Day: May 25, 2023

US and China address trade tensions in rare high-level Washington meeting

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China’s commerce minister and his US counterpart have raised concerns about their countries’ trade and investment policies at a meeting in Washington but pledged to keep channels of communication open in the first visit by a senior Chinese official to the US capital since 2020. The talks between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday came with Washington and Beijing showing tentative signs of efforts to stabilise relations, which have hit their lowest point in 50 years. Wang raised concerns about US export controls…

US and China address trade tensions in rare high-level Washington visit

Media Library

China’s commerce minister and his US counterpart have raised concerns about their countries’ trade and investment policies at a meeting in Washington but pledged to keep channels of communication open in the first visit by a senior Chinese official to the US capital since 2020. The talks between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday came with Washington and Beijing showing tentative signs of efforts to stabilise relations, which have hit their lowest point in 50 years. Wang raised concerns about US export controls…

US and China commerce ministers voice trade policy concerns

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China’s commerce minister and his US counterpart have raised concerns about their countries’ trade and investment policies at a meeting in Washington but pledged to keep channels of communication open in the first visit by a senior Chinese official to the US capital since 2020. The talks between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday came with Washington and Beijing showing tentative signs of efforts to stabilise relations, which have hit their lowest point in 50 years. Wang raised concerns about US export controls…

Sixteen NLD lawmakers have died in junta custody or evading arrest since Myanmar coup

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Last June, junta security personnel arrested a Kyaw Mo Myin, a lawmaker for the deposed National League for Democracy in central Myanmar’s Mon state, along with two other party members and a fourth individual. More than a week later, his body was found 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the southeast, in Bilin township’s Paw Khi village, near Hpa-An, according to a person close to his family. He is one of 16 NLD lawmakers to die in junta custody or while evading arrest since the 2021 coup, according to a statement…

NagaWorld casino union leader sentenced to 2 years in prison

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A Phnom Penh court has sentenced a prominent union leader who led a strike at a casino demanding better wages and working conditions to two years in prison on incitement charges.  Chhim Sithar was initially arrested in December 2021 and was charged with “inciting social chaos” for leading a strike at the NagaWorld Hotel and Entertainment Complex, one of the world’s most profitable gambling centers. Workers were demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union members and nearly 370 others they said were unjustly fired.  Chhim Sithar was…

China pilots paying civil servant salaries in digital yuan cryptocurrency

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Chinese local governments have started paying public employees in “digital yuan,” a move experts say leaves users open to surveillance and instant revocation of their funds if officials see fit. Digital yuan is a virtual currency that people can load on their phones and use to buy groceries, ride public transportation and pay medical bills, but is only usable while connected to the internet – a major drawback in the eyes of many. Civil servants and employees at state-owned enterprises in eastern China’s Jiangsu province will receive all of their…

Constitutional body rejects Cambodian opposition party’s ballot appeal

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Cambodia’s Constitutional Council rejected an appeal from the country’s main opposition party to be allowed to register for the upcoming parliamentary elections, a decision on Thursday that leaves the Candlelight Party without options and some observers questioning whether the July vote will have much credibility. The National Election Committee’s decision earlier this month to block the Candlelight Party from appearing on the ballot was deemed correct and based on the law, council spokesman Prum Vicheat Akara told reporters. The ruling means Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won’t have…

 South Korea Seeks to Join Efforts to Counter China’s Economic Coercion

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washington —  Even though China is South Korea’s top trading partner, Seoul’s tightening ties with the U.S. and other wealthy democratic countries reveal its interest in countering Beijing’s economic coercion, experts say. After a monthlong diplomacy effort that included summits with the U.S. and G-7 leaders, “reducing our reliance on China” and “diversifying our trading partners will help our economy,” South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Wednesday at a hearing in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol held a Cabinet meeting on Monday after the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan,…

China’s car market has become a Darwinian battleground

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In the early 1980s, Volkswagen chair Carl Hahn dispatched his engineers to start manufacturing VW’s boxy Santana sedans in Shanghai. Defending the decision, the boss told his top lieutenants in Wolfsburg that Volkswagen could achieve great things in China “if we could tap into its huge potential, surpassing those we made in other countries”. Hahn, who died earlier this year, was right on two fronts. The rise of China’s middle class created the world’s biggest auto market. And the German carmaker — one of the first foreign groups to show…

China aviation: is Shenzhen stealing Hong Kong’s thunder as a go-to economic and travel hub?

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Hong Kong placed two spots lower, at 33rd – a sharp fall from 20th a year prior. Home to the tech giants such as Huawei Technologies and new-energy automaker BYD, Shenzhen has been consolidating its footing as a go-to economic hub in the Greater Bay Area. And this has been in no small part because of the city’s growing momentum in both shipping and civil aviation – two sectors in which Hong Kong has long held a regional advantage. Advertisement Human traffic is often considered an important indicator of economic…