Pekon, Myanmar — Scraping opium resin off a seedpod in Myanmar’s remote poppy fields, displaced farmer Aung Hla describes the narcotic crop as his only prospect in a country made barren by conflict.

The 35-year-old was a rice farmer when the junta seized power in a 2021 coup, adding pro-democracy guerillas to the long-running civil conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups.

Four years on, the United Nations has said Myanmar is mired in a “polycrisis” of mutually compounding conflict, poverty and environmental damage.

Aung Hla was forced off his land in Moe Bye village by fighting after the coup. When he resettled, his usual crops were no longer profitable, but the hardy poppy promised “just enough for a livelihood”.

“Everyone thinks people grow poppy flowers to be rich, but we are just trying hard to get by,” he told AFP in rural Pekon township of eastern Shan state.

He says he regrets growing the substance — the core ingredient in heroin — but said the income is the only thing separating him from starvation.

“If anyone were in my shoes, they would likely do the same.”

Displaced and desperate

Myanmar’s opium production was previously second only to Afghanistan, where poppy farming flourished following the U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

But after the Taliban government launched a crackdown, Myanmar overtook Afghanistan as the world’s biggest producer of opium in 2023, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Myanmar’s opiate economy — including the value of domestic consumption as well as exports abroad — is estimated between $589 million and $1.57 billion, according to the UNODC.

Between September and February each year, dozens of workers toil in Pekon’s fields, slicing immature poppy seedpods, which ooze a small amount of sticky brown resin.

Aung Naing, 48, gently transfers the collected resin from a small trough onto a leaf plate.

Before the coup, which ended a brief experiment with democracy, Aung Naing was a reformed opium farmer. But wartime hardship forced him back to the crop.

“There is more poppy cultivation because of difficulties in residents’ livelihoods,” he says.

“Most of the farmers who plant poppy are displaced,” he said. “Residents who can’t live in their villages and fled to the jungle are working in poppy fields.”

In Myanmar’s fringes, ethnic armed groups, border militias and the military all vie for control of local resources and the lucrative drug trade.

Aung Naing says poppy earns only a slightly higher profit than food crops like corn, bean curd and potatoes, which are also vulnerable to disease when it rains.

Fresh opium was generally sold by Myanmar farmers for just over $300 per kilo in 2024, according to the UNODC, a small fraction of what it fetches on the international black market.

And the crop is more costly to produce than rice — more labor intensive, requiring expensive fertilizers and with small yields.

Aung Naing says he makes just shy of a $30 profit for each kilo. “How can we get rich from that?” he asks.

‘Unsafe’

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates there are more than 3.5 million people displaced in Myanmar.

But fleeing conflict zones to farm opium does not guarantee safety.

“Military fighter jets are flying over us,” said Aung Naing. “We are working in poppy fields with anxiety and fear. We feel unsafe.”

Opium cultivation and production in Myanmar decreased slightly between 2023 and 2024, according to the UNODC — in part due to ongoing clashes between armed groups.

“If our country were at peace and there were industries offering many job opportunities in the region, we wouldn’t plant any poppy fields even if we were asked to,” says farmer Shwe Khine, 43.

Aung Hla agreed. With the war, he said, “we don’t have any choice”.
…

your ad here

Traditional Korean moon jars and modern takes on the elegant white vases are the focus of a new art exhibit in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story from Denver.
…

your ad here

When President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he had created a new White House office to “resurrect” American military and commercial shipbuilding, he elevated long-standing calls to fix the struggling industry that he said is vital to national security. His clarion call to build more ships “very fast and very soon” comes at a time of rising strategic competition with China.

“Our shipbuilding industry is shrunk down to bare minimum right now,” Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith told VOA in an exclusive interview at the Pentagon late last year.

The anemic state of American shipbuilding and ship maintenance, and the risks they raise for the military, was shared with VOA through more than a dozen interviews with U.S. military and industry officials spanning several months and conducted ahead of Trump’s announcement.

