Day: May 1, 2023

Biden Hosts Philippine President at White House Amid China Concerns

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The White House —  U.S. President Joe Biden assured his Philippine counterpart Monday of the the United States’ commitment to the Southeast Asian archipelago as tensions rise with China. “The United States also remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including in the South China Sea, and we will continue to support the Philippines military modernization goals,” Biden said. The two leaders signed a new defense cooperation agreement Monday to strengthen Philippine security and support military modernization. That agreement builds on the conclusion last week of…

Tech war: China chip tool makers see windfall from semiconductor investment boom amid US trade restrictions

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These chip-making equipment makers are supplying some of the biggest Chinese foundries as well as domestic semiconductor testing and packaging companies. Advertisement NAND Flash is a type of non-volatile storage technology that retains data even without power, which has made it ideal for many electronics devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptop computers and solid-state drives. Those developments underscore the resolve of China’s sanctions-hit semiconductor industry to continue growing and innovating, despite their struggles with US trade restrictions. In October last year, US firms Lam Research Corp and KLA Corp scrambled…

Tibet’s exiled government pushes China on sovereignty claims in bid for leverage

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Tibet’s government in exile is stepping up challenges to China’s claim of sovereignty over the Himalayan region in hopes of pushing Beijing to engage with it, the body’s leader has said. While the India-based Central Tibetan Administration faces an uphill battle in persuading governments to question Tibet’s status, concerns about Chinese president Xi Jinping’s increasingly assertive international strategy and harsh policies in neighbouring Xinjiang and Hong Kong could fuel sympathy for the Tibetan complaints. In an interview with the Financial Times, Penpa Tsering, who was elected Sikyong, or leader of…

May Day: World’s Workers Rally, France Sees Pension Anger

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paris —  People squeezed by inflation and demanding economic justice took to streets across Asia, Europe and the Americas on Monday to mark May Day, in an outpouring of worker discontent not seen since before the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns. Celebrations were forced indoors in Pakistan, tinged with political tensions as in Turkey, as both countries face high-stakes elections. Russia’s war in Ukraine overshadowed scaled-back events in Moscow, where Communist-led May Day celebrations were once massive affairs. Across France, some 800,000 people marched, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. They mobilized against…

Biden says US commitment to defending Philippines is ‘iron clad’

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Joe Biden said the US commitment to defend the Philippines was “iron clad” days after the American ally accused Beijing of dangerously harassing a patrol ship in the South China Sea. In a joint statement after meeting his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the US president said any attack on Philippine aircraft or ships in the South China Sea would trigger their mutual defence treaty. Marcos is on a four-day visit to the US that marks the latest effort by the Biden administration to shore up alliances in the Indo-Pacific…

Alibaba’s Jack Ma Turns Up in Japan as College Professor

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tokyo —  Jack Ma, a co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, will be a visiting professor at Tokyo College, a research institute run by the prestigious University of Tokyo, the university said Monday. Ma will carry out research in sustainable agriculture and food production, it said in a statement. The university said that Ma, who also heads his own Jack Ma Foundation, a philanthropic organization, will “share his rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management and innovation,” with students and faculty. Chinese regulators singled out Alibaba for…

More opposition defections lift Cambodia’s ruling party ahead of July election

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A string of recent defections and public apologies by opposition party officials and critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen has given the longtime leader a boost less than three months before July’s parliamentary elections. The high-profile defections to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party are just the latest – at least nine opposition party officials have switched their allegiance to the CPP since November 2022 as the party works to co-opt and silence opposition figures. On Sunday, the president of the little-known Khmer Win Party was appointed to be the secretary…

Diplomats visiting Xinjiang urged to speak with ‘a strong voice’ on behalf of China

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China’s top leader in Xinjiang urged visiting diplomats from pro-China countries to support Beijing with “a strong voice” in the face of condemnation from the United States and other Western countries over the repression of Muslim Uyghurs. On April 27, Ma Xingrui, the Communist party secretary for the region, met with consuls general from Brazil, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Turkey in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on a visit at the invitation of the Chinese government. “Some anti-China forces in the Western countries led by the…

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu’s Visit to India: Impact on China-India Relations

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Advertisement China’s Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu traveled to New Delhi, India, on April 27-28 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers’ Meeting hosted by India, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the organization. During his stay in India, Li also held bilateral talks with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and other counterparts from member states on the sidelines of the conference.  Li is the first Chinese defense minister to visit India since the bloody clash in the Galwan Valley in 2020. In fact, this visit is…

UN rights expert raises concern over training programs, forced labor in Tibet

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A U.N. human rights expert has expressed concern that allegations of mandatory vocational training programs and labor transfer in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region may affect the human rights of Tibetans, similar to the situation with Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Tomoya Obokata, a Japanese who is the U.N.’s special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, and other U.N. experts that the programs are being used to undermine Tibetan religious, linguistic and cultural identity, and to monitor and politically indoctrinate Tibetans.  In a release from the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for…