In Indian interest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8buDh1J-Cpw
Anti India Narratives and Activities IWho Funds Anti India Activities IMaj Gen Rajiv Narayanan IAadi
DEF – TALKS by Aadi
29 Mar 2023 #khalistan #deftalks #soros
With Anti India Narratives and Activities occurring, the big question is Who funds Anti India Activities? What can India Do to counter it? Q & A Session.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LByRXS4H8j8
Savarkar’s bravery & untold stories of India’s forgotten revolutionaries by Sanjeev Sanyal
ANI News
29 Mar 2023 ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash
Sanjeev Sanyal is a noted historian and economist turned writer who has written seven books on India’s history, geography and freedom struggle. His latest book, Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom, talks about the story of armed resistance which wasn’t individual heroism as it has been portrayed in our history books, but was part of a wider movement towards colonial occupation. Sanjeev is a recipient of an Eisenhower fellowship, has been named young global leader by WEF and is a visiting scholar at Oxford University and an adjunct fellow at National University of Singapore. Currently, Sanyal serves as a member of the economic advisory council to the Prime Minister of India. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash, author-cum-economist talks about armed resistance against the British, his family’s contribution to the freedom struggle, Savarakar, the source of the Khalistani movement and how collaborators and the Nehruvian Congress wiped out the actual history of the Revolutionaries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NyejqnSZVQ
T G Mohandas I Nefarious designs by a few with help from outside to split India
PGurus
29 Mar 2023
T G Mohandas I Nefarious designs by a few with help from outside to split India

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/explainer-how-china-aims-to-counter-us-containment-efforts-in-tech
How China Aims to Counter US ‘Containment’ Efforts in Tech
By Bloomberg News
March 30, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping began his third term this year with a clear message: his country will go all-out trying to match or beat the US in the technology sphere, despite Washington’s efforts at “containment.” He and his new lieutenants are deploying what they call a “whole nation” system: marshaling resources and companies from across the country — and trillions of dollars — to drive research and development. That broad endeavor has become increasingly urgent as Washington escalates its efforts with trade restrictions, blacklists and investment curbs. For Xi, who has stressed national security more than any of his predecessors, becoming self-reliant in critical tech is an imperative. But throwing cash at the problem hasn’t exactly paid off so far. The government could end up wasting lots of money investing in companies and initiatives that fail to deliver, potentially destabilizing the world’s No. 2 economy.
It stems from the country’s tradition of central planning, which lingers even though Communist China has largely become a market economy. At this year’s National People’s Congress, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang described the strategy as encouraging private capital to collaborate on major government initiatives aimed at addressing areas of weakness. For example, cities and state-owned telecommunications companies awarded lucrative contracts to private tech giants like Huawei Technologies Co. and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology in 2020 to lay fifth-generation wireless networks, install cameras and sensors, and develop artificial intelligence software.That was to underpin autonomous driving, automated factories — and mass surveillance. The estimated price tag was $1.4 trillion. A year later, China’s new five-year economic plan included more pledges to promote research into cutting-edge chips and emerging fields such as hydrogen-powered vehicles and biotechnology. Xi also has ordered the Communist Party to exercise more control over the science and technology agenda to better coordinate efforts. At the NPC in March, the party established a central technology commission to enhance oversight and gave the Ministry of Science and Technology expanded powers to help drive fundamental innovation. It also established a national agency to police and develop data as a strategic resource.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/military-action-in-ukraine-ends-iaea-plan-to-secure-nuclear-zone
Military Action in Ukraine Ends IAEA Plan to Secure Nuclear Zone
Agency now intent on making Zaporizhzhia plant more resilient
New rotation of monitors enter Russia-controlled facility
By Jonathan Tirone
March 30, 2023
The rising probability of military action near a Russian-occupied nuclear plant in Ukraine is forcing international monitors to shelve a proposed security zone around the site and instead concentrate on making its reactors more resilient to attack.
There are signals that new fighting may break out soon near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said late Wednesday. Grossi crossed the battle line separating Ukrainian and Russian forces to bring a new rotation of monitors into Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-03-30/cargill-and-other-western-traders-leave-russian-grain-to-putin-s-benefit
It’s No Pain, All Grain for Vladimir Putin
The exit of Cargill and other western wheat traders from Russia will benefit Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
By Javier Blas
March 30, 2023
Vladimir Lenin is credited with calling wheat “the currency of currencies.” If so, the departure of the biggest names in global grain trading from the Russian domestic market should send shivers down the spine of another Vladimir. But Russian President Putin has nothing to worry about.
Neither does the rest of the world, even though Russia is, by far, the world’s largest exporter of wheat, making it a vital contributor to global food security. The country is also a giant producer of corn, barley and sunflower seed.
Despite the exit of top Western traders, Russian grain and other crops will continue to flow into global markets. Inside the country, local traders will replace the foreign ones. And outside it — where the authority of Russian ports ends and the activity of foreign-flagged ships begins — Western traders will continue shipping Russian grain.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3215442/what-saudi-arabias-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-decision-means-chinas-influence-middle-east
What Saudi Arabia’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation decision means for China’s influence in Middle East
The kingdom is joining as a dialogue partner weeks after Beijing helped broker a deal to normalise relations with Iran
Diplomatic observers say the significance of the move should not be overstated, but there i scope for more cooperation in future
Zhao Ziwen
31 Mar, 2023

https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3215167/china-must-practise-multilateral-security-it-preaches-its-disputed-borders-and-seas
China must practise the multilateral security it preaches in its disputed borders and seas
From the South China Sea to Indian border, China’s actions in its backyard are raising eyebrows even as it slams hegemony and calls for a multilateral security order
Instead of imposing its view on the neighbourhood, China should engage in dialogue and diplomacy
Riaz Khokhar
31 Mar, 2023

