Tag: East Asia

China ups pressure on Taiwan, opens new air routes

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Taipei, Taiwan —  Analysts say China’s recent opening of two new air routes, with flight paths near two outlying islands controlled by Taiwan, is but the latest move in a broad campaign Beijing has rolled out ahead of the inauguration of Taiwan’s president-elect, Lai Ching-te. Lai, a member of Taiwan’s pro-sovereignty Democratic Progress Party, was elected in January and will be sworn into office on May 20. Su Tzu-yun, a military analyst at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research, says Beijing has been using a combination of…

Chinese general takes harsh line on Taiwan, other disputes at international naval gathering

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QINGDAO, China —  One of China’s top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat. The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened in the port city of Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China’s massive military expansion over the past two decades that has seen it build or refurbish three aircraft carriers. The…

China’s ambassador to Canada leaves his post

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China’s ambassador to Canada has left his post and returned to China, a source familiar with the matter said Sunday, with the news emerging during a senior Canadian diplomat’s visit to the Asian nation. Further details into why Cong Peiwu, who has served since 2019, left his post were not immediately available. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s foreign ministry said earlier that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu held talks with visiting Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison and the…

Flooding expected in China’s Guangdong, threatening millions

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BEIJING —  Major rivers, waterways and reservoirs in China’s Guangdong province are threatening to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government Sunday to enact emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people. Calling the situation “grim,” local weather officials said sections of rivers and tributaries at the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are hitting water levels in a rare spike that only has a one-in-50 chance of happening in any given year, state broadcaster CCTV news said Sunday. China’s water resource ministry issued an emergency advisory, CCTV reported. Guangdong…

Pakistan protests ‘erroneous’ US sanctions on Chinese firms over missile program allegations

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Islamabad —  Pakistan criticized the United States on Saturday for penalizing four international companies on charges they are aiding its ballistic missile program. “Pakistan rejects political use of export controls,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch. The reaction came a day after Washington imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies and one Belarus-based firm for their alleged links to Islamabad’s missile development program. “These entities have supplied missile‐applicable items to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, including its long-range missile program,” the U.S. State Department said on Friday. It noted that the…

Blinken returns to China next week amid ongoing tensions, with no breakthrough expected

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State Department —  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to China April 24 through 26 for talks with senior officials in Shanghai and Beijing. Blinken’s second trip to China comes as the United States warns it against enabling Russia in its war on Ukraine, with Chinese firms directly supplying critical components for Russia’s defense industrial base. Other pressing matters on the agenda include counternarcotics, bolstering military-to-military communication, establishing talks on artificial intelligence risks and safety, and exploring ways to strengthen people-to-people ties, according to the State Department. A…

US calls for transparency from Cambodia over China-backed canal

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The United States is urging Cambodia to be transparent over a proposed $1.7 billion canal financed by China that is worrying Vietnam due to its potential impact on water resource management. “The Cambodian people – along with people in neighboring countries and the broader region – would benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water management, agricultural sustainability, and security,” Wesley Holzer, a U.S. embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer in an email on Tuesday. The proposed canal has alarmed neighboring Vietnam because…

Chinese linked e-commerce companies shake up US market

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Two Chinese-linked online marketplaces are shaking up the e-commerce market with extremely low prices, even as the firms face concerns from consumers about labor practices. The rapid rise in popularity of Temu and SHEIN has been so sudden that Amazon now sees the two firms as its biggest rivals, according to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal. China-operated Temu launched in September 2022 and now has 51 million U.S. users, while Chinese-founded fashion and lifestyle retailer SHEIN has almost 14 million U.S. downloads. Christopher Tang, a professor at…

China slaps anti-dumping levy on import of a US chemical amid rising trade tensions

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China on Friday imposed a levy on imports of an acid from the United States widely used in food, feed, pesticides and medical fields, amid heightened tensions with Washington over bilateral trade. From Saturday, imports of propionic acid from the United States will be subject to a levy of 43.5%, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, after a July investigation found the Chinese domestic propionic acid industry was “materially damaged.” A trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has been intensifying despite recent diplomatic visits. In a…

Soap operas censored in China for spreading ‘unhealthy family values’

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China’s movie regulators are rolling out new regulations on minute-long soap operas, a new genre that became popular in China during COVID-19 pandemic but which has been accused of spreading “incorrect values.” Designed for shorter attention spans during the internet age, these mini-soap operas aim to get people watching videos on their phones hooked as quickly as possible. Starting June 1, the soap operas must be registered and reviewed before they can go online. Key minute-long soap operas — those with investment of around $138,000 (1 million RMB) — must…