Page 38 - Us China

Prez Xi launches Information Support Force, a new wing of Chinese military

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday launched an Information Support Force, a new wing of the People's Liberation Army, which he said will be a strategic branch, a key pillar and a vital power in modern warfare for the world's largest military. Xi, 71, who also heads the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military, besides heading the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Presidency, said that the establishment of the Information Support Force (ISF) is a major decision made by the CPC and the CMC in light of the overall need of building a strong military. The Information Support Force (ISF) was regarded as the revised version of the PLA's Strategic Support Force (SSF), established in 2015 by the Chinese military to deal with space, cyber, political and electronic warfare to fight what was described as "informationised wars". The leadership and structures of the PLA Space Force and the PLA Cyberspace Force have been rearranged ...

Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads from its China App Store on Beijing request

US politicians have cited national security concerns in their push to force the company to either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner or face a ban in the US market

China opens new air routes with flight paths situated very close to Taiwan

The democratically elected government of Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide their future

US ban on TikTok over ownership issues gets major boost from Republicans

Legislation that could ban TikTok in the US if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake won a major boost late Wednesday when House Republican leaders included it in a package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel. The bill could be law as soon as next week if Congress moves quickly. The TikTok legislation, which passed the House in March and has widespread support in both chambers, was included in the House foreign policy package after negotiations with the Senate over how long the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd would have to sell its stake for the app to continue operating in the United States. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the TikTok legislation if it reaches his desk. The bill was included in the national security package after it won a key endorsement from Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, who said in a statement that she had successfully pushed to extend the period from six months to a year to give the company enough time

US navy sends aircraft through Taiwan Strait a day after US-China talks

The US 7th Fleet said a Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, a day after US and Chinese defence chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconaissance plane transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace, the 7th Fleet said in a news release. By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations, the release said. Although the critical 160 kilometre-wide strait that divides China from the self-governing island democracy is international waters, China considers the passage of foreign military aircraft and ships through it a challenge to its sovereignty. China claims the island of Taiwan, threatening to defend by force if necessary despite US military support for the island. China had no immediate response to the report, but has in past issued stern protests and activated defences in ...

President Biden's push for World Bank funds to compete with China stalls

The World Bank's two major lending arms committed a combined $72.8 billion last year, with total cumulative lending since 1945 at nearly $1.4 trillion

US house committee accuses China of fuelling fentanyl crisis in country

China is fuelling the fentanyl crisis in the US by directly subsidising the manufacturing of materials that are used by traffickers to make the drug outside the country, according to a report released Tuesday by a special House committee focused on countering the Chinese government. Committee investigators said they accessed a government website that revealed tax rebates for the production of specific fentanyl precursors as well as other synthetic drugs as long as those companies sell them outside of China. Through its actions, as our report has revealed, the Chinese Communist Party is telling us that it wants more fentanyl entering our country, said Rep Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the special House committee. It wants the chaos and devastation that has resulted from the epidemic. In November, President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a resumption of bilateral cooperation on counternarcotics with a focus on reducing the flow of precursor chemicals

Russia, China trade new copper disguised as scrap to skirt taxes, sanctions

Customs data on Chinese imports of copper wire rod is not publicly available

US blacklists 4 Chinese tech companies for helping China's military

The four companies were allegedly supplying artificial intelligence chips for China's military modernisation programmes

Janet Yellen likely to reiterate warnings over China's manufacturing power

With its dominant voice in all of those forums, the US is expected to try to align other countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America to voice concerns over China's output and exports

Amid China's aggression, Biden reiterates support for Philippines, Japan

President Joe Biden said Thursday that U.S. defense commitment was ironclad as he gathered Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on Thursday in the midst of growing concern about provocative Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific. The United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad. They're ironclad," Biden said as he began three-way talks at the White House with Kishida and Marcos. "As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty. The White House summit was called amid growing concern about provocative Chinese action in the Pacific, which will be a large focus of the leaders' talks. The White House sees the summit as countering China's attempts at intimidation and sending a message that China is the outlier in the neighborhood, according to an administration official. President Joe Biden is ..

