• Tech leaders cheer China-U.S. thaw. But AI is still a sticking point.
• The mood was good, but little has changed between the U.S. and China
• What China“s Xi gained from his Biden meeting
• Fire in China coal company office kills 26
• Xi Jinping repeats imperial China’s mistakes | China
• Philippines military accuses China of bullying and vows to continue South China Sea missions
• Exclusive: Applied Materials under US criminal probe for shipments to China“s SMIC-sources
• Mexico, China nod to stronger ties as leaders agree to promote trade and investment
• Chinese-Taiwanese Relations at the APEC Meeting

Tech leaders cheer China-U.S. thaw. But AI is still a sticking point.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/17/biden-xi-ai-china-us-apec/2023-11-16T22:06:02.151Z

SAN FRANCISCO — Midway through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that has taken over this city this week, top tech leaders from Elon Musk to Apple CEO Tim Cook filed past protesters and heavy police presence to get into the hottest ticket in town: a dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Cook and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink were among the roughly 300 attendees at this $2,000-a-plate dinner, where Xi spoke of America and China’s history of fighting as allies in World War II and stressed his willingness to be a partner rather than competitor to America.

That evening, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff posted a photo with Musk on X, formerly Twitter, captioning it: “Go San Francisco! Go APEC! Everyone is here!”

Tech leaders are cheering the thaw in relations between the United States and China, hoping that less tension between the two leading economies means lower risk to the billions of dollars companies make from Chinese consumers and the critical supply chains that crisscross the Pacific. The optimism led to shares of major tech giants from Nvidia to Google rising.

But among the pronouncements and well-wishes, a major issue is still boiling: control over cutting-edge artificial intelligence and access to the technology necessary to develop it.

Beginning last year, the United States has increasingly curtailed the kinds of advanced computer chips that American companies can sell to China, saying that doing so is crucial to national security.

In an hours-long meeting earlier this week, President Biden and Xi did discuss AI, and in a statement afterward, the White House said the two countries had agreed to “address the risks of advanced AI systems and improve AI safety through U.S.-China government talks.” At the same time, Biden emphasized that the two countries are competitors, and the United States had held the line throughout the APEC summit that the export controls over chips that are essential to processing AI are not going anywhere.

“The United States and China for now appear to be heading toward a technology cold war. That has not been fixed, that has not been addressed,” Ian Bremmer, president of global politics research firm Eurasia Group, said in a speech at the summit.

AI fever has gripped the tech world over the last year, after OpenAI released ChatGPT and showed the potential of “generative” AI technology. Big Tech companies and start-ups alike have scrambled to produce new business and consumer products based on the tech, sometimes pushing them out before they’re ready. Governments around the world are studying how to regulate AI, and debate is ongoing about how serious the potential risks of the technology are.

The AI boom has given extra weight to Biden’s chip export controls. Advanced computer chips, especially graphic processing units or GPUs made by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia, are critical to training and running the massively complex algorithms behind modern AI, and the company’s stock has more than tripled over the last year as businesses all over the world buy the chips faster than it can produce them. Both rounds of the U.S. export controls have impacted Nvidia, and the second round, rolled out last month, specifically blocked the company from exporting a special line of slower AI chips it had been selling to Chinese firms.

While Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said the controls are aimed at China’s military, she has acknowledged they could have a broader impact on China’s economy.

At the APEC CEO Summit on Thursday, tech CEOs took the stage to talk about how important AI is to the future and the world economy.

“It’s going to have a big impact,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, but developing the tech safely would require governments to work together on ground rules. “There is no way you make progress over the long term without China and the U.S. deeply talking to each other on something like AI.”

Biden himself mentioned AI in his speech. “The world is at an inflection point where the decisions we make today — this is not hyperbole — are going to shape the direction of the world for decades to come,” he said. “Just think of AI.”

