East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
Congressman Riley Moore recently wrote an op-ed urging the administration to ban all student visas for Chinese nationals to prevent the CCP from using U.S. academic institutions as platforms for espionage. Experts told VOA Mandarin that due to the number of espionage cases Chinese students in the U.S. involved in, it might be more helpful to close the CCP-sponsored Chinese students and scholars’ associations on U.S. campuses.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
…
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traded policy complaints with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Friday, with Bessent telling Beijing to do more to curb fentanyl trafficking and rebalance its economy, and He voicing concerns about President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, the two governments said.
The top economic officials from the world’s two largest economies agreed to keep up communications, the Treasury said in a readout of the introductory video call.
“Secretary Bessent expressed serious concerns about the PRC’s counternarcotics efforts, economic imbalances, and unfair policies, and stressed the Administration’s commitment to pursue trade and economic policies that protect the American economy, the American worker, and our national security,” the Treasury said, using the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
Earlier, Chinese state media reported that He expressed concerns to Bessent over U.S. tariffs and trade restrictions on China during the call.
The two sides had an “in-depth” exchange of views on important issues in China-U.S. economic relations, and both agreed to keep communicating on matters of mutual concern, according to a readout released by Chinese state media.
He, the lead China-U.S. trade negotiator on the Chinese side, and Bessent recognized the importance of bilateral economic and trade relations, the readout said.
More tariffs
China and the United States are seeking to manage their relationship as they stand on the precipice of a renewed trade war.
Trump imposed 10% tariffs on all Chinese goods in early February, citing China’s failure to stanch fentanyl trafficking.
Beijing retaliated by imposing targeted tariffs of up to 15% on some U.S. imports, including energy and farm equipment, and put several companies, including Google, on notice for possible sanctions.
Trump has also planned further reciprocal tariffs for all countries that tax U.S. imports, a move that is likely to further escalate global trade tensions. During his election campaign, Trump threatened 60% tariffs on all Chinese imports.
Trump said earlier this week he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the U.S., without giving a timeline for such a trip.
Bessent said on Thursday he would tell his Chinese counterpart that China needed to rebalance its economy and rely more on domestic consumption for growth and less on investment and exports.
“They are suppressing the consumer in favor of the business community,” Bessent told Bloomberg Television.
Similar arguments
The U.S. had a $295.4 billion goods trade deficit with China in 2024, down from a peak of $418.2 billion in 2018, the year Trump began imposing new tariffs on some $370 billion of Chinese imports.
But last year’s deficit rose $16.3 billion from 2023 as Chinese exporters rushed to beat a new round of Trump tariffs.
Bessent’s predecessor, former Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, met several times with He in recent years and lodged similar complaints about China’s state-led economic policies.
She argued during a trip to China last year that those policies were leading to excess production capacity that was threatening the viability of firms in the U.S. and other market economies, a warning that laid the groundwork for former President Joe Biden’s steep tariff hikes on electric vehicles, semiconductors and solar products.
He and other Chinese officials never accepted U.S. excess capacity assertions, arguing that China’s EV and other key industries are simply more competitive.
…
SYDNEY — Airlines modified flight paths between Australia and New Zealand on Friday after China notified Australia that the People’s Liberation Army Navy would hold live-fire exercises off the New South Wales coast in international waters, a rare event.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Friday afternoon that the time period for the Chinese navy exercises had expired, and it was unclear if live fire had been used by the Chinese navy.
“China issued, in accordance with practice, an alert that it would be conducting these activities, including the potential use of live fire. It’s outside of Australia’s exclusive economic zone,” he said, indicating it was at least 370 kilometers offshore.
“According to defense, there has been no imminent risk of danger to any Australian assets or New Zealand assets, and that’s why this notification occurs,” he added.
A People’s Liberation Army Navy frigate, cruiser and replenishment vessel last week entered Australia’s maritime approaches, and traveled down Australia’s east coast this week, monitored by the navies and air forces of Australia and New Zealand.
Airlines were contacted by Australia’s air traffic control agency on Friday warning them of reports of live fire where the Chinese navy task group was operating, the agency and Australian officials said.
“The Civil Aviation Authority and Airservices Australia are aware of reports of live firing in international waters,” air traffic control agency Airservices Australia said in a statement.
“As a precaution, we have advised airlines with flights planned in the area,” it added.
Qantas and its low-cost arm Jetstar were monitoring the airspace and temporarily adjusted some flights across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. Air New Zealand said it had modified flight paths as needed to avoid the area, with no impact to its operations, while Virgin Australia was following instructions from Airservices Australia.
Albanese said he had contacted New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon about the matter.
“The chief of the defense force has advised that it’s not clear whether there was any actual live fire used in this area, but it is consistent with international law,” Albanese said. Foreign Minister Penny Wong would raise the matter with her Chinese counterpart in South Africa, where they are attending the G20 foreign ministers meeting, he added.
Wong said the live fire was “an evolving situation.”
“We do have concerns about the transparency associated with this and the notice, and I certainly will be having a discussion with (China’s) Foreign Minister Wang about that,” she said in an ABC television interview Friday.
…
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s ousted premier said on Thursday that he had opposed suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, testifying for the first time at his former boss’s impeachment trial about the events of a night that threw the country into turmoil.
Han Duck-soo was impeached by parliament as acting president and prime minister in December over alleged obstruction of the trial that could formally remove Yoon from office for his martial law decree.
He appeared before that trial for the first time on Thursday, telling Seoul’s Constitutional Court he had “expressed my opposition” to Yoon’s decision to suspend civilian rule on the night of Dec. 3.
Han said he and most of his fellow cabinet members “believed such a declaration would put South Korea in serious difficulty” and that he recalled them “being concerned and trying to dissuade it.”
The court said later on Thursday the final hearing will be held on the 25th.
The judges will then deliberate behind closed doors, with elections required within 60 days if Yoon is removed.
Yoon walked out of the court just five minutes after proceedings began on Thursday, according to a pool report.
His lawyer Yoon Kap-keun told reporters the ousted president felt it was “inappropriate” for him to sit in the same court room with Han “or for the president to watch the prime minister testify.”
“It is not good for the nation’s prestige,” his lawyer quoted Yoon as saying.
Yoon returned later to hear the testimony of former senior intelligence official Hong Jang-won, seen as a key figure in the decision to declare martial law.
Hong has claimed to be in possession of a memo containing a list of names of individuals Yoon ordered arrested during the night of the martial law declaration, including the leaders of the opposition and Yoon’s own ruling party.
“I will do my best to recount everything as I remember it,” Hong told reporters before the hearing.
Court footage showed Yoon shouting at Hong, accusing him of plotting his impeachment.
Given the opportunity to speak by one of the court’s eight judges, Yoon acknowledged that it was “unnecessary and wrong” to try to track the locations of politicians on the night of the decree but also said he was doing it simply to “monitor movements” and not to “arrest” them.
The head of South Korea’s National Police Agency, who is also on trial on insurrection charges related to the martial law decree, is another witness.
