Month: September 2023

How TSMC’s chip plant is shaking up a small town in Japan

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People in Kikuyo have a term to encapsulate a new era of traffic jams, skyrocketing property prices and battles for staff: “the TSMC shock”.  The small Japanese town and its economy have been radically transformed since Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company began construction of its first factory in Japan five months ago. “TSMC’s arrival was a bolt from the blue,” Takatoshi Yoshimoto, Kikuyo’s mayor, said in an interview at his office. “We instantly became famous, and it was as if Kikuyo suddenly became an adult from a baby.” Kikuyo and the…

A hidden US-China decoupling

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Receive free Inside Business updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Inside Business news every morning. One illustration of how financial ties between the US and China are breaking down comes from the recent experience of private equity’s “placement agents”. These are companies hired by buyout groups to help them raise new funds. When their salespeople try to persuade US investors to commit cash to funds that will strike deals in China, they are in some cases not only being rejected but also criticised…

India plans to extend fence along Myanmar border

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India plans to begin installing an additional 70 kilometers (44 miles) of border fencing over concerns about illegal immigrants entering Manipur state from neighboring Myanmar and an increase in arms and drugs smuggling. India and Myanmar share a 1,600-kilometer-long (1,000-mile-long) border. Manipur state, where the additional fencing will occur, accounts for 400 kilometers (250 miles) of that border, of which less than 10% is fenced, leaving the region open for arms and drug smuggling, according to Indian media.  Earlier this year, Indian authorities began installing barbed-wire fencing along Manipur’s border…

Joe Biden unveils Pacific nations aid, embassies at US-hosted summit as Solomon Islands PM sits out

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The US plans to open an embassy in Vanuatu in 2024 and stay involved in discussions regarding “our interest” in opening an embassy in Kiribati, according to a fact sheet the White House released soon after the meeting. Washington was committed to holding the next Pacific nations summit in 2025 and intended to hold “biennial political engagements thereafter”, the document said. But the opening of a US embassy in the Solomon Islands did little to ease tensions in Washington’s relations with Honiara. US ‘back in force’ in Pacific as Biden…

Philippines removes Chinese barrier at contested South China Sea shoal

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Beijing had defended its move, accusing the Philippines of worsening tensions by deploying a government boat that it said “intruded” into waters off the shoal “without permission” and tried to enter the lagoon on Friday. “The China Coast Guard took necessary measures in accordance with the law and exercised professional restraint in blocking and driving [the Philippine vessel] away,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing. Manila and Washington work together to deter China with military upgrades Hu Bo, director of Beijing-based think tank the SCS Strategic Situation…

Philippines Says It Removed Chinese Barrier That Blocked Fishing Boats

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Faced with China’s determination to exert control over a vast area of the South China Sea far from its mainland, the Philippine Coast Guard said Monday that it had taken matters into its own hands, taking down a Chinese barrier that had kept Filipino fishing boats at bay. The Coast Guard released video of a diver cutting through the ropes that kept the barriers in place at the Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both the Philippines and China. The maritime obstacles could then be seen being hoisted out of…

FirstFT: Top Nomura banker banned from leaving mainland China

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Receive free Chinese politics & policy updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Chinese politics & policy 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. A senior Nomura banker has been banned from leaving mainland China, a move connected to a long-running investigation into the country’s top tech dealmaker Bao Fan, according to people familiar with the…

As Russia, China and the US pursue hypersonic missiles, a global non-proliferation treaty is needed

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In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on hypersonic missiles. Notably, the US, China and Russia are all pursuing hypersonic missile technology that can evade enemy air defences and strike well-protected targets. At the same time, there are concerns about the effectiveness of such missiles after Ukraine said it had shot down a barrage of Russia’s Kinzhal missiles. While the Russian description of the Kinzhal as a hypersonic missile has been criticised as misleading, Sino-US rivalry has brought such weapons into the spotlight. And the pursuit of hypersonic…

Cambodia’s new prime minister lights up billboard in Times Square

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Images of Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet lit up a large digital billboard display in New York’s Times Square over the weekend as the newly appointed leader spoke at the U.N. General Assembly.  “Congratulations!” said the flashing billboard ad at the busy, iconic intersection in the center of Manhattan. Also included in the ad was an image showing Hun Manet in a business suit, with his hands folded together in the traditional Khmer sampeah greeting. Another image showed him in uniform from his days as a cadet at West Point,…

No dating at historic sites, North Korea warns young couples

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Increasingly, North Korean young people seeking a romantic rendezvous have been flocking to meticulously maintained historical sites because they are beautiful and lit up at night – appealing in a country with a dearth of parks and lots of rolling blackouts. But authorities have noticed the trend and warned them to stop what they called disrespectful behavior, threatening to punish lovebirds discovered holding hands at such sites for their “degenerate” actions, sources tell Radio Free Asia. The warning came after a recent ceremony at the birthplace of Kim Jong Suk,…