World

China uses tech as tool of repression to monitor citizens: US commission
31Aug mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Market, World

China uses tech as tool of repression to monitor citizens: US commission

According to a congressional commission of the US, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is committed to the production and use of technology that controls and surveys its population.Chairman Robin Cleveland and Vice Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in a joint statement, said that China's move to use technology as a tool of repression is "politically motivated to sustain the Party"."The Chinese Communist Party is committed to the production and use of technology that controls and surveys its population. The decision to use these tools of repression is politically motivated to sustain the Party," the statement read.Surveillance has become a booming business in China with number of tech start-ups moving in to meet the market demand with the go...
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Xi says China to step up efforts to fight ‘splittism’ in Tibet
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

Xi says China to step up efforts to fight ‘splittism’ in Tibet

SHANGHAI: China must build an "impregnable fortress" to maintain stability in Tibet, protect national unity and educate the masses in the struggle against "splittism", President Xi Jinping told senior leaders, state media said on Saturday (Aug 29). China seized control over Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as a "peaceful liberation" that helped the remote Himalayan region throw off its "feudalist" past. But critics, led by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, say Beijing's rule amounts to "cultural genocide". At a senior Communist Party meeting on Tibet's future governance, Xi lauded achievements made and praised frontline officials but said more efforts were needed to enrich, rejuvenate and strengthen unity in the region. Political and ideological education needed to be streng...
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Asia shares take a breather, hope for flexible Fed
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Market, World

Asia shares take a breather, hope for flexible Fed

Asian stocks will likely climb on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied to fresh records on upbeat corporate results, while the dollar eased a day before the U.S. Federal Reserve possibly sets a new course on inflation. SYDNEY: Asian shares touched two-year peaks on Thursday in the wake of Wall Street's record run as cheap cash drove up big-cap tech darlings, although Sino-U.S. tensions caused caution to creep in as the session progressed. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan turned flat after earlier reaching its highest since August 2018. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.4per cent from levels not seen since mid-February, and South Korea fell 0.8per cent as a jump in coronavirus cases ended four days of rises. Even S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2per cent, although t...
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India can play a crucial role in easing global reliance on China: British lawmaker
31Aug mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

India can play a crucial role in easing global reliance on China: British lawmaker

An influential British lawmaker with the ruling Conservative party, Iain Duncan Smith has said that India could play a crucial role in reversing the alarming strategic dependence of the world’s democracies on China.Sir Iain pointed out that authoritarian China, under Xi Jinping, has made no secret about its ambition to emerge as an unrivalled global power by the middle of the century.“The Chinese government has become even more dictatorial and intolerant in the last few years under President Xi and as far as I can make out by what he has said and by their behaviour, that his government’s plan is that by 2040 or thereabouts, China wishes to be the world’s biggest economy possessing the world’s largest and most powerful military. Those things are what they said they wish to be, and everythin...
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Government to implement programmes that boost investment, create more ‘good jobs’ for Singaporeans: Chan Chun Sing
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, Singapore, World

Government to implement programmes that boost investment, create more ‘good jobs’ for Singaporeans: Chan Chun Sing

SINGAPORE: Despite a changing world economy disrupted by COVID-19 and geopolitical tensions, the Government will implement new programmes to bring in business investments, support local entrepreneurship and create “good jobs" for Singaporeans, said Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing on Wednesday (Aug 26). Mr Chan was outlining how his ministry will support key priorities laid out by President Halimah Yacob at the opening of Singapore’s 14th Parliament on Monday. Mdm Halimah had said the Government will provide greater social support and strengthen safety nets for Singaporeans in the long term amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Chan said on Wednesday that Singapore is confronting the crisis “from a position of strength”, given the country’s reputation for “transparency, rule ...
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From marine waste to fashion: A journey of flip-flops and trash heroes from Thailand’s far south
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

From marine waste to fashion: A journey of flip-flops and trash heroes from Thailand’s far south