Tech leaders have generally been reluctant to wade directly into the public conversation about the United States and China. Nvidia has warned investors that the export controls could impact its bottom line in the long-term. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that only a small portion of the company’s business is in China. “We don’t see this as a major, major issue for us, quite frankly, other than any disruption to the supply chain,” Nadella said.

But despite statements like that, the tech industry is still intertwined with China, said Jon Bateman, a tech and international affairs analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The U.S. computer chip industry gets a huge portion of its revenue from Chinese buyers. Apple sells tens of billions of dollars worth of phones and services there. And even companies such as Facebook and Google, which are blocked on the Chinese internet, make money from Chinese businesses looking to advertise to international consumers. Thousands of highly skilled Chinese nationals work in the American tech industry.

“U.S. tech companies are very concerned about this trajectory but they feel disempowered and voiceless,” Bateman said. The chip manufacturers are lobbying against the export controls behind the scenes, he said.

“But they are generally unwilling to make a big deal about it in public, because they know the politics are so against them,” Bates said. They “live in fear of being hauled in front of a congressional committee and being called a friend of China.”

John Hudson contributed to this report.

The mood was good, but little has changed between the U.S. and China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/17/united-states-china-military-taiwan-xi-jinping/2023-11-17T02:25:54.956Z

China’s leader Xi Jinping seemed to have a lot to smile about on Wednesday night.

He had more than four hours of dialogue with President Biden, who described the meeting as among the “most productive and constructive” sit-downs the two had ever had. Earlier, the American president had even complimented his car, a Chinese-made luxury sedan.

And, eliciting the widest smile of all: California Gov. Gavin Newsom had just given him a custom Golden State Warriors Jersey, with the word “warrior” written in Chinese characters on the front and “Xi” emblazoned across the back.

never seen xi smile like that before
good for gavin pic.twitter.com/OXWjytt3YA

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) November 16, 2023

But despite the warm words, the two superpowers remain deeply distrustful of one another. Indeed, Xi said on Wednesday that the United States should not “scheme to suppress and contain China,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Many issues that have been major sticking points in the relationship between the world’s two largest economies remain unresolved.

The United States remains so wary of China’s technological aims that it maintains export controls on key technologies like semiconductors, which Beijing has decried as a bid to contain China’s growth.

Whiplash in China as state media does U-turn on U.S.

Beijing resolutely adheres to its claims on Taiwan — which it has never ruled but considers part of its territory — with Xi repeating calls for Washington to stop selling arms to the island democracy.

And China continues to assertively push its claims in the South China Sea, putting up a floating barrier across waters claimed by the Philippines.

But analysts say that given the dire state of the relationship, any communication is a step in the right direction.

“It’s almost as if the biggest achievement of the meeting is the meeting itself,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington.

China’s Xi, in need of a win, appears ready to engage with Biden

“There is a sense from the Chinese side that they are tired from this intense confrontational posture toward the U.S. and feeling like it’s not getting China anywhere,” she said.

The two sides did agree to work together in some areas. They agreed to set up a working group on artificial intelligence, restart formal climate change talks and work together to cut off the global flow of fentanyl, which contains many chemicals produced in China.

And they agreed to reestablish communication between their militaries, which Beijing had severed after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year. Despite dangerous near misses in the waters and airspace around China, Beijing had rejected Washington’s previous requests to resume talks.

But this doesn’t alter the reason for the near misses: China is growing increasingly aggressive in its activity near Taiwan and in regional waters. Beijing sent 336 aircraft to the edges of Taiwanese airspace in September alone.

How Chinese aggression is increasing the risk of war in the Taiwan Strait

“There is a lot going on across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region which does require the two militaries to have regular communication channels,” said Jingdong Yuan, director of the China and Asia Security Program at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. “In that regard, this is quite significant. But really, it’s just a return to the status from before Pelosi’s visit.”

And while Chinese state media has lauded the visit as getting the relationship back on track and positioning China and the United States as superpowers on equal footing, analysts say Xi’s main objective in California was economic.

