Day: August 13, 2025

China’s Xiluodu Dam – one of the world’s largest hydropower stations – has fully transitioned away from Western-made industrial control chips over national security and supply chain resilience concerns, according to a leading Chinese industrial chip supplier. Advertisement Loongson Technology said that the dam, located on the Jinsha River at the junction of the southwestern Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, had replaced long-standing foreign “programmable logic controllers” (PLCs) – from German giant Siemens and French firm Schneider Electric – with a domestically developed system powered by fully home-grown Loongson 3C6000 processors.…

As the US seeks to curb China’s shipbuilding dominance, South Korea is looking to capitalise by expanding its overseas footprint through shipyard investments in the Philippines and Vietnam. Advertisement Analysts said South Korean shipbuilders may view the move as a way to tackle constraints that have diminished their competitiveness against China, such as limited capacity, labour shortages and tensions with domestic trade unions. Shifting operations to Southeast Asia, where labour costs are lower, could strengthen their edge, said Du Yu, General Manager of Drewry’s China office. “But it takes time…

A Chinese mining giant and a Swiss-based lithium producer agreed on Tuesday to develop one of South America’s largest projects to extract lithium from saline water, intensifying the race for metals vital to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Advertisement China’s Ganfeng Lithium will join with Lithium Argentina, based in Zug, Switzerland, to merge three neighbouring brine deposits in Argentina’s Salta province into a single operation. “This alliance will provide access to advanced technologies, greater financial flexibility and significant operational synergies,” Lithium Argentina president and chief executive Sam Pigott said…

Beijing has summoned a senior Japanese diplomat to express concerns over issues such as Taiwan, according to China’s foreign ministry. Advertisement On Wednesday, Liu Jinsong, director general of the Department of Asian Affairs, summoned the chief minister of Japan’s embassy in Beijing Akira Yokochi to express “grave concern on issues including history, Taiwan and the safety of Chinese citizens in Japan”, the ministry said, without providing further details. The summons came in the run-up to a series of commemorations to mark the end of World War II, commonly known in…

An unprecedented wave of criticism from Japan’s major newspapers against William Lai Ching-te has sparked debate over whether Tokyo is losing trust in the popularly elected Taiwanese leader just over a year into his term. Advertisement The “extraordinary” media backlash followed the failed July 26 mass recall vote targeting opposition lawmakers, which was initiated by Taiwan’s civil groups but publicly endorsed by Lai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The recall bid was roundly rejected by voters, with all 24 targeted lawmakers from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) retaining their seats.…