Author: Arif ArifArman

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has promised to use $7 billion from a renegotiated Chinese mining deal to build roads and infrastructure but his critics say the new agreement lacks transparency and is unfavorable towards Congo. In a surprise announcement last weekend, Tshisekedi said that talks between his government and a consortium of Chinese investors over rebalancing the so-called Sicomines mining agreement would bring in $7 billion to the Congolese treasury. The sum represents a huge and possibly transformative opportunity in the impoverished central African country of about 100 million people, where the national budget this…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China sent more than 30 warplanes and a group of navy ships toward Taiwan, the island´s defense ministry said Saturday. The military pressure comes on the heels of an announcement that senior American and Chinese representatives were expected to meet in the Thai capital as the two countries seek to cool tensions. The Chinese People´s Liberation Army sent 33 aircraft, including SU-30 fighters, and six navy vessels around Taiwan, between 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. Of these, 13 warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait – an unofficial boundary that’s considered a buffer between the…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China’s air force is improving its ability to deliver close air support to the army, according to some U.S. experts, even as questions persist about whether China is capable yet of delivering the tight air-ground integration that has long been standard in US military operations. This has deep implications for a Chinese readiness to invade Taiwan. Ground troops dropped by air or scrambling ashore lack heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery. This makes them heavily dependent on external fire support to suppress enemy defenses they’ll face, including naval gunfire, missile and drone strikes, and attacks from jets…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: An estimated 233 home developers in China have registered for bankruptcy in 2023, Taiwan News reported citing the China Real Estate Association. The highest number of bankruptcies have been filed in China’s Zhejiang province. As many as 36 cases of bankruptcy filed in Zhejiang accounted for 15.45 per cent of China’s total. Hunan and Guangdong provinces were second and third respectively in China, according to a Taiwan News report. https://inews.zoombangla.com/us-lawmakers-push-for-limits-on-american-investment-in-china-tech/ According to the report, the number of bankruptcies for 2023 was the lowest since 2020. As many as 408 home developers filed for bankruptcy in 2020, the first…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Lobsang Sangay, who served as the Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile from 2011 to 2021 spoke about China’s overarching strategy to assert itself as the sole superpower and its tactics in claiming territories. In an exclusive interview with ANI, he insisted that for India to understand China, it must comprehend Tibet’s situation. In the 1950s, when the Chinese Army invaded Tibet, Chinese leaders said Tibet is the palm, we have to take over, then we have to go after five fingers Ladakh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Our country was occupied, then they will come after you. We have…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China slashed its high youth unemployment by nearly a third this month—at least on paper. However, some experts say the government’s new methodology, which follows a half-year moratorium on publishing this data, does little more than whitewash a systemic problem. One told Newsweek removing students from the sample is what caused the drop. Though Beijing reported last week it had hit its stated goal of at least 5 percent GDP growth in 2023, the world’s second-largest economy faces major headwinds in the long term. These include an aging workforce, declining foreign investment, a property market slump, and lower…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Taiwan detected 33 military aircraft and six naval vessels from China between 6 a.m. Friday (Jan. 26) and Saturday around the nation, the Ministry of National Defence of Taiwan reported. Taiwan responded by sending planes and navy ships, as well as deploying air defence missile systems, to track the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) actions. According to Taiwan News, the country’s defence ministry reported that 13 Chinese aircraft breached the southern and northern air defence identification zones (ADIZ). It did not offer information on all of the planes and drones. The military “monitored the situation and tasked appropriate forces…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China is found to have jailed for three years a Tibetan Buddhist monk it arrested in the historically Tibetan region of Sichuan province in 2021 for among other reasons leading prayer ceremonies during the Covid-19 lockdown and refusing to fly the Chinese national flag at his monastery, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Jan 23, citing local and other sources. The report said Lobsang Tashi, 43, former religious chant-master of Kirti Monastery in the prefecture’s Ngaba county, was also found guilty of making offerings on behalf of pandemic-deceased persons to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Two United States House of Representatives members told former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te on Thursday that their current visit to Taipei was meant to showcase bipartisan support from the US Congress for Taiwan. It reported that the visiting delegation sends a clear message that the US Congress, across party lines, firmly supports Taiwan and its prosperity and security, Representative Mario Diaz Balart of the Republican Party told Tsai during a closed-door meeting, according to a press release issued by the Presidential Office. Diaz Balart and Democrat Ami Bera, both co-chairs of the congressional…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In strong condemnation of the human rights violations in Xinjiang by China, the United States has called for the cessation of harassment, surveillance, and threats against individuals in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. The remarks were made by Michele Taylor during the 45th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations. “We recommend that China release all our…detained individuals , many of…who were named by the UN working group, cease harrasments, surveillance, and threats against individuals brought in China, including Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong,” Taylor said. The US has also called for the cessation…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Chinese stock markets are in sharp decline this year, driven by the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, government mismanagement, and a decades-long inflation of the property bubble. In January so far, mainland China’s CSI 300 Index has dropped by 6 percent, the Shanghai Composite Index has dropped by 7 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index—where most large Chinese firms are listed—has fallen by more than 12 percent, reaching its lowest level in two decades. China is attempting to stabilize the yuan in response. The slide has dampened Beijing’s recent efforts to paint a rosy picture of economic…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India’s representative to Taiwan, Manharsingh Laxmanbhai Yadav, congratulated Taiwan’s newly elected political leaders, as reported by Cntral News Agency Taiwan . During his address at a Taipei reception to celebrate India’s Republic Day, Yadav extended wishes to those who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this democratic process. “We saw democracy in action recently over here and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all individuals who embraced this