The U.S. Navy is still considered the most powerful in the world when it comes to firepower and tonnage, but the number of Navy ships has fallen behind China’s. The United States has 296 ships in its fleet, while China’s is on pace to surpass 400 ships this year.

Shrinking fleet

 

Despite the U.S. Navy’s goal of increasing the size of its fleet, in recent years the number of ships has been shrinking. Last year’s budget funded just six new Navy ships, while decommissioning 15 from the fleet, for a net loss of nine. The fiscal 2025 budget plan funds six new ships while decommissioning 19, for a net loss of 13.

The lifeblood for maritime industry titans like British-based BAE, U.S.-based Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and Fairbanks Morse Defense runs almost exclusively through the U.S. military. Industry leaders say they have the space to build and repair more ships but that Navy contracts have been scarce.

“We’re operating at half-capacity,” said Brad Moyer, vice president of BAE Systems Ship Repair. Although the company is one of the largest for ship repair in the United States, when VOA toured BAE’s Norfolk yard in Virginia in November, most of the docking spaces for ships were empty.

Shipbuilding demand has fluctuated wildly based on Navy budgeting strategies, creating an industry atmosphere of feast or famine that is shrinking the supply chain.

“There’s thousands and thousands of suppliers that have gone out of business, and it’s a real risk,” George Whittier, the CEO of Fairbanks Morse Defense, told VOA. The company is the largest engine manufacturer in North and South America and the sole company supplying the biggest engines used in the military’s amphibious warfare ships. Each engine is about the size of a small school bus.

“We should have two engine suppliers. But the reality is, if the Navy is only going to build six ships a year, it’s a struggle to keep one engine supplier in business, let alone two. We’re going to have to grow our way out of this, and that’s the only way we’re going to do it,” Whittier said.

He is not alone. VOA found multiple examples of companies that were the only supplier of specific ship parts. The U.S. military and other industry leaders say they are worried there will not be a backup for parts should more industry businesses go under. And those suppliers who have survived say when business is not steady, it takes longer to provide the parts, and it costs more to procure the materials.

Acting Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jim Kilby, while advocating for a bigger fleet, says he has not had the budget to replace all of his aging ships and submarines, much less grow the force.

“When we get a new ship, we’ll replace an old ship, because that old ship is more expensive and harder to maintain,” he said in a recent interview.

Maintenance delays, layoffs

Military contracting delays and project cancellations have led to layoffs. Even though BAE is one the largest companies in the industry, its West Coast shipyard laid off nearly 300 employees in 2023 due to a shortage of work.

In the city of Norfolk, on America’s East Coast, the number of Navy ships available for repair work dropped from 44 ships about a decade ago to fewer than 30 today. About 60% of the workforce was furloughed in that time, officials said.

The result, General Smith says, is a hollowed-out workforce that is not centered on shipbuilding.

“There’s no one who grew up as a shipbuilder. There’s welders and steam fitters and electricians, but if there’s not steady work for them, they’ll go to work for Harley-Davidson or Ford Motor Company or Chevy or whoever,” he said.

Whittier and Moyer blame the budgeting process in Congress, along with the way the Navy structures its ship maintenance.

“The system is broken,” Whittier says.

Congress has not passed a budget on time since 2019. When continuing resolutions (CRs) are used to fund the government, new projects cannot be started. In the case of the fiscal 2024 budget, Congress funded government with CRs for half a year, which Whittier says gave companies six months to do 12 months of work.

“It ends up being not just a big challenge in how to run a company, but it’s a big challenge for the Navy in trying to figure out how are they getting their maintenance done. … It’s frustrating all around for everybody,” the Fairbanks Morse Defense CEO told VOA.

Senator Mark Kelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, agrees that CRs are bad, adding that the only thing worse would be shutting down the government.

“People are always going to try to blame somebody else, but I’d just say collectively, we’ve taken our eye off the ball here,” he added.

