YANGON — Myanmar’s military junta Friday released award-winning documentary filmmaker and former RFA contributor Shin Daewe who had been in detention since October 2023 for buying a video drone. Outside of Yangon’s Insein Prison, Shin Daewe, who was handed a life sentence for “abetting terrorism” in 2024, told Radio Free Asia that there are still many on the inside that were in need of prayers. “I am the happiest,” she said. “Whether it’s me or one of the others, we all just wanted every day to see our families. I…
Month: April 2026
Chinese LED chipmaker’s purchase of Dutch firm collapses after US opposition
China’s leading LED chipmaker and its Malaysian partner have abandoned their US$239 million cash offer to purchase Dutch technology company Lumileds Holding after opposition from US authorities, marking the latest setback for Chinese tech investment overseas following the high-profile Nexperia saga. Sanan Optoelectronics, listed in Shanghai, said in a disclosure announcement on Friday that despite multiple rounds of discussions, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) determined the transaction would pose “irresolvable US national security risks” and asked the firms to withdraw their filing and abandon the…
Iran, US say Strait of Hormuz is fully open to commercial vessels
In an apparent sign that Tehran blinked first in the blockade showdown between Iran and the US, the two sides announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was open and operational after nearly seven weeks that have seen hundreds of ships blocked and sent energy prices soaring worldwide. “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!,” US President Donald Trump said on social media, using an unofficial name for the strategic waterway. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted…
Iran war energy shock threatens Southeast Asia’s supply chains. A win for China?
Some exporters at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou report a modest return of orders to China from Southeast Asia, as energy-market volatility linked to the US-Israeli war in Iran prompts some Western buyers to prioritise supply chain stability. The shift is visible in buyer patterns on the exhibition floor, where the number from Europe and the United States appears to have recovered from last year’s levels, according to Chinese exporters, with more inquiries for home appliances, new energy products and consumer electronics. The Canton Fair, formally known as the China…
Iran has opened Strait of Hormuz but will the US ease its economic squeeze?
The US appears to be intensifying its war efforts with an economic squeeze to force Iran to cave in before further talks, but Chinese observers say the strategy could backfire on the US economy. The US continued to exert pressure on Iran on Friday even as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that the Strait of Hormuz was completely open for commercial vessels. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of…
Move Over, Hungary: Spain Is China’s New Best Friend in the EU
As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban goes into political exile and China loses this close European friend, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was in Beijing for the fourth time, seeking investment deals and pushing for the European Union (EU) to consider China a “strategic partner.” Forget Hungary – it is Spain that is increasingly looking like China’s best friend in the EU. Orban’s massive electoral loss to Peter Magyar last weekend was followed by analysis suggesting that this is a blow for China, representing the loss of its “best friend…
Chinese trucks could go 100% electric, halving road transport oil use: industry
Industry estimates suggest that heavy-duty cargo traffic in China is on track to become nearly 100 per cent electric, a transition that could halve the country’s road transport oil consumption. Speaking at a forum on intelligent electric vehicle development in Beijing on April 11, Liang Linhe, chairman of Sany Truck – a subsidiary of the Changsha-headquartered multinational Sany Group – said China’s heavy truck sector could eventually be almost entirely electrified, although he did not put a timeline on the transition. Such a move, he noted, had the potential to…
Vietnam and China are now perfectly aligned
Even before Donald Trump returned to the White House, Vietnam’s military planners were already busy preparing for a possible second invasion by the United States and its allies. In the “Second US Invasion Plan”, secretly issued in August 2024, the Vietnamese military rejected playing any part in America’s China containment strategy in the Asia-Pacific. Rather, it sees the US promotion of “freedom and democracy” as a cynical ploy to maintain hegemony in the region. The document, released in February by the human rights group Project88, said that “due to the…
Smoother waters? China and Vietnam vow to ‘better’ navigate South China Sea disputes
Beijing and Hanoi have bolstered their commitment to demarcation talks over a contested stretch of water in the South China Sea, pledging to “better” navigate bilateral frictions in the area, according to a joint communique. The document also said the countries’ ruling communist parties had agreed to shore up each other’s leadership at home with the adoption of a new five-year action plan. Published on Friday as To Lam, Vietnam’s top leader, wrapped up his four-day visit to China, the communique said both sides “need to better manage and actively…
China complains of ‘harassment’ from New Zealand aerial patrols close to coastline
China has lodged a protest with New Zealand about the activities of a military aircraft near its coast, suggesting it had put commercial airlines at risk. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday that a P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft had “conducted continuous close-in reconnaissance and harassment in the airspace and waters of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea”. He said such actions undermined China’s security interests, heightened the risks of misunderstandings and miscalculations and severely disrupted civil aviation operations. Advertisement “China urges New Zealand to strictly abide by…