Global Pulse

标签： Asia

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  • China’s top envoy meets with Iran’s in Beijing as Trump pauses US effort in the Strait

    China’s top envoy meets with Iran’s in Beijing as Trump pauses US effort in the Strait

    In a sudden Tuesday evening announcement from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, former U.S. President Donald Trump said he is halting the U.S. military mission to escort stranded commercial vessels through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, pausing operations to give diplomatic negotiations time to finalize a deal to end the ongoing Iran war. The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, however, will stay firmly in place.

    The pause comes just one day after U.S. forces launched the operation to open a secure shipping corridor through the strategic waterway, which has been choked off by Iran since the conflict began. In his social media statement, Trump cited three key factors driving the decision: requests from Pakistan and other regional nations, the military gains the U.S. has made during the campaign against Iran, and what he called “Great Progress” toward a full, final agreement with Iranian negotiators. The White House has declined to offer additional context or confirm the details of the negotiation progress Trump referenced.

    The current conflict kicked off on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched joint military strikes against Iranian targets. A ceasefire has been in place for nearly a month, but the truce has remained deeply fragile as tensions over control of the strait continue to escalate.

    In a parallel diplomatic development, official Chinese state news agency Xinhua confirmed Wednesday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. This trip marks Araghchi’s first visit to China since the war began, a meeting that carries significant weight given China’s deep economic and political ties to Tehran that grant Beijing unique leverage over the Iranian government. Ahead of the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly urged China to pressure Iran to lift its control of the strait, a critical global energy chokepoint.

    Before Trump’s announcement, Rubio told reporters at a White House press briefing that any lasting peace agreement would require Iran to meet two core U.S. demands: rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz to unimpeded global commercial traffic. “We would prefer the path of peace,” Rubio said, framing the U.S. push to open the strait as a strictly defensive mission focused on rescuing thousands of stranded civilian mariners. Rubio described the trapped sailors as “sitting ducks, they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” noting that at least 10 sailors have already died since the strait was closed.

    During the first day of the U.S. operation Monday, American military forces said they sank six small Iranian boats that threatened commercial shipping. To date, only two commercial vessels have successfully traversed the new U.S.-guarded corridor, while hundreds of ships remain bottled up in the Persian Gulf. Iranian officials have disputed the U.S. account of the clash, with Iranian state media reporting that two small civilian cargo vessels were hit in the strikes, killing five civilian crew members. Iran has also decried the U.S. corridor effort as a direct violation of the existing ceasefire.

    Top U.S. military leaders have downplayed the escalation, however. Speaking at a Pentagon press briefing Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Iran’s retaliatory attacks had not crossed the threshold into “major combat operations.” Caine called Tuesday “a quieter day” in the strait, adding that more than 100 U.S. military aircraft are now patrolling the airspace above the waterway to secure the corridor. The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, implemented April 13, has already cut off most of Tehran’s oil export revenue, severely straining Iran’s already ailing economy. Caine also emphasized that U.S. forces would not open fire unless fired upon first. “There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first, OK? We’re not attacking them,” Rubio echoed to reporters at the White House.

    Iran’s top parliamentary speaker and chief nuclear negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf offered a muted response to the U.S. mission, signaling that Tehran has not yet committed to a full response. In a post on X, Qalibaf said, “We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet.” He did not directly reference the backchannel negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, which are currently being mediated through Pakistan.

    The closure of the strait has already sent shockwaves through the global economy: before the war, the waterway carried the vast majority of global oil and natural gas exports, as well as fertilizers and other key petroleum products, and its closure has caused global fuel prices to surge dramatically. Breaking Iran’s control of the strait would also eliminate Tehran’s most powerful geopolitical leverage, a key goal for the Trump administration as it pushes for deep cuts to Iran’s nuclear program.

