Day: March 11, 2025

Australia rules out reciprocal move on US after Trump proceeds with steel tariffs

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SYDNEY —  Australia will not impose reciprocal tariffs on the United States, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump ruled out exemptions or exceptions for all countries on steel and aluminum tariffs. Trump said in February he would “give great consideration” to exempting Australia from the tariffs in view of the U.S. annual trade surplus with the country, following a phone call with Albanese. However, on Tuesday the White House announced that the previously planned 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum products into the…

VOA Mandarin: US House passes bill to restrict use of Chinese-made batteries

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The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed two bills involving China. One will restrict the Department of Homeland Security from purchasing batteries made by Chinese companies. The other will set up a working group in the Department of Homeland Security to monitor and respond to threats from China. The bills will now await consideration by the Senate. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. Voice of America

VOA Mandarin: As China NPC closes, dissidents on ‘forced holidays’ to be sent home

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China wrapped up its week-long National Party Congress meetings on Tuesday, where its nearly 3,000 representatives cast votes to pass a total of seven bills in half an hour. Analysts called China’s two sessions a rubber-stamp political gathering, where many dissidents have been placed on “forced holidays” outside of Beijing so that their voice would not be heard. One dissident told VOA he will be sent home one day after the NPC’s closure on Tuesday. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. Voice of America

Fate of 8 Uyghurs in Thailand in limbo after 40 deported to China

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BANGKOK —  Human rights advocates say at least some of the eight ethnic minority Uyghurs who remain in Thailand’s custody since authorities deported 40 others to China last month are at risk of the same fate. After weeks of denying it was planning to repatriate any of the 48 Chinese Uyghurs it had held since arresting them for illegal entry in 2014, Thailand abruptly turned 40 of them over to China on Feb. 27. The United States, United Nations and international rights groups strongly condemned Thailand for sending Uyghurs back…

Dalai Lama says his successor to be born outside China

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NEW DELHI —  The Dalai Lama’s successor will be born outside China, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism says in a new book, raising the stakes in a dispute with Beijing over control of the Himalayan region he fled more than six decades ago. Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after the 89-year-old’s death, he writes in “Voice for the Voiceless,” which was reviewed by Reuters and is being released on Tuesday. He had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him.…