opportunity and to those who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this democratic process,” he said. In the recently held Taiwanese presidential polls, Lai Ching-te, who previously served…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: At a press conference in the heart of Silicon Valley, five men in suits posed for a photograph that shed unprecedented light on the world’s most powerful intelligence partnership. The men belonged to the Five Eyes espionage alliance, each representing intelligence services from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US. Until then, they had never appeared together in public. Their smiles to the camera contrasted against a dark warning shared by one group member, Britain’s head of MI5, Ken McCallum. The UK had seen a sharp rise in aggressive attempts by foreign states to steal the country’s…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: While Taiwan has long been considered a potential flashpoint between the U.S. and China, another geopolitical storm may be brewing in the South China Sea — one that could force Washington to make some difficult choices. From laser pointers blinding Philippine sailors to collisions at sea near key military outposts, tensions are rapidly surging between Manila and Beijing in these strategically and economically important waters, where the two have overlapping claims. By bolstering the country’s defense capabilities as well as deepening defense ties with the U.S. and like-minded countries such as Japan and Australia, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Saturday said that Taiwan has shown its democratic resilience to the world despite China’s attempts to intervene in the national elections, Focus Taiwan reported. In his address at the 2024 Democratic Resilience Forum in Taipei, Wu stated that Taiwan successfully held legislative and presidential polls last week despite China’s attempts to manipulate the election results, according to Focus Taiwan report. He further said Taiwan’s mature response to Chinese methods showcased the country’s democratic resilience. Joseph Wu stressed that with the development of informational technologies, cognitive warfare is no longer just news content,…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Toy makers grappling with surging costs in China are finding no easy options when it comes to shifting production to cheaper centers elsewhere. Six years ago, Monopoly maker Hasbro approached Indian durable goods and aerospace supplier Aequs to subcontract. They said if you can get into toy manufacturing, now we’re looking to shift millions of dollars’ worth of product from China to India,” Rohit Hegde, Aequs’ head of consumer verticals, told Reuters. “We said: As long as we can get at least about $100 million of business in the next few years, we can definitely invest in it.”…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Japanese public sentiment toward China worsened in 2023, a Cabinet Office survey has shown, amid rows over the Fukushima wastewater release and other issues. According to the survey released Friday, 86.7% of respondents felt unfriendly toward China, up 4.9 percentage points from the preceding year, while 12.7% felt friendly, down 5.1 points. The proportion of those that believe Japan-China ties are important to both countries and the Asia-Pacific region dropped 5.3 points to a record low of 68.2%. The mail survey, conducted from Sept. 7 through Oct. 15 last year, covered 3,000 people aged 18 or older across…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: U.S. lawmakers renewed calls Wednesday to pass bipartisan legislation that would restrict American investment in Chinese technology. “It should come as no surprise that China’s military and surveillance state are exploiting loopholes in U.S. policy to access billions of U.S. investment dollars and expertise. We know that U.S. investment has not democratized China and countries which are controlled by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] have no power over the applications of their technology. The CCP can direct it to us for military or surveillance purposes,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said at a hearing on the…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Immigration Department busted an online gambling syndicate by arresting 17 individuals at premises in Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar, here yesterday. Those arrested in the 11 pm operation comprised 14 Chinese men and three local men, in their 20s and 30s. Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said that the operation was carried out based on public tip-offs and intelligence made over a month. He said that the department personnel had to break down the entrance to the premises after the occupants refused to cooperate. “We had to break down the entrance, and found 14 Chinese nationals running online gambling…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China has inadvertently raised a private army of hackers to help it discover vulnerabilities in overseas computer networks thanks to a cybersecurity law that makes it mandatory to first inform the Chinese government. In July 2021, China’s cyberspace watchdog, its public security ministry, and its industry ministry jointly published the Regulations on the Management of Network Product Security Vulnerabilities, which make Chinese companies report loopholes in their software or the products they use within 48 hours of discovery. Under the rule, the Chinese state institutions issue rewards for finding the cybersecurity vulnerabilities in software that is often used…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: When Tsai Ing-wen won her second term as Taiwan’s president four years ago, the island’s neighbours said little. As usual Japan, Singapore and Australia offered Tsai their congratulations but there was barely a murmur from other countries. However, William Lai Ching-te’s closely watched victory in the Taiwanese presidential election last weekend stirred a wave of diplomatic activity in the Indo-Pacific region. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: America is seeing more and more of its most fertile land snapped up by China and other foreign buyers, yet problems with how the US tracks such data means it is difficult to know just how much. Foreign ownership and investment in US farmland, pastures and forests jumped to about 16.2 hectares in 2021, up 40 per cent from 2016, according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data. But an analysis conducted by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) – a non-partisan watchdog that reports to Congress – found mistakes in the data, including the largest land…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China’s population fell by 2 million people in 2023 in its second straight annual decrease, as births dropped for the seventh straight year and deaths jumped following the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the government said Wednesday. The number of deaths rose by 690,000 to 11.1 million, more than double the previous year’s increase. Demographers said the rise was driven by the aging of the population and the widespread COVID-19 outbreaks that started in December 2022 and continued into February of last year. The total population stood at 1.4 billion, the statistics bureau said. China, long the most populated country…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: On the eve of Taiwan’s presidential election, with Taipei residents hotly debating who to vote for, one particularly interesting argument was overheard between an old man and a young woman. Among the most heard words in their conversation were, surprisingly enough, Xi Jinping, the name of China’s powerful leader. The man, in his 60s, sounded like he was a former senior official of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party. “I think young people will all vote for Ko Wen-je,” he said, referring to the presidential candidate for the Taiwan People’s Party, the third largest party. He cited…