North Korea says US space shield is ‘nuclear war scenario'
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 20 said he had picked a design for the Golden Dome missile defense system and named a leader of the ambitious $175 billion program.
The Golden Dome plan 'is a typical product of 'America first', the height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice, and is an outer space nuclear war scenario,' said the Institute for American Studies of North Korea's foreign ministry, according to state KCNA news agency.
The aim is for Golden Dome to leverage a network of hundreds of satellites circling the globe with sophisticated sensors and interceptors to knock out incoming enemy missiles after they lift off from countries like China, Iran, North Korea or Russia.
China last week said it is ' seriously concerned ' about the project and called for Washington to abandon its development.
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Daily Maverick
an hour ago
- Daily Maverick
Faced with US tariffs China must reform and liberalise its economy
The tariffs are starting to bite. Data out this week showed that China's exports to the United States plunged by 34.4% last month, the sharpest drop since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg. This decline occurred despite the temporary trade war 'truce' announced by US President Donald Trump in May. This precipitous drop is undoubtedly a blow to China's critical export machine. Yet, it underscores a broader and more important economic question: Can China pivot its massive economy away from export-led growth towards a more sustainable model predicated on higher domestic consumption? Underlying the data is the strength of the Chinese export machine. Remarkably, despite the collapse in exports to the US, China's total exports rose nearly 5%. But the bigger challenge lies in transforming the economic model that has driven China's breakneck economic expansion for decades. The call for China to rebalance its economy away from selling to consumers in other countries is not new. Economists have long warned that its reliance on domestic savings funding investment into manufacturing foreign exports is unsustainable. The Trumpian trade war has merely sped up the urgency of its need to make this transition across the economic Rubicon. Scepticism Scepticism is rife as to whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has the means, or political will, to foster such a shift to a consumption-led economy. It would not be without its political and social risks. History has shown that when people become better off, and economically freer, they tend to demand equivalent political freedoms. Yet, the question might not be whether the CCP wants or is able to allow such a shift. Rather, can it afford not to? Surely, it understands that hoping that the status quo can continue is a road to nigh certain economic, social and political ruin. China must, in a sense, evolve or die. And the signs are that it is indeed taking this plunge. First, the narrative of weak domestic consumption is misleading. Consumer spending already makes up about 40% of China's GDP. While this is well below the global average of about 60%, the share scale of China's consumer market — already second only to the US — makes clear the upside potential if it is able to lift consumption to a level commensurate with an economy of its nature. Replacing lost US export revenue with domestic demand then may not be as difficult as it seems. Thanks to high production and relatively low prices, consumer goods are widely affordable, and China is not as susceptible to difficult and fragile supply chains as, for example, the US. Moreover, young Chinese Gen Z and millennial consumers are prone to spend on travel, lifestyle and technology. 'The bulk of consumer credit goes to people under 35,' notes Keyu Jin of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in the Financial Times. 'With one click on Alibaba, you can borrow to buy a lipstick.' Enormous potential Looking ahead, the potential for consumption growth is enormous. Boston Consulting Group estimates that by 2030, more than 500 million Chinese will belong to the middle and upper classes. That is more than the entire population of the US. Even a modest rise in their spending habits could drive a major increase in domestic demand, and indeed affect other emerging markets that sell to China — such as South Africa. Second is the shifting dynamics of the real estate market. China's zero-Covid-19 pandemic approach and its real estate crash did, undoubtedly, scare households. Consumer confidence remains significantly below pre-2020 levels, and precautionary savings are elevated. Yet, there are nascent signs of a turnaround. Research done by Absolute Strategy Research shows that households have now largely filled the hole in their balance sheets caused by the tanking property market, allowing them more room to spend. Home prices are stabilising, and consumer sentiment is slowly recovering. A recent Deutsche Bank survey showed 52% of respondents were ready to increase discretionary spending, the highest in a year. Still, converting this momentum into long-term consumption growth will require deeper structural changes. Confidence must be boosted and precautionary 'rainy day' savings, which are still so prized by a consumer market enduring post-Covid PTSD — should be depleted. But Beijing is listening to the economists on this. Xi Jinping's economic doctrine — emphasising 'dual circulation' and 'common prosperity' — has begun to prioritise domestic demand. Third, urbanisation is a critical factor. China's hukou system — which restricts rural migrants' access to benefits in urban areas thereby keeping a lid on the numbers of people that can move into the cities — puts a ceiling on consumption spending. But the August 2024 five-year reforms to ease this system could unleash enormous spending potential. Studies show that fully urbanised migrants increase their per capita consumption by as much as 60%. While this is not without its political risks for the CCP — studies also show that urban residents are more likely to prioritise liberal values such as free speech and democracy — it is a necessity for faster growth. Social safety net Finally, China's social safety net also needs strengthening. Beijing spends significantly less on social transfers than capitalist economies, and it collects very little income tax relative to GDP. This underdeveloped welfare system encourages excess savings and lower spending. But once again, despite some political resistance, reforms are being made. While Xi has spoken against 'welfarism' that 'encourages laziness', recent reforms include childcare subsidies, public medical insurance, old age benefits, employment support, and consumption incentives. While not enough, this is an impressive start, and a tacit acknowledgement that more needs to be done to shift the economy to be 'consumption led'. Long-term growth hinges on sustained political and economic reforms. Redirecting household savings into real economy spending by further welfare and tax reforms would strengthen the domestic market and help China make that shift into a more mature consumer economy. As the economic and geopolitical limits of the country's existing growth strategy becomes clearer, China must leverage its centralised policy apparatus to turbocharge consumer spending. 