World
Taiwan Is Selling More To The US Than China In Major Shift Away From Beijing
Washington — Whether tapioca balls or computer chips, Taiwan is moving toward the United States and away from China, the world’s second-largest economy, which threatens to capture the democratically governed island by force if necessary.
That has resulted in the world’s largest manufacturer of computer chips, which power everything from medical equipment to cellphones, announcing further investments in the United States last month following a boost from the Biden administration. Soon after, a Taiwanese semiconductor company announced the end of its two-decade-long presence in mainland China, citing global competition for a competitive advantage in the high-tech industry.
AP – VOR News Image
Taiwan Is Selling More To The US Than China In Major Shift Away From Beijing
These measures, which come at a time when the China-US rivalry is heating up, reflect Taiwan’s efforts to lessen its reliance on Beijing and shield itself from Chinese coercion while strengthening economic and trade connections with the United States, its most important partner. The change is also taking place as China’s economic growth has slowed and global corporations seek to diversify following supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic.
In a clear example of the transition, the United States surpassed mainland China as the top destination for Taiwan’s exports in the first quarter of the year for the first time since early 2016, when comparable data became available. According to government data, Taiwan shipped $24.6 billion in commodities to the United States in the first three months, compared to $22.4 billion to mainland China.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s investments in mainland China have dropped to their lowest level in more than 20 years, falling over 40% to $3 billion last year from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Nonetheless, Taiwan’s investments in the United States increased to $9.6 billion by 2023.
Washington and Taipei reached a trade pact last year and are negotiating the next phase. US lawmakers have also sponsored legislation to abolish double taxes on Taiwanese enterprises and workers in the United States.
“Everything is motivated by … a desire to build Taiwan’s deterrent capability and their resilience, all in support of maintaining the status quo and deterring China from being tempted to take … action against Taiwan,” Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state, stated.
TSMC, the world’s largest computer chip producer, announced last month that it will increase its US investments to $65 billion. The Biden administration promised incentives worth up to $6.6 billion, putting the company’s Arizona factories on track to create around one-fifth of the world’s most advanced chips by 2030.
Aside from its US investments, TSMC is investing in Japan, a major US ally. Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm best known as Apple’s main contractor, is expanding its production capacity in India, while Pegatron, another Taiwanese company that manufactures iPhone and computer components, is investing in Vietnam.
Last month, King Yuan Electronics Corp., a Taiwanese company that specializes in semiconductor testing and packaging, announced the sale of its $670 million investment in a venture in Suzhou, eastern China. KYEC highlighted geopolitics, the United States’ embargo on exporting sophisticated semiconductors to China, and Beijing’s policy of technological self-sufficiency.
“The ecological environment of semiconductor manufacturing in China has changed, and the market competition has become increasingly severe,” the company stated.
AP – VOR News Image
Taiwan Is Selling More To The US Than China In Major Shift Away From Beijing
Taiwan’s semiconductors, electronic components and computer equipment exports to the United States more than tripled from 2018 to about $37 billion last year. It’s not only technology: between 2018 and 2023, the island more than tripled its exports of tapioca and its replacement, important ingredients in boba milk tea, to the United States, and it’s also sending more fruits, tree nuts, and farmed fish.
The recent trade numbers show “the strategy from both Taiwan and the U.S. to reorient that trade in an effort to de-risk from China,” said Hung Tran, a nonresident senior scholar with the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center.
Taiwan’s share of exports to mainland China and Hong Kong declined from approximately 44% in 2020 to less than one-third in the first quarter of 2024. That was “a very big movement,” Tran added. “And I think that the share (of exports to mainland China and Hong Kong) will probably continue to decline.”
Since the 1990s, Beijing has attempted to balance its claim to the island with advantageous economic and trade policies, hoping to build stronger connections that would make it more difficult for Taiwan to break away.
When the independent-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took office in Taiwan in 2016, the new administration announced a policy to remove the island from the mainland while strengthening economic relations with other countries in the area, particularly Southeast Asia. Unhappy Beijing used its economic leverage to try to bring Taiwan to heel.
It has restricted mainland tourists’ travel to the island and stopped imports of Taiwanese seafood, fruits, and snacks. In 2021, due to biosecurity concerns, China prohibited Taiwan-grown pineapples, wreaking havoc on Taiwanese farmers whose exported fruit was almost entirely consumed on the mainland.
