The Chinese government has issued its highest-level rainstorm warning and evacuated more than 100,000 people as rain continues to lash the south of the country.
Beijing raised the alert on Tuesday as ongoing storms threatened to worsen already massive flooding in Guangdong province. Four people were reported killed over the weekend, while 10 others are missing.
Torrential rains have been swelling rivers in Guangdong, prompting state media to warn of the risk of floods at a level “seen around once a century”.
State news agency Xinhua said 110,000 residents across the province had been relocated since the downpours started. Guangdong is China’s manufacturing heartland, home to about 127 million people.
“Please quickly take precautions and stay away from dangerous areas such as low-lying areas prone to flooding,” authorities in the coastal city of Shenzhen – China’s third largest – said as the red alert was issued.
“Pay attention to heavy rains and resulting disasters such as water logging, flash floods, landslides, mudslides, and ground caving in,” they warned.
Climate change driven by human-emitted greenhouse gases makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense. China is the world’s biggest emitter.
In recent years China has been hit by severe floods, grinding droughts and record heat.
That has helped make the authorities swift to respond, lowering the number of casualties compared with previous decades.
Shenzhen experienced in September its heaviest rains since records began in 1952. The nearby semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong saw its heaviest rainfall in nearly 140 years.
Asia was the world’s most disaster-hit region from climate and weather hazards in 2023, according to a report issued by the United Nations on Tuesday, with floods and storms a major cause of casualties and economic loss.
Western car makers, already bruised by the scramble among themselves for a share of the electric vehicle (EV) market, are facing a much more fearsome foe – China and its aggressive investment into the sector.
Tesla, perhaps the best-known of the EV manufacturers in Western markets, saw first-quarter sales down by 20 percent this year, compared with the same period in 2023, and its share price has slumped by more than 25 percent since the beginning of this year.
According to experts, this is at least partially due to the emergence of a much more competitive landscape, with Xiaomi, originally a smartphone manufacturer which is has its headquarters in Beijing, launching its first EV – the SU7 – just a few weeks ago.
Consumers view Xiaomi’s new SU7 at the Xiaomi Electric Vehicle Flagship Store on April 2, 2024, in Beijing, China [VCG/VCG via Getty Images]
The competition from Chinese manufacturers has forced Western EV makers to sit up and take notice.
On a call with analysts in January this year, Tesla boss Elon Musk stated: “Our observation is, generally, that the Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world.”
“I think they will have significant success outside of China,” he added.
This was quite a change in tone from 2011 when he was asked about competition from BYD (Build Your Dream), China’s largest EV car manufacturer, on Bloomberg TV, and laughed in response. When asked by former Bloomberg anchor Betty Liu, “Why do you laugh?”, Musk mockingly replied: “Have you seen their cars? You don’t see them at all as a competitor. I don’t think they have a great product.”
How popular are Chinese EVs?
Chinese EVs already make up 60 percent of worldwide sales, according to International Energy Agency, a Paris-based energy consultant. Tesla and BYD have been battling it out for market share for the last couple of years.
According to market research firm TrendForce’s February 2024 report, Chinese manufacturers already hold three of the top five spots for global market share – with BYD at 17 percent, GAC Aion at 5.2 percent and SAIC-GM-Wuling at 4.9 percent. Tesla is clinging on to the top spot with a market share of 19.9 percent while German manufacturer Volkswagen is in the fifth spot with a market share of 4.6 percent. By comparison, Chinese manufacturers were responsible for just 0.1 percent of global EV sales in 2012 – just 12 years ago.
How do Chinese EVs compare in terms of safety?
According to 12365Auto, a Chinese website that monitors car quality using a system which counts the number of faults per 10,000 vehicles sold to quantify customer satisfaction, Tesla cars remain at the top and third spots (for different models of car) for the least amount of faults. However, the percentage difference in faults between Tesla and other Chinese EVs is marginal.
Are Chinese EVs much cheaper than Tesla et al?
Currently, some Chinese EV models are available to car consumers in Europe but not in the United States. The nearest country to the US where Chinese EVs are sold is Mexico – and they are somewhat cheaper.
