Day: February 2, 2024

‘Uninvestable’: China’s $2tn stock rout leaves investors scarred

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese authorities’ promise of “forceful” measures last week was their most vocal attempt yet to halt a stock market sell-off that has wiped out almost $2tn in value. For many investors at a Goldman Sachs conference in Hong Kong, that vow was too little, too late. More than 40 per cent of those surveyed while attending a session on Chinese equities held by the US bank on Wednesday said they…

China plays peacemaker in Myanmar, but high expectations, ‘trust issues’ and belt and road projects thwart progress

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Beijing is likely to continue using its influence to seek a permanent ceasefire as it views stability as a priority, but the divergent interests of the parties could complicate these efforts, analysts said. China brokers Myanmar truce, calls for ‘maximum restraint’ from junta, rebels Zhou Shixin, a Southeast Asia specialist at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the fact that China had been able to broker a ceasefire during talks in Yunnan last month indicated the warring sides were willing to talk, but the truces were short-lived and fragile…

Uyghur Group Withdraws From Canada’s Election Interference Commission

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Vancouver, Canada —  A group from Canada’s Uyghur community has withdrawn from a commission investigating allegations that China and other countries are interfering in the country’s elections. As the first round of hearings wrapped up on Friday, the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project announced that it was pulling out of the commission. The group says it withdrew because of its concern that two politicians with alleged sympathies to China have been given full status in the review body. The organization, also known as URAP, identifies them as independent Member of Parliament…

Uyghur News Recap: January 26 – February 2, 2024

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washington —  US Lawmaker Sounds Alarm on Uyghur Forced Labor Act Loopholes In a recent session at the International Religious Freedom Summit, Republican Representative Chris Smith raised concerns about the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, highlighting loopholes that may enable forced labor. The act assumes goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region involve forced labor unless proved otherwise. However, Smith pointed out flaws in the law allowing shipments under $800 to evade scrutiny, potentially enabling companies to import goods without proper verification. China Tightens Grip on Religious Practices in Xinjiang…

Chinese Navy Escorting Commercial Cargo Ships in Red Sea

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China’s navy has started escorting Chinese cargo ships through the Red Sea, according to a shipping company and Chinese state media reports. This comes as many cargo shipping companies have decided to avoid the globally important trade passage because of attacks from Houthi rebels. Since November, Iran-backed Houthis have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea, acts that they say are in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas in the war with Israel. A U.S.-led coalition has responded to the attacks with missile…

U.S. Hits Back at Iran With Sanctions, Criminal Charges and Airstrikes

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In the hours before the United States carried out strikes against Iran-backed militants on Friday, Washington hit Tehran with more familiar weapons: sanctions and criminal charges. The Biden administration sanctioned officers and officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran’s premier military force, for threatening the integrity of water utilities and for helping manufacture Iranian drones. And it unsealed charges against nine people for selling oil to finance the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The timing seemed designed to pressure the Revolutionary Guards and its most elite unit, the Quds…

US launches air strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The US carried out strikes against Iranian-linked forces in Iraq and Syria on Friday, hitting targets that included elements of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three American troops based in Jordan. The US military’s Central Command said 85 targets at seven separate facilities were hit, including those associated with the IRGC’s Quds Force as well as Iranian-backed militia in the region. It…

IMF Predicts China Economy Slowing Over Next Four Years

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washington —  The International Monetary Fund says China’s economic decline is likely to continue over the next four years as the world’s second largest economy deals with a range of challenges from a rapidly aging population, higher unemployment and a property crisis. In a report released on Friday, the global financial policy body – also known as the IMF – projected China’s economic growth would drop to 4.6% this year, down from its 5.2% growth in 2023, and fall further to 3.4% by 2028. The property market, which has historically…

Detained blogger sees mother for first time since disappearance from Thailand.

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A blogger who last year went missing from Thailand and later resurfaced in Vietnamese police custody was finally allowed to meet his mother for the first time since his disappearance, his family told Radio Free Asia. Duong Van Thai, 41, was living in Thailand when he disappeared on April 13 in what many believe was an abduction.  Vietnam has neither confirmed nor denied that he was abducted and taken back to Vietnam, but shortly after his disappearance, authorities announced that they had apprehended him for trying to sneak into the…

3 Cambodian activists arrested in Thailand ahead of Hun Manet visit

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A Cambodian former political prisoner and two other activists associated with the country’s opposition Candlelight Party were arrested in Thailand on Friday, in what they think is the latest example of their government exercising its influence across borders, they told Radio Free Asia. Kong Raiya, who was jailed twice for his outspoken activities against the government, senior Candlelight member Lim Sokha and opposition activist Phan Phana were caught in an immigration roundup at an apartment complex in Bangkok. The three activists had recently fled to Thailand to seek asylum and…