Mystery still surrounds the latest flying objects shot down by the US over northern Alaska, Canada’s central Yukon territory and Lake Huron in Michigan in the last week. Unlike the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February, US authorities have been mostly unwilling to speculate on where the last three objects originate from – or even to characterise what they are. However, according to CBS’s veteran national security correspondent, David Martin, officials have apparently not ruled out whether at least…
Day: February 13, 2023
White House: Don’t Panic, Downed UFOs are Not Aliens
Less than a week after the U.S. downed what officials say was a Chinese surveillance balloon, the U.S. military shot down three more flying objects of unknown origin. Chinese officials say they can’t say whether the newly downed objects are theirs but say the U.S. is overreacting. As Washington searches for answers, one thing is clear: China-U.S. relations have taken a hit. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. VOA
War in Ukraine, US-China Tensions in Focus at Key Security Meet
Frankfurt, Germany — World leaders will this week attend the Munich Security Conference ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and with tensions between China and the United States rising over espionage claims. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and the NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will be among those at the three-day annual gathering. The event, beginning Friday, comes just days ahead of the February 24 anniversary of Moscow sending its forces into Ukraine, bringing war…
China-Owned Parent Company of TikTok Among Top Spenders on Internet Lobbying
washington — ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of social media platform TikTok, has dramatically upped its U.S. lobbying effort since 2020 as U.S.-China relations continue to sour and is now the fourth-largest Internet company in spending on federal lobbying as of last year, according to newly released data. Publicly available information collected by OpenSecrets, a Washington nonprofit that tracks campaign finance and lobbying data, shows that ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok, the wildly popular short video app, have spent more than $13 million on U.S. lobbying since 2020. In…
U.S.-China Tensions Rise Over Spy Programs Amid UFO Investigations
U.S. agencies are still investigating the origins of the three mysterious objects that U.S. fighter jets shot down between Friday and Sunday on the orders of Mr. Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada. Debris recovery efforts are underway at the sites in Alaska, the Yukon Territory in Canada and the Canadian side of Lake Huron, Mr. Kirby said. What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information?…
Plans for BYD’s new US$1.2 billion battery plant in Zhengzhou revealed by environmental-assessment report
Unlike Tesla and other major Chinese EV start-ups such as Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, which assemble premium EVs priced at more than 200,000 yuan, BYD’s battery-powered cars target middle-class customers in the world’s largest automotive market. BYD’s EVs are usually priced between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan. Sales of new-energy vehicles, which include pure battery EVs and plug-in hybrids, fell 6.3 per cent in January after recording blistering growth of 90 per cent in 2022, the China Passenger Car Association said. Advertisement “Although we are seeing softer demand for EVs…
US firms up Japan and South Korea security ties to counter China following balloon saga
“We will continue to counter the PRC’s destabilising activities in the South and East China seas. We will keep working for maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” Sherman’s remarks came as strained ties across the Pacific have worsened in the past two weeks over a Chinese balloon detected above American skies and the ensuing postponement of a planned trip to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken intended to “build a floor” under the fraught bilateral relationship. Advertisement As tensions simmer over the incidents, US President Joe…
Legalising births outside marriage won’t boost China’s dwindling population
Yet the hesitation among women to have children is arguably not due to legal limitations. Instead, it is part of a far broader trend: in modern China and other high-income Asian societies, young people are becoming less likely to get married and start a family. Last year, there were 11.6 million first marriages in China, which is almost 700,000 less than the year before and a long way below 2013’s peak of 23.9 million. Legalising the birth of children outside marriage is not likely to make women want to have…
Uh, Ju Ae… We have to change your name
The parents of 12-year-old Ju Ae were summoned to the local government office and confronted with a shocking order: Change your daughter’s name. Unfortunately, she shares the same given name as Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae – and in North Korea that’s now forbidden, sources in the country tell Radio Free Asia. In recent months, state media has been shining a spotlight on Kim Ju Ae as she accompanies her father at important events, fueling speculation that she could be next in line to lead the country –…
Myanmar junta revives 1977 law allowing ‘loyal’ civilians to bear arms
Myanmar’s junta has revived a 1977 law that allows civilians it deems “loyal to the state” to own firearms, a move experts worry will escalate violence by arming pro-junta groups fighting armed resistance groups opposed to military rule. The junta’s Ministry of the Interior issued the order to revive the law on Jan. 31, a day before the second anniversary of the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, according to a leaked junta document and media reports. The law allows five types of firearms without permits: 9mm pistols and revolvers, 12-gauge or…