Rohingya rights groups on Thursday decried “regional inaction and global neglect” over the plight of the Muslim minority from Myanmar after more than 400 refugees were feared drowned when two boats sank this month after setting sail from Bangladesh. Last week, the U.N. refugee agency said that while details remained unclear, it had collected reports from family members and others about two separate boat tragedies on May 9 and May 10 in which 427 people may have died. It said both boats left from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where about 1…
Month: May 2025
Tibetan resistance veterans offer legacy of unity, defiance in their twilight years
In the tranquil hills of Nepal’s Gandaki province, where the land rises in its northern district of Mustang toward the border with Tibet, the pace of life has slowed for the last legion of the Tibetan armed resistance. Now in their twilight years, these are the warriors who mounted a united campaign from the 1950s through to the mid-1970s against the Chinese occupation of their homeland. They live quiet, spiritual lives far removed from the days of gathering intelligence and ambushing Chinese military convoys. Many of these fighters were trained…
As US-China tensions target tech, was Geneva deal just a flash in the pan?
Economic tensions between the US and China are rising under the weight of tariffs and spreading into areas where it is harder to reach a consensus – namely, advanced technology – analysts say in the wake of Washington’s reported moves to pause exports of products and technologies related to semiconductor design and jet-engine manufacturing to China. Advertisement The US Department of Commerce has told American electronic design automation firms – including Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA – to stop supplying their technology to China, according to a Financial Times report,…
China hits out at ‘politicised and discriminatory’ US student visa ban
Advertisement The State Department has already announced a series of measures targeting international students – including a freeze on new visa interviews for those hoping to study in the US – but the latest measures announced on Wednesday singled out Chinese nationals. On Wednesday US time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would start “aggressively” revoking visas issued to Chinese students including those “with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields”. “We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications…
Dong Jun to skip Singapore forum – and a chance to meet US, Asian defence chiefs
China will downgrade its representation at the Shangri-La Dialogue this year and, in doing so, skip an opportunity for Defence Minister Dong Jun to meet counterparts from the United States and across Asia. Advertisement In the past, Asia’s premier defence forum has offered a chance for China’s defence minister to make a speech to counter Washington’s narrative in the region and meet other defence chiefs directly. China’s defence ministry said on Thursday that China would send a delegation from the National Defence University to attend the forum in Singapore, which…
US targets Chinese student visas, Trump tariffs blocked: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. A US court has blocked Trump’s tariffs. What does that mean for China? A US court order blocking President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs marks a setback for the US leader, but is unlikely to provide China and other American trading partners with more than a temporary reprieve, analysts said. 2. US to start ‘aggressively’ revoking visas for Chinese students, Rubio says US Secretary…
Trump allies rail against court ruling blocking wide swath of tariffs
Republicans and close allies of Donald Trump are railing against a federal judicial panel who blocked a wide swath of the US president’s tariffs Wednesday night, including those against China. Some attempted to frame the decision as part of a broader fight between the Trump administration and US justice system. Trump has frequently complained about legal decisions that don’t go his way, attacking judges on social media in ways that have alarmed civic society experts. “The judicial coup is out of control,” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff,…
Tech shares climb after strong Nvidia results despite warning over rise of Chinese rivals
Technology shares climbed on Thursday, buoyed by strong results from Nvidia, despite the AI chip company’s boss issuing a warning about the rise of Chinese rivals. The Stoxx Europe tech index rose by 0.8% on Thursday following Nvidia’s financial report, with the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML rallying by 2.4%. In the US, futures for the tech-focused Nasdaq climbed 2%, and shares in Nvidia itself jumped 6% in pre-market trading. The boost to tech and artificial intelligence stocks came hours after Nvidia beat Wall Street forecasts, with quarterly revenues jumping…
China’s carbon emissions may have peaked
The rapid growth of China’s economy over the past few decades has come at a high environmental cost to the planet. Mountains of coal have been burned to power factories, releasing tens of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Still more has been belched out in the production of vast quantities of steel and cement to feed construction. Last year China released over 12bn tonnes of the gas, accounting for over 30% of the world’s total emissions. The Economist
China’s crazy reverse-credit cards
To help its economy weather the trade war, China wants its consumers to splash out. The government has plans to subsidise consumer loans, and banks have been permitted to raise borrowing limits for creditworthy customers. But the question of who lends to whom on China’s high street is not straightforward. In the West, retailers extend credit to their customers. In China it is often the other way round. The Economist