Amid tensions with China, US, Japan, S Korea hold drills in disputed sea

A US carrier strike group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has held a three-day joint exercise with its allies Japan and South Korea as US President Joe Biden met for talks with leaders from Japan and the Philippines at the White House. The duelling military and diplomatic maneuvers are meant to strengthen the partners' solidarity in the face of China's aggressive military actions in the region. A number of US and South Korean guided missile destroyers and a Japanese warship joined the April 10-12 drill in the disputed East China Sea, where worries about China territorial claims are rising. The Associated Press was one of several news organizations allowed a front-row look at the drills. Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander, commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine, said the three nations conducted undersea warfare exercises, maritime interdiction operations, search and rescue drills and work focused on communication and data sharing. He told journalists Thursday on the Roosevelt that th

US airlines ask govt not to approve additional flights between US, China

Large U.S. airlines and some of their unions are asking the Biden administration to stop approving any more flights between the United States and China because of what they call anti-competitive policies that China imposes on U.S. carriers. The airlines and unions said Thursday that China closed its market to U.S. carriers at the outbreak of the pandemic and imposed rules that still affect American operations and airline crews. These actions demonstrated the clear need for the U.S. government to establish a policy that protects U.S. aviation workers, industry and air travelers, they said in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The letter was signed by the CEO of the Airlines for America trade group and the presidents of the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, which represents crews at American Airlines, and the Association of Flight Attendants. The number of flights between China and the U.S. has been ...

Prez Biden surpasses Trump's record for blacklisting chinese entities

In February, the US added eight companies to the entity list, quietly taking Biden past Trump's record, with six more added this week

Biden to meet Philippines, Japan leaders to discuss China in Indo-Pacific

President Joe Biden is bringing together Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on Thursday as the three nations use their first-ever trilateral summit to try to show they are in lockstep about countering China's military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. The leaders are expected to announce that their coast guards will hold a joint patrol in the Indo-Pacific in 2024, a follow-up on law enforcement drills carried out last year by the allies in waters near the disputed South China Sea. The US Coast Guard will also welcome Filipino and Japanese coast guard members onto a US Coast Guard vessel during the patrol for training, according to senior Biden administration officials who requested anonymity to preview the talks. The summit comes a day after Biden held one-on-one talks with Kishida and feted the Japanese premier with a glitzy state dinner at the White House, a diplomatic honour meant to recognise Tokyo's growing ..

China sanctions 2 US companies over 'support for arms sales to Taiwan'

China on Thursday announced sanctions against two US companies over what it says is their support for arms sales to Taiwan, the self governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary. The announcement freezes the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems held within China. The measure also bars the companies' management from entering the country. It wasn't immediately clear what, if any, assets the companies have within China, which remains heavily reliant on foreign aerospace technology even as it attempts to build its own presence in the field.

Why is China trying to teach US, UK, Australia and Japan a history lesson?

China has warned that a recent move by the US, UK and Australia could escalate the risk of nuclear proliferation

Yellen face tariff decisions after giving factory capacity warning to China

On what may be her last trip to China as Treasury chief, she saw pushback on her core complaint that a massive export wave of cheap EVs and solar panels

From overcapacity to TikTok, here are issues covered in Yellen's China trip

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her team are leaving China and returning to Washington after trying to tackle the major questions of the day between the countries. Here's a look at what she tried to accomplish, what was achieved, and where things stand for the world's two largest economies: UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES Yellen said she wanted to go into the U.S.-China talks to address a major Biden administration complaint that Beijing's economic model and trade practices put American companies and workers at an unfair competitive disadvantage by producing highly subsidized solar products, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries at a loss, dominating the global market. Chinese government subsidies and other policy support have encouraged solar panel and EV makers in China to invest in factories, building far more production capacity than the domestic market can absorb. She calls this overcapacity. Throughout the week of meetings, she talked about the risks that come from one ..

China accuses US of forcibly deporting its students without valid evidence

China on Monday accused the US of forcibly deporting Chinese students without any valid evidence and warned of "resolute measures" to safeguard the interests of its nationals. The US has been overstretching the concept of national security and without any valid evidence, arbitrarily cancelled Chinese students' visas, banned them from entering the US and forcibly deported them, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here. Asked about reports that Chinese students and scholars were interrogated and forcibly deported when entering the US border at the Washington Dulles Airport and the Dallas Airport, Mao said, the US moves inflicted enormous damage on the persons concerned and obstructed people-to-people exchanges between China and the US. The recent cases show that the US law enforcement personnel are bent on making excuses for deporting Chinese personnel. These are typical cases of selective, discriminatory and politically motivated law enforcement," Mao