Day: August 24, 2023

India’s Modi, China’s Xi Agree on Efforts to De-Escalate Border Tensions

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NEW DELHI —  India’s prime minister and China’s leader agreed Thursday to intensify efforts to de-escalate tensions at the disputed border between them and bring home thousands of their troops deployed there, according to an official from India’s foreign ministry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of a Johannesburg summit where the BRICS bloc of developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — invited six other countries to join the group, including Saudi Arabia and Iran. India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan…

Fukushima: China accused of hypocrisy over its own release of wastewater from nuclear plants

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As China bans all seafood from Japan after the discharge of 1m tonnes of radioactive water from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, Beijing has been accused of hypocrisy and of using the incident to whip up anti-Japanese sentiment. Scientists have pointed out that China’s own nuclear power plants release wastewater with higher levels of tritium than that found in Fukushima’s discharge, and that the levels are all within the boundaries of levels not considered to be harmful to human health. On Thursday, Tokyo Electric…

Xi Jinping pledges more help to Africa in both industrial and agriculture sectors

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In November, China will host the second forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Agriculture on the Chinese island province of Hainan. Advertisement To tackle the food crisis in some African countries, especially in the Horn of Africa, China will provide additional food emergency assistance. “China has confidence that Africa will attain food self-sufficiency through its own efforts,” Xi said. The remarks reflect a shift from the past decade, when China pumped billions of dollars through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into mega projects like as ports, railways, highways and power…

Taiwan’s semiconductor sector faces offshore production dilemma as island struggles for water, power, people

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“If that continues, Taiwan’s chip ecosystem remains central to the world’s commercial needs. “There are some challenges, however, that relate more to public policy. Water and land issues impacting new investment are real and need to be managed in a way that prioritises the needs of the economy.” Advertisement After its chip sector took off in the 1980s, making Taiwan a magnet for customers including Apple and Qualcomm, it supplies around 60 per cent of the world’s semiconductors. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s plant in Phoenix. Photo: Matt Haldane But US…

Quantum mechanics: the yin and yang of photon entanglement

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The yin-yang symbol represents opposite but connected forces and is known in China as “taijitu”, a concept that dates back to the Song dynasty (960–1279). “It’s not the first image of quantum entanglement but this is eye-attracting research,” said Yin Zhangqi, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology’s school of physics. Advertisement He said the taijitu pattern in this paper could not be “taken for granted”, saying the resulting image could have something to do with the light beam used by the researchers. Yin said that taijitu had appeared…

Trafficked Lao teen says new rules include beatings if caught texting

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Dozens of Lao teens trapped in a Myanmar scam compound since last year are seeing even their scant lines of communication narrowing following grave new threats from their captors.  The mother of one of the trafficked teens told RFA that her daughter’s last message said anyone caught using a cellphone would be beaten 50 times with an iron bar and tied to a tree during working hours for five days.  Parents of the teenagers, who were trafficked to a Chinese-owned casino in Myanmar and forced to participate in cyber scams,…

BRICS Welcomes 6 New Members in Push to Reshuffle World Order

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Johannesburg —  The BRICS bloc of developing nations agreed on Thursday to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated. In deciding in favor of an expansion, the bloc’s first in 13 years, BRICS leaders left the door open to future enlargement as dozens more countries voiced interest in joining a grouping they hope can level the global playing field. The expansion adds economic heft to BRICS, whose current…

Landmark Beijing Mosque Gives Way to ‘Sinicization’ Program 

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hong kong —  Beijing’s Doudian Mosque, the largest Islamic house of worship in northern China, is the latest architectural landmark to be transfigured under Beijing’s Sinicization program aimed at downgrading or eliminating foreign religious influences from the country. According to Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily, the original Arabic-style dome of the mosque was replaced by five Chinese-style white round spires during a major renovation completed in April. Two moonlit minarets to the north and south of the worship hall were also demolished. Various slogans can now be seen throughout the…

Hun Manet aims to turn Cambodia into upper middle-income country by 2030

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Prime Minister Hun Manet said he wants to turn Cambodia into an upper middle-income country by 2030 – and a high-income country by 2050 – in an hour-long speech to ministers at his first cabinet meeting on Thursday. Hun Manet, the eldest son of longtime leader Hun Sen, took over as prime minister earlier this week after the newly sworn-in National Assembly gave its official approval. “The core of the strategy is to focus on governance and modernize state institutions to become modern public administration,” the 45-year-old said during the…

Major Muslim group buys into China’s narrative of happy Uyghurs in a stable Xinjiang

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Seeking to promote its rosy narrative about the peace and prosperity enjoyed by majority-Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western region of Xinjiang, China earlier this month invited delegates from the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation to visit and observe. The propaganda junket – aimed at blunting international criticism of Beijing’s repression that the United States and some Western parliaments have described as genocide and crimes against humanity – seems to have worked. The delegation traveled to Urumqi, Kashgar, Changi and the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, where they saw an exhibit on…