Courting controversy
The impeachment hearing was Yoon’s second of the day. He also appeared in court in the morning to answer charges of insurrection, becoming South Korea’s first sitting president to stand trial in a criminal case.
The 64-year-old former prosecutor has been behind bars since he was arrested last month on those charges, for which he could be sentenced to life in prison — or face the death penalty — if convicted.
Yoon attended that hearing but did not speak, an AFP journalist in the packed courtroom said.
Prosecutors have accused the suspended president of being the “ringleader of an insurrection.”
They argued on Thursday against releasing him, saying he could try to “influence or persuade those involved in the case.”
Yoon’s lawyer Kim Hong-il condemned the “illegal probe,” telling the court the “investigating body has no jurisdiction.”
“The declaration of martial law was not intended to paralyze the state,” Kim said.
Instead, he said, it was meant to “alert the public to the national crisis caused by the legislative dictatorship of the dominant opposition party, which had crippled the administration.”
Much of Yoon’s impeachment trial has centered on the question of whether he violated the constitution by declaring martial law, which is reserved for national emergencies or times of war.
The crisis has plunged South Korea into months of political turmoil with protests, two impeachments and a surge of online disinformation.
Yoon also sent a message rallying his supporters on Thursday, urging “the older and established generations to work together with the younger generation.”
“If that happens, I will be able to swiftly return to my duties and lead South Korea with the power of generational integration,” Yoon said, according to his lawyers.
…
U.S. President Donald Trump has said, “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting.” Beijing rebuffed those plans, saying it opposes forced displacement of Palestinians to neighboring countries. How will a Gaza takeover plan impact the U.S.-China competition in the Middle East?
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
…
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in two Seoul courtrooms Thursday, first to hear criminal insurrection charges and then to face a Constitutional Court impeachment trial, both in connection with his short-lived, Dec. 3 imposition of martial law.
Yoon was taken by motorcade from the Seoul Detention Center, where he is being held, to the Central District Court for the preliminary hearing on the insurrection charges prosecutors filed last month.
In that hearing, Yoon’s lawyers argued that his declaration of martial law was not intended to paralyze the state, but to “alert the public to the national crisis caused by the legislative dictatorship of the dominant opposition party, which had crippled the administration.”
The lawyers also asked for Yoon’s release from detention, although it was unclear when the court would rule on that request.
Yoon next traveled to the Constitutional Court for the tenth and final scheduled hearing in the trial over validity of his impeachment for declaring martial law.
In Yoon’s first appearance at that trial, the court heard testimony from Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was also impeached by National Assembly lawmakers for his role in the early December declaration. Yoon briefly left the courtroom during Han’s testimony, with Yoon’s lawyers explaining they felt it was inappropriate for the two to be seen together.
Han told the court that while he shared Yoon’s views on the liberal opposition, he and the rest of the cabinet disagreed with the president’s declaration of martial law and even tried to dissuade him. To his knowledge, the prime minister added, none of the cabinet members supported the action.
The Constitutional Court is reviewing parliament’s Dec. 14 vote to impeach Yoon and will decide whether to permanently remove him from office or reinstate him.
The court is considering if Yoon violated the constitution while Yoon and his lawyers have argued that he never intended to fully impose martial law but had only meant the measures as a warning to break a political deadlock.
If Yoon is removed, a new presidential election must be held within 60 days. The court is expected to deliver its ruling in early or mid-March.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — The vast majority of human rights groups focused on North Korea face an existential crisis after receiving notices from the U.S. government that their grant funds have been frozen, according to several sources among the predominantly Seoul-based NGOs.
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, established by Congress to strengthen democratic institutions globally, and the State Department’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau, which provide most of the groups’ funding, sent the notices over the last several weeks, according to documents reviewed by VOA.
The freeze threatens to devastate an already fragile collection of North Korea human rights groups, potentially wiping out vital sources of advocacy and research on one of the world’s most closed and repressive states, which has a population of 25 million.
Hanna Song, executive director of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, told VOA her organization, like many others in Seoul, is now in “survival mode” because of the funding freeze.
“I just really don’t know how many will be able to survive,” said Song, whose organization works directly with North Koreans who have fled the North and has long been a key repository of data on Pyongyang’s abuses.
Trump policy shift
The funding freeze is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s broader push to reshape the federal bureaucracy and realign taxpayer spending with his “America First” agenda, in coordination with billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
The NED has been repeatedly attacked by Musk, who has called it a “scam” and an “evil organization [that] needs to be dissolved.”
In a message sent last week to several North Korea-focused human rights organizations, the NED said it has “unfortunately been unable to access our previously approved funds” and “may not be able to provide additional payments to your organization.”
“Once you run out of money, consider your NED grant agreement suspended,” the message added.
Meanwhile, a January 24 notice from the State Department bureau ordered organizations receiving grants to immediately stop all work, even if already funded.
The bureau has reportedly fired dozens of contractors and is also subject to a Trump executive order suspending foreign aid for 90 days. Although aid could theoretically resume, the pause has already had devastating consequences for many North Korea advocacy groups.
Survival mode
Song’s Seoul-based center, whose mission includes providing psychosocial support to North Korean defectors, has had to postpone counseling sessions while they look for new funding, Song said.
“It’s just absolutely destroying groups working on North Korea,” said Sokeel Park, South Korea country director at Liberty in North Korea, which helps North Korean defectors escape and resettle. “It’s by far the biggest crisis facing NGOs working on this issue since the start of the movement in the 1990s,” he said in an interview.
Although the group does not receive direct U.S. government funding, Park said other organizations have been forced to reduce salaries, furlough staff, or halt projects midstream.
The freeze threatens a broad range of activities, including support for North Koreans who have fled, efforts to transmit information into and out of the country, and raising global awareness of its abuses.
The crisis comes at a time when gaining insight into North Korea is more challenging than ever. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, strict border controls have made escapes rare and slowed the flow of information, leaving the outside world with extremely little insight into the reclusive country.
This isolation has coincided with a decline in global attention to North Korea more generally, which has made it harder for organizations to diversify their funding sources, activists say.
Seoul’s inconsistency
While South Korea, a wealthy democracy bordering the North, might seem like a natural alternative source of funds, it has failed to consistently support North Korea-focused NGOs, mainly because the issue is politically sensitive in Seoul.
Conservative governments, which take a harder line on the North, often condemn its human rights abuses and provide more backing for civil society groups. In contrast, left-leaning governments tend to focus on improving ties with Pyongyang, favoring humanitarian aid directly to the North Korean government in the hope that better relations will eventually lead to improved human rights.
South Korea’s inconsistency on the issue is unfortunate, Lee Jung-hoon, former South Korean ambassador for North Korean human rights under conservative President Park Geun-hye told VOA.
“In fact, we should be the ones providing funding to American NGOs working on North Korea… we should be at the forefront of this,” Lee, now a dean and professor of international relations at Seoul’s Yonsei University, said.