Shipbuilding struggles

There is also a shortage of skilled workers needed to keep the shipbuilding industry afloat.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of America is the only yard in the United States that builds the Navy’s two types of amphibious warfare ships: Landing Helicopter Assault ships (LHAs) that look like mini-aircraft carriers, and smaller landing platform docks (LPDs).

HII also builds Navy destroyers and Coast Guard cutters.

Kari Wilkinson, executive vice president at HII, says that keeping staffing levels around the more than 11,000 workers needed to build cutters, destroyers and amphibious ships is getting more difficult, particularly in the post-pandemic economy.

Just a few years ago, the shipyard was able to offer wages much higher than other jobs in the area that do not require a college degree. Now, Wilkinson says they are competing with everyone from coffee providers to fast food restaurants.

“The wage circumstance has changed. There is not that big gap anymore,” she told VOA.

As a result, Wilkinson says, HII now loses workers at roughly double the rate of its pre-pandemic levels.

To save money on materials, Congress authorized the military to buy four amphibs from HII at once, a move known as a multi-ship block buy. Buying them in bulk saved the Pentagon $900 million.

“That was a huge win for us,” General Smith said.

Now, HII must figure out how to better retain its workforce. To make the worksite more attractive, HII has invested in air conditioning and giant shades to shield workers from the elements like the hot Mississippi sun. The Pascagoula shipyard hired 7,000 people in the last two years, Wilkinson says, but it will need about 1,000-2,000 more hires each year to complete the new ship orders.

“We’ve got to find ways to pay people competitive wages that are in accordance with the type of work they’re doing,” Kelly told VOA.

Commercial shipping

Congress is expected to increase the military’s budget to surge resources for its shipbuilding shortfalls.

But Kelly tells VOA the U.S. commercial shipping is also in need of saving.

“We went from 10,000 ships during World War II to 85 today. So, in case of an emergency, in case of a conflict with a near peer adversary, we’re quite limited to getting all those supplies and equipment and troops across the ocean,” he said.

The United States builds about five commercial ships each year. China builds more than 1,000.

“They have one shipyard, just one shipyard, that’s bigger than all of our shipyards put together,” the senator told VOA.

Kelly in December introduced bipartisan legislation called the Ships for America Act. The bill aims to increase the U.S. commercial fleet by 250 ships in 10 years, which will also increase the supply chain for military ships.

“You wouldn’t really think those two things are connected. But they are very closely connected,” he said. “A lot of the parts that go into a U.S. aircraft carrier, some of those same parts for those systems go in merchant ships.”

The bill calls for tax incentives, along with fees on cargo coming into the country, to help shipbuilders increase their capacity.

The provisions of the bill are “fully paid for,” Kelly said, without adding to the annual deficit.
…

your ad here

LABRADOR, AUSTRALIA — Cyclone Alfred weakened into a tropical low Saturday as it neared the rain- and wind-lashed eastern coast of Australia where hundreds of thousands of properties were without power.

The former tropical cyclone lay about 65 kilometers off the coast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane, government forecasters said in a final update.

Now without gale-force winds, the storm was slowly moving toward the coast and delivering intense rain before it was expected to cross over the mainland later in the day.

“Despite its weakening, heavy rainfall is likely to continue over southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales during the weekend,” the bureau of meteorology said.

The rains could still lead to “dangerous and life-threatening” flash flooding along the 400-kilometer stretch of coastline straddling the two states.

One man was still missing after his four-wheel-drive vehicle was swept off a bridge into a rain-swollen river the previous day in northern New South Wales.

He clambered out of the vehicle and tried in vain to cling to a branch in the river.

“The man was swept from the tree and seen to go beneath the water where he has not been sighted since,” police said in a statement.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were “grave concerns” for the man.

“While it has been downgraded, very serious risks remain, so it is important that people do not take this downgrading as a reason for complacency,” Albanese said at a news conference.