Ap – VOR News Image
Taiwan Is Selling More To The US Than China In Major Shift Away From Beijing
According to Ralph Cossa, president emeritus of the Pacific Forum, a foreign policy research institute in Honolulu, Beijing’s activities have contributed to the island’s displacement.
Chinese President “Xi Jinping is tactically clever but strategically foolish in many of the decisions he has made; his loyalty tests on Taiwan businessmen and other heavy-handed business practices and decisions have been a major contributor to the success of Taiwan’s” policy to distance itself from China, he stated.
According to Cossa, this approach will continue under Lai Ching-te, the island’s new president.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hurricane Beryl roared toward Jamaica on Wednesday, leaving islanders rushing to prepare after the devastating Category 4 storm killed at least six people and inflicted substantial damage in the southeast Caribbean.
People in Kingston boarded up their windows, fishermen withdrew their boats from the sea, and workers demolished roadside advertising boards to safeguard them from the fierce winds.
Pauline Lynch, a Kingston resident, said she had prepared for the storm by stockpiling food and water. With the wind already whipping up a light rain, Lynch stated, “I have no control over what is coming, so all I can do is pray that all Jamaicans are safe and that there are no deaths or losses.”
Beryl | AP News Image
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
A hurricane warning was issued for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. Beryl was expected to decrease slightly over the next day or two but remain at or near major hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica on Wednesday, near the Cayman Islands on Thursday, and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the disaster zone declaration will stay in effect for seven days. He also declared an island-wide curfew from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Security personnel “will be fully mobilized to maintain public order and aid in disaster relief.” As soon as the cyclone passed, the security forces devised strategic preparations to prevent any potential threat of looting or other opportunistic crimes,” Holness stated.
An evacuation order was also issued for Jamaica villages vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Holness warned Jamaicans to avoid low-lying regions.
A hurricane watch was issued for Haiti’s southern and Yucatan east coast. Belize issued a tropical storm watch extending south from its Mexico border to Belize City.
Late Monday, Beryl became the Atlantic’s first Category 5 hurricane, reaching 165 mph (270 kph) on Tuesday before falling to a still-destructive Category 4. On Wednesday, the storm was approximately 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of Kingston. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was traveling west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph).
Michael Brennan, Director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, stated that Jamaica appears in Beryl’s direct path. He asked citizens to locate a secure shelter and stay there until Wednesday.
“We are most concerned about Jamaica, where we are expecting the core of a major hurricane to pass near or over the island,” according to a briefing he gave online.
Jamaica is expected to see a storm surge of 6-9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) over normal tidal levels and severe rains.
On Wednesday, Mexico’s Caribbean coast prepared for Beryl. The government has issued a hurricane warning for the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun.
The head of Mexico’s civil defense agency stated that Beryl is expected to launch a rare twin blow on the country. According to Laura Velázquez, the hurricane is forecast to land between late Thursday and early Friday on a rather unpopulated stretch of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. Because the coast is primarily made up of lagoons and mangroves, there are few resorts or hotels south of Tulum.
As it traverses the Yucatan peninsula, the hurricane is anticipated to diminish to a tropical storm before reemerging as a storm in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. According to Velázquez, Beryl is likely to impact Mexican territory again, this time on the Gulf Coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas, close to the Texas border.
As Beryl plowed into the Caribbean Sea, rescue personnel in the southeastern islands spread out to assess the extent of the hurricane’s destruction to Carriacou, Grenada.
Officials confirmed three deaths in Grenada and Carriacou, as well as one in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Two further deaths were confirmed in northern Venezuela, while five people are missing, officials said. Beryl’s torrential downpour also affected approximately 25,000 people in the area.
Beryl | AP News Image
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
The environment minister, Kerryne James, told The Associated Press that a tree fell on a house in Grenada, killing one. She claimed that Carriacou and Petit Martinique suffered the worst damage, with Carriacou losing hundreds of homes and businesses.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell stated on Tuesday that there is no power, roads are impassable, and the possibility of an increase in the death toll “remains a grim reality.”
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has pledged to reconstruct the archipelago. He stated that 90% of homes on Union Island had been demolished and that “similar levels of devastation” were expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.
The most recent powerful hurricane to reach the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed scores of people in Grenada 20 years ago.
