Tag: China News

US Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China

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washington —  The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April, a Philippines government spokesman said Thursday. Colonel Michael Logico said elements of the Balikatan 2024 drills would be conducted about 22 kilometers (more than 12 nautical miles) off the west coast of Palawan, an island in the archipelago nation that faces a troubled region of the South China Sea. Chinese ships this month blocked Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef about 200…

World Uyghur Congress Leader Discusses Time in China, Uyghur-Han Chinese Tension

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As head of the World Uyghur Congress, Dolkun Isa runs one of the most prominent organizations in the world advocating for the rights of Uyghurs. In his recently released book, The China Freedom Trap, subtitled My Life on the Run, Isa recounts key events that have dotted his journey and time since he left China in 1994. To learn more about what it was like for him in China, VOA’s Natalie Liu spoke to Isa on the sidelines of a Washington event held by the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy…

West Eyes New Measures After Passage of Hong Kong Security Law

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Taipei, Taiwan —  Hong Kong’s adoption of a second national security law Tuesday is being criticized by foreign governments, while some business figures say the law will hasten foreign businesses’ departure from the city. The United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union expressed concern about the ambiguous language in the law and its speedy adoption, which was completed in less than two weeks. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that the vague provisions in the bill, also known as Article 23, could…

High Level Meeting Further Mends Fractured Australia-China Ties

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SYDNEY —  Human rights and trade sanctions dominated talks Wednesday between the Chinese and Australian foreign ministers in Canberra. Analysts say that bilateral relations are stabilizing after years of friction over various geopolitical and trade disputes, but disagreements remain. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said there would be a “frank exchange of views” with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, ahead of Wednesday’s talks in Canberra. Wang Yi is the most powerful Chinese politician to visit Australia since 2017. During the talks, Wong said she raised the death sentence imposed on…

China, Not Russia, Still Tops List of Threats to US

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WASHINGTON —  Russia’s war in Ukraine — portrayed by top U.S. officials as posing a danger to the United States itself — still trails China when it comes to long-term threats to America’s security, according to a top Pentagon official. The warning from Ely Ratner, the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, comes in testimony prepared for a hearing Wednesday by the House Armed Services Committee on security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to present the most comprehensive and serious challenge…

China Envoy Meets Hamas Leader as Beijing Steps Into Israel Conflict

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Tel Aviv, Israel —  China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged a meeting between its diplomat Wang Kejian and the political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, on Sunday in Qatar to discuss the conflict in Gaza. In a short statement, the ministry said Wang and Haniyeh discussed the conflict but did not elaborate. The meeting is the first announced to have taken place between the Chinese envoy and Hamas since the militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking about 250 hostage. Israel’s…

New Study Reports Widespread Forced Labor Abuses

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Forced labor generates $236 billion a year in illegal profits, a dramatic increase of $64 billion since 2014, a new study by the International Labor Organization reported on Tuesday. The study said the increase is due to a growing population of people forced into labor and the correlation between higher levels of exploitation and higher profits. Traffickers and criminals who use forced labor can generate around $10,000 per victim. The most prevalent use of forced labor is commercial sexual exploitation, the study found. While accounting for 27% of the total…

China, India Compete for Influence in Indian Ocean

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Taipei, Taiwan —  China has increased efforts to deepen security ties with countries in the Indian Ocean in recent weeks, signing a new security agreement with the Maldives and sending a military delegation to three regional countries earlier this month. On March 4, the Maldives’ Ministry of Defense announced that the country had signed a military assistance agreement with China that aims to “foster stronger bilateral ties.” The ministry didn’t elaborate on the details of the agreement. China’s Ministry of National Defense also sent a military delegation on a 10-day…

Blinken Says US Stands by ‘Ironclad’ Commitments to Defend Philippines

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Manila, Philippines —  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the United States stands by its “ironclad” commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea. Blinken’s visit to Manila is his second since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 and is part of a brief Asia tour to reinforce U.S. support for regional allies against China. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, and an international…