WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday issued hundreds of fresh sanctions targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine in action that took aim at Moscow’s circumvention of Western measures, including through China. 

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on nearly 200 targets, while the State Department designated more than 80. 

The U.S. imposed sanctions on 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong, following repeated warnings from Washington about China’s support for Russia’s military, including during recent trips by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the country. 

China’s support for Russia is one of the many issues threatening to sour the recent improvement in relations between the world’s biggest economies. 

“Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia’s war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets,” Yellen said in a statement. 

The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on thousands of targets since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine. The war has seen tens of thousands killed and cities destroyed. 

Washington has since sought to crack down on evasion of the Western measures, including by issuing sanctions on firms in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. 

Technology and equipment

The Treasury’s action on Wednesday sanctioned nearly 60 targets located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Slovakia it accused of enabling Russia to “acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad.” 

The move included measures against a China-based company the Treasury said exported items to produce drones — such as propellers, engines and sensors — to a company in Russia. Other China and Hong Kong-based technology suppliers were also targeted. 

The State Department also imposed sanctions on four China-based companies it accused of supporting Russia’s defense industrial base, including by shipping critical items to entities under U.S. sanctions in Russia, as well as companies in Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia that it accused of shipping high priority items to Russia. 

The Treasury also targeted Russia’s acquisition of explosive precursors needed by Russia to keep producing gunpowder, rocket propellants and other explosives, including through sanctions on two China-based suppliers sending the substances to Russia. 

The U.S. on Wednesday also accused Russia of violating a global ban on chemical weapons by repeatedly deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and using riot control agents “as a method of warfare” in Ukraine. 

The State Department also expanded its targeting of Russia’s future ability to ship liquefied natural gas, or LNG, one of the country’s top exports.  

It designated two vessel operators involved in transporting technology, including gravity-based structure equipment, or concrete legs that support offshore platforms, for Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project. 

Previous U.S. sanctions on Arctic LNG 2 last month forced Novatek, Russia’s largest LNG producer, to suspend production at the project, which suffered a shortage of tankers to ship the fuel.  

Also targeted were subsidiaries of Russia’s state nuclear power company, Rosatom, as well as 12 entities within the Sibanthracite group of companies, one of Russia’s largest producers of metallurgical coal, the State Department said. 

Washington also imposed sanctions on Russian air carrier Pobeda, a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot.  

The U.S. Commerce Department has previously added more than 200 Boeing and Airbus airplanes operated by Russian airlines to an export control list as part of the Biden administration’s sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Sanctions over Navanly

The State Department also targeted three people in connection with the death of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, the best-known domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin. He died in February in a Russian Arctic prison.  

Russian authorities say he died of natural causes. His followers believe he was killed by the authorities, which the Kremlin denies. 

Wednesday’s action targeted the director of the correctional colony in Russia where Navalny was held for most of his imprisonment, as well as the head of the solitary confinement detachment and the head of the medical unit at the colony where he was imprisoned before his death. 

The officials oversaw the cells where Navalny was kept in solitary confinement, the walking yard where he allegedly collapsed and died and Navalny’s health, including in the immediate aftermath of his collapse, the State Department said. 
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BEIJING — The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China said he was allowed back into his lab after he spent days locked outside, sitting in protest.

Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post on Wednesday, just past midnight, that the medical center that hosts his lab had “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return and continue their research for the time being.

“Now, team members can enter and leave the laboratory freely,” Zhang wrote in a post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. He added that he is negotiating a plan to relocate the lab in a way that doesn’t disrupt his team’s work with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, which hosts Zhang’s lab.

Zhang and his team were suddenly told they had to leave their lab for renovations on Thursday, setting off the dispute, he said in an earlier post that was later deleted. On Sunday, Zhang began a sit-in protest outside his lab after he found he was locked out, a sign of continuing pressure on Chinese scientists conducting research on the coronavirus.

Zhang sat outside on flattened cardboard in drizzling rain, and members of his team unfurled a banner that read “Resume normal scientific research work,” pictures posted online show. News of the protest spread widely on Chinese social media, putting pressure on local authorities.