The Dolphin Mini from Chinese manufacturer BYD costs $21,000 to buy in Mexico. The cheapest US equivalent, by comparison, would be the Nissan Leaf at $29,000 or the Chevrolet Bolt at about $27,000. In China, however, the Dolphin Mini costs just 69,800 yuan ($9,640) because of the competition from other Chinese manufacturers.
The price of a BYD Yuan Plus (sold as the Atto 3 outside of China), starts at 119,800 yuan ($16,550) both inside and outside China. While it can’t match those prices, Tesla is already pricing itself to compete with Chinese cars within China. Tesla’s Model Y, for example, starts at 258,900 yuan ($35,766) in China. In the US, it goes for $44,990.
The Xoaimi SU7 costs 215,900 yuan ($29,825) to buy in China – it is not yet available to buy outside the country. Tesla’s Model 3, by comparison, starts at $38,990 in the US.
The Upgraded Tesla Model 3 on sale on October 12, 2023, in Hong Kong, China [Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
Why are Chinese EVs so competitive?
The Chinese government heavily subsidises its EV sector, including offering large tax breaks for both consumers and manufacturers.
According to Adamas Intelligence, a Canadian independent research and advisory firm: “From 2024, Chinese buyers would not have to pay tax on a full electric vehicle that has a driving range of at least 200km (124 miles) per charge.”
In June last year, China introduced a 520 billion yuan ($71.8bn) package of sales tax breaks, to be rolled out over four years. Sales tax will be exempted for EVS up to a maximum of 30,000 yuan ($4,144) this year with a maximum tax exemption of 15,000 yuan ($2,072) in 2026 and 2027.
According to the Kiel Institute, a German think tank that offers consultation to China, the Chinese government has also granted subsidies to BYD worth at least $3.7bn to give the company, which recently reported a 42 percent decrease in EV deliveries compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, a much-needed boost.
Chinese EVs also tend to be cheaper than Western-made cars partly because much of the manufacturing process involved in producing car batteries is carried out by Chinese companies. Although the largest cobalt mine is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa, Chinese companies process the cobalt in those mines. In addition, China owns the third largest lithium mine in the world – in Yajiang, Southwest China’s Sichuan province. Both lithium and cobalt are essential raw materials needed to make the batteries that power EVs.
(L-R) A Han EV electric sedan, a Dolphin all-electric subcompact hatchback, a Yuan Plus all-electric small SUV, a Song Plus DM-i SUV and a Destroyer 05 compact sedan are on display at BYD’s new manufacturing base on June 30, 2022, in Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui province of China [VCG via Getty Images]
How are Western countries facing down the competition?
Western car manufacturers also receive some tax breaks from their governments for producing EVs.
The US Inflation Reduction Act, for example, which was signed into law in 2022, allows consumers to receive tax credits against purchases of new and used EVs, ranging from $3,750 to $7,500.
These tax credits are almost double and triple what is available to Chinese consumers but strict guidelines issued by the US Department of the Treasury in January of this year decreased the number of available EVs which qualify for these tax credits from 43 to just 19 vehicles manufactured by Ford, Telsa, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and Chrysler (with limitations to certain models).
The US government is also considering more extreme measures to blunt the momentum of Chinese EVs encroaching on the US car market, however.
In a bid to protect the US auto market, President Joe Biden’s administration is under pressure to increase import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. In a letter to the administration, Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, stated: “Allowing heavily subsidised Chinese vehicles to enter the US marketplace would endanger American automotive manufacturing.”
During Donald Trump’s presidency, his administration slapped an additional 25 percent tariff on Chinese cars. The US already applies a 2.5 percent “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) levy to all car imports. This would bring the total tariff to 27.5 percent for Chinese cars. In a March 2024 rally in Dayton, Ohio, former president and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump threatened even higher tariffs for Chinese cars being manufactured in Mexico.
“Those big monster car manufacturing plants you are building in Mexico right now and you think you are going to get that – not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the car to us, no,” Trump continued. “We are going to put a 100 percent tariff on every car that comes across the lot.”
The European Union levies a 10 percent tariff on all imported cars. This could open the door for more Chinese EVs in Europe because the current tariffs are lower than US tariffs.
