https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/13/us-ban-xinjiang-cotton-tomatoes/%3foutputType=amp The Trump administration Wednesday issued a sweeping ban on imports of cotton or tomato products from China’s Xinjiang region, saying it had reviewed the evidence of forced labor in the region. The move is the administration’s latest effort to punish China over what Western officials and human rights groups call the country’s campaign of repression against the Muslim Uighur… Read more »
Japan’s foreign minister accused South Korea on Monday of worsening already strained ties by making “illegal” demands for compensation for the sexual abuse of Korean women and the use of forced laborers during World War II. Toshimitsu Motegi, in a diplomatic policy speech in parliament, said a recent South Korean court ruling ordering Japan to compensate 12 South Korean women… Read more »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/trump-biden-taiwan-china/2021/01/13/1bbadee0-53c0-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html For decades, America’s diplomatic dealings with Taiwan were governed by intricate and arcane rules designed to support a key Asian partner without provoking Beijing — and avoid war in the Taiwan Strait. Details of the U.S. strategy toward China, meanwhile, were shrouded in secrecy. This week, those rules went out the window. With days left in office, the Trump… Read more »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/new-zealand-china-australia-maori/2021/01/13/f2db9884-3a8d-11eb-aad9-8959227280c4_story.html The first Māori woman to be foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta is an experienced lawmaker known for her deep roots in Māori tribal diplomacy. She was chosen, she said because she looks and sounds different from her predecessors: Mahuta was the first New Zealand Minister to bear a moko kauae, or traditional chin tattoo. Her appointment as part of a… Read more »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hong-kong-national-security-law-internet/2021/01/12/01738064-53b6-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html The police officers who came to take away Owen Chow on national security grounds last week left little to chance. Determined to find his phones, they had prepared a list of cellphone numbers registered to his name, even one he used exclusively for banking, the 23-year-old Hong Kong activist said. Officers called each number in succession, the vibrations revealing… Read more »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-economy-growth-coronavirus/2021/01/17/2138ef2c-5935-11eb-a849-6f9423a75ffd_story.html A year ago, the coronavirus began spreading rapidly in China. Today, China’s economy is bouncing back hard and expanding even faster than it did before the pandemic. Economic data published Monday showed that China logged 2.3 percent growth for 2020, becoming the only major economy that grew during a year when the virus exacted a devastating global toll. As other… Read more »
North Korea appears to be taking steps toward a new test of a powerful submarine-launched missile as it steadily dials up the pressure on President-elect Joe Biden. Last week, Kim Jong Un presided over another demonstration of his country’s military might in a nighttime parade in Pyongyang, kicked off with a fireworks display. Now, it appears he might be planning… Read more »
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/15/business/australia-coal-trade-china-intl-hnk/index.html The trade fight between China and Australia appears to be escalating, with Beijing reportedly placing new restrictions on imports of Australian coal. Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham on Tuesday said he was “deeply troubled” by new reports in Chinese state media that the country’s top economic planner has effectively banned certain coal imports from Australia. The Global Times reported last… Read more »
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/15/revealed-china-suspected-of-spying-on-americans-via-caribbean-phone-networks China appears to have used mobile phone networks in the Caribbean to surveil U.S mobile phone subscribers as part of its espionage campaign against Americans, according to a mobile network security expert. The findings paint an alarming picture of how China has allegedly exploited decades-old vulnerabilities in the global telecommunications network to route “active” surveillance attacks through telecoms operators. The alleged attacks… Read more »
