BANGKOK – Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday freed four former lawmakers who each spent more than four years in prison for their part in staging an unofficial primary election in 2020, local media reported.
Claudia Mo, Jeremy Tam, Kwok Ka-ki and Gary Fan were among 47 activists arrested for the election activities. Only two of the 47 were acquitted after a grueling 118-day trial that ended in November 2024 with prison sentences of four to 10 years.
Vehicles carrying the freed activists left three prisons early on Tuesday amid tight security, The Associated Press reported.
Reporters outside Mo’s home were told by husband Philip Bowring that she was resting and didn’t want to speak to them, according to the AFP news agency.
“She’s well and she’s in good spirits,” he said. “We look forward to being together again.”
Mo, Tam, Kwok and Fan – who received the shortest sentences of the 47 – had their prison time reduced after pleading guilty.
A pro-democracy activist protests outside the West Kowloon courts as closing arguments open in Hong Kong’s largest national security trial of 47 pro-democracy figures, Nov. 29, 2023.(Louise Delmotte/AP)
The group organized the 2020 primary to find the best pro-democracy candidates for Hong Kong’s September 2020 Legislative Council election at a time when Beijing was aggressively eroding the territory’s autonomy. More than 600,000 people cast their votes in the preliminary poll.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s governor at the time, postponed the 2020 election, citing health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government then rewrote the electoral rulebook to prevent pro-democracy candidates from running, eventually holding a fresh election in December 2021 in which only “patriots” approved by a Beijing-backed committee were allowed to stand.
On Jan. 6, 2021, the newly formed national security police arrested 55 people. They brought formal charges against 47 of them, then denied bail to the majority.
The 47 pro-democracy activists were charged with subversion under the city’s 2020 National Security Law, a charge which carries a maximum life sentence.
The prosecution argued that their bid to win a majority was “a conspiracy” to undermine the city’s government and take control of the Legislative Council.
The long-running case sparked international outrage, with protests from the U.S., U.K. and Australian governments, and the United Nations. Hong Kong’s last British colonial governor, Lord Patten of Barnes, called the case “an affront to the people of Hong Kong.”
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Mike Firn for RFA.
Evidence grows showing that the US military is setting the stage for war on China.
A leaked memo obtained by the Washington Post reveals that the US Department of Defense has made preparing for war with China into its top priority, giving it precedence over all other issues.
The Pentagon is concentrating its resources in the Asia-Pacific region as it anticipates fighting China in an attempt to exert US control over Taiwan.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a fundamentalist self-declared “crusader” who called for overthrowing the Chinese government, took a trip in March to Japan and the Philippines, where he repeatedly threatened Beijing and boasted of US “war-fighting” preparations and “real war plans”.
Chinese authorities have detained a young man for unfurling pro-democracy banners this month at an overpass in Chengdu in southwest China – a rare form of public protest that is punishable as a criminal offence, two sources told Radio Free Asia
Authorities are investigating whether Mei Shilin, 27, had any overseas connections and have taken criminal detention measures against him, said the two sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.
The exact date of his detention was not immediately clear, sources said.
In China, criminal detention measures for those suspected of “endangering national security” typically mean being held by police for months until formal charges are filed – formally known as residential surveillance at a designated location. Detainees face constant surveillance, interrogations and may be subject to torture.
The sources said Mei is a resident of Youngfu town in Sichuan province’s Muchuan county and he has been missing for more than 10 days.
The three banners read: “Without political system reform, there will be no national rejuvenation,” “The people do not need a political party with unrestrained power,” and “China does not need anyone to point out the direction, democracy is the direction.”
One of the two sources, Qin from Chengdu, said if Mei was found by investigators to have overseas ties, he would be handed over to the State Security Bureau and transferred to the Municipal State Security Bureau Detention Center.
“If no substantial evidence of collusion with foreign forces is found, he will be handled by the Chengdu police,” added Qin, who wanted to be identified by a single name for safety reasons.
Legal experts believe authorities may charge Mei with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a common criminal accusation in China that authorities level against political, civil, and human rights advocates.
“They (the prosecution) may file a case for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble because they don’t want to give him a more glorious charge, such as inciting subversion of state power or subverting state power,” Lu Chenyuan, a legal expert in China, told RFA.
“They are now more inclined to depoliticize (the Mei Shilin case) and want to reduce its political significance,” added Lu.
In this image shared by @whyyoutouzhele on Chinese social media, three banners calling for democracy and opposing one-party dictatorship appeared on an overpass in Chengdu, China.(@whyyoutouzhele)
“Peng Lifa of Sichuan”
Still, the incident – that prompted Chinese netizens to hail Mei as “Peng Lifa of Sichuan” – has made authorities very nervous, sources told RFA on Monday.
Peng Lifa, known as “Bridge Man,” had hung similar pro-democracy banners on Beijing’s busy Sitong Bridge, the slogans from which were chanted during the 2022 White Paper protests.
During the White Paper protests, which took place in several cities in China, people showed blank sheets of paper to symbolize that authorities gave them no voice amid anger over the loss of freedom and pandemic lockdowns.
“In the past half month, the Domestic Security Bureau and traffic police in the entire Public Security Bureau system of Chengdu have been highly nervous. They are afraid that another incident would happen, and then the Public Security Bureau Chief will have to quit his job,” said Qin.
The second source in Chengdu, Yang, who also requested to be identified by a single name, confirmed that Mei was detained by the police and that he had previously sought the help of authorities over a labor dispute, but to no avail.
“He (Mei) previously worked in a technology company in Chengdu,” said Yang.
“He (Mei) was treated unfairly in a labor dispute, and when he complained to the government for help, he was ignored. Such things are actually common,” Yang added.
Former Chinese government official and overseas dissident Du Wen and a social media X account “@YesterdayBigcat,” which posts information about protests in China, also confirmed Mei was behind the banners that hung from a bridge near the Chadianzi Third Ring Road Interchange in Chengdu’s Jinniu District.
