Month: August 2025

Trump says he wants to meet Kim Jong Un as he hosts South Korean president

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Donald Trump said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year as South Korea’s leftwing President Lee Jae Myung visited the White House against a backdrop of tensions between Washington and Seoul. Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Lee on Monday, Trump touted his “great relationship” with Kim, who he met for a high-profile if largely inconclusive summit in Singapore during his first…

Trump says he is keen to meet Kim Jong Un as he hosts South Korean president

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Donald Trump said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year as South Korea’s leftwing President Lee Jae Myung visited the White House against a backdrop of tensions between Washington and Seoul. Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Lee on Monday, Trump touted his “great relationship” with Kim, who he met for a high-profile if largely inconclusive summit in Singapore during his first…

Kmart faces legal action in Australia over potential forced labour links – podcast

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Earlier this month an Australian-based Uyghur group launched legal action against Kmart in the federal court. The case has put the retailer’s supply chain under scrutiny for potential links to forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province. Nour Haydar speaks with senior reporter Ben Doherty about the legal action against Kmart and the warnings that Australia could become a dumping ground for products linked to forced labour The Guardian

Chinese courts can bar even those not accused of crimes from leaving the country

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Gao jia, a seven-year-old American from New York, might not start his second year at school this September. During a family visit to China last August, his father, a Chinese artist called Gao Zhen, was arrested for “slandering heroes and martyrs” (Mr Gao is the elder of the well-known “Gao Brothers”, whose sculptures often mock Chairman Mao). The boy has not been accused of wrongdoing; neither has his mother, Zhao Yaliang. But in China, family members can be punished for the alleged sins of a relative. Ms Zhao has been…

Trump chides South Korea’s Lee before Washington trade talks

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Donald Trump chided South Korea’s president Lee Jae Myung hours before he was due to host the country’s leftwing leader at the White House, heralding tense talks on trade and the US’s military presence on the peninsula. In a Truth Social post, Trump made an apparent reference to the political turmoil that has enveloped South Korea over the past year, including the impeachment and arrest of former president…

Cambodian lawmakers pass bill allowing government to revoke citizenship

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Lawmakers in Phnom Penh on Monday approved a law that will allow the government to strip Cambodian citizenship from people convicted of conspiring with foreign governments against the national interest. Approved by 120 of the 125 members of the National Assembly, the measure was made possible by a change to Cambodia’s constitution that lawmakers passed in July. The measure needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the king to be fully enacted. The bill’s passage comes amid a wider crackdown on opponents of the government of Prime…

China challenges US freedom of navigation operations as having ‘no legal basis’

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Advertisement The report – “Legal Assessment of the United States’ ‘Freedom of Navigation’” – is the first official study of its kind published by Beijing and marks its growing desire to challenge what it characterised as “gunboat diplomacy”. “US ‘freedom of navigation’ lacks a basis in international law and seriously distorts the interpretation and development of international law,” the report said. It challenged Washington’s position on a number of grounds, saying: “The United States created several ‘legal concepts’. One is ‘international waters’. It does not exist in the contemporary law…

China travel risk ‘unchanged’ for US citizens despite exit bans: trade group

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China’s recent exit bans on two American businesspeople do not raise the travel risk for US-based executives, as neither case appears “geopolitical or retaliatory”, an American trade advocacy group has said. Advertisement “The risk of exit bans, detentions, or other complications has not changed for most travellers,” according to the US-China Business Council, though it acknowledged that the high-profile cases had led companies to reassess their travel procedures to limit risks. In July, Beijing said it had barred a senior Wells Fargo executive from leaving the country over a criminal…

‘Arrogance of power’: Taiwan’s Lai suffers sharp defeat as both recall bids fail

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Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has suffered his sharpest political defeat yet, as two waves of recall votes against opposition lawmakers collapsed in a 31-0 shutout – leaving his government cornered, his party shaken and his energy policy under siege. Advertisement The unprecedented recall campaign, launched by pro-government civic groups and openly backed by Lai, sought to unseat 31 lawmakers from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), accusing them of obstructing policy and budget bills. But voters rejected every petition, with the seven latest bids defeated on Saturday following 24 in…

China has laid a rare earths trap for the west

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world “You don’t have the cards,” Donald Trump famously remarked to Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year. The US and Ukrainian presidents are getting on better these days. But Trump’s brutally realist approach to international relations remains. It is all a trial of strength. Who has the best cards? The Trump administration now seems to have realised that in the game of trade poker with China, it is Beijing that…