Page 144 - China

Some European firms are souring on China, business lobby group warns

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Xi on Monday to ensure more balanced trade

6 Chinese aircraft, 7 naval vessels operating near airspace, waters: Taiwan

So far in May, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 98 times and naval vessels 41 times

Hungary, China sign strategic cooperation agreement during Xi's visit

Hungary and China signed a number of new agreements on Thursday to deepen their economic and cultural cooperation during a visit to the Central European country by Chinese President Xi Jinping, a trip meant to solidify China's economic footprint in the region. Xi and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn held talks in the capital Budapest as part of the Chinese leader's final stop on a five-day European tour that also took in Serbia and France. During a press briefing following the talks, Orbn praised the continuous, uninterrupted friendship between the two countries since his tenure began in 2010, and promised that Hungary would continue to host further Chinese investments. I would like to assure the president that Hungary will continue to provide fair conditions for Chinese companies investing in our country, and that we will create the opportunity for the most modern Western and the most modern Eastern technologies to meet and build cooperation in Hungary, Orbn said. Beijing has .

Tesla ramps up job cuts in China as sales slowdown bites, many depts hit

It's unclear how many people will be affected and what impact it may have on Tesla's China operations

Legacy firms outperform modern, got 75% of PE-VC investments in 2023

75% of PE-VC investments were directed towards conventional sectors such as healthcare, retail, energy, advanced manufacturing

US sends warship through Taiwan Strait weeks before Lai takes office

The latest mission's timing was extra sensitive, given it took place ahead of the May 20 inauguration of Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te, a man who China says is a dangerous separatist

US chip production capacity may treble by 2032, says industry group

The Washington-based SIA, which lobbied hard for the Chips Act, is eager to show that the legislation is paying off. It also wants the government to devote more funding to the cause

US revokes Intel, Qualcomm's export licenses to sell to China's Huawei

The move comes after the release last month of Huawei's first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel's new Core Ultra 9 processor

US eyes restrictions on China's access to AI behind apps like ChatGPT

Government and private sector researchers worry U.S. adversaries could use the models, which mine vast amounts of text and images to summarize information and generate content

Chinese zoo paints chow chow dogs black & white to pass them off as pandas

Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province tried to pass dogs as pandas, sparking outrage by visitors

Ex-Chinese defence minister resurfaces in public after prolonged absence

China's former Defence Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe whose prolonged absence from the public has sparked speculation about his fate after he paid tribute to a senior Chinese legislator who passed away early this week suggesting that he was politically safe, a media report said on Wednesday. A floral tribute at the funeral of a senior official on Monday suggests Wei, 70, could be politically safe, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. However, there is no word about the fate of Wei's successor Gen. Li Shangfu who disappeared from the public and was later sacked. Former Foreign Minister Qin Gang too suffered a similar fate. Both were not seen in public yet. Wei's name was spotted on a wreath at the funeral of Oyunqemag, 81, who served as vice-chairwoman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee from 2008-2013. In a prime-time news bulletin on state broadcaster CCTV, Wei's tribute was visible among those from other former state councillors at the side of the ..

China's 2024 iron ore imports seen to be around 1.17-1.18 bn metric tons

China's iron ore imports in the first quarter of 2024 totalled 310.13 million tons, up 5.5 per cent from a year earlier, customs data showed

US, Oz and Philippine forces sink a ship during war drills in S China Sea

Military force from the United States, Australian and the Philippines launched a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes to sink a ship Wednesday as part of largescale war drills in waters facing the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing. Military officials and diplomats from several countries, along with journalists, watched the display of firepower from a hilltop along a sandy coast in Laoag City on Wednesday in Ilocos Norte, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s northern home province. More than 16,000 military personnel from the United States and the Philippines, backed by a few hundred Australian troops and military observers from 14 countries were participating in annual combat-readiness drills called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, which started on April 22 and will end on Friday. It's the latest indication of how the United States and the Philippines have bolstered a defense treaty alliance that started in the ...