In an online statement Monday, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center said that Zhang’s lab was closed for “safety reasons” while being renovated. It added that it had provided Zhang’s team an alternative laboratory space.

But Zhang responded the same day his team wasn’t offered an alternative until after they were notified of their eviction, and the lab offered didn’t meet safety standards for conducting their research, leaving his team in limbo.

Zhang’s dispute with his host institution was the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since the virologist published the sequence in January 2020 without state approval.

Beijing has sought to control information related to the virus since it first emerged. An Associated Press investigation found that the government froze domestic and international efforts to trace it from the first weeks of the outbreak. These days, labs are closed, collaborations shattered, foreign scientists forced out and some Chinese researchers barred from leaving the country.

Zhang’s ordeal started when he and his team decoded the virus on Jan. 5, 2020, and wrote an internal notice warning Chinese authorities of its potential to spread — but did not make the sequence public. The next day, Zhang’s lab was ordered to close temporarily by China’s top health official, and Zhang came under pressure from authorities.

Foreign scientists soon learned that Zhang and other Chinese scientists had deciphered the virus and called on China to release the sequence. Zhang published it on Jan. 11, 2020, despite a lack of permission from Chinese health officials.

Sequencing a virus is key to the development of test kits, disease control measures and vaccinations. The virus eventually spread to every corner of the world, triggering a pandemic that disrupted lives and commerce, prompted widespread lockdowns and killed millions of people.

Zhang was awarded prizes overseas in recognition for his work. But health officials removed him from a post at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and barred him from collaborating with some of his former partners, hindering his research.

Still, Zhang retains support from some in the government. Though some of Zhang’s online posts were deleted, his sit-in protest was reported widely in China’s state-controlled media, indicating divisions within the Chinese government on how to deal with Zhang and his team.

“Thank you to my online followers and people from all walks of life for your concern and strong support over the past few days!” Zhang wrote in his post Wednesday.
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SYDNEY — The leaders of Australia’s state, territory and federal governments met Wednesday to combat gender-based abuse.  

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described violence against women in Australia as an “epidemic,” and campaigners say gender-based violence in Australia must be declared a national emergency.  

The Canberra government has said statistically, a woman has been killed in Australia every four days this year. 

Officials at the Wendesday’s meeting in Canberra said they want to find immediate, effective and practical ways to address family violence and the abuse of women.

Various measures have been agreed, including a five-year $650 million plan to help vulnerable women who have been unable to leave a violent relationship because of a lack of money.

The federal government says it will look at ways to reduce people’s exposure to “violent pornography” and measures to combat male extremist views as well as violent and misogynistic content.  

Authorities are proposing serious penalties for sharing sexually explicit material using technology like artificial intelligence. Legislation will also be introduced in early August to outlaw the release of private information online with an intent to cause harm – an abusive practice also known as doxxing.

Albanese told reporters in Canberra Wednesday that all jurisdictions were working together.

“This is indeed a national crisis, and it is a national challenge, and we are facing this with a spirit of national unity,” he said. “Today is about who we are as a nation and as a society. We recognize that governments need to act but we also recognize that this is an issue for the whole of society.”

Thousands of people attended rallies in major towns and cities across Australia over the weekend. The protests followed a mass stabbing earlier this month in Sydney in which six people, including five women, were murdered at a shopping center.

Demonstrators demanded not only tougher laws to protect women, but also a cultural change in men’s treatment of women and attitudes toward them.

Rosalind Dixon, a law professor at the University of New South Wales, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that remanding suspected abusers in custody pending court hearings and electronic monitoring for those who are released would be positive steps.

“There are global models and precedents; France, Spain, (the) United States – they’ve all experimented in this area,” she said. “There’s a lot to learn. I think we should be looking first and foremost at how we can limit bail and add tracking in addition fairness and civil rights protections around those measures as a lesson from overseas.”

Concern over gender violence in Australia isn’t new.  

