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POLITICS4d agoTerrible idea: The hidden danger behind China’s student exchange pushIt should go without saying that drastically increasing the number of American students participating in Chinese exchange programs poses a threat to our national security and military industrial base.The Hill
POLITICS4d agoWhy China is likely to be cautious about recent Trump-Putin diesel dealChina is likely to view the latest US dealings with Russia as “transactional”, according to observers, who said Beijing was likely to wait and see what the longer-term impact would be given the possibility that Donald Trump might abruptly change course again. The US president announced that under a deal with Vladimir Putin, Russia would “immediately” supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and global markets. He wrote on social media that another 500,000 tonnes would follow in...South China Morning Post
POLITICSBREAKING4d agoSouth Korea Recalls Ambassador, Demands Public Apology From UkraineA diplomatic rift is growing after a North Korean prisoner transfer that Kyiv revealed against Seoul’s wishes.The Diplomat
POLITICS4d agoCan South Korea and Ukraine resolve their diplomatic spat over North Korean POWs?Seoul and Kyiv are trading accusations after the transfer of two North Korean POWs to South Korea. The South insists the move was to be kept secret as it seeks to avoid antagonizing Pyongyang.DW News [en]
POLITICS5d agoChina’s top diplomat to visit Azerbaijan, Croatia, Montenegro and Bulgaria to boost tiesChinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Azerbaijan and three Balkan countries amid Beijing’s push to shore up its trade corridors and geopolitical influence in the regions. Wang will attend the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday “as special representative of President Xi Jinping”, according to China’s foreign ministry. Aside from Azerbaijan, Beijing’s top diplomat will visit Croatia, Montenegro and...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoWhere every tree hides an "enemy": how I witnessed the growth of paranoia in ChinaThis article describes the witnessing of increasing paranoia in China, where a sense of hidden enemies is prevalent. It matters as it reflects on sociopolitical conditions in the country.Clarín
POLITICS5d agoEx-US FDA official to lead Hong Kong’s new medical products regulatorA Beijing-educated former official at the US federal drug regulator has been appointed to lead Hong Kong’s new medical products body, tasked with accelerating the clinical use of medicines and medical devices as part of a regulatory overhaul. Li Zili, who previously worked at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), would take up the post of controller for medical products regulation under the Department of Health on a three-year term beginning October 20, the government said on Monday. He...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoSmokescreen politics? Malaysians mock Indonesian official’s ‘we send oxygen’ haze defenceMalaysians have reacted with sarcasm and disbelief to an Indonesian official’s claim that his country provides the region’s oxygen, as toxic smoke from forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan chokes neighbouring nations. Syahganda Nainggolan, head of Indonesia’s government communications agency, prompted the backlash after invoking his country’s forests when questioned on Saturday about the severe smog that has forced school closures and triggered health warnings across Malaysia and...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoMalaysian PM Anwar’s new budget tackles graft, but critics ask: is it too late?With his reformist credentials battered by coalition compromises and a looming general election, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has used his 2027 budget to launch a fresh wave of anti-corruption measures. But as his government nears its four-year mark, analysts warn that restoring public confidence will require more than additional funding and tighter legislative oversight. The measures, announced when Anwar presented Malaysia’s 2027 budget on Friday, include 1.1 billion ringgit (US$269...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHow China and America Can Move from Competition to StabilityThe American team thought it was signaling restraint. The Chinese team saw preparations for combat. In a closed-door Sino-American crisis simulation I helped organize in the 2010s — which the U.S. military funded as part of a long-term project — the Americans repositioned an aircraft carrier away from a maritime dispute between China and the Philippines, expecting the move to reassure Beijing. Instead, the Chinese participants became deeply alarmed. They believed the carrier was now ideally positioned to launch combat operations while remaining less vulnerable to attack. The episodWar on the Rocks
POLITICS5d ago2028 elections: Sara Duterte may retreat for 'dark horse' —PaneloThere would be no shortage of potential candidates to carry Vice President Sara Duterte’s banner in the 2028 presidential race should she be convicted by the impeachment court and barred from holding public office, former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.... Keep on reading: 2028 elections: Sara Duterte may retreat for 'dark horse' —Paneloinquirer · philippines
POLITICS5d agoBeijing sanctions Paraguayan and Belizean ministers over support for TaiwanBeijing on Monday sanctioned Paraguayan and Belizean government ministers over the Taiwan issue, after the two nations sealed deals with Taipei in recent months. Gustavo Villate, Paraguay’s minister of information and communication technologies, and Francis Fonseca, Belize’s minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade, education, culture, science and technology were placed under sanctions from Monday, the foreign ministry said. The measures include freezing their assets within China, prohibiting...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoChina sanctions Paraguay, Belize ministers over Taiwan tiesChinese Foreign Ministry cites national sovereignty and Taiwan separatist activities as reasons behind the measures.Al Jazeera [en]
