Fiji will uphold a policing cooperation agreement with China after reviewing the deal, the country’s home affairs minister, Pio Tikoduadua, has confirmed, despite earlier concerns within the Pacific nation over the deal. The controversial agreement was signed in 2011 when Fiji was under military rule. Under the deal, Fijian officers have been trained in China while Chinese police have been embedded in the Fijian force. Beijing has also provided hi-tech equipment including surveillance gear and drones. The deal has been under review after Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, raised concerns…
Day: March 14, 2024
Biden declares opposition to Nippon Steel takeover of US Steel
Joe Biden has declared his opposition to Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9bn purchase of US Steel, saying it was “vital” for the American steel company to remain “domestically owned and operated”. In a statement on Thursday, the US president characterised his decision as an effort to side with American workers, at a time when he is under pressure in his re-election campaign to retain the blue-collar vote in the face of aggressive courting by his Republican rival Donald Trump. But the declaration risks damaging Washington’s relationship with Japan, one of its…
China and other emitters can cut methane emissions if they want to: IEA report
The US and Russia rank second and third, respectively and derive most of their emissions from oil and gas. At last year’s Cop28 summit, China’s top climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said the country was taking steps to reduce its methane emissions, but that China and other developing countries “still lack the capabilities” to control emissions. Climate envoy says China has ‘done a lot’ on methane despite criticism of plan However, in its Global Methane Tracker report released on Wednesday, the IEA said that technology to curb methane emissions from oil,…
TikTok Is Its Own Worst Enemy
I was really rooting for TikTok. In 2020, when the Trump administration first tried to force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app or risk having it shut down, I argued that banning TikTok in the United States would do more harm than good. Why? Partly because TikTok seemed like a convenient scapegoat for problems — invasive data collection, opaque content policies, addictive recommendation algorithms — that plagued all the big social media apps, and partly because I never bought the argument that the app was a Chinese spying…
China’s Own Media Harassed by Authorities While Reporting Hebei Blast
Chinese reporters, often thought of as mouthpieces for Beijing, appeared to be pushed out of that role Wednesday when authorities physically intervened while several state media reporters were gathering news or doing live coverage from the scene of a deadly blast in Hebei province. The actions of local authorities triggered a quick response from the All-China Journalists Association, which issued a statement defending the role of journalists acting in their professional manner in Chinese society. The death toll from the blast that hollowed out a four-story building has risen to…
US Senate Considers Bill That Could Ban TikTok in United States
The White House is urging senators to quickly begin considering a bill that would address national security concerns related to the social media app TikTok. The House approved the measure earlier this week. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports. Camera: Saqib Ul Islam. Voice of America
Taiwan firms in mainland China turn ‘more cautious’ with investments as cuts and offshoring increase, survey finds
“This shows that manufacturers are worried about market prospects and are becoming more cautious about investing in the mainland,” the federation said in a summary of the survey conducted last year. As mainland China seeks more Taiwanese money, why aren’t more listening? Meanwhile, hitches in the Chinese economy, concerns about any potential impacts from a military conflict, and the enduring impact of geopolitical tensions – including from the US-China trade war – are said to be underpinning the decisions of Taiwanese businesspeople with regard to the mainland. China is trying…
Despite Sanctions, North Korea Runs More Than 50 Restaurants in China
washington — North Korea is operating more than 50 restaurants staffed by its citizens in more than 10 Chinese cities in violation of U.N. sanctions, according to a diplomatic source. The North Korean regime takes most of the wages its workers earn abroad to fund its nuclear and missile programs. The source, who asked not to be named because the person was not authorized to speak to the press, provided the names of the restaurants in Korean and Chinese and their addresses in China to VOA’s Korean Service. The U.N.…
China Positioning C919 Passenger Jet to Take On Boeing, Airbus
washington — China’s state-owned plane manufacturer is facing industry skepticism over its claims that its newest passenger aircraft, the C919, can break the passenger-jet duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. COMAC’s promotional tour through the fast-growing aviation markets of Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia ended in Malaysia on Wednesday, according to China’s official Xinghua news agency. At each stop, the Shanghai-headquartered enterprise presented its C919 to potential buyers as a viable alternative to the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737. International and regional tourism is expected to reach, then surpass pre-pandemic…
China wants to win the race in science with Manhattan Project-like campaigns. It may not work, some experts warn
In this context, it is more likely that qiang is used to express the urgency of the task, the rush to get to the top of the global scientific and technological race faster, rather than anything as nefarious as the word’s other meaning. To realise this vision, CAS’ subordinate research institutes have been called on to “take advantage of the new ‘whole-nation’ system” by innovating the way their resources, including talent and platforms, are structured, according to Hou. CAS is the world’s largest government research organisation, with more than 100…