Day: May 16, 2023

Biden Cancels PNG, Australia Trips for Talks Over US Debt Ceiling

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White House —  President Joe Biden canceled his trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia next week to continue debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders that he held Tuesday at the White House. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the president would to return to Washington on Sunday, following the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, “in order to be back for meetings with congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default.” When asked what kind of message…

South Korea gets tough on tech leaks to China

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For one Chinese semiconductor executive, the easiest way to recruit South Korean engineers is to hang around outside factory gates. “I just go to foreign companies’ fabs and stand at the gate, asking them to come to our own production lines to do some temporary work and earn some extra money,” the executive, who did not wish to be named, told the Financial Times. “The ones I visit more often are the fabs of TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix, as well as the office buildings of foreign equipment suppliers,” the…

China brands Liz Truss’s trip to Taiwan a ‘dangerous political stunt’

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Liz Truss’s trip to Taiwan this week is a “dangerous political stunt”, the Chinese embassy in London has said, as the former prime minister prepares to call on Rishi Sunak to declare Beijing a “threat” to UK security. She is expected to use a speech in Taipei City on Wednesday to challenge the prime minister to deliver on his rhetoric during last summer’s Conservative party leadership contest, when he declared China “the biggest-long term threat to Britain”. He also promised to close all 30 of the UK’s Confucius Institutes, which…

China Says Ready to ‘Smash’ Taiwan Self-Rule as US Increases Support

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Beijing —  China is prepared to “resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence,” its military said Tuesday, as the United States reportedly prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons and other military assistance to the self-governing island democracy. A recent increase in exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries is an “extremely wrong and dangerous move,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Tan Kefei said in a statement and video posted online. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “continues to strengthen military training and preparations and will resolutely smash any form…

New Report Highlights China’s Positive Image in Colombia

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Advertisement Since Xi Jinping’s rise to power in 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has injected billions of dollars in financing and projects for infrastructure and technology around the world. One of the regions most impacted by China’s BRI program has been Latin America, historically the United States’ geopolitical backyard. Since then, China has been growing increasingly aggressive in its approach to development finance in Latin America. Most major countries in the region have signed onto the BRI, signifying a great momentum shift and increasing geopolitical competition between the…

Republicans pummel top officials over China policy at Senate hearing

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Republicans ripped into Cabinet officials during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on efforts to enhance U.S. security measures and the nation’s ability to compete with China. Three of Biden’s cabinet members defended President Biden’s budgetary request. The presence Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a rare triple act, showed the importance of China policy for the White House. Biden administration officials have asked members of Congress for $842 billion in defense spending for the next fiscal year, in part…

With help from China, Cambodia’s Hun Sen closes ‘win-win’ SEA Games

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The splashy sporting extravaganza drawing to a close in Phnom Penh on Wednesday featured 12,000 participants from 11 nations and included free tickets, free food and free accommodations – and also helped Prime Minister Hun Sen shine on an international stage just before a national election. The Southeast Asia Games, hosted by Cambodia for the first time, featured a US$150 million stadium built by China specifically for the event.  And on the first day, Hun Sen presided over an elaborate opening ceremony stage-managed by Chinese technicians. King Norodom Sihamoni, Cambodia’s…

Escapee group in South Korea floats bottles of rice and cash to the North

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Mysterious bottles full of rice, US dollars and memory sticks containing anti-North Korean content that showed up in the Han River around the South Korean capital of Seoul are the work of local North Korean escapee organizations, escapee activists told Radio Free Asia.  South Korea’s Yonhap News reported last week that fishermen working in the mouth of the Han are catching the plastic bottles in their nets. They frequently appear in the area between Haengju Bridge in the capital’s northwest and the Singok Submerged Weir just outside the city limits.  …

How Myanmar’s Junta Uses Telecom Companies to Target Journalists

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Washington —  Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military has consolidated control over the country’s mobile service providers, putting activists, opposition members and journalists at greater risk of surveillance, according to experts. With the country’s four mobile service providers now either directly or indirectly linked to Myanmar’s military, sensitive user data is more easily accessible and could be used to persecute opposition voices, experts say. “The military in Myanmar has continued to oppress human rights online in the face of ongoing civil disobedience, political opposition, and armed conflict,” Freedom House researcher…

Using fake Facebook account, Hong Kong police trolled pro-democracy activists

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Hong Kong’s national security police used a fake social media account to troll pro-democracy activists for years, according to information revealed during a “subversion” trial of 47 pro-democracy activists who took part in a 2020 democratic primary and further investigated by Radio Free Asia. An investigator called to testify in the trial said officers had used a Facebook account in the name of “Tang Ki” to monitor the online activity of the former lawmakers and political activists currently standing trial for “subversion” under a national security law imposed on the…