After taking office in 2022, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to improve North Korea’s “horrendous” human rights situation. However, in December, Yoon unexpectedly declared martial law to combat what he called “anti-state forces,” leading to his impeachment and possible removal from office.
With Yoon’s future uncertain, the left-leaning Democratic Party is seen as the favorite to reclaim the presidency. Such political volatility has made many NGOs hesitant to accept South Korean government funding, fearing it could be easily withdrawn.
As a result, many organizations have felt compelled to rely on U.S. government funding – primarily from NED and the State Department. With that money now frozen, many groups are scrambling to fill the gaps by seeking support from European governments and major private donors, Park said.
North Korea-focused groups, though, are competing with countless global causes for limited funds.
Song said no one wants to be in a position where they’re saying North Korea is a more important issue events in Myanmar or Syria, “But it’s gotten to the point where it’s just survival mode.”
…
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean state media on Thursday criticized the United States for a nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS partnership signed in 2021, calling it a “threat to regional peace.”
A commentary carried by KCNA said Washington should be wary of consequences for what it said were nuclear alliances, naming AUKUS and the trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan.
Australia just made its first $500 million payment to the U.S. under the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.
Under AUKUS, Australia will pay the United States $3 billion to boost the capacity of the U.S. submarine industry, and Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s.
The KCNA commentary also argued the U.S. sees North Korea as an obstacle to its establishment of hegemony in the region and said nuclear states will not sit idly by, referring to itself.
North Korea has been criticizing the trilateral military cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. and has called the relationship “the Asian version of NATO.”
South Korea’s defense ministry on Thursday said that a joint air drill was held with the U.S. with at least one B-1B strategic bomber taking part.
The drill was to show extended deterrent capabilities by the United States in response to threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile program, the ministry said in a statement.
…
GENEVA — The World Trade Organization said on Wednesday that discussions on trade tensions were “constructive,” after China accused the United States of imposing “tariff shocks” that could upend the global trading system.
China condemned tariffs launched or threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump at a WTO meeting on Tuesday. Washington dismissed China’s comments as hypocritical.
Trump has announced sweeping 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with retaliatory tariffs and to file a WTO dispute against Washington in what could be an early test of Trump’s stance towards the institution.
The majority of the six countries that participated in the talks on trade turbulence, put on the agenda by China, raised concern about mounting tensions, but also called for restraint, said WTO spokesperson Ismaila Dieng in a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
The United States, Nicaragua, Namibia, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Russia took part in the discussions, which were part of broader talks on trade.
The large majority “stressed the importance of upholding WTO principles and values and called for action to preserve the stability and effectiveness of the global trading system,” Dieng added.
Two trade sources at the meeting told Reuters that some countries expressed deep concern about the ramifications of tariffs, while others criticized China for alleged market distortions.
It is the first time that mounting trade frictions were formally addressed on the agenda of the watchdog’s top decision-making body, the General Council.
‘Tariff shocks’
“These ‘tariff shocks’ heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession,” China’s ambassador to the WTO, Li Chenggang, said at a closed-door meeting of the global trade body on Tuesday, according to a statement sent to Reuters.
“Worse, the U.S. unilateralism threatens to upend the rules-based multilateral trading system.”
U.S. envoy David Bisbee called China’s economy a “predatory non-market economic system” in response and accused it of violating and evading WTO rules.
Negotiating tactic
Some delegates said they saw China’s intervention as an attempt to show itself supporting WTO rules — a posture that can help China win allies in ongoing global trade negotiations.
Disputes between the two top economies at the WTO long pre-date Trump’s arrival. Beijing has accused Washington of breaking rules while Washington says Beijing does not deserve its “developing country” status at the WTO.
The Trump administration has announced plans to withdraw or disengage from other global organizations, but the WTO has not yet been a major focus for the White House.
However, incoming U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has called the WTO “deeply flawed.”
…
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Philippine defense officials say they will hold a large, 10-day military training exercise next month, aiming to strengthen the country’s ability to respond to any crisis caused by an “external threat.”
Although Manila did not name China explicitly when it announced the drills — the biggest in recent years — they come as Beijing has increased the frequency of its maritime patrols and coast guard maneuvers around several disputed reefs that lie within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ.
Several of those patrols have resulted in clashes and the use of aggressive maneuvers and accusations of vessel ramming. China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea as its own despite an international ruling to the contrary, insists that its actions have been in accordance with the law.
The Combined Arms Training Exercise, or Catex, will take place March 3-12, involving approximately 6,000 soldiers and live-fire drills involving some of the Philippines’ most advanced artillery weapons.
Expanded drills
In the announcement on Monday, defense officials said that unlike past exercises, this year’s Catex will be conducted across the archipelago, including the northern island of Luzon, the island of Visayas in Central Philippines, and the southern island of Mindanao.
The expanded drills will “strengthen our command-and-control capabilities, further enhancing our preparedness to respond to any challenge that may threaten our national security,” Philippine Army Chief Lieutenant General Roy Galido told media during a news conference on Monday.
Typhon missile system
While the Philippine military is expected to test the Autonomous Truck-Mounted Howitzer Systems, its largest artillery weapon, during the live-fire drills, Galido said the U.S.-made Typhon missile system, which has prompted concerns from China, won’t be part of the large-scale exercise.
The Philippine military is still “appreciating the system and being able to understand how to utilize it in our defense concept,” he told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post in an interview on Monday.
The deployment of the Typhon missile system to the northern Philippines has prompted concerns from China. During a press conference Friday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang urged Manila to “remove the [Typhon] system as soon as possible.”
Analysts say the Philippines should focus on building up anti-ship missile capabilities and procuring more unmanned aerial vehicles rather than buying expensive items like submarines, which the Philippines is reportedly considering purchasing from India.
“The anti-ship missiles can survive in a modern war with China, and it can really force the Chinese military planners to rethink their strategies,” Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at the National War College in Washington, told VOA by phone.
Other experts say the military drills and the ongoing efforts to acquire missile or air defense systems are part of the Philippines’ attempt to strengthen its sea capabilities and deterrence against China.
“Given the Philippines’ limited materiel capabilities, these efforts are part of a long-term endeavor that will need continuity to ensure the Philippines will be able to muster the capabilities to pursue the objective of countering China’s maritime aggression,” Don McLain Gill, a lecturer in international studies at De La Salle University in the Philippines, told VOA in a recorded voice message.
‘Aggressive’ China action
The announcement of the drills comes amid another uptick in tensions between China and the Philippines after a Chinese navy helicopter allegedly flew within 10 feet of a Philippine patrol plane near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Tuesday.
The Philippine coast guard characterized the Chinese aircraft’s actions as “aggressive and escalatory” and said they remained “committed to asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction” in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army — China’s military — accused the Philippine aircraft of “illegally” intruding on the airspace above Scarborough Shoal, which China views as its territory, and said its troops “are resolute in defending national sovereignty and security as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Weakest link?