Foreign businesses in China have been spooked by raids on business intelligence firms like Bain and Mintz, a growing use of exit bans and an expanded anti-spy law that could call ordinary business activities into question.

U.S. engages in frank talks amid warnings China has become ‘uninvestible’

Against this backdrop, foreign direct investment in China has plummeted. In the third quarter of this year, more investment flowed out of China than came in, for the first time since such data has been recorded, according to China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

What Xi got out of his visit to California was the chance to engage with U.S. business leaders — particularly tech entrepreneurs — directly, said Nadège Rolland, a scholar at the National Bureau of Asian Research who was previously an adviser to the French Ministry of Defense.

“The real target was to engage with the business community, the positive tone was also meant for them to know that China is still open for business,” said Rolland. “While the discussions within the U.S. government are taking the road of de-risking and diversification, Xi has addressed the business community directly saying we need to engage.”

The dinner was an opportunity for Xi to address the leaders of U.S. tech companies like Apple and Microsoft, who rely on China for core parts of their business, without the Biden administration as an intermediary, said Rolland.

“Beijing is starting to feel the pain [from sanctions] and this is going to create troubles for their ambitions to become a technologically strong country,” she said.

Biden speaks after meeting with Xi: 6 takeaways

Although key issues remain, Beijing clearly hopes that the visit will demonstrate willingness to prevent the relationship from entering a downward spiral, said Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “We are not talking about a sudden turnaround, but a détente and exchange of goodwill that may lead to pragmatic cooperation in some fields. And that is already the best that can happen.”

Lyric Li contributed to this report.

What China“s Xi gained from his Biden meeting

https://reuters.com/article/apec-usa-china/analysis-what-chinas-xi-gained-from-his-biden-meeting-idUSKBN32C099

When Chinese President Xi Jinping met executives for dinner on Wednesday night in San Francisco, he was greeted with not one, but three standing ovations from the U.S. business community.

It was one of several public relations wins for the Chinese leader on his first trip in six years to the United States, where he and President Joe Biden reached agreements covering fentanyl, military communications and artificial intelligence on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

All three were outcomes the United States had sought from China rather than the other way around, said two people briefed on the trip.

But Xi appeared to have achieved his own aims: earning U.S. policy concessions in exchange for promises of cooperation, an easing of bilateral tensions that will allow more focus on economic growth, and a chance to appeal to foreign investors who increasingly shun China.

China's economy is slowing and earlier this month it reported its first quarterly deficit in foreign direct investment. And the ruling Communist Party has battled political intrigues that have raised questions about Xi's decision-making, including the sudden and unexplained removals of his foreign minister and defense minister.

"If the U.S. and China can manage their differences ... it will mean that Xi Jinping doesn't have to divert all of his attention to that (bilateral relations)," said Alexander Neill, an adjunct fellow at Hawaii's Pacific Forum think-tank.

"He needs to focus on his domestic agenda which is incredibly pressing."

Securing Xi's promise of Chinese cooperation on stemming the flow of fentanyl to the United States was high on Biden's to-do list for the summit. A senior U.S. official said the agreement under which China would go after specific companies that produce fentanyl precursors was made on a "trust but verify" basis.

In return, the U.S. government on Thursday removed a Chinese public security forensic institute from a Commerce Department trade sanction list, where it was placed in 2020 over alleged abuses against Uyghurs, a long-sought diplomatic aim for China.

Critics warned removing sanctions against the institute signals to Beijing that U.S. entity listings are negotiable, and have questioned the Biden administration's commitment to pressuring China over what it says is the Chinese government's genocide of Uyghurs.

"This undermines the credibility of our entity list and our moral authority," said a spokesperson for the Republican-led House of Representative's select committee on China.

On top of that, Biden's Republican opponents argue the U.S. is missing an opportunity by not leveraging China's flagging economic momentum for more diplomatic gains.

