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By Matthew WALSH, James EDGAR BEIJING, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – Key Russian ally China on Monday congratulated President Vladimir Putin on his election victory. With 99 percent of polling stations having submitted results, Putin had secured 87.33 percent of all votes cast, official election data showed Monday, according to state news agency RIA. “China expresses its congratulations on this,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said when asked about the poll at a regular press […]
TOKYO, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – Hungry McDonald’s customers in parts of Asia had trouble ordering at stores, on phones and at electronic kiosks on Friday after a system outage. In Japan, it experienced “a system failure” and was “temporarily suspending operation at many outlets”, the US fast food giant wrote on X, formerly Twitter. China was also affected for several hours, with the outage a hot topic on social media platform Weibo. The company […]
From its birth in a Beijing apartment 12 years ago, ByteDance grew into one of the world’s biggest tech firms — best known in most countries as the creator of TikTok. But TikTok now faces a furious campaign in Washington: the House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday on a bill that could see the wildly popular video-sharing app banned in the United States if it does not sever itself from ByteDance. How big […]
BEIJING, March 14, 2024 (AFP) – China blasted Washington’s “bandit” mentality Thursday after the US House passed a bill that would ban TikTok unless it splits from its Chinese owner, and vowed to “take all necessary measures” to protect the interests of its companies overseas. The short-video app has soared in popularity worldwide but its ownership by Chinese technology giant ByteDance — and alleged subservience to Beijing’s ruling Communist Party — has fuelled concern in […]
BEIJING, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – The navies of China, Russia and Iran are staging joint drills in the Gulf of Oman this week, Beijing said Monday. The military activities — to be conducted from Monday through Friday — are aimed at “jointly maintaining regional maritime security”, according to a statement published on social media platform WeChat by China’s defence ministry. “China will send… guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, guided-missile frigate Linyi and comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu […]
US lawmakers moved Wednesday to pressure TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban, in a broader push to keep social media apps out of foreign adversaries’ control. A bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers have introduced a bill barring platforms controlled by ByteDance from US app store availability or web hosting services — unless they are no longer linked to China. The legislation would also allow the president […]
By Laura CHUNG Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Thursday against attempts by other countries to block China’s military and economic rise in the Asia-Pacific region. As the United States and China jostle for regional influence, Southeast Asian countries should defend the “sanctity” of international law and urge cooperation, he said. Beijing would see attempts to curb its military and economic expansion as a denial of its “legitimate place in history”, Anwar said in a […]
By Xinqi SU and Holmes CHAN HONG KONG, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – As Hong Kong fast-tracks a new national security law, the legislation and questions about its implementation have raised fears among the business community. The draft bill, introduced at the city’s legislature on Friday, includes major offences such as treason and insurrection, which could be punished with life imprisonment. The government has said it intends to pass the bill as soon as possible […]
BEIJING, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – China will adopt wide-ranging security laws in 2024 to “resolutely safeguard” its sovereignty, a top lawmaker vowed at a key legislative meeting Friday, as President Xi Jinping’s government seeks to eliminate perceived threats to its rule. The “Two Sessions” — parallel meetings of China’s rubber-stamp parliament and political consultative body — offer a rare glimpse into the strategy of the Communist Party-led government for the year ahead. Top legislator […]
HONG KONG, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Hong Kong on Friday unveiled a new national security law draft bill that includes life sentences for offences such as treason and insurrection. The homegrown bill is set to become the city’s second national security law following the one Beijing imposed in 2020 after quashing huge and sometimes violent democracy protests. The “Safeguarding National Security Bill”, formally introduced Friday morning, lists five new categories of offences — treason, […]
A US Army intelligence analyst was arrested on Thursday for allegedly providing national defense information to China. Sergeant Korbein Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, was taken into custody at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the Justice Department said in a statement. Schultz’ indictment did not identify the country he was allegedly supplying with sensitive military information, but press reports identified it as China. According to the indictment, Schultz, since […]
By Katell Abiven with Luna Lin BEIJING, March 7, 2024 (AFP) – China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out against the United States and praised his country’s partnership with Russia on Thursday, in a wide-ranging press conference where he called the war in Gaza a “disgrace for civilisation”. Wang hit out at what he called efforts by Washington “to suppress China”, telling reporters that “the desire to heap blame under any pretext has reached an […]
