China slams US 'bullying' over new chip export controls
BEIJING: Beijing condemned on Wednesday (May 21) new US chip export controls as "bullying", warning it would take steps against measures aimed at restricting Chinese access to high-tech semiconductors and supply chains.
"The US measures are typical unilateral bullying and protectionism, which seriously undermine the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain and supply chain," Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement.
Washington last week unveiled fresh guidelines warning firms that using Chinese-made high-tech AI semiconductors, most notably tech giant Huawei's Ascend chips, would put them at risk of violating US export controls.
The commerce department said its policy was aimed at sharing American AI technology "with trusted foreign countries around the world, while keeping the technology out of the hands of our adversaries".
Beijing condemned the move, accusing the US of "abusing export controls to suppress and contain China".
"These actions seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and endanger China's development interests," the commerce ministry said.
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CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Commentary: South Korea's presidential election does not fix the country's polarisation
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And the South Korean conservative party – of which Yoon was a member – faces an internal crisis. It hesitated to fully condemn Yoon's martial law power grab. It is probably best for South Korea's long-term democratic stability that the left won. The right needs to publicly and more credibly commit to democratic processes before it can be trusted with power again. Nevertheless, a robust left-wing policy drive on the back of unified progressive government would be a mistake. Despite its defeat in the election, the South Korean right significantly overperformed expectations. Mr Lee won legitimately and is the country's rightful president, but he does not have a mandate for wide-ranging liberal governance. SOUTH KOREA'S CHRONIC POLARISATION In 1974, US President Richard Nixon resigned the presidency three months before Congressional elections. Mr Nixon had been disgraced by Watergate scandal and would have been impeached had he not resigned. Mr Nixon was a Republican, and his departure led to a massive Republican defeat that year – what political science refers to as a 'wave election' (for the Democrats). Then, there were enough swing voters to swing hard against the Republican party, punishing it for Watergate. This did not happen in South Korea. Despite a conservative scandal equal to or worse than Watergate – it is unclear how long Yoon intended to suspend constitutional governance – almost no conservative or independent voters defected to Mr Lee. This is remarkable, and somewhat worrisome. It suggests that right-left polarisation in South Korea is so intense that even a partisan challenge to foundational democratic values cannot shake loose many voters from their ideological camps. Thankfully for South Korean democracy, the South Korean left did squeak into a majority. Mr Lee polled 49.42 per cent of the vote, and a factional leftist candidate received 0.98 per cent of the vote, totaling 50.4 per cent of the vote for parties which publicly and vigorously rejected the martial law declaration. The two candidates of the right polled a combined 49.49 per cent of the vote. And while both did eventually condemn the martial law declaration, they danced around the topic as much as possible to avoid alienating diehard Yoon supporters. A substantial slice of South Korean opinion – at least 30 per cent – rejected Yoon's impeachment, despite a large majority impeachment vote in the legislature and a unanimous removal vote by the country's high court. LEE SHOULD GOVERN HIS FRACTURED COUNTRY WITH CARE Deep partisan polarisation – unmoved even by a constitutional crisis – is deeply worrisome. Divisions of that depth can fuel violence or civil conflict. 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CNA
an hour ago
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
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Beijing, Shanghai, Bengaluru, Tokyo, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston, Toronto, Paris and London complete the top dozen powerhouses in the study compiled by real estate services firm CBRE. Singapore, with 45 per cent of its 4.3 million working-age population having at least a university degree, ranked behind only Ireland and Switzerland in education levels. Mr Ravi Nippani, head of regional industries and solutions at Mercer Asia, said CBRE's findings align with its own survey out in March that ranked Singapore third in Asia after China and India in the number of reported tech jobs. 'Singapore's tech ecosystem is quite mature and vibrant in terms of roles, encompassing both front-line and supporting positions,' he said. 'When compared with the sheer size of the working population in China and India, Singapore is more than punching its weight and can rightly be given powerhouse status.' Overall, Asia-Pacific hosts the largest tech talent pools, with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Tokyo reporting having more than 500,000 tech professionals each. Labour was singled out as the biggest cost for tech firms, with software developers in San Francisco and New York commanding the highest annual base pay, at US$177,273 (S$228,600) and US$158,387, respectively. Software engineers in Singapore earn annual base salaries of US$111,000, but with rent among the costliest in the world, they fork out over 29 per cent of that to landlords. Mr Jonathan Lasenby, head of technology and telecoms at executive search firm Ethos BeathChapman, noted two cost-related red flags in the report: Singapore ranks second globally for office rent and seventh for apartment rent. 'Together, they contribute to higher operational costs, driven by both rental overheads and salary expectations,' he said. 'This challenges Singapore's positioning relative to other tech powerhouse markets. Candidates may increasingly weigh cost of living when deciding where to live and work, especially as remote work and distributed teams become more viable.' Singapore has to anchor high-value strategic jobs that are not easily replicated, such as AI, product innovation and research teams, and regional leadership and strategy functions, Mr Lasenby said. These strategies have been incorporated into the country's AI Strategy 2.0 and government support for research and development, education, and innovation hubs, he added. Ms Rohini Saluja, CBRE's head of consulting and integrated client solutions for Asia-Pacific, expects many more emerging markets to graduate to the 'established' tier by 2028, even though she forecasts that the powerhouse list will remain mostly unchanged. 'You start seeing a lot of new tech hubs. 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How the region retains its talent instead of losing it to the West, which is happening today as skilled workers gravitate to countries with higher quality of living, will be a challenge. As geopolitics and the rise of AI erect fences in not only trade, but also talent flow, Ms Saluja has seen a rise in clients prioritising talent: 'That is the biggest change I have seen over the last 18 months. 'More and more companies are first looking at labour strategies, workforce distribution strategies, before they are making decisions on locations.' Singapore can take a leaf out of the multinational playbook and build talent pools overseas, then tap them through partnerships such as the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. This will ease some of the pressures to import foreign talent. 'You can't keep moving people and creating other issues. All you can do is create scale through these partnerships,' Ms Saluja said. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
