Day: June 5, 2023

Musk Says China Detailed Plans to Regulate AI

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Washington —  Top Chinese officials told Elon Musk about plans to launch new regulations on artificial intelligence on his recent trip to the Asian giant, the tech billionaire said Monday, in his first comments on the two-day visit. The Twitter owner and Tesla CEO — one of the world’s richest men — held meetings with senior officials in Beijing and employees in Shanghai last week. “Something that is worth noting is that on my recent trip to China, with the senior leadership there, we had, I think, some very productive…

My life was turned upside down by Beijing threats, wife of Chinese ex-official tells US court

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The wife of a Chinese former official has described in court the moment their life in the US was “turned upside down” by Chinese government threats aimed at forcing her family to return to their homeland. Liu Fang told how two strangers pounded on her New Jersey front door and twisted the handle, in what is the first trial to come out of US claims that Beijing has tried to harass and intimidate dissidents and others into returning home. When the men left, Liu said she opened the door and…

China Inaugurates Embassy in Honduras

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Tegucigalpa, Honduras —  China officially inaugurated its embassy in Honduras on Monday, just weeks after the Central American country switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing. The ceremony was held at a hotel in the capital, Tegucigalpa, as Beijing has not yet defined the building where its diplomatic mission will operate. An interim envoy, Yu Bo, will lead the embassy in Honduras and lead the search for a permanent embassy building, officials said. “The Chinese Embassy in Honduras will do everything possible to fulfill the responsibilities of being the…

US military slams Chinese warship’s ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ manoeuvres in Taiwan Strait

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This followed claims levelled by the Pentagon that on May 26 an American Boeing RC-135, while conducting a routine mission in the region, was forced to retreat after being hit by turbulence it said was intentionally caused by a Chinese jet. “When you have pieces of metal of that size, whether it’s in the air or on the sea, and they are operating that close together, it wouldn’t take much for an error in judgment or a mistake to get made, and somebody could get hurt,” Kirby said. “And that’s…

China pressures Australian press club to cancel Tibetan exile leader’s speech

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China is under fire for attempting to prevent the leader of Tibet’s government-in-exile from giving a speech at the Australian National Press Club in Canberra, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Chinese Embassy representatives met with press club chief Maurice Reily last week and voiced their opposition to Penpa Tsering’s scheduled appearance on June 20, requesting that his invitation be revoked. China has controlled Tibet since it invaded the region in 1949, and rejects any notion of a Tibetan government-in-exile, particularly the legitimacy of the Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharamsala,…

China Establishing ‘Commanding Lead’ with Key Military Technologies

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washington —  Chinese research on some key military technologies is so far ahead that the United States and its key allies may never be able to catch up, according to a new analysis by an Australian think tank. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) issued its findings Tuesday based on a review of the top 10% of the most highly cited research papers, concluding China leads in 19 of 23 key categories, including some that are likely to play a major role in Beijing’s push for military prominence in the…

Myanmar’s junta has sentenced 156 civilians to death since coup

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Myanmar’s junta has sentenced at least 156 people to death – including four teenagers and manyl in their 20s – since seizing power in a coup d’etat, according to a group monitoring prisoners of conscience in the country. Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said in a report that the junta has increasingly sentenced political activists to death since the Feb. 1, 2022, takeover as a warning to opponents of its rule. Some 42 of the convictions have been in absentia. The real total may actually be much higher,…

China, US join naval drills in Indonesia amid rising tensions

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The United States and China are taking part this week in a multilateral naval exercise, which kicked off in Indonesian waters on Monday, despite tensions growing between the two superpowers over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The three nations are joining 33 others in the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo, which Indonesia is hosting through Thursday in the Makassar Strait, a strategic waterway that connects the Pacific and Indian oceans. The drills will focus on maritime cooperation, disaster relief and humanitarian operations, officials said. The Komodo Exercise is a series…

Grieving mother who lost son kills herself after cyberbullying, official warnings

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A Chinese woman killed herself in late May after her first-grade son was fatally struck by a teacher’s car on school property, sparking outrage among residents and netizens who blamed cyberbullying and government pressure for her death. The specific reason for her death remains unclear, but in a video recorded before she died, the woman, surnamed Yang, said that national security officers had told her to keep quiet about her son’s death.  Yang also was criticized by netizens who commented on her interviews with Chinese media by blasting her for…

Suicide spike in North Korea prompts Kim Jong Un to issue prevention order

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a secret order for local authorities to prevent suicides after data showed an increase in people taking their own lives this year, government officials told Radio Free Asia. Though RFA was not able to confirm North Korea’s tally, the South Korean National Intelligence Service reported at the end of May that suicides were up about 40% compared to last year. “There are a lot of internal unrest factors in North Korea due to the hardships of people,” the spy agency said, adding…