In 2021, there were nationwide rallies against sexual misconduct and harassment in the federal Parliament and in Australian society more broadly.
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Taipei, Taiwan — China says it has begun revising its National Defense Education Law, a move analysts say aims to expand military training at universities, high schools and even middle schools. The proposed changes also seek to improve defense education starting with students as young as primary school.

According to state media reports, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress – the country’s rubber stamp legislature – began its first reading of the revisions last week. The changes are also open for public comment until late May, though it is unlikely that a broader debate will be allowed.

While the previous version of the law was a looser guide, the proposed changes say high school students and those at institutions of higher learning should receive basic military training during school. Junior high school students are also allowed to receive military training, according to the revisions.

In addition, the responsibility for military training is put more squarely on central and party authorities, the Ministry of Education and the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission – China’s top national defense body. The revisions also call on local military bases and central authorities to strengthen the direction, oversight and organization of military training for students.

State media have offered some details on the revisions, noting that the changes are for “national defense awareness” for all of society and to help the world’s second-biggest economy adapt to “many new domestic and international changes.” Reports, however, do not elaborate on what that might mean.

Analysts who spoke with VOA’s Mandarin Service see a connection between the proposed changes and the impact China’s economic downturn and global geopolitical tensions are having on the ruling Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.

Timothy Heath, a senior fellow for international defense at the RAND Corp., says the revisions are part of a more systematic approach to national defense education that aims to strengthen Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s authority.

“The attempt to legislate loyalty betrays the reality of declining popular support for the CCP amid a softening economy, worsening real estate market, and persistent corruption and malfeasance,” Heath said in an emailed response. “The law also reflects the CCP’s anxiety over an increasingly unsettled international order in which conflicts appear to be rising.”

Willy Lam, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said that since Xi took over in 2012, he has focused on patriotism and national defense awareness. Last year, China’s Defense Ministry also confirmed an ongoing push to embed militias, known as the “People’s Armed Forces” in Chinese companies and state-owned enterprises.

“This is all aimed at strengthening the public’s preparation for military struggle,” Lam said.

Although it is not clear when the revisions will be passed, the changes follow a string of other national security moves by Beijing over the past year. Those include last year’s passage of revisions to an anti-espionage law, a broad and ongoing public campaign to counter foreign spies and changes to the country’s Patriotic Education Law, which went into effect in January.

Over the past year, U.S. officials have repeatedly noted China’s aim to have the capability to invade Taiwan by 2027. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as part of its territory. Beijing says unification is the only option for the island of 23 million, and that that must happen, by force, if necessary.

Analysts also say that while the extra emphasis on national defense awareness could feed into already rising nationalist sentiments and feed hostility or prejudice against the outside world, it could also encourage more young Chinese to join the military.

“The law may aim in part to bolster recruitment for the PLA [People’s Liberation Army], which has consistently failed to attract adequate numbers of educated young people, despite high unemployment rates for urban youth,” Heath said.

China’s National Defense Education Law was first passed in 2001 and last modified in 2018.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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MAE SOT, THAILAND — The battle between Myanmar’s military and rebel groups for control of the southeastern border town of Myawaddy has seen thousands of refugees cross into neighboring Thailand in April.

But while many return to Myanmar when there is a lull in the fighting, others are seeking a more permanent escape from the conflict.

Myanmar is experiencing a critical time during its over three-year-long post-coup conflict with rebel groups gaining significant territory and launching unprecedented attacks on the Myanmar regime. 

Armed ethnic groups have captured bases in northern Shan state and Rakhine state since October.

The most significant success came via the Karen National Union, or KNU, who earlier in April announced it had forced the surrender of hundreds of Myanmar’s military soldiers who had been in control of Myawaddy.

The junta have since regained a foothold by occupying a base in Myawaddy, but are still fighting to retain full control from the KNU and its allies.

Local media report that junta reinforcements were advancing on Myawaddy as of Monday evening.

The border town connects billions of dollars’ worth of trade passing between Myanmar and Thailand each year.

