
US-China Tech Fight Widens After Taiwan Blacklists Huawei
Taiwan joined a yearslong US campaign to curtail China's technological ascent when it blacklisted the country's AI and chipmaking champions, an unprecedented step that may signal a resurgent effort to isolate its powerful neighbor's semiconductor sector.
Taipei this month added Huawei Technologies Co. and its main chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. to its entity list, barring the island's firms from doing business with the pair without a license. It was the first time Taiwanese officials have used that blacklist to sanction major Chinese firms, taking a cue from a longstanding US approach of blocking access to advanced technologies.

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The Verge
36 minutes ago
- The Verge
Trump is giving TikTok another ban extension
For the third time, President Donald Trump will extend the deadline for TikTok to spin out from its Chinese parent company or face a US ban. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a statement Tuesday that Trump will sign an executive order this week extending the deadline another 90 days, landing the new deadline in mid-September. The Trump administration will spend the next 90 days 'working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,' Leavitt said. The extension, first signed on January 20th, theoretically offers legal cover for TikTok's US service providers who are subject to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act from the hundreds of billions in penalties they could face for keeping the app online and in US app stores. But that legal cover was already shaky given that Trump's extensions are not codified into the law, which was passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan vote in Congress, and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court. As The Verge previously reported, ByteDance and an Oracle-led coalition had nearly hammered out a deal in April, but Trump's tariffs abruptly blew up the tentative agreement. While trade tensions between the US and China have simmered down, there's been no recent news about resurrecting that deal or another one. Even when a sale seemed likely, it was unclear whether China would allow ByteDance to sell the valuable algorithm that powers TikTok's video recommendations. 'The whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn't move from out of Beijing's hands' Several lawmakers, including those who've criticized a divest-or-ban law for TikTok and ByteDance, have warned that Trump's repeated extensions are untenable and illegal. After Trump's last extension in April, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) told The Verge the move was 'against the law' and said 'the whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn't move from out of Beijing's hands.' Even before the second extension, Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), who oppose a ban of TikTok, wrote Trump that it would be 'unacceptable and unworkable for your Administration to continue ignoring the requirements in the law.' They warned, 'any further extensions of the TikTok deadline will require Oracle, Apple, Google, and other companies to continue risking ruinous legal liability, a difficult decision to justify in perpetuity.' That's because TikTok service providers in the US can be fined for facilitating access to the app after the ban deadline, and Trump's extensions fall outside of the mechanisms allowed for in the law. So far, however, these companies appear to be relying on assurances from the administration that they won't be sued for keeping TikTok online, although it reportedly took a letter from the US attorney general herself to assuage Apple and Google's concerns. A court could evaluate whether Trump's actions are legal, but only if somebody sues to stop the extension — and so far, nobody has. Earlier this month, though, a Google shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly failing to share internal records about its decision to flout the law under the Justice Department's assurances. The same shareholder had already filed suit against the DOJ for allegedly failing to share information about its decision not to enforce the law against Apple and Google. While members of Trump's party generally haven't gone so far as to call his extensions illegal, a dozen House Republicans said in a statement in April that 'any resolution must ensure that U.S. law is followed, and that the Chinese Communist Party does not have access to American user data or the ability to manipulate the content consumed by Americans.' Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told reporters that month that Trump 'ought to enforce the statute and ban TikTok. This middle way, I don't think is viable.' But it's not clear what would prevent Trump from approving indefinite extensions or a deal that doesn't meet the letter of the law. As Hawley acknowledged while speaking to reporters in April, 'Congress, we don't have an enforcement arm of our own.'


The Hill
42 minutes ago
- The Hill
White House says Trump will push TikTok deadline another 90 days
President Trump will sign another executive order this week extending the deadline for TikTok's parent company to divest the video sharing app, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. 'As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,' Leavitt said in a statement shared with The Hill. 'This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.' Leavitt's confirmation came just hours after Trump said earlier in the day he would likely extend the divesture deadline to prevent a ban on TikTok from taking effect in the United States. When asked whether he would give the popular video-sharing platform another extension, the president told reporters aboard Air Force One, 'Probably, yeah.' 'Probably have to get China approval, but I think we'll get it,' Trump said as he traveled back from the Group of Seven summit in Canada. 'I think President Xi [Jinping] will ultimately approve it.' The expected order will mark the third extension from Trump since he took office in January. The law requiring TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the platform or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores was signed by former President Biden last year. The law initially went into effect on Jan. 19 — the day before Trump was sworn into his second term — causing the platform to go dark for a few hours after the Supreme Court upheld the divest-or-ban law. But the platform was quickly brought back online after Trump pledged to issue an executive order once back in office to give the company an extension. The president made good on that promise, giving TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance 75 days beyond the initial January deadline to divest form the platform amid national security concerns. The White House finalized a deal on TikTok in early April, but it fell apart when Trump announced sweeping new 'reciprocal' tariffs, including significant import taxes on Chinese goods. The president extended the TikTok deadline by another 75 days, which was set to expire on June 19. Brett Samuels contributed reporting.

Travel Weekly
44 minutes ago
- Travel Weekly
Air India Dreamliners pass enhanced safety checks
India's civil aviation regulator has completed enhanced safety checks on 24 of Air India's 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners without finding "any major safety concerns." "The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement Tuesday. The agency undertook the inspections in the wake of the June 12 crash of Air India Flight 171, operated with a Dreamliner, which killed 270 people aboard and on the ground. The DGCA planned to complete two additional inspections on Tuesday, after the release of its statement, and another one on Wednesday. Among Air India's six other Dreamliners, four are in maintenance hangars for work and two are currently grounded and out of service in Delhi. The DGCA will conduct safety checks on each of those planes before they return to operation. Air India Dreamliner turns back after takeoff On Monday, four days after the Flight 171 crash, an Air India Dreamliner bound for Delhi turned back to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff due to an unspecified technical issue. Air India has canceled 66 scheduled Dreamliner flights since June 12, the DGCA noted, with 432 having been scheduled. The agency recommended that Air India ensure availability of adequate spare aircraft to mitigate passenger delays while maintenance-related issues continue.