Far East Watch

China-Egypt ties grow as BRI, other multilateral mechanisms provide platform to deepen cooperation – The Manila Times

pgnewser October 22, 2025 0

Blurb:

In eastern Egypt, rows of photovoltaic modules from Chinese solar technology giant LONGi are providing substantial and stable clean electricity for the water pump irrigation systems in the region’s agricultural and pastoral areas. With an installed capacity of 500 kilowatt, it can save over 50,000 yuan ($6,968.4) in electricity costs monthly, effectively reducing agricultural production’s operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

During this year’s Solar & Storage Live Egypt, held from April 29 to 30, the company signed framework agreements for the supply of 50 megawatts of photovoltaic modules with Egyptian distribution partners Egypta Group and Reestech. Following this, LONGi, together with Huawei, Egypta Group, and Egyptian project owner Mecca, signed a 30-megawatt project cooperation agreement, the company told the Global Times in a statement.

Trump: U.S Military Powerful Enough to Deter China Without AUKUS– slaynews.com

pgnewser October 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

President Donald Trump has reaffirmed America’s commitment to the AUKUS defense pact while making clear that the United States’ unmatched military power remains the ultimate safeguard for peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

AUKUS is the trilateral security alliance between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, Trump fielded questions about the purpose of AUKUS and its role in countering Communist China’s growing military aggression.

CHINESE SPY: State Department Official Removed ‘TOP SECRET” Classified Docs, Met with Chinese Officials– gellerreport.com

pgnewser October 15, 2025 0

Blurb:

“During a search of his residence in Vienna, Virginia, authorities recovered more than a thousand pages of documents marked “TOP SECRET” and “SECRET,” as per court filings…Federal officials further alleged that Tellis met with Chinese government representatives several times over the past few years..”

What happened to people going to jail for this?

China and Taiwan: A really simple guide

WW3 fears as Taiwan readies ‘porcupine strategy’ to fend off China invasion | World | News– www.express.co.uk

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

An invasion of Taiwan by China could leave the world on the brink of World War 3, a military expert has warned. Former intelligence officer Philip Ingram explained how Taiwan is preparing to defend itself using its so-called ‘porcupine strategy’, while warning war between the two Asian nations could “ignite an even greater conflict” than that seen in Ukraine, where he described “the world’s attention is fixed”.

China has the largest military in the world, and US intelligence has previously suggested Xi Jinping has ordered his forces to be ready for a possible invasion of Taiwan as soon as 2027. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, viewing the self-ruled island nation as a breakaway province, and has not ruled out seizing it by force. Beijing has been rapidly advancing its military capabilities in recent years, with Russia allegedly also supplying the country with weaponry.

Mr Ingram, a military intelligence expert, said Beijing views Taiwan as “destiny”, while for the US “it’s a red line”.

In the latest episode of The Sun’s Battle Plans Exposed, Mr Ingram detailed how Taiwan — which is around 100 miles off China’s south-east coast — would use its porcupine strategy to defend itself.

He said the strategy, also known as asymmetric defence, does not aim to defeat China in a traditional war but “to make an invasion so difficult, so costly and so bloody that Beijing is deterred from ever attempting it”.

A Wargame to Take Taiwan, from China’s Perspective– warontherocks.com

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

A Wargame to Take Taiwan, from China’s Perspective– warontherocks.com
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Excerpt:

In August 2025, 25 international experts gathered at Syracuse University to do something unusual: plan China’s invasion of Taiwan. For two days, academics, policy analysts, and current and former U.S. officials abandoned their typical defensive postures and attempted to inhabit Beijing’s offensive strategic mindset in a wargame. They debated not how America should respond to Chinese aggression, but how China might overcome the obstacles that have so far kept it from attacking the island nation.

This role reversal yielded an uncomfortable insight. The invasion scenarios that dominate U.S. military planning — involving massive amphibious assaults on Taiwan and preemptive strikes on American bases — may fundamentally misread Beijing’s calculus. As the wargame revealed, analysts seeking to understand China’s intentions should pay greater attention to plausible alternative military pathways to reunification that involve far less force and far more political calculation.

National Assembly (South Korea) - Wikipedia

(South Korea) Democratic Party Pushes Emergency Hearing Against Chief Justice – 조선일보

pgnewser September 23, 2025 0

National Assembly (South Korea) - Wikipedia

Democratic Party Pushes Emergency Hearing Against Chief Justice – 조선일보
Excerpt:
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The National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by the Democratic Party, decided on the 30th to hold an emergency hearing on allegations of Chief Justice Jo Hee-de’s intervention in the presidential election. The Democratic Party previously raised the same allegations in May when it was the opposition party and held a hearing, but found no evidence that Chief Justice Jo intervened in the election. At that time, Chief Justice Jo and all justices who were summoned as witnesses did not attend. Now, the party is pushing for another hearing based on the conspiracy theory of a “secret meeting involving Jo Hee-de, Han Duck-soo, and two others.” This marks the first time a ruling party has held a hearing targeting the head of the judiciary. The People Power Party (PPP) condemned it as a “violation of the separation of powers and a clear act of destroying the judiciary.”

