Tag: US

US shutting China’s Houston consulate aimed at reducing Beijing’s espionage
15Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

US shutting China’s Houston consulate aimed at reducing Beijing’s espionage

A former American intelligence official has said that by shutting down the Chinese consulate in Houston, the US is likely making it an example in order to achieve its goal of a reduction in Beijing’s espionage activities without taking even harsher measures, such as shuttering its San Francisco or New York consulates.“San Francisco is the real gem but the US will not close it,” the official said.In July, the US had asked China to close its Houston consulate to “protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said in a statement.In a tit-for-tat response, Beijing ordered the shutting down of the US consulate in Chengdu.The developments come at a time when ties between US-China are at an all-time low o
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AUSMIN 2020: US-Australia reaffirm commitment to Quad consultation with India, counter China
15Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

AUSMIN 2020: US-Australia reaffirm commitment to Quad consultation with India, counter China

At the 30th Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) 2020, both the countries reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral dialogues with Japan and Quad consultations with Japan and India."The Secretaries and Ministers reaffirmed that the Indo-Pacific is the focus of the Alliance and that the United States and Australia are working side-by-side, including with ASEAN, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Five Eyes partners, to strengthen our networked structure of alliances and partnerships to maintain a region that is secure, prosperous, inclusive, and rules-based," a joint statement released on the occasion said.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper hosted Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds o...
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US sanctions could prove devastating for Chinese Communist leaders
14Aug By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

US sanctions could prove devastating for Chinese Communist leaders

The Communist Party of China has amassed around $10 trillion across different countries through money laundering, misinvoicing and various other illicit means in the past two-and-a-half decades, however, it will be doomed following Washington's sanctions on CCP leaders, a New York-based online paper, Vision Times has claimed.The assertion comes in wake of US Department of Treasury's announcement of sanctioning of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Public Security Bureau and four CCP officials under The Global Magnitsky Act for involvement in serious human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.As per the data and statistics, the online newspaper on its Youtube channel has said that the CCP Communist Party of China has amassed around $10 trillion across different coun...
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Pentagon must ‘prioritize’ China in national defense strategy: US think tank
14Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Pentagon must ‘prioritize’ China in national defense strategy: US think tank

Referring to China's territorial expansionism policies, a US-based think tank has suggested that Pentagon should kick off the year-long effort this winter and prepare a new National Defense Strategy (NDS) to shift Washington's attention to the operational challenges posed by Beijing.“China's malevolent actions during the past three years have only increased the recognition that the United States is in a strategic competition and a new NDS will only continue to put a focus on China first”, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) said in a report.Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery (Retd.), an Executive Director at the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission and a former Director for Operations (J3) at US Indo-Pacific Command, as well as Eric Sayers, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at CNAS, said in the re
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Water wars: Mekong River another front in U.S.-China rivalry
11Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Water wars: Mekong River another front in U.S.-China rivalry

With Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries, the Mekong River has become a new front in the U.S.-China rivalry, according to environmentalists and officials.It’s a confrontation in which the Donald Trump administration is losing ground.The two powers’ struggle recently moved into the realm of science — with the U.S. and Chinese governments each touting different reports about whether China’s 11 dams on the river were harming nations downstream.China’s dams have given it extensive control of the waters that flow down to Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, which have long depended on the river for agriculture and fisheries and it is this control that enables China to exclude the United States from a role after decades of promoting Me
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From aggressor to appeaser, China caught out in consulate reprisal game
6Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

From aggressor to appeaser, China caught out in consulate reprisal game

The Trump administration’s order to shutdown China's consulate in Houston caught Beijing by surprise.The United States claimed the Chinese mission had illegally transferred medical research, turned over information to Chinese institutions and coerced fugitive Chinese citizens to return home.Barrels of documents were burned in the courtyard of the consulate before four Chinese researchers were charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly lying about their links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).China had 72 hours to decide how it would react. It used up nearly 48 in the hope of a diplomatic reversal. Beijing had to appear strong to placate nationalists at home but avoid provoking America into a deeper economic, diplomatic or even military confrontation that neither side is prepare
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South China Sea is not China’s maritime empire, says Pompeo backing ASEAN
6Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

South China Sea is not China’s maritime empire, says Pompeo backing ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) statement calling out China to resolve the South China Sea dispute in line with the international law was welcomed by the United States with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo tweeting about it.“The United States welcomes ASEAN Leaders’ insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in line with international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea). China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.After the 36th ASEAN summit, a joint statement was issued by the members of ASEAN expressing concerns over the current situation in the South China Sea.The bloc leaders stressed the importance of maintaining and promotin
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Australia backs US in declaring Chinese claims over South China Sea ‘illegal’
5Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Australia backs US in declaring Chinese claims over South China Sea ‘illegal’

In a formal declaration to the United Nations, Australia has backed the United States in declaring Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea as illegal, aligning itself more closely with Washington in the escalating row.Australia said there was "no legal basis" to several disputed Chinese claims in the sea including those related to the construction of artificial islands on small shoals and reefs."There is no legal basis for China to draw straight baselines connecting the outermost points of maritime features or 'island groups' in the South China Sea, including around the 'Four Sha' or 'continental' or 'outlying' archipelagos."Australia rejects China's claim to 'historic rights' or 'maritime rights and interests' as established in the 'long course of historical practice' in the S
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US says Chinese fugitive researcher taken into its custody, was part of espionage network
5Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments

US says Chinese fugitive researcher taken into its custody, was part of espionage network

United States government officials have revealed that the Chinese fugitive researcher, who had been hiding in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco following visa fraud allegations is now in custody.Tang Juan, the scientist who said that she was focusing on biology, "was a fugitive from justice until last night," a senior Justice Department official said. While Tang has been charged, the circumstances of her arrest were unclear. However, she has not been charged with espionage.The development came hours before the US' deadline for China to shut down its consulate in Houston, leading to a retaliatory move from Beijing by demanding Washington to shutter its consulate in Chengdu.In July, prosecutors said that Tang hid her connection to the Chinese military for entering the US, by lying to fe...
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China’s disregard for international water laws lead to worsening of ties with countries in South China Sea
4Aug By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

China’s disregard for international water laws lead to worsening of ties with countries in South China Sea

China’s brazen disregard for international water laws has finally severed its ties with neighboring countries in the South China Sea. The Philippines has publicly called on China to comply with the 2016 arbitral ruling which had ruled that China has no “historic rights over the waters of the South China Sea”.“Compliance in good faith with the award would be consistent with the obligations of the Philippines and China under international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) to which both parties are signatories,” Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a statement.Indonesia has also decided to conduct exercises in the vicinity of the Riau Islands.Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s claims of having “historical rights” in the
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