“Its impact will be serious and will intensify over coming hours and indeed over coming days,” he said.

Rain still posed a threat to engorged rivers across the region, bureau meteorologist Daniel Hayes told AFP, with some rivers approaching major flood levels.

In Lismore — a northern New South Wales city hit by deadly floods in 2022 — the Wilsons River might threaten a 10.6-meter protective levee, he said.

“It is still quite possible that it will reach the levee and then go over the top,” he said.

A “staggering” number of more than 239,000 properties in southeast Queensland were without power on Saturday morning after winds toppled power lines or blew trees and debris into them, utility group Energex said.

It had been too dangerous for crews to work in some blacked-out areas, Energex Brisbane area manager Chris Graham told national broadcaster ABC.

Another 39,000 homes and businesses were without power in northern New South Wales, regional provider Essential Energy said, warning that floods could complicate repair operations.
…

your ad here

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA — Violent winds toppled power lines Friday as a tropical cyclone crept towards Australia’s eastern coast, sparking evacuation orders and leaving more than 50,000 homes without electricity.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred was 165 kilometers east of Brisbane city on Friday morning, crawling towards the densely populated coastline at “walking speed,” government forecasts said.

Some four million people were in the firing line along a 400-kilometer stretch of coastline straddling the border of Queensland state and New South Wales.

It is a region rarely troubled by typhoons — it has been more than 50 years since a tropical cyclone made landfall in that part of Queensland.

More than 50,000 homes were without power on Friday morning as damaging winds brought down power lines, officials and utility companies said.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the storm already “packed a punch,” warning conditions would get worse as it approached land late on Friday or early Saturday.

Emergency response officials said they had issued evacuation orders for some 10,000 people in the flood-prone northern rivers region of New South Wales.

There was particular concern for the town of Lismore, which was engulfed by record 14-meter floodwaters after heavy rains in 2022.

Many residents have spent the past three days fortifying their homes with sandbags, tying down loose furniture and stocking up on food and water.

“A lot of people are feeling a bit anxious, for sure, because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Paul Farrow from Coolangatta, a coastal suburb better known for its sun-splashed beaches.

“Yeah, we could all lose our houses. Who knows?” the 62-year-old told AFP.

“The pubs might be shut for a week or two. Who knows?”

Farrow said he had stashed a “couple of peaches,” a “couple of cartons of beer” and “a bag of grapes” to get him through.

“So I’ll be right,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the region should “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

“When nature does its worst, Australians are at our best. We rally. We lift each other up. We look out for our neighbors,” he told reporters.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred would likely cross the coast “early Saturday morning,” the Bureau of Meteorology said, although its path was becoming difficult to predict.

It was forecast to make landfall around 60 kilometers north of Brisbane.

Drenching rains, “destructive” wind gusts, and “abnormally high tides” would pummel the coast as it crept nearer, the bureau said.

More than 900 schools across Queensland state and neighboring parts of northern New South Wales were closed on Friday, education department officials said.

While cyclones are common in the warm tropical waters lapping Australia’s northern flank, it is rarer for them to form in cooler waters further south.

Alfred would be the first to make landfall in that part of Australia since 1974, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones. 
…

your ad here

Chinese Premier Li Qiang told the National People’s Congress on Wednesday that the Chinese government will provide child care subsidies and expand free preschool day care available to young couples to boost the country’s declining population. Li’s pledges were welcomed by Chinese netizens.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
…

your ad here

Bangkok — Thailand is working with authorities in the capital cities or embassies of some countries that have citizens stuck on the Thai-Myanmar border following their rescue from scam compounds to hasten their repatriation, an official said on Thursday.

About 7,000 people pulled out of scam centers in Myanmar’s Myawaddy are currently housed in camps administered by armed groups operating along the frontier, following a multi-national crackdown to dismantle the illegal compounds.

The Myawaddy scam centers are part of a network of such compounds across Southeast Asia, where criminal gangs have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to help generate illicit revenues running into billions of dollars a year, according to the United Nations.