The committee passed a resolution on the 22nd during a plenary session to implement the hearing plan and summon witnesses and references. The session was originally intended for a legislative hearing on prosecutorial reform, but Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party chair of the committee, unexpectedly added the hearing plan for Chief Justice Jo to the agenda. As PPP members protested and walked out, the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party proceeded with the decision. In the hearing plan, the Democratic Party claimed, “Chief Justice Jo violated procedural and legal regulations by issuing an unreasonable ruling related to the trial of a specific candidate (President Lee Jae-myung) ahead of the presidential election, and suspicions have arisen that he undermined the independence and political neutrality of the judiciary by allegedly conspiring in advance through a ‘four-person meeting’ with Han Duck-soo and others.”

These NATO Countries Are Deepening Their China Ties – RedState– redstate.com

pgnewser September 23, 2025 0

These NATO Countries Are Deepening Their China Ties – RedState– redstate.com
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Excerpt:

Poland recently closed its border with Belarus in response to the Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2025 military exercise and Russian drone incursions. Caught in the crosshairs of this border closure is China, 90 percent of whose EU-bound rail freight travels across the Poland-Belarus border. Warsaw takes a clear-eyed view of China’s role in supporting Russian aggression, prioritizing national security over economic interests. In the long term, Polish leaders will have to rethink their economic relations with Beijing.

Other European governments have taken action to counter Beijing’s influence, such as Lithuania’s and the Czech Republic’s engagement with Taiwan and other U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific, while Lithuania has also expelled Chinese diplomats.

In contrast, Hungary, Slovakia, and Turkey—NATO member states, two of which are in the EU—have been working against the U.S.’s interests by fueling the war in Ukraine through purchases of Russian oil and deepening their cooperation with China—Washington’s top foreign enemy—on economic and security matters. This is a concerning trajectory that requires swift action.

Thousands evacuated in Hong Kong after 1,000-pound WWII bomb discovered– www.foxnews.com

pgnewser September 22, 2025 0

Thousands evacuated in Hong Kong after 1,000-pound WWII bomb discovered– www.foxnews.com
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Excerpt:

Thousands of people were forced to evacuate a bustling neighborhood of Hong Kong overnight while experts sweated through the delicate work of defusing an undetonated nearly 5-foot, 1,000-pound bomb left over from World War II.

The U.S.-made bomb was found at a construction site in Quarry Bay on Hong Kong’s west side overnight Friday, and it isn’t the first bomb from the war to be found on the island.

“We have confirmed this object to be a bomb dating back to World War II,” Andy Chan Tin-Chu, a police official, told reporters. He said because of “the exceptionally high risks associated with its disposal,” approximately 1,900 households involving 6,000 individuals were “urged to evacuate swiftly.”

TikTok’s Algorithm Will Soon Be “Controlled By America” – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com

pgnewser September 22, 2025 0

TikTok’s Algorithm Will Soon Be “Controlled By America” – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com
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Excerpt:

After years of bipartisan warnings about TikTok’s potential national security risks, users may soon confront a different kind of threat, perhaps even worse: an algorithm “controlled by America.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the detail on Saturday, a key aspect of the emerging agreement announced by the Trump administration last week between the United States and China. The deal could finally settle TikTok’s fate in the US following months of uncertainty with a brief ban, reversal by the Trump administration, and shifting, self-imposed deadlines for an agreement.

“There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the US, and six of those seats will be Americans,” Leavitt told Fox News. “The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America.”

It’s unclear what exactly a US-controlled algorithm will involve. Right-wing conspiracy theories? Charlie Kirk memorials? Coupons for MAGA swag? Nor did Leavitt specify which American individuals would be involved in determining an algorithm. We also have little details on how Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a Trump loyalist, intends to approach the responsibility for managing TikTok’s data and security while the Trump administration weaponizes everything from voting data to confidential Social Security records.

