Month: January 2024

Trump test could prove toughest challenge for Taiwan’s next president William Lai

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Trump 2024 campaign more disciplined than earlier White House runs Observers said that if Trump returned to the White House, his approach may be very different compared with his first term, where he remained on good terms with Tsai’s government. “The times and US-[China] relations have all changed from the period of 2016-2020,” said Alexander Huang, a professor of international relations and strategic studies at Tamkang University in New Taipei City. However, he did not alter the long-term US policy, which does not officially recognise the island as independent but…

A Former Portuguese Macao Colony Strives to Holds Onto Its Unique Culture

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Known as “the Las Vegas of Asia,” Macao — with its glitzy casinos and huge gaming industry — also has become home to a unique ethnic group — the Macanese. Twenty-five years after the former Portuguese colony’s handover to China, however, there is worry among some Macanese that a part of Macao’s unique identity is fading away. Reporter Cindy Sui explains why from Macao Voice of America

Biden, Xi Set for Spring Call; Blinken to Visit Beijing

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washington —  U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to have a phone call in the spring, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken is slated to make another trip to Beijing this year as the two nations pursue additional high-level diplomacy to manage competition in the bilateral relationship. On Saturday, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded their more than 12 hours of talks during a two-day meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. A senior U.S. administration official said “the quiet low-profile…

Did Chinese explorers land on Australia’s shores almost 200 years before Europeans?

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After comparing the KWQ with four major European maps of the 16th century, Wang concluded that the KWQ was not a map of European origin, but rather sourced from Chinese maps drawn by Ming dynasty (1368-1644) explorers – the massive “Treasure Fleet” led by admiral Zheng He. “Although the extent of his expeditions is still under debate, most scholars agree that his mariners reached Africa during their fifth to seventh voyages,” Wang wrote. Wang’s analysis led her to conclude that Chinese explorers had reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus. Academic…

US urges China to help deter Iran-backed Houthis in back-channel meeting

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has urged Beijing to use its leverage with Tehran to rein in Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea in a back-channel meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. A senior US official said Sullivan had raised the issue with Wang during two days of discussions in Bangkok, Thailand. The official said China had “substantial leverage” with Iran and that Beijing said…

US urges China to push Iran to pressure Houthis over Red Sea attacks

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U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has asked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to use Beijing’s influence on Iran to push it to stop the Houthis in Yemen from attacking Red Sea trade routes. The appeal came during two days of meetings in Bangkok between the pair, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity according to rules set by the White House. Over 12 hours, the pair also discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Myanmar’s civil war, North Korea, Israel’s war with Hamas, the South…

US and China to hold counter-narcotics talks after back-channel Thai meeting

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The US and China will hold counter-narcotics talks in Beijing next week, after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met in Bangkok in an effort to further stabilise relations. The White House said Sullivan and Wang welcomed progress on efforts to counter the narcotics trade as both sides prepared to hold the first meeting of a working group established when President Joe Biden held…

China and US ‘step in the right direction’ with top-level talks in Thailand

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It is also the latest in a flurry of high-level exchanges, including the resumption of top-level military communication last month and the US visit early this month by Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party’s International Liaison Department. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang urged Washington to “learn lessons” from the 45 years of bilateral ties. “[We should] treat each other as equals instead of being condescending, seek common ground while reserving differences instead of highlighting differences, respect each other’s core interests instead of harming each other’s core interests,…

Film highlights Taiwan’s frontier island where past, future mingle

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S. Leo Chiang, whose short documentary “The Island Between” has just been nominated for an Oscar, grew up under the Kuomintang government of Taiwan, singing patriotic songs about how the Republic of China would one day join forces with the United States and run the evil communists out of mainland China. Three decades later, revisiting the frontier island of Kinmen, just two miles across the sea from the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, he is more conflicted and pensive amid ongoing tensions – often military in expression – across the…

As Philippines plans to upgrade South China Sea outposts, Beijing weighs options

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Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner last week announced a plan to upgrade all nine territorial features Manila occupies in the region – mostly islands, shoals and reefs – by installing desalination machines and communications equipment and making other improvements for troops deployed there. The military also plans to install desalination machines on the BRP Sierra Madre, an ageing warship that was deliberately grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert Manila’s territorial claims. Brawner noted that the ship would not be fortified as part of the development plan.…