🇺🇸🇨🇳 Alleged AI chip smuggling to China leads to US calls for chip tracking

The US Justice Department has charged four people in a scheme to illegally export Nvidia AI chips to China, prompting a key House Republican to call for urgent passage of a chip-tracking bill on Thursday.

"China recognizes the superiority of American AI innovation and will do whatever it must to catch up," said John Moolenaar, the chair of the US House Select Committee on China. "That's why the bipartisan Chip Security Act is urgently needed."

The legislation, which Moolenaar introduced in May and has 30 cosponsors, would require location verification for chips, make it mandatory for chipmakers to report and share information about potential diversion, and look at additional ways to stop U.S. chips from ending up in the wrong hands.

#USA #China

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🇵🇭🇨🇳 Philippine court convicts former mayor of human trafficking

A Philippine court on Thursday convicted a former mayor, who officials say is a Chinese national, of human trafficking charges for helping establish an illegal online gaming complex in a northern province where hundreds of Chinese and other foreign nationals were forced to conduct scams.

The Pasig city regional trial court in metropolitan Manila sentenced Alice Guo to life in prison with seven other Filipino and Chinese co-accused, and ordered them to pay a fine of $34,000 each and compensate several trafficking victims, who filed the complaints.

Philippine authorities allege that Guo is a Chinese national named Guo Huaping, who faked Filipino citizenship to run for mayor of the town of Bamban in northern Tarlac province, where she ran a sprawling illegal scam compound near the town hall.

#ThePhilippines #China

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🇯🇵🇨🇳 Japan criticizes China after 3-way culture talks with S. Korea nixed

Japan's top government spokesman criticized China after it decided to postpone a trilateral culture ministers' meeting also involving South Korea, as an escalating diplomatic feud over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan began to affect private sector interactions.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara described remarks by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on the decision as "withering bilateral people-to-people exchanges" and "conflicting" with the shared goal of Tokyo and Beijing to build constructive and stable ties.

Mao told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that Takaichi's "extremely erroneous remarks" have made it impossible to hold the meeting, slated for next Monday in Macao, and had "undermined the foundation and atmosphere" of three-way cooperation.

#Japan #China

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🇯🇵🇨🇳 Japan’s Sanae Takaichi rejects China demand to retract Taiwan remarks

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rebuffed demands from China to retract her recent comments about Taiwan, saying there was no change to Tokyo’s stance on how it would respond to a major regional security crisis.

Takaichi recently became the first sitting Japanese leader in decades to publicly link a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops, prompting a furious response and economic retaliation from Beijing.

Since then, she has limited herself to the more vague position repeated by recent Japanese prime ministers, and in remarks to reporters on Nov 21 before departing for a G-20 meeting in South Africa she reiterated that stance.

#Japan #China

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🇺🇸🇯🇵 Japan PM affirms close cooperation with Trump after U.S.-China talks

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday that she reaffirmed close cooperation with the United States during a call with President Donald Trump, which came shortly after he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Takaichi told reporters that Trump had requested the talks with her and briefed her on his phone conversation with Xi on Monday. However, she refrained from elaborating further, including on any discussion regarding her comments on a Taiwan contingency.

Trump has not yet offered any indication of his stance on Takaichi's comments about a Taiwan contingency. China's Foreign Ministry, however, said Trump told Xi that he understands the importance of the Taiwan issue during their talks.

#USA #Japan

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🇨🇳🇯🇵 China criticises Japan's plan to deploy missiles on island near Taiwan

China called Japan's plan to deploy missiles on an island near Taiwan a deliberate attempt to "create regional tension and provoke military confrontation" on Monday, as a diplomatic dispute simmers between the two nations.

The remarks come amid their worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

"Right-wing forces in Japan are... leading Japan and the region towards disaster," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing. Beijing "is determined and capable of safeguarding its national territorial sovereignty," she added.

#China #Japan

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🇺🇸🇨🇳🇯🇵🇹🇼 Trump avoids touching upon Taiwan issue after call with China's Xi

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had "a very good telephone call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but did not mention publicly the issue of Taiwan, a matter of contention between China and Japan.

A Japanese official told Nikkei Asia that Japan knew the call was set to take place and noted good coordination between Washington and Tokyo. Trump spoke soon afterward with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who said the president provided a brief explanation of the state of U.S.-China ties.

Xi's call to Trump sought to push Washington toward Beijing's preferred narrative — that Takaichi's recent warning that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan would pose a "survival-threatening situation" for Tokyo was unnecessarily provocative.

However, Trump mentioned no exchange on Taiwan in his Truth Social post. He described the call as a follow-up to the meeting between the two last month in South Korea and claimed progress on the agreements made there.

#USA #China #Taiwan #Japan

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🇹🇼 Taiwan’s Lai vows extra $40 Billion for defense against China

Taiwan plans to spend an extra $40 billion on its defenses, President Lai Ching-te said in a commentary in the Washington Post, a long-telegraphed move he described as necessary to deter China from using force against the democracy.

The expenditure will be part of a supplementary defense budget the government will introduce to “not only fund significant new arms acquisitions from the United States, but also vastly enhance Taiwan’s asymmetrical capabilities,” Lai wrote on Tuesday. He avoided going into detail on where the money would come from.

