Kinaforum

lørdag 29. november 2025

Welcome to the new frontier for organized crime: Cambodia’s hub for telefraud and cyber scams

South Korea has unleashed its largest-ever sanctions package — reportedly even larger than that deployed against North Korea — targeting transnational crime syndicates in Southeast Asia. The actions follow the killing, apparently by torture, of a South Korean college student in Cambodiaand a recent slew of arrests and extraditions.

The sanctions are aimed at 132 entities and 15 individuals. They include two Cambodia-based organizations linked to investment scams, cybercrime, and money laundering: the Prince Group, allegedly led by a Chinese national, and the Huione Group, allegedly led by a Cambodian national. The U.S. Treasury Department previously partnered with the U.K. to impose a range of sanctions on the Prince Group and the Huione Group.

Seoul also named National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Chang-yong as the new ambassador to Phnom Penh.

Map Shows US Allies in Range of Chinese Missiles

A Newsweek map shows that United States allies in the western Pacific—Japan, South Korea and the Philippines—are within range of Chinese missiles as tensions rise in the region over territorial disputes and Beijing's growing military activities.

Newsweek has contacted Japan's Defense Ministry, South Korea's Foreign Ministry and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for comment via email. China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.

Japan and the Philippines are part of the first island chain—along with Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China—under a U.S. strategy that seeks to deter potential Chinese aggression. Beijing is in a diplomatic dispute with Tokyo over Japan's stance on Taiwan and has overlapping sovereignty claims with Manila in the South China Sea.

New NATO Allies’ Arctic Laser Base Will Counter Russia and China

A new base being built by NATO countries in Greenland will use incredibly narrow laser beams to ensure fast and voluminous data download from satellites, as Western nations move to secure communications from disruption by adversaries such as Russia or China, the company behind the project told Newsweek.

The planned new Optical Ground Station in Kangerlussuaq in western Greenland, north of the capital Nuuk, is going up in a former U.S. military base and will use technology developed by Astrolight, a company from the Baltic nation of Lithuania, with support from the European Space Agency.

Beijing is building bases across the Strait from Taiwan

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China.

That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south.A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway branch lines and amphibious bases under construction over the past few years, it said.

More than 10 amphibious warships berthed at the naval base in May, including a Type 075 amphibious assault ship, with a combined personnel capacity of about 5,000, it said. Naval facilities were also built at Zhejiang Province’s Yueqing Bay, including a large wharf that allows numerous vessels to berth and operate there, the council said.

Hong Kong blaze spotlights enduring role of city’s foreign domestic helpers

Indonesian domestic helper Fita spoke of the confusion inside the Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex as it was engulfed in flames on Wednesday in the city’s deadliest fire since 1948. Amid sirens, flying debris and smell of burning, Fita told her employer there was a fire but her boss did not believe her.

After going outside and seeing two buildings burning in the Wang Fuk Court complex she pressed again: “I just straight-talked to my employer — I said you have go down now.”

“It was scary. I was going to cry because I saw a lot of people confused,” Fita, 49, said. The pair eventually got out and are staying in emergency housing.

How did Hong Kong’s massive housing estate fire turn so deadly? Here’s what we know

A deadly inferno torn through a massive housing complex in Hong Kong earlier this week, killing at least 128 people with many more still missing, in the city’s worst disaster in decades. Officials said the blaze was officially put out on Friday morning local time – nearly two days after fires broke out – with rescuers saying extremely high temperatures hampered their ability to reach trapped residents.

A man was rescued alive from the 16th story of one of the towers in the Wang Fuk Court complex Thursday, public broadcaster RTHK reported, citing Hong Kong’s fire department.

Millions in China cram for civil service exam and the hope of a job for life

A record number of people are set to take China’s notoriously gruelling national civil service exam this weekend, reflecting the increasing desire of Chinese workers to find employment in the public rather than private sector.

Around 3.7 million people have registered for the tests on Saturday and Sunday, which will be the first since the government increased the age limit for certain positions. The age limit for general candidates has increased from 35 to 38, while the age limit for those with postgraduate degrees has been raised from 40 to 43. The millions of applicants will be competing for 38,100 civil service vacancies across the country, the equivalent of an average of 97 people per job.

