logo
Chinese aircraft carrier sails east of Iwo Jima for first time

Chinese aircraft carrier sails east of Iwo Jima for first time

China defended the Liaoning's voyage as 'fully in line with international law and practice'. (EPA Images pic)
TOKYO : The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed through waters east of the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, Japan's top government spokesman said today.
Japan would strengthen surveillance and gather necessary information, chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular press briefing in Tokyo.
Japan has also sent 'an appropriate message' to China, Hayashi said without elaborating.
Iwo Jima is located 1,000km south of Tokyo.
A statement by Japan's joint staff over the weekend said that the Liaoning, accompanied by some other ships, sailed in the sea within Japan's exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Japan also confirmed fighter jets and helicopters taking off and landing from Liaoning in the waters southeast of Iwo Jima yesterday.
China's foreign ministry today defended the aircraft carrier's voyage as 'fully in line with international law and practice'.
Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular press briefing that China had 'always pursued a defensive national defence policy' and urged Japan to look at the issue 'objectively and rationally'.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Deal ‘is done', says Trump, as China and US trade truce gets back on track after London talks
Deal ‘is done', says Trump, as China and US trade truce gets back on track after London talks

The Star

time2 hours ago

  • The Star

Deal ‘is done', says Trump, as China and US trade truce gets back on track after London talks

BEIJING: China and the United States agreed to revive a fragile trade truce after two days of talks in London, further defusing tensions between the two geopolitical rivals. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (June 11) that the deal with China 'is done' and that the relationship was 'excellent'. Hours earlier, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, who led the negotiating delegation in London, called on the US to 'stay true to your words', and 'demonstrate good faith in keeping promises'. The agreement, which concluded close to midnight on June 10 in London, followed a roller coaster of rising and easing tensions over non-tariff measures, after both sides agreed in May in Geneva to a 90-day truce that sharply lowered tariffs on each other's goods. The main sticking points since May were Beijing's restrictions on rare earth exports to the US and Washington's curbs on the export of chip design technology to China. In a Truth Social post, Trump said full magnets, along with any necessary rare earth minerals, will be supplied upfront by China. In return, the US will provide to China 'what was agreed to', including allowing Chinese students to attend colleges and universities in the US, which he noted 'has always been good with me!'. Separately, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that the 'framework' reached in London puts 'meat on the bones' of the Geneva agreement, adding that it will still need approval from both leaders. He said Chinese restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent US export restrictions would be removed 'in a balanced way' but did not provide details. China's Vice-Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told reporters after the talks that both countries had agreed on a framework to implement the consensus that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump had reached after a June 5 phone call, as well as May's trade truce. He described the talks as in-depth, professional, rational and frank. 'The progress achieved at the London talks is beneficial to enhancing trust between the two countries, advancing the healthy and stable development of China-US economic ties, as well as provide positive energy to the global economic development,' Li said. Analysts saw the latest talks as positive. Professor Wu Xinbo, director of the Centre for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University, said he expects the US to roll back the non-tariff measures threatened or imposed on China after the Geneva talks, such as revoking visas of Chinese students studying in the US. 'As for the Chinese side, it may accelerate the process of rare earth exports to help resolve the urgent needs of the Americans,' he said. The May agreement was derailed on June 1 when the US accused China of 'slow-rolling' licences for exports of rare earths, which are critical in the production of cars, chips and other products. China dominates the world's rare earth supply chain, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the global mining output and processing about 90 per cent of the total supply – a trump card Beijing has cultivated for decades. However, economist Bert Hofman noted that China's delay in rare earth export licences was partly due to 'bureaucratic inertia'. 'The process was cumbersome and brought issues for industries around the world, not just for the US. So it was not specifically targeted at US companies,' he said. Washington, meanwhile, activated its own levers on China. On May 29, it announced the revocation of visas for Chinese students and issued export control guidelines for AI chips, as well as effectively halting sales of chip design software to China. Chinese tech firms that design chips rely on such foreign software, known as electronic design automation. China's Ministry of Commerce on June 2 criticised these measures as discriminatory and accused the US of violating the consensus of the Geneva talks. Just as all the signs pointed to the breakdown of the truce, the June 5 call between Xi and Trump was widely seen as having reset fraught relations. This was followed on June 7 by China's Ministry of Commerce's announcement that it had approved a number of applications for rare earth exports, and will continue to strengthen the approval process for such applications. Even as the London talks were ongoing, Beijing strategically underscored its resilience. In a front-page interview on the official People's Daily on June 10, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei discussed China's technology and research capabilities, particularly in chips. The Chinese telecommunications equipment giant has emerged as a national champion for areas such as AI chips called the Ascend processors, which Washington has recently warned other countries against using. Asked how he feels about Huawei being under a blockade, Ren said: 'Don't think about the difficulties – just do it, one step at a time.' - The Straits Times/ANN