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3215459/china-say-its-open-more-military-cooperation-russia
China says it’s open to more military cooperation with Russia
Beijing’s defence ministry says it is willing to take part in more joint drills and patrols as well as working to promote global peace
Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirms the country’s ties with Moscow in his recent visit, but also offers to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine
Cyril Ip
30 Mar, 2023

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3215420/imf-chief-calls-faster-more-efficient-plan-debt-relief-amid-pressure-china-ease-distress
IMF chief calls for ‘faster, more efficient’ plan for debt relief amid pressure on China to ease distress
International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva spoke about global debt restructuring at the Boao Forum for Asia
According to a report by US agency Fitch Ratings, a record number of countries – Belarus, Lebanon, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Zambia – are all in sovereign default
Amanda Lee
31 Mar, 2023

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3215481/summit-democracy-us-targets-tech-tools-used-repressive-governments
At Summit for Democracy, US targets tech tools used by repressive governments
The Biden administration hosts a session on combating the misuse of commercial spyware and shaping emerging tech that features lawmakers, CEOs and others
US$690 million is pledged for initiative to aid independent media, combat corruption, support democratic reformers and defend free and fair elections
Bochen Hanand Robert Delaney in Washington
Published: 6:31am, 31 Mar, 2023

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3215478/ukraine-war-russia-seeks-arms-food-deal-north-korea-us-says
Ukraine war: Russia seeks arms-for-food deal with North Korea, US says
Moscow hopes to receive 2 dozen kinds of weapons and munitions from Pyongyang, a White House spokesman added
Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong-un’s rule, but they see no signs of imminent famine or mass deaths
Associated Press
31 Mar, 2023

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-Xi-s-chief-of-staff-Cai-Qi-is-symbol-of-powerful-court
Analysis: Xi’s chief of staff Cai Qi is symbol of powerful court
Former Beijing chief to oversee all aspects of security
KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writer
MARCH 30, 2023
The contrast was clear. Xi was with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the man who ordered the invasion into Ukraine. The two leaders issued a joint statement for the first time in a year. Across the border was Kishida standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and expressing his support for the war-torn country.
It is only natural that Xi and his top diplomat, Wang Yi, were displeased with Kishida stealing the spotlight, another source said.
But the biggest news to emerge out of Xi’s Moscow visit was unrelated to diplomacy; it was the sight of an unexpected figure stepping off the aircraft shortly after Xi — Cai Qi, one of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party’s top decision-making body.
State-run Chinese media introduced Cai’s new position: director of the party’s General Office, a role that serves as Xi’s de facto chief of staff.
It was perhaps the most important personnel change in the party since the national congress ended in October.
The choice of Cai was unconventional in more ways than one. First, past directors have come from the wider 24-member Politburo, not the top seven.
Second, Xi had never been accompanied by a Politburo Standing Committee member on previous overseas trips. Cai, Xi’s trusted close aide, was the first to do so.
The appointment gives a glimpse into the future of China’s domestic politics.
The chief of staff controls who meets the top leader and handles the schedule book. The choice of Cai, who ranks fifth in the party hierarchy, drastically changes the nature of the post.
Cai will likely play a role similar to that of Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, who controls all government ministries and agencies from the prime minister’s office.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Changing-environment-is-compelling-China-to-raise-its-global-profile
Changing environment is compelling China to raise its global profile
Ukraine peace plan is a sign of Beijing’s wide-ranging interests
Jacques Attali
March 29, 2023 15:00 JST
China’s 12-point peace plan for Russia and Ukraine, backed by President Xi Jinping’s trip last week to Moscow, marks one of the first instances in which Beijing has sought to get involved in an international political issue that did not directly concern it.

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-coming-creative-destruction-from-ai
The coming creative destruction from AI
Artificial intelligence’s impact could be bigger than that of China joining the WTO, but will pose challenges for policymakers
Vikram Khanna
Associate Editor & Senior Columnist
MAR 30, 2023
On my prompt, artificial intelligence (AI) – aka “machine learning“ – created a film script on the life of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, which it then translated into Chinese. It generated an impressionistic image of Singapore’s skyline, and then another one of a frog dancing on Changi Beach. It also provided the content for a PowerPoint presentation. In a recent demonstration, it turned a hand-drawn sketch of a webpage into an actual website by generating code that matched the sketch. It did each of the above in less than a minute.
The capabilities of AI – of which the popular ChatGPT is but one manifestation – are now mind-boggling. And they keep getting better. ChatGPT-4, which was released on March 14, is a dramatic upgrade on the earlier version, ChatGPT-3.5.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/30/asia-pacific/taiwan-lee-hsi-min-interview/
‘We need a more effective way to defend ourselves,’ says Taiwan’s former military chief
BY GABRIEL DOMINGUEZ
Mar 30, 2023
Speaking to the Japan Times in Taipei, retired Adm. Lee Hsi-min called for called for a pivot in the island’s approach to warfare, as well as its related purchases.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2023/03/30/commentary/world-commentary/space-junk-problem/
The world’s space junk problem just got an affordable solution
BY ADAM MINTER
Mar 30, 2023
We’re getting better at spotting and dodging debris in orbit — a much more cost-effective option than spending billions on cosmic robot cleaners.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/30/business/economy-business/japan-worker-shortfall-study/
Japan to face 11 million worker shortfall by 2040, study finds
BY LOW DE WEI AND MARIKA KATANUMA
Mar 30, 2023
The working age population is expected to rapidly decline from 2027, according to the study by independent think tank Recruit Works Institute.

