Day: July 27, 2023

North Korea Shows off Ballistic Missiles, Drones at Night Parade

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – North Korea displayed nuclear-capable missiles and new attack drones in a large military parade staged in Pyongyang for leader Kim Jong Un and visiting delegations from China and Russia, North Korean state media reported Friday. The widely anticipated parade Thursday night commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as “Victory Day.” The Chinese and Russian delegations, including Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, were the first such visitors to North Korea since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Their appearance at…

Japanese government bond yields spike ahead of BoJ decision

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Receive free Japanese government bonds updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Japanese government bonds news every morning. The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds has breached the Bank of Japan’s yield cap for the first time in four months as investors expect the central bank to relax a longstanding pillar of its ultra-loose monetary policy. The BoJ remains the world’s only central bank with negative interest rates, and any reversal of this strategy would have massive implications for global financial markets. Many economists…

Japan ‘gravely concerned’ by China-Russia military co-operation

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Receive free Japanese politics & policy updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Japanese politics & policy news every morning. Japan has warned that deepening military co-operation between China and Russia is of “grave concern” for its security, in the country’s first defence white paper since it set out plans to expand defence spending last year. Beijing and Moscow kicked off their largest joint naval and air exercise in the Sea of Japan earlier this month, underscoring how their collaboration has gained pace following…

Experts: Vietnam May Benefit as US Companies De-risk Supply Chains Now in China

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WASHINGTON – Vietnam is well-positioned to draw U.S. investors seeking to de-risk supply chains now in China, but closer economic integration between Hanoi and Washington appears unlikely to lead to political realignment, according to experts. Addressing local media in Hanoi during a recent visit, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hailed Vietnam as “a key partner” in the effort to reduce dependence on China by expanding manufacturing in the U.S. and with trusted partners. “Vietnam welcomes the U.S. ‘friendshoring,’ which is beneficial to both countries and contributes to Vietnam’s growth,” Le…

Blinken, Austin Visit Australia Amid Tensions With China

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are visiting Pacific Island nations this week and will meet with their Australian counterparts in Brisbane on Saturday to discuss economic and security issues. The US focus on the greater Indo-Pacific region comes as China’s influence in the region grows. Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. Voice of America

Chinese Citizen Appears in US Court for Hearing on Cyberstalking Allegations 

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boston / washington —  A Chinese man who allegedly cyberstalked and threatened a pro-democracy Chinese classmate appeared in Boston federal court for a pretrial hearing on Wednesday as part of the preparations for a trial scheduled to begin in January. Xiaolei Wu, 25, was a student at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston at the time of the incidents, which occurred October 22-24. The FBI arrested him on December 14. Wu, who is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, has pleaded not guilty and has been…

Economists Tally Results of Decade of Chinese Investment in Pakistan

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islamabad —  The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Beijing’s massive investment plan to boost trade and economic ties with Pakistan, is 10 years old but has not fulfilled its lofty goals. CPEC became an early example of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, an aggressive effort to build billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure in Asia and beyond. At its inception, CPEC was China’s most ambitious BRI effort: More than $35 billion was pledged for energy projects and another $10 billion for transportation. Speaking this month at a commemoration of the project’s 10th…

China’s concertgoers splash the cash, but is revenge spending sustainable to rock the economy?

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“[The pandemic] made me realise that life is about living in the present and embracing as many experiences as possible.” Concerts have been relentlessly trending on Chinese social media in recent months, and in the first half of the year, more than 500 large-scale gigs and music festivals were held in China. Advertisement And they combined to rake in 2.5 billion yuan (US$350 million) in ticket sales, with more than 5.5 million tickets sold, according to the China Association of Performing Arts. The three months of the second quarter alone…

China: Qin Gang mystery intensifies as articles wiped from ministry site reappear

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The mystery surrounding the fate of China’s former foreign minister has intensified, as references to him that had previously been scrubbed from the foreign ministry’s website started to reappear. Articles about Qin Gang’s activities were removed from the foreign ministry’s website after he was replaced by his predecessor, Wang Yi, on Tuesday. Qin, who has not been seen in public for a month, remained as a state councillor, leading to confusion about what, if any, disciplinary action was being taken against him. But early on Friday morning Beijing time, articles…