US intel chief denounces ‘warmongers' after Hiroshima visit
US intel chief denounces ‘warmongers' after Hiroshima visit

Free Malaysia Today

time11 hours ago

  • Free Malaysia Today

US intel chief denounces ‘warmongers' after Hiroshima visit

US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard visited Hiroshima ahead of the 80th anniversary of the world's only atomic bombings. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard warned Tuesday after a trip to Hiroshima that 'warmongers' were pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, in an extraordinary, if veiled, pitch for diplomacy. Gabbard did not specify her concerns, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly brandished the spectre of nuclear war as he cautions Europe and the US against support for Ukraine. Gabbard, a former congresswoman who has faced criticism in the past for her views on Russia, posted a video of grisly footage from the world's first nuclear attack and of her staring reflectively at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. On Aug 6, 1945, the US obliterated Hiroshima, killing 140,000 in the explosion and by the end of the year from the uranium bomb's effects. Three days later, a US plane dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, leaving around 74,000 people dead by the end of the year. Japan surrendered on Aug 15. 'This one bomb that caused so much destruction in Hiroshima was tiny compared to today's nuclear bombs,' Gabbard said. 'A single nuclear weapon today could kill millions in just minutes.' 'As we stand here today closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elites and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,' she said. 'Perhaps it's because they are confident that they will have access to nuclear shelters for themselves and for their families that regular people won't have access to.' Taking a tone more customary for a politician or activist than the director of national intelligence, Gabbard said: 'So it's up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness.' Japanese media reports said the comments were 'extremely rare' for an incumbent US government official, and at odds with Washington's past justification of the bombings. Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's top government spokesman, declined to comment directly on Gabbard's video. But he said an 'accurate understanding' of the destruction and suffering caused by atomic bombs would 'serve as the basis for various efforts toward nuclear disarmament'. 'It's important for Japan to continue its realistic, pragmatic efforts with the United States to realise a nuclear-free world, based on the belief that the carnage in Hiroshima and Nagasaki must not be repeated,' Hayashi said. Gabbard's remarks come as aides to President Donald Trump voice growing frustration with Putin, who has refused US-led, Ukraine-backed calls for a temporary ceasefire. Secretary of state Marco Rubio, whom Gabbard criticised before the two entered Trump's cabinet, has warned that the US could walk away from diplomacy over the Ukraine conflict if there are no positive signs. Gabbard, a former Democrat, faced a heated confirmation hearing but ultimately prevailed after Democrats and some Republicans questioned her past statements, including some supportive of Russian positions. She has said that the EU and Washington should have listened to Russian security concerns about Ukraine joining Nato. Gabbard's visit to Hiroshima comes ahead of the 80th anniversary of the world's only atomic bombings. The US has never apologised for the attacks.