POLITICS5d agoUS Drops Sanctions on Daughter of Prominent Myanmar Businessman Thein Win ZawIs Theint Win Htet's removal from the Treasury Department's blacklist a sign of a looming rapprochement between Washington and Naypyidaw?The Diplomat
POLITICS5d agoAs AI and the Iran war loom, China’s energy technocrats are on the fast trackThis is a special contribution from the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong. Read the full report at the end of the article. It will be available on the institute website cccw.hku.hk from October 13. With the rising strategic significance of energy, especially due to the need to support China’s artificial intelligence (AI) development, members of the Communist Party’s 20th Central Committee with energy backgrounds – the country’s “movers and shakers” in this...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoMyanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing to Visit Indonesia and Brunei, Regime Spokesperson SaysSince taking office in April, the former general has visited five ASEAN member states as he seeks normalization with the Southeast Asian bloc.The Diplomat
POLITICS5d agoKurt Campbell on US deterrence, the Quad, Aukus and Taiwan after Xi-Trump summitKurt Campbell is a veteran US diplomat and strategist who has played a leading role in shaping Washington’s approach to China and the Indo-Pacific for more than a decade. He served as the White House coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs from 2021 to 2024 and as US deputy secretary of state from 2024 to 2025. Previously, he served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs from 2009 to 2013 and was a key architect of the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia”. Often...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoAnti-Narita expansion rallyParticipants march during a demonstration by the Sanrizuka National Mobilization Rally in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, on Sunday. The march was organized to oppose war and the expansion of…Japan Today
POLITICS5d agoAre Marcos’ minions in Congress plotting to amend the Constitution?THE controversy over whether the Senate can reduce the votes required to convict an impeached official from 16 to 14 raises a question far more consequential than the fate of Vice President Sara Duterte. If senators can change an explicit numerical requirement of the Constitution through their own procedural rules, what prevents Congress from similarly altering other safeguards — including, and especially, the rules for amending the Constitution itself? Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution states: “No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.” With 24 sitting senators, that requires 16 affirmative votes. It does not say two-thirds of those present, those voting, or those who have not abstained. The phrase is “all the Members.” The proposed reduction to 14 would require excluding some senators from the denominator. Disguised as a technical adjustment, it raises a fundamental issue: Can a chamber’s procedural rules change the voting requirements categorically stipulated by the Constitution? If so, the implications extend well beyond impeachment. Numerous constitutional provisions demand specified fractions of all members precisely because certain powers should not be exercised by an ordinary political majority. [ATTACHED PHOTO NUMBER 1 HERE] CAPTION/ AI-GENERATED CARTOON UPON INSTRUCTIONS AND SUPERVISION OF MR. TIGLAO. Reducing the threshold by a mere majority vote of its members is a very dangerous precedent for tampering with the Constitution itself. The Constitution’s Article XVII, Section 1 permits Congress to propose constitutional amendments or revisions upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members. Article XVII, Section 3 separately provides for calling a constitutional convention by a two-thirds vote of all members of Congress. These provisions determine how the fundamental law may be changed. [ATTACHED TABLE HERE] If the Supreme Court does not rule unconstitutional the Senate’s majority ruling to lower the threshold for impeachment, Marcos’ minions there would claim that Congress has also the right to reduce the denominator in computing how the three-fourths, or two-thirds, are determined in calling for an amendment of the Constitution. The easy path here is for them to accept the interpretation that three-fourths of each chamber would have to vote to amend the Constitution. That would be easy in the case of the House of Representatives, since it consists of political pygmies, or easy-to-bribe politicians. Marcos may find it more difficult to get a three-fourths vote in the Senate, all of whom are elected nationally and most members think they could be president someday. So, what does he do? Do what he has managed to do in Sara’s impeachment: Jail or force to be a fugitive uncooperative senators, and get the Senate to rule that only present members of the chamber can vote whether to amend the Constitution or not. Marcos, therefore, can call for a constitutional convention with just 14 senators out of the sitting 24 senators. And as happened in the 1970 constitutional convention and 1986 Constitutional Commission, it would be easy for a president to control such bodies. Am I too suspicious to believe that Marcos would get a constitutional assembly or convention to amend the Constitution so that our system changes into a parliamentary one, which would allow him to be Prime Minister to perpetuate his rule? He is really the son of his father. The move to lower the threshold in Sara’s impeachment therefore would seem to be preparing the ground for this regime to amend the Constitution to perpetuate itself in power in 2028. I am amazed that Marcos’ minions in the Senate had the gall to lower the number of votes needed to convict Sara. Our Constitution has an internal consistency in providing for the thresholds for major Senate decisions: Treaties — Article VII, Section 21 provides that no treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective without concurrence by at least two-thirds of all Senate