Workers in such centers, many of whom say they have been coerced, engage in online scams to defraud victims worldwide. 

Countries such as China and Indonesia have already repatriated some of their citizens from Myawaddy with the assistance of Thai authorities, but thousands still remain in the area, including those from African nations that do not have an embassy in Thailand. 

On Thursday, the first of 19 China-bound repatriation flights planned this week for nearly 1,500 Chinese nationals rescued from Myawaddy took off from the Thai border town of Mae Sot.  

For those countries without a local mission, Thailand’s foreign ministry has been in contact with an accredited embassy or the capital directly, said ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura. 

“It is up to the receiving government whether they will send officials from their embassies to fly into Thailand or send people from their respective capitals,” he told reporters at a briefing in Bangkok. 

Thailand requires any country repatriating its citizens from Myawaddy to send officials to the Thai-Myanmar border to facilitate the process, which includes disease screening and immigration checks. 

Hundreds of foreign nationals extricated from the scam compounds have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in a remote militia camp they have been taken to. 

Some detainees from African nations currently housed in that camp told Reuters last week that they also do not have the means to buy tickets to return home. 
…

your ad here

The U.S. Justice Department announced indictments Wednesday against 12 Chinese nationals accused in a global hacking campaign targeting U.S.-based dissidents, news organizations, government agencies and a large religious organization. 

According to court documents, China’s Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security used a network of private companies and hackers-for-hire to steal information and help locate dissidents and critics throughout the world.  

“Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division in a statement. 

The suspects include two officers in China’s Ministry of Public Security, eight employees of a company known as i-Soon, and two members of a group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27). 

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, told The Associated Press Wednesday that the allegations were a “smear” and said, “We hope that relevant parties will adopt a professional and responsible attitude and base their characterization of cyber incidents on sufficient evidence rather than groundless speculation and accusations.” 

All of those indicted are at large, and the Justice Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information about the MPS officers and i-Soon, the Chinese company that employed most of the hackers.  

The company is accused of selling stolen information “to China’s intelligence and security services to suppress free speech and democratic processes worldwide, and target groups deemed a threat to the Chinese government,” according to a news release from the FBI. 

i-Soon also conducted computer intrusions on its own initiative, charging “the MSS and MPS equivalent to between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully hacked,” the indictment said.  

The company also provided training in hacking skills to the government agencies. 

Among the group’s targets were a large religious organization critical of the Chinese government that previously sent missionaries to China, and a group that promoted human rights and religious freedom in China. 

The New York Assembly and multiple news organizations in the United States were targeted, including those that have opposed the Communist Party of China or delivered uncensored news to China. 

Foreign targets included a religious leader, a Hong Kong newspaper and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia, according to the Justice Department release. 

Separate indictments were issued against the two men connected to APT27, Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng, “for their involvement in the multi-year, for-profit computer intrusion campaigns dating back, in the case of Yin, to 2013,” the Justice Department release stated. 

The State Department announced a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest of Zhou and Yin. They are accused of hacking numerous “U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, law firms, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems, and universities, leaving behind them a wake of millions of dollars in damages,” the release stated. 

Yin is accused in a U.S. Treasury Department hack between September and December 2024. 

The two face several charges that include computer network conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.  

“As evidenced by today’s and previous announcements, China offers safe harbor for private sector companies that conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States and its partners,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. 

The indictments were the result of a joint investigation by the Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Departments of State and the Treasury. 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. 
…

your ad here

Taipei, Taiwan — China set the economic growth target for 2025 at 5% on Wednesday, vowing to “rise to the challenge and strive for success” amid a lack of domestic demand and a challenging external environment.

Delivering the government work report at the start of China’s biggest political meetings of the year, Chinese Premier Li Qiang acknowledged that China’s trade and tech sectors face mounting external pressure caused by the intensification of protectionism around the world, the obstruction of the multilateral trading system, the increase of tariff barriers and rising geopolitical tensions.