Du wrote on X that Mei had sent him a 13-second short video, along with photos and a copy of his ID card, on the day of the incident.
Mei also wrote to Du saying he had prepared these slogans for over a year and hoped to have help in spreading the message.
On April 15, a prominent citizen journalist who manages X account @whyyoutouzhele, also known as “Mr. Li is not your teacher,” received a message, similar to the one Du did, along with pictures of the banners, which he posted on the platform in the early morning hours.
By late evening, the same X account confirmed that the man who had shared the information with him had been out of contact for more than 13 hours.
“The last thing he wanted to convey to the public through us was that he hoped democracy could be realized as soon as possible,” Mr. Li wrote in that followup post that same day.
Du said that in his correspondence with Mei he had urged him to leave China but Mei had insisted on staying.
Mei believed that as a Chinese person he has faced unfairness, “and he wants to shout, even if he is torn to pieces,” said Du.
Mei’s display of the pro-democracy banners in Chengdu caused a stir on Chinese social media and posts about the incident were quickly blocked and removed when shared on WeChat.
“With these three huge banners, Mei expressed a demand (for) political system reform … Such emotional expressions have actually been quite common in recent years,” said Yang.
Yang said that the pressure cooker atmosphere in China meant young people were questioning society and expressing dissatisfaction with the political system.
Rights activists and local Chinese sources also said Mei’s protest was a sign of a latent desire for change.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
In a new report, ISHR analyses China’s tactics to restrict access for independent civil society actors in UN human rights bodies. The report provides an analysis of China’s membership of the UN Committee on NGOs, the growing presence of Chinese Government-Organised NGOs (GONGOs), and patterns of intimidation and reprisals by the Chinese government.
In the report, published on 28 April 2025 the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) uncovers the tactics deployed by the Chinese government to restrict access to UN human rights bodies to independent civil society actors and human rights defenders, and intimidate and retaliate against those who do so.
These tactics include using its membership of the UN Committee on NGOs to systematically defer NGO applications, increasing the presence of GONGOs to limit space for independent NGOs and advance pro-government narratives, systematically committing acts of intimidation and reprisals against those seeking to cooperate with the UN, weaponising procedural tactics to silence NGO speakers and threatening diplomats not to meet with them, and opposing reform initiatives and efforts at norm-setting on safe and unhindered civil society participation at the Human Rights Council.
These tactics strongly contrast China’s stated commitment to being a reliable multilateral leader. They stem from the Chinese Party-State’s primary foreign policy objective of shielding itself from human rights criticism and enhancing its international image by restricting and deterring critical civil society voices, crowding out civil society space with GONGOs, and stalling and diverting reform initiatives.
While China is the focus of this report, the issues addressed are systemic. Based on this report’s findings, ISHR puts forward a set of targeted recommendations to UN bodies and Member States, aimed at protecting civil society space from interference and restrictions. The recommendations are designed to strengthen UN processes and prevent any State from manipulating international mechanisms to suppress independent voices. These include:
Reforming the Committee on NGOs to increase transparency, limit abuse of deferrals, and ensure fair access to UN bodies for independent NGOs;
Strengthening protection mechanisms against reprisals, including rapid response to incidents inside UN premises, public accountability for perpetrators, and consistent long-term follow-up on unresolved cases;
Curbing the influence of GONGOs by distinguishing clearly between independent and State-organised NGOs, and better documenting their presence and impact; and,
Strengthening measures at the Human Rights Council and other UN bodies to make civil society participation safer, more inclusive, and less vulnerable to obstruction
The report has been featured prominently in a global investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) launched on 28 April 2025.
Not a day goes by without a new shock to Americans and our neighbors around the world from the Trump administration. On April 22, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecasts for global growth in 2025, from 3.3% to 2.8%, and warned that no country will feel the pain more than the United States. Trump’s policies are expected to drag U.S. growth down from 2.7% to 1.8%.
It’s now clear to the whole world that China is the main target of Trump’s trade wars. The U.S. has slapped massive tariffs—up to 245%—on Chinese goods. China hit back with 125% tariffs of its own and refuses even to negotiate until U.S. tariffs are lifted.
Ever since President Obama announced a U.S. “pivot to Asia” in 2011, both U.S. political parties have seen China as the main global competitor, or even as a target for U.S. military force. China is now encircled by a staggering 100,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, South Korea and Guam (plus 73,000 in Hawaii and 415,000 on the U.S. West coast) and enough nuclear and conventional weapons to completely destroy China, and the rest of us along with it.
To put the trade war between the U.S. and China in context, we need to take a step back and look at their relative economic strength and international trading relations with other countries. There are two ways to measure a country’s economy: nominal GDP (based only on currency exchange rates) and “purchasing power parity” (PPP), which adjusts for the real cost of goods and services. PPP is now the preferred method for economists at the IMF and OECD.
Measured by PPP, China overtook the U.S. as the largest economy in the world in 2016. Today, its economy is 33% larger than America’s—$40.7 trillion compared to $30.5 trillion.
And China isn’t alone. The U.S. is just 14.7% of the world economy, while China is 19.7%. The EU makes up another 14.1%, while India, Russia, Brazil, Japan, and the rest of the world account for the other 51.5%. The world is now multipolar, whether Washington likes it or not.
So when Malaysia’s trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz was asked whether he’d side with China or the U.S., his answer was clear: “We can’t choose—and we won’t.” Trump would like to adopt President Bush’s “You’re either with us or with the terrorists” posture, but that makes no sense when China and the U.S. together account for only 34% of the global economy.
China saw this coming. As a result of Trump’s trade war with China during his first term in office, it turned to new markets across Asia, Africa, and Latin America through its Belt and Road Initiative. Southeast Asia is now China’s biggest export market. It no longer depends on American soybeans—it grows more of its own and buys most of the rest from Brazil, cutting the U.S. share of that market by half.
