Month: January 2024

Sabalenka Overpowers Zheng to Retain Australian Open Crown

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA —  Aryna Sabalenka continued to be an irrepressible force at the Australian Open as she powered to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen on Saturday to successfully defend her title and add a second Grand Slam trophy to her cabinet. The Belarusian second seed has barely put a foot wrong as she became the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park crown since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2013. “It’s been an amazing couple of weeks, and I couldn’t imagine myself lifting this trophy one…

What Hefei, China’s EV City, Says About the State of the Economy

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Ultramodern factories churn out electric cars and solar panels in Hefei, an industrial center in the heart of central China. Broad avenues link office towers and landscaped parks. Subway lines open at a brisk pace. Yet at Hefei’s market for construction materials, which fills 10 city blocks, local merchants are gloomy. Wu Junlin, a vendor of doors, has closed two of his three stores and laid off all but one of his dozen employees. “I have been doing this for 20 years — after all these years, this year is…

9 Islamist Militants Die in Philippine Clash, Army Says

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Manila, Philippines —  Nine Islamist militants including three suspects in a Catholic Mass bombing in the southern Philippines have been killed in a clash with troops, the military said Saturday. Army soldiers shot it out with about 15 Dawlah Islamiyah suspects hiding out at a mountain farm close to the remote southern municipality of Piagapo on Thursday, the commander of the military unit said. The firefight left nine of the gunmen dead and four soldiers wounded, including two who were taken to hospital with “serious” wounds, army brigade commander Brigadier-General…

China’s clean energy boom ‘an example to the entire world’, IEA analyst says

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Bahar said China was also the biggest producer of solar PV modules, manufacturing around 80 per cent of the modules worldwide. That had led to a decline in solar module prices of more than an 80 per cent over the last decade, he said. Other countries are trying to compete against China in solar manufacturing. In the last few years, the United States and European Union have sought to encourage domestic manufacturing, including by offering subsidies for green tech such as solar energy. India is also seeking to expand domestic…

Chinese villages offer cash rewards to matchmakers as anxieties grow over rural ‘bachelor crisis’

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Local governments in China are offering cash rewards and other incentives to matchmakers, an ancient profession now back in the spotlight amid anxieties over rural unmarried men. Village governments across the country, from Guangdong province in the south to Shaanxi in the northwest, have announced rewards ranging from 600 to 1,000 yuan (US$84 to US$140) for matchmakers if they introduce women to unmarried men aged 30 and above and the pair eventually marry in the village, Chinese news site The Paper reported on Saturday. Most of the incentive programmes will…

Taiwan Offers Lessons in How to Defeat Disinformation

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WASHINGTON —  The rumors about vote fraud started swirling as the ballots in Taiwan’s closely watched presidential election were tallied on January 13. There were baseless claims that people had fabricated votes and that officials had miscounted and skewed the results. In a widely shared video, a woman recording votes mistakenly enters one in the column for the wrong candidate. The message was clear: The election could not be trusted. The results were faked. It could have been Taiwan’s January 6 moment. But it wasn’t. Worries that China would use…

Is Beijing planning further diplomatic isolation for Taiwan in wake of William Lai’s win?

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Li Fei, a Taiwan studies specialist at Xiamen University, predicted that Beijing would further isolate Taiwan internationally if Lai and his independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) continued to shun the “1992 consensus”. Taiwan election: Beijing restrained in response to William Lai’s win “The key is the recognition of the 1992 consensus. If [the DPP] recognises it, then there may be some room for negotiation [between Taiwan and mainland China]. If they do not recognise it, then it’s impossible [for Beijing to allow Taiwan to have any presence internationally],” Li said.…

Beijing Steps Up Military Pressure on Taiwan After US, China Announce Talks 

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TAIPEI, Taiwan —  China sent more than 30 warplanes and a group of navy ships toward Taiwan, the island’s defense ministry said Saturday. The military pressure comes on the heels of an announcement that senior American and Chinese representatives were expected to meet in the Thai capital as the two countries seek to cool tensions. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army sent 33 aircraft, including SU-30 fighters, and six navy vessels around Taiwan, between 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. Of these, 13 warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan…

Pair Wait 17 Years for Trial in Bali Bombings, Take US Plea Deal

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WASHINGTON —  A military panel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, recommended 23 years in detention Friday for two Malaysian men in connection with deadly 2002 bombings in Bali, a spokesperson for the military commission said. However, under a previously secret provision of the plea agreement disclosed after the panel’s recommendation Friday, and a separate sentence reduction Friday by the presiding judge, both men may face a far shorter sentence: about five years. Mohammed Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep already have spent about 17 years awaiting trial at Guantanamo.…

Tuvalu’s Pro-Taiwan Leader Loses Seat in National Election

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SYDNEY —  The pro-Taiwan leader of the Pacific Islands nation of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, lost his seat in an election closely watched by Taiwan, China and the U.S., partial results showed Saturday. Tuvalu, with a population of about 11,200 spread across nine islands, is one of three remaining Pacific allies of Taiwan, after Nauru cut ties this month and switched to Beijing, which had promised more development help. Natano had pledged to continue support for Taiwan, a diplomatic ally since 1979. Another leadership contender, Seve Paeniu, has said diplomatic ties…