Day: February 10, 2023

Chinese Balloon ‘Egregious Violation’ of US Airspace, White House Says

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White House —  President Joe Biden ordered the Pentagon to shoot down an unidentified object over Alaska on Friday, less than a week after a U.S. fighter jet fired a missile to take down a Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, confirmed the Alaska incident in answer to VOA’s question during the White House news briefing Friday. While the U.S. still does not know details about the object’s “capabilities, purpose or origin,” according to officials, the unidentified high-altitude object again…

US Adds 6 Chinese Entities From Balloon Program to Blacklist 

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washington —  The Biden administration Friday added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist. The new restrictions came after the White House said it would consider broader efforts to “expose and address” China’s larger surveillance activities that threaten U.S. national security and allies. The Commerce Department said the five companies and one research institute were supporting “China’s military modernization efforts, specifically the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aerospace programs including airships and balloons.” The spectacle of the Chinese balloon drifting over the United States…

Wife of North Korean Diplomat: From Pyongyang to Seoul Seeking Freedom for Kids

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WASHINGTON —  “I can see your son has a bright future ahead of him,” a schoolteacher in London told Oh Hye Son. Oh, 55, is the wife of Thae Yong Ho, a member of the South Korean National Assembly. He defected from North Korea with Oh and their sons in 2016 while serving as the deputy ambassador to the U.K. The teacher’s comments about the couple’s younger son, Kum Hyok, brought Oh to tears. Her husband, Thae, was a counselor at the North Korean Embassy in London, a post he…

China population: tumbling birth rate leaves private kindergartens facing financial ruin

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Faced with financial ruin, he is now considering shutting down the kindergarten. “It’s just too hard,” said an exasperated Liu. Privately-owned kindergartens across China, which account for more than a half of the preschool market and are often more expensive than public alternatives, are struggling with declining enrolments due to the country’s falling birth rate. Advertisement The number of newborn babies in China nearly halved from 18.8 million in 2016 to 9.5 million last year, the lowest level since 1949, according to official data. The number of private kindergartens and…

U.S. Blacklists 6 Chinese Entities Involved in Spy Balloon Programs

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration clamped down on Friday on sales of some U.S. technology to several Chinese aviation and technology companies, as part of its response to a Chinese spy balloon that traversed U.S. airspace last week. The Commerce Department added five Chinese companies and one research institute to its so-called entity list, which will prevent companies from selling them American parts and technologies without a special license. Officials said the six entities had supported Chinese military programs related to airships and balloons used for intelligence and reconnaissance. Alan…

Lawmakers, rights groups condemn Xinjiang official’s possible visit to Europe

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European parliamentarians and human rights groups have strongly objected to a visit to the United Kingdom and Europe Union next week by the China-installed Uyghur leader of Xinjiang, saying that he has played a key role in the persecution of the mostly Muslim minority group. The UK’s The Guardian reported Wednesday that Erkin Tuniyaz, a Chinese politician of Uyghur origin who is chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in far-western China, would visit London and meet with high-level officials to discuss the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The…

UK Lawmakers Demand Cancellation of Visit by Xinjiang Official Accused in Uyghur Genocide

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washington —  A group of British members of Parliament are calling on the government to cancel a planned visit by Erkin Tuniyaz, chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, due to his alleged involvement in what has been described as Uyghur genocide. On Thursday, the MPs argued that if the visit goes ahead, a private prosecution should be allowed. “I call on the U.K. government to rescind this invitation and sanction Erkin Tuniyaz and Chen Quanguo for their role in this crime against humanity and genocide,” Sir Iain Duncan Smith…

Cambodia and China shore up ties with new agreements

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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen oversaw the signing ceremonies for 12 agreements with China on Friday during an official trip to Beijing, and introduced two of his sons to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. The agreements cover a number of areas, including the building of schools in Kratie province, boosting trade, a US$44 million grant for the removal of unexploded ordnance, and the construction of a reservoir in Kampong Thom province. For China, tight ties with Cambodia ensure that Beijing has a supporter in the 10-member Association…

China Calls US House Resolution ‘Political Manipulation’

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China on Friday dismissed a U.S. House of Representatives resolution condemning Beijing over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down above U.S. waters as “purely political manipulation and hyping up.” “China is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a daily briefing. “The resolution by the U.S. Congress was purely political manipulation and hyping up,” Mao said. FILE – Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning attends a news conference in Beijing, China, Feb. 3, 2023. The resolution, which passed unanimously Thursday,…

Ethnic Chin rebels dispute junta claim of martial law in one key township

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Ethnic Chin soldiers claim to have taken control of nearly all of Thantlang township in Chin state, in western Myanmar near India, despite the junta’s recent declaration of martial law in the area, but residents who fled fighting say they cannot return home amid the risk of military airstrikes. Last week, the junta declared martial law in 37 townships across the country and authorized military tribunals to hand down life sentences and the death penalty for a wide range of offenses.  The move came a day after military leaders extended…