https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/alibaba-breakup-solves-the-jack-ma-riddle/
Alibaba breakup solves the Jack Ma riddle
Alibaba’s state-led division into six distinct businesses could provide a roadmap for the breakup of other China tech behemoths
By WILLIAM PESEK
MARCH 30, 2023

https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/chinas-diplomatic-wins-rise-from-americas-losses/
China’s diplomatic wins rise from America’s losses
US is learning the hard way that if you treat everyone else as a pariah you are eventually treated as one yourself
By CHRISTOPHER MCCALLION
MARCH 30, 2023

https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/how-china-overreached-and-lost-its-grip-in-the-pacific/
How China overreached and lost its grip in the Pacific
Beijing’s outreach to strategic region has perceptibly stalled as local tide turns against many of its influence-seeking initiatives and agreements
By DENNY ROY
MARCH 30, 2023

https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/whats-being-overlooked-in-japans-new-strategic-policy/
What’s being overlooked in Japan’s new strategic policy
Strategy recognizes need to compete across all domains to deter and defend against attacks while assuming greater burden in US alliance
By THOMAS WILKINS
MARCH 30, 2023

https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/existential-crisis-for-iran-in-south-caucasus/
Existential crisis for Iran in South Caucasus
The question now is whether diplomacy will be enough to pull all sides back from the brink
By NIKOLA MIKOVIC
MARCH 30, 2023

https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/internet-cables-the-next-front-in-us-china-tech-war/
Internet cables the next front in US-China tech war
Report says US has intervened in at least six Asia-Pacific cable deals in last four years to block Chinese company participation
By JEFF PAO
MARCH 28, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/b1657ee3-eb9d-41c7-851e-5900c74bd934
‘Total distrust’: rise of the Russian informers
Teachers, neighbours and even family members are turning to Soviet-style denunciations in wartime Russia
Polina Ivanova
MARCH 30, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/fb4fd417-01db-4c99-bf45-c341d1d14f36
How rising interest rates are exposing bank weaknesses
Recent collapses in US and Europe highlight new threats to lenders and upend conventional wisdom
Laura Noonan in London and Brooke Masters in New York
MARCH 30, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/e7964639-67c0-472c-8f50-fb1e82f1ecd0
The risks of China’s regulatory shake-up
Greater centralisation in a politicised financial system may lead to more instability
GEORGE MAGNUS
MARCH 30, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/f814ff18-4c05-4589-9879-b0800ac3a4ed
EU strikes back against China’s ‘divide and conquer’ tactics
Ursula von der Leyen says bloc must develop ‘new defensive tools’ in face of an increasingly assertive Beijing
Sam Fleming and Henry Foy in Brussels
MARCH 30, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/d7a97f69-1e98-47e1-a7ec-bef48cd3f9d0
China’s premier warns against conflict in Asia amid US tensions
Li Qiang calls for peace one day after Beijing threatens Taiwan over its president’s visit to California
Joe Leahy in Boao
MARCH 30, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/02adde01-3b27-4743-8c17-2e39ab682660
EU agrees compromise on nuclear energy amid French pressure
Paris obtains carve-out for atomic power to be counted towards decarbonisation of industry
Laura Dubois in Berlin
MARCH 30, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/8e1b7774-da4d-448d-aa3f-94d269e64c35
Biden’s awkward democracy summit
America still lacks an effective approach to the global south
EDWARD LUCE
MARCH 29, 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/4d011d5a-37ae-435a-9c7d-a163b4c92308
Binance hid extensive links to China for several years
Company documents show crypto exchange relied on country long after it said it had left in 2017
Scott Chipolina in London
MARCH 29, 2023

https://ig.ft.com/north-korea-oil-smuggling/
Inside North Korea’s oil smuggling: triads, ghost ships and underground banks
By Christian Davies in Seoul, Primrose Riordan and Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong and the Visual Storytelling Team in London MARCH 29 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/32440f74-7804-4637-a662-6cdc8f3fba86
China’s fake science industry: how ‘paper mills’ threaten progress
The country has become a prolific producer of academic research but fraudulent studies risk serious real-world consequences
Eleanor Olcott in Hong Kong and Clive Cookson and Alan Smith in London
MARCH 28 2023

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65120327
Antarctic ocean currents heading for collapse- report
By Tom Housden
BBC News, Sydney
MARCH 30, 2023
Rapidly melting Antarctic ice is causing a dramatic slowdown in deep ocean currents and could have a disastrous effect on the climate, a new report warns.
The deep-water flows which drive ocean currents could decline by 40% by 2050, a team of Australian scientists says.
The currents carry vital heat, oxygen, carbon and nutrients around the globe.
Previous research suggests a slowdown in the North Atlantic current could cause Europe to become colder.
The study, published in the journal Nature, also warns the slowdown could reduce ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The report outlines how the Earth’s network of ocean currents are part driven by the downwards movement of cold, dense saltwater towards the sea bed near Antarctica.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65119595
Dmitry Muratov: Nuclear warning from Russia’s Nobel-winning journalist
By Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor, Moscow
MARCH 30, 2023
The Russian authorities may have shut down his newspaper, but journalist Dmitry Muratov refuses to be silenced.
When we meet in Moscow, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta and Russia’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate is worried how far the Kremlin will go in its confrontation with the West.
“Two generations have lived without the threat of nuclear war,” Mr Muratov tells me. “But this period is over. Will Putin press the nuclear button, or won’t he? Who knows? No one knows this. There isn’t a single person who can say for sure.”
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow’s nuclear sabre-rattling has been loud and frequent.

https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/03/28/the-global-rice-crisis
The global rice crisis
Rice feeds more than half the world—but also fuels diabetes and climate change
Mar 28th 2023

https://www.economist.com/fusion-pod
How private companies are bringing clean, green, nuclear fusion energy closer to reality
Our podcast on science and technology. This week, we look at the ways private companies are trying to create nuclear fusion and how far it is from potentially transforming energy production on Earth
Mar 29th 2023

https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-says-microsofts-cloud-practices-anti-competitive-slams-deals-with-rivals-2023-03-30/
Exclusive: Google says Microsoft cloud practices are anti-competitive
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) – Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google Cloud has accused Microsoft (MSFT.O) of anti-competitive cloud computing practices and criticised imminent deals with several European cloud vendors, saying these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms.
In Google Cloud’s first public comments on Microsoft and its European deals its Vice President Amit Zavery told Reuters the company has raised the issue with antitrust agencies and urged European Union antitrust regulators to take a closer look.