Saw Thoo Kwei is a small business owner in Myawaddy. He said the situation in the town has deteriorated since the recent conflict. 

“During a particularly intense period of conflict, I found myself having to seek refuge near the border in Myanmar for one night,” he told VOA. “As the situation gradually cooled down, I returned home. [But] I can’t stay here long because of the conflict,” he added.  

The 30-year-old owns a grocery store in Myawaddy, but the weeks of fighting between government troops and rebels have affected everyday life in the town.

“Currently, there is no policing in Myawaddy, not even traffic police. Most government offices are closed. There is no fighting in the city, but people are living in fear. Many civilians are worried about heavy artillery like mortar shells,” he said.

His business is also suffering from the uncertainty, which has prompted Saw Thoo Kwei to make plans to leave Myanmar.

“Small businesses don’t have many stocks to sell due to road blockages. The fighting in Myawaddy has really hit our business hard. We’re seeing fewer customers, which means sales are down, and sometimes we have to shut the shop.

“With the power cuts and prices shooting up, it’s getting tough. We have to worry about thieves targeting our shop when things get tense, showing how unsafe Myawaddy can be. My only viable option is to relocate to Thailand,” he said.

Since April, the fighting has continued despite the KNU announcing its forces had retreated from one base in the town. The tussle for control of Myawaddy led to at least 1,300 refugees crossing from Myanmar into Thailand, The Associated Press reported on April 20, citing Thai officials. 

But that number may be higher as volunteers aiding the refugees told Myanmar Now that 3,000 were returned to Myanmar when fighting in the border town had temporarily quietened.

Thailand shares a 2,400-km (1491-mi) -long land border with Myanmar. 

Thailand’s border town Mae Sot, which sits across the Moei river from Myawaddy, has long been accustomed to receiving thousands of people from Myanmar, with many fleeing the war.

In one undisclosed safehouse in Mae Sot, nearly a dozen Myanmar refugees have fled the conflict in recent weeks.

Kyaw Zin Oo, a physics teacher from the Ayeyarwady region, told VOA he needed to leave Myanmar to avoid being conscripted by the junta.

“I arrived here 17 days ago. I had two choices, to go with the [Myanmar military] or here. I chose to come to Thailand because I see more of a future here. I have friends who have joined the revolution. I thought about joining but I thought I can still support them from here by donations and sending food to them.”

Other refugees, who didn’t want to be identified, said they left Myanmar because the junta had targeted them and their family because of their participation in anti-military protests.

Myanmar’s military enacted a conscription law in February that makes 14 million men and women eligible to be drafted into the military and says it will conscript up to 60,000 new recruits a year. The Irrawaddy reports that the military has begun recruiting Rohingya people despite the ethnic minority group suffering appalling atrocities by Myanmar’s military in 2017.

The junta is looking to bolster its ranks so it can resist the momentum gained by rebel groups in recent months.

Chi Lin Ko, a farm worker from Yangon, sits in a bamboo-crafted hut in a highway lay-by in Mae Sot, pondering his next move. The 19-year-old farm worker left Myanmar over a month ago.

But the prospect of fighting for the military spooked him.

“I received a [military conscription] pamphlet at my home. My neighbors joined, but I came here because I didn’t want to join the military. I’ve heard there is a paid salary, but by enlisting in the military there’s no way I can leave after I’ve joined,” he said.

If Chit Lin Ko were to ever pick up arms, it wouldn’t be for the Tatmadaw. “If I didn’t have any family, I would go and fight with the revolutionary groups,” he said.

One of the reasons the teenager left Myanmar was to financially support his family.  Myanmar’s conflict has devastated the country’s economy, which is 10% lower than it was in 2019, according to a December report by the World Bank.

“I have a family and need to look after to them, so I need to make money,” Chit Lin Ko said.

The U.N. says at least 45,000 Myanmar refugees have entered Thailand since the military coup over three years ago.

Although Thailand’s government has recently pledged to welcome “100,000” Myanmar refugees, Thailand is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no specific domestic legal framework for the protection of urban refugees and asylum-seekers.

