Tag: International Relations

U.S. Pours Money Into Chips, but Even Soaring Spending Has Limits

Chin@Strategy

In September, the chip giant Intel gathered officials at a patch of land near Columbus, Ohio, where it pledged to invest at least $20 billion in two new factories to make semiconductors. A month later, Micron Technology celebrated a new manufacturing site near Syracuse, N.Y., where the chip company expected to spend $20 billion by the end of the decade and eventually perhaps five times that. And in December, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company hosted a shindig in Phoenix, where it plans to triple its investment to $40 billion and build…

Xi and Putin Meet Again, Two Strongmen in a Weak Moment

Chin@Strategy

When China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia declared a “no limits” partnership 10 months ago, the pair projected an aura of strength in a direct challenge to the United States and the West. As the two leaders met again on Friday via video, they found themselves in positions of weakness, encumbered by geopolitical and economic threats to their informal authoritarian alliance. Both now have little room to maneuver, making the relationship all the more important, albeit also a lot more complicated. Since Russia’s invasion…

U.S. Says Chinese Fighter Jet Flew Dangerously Close to American Plane

Chin@Strategy

The U.S. military said on Thursday that a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. Air Force aircraft that was conducting routine operations over the South China Sea on Dec. 21, nearly causing the planes to collide. The Chinese pilot of a J-11 jet “performed an unsafe maneuver,” flying in front and within 20 feet of the nose of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 plane, the U.S. military said in a statement, adding that the American pilot was forced to take “evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.” The…

As China Drops Travel Rules, Wariness Rises Over its Covid Outbreak

Chin@Strategy

For the past three years, China largely shut its borders and kept its people home, retreating from the global engagement that was the foundation for its rise. As the country now prepares to gradually reopen its doors to help rescue a faltering economy, the world is both excited about the potential boon for business and tourism, but wary about exposure to a country facing an explosion of Covid cases. Starting Jan. 8, China will drop its strict quarantine requirements for travelers arriving from abroad and lift rules that had limited…

China to Drop Covid Quarantine for Incoming Travelers

Chin@Strategy

China on Monday announced that travelers from overseas would no longer be required to enter quarantine upon arrival, in one of the country’s most significant steps toward reopening since the coronavirus pandemic began. From Jan. 8, incoming travelers will be required to show only a negative polymerase chain reaction, or P.C.R., test within 48 hours before departure, China’s National Health Commission said. Limitations on the number of incoming flights will also be eased. The travel restrictions had isolated the world’s most populous country for nearly three years. Foreigners were essentially…

ByteDance Inquiry Finds Employees Obtained User Data of 2 Journalists

Chin@Strategy

ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok, said on Thursday that an internal investigation found that employees had inappropriately obtained the data of U.S. TikTok users, including two reporters. Over the summer, a few employees on a ByteDance team responsible for monitoring employee conduct tried to find the sources of suspected leaks of internal conversations and business documents to journalists. In doing so, the employees gained access the IP addresses and other data of two reporters and a small number of people connected to the reporters via their TikTok accounts.…

Japan Moves to Double Military Spending, With a Wary Eye on China

Chin@Strategy

Japan on Friday announced a new national security strategy that will double the amount earmarked for the country’s military defense, breaking with decades-long precedent on spending restraints as it seeks to strengthen its military capabilities to counter China’s rising power. The new plan, approved by the cabinet on Friday, reflects the geopolitical shifts that have swept the region since the previous version was released nearly a decade ago. In 2013, the document described China and Russia as strategic partners. Now, it deems Beijing’s rise as the “greatest strategic challenge” to…

US Cracks Down on Chinese Companies for Security Concerns

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday stepped up its efforts to impede China’s development of advanced semiconductors, restricting another 36 companies and organizations from getting access to American technology. The action, announced by the Commerce Department, is the latest step in the administration’s campaign to clamp down on China’s access to technologies that could be used for military purposes and underscored how limiting the flow of technology to global rivals has become a prominent element of United States foreign policy. Administration officials say that China has increasingly blurred the…

Biden Aims to Inject New Energy Into US Relations With African Nations

Chin@Strategy

In the course of his interactions with African leaders, the president unveiled a series of initiatives, including an agreement meant to encourage the formation of a continentwide free-trade zone that has stalled over the last few years. He vowed to help African countries do more to transition to clean energy and plug into the digital economy, a contrast to China, which has focused much of its investment in Africa on building roads, bridges, airports and other physical infrastructure. Mr. Biden said in his keynote address that the goal was not…

China Withdraws 6 Diplomats From U.K. After Consulate Scuffle

Chin@Strategy

LONDON — China is withdrawing six diplomats from Britain after a police inquiry into a violent clash during a demonstration at China’s Consulate in Manchester led to a standoff between London and Beijing, Britain’s foreign secretary said on Wednesday. The British authorities had asked six Chinese officials to waive diplomatic immunity and allow an investigation into how a pro-democracy protester from Hong Kong was injured after being dragged onto the consulate grounds and beaten on Oct. 16. Instead, the Chinese authorities decided to repatriate six officials, including one of its…