https://www.reuters.com/world/riyadh-joins-shanghai-cooperation-organization-ties-with-beijing-grow-2023-03-29/
Riyadh joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization as ties with Beijing grow
Reuters
RIYADH, March 29 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved on Wednesday a decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as Riyadh builds a long-term partnership with China despite U.S. security concerns.
Saudi Arabia has approved a memorandum on granting the kingdom the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), state news agency SPA said.
The SCO is a political and security union of countries spanning much of Eurasia, including China, India and Russia.

https://www.reuters.com/world/four-bankers-who-helped-putins-friend-set-up-swiss-bank-account-convicted-2023-03-30/
Four bankers who helped Putin’s friend set up Swiss bank account convicted
By John Revill
ZURICH, March 30 (Reuters) – Four bankers who helped a close friend of Vladimir Putin move millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts have been convicted of lacking diligence in financial transactions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/world/europe/us-sanctions-man-russia-north-korea-weapons.html
The U.S. imposes sanctions on a Slovakian accused of trying to broker a Russia-North Korea arms deal.
A White House spokesman said the man would be in violation of several U.N. Security Council resolutions.
By KATIE ROGERS
March 30, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/technology/police-surveillance-tech-dubai.html
A.I., Brain Scans and Cameras: The Spread of Police Surveillance Tech
In the Middle East, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies have become part of everyday policing.
By PAUL MOZUR and ADAM SATARIANO
March 30, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/opinion/india-economic-growth.html
Can India Change the World?
For most of history, it was one of the world’s leading economies, and it now has a fighting chance to recover that role.
By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
March 29, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/climate/united-nations-vanuatu.html
Can Nations Be Sued for Weak Climate Action? We’ll Soon Get an Answer.
Vanuatu, a disaster-prone Pacific country, has secured United Nations approval to take that question to the International Court of Justice.
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
March 29, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/business/economy/world-bank-lost-decade-growth.html
World Bank Warns of ‘Lost Decade’ for Global Economic Potential
Adding to crises like the pandemic, recent stress in the banking system is a new threat to world growth, experts at the organization said.
By ALAN RAPPEPORT
March 27, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/business/media/publishers-chatbots-search-engines.html
Publishers Worry A.I. Chatbots Will Cut Readership
Many sites get at least half their traffic from search engines. Fuller results generated by new chatbots could mean far fewer visitors.
By KATIE ROBERTSON
March 30, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/guo-wengui-china.html
The Undoing of Guo Wengui, Billionaire Accused of Fraud on 2 Continents
He cultivated powerful allies and built an empire in China. Then, fleeing charges, he turned his charms on America. Now the law has caught up with him.
By MICHAEL FORSYTHE and BENJAMIN WEISER
March 30, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/business/france-bank-raid-tax-fraud.html
Prosecutors Raid France’s Biggest Banks in Tax Fraud Sweep
The raids were part of a widening investigation spanning four continents and involving dozens of banks in an alleged scheme to avoid paying taxes.
By LIZ ALDERMAN
March 28, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/business/economy/jobs-ai-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt.html
Tinkering With ChatGPT, Workers Wonder: Will This Take My Job?
Artificial intelligence is confronting white-collar professionals more directly than ever. It could make them more productive — or obsolete.
By LYDIA DEPILLIS and STEVE LOHR
March 28, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/business/china-local-finances-debt.html
China’s Cities Are Buried in Debt, but They Keep Shoveling It On
China has long pursued growth by public spending, even after the payoff has faded. Cities stuck with the bill are still spending — and cutting essential services.
By LI YUAN
March 28, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/business/china-loans-bailouts-debt.html
After Doling Out Huge Loans, China Is Now Bailing Out Countries
Beijing is emerging as a new heavyweight in providing emergency funds to debt-ridden countries, catching up to the I.M.F. as a lender of last resort.
By KEITH BRADSHER
March 27, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-arrests-show-no-letup-in-beijing-driven-crackdown-on-dissent-7a2a0e68
Hong Kong Arrests Show No Letup in Beijing-Driven Crackdown on Dissent
Political opponents of government given no room to maneuver under sweeping national security law
By Selina Cheng
March 30, 2023 5:30 am ET
HONG KONG—Elizabeth Tang flew home to visit her husband in Stanley Prison, where he is awaiting trial on national security charges. As the 65-year-old labor activist left the Hong Kong maximum security facility earlier this month, a team of police was waiting—along with journalists from a state-owned newspaper.
Ms. Tang’s arrest on March 9 for alleged collusion with foreign forces sent a signal to the financial hub’s 7.3 million people and their Communist Party rulers in Beijing: There would likely be no letup in the campaign to root out dissent.
Three days earlier, Hong Kong leader John Lee returned from Beijing carrying a warning from Xia Baolong, who oversees the city’s affairs for the Chinese government: The government can’t forget the dangers it faces from destructive forces that are lurking beneath the peaceful surface of Hong Kong’s society, Mr. Lee told reporters at the airport.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-security-service-detains-wall-street-journal-reporter-cbfbd505
Russian Security Service Detains Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich
The reporter is part of the newspaper’s Moscow bureau; the Journal vehemently denies allegations against him, seeks his immediate release
By Daniel Michaels
Updated March 30, 2023 7:50 am ET
Russia’s main security agency said it had detained a Wall Street Journal reporter for what it described as espionage.
The Federal Security Service said Thursday it had detained Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, in the eastern city of Yekaterinburg.
The FSB said in a statement that Mr. Gershkovich, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” the Journal said. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-taiwan-relations-tensions-explained-11653322751
China and Taiwan Relations Explained: What’s Behind the Divide
Beijing is flexing its military power in response to growing U.S. support for the island; here’s a primer on the frictions
By Josh Chin
Updated March 30, 2023 2:04 am ET
Days before being named president for an unprecedented third term, Chinese leader Xi Jinping let loose with an unusually blunt attack on what he said was a U.S.-led effort to contain China. At the top of Mr. Xi’s list of concerns is Washington’s relationship with Taiwan.
Taiwan is a self-ruled island of 24 million people that China claims as its own. Separated from China’s southeastern coast by 100 treacherous miles of sea, it is a vibrant democracy that produces the vast majority of the world’s advanced computer chips. It is also a critical piece of Mr. Xi’s goal of restoring China’s standing as a great power. The Chinese leader has said taking control of the island is a task that “should not be passed down from generation to generation.”
Taiwan’s predicament is similar in many ways to Ukraine’s, though a conflict over Taiwan is more likely to include direct U.S. involvement. There is no indication war over Taiwan is imminent, but if one broke out, it could pit the world’s two largest militaries against each other, with the world’s two largest economies hanging in the balance.
Here’s a look at the past and present of tensions between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, and what it could mean for the future of the balance of power, in Asia and beyond.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-deploys-its-corruption-hunters-abroad-a6484983
