Day: April 24, 2023

US Sanctions Target Three in China Linked to North Korean Hackers

Chin@Strategy

Washington —  The United States on Monday announced sanctions on three people it said were involved in laundering virtual currency stolen by North Korean hackers to help finance Pyongyang’s weapons programs. A U.S. Treasury statement said the three were a China-based virtual currency trader, another currency trader based in Hong Kong, and a representative of North Korea’s Korea Kwangson Banking Corp, who recently relocated to Dandong, China. China-based trader Wu Huihui facilitated the conversion of virtual currency stolen by North Korea’s cybercriminal syndicate, the Lazarus Group, the statement said. The…

Only 10 carmakers will survive global EV battle, says Tesla rival Xpeng

Media Library

The world’s car industry will shrink to only 10 companies over the coming decade, a Chinese rival to Elon Musk’s Tesla has said, as intense competition in China’s electric vehicle market spills on to the global stage. Brian Gu, vice-chair of Guangzhou-headquartered Xpeng, said for Chinese companies to be among the last carmakers standing, they would need to have annual sales of at least 3mn vehicles, underpinned by global exports. The world’s largest carmaker Toyota sold 10.5mn cars in 2022, while Tesla sold 1.3mn. The warning comes at a historic…

India to Surpass China as Most Populous Country by Month’s End

Chin@Strategy

India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country by the end of this month, the United Nations said Monday. By the end of April, India’s population is expected to reach 1.425 billion, which means it will match and then surpass mainland China’s population, the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said. “China’s population reached its peak size of 1.426 billion in 2022 and has started to fall. Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could drop below 1 billion before the end of the…

Taiwan Says It Is Tracking Chinese Carrier off its Southeast Coast

Chin@Strategy

taipei —  Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Monday that a Chinese carrier group led by the Shandong was about 222 kilometers off the southeast of the island’s coast, the same ship that took part in China’s war games around the island earlier this month. Taiwan previously reported that the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, had sailed into waters in the Western Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates the island from the Philippines ahead of a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles. After Tsai…

U.S. Indicts Four Men in Scheme to Launder Cryptocurrency for North Korea

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said on Monday that it had indicted four men on charges of laundering virtual currency stolen by an infamous North Korean online criminal syndicate as part of a far-reaching scheme to buy goods with U.S. dollars and evade international sanctions. The charges, filed in three cases in federal court in Washington, outline a complex multiyear effort to launder cryptocurrency obtained by the Lazarus Group, an organization linked to espionage, online theft and cyberattacks, including the 2014 breach of Sony Pictures. The scheme involved a relatively…

US-South Korea State Visit Could Feature Quiet Talks on China

Chin@Strategy

white house —  U.S. President Joe Biden will pull out all the stops Wednesday when he hosts South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for a pomp-filled state visit to cap a day grounded by serious discussions, including, analysts say, quiet talks about countering an increasingly powerful China. White House officials say the leaders will discuss the threats posed by an increasingly bold North Korea, how the two nations can cooperate economically and more. Yoon will also speak before Congress while he is in Washington. “Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S.-[Republic of…

Life at 25 in India and China: money worries, hard work and no plans for family

Chin@Strategy

India has become the world’s most populous country, according to the United Nations’ latest projections, knocking China off the top spot for the first time since the UN began keeping records. Both countries are facing significant demographic challenges, be it dealing with the legacy of a disastrous one-child policy and ageing population or working out how to take advantage of a booming youth cohort while managing huge disparities in the growth rates of different states. We asked two 25-year-olds – one from each country – about their lives and aspirations.…

Guatemalan President in Taiwan for Visit Slammed by China

Chin@Strategy

Taipei, Taiwan —  Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei arrived in Taiwan on Monday to reinforce diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island, on a visit that has drawn China’s ire. The Central American nation is one of the few remaining countries to recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan, a list that has shrunk in recent years as Beijing moves to isolate Taipei on the international stage. China considers democratic Taiwan part of its territory to be retaken one day and does not allow other countries to recognize both Beijing and Taipei. Images released…

UK expected to stop funding Chinese state-linked Mandarin teaching schools

Chin@Strategy

UK government funding for Mandarin teaching at branches of the Chinese state-linked Confucius Institute is to be axed, but they will not be closed, as Rishi Sunak promised last year. The step is expected to be announced by James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, on Tuesday and comes as research shows that a secretive visa scheme has been used to fast-track Chinese government-vetted staff to come to the UK to promote Chinese Communist party (CCP) values at the institutes. There are 30 branches of the Confucius Institute, which teaches Chinese language…

Junta’s second bombing of Sagaing village meant to destroy evidence, rebels say

Chin@Strategy

A military airstrike last week on a village in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region where an earlier attack killed nearly 200 people was part of a bid to “destroy evidence,” a member of the armed opposition said Monday, as reports emerged that the latest bombing killed nearly 20 of the junta’s own troops. The junta’s April 11 air raid on the opening ceremony of a public administration building in Kanbalu township’s Pa Zi Gyi village is believed to be one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Myanmar since the February…