China

Hong Kong is under pressure to reign down spending as it announces its annual budget on Wednesday, February 22. This is due to its massive fiscal deficits accrued during the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as its efforts to stimulate the economy and reclaim its financial luster. After spending over HK$600 billion on limiting the spread of illnesses and giving economic …

Addressing a prestigious security conference in Munich, Germany, Filipino Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo called attention to China’s escalating harassment of Philippine warships in the South China Sea, characterizing it as a “daily occurrence” in the dangerous waterway. “On a daily basis, there are still numerous events taking place in the South China Sea, and there are daily occurrences of harassment …

Air France-CEO KLM’s has warned that European airlines forced to take longer flights to Asia to avoid Russia will struggle to compete with Chinese rivals if travel picks up following the Covid-19 shutdowns. Ben Smith stated that Chinese airlines had a “unfair edge” over European airlines that have been prohibited from Russian airspace since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine about …

On Thursday, February 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that the Philippines and China made use of their newly implemented communication mechanism to address the recent deployment of a military-grade vessel against a Philippine Coast Guard ship in the West Philippine Sea by the Chinese Coast Guard. The incident occurred in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese Coast …

According to China’s top anti-corruption body, Chen Xuyuan, the president of the Chinese Football Association, is being investigated for possible discipline and legal infractions. A disciplinary inspection and supervision team from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision of the Communist Party of China is looking into Chen at the General Administration of Sport of …

Taiwan has not observed any Chinese surveillance balloons in its area, according to the island’s defense ministry on Tuesday, as a disagreement between China and the United States over spy balloons raises fears of escalating military confrontations. The United States military shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. China claimed that the …

On February 14, the Philippine government filed a diplomatic protest against China after a Chinese coast guard vessel pointed a military-grade laser at the Philippine Navy ship BRP Malapascua in the West Philippine Sea. The incident occurred earlier that day. The protest was delivered to the Chinese embassy on Tuesday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Spokesperson Teresita …

Monday, February 6th, was the first time in three years that all border gates were fully reopened without COVID-19 limitations. Tens of thousands of travelers traveled between mainland China and its special administrative territory of Hong Kong. China stated last week that cross-border travel between the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao will resume in full on February 6, removing current …

Singapore is experiencing an inflow of ultra-wealthy Chinese families seeking refuge from the Chinese Communist Party, who view them with growing distrust. Recent Beijing crackdowns on internet billionaires and tax-averse celebrities, as well as three years of zero-COVID policy that ended only this month, have prompted many wealthy Chinese to seek refuge abroad. According to AFP sources, several of the …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China that had been scheduled to begin on Friday (Feb. 3), following the tracking of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon flying across the United States in what Washington termed a “clear infringement” of US sovereignty. Officials said that military officers debated firing down the high-altitude surveillance balloon on Wednesday, but …