Tag: China News

China conducts ‘combat patrols’ as US holds drills with allies in disputed waters 

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Beijing, —  China conducted “combat patrols” Sunday in the South China Sea, its army said, the same day the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia held their first joint drills in the disputed waters. The maritime activities took place days before U.S. President Joe Biden was due to hold the first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan, with growing tensions over the hotly contested South China Sea on the agenda. Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command said it was organizing “joint naval and…

Russia’s Lavrov to visit China to discuss Ukraine war

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Moscow —  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit China on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine and the deepening partnership between Moscow and Beijing. Talks between Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who extended the invitation to the Russian minister, will include bilateral cooperation as well as “hot topics,” such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Reuters reported last month that Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China in May for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping,…

US, China need ‘tough’ conversations, Yellen tells Chinese Premier Li

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BEIJING —  U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday that the ability to have difficult conversations has put the two economic superpowers on “a more stable footing” over the past year. As they began a meeting in Beijing, Li responded that the two countries needed to respect each other and should be partners, not adversaries, adding that “constructive progress” had been made during Yellen’s trip. Yellen said Washington and Beijing had a “duty” to responsibly manage the complex relationship, as she brought her case for…

US, China discuss economic issues on Yellen’s China tour

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN —  The United States and China have agreed to hold talks and create two economic groups focused on a wide range of issues — including addressing American complaints about China’s economic model, growth in domestic and global economies and efforts against money laundering — according to a statement released Saturday by the U.S. Treasury Department. The agreement comes on the second day of an official visit to China by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during which she has urged Chinese leaders to change their domestic manufacturing policies. The…

China’s overcapacity results from state interference in markets, say analysts

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washington —  U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is on a five-day visit to China, where she expressed concern to Chinese officials Friday about state subsidies that fuel manufacturing overcapacity in industries such as electric vehicles, solar panels and semiconductors. U.S. officials and economists have warned that China’s overcapacity — when its production ability significantly exceeds what is needed in markets — will further drive down prices and cost jobs, especially if China seeks to offload excess production through exports instead of domestic consumption. U.S. President Joe Biden, in a phone…

Chinese authorities still persecute dissidents’ families years after their release

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Taipei, Taiwan —  Several human rights organizations say China has intensified persecution against human rights lawyers and their family members in recent months, as the ailing wife of a lawyer is denied access to her pension and medical insurance, while the children of two lawyers are repeatedly forced by local authorities to drop out of schools. VOA has reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment but has yet to receive a response. On March 31, 16 human rights lawyers and dissidents in China called for donations to Chinese…

Taiwan earthquake rescuers face threat of landslides, rockfalls

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HUALIEN, Taiwan —  Rescuers in Taiwan faced the threat of further landslides and rockfalls in their search Friday for a dozen people still missing from this week’s earthquake, as the death toll rose to 12 and some of the stranded were brought to safety. Searchers discovered two more bodies after Wednesday’s quake of magnitude 7.2 struck the sparsely populated, largely rural eastern county of Hualien, stranding hundreds in a national park as boulders barreled down mountains, cutting off roads. As some 50 aftershocks rattled the area overnight, some felt as…

Central Asia leaders overlook plight of Uyghurs to woo China

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washington —  Any resentment among Central Asian leaders over China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority was swept aside during recent tours of the region by the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Chinese minister of public security. The warm welcome given the Chinese officials reflects the region’s growing economic ties with Beijing and its uneasiness with Russia — the region’s longtime guarantor against domestic rebellion — as that country struggles on the battlefield in Ukraine. Fears that Moscow’s territorial ambitions may extend to other former Soviet republics…

Scathing federal report rips Microsoft for response to Chinese hack

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BOSTON —  In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying “a cascade of errors” by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The Cyber Safety Review Board, created in 2021 by executive order, describes shoddy cybersecurity practices, a lax corporate culture and a lack of sincerity about the company’s knowledge of the targeted breach, which affected multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China. It…