Since the early 1990s, Myanmar’s Great Coco – a small, remote island in the Bay of Bengal – has been at the centre of intrigue. Rumour had it that the island was home to a Chinese intelligence facility, a claim lacking hard evidence. Now concerns over the island, and its uses, have re-emerged. Satellite images taken in January 2023 show telltale signs of military modernisation, according to a report by the thinktank Chatham House. There’s a newly lengthened 2,300-metre runway and radar station, two new hangars, what appears to be…
Day: April 30, 2023
China says UN Security Council should give smaller nations a greater say and ‘redress historical injustices’ against Africa
UN member states are preparing for talks on reforming the Security Council next month, and Wang made the comments during a meeting with Kuwait and Austria’s ambassadors, Tareq Albanai and Alexander Marschik, who are co-chairing the negotiations. Wang urged the pair to lead “all parties to eliminate interferences and forge consensus, so that the Security Council reform process will be widely recognised … and the results will stand the test of history”. Advertisement There are currently five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, representing the…
China’s Manufacturing Contracts, Signaling Recovery Concerns
Beijing — China’s factory activity declined in April, an official survey showed Sunday, signaling policymakers’ challenges in sustaining momentum in the country’s economic recovery. According to the government statistics bureau and an official industry group, a monthly purchasing managers’ index declined to 49.2 from March’s 51.9 on a 100-point scale where numbers below 50 indicate activity contracting. Measures of production, new orders and employment dropped from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said. But they said the index for production…
China’s Midea considering a potential acquisition of Electrolux despite potential political opposition
Buying Electrolux would add to previous overseas acquisitions by Midea. The Chinese company bought a controlling stake in Toshiba Corp.’s home appliance unit in 2016 and acquired German robot maker Kuka AG a year later, which triggered concerns in the German government. Midea Chairman Paul Fang hinted at interest in acquisitions in America and Europe in 2017 after the firm participated in the bidding for General Electric Co.’s white goods unit, which was sold to Chinese competitor Haier Group. Samsung Electronics Co. of Korea and Arçelik of Turkey, which did…
ADB calls on countries to fight protectionism as US-China ties sour
One of Asia’s most senior development bankers has urged countries to fight protectionism as US-China tensions threaten to undermine free trade, the region’s economic recovery and its battle against climate change. Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Manila-headquartered Asian Development Bank, said prolonged or intensified trade uncertainty between the world’s two biggest economies risked disrupting economic activity across the Asia-Pacific region, hitting consumer and business confidence around the world and reducing consumption. “We need to continuously fight against any form of protectionism,” Asakawa told the Financial Times. “Trade fracturing is also…
Can DPP’s William Lai turn a paler shade of green to win Taiwanese presidency?
A survey released by the DPP-leaning Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation on April 18 put Lai’s approval rating at 33.4 per cent, with the opposition KMT’s best-known potential challenger on 29.7 per cent. If he wins in January, Lai is expected to retain the incumbent Tsai Ing-wen’s policies towards Beijing and Washington, a prospect that could increase the risks of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, experts believe. Taiwanese vice-president William Lai Ching-te speaks at the launch of his presidential election campaign on April 12. Photo: CNA The stakes are higher than…
Chinese Man Who Reported on COVID to Be Released After 3 Years
Hong Kong — Chinese authorities were preparing Sunday to release a man who disappeared three years ago after publicizing videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the COVID-19 outbreak, a relative and another person familiar with his case said. Fang Bin and other members of the public who were dubbed citizen journalists posted details of the pandemic in early 2020 on the internet and social media, embarrassing Chinese officials who faced criticism for failing to control the outbreak. The last video Fang, a seller of traditional Chinese clothing, posted on…
The Guardian view on US-China chip wars: no winners in zero-sum battles | Editorial
Rishi Sunak is readying a billion pounds to subsidise the UK’s fledgling microchip industry. It sounds big. But the British government is merely reacting to US economic warfare against China. Behind the talk of “friendshoring” and resurgent industrial policy is a struggle to avoid collateral damage in the battle between China and the US for tech supremacy. The EU plans almost to match the US promise of $52bn (£42bn) in chip subsidies. India is spending $30bn (£25bn) on its semiconductor mission. Mr Sunak looks to be bringing a peashooter to…
China’s Ding Liren Defies Odds to Become World Chess Champion
China’s Ding Liren was crowned on Sunday as the 17th world chess champion in a tense match against Russian-born Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the last chapter of an odds-defying sequence of events. Thirty-year-old Ding won the rapid chess playoff by 2.5 points to 1.5, capitalizing on Nepomniachtchi’s mistakes in time trouble in the last of the shorter-format games, following the pair’s 7-7 tie in a psychological battle across 14 longer “classical” games. “One Ding to rule em all,” fellow grandmaster Anish Giri wrote on Twitter in honor of…
Mercedes-Benz chief says cutting China ties would be ‘unthinkable’
Cutting ties with China would be “unthinkable for almost all of German industry”, the chief executive of automaker Mercedes-Benz has said, as Europe’s largest economy grapples with its deep reliance on Beijing. Ola Källenius said cutting ties with China was impossible and “not desirable”. “The major players in the global economy — Europe, the USA and China — are so closely intertwined that disengaging from China makes no sense,” Källenius told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. “It’s about win-win on growth and climate protection, not conflict.” The economic reverberations…