Month: April 2023

Tech war: China’s chip trade group warns of ‘resolute countermeasures’ over Japan’s semiconductor export controls

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The statements came after Japan said in March that it would require several Japanese companies, including leading semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron, to apply for licences to ship 23 types of cutting-edge chip-making tools. The expanded rules are set to go into effect in July, subject to public comment. Advertisement The US, Japan and the Netherlands reportedly reached an agreement in January to curb the export of certain advanced chip-making equipment to China, a move that would hinder Beijing’s ambitions to shore up domestic semiconductor manufacturing. After the news…

Chinese envoy warns Japan over Taiwan ‘red line’ and links Japanese man’s detention to spying

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“It is illogical and harmful to connect a matter that is purely China’s internal affairs to Japanese security,” he said, according to an official readout on the embassy’s website. “If Japan is tied to secessionist forces that seek to split China, the Japanese people will be dragged into the fire.” Advertisement Noting concerns and “misunderstanding among some Japanese friends” about Beijing’s refusal to renounce the use of force on Taiwan, Wu described the stance as “a fundamental deterrent” to repeated, “salami-slicing” provocations by the island’s secessionist forces and their foreign…

Why China is Trying to Mediate in Russia’s War With Ukraine

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Wednesday that Beijing will send an envoy to Ukraine to discuss a possible “political settlement” to Russia’s war with the country. Beijing has previously avoided involvement in conflicts between other countries but appears to be trying to assert itself as a global diplomatic force after arranging talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March that led them to restore diplomatic relations after a seven-year break. Xi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that a Chinese envoy, a former Chinese ambassador to Russia,…

China’s Mars rover finds signs of recent water in sand dunes

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Before Zhurong fell silent, it observed salt-rich dunes with cracks and crusts, which researchers said were possibly mixed with melting morning frost or snow as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago. Their estimated date range for when the cracks and other dune features formed in Mars’ Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere, was sometime after 1.4 million to 400,000 years ago or even younger. Advertisement Conditions during that period were similar to those present now on Mars, with rivers and lakes dried up and no…

Experts: Declaration May Not Ease SKorea’s Concern Over US Nuclear Commitment

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WASHINGTON —  An unprecedented bilateral nuclear declaration that Washington and Seoul just announced may not be enough to assuage South Koreans’ worries about a U.S. pledge to protect them from North Korea’s nuclear attacks as it was designed to do, according to experts. U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol presented the Washington Declaration on Wednesday at a post-summit news conference. With it, the U.S. agreed to “make every effort to consult with the ROK on any possible nuclear weapons employment on the Korean Peninsula” and…

Japan Ocean Policy Vows Tougher Security Amid China Threat

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tokyo —  Japan adopted a new five-year ocean policy on Friday that calls for stronger maritime security, including bolstering its coast guard’s capability and cooperation with the military as China grows increasingly assertive in regional seas. The new Basic Plan on Ocean Policy adopted by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet also says Japan must accelerate the development of autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated robots to strengthen its surveillance capability. It cited a list of threats: Chinese coast guard ships’ repeated intrusions into Japanese territorial waters, growing unauthorized maritime activity…

‘Publishing these books is a risk’: Taiwan’s booksellers stand up for democracy

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In a bookstore near one of Taipei’s leading universities, Zeng Da-fu and his wife work quietly into the evening. Zeng has run this store for decades, tucked in a laneway behind a wall of crumbling posters. They sell books on history and politics and Chinese translations of foreign texts, mainly to students but also once to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, Zeng notes proudly. His work is crucial to the defence of Taiwan’s democracy, he says. This week that battle came close to home. Zeng, 75, is also a big investor…

US Negotiator Says US Lags Behind Chinese Diplomatic Efforts in Pacific

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washington —  The United States needs to speed up its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific island region in the face of Chinese competition, a U.S. diplomat said Friday, adding that he was sure President Joe Biden would be warmly welcomed there if he decided to visit. Joseph Yun, a special presidential envoy who leads efforts to renegotiate U.S. agreements with three Pacific island states, was asked at a U.S. think tank about reports that Biden would make a brief stop in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on May 22 and the…

US risks losing Pacific islands to China’s influence if it does not speed up outreach: Biden adviser

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“This geo-strategy is a huge factor [in] why so-called compact states are very, very important to us, especially in our Indo-Pacific strategy,” he said, referring to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, each of which receives US economic and defence aid. Yun’s comments came as Washington and Beijing vie for influence among the island nations in trade, investment, security and diplomacy. Advertisement Three decades after closing its old embassy in the Solomons, the US in February opened a new one to counter China’s clout. That same month, Beijing named a…

Chinese visits to Myanmar sow influence, but may hinder interests

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A slew of recent visits by top Chinese officials to Myanmar appears to be part of a bid by Beijing to counter U.S. influence on the nation, but rebel leaders warned that propping up the junta is a miscalculation, as there will be no stability while it remains in power. In the nearly 27 months since the military carried out a coup d’etat, China has been Myanmar’s staunchest ally. While most Western nations shunned junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in the aftermath of the takeover and a violent…