Experts say the latest incident reflects Beijing’s attempt to test the Philippines’ defense capabilities and the United States’ commitment to supporting Manila, which has a mutual defense treaty with Washington.
“China sees the Philippines as the weakest link in the U.S. security architecture in the Indo-Pacific region, so they are testing how effective Manila can push back against its assertive behaviors,” Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Japan, told VOA by phone.
He said while it’s important for the Philippines to strengthen defense cooperation with like-minded democracies, including conducting joint patrols and military exercises, Manila should also carefully calibrate its responses to Chinese aggression.
The Philippines’ response should “reciprocate the pressure that the Chinese are putting on them because the Chinese strategic mindset is based on the idea of active defense, which means when they pressure their opponents to escalate the conflict, that gives them the right to escalate their behaviors,” Nagy said.
New legal challenge possible
In addition to strengthening defense capabilities, the Reuters news agency reported last month that the Philippines may soon initiate a second legal challenge against China over the South China Sea by suing Beijing for allegedly damaging the marine environment.
Despite the report, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said in response to a question from VOA during a public event held by the London-based think tank Chatham House on Tuesday that Manila has no plan to launch a legal challenge against China right now.
Joshua Espena, a lecturer of international relations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, told VOA that since the Philippines is gearing up for the parliamentary election in May, Manila is unlikely to initiate a new legal challenge against China at this point. “The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration ruling gives the Philippines sufficient ground to do what the government needs to do,” he said.
As the U.S. focuses on facilitating a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, Nagy said, China will likely maintain its pressure campaign against the Philippines in the coming months.
…
BEIJING — China on Wednesday began public consultation on new regulations designed to protect its domestic rare earth industry, a sector where Beijing has previously weaponized its dominance via export controls and other restrictions.
The draft regulations were released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology late on Wednesday and touched on issues including quotas for mining, smelting and separating, as well as monitoring and enforcement.
The rules are the latest in a series of attempts to bring the globally critical sector under tighter state control. China already dictates output via a system of quotas and state-controlled companies.
Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals whose production China dominates, accounting for nearly 90% of global refined output.
In 2023, Beijing banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets, adding it to an existing ban on technology to extract and separate the critical materials.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Wednesday his country must “reset” its relationship with the Cook Islands government after its Pacific neighbor signed agreements with China without consultation.
In a speech to the Pacific Island Political Science Association in Wellington, Peters said Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s opaque dealings with Beijing was the latest attempt to test constitutional ties with New Zealand.
“While the connection between the people of the Cook Islands and New Zealand remains resolutely strong, we currently face challenges in the government-to-government relationship,” he said.
“We are going to need to reset the government-to-government relationship.”
The Cook Islands is a self-governing nation and maintains free association with Wellington, sharing a head of state and citizenship rights. It is permitted an independent foreign policy, but the two countries are required to consult on security, defense and foreign policy issues.
Brown’s visit to Beijing this month resulted in a strategic partnership with China spanning education, the economy, infrastructure, fisheries, disaster management and seabed mining.
It set off alarm bells in New Zealand due to concerns with China’s growing presence in the region and the potential threats to the country’s national security.
While the Cook Islands government has released details of the strategic partnership, Peters said New Zealand had not seen a number of memoranda of understanding also signed with China.
“New Zealand and the Cook Islands people remain, as of this evening, in the dark over all but one the agreements signed by China and the Cooks last week,” Peters said.
Brown’s deal with China follows an attempt by the Cooks to create its own passports and citizenship, a proposal New Zealand said would require the islands to become fully independent to do.
Separately, Peters also addressed tensions with Kiribati after its government canceled a planned visit by New Zealand officials at short notice.
Kiribati has also signed a series of bilateral deals with China in recent years.
Peters said Wellington had committed more than $57 million in aid to the Pacific island nation over the past three years and needed to reassess how funds were being used.
WASHINGTON — South Korea’s Constitutional Court is approaching the final phase of proceedings before it decides in March whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief martial law bid in December.
Since its first official hearing on Jan. 14, exactly a month after the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, the court has held nine hearings; the last is scheduled for Thursday.
China has become a central issue at some of the hearings, with analysts saying that South Korea-U.S. counterintelligence coordination is crucial in deterring Beijing influence operations that threaten both countries.
Yoon’s attorney, Cha Gi-hwan, raised concerns about what he alleged was China’s interference in South Korean politics, elections and media at several proceedings, apparently in defense of Yoon’s statement made in December.
Yoon had said “anti-state forces” were operating in South Korea while explaining his decision to impose martial law at the time and highlighted Chinese nationals using a drone to film a U.S. aircraft carrier docked at the port city of Busan.
He had said the opposition parties blocked a revision to anti-espionage law, preventing the prosecution of foreign nationals spying on South Korea.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) pushed for an amendment to the law to broaden its scope from targeting “enemy states” to include “foreign countries,” citing threats posed by Chinese espionage. The opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) blocked the revision for fear of potential misuse of the law.
Cha said at a hearing on Feb. 11 that China has been interfering in South Korean politics by having its companies and people residing in South Korea fund and support pro-China politicians, manipulate public opinion and spread fake news unfavorable to those who oppose pro-China politicians running for election.
Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Dai Bing on Feb. 10 denied widespread accusations among Yoon’s supporters that Beijing interfered in South Korean politics and elections. He wrote on X that Beijing “has all along upheld the principle of noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs.”
Growing threat
In testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, Dartmouth University professor Jennifer Lind said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conducts malign influence operations that aim “to bolster authoritarianism, discredit democratic governance and reshape global norms in China’s interests.”
The Senate hearing was about “The Malign Influence of the People’s Republic of China” in the U.S. and abroad.
Analysts in Washington said if Yoon is removed from the office, China will conduct full-fledged malign operations in the country.
“I would expect Beijing to increase its efforts, as it sees South Korea’s political upheaval as ripe for Chinese malicious intervention,” said Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow at the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University.
“China’s goal will be to weaken the democracy and to support those in favor of better ties with Beijing at the expense of the U.S. alliance,” said Wilder, who served as the CIA’s deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific from 2015 to 2016.
“The key to defeating China’s ambition is intense and sustained counterintelligence programs. The United States has a great deal to teach South Korea in this area, and the CIA and the FBI should work with the South Koreans to improve their ability to spot and deter Chinese covert operations,” Wilder added.
“Everything on the Korean Peninsula affects U.S. security,” said David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy. “President Yoon is right to call attention to what China is doing. Ideally, it would be wonderful to have a coordinated [U.S.] response with South Korea.”
US-South Korea coordination
If the court decides to remove Yoon from office, main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung is considered a candidate for an election to be held within 60 days.
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said, “Statements by party chief Lee Jae-myung indicate the party will pursue a more conciliatory policy toward China and North Korea, more antagonistic toward Japan, and place less emphasis on strengthening the alliance with the United States.”