Meanwhile, many Americans cling to the idea that military power makes up for shrinking economic clout. Yes, the U.S. outspends the next ten militaries combined—but it hasn’t won a major war since 1945. From Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, the U.S. has spent trillions, killed millions, and suffered humiliating defeats.
Today in Ukraine, Russia is grinding down U.S.-backed forces in a brutal war of attrition, producing more shells than the U.S. and its allies can at a fraction of our cost. The U.S.’s bloated, for-profit arms industry can’t keep up, and our trillion dollar military budget is crowding out new investments in education, healthcare and civilian infrastructure on which our economic future depends.
None of this should be a surprise. Historian Paul Kennedy saw it coming in his 1987 classic The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Every dominant empire, from Spain to Britain to Russia, eventually confronted relative decline as the tides of economic history moved on and it had to find a new place in a world it no longer dominated. Military overextension and overspending always accelerated the fall.
“It has been a common dilemma facing previous ‘number one’ countries that even as their relative economic strength is ebbing, the growing foreign challenges to their position have compelled them to allocate more and more of their resources into the military sector, which in turn squeezes out productive investment…,” Kennedy wrote.
He found that no society remains permanently ahead of all others, but that the loss of empire is not the end of the road for former great powers, who can often find new, prosperous positions in a world they no longer dominate. Even the total destruction suffered by Germany and Japan in the Second World War, which ended their imperial ambitions, was also a new beginning, as they turned their considerable skills and resources from weapons development to peaceful civilian production, and soon produced the best cars and consumer electronics in the world.
Paul Kennedy reminded Americans that the decline in U.S. leadership “is relative not absolute, and is therefore perfectly natural; and that the only serious threat to the real interests of the United States can come from a failure to adjust sensibly to the newer world order…”
And that is exactly how our leaders have failed us. Instead of judiciously adapting to America’s relative decline and carving out a new place for the United States in the emerging multipolar world, they doubled down—on wars, on threats, on the fantasy of endless dominance. Under the influence of the neocons, Democrats and Republicans alike have marched America into one disaster after another, in a vain effort to defy the economic tides by which all great powers rise and fall.
Since 1987, against all the historical evidence, seven U.S. presidents, Democrats and Republicans, have blindly subscribed to the simplistic notion peddled by the neocons that the United States can halt or reverse the tides of economic history by the threat and use of military force.
Trump and his team are no exception. They know the old policies have failed. They know radically different policies are needed. Yet they keep playing from the same broken record—economic coercion, threats, wars, proxy wars, and now genocide—violating international law and exhausting the goodwill of our friends and neighbors around the world.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. It took the two most deadly and destructive wars in human history to put an end to the British Empire and the age of European colonialism.
In a nuclear-armed world, another great-power war wouldn’t just be catastrophic—it would very likely be final. If the U.S. keeps trying to bully its way back to the top, we could all lose everything.
The future instead demands a peaceful transition to international cooperation in a multipolar world. This is not a question of politics, right or left, or of being pro- or anti-American. It’s about whether humanity has any future at all.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – China and the Philippines have staged rival flag-raising displays on a contested sandbank in the South China Sea, further escalating tensions between the two nations.
The standoff occurred at Sandy Cay, near the Philippines’ outpost of Thitu Island, right when the U.S. and the Philippines launched their annual “Balikatan” military drills, which for the first time include an integrated air and missile defense simulation.
Sandy Cay holds strategic value because its 12-nautical-mile territorial zone under international law overlaps with the area around Thitu Island, a key site for Manila to monitor Chinese activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The latest flare-up appears to have started on Thursday, after Chinese state media reported that the Chinese Coast Guard had landed on the sandbank two weeks earlier, hoisted a national flag, and “exercised sovereign jurisdiction.”
“Since 2024, the Philippines has made multiple attempts to send vessels near Chinese-held features in the South China Sea to monitor what it describes as artificial island-building activities,” the state-run broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. It published a photograph of five black-clad people standing on the uninhabited reef as a dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water.
Chinese state media released a photo of coastguard officers on the disputed reef.(CCTV)
In response, the Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said on Sunday that its navy, coast guard and police personnel had deployed to Sandy Cay in four rubber boats and had “observed the illegal presence” of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and seven Chinese maritime militia vessels.
“This operation reflects the unwavering dedication and commitment of the Philippine government to uphold the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” said Tarriela, who posted footage of the Philippine flag being displayed.
The term “West Philippine Sea” is used by the Philippines to refer to parts of the South China Sea that it claims, although the designation is disputed by China.
William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, said China is showcasing both its ability and determination to assert its territorial claims throughout the South China Sea.
China and the Philippines have long been locked in a territorial dispute over parts of the South China Sea, a vital waterway rich in resources and trade routes.
Beijing claims nearly the entire sea under its “nine-dash line,” a claim rejected by an international tribunal in 2016, which ruled in favor of the Philippines.
Despite the ruling, China has continued to assert its presence through patrols, island-building, and militarization, while the Philippines has sought to defend its claims through diplomatic protests and military partnerships.
“It serves as a warning to the Philippines and other claimant states in the region that any attempt to undermine Chinese territorial integrity will be met with resolute and strong Chinese responses,” Yang told Radio Free Asia.
Huang Tsung-ting, an associate research fellow with Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, believes China has recently adopted a more defensive posture toward the Philippines in the South China Sea.
“Compared to 2023 to the first half of 2024, when China escalated tensions in the South China Sea and attempted to seize islands and reefs as a way to pressure the U.S. and the Philippines diplomatically, its current approach is more defensive and passive,” said Huang.
The latest dispute between two nations came as the U.S. and Philippines forces are conducting annual Balikatan exercises, which Beijing has condemned as “provocative.”
The flag raise was “a calculative move by Beijing to show Washington and Manila that it has the ability to establish presence anywhere they want in the South China Sea and that Beijing is not going to back down in the face of the increased cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines,” International Crisis Group’s Yang said.
