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☆ China’s coast guard has triggered ‘panic’ in Taiwan. That’s only part of Beijing’s plan
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | Wayne Chang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“It’s super scary,” a passenger told Taiwan’s United Daily News in a video upon returning to shore under the escort of a Taiwanese coast guard ship on Monday. “(The Chinese coast guard) chose a tourist vessel because it’s high profile – you would expect lots of people on the boat with cameras and phones,” he said. The stakes are high, as the increased presence and closer proximity of Chinese and Taiwanese coast guard vessels raise the specter of miscalculations that could potentially spiral into open conflict. Speaking to reporters about the inspection by the Chinese coast guard, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-kcheng highlighted such risks, saying the defense ministry is “very concerned” about potential miscalculations. Taiwan's coast guard inspects a vessel that capsized during a chase off the coast of Kinmen on February 14, 2024.

Persons: King Xia, ” Kuan, Taiwan’s, Ian Chong, Chong, ”, “ They’re, Chiu Kuo, Lai Ching, China’s, Nancy Pelosi’s, Tian Feilong, It’s, Tian, “, Lai Organizations: Taipei CNN, Taiwan’s United Daily News, Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, Democratic Progressive Party, National University of Singapore, South China, Taiwan’s, Taiwan Coast Guard Administration Locations: Hong Kong, Taipei, Taiwanese, Kinmen, China’s, Beijing, Taiwan, Xiamen, China, East, South, Taiwan's, Nauru, Taiwan Strait

☆ 2024 Taiwanese presidential election: There will likely be four candidates, academic says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via Email2024 Taiwanese presidential election: There will likely be four candidates, academic saysJa Ian Chong, a non-resident fellow at Carnegie China, says it's unlikely that independent candidate Terry Gou will drop out of the race at this point.

Persons: Ja Ian Chong, Terry Gou Organizations: Carnegie China

Newly installed Foreign Minister Qin Gang vanished with scant explanation in July, the same month as an abrupt shake-up of the military's elite Rocket Force, which oversees China's nuclear arsenal. China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. PROXIMITY ISN'T PATRONAGERegarding Defence Minister Li's disappearance and investigation, a ministry spokeswoman told reporters on Friday she was not aware of the situation. With corruption long permeating China's military and state institutions, some analysts and diplomats believe Xi's anti-graft crackdowns mark political purges across the Communist Party. If Li's fate "reflects Xi's increasingly inward focus, it is not good for those of us who want greater openness and lines of communications with China's military," said one Asian diplomat.

Persons: Xi Jinping, GIANLUIGI, Xi Jinping's, Li Shangfu, Qin Gang, Drew Thompson, Thompson, Li's, Li, Helena Legarda, Alexander Neill, Zhang Youxia, Lloyd Austin, Austin, Ja Ian Chong, Chong, Greg Torode, Martin Quin Pollard, William Mallard Organizations: Rights, Reuters, Foreign, Rocket Force, Pentagon, National University of Singapore, State Council and Defence Ministry, People's Liberation Army, PLA, Communist Party, Mercator Institute for China Studies, Hawaii's, Military Commission, Washington, U.S . Defence, Pacific ., East, South China Seas, Thomson Locations: Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, Rights BEIJING, India, China, Russia, Belarus, Beijing, Jakarta, Berlin, Singapore, Washington, Asia, Pacific, Taiwan, South, East China, South China, Hong Kong

☆ Vice President Harris will face doubts and dysfunction at the Southeast Asian nations summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It's Harris' third trip to Southeast Asia and fourth to Asia overall, and she's touched down in more countries there than any other continent. This latest journey is another opportunity for Harris to burnish her foreign policy credentials as she prepares for a bruising campaign year. Her office has not yet detailed her schedule, but she's expected to attend summit events and hold individual talks with some foreign leaders. U.S. officials and analysts believe Beijing's aggressive approach to the region has created an opening for Washington to forge stronger partnerships. Stilwell served as the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs under President Donald Trump.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Loy, Kent Nishimura, she'll, Joe Biden's, It's Harris, she's, Harris, She's, Biden, John Kirby, he's, Marty Natalegawa, Natalegawa, Kirby, Phil Gordon, there's, Gordon, Ian Chong, It's, Gregory B, Poling, David Stilwell, Stilwell, Donald Trump Organizations: Cabinet, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, U.S ., ASEAN, Loy Henderson International Conference, U.S . Department of State, Los Angeles Times, Getty, Democratic, Republican, White House, of Southeast Asian Nations, Washington, National University of Singapore, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Bureau, East, Pacific Affairs Locations: U.S, Washington , DC, Southeast Asia, Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia, Washington, India, Vietnam, Myanmar, South China, United States, China, Philippines, Cambodia, South, Beijing, People's Republic of China, East Asian

☆ The GPT college classroom is almost here, but professors say AI isn't the real threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But some educators say the real threat isn't AI, but a "lagging and outdated approach to education." Rebecca Tan, a political science lecturer at the National University of Singapore, told Insider AI detection tools can be "notoriously inaccurate." Instead of relying on AI detection tools, educators need to get innovative as AI tools become ubiquitous — through ideas like having students submit the introductions to their essays first, Tan said. AdvertisementAdvertisementJonas said the key is to embrace AI tools in the classroom and teach students how to fact-check ChatGPT's responses. The real threat to education isn't AI, it's boring lessonsWhen asked about threats to education, Nanyang Technological University's Ang said: "AI tools are not the threat — a lagging and outdated approach to education is."