Klingner, formerly the CIA’s deputy division chief, told VOA on Thursday, “The Trump administration will look for South Korea and other Indo-Pacific democracies to pursue stronger policies against the multifaceted China threat, including supporting roles in Taiwan contingencies. The [main] Democratic Party of Korea would resist such entreaties, which will cause strains with Washington.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a news conference after meeting with NATO defense ministers in Belgium on Thursday that working with Pacific allies South Korea, Japan and Australia will be “critical” in dealing with the Chinese threat.
Korean Service’s Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report.
…
As pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai spoke in his defense at a Hong Kong court Tuesday, his son Sebastien Lai was in Geneva calling for the United States and other world leaders to help secure this father’s release.
Speaking on Tuesday at the latest hearing in his national security trial, Lai, 77, denied any intention to incite violence among protesters.
He defended an opinion piece published in 2019 in the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper that he founded in which he suggested that pro-democracy protesters establish a leadership structure to weed out those who wished to engage in violence during protests that year.
“By saying they should choose a leadership group, [it means that] they should put down some principle or bottom line for the valiant acts which, basically, is for them to stop the violence,” Lai said in court.
The British national has been standing trial for more than a year on charges of collusion with foreign forces and sedition under Hong Kong’s national security law. Lai rejects the charges, which foreign governments and press freedom groups have said are politically motivated.
Hong Kong authorities deny that the trial is unfair and have previously told VOA that the government respects press freedom and the rule of law.
Lai has been in solitary confinement since late 2020. Sebastien Lai raised concerns about his father’s health as he advocated for him in Geneva.
“I ask that you join my call to free Jimmy Lai and champion him for all he’s given in the hope of freedom,” the younger Lai said Monday at the annual Human Rights and Democracy summit in Geneva.
When Beijing’s national security law was enacted in Hong Kong in 2020, Sebastien Lai said his father knew he would be a target.
“But he refused to leave,” he said. “Six decades after landing on the shore of this island in pursuit of freedom, he decided to stay and stand with his fellow protesters.”
Jimmy Lai was born in Guangzhou, China, and fled to Hong Kong when he was 12. He worked in a garment sweatshop before eventually founding the successful clothing brand Giordano. He later moved into media, founding Apple Daily in 1995.
Both the United States and Britain have criticized Hong Kong’s case against him. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump in October said he would “100%” get Lai released, without specifying details.
Sebestien Lai said Trump’s comment gave the family “a lot of hope.”
But he cautioned that time is running out for his father, who has diabetes. The publisher’s international legal team says he isn’t receiving adequate medical care, which authorities deny.
“His body is breaking down,” Sebastien Lai told Reuters ahead of the summit. “Time is running out for my father.”
Lai’s international legal team urged global leaders to stand up for press freedom at the U.N. Human Rights Council next week.
“How the world responds will send a vital message to authoritarians across the world,” Caoilfhionn Gallagher, head of Lai’s international legal team, told Reuters.
Gallagher and her team at the London law firm Doughty Street Chambers have faced significant harassment for their role defending Lai.
On social media and in email, Gallagher has faced threats of death, rape and dismemberment, The Guardian reported. She has also been targeted with hundreds of attempts to hack her bank account.
The Bar Council, the representative body for barristers in England and Wales, expressed concern about the harassment.
Some information in this report came from Reuters.
…
Hanoi, Vietnam — Vietnam will cut one in five public sector jobs and slash billions of dollars from government budgets, after the country’s rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to a radical streamlining drive.
The reform are creating unease in a communist country where working for the state long meant a job for life.
Described as “a revolution” by senior officials, the drive will see the number of government ministries and agencies slashed from 30 to 22.
The National Assembly voted to pass the government’s organizational structure, a statement on the parliament’s website said.
The ministries of transport, planning and investment, communications and labor have been scrapped, and state media, the civil service, the police and the military will face cuts.
As part of the government restructuring, the National Assembly on Tuesday approved two new deputy prime ministers, taking the total to seven.
Almost two million people worked in the public sector as of 2022, according to the government, although the International Labor Organization puts the figure much higher.
One in five of these jobs will be eliminated over the next five years.
The government has said that 100,000 people will be made redundant or offered early retirement, but it has yet to offer clarity on how the much larger target will be reached.
Vietnam’s top leader To Lam, who half a year ago became Communist Party general secretary following the death of his predecessor, has said that state agencies should not be “safe havens for weak officials”.
“If we want to have a healthy body, sometimes we must take bitter medicine and endure pain to remove tumors,” Lam said in December.
He has also said that the plan had received “large consensus from the people”.
But several workers told AFP they were laid off with little notice and were concerned that decisions about which employees to keep were not based on ability.
Thanh, a pseudonym to protect his identity, told AFP his 12-year career as a TV producer was “aggressively” terminated last month.
The state-controlled news channel where he worked was shuttered, one of five broadcasters already closed, and Thanh was given two weeks’ notice.
“It is painful to talk about,” said Thanh, a father who has turned to driving a taxi.
Business impact
Building on stellar economic growth of 7.1 percent in 2024, Vietnam —a global manufacturing hub heavily reliant on exports — is aiming for eight percent this year.
But anxiety is mounting over the country’s potential vulnerability to tariffs under the new Trump administration.
A bloated bureaucracy is also seen as a brake on growth, as is a high-profile anti-corruption campaign that has slowed everyday transactions.
Authorities say savings from the cuts in spending could total $4.5 billion over the next five years, despite costs of more than $5 billion for retirement and severance packages.
Streamlining the bureaucracy has been a Communist Party policy for nearly a decade but Lam is pushing the scheme ahead rapidly.
Lam has also enthusiastically pursued an anti-graft campaign that has swept up dozens of business leaders and senior government figures, including two presidents and three deputy prime ministers since 2021.
Critics accuse him of targeting his rivals through the action, but the drive has proved popular with the public and analysts say Lam may be looking to bolster his legitimacy ahead of the next Communist Party congress in early 2026.
The turmoil, however, has threatened the country’s reputation for stability and there are fears the bureaucratic reforms could also cause short-term chaos.
At a press conference last week, Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry, said the drive “would not affect the investment and business environment in Vietnam.”
…
Manila, Philippines — The Philippines has detected foreign attempts to access intelligence data, but its cyber minister said on Tuesday no breaches have been recorded so far.
Attempts to steal data are wide-ranging, said minister for information and communications Ivan Uy. Advanced Persistent Threats or APTs have repeatedly attempted but failed to infiltrate government systems, suggesting the country’s cyber-defenses have held firm.
APTs are a general term for cyber actors or groups, often state-backed, that engage in malicious cyber activities.
“These have been present for quite some time, and threats come from many actors, but a big majority of them are foreign,” Uy told Reuters.
Some of these threats, which Uy referred to as “sleepers,” had been embedded in systems before being exposed by government’s cyber security efforts.
“Why are these things operating in those systems, without even anybody calling it out?,” he said.
So far, the government has not seen any cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, he said.