China’s Gap Between Rhetoric and Action Perpetuates Status Quo in Gaza– chinadigitaltimes.net

pgnewser September 22, 2025 0

China’s Gap Between Rhetoric and Action Perpetuates Status Quo in Gaza– chinadigitaltimes.net
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Excerpt:

On Monday, Reuters reported on the story of a man who tried to flee Gaza by crossing the border into Egypt and then flying to China in order to seek asylum, only to be denied and sent back. As his case illustrates, China’s well-known rhetorical support for Gaza has in many ways not translated into concrete action. In fact, China has appeared to soften its stance towards Israel over the past year. Its criticism over what a U.N. Commission of Inquiry described this week as genocide is directed more at the U.S. and other Western states that undergird Israel’s campaign, rather than at Israel itself. This selectivity serves to undermine the U.S.’ standing relative to China in the eyes of some other countries, while preserving China’s interests in Israel. However, Israel’s increasingly aggressive actions—including recently bombing Qatar’s capital—risk finally pushing Beijing to adopt a more confrontational stance backed by material consequences.

As Youth Unemployment Hits New High, China Waxes Nostalgic for the “Boom Years”– chinadigitaltimes.net

pgnewser September 19, 2025 0

As Youth Unemployment Hits New High, China Waxes Nostalgic for the “Boom Years”– chinadigitaltimes.net
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Excerpt:

China’s National Bureau of Statistics published new data on Wednesday showing that urban youth unemployment rose to a two-year high last month. According to the data, the rate of unemployed youth aged 16 to 24 (excluding students) rose from 17.8 percent in June to 18.9 percent in August, nearing the historical peak of 21.3 percent in June 2023. This development underscores how even in a country that censors and “optimizes” negative data, a harsh economic landscape continues to frustrate millions of Chinese youth.

After the peak in 2023, government officials suspended the publication of youth unemployment data for several months and revised their methodology to yield lower figures. Articles discussing the state of the Chinese economy have also been censored online, including one on WeChat from March titled “Ten Questions About the Chinese Economy in 2025,” and a similar list of ten economic questions in 2023. A meme comparing masses of youth at a job fair to the Terracotta Warriors was likewise taken down from the internet in May. Upon hearing about the latest youth unemployment figures, Chinese netizens on Weibo and X joked about the sensitivity and unreliability of such statistics, as documented by CDT Chinese editors:

Stream2024: Great news! Another record high!

South Korean prosecutors seek arrest of ‘Moonies’ leader in bribery probe | Courts News– www.aljazeera.com

pgnewser September 18, 2025 0

South Korean prosecutors seek arrest of ‘Moonies’ leader in bribery probe | Courts News– www.aljazeera.com
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Excerpt:

The request on Thursday came a day after Han was questioned over her alleged role in bribing former first lady Kim Keon-hee and conservative lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong.

The charges came amid a drive to investigate Kim and her husband, former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was forced from office last year after imposing martial law.

“We have requested an arrest warrant for Han earlier today,” prosecutor Park Sang-jin said. “The charges against her include violation of political funds act, anti-graft law, incitement to destroy evidence and embezzlement.”

“We considered the risk of Han tampering with evidence to be very high, which led us to seek the warrant.”

Signposts Toward the Future of Indian-Chinese Relations– warontherocks.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Signposts Toward the Future of Indian-Chinese Relations– warontherocks.com
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Excerpt:

On Aug. 31, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s annual summit in Tianjin — Modi’s first trip to China in seven years. The meeting highlighted improving relations between the two countries, following a period of intensified tensions during border clashes in 2020. This renewed engagement occurs at a time of unusually high U.S.–Indian tensions, raising concerns in Washington that New Delhi might be leaning more toward China. We asked three experts to identify key indicators that might signify the direction of Indian–Chinese relations over the next few

China accuses Philippines of ship collision near disputed shoal in South China Sea– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

China accuses Philippines of ship collision near disputed shoal in South China Sea– www.cbsnews.com
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Excerpt:

China’s coast guard accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its vessels on Tuesday near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The Philippines denied it, saying China’s forces used powerful water cannons that damaged its ship and injured a crew member.

A Chinese coast guard statement said more than 10 Philippine government ships coming from various directions entered the waters around the shoal, which is called Huangyan Island in Chinese. It said it deployed water cannons against the vessels.

The encounter came six days after China announced it was designating part of Scarborough Shoal as a national nature reserve. The Philippine government, which calls the shoal Bajo de Masinloc, filed a diplomatic protest.

China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly around outcroppings in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. The two countries are among several that have competing claims to territory in the waters, which are of strategic importance and home to valuable fishing grounds.

The Philippine coast guard said two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Filipino fisheries vessel, the BRP Datu Gumbay Piang, with powerful water cannons for nearly 30 minutes “resulting in significant damage,” including in the captain’s cabin and the bridge. A glass window was shattered and injured a personnel while the deluge of water caused a short circuit that affected electrical outlets and five outdoor air-conditioning units, it said.