While visiting Manila last month, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was “doubling down” on its alliance with the country and was committed to rebuilding deterrence against China.
Huang shares a similar view.
“Even though the number of U.S. troops participating in this year’s Balikatan exercise seems slightly lower – by about 2,000 compared to last year – the overall posture of cooperation still looks strong enough to cause concern for China,” he said.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
Speaking in an informal meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, April 23 China’s permanent representative Fu Cong questioned the unilateralism pursued by the US in international trade claiming it “severely infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries” and violates the rule based multilateral trading system.
Cong claimed a multilateral approach remains the only option for the advancement of all countries and affirmed “no country has the right to put itself above international law” and dictate terms to others. He offered Chinese cooperation in dealing with the situation to the countries which are willing to stand for free and fair international trade.
“The day-to-day chaos of the American political news cycle can make it hard to fully take stock of the seismic shifts that are happening,” said Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF North America.
“But when you step back and look at the whole picture, the pattern of blows to press freedom is quite clear.
“RSF refuses to accept this massive attack on press freedom as the new normal. We will continue to call out these assaults against the press and use every means at our disposal to fight back against them.
“We urge every American who values press freedom to do the same.”
Here is the Trump administration’s war on the press by the numbers: *
427 million – Weekly worldwide audience of the USAGM news outlets silenced by Trump
In an effort to eliminate the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) by cutting grants to outlets funded by the federal agency and placing their reporters on leave, the government has left millions around the world without vital sources of reliable information.
This leaves room for authoritarian regimes, like Russia and China, to spread their propaganda unchecked.
However, RSF recently secured an interim injunction against the administration’s dismantling of the USAGM-funded broadcaster Voice of America,which also reinstates funding to the outlets Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN).
8,000+ – US government web pages taken down
Webpages from more than a dozen government sites were removed almost immediately after President Trump took office, leaving journalists and the public without critical information on health, crime, and more.
3,500+ – Journalists and media workers at risk of losing their jobs thanks to Trump’s shutdown of the USAGM
Journalists from VOA, the MBN, RFA, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are at risk of losing their jobs as the Trump administration works to shut down the USAGM. Furthermore, at least 84 USAGM journalists based in the US on work visas now face deportation to countries where they risk prosecution and severe harassment.
At least 15 journalists from RFA and eight from VOA originate from repressive states and are at serious risk of being arrested and potentially imprisoned if deported.
180 – Public radio stations at risk of closing if public media funding is eliminated
The Trump administration reportedly plans to ask Congress to cut $1.1 billion in allocated funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). These cuts will hit rural communities and stations in smaller media markets the hardest, where federal funding is most impactful.
74 –Days the Associated Press (AP) has been banned from the White House
On February 11, the White House began barring the Associated Press (AP) news agency from its events because of the news agency’s continued use of the term “Gulf of Mexico,” which President Trump prefers to call the “Gulf of America” — a blatant example of retaliation against the media.
Despite a federal judge ruling the administration must reinstate the news agency’s access on April 9, the White House has continued to limit AP’s access.
64 – Disparaging comments made by Trump against the media on Truth Social since inauguration
In addition to regular, personal attacks against the media in press conferences and public speeches, Trump takes to his social media site nearly every day to insult, threaten, or intimidate journalists and media workers who report about him or his administration critically.
13 –Individuals pardoned by President Trump after being convicted or charged for attacking journalists on January 6, 2021
Trump pardoned over a dozen individuals charged with or convicted of violent crimes against journalists at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.
6 –Federal Communications Commission (FCC) inquiries into media companies
Brendan Carr, co-author of the Project 2025 playbook and chair of the FCC, has wasted no time launching politically motivated investigations, explicit threats against media organisations, and implicit threats against their parent companies. These include inquiries into CBS, ABC parent company Disney, NBC parent company Comcast, public broadcasters NPR and PBS, and California television station KCBS.
4 – Trump’s personal lawsuits against media organisations
While Trump settled a lawsuit with ABC’s parent company Disney, he continues to sue CBS, The Des Moines Register, Gannett, and the Pulitzer Center over coverage he deemed biased.
$1.60 – Average annual amount each American pays for public media
Donald Trump has threatened to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting, framing the move as a cost-cutting measure.
However, public media only costs each American about $1.60 each year, representing a tremendous bargain as it gives Americans access to a wealth of local, national, and lifesaving emergency programming.
The United States was 55th out of 180 nations listed by the RSF World Press Freedom Index in 2024. The new index rankings will be released this week.
* Figures as of the date of publication, 24 April 2025. Pacific Media Watch collaborates with RSF.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.
China’s National Energy Administration has announced that the country’s solar and wind energy capacity has exceeded that of thermal energy — which is mostly coal-powered — for the first time.
The largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, China has pledged to achieve peak carbon emissions by the end of the decade and become carbon neutral by 2060, reported AFP.
“In the first quarter of 2025, China’s newly installed wind and photovoltaic power capacity totalled 74.33 million kilowatts, bringing the cumulative installed capacity to 1.482 billion kilowatts,” the country’s energy body said.
Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen, previously arrested under the Beijing-imposed national security law, was allowed to leave the city to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in an apparent show of leniency for the retired bishop known for being a vocal critic of China’s interference in church affairs.
Zen, 93, departed for Vatican City on Wednesday evening after a court granted the temporary return of his passport, which was confiscated after his arrest in 2022 for allegedly colluding with foreign forces and endangering national security, two sources told Radio Free Asia.
Cardinal Zen, who is currently on bail after his 2022 arrest, is traveling with a member of the Salesian religious congregation, one of the largest groups in the church, the sources said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
World leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni, are expected to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died Monday at the age of 88.
The papal funeral is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
Cardinal Stephen Chow, the current bishop of Hong Kong, has also arrived in Rome to attend Pope Francis’s funeral and participate in the secret conclave to vote for the new pope, according to the city’s Catholic Social Communications Office.
