Day: December 27, 2023

Xi Jinping appoints China’s top naval commander

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping has promoted two senior officers to generals, including Hu Zhongming, who was named the top commander of the country’s navy for the first time, Xinhua News Agency said. Xi, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), “presented certificates of order to promote two military officers to the rank of general” at a ceremony on Monday, the state news agency reported. “The promoted officers are Political Commissar of the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Wang Wenquan, and Commander of the PLA Navy Hu…

Possible Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing summit ‘in discussion’: report

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South Korea, China, and Japan are reportedly continuing discussions to hold a trilateral summit – an initiative that Seoul and Tokyo see as an opportunity to send a unified warning to North Korea and curb its nuclear ambitions. “Arrangements are underway for a summit of the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea in February or sometime later,” Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday, without citing any specific source. “Tokyo wants to use the framework of dialogue among the three nations to exchange views on North Korea, which has…

Chinese security agencies appeal to public for tip-offs after claiming foreign spies were caught after suspicious landlord spotted mystery ‘green light’ in flat

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China’s top anti-espionage agency has appealed to the public for more tip-offs after claiming to have caught a foreign company trying to steal secrets from a naval base. The State Security Ministry said it had foiled an attempt to gather intelligence about new military equipment – including what it described as “trump card” weaponry – in an unidentified coastal city. In a post on its official WeChat page it said that it had been tipped off by a suspicious landlord who had noticed an “eerie green light” coming from a…

Philippines emerges as centre of Asia online shopping scams

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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. James Relativo thought he had landed a great deal on an electric drum set, but instead the Manila resident was cheated out of his money in a country gaining the dubious distinction as Asia’s worst for online sales scams. Shoppers across the Philippines have been defrauded out of millions of dollars so far this year, with some turning to victim chat groups on Facebook and other social media. A recent…

In the hawk-dove ornithology of China policy, consider the drongo

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Geopolitics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer spent much of his diplomatic life working on and in China. He is an associate fellow of the Council on Geostrategy, Rusi and Merics Those of us who spend our lives thinking about China strategy are routinely referred to as either “hawks” or “doves”, a crude distinction meant to identify us as either rabidly anti- or slavishly pro-China. The crudity sometimes spills into ornithological fatuity. I have been called…

Jiang Ping, the ‘Conscience of China’s Legal World,’ Dies at 92

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Jiang Ping, a legal scholar who helped lay the foundation for China’s civil code, and whose experiences with political persecution shaped his relentless advocacy for individual rights in the face of state power, died on Dec. 19 in Beijing. He was 92. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by the China University of Political Science and Law, where he had served as president and was a longtime professor. Often called “the conscience of China’s legal world,” Mr. Jiang established himself in the 1980s as a highly regarded teacher and…

China is ramping up the pressure for Taiwan’s election

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President Tsai, who has been candid yet deft in her defence of Taiwan’s sovereignty, is deeply disliked by Beijing. But the man running to replace her, current vice-president William Lai, is far worse in their eyes. Despite saying he will do nothing to change the status quo, Mr Lai is seen by China as a hardline “splittist”, an advocate of formal Taiwan independence. BBC

Some Chinese state property developers stiff their suppliers, defying edicts and worsening slump

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“Construction completed in 2019, and the school started enrolment in 2021,” he said. “But we still haven’t got the final payment. I have advanced funds [from the firm’s capital] to pay workers’ wages and other expenses.” Chinese economic regulators have been putting heavy pressure on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to pay their small suppliers, largely private firms, on time. But Zhang and Tony Lu, co-founder of a construction company, are running out of patience. Delays have been so extensive and harmful to his business that Lu’s firm may have to file…

Candlelight Party tries to win over Nation Power Party

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The Candlelight Party is urging the new Nation Power Party to join forces with it to form a stronger opposition alliance to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party ahead of Senate elections in February, a former Candlelight official said Wednesday. Rong Chhun, former Candlelight Party vice president who now serves as an advisor to the Nation Power Party, told RFA that leaders from both parties held informal talks in the name of democracy to discuss the strategy for upcoming Senate election on Feb 25.  Rong Chhun and Chea Mony, a prominent…

Fighting in Rakhine threatens Chinese-backed infrastructure projects

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Intense fighting between junta troops and an ethnic army in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state has threatened to disrupt Chinese-backed infrastructure projects that are part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Progress has stalled on the projects — the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, a deep-sea port and a railway — because of the armed conflict, said a Rakhine resident who has been monitoring developments there. “For the time being, China’s two important projects — the railway and deep-sea port — are impossible to implement, because the [railway] must connect Kyaukphyu to…