The low-desire life: why people in China are rejecting high-pressure jobs in favour of ‘lying flat’

The global AI race is supercharging Taiwan’s economy. But many don’t feel better off

For proof that an economy can thrive even under constant military threats from a powerful neighbor and amid US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, look no further than Taiwan.

The self-ruled democracy has logged roughly 8% economic growth for two consecutive quarters, a rare achievement for a developed economy and one that is projected to push its 2025 GDP growth close to 7.4%, even surpassing China’s.

“Taiwan’s economy has clearly been one of the best performing economies in the world, particularly over recent quarters,” said Jason Tuvey, an economist at Capital Economics. “Many people expected Taiwan’s economy to benefit from the sort of AI boom, but maybe many underestimated to what extent it would do.”

Taiwan plans extra $40bn in defence spending to counter China’s ‘intensifying’ threats

How China Is Using Brazil to Reshape Power in the Americas

China’s increasing economic footprint in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is redefining the region’s balance of power. Once primarily a trading partner, China is now entrenching itself in the Brazilian industrial base and consumer economy, turning the South American colossus into a gateway for Chinese influence across the continent. This shift challenges Washington’s traditional sphere of influence while carrying indirect consequences for Taiwan, whose diplomatic survival relies on a shrinking circle of allies in Latin America that have been progressively drawn into Beijing’s orbit.

China has been Brazil’s largest trading partner since 2009, but its economic presence was primarily confined to commodity trade. Now that boundary has disintegrated.

Never Say Never: The Coming Rapprochement of Taiwan and Elon Musk?

In my article “Influencing the Influencer: China and Elon Musk” for The Diplomat back in October 2022, I posited that American tech mogul Elon Musk and his SpaceX will not provide Starlink services in Taiwan. I based my prediction on Musk’s admission that, in his interactions with senior Chinese officials, “Beijing sought assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.” Because the comment was made by Chinese officials, their definition of “China” must include Taiwan.

So far, that prediction has largely hold true. Starlink is still not officially available in Taiwan. Starlink blames the gap on Taiwanese regulatory requirements that satellite operators must be majority-owned by local interests or investors.

Starlink is available in pretty much all of East and Southeast Asia, with the notable exceptions of China and Myanmar. Even for Hong Kong, part of China’s territory, Starlink’s website does not publish any local service plans and prices.

Trump–Xi: The phone call and implications for the Indo-Pacific

The November 24 phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping signals more than a temporary pause in bilateral tensions. Amid heightened pressures over Taiwan, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and fragile global supply chains, both powers appear to be testing a new rhythm of strategic competition: one that prioritizes tempo control over confrontation.

For middle powers and regional actors in the Indo-Pacific, including Vietnam, the conversation offers a window into both risk and opportunity — provided these countries possess the institutional capacity and strategic foresight to respond effectively.

While official summaries emphasized trade disputes, Taiwan, and Ukraine, the subtext is critical. Trump is focused on stabilizing markets, preserving leverage, and calibrating a strategic stance without provoking escalation. Xi, meanwhile, seeks to buy time for industrial and military reorganization while mitigating external pressures.

Photos of Buddhist monks in Laos praying in region littered with unexploded bombs

The day begins in darkness, lit only by street lamps. As dawn breaks, a pale blue light reveals a quiet line of monks in orange robes moving through the streets of the Lao city of Luang Prabang.

The city, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane, sits on a narrow peninsula between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. It was once the seat of the Lan Xang kingdom and now is a UNESCO World Heritage city.Morning in Luang Prabang brings the soft sound of bare feet touching stone during tak bat, the daily almsgiving ritual that remains central to life here.

Despite sharing borders with Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, Laos maintains a distinct cultural atmosphere. A soft greeting of “sabaidee,” often accompanied by palms pressed together, comes with a small smile, offered naturally to strangers and neighbors alike.

At the morning market, stalls overflow with fresh vegetables, herbs and local meat and fish.

China’s cultural advantage in the AI Age

As artificial intelligence (AI) surpasses human capability, the societies best positioned to steer superintelligence will not be the most technologically advanced but the most culturally prepared. China, with its Confucian-Daoist substrate, meets this criterion better than most.

Scaled up, state-coordinated and informed by a living tradition that values long-term collective flourishing, China, together with Confucian East Asia, is well-placed to drive the development of AI and transform its purpose.