Biden also touted as a success an agreement to resume military dialogues cut by China following then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 trip to Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

But while Beijing would welcome lower tensions, this is unlikely to change Chinese military behavior the U.S. sees as dangerous, such as intercepts of U.S. ships and aircraft in international waters that have led to a number of near-misses.

"China fears hotlines could be used as a potential pretext for a U.S. presence in areas it claims as its own," said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.

Biden administration officials have acknowledged that creating functional military relations won't be as easy as semi-regular meetings between defense officials.

"This is a long, hard, slow slog and the Chinese have to see value in that mil-mil before they'll do it. That's not going to be a favor to us," one senior Biden administration told Reuters in October in the run-up to the Xi-Biden meeting.

In his public remarks to Biden, Xi suggested China sought peaceful coexistence with the United States, and he told business leaders China was ready to be a "partner and friend" to the U.S., words partially aimed at a business community alarmed by China's crackdown on various industries and the use of exit bans and detentions against some executives.

Similarly, Xi's televised garden walk with Biden, and the largely respectful reception given to Xi by his American hosts, was highlighted in China's tightly controlled media to show a domestic audience that their president is managing the country's most important economic and political relationship.

"Xi Jinping may have made the calculation that overhyping the American threat does China and his standing in the party and the party itself more harm than good," said Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official who is now a scholar at the National University of Singapore.

"The fact that we are debating whether China is investible is a real problem for China."

At the same time, Xi reiterated to Biden points that he made earlier this year to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging the U.S. president to view U.S.-China relations through "accelerating global transformations unseen in a century."

Analysts say that is code for the belief that China - and Russia - are remolding the U.S.-led international system.

Still, this time pragmatism may have outweighed ideology.

China recognizes it's still necessary for its economic progress to have somewhat normal relations with the U.S. and Western countries, said Li Mingjiang, a professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

"It's the fundamental driving force behind the meeting."

---

Fire in China coal company office kills 26

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/17/china-yongju-coal-mine-company-office-fire-death-toll-injuries-shanxi-province

A fire that erupted in the office of a coal company in northern China has killed 26 people, state media said on Thursday, the latest in a series of deadly accidents in the coal industry.

At least 38 people were injured in the blaze, which broke out at the four-storey Yongju Coal Industry Joint Building in the country’s top coal-producing hub of Shanxi. Calls to the company by the Reuters news agency were not answered.

China’s president, on a trip to the United States, urged the authorities to ensure more safety measures are put in place, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Xi Jinping said there was an “extremely profound lesson” to be learned from the fire. He said local governments must “conduct in-depth investigations of hidden risks in key industries, improve emergency plans and prevention measures”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Video footage posted on the social media site Weibo showed bright flames and thick black smoke billowing from the building, while dozens of people stood in the parking lot watching.

The building shown in the video matched images of the coal company’s headquarters posted on its website. Emergency response personnel could be seen in the footage racing to put on protective gear outside a fire truck parked at the building’s entrance.

Earlier CCTV said 63 people had been evacuated from the site, 51 of whom were hospitalised. The reports did not say if any of those taken to hospital had died.

All mining firms in Lishi district, where the accident occurred, were asked to suspend production, state media reported, citing local emergency management bureau.

Police have detained several people for questioning, CCTV reported, adding that the cause of the fire had been “brought under control” and the blaze was being investigated.

It also said that an unspecified number of people were being held by police and were under investigation in connection with the fire, citing the rescue site command.

China’s State Council has dispatched a team to the area to guide the rescue and emergency response work, according to CCTV.

China’s coal producers are under scrutiny for a series of accidents in mines in recent months, which has weighed on production as mines then stop work for safety inspections.

Industrial accidents are also common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.

In July, 11 people died after the roof of a school gym collapsed in the country’s northeast.

In June, an explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China left 31 dead and prompted official pledges of a nationwide campaign to promote workplace safety. In April, a hospital fire in Beijing killed 29 people and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape.