“Hopefully it’s because our cyber defenses and cyber security are strong enough,” he said.
Uy acknowledged the difficulty of attributing cyber intrusions to specific attackers, as they sometimes leave misleading digital traces.
However, the government is working through diplomatic channels and sharing intelligence with the military, including with other countries, to validate threats and strengthen defenses, he said.
Last year, the Philippine said it thwarted attempts by hackers operating in China to break into websites and e-mail systems of the Philippine president and government agencies, including one promoting maritime security.
Uy described the escalating cyber threats as part of a global arms race, where nations and criminal organizations exploit digital vulnerabilities for financial or strategic gain.
“World War III is happening and it is cyber,” Uy said. “These weapons are non-kinetic. They are cyber, digital, virtual, but it’s happening. The attacks and defenses are happening as we speak, without any physical manifestation.”
Beyond cyberattacks, Uy has also flagged a surge in deepfakes and what he referred to as “fake news media outlets” aiming to manipulate public opinion ahead of the Philippines’ mid-term elections in May, and the ministry has deployed tools to combat them.
“Misinformation and disinformation are riskier with respect to democracies like ours, because we rely on elections, and elections are based on personal opinion,” Uy said.
…
TOKYO — Japan’s government approved on Tuesday new targets to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions through 2040, alongside a revised energy plan and an updated industrial policy for the same period.
The measures, which seek to bolster long-term policy stability for businesses, focus on promoting decarbonization, ensuring a stable energy supply and strengthening industrial capacity to drive economic growth.
Under the new climate policy, Japan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% from 2013 levels by 2035 and by 73% by 2040, extending its 2030 goal of a 46% cut.
The emissions-cutting target sparked calls for deeper reductions from experts and ruling coalition members when it was first proposed, as the world’s fifth-biggest carbon emitter struggles to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
Despite more than 80% of 3,000 public comments supporting a more ambitious target, the environment and industry ministries finalized the goal without changes, citing prior deliberations by climate experts.
As part of global efforts to combat climate change, Japan plans to submit its new target, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, to the United Nations this month.
The revised energy policy aims for renewables to account for up to 50% of Japan’s electricity mix by fiscal year 2040, with nuclear power contributing another 20% as the country pushes for clean energy while meeting rising power demand.
Japanese utilities have struggled to restart nuclear reactors since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, limiting nuclear power to just 8.5% of Japan’s electricity supply in 2023.
The new energy plan removes the previous goal of minimizing reliance on nuclear and calls for building next-generation reactors.
A new national strategy integrating decarbonization and industrial policy through 2040, aligned with the emission target and energy plan, was also approved by the cabinet.
It aims to develop industrial clusters in areas rich in renewable energy, nuclear power, and other low-carbon power sources.
However, uncertainties are emerging around Japan’s policies, as the domestic offshore wind market, a key driver of renewable energy growth, faces headwinds from inflation and high costs, recently prompting Mitsubishi Corp to review three domestic projects.
…
WASHINGTON/TAIPEI — Taiwan is exploring buying arms worth billions of dollars from the United States, sources briefed on the matter said, hoping to win support from the new Trump administration as China continues to apply military pressure on the island.
Three sources familiar with the situation, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters that Taiwan is in talks with Washington.
The package is meant to demonstrate to the United States that Taiwan is committed to its defense, one of the sources said.
A second source said the package would include coastal defense cruise missiles and HIMARS rockets.
“I would be very surprised if it was less than $8 billion. Somewhere between $7 billion to $10 billion,” the source added.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz has said he wants to speed delivery of weapons to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defense ministry declined to comment on specific purchases but said it is focused on building its defenses.
“Any weaponry and equipment that can achieve those goals for building the military are listed as targets for tender,” it said.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
Trump-Taiwan relations
U.S. President Donald Trump unnerved chip powerhouse Taiwan on the election campaign trail by saying the island stole American semiconductor business. This month, he threatened tariffs on chip imports.
But his administration maintained diplomatic support for the Chinese-claimed island.
Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba issued a joint statement on Feb. 7 opposing any attempt to change the current situation in the Taiwan Strait through force or coercion. The U.S. State Department also removed language on its website that it does not support Taiwan independence, a move praised by the island’s government. China has urged the U.S. to “correct its mistakes.”
Taiwan plans to propose a special defense budget that prioritizes precision ammunition, air-defense upgrades, command and control systems, equipment for the reserve forces and anti-drone technology, a third source familiar with the matter said.
During his 2017-2021 term, Trump established regular arms sales to Taiwan, including multibillion-dollar deals for F-16 fighter jets. The Biden administration continued these sales, though often with smaller price tags.
Taiwanese officials see encouraging signs from Trump’s administration even as tariff threats weigh on that optimism.
Taiwan does not believe Trump is looking to make a “grand bargain” with Chinese President Xi Jinping to sell out Taiwan’s interests, one of the sources said. Trump is more concerned with putting tariffs on semiconductors, the source said.
In another sign of U.S. commitment to Taiwan, the top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Raymond Greene, will retain his post, three sources told Reuters, even as other U.S. diplomatic postings undergo major reshuffles.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Greene remains director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the unofficial U.S. Embassy in Taipei.
…
Bangkok — Efforts to shut down online scam centers in Myanmar appeared to gain momentum Monday as a top Chinese security official visited both sides of the Thai-Myanmar border ahead of expected large-scale repatriations of workers in the illicit industry.
The visit by Liu Zhongyi, China’s vice minister of public security and commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, was part of a stepped-up effort by the three countries to address the online scam problem, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters.
Areas of Myanmar bordering Thailand have been serving as havens for criminal syndicates employing an estimated hundreds of thousands of people from Southeast Asia and elsewhere who help carry out online scams including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.
Such scams have cost victims around the world tens of billions of dollars, while the people recruited to carry them out have often been tricked into taking the jobs under false pretenses and find themselves trapped in virtual slavery.
Last week, some 260 people from 20 nations, including many from Africa, crossed from Myanmar into Thailand after they were reportedly rescued from scam centers.
Thailand and China coordinate crackdown on scam centers
On a visit to China in early February, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra vowed along with China’s leader Xi Jinping to crack down on the scam networks. Just ahead of her visit, Thailand cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar along the border, citing national security and severe damage that Thailand has suffered from scam operations.
The repatriations of foreign workers from Myanmar have been organized by the Border Guard Force in Myawaddy, a militia of the Karen ethnic minority that exercises control over the area. However, critics have accused it of being involved in the criminal activities, at least to the extent of providing protection to the scam centers.
The group’s leader, Saw Chit Thu, denied in a news conference Monday that his group was involved in scam activities, but acknowledged business links to some properties hosting the centers, which he said initially operated simply as resorts.
Thai media reported last week that Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation was considering seeking arrest warrants for Chit Thu and others for alleged human trafficking.
Thousands of workers employed by scam networks
Thai officials have said as many as 7,000-10,000 more people may be repatriated, but Phumtham cautioned that Thailand would only receive those that are ready to be taken back right away by their home countries.