The special budget proposal will likely face obstacles once Lai’s cabinet formally proposes it given it requires the approval of the legislature, which is controlled by the opposition.

#Taiwan

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🇨🇳🇺🇸 Trump says he will visit Beijing in April

President Donald Trump said that he has accepted an invitation from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit Beijing in April and that he reciprocated by inviting Xi for a state visit to the US later next year.

Trump made the announcement after he spoke with Xi by phone nearly a month after the two leaders met in person in South Korea, saying they discussed issues including Ukraine, fentanyl and purchases of American soybeans.

Beijing, which announced the phone call first, said nothing about the state visits but noted that the two leaders discussed trade, Taiwan and Ukraine. Xi told Trump that Taiwan’s return to mainland China is “an integral part of the postwar international order,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said — a crucial issue to Beijing that Trump did not mention in his post.

#China #USA

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🇯🇵 Japan opposition parties brace for possible early snap election

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s high approval ratings are prodding opposition parties to ramp up preparations in case she calls an early election, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Nov 26.

Jun Azumi, an executive of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) - the country’s largest opposition party - signaled on Nov 25 his party will work with other parties to win back seats from the ruling coalition, the Yomiuri said.

Proponents of an early election hope Ms Takaichi’s popularity can help the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) win enough seats to reclaim a majority in the powerful lower house.

#Japan

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🇯🇵🇺🇸🇹🇼🇨🇳 Trump advised Japan PM Takaichi not to provoke Beijing over Taiwan

US President Donald Trump advised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a phone call not to provoke China on the question of Taiwan's sovereignty, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

"The advice from Trump was subtle and he didn't pressure Takaichi to walk back her comments," the newspaper said, citing those briefed on the call.

Trump has praised Takaichi for her tough stance on defense and, during his recent visit to Japan, demonstrated the strength of the US-Japan alliance. However, she has infuriated Chinese President Xi Jinping at what the US daily described as "a bad time for Trump, as he cultivates a relationship with the Chinese leader."

According to a person briefed on the matter, Trump suggested to Takaichi during their phone conversation that she tone down her comments about Taiwan, the newspaper wrote.

#Japan #USA #Taiwan #China

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🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan says it has discussed with US arms purchases for extra defence budget

Taiwan has already held preliminary talks with the United States about what weapons it wants to buy as part of a US$40 billion supplementary defense budget, Defense Minister Wellington Koo said.

Taiwan has formally obtained from the US Department of Defense the procurement item quantities, quotation information, transaction timelines, and other relevant details, showing the United States is willing to provide the weapons, Koo added.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te announced the previous day the new spending plan, which runs from 2026-2033, to underscore the island's determination to defend itself in the face of a rising threat from China.

#Taiwan #China

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🇳🇿🇹🇼🇨🇳 New Zealand navy ship made rare transit through Taiwan Strait this month

The New Zealand navy's largest ship, the oiler HMNZS Aotearoa, made a rare transit through the sensitive Taiwan Strait earlier this month, Defence Minister Judith Collins said.

One source with knowledge of the situation said the ship was tracked and followed by Chinese forces as it sailed through the strait.

The ship sailed from the South China Sea to the North Asian region via the Taiwan Strait on November 5, the minister added.

The last publicized strait transit by New Zealand's navy, accompanied by an Australian navy ship, took place in September last year. That was the first time a New Zealand naval ship had passed through the strait since 2017.

#NewZealand #Taiwan #China

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🇨🇳🇻🇳 Huawei, ZTE seal 5G deals in Vietnam after US tariffs

China's leading telecommunication firms Huawei and ZTE have won a string of contracts this year to supply 5G equipment in Vietnam, in another sign of Hanoi's strengthening bonds with Beijing, stirring concern among Western officials.

For years, Vietnam was seen as reluctant to use Chinese technology in sensitive infrastructure, but in recent months it has embraced Chinese tech companies as sometimes frosty relations with its northern neighbor have warmed.

While Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia secured contracts for Vietnam's 5G core infrastructure, with US chipmaker Qualcomm providing network equipment, Chinese companies have begun winning smaller tenders with state-owned operators.

A consortium including Huawei was awarded a $23 million contract for 5G equipment in April, weeks after the White House announced tariffs on Vietnamese goods. ZTE has won at least two contracts, one last week, totaling more than $20 million for 5G antennas. The first publicly disclosed deal came in September, a month after U.S. tariffs took effect.

#China #Vietnam

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🇨🇳🇫🇷 China turns to France for support during its feud with Japan

Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi used a call with his French counterpart to say the two sides needed to back each other, underscoring Beijing’s push to win diplomatic backing during a spat with Japan.

Wang said in the call on Nov 27 with the French president’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had “made provocative remarks related to Taiwan” earlier in November.

Beijing and Paris should “firmly support each other on issues involving each other’s core interests”, Wang said, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. “I hope that the French side will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.”

#China #France

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🇦🇺 Australia to overhaul defense bureaucracy to improve spending, delivery, says minister

Australia will reorganize its defense department, forming a Defense Delivery Agency and appointing a national armaments director to improve defense spending and delivery, Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Monday.

The changes to start in July next year will merge the existing Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group, and Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group. The new agency will report directly to the defense minister.

The reforms "will see a much bigger bang for buck for the defence spend", as Australia plans to spend an extra A$70 billion over the next decade, Marles said.

#Australia

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