Day: May 18, 2023

Al-Qaida Frees Australian Doctor Held for Seven Years

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sydney —  An Australian doctor held captive by al-Qaida-linked extremists for more than seven years in West Africa has been released, the Australian government said Friday. Kenneth Elliott, 88, is safe and well and has been reunited with his wife, Jocelyn, and their children, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. The couple were seized in January 2016 from Djibo, near Burkina Faso’s border with Mali, where they had operated a 120-bed clinic for more than 40 years. Jocelyn Elliott was freed after three weeks. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb then…

US-Taiwan Trade Deal Shows Support Amid Pressure from China

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WASHINGTON —  The United States has reached a modest trade agreement with Taiwan, signaling Washington’s support for the island democracy as it comes under increasing pressure from China. The first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is expected to set the stage for a bigger deal later — “a robust and high-standard trade agreement,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said. The initiative announced Thursday will, among other things, cut red tape at customs and reduce waiting times for U.S. businesses bringing products to Taiwan. It also commits…

G7 to Increase Financial Pressure on Russia

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hiroshima —  Members of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies will act at this year’s G-7 summit to pile more sanctions on Russia and crack down on those helping it evade them — a move aimed at hampering Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine. Briefing reporters, a Biden administration official, who was not identified by name as is customary, said the group will announce hundreds more sanctions and export controls at this year’s meeting in Hiroshima, Japan. Just the sanctions from the United States would blacklist about 70…

Foreign Consultancies in China Wary of Expanded Counterespionage Law

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taipei, taiwan —  International business consultancies operating in China that provide economic data to potential investors appear to be headed into a period of greater scrutiny as of July 1, when a revised espionage law expands the list of activities Beijing considers spying. The consultancies assist companies and individuals seeking profit from the world’s second-largest economy by doing deep background reports before money flows into China. And while China’s economic policymakers advocated in March for more foreign investment to restore an economy stalled by Beijing’s draconian COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, that…

Japan pushes for ‘realistic’ approach to hitting net zero

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Four weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, Japan proposed an initiative that it hoped would bring Asian countries together to tackle climate goals without sacrificing economic growth. Then, when the war upended energy markets and forced Germany and other European Union nations to reactivate their mothballed coal plants, officials in Tokyo quietly became more bullish about a regional effort to address global warming. “For Asia, we need to have as many options as possible on energy for their stable supply,” argued prime minister Fumio Kishida in March,…

G7 prioritises ‘de-risking’ China links over ‘decoupling’

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In the months leading up to the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the US, EU and Japan cautiously united behind a policy towards China that rules out a full decoupling of trade between them — as the world’s most advanced nations — and Asia’s largest economy. But how the G7 will strike the right balance between national security and economic interests remains a challenge that is likely to weigh heavily during the summit meeting. The gathering will also be joined by leaders of developing countries including India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and…

UK’s £1bn strategy for semiconductor industry lacks ambition, say critics

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The UK government has announced an investment of up to £1bn in the domestic semiconductor industry, but has been criticised for declining to join the spending race that has seen the US and EU announce significantly bigger programmes. Labour accused the government of lacking ambition in its announcement, while one UK startup said the £1bn figure was less than the cost of one basic semiconductor plant. The UK’s long-awaited national semiconductor strategy would focus on the country’s existing strengths in the technology. Semiconductors, or microchips, are the “brains” of electronic…

FirstFT: Global chipmakers flock to Japan

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This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get it sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning Some of the world’s largest chipmakers have agreed to invest billions of dollars in Japan as developed economies seek to reduce their dependency on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry amid rising tension between the west and China. Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida met the heads of leading western chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and Intel and Micron of…

No word on six miners missing after lift-cage accident at Tibet mine

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A search is underway for six workers who went missing after a lift cage fell at a Chinese-backed copper mine in Tibet during shaft construction of an open-pit mine drainage system project, forcing production to stop. The accident occurred May 14 at the Julong Copper and Polymetallic Mine site operated by Tibet Julong Copper Co. Ltd. in copper-rich Gyama township in Meldrogunkar county of Lhasa prefecture. China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. owns a 50.1% stake in the subsidiary. The six missing miners work at Fujian Xingwanxiang Construction Group Co.,…

US and Taiwan reach deal on first part of ‘21st century’ trade pact

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The US and Taiwan reached agreement on the first part of their “21st century” trade initiative covering customs and trade facilitation, regulatory practices and small business, the US Trade Representative’s office said on Thursday. After the initial agreement of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is signed, negotiations will commence on other trade areas including agriculture, digital trade, labour and environmental standards, state-owned enterprises and non-market policies and practices, USTR said. South China Morning Post