However, during a roundtable meeting with Chinese companies in Paris last week, the European Commission raised the question of whether China’s EV market unfairly benefits from subsidies amid discussion about whether the EU should impose new tariffs on car manufacturers, including car manufacturers from China.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao rejected the notion that Chinese subsidies were unfair: “China’s electric vehicle companies rely on continuous technological innovation, perfect production and supply chain system and full market competition for rapid development, not relying on subsidies to gain competitive advantage.”
Are there security concerns about Chinese technology?
Last month, the US Department of Commerce said it is considering a probe into whether Chinese cars pose a national security risk.
In February, President Biden said in a statement addressing national security risks to the US auto industry: “China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security.”
He added: “Connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China. These vehicles could be remotely accessed or disabled. China imposes restrictions on American autos and other foreign autos operating in China.”
What does the future hold for EVs?
US EVs are not just facing competition from Chinese manufacturers. Costs still pose an obstacle to the wider adoption of EVs by consumers and petrol cars are still cheaper.
However, the raw materials to produce electric car batteries, such as nickel, lithium and cobalt, are becoming cheaper to mine. According to a March report from Goldman Sachs titled Electric Vehicles: What’s Next VII: Confronting Greenflation, the cost of battery packs account for 30 percent of total EV manufacturing costs. “We estimate that reductions in battery costs will bring this proportion down to a steady 15-20% percent during 2030-2040,” the report said.
Growth in the EV market is not just limited to the US, Europe and China. India has seen substantial growth in its EV market. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which is based in Delhi, between April 2023 and March 2024, the Indian EV car market saw a 91 percent year-over-year increase in car sales to 1.5 million last year. By comparison, the US sold 1.8 million and China sold eight million. Furthermore, Indian-made EVs are being exported. Stellantis, formed by a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French PSA Group, recently launched EV exports from India under the Citroen brand. This week, the first 500 Citroen e-C3 models, which were manufactured in India, were shipped to Indonesia.
EVs are expected to rise in popularity. Research shows they are more environmentally friendly than their petrol counterparts, making these vehicles increasingly attractive to consumers. In a guide to electric vehicles, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states: “Some studies have shown that making a typical electric vehicle (EV) can create more carbon pollution than making a gasoline car. This is because of the additional energy required to manufacture an EV’s battery. Still, over the lifetime of the vehicle, total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with manufacturing, charging and driving an EV are typically lower than the total GHGs associated with a gasoline car.”
Ministers say the transfer of weapons components is enabling Russia to ‘reconstitute and revitalise’ its defence production for its war in Ukraine.
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries have expressed “strong concern” about the transfer of materials and weapons components from Chinese businesses to Russia for its military offensive in Ukraine.
At a meeting on the Italian island of Capri, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his counterparts on Friday to increase pressure on China, which the United States accuses of supporting Russia’s war effort though its provision of critical components for weaponry.
Blinken said this was fuelling “the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War”, telling a news conference, “We see China sharing machine tools, semiconductors, other dual-use items that have helped Russia rebuild the defence industrial base.”
As they ended their meeting on Capri, the G7 ministers said transfers of such material from Chinese companies were being used by Russia “to advance its military production”.
“This is enabling Russia to reconstitute and revitalise its defence industrial base, posing a threat both to Ukraine and to international peace and security,” they said, calling on China to stop its backing “as it will only prolong this conflict and increase the threat that Russia poses to its neighbours”.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said her country could not accept China pursuing closer relations with Russia.
“If China openly pursues an ever closer partnership with Russia, which is waging an illegal war against Ukraine, … we cannot accept this,” she said after the meeting.
Instead, Baerbock called on China “to make use of its influence on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”.
Last year, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a “no limits partnership” and a “new era” or cooperation”.
China has positioned itself as a neutral party in the war and offered to hold talks between the two sides. In March, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated that Beijing had an “objective and impartial position” on Ukraine.
“A conflict when prolonged tends to deteriorate and escalate and could lead to an even bigger crisis,” Wang said.
While the US has repeatedly drawn a red line on China supplying weapons to Russia, it has so far not presented proof that it has been crossed.
However, Washington has been increasingly condemning what it refers to as China’s “backdoor support” for Russia.
Senior US officials said last week that China was helping Russia undertake “its most ambitious defence expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible” early in the Ukraine conflict.