As US trade truce gets back on track, some Chinese exporters are ‘slowly dying'
As US trade truce gets back on track, some Chinese exporters are ‘slowly dying'

Free Malaysia Today

time11 hours ago

  • Free Malaysia Today

As US trade truce gets back on track, some Chinese exporters are ‘slowly dying'

US and Chinese officials agreed yesterday on ways to restore a trade truce and roll back duelling export restrictions. (AP pic) SHANGHAI : Jacky Ren, who owns a kitchen appliance factory in China, says exporters in his industry are now selling at a loss to keep their US clients, with little power to say 'no' to requests for lower prices on products facing higher tariffs. If an exporter does not take such orders, Ren said, 'you will die immediately. So, people think it's better to die slowly'. US and Chinese officials agreed yesterday on ways to restore a trade truce and roll back duelling export restrictions, including on rare earths, where China has a near-monopoly in production and major leverage in the negotiations. However, in the meantime, the pain from US tariffs is deepening in China, especially among smaller exporters such as Ren's Gstar Electronics Appliance Co, which did not move part of their production abroad after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs in his first term in office. The growing pressure on companies to sell at a loss or to cut wages and jobs to stay afloat gives Washington a pain point to press Beijing in the coming weeks and months as talks continue between the two sides to rebalance their trade relationship. 'If it lasts more than three or four months, I think many of these small and medium-sized enterprises will not be able to bear it,' said Zhiwu Chen, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. 'This is definitely a bargaining chip for the US,' Chen said. This week's talks in London are expected to bring the two sides back to where they were after an initial discussion in Geneva last month, when they agreed to cut back tariffs from triple-digits to levels that are still damaging for both sides, but at least allow trade flows to resume. US levies on Chinese goods remain 30 percentage points higher than last year. In April, when tariffs were at their highest, the number of loss-making Chinese industrial firms rose 3.6% year-on-year to 164,467 – a whopping 32% of the total, official statistics show. Industrial capacity utilisation dropped to 74.1% in the first quarter of this year – when Washington began raising tariffs – from 76.2% in the last quarter of 2024, according to Chinese government data. It remains near record lows. While China's overall export growth rate of 4.8% in May might be interpreted as a sign of resilience – even as US exports shrank by more than 30% – the intense competition among Chinese manufacturers looking for a slice of the subdued external demand is evident in falling prices. 'People forget, but the current tariff level is already quite painful,' says Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. 'This is a weakness' for Beijing, she said, but cautioned 'it's not a big card' for Washington, which has its own worries over high inflation and product scarcity. 'Beijing was also confident it can bear more pain than its rival,' she said. Delayed wages Before the meeting in Switzerland, Beijing had grown increasingly alarmed about internal signals that Chinese firms were struggling to avoid bankruptcies, including in labour-intensive industries such as furniture and toys, Reuters reported last month. The subsequent rollback in tariffs may have saved China from a nightmare scenario of mass layoffs, but analysts say millions of jobs remain at risk. Candice Li, a marketing manager for a medical devices maker in southern China, says her employer has not paid wages for the past two months due to cashflow issues caused by new demands from US clients who want to protect themselves from the tariff uncertainty. Li says US buyers no longer offer an advance deposit for their orders and demand to only make payments 120-180 days after delivery. This is because other Chinese firms accept such terms, her employer is not in a position to fight back. 'They have us under their thumb,' Li said. 'It looks calm on the surface, but it's really hard to do business now,' Li added. 'The company can't even manage to pay wages,' she said, adding a quarter of the staff left as a result. 'It's really hard to keep the company running,' she added. To be sure, not all Chinese firms are under such strain. In the short term, neither the US nor other countries can significantly reduce their reliance on supply chains from an economy that produces about a third of the world's goods. The pain is being felt mostly among small firms in sectors that don't make essential products, such as Christmas decorations or where China can easily be replaced by other producers – for instance, in household appliances and other low-to-mid-range electronics. Across the economy, industrial profits in China still rose 1.4% year-on-year in January-April, according to official statistics that capture data from firms with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan (US$2.78 million). China's headline resilience has been helped by US importers frontloading orders ahead of higher tariffs, while Beijing ramped up fiscal spending and cut interest rates, said Shuang Ding, Standard Chartered's chief Greater China and North Asia economist. However, as these mitigating factors wane in coming months, Beijing might grow increasingly uncomfortable, analysts warn. 'They still rely on low-end manufacturing sectors, in particular exporting sectors, to support their general macroeconomy,' said He-Ling Shi, economics professor at Monash University in Melbourne. 'The American government has to react to pressure from industries. China's central government … doesn't need to react immediately, but in the long term, it's still a big concern,' Shi said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store