Retired Cardinal Joseph Zen attends mass at the Holy Cross Church in Hong Kong on May 24, 2022.(PETER PARKS/AFP)
In Italy, Zen will be received by Father John Paul Cheung, a priest from the Salesian order, who will help coordinate his schedule there, the sources said.
The Associated Press on Thursday quoted Cardinal Zen’s secretary as confirming that the retired bishop had recently applied to the court for his passport to be released.
The cardinal intends to return to Hong Kong after attending the funeral, though the exact date of his return is yet to be confirmed, the AP reported, citing his secretary.
Earlier in the week, Zen criticized the Vatican for providing only a day’s notice before convening the first General Congregation, prior to the papal conclave, saying the short notice made it difficult for elderly cardinals from peripheral regions to arrive on time.
Conditions for travel
This is not the first time Cardinal Zen has been permitted to retrieve his passport. In January 2023, he was allowed to attend the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
During that visit, Zen met privately with Pope Francis — their first meeting since Zen’s 2022 arrest. In a later interview, Francis had described Zen as “a gentle soul,” while Zen, in turn, said Pope Francis made him feel very warm and comforted.
The conditions for Zen’s travel are expected to be similar to those in the past, including a ban on media interviews and surrender of his passport to the police upon his return, in accordance with bail conditions for those arrested under the national security law.
(L-R) Scholar Hui Po-keung, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Cantopop star Denise Ho and former pro-democracy lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, who pleaded not guilty to ‘collusion with foreign forces’ in connection with their trusteeship of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, head to court in Hong Kong, May 24, 2022. Credit: RFA.
In May 2022, Zen’s arrest by Hong Kong’s national security police along with other pro-democracy figures sparked international outrage from governments and rights activists.
Later that year, he and his co-defendants were fined after being found guilty of failing to properly register their 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which offered financial, legal and psychological help to people arrested during the city’s 2019 protest movement.
They are scheduled to appear in court for an appeal hearing on Dec. 3, 2025.
In particular, he has accused Cardinal Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s secretary of state and a frontrunner to become the new pontiff – of being “a man of little faith,” for his role in architecting the deal that many say undermines the church’s mission in China.
The next pope will be elected by the College of Cardinals in a secret conclave. Zen, like other cardinals aged over 80, does not have voting rights but can participate in the discussions.
Of the three cardinals in the Hong Kong diocese, only Chow, 65, is eligible to vote. Ascending to the papacy requires the votes of 90 out of 135 cardinals eligible to participate in the Vatican conclave.
Several prominent cardinals who oversee dioceses in Asia are regarded by the region’s faithful as worthy candidates to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. An Asian pope would be a first for the church.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Cantonese.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – China appears to be quietly removing 125% retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. imports, including semiconductors, media reports said, following President Donald Trump’s recent signals that high levies on Chinese goods could be reduced.
The U.S. this month imposed tariffs of 145% on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with tariffs reaching 125% on American goods – a tit-for-tat trade battle that threatens to stunt the global economy. The U.S. also has imposed new tariffs on most other countries.
Chinese authorities have implemented tariff exemptions for eight types of U.S. semiconductors, excluding memory chips, CNN reported on Friday.
The broadcaster said that importers received notification of the changes during customs clearance rather than from official announcements. It said companies that already paid these tariffs may be eligible for refunds.
Separately, Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials are considering tariff exemptions for medical equipment and industrial chemicals such as ethane.
China, the world’s largest plastics producer, has factories that rely on U.S.-sourced ethane, while Chinese hospitals depend on advanced medical equipment such as MRI scanners made by American companies.
Additionally, authorities are reportedly exploring tariff exemptions for aircraft leasing arrangements to reduce financial burdens on Chinese airlines that lease rather than own their aircraft.
Radio Free Asia has not independently verified the reports.
China has not commented.
The reports came after China told the U.S. to “completely cancel all unilateral tariff measures” if Washington wants trade talks, in some of Beijing’s strongest comments since the trade row sharply escalated.
The U.S. should “find a way to resolve differences through equal dialogue,” He Yadong, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday.
Beijing also said there were “no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States,” contradicting repeated comments from Trump that the two sides were talking.
Trump indicated on Tuesday that the 145% tariffs on Chinese goods would be reduced. Trump acknowledged “145% is very high,” during a White House news conference.
He suggested the tariffs “will come down substantially” through negotiations, though not to zero.
In earlier statements, Trump said Washington and Beijing were in talks on tariffs and expressed confidence that the world’s two largest economies would reach a deal over the next three to four weeks. He declined to confirm whether he had spoken directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – China and Southeast Asian nations are “politically committed” to establishing legally binding rules for their conduct in the South China Sea by next year, the Philippines’ foreign affairs secretary said, despite two decades of inconclusive discussions.
A code of conduct aims to establish a framework for ensuring peace in the South China Sea where Beijing’s expansive territorial claims overlap with the exclusive economic zones of some Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Vietnam.
“Everyone has agreed that we would all like to have a code by 2026,” said Enrique Manalo at a maritime security forum in Manila on Thursday.
“We still have to address important issues such as the scope of the code, also the nature of the code and its relation also to the declaration of the principles adopted in 2002 on the South China Sea,” he said.
“We hope, and we will do all that we can to try and achieve a successful negotiation.”
A South China Sea code of conduct has been under discussion for over two decades.
Separately, Philippines’ National Security Council spokesperson assistant director Jonathan Malaya described the talks as advancing at a “glacial pace.”
However, he was still optimistic they would be wrapped up within a year.
“Hopefully, by the time that the Philippines is chairman of the [regional forum] ASEAN, the code of conduct will be completed,” he said.
The Philippines will host the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2026.
Last year, Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged ASEAN to hasten talks on the code amid rising South China Sea tensions.
Fundamental issues such as geographic scope and the legal status of a nonbinding South China Sea declaration signed in 2002 still need to be resolved, he said.
