. The fake posts began appearing on Facebook and Instagram, as well as on Twitter, in November 2021, using profile pictures of men in formal attire but the names…
Typhoon Noru Aims for Vietnam After Hitting the Philippines
Typhoon Noru, a powerful storm that hit the Philippines this week, was moving west across the South China Sea toward central Vietnam on Tuesday. Noru was forecast to make landfall in or near the city of Danang, one of the largest in Vietnam, by Wednesday. Among the places in its expected path was Hoi An, an ancient trading port and UNESCO World Heritage site south of Danang. More than 800,000 people in Danang and elsewhere in central Vietnam had been evacuated as of Tuesday evening local time, The Associated Press…
Chinese regulator pushes for broadcast delay of all online concerts and shows, tightening censorship of live-streamed content
People cheer at a live concert in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province, on December 30, 2020.Streaming of live online performances, such as concerts, music festivals and operas, shall be conducted in “delayed” mode, according to a proposed regulation. Photo: EPA-EFE South China Morning Post
China growth lags Asia-Pacific for first time in decades as World Bank cuts outlook
Covid-zero policies and the housing market crisis have put China’s economic growth behind the rest of the Asia-Pacific region for the first time in more than 30 years, according to World Bank forecasts. In a biannual report released on Tuesday, the US-based institution said the annual growth outlook for East Asia and the Pacific region had been downgraded from 5% to 3.2%. However much of that decline was down to economic woes in China, which constitutes 86% of the region’s economic output. The World Bank forecast GDP growth in China…