The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that an initial batch of about 600 Chinese nationals from scam centers are expected to be flown back to China on chartered flights when Liu concludes his visit.
Liu visited the border areas in Thailand’s Tak province Monday and appeared in Myawaddy in Myanmar, apparently at a location where hundreds of people believed to have been rounded up from several scam centers are being held awaiting repatriation.
The video of Liu’s visit showed hundreds of people there sitting on the ground with their belongings in a large open-walled hall.
“China is actively conducting bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Thailand, Myanmar, and other countries, taking comprehensive measures to address both the symptoms and root causes, and working together to block criminals from committing crimes in relevant countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in Beijing.
“This is part of our joint efforts to eradicate the scourge of online gambling and telecom fraud, and to maintain the safety of people’s lives and property and the order of exchanges and cooperation among regional countries.”
Stories of Chinese trapped in Myanmar hurt Thailand’s reputation
Dramatic stories of Chinese people being lured to work in Thailand only to be trafficked into a scam compound in Myanmar spread widely on social media in China, causing alarm and denting Thailand’s reputation as a safe destination for Chinese visitors.
Among those trapped was Chinese actor Wang Xing, who arrived in Thailand on a promise of getting a job and was abducted to Myanmar. He was quickly rescued after the incident circulated on social media.
An earlier crackdown on scam centers in Myanmar was initiated in late 2023, after China expressed embarrassment and concern over illegal casinos and scam operations along its border in Myanmar’s northern Shan state.
Ethnic guerrilla groups with close ties to Beijing shut down many operations, and an estimated 45,000 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement were repatriated.
…
Taipei, Taiwan — China has launched a new round of diplomatic outreach to European countries amid rising tension between the United States and its European allies.
While top U.S. officials and European leaders clashed over issues such as values, democracy and Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi held bilateral meetings with several top European officials, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“There is no fundamental conflict of interest or geopolitical conflicts between China and the EU,” Wang said during his meeting with Kallas on Saturday, adding that Beijing “supports all endeavors conducive to peace and backs Europe in playing a significant role” in the peace negotiation process regarding the war in Ukraine.
The EU response was somewhat more reserved, with Kallas saying the EU was ready to “continue with dialogue and cooperate in selected areas, such as trade, economic affairs, and climate change.” He urged Beijing to halt exports of dual-use goods to Russia, which she said fuels Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
Wang’s remarks were in stark contrast to U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s criticism of European countries. Instead of highlighting the threats posed by Russia and China, Vance accused European government of censoring right-wing parties and failing to control migration.
“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America,” he said in a defiant speech that stunned European officials in Munich.
Several European leaders quickly rejected Vance’s remarks, with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius saying the U.S. vice president’s characterization of European policies was “unacceptable.”
The rare open clash between the U.S. and European countries came as top U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Saudi Arabia on Sunday for talks about the Ukraine-Russia war with Russian diplomats.
To the surprise of many European leaders, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said in Munich that European countries wouldn’t be part of any peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which would be mediated by the U.S.
Analysts say China’s effort to strengthen engagement with Europe is part of Beijing’s plan to take advantage of divisions between Washington and its European allies.
“China’s posture is about exploiting the perceived mistakes of any U.S. administration,” said Mathieu Duchatel, director of international studies at the French policy group Institut Montaigne.
He told VOA by phone that the current tension between the U.S. and European countries has created an opportunity for Beijing to “weaken the transatlantic alliance on China policy.”
Given that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on European countries, other experts say the growing tension in transatlantic relations could force the EU to moderate its policies towards China.
“Since Europe can’t afford to wage two trade wars at the same time, it will be difficult for the EU and EU member states to maintain critical policies toward China,” Matej Simalcik, executive director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, told VOA in an interview in Taipei.
In recent weeks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has pushed the EU to adopt more assertive policies against China, has repeatedly said the bloc is open to improving relations with China.
Europe “must engage constructively with China – to find solutions in our mutual interest,” she said during a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
US-European ties expected to hold
While European countries may consider adjusting their China policies, some European analysts say it’s unlikely for these attempts to turn into a fundamental shift of European policies towards China and the U.S.
“The U.S. and Europe are each other’s most important trading partners, so I don’t think there will be a [complete] transatlantic break,” said Sari Arho Havren, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
European countries “are testing the grounds and seeing what can be done, but at the same time, European officials have said whatever happens with China, it must be fair,” she told VOA by phone, adding that these factors will prevent the EU from “walking back” their earlier positions on China entirely.
Additionally, Duchatel at Institut Montaigne said Beijing’s decision to appoint former Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye, a prominent “wolf warrior diplomat,” as its special representative for European affairs means China is unlikely to make major concessions in its relations with the EU.
“Lu’s appointment represents inflexibility on everything that matters,” he told VOA, adding that some European diplomats said the new Chinese special envoy would “turn any diplomatic meeting into some sort of ideological confrontation that leads to no common position” between Beijing and European countries.
While China and the EU’s fundamental differences over issues such as Beijing’s partnership with Russia and the trade imbalances remain unresolved, some Chinese academics say the growing tension between the U.S. and European countries still offers an opportunity for Beijing and Europe to “increase mutual trust.”
“The growing tension in transatlantic relations has created a new environment for China to moderate relations with the EU, but it doesn’t mean European countries will reduce their criticism over Beijing’s partnership with Russia or China’s human rights record,” Shen Ding-li, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, told VOA by phone.
…
BEIJING/TAIPEI — China on Monday urged the United States to “correct its mistakes” after the U.S. State Department removed previous wording on its website about not supporting Taiwan independence, which it said was part of a routine update.
The fact sheet on Taiwan, updated last week, retains Washington’s opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.
But as well as dropping the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence,” the page added a reference to Taiwan’s cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the U.S. will support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations “where applicable.”
Beijing regularly denounces any international recognition of Taiwan or contact between Taiwanese and foreign officials, viewing it as encouraging Taiwan’s separate status from China.
The update to the website came roughly three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the White House.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the revisions for Taiwan on the U.S. State Department’s website were a big step backwards and “sends a seriously wrong message to Taiwan independence separatist forces.”
“This is yet another example of the United States’ stubborn adherence to the erroneous policy of ‘using Taiwan to suppress China’. We urge the United States side to immediately rectify its mistakes,” Guo said.
The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its strongest international backer, bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
“As is routine, the fact sheet was updated to inform the general public about our unofficial relationship with Taiwan,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email sent late Sunday Taiwan time responding to questions on the updated website wording.
“The United States remains committed to its one China policy,” the spokesperson said, referring to Washington officially taking no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and only acknowledging China’s position on the subject.
“The United States is committed to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the spokesperson said.
“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We support cross-Strait dialog, and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait.”
On Sunday, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung expressed his appreciation for what he called the “support and positive stance on U.S.-Taiwan relations.”
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the island’s people can decide their future.
Taiwan says it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, who set up the People’s Republic of China.