Officials added that China was helping Russia in various areas, including the joint production of drones, space-based capabilities and exports that are vital for producing ballistic missiles.
Baidu CEO Robin Li says number of users has doubled since December.
China’s Baidu has announced that “Ernie Bot”, its rival to ChatGPT, has racked up more than 200 million users, roughly double as many as in December.
Baidu CEO Robin Li also said Ernie Bot’s application programming interface (API) is being used 200 million times every day, meaning the chatbot was requested by its user to conduct tasks that many times a day.
The number of enterprise clients for the chatbot reached 85,000, Li said at a conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
In February, he told analysts that Baidu was starting to generate revenue from Ernie and in the fourth quarter, the company had earned several hundred million yuan using AI to improve its advertising services and help other companies build their own models.
Last March, Ernie Bot was the first locally developed ChatGPT-like chatbot to be announced in China but it only won approval for public release in August, becoming one of the first eight AI chatbots Beijing authorised.
Unlike many other countries, China requires companies to obtain approval before rolling out generative AI services.
Recent data shows that rival domestic AI services, particularly the “Kimi” chatbot from a 12-month-old Alibaba-backed start-up named Moonshot AI, are quickly catching up with Ernie Bot.
Ernie Bot was visited a total of 14.9 million times across its app and website last month, while Kimi had a total of 12.6 million visits in the same month, data from AIcpb.com, a site that tracks user visits to online AI services, showed.
And Kimi was growing much faster, with visits jumping by 321.6 percent in March from February, while the number of visits to Ernie Bot grew by more than 48 percent, the data showed.
Globally, Chinese generative AI services still lag far behind their Western counterparts. According to AIcpb.com, OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains the world’s most popular generative AI service, with total traffic growing by 9 percent to reach 1.86 billion views last month.
In recent months, China has accelerated approvals for AI services after highlighting AI as a key area in tech where China will have to compete with the United States. Last week, state media reported that 117 large AI models had received approvals so far.
Jonatan Christie wins first continental title, establishing the 26-year-old as a medal contender at Paris 2024.
Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie clinched his maiden Badminton Asia Championships crown, seeing off Li Shi Feng in two sets.
Christie defeated home favourite Li 21-15, 21-16 in the tournament finale in the Chinese city of Ningbo on Sunday.
Earlier, China’s Wang Zhi Yi swatted aside compatriot Chen Yu Fei 21-19, 21-7 to claim the women’s singles title.
Wang’s victory came after world number one, South Korean An Se-young, was dumped out in the quarterfinals on Friday by China’s He Bingjiao.
An, the top seed in Ningbo, will still be the favourite to win gold at this summer’s Paris Olympics, but she has been struggling with a knee injury.
The men’s doubles title was claimed on Sunday by Chinese pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who dispatched Malaysian duo Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 21-17, 15-21, 21-10.
South Korean partners Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee took the women’s doubles title by beating China’s Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu 23-21, 21-12.
The prestigious annual tournament was the final chance for Asian players to seal a spot at the Olympics.
Manila, Philippines – Against a backdrop of rising tension in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila, the leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the United States have forged an unprecedented level of cooperation to counter China.
But while US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have stressed the security aspects of their cooperation, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has highlighted its potential economic rewards, touting the partnership with promised investments of some $100bn as a friendship with benefits.
At the televised opening of the summit on April 11, Biden told the other two leaders: “I want to be clear. The United States’ defence commitments to Japan and the Philippines are ironclad. Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea will invoke our Mutual Defence Treaty.”
Only afterwards did Biden discuss how the US government would help the Philippines develop key economic areas such as its semiconductor supply chain, and telecommunications and critical infrastructure including ports, railways and agriculture.
In Manila, though, the Presidential Communications Office downplayed the security aspect of the concluded summit, which had expressed “serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea”.
Instead, its news releases dwelt on US and Japan’s expressions of a “strong commitment of support for the economic prosperity of the Philippines”.
Financial analysts told Al Jazeera that while Washington has intertwined its promised economic development with Manila’s security commitments, Manila had chosen to highlight the economic gains to mask a sobering reality – that the country could be dragged into a military conflict with China.