China Is Sending Its Corruption Hunters to a Country Near You
G-20 nations among first destinations in move that risks intensifying alarm over expansion of Beijing’s overseas activities
By Chun Han Wong in Hong Kong and Keith Zhai in Singapore
Updated March 30, 2023
China is dispatching anticorruption enforcers abroad to chase down fugitives and recover stolen assets, a new extension of Beijing’s international reach aimed at strengthening Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s crackdown on graft.
The Communist Party’s top antigraft body and other government offices tasked with tackling corruption have begun stationing officials in some Chinese embassies, where they would coordinate with foreign authorities on law-enforcement matters, among other duties, according to people familiar with the plan.
These anticorruption inspectors will be based mainly in countries where corrupt Chinese officials are likely to have stashed large amounts of illicit funds, such as members of the Group of 20 nations, said one of the people. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the antigraft body, has pledged this year to ramp up cross-border efforts in fighting corruption, particularly across countries that participate in Mr. Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative to build global trade infrastructure—a group that includes G-20 members.
The deployments come as Mr. Xi renews demands to entrench the far-reaching anticorruption crackdown that he has directed since taking power in 2012. Chinese authorities say they have brought back nearly 10,700 suspects from abroad during Mr. Xi’s first two terms as party chief, including more than 60 of China’s 100 most-wanted economic fugitives. But CCDI officials say investigators face a tougher task in trying to solve outstanding cases and deter more sophisticated offenders.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/kim-jong-un-says-he-will-expand-production-of-nuclear-material-ff60f5ea
Kim Jong Un Says He Will Expand Production of Nuclear Material
North Korean leader inspects new tactical nuclear warheads, calling his weapons program defensive
By Dasl Yoon
March 28, 2023 2:59 am ET
SEOUL—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for expanding the production of nuclear material to boost the country’s arsenal exponentially, saying his weapons program was aimed at defending the country.
Photos released by North Korean state media on Tuesday showed Mr. Kim inspecting new tactical nuclear warheads, called “Hwasan-31,” for the first time. Around 10 red and green nuclear warheads were displayed alongside short-range ballistic missiles and long-range cruise missiles. He also reviewed plans for a nuclear counterattack and was briefed on a nuclear-weapons management system called “Haekbangashoe,” which means nuclear trigger, state media said.
“Only when we perfectly prepare the ability to use nuclear weapons at any time and from any place will we ensure that we will forever not have to use nuclear weapons,” Mr. Kim said during the inspection.
Mr. Kim called on his nuclear scientists to increase production of the weapons-grade fissile material used to make nuclear bombs. North Korea increased its stockpile of plutonium to 154 pounds in 2022, adding 44 pounds from 2020, according to a white paper published last year by South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-korean-model-for-taiwan-one-country-two-governments-communique-china-ccp-beijing-strategic-ambiguity-c12270fa
The Korean Model for Taiwan
In the 1990s, even Beijing abandoned its rejection of the ‘one country, two governments’ formulation.
By Hu Ping and Perry Link
March 29, 2023
The Germany and Korea models were different. The East German Constitution of 1974 conceived of East Germany as a separate country, distinct from West Germany. By contrast, the constitutions of both North and South Korea see their governments as ruling part of a single Korean motherland. That is the “one country, two governments” notion that Beijing in the late 1990s dropped from its “resolutely oppose” list.
For Taiwan, a “Korean solution” would be a major advance. North and South Korea both allow the other to have diplomatic relations with foreign countries, to join the United Nations and other international organizations, and to play as independent teams in the Olympics and the World Cup. Beijing itself has maintained diplomatic relations with both Pyongyang and Seoul since 1992.
To be sure, there would be objections on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Some Taiwanese wouldn’t want to live under a “second” Chinese government because they don’t think of themselves as Chinese at all. But even for them, it would be hard to reject a “one country, two governments” arrangement because it would radically reduce the fearsome threat from Beijing that they live under.
The regime in Beijing has obvious reasons to insist on the illegitimacy of its counterpart in Taipei. The island is a vibrant democracy and has the world’s 21st-largest economy but is an embarrassment to the Chinese Communist Party as a living refutation of the claim that democracy and Chinese culture are incompatible. “Uniting the motherland” has been crucial to the party’s efforts to stimulate nationalism and to take credit as its champion.
Yet Beijing has shifted as practical needs have demanded. From the 1950s through 1970s, the regimes in Beijing and Taipei denounced each other as pseudo-governments; cross-straits commerce and movement were essentially zero. But beginning in the 1980s, increasing in the 1990s and mushrooming in the 2000s, exchange flourished, and so did problems that demanded joint efforts to address. The two sides have signed more than 20 agreements on investment, trade, exchange of personnel, fighting crime and other matters.
Such agreements normally are signed by governments, so cross-straits negotiations inevitably raised the thorny problem of how to do so while pretending not to. The answer—as with U.S.-Taiwan relations—was that each side launched a nongovernmental organization. On the mainland the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits was born; on Taiwan it was the Straits Exchange Foundation. In Chinese the two are called “white glove” organizations, but everyone knows whose hands are at work.
In practice “one country, two governments” is already in place. In 2005 and again in 2011, think-tank scholars in mainland China made this point overtly and weren’t punished for doing so.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-the-u-s-can-do-to-prepare-for-a-war-with-china-great-power-conflict-cold-war-taiwan-invasion-missiles-destroyers-bombers-indo-pacific-b3af1fae
What the U.S. Can Do to Prepare for a War With China
The military’s problem isn’t technological. It’s a strategy designed only for low-intensity conflict.
By Seth Cropsey
March 28, 2023
The U.S. is unprepared for an impending great-power conflict. That’s widely understood, but most commentary on American military preparedness misses three critical points: the time horizon for a conflict with China, the logistical challenges of building and sustaining American military power, and the industrial difficulties of replenishing and expanding current stockpiles. A war with Beijing wouldn’t be decided primarily with high-end weapons systems but with the traditional elements of military power.
A new cold war has begun. At its heart is a fundamental disagreement between the U.S. and China over the structure of Asian security considerations. The original Cold War’s antagonism stemmed from Soviet insistence that Washington remove itself from Europe and Eurasia more broadly. China’s strategic effort to deny U.S. forces access to international waters where a naval conflict could occur, its increasing numbers of military bases around the world, and its growing ability to interrupt logistic communications with America’s Indo-Pacific allies demonstrate that Beijing has the same ambition today. Just as Soviet Russia sought to destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and thereby eliminate U.S. political engagement in Western Europe, communist China now seeks to capture Taiwan and to fragment the U.S. alliance system in Asia.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/29/belarus-russia-tactical-nuclear-weapons/
Belarus should not be the Kremlin’s nuclear sandbox
Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus marks yet another worrisome episode of saber-rattling.
By the Editorial Board
March 29, 2023