Grenada nicknamed the “spice isle,” is a major supplier of nutmeg. Mitchell stated that most of the spices are planted in the northern portion of the island, which Beryl most damaged.
SOURCE – (AP)
NBC is bringing a version of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer, but with an unexpected twist: his voice will be powered by artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, NBC said that it will utilize AI software to reproduce Michaels’ voice to offer daily Summer Games summaries to users of its Peacock streaming platform. This marks a significant milestone in the application of AI by a major media firm.
NBC | CTV Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
The employment of an artificial intelligence voice for the Olympics comes at a time when technology has advanced dramatically, particularly in its ability to generate images, sounds, and text. This has sparked concerns in creative industries, such as journalism, regarding how artificial intelligence may—or should—be utilized.
A new tool, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” will allow subscribers to create 10-minute highlights packages incorporating event updates, athlete back stories, and other related content based on their preferences.
The company stated that the highlights could be packaged in approximately 7 million distinct ways, based on 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris, thereby making AI (artificial intelligence, not the guy) a far more efficient way to give individualized summaries.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels stated in a press statement. “Then I saw a demonstration of what they had in mind. I replied, ‘I’m in.'”
An NBC representative told CNN that Michaels is being rewarded for his participation.
A veteran broadcaster, Michaels is now the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. He is well noted for his work on earlier Olympic Games broadcasts for NBC and ABC and for announcing the Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
NBC | Fox Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
NBC stated that the AI system was trained using previous NBC broadcast audio from Michaels.
The business stated that a team of NBC Sports editors will evaluate all of the content, including audio and footage, to ensure that it is factually correct and that names are pronounced correctly.
Beginning July 27, the highlights tool will be available on Peacock in web browsers and iOS and iPad apps.
SOURCE – CNN
Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Japanese icon, has implemented new climbing limits in response to concerns about overpopulation.
Beginning July 1, climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12.40) per person, and there is a daily limit of 4,000 climbers.
Mount Fuji | Japan Times
Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns
“By strongly promoting comprehensive safety measures for climbing Mount Fuji, we will ensure that Mount Fuji, a world treasure, is passed down to future generations,” stated Koutaro Nagasaki, governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, when he announced the new laws earlier this year.
“To revitalize traditional mountain climbing from the foot of Mount Fuji, we shall get a thorough grasp of the Fuji-ko and Oshi cultures that fostered Mount Fuji worship. We hope to connect different civilizations through mountain climbing, which is steeped in religious cultural values.”
Fuji-ko is a religion unique to the mountains.
Human traffic bottlenecks, garbage-strewn hillsides, and poorly dressed hikers – some attempting the trip in sandals – are among the challenges afflicting the renowned Japanese destination.
In addition, new guides will oversee trail safety and notify climbers if they violate mountain etiquette, such as sleeping along the trail, making a fire, or wearing inappropriate attire.
According to prefectural data, five million people hiked Mount Fuji in 2019, up three million from 2012.
“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions, and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, told CNN Travel last year.
In 2023, a volunteer named Tomoyo Takahashi told CNN that she planned to ask tourists to donate 1,000 yen ($6.20) to help maintain the mountain.
“Not everyone pays the 1,000 yen, which makes me sad. “There should be a much higher mandatory entrance fee so that only visitors who truly value Mount Fuji’s heritage come,” she stated.
Takahashi will finally achieve her wish.
Mount Fuji | CNN Image
Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns
The new limitations, however, only apply to Yamanashi prefecture, which has the most popular hiking trails. Fuji is also located in Shizuoka prefecture, which has yet to have any tariffs or visiting restrictions. Governor Nagasaki told reporters that he and Shizuoka’s governor will meet at the end of the climbing season to swap notes.
Overtourism has become a major issue in Japan since the country reopened during the pandemic.
Locals in Kyoto’s historic Gion area have expressed concern over tourists flocking to photograph and sometimes harass the geisha who live and work there, giving them the term “geisha paparazzi.”
While the city has posted signs and boards urging visitors not to photograph geisha, several locals told CNN Travel that more is needed. The neighborhood council proposed issuing fines or penalties.
Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has also been hit. The little hamlet is notable for its orange “floating shrine” torii gate, part of a 1,400-year-old Shinto complex.
In October 2023, the town started charging 100 yen (62 cents) for visitors to the temple. The “tourist tax” funds the site’s maintenance and infrastructure.
SOURCE – (CNN)
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