PATTANI, Thailand: It was a journey that began five years ago on the islands of Satun, with 100,000 flip-flops and sandals that had been spat out by the sea and washed ashore. It was not known where this debris had come from or how far it had travelled before reaching some of the most beautiful beaches in southern Thailand. It took three months of daily work for all of it to be collected by environmental volunteers in a group called Trash Hero. All of them were crammed into the back of a lorry – a pile of marine trash heading for a new life in Pattani, hundreds of kilometres away. These discarded shoes may have been unwanted before, but someone wanted them now. “I contacted them to ask for some ocean waste we were experimenting with,” said Nattapong Nithi-Uthai, a lecturer at the F...
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New COVID-19 TraceTogether tokens to be manufactured and designed by two bidders: GovTech
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Singapore, World

New COVID-19 TraceTogether tokens to be manufactured and designed by two bidders: GovTech

SINGAPORE: The tender to design and manufacture subsequent batches of TraceTogether tokens has been awarded to two bidders, the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) said on Friday (Aug 21). The first bidder is a consortium comprising electronics distributor Siix Singapore and wireless connectivity solutions firm iWOW, and the second bidder is PCI, an electronics manufacturer which won the tender for the first batch of TraceTogether tokens. Each token is expected to cost about S$10, down from the S$20 in the first batch, with GovTech managing and pacing production of further batches based on demand. "Drawing from the experience gained in producing the initial batch, GovTech will work with both tenderers to review their designs to further reduce cost, while ensuring effectiveness of...
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EU wants to negotiate solution with US on aircraft subsidy row, Commission says
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

EU wants to negotiate solution with US on aircraft subsidy row, Commission says

The European Union's executive on Thursday acknowledged the United States' decision not to exacerbate a 16-year-old dispute over aircraft subsidies by imposing fresh tariffs, and said it wanted to negotiate a solution to end the row. BRUSSELS: The European Union's executive on Thursday acknowledged the United States' decision not to exacerbate a 16-year-old dispute over aircraft subsidies by imposing fresh tariffs, and said it wanted to negotiate a solution to end the row. "The Commission acknowledges the decision of the US not to exacerbate the ongoing aircraft dispute by increasing tariffs on European products," a Commission spokesperson said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic had severely hit the aviation sector, making it even more urgent that the dispute is resolved. Both si...
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COVID-19: China face questions over ‘vaccinated’ workers sent to Papua New Guinea
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

COVID-19: China face questions over ‘vaccinated’ workers sent to Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY: China faced demands on Thursday (Aug 20) to explain why a state-backed firm claimed it had vaccinated dozens of staff against the coronavirus before sending them back to work at a mine in Papua New Guinea. The China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) - which controls a major nickel mine in the country - warned local authorities that 48 staff who returned from China this month may test positive for the virus because they had received a vaccine. In response, Papua New Guinea authorities called for "immediate clarification" from Beijing and blocked a charter flight full of Chinese workers that was due to land on Thursday. The pandemic has disrupted operations at several lucrative mines in Papua New Guinea, one of the Pacific's poorest nations. While moving its staff i...
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Police arrest Thai activist Anon Nampa over rally calling for reform of monarchy
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Police arrest Thai activist Anon Nampa over rally calling for reform of monarchy

BANGKOK: Police in Thailand said they had arrested human rights lawyer Anon Nampa for a third time this month on Tuesday (Aug 25), to charge him for sedition over his role in a political rally where calls were made for reforms to the country's powerful monarchy. “The police brought Anon to the station to read him the charges for his protests on Aug 10, and will question him before bringing him to court to file for detention,” Police Lieutenant General Amphol Buarabporn told Reuters. The rights lawyer will be held along with another political activist, Panupong Jadnok, who was arrested on Monday during a protest against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who first seized power in a 2014 coup. Protesters vowed to move ahead with a planned demonstration on Sep 19, the anniversary of a p...
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