AES, PetroVietnam Gas to sign $2.8 billion LNG deal: Pompeo

AES, PetroVietnam Gas to sign $2.8 billion LNG deal: Pompeo
The logo of the multinational electric power company AES is seen at an office in Santiago, Chile June 4, 2019. Photo: Reuters

HANOI — AES Corp. will sign a deal with PetroVietnam Gas GAS.HM to develop a $2.8 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and a power plant in Vietnam, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.

“Vietnam has given the green light to AES Corp., a company based in Virginia, to go forward with the project,” Pompeo said at a virtual Indo-Pacific Business Forum. Tiếp tục đọc “AES, PetroVietnam Gas to sign $2.8 billion LNG deal: Pompeo”

China tightens rules on US media outlets in ‘reciprocal’ move

The Guardian

China says decision was ‘necessary’ after the US declared several more Chinese media outlets to be ‘foreign missions

The US media firms affected are the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Feature Story News, the Bureau of National Affairs and Minnesota Public Radio

The US media firms affected are the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Feature Story News, the Bureau of National Affairs and Minnesota Public Radio Photograph: Richard Vogel/APStaff and agencies

Mon 26 Oct 2020 16.42 GMT

China has tightened the rules on a number of US media outlets, in a move it said was “necessary and reciprocal” after Chinese journalists in America were hit with restrictions last week.

The world’s two largest economies, sparring over issues from trade and technology to human rights, have restricted visas for each other’s reporters, while China has expelled journalists.

After the US declared several more Chinese media outlets to be “foreign missions”, Beijing on Monday demanded that six US media groups report to the government about their staffing, finances and real estate.

The US media firms affected are the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Feature Story News, the Bureau of National Affairs and Minnesota Public Radio.

A foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said in a statement that the requirements were “legitimate and justified self-defense in every sense”.

“What the United States has done is exclusively targeting Chinese media organizations driven by the cold war mentality and ideological basis,” Zhao added.

The moves are the latest in a series of tit-for-tat measures between Beijing and Washington.

Last week the US designated a further six Chinese media organisations as propaganda outlets that answer to the state.

It was the third round of US designations of Chinese outlets as foreign missions, which requires that they report details on their US-based staff and real estate transactions to the state department.Whether Trump or Biden wins, US-China relations look set to worsenRead more

The department earlier imposed rules on nine outlets including the official Xinhua news agency and China Global Television Network.

China has denounced the regulations and retaliated by expelling US citizens who work for major news organisations, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

In May the US shortened the visa for Chinese journalists in America to 90 days, and last month the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said Beijing was no longer renewing press credentials for US media employees in the country.

Since you’re here …

WASHINGTON TRIES PULLING ECONOMIC LEVERS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA


BY GREGORY POLING AND ZACK COOPER | AUGUST 28, 2020
AMTI UPDATE CSIS

This week, the U.S. government for the first time imposed economic penalties on Chinese businesses for their behavior in the South China Sea. The Commerce Department placed 24 Chinese companies on the Entity List. The list restricts exports of certain goods to companies and individuals that threaten U.S. national security or foreign policy priorities. According to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the 24 companies (22 of which are state-owned enterprises) were selected because they “played a significant role” in China’s construction of artificial bases in the Spratly Islands. The State Department, meanwhile, announced that it would not issue visas to Chinese nationals “responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or the PRC’s use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources.”

Tiếp tục đọc “WASHINGTON TRIES PULLING ECONOMIC LEVERS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA”

India signs defensive agreement with US following Himalayan standoff with China

By James Griffiths, CNN

Updated 0946 GMT (1746 HKT) October 27, 2020US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (right) is greeted by US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster upon his arrival at an airport in New Delhi on October 26, 2020.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (right) is greeted by US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster upon his arrival at an airport in New Delhi on October 26, 2020.

Hong Kong (CNN)The United States and India have reaffirmed their defensive and security relationship, as Washington continues to rally allies in Asia amid concerns over increased Chinese military activity in the region.During a press conference Tuesday in the Indian capital, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh announced the signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA), enabling greater information-sharing and further defense cooperation between the two countries.”The defense ties between our two nations remains a key pillar of our overall bilateral relationship,” said Esper. “Based on our shared values and common interests, we stand shoulder to shoulder in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, particularly in light of increasing aggression and destabilizing activities by China.”The agreement, said Singh furthered the two sides ongoing commitment to the “law and freedom of navigation in the international seas” while “upholding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states.”Both India and the US are due to participate in the upcoming Malabar naval exercises which will be held in the Indian Ocean next month. The drills will feature all members of the so-called Quad, an informal alliance of the US, India, Japan and Australia, which has been proposed by some as a potential “Asian NATO,” intended to counterbalance Chinese military strength in the region. Tiếp tục đọc “India signs defensive agreement with US following Himalayan standoff with China”

Japan and China both claim these islands as their own. Now the US is showing Tokyo how it can help defend them

Analysis by Brad Lendon, CNN

Updated 2333 GMT (0733 HKT) October 27, 2020

See massive US-Japan military exercise kick off
Screengrab India child labor 3

Hong Kong (CNN)Tens of thousands of US and Japanese troops will begin a massive island-landing exercise in the Pacific this week as part of joint military operations seen as a warning to China that Washington backs Tokyo over Beijing’s claim to Japanese-controlled islands.Speaking aboard a Japanese warship Monday, Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, commander of US Forces Japan, said the exercises would demonstrate the ability of the US-Japan alliance “to deliver combat troops to defend the Senkakus or respond to other crises or contingencies.”Both Tokyo and Beijing claim the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyus in China, as their own, but Japan has administered them since 1972.Tensions over the uninhabited rocky chain, 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, have simmered for years, and with claims over them dating back centuries, neither Japan nor China is likely to back down.Chinese vessels have been spending record amounts of time in the waters around the islands this year, drawing condemnation from Tokyo.The US-Japan exercises, named Keen Sword 21, have been held biennially for more than 30 years. This year’s exercises run through to November 5.

Tiếp tục đọc “Japan and China both claim these islands as their own. Now the US is showing Tokyo how it can help defend them”