Day: June 28, 2023

Russian warships spotted off Taiwan’s east coast ‘on way home’ from Komodo drills

Media Library

Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said Taiwan’s defence ministry had confirmed to him that the Russian warships “had not entered the 12-mile limit of Taiwan’s territorial waters”. “I don’t think this will increase tensions, or Russia was trying to coerce Taiwan,” he said. Advertisement Thompson said the Russian warships were “exercising the freedom of navigation” and “on their way home” from the Komodo drills, which ended on June 8. The last time Taiwan observed Russian…

Analyst:  US Carrier, Prime Minister’s Visits to Vietnam ‘No Coincidence’

Media Library

Washington —  Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s four-day visit to Beijing, which coincided with the June 25 arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier to Vietnam, appears to be an example of Hanoi’s balancing act between the United States and China, analysts said. The U.S. Navy’s USS Ronald Reagan arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam, for a scheduled five-day port call on June 25, the third time a U.S. aircraft carrier has visited the country since 2018. That same day, Chinh arrived in Beijing at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li…

Biden Administration Weighs Further Curbs on Sales of A.I. Chips to China

Media Library

The Biden administration is weighing additional curbs on China’s ability to access critical technology, including restricting the sale of high-end chips used to power artificial intelligence, according to five people familiar with the deliberations. The curbs would clamp down on the sales to China of advanced chips made by companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, which are needed for the data centers that power artificial intelligence. Biden officials have said that China’s artificial intelligence capabilities could pose a national security threat to the United States by enhancing…

China on course to hit wind and solar power target five years ahead of time

Media Library

China is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power and potentially outpacing its own ambitious energy targets, a report has found. China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time, according to the report by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that tracks operating utility-scale wind and solar farms as well as future projects in the country. It says that as of the first quarter…

Chinese team finds key evidence for low-frequency gravitational waves with FAST telescope

Media Library

Similar findings were also released by teams from the United States, Canada, Europe, India and Australia independently at about the same time. Maura McLaughlin from West Virginia University, who is co-director of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), said the CPTA result was exciting and the team should be congratulated. Advertisement “They are fortunate to have access to the world’s largest radio telescope, which has allowed them to measure a very significant signal in a short time span,” McLaughlin said. The spectrum of gravitational waves. Photo: European…

Blinken: US Seeks to Coexist Peacefully With China

Media Library

state department —  STATE DEPARTMENT – The United States has to find a way to “coexist peacefully” with China amid intense competition, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, noting that Washington is not economically “decoupling” from Beijing and that bilateral trade last year hit a record high. “China is not going away. We are not going away,” Blinken told a New York audience during an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. “We have to find a way to coexist and coexist peacefully.” Days after Blinken…

Myanmar junta uses Telegram as ‘military intelligence’ to arrest online critics

Media Library

Telegram is becoming the messaging platform of choice for fans of Myanmar’s junta, who are using it to report on critics – some of whom have gotten arrested. For example, actress Poe Kyar Phyu Khin recently posted a video entitled “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Our True Leader)” to the TikTok social media platform ahead of the jailed former state counselor’s June 19 birthday, prompting several users to post photos of themselves bedecked in flowers and express their best wishes. Incensed by the post, supporters of the military junta –…

Cambodia’s Hun Sen Leaves Facebook for Telegram 

Media Library

phnom penh, cambodia —  PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a devoted and very active user of Facebook — on which he has posted everything from photos of his grandchildren to threats against his political enemies — said Wednesday that he would no longer upload to the platform and would instead depend on the Telegram app to get his messages across. Telegram is a popular messaging app that also has a blogging tool called “channels.” In Russia and some neighboring countries, it is actively used both by…

Hun Sen says he won’t pardon two high-profile prisoners, cites foreign meddling

Media Library

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday said he won’t pardon two of his most prominent opponents – opposition party leader Kem Sokha and Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng – who were imprisoned over the last year, saying the decision was necessary in light of recent foreign intervention in Cambodia. “You are shaking hands while you are stepping on my feet,” Hun Sen said during a public appearance in Phnom Penh, using “you” to refer to foreign powers. “I don’t pardon them because I don’t trust you,” he said. “You intend to…

Your Thursday Briefing: Who knew about the mutiny?

Media Library

Who knew about Russia’s mutiny? My colleagues in Washington reported that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who was once Russia’s top commander in Ukraine, knew about the planned revolt. Yesterday, a Kremlin spokesman called The Times’s reporting, based on interviews with U.S. officials, “speculations” and “gossip,” but did not deny it. Other Russian generals and foreign intelligence agencies also appear to have gotten early signals of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans to use the Wagner mercenary group to stage a mutiny. Gen. Viktor Zolotov, the leader of Russia’s National Guard and President Vladimir Putin’s former bodyguard, said…