Chinese aircraft carriers spotted near Philippines
The Philippine official’s comments on the code talks came as the country’s navy confirmed the presence of China’s Shandong aircraft carrier near its waters.
A Chinese electronic surveillance ship was also monitored off the northern coast of Luzon on Tuesday. The Philippine Navy challenged the presence of the Chinese warships, according to a navy spokesperson Cpt. John Percie Alcos.
“They’re actually conducting normal naval operations en route to a specific destination that we still do not know. Their passage was expeditious,” said Alcos.
The Chinese warship was seen as the Philippines, United States, and Japan prepared to conduct a joint sailing on Thursday as part of the annual Balikatan military exercises between Manila and Washington.
On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticized the Philippines for its military drills with the U.S.
“The Philippines chose to conduct the large-scale military drills with this country outside the region and brought in strategic and tactical weapons to the detriment of regional strategic stability and regional economic prospects, which puts them on the opposite side of regional countries,” he said.
Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
A popular account on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo was forced to change its name from “Voice of Comrade” as the term refers to homosexuality, prompting intense criticism of Chinese regulators, known for censoring content with gay themes.
The word “tongzhi” or “comrade” – widely used by China’s Communist Party to address cadres – has in recent decades been embraced by the country’s gay community to refer to homosexuals in an effort to replace derogatory words that previously defined them.
On Tuesday, the account name “Voice of Comrade” was suddenly deleted and replaced with the original user ID number. A day later, the account name was changed to “Voices of Pride” to be in compliance with the country’s Internet regulations, its moderator said – sparking widespread outrage by Chinese netizens over the apparent censorship.
“The sudden ban on the use of the name can be seen as another example of China’s suppression of human rights,” said human rights activist Pan Jiawei, noting that the Weibo account has served as a valuable source of information for sexual minority groups in China since it was set up in 2009.
“It shows the Chinese government’s discrimination against sexual minorities, and at the same time it allows the outside world to see how the authorities use ridiculous methods to force companies to toe the party line,” Pan told Radio Free Asia.
On Tuesday, the “Voice of Comrade” account on China’s version of X – which boasts two million followers – put out a post expressing concern over the platform’s move to delete the name it has been known by for over 16 years.
But in a separate post on Wednesday, it said that the account name “Voice of Comrades” has been changed to “Voices of Pride” to meet the relevant requirements of the “Internet User Account Information Management Regulations.”
In that post, the moderator also emphasized that the renamed account will abide by Chinese laws and regulations, firmly support the position of the Party and the country, and continue to serve sexual minorities.
Many Chinese netizens questioned why the account had not been renamed to “Voice of Homosexuals.” Still others said the forced name change is reflective of the Chinese government’s discrimination against homosexuals and signals growing restrictions on content about the gay community.
Although the Chinese government has not criminalized homosexuality, in recent years many groups and platforms advocating gender equality have been unable to carry out public activities, said Li Maizi, a Chinese LGBT rights advocate.
The name change shows “…the government wants the voices of sexual equality and sexual minority groups to fade out of Chinese society, which is related to the government’s hostility to Western ideology,” said Li.
“The environment of public opinion is very tight, and if various homosexual art groups want to exist, they have to stay low key. Many organizations have actually changed their names; (for them) at least there is a space for survival,” she added.
In 2012, the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, regarded one of China’s most authoritative dictionaries, excluded the homosexual definition of the term “comrade.” At the time, the director of the committee entrusted with updating the dictionary said they omitted the term’s gay reference to avoid encouraging its usage.
Homosexuality – illegal in China until the late 1990s – was defined as a mental disorder until that classification was removed in 2001.
“Homosexuality is still a taboo and sensitive word in official circles, so when people use the word “comrade” to refer to homosexuality, the Chinese government is very unhappy with it,” independent commentator Hu Ping who lives in the United States told RFA.
“But I think they cannot reverse it. You can change the name … but ordinary people will still regard ‘comrade’ as a synonym for homosexuality. They will still do that,” Hu said.
In 2018, Weibo had announced plans to censor cartoons, games, and short video content about homosexuality as part of a campaign to “create a healthy and harmonious community environment.” But the company was forced to cancel the plan after it faced a major backlash from users using the hashtag #IAmGay.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin.
The governing regime in Kiev is desperately trying to maintain its US support, as a defeat of the US-led, NATO proxy war in Ukraine looms. It is citing the collapse of the government in South Vietnam in April 1975 as a warning, saying that something similar could happen in Ukraine. At the time, the US defeat in Vietnam was a huge blow to the image and standing of US imperialism in the world.
Such pronouncements by the Kiev regime reveal a recognition that ‘its’ Ukraine has become a satellite of the United States – much as South Vietnam was widely recognized to be half a century ago. Then as now, Washington and its allies are desperately seeking to maintain their economic and military dominance over the world and to stop rising movements of liberation by the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The British government says a new state-owned renewable energy company will not be allowed to source solar panels made with Chinese slave labor.
The government announced Wednesday that it will introduce an amendment to ensure that the planned company, Great British Energy, will not have slavery in its supply chains.
China is the dominant global player in the renewable energy market including solar energy. The BBC cited customs data that Britain imports more than 40% of its solar photovoltaics from China.
A key component is polysilicon sourced from the Xinjiang region in China’s far west, where minority Uyghur Muslims have faced persecution including use of their forced labor.
In 2021, the U.S. Labor Department listed polysilicon as a product made with forced labor in China in violation of international standards.
The British government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer had initially rejected an amendment to the Great British Energy Bill to include provisions to prevent purchase of solar panels made with slave labor.
However, on Wednesday, it changed track.
“Great British Energy will act to secure supply chains that are free of forced labor, under an amendment brought forward by the government today,” the Department of Energy Security said in a news release.
It said a new measure in the bill “will enable the company to ensure that forced labor does not take place in its business or its supply chains.”
The opposition Conservative Party described it as a “humiliating U-turn” for Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, but it was also supported by some members of the ruling Labour Party.