    Major global shipping companies remain deeply wary of the new U.S. corridor, even after the pause. Danish shipping giant Maersk confirmed one of its operated vehicle carriers successfully exited the strait Monday with U.S. military assistance, but leading container line Hapag-Lloyd AG said its risk assessment “remains unchanged” and that transits through the strait “are for the moment not possible for our ships.” Former military officers with experience in the region have also warned that opening the 34-kilometer wide strait is an extremely dangerous and challenging operation, even with military escorts— a security measure the U.S. is not currently providing for most commercial vessels. Currently, Iran requires all transiting vessels to use a northern corridor along the Iranian coastline, where ships must undergo vetting by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and in many cases pay fees to the Iranian government. The U.S.-backed corridor runs through Omani territorial waters to the south, outside of Iran’s control.

    Iran’s retaliatory strikes have fallen heaviest on the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. Gulf ally. The UAE Defense Ministry confirmed it faced a second consecutive day of Iranian drone and missile attacks Tuesday, though no damage or casualties were reported. On Monday, Emirati air defense systems intercepted 15 missiles and four Iranian drones, with one wayward projectile sparking a fire at a major UAE oil facility that wounded three Indian nationals. The British military also reported two cargo ships were set ablaze off the UAE coast Monday, and a second cargo vessel was hit by an “unknown projectile” in the strait Tuesday. Iran has officially denied launching any attacks on the UAE “in recent days,” per a statement read by joint military command spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari on Iranian state TV.

    The Trump administration has also drawn scrutiny for its handling of congressional war oversight, citing the April 8 ceasefire to argue the president is not required to submit a formal update to Congress under the War Powers Resolution. The 1973 law requires presidents to secure formal congressional approval for military action within 60 days of launching operations.

  • Shaanxi businesses eye expanded US trade ties

    Shaanxi businesses eye expanded US trade ties

    On Monday, a China (Shaanxi)-U.S. Economic and Trade Matchmaking Conference convened at the New York branch of the Bank of China USA, bringing a delegation of Shaanxi-based enterprises together with U.S. industry professionals, business representatives and trade organizations to unlock new cross-Pacific collaborative opportunities.

    The gathering was specifically designed to support Shaanxi’s manufacturers of natural plant-based goods — a sector that includes functional foods, premium beverages, and food additives — in building stronger, more durable commercial connections in the United States. While a number of these Shaanxi enterprises already maintain small-scale export operations to North American markets, the event aimed to help them scale up their presence and establish long-term partnerships with U.S. importers, distributors and industry partners.

    Leading the Shaanxi delegation was Fan Weibin, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Congress, who opened the conference by expressing enthusiasm for the cross-regional trade mission. Fan emphasized that the fundamental core of healthy China-U.S. economic and trade relations is rooted in mutual benefit and shared success. He noted that the two countries’ economies are deeply interconnected, with overlapping interests that create strong incentives for continued collaboration, adding that business communities from both nations have long served as active participants, firsthand witnesses, and core contributors to the growth of bilateral economic ties.

    The New York matchmaking event was the second stop of Shaanxi’s 2026 U.S. trade promotion tour. It followed a promotional open house event held Saturday at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., which carried the theme “Discover Shaanxi: Where the Silk Road Starts, Wonders Await.” That introductory event was designed to showcase Shaanxi’s rich industrial heritage, unique agricultural resources and trade advantages to U.S. stakeholders, setting the stage for the one-on-one business matching held in New York.

  • Japan defense chief visits Philippines to deepen security ties and witness combat exercise

    Japan defense chief visits Philippines to deepen security ties and witness combat exercise

    In a move that underscores growing regional security realignments across the Indo-Pacific, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday for a diplomatic and military engagement aimed at expanding bilateral defense cooperation between the two nations, government officials confirmed. During his stay in the Philippine capital Manila, Koizumi held scheduled talks with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., where a potential transfer of secondhand Japanese destroyers to Manila was on the agenda for discussion.