Since the military seized power in Myanmar, nearly 5,000 people have been killed and over 26,000 people arrested, according to rights groups. 
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Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu is expected to strengthen ties with China following the landslide win by his party in recent parliamentary elections. The polls, held under the shadow of rivalry between India and China for influence in the archipelago, are being seen as a setback for India’s bid to limit Beijing’s presence in the Indian Ocean region. Anjana Pasricha in New Delhi has a report.
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BEIJING — Tesla has cleared some key regulatory hurdles that have long hindered it from rolling out its self-driving software in China, paving the way for a favorable result from Elon Musk’s surprise visit to the U.S. automaker’s second-largest market.

Tesla CEO Musk arrived in the Chinese capital Sunday, where he was expected to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and permission to transfer driving data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The billionaire’s whirlwind visit, during which he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, came just over a week after he scrapped a planned trip to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations.”

On Monday, two separate sources told Reuters Tesla had reached an agreement with Baidu to use the Chinese tech giant’s mapping license for data collection on China’s public roads, which they described as a key step for FSD to be introduced in the country.

And a top Chinese auto association said on Sunday Tesla’s Model 3 and Y cars were among models that it had tested and found to be compliant with China’s data security requirements.

Data security and compliance have been key reasons why the U.S. electric vehicle maker, which rolled out the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software four years ago, has yet to make FSD available in China, its second-largest market

globally, despite customer demand.

Chinese regulators had since 2021 required Tesla to store all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, leaving the company unable to transfer any back to the United States.

Musk is looking to obtain approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for its autonomous driving technologies, the person said.

Musk’s visit to China, first reported by Reuters, was not flagged publicly and the person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

The plane that Musk arrived on departed from Beijing Capital Airport at 0517 GMT, according to Chinese flight tracking app Flight Manager and was headed to Anchorage, Alaska.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk’s departure.

Equity analysts at Wedbush called the surprise visit “a major moment for Tesla.”

Rival Chinese automakers and suppliers such as XPeng and Huawei Technologies have been seeking to gain an advantage over Tesla by rolling out similar software.

Retired newspaper commentator Hu Xijin said on his Weibo account that Tesla was the only foreign-funded automaker to meet China’s data compliance requirements and said that this would pave the way for Tesla cars to enter premises owned by government agencies and state-owned firms across China.

“This is not only a breakthrough in China, but also a significant demonstration for the entire world in solving data security issues,” he said.

Premier Li on Sunday praised Tesla’s development in China as a successful example of U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation.

China data

Tesla cars have for years been banned from entering Chinese military complexes over security concerns relating to cameras installed on its vehicles. Its cars have also been turned away from sites holding important political events, such as an annual summer leadership conclave the ruling Communist Party held in 2022.

He Xiaopeng, the CEO of XPeng whose XNGP Advanced Driver Assistance System is similar to FSD, said on his Weibo account he welcomed the entry of the Tesla technology into China.

“Only with the entry of more good products and technologies can the experience of the entire market and customers be improved, and it will allow the market’s development to accelerate in a healthy manner,” he said.

“Let a hundred flowers bloom,” he said, echoing a famous line from Chairman Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China.

The improved prospect of FSD entering China comes as Tesla shares have lost almost a third of their value since the start of the year, as concerns have grown about the EV maker’s growth trajectory. Last week, Tesla reported its first decline in quarterly revenue since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production and deliveries.

Musk said last week that Tesla would introduce new, cheaper models using its current EV platforms and production lines and would offer a new “robotaxi” with self-driving technology. He said on X this month that he would unveil the robotaxi on Aug. 8.

China’s complicated traffic conditions with more pedestrians and cyclists than in many other markets provide more scenarios that are key for training autonomous driving algorithms at a faster pace, according to industry experts.

“If Musk is able to obtain approval from Beijing to transfer data collected in China abroad this would be a ‘game changer’ around the acceleration of training its algorithms for its autonomous technology globally,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note.