“Marcos needs to sell [this] to Filipinos,” financial analyst Jonathan Ravelas told Al Jazeera on Friday.
“This is bitter medicine but I’m sugarcoating it, so it’s easily digestible,” Ravelas explained of the president’s approach.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the trilateral summit in the White House [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
Besides, if he focused on the security angle, “he might p*** off China,” added the managing director of e-Management for business and marketing services and retired chief market strategist of the Philippines’ largest bank, BDO.
Semiconductor push
Ravelas argues that Marcos Jr, like previous presidents, is keen to turn the country into a manufacturing and logistics hub. “We are geographically located to be part of the supply chain in ASEAN,” being within only three hours by air from regional countries Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, he noted.
The summit announced the formation of the first-ever Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment corridor in the Asia Pacific, called the Luzon Economic Corridor. It will connect Manila to three sprawling areas in the country’s biggest island, Luzon, which can host manufacturers and other large business ventures: the US’s former Subic naval base, the former Clark airbase and Batangas province.
Ravelas noted that US semiconductor manufacturers were looking to diversify their locations and the young workforce made the Philippines a viable alternative.
The US, noted political economist Sonny Africa, has a military agenda and an economic agenda. “In both, the Philippines apparently plays an important part,” Africa, executive director of the socioeconomic think tank, Ibon Foundation, told Al Jazeera.
“Presumably, the alliance will be played up to have both security benefits and economic benefits. While it’s somewhat clear that the country plays a role in security-related moves against China, we feel the alliance is also serious in exploring the Philippines’ role in, for instance, being a location for segments of the semiconductor production, but also as a source of nickel which is essential for so much renewable energy technology. This is the direction of the US to attain domestic energy security,” he said.
On the home front, “the economic benefits will be played up to sweeten deepening Philippine entanglement in the US’s militarist agenda, especially versus China,” he said.
Still, he recognised that the economic aspects of the agreement were not merely “token sugarcoating” but also part of Washington’s “core agenda”.
“[The] US is genuinely out to build semiconductor production chains that are less China and Taiwan-centric and hence, less vulnerable and more resilient (to) conflict-related or other disruptions,” he said. “Similarly, the Philippines has among (the) world’s biggest reserves of nickel which is a critical element in batteries and other renewable technologies.”
Both countries are betting heavily on the Philippines to protect their business interests, amid rising regional tensions over the disputed South China Sea, a key international shipping route.
“Keeping the freedom of navigation will continue to allow the ease of trade not just in our region but globally,” said Ron Acoba, the chief investment strategist and co-founder of Trading Edge, a third-party research provider for local banks and brokerage firms.
The Philippines sits in a strategic position in the South China Sea which “functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans,” according to the Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs, a private research think tank in Manila.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea through which “more than half of the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage passes through these choke points, and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide,” according to the the institute.
It calculates about two-thirds of South Korea’s energy supplies, nearly 60 percent of Japan’s and Taiwan’s energy supplies, and 80 percent of China’s crude oil imports travel through the waters that are also claimed in part by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
China’s claim to the sea, based on the nine-dash line that was rejected by an international court in 2016, extends over large swaths of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including fishing grounds and potentially vast reserves of oil and gas deposits.
China has blocked all attempts by Manila to exploit the reserves. Under international law, an EEZ extends for 200 nautical miles (370km) beyond a country’s territorial sea and affords them jurisdictional rights over all natural resources.
“Politically speaking, it is correct to highlight the economic significance of the trilateral summit among the US, Japan and the Philippines,” Acoba said.
“But if you ask me, the main agenda really is to send a ‘message’’ to China, that the country is keen in upholding our rights. And that contrary to the prior administration, we are going in the direction of not just upholding but even enforcing our rights.”
Changing dynamic
For Harry Roque, the former spokesman for Marcos Jr’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, the pivot back to the US is a big mistake.
He blamed the about-turn for a drop in investments from China.
China’s foreign investments of nearly $20bn rose 37 percent in Asia in 2023 – with half of it going to Southeast Asia – but a report last month in the Japanese media outlet Nikkei said that the Philippines saw no new investment or construction projects at all from China.