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/29/china/china-blogger-sentenced-program-think-intl-mic-hnk
An influential Chinese blogger disappeared from the internet. This woman says she knows why
By Nectar Gan, CNN
Updated 10:20 AM EDT, Wed March 29, 2023
For 12 years, Program Think, an anonymous Chinese blogger, mounted an open challenge to China’s tightening authoritarian grip and expanding surveillance state.
The freewheeling blog offered a mixture of technical cybersecurity advice and scathing political commentary – including tips on how to safely circumvent China’s Great Firewall of internet censorship, develop critical thinking and resist the increasingly totalitarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
The blogger took pride in their ability to cover their digital tracks and avoid getting caught – even as a growing number of government critics were ensnared in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s strident crackdown on dissent.
Then, in May 2021, Program Think suddenly went silent.
The blog stopped updating and its Twitter and GitHub accounts turned dormant. Its author had promised followers to never stay inactive for more than 14 days. Many feared the blogger had been struck by an accident or illness, or tracked down and detained by authorities.
Speculation abounded, yet no one was able to offer concrete evidence.
Program Think had so closely guarded their identity that no supporters knew who the blogger was – except that they had been a programmer inside mainland China with a decade-long career in information security.
Now, almost two years later, the wife of a blogger recently sentenced to seven years in a Chinese prison for “inciting subversion of state power” believes she has the answer to the question: What happened to Program Think?