…
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid his respects at a family mausoleum to mark the birthday of his late father and former leader Kim Jong Il, state media KCNA said on Monday.
Kim Jong Il’s birthday, which falls on Feb. 16, is widely celebrated as a major holiday in North Korea, called the Day of the Shining Star.
But it was the first time in four years that the young Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of Sun in the capital Pyongyang, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, for the anniversary.
Accompanied by Kim Yo Jong, his sister and a senior ruling Workers’ Party official, among other aides, Kim Jong Un paid homage “in the humblest reverence,” KCNA said.
“He expressed his solemn will to devote himself to the sacred struggle for the eternal prosperity of the country, the security of the people and the promotion of their well-being,” it said.
The Kim dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War II and has sought to strengthen their grip on power by building cults of personality around them, though Kim Jong Un has shown signs of increasingly trying to stand more on his own feet without relying on his predecessors.
In another dispatch, KCNA said Kim attended a groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday for the final phase of his pet project to build 50,000 new homes in Pyongyang.
The ambitious initiative was launched in 2021 as part of Kim’s five-year plan to boost the economy and designed to distribute at least 10,000 new apartments in Pyongyang each year, though some analysts have questioned its feasibility amid international sanctions and economic woes.
During the ceremony, Kim lauded construction workers and officials for achieving nearly 400% progress last year compared to 2020 and pledged another plan to continue expanding the city.
The project would “usher in a new era of prosperity of Pyongyang in which the ideal streets of the people to be proud of in the world are built every year,” KCNA said.
…
MUNICH — The United States, Japan and South Korea renewed their “resolute” pledge to seek the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea, according to a joint statement from the three allies released Saturday.
The statement came after new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held his first meetings with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japan’s top diplomat Takeshi Iwaya on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
“The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs),” it said.
“They expressed their serious concerns over and the need to address together the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, malicious cyber activities including cryptocurrency thefts, and increasing military cooperation with Russia,” it added.
The three sent a “strong warning” that they “will not tolerate any provocations or threats to their homelands,” and vowed to maintain and strengthen international sanctions against Pyongyang.
They also said they were committed to “the immediate resolution of the issues of abductees, detainees, and unrepatriated prisoners of war as well as the issue of separated families.”
Largely cut off from the world diplomatically and economically, and under a bevy of sanctions, North Korea with its ongoing nuclear weapons program has been a major thorn in the side of the United States for years.
President Donald Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim Jong Un during his first term in office, has said he will reach out again to the North Korean leader, calling Kim a “smart guy.”
Despite Trump’s diplomatic overtures, North Korea said in January that its nuclear program would continue “indefinitely.”
Pyongyang also said earlier this month it would not tolerate any “provocation” by the United States after Rubio called it a “rogue state” in a radio interview.
It has also slammed a visit by a U.S. nuclear submarine to a naval base in South Korea this month as a “hostile military act.”
A summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi collapsed in 2019 over talks on sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.
…
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — China and the Cook Islands on Friday signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, but the lack of transparency around the details has alarmed New Zealand, the South Pacific state’s closest democratic ally.
While details of the agreement remain unclear, public statements from Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and the islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority signaled that the Cook Islands and China would look to deepen cooperation in areas such as deep-sea mining, infrastructure enhancement, climate resilience, and economic cooperation.
The signing of the agreement is part of Brown’s seven-day diplomatic tour to China, during which he visited several Chinese research institutions and met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in the northern city of Harbin.
Li said Beijing is willing to “deepen political mutual trust and expand practical cooperation with the Cook Islands,” while Brown said his country will “strengthen multilateral coordination on climate change and in other areas, and push for the sustained, in-depth development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Analysts say the agreement is Beijing’s latest effort to increase its influence in the Pacific region amid growing tension between some Pacific countries, including the Cook Islands and Kiribati, and such democratic allies as New Zealand and Australia.
“China benefits from friction between longstanding partnerships in the Pacific as it seeks to position itself as an alternative partner,” said Anna Powles, an associate professor in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand.
New Zealand has expressed serious concerns about the deal between the Cook Islands and China, criticizing the South Pacific country for lack of transparency and consultation with Wellington over the details.
The Cook Islands has a free association agreement with New Zealand, which allows it to manage its foreign affairs while requiring it to consult Wellington on issues related to foreign policy.
“Under our constitutional arrangements, we expect, you know, matters of defense and security to be transparently discussed between partners. That’s all we’re asking for here,” New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told a news conference Monday.
Despite New Zealand’s concerns, Brown has characterized conversations around the deal as “guided by what is best for the Cook Islands” and said “there is no need” for Wellington to get involved in the negotiation of the agreement with China.
Meanwhile, China said its relationship with the Cook Islands “does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party.”
In addition to the lack of transparency and consultation, some experts say the China-Cook Islands agreement could also contain “dual civil-military use technology and infrastructure.”
“This directly affects New Zealand and Cook Islands’ security and defense,” Anne-Marie Brady, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, told VOA in by email.
Tensions between Kiribati and democratic allies
Tension is also rising between New Zealand and Kiribati, another South Pacific state. After failing to secure a meeting with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau in January, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Wellington would review development funding to Kiribati following the diplomatic snub.
“The lack of political-level contact makes it very difficult for us to agree on joint priorities for our development program and to ensure that it is well targeted and delivers good value for money,” Peters’ office said in a statement issued late last month.
In addition to Peters, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles did not secure a meeting with Maamau during a trip to Kiribati last month, but he stuck with the original plan by delivering a patrol boat to the Pacific Island country.
Powles in New Zealand said Maamau’s decision not to meet with Peters and Marles may reflect a shift in Kiribati’s diplomatic focus.
“Kiribati’s primary bilateral relationships appear to be Fiji, Nauru, and China, and the lack of engagement with partners such as New Zealand reflects this,” she told VOA by email.
Other experts say that while Kiribati and the Cook Islands are not necessarily looking to abandon their partnership with New Zealand, China will be looking to “capitalize” on recent events.
“China would seek to undermine those relationships and say ‘the West is paternalistic and colonialist and doesn’t genuinely have your interests at heart as China does,’” Blake Johnson, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told VOA by phone.
Beijing’s attempts to increase diplomatic efforts in the Pacific also come as the United States freezes funding for foreign aid and New Zealand threatens to review development funding for Kiribati.
Since most Pacific Island countries rely heavily on foreign aid, Johnson said a potential lack of funding from democratic allies could force countries in the Pacific region to seek support from China. “China can be responsive when it wants to fill those [funding] gaps,” he said.
To counter China’s attempt to increase diplomatic presence in the Pacific region, Parker Novak, a nonresident fellow at the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said democratic countries, including Australia and the United States, should continue to provide support to Pacific Island countries.
Australia, the U.S., and other like-minded countries should continue “to foster positive, consultative relationships that help Pacific Island countries meet their development needs and provide a credible alternative to PRC inducements,” he told VOA by email.
…