One of the worst such accidents took place in 2015 in Tianjin, where a gigantic explosion at a chemical warehouse killed at least 165 people.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse

Xi Jinping repeats imperial China’s mistakes | China

https://www.economist.com/china/2023/11/16/xi-jinping-repeats-imperial-chinas-mistakes

One hopes Gui Youguang, a 16th-century Chinese bureaucrat, knew how to enjoy success in the moment. By the standards of the time, he was old when he passed the Ming dynasty’s most exacting grade of test for mandarins, after decades of failed attempts. Alas, not long after securing a jinshi degree at 59, Gui died.

The rigours of imperial China’s civil-service examination system—the keju, used to select scholar-officials for over 1,300 years—are described in a new book by Yasheng Huang called “The Rise and Fall of the EAST: How Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology Brought China Success, and Why They Might Lead to Its Decline”. Arguing that the exams stifled innovation in ancient times, Professor Huang sees lessons for Xi Jinping’s China.

The keju became more doctrinaire over time. First instituted in 587, the exams progressively shed such subjects as mathematics and astronomy. Soon, they only tested candidates’ mastery of dense Confucian texts filled with injunctions to revere fathers, officials and monarchs. The curriculum narrowed again in the 14th century, requiring candidates to memorise ultra-conservative commentaries on Confucian classics. The commentaries advocated unquestioning obedience towards rulers. A final refinement was added during the Ming dynasty: answers had to follow a rigidly scripted format, the “eight-legged essay”, described as “the greatest destroyer of human talent” by Ch’ien Mu, a historian.

The system was a blessing and a curse, the book suggests. At a time when Europeans were recommended for public office by well-connected relations or patrons, the keju offered diligent commoners a path to advancement (women could not take the exams). Most tests were taken anonymously, enhancing public confidence in them. Corrupt examiners, when unmasked, faced execution or exile. By the time of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), qualifying tests for the keju attracted millions of candidates, helping to explain high levels of (male) literacy. With such a large pool of aspiring scholar-officials, serving mandarins knew that they were replaceable, and thus vulnerable. Few dared to start palace coups.

Yet stability came at a cost, argues Professor Huang. Gui Youguang stands out for doggedness. But a dataset of 11,706 Ming-era keju candidates shows that exam-takers who reached the third and final stage of the keju got there in middle age, on average. Millions sat the exams and never passed. This focus on bureaucratic glory crowded out other paths to social mobility. It was handy for autocrats, as test preparation left scholars “no time for rebellious ideas or deeds”, the book argues. The keju’s Confucian values promoted conformity of thought and disdain for commerce. Over time, the exams smothered the scientific curiosity that saw ancient China develop many technologies before the West, including the compass, gunpowder, movable-type printing and paper, known in China as the country’s “four great inventions”.

The keju was scrapped in 1905, but its legacy lives on today, in civil-service tests and in the fearsome gaokao, the college-entrance examination which rewards relentless toil. In the book’s telling, the curse of the keju spirit was broken once in China’s history, when Communist Party leaders embraced market-based reforms after the disasters of Maoism and central planning (and revived the gaokao, abandoned during the Cultural Revolution). During that reform era, lasting for 40 years after 1978, the book credits the party with successfully balancing stability, economic growth and technological progress. As in imperial times, a strong state overshadowed a weak society. But the reform-era party also praised private entrepreneurs and allowed policy experiments by regional governments. To harness the world’s dynamism, officials sought out foreign capital and international academic exchanges.

Then, in 2018, Mr Xi abolished the only term limits that constrained him as leader. His China is increasingly autocratic, statist and inward-looking. Private businesses endure more meddling by party cadres, and youth unemployment is high. In a flight to safety, almost 2.6m people applied to sit civil-service exams this year, chasing 37,100 posts. Too often, in public institutions that once boasted of being meritocratic, “merit” means fealty to one man. Officials and university students must devote ever more hours to studying Xi Jinping Thought and other dogma.