Musk proposed to launch robotaxis in China during April visit: Reports

Musk on the trip intended to discuss the rollout of FSD and whether Tesla could secure government approvals to transfer data overseas that could prove pivotal in its development of autonomous vehicles

Chinese President appoints senior diplomat Feihong as new envoy to India

Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed senior diplomat Xu Feihong as the new Ambassador to India after an unusually long delay of 18 months amid frozen relations between the two countries over the eastern Ladakh military standoff. While there is no official announcement here yet, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed to PTI that Xu, former Ambassador to Afghanistan and Romania, has been appointed as China's new envoy in India. Xu, 60, is expected to travel to New Delhi soon to take over his new posting. He will succeed veteran Chinese diplomat Sun Weidong who completed his tenure in India in October 2022. Sun, who was China's envoy to Pakistan before his India stint, is currently the Vice Foreign Minister overseeing China's South Asia policy. Xu's appointment which coincides with the ongoing general elections in India comes amid protracted military and diplomatic negotiations between Beijing and New Delhi to resolve the prolonged military standoff. Relations between the

China suspected of UK's defence ministry payroll breach: Reports

The UK Parliament is expected to be briefed by the defence minister later on Tuesday after reports of a massive data breach involving the Ministry of Defence (MoD) targeting service personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. According to the BBC, the government suspects China was behind the hack of the armed forces payroll system that is run by an external contractor and includes data of both current and some past armed forces members. However, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is not expected to directly name China when he updates members of Parliament in the House of Commons as the investigation remains ongoing. The system used by the MoD includes names and bank details of armed forces personnel and in a very small number of cases, the data may include personal addresses. Government sources have stressed that no operational MoD data has been obtained in the hack, the motive behind which remains unclear. It is understood the MoD has taken immediate action and the system

Japan describes US President Biden's 'xenophobia' comment as regrettable

Last week Biden said "xenophobia" in economies from China to Japan and India was hobbling their growth, while arguing at a Washington fund-raising event that migration has been good for the US

Macron prioritises trade, Ukraine as Jinping opens European tour in France

French President Emmanuel Macron will seek to press China's Xi Jinping to use his influence to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine during a two-day state visit to France. Both leaders were also expected to discuss trade disputes over electric cars, cognac and cosmetics. Macron's office said talks about diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia are a top priority for France. Discussions will also include the Middle East, trade issues and global challenges including climate change. The European Commission president will join part of the meetings to raise broader EU concerns. France is the first stop on a European trip by Xi aimed at rebuilding relations at a time of global tensions. After France on Monday and Tuesday, the Chinese leader will head to Serbia and Hungary. France hopes discussions will help convince China to use its leverage with Moscow to "contribute to a resolution of the conflict" in Ukraine, according to a French presidential official.

Russia defends UN veto on space nuke ban, urges ban on all weapons

Russia on Monday defended its veto of a United Nations resolution urging all nations to prevent a nuclear arms race in outer space, challenging the US, Japan and their Western allies to support Moscow's rival resolution calling for a ban on all weapons in space "for all time". Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said the United States and Japan, which sponsored the vetoed resolution, are guilty of of hypocrisy and double standards. He accused the U.S. and Western nations more broadly of planning for the military exploration of outer space, including the deployment of weapons, in particular strike combat systems. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood countered, telling the U.N. General Assembly: The truth is that Russia currently has several conventional anti-satellite weapons already in orbit, one of which it tested in 2019. He added Russia has threatened to target satellites with weapons, and said there is credible information that Russia is developing a new satellite carrying a ..

US, Philippine forces stage combat drills near channel off southern Taiwan

US Marines and their Filipino counterparts darted out of Black Hawk helicopters during combat drills Monday in the Philippines' northernmost island town along the strategic Bashi Channel off southern Taiwan a flashpoint in the military rivalry between Washington and Beijing. The show of allied battle readiness in Itbayat in Batanes province is part of annual military exercises that started last month, dubbed Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, and involving more than 16,000 American and Philippine military personnel. This year's exercises by the longtime treaty allies the largest yet are meant to deter possible aggression. They come against the backdrop of China's increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea, where Chinese and Philippine coast guards and accompanying ships have had several increasingly tense faceoffs since last year. More than 250 French and Australian forces are also participating, along with observers from several allied and security