“Domestically, the foundation for economic recovery is not yet solid, and there is insufficient demand, especially the sluggish consumption,” Li said during a speech delivered in front of thousands of members of the Chinese Communist Party, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In light of these challenges, Li said the Chinese government aims to achieve the 5% economic growth target by “vigorously boosting consumption, improving the efficiency of investment and expanding domestic demand on all fronts,” according to a readout released by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

“Achieving these goals won’t be easy, and it will require hard work,” he said.

Analysts say the economic growth target shows China is prioritizing “stability” over “major economic progress” in 2025. “A large part of China’s economic growth last year was supported by exports, but the looming trade war with the United States has brought unpredictable risks to Chinese exports in 2025,” said Wang Kuo-chen, an economist at the Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research in Taiwan.

“Since China’s domestic demand remains insufficient, they can only rely on boosting consumption to drive economic growth in 2025,” he told VOA by phone.

To boost domestic consumption and demand, Li said Beijing will introduce some bold stimulus measures, including implementing more vigorous fiscal policies, lowering interest rates at the right time, and implementing economic policies aimed at “improving people’s livelihoods and boosting domestic consumption.”

The Chinese government will aim to direct more resources and capital to “support the expansion of employment, help people increase their income, and strengthen consumption incentives,” Li said during the speech.

Wang in Taiwan said while the Chinese government has repeatedly vowed to boost domestic consumption since last year, the exodus of foreign businesses and the overall trend of income reduction across the country will make it difficult for China to achieve this goal in 2025.

“As long as more capitals are poured into emerging industries such as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, which are key sectors highlighted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the private sector as a whole will remain weak, and there won’t be sufficient domestic demand,” Wang said.

To maintain China’s competitiveness in emerging industries, Li said China in 2025 will focus on stimulating innovation and the digital economy.

Relevant measures include better combining digital technology with manufacturing and market advantages and “vigorously developing new-generation intelligent terminals such as intelligent network-connected new-energy vehicles and intelligent manufacturing equipment.”

In addition to artificial intelligence, other emerging industries that Li said China also aims to further develop in 2025 include quantum technology, embodied technology, and 6G.

Before the annual legislative meetings, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a symposium with leaders from several Chinese tech giants on February 17, urging “efforts to promote the healthy and high-quality development of the country’s private sector.”

Some experts say that while the Chinese government wants to provide more state-led support to private companies in the AI and semiconductor industries, they will also ensure these companies “align themselves with China’s national priorities.”

“The government knows it needs the private sector for innovation and job creation, but it also wants to maintain control at the same time,” Lizzi Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told VOA in an e-mail.

China’s week-long legislative meetings come as Beijing and Washington gear up for a potential trade war. On Tuesday, the United States enhanced tariffs against all Chinese imports to 20%, prompting China to retaliate by imposing tariffs ranging between 10% to 15% on a wide range of agricultural products from the U.S. 

During his speech on Wednesday, Li said China will “stick to the path of peaceful development, oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, and uphold international justice.”

“China is willing to work with the international community to call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and an inclusive economic globalization,” he said during the hour-long remarks.

In light of the U.S. government’s tariff hikes against several countries, including allies such as Canada and Mexico, some analysts say Beijing is trying to present itself as a “more responsible” global power.

“China might actually see an opportunity to show that it can act more responsibly on certain global issues,” Dali Yang, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Chicago, told VOA by phone.

VOA Mandarin’s Chuang Chih-wei and Yang Meng-li contributed reporting to the story.
…

your ad here

The Hong Kong-based conglomerate that operates ports near the Panama Canal has agreed to sell shares of its units that operate the ports to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., after President Donald Trump alleged Chinese interference with the operations of the critical shipping lane.

In a filing, CK Hutchison Holding said Tuesday that it would sell all shares in Hutchison Port Holdings and all shares in Hutchison Port Group Holdings. The two units hold 80% of the Hutchison Ports group that operates 43 ports in 23 countries.