members. Its wording closely parallels the impeachment clause. Treaties can impose obligations involving national security, military cooperation, territorial interests, foreign relations and economic policy. The Constitution requires more than a simple majority because treaty commitments may bind the country long after the administration that negotiated them has left office. A Senate able to adjust the denominator could declare an agreement approved that did not obtain the normally required 16 votes. Veto — Article VI, Section 27(1) requires two-thirds of all members of each chamber to override a presidential veto. The requirement embodies the separation of powers: Congress may enact a measure despite presidential objections, but only if it assembles a supermajority in both chambers. As in voting in the impeachment, this article stipulates two-thirds of all members, not of participating members. Expulsion — Article VI, Section 16(3) permits each house, with concurrence of two-thirds of all its members, to suspend or expel a member. All of its members, not members present. The supermajority is an important protection against a ruling coalition’s use of disciplinary proceedings to eliminate opponents. It is important to emphasize that Article XI, Section 3(3-4), the impeachment process, uses a different threshold for the House of Representatives: at least one-third of all its members may approve articles of impeachment or file a verified complaint or resolution under the specified procedure. In the Senate, two-thirds of members are required to convict. The Constitution deliberately makes impeachment easier to initiate than to conclude in conviction. That difference recognizes the gravity of removing an official, particularly one elected by millions of citizens — in Sara’s case, 32 million voted to make her vice president, or 62 percent of those who cast their ballots. A minority large enough to represent one-third of the House may initiate the process, but a much broader Senate consensus must be assembled to convict. Impeachment is not a parliamentary vote of no confidence, in which an incumbent falls simply because a temporary majority has turned against him or her. If the House likewise claimed the power to subtract abstaining or absent representatives from “all its Members,” it could attempt to transmit articles of impeachment with fewer affirmative votes. The protection against politically motivated proceedings would then be weakened at both ends: initiation in the House and conviction in the Senate. The Constitution’s framers were very well aware of the distinction between total membership from attendance. Article VI, Section 16(4), for example, permits one-fifth of the members present to require the “yeas” and “nays” on a question to be entered in the journal. That wording is different from “all the Members.” Such distinctions are not ornamental. They identify different constitutional denominators for different governmental actions. More importantly, the framers couldn’t have missed the fact that the US Constitution categorically says that to convict, “two-thirds of members present.” The framers of our Constitution didn’t just follow the US precedent, and stipulated only “two-thirds of all members.” The issue is ultimately whether the Constitution’s supermajorities are genuine limits on political power or numbers that legislators may adjust when inconvenient. If those entrusted to obey constitutional restraints can alter them through their own procedures, the restraints lose much of their meaning. The question is no longer merely whether 14 or 16 senators can convict Sara Duterte. It is whether the numerical safeguards of the Constitution remain safeguards at all. Facebook: Rigoberto Tiglao X: @bobitiglao Website: www.rigobertotiglao.commanilatimes · philippines
POLITICS5d agoPutin aide looks to boost Russian shipbuilding ties with China during visitRussia is looking to expand shipbuilding cooperation with China through technology partnerships and joint investment, visiting presidential aide and Maritime Board chairman Nikolai Patrushev said. Patrushev held talks in Beijing with Ke Jixin, Chinese vice-minister of industry and information technology, the Russian Maritime Board said in a statement on Saturday. It said the two sides discussed the possibility of Chinese shipbuilders becoming technology partners and equipment suppliers for new...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoWuhan’s Covid mayor Zhou Xianwang jailed for 14 years for corruptionZhou Xianwang, the former mayor of Wuhan widely criticised for the initial handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption. Zhou used various positions he held between 2003 and 2025 – including party secretary of Huangshi, mayor of Wuhan and vice-governor of Hubei province – to “provide assistance to companies and individuals in contracting projects, business operations and administrative approvals”, Shangqiu Intermediate People’s Court in Henan...South China Morning Post
POLITICS6d agoThe EU’s China dilemma: how to counter Beijing without alienating friendsIn September, the Jaecoo 7 – a budget SUV from China’s Chery Automobile – made headlines when it shifted more than 10,000 units to become Britain’s bestselling car. Christened the “Temu Range Rover” online, a nod to the cheap goods available on the Chinese online marketplace and the luxury 4X4 made by Jaguar Land Rover that it resembles, its success showed British drivers’ new-found taste for cut-price Chinese cars. Overall, 23 per cent of new cars bought in Britain last month were Chinese...South China Morning Post
POLITICS6d agoEmperor and Empress visit Aomori, smilingly respond to children's "Bye-bye"The Emperor and Empress visited Aomori and interacted positively with children, responding to their farewells. This reports on a public appearance by the imperial family.Asahi Shimbun
POLITICS6d agoA Reporter Returns to China to Find it Richer, but Also Highly Paranoid.Returning to China after decades away, a correspondent finds bullet trains, dazzling skylines — and a surveillance state more paranoid and pervasive than ever.NYT World
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