Musk said this month that Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China “very soon,” in response to a query on X.

Besides meeting Li on the short trip to Beijing, Musk met the organizer of the ongoing Beijing auto show. The chairman of Chinese battery giant CATL Robin Zeng, a key Tesla battery supplier, also visited Musk’s hotel on Monday, according to a Reuters witness. Reuters could not immediately confirm with CATL if Zeng met with Musk.

Musk had been set on his cancelled India trip to announce $2 billion to $3 billion in new investments, including in a car plant, after India offered lower import taxes on EVs in return under a new policy.
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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday described domestic violence as a “national crisis” after thousands rallied around the country against violence toward women.

Thousands protested in cities around Australia on Sunday to draw attention to the deaths of 27 women so far this year allegedly caused by acts of gender-based violence in a population of 27 million.

Albanese said on Monday the rallies were a call to action for all levels of Australian government to do more to prevent gender-based violence.

“Quite clearly, we need to do more. It’s not enough to just have empathy,” Albanese told Nine Network television.

“The fact that … a woman dies every four days on average at the hand of a partner is just a national crisis,” he added.

There were 17 rallies held across Australia over the weekend, with an estimated 15,000 people demonstrating in the city of Melbourne.

Albanese said he will host a meeting of Australian state and territory leaders on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response.

Albanese, his Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth received a hostile response when they attended a rally in the capital Canberra on Sunday.

Protesters yelled at the government leaders, “we want action” and “do your job.”

Albanese said there needed to be more focus on perpetrators and prevention of violence. “We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes — we need to change the legal system,” Albanese told the rally.
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Beijing — Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk met in Beijing on Sunday with China’s number two official, Premier Li Qiang, who promised the country would “always” be open to foreign firms.

Musk — one of the world’s richest people — arrived in China earlier the same day on his second trip in less than a year to the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that during their meeting, Li had promised the country would do more to help foreign firms.

“China’s very large-scale market will always be open to foreign-funded firms,” Li was quoted as saying.

“China will stick to its word and will continue working hard to expand market access and strengthen service guarantees.”

Beijing would also provide foreign companies with “a better business environment” so “that firms from all over the world can have peace of mind while investing in China,” Li added.

Musk later said on X, which he also owns, that he was honored to meet with Li, adding the pair “have known each other now for many years.”

Musk has extensive business interests in China and his most recent visit was in May and June of last year. Tesla has not shared his itinerary for the current trip.

CCTV quoted him as praising the “hardworking and intelligent Chinese team” at his Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai during his meeting with Li.

“Tesla is willing to take the next step in deepening cooperation with China to achieve more win-win results,” Musk reportedly added.

Earlier in the day, the billionaire met with the head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Ren Hongbin, “to discuss next steps in cooperation and other topics,” CCTV said.

The mercurial magnate is a controversial figure in the West, but in China, Tesla’s electric vehicles have become a staple of middle-class urban life.

The future

Having once derided Chinese EVs, Musk described their manufacturers this year as being “the most competitive car companies in the world.”

“It’s good to see electric vehicles making progress in China,” he was quoted as saying by a state-backed media outlet Sunday.

“All cars will be electric in the future.”

Musk’s own company has run into trouble in the world’s second-largest economy: in January, Tesla recalled more than 1.6 million electric vehicles in China to fix their steering software.

His arrival in China coincides with a cut-throat price war between firms desperate to get ahead in the fiercely competitive EV market.

China’s local car giant BYD — “Build Your Dreams” — beat out Tesla in last year’s fourth quarter to become the world’s top seller of EVs.

Tesla reclaimed that title in the first quarter of this year, but BYD remains firmly on top in its home market.

An analysis by Wedbush Securities called the visit “a watershed moment for Musk as well as Beijing,” given the level of domestic competition and recent “softer demand” for Tesla.

The trip also comes as Beijing hosts a massive auto show, which held press events from Thursday and opened to the public over the weekend.