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/30/chinas-growing-influence-threatens-to-undermine-global-human-rights.html
China’s growing influence threatens to undermine global human rights, new research finds
PUBLISHED WED, MAR 29 2023
Karen Gilchrist
China’s growing global influence poses a serious threat to international human rights, according to a new report, which suggests the UNHRC is failing to counter such risks.
Verisk Maplecroft’s study said the UNHRC had become a “battleground for competing standards,” with China and allied member states showing signs of “watering down international action.”
It also found that Beijing is using its economic power to sway council votes, with grantees of China’s “Belt & Road Initiative” most susceptible to influence.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/30/ukraine-war-how-russias-support-is-growing-in-the-developing-world.html
‘It’s not a pretty picture’: Russia’s support is growing in the developing world
PUBLISHED THU, MAR 30 2023
Elliot Smith
A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit earlier this month assessed that net support for Russia had grown in the year since the invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow ramps up its courtship of previously neutral or geopolitically unaligned countries.
Assessing countries’ enforcement of sanctions, U.N. voting patterns, domestic political trends and official statements alongside economic, political, military and historical ties, the EIU determined that the past year saw an increase in countries leaning towards Russia from 25 to 36.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/28/killer-drones-turkeys-growing-defense-industry-is-boosting-its-global-clout.html
Killer drones and multi-billion dollar deals: Turkey’s rapidly-growing defense industry is boosting its global clout
PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 28 2023
Natasha Turak
Turkey’s revenue from overseas defense exports rose by 42% between 2020 and 2021, with foreign contracts making up as much as 90% of revenue for some companies.
The powerful Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drone has won fame for its role in helping Ukrainian forces devastate Russia’s initial offensive.
The industry transformation has its roots in the early 2000s, when Ankara outlined a strategy to build a modern and self-sustained defense sector.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/29/us-china-tech-rivalry-will-put-chinese-firms-under-scrutiny.html
U.S.-China tech rivalry will continue to put Chinese firms under intense scrutiny
PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 28 2023
Sheila Chiang
Chinese companies will continue to face scrutiny as U.S.-China tensions are not dying down.
“There is this intense geopolitical competition. Chinese companies are getting a ton of scrutiny in part because of their ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging tech at the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Tuesday.
She added that U.S. and Chinese technological ecosystems are “intertwined” and it will not be easy to “decouple” both ecosystems.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/us-military-why-force-fails
Why Force Fails
The Dismal Track Record of U.S. Military Interventions
By Jennifer Kavanagh and Bryan Frederick
March 30, 2023
Finally, policymakers need more detailed and timely information to assess the military power of the United States’ adversaries and partners, which the intelligence services have often struggled to provide. In advance of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, for example, the U.S. government overestimated Russian military strength and underestimated Ukrainian capabilities. As a result, policymakers expected—and even started planning for—a swift Russian victory. Developing a more reliable understanding of the military capabilities of other adversaries and partners must become a top priority for the intelligence community. Analysts need to do more than count tanks, ships, and aircraft; they also need to take into account more sophisticated assessments of the social, economic, and industrial foundations of a country’s military power, the political and strategic culture of that power, and its commitment to fighting.
Future U.S. military interventions are likely, but costly failures need not be. A more effective policy requires Washington to rethink its view of military intervention: it is not a hammer for all nails but a specialized tool best used sparingly and carefully.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/xi-jinping-says-he-preparing-china-war
Xi Jinping Says He Is Preparing China for War
The World Should Take Him Seriously
By John Pomfret and Matt Pottinger
March 29, 2023
One thing that is clear a decade into Xi’s rule is that it is important to take him seriously—something that many U.S. analysts regrettably do not do. When Xi launched a series of aggressive campaigns against corruption, private enterprise, financial institutions, and the property and tech sectors, many analysts predicted that these campaigns would be short-lived. But they endured. The same was true of Xi’s draconian “zero COVID” policy for three years—until he was uncharacteristically forced to reverse course in late 2022.
Xi is now intensifying a decadelong campaign to break key economic and technological dependencies on the U.S.-led democratic world. He is doing so in anticipation of a new phase of ideological and geostrategic “struggle,” as he puts it. His messaging about war preparation and his equating of national rejuvenation with unification mark a new phase in his political warfare campaign to intimidate Taiwan. He is clearly willing to use force to take the island. What remains unclear is whether he thinks he can do so without risking uncontrolled escalation with the United States.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/russia-ukraine-war-lumbering-agile
Agile Ukraine, Lumbering Russia
The Promise and Limits of Military Adaptation
By Margarita Konaev and Owen J. Daniels
March 28, 2023
uring more than 13 months of war against one of the world’s largest armies, Ukraine’s military has continually stood out for one quality in particular: its ability to adapt. Over and over, Ukraine has nimbly responded to changing battlefield dynamics and exploited emerging technologies to capitalize on Russia’s mistakes. Despite their limited experience with advanced weapons technology, Ukrainian soldiers quickly graduated from point-and-shoot Javelin and Stinger missile systems to the more sophisticated High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which they have used to pummel Russian command centers, logistical assets, and ammunition depots.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/29/ukraine-russia-war-eastern-europe-european-leadership/
Ukraine Has Shifted Europe’s East-West Fault Line
Eastern Europe is in the driver’s seat. The West should buckle up.
MARCH 29, 2023, 3:58 PM
By Jack Detsch, Amy Mackinnon, and Robbie Gramer
More than a year after Russia’s invasion, Europe is indelibly marked by the largest land war on the continent in a generation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, overcoming a diffuse three-party coalition and the ugly World War II-era connotations of German tanks being sent to fight Russia, is massing Berlin’s largest military buildup in 70 years. The Baltic states have seen the attitude change in the West. They’re worried it won’t stick.
“Almost every Western leader has said, ‘We should have listened to you.’ We’re not happy about that, but that’s the reality,” Kaljurand said.
“Now the question comes, is it only in words, or are you really going to listen to us so that in a year or two we will not be back in business with Russia as we were before the 24th of February?”

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/arsenal-democracies-can-best-china-russia-iran-axis-206358
An Arsenal of Democracies Can Best the China-Russia-Iran Axis
By bringing its allies together, the United States can confront the gravest threat the free world has faced since the end of the Cold War.
by Arthur Herman
March 29, 2023

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland-when-great-power-competition-meets-digital-world/banning-tiktok-would-close-china%E2%80%99s
Banning TikTok Would Close China’s Social Media Backdoor
After months of bipartisan discussion, the federal government is finally taking TikTok’s national security threats seriously.
by Rachel Chiu
March 28, 2023

https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/implications-of-dalai-lama-identifying-new-head-of-tibetan-buddhism-in-mongolia/
Implications of Dalai Lama Identifying New Head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia
His move, which adds a twist to the Tibetan power struggle with China, will have to be endorsed by the Mongolian clergy for broader acceptance.
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
March 29, 2023

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https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288338.shtml
Boao Forum for Asia displays genuine opening-up: Global Times editorial
By Global Times
Published: Mar 31, 2023
When the world is facing a crossroads of high uncertainty, a new community of shared future for Asia will surely become an anchor of peace and stability, a source of growth impetus, and a new highland of cooperation. It may encounter some backlash, but the overall trend is unstoppable.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288297.shtml
Large corporations-controlled US has no real democracy
By Global Times
Published: Mar 30, 2023
The US is functionally not a democracy. It’s a plutocracy. It’s a system in which the rich can buy representation in the government. It’s a system in which large corporations can essentially buy politicians.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288288.shtml
McCarthyism is back, in word, deed and name
I am concerned about America as a country. I want it to do well. But as long as America continues to adopt and implement these kind of policies that has a boomerang effect on its own citizens, in this case, Chinese American citizens, it will fail. I just don’t want to see it. That’s why I’m fighting to make sure we do the right thing and make sure that America continues to be a good country for us Chinese Americans to live in and work in and where our children will grow and have happy families.
By Global Times | 2023/3/30