The decline came even though Marcos Jr had visited Beijing in January 2023 and the presidential palace claimed he had secured “investment pledges” of $22.8bn.
“Of course, each president to his own,” Roque told Al Jazeera. “If the president wants this kind of policy, this is the kind of relations we have with China. But overall the policy of President Duterte was, let’s move forward on matters that we could on trade and investment and set aside matters that we could not resolve in this lifetime.
“No Chinese (businessman) will invest now because I know for a fact that many Chinese who intend to invest have put it aside already because they fear that their investments might be confiscated given the hostile environment,” he said.
“So no one from China will touch the Philippines as far as capital is concerned,” he said.
The USS Mobile in joint drills with Australia, Japan and the Philippines earlier this month [Leo Baumgartner/Australian Department of Defence via AFP]
After the Washington, DC summit, Marcos Jr said he was confident that the deals with the US and Japan would not undermine Chinese investment.
The three leaders had earlier expressed “serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea”, and Marcos Jr stressed the trilateral relationships would “change the dynamic” in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea.
Still, he sought to reassure Beijing, saying the action was “not against any country”.
The shoal, where the Philippines grounded the naval ship Sierra Madre in 1999, lies about 200km (124 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000km (620 miles) from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
Private pollster Pulse Asia revealed that in a December 2023 survey of 1,200 respondents, 79 percent wanted Marcos to work with the US to deter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.
Only 10 percent wanted his government to work with China to resolve the tension.
United States President Joe Biden has welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the White House, with an upgrade in defence ties topping the agenda.
The meeting is only the fifth official state visit of Biden’s presidency, with the lavish events typically reserved for only the most formidable of US allies.
Moreover, the visits underscore an administration’s strategic priorities, with three of the four previous state dinners – South Korea, India and Australia – emphasising the Indo-Pacific region to counter what US officials describe as China’s increased military and economic assertiveness.
Beijing also loomed large on Wednesday, in a visit that began with Biden welcoming Kishida on the South Lawn of the White House. Biden hailed the “unbreakable” partnership between Japan and the US as “a cornerstone of peace, security, prosperity, in the Indo-Pacific and around the world”.
Kishida referenced the iconic cherry blossom trees that typically bloom in Washington, DC in spring, and were first gifted to the US by Japan in 1912.
“I am confident that the cherry blossom-like bond of the Japan-US alliance will continue to grow even thicker and stronger in the Indo-Pacific and in all corners of the world,” Kishida said.
The two men went on to discuss as many as 70 cooperation agreements in defence, space and technology during a meeting in the oval office, according to officials who previewed the event.
At a joint press conference, Biden announced what he described as the most significant upgrade in military ties since the alliance between the two countries began.
He said the countries would modernise their military command and control structures in Japan to increase interoperability and planning. He also said that Japan, Australia and the US will create a network of air missiles and defence architecture, in the latest move to increase coordination of allies in the region.
The US has about 38,000 troops stationed in Japan, with another 11,000 on US vessels in Japanese waters.
The move is the latest by the US to increase cooperation with key allies in the region.
Beyond strengthening the so-called Quad strategic grouping, which includes the US, India, South Korea and Australia, the Biden administration has also created the so-called AUKUS security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom, which is helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
The leaders of the US, Japan and the Philippines – another key US ally in the region – are also set to hold a first-of-its-kind trilateral meeting on Thursday.
For its part, Beijing has repeatedly accused Washington of “Cold War thinking” that has ratcheted up tensions. Nevertheless, both Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have shown a willingness to engage diplomatically in recent times, with the two leaders holding a call earlier this month, their first direct communication since November.
The White House also announced on Wednesday a plan for Japan to join future US space missions, with Biden promising that a Japanese astronaut “will become the first non-American ever to land on the Moon”.
The two countries also announced a joint partnership to accelerate the development and commercialisation of nuclear fusion, an extremely high-yield, low waste form of energy production that scientists have been trying to harness for decades.
Speaking at the news conference, Kishida said that he and Biden had also discussed North Korea, which has continued to test more powerful missiles in recent years, as well as security in the Taiwan Strait, the waterway off of the self-governing island that China claims as its own.
He drew a direct link between Russia’s war in Ukraine and concerns in the Indo Pacific region.
“Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion is absolutely unacceptable, wherever it may be,” Kishida said.
“Regarding Russia’s aggression of Ukraine … Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” Kishida said.
When asked about a planned $15bn acquisition of the US steelmaker US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, which both Biden and former President Donald Trump have criticised, Kishida said he hoped to cement a “win-win relationship”.
In the evening, Biden was scheduled to host Kishida at an opulent state dinner, with the State Floor of the White House transformed into a “vibrant spring garden;” First Lady Jill Biden is responsible for the event’s planning.
The meal served by White House chefs will include house-cured salmon, aged rib eye with wasabi sauce, and salted caramel pistachio cake with cherry ice cream.
After dinner, singer-songwriter Paul Simon will perform. Kishida is the first Japanese leader to be invited for an official state visit since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her team are leaving China and returning to the United States after trying to tackle the major questions of the day between the countries.
Here’s a look at what she tried to accomplish, what was achieved and where things stand for the world’s two largest economies:
Unfair trade practices
Yellen said she wanted to go into the US-China talks to address a major complaint of the administration of US President Joe Biden – that Beijing’s economic model and trade practices put US companies and workers at an unfair competitive disadvantage by producing highly subsidised solar products, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries at a loss, dominating the global market.
Chinese government subsidies and other policy support have encouraged solar panel and electric vehicle (EV) makers in China to invest in factories, building far more production capacity than the domestic market can absorb.
She calls this “overcapacity”.
Throughout the week of meetings, she talked about the risks that come from one nation maintaining nearly all production capacity in these industries, the threat it poses to other nations’ industries and how a massive rapid increase in exports from one country can have big impacts on the global economy.
Ultimately, the two sides agreed to hold “intensive exchanges” on more balanced economic growth, according to a US statement issued after Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held extended meetings over two days in the southern city of Guangzhou.
It was not immediately clear when and where these exchanges would take place.
“It’s not going to be solved in an afternoon or a month but I think they have heard that this is an important issue to us,” she said.
Money laundering and related crimes
After several rounds of meetings, the US Treasury and the Chinese Central Bank agreed to work together to stop money laundering in their respective financial systems.
Nearly all the precursor chemicals needed to make the deadly substance fentanyl are coming from China into the US.
The US says exchanging information on money laundering related to fentanyl trafficking may help disrupt the flow of the precursor chemicals into Mexico and the US.
“Treasury is committed to using all of our tools, including international cooperation, to counter this threat,” Yellen said in a speech announcing the formation of the group.
The new cooperative between the US and China will be part of the two nations’ economic working groups, which were launched last September, and the first exchange will be held in the coming weeks.
TikTok
Efforts in the US to ban the social media app TikTok, owned by the Chinese parent company ByteDance, were raised initially by the Chinese during US-China talks, a senior Treasury official told the Associated Press news agency. The firm has in the past promoted a data security restructuring plan called “Project Texas”, which it says sufficiently guards against national security concerns.
However, US lawmakers have moved forward with efforts to either ban the app or force the Chinese firm to divest its interest in the company, which the White House has supported. In China this week, it was evident there was little movement on the issue.
Yellen said at a news conference Monday that she supported the administration’s efforts to address national security issues that relate to sensitive personal data.
“This is a legitimate concern,” she said.
“Many US social apps are not allowed to operate in China,” Yellen said. “We would like to find a way forward.”
Financial stability
On the second day of Yellen’s trip to China, the US and China announced an agreement to work closely on issues related to financial stability, in that US and Chinese financial regulators agreed to hold a series of exercises simulating a failure of a large bank in either of the two countries.
The aim is to determine how to coordinate if a bank failure occurs, with the intent of preventing catastrophic stress on the global financial system.
Yellen said several exercises have already happened.
“I’m pleased that we will hold upcoming exchanges on operational resilience in the financial sector and on financial stability implications from the insurance sector’s exposure to climate risks.
“Just like military leaders need a hotline in a crisis,” Yellen said.
“American and Chinese financial regulators must be able to communicate to prevent financial stresses from turning into crises with tremendous ramifications for our citizens and the international community.”
What she ate
Yellen is something of a foodie celebrity in China ever since she ate mushrooms that can have psychedelic effects in Beijing last July.
