Day: September 14, 2023

Tech war: US Republican lawmakers urge Biden to crack down on China’s Huawei, SMIC after chip breakthrough

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The lawmakers – including the chairs of the House Foreign Affairs, Energy and Commerce, Armed Services, and select China committees – urged the Commerce Department to stop granting licences to Chinese government-controlled companies such as SMIC, and said it called for additional US pressure “and more effective export controls on our adversaries”. The letter led by Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul called on the administration “to strategically bar the import of SMIC-produced semiconductors, particularly those that pose risks to national security, into the United States”, and for the administration to…

As Chinese Tourists Return to Thailand, So Do Scams Targeting Them

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WASHINGTON —  As Chinese tourists return to Thailand after the pandemic curtailed travel, so are the scams that Thai authorities worry will taint the country’s reputation even if most of the victims and perpetrators appear to be Chinese. Deputy Police Chief Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn said at a news conference last month that 18 Chinese were charged with fraud for allegedly selling overpriced, supposedly holy, amulets to Chinese tourists visiting Khao Chi Chan temple in Chonburi province. The temple, a Buddhist landmark, is about 160 kilometers southeast of Bangkok…

A Wary China Eyes Ties With Russia, North Korea

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washington —  China, watching this week’s historic Russia-North Korea summit from the sidelines, is likely to welcome a boost for President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine but worry that its longtime client state in Pyongyang could be slipping from its grasp, experts say. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s green bulletproof train headed to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in Russia’s far Khabarovsk region, on Thursday after his rare summit with Putin a day earlier, according to Yonhap News in Seoul. In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kim is expected to meet with Russian Defense Minister…

China’s August retail sales outpace expectations while industrial production accelerates

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China’s economic recovery showed signs of picking up in August, as policymakers’ actions to shore up investor confidence have helped drive up business activities. National retail sales rose by 4.6 per cent in August, higher than 2.5 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. The results were higher than the projected rise of 3.5 per cent by Wind, a leading provider of financial information services. Industrial production climbed by 4.5 per cent in August, year on year, an acceleration from a rise of 3.7 per…

China’s space authorities say no proof aliens exist after Mexican congress shown ‘extraterrestrial corpses’

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He told the country’s first congressional hearing into UFOs that an analysis by the National Autonomous University of Mexico concluded the remains were about 1,000 years old. His claims have been greeted with widespread scepticism, including on China’s Zhihu, a platform similar to Quora. Advertisement In response to questions from the public, the CASC’s official account – which primarily shares educational content – replied: “As of now, in our space activities we have not found any conclusive evidence of the existence of aliens.” Other users on the platform expressed doubts…

Biden, Harris Visits Highlight Rising Global South, Increasingly Pragmatic Washington

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WASHINGTON —  September engagements by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in India, Vietnam and Indonesia underscored a trend in international affairs — that countries in the Global South are seeking a more multipolar world in which they can chart their own courses independent of great powers agendas. This trend is a backdrop to the Biden administration’s view of the power and purpose of American diplomacy at what it sees as a “historic inflection point” — the end of the post-Cold War era and the early days of…

US, China Lay Out Vision for New World Order Amid Human Rights Differences

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As global leaders converge in New York for the 78th U.N. General Assembly this month, the United States and China, already embroiled in a fierce contest for expanded global influence, have unveiled distinctive visions for the next era of international order. “One era is ending, a new one is beginning,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he outlined the Biden administration’s ambitious blueprint for the future on Wednesday. Blinken said the United States is building up alliances to strengthen democracies, promote human rights and enhance economic development. Lambasting…

Taiwan opposition candidate to push US for clarity on defence commitments

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The presidential candidate of Taiwan’s largest opposition party plans to push the Biden administration to clarify its commitment to defending his country when he visits the US over the coming week. “We are allied nations. We stand together,” Hou Yu-ih, of the Kuomintang, told the Financial Times in his first interview with international media since receiving the KMT’s nomination in May. “I will ask them directly, the US officials, the people from the American Institute in Taiwan [Washington’s de facto embassy] . . . what their attitude is in supporting us and how…

Hypocritical? Christening of new North Korean submarine raises eyebrows

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With supreme leader Kim Jong Un looking on, the foreign minister smashed a bottle of champagne against the hull of North Korea’s latest nuclear submarine, prompting the crowd of sailors and factory workers to erupt in thunderous cheers and applause. But the reaction to the smashed bottle among the general public was less than smashing. Many North Koreans saw the ceremony, involving Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, as puzzling and even hypocritical in a country that suppresses superstitious activities – which is how the submarine christening appeared to many. “Everyone…

Foxconn offers higher hourly rates for workers in Shenzhen at its Huawei production unit than its iPhone operation

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Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest suppliers, is offering higher rates for workers that make Huawei handsets than those that make iPhones in Shenzhen, according to recruitment posts and information from labour agencies. Foxconn’s FIH unit, which makes Huawei handsets and operates under a subsidiary previously known as Foxconn International Holdings, was offering a 26 yuan (US$3.6) hourly rate for new workers in its factory in Shenzhen’s Longhua district on Thursday, according to two recruitment agents. This is higher than the hourly rate of 21 yuan offered at Shenzhen’s integrated Digital…