Day: March 10, 2023

US Defense Officials: China Is Leading in Hypersonic Weapons

Chin@Strategy

washington —  Russia’s repeated use of advanced hypersonic missiles as part of its bombardment of Ukraine may be getting the bulk of the West’s attention, but United States defense officials say it is China that has the world’s leading hypersonic arsenal. “While both China and Russia have conducted numerous successful tests of hypersonic weapons and have likely fielded operational systems, China is leading Russia in both supporting infrastructure and numbers of systems,” the Defense Intelligence Agency’s chief scientist for science and technology told U.S. lawmakers Friday. “Over the past two…

Li Qiang: Xi Jinping, China’s president, names next premier

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Xi Jinping has nominated Li Qiang, 63, to become premier during the continuing annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the official Xinhua news agency has reported. Li Qiang will replace Li Keqiang, who became premier in 2013 amid high hopes he would usher in liberal reforms. But his power was curbed by Xi, who increasingly sidelined Li Keqiang and placed allies in key strategic positions over him. Li Qiang is the former Communist party chief of Shanghai, China’s largest city. Li Keqiang is retiring during the National People’s Congress session…

‘A defeated person’: sidelined by Xi, China’s Li Keqiang bows out as premier

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In a farewell speech after serving 10 years as China’s number two leader, the premier, Li Keqiang, had a cryptic message for his staff: “While people work, heaven watches. Heaven has eyes.” His unusually candid words, seen in a video clip on social media but unreported by official media, stoked speculation about whether he was making a veiled attack on President Xi Jinping. Li’s words betrays a deep sense of frustration over a decade in which he could have exerted his largely reformist agenda but was hamstrung by being in…

‘Where else in the world is there this kind of slavery?’

Chin@Strategy

North Korea has introduced mandatory military service for women increased the service time for all soldiers by three years in an effort to confront a farm labor shortage, sources there told Radio Free Asia. The changes, which go into effect from April, mean that men will again have to serve 10 or 11 years, reversing a 2021 decision that shortened their service time to seven or eight years. For women, instead of voluntarily serving five years, they will all now have to serve eight. The additional years will not be…

US drops Covid test rule for travellers from China

Chin@Strategy

A requirement that travellers to the US from China present a negative Covid-19 test before boarding their flights expired on Friday after more than two months as cases in China have fallen. The restrictions were put in place December 28 and took effect on January 5 amid a surge in infections in China after the nation sharply eased pandemic restrictions and as US health officials expressed concerns that their Chinese counterparts were not being truthful to the world about the true number of infections and deaths. The requirement from the…

Uyghur: Reclaiming Our Story – exhibition looks beyond the oppression

Chin@Strategy

Photographer Sam Biddle engages with members of the Uyghur diaspora who are reclaiming their identity and broadening the public’s perception, from the singular narrative of persecution to include the thousands of years of rich Uyghur history and culture. The exhibition starts on 11 March in Coburg, Victoria The Guardian

Exiled opposition leader supports Cambodian defense minister’s son as PM candidate

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Exiled Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy has thrown his support behind the current defense minister’s son to become prime minister four months ahead of July’s general elections. The announcement followed a report about a shakeup and power struggle within the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, over the selection of a new leader to succeed Hun Sun, who has ruled the country since 1985. Sam Rainsy, acting president of the disbanded opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, posted a statement Friday on Facebook backing Tea Seiha, governor of Siem Reap province…

US Lifts COVID Test Requirement for Chinese Travelers

Chin@Strategy

washington —  A requirement that travelers to the U.S. from China present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flights expired Friday after more than two months as cases in China have fallen. The restrictions were put in place December 28 and took effect January 5 amid a surge in infections in China after the nation sharply eased pandemic restrictions and as U.S. health officials expressed concerns that their Chinese counterparts were not being truthful to the world about the true number of infections and deaths. The requirement from the…

US Lawmaker Blasts China on Human Rights in Front of Embassy

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washington —  The Republican chairman of a special House committee targeting China called Beijing’s government “bloodthirsty” and “power hungry” on Friday at a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington. Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin attended a rally to commemorate the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against China’s rule. The gathering took place on what is known as Tibetan National Uprising Day and came as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate. Speaking to members of the Tibetan community, Gallagher said he wanted to recognize their courage in fighting…

Residents too scared to return to resort town in southern Myanmar amid junta shelling

Chin@Strategy

No one has returned to the once-picturesque hilltop resort town of Thanduang in southern Myanmar. Six weeks after junta troops shelled the town in Kayin state, the more than 8,000 residents who fled are too scared to return to their homes for fear of further attacks by the military, they have told Radio Free Asia. Junta forces are still firing shells into the town. The ghost town is just one of scores across the country where people have fled fighting that has engulfed the country since the military coup d’etat…