Outsiders wonder how ordinary Chinese can bear this more controlling age. One answer is that, to some at least, equality of opportunity matters more than the pursuit of diverse, individual dreams. A good place to hear such views is the Imperial Examination Museum of China in the eastern city of Nanjing. Its white-walled, grey-roofed courtyards are surrounded by statues of prize-winning test-takers from history. Civil-service exams are China’s “fifth great invention”, signs declare. On this site in imperial times, 20,000 candidates took exams alone in tiny brick cells.

Suffering can be endured, but not unfairness

Chaguan met Ms Xing, a medical student, praying at the God of Examinations pavilion in the museum grounds. Yes, China teaches to the test and maybe that limits innovation, she ventured. But China is unequal, with very rich and very poor regions. In such a country, collective interests trump the “personal development” that is important to foreigners, she suggested. “Just as in ancient times, people are equal when they are in the same exam.”

Inside the museum a young doctor, Ms Wang, pointed at a rowdy school group. In Western countries teachers can foster individual creativity, she said. “We have to stick to the tests, and we have no way to do tailored education.” The poor, including her former classmates from rural Henan, can change their destinies only with books and exams, she says. The party knows to take that sort of stubborn, unflashy ambition seriously. Bold talk of delivering a prosperous, high-tech China for all may have to wait, as the economy slows. But in these hard times, guaranteeing a fair shot for the diligent is one promise that rulers can ill afford to break. ■

Read more from Chaguan, our columnist on China:
A Chinese dispute with the Philippines is a test of America (Nov 9th)
Why Chinese mourn Li Keqiang, their former prime minister (Nov 2nd)
How China sees Gaza (Oct 26th)

Also: How the Chaguan column got its name

Philippines military accuses China of bullying and vows to continue South China Sea missions

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/17/philippines-military-accuses-china-of-bullying-and-vows-to-continue-south-china-sea-missions

The Philippines has accused China of seeking to bully smaller countries into submission and vowed it will continue its missions to deliver supplies to a grounded derelict warship that serves as an outpost in the South China Sea.

The Philippines deliberately grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, in 1999 to guard against expansion by China, and the ship has become a growing flashpoint in the fiercely disputed water.

Beijing has demanded the warship’s removal, and over recent months has repeatedly tried to block Philippine boats from delivering supplies to troops aboard – firing water cannon, targeting vessels with a military-grade laser and performing what Manila has condemned as dangerous manoeuvres. It claims almost the entire of the South China Sea, despite a tribunal finding this to have no legal basis.

“[China] wants to use its superior strength – in short, they want to bully small countries into submission. And it is very important for the international community to know that,” Colonel Medel Aguilar, a spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the Guardian.

The Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, had been clear that the BRP Sierra Madre would not be towed away, Aguilar said. “The BRP Sierra Madre will remain there, and will always be manned by our navy personnel. Therefore, you can expect that the rotation and resupply missions will also continue, in spite of the obstruction that China is doing.”

The majority of resupply missions had been completed, despite attempts by Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia to interfere, he said. However, he said such incidents were endangering lives.

China has previously said that its coast guard has acted in a “professional and restrained” manner in blocking Philippine boats from reaching the Sierra Madre, and in accordance with the law.

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing that China “will neither take any inch of territory that is not ours, nor give up any inch of territory that belongs to us”, adding that “China is committed to settling relevant disputes through negotiation and consultation with relevant countries and will not waver in our determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

She said the US – which is a Philippine treaty ally, and has condemned the actions of Chinese vessels – should stop “interfering in the disputes between China and relevant countries … still less contain and encircle China by exploiting those issues.”

Analysts have warned that the ship, which is in a derelict state, could collapse imminently without significant repair work, leaving the shoal unoccupied. There are also concerns that, were recent maritime confrontations to escalate, this could bring the US into confrontation with China.

Resupply missions were aimed at ensuring the ship would “remain habitable” and provide a place a basic living space for personnel, Aguilar said. Repairs had been ongoing for years, he added, but did not specify the nature of such work or the types of supplies being delivered.