Rahima Mahmut, executive director of the activist group Stop Uyghur Genocide, welcomed the amendment, posting on X that it was a “massive step toward justice.”
Forced labor is on a long list of serious human rights problems that have been documented in Xinjiang and is cited along with the incarceration of an estimated 1.8 million people in detention camps since 2017 and forced birth control by the U.S. government and others as evidence of genocide of the Uyghurs.
China denies the rights abuses.
Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alim Seytoff for RFA Uyghur.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Chinese generative AI service DeepSeek transferred Korean users’ personal information to companies in China and the United States without proper consent during its brief operation in the country, South Korea’s data protection watchdog said on Thursday.
DeepSeek’s chatbot app once became the most downloaded on Apple’s iPhone, surpassing U.S. company OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While praised for efficiency, it raised concerns over censorship of sensitive topics, data privacy and ties to the Chinese government, with some governments, including South Korea, banning the app.
DeepSeek transferred user data to three companies in China and one in the U.S. between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15, 2025, when the service was temporarily suspended following privacy controversies, the Personal Information Protection Commission, or PIPC, announced.
The Chinese service neither obtained user consent for these international transfers nor disclosed this practice in its privacy policy. With approximately 50,000 daily users during its one-month service period, the PIPC estimated that information from around 1.5 million users may have been improperly transferred overseas.
The commission also found that DeepSeek sent not only device, network, and app information but also the content that users entered into AI prompts to Volcano, one of the three Chinese companies and an affiliate of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
DeepSeek acknowledged the transfers to Volcano but said it used the company’s cloud services to improve security vulnerabilities and the user experience. The PIPC told DeepSeek that transferring prompt inputs was unnecessary and confirmed that the company has blocked transfers since April 10.
“DeepSeek explained that although Volcano is affiliated with ByteDance, it operates as a separate legal entity unrelated to ByteDance operations,” said the PIPC in a statement.
“They assured that the processed information would only be used for service operation and improvement, not for marketing purposes, and promised to strictly protect personal information in compliance with legal requirements.”
The investigation also found DeepSeek lacked an “opt-out” function that would allow users to prevent their prompt inputs from being used for AI training and development. This feature was only implemented after the PIPC pointed out the deficiency.
Although DeepSeek claimed not to collect personal information from children under 14, it had no age verification process during registration.
The company has since established age verification procedures during the inspection process.
The privacy policy, available only in Chinese and English, also omitted required information about data deletion procedures, methods, and security measures mandated by South Korean privacy law.
The PIPC recommended that DeepSeek immediately delete user prompt content transferred to Volcano and implement several improvements, including appointing a domestic representative in South Korea and enhancing overall security measures for its personal information processing systems.
If DeepSeek accepts these recommendations within 10 days, it will be considered equivalent to receiving an official correction order under relevant laws, requiring the company to report implementation results to the PIPC within 60 days.
DeepSeek had previously acknowledged its insufficient consideration of South Korean privacy laws when it temporarily suspended new downloads in domestic app markets following the start of the PIPC investigation.
While the commission did not specify when DeepSeek might resume services in South Korea, the company is expected to restart operations soon, as it claims to have addressed most of the identified issues.
DeepSeek has not commented on South Korea’s findings.
Communist Party ‘enforcer’
The South Korean investigation came a week after the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, said up to 85% of responses on DeepSeek were altered or suppressed to cater to the CCP’s narrative.
The chatbot uses automated filtering of responses and built-in biases to serve as a “digital enforcer of the CCP,” manipulating information pertinent to democracy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chinese human rights abuses, the committee said in a report released on April 16.
The investigation found that DeepSeek channels information from U.S. users directly to the CCP via backend infrastructure connected to China Mobile, listed as a Chinese military company by the U.S. government.
Millions of U.S. users’ data therefore serves as a “high-value open-source intelligence asset for the CCP,” it said.
Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
Nianli Ma, married to cyber expert and former Indiana University Professor, Xiaofang Wang, spoke out for the first time since the couple’s abrupt dismissals from Indiana University and a raid of their homes by the FBI. Ma said, “I feel trapped in a constant state of worry and sadness. What have we done to deserve this treatment? We are just desperately seeking answers.”
Ma, who had worked as a library systems analyst, spoke to an online town hall organized by the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) that was held to discuss the political climate for Asian Americans, said she has had trouble sleeping and lost weight since the incidents.
Over the past two weeks, Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the global economy by announcing sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. This abrupt move sent stock markets in the US and abroad into a tailspin, forcing the administration to quickly backpedal. In a hasty retreat, Trump revised the policy to impose a lower, across-the-board 10% tariff (25% for aluminium and steel), while simultaneously singling out China with a staggering 145% tariff on all imports from the country, one of the most extreme trade measures in modern history—though some categories were subsequently exempted.
“While claiming to support the Haitian people, [the United States] has significantly cut foreign aid and continued to deport Haitian immigrants under the pretext of national priorities, just when Haiti urgently needs support,” Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), said on Monday, April 21, at the Security Council.
“What is even more shocking is that … they also recently extended their so-called 10% basic tariff to Haiti, one of the least developed countries in the world,” the Chinese ambassador continued.
Geng said China is deeply concerned about the “worsening crisis in Haiti and the rampant gang violence, the near collapse of the state and the desperate situation of the people.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited China and held talks with Chinese officials on 23 April, discussing several matters including bilateral cooperation and developments in West Asia, while also briefing Beijing on ongoing nuclear talks with Washington.
Araghchi met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang to discuss “interaction within the framework of the comprehensive agreement on strategic cooperation and weighing plans to expedite the implementation of the 25-year road map,” according to Tasnim news agency.
Iran and China signed the 25-year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement in March 2021. The deal includes cooperation in energy, finance, transportation, and trade, as well as military and security.
