Month: January 2024

Explorer May Have Found Wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s Plane in Pacific

Media Library

A former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer says he believes he has found the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane, which disappeared nine decades ago, on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean using sonar data from a deep-sea drone. Hoping to solve an 87-year-old mystery, explorer Tony Romeo plans to launch a mission later this year or next to find the long-lost plane, which a massive U.S. search failed to do in 1937. “She’s America’s most famous missing person, right? As long as she’s missing, there’s always going to be somebody…

S Korea labels Kim regime irrational, calls for an end to provocation

Media Library

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a fresh warning to North Korea Wednesday, as Pyongyang continued its military provocation, with missile tests potentially placing the United States and its allies within the range of its nuclear capabilities. “The North Korean regime stands alone globally in legalizing the preemptive use of nuclear weapons, marking it as an irrational entity,” Yoon said in a pan-governmental defense meeting in Seoul.  “A rational government would relinquish nuclear arms and find means for its people to thrive. However, the North Korean regime is recklessly…

China challenges the west for driverless car supremacy

Media Library

Since early 2020, Wuhan has been infamous as ground zero for the Covid-19 pandemic. But the central Chinese city might now be on the cusp of global recognition for a different reason: boasting the world’s biggest fleet of cars that drive themselves. Wuhan is emerging as a key testing centre for the fledgling technologies, critical infrastructure and regulatory landscape underpinning autonomous driving in China. The progress made by Chinese companies and regulators in Beijing poses a new challenge to the west, which is already lagging behind China in the development…

Sullivan says US and China aiming to set up Biden-Xi call ‘soon’

Media Library

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US and China were aiming to set up a call “fairly soon” between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Speaking at the UC San Diego Forum on US-China Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations, Sullivan said the November summit between the leaders in San Francisco had underscored the need for more exchanges. Sullivan was speaking after returning…

US firms in Taiwan fight geopolitical, supply-chain risks by picking local partners as investments grow: AmCham head

Media Library

“American companies may be forming strategic partnerships with Taiwanese suppliers and manufacturers to secure a stable supply of critical components,” Lin said. “Developing strong relationships with Taiwanese firms can help navigate potential disruptions in the global supply chain.” Taiwan-mainland China investment hits 22-year valley as relations sour Those disruptions, he said, have arisen from the Covid-19 pandemic and “geopolitical tensions”. Global marine shipping slowed during the pandemic, while lockdowns across much of mainland China added delays in 2022. The world’s tech supply chains have been re-routing since the US-China trade…

China’s manufacturing activity rebounds slightly in January, but remains in contraction

Media Library

China’s manufacturing PMI readings fell for five consecutive months from April last year, and despite a brief expansion in September, fell back into contraction in October. A reading higher than 50 suggests manufacturing is expanding, while a figure below 50 indicates contraction. The new numbers suggest Beijing still needs to buttress its economic recovery, even after last year’s higher-than-expected growth of 5.2 per cent. Sentiment among manufacturers has dampened amid lukewarm demand, while the property sector – an economic pillar that spans numerous industries – remains in doldrums. A protracted…

Analysts: North Korea Seeks to Dominate South Korea Through Nuclear Coercion

Media Library

WASHINGTON —  Several prominent analysts are voicing doubts about a widely cited article concluding that North Korea has decided to wage war against South Korea, suggesting that Pyongyang’s provocative military buildup is more likely intended to win control over the South through intimidation. North Korea test-fired another round of cruise missiles off its west coast on Tuesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was the third cruise missile launch since Jan. 14, when the regime tested a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile. Two days after the Jan. 14…

Hong Kong tables security law targeting ‘foreign forces’ in city

Media Library

Hong Kong on Tuesday revealed details of fresh national security legislation aimed at wiping out “undercurrents” of dissent and support for democracy among the city’s own population, as well as espionage by the CIA and British intelligence services, officials said. More than 20 years after similar legislation was stalled following mass protests, the government tabled its Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which will criminalize “treason,” “insurrection,” the theft of “state secrets,” “sabotage” and “external interference,” among other national security offenses. “While the society as a whole may appear calm and very…

Chinese activists transiting at Taipei airport say they’re seeking asylum

Media Library

Three Chinese nationals who fled to Thailand in November and arrived at Taipei’s airport on Tuesday told Radio Free Asia they fear arrest if they return to Beijing and are planning to seek assistance from the Taiwanese government to move to a third country. Tian Yongde, Wei Yani and Huang Xingxing all obtained United Nations temporary refugee cards in Bangkok after traveling there in November. All three arrived in Taiwan on a flight from Kuala Lumpur and had tickets to board another flight to Beijing.  But in an interview with…

Beware of junta’s political tricks, government-in-exile warns

Media Library

Increasingly desperate after a series of battlefield losses, Myanmar’s junta may try to trick the world into thinking it is making changes to the political system – but don’t fall for it, the foreign minister of the country’s government-in-exile said. “As the military council is suffering losses, they will do political stunts such as restructuring or reshuffling their organization,” said Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister of the National Unity Government, or NUG, made up of former civilian leaders ousted by the military in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. “It is…