Month: September 2023

US sounds warning to American businesses on China forced labour as shipment denials surge

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The US State Department reiterated a warning to American businesses about the risks of violating a new law that seeks to combat alleged forced labour in China, including new data showing a surge in shipments stopped at the US border. US customs officials began enforcing the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act in June last year. The legislation drew strong bipartisan support and was signed into law by US President Joe Biden in 2021. Over the following year, shipment denials steadily rose. Drawing on new findings from “both governmental and non-governmental…

Why so many sport chiefs in China have come under corruption clouds

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And Li Tie, who previously played in the English Premier League and later became China’s national team manager, was in custody, accused of taking bribes. 01:55 Teen fan rushes pitch to hug Lionel Messi during friendly match in China Teen fan rushes pitch to hug Lionel Messi during friendly match in China Other prominent names in sports administration have been entangled in China’s anti-corruption campaign, including Li Yaguang, former vice-president of the Chinese Basketball Association, Liu Aijie, former president of the Chinese Rowing Association and vice-president of the International Canoe…

FirstFT: China TV presenter linked to ex-minister had surrogate child in US

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Receive free US updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest US news every morning. This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get it sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning Good morning. We start today with the latest twist in the saga of China’s former foreign minister, Qin Gang, who mysteriously disappeared in June a month before he was ousted. A high-profile Chinese television presenter who was in a relationship…

How being ‘full-time children’ is helping China’s ‘chicken babies’ grow up

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My niece was a “ full-time daughter” long before the term existed. After graduating with a degree in electronics in June 2021, and with no job offers, she went home to live with her parents. She studied hard for the postgraduate entrance exam that year but didn’t pass. From then until late August 2022, when she found a job as a tech support assistant, her calendar was blank for the first time in her life. She helped her parents clean, cook and shop for groceries, and got a modest allowance…

Taiwanese businessman jailed over ‘Go Hong Kong!’ protest slogan

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Taiwanese businessman Lee Meng-chu, who disappeared in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in August 2019 at the height of the Hong Kong protest movement, says he was initially detained for carrying a card that read “Go Hong Kong!” – a common protest slogan at the time. Lee’s possession of the slogan, along with photos he snapped from his hotel of armed police gathering nearby, was taken as evidence that he was “a Taiwan independence activist” trying to foment a “color revolution” – a populist uprising with foreign support –…

Myanmar reshuffle of generals suggests ‘instability,’ experts say

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Myanmar’s junta has officially sacked two high-ranking generals for alleged bribery and corruption as part of a reshuffle experts said indicates growing instability and disunity within military ranks. Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun and Lt. Gen. Soe Htut, dismissed on Monday, were the seventh- and eighth-highest leaders in the State Administration Council, the governing junta. Earlier this month, authorities arrested Moe Myint Tun, said to have accepted millions of dollars in bribes from businesspeople during the past two years, but it wasn’t clear if he would be tried.  He is…

Police say Uyghur man has been serving 15-year sentence since 2017

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A young Uyghur businessman who was reportedly arrested in 2016 on vague separatist charges has been serving a 15-year prison sentence since 2017 for illegal religious activities, a police officer in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province confirmed to Radio Free Asia. Abduqahar Ebeydulla’s case was mentioned in a Agence France-Presse article that reported on police records obtained by researcher and Xinjiang region expert Adrian Zenz.  The records indicated that up to half of adult men in four Uyghur-majority villages in Yarkant County in Xinjiang were rounded up in 2017, when the…

Hanoi Faces Balancing Act With China as Vietnam-US Ties Tighten

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Washington —  The elevation of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership shows an increasing level of shared interests between the two countries. But the enhanced ties do not mean Hanoi is drifting away from Beijing, its traditional partner, analysts say. The two countries upgraded their bilateral ties when U.S. President Joe Biden met with Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi in early September. Between July 25, 2013, and September 10, 2023, the countries had characterized their relationship as a comprehensive partnership, a lower level of…

10 years on, Belt and Road goals shift with China’s ambitions

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A decade ago, amid much fanfare, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road program, a grand plan to build a global infrastructure and supply chains that would connect China to the rest of the world in a modern and many-pronged Silk Road – and hypothetically benefit everyone involved. Next month, Beijing will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, with confirmed attendance from a number of world leaders and representatives from 90 countries, state news agency Xinhua reported. What started out as a way to…

Thai PM’s Call to Regulate Weed Worries Some Cannabis Advocates

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Bangkok —  Thailand’s new prime minister has vowed to permit the use of cannabis for medical purposes only, a little more than year after his country became the first in Asia to decriminalize weed. Some advocates in Thailand warn that banning the leisure use of marijuana could be chaotic and costly, while others say it could help bring order to the rapidly expanding industry. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had this blunt response when asked about…