Tag: China News

Japan seeks to defend national interests in South China Sea

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tokyo —  Japan is set to improve its strategic partnership with the Philippines at an upcoming trilateral meeting with the United States amid rising tensions between Beijing and Manila. Leaders of the three countries, who will meet April 11 in Washington, are expected to discuss maritime security issues that are drawing Japan into a more robust military role in the Asia-Pacific region. China used water cannons last month to disrupt a Philippine mission to resupply its garrison in a disputed portion of the South China Sea, an attack that President…

Treasury Secretary Yellen to visit China for high-level talks

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen travels to China this week for high-level talks aimed at further stabilizing financial and economic ties between the world’s two largest economies. During the visit, she is also expected to press China on subsidies for clean energy and industrial overcapacity that she recently noted “hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world.” The April 3-9 trip is Yellen’s second to China and comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke in a phone call…

Chinese state, social media echo Russian propaganda on concert hall attack

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Taipei, Taiwan —  Specious theories designed to implicate Ukraine and the United States in connection with the late March terror attack in Russia are spreading on China’s state media outlets and on its heavily censored social media platform Weibo. False claims that paint Kyiv and Washington as masterminds of the attack have fueled debate in Russia even after Islamic State-Khorasan — also known as IS, IS-K, ISIS and Daesh — claimed responsibility for killing at least 143 people and injuring nearly 200 at the Crocus City Hall music venue in…

Li Qiang: Middleman for Xi?

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WASHINGTON —  Speculation has been spreading about the future, role, and place in China’s power structure of Premier Li Qiang since the unexplained cancellation of a routine press conference he was expected to hold last month. It was arguably the biggest news about Li, a figure largely unknown to the outside world, since he took office a year ago. Analysts tell VOA that to better know Li, it is important to understand his place in China’s leadership structure – highly centralized under Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping’s tight rule…

Biden, Xi hold ‘candid and constructive’ call

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On a call Tuesday, President Joe Biden discussed with Chinese President Xi Jinping a range of high-level issues and reiterated his request that China not use web-based disinformation tools to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. The two leaders also discussed Taiwan – the island China claims – as it prepares to inaugurate a new leader next month. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. Voice of America

Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui must face US fraud indictment

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new york —  A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui’s bid to dismiss an indictment accusing him of defrauding thousands of investors out of more than $1 billion. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan said prosecutors sufficiently alleged that Guo engaged in a pattern of racketeering through four fraud schemes, and that proving it was a matter for trial. Lawyers for Guo did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours. Guo has pleaded not guilty to 12 criminal charges including securities fraud,…

Embracing China, new Cambodian PM approached by US

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phnom penh, cambodia/washington —  Cambodia’s first leadership change in almost four decades has given the United States an opportunity to reset its relationship with Phnom Penh, analysts and experts told VOA Khmer following a recent visit from an American diplomat. However, Cambodia’s slide away from democracy — along with claims that China is establishing an exclusive military presence at Cambodia’s main naval base — continues to pose a major impediment to warming relations, they said in recent interviews. Sebastian Strangio, the author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia, said some voices in…

Trading of indebted developer Country Garden suspended in Hong Kong

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Trading in shares of Chinese property developer Country Garden was suspended Tuesday in Hong Kong, amid financial woes stemming from the ongoing Chinese housing crisis. The announcement came days after the company, which used to be one of China’s biggest developers, postponed the release of its 2023 annual results. In a Hong Kong exchange filing Tuesday, Country Garden said, “At the request of the company, trading in the shares of the company on the stock exchange will be suspended … pending publication of the 2023 Annual Results.” Last Thursday, the…

China launches Southeast Asia outreach amid tensions with Philippines

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Taipei, Taiwan —  China launched a fresh round of diplomatic outreach to Southeast Asia this week, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto Monday and foreign ministers from Laos, Vietnam and East Timor began to arrive in Beijing Tuesday. The diplomatic charm offensive comes amid territorial disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, and efforts by the U.S. and its allies to strengthen maritime cooperation in the region. In his meeting with Prabowo on Monday, Xi promised to “deepen all-round strategic cooperation…

Biden tells China’s Xi to stay out of US elections

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Washington —  President Joe Biden again warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against meddling in the November U.S. presidential election during the two leaders’ phone call Tuesday. The call is part of U.S. efforts to maintain “open lines of communication to responsibly manage competition and prevent unintended conflict,” the White House said. In various engagements, the U.S. has raised its “continual reinforcement of concern” against Chinese election interference, a senior administration official told reporters in a Monday briefing previewing the call. Biden last raised the issue in his meeting with Xi…