An international tribunal in The Hague in 2016 found that Second Thomas Shoal formed part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines. However, China has rejected the findings, and claims the vast majority of the South China Sea, where it has built and militarised various artificial islands.

Aguilar said the Philippines was not only protecting its national interests by maintaining its outpost at Second Thomas Shoal, but also that it was “promoting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – to make it stronger, to make it effective, such that it becomes an effective venue for settling maritime disputes without resorting to violence”.

Asked about the possibility of US ships escorting resupply missions, he said: “We are doing it on our own and it remains to be our own mission to accomplish.”

Aguilar added that the Philippines was pursuing a “transparency strategy” to ensure the international community was aware of China’s actions in the South China Sea, adding that this was building greater support.

Over the past year, the Philippines Coast Guard has frequently released video footage of the maritime confrontations, and invited journalists to watch its missions.

“They [China] want to hamstring us to follow, or to accept their terms – it is not in accordance with our law, or in accordance with international law … We may be a small country, but yes, we will assert our rights,” he said.”

The Philippines had already boosted its presence in the sea over the past year, was also developing its maritime capacities including by acquiring equipment and training with other countries, he said.

Aguilar said the Philippines maintained good relations with China in terms of trade and commerce, and that incidents in the South China Sea, did not define the countries’ relationship, but added: “We have to call out China to make sure that it also recognises the danger of what its people are doing.”

Exclusive: Applied Materials under US criminal probe for shipments to China“s SMIC-sources

https://reuters.com/article/applied-materials-china-usa/exclusive-applied-materials-under-us-criminal-probe-for-shipments-to-chinas-smic-sources-idUSKBN32B1YE

Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT.O) is under U.S. criminal investigation for potentially evading export restrictions on China's top chipmaker SMIC, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The largest U.S. semiconductor equipment maker is being probed by the Justice Department for sending equipment to SMIC via South Korea without export licenses, the sources said. Hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment is involved, one of the people said. Reuters is reporting details of the probe for the first time.

Shares in Applied Materials fell 7.3% after the news and the company reported quarterly results.

The U.S. has restricted shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China for national security, and the Justice and Commerce departments launched a task force earlier this year to investigate and prosecute criminal violations of export controls. The rules are aimed at stemming the flow of U.S. technology that could be used to bolster China's military and intelligence capabilities.

Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials said Thursday it first disclosed in October 2022 that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts for information on certain China customer shipments. "The company is cooperating with the government and remains committed to compliance and global laws, including export controls and trade regulations," it said in a statement.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Boston said: "We do not confirm or deny investigations."

Prosecutors in the office's National Security Unit are handling the ongoing probe, two sources said.

Reuters could not determine whether Applied Materials violated the law, and it isn't clear whether the investigation will result in charges.

The company produced semiconductor equipment in Massachusetts, then repeatedly shipped the equipment from its plant in Gloucester to a subsidiary in South Korea, the people said. From there, the equipment went to China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), the people, familiar with the probe, said.

The shipments began after the U.S. Commerce Department added SMIC to its "Entity List" in December 2020, which restricted exports of goods and technology to the company, two of the sources said, and took place in 2021 and 2022.

SMIC was placed on the list over its apparent ties to the Chinese military. SMIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the shipments from Applied Materials. In 2020, SMIC denied ties with the Chinese military, saying that it manufactures chips and provides services "solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses."

A spokesperson for the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, declined comment. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In adding SMIC to its trade blacklist in 2020, the Commerce Department said that licenses for equipment uniquely capable of producing chips at advanced technology nodes are likely to be denied to "prevent such key enabling technology from supporting China’s military modernization efforts,” according to a 2020 posting in the Federal Register.

Licenses for other items are subject to a case-by-case review, it added.

In March 2021, Reuters reported that the U.S. government had been slow to approve licenses for American companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials to sell to SMIC.

