Tag: China

Thailand delays US$724m China submarine deal after public anger
25Sep mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

Thailand delays US$724m China submarine deal after public anger

Facing heat from the public, Thailand has delayed its controversial US$724 million purchase of two submarines from China as the kingdom's economy flatlines due to the coronavirus pandemic.Under a 2015 deal, Thailand was one of the first countries to buy Chinese naval hardware and finalised its purchase of three submarines in 2017, with the first one expected to be delivered in 2023.An order for two more for 22.5 billion baht (US$724 million) was approved in August by a parliamentary sub-committee - a move which drew public outrage as Thailand struggles with a freefalling economy.Angry citizens took to social media to criticise the deal, and the hashtag "People don't want submarines" trended on Twitter.Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri later announced that Prime Minister Prayut Chan...
Read More
It’s time for western universities to cut their ties to China
11Sep mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, Market, USA

It’s time for western universities to cut their ties to China

Western universities now need to close their Confucius Institutes and end their academic cooperation with China. Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, one of the ways China sought to rebuild its image abroad was by systematically forging partnerships with Western universities. At first, these partnerships mainly focused on research collaboration. Later, they grew to include the Confucius Institutes for language education and the establishment of Western universities’ branch campuses in China.At a time when China was undemocratic but liberalizing, such engagement seemed like a sensible strategy. There have always been uneasy moments in Western universities’ relationships with China, whether prompted by tensions over hosting the Dalai Lama or controversies over university self-censor...
Read More
The rise of new India as PM Modi fulfils his promises
9Sep mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
Market

The rise of new India as PM Modi fulfils his promises

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the country’s 74th Independence Day came with the credibility of six previous speeches in which all promises made by him have been kept. For example, in 2014, PM Modi promised a bank account for every Indian. Then, from 58% Indians in 2014, almost 400 million new accounts have opened now.A billion plus scale financial inclusion has since been used along with Aadhaar (biometric countrywide data base) to affect the largest and most successful Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) policy in the world.Now, during the recent coronavirus induced lockdown, while many developed countries struggled to give out some cash in the hands of the poor, India did it instantly within days of the lockdown utilizing the DBT regime.In the 2015 speech, Modi made the prom...
Read More
Illegal activities of Nepal PM’s IT consultant get government amnesty: Report
6Sep mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

Illegal activities of Nepal PM’s IT consultant get government amnesty: Report

A recent report has revealed that Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's IT consultant, Asgar Ali has been involved in “illegal business” ranging from collecting information illegally to hacking news portals.A report by news portal Kharbarhub.com, citing security sources, said, "Ali's company has used the same server and the same IP from the PM's office to banks and other organizations while grabbing most of the IT contracts of the government.”The report further stated that most of Ali's companies are involved in the contract of more than Rs 20 billion besides involvement in illegal transactions with alien forces, mainly China, to capture the digital domain."Ali, most likely, has some connection with the Chinese and the controversial Huawei Company," the source was quoted as saying.The repor...
Read More
After TikTok, Trump indicates banning Alibaba, other Chinese firms in US
4Sep mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

After TikTok, Trump indicates banning Alibaba, other Chinese firms in US

Days after signing an executive order against TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, US President Donald Trump has indicated that he was looking to ban other Chinese-owned companies, including e-commerce giant Alibaba in the United States.The development came after Trump issued an executive order on August 14, requiring ByteDance to divest its interests in video-sharing app TikTok's operations in the US within 90 days."There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance ... might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," Trump said in the order.The previous order could have forced US-based app stores to stop distributing the TikTok app if ByteDance did not reach a deal to divest from it in 45 days.Under the latest order, ByteDance is expe...
Read More
Biden Administration to place US-India ties on ‘high priority’
4Sep mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Biden Administration to place US-India ties on ‘high priority’

In a major policy document on Indian-Americans, the Joe Biden administration’s campaign has said that it will place a "high priority" on continuing to strengthen the India-US relationship, asserting that no common global challenge can be solved without the two countries working as responsible partners.The campaign also said Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden believes there can be no tolerance for terrorism in South Asia, cross-border or otherwise.A Biden administration will also work with India to support a rules-based and stable Indo-Pacific region in which no country, including China, is able to threaten its neighbors with impunity, it said."Biden will deliver on his long-standing belief that India and the United States are natural partners, and a Biden administration will place...
Read More
Nigeria in crisis over China’s debt-trap diplomacy
4Sep mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Nigeria in crisis over China’s debt-trap diplomacy

The Federal Republic of Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is in crisis over the possibility of 'losing' its sovereignty to China over debts. The Federal lawmakers of the national assembly are demanding a probe into China's lending practices into Nigeria, in a wake of a sovereign guarantee clause in loan agreements that they consider 'an entrapment of Chinese neo-colonial plans'.Lawmakers fear that the clause could cause Nigeria to sign away its sovereignty in the event of a payment default.According to clauses in Article 8(1) of the Commercial Loan Agreement signed between Nigeria and the Export-Import Bank of China, Nigeria stands to concede her sovereignty to China should there be a default in the repayment of the $400 million for the Nigerian National Information and Communication Tech...
Read More
US must end trade deal with China: East Turkistan National Awakening activists
2Sep mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China, USA

US must end trade deal with China: East Turkistan National Awakening activists

In view of China’s consistent engagement in “genocide, organ harvesting and using slave labour of Uyghurs”, the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement has urged the US Trade Representative to ends its trade deal with Beijing and officially recognize the genocide of Uyghur Muslims.“The @USTradeRep must END its #TradeDeal with #China. #America shouldn’t engage in trade with #CCP regime that is engaging in genocide, organ harvesting & using #SlaveLabor of #Uyghurs. We urge the @WhiteHouse to officially recognize the #UyghurGenocide & take ACTION to STOP it,” the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement said in a tweet.Over the years, Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang have been tortured with the objective of eradicating their ethnic identity and the population.According to multiple rep...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More