Myanmar has extradited 10 people, including notorious warlords, to China, where they are wanted for their alleged role in running abusive online and telephone fraud centres in which tens of thousands of foreign nationals are trapped and forced to run scams. The centres – which target people in China as well as in other countries – have flourished since the Covid-19 pandemic and China says about 44,000 people have been involved, including victims of human trafficking. The Chinese embassy in Myanmar on Tuesday named six of the people who had…
Month: January 2024
Thai Court Orders Election Winners to Abandon Plan to Change Royal Insults Law
BANGKOK — A Thai court on Wednesday ruled that the biggest party in parliament had violated the constitution with its plans to change a law against insulting the monarchy, saying the campaign was a hidden effort to undermine the powerful crown. In a verdict that will set a precedent for future reviews of one of the world’s strictest lese majeste laws, the Constitutional Court ordered the Move Forward Party to cease a campaign it called damaging to the monarchy, an institution it said was central to Thai identity and national…
China’s top fabless chip firms estimate big 2023 losses despite push for greater self-sufficiency in semiconductors
China’s leading chip companies, from Loongson Technology to Cambricon Technologies, expect to log huge losses for 2023 in spite of Beijing’s push for greater self-sufficiency in semiconductors, according to corporate filings. Loongson Technology, a fabless chip firm that is a firm advocate for domestic semiconductor development, is estimating a full-year loss of 310 million yuan (US$43.36 million) against a 51.8 million yuan profit in 2022. It also expects 2023 revenue to come in at about 508 million yuan, down 31 per cent year-on-year, according to an earnings release on Tuesday.…
China Ties Work to Bukele’s Advantage in El Salvador’s Upcoming Election
El Salvador is concluding its presidential election this weekend. The outcome is almost certain: Nayib Bukele, the current president, who has in the past five years successfully utilized Chinese investments and donations to build his own image of competency, is expected to win. He has gathered massive local popularity, evidenced by a close to 81 percent approval rate in January 2024 according to a survey by José Simeón Cañas University. In his first term as president, Bukele has used his party’s majority in the National Assembly to lead a removal…
Thai Court Says Progressive Party Violated Constitution in Promise to Reform Monarchy Insult Laws
Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that the country’s most popular political party violated the constitution with its pledge to amend the nation’s strict lese majeste laws. The progressive Move Forward Party won a surprising parliamentary majority in last year’s elections, in large part on a promise to change the law that makes insulting the monarchy a crime. But the court said the pledge amounted to an attempt by Move Forward to overthrow the monarchy, and ordered the party to end all efforts to either amend or abolish the law. Observers…
Taiwan Holds Military Drills to Defend Against Threat of Chinese Invasion
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Almost every day, Chinese warships sail in waters around Taiwan and warplanes fly toward the island before turning back. What if they suddenly attacked? Taiwan’s military conducted a two-day exercise at sea, on land and in the air this week to practice defending against such a surprise attack. As journalists looked on from fast escort boats, a mine layer released at least a half dozen dummy mines from a chute in its stern. Maj. Gen. Sun Li-fang, the chief defense ministry spokesperson, told reporters at Zuoying Naval…
Three Years after Coup, Myanmar Junta Chief under Unprecedented Pressure
In mid-January, at a small gathering in a cantonment town in Myanmar, hard line pro-military monk Pauk Kotaw suggested that the country’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing step down and his deputy take over. The crowd cheered in agreement, according to videos of the event posted on social media. Online, pro-military journalists and bloggers have been similarly direct. “He should resign as commander-in-chief,” Ko Maung Maung, a pro-military Youtuber said in a post. Such public utterances against Myanmar’s powerful junta leader and the chief of its armed forces would have…
Chinese archeologists have dug up fresh clues about early humans – and stunning new insights
As the waters began to recede from a flash flood on a river in southwestern China in 2021, few could have predicted how such a rare weather event would illuminate the region’s distant past – and the lives of some of its earliest palaeolithic human inhabitants. The Mengxi River site in Sichuan province has since revealed clues about how people lived 50,000 to 70,000 years ago, a key moment in the study of the origin and spread of modern humans. It seems the ancient riverside hunting settlement was a thriving…
Myanmar Extends State of Emergency for Six Months
Yangon, Myanmar — Myanmar’s ruling military junta Wednesday extended by six months a state of emergency that was about to expire. The move comes ahead of the three-year anniverary of the coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The military overthrew the government of de facto leader Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party won parliamentary elections in a landslide. The military cited unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud as its reason for toppling the civilian…
Iran-backed Iraqi militia says it has suspended attacks on US forces
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. An Iraqi militia said it has suspended its operations against US troops in the region, days after three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a base in Jordan that Washington blamed on “radical Iran-backed militant groups”. “We announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government,” said the secretary-general of Kataeb Hizbollah, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi.…