Tag: USA

US Imposes New Chip Export Controls on China

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The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday tightened its export controls to keep China from acquiring advanced computer chips that it could use to help develop hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the new controls are “intended to protect technologies that have clear national security or human rights implications.” The new controls could increase tensions between the United States, the world’s biggest economy, and No. 2 China. In recent talks over several months with high-ranking U.S. officials, Beijing had appealed for “concrete actions” from Washington to improve…

China Exploits Israel-Hamas Conflict to Diminish US Global Influence

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WASHINGTON —  Beijing is likely to use the Israel-Hamas war to try to diminish Washington’s global influence while boosting its own, said analysts. China has been bitterly attacking the U.S. on its state media over the conflict raging in the Middle East, saying Washington’s one-sided military support for Israel is fueling tensions and increasing the humanitarian crisis in the region. “If Washington really wants to mediate the crisis, it should sit both sides down for negotiations, instead of sending warships to the Middle East to boost Israel’s morale,” said a…

US Seeks to ‘Diversify’ China-Dominated Africa Minerals Supply Chain

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Cape Town, South Africa —  Africa is the site of a new battle for influence as Washington ramps up efforts to build an alternative critical minerals supply chain to avoid reliance on China. Beijing dominates the processing of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium and other resources from the continent that are needed for the transition to clean energy and electric vehicles. But at the Green Energy Africa Summit this week in Cape Town, which was held on the sidelines of Africa Oil Week, few were willing to talk about…

US Looms Large Over Possible Vietnam-China Summit  

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washington —  A possible visit to Vietnam by Chinese President Xi Jinping would be likely to test Hanoi’s balancing act between Beijing and Washington, analysts say. Reuters reported last week that Vietnamese and Chinese officials are preparing for a possible meeting between Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong and Xi in Hanoi at the end of October or early November. The visit has not been announced by Beijing or Hanoi. The Chinese Embassy in Washington declined a request for comment and deferred the question to the Foreign Ministry in…

China Refuses ‘Sustained Conversation’ with US on Fentanyl Crisis, Ambassador Says

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WASHINGTON —  The Biden administration’s top diplomat to China on Wednesday predicted an increase in tourism, commercial flights, and people-to-people ties between the world’s two largest economies but said talks to form a working group on the fentanyl crisis have stalled. Addressing a live-webcast gathering of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, or NCUSCR, Ambassador Nicholas Burns made the comments just weeks before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to arrive in the U.S. for meetings with administration officials on bilateral trade, fentanyl and other topics expected to shape…

Palau’s President Wonders if US Is Committed to Promised Deal

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The Republic of Palau is one of three Pacific Island nations negotiating a Compact of Free Association Agreement that would give Washington the right to deny access to other nations — including China — in exchange for U.S. economic assistance. Palau is in line to receive $90 million if and when Congress approves an extension of its current 20-year compact, which expires next year. The country ran on a total budget of less than $150 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Palau government documents. VOA spoke to Palau’s President…

Another US State Sues TikTok, Saying It Lures Children Into Destructive Habits

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Utah on Tuesday became the latest U.S. state to sue TikTok, alleging the company is “baiting” children into addictive and unhealthy social media habits. TikTok lures children into hours of social media use, misrepresents the app’s safety and deceptively portrays itself as independent of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, Utah claims in the lawsuit. “We will not stand by while these companies fail to take adequate, meaningful action to protect our children. We will prevail in holding social media companies accountable by any means necessary,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a…

Analysts: Congressional Budget Battle Gives Beijing Opening in the Pacific

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WASHINGTON —  When Congress passed temporary funding for the U.S. government at the end of September, it left out economic assistance for two small Pacific nations that U.S. defense officials say are critical to Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy and are targets of China’s aggressive influence campaign. Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands control a large swath of the Pacific Ocean. Under a special agreement known as the Compacts of Free Association, or COFA, these three nations give Washington the right to deny access to other nations — including China — in…

US Senate Majority Leader Schumer Meets Xi and Welcomes Stronger Chinese Statement on Hamas Attack

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BEIJING —  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer said Monday he was grateful for a strengthened statement from China condemning the killing and kidnapping of Israeli and foreign civilians by Hamas, issued during a bipartisan congressional visit to Beijing that included a lengthy meeting with President Xi Jinping. Schumer led a delegation of six senators to China for talks aimed at stabilizing ties following a sharp deterioration in recent years over trade, U.S. support for self-governing Taiwan, human rights and other issues. The delegation, which included three Democrats and three Republicans,…

US Senators Make First Congressional Visit to China Since 2019

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SHANGHAI —  A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in China on Saturday in the first congressional visit to the country since 2019. The trip comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries and as Chinese and U.S. officials try to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November. The delegation of six senators — three Democrats and three Republicans — landed in Shanghai on a U.S. government jet on an overcast and…