Southeast Asia Watch

Blurb:

 

Police raided a house in northeast Las Vegas on Saturday managed by Ori Solomon, an Israeli national currently in the U.S. on an E-2 visa, and owned by Jia Bei Zhu, the criminally charged Chinese national linked to a secret biolab discovered in Reedley, California, in late 2022.

Inside Zhu’s Vegas property on Sugar Springs Drive, law enforcement agents found a “possible biological laboratory” complete with a “bio-safety hood, a bio-safety sticker, a centrifuge, multiple refrigerators, red-brown unknown liquids in gallon-sized containers, and refrigerated vials with unknown liquids,” according to Christopher Delzotto, FBI special agent in charge at the bureau’s Las Vegas office.

Blurb:

Chinese businesses have pledged hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of investment in the U.K. and struck new partnerships with British peers as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to China spurred a flurry of bilateral business activity and investment flows.

During his four-day visit in China last week, Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping and secured deals that would see hundreds of millions worth of new investments from Chinese businesses, in addition to £2.2 billion ($3 billion) worth of exports and £2.3 billion in market access, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

Following the high-profile visit, the two leaders hailed the benefits of cooperation, with Xi describing the bilateral ties as “mutually beneficial.” Starmer, who brought a large delegation of executives from banking, pharmaceutical, and automobile companies to China, also described the country as vital to Britain’s interests.

Blurb:

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Beijing, the first British leader to make an official trip to China since 2018, after he said he believes he can unlock business opportunities there despite security concerns.

A chartered British Airways jet carried the Prime Minister to Beijing overnight — allegedly to keep Chinese spies away from the Prime Minister’s own government plane — for the first of a three-day trip to China, which the Labour leader hopes will thaw relations after what he called an “ice age”.

The hurried trip was only officially announced by China on Tuesday and seems to be something of a reward for Starmer after the British government forced through permission for Beijing to build a new “mega-embassy” in London just last week. The new complex, which will be the largest embassy in Western Europe once completed, has been the subject of intense criticism over spying and national security fears, but was signed off on nevertheless by one of Starmer’s government ministers.

Blurb:

China’s top general is in deep water.

In an exclusive report, the Wall Street Journal has reported that China’s top military general has been ousted from his position after allegedly giving nuclear secrets to the United States.

The General was known in Beijing and to U.S. intelligence as President Xi Jinping’s top military ally.

The New York Post reported more on the general leaking nuclear secrets to the United States:

China’s top general has been accused of leaking nuclear secrets to the US and accepting bribes as President Xi Jinping purges the country’s senior military leadership.

General Zhang Youxia, 75, once considered one of Xi’s most-trusted military allies, allegedly leaked core technical data on China’s nuclear weapons to the US, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Zhang, the first-ranked vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, was officially placed under investigation on Saturday.

He was detained by military corruption investigators earlier this week, according to reports from Chinese outlets.

President Xi has reportedly sent a special task force to Shenyang in northeast China, where Zhang was previously stationed.

Blurb:

China reportedly hacked and surveilled the mobile phones of top officials in Downing Street for years as a part of a global espionage dragnet.

A report from London’s Daily Telegraph has claimed that a Chinese spying operation saw the communications of senior officials in the administrations of prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak monitored between 2021 and 2024.

Although it is unclear if the phones of prime ministers were caught up in the surveillance scheme, a source is quoted by the broadsheet as saying that the Chinese infiltration reached “right into the heart of Downing Street”.

Blurb:

Xi wished Indian President Droupadi Murmu congratulations on the South Asian nation’s Republic Day on Monday, according to Chinese state media.

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The world watches closely as the brave people of Iran protest against the Islamic Republic (IR) regime. Regime security forces have killed thousands of people as part of a crackdown on the protests, with an estimate placing the death toll for January 8 and 9 at more than 36,500. President Trump urged Iranians to “keep protesting,” telling them that “help is on the way.”

Blurb:

China made a major announcement over the weekend, saying it was investigating the army’s top general for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Gen. Zhang Youxia was the highest military member just below President Xi Jinping.

The Defence Ministry said Saturday that authorities were investigating Zhang, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, China’s top military body, and Gen. Liu Zhenli, a lower member of the commission who was in charge of the military’s Joint Staff Department.

Blurb:

 

 

The U.S. and Taiwan recently reached a historic trade deal. Taiwanese companies will invest at least $250 billion in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chipmaker, pledged $100 billion in U.S. investment in 2025. Taipei will provide an additional $250 billion in credit guarantees to Taiwanese companies.