Day: March 16, 2024

Barriers come down in Hong Kong border town as China plans closer ties

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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. Lau’s life in Sha Tau Kok has changed little in half a century. But transformation beckons in the small fishing town on Hong Kong’s border with mainland China — part of a restricted zone meant to keep out migrants and smugglers and closed to most outsiders for more than 70 years. Since January some of Sha Tau Kok’s ramshackle streets have been opened up to a small number of tourists,…

Taiwan war game exposes vulnerability of energy grid to a China attack

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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. Taiwanese security experts and retired military officials close to the opposition Kuomintang have called for drastic reforms to make the country’s energy sector less vulnerable against a Chinese attack. A war game conducted by the non-partisan Taiwan Center for Security Studies think-tank found that energy reserves, the electricity grid, storage facilities and crisis planning fell far short of securing even basic power supplies in case of a blockade or missile…

Liberal MP urges Australia to follow US in TikTok crackdown, calling app a ‘serious threat’ to national security

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The shadow home affairs spokesperson has labelled TikTok a “bad faith actor” and a “serious threat” to Australia’s national security, urging the Albanese government to follow the United States in its crackdown on the video-sharing app. The Liberal senator James Paterson said he was not advocating for a total ban on the popular app but wants Australia to emulate the United States in its bid to force the Chinese tech company that owns TikTok to divest its business in the US. Paterson told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday he hoped changes…

A cancer-causing stomach bacteria is infecting fewer people in China – but that could change

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The team based their assessment on data collected from 26 provinces from March to November last year. In an interview with mainland news outlet Yicai on March 10, Gu said the lower prevalence could be the result of many factors, including improvements in living standards, healthier lifestyles and public health education. About a quarter of China’s urban population are infected with Helicobacter pylori, a much lower rate than previously thought. Photo: Shutterstock Just last year, a group of scientists, mainly from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the…

3 children arrested in northern China over death of classmate

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Police in northern China have arrested three boys on suspicion of killing a 13-year-old classmate in a case that has refocused attention on the plight of “left-behind children”. The reports did not specify the ages of the children accused, saying only that they were below the age of 14. The Beijing News reported that the victim, identified only as Wang, disappeared on Sunday afternoon and was found on Monday afternoon in an abandoned vegetable shed in a village in Handan, Hebei province, about 500km (310 miles) south of Beijing. The…

Tech war: ASML’s threat to expand outside the Netherlands is watched with interest in China

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While China is not known to be a primary consideration in ASML’s expansion plans, pundits and social media users in the country seem to have projected their own frustrations onto the European company. 03:30 World’s largest contract chip maker TSMC inaugurates its first plant in Japan World’s largest contract chip maker TSMC inaugurates its first plant in Japan Xiang Ligang, founder of Beijing-based telecoms information portal CCTime.com, said that ASML’s considerations reflect its disappointment over deprived businesses in China. “The Dutch government bowed to US pressure by suspending ASML’s export…

Tuvalu prime minister calls on Australia for sovereignty ‘guarantees’ over treaty

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Tuvalu’s new prime minister, Feleti Teo, wants “guarantees” from Canberra that a landmark treaty with Australia will not undermine his country’s sovereignty. Teo, who was appointed leader last month, told the Guardian a controversial security clause in the Falepili Union treaty has led to fears among Tuvaluans that Australia “might encroach on Tuvalu’s sovereignty”. The treaty, signed in late 2023, states that the Pacific nation shall “mutually agree with Australia” on partnerships or arrangements with other states on security and defence-related matters. The clause in effect gives Australia veto power…

Indigenous Australians Cast Ballots in Historic Rights Vote

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sydney —  Voting takes place Saturday for Australia’s first state-based First Nations Voice to Parliament. The body will advise the South Australian government and lawmakers on Indigenous issues. The state of South Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament will be a representative, elected body for the state’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and made up of members of those groups. In October, Australians overwhelmingly rejected a national proposal to change the constitution to recognize First Nations people and create a body for them to advise the federal government. In…

Post-pandemic, Young Chinese Seek Studies Abroad, Just Not in US

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WASHINGTON —  In Shanghai, two young women seeking an education abroad have decided against going to the United States, a destination of choice for decades that may be losing its shine. For Helen Dong, a 22-year-old senior studying advertising, it was the cost. “It doesn’t work for me when you have to spend 2 million [yuan] [$278,000] but find no job upon returning,” she said. Dong is headed to Hong Kong this fall instead. Costs were not a concern for Yvonne Wong, 24, now studying comparative literature and cultures in…

Two Injured in BBQ Restaurant Blast in Eastern China

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SHANGHAI —  Two people were injured Saturday after a powerful blast at a barbecue shop in the eastern Chinese city of Huaian, local authorities said, the latest incident to spur calls for better restaurant-safety checks across the country. Videos online posted by state media showed that the blast, which occurred at 4:20 p.m., ripped off the facade of the eatery’s building, sending big black plumes of smoke into the air and spraying glass shards across the street. The two people who were injured were sent to hospital and the cause…