The moment when AI surpasses human performance in nearly every cognitive and physical domain, two epochal shifts will occur almost simultaneously. As SpaceX founder Elon Musk predicted recently, compulsory human labour, both mental and manual, will become optional.

That civilizational pivot from “how” to “why” also implies a symbolic dethroning of science and technology. In their place will be questions about purpose, value and ultimate direction.

EU wide open to China’s rare earths blackmail

In recent years, rare earth elements have become the focal point of renewed competition between the world’s major powers. These materials are crucial to the manufacture of all manner of products, ranging from weapons to medical products, AI hardware and cars.

In this new panorama, the United States and Europe are at a disadvantage, as China controls as much as 90% of the global trade in rare earths. This is largely because it has been quietly but continuously promoting the extraction and refining of these raw materials for decades. As early as the 1950s China began mining the Bayan Obo deposit in Inner Mongolia, which is now the world’s largest rare earth mine. By the 1990s it had significantly increased its investments to become the world leader in production and refining.

Today, the PRC extracts these raw materials both within its own borders and in other countries, especially in Africa, though much of the refining is still done in China itself.

Torbjørn Færøvik: General Hideki Tojos siste fortvilte kamp

Høsten 1945. Her ligger det slagne Japans fremste krigsforbryter, general Hideki Tojo, og slikker sine sår. Like før hadde han forsøkt å begå selvmord ved å skyte seg selv i brystet. De fem amerikanske soldatene på bildet har nettopp reddet ham fra den visse død.

Den 15. august kapitulerte det keiserlige Japan etter mange års krig, og landet ble satt under administrasjon av USA og dets allierte. Kort etter begynte klappjakten på de japanske krigsforbryterne. I bydelen Setagaya i Tokyo hadde general Tojo forskanset seg i sin private bolig.

Den18. september ble den omringet av amerikansk militærpoliti.

«Slipp oss inn!»

Tojo forsto at slaget var tapt og grep til sin pistol. Han hadde tatt på seg sin velbrukte generalsuniform og skrevet et avskjedsbrev, men selvmordsforsøket mislyktes. Da amerikanerne stormet inn, fant de ham blødende og hardt skadet, men i live.

Les mer

China Closes Military Power Gap With US

China is rapidly narrowing the military power gap with the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, according to a new ranking by Australia's Lowy Institute think tank. China under President Xi Jinping has outlined its goal of building a "world-class" military by 2049 and continues strengthening its regional posture while acquiring capabilities designed to raise the cost of U.S. intervention in a potential conflict.

In response, the United States has increased the pace of joint military exercises and expanded arms sales and deployments to regional partners—steps Beijing warns are destabilizing.

Still, some in Washington argue current policy lacks coherence, especially regarding flashpoints like the Taiwan Strait and China's territorial disputes with U.S. treaty ally the Philippines in the South China Sea.

China Testing Ways To Knock Out Musk’s Starlink in Future US War

Chinese researchers have been exploring ways to wage electronic warfare on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The team ran a simulation involving high-altitude jammers over a site in eastern China which established that nearly 1,000 drones would be needed to block the network over an area the size of Taiwan.

Starlink is the world’s largest satellite internet network, with more than 8,000 operational in low-Earth orbit. It first proved its wartime potential in Ukraine, when it kept Kyiv's forces connected in the critical early days of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Chinese officials have previously said they view Starlink as a national security threat and have been investing heavily in advanced electronic and cyberwarfare, in addition to conventional forces, as Beijing ramps up military pressure against Taiwan. China claims the self-ruled island as its territory, and says unification is inevitable, through force if necessary.

Satellite Photo Captures China’s D-Day Invasion Drills

New satellite imagery shows China testing its landing barges, which analysts say appear tailor-made for an invasion of Taiwan. China’s navy is now the world’s largest by hull count, boasting more than 370 warships and submarines.

Among these new vessels are landing docks, more advanced amphibious assault ships, and specialized landing barges analysts have dubbed Shui Qiao, or "water bridges," that appear purpose-built for a potential beach landing in an attack on Taiwan.

China claims the self-ruled island as its territory and has vowed to bring it into the fold, through force if necessary. Beijing's forces have in recent years ratcheted up pressure through large-scale military drills and near-daily air sorties across the median line of the Taiwan Strait.