Tesla’s last hope

Comments under posts about Musk’s arrival on the social media site Weibo were full of speculation that the celebrity tycoon would attend Auto China while in Beijing.

One user suggested Musk’s visit was motivated by a desire to test drive an SU7, the first car model released earlier this year by Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi.

Xiaomi’s entrance into the competitive EV sector appears to be off to a positive start, with CEO Lei Jun saying this month that pre-orders had outpaced expectations by three to five times.

Other commenters responded to reports that Musk’s trip was intended to give him an opportunity to talk with Chinese officials about the possibility of bringing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology to the local market.

“FSD is Tesla’s last hope for saving its domestic sales,” one Weibo user said.

“While the long-term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous, a key missing piece in that puzzle is Tesla making FSD available in China which now appears on the doorstep,” the Wedbush analysis said.

Musk’s interests in China have long raised eyebrows in Washington, with President Joe Biden saying in November 2022 that his links to foreign countries were “worthy” of scrutiny.

The tycoon has also caused controversy by suggesting the self-ruled island of Taiwan should become part of China — a stance that was welcomed by Chinese officials but deeply angered Taipei.
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Armed men ambushed and kidnapped a senior judge in Pakistan’s restive northwest, a police official said Sunday.

Around 15 men on motorbikes intercepted Judge Shakirullah Marwat’s vehicle as he was travelling toward Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said police official Faheem Khan. The assailants set the car on fire before fleeing with him. The driver was not harmed, Khan said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday evening’s assault, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, who made the province their stronghold.

It’s unusual for militants in the northwest to target a judge of Marwat’s seniority, who normally travels with tight security. The militants have generally attacked security personnel or infrastructure.

Khan said a search operation had been launched for the judge and a counter-terrorism team had joined the investigation.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence, mostly blamed on the TTP, since the group unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the central government in November 2022.

Last weekend, gunmen opened fire at customs officials, killing two and wounding three others in Dera Ismail Khan.
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Manila, Philippines — The Philippines will suspend in-person classes in all public schools for two days due to extreme heat and a nationwide strike by jeepney drivers, the education department said Sunday.

Extreme heat has scorched Southeast Asia in recent weeks, prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person operations and authorities to issue health warnings.

Many schools in the Philippines have no air conditioning, leaving students to swelter in crowded, poorly ventilated classrooms.

“In view of the latest heat index forecast… and the announcement of a nationwide transport strike, all public schools nationwide shall implement asynchronous classes/distance learning on April 29 and 30, 2024,” the department said on Facebook.

The education department oversees more than 47,000 schools across the archipelago nation.

Some jeepney drivers also plan to hold a three-day nationwide strike starting Monday to protest the government’s plan to phase out the smoke-belching vehicles used by many Filipinos to commute to work and school.

The suspension of in-person classes comes after Manila recorded its highest ever temperature.

The temperature in the city hit a record high of 38.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday with the heat index reaching 45 degrees, data from the state weather forecaster showed.

The heat index measures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity.

The hot weather persisted on Sunday with many people flocking to air conditioned shopping malls and swimming pools for relief.

“This is the hottest I’ve ever experienced here,” said Nancy Bautista, 65, whose resort in Cavite province near Manila was fully booked due to the hot weather.

“Many of our guests are friends and families. They swim in the pool to fight the heat.”

The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest of the year, but this year’s conditions have been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

“All places in the country, not necessarily just Metro Manila, are expected to have hotter temperatures until the second week of May,” Glaiza Escullar of the state weather forecaster told AFP.

“There is a possibility that the areas will exceed those temperatures being measured today until the second week of May.”

Camiling municipality in Tarlac province, north of Manila, recorded a temperature of 40.3 degrees on Saturday — the country’s highest this year.

As the mercury rose, Gerise Reyes, 31, planned to take her 2-year-old daughter to a shopping mall near Manila.

“It’s hot here at home. This is the hottest I’ve ever experienced, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” she said.

“We need a free aircon to cut our electricity bill.”

Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and the United Nations weather and climate agency said Tuesday that Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.

The Philippines ranks among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
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