This trip was no different.
High-ranking Chinese officials brought up her celebrity ahead of important meetings – Premier Li Qiang noted in his opening remarks that Yellen’s visit has “indeed drawn a lot of attention in society”, with media covering her trip and her dining habits.
And social media was abuzz, following her latest movements around Guangzhou and Beijing.
This time in Beijing, Yellen ate at Lao Chuan Ban, a popular Sichuan restaurant. She also had lunch with Beijing Mayor Yin Yong at the Beijing International Hotel.
On Monday evening, her last night in China, Yellen visited Jing-A Brewing Co in Beijing – co-founded by an American – where she ordered a Flying Fist IPA, a beer made with US hops.
This is the first in a two-part series from the Philippines’s most northerly province.
Mavulis Island, Philippines– The military detachment on the Philippines’s northernmost island faces northwest, towards the setting sun – and the country’s biggest potential adversary.
The island of Mavulis was uninhabited until 2016, when the Philippine military planted a flagpole at its highest point and started building a fisherman’s shelter.
Now, about 15 soldiers are deployed in rotation on the rocky outpost, amid increasing tension with Beijing over the disputed South China Sea and Beijing’s growing assertiveness towards Taiwan – which lies just 142km (88 miles) away and whose lights flicker in the distance during the night.
In February, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro visited Mavulis and pledged further improvements to military positions in Batanes, the province that includes the island, which he called the “spearhead of the Philippines”.
With the Philippines’s lightly-funded military reliant on only basic equipment and technology to fortify the island, the United States is providing crucial assistance.
Its military will begin constructing a new warehouse, a military outpost and port improvements this month on the islands of Batan and Itbayat, according to several sources.
The two countries will also hold joint military exercises on Batan and, for the first time, on Itbayat, the country’s northernmost municipality, as part of the annual Balikatan drills, which get under way on April 22.
Manila and Washington have a mutual defence treaty and the US is concerned not only about the South China Sea, a major international trading route, but also Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing.
“We need to upgrade our defence posture,” Rodrigo Lutao, public information officer for the army’s Northern Luzon Command, which also covers Batanes, told Al Jazeera.
“We’ve realised the islands of Batanes, especially Mavulis, are strategic areas where we can place our forces and defence materials.”
Recent clashes between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have raised concerns of a maritime escalation.
The Philippines has said that two Chinese coastguard ships “harassed” Filipino fishing vessels within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the disputed South China Sea, ahead of joint military drills with its allies.
The coastguard vessels “went as far as pretending to man their water cannon and threatening the Filipino fishermen” in the Iroquois reef on April 4, Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard posted on X on Saturday.
“This aggressive action stems from China’s greed and unfounded claim that these waters belong to them based on their imaginary dashed line,” Tarriela wrote in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea.
“It is important to note that Rozul Reef falls within the Philippines’ EEZ since it is located at approximately 128 nautical miles away from Palawan,” Tarriela added, referring to the reef by its Filipino name. The Philippines also refers to the area of the South China Sea within its EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines and China have reported several maritime run-ins in recent months, which included the use of water cannon. The two countries have long faced off near the disputed reefs in the vast and resource-rich sea lane.
Since taking power in 2022, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has pursued warmer ties with the United States and other Western nations and adopted a tough line against what he sees as Chinese hostility.
He said last month that the Philippines will take countermeasures against China after the latest confrontation injured Filipino soldiers and damaged vessels.
On Sunday, the Philippines will host joint naval and air drills with the US, Japan and Australia in the disputed area, as it seeks to deepen ties with its allies to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
In a joint statement on Saturday, the participating defence chiefs of the four countries said the drill would demonstrate their “collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Next week, US President Joe Biden is due to hold the first trilateral summit with Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, DC.
The drills will include naval and air force units from all four countries, the statement said, but did not provide further details.
Japan’s embassy in Manila said that “anti-submarine warfare training” would be included in the exercises.
China has blamed the Philippines for raising tensions in the contested waterway.
Top US officials have repeatedly declared the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to defending the Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea.
“These activities with our allies Australia, Japan, and the Philippines underscore our shared commitment to ensuring that all countries are free to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
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