Day: June 5, 2025

Advertisement A laser module and a phase encoding device, developed at the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, were on board a Yuanxingzhe-1 rocket that reached 2.5km (1.55 miles) during a two-minute vertical flight testing its reusability last Thursday. “The launch mainly tested the robustness of the modules against various environmental stresses encountered during rocket ascent, such as vibration and radiation,” the academy said on its official social media account on Wednesday. The test marked a key step in China’s transition from experimental validation to the construction of a fully…

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday said Washington would refrain from imposing tariffs on natural resources the country does not hold in abundance amid tough questioning by House lawmakers about American consumers facing rising prices. Advertisement “In our trade deals, our expectation is … we will not have tariffs on unavailable natural resources, but we will have market access for our farmers and our ranchers,” said Lutnick in testimony at a budget hearing of the House Appropriations Committee. Pressed by both US congresswoman Grace Meng of New York about…

US President Donald Trump’s tariff policy is proving ill-suited, and even counterproductive, for the US supply chain in dealing with China’s expanding global manufacturing dominance, witnesses said in a government hearing in Washington Thursday. Advertisement Testifying before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which monitors national security implications of bilateral trade and economic relations, they called for an increase in comprehensive and structural responses, including rebuilding US industrial capacity in such sectors as defense and chips, and working to ensure China is not part of crucial supply chains. Emerging…

June 9 marks the 50th anniversary of Philippines-China relations, ties steeped in history but marred by friction in recent years. Sadly, an overemphasis on the intractable sea dispute has polluted broader connections, stunting economic cooperation and stigmatising people-to-people exchanges. This is irrational and unproductive. Advertisement For Manila to make the sea row front and centre of ties is a tragedy of its foreign policy. For China to see its smaller neighbour as a mere pawn in its great power competition with Washington is a recipe for misunderstanding; it lets down…

In 2017, tired of supporting other people’s entrepreneurial dreams and watching e-commerce take off, Matt Rollens started Dragon Glassware in his garage with US$10,000 from savings and a small inheritance. A tea drinker, his first idea was a glass vacuum flask. But the prototype fell short, so he settled on drinking glasses as the US microbrewery craze exploded. Advertisement Over the next eight years, he built ties with skilled Chinese factories and expanded into licensed Barbie and Wicked drinkware as annual revenue grew tenfold to US$5 million. The future looked…

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a slate of China-focused measures on Thursday, including bipartisan bills to counter Beijing’s overseas military expansion and bolster Taiwan’s role in global finance while advancing the nomination of a former ambassador to lead US diplomacy in East Asia. Advertisement The Counter Act of 2025, co-authored by Senators Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, and Pete Ricketts, Republican of Nebraska, calls on the US government to develop a strategy to respond to the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to establish military bases overseas. The bill…