The US wants to improve its position vis-a-vis China for the long game. The aim is not direct confrontation, but the quiet reshaping of the global economy in support of long-term US power. The strategic effect of the Iran war is the gradual reorientation of energy centrality away from the Gulf and towards the Atlantic basin.
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Liu Runjie, a fourth-year electronic engineering student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was part of a maritime exchange programme with 20 young people from China and the United States. They visited Ningbo in Zhejiang province and Shanghai for two weeks in March and April. They wrote to the Chinese president to share their experiences. Xi Jinping wrote back and encouraged them to continue cultural exchanges.
The manufacturing purchasing manager's index (PMI) was 50.0 in May, down from 50.3 in April and 50.4 in March. The new orders sub-index dropped to 49.9, while the sub- index on production edged down to 51.2 from 51.5 in April. The index for raw material stockpiles fell to 48.6 from 49.3. China has been less affected by the global energy shock from the Iran war than many other countries.
Shinjirō Koizumi rejects accusations from China that Tokyo's recent defense buildup amounts to a "new militarism" while emphasizing that the "door is always open" to bilateral dialogue. He also criticized China's rapidly expanding military footprint and high level of defense spending for its lack of transparency. Japan is deepening security ties with other Indo-Pacific nations concerned by Beijing's maritime ambitions, including moving forward with military equipment transfers to the Philippines.
GE Appliances will start producing clothes washer and dryer in the U.S. next spring. It will be a milestone in GE's $6.5 billion, 13-year bid to boost domestic manufacturing. GE Appliances was sold to China's Haier Group for $5.6 billion in 2016.
The initiative builds on the growing convergence of artificial intelligence and finance. It will help channel and leverage offshore renminbi capital into cutting-edge technology and emerging industries. The initiative aligns with the nation’s latest five-year plan, which calls for Hong Kong to enhance its role as an international financial hub and expand its off-shore yuan business.
Teodoro delivered strong words for China in the final panel of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore. He took aim at Manila’s long-time maritime rival for disregarding an international arbitral tribunal which ruled in favour of the Philippines in 2016. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China have been negotiating the code since 2002 to reduce tensions in the contested waterway by setting rules for maritime behaviour and crisis management. Talks have repeatedly stalled over the years amid tensions over territorial claims and competing national interests.
India and China fought a war in 1962. China's rise has heightened concerns among its neighbours, including India. Vijay Gokhale, India's former foreign secretary, writes in his new book, China's Wars, that India needs to prepare for a prolonged period of armed coexistence with China.