Taiwan wanted to send its President Lai Ching-te to Saturday’s funeral of Pope Francis but after negotiations with the Vatican, the Foreign Ministry said a former vice president will attend instead.
Analysts say the Vatican may be concerned about angering China, which views self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory.
The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Taiwanese presidents have attended the most recent papal inauguration in 2013 and funeral in 2005.
Taiwan’s Vice Foreign Minister Wu Chih-chung said on Tuesday that it was hoped Lai could attend the pope’s funeral which will take place on Saturday. The Argentine pontiff died of a stroke at age 88 on Monday.
But on Wednesday, Wu noted that Vatican had its own considerations and subsequently the ministry issued a statement saying former Vice President Chen Chien-jen would attend instead as the president’s envoy. Chen had met the pope six times.
Chang Meng-jen, head of the Italian Languages Department at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, said that the decision for Lai not at attend pointed to China’s growing international influence and the Vatican’s reluctance to annoy Beijing,
“Since President Chen Shui-bian could attend the funeral of (Pope) John Paul II, President Ma Ying-jeou could attend the inauguration of Pope Francis, but now President Lai cannot go, perhaps it’s because China’s diplomatic strength and international influence are much greater than they were more than a decade ago,” he told RFA.
Karl Kung, who is a member of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem – a Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See – told RFA that when Chen attended Pope John Paul II’s funeral as president in 2005 it attracted international attention and caused great displeasure in Beijing. He said this time the Vatican is probably afraid of a backlash from China.
Chia-Lin Chang, a professor at the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations at Tamkang University in Taiwan, said that she expected China would at most send clergy to Francis’ funeral, and would not send officials from the State Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the ruling communist party.
However, she expected the pope’s successor would continue to recognize the Vatican-China-Taiwan triangle framework and the Vatican-China agreement established by Francis.
In 2018, China and the Vatican signed an agreement on the appointment of bishops under which China would propose candidates for bishops, and the Pope would select them. In 2022 and 2023, China appointed two bishops without the authorization of the Vatican, which accused China of violating the agreement, which was nevertheless renewed.
When the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences Tuesday on the pope’s death, it said “China is willing to make joint efforts with the Vatican to promote the continued improvement of China-Vatican relations.”
Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Xia Xiao Hua for RFA Mandarin.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The Philippines lifted a decades-old policy that tightly restricted official engagement with Taiwan in a move an expert says signals a recalibration of its China policy as tensions simmer.
Under the new policy, introduced on April 15, Philippine government officials – except for the President, Vice President, Foreign Affairs Secretary and Defense Secretary – can now visit Taiwan for economic, trade or investment-related activities, provided they travel on regular passports and do not use their official titles.
Previously, Philippine officials were barred from visiting Taiwan or meeting with Taiwanese officials without prior government approval.
The amendment is “to further maximize opportunities for the development and expansion of the Philippines’ priority areas of investment,” the state-run Official Gazette said in a memorandum released on Monday.
In response, Taiwan’s foreign ministry highlighted that the democratic island is the Philippines’ ninth biggest trading partner and praised the decision for “strengthening Taiwan-Philippines relations” and “advancing substantive cooperation.”
China has not commented.
J. Michael Cole, a Taipei-based senior fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute, believes Manila’s move reflects its realization that the Philippines and Taiwan, as neighbors facing similar security challenges, stand to gain from closer collaboration.
“Growing ties between Taiwan and the Philippines are indeed related to the deteriorating security environment in the South China Sea and Beijing’s belligerence towards Manila,” Cole said.
In recent years, tensions between China and the Philippines have escalated due to repeated confrontations in the South China Sea over areas claimed by China that are in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
One recent case was a Google Maps update labeling waters west of the Philippines as the “West Philippine Sea” – a move that reignited debate over a long-standing territorial dispute. While the Philippines uses this name to assert its sovereignty, China continues to claim the area as part of the South China Sea.
In February, the Chinese military conducted a new combat readiness drill near a disputed area with the Philippines in the South China Sea. The exercise added to a growing series of maneuvers Beijing has carried out in the region.
The Philippines has also alleged that China’s recent detention of three Filipino citizens on espionage charges may be retaliation for Manila’s recent crackdown on suspected Chinese spies.
“Both Taiwan and the Philippines face an increasingly complex ‘grey zone’ environment and stand to benefit from exchanging notes on the matter and collaborating where collaboration is possible,” said Cole, referring to covert, ambiguous and low-level tactics aimed at achieving strategic objectives without triggering full-scale conflict.
The Philippines and Taiwan have maintained unofficial relations since 1975, when Manila formally recognized the People’s Republic of China under the One China policy.
Despite the absence of official diplomatic ties, the two sides engage through representative offices, which function as de facto embassies.
Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines first signaled a subtle shift in its approach to Taiwan. In January 2024, Marcos publicly congratulated Lai Ching-te when he was elected as the island’s president, expressing a desire for closer collaboration – a move that drew criticism from Beijing.
The Philippines’ move also came as Manila seeks deepening defense ties with the United States.
According to a recent Naval News report, U.S. forces plan to deploy anti-ship missiles in the Luzon Strait – a strategic waterway between Taiwan and the northern Philippines – during this year’s annual “Balikatan” joint military exercise. China has condemned the drills as a “disruption of regional stability.”
During his first official visit to Manila in March, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that Washington will send advanced military equipment to the Philippines to bolster deterrence in the region, signaling a further strengthening of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
Why has US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on countries all around the world? And in particular, why is Trump waging a trade war on China? What are his real goals?
Well, to try to answer these questions, I spoke with the economist Michael Hudson, who is the author of many books, and who just published the new report “Return of the robber barons: Trump’s distorted view of US tariff history“.
Michael Hudson outlined the history of the use of tariffs in the United States and in other countries, and he explained how Trump is using tariffs as a weapon of class war, to benefit the rich at the expense of the vast majority of the population, and also how Trump is trying to reshape the global financial system, in order to benefit the United States at the expense of everyone else.
