China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections, the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing. Asked by Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi if China’s ruling Communist party (CCP) would use TikTok to influence the elections, Haines said “we cannot rule out that the CCP would use it”. Lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app, including pushing content to stoke US political divisions. Krishnamoorthi…
Day: March 12, 2024
Intel still sells to Huawei millions of dollars’ worth of advanced chips, while AMD receives no such licence: sources
Intel’s ability to hang on to a licence to sell chips while a rival could not obtain similar permission demonstrates the uneven and uncertain terrain companies face as the US seeks to limit Beijing’s access to sophisticated American technology, especially to a heavily sanctioned company like Huawei. It has also allowed Huawei to keep a small but growing share of the global laptop market, while AMD was deprived of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sales to the Chinese sanctioned firm, data showed. An Intel central processing unit. Photo:…
Thailand’s Reformists Brace for Dissolution Decision
BANGKOK — Thailand’s Election Commission is asking the country’s Constitutional Court to dissolve the main opposition Move Forward Party, citing the party’s campaign promises last year to amend a strict law that prohibits criticism of the country’s monarchy. The Thai monarchy is central to society and is enshrined in the country’s constitution, with the king enthroned in a “position of revered worship.” Thailand’s Move Forward Party won the most seats in last year’s general elections in part on pledges to amend the country’s lèse-majesté law, a move the Election Commission…
Hong Kong’s security rests on a strong economy, not just Article 23
As Hong Kong’s pivotal Article 23 security bill takes shape, public discourse surrounding the subject has drawn in city officials like moths to a flame. Talk on a variety of unrelated subjects is now couched in terms of security as lawmakers and administrators make haste to present patriotic credentials. This random-speak poses a problem. National security will feature as a core value in the revised civil service code. But critical thinking on pressing areas like housing, education, manpower, the environment, trade, tourism, infrastructure, job creation and caring for a greying…
Why is Donald Trump now defending TikTok in the US, the popular China-tied app he once sought to ban?
Trump’s public U-turn coincides with his recent meeting with a billionaire Republican megadonor deeply invested in ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok. It fuels innuendo and speculation among pundits that business interests are driving the former president’s positions on the matter. Trump has argued of late that if the US were to shut the door on TikTok, competitors like Facebook would reap undue advantage. “Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said in an interview on…
China’s economic data needs to be ‘richer’ to boost transparency, investor confidence
Beijing should be more forthcoming about China’s economic statistics and release data more often to enhance transparency to reflect the dimensions and diversity of the world’s second-largest economy and address investor concerns, a government adviser has urged. “For the sake of the stable, long-term development of capital markets, we need richer sources of statistics and information,” said Yang Chengzhang, the chief economist with top brokerage firm Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. Yang is also a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body. Comprehensive and up-to-date data…
Bicycle parts maker Shimano seeks growth with Singapore plant
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Shimano, the world’s largest bicycle parts maker, will use its new plant in Singapore as a hub for exploring south-east Asia’s high-potential market for sports bikes, the company’s chair and chief executive Yozo Shimano said. “Our Singapore plant is controlling our major overseas factories,” he told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview, adding that as demand for bicycles increased in Asia and Latin America, its Singapore plant, which mainly makes…
Analysis: Does North Korea’s Kim Want Another Summit With Trump?
washington — A re-elected U.S. President Donald Trump could well awaken the following day to a phone call inviting him to Pyongyang for a summit with Kim Jong Un, says a veteran of the two previous Trump-Kim summits in 2018 and 2019. “If I were Kim Jong Un talking to my advisers in Pyongyang, I’d be thinking of whether I [should] call President-elect Trump the day after the election to congratulate him” and say, “Why don’t you come to Pyongyang? Let’s meet here,” says former Trump adviser John Bolton. “And…
China’s ‘little pinks’ go after drinks maker over ‘Japanese’ styling
Shares of Chinese soft drink maker Nongfu Spring have dropped after some consumers said they were boycotting their products due to a perceived lack of patriotism, and posted videos of themselves on social media dumping out their contents. Hong Kong-listed shares in Hangzhou-based Nongfu Spring slid 7.7% from HK$44.60 on Feb. 29 to HK$41.20 on March 5, as online nationalists launched a boycott at the start of the annual National People’s Congress, which ended Monday. Users shared photos of labels on some of the company’s spring water bottles, complaining that…
China’s foreign policy: from passive engagement to proactive pragmatism?
He emphasised China’s plan to “be more confident and self-reliant in cultivating the features of China’s diplomacy”, which include “acting with a strong sense of historical responsibility and a vibrant spirit of innovation”; being “open and inclusive”; consolidating and expanding global partnerships; showing great moral responsibility; and being “more unequivocal”. This articulation suggests an evolution in China’s foreign policy approach, reflecting a proactive stance similar to traditional US engagement but also raising questions about what major power diplomacy should look like in a multipolar world. China’s tendency towards pragmatism in…