Day: December 18, 2023

Yen falls after Bank of Japan sticks with negative interest rates

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Bank of Japan has held off on raising its interest rates, sending the yen lower against the dollar as investors hunted for clues on the timing of its next major policy change.  The Japanese central bank’s decision at its final meeting of 2023 came after the US Federal Reserve surprised markets last week by signalling that it would cut interest rates next year. That prompted warnings from the European…

Berlin Zoo Sends First Giant Pandas Born in Germany to China

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BERLIN —  The Berlin Zoo has sent the first giant pandas born in Germany to China, dispatching the 4-year-olds on a journey that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pit and Paule, who also are known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, departed from Berlin on Saturday aboard an Air China cargo jet and have now arrived at their new home, the Chengdu Panda Base, the zoo said Monday. “Pit and Paule coped well with the flight,” said Andreas Pauly, the zoo’s head of animal health, who…

UAE seeks closer China ties through Africa, South Pacific investments as Middle East nation eyes ‘global player role’

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China has invested in Africa for nearly a quarter of a century, lured by its natural resources and chance to form closer relations with the region seen as relatively overlooked by the United States. The United Arab Emirates is strategically positioned to consolidate its role as the primary facilitator of trade and investmentShaikh Saoud Ali al-Mualla Much of Africa and the Middle East have hooked into China’s Belt and Road Initiative – Beijing’s trade initiative to link economies into a China-centred network. The UAE, a wealthy economic hub in the…

Daniel Duggan asks to be released from jail and detained at home as he fights extradition to US

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An Australian pilot accused of accepting money to illegally train Chinese military personnel has denied he is a flight risk and described himself as a model prisoner in a formal request to be released into home detention. Daniel Duggan has written to the acting New South Wales corrections commissioner from Lithgow maximum security prison where he is being held in isolated custody while he fights extradition to the US. Duggan, a former US marine who became an Australian citizen, has been charged with four offences in the US including conspiring…

N Korea confirms ICBM launch, vows ‘assertive’ nuclear stance

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North Korea confirmed Tuesday it test-fired a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the previous day.  Pyongyang also vowed that it may adopt a more assertive nuclear stance against the United States, as the U.S. and its regional allies activated a real-time missile warning data-sharing system to more effectively address the North’s evolving nuclear threat. The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency clarified that the ICBM fired on Dec. 18 was a Hwasong-18 series, its latest model, with the test-launch reaching a “maximum apogee of 6,518.2 kilometers, flying a distance of…

Taiwanese tech start-ups pile into Asean amid risks in China

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Technology start-ups in Taiwan, home to some of the world’s most dominant chipmakers, are sharpening their focus on Asean as the prospects of stability for doing business in China wane. Young tech companies hoping to carve out a plan for regional growth are picking the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations amid Taiwanese tensions with the Chinese mainland that have dimmed the outlook for thriving in Asia’s largest economy. The…

Over 100 dead and hundreds hurt after 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Gansu in northwestern China

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The quake’s epicentre is in Jishishan county, an autonomous ethnic minority county with a population of nearly 240,000. The quake caused houses to collapse in the area and damaged utility infrastructure. The Ministry of Transport, which monitors the operation of roads, said on Tuesday morning that a bridge across the Yellow River had cracked because of the quake. On Tuesday, December 19, an earthquake casualty is treated at the Haidong Citizen and Hui Tu Autonomous County People’s Hospital in Qinghai province. Photo: Xinhua China’s top healthcare authority, the National Health…

China gives green light for 5-year plan to cut digital red tape, ‘meaningless labour’

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China’s cyberspace regulator has launched a long-term campaign to cut down on red tape and excessive formalities across government apps and social media. The directive was issued on Monday by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (CCAC), the Communist Party oversight body that sits at the top of the State Council’s Cyberspace Administration, which was set up to manage internet-related issues. The document said that government apps, social media accounts and WeChat groups need to be regulated to make tools more user-friendly for the public, instead of being used by officials…

Earthquake in Northwestern China Kills At Least 111 People in Gansu, Qinghai Provinces

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beijing —  At least 111 people were killed in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in northwestern China, the country’s state media reported Tuesday. The official Xinhua News Agency said that 100 people died in the province of Gansu and another nine in the neighboring province of Qinghai in the quake, which occurred just before midnight Monday. More than 200 people were injured, Xinhua said, 96 in Gansu and 124 in Qinghai. The quake struck in Gansu’s Jishishan county, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the provincial boundary with Qinghai. The U.S.…

China Earthquake Kills More Than 100 in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces

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An earthquake in northwestern China has killed at least 111 people and injured more than 200 others in two provinces, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday. Rescuers were searching for survivors after the quake, which jolted Jishishan County in Gansu Province late on Monday night. The province reported that 100 people had died, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Eleven people in the city of Haidong in neighboring Qinghai Province were also killed, the news agency said. The quake, which struck at 11:59 p.m., had a magnitude of 5.9,…