Day: December 2, 2023

China, US see the risks AI systems can bring. But can they see past military tech rivalry?

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“I don’t know if they can go beyond what has already been agreed on at the international level,” said Dr Guangyu Qiao-Franco, an assistant professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands who specialises in politics and AI. China, the United States and 96 other countries in 2019 devised a set of guidelines on the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems, or LAWS, which can be enhanced with AI. Meeting in Geneva, they agreed that humans must remain responsible for using such systems, their development should comply with international humanitarian law…

Chinese borrowers default in record numbers as economic crisis deepens

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Defaults by Chinese borrowers have surged to a record high since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting the depth of the country’s economic downturn and the obstacles to a full recovery. A total of 8.54mn people, most of them between the ages of 18 and 59, are officially blacklisted by authorities after missing payments on everything from home mortgages to business loans, according to local courts. That figure, equivalent…

Suspected Bomb Blast Kills at Least 3 in Philippines

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MANILA, Philippines —  A powerful explosion believed caused by a bomb ripped through a Catholic Mass and killed at least three people and wounded several others Sunday in a predominantly Muslim city in the southern Philippines, officials said. The morning Mass was under way in a gymnasium at the state-run Mindanao State University in Marawi city when the explosion happened, causing panic among dozens of worshippers and leaving the victims bloodied and sprawled on the ground, said Taha Mandangan, the security chief of the sprawling state-run campus. At least two…

Hong Kong’s LGBTQ Community Scores Legal Victories

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HONG KONG —  Something remarkable happened in Hong Kong’s decadeslong LGBTQ rights movement in recent months, though it is unclear what it means for the future. Hong Kong’s courts issued several rulings in favor of granting LGBTQ rights — including no longer requiring conversion surgery to change their gender on ID cards, allowing same-sex couples to apply for subsidized public housing together, and perhaps the most important by the city’s highest court — ordering the government to come up with a framework within two years to recognize same-sex partnerships. Additionally,…

Known Pathogens Cause Rise in China’s Respiratory Illness, Official Says

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SHENZHEN, China —  China’s surge in respiratory illness is caused by known pathogens and there is no sign of new infectious diseases, a health official said Saturday as the country faces its first full winter since lifting its strict COVID-19 restrictions. The spike in illness in the country where COVID emerged in late 2019 attracted the spotlight when the World Health Organization sought information last week, citing a report of clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children. Chinese authorities will open more pediatric outpatient clinics, seek to ensure more elderly people…

Kissinger’s Legacy Still Ripples Through Asia

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washington —  Henry Kissinger will be remembered in much of the world as a foreign policy genius who ushered China into the world community, driving a wedge between Beijing and its Cold War ally Moscow, and eventually transforming the world economy. In Southeast Asia, the Nixon-era national security adviser and secretary of state who died this week at age 100 is being remembered differently. The opening to China that Kissinger engineered sent a rippling effect to Thailand, which, former Thai Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun said, had trepidation for Communism. “A…

US commerce chief warns against China ‘threat’

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US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security. Speaking at an annual national defence forum in Simi Valley, California, Raimondo called Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had” and stressed “China is not our friend.” The world’s top two economies are locked in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry, in which her department plays a leading role. In October, Raimondo unveiled a series of restrictions on the export of advanced chips…

Want to rent an affordable flat in one of China’s former pop-up Covid hospitals? Why some people are not so keen

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The residential area is the size of 20 football pitches and looks like Lego blocks painted in seven colours. As a residential complex it retains the name it was given as a pandemic facility – the Colourful Community. “This used to be a makeshift Covid hospital, but it was left unused after the pandemic,” said an employee of the state-owned housing company that manages the Colourful Community. The sudden transformation of the site into low-rent housing by the local government in September has sparked much debate on Chinese social media,…

Philippine Troops Kill 11 Suspected Islamic Militants

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MANILA, Philippines —  Philippine troops, backed by airstrikes and artillery fire, killed 11 suspected Islamic militants near a hinterland village in the country’s south, authorities said Saturday, in one of the military’s bloodiest anti-insurgency offensives this year. The military launched the offensive Friday after receiving intelligence about the whereabouts of suspected leaders and armed followers of the Dawla Islamiyah and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, or the BIFF, groups near the village of Tuwayan in southern Datu Hofer town in Maguindanao province, military officials said. Army Major Saber Balogan, a…

Strong Quake in Philippines Triggers Evacuations, Tsunami Warnings

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manila, Philippines —  Evacuations were underway in the Philippines after a quake of at least magnitude 7.5 struck the southern region of Mindanao on Saturday, triggering tsunami warnings in the country and in Japan, though a U.S. agency said the risk of large waves had passed. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System, which initially warned of waves of up to 3 meters above the usual high tide level, later said there was no longer a tsunami threat. Evacuations were continuing in the Philippines, where there were no initial reports of significant…