The consortium, comprised of BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited will acquire 90% interests in Panama Ports Company, which owns and operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal in Panama, according to the filing.

In January, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, raised concerns that China could exploit or block passage through the canal and that the ports “give China ready observation posts” to take action.

“This situation, I believe, posts acute risks for U.S. national security,” Cruz said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama in early February and told President Jose Raul Mulino that Panama had to reduce Chinese influence over the canal or face potential retaliation from the United States. Mulino rejected the idea that China had any control over canal operations.

Panama quit China’s Belt and Road Initiative following Rubio’s visit, drawing condemnation from Beijing.

But while much attention was focused on Trump’s threat to retake control of the canal, his administration trained its sights on Hutchison Ports, the Hong Kong-based consortium that manages the ports key ports at either end of the canal.

Hutchison Ports had recently been awarded a 25-year no-bid extension to run the ports, but an audit looking at that extension was already underway. Observers believed the audit was a preliminary step toward eventually rebidding the contract, but rumors had swirled in recent weeks that a U.S. firm close to the White House was being lined up to take over.
…

your ad here

Chinese tech firms and state media have spotlighted humanoid robots, which have grown in popularity since the Unitree G1 appeared to run, jump, dance and perform martial arts-like movements in a recent demonstration.

Both the United States and China are leaders in humanoid robot technology. But industry analysts believe that the United States is superior in AI technology, which is responsible for the robot’s “brain,” while Chinese technology companies have flourished in the hardware manufacturing capabilities of the robot’s “body.”

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
…

your ad here

WASHINGTON — Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced on Monday plans to make an additional $100 billion investment in the United States and build five additional chips factories in the coming years.

TSMC CEO C.C. Wei announced the plan in a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump.

“We must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here,” Trump said. “It’s a matter of national security for us.”

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is a leading supplier to major U.S. hardware manufacturers.

The $100 billion outlay, which would boost domestic production and make the United States less reliant on semiconductors made in Asia, is in addition to a major prior investment announcement. TSMC agreed in April to expand its planned U.S. investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona factory by 2030.

With his Nov. 5 election victory largely driven by voters’ economic concerns, Trump has stepped up efforts to bolster investments in domestic industries to create jobs.

The TSMC announcement is the latest in a string of such developments. In February, Apple said it would invest $500 billion in the next four years. Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani and SoftBank also have promised multibillion-dollar investments in the U.S.

TSMC said on Monday it looks “forward to discussing our shared vision for innovation and growth in the semiconductor industry, as well as exploring ways to bolster the technology sector along with our customers.”

The U.S. Commerce Department under then President Joe Biden finalized a $6.6 billion government subsidy in November for TSMC’s U.S. unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona.

Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act legislation in 2022 to provide $52.7 billion in subsidies for American semiconductor production and research.

Taiwan’s dominant position as a maker of chips used in technology from cellphones and cars to fighter jets has sparked concerns of over-reliance on the island, especially as China ramps up pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.

China claims Taiwan as its territory, but the democratically elected government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Under Biden, the Commerce Department convinced all five leading-edge semiconductor firms to locate factories in the U.S. as part of the program to address national security risks from imported chips.

Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told lawmakers last month that the program was “an excellent down payment” to rebuild the sector, but he has declined to commit grants that have already been approved by the department, saying he wanted to “read them and analyze them and understand them.”

A TSMC spokesperson said last month the company had received $1.5 billion in CHIPS Act money before the new administration came in as per the milestone terms of its agreement.

TSMC last year agreed to produce the world’s most advanced 2-nanometer technology at its second Arizona factory expected to begin production in 2028. TSMC also agreed to use its most advanced chip manufacturing technology called “A16” in Arizona.

TSMC has already begun producing advanced 4-nanometer chips for U.S. customers in Arizona.

The TSMC award included up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.

 
…

your ad here