Day: May 6, 2023

Japanese companies seeking US deals fear more scrutiny of China links

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Japanese companies’ ambitions to pursue more deals in the US could fall foul of intensified scrutiny of their business activities in China, trade lawyers have warned. The concerns, which lawyers said were being debated at the top of some of Japan’s biggest companies, centre on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius) — the inter-agency body that screens deals by non-US companies and that has stepped up its reviews of buyers’ links with China. The warnings come as Japanese companies explore more acquisitions in the US, following the…

Japan PM Visits Seoul to Forge Closer Ties Amid North Korea Threats

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TOKYO / SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA —  Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Seoul Sunday to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, facing a skeptical public there as the leaders seek deeper ties amid nuclear threats from North Korea and China’s increasing assertiveness. Kishida’s bilateral visit, the first by a Japanese leader to Seoul in 12 years, returns the trip Yoon made to Tokyo in March, where they sought to close a chapter on the historical disputes that have dominated Japan-South Korea relations for years. Yoon is facing criticism at…

As China builds military ties across Southeast Asia, one factor stands in the way

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China’s Global Security Initiative, launched last February, aims to maintain security, sovereignty and territorial integrity through dialogue while supporting security cooperation that centres the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and opposing nuclear war. So far, in Southeast Asia, the initiative has been supported by Brunei, Cambodia and Laos. To expand support, China has increased its military profile in Malaysia with a defence dialogue and the sale of arms, including littoral mission ships. China also held more defence dialogues with Vietnam in 2021 than the US did. And in just five…

China Approves Safety of Gene-Edited Soybean

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Beijing —  China has approved the safety of a gene-edited soybean, its first approval of the technology in a crop, as the country increasingly looks to science to boost food production. The soybean, developed by privately owned Shandong Shunfeng Biotechnology Co. Ltd., has two modified genes, significantly raising the level of healthy fat oleic acid in the plant. The safety certificate has been approved for five years from April 21, according to a document published last week by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Unlike genetic modification, which introduces…

China Asks Afghanistan’s Taliban to Address Terrorism Worries

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Islamabad, Pakistan   —  Pakistan on Saturday hosted top diplomats from neighboring China and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan for a trilateral dialogue that seeks to promote regional security, trade, transit, and counterterrorism collaboration. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who faces United Nations travel restrictions, was granted a waiver to attend the meeting in Islamabad. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, led their respective delegations at the fifth round of the trilateral framework. The participants held “productive discussions on political engagement, counterterrorism, trade, and connectivity,” said the…

For China’s ‘young refuseniks,’ finding love comes at too high a price

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Linghu Changbing will be 23 this year. Even before the pandemic hit China, he was already starting to feel that the traditional goals of marriage, a mortgage and kids were beyond his reach.  “I had no time to find a girlfriend back in China, because I was working from eight in the morning to 10 at night, sometimes even till 11.00 p.m. or midnight, with very little time off,” said Linghu,  who joined the “run” movement of people leaving China in 2022. “I didn’t earn very much, so I couldn’t…

Rohingya: Will Not Go Home to Myanmar to Be Stuck in Camps

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Dhaka —  Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said Saturday they would not return to Myanmar to “be confined in camps” after making their first return visit as part of efforts to encourage their voluntary repatriation. Nearly a million Rohingya Muslims live in squalid camps in the Bangladeshi border district of Cox’s Bazar. Most have been there since fleeing a military-led crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017 and had not returned until now, although Bangladeshi officials have made several trips to Myanmar as they seek to repatriate the refugees. Twenty Rohingya Muslim…

Chinese Foreign Minister Tells Pakistan It Must Overcome Political Instability

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Islamabad, Pakistan —  Expressing concern about Pakistan’s increasing instability, the visiting Chinese foreign minister told the host nation to overcome political differences to pave the way for economic progress. China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, was in Pakistan on Saturday for the fourth Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue held in Islamabad. It was Qin’s maiden visit to the country since becoming Beijing’s top diplomat. “We sincerely hope the political forces in Pakistan will build consensus, uphold stability and more effectively address domestic and external challenges so it can focus on growing…

Could Taiwan’s ‘white’ knight Ko Wen-je smash through the island’s blue-green split?

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He has steadily polled at around 20 per cent in various local opinion polls and is popular among young voters. “Ko most likely will become the biggest variable in the 2024 presidential election,” said Wang Shih-chien, a Taipei city councillor from the DPP and constant critic of Ko’s during his eight-year term as mayor. 03:10 US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, despite Beijing’s warnings “He is a frightening force because he is capable of catching the attention of others,” Wang said, referring to the former mayor’s…

Former Taiwan President’s China Visit Highlights ‘One China’ Issue

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TAIPEI —  In late March, Taiwan’s former president, Ma Ying-jeou, made a historic trip to China, becoming the first former or serving Taiwan leader to visit the mainland since 1949. Ma, who served from 2008-16, said he wished to visit his ancestral homeland in Hunan province and several Chinese cities. The photo ops were many, but most attention was paid to his remarks on Taiwan’s and China’s unique relationship and how they are both part of “one China.” Not so long ago, his comments might have had little traction. Taiwan…