'Beijing has time and again demonstrated the ability to do the unexpected to reach its longer-term goals,' says David Goodman, director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, quoted in the Financial Times. China's consumers have struggled in recent years. But there is enormous spending power yet to be unlocked, and Beijing holds the key. Whether Beijing has both the means and the will to engineer this shift remains uncertain. But for the global economy — and especially for resource exporting emerging markets like South Africa that rely heavily on Chinese demand — it is a question of enormous consequence. China is still South Africa's largest single export market by far. Unlike Trump, who revels in signs of Chinese weakness, the rest of the world should hope China's economy is more resilient than it appears. DM
Eyewitness News
7 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
Iran says new round of US talks planned for Sunday
TEHRAN - Iran said a new round of nuclear talks with the United States is planned for Sunday, after Washington submitted a proposal for a deal amid a standoff over uranium enrichment. The longtime foes have held five rounds of talks since April, the highest level contact since President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from a 2015 nuclear accord during his first term. "The next round of Iran-US indirect talks is being planned for next Sunday in Muscat," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement Tuesday. Trump had earlier said the meeting with Iran was expected on Thursday but Baqaei noted that Iran's foreign minister and chief negotiator Abbas Araghchi would be attending the Norway's Oslo Forum, a gathering of conflict mediators. The sixth round of talks will come around two weeks after Iran received a US proposal for nuclear deal which Araghchi described as containing "ambiguities". Iran said the US proposal failed to include "elements" reflective of the previous negotiations including lifting of sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. Tehran said it would present a "reasonable, logical and balanced" counter-proposal to the United States through mediator Oman. On Monday, Trump said the upcoming US-Iran talks could clarify if a nuclear deal is possible to avoid military action. Iran and the United States have been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a "non-negotiable" right and Washington calling it as a "red line". - 'National interests' - Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. On Tuesday, Iran's deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi dismissed claims that there was a "deadlock" in the talks with the US. "Any negotiations with an international dimension come with their own sensitivities and require a great deal of patience for them to reach a result," he told the official IRNA news agency. READ: Trump says Iran deal would not allow 'any' uranium enrichment "What matters to us is that we can safeguard the national interests of the country through these talks, and that is how we proceed," he added. He said that the sixth round will be the first in which the parties express their views on the exchanged written materials, noting that Tehran will again reiterate its position on enrichment capacity, as it has done publicly in the past. On Monday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog began a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna that will last until Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear activities among other topics. The meeting came after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report criticising "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites. Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on "forged documents" provided by its arch foe, Israel. On Tuesday, Araghchi reiterated criticism of a plan by European powers and the United States to adopt a resolution at the IAEA meeting, accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations. "Any ill-considered and destructive decision in the Board of Governors against Iran will be met with an appropriate response," he said during a phone call with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. Iran has said it would reduce cooperation with the IAEA if the resolution passed.
TimesLIVE
8 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
No rush for US energy as Asia's imports slip under Trump
Asian countries aren't rushing to buy US energy commodities, even though lifting imports of crude oil, liquefied natural gas and coal will help meet President Donald Trump's demand for lower trade surpluses. While rare earths may be the immediate talking point in talks between the Trump administration and China, the real action behind any deal will be in the big three energy commodities. The same is true for other Asian economies seeking to curry favour with Trump and get a better deal than the hefty tariffs imposed on many in his 'Liberation Day' measures announced on April 2, and subsequently paused for 90 days. However, in the four months since Trump returned to the White House, Asia's imports of US energy commodities have fallen from the same period last year. Imports of crude oil from February to May declined to 1.53-million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.55-million bpd in the same period in 2024, according to data from commodity analysts Kpler. Asia's imports of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) were 4.78-million metric tons in the February to May period, down 40% from the 8.04-million tonnes in the same four months last year.