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288247.shtml
Tsai will find herself in a more difficult situation after US transit: Global Times editorial
It’s clear that the mainstream public on the island hopes for peaceful relations across the Straits, and there is deep concern about the tendency of the DPP authorities to trample on the red line and cause tensions to escalate or even start a conflict. As patriotic compatriots on both sides of the Straits are making the greatest effort to realize peaceful reunification, the “Taiwan independence” movement is becoming increasingly unpopular on the island. An increasing number of people on the island realize that reunification is beneficial, “Taiwan independence” is a dead end, and the US is unreliable.
By Global Times | 2023/3/29

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288225.shtml
McCarthy’s planned meeting with Tsai is insane in repeating the same mistake
A kinetic war between the US and China is now on the horizon. There is little time for the US to credibly change course before the first shots are exchanged by accident or design. It is a fatal mistake for the US or any outsider to act on the false belief that the status of the Taiwan island is or ever has been negotiable.
By Franz Gayl | 2023/3/29

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288340.shtml
China launches four satellites, establishing first wheel-pattern formation in space
China successfully launched four interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) satellites developed by Chinese private satellite developer GalaxySpace using the CZ-2D rocket at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China’s Shanxi Province on Thursday, forming the first wheel-pattern satellite formation in the world, GalaxySpace told the Global Times on Thursday.
By Global Times | 2023/3/31

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288233.shtml
China’s ‘space greenhouse’ grows more crops with improved yield, quality
With the China Manned Space Agency’s announcement on Thursday of an open call for space breeding experimental projects, China’s “space greenhouse” is ready to embrace the planting of more new species, as recent years have seen a significant increase in the variety of crops that have toured around space. Many of these crops have already entered ordinary households and are served on dinner tables, and space breeding is playing a greater role in contributing to China’s food security.
By Deng Xiaoci and Fan Anqi | 2023/3/29

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288163.shtml
Chinese space telescopes accurately measure brightest gamma-ray burst ever detected, highlighting power of international cooperation
Together with 40 other research institutions worldwide, the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released its latest discoveries on Wednesday, including the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected by humans.
By Xu Yelu | 2023/3/29

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288152.shtml
Scientists find hints of new source of water in lunar soil samples from Chang’e-5 mission
Chinese scientists and their international partners have learned more about the moon after studies and research into lunar soil samples from the Chang’e-5’s (CE-5) mission. In the two latest discoveries, researchers found hints of a new source of water on the moon for future explorers and revealed the activities of young basalt on the moon. The Chang’e-5 mission brought 1,731 grams of lunar minerals back to Earth. The landing site in the Northeastern Oceanus Procellarum basin (43.06°N, 51.92°W) of the moon was considered to have one of the youngest basalt units on the lunar surface with rich heat-generating elements such as uranium, thorium and potassium.
By Global Times | 2023/3/28

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288292.shtml
CPC to launch Party-wide education campaign on Xi Jinping thought
The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has decided to launch a Party-wide thematic education campaign starting from April to study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
By Xinhua | 2023/3/30

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288100.shtml
China issues report revealing landmark setback for US human rights in 2022; American people’s basic rights, freedoms undermined
China’s State Council Information Office on Tuesday issued the Report on Human Rights Violations in the US in 2022, revealing human rights legislation and justice have seen an extreme regression, further undermining the basic rights and freedoms of the American people.
By Global Times | 2023/3/28

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288209.shtml
Global Security Initiative revisited at Boao, highlights Chinese wisdom and leadership in turbulent world
The Global Security Initiative (GSI) was revisited at the Boao Forum for Asia 2023, one year after it was raised at the forum’s 2022 annual conference by President Xi Jinping, when delegates discussed the ideal approach as well as China’s role in tackling global and regional security challenges.
By Zhang Han and Hu Yuwei in Boao | 2023/3/29

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288322.shtml
Blue Book on international situation, China’s diplomacy released
Focusing on building a community with a shared future for mankind, China’s diplomacy in 2022 made new contributions to safeguarding world peace and promoting common development by standing strong in times of change and forging ahead despite headwinds, said the China Institute of International Studies in a blue book on the international situation and China’s diplomacy released in Beijing on Thursday.
By Wan Hengyi | 2023/3/30

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288312.shtml
India’s obstruction main obstacle to solving China-Bhutan border disputes: experts
China and Bhutan hopefully will settle their border disputes in a few rounds of talks, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering has revealed. Chinese experts embraced the progress and noted that the border disputes between the two countries are very minor, but they have not been formally demarcated because of India’s obstruction.
By GT staff reporters | 2023/3/30

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288293.shtml
CoC negotiation window narrowing amid external disturbance in S. China Sea
The window for negotiation on a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea has been narrowing amid the increasingly complicated and intense situation on the sea, delegates said at a sub-forum of the Boao Forum for Asia on Thursday, calling on regional countries to enhance solidarity and stay alert to external forces.
By Zhang Han in Boao | 2023/3/30

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288208.shtml
Whatever Japan’s textbook says, the fact that Diaoyu Islands belong to China won’t change: Chinese FM
China is deeply concerned about Japan’s insidious moves on historical and territorial issues when authorizing textbooks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
By Global Times | 2023/3/29

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1288136.shtml
US maintains intensive military ops around China with 1,000 close-in recon attempts in 2022 despite Ukraine crisis: report
The US has maintained intensive military activities around China despite the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, a situation that experts said on Tuesday will only provoke China and lead to more countermeasures that go against the US’ wishful thinking. Even against the background of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US military stressed military deterrence against China, maintained a high level of close-in reconnaissance operations in the South China Sea, and sent vessels and aircraft through the Taiwan Straits, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Beijing-based think tank, said in an annual report on US military activities in the South China Sea last year, which was published on Monday.
By Liu Xuanzun | 2023/3/28