Persons: Madison White, Ian Chong, Rebecca Tan, OpenAI, Tan, Chong, Michael Rivera, Shannon Ang, Kai Jonas, Jonas, We've, Joana Cook, Ang, National University of Singapore's Tan, Hong Kong University's Rivera Organizations: Stetson University, Wall Street, National University of Singapore, Schools, Hong, Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, shouldn't, Maastricht University, Leiden University, Johns Hopkins University, Nanyang Technological, National University of Singapore's Locations: Florida, Singapore, Netherlands, Hong Kong, United States, Nanyang, Hong

“They all have incentives to play things down and make it all look normal,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. While Mr. Putin was able to defuse the crisis by agreeing to allow mercenary leader, Yegveny V. Prigozhin, to leave for Belarus, the brief insurrection raised questions about his authority and future. Speaking at his first international forum since the mutiny, Mr. Putin thanked the member states for their backing after the uprising, which he claimed had no popular support in Russia. “United by the deep responsibility for the fate of the motherland, Russian political circles and all of society showed a united front against the attempted armed mutiny,” Mr. Putin said. He also sought to cast the summit as a sign of international support for his invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: ”, Ian Chong, Putin, Wagner, Yegveny, Mr Organizations: National University of Singapore, “, U.S Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine

☆ China's Xi Jinping was filmed lecturing Justin Trudeau in an awkward exchange. It offers a rare glimpse into Xi's personal style of diplomacy.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"That's not appropriate," Xi told Trudeau on Wednesday at the G20 summit in Indonesia. The 40-second video, captured by a Canadian news cameraman, offers a rare glimpse into Xi's personal style of diplomacy. "Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper, that's not appropriate," Xi told Trudeau, per a translator who was with Xi during the exchange. "Otherwise, it will be hard to say what will happen," the Chinese leader said. Remarking on his exchange with Xi, Trudeau said that "not every conversation is going to be easy," per The Globe and Mail.

It was a rare, candid glimpse of the Chinese leader and a reminder of Beijing's testy relations with the West. Besides Biden, Trudeau and Australia's Anthony Albanese, Xi also met the leaders of South Korea, Italy, Argentina, Holland and France for bilateral talks in Bali. Xi was ferried around Bali in his own Hongqi (Red Flag) limousine - Mao Zedong used an earlier model - China's version of the U.S. presidential "Beast" limo. Returning to in-person diplomacy also gives Xi a platform to push Chinese initiatives that further cement its stature as leader of the emerging world. "I think in the coming years you'll see China indeed making a serious effort to implement its major power diplomacy," he said.

Three of the four new Standing Committee members owe their political rise to Xi, and the fourth is believed to be closely aligned with him. All but Guangdong party chief Li Xi worked under Xi in the 2000s, either in affluent Zhejiang province or in Shanghai. By excluding Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, both 67, from the party Central Committee and Standing Committee, Xi broke with the "seven-up/eight-down" rule that those aged 67 or under would remain for another five years. No woman has ever made it onto the Standing Committee. NOT TROUBLE-FREEThe run-up to the party congress was hardly smooth, with China facing sharp economic slowdown, frustration over zero-COVID and worsening relations with the West.

☆ China says it's running on a new version of democracy that doesn't rely on elections. Experts say it's just another mind game.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

He first introduced the term "whole-process democracy" to China in a 2019 speech. However, by November that year, "whole-process democracy" was mentioned in 128 People's Daily articles, per CMP. "China's whole-process people's democracy integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy and people's democracy with the will of the state," says China's white paper on the subject, per CGTN. Semantics aside, a key point to note is that "whole-process democracy" plays down the need for elections. Even so, Chong said, whole-process democracy might still help the CCP give the impression that it cares about the average citizen.

But the theme of the event is continuity — of President Xi Jinping as leader, and with that the likelihood of friction with the U.S.-led West. Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, is poised to secure an unprecedented third term at this week’s twice-a-decade National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. “Those achievements have certainly strengthened the president’s leadership.”Under Xi, China’s gross domestic product has more than doubled to $17.7 trillion. Born in Beijing in 1953, Xi enjoyed a privileged youth as the second son of Xi Zhongxun, a Chinese communist revolutionary. “The long-term goals of President Xi, as well as general attitudes in the West, will make it very difficult for us to have more cooperation during his third term,” she said.

"Given the economic and social strain caused by sticking to an increasingly unpopular COVID zero policy, Xi's speech might sound defensive to many Chinese citizens, insisting that the Party has their best interests in mind. ALFRED WU, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE"It is obvious that security is Xi's greatest concern. ZHIWU CHEN, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG"One significant change is to de-emphasise economic development and economic reform. BATES GILL, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF SECURITY STUDIES AND CRIMINOLOGY, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, SYDNEY"This speech said 'continuity' and full speed ahead. "But this was not intended as a policy speech.

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