Day: April 3, 2024

Taiwan accelerates recovery efforts after worst quake in 25 years

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Updated April 3, 2024, 11:20 p.m. ET. Rescue workers are searching for people still missing or trapped in the rubble after the worst earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years amid fears that casualties may rise. Taiwanese authorities said that at least nine people were killed, more than 1,000 injured and nearly 100 people remain trapped in collapsed tunnels, mostly in Hualien County on the east coast, where the 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit on Wednesday morning. The quake has also severely damaged the infrastructure in the area, with roads blocked…

Janet Yellen in China: what’s on the table as Washington’s ‘effective emissary’ begins her trip?

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Premier Li Qiang, Vice-Premier He Lifeng, Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an, central bank governor Pan Gongsheng and Liu He, China’s former vice-premier who led previous trade negotiations with the US, would also meet with Yellen during trip, the US Treasury statement added. Current affairs: sparks fly between China, US over EVs before Janet Yellen visit “Secretary Yellen is widely respected and is seen as an effective emissary because she focuses on the issues and doesn’t let side problems get in the way of the discussion,” said Cameron Johnson, a Shanghai-based…

Kenya becomes latest country to consider curbs on TikTok over data security and privacy fears

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What happened at his funeral indicates the explosive uptake of TikTok in Kenya, which last year emerged as one of the world’s heaviest users of the app, according to a survey by the Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Interior and National Administration minister Kithure Kindiki said the National Security Council is considering a ban on public officials using the app to protect sensitive data. TikTok influences a billion users, but who influences TikTok? Kindiki said Kenya is not satisfied with TikTok’s compliance with the country’s laws on data protection and…

China’s quant funds count the cost of regulatory clampdown

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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. Computer-driven traders in China’s $250bn quant sector are overhauling their strategies in response to a regulatory crackdown that threatens to curb industry growth and returns after a decade of gains. Funds including Lingjun Investment and High-Flyer Capital Management, which each managed Rmb60bn ($8.3bn) at their peak, are changing their complex trading algorithms to comply with restrictions on speculative bets as Beijing tightens its grip on Chinese markets following a heavy…

Why Nongfu Spring’s online attackers are no Chinese patriots

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Zhong Shanshan, China’s bottled water king, remains the richest man in China, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2024. But few people in China, it seems, are in the mood for congratulations. The rich list came out last month, right after Zhong, the founder of Nongfu Spring, found himself caught in the eye of an internet storm. A large number of nationalist internet users in China had attacked him, accusing his firm of, among other things, having pictures of Japanese religious buildings on its packaging. A boycott followed and…

Chinese mourners turn to AI to remember and ‘revive’ loved ones

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As millions of people across China travel to the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects for the annual tomb-sweeping festival, a new way of remembering, and reviving, their beloved relatives is being born. For as little as 20 yuan (£2.20), Chinese netizens can create a moving digital avatar of their loved one, according to some services advertised online. So this year, to mark tomb-sweeping festival on Thursday, innovative mourners are turning to artificial intelligence to commune with the departed. At the more sophisticated end of the spectrum, the…

Scathing federal report rips Microsoft for response to Chinese hack

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BOSTON —  In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying “a cascade of errors” by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The Cyber Safety Review Board, created in 2021 by executive order, describes shoddy cybersecurity practices, a lax corporate culture and a lack of sincerity about the company’s knowledge of the targeted breach, which affected multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China. It…

Tokyo in talks with Manila over sending troops to the Philippines

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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. Tokyo and Manila have discussed deploying Japanese forces in the Philippines, as the countries near agreement on several security pacts aimed at boosting regional deterrence against China. Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines ambassador to the US, said the Manila and Tokyo governments were close to signing a “reciprocal access agreement” that would also let their militaries train and exercise in each other’s countries. Romualdez said the two countries had discussed…

Japan’s start-up spirit awakens

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Japanese salarymen — white-collar executives who supposedly trudge their way through working life — have long been a symbol of corporate Japan.  Employed by the same company their whole working lives, arriving early at their desks and not leaving until the boss has clocked off, they are often seen as representing a working culture in which creativity is stifled, risks are avoided, and anonymity is rewarded. A glance at the list of the FT’s 500 high-growth companies in Asia-Pacific, however, shows that these archetypes are being consigned to history by…

South Korean virtual reality fishing game reels in 1mn users

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Ronald Hyslop, a 73-year-old retiree living in Ontario, Canada, is a big fan of Real VR Fishing — a virtual reality fishing game made by South Korea-based Devs United Games. He says it gives him something to look forward to each day. “I’ve always got that one species I want to go for — it is like looking forward to Christmas,” he says with a smile. “I am addicted to it. It’s more than relaxing. It is like a different reality.” Hyslop is not alone. Nearly 1mn users are hooked…