"This matter is subject to uncertainties, and we cannot predict the outcome, nor reasonably estimate a range of loss or penalties, if any, relating to this matter," the company said in an August 2023 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in reference to its 2022 receipt of the subpoena relating to certain China customer shipments.

Mexico, China nod to stronger ties as leaders agree to promote trade and investment

https://reuters.com/article/apec-usa-mexico-china/mexico-china-nod-to-stronger-ties-as-leaders-agree-to-promote-trade-and-investment-idUSKBN32B1TY

Mexico and China's leaders met on Thursday and committed to working together and strengthening ties, while agreeing to battle illegal drug trafficking between their nations and to push for more trade and investment.

The two met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.

China and Mexico's relationship has strengthened with time, Chinese President Xi Jinping said about the meeting, according to a post from the Asian country's embassy in Mexico, with Sino-Mexican relations becoming increasingly "mutually beneficial."

The post added that China "is willing ... to strengthen the articulation of strategies, (and) explore the potential for cooperation ... to promote bilateral relations to a higher level."

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the two leaders had "committed to continue maintaining good relations for the benefit of our people."

Lopez Obrador is also set to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden during the trip.

The Biden administration has been seeking increased cooperation from both Mexico and China to stem the flow of fentanyl, a deadly opioid, and its precursor chemicals, which have fueled a sharp rise in overdose deaths in the United States.

Lopez Obrador and Xi agreed to combat illegal trafficking of precursor chemicals, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said in a post on social media network X.

They also agreed to promote trade and investment, she added.

The foreign ministry said in a separate post that Lopez Obrador spoke with Xi about two of his administration's keystone infrastructure projects, a solar energy development in the north of the country and the so-called Interoceanic Corridor to attract business to the south.

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Chinese-Taiwanese Relations at the APEC Meeting

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/chinese-taiwanese-relations-at-the-apec-meeting/7358027.html

Taiwan is taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in San Francisco, California this week.

Because it is an economic gathering, the self-governing island democracy of 23 million people does not face diplomatic restrictions from mainland China.

Taiwan’s chief representative is a civilian, rather than a government official. It is an unwritten rule by China that members of the organization join as economic representatives rather than state officials.

For the seventh time, Morris Chang is representing Taiwan. He is the 92-year-old founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Chang helped establish Taiwan’s place as a top country for high-technology manufacturing in the electronics industry.

Taiwan has participated in APEC since 1991 under the name Chinese Taipei. It began taking part just two years after the group began and the same year that China and Hong Kong joined.

Taiwan has depended on retired ministers and industry leaders, who are connected with the government but who do not have an office within it. The aim is to avoid angering China.

Politics at play

China’s economy has not recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has high youth unemployment and large amounts of debt in a weakened housing sector.

However, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is pushing ahead with his plan for China to retake its historical place as the center of cultural, political, and economic life in the Asia-Pacific area.

Taiwan has a multiparty political system that centers around local issues. There is wide agreement on political separation from China. That presents a special challenge to the communist leaders of mainland China in Beijing.

China wants to end U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, including military planes like the F-16 fighter jet. China also wants the U.S. to confirm it will not help the ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party to keep power in Taiwan.

John Kirby is a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson. He said Wednesday that President Joe Biden will make clear to President Xi that the U.S., while following the law, will continue to provide "self-defense capabilities for Taiwan."

Chinese influence

China has sought to influence Taiwanese politics through military threats. It also seeks influence through economic opportunities on the mainland and local politicians.

Taiwanese media has also been persuaded to run stories critical of the current state of independence. That is done mainly through media ownership structures, which involve investments from the mainland.

January’s elections for the presidency and legislature will help decide whether the people want to continue independence or seek closer relations with mainland China.

I’m Gregory Stachel.

 

The Associated Press reported this story. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

participate – v. to be involved with others in doing something: to take part in an activity or event with others

sector – n. an area of an economy

challenge – n. a difficult task or problem

capability – n. the ability to do something

opportunity – n. a time when a particular situation makes it possible to do or achieve something