MANILA, Philippines — Australia on Friday launched its largest military exercises with Philippine forces, involving more than 3,600 military personnel in live-fire drills, battle maneuvers and a beach assault at a Philippine town facing the disputed South China Sea, where the allies have raised alarm over Beijing’s assertive actions. The exercises are called Alon, meaning…
Will blocking China from accessing relatively high-performing AI chips help the U.S. maintain global AI leadership? Perhaps counterintuitively, the answer is no. Starving China’s supply of U.S.-designed AI chips will have the opposite effect, as it will push China to more effectively develop and deploy its own AI chip capacity and ecosystem. This, in turn,…
BANGKOK — China’s economy showed signs of slowing in July as factory output and retail sales slowed and housing prices dropped further, according to data released Friday. Uncertainty over tariffs on exports to the United States is still looming over the world’s second-largest economy after President Donald Trump extended a pause in sharp hikes in…
MANILA, Philippines — The United States is discussing the possible deployment of more missile launchers to the Philippines to strengthen deterrence against aggression in the disputed South China Sea and other Asian security hotspots, but no final decision has been reached by both sides, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said Thursday. The U.S. military delivered a…
VILNIUS, Lithuania — The European Union on Thursday called on China to revoke sanctions imposed on two Lithuanian banks, arguing there is no justification for them. Beijing announced the measures this week against Urbo Bank and Mano Bank in retaliation for EU penalties on two Chinese lenders. The Lithuanian banks do not operate in China,…
BENXI, China — Eighty years after the end of World War II, Japan and China are marking the anniversary with major events, but on different dates and in different ways. Japan remembers the victims in a solemn ceremony on Aug. 15, the day then-Emperor Hirohito announced in a crackly radio message that the government had…
TAIPEI, Taiwan — China braced Thursday for heavy rains as Tropical Storm Podul made landfall in several southern provinces and thousands of people were evacuated. Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces were the focus of the preparation efforts, but alarms were at a relatively low level given the storm’s loss of strength as it passed over…
MANILA, Philippines — The United States deployed two warships on Wednesday in a disputed South China Sea shoal, where two Chinese navy and coast guard ships collided two days ago while trying to drive away a smaller Philippine ship in a high-seas accident captured on video, alarming several Western and Asian countries. Both China and…
BEIJING — China imposed sanctions on two Lithuanian banks in what it said was retaliation for the European Union including two Chinese financial institutions in its latest round of sanctions against Russia. Lithuania’s UAB Urbo Bankas and Mano Bankas AB are prohibited from having any cooperation with individuals or institutions in China, according to a…
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine military on Tuesday blamed China for the collision of two Chinese navy and coast guard ships while trying to drive the Philippine coast guard and fishermen from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. It said it would assess how to respond to Beijing’s use of military force against…