    Both the Philippines and Japan are treaty allies of the United States, and the pair cemented a landmark defense pact earlier in 2024: the Reciprocal Access Agreement, which cleared legal and logistical barriers for large-scale joint combat exercises between their armed forces. Under this new framework, up to 1,400 Japanese military personnel will now participate regularly in the annual Balikatan exercise, a long-running multinational military drills hosted by the Philippines whose name translates to “shoulder-to-shoulder” in Tagalog. For decades, Balikatan has brought together U.S. and Filipino forces, alongside other allied partners, to prepare for regional security contingencies and counter growing Chinese territorial assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

    Koizumi is set to join more than 100 international delegates from 16 countries—including major Indo-Pacific players India and Australia—on Wednesday, when the group travels to the northwestern Philippine coastal town of Paoay to observe a high-stakes live-fire drill. During the exercise, combined artillery and missile units from the Philippines, United States, Japan, and Canada will conduct a simulated anti-ship attack on a target approximately 25 miles off the Philippine coast. According to Philippine Marine Corps Col. Dennis Hernandez, Japanese forces will fire two volleys of Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles to sink the decommissioned World War II-era Philippine navy corvette that serves as the exercise target. President Marcos will observe the live-fire maneuvers remotely via live video feed from his official residence in Manila, Hernandez added.

    The Philippine stop comes just one day after Koizumi completed a similar diplomatic visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he signed a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement with Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. Speaking to reporters ahead of his regional tour from Tokyo, Koizumi framed the push for expanded defense partnerships as a critical response to Japan’s current security landscape. “As Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment in the postwar era, it is important to establish a multilayered network of allies and like-minded countries, while expanding it and strengthening our deterrence,” he said.

    Koizumi’s regional tour comes against a backdrop of sweeping changes to Japan’s longstanding post-WWII security policy. In recent years, Tokyo has moved away from its decades-long principle of limiting military activity to self-defense, approving the development of long-range offensive missiles capable of striking enemy targets at distance. Most recently, on April 21, Japan lifted a decades-long ban on lethal weapons exports—a pivotal shift in its postwar pacifist framework that was designed to strengthen Japan’s domestic arms industry and counter growing Chinese aggression across the region. The policy shift aligns with the Philippines’ own security priorities, as Manila has seen a sharp escalation in territorial disputes with Beijing over contested claims in the South China Sea in recent years.

    The lifted export ban opens the door for Japan to transfer up to six retired Abukuma-class destroyers to the Philippine Navy, Hernandez confirmed. These destroyers are equipped to conduct coastal patrols and detect aerial, surface, and undersea threats, making them a valuable addition to Manila’s relatively modest naval fleet. While the transfer remains under discussion during Koizumi’s visit, specific terms and timelines for the potential deal have not been made public. The shift in Japan’s security policy has been broadly welcomed by its Western and Indo-Pacific allies, including the United States and Australia, but has drawn sharp pushback from Beijing. Last month, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the international community would “resolutely resist Japan’s reckless moves toward a new type of militarism.”

    This report includes contributing reporting from Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo.

  • A ‘fun’ superstar stuns rivals and reshapes politics in an Indian state

    A ‘fun’ superstar stuns rivals and reshapes politics in an Indian state

    For decades, electoral politics in India’s Tamil Nadu state has revolved around a stable two-way contest between the long-dominant regional Dravidian parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazahagam (DMK) and its historic rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). That long-standing status quo is now on the brink of collapse, following a historic breakthrough by C Joseph Vijay, the beloved Tamil film superstar turned first-time political candidate, whose new party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) defied all pre-election polling and pundit predictions to nearly seize an outright majority in the 2026 state assembly election.

    Vijay’s rapid ascent to the cusp of power has already drawn inevitable comparisons to one of Tamil Nadu’s most iconic political ancestors: MG Ramachandran, another legendary matinee idol who split from the DMK to launch his own party and rose to become the state’s chief minister in 1977. But while parallels exist in the path from silver screen to statehouse, Vijay’s political emergence comes at a uniquely opportune moment for a political newcomer.

    When final vote counts were tallied on Monday, TVK secured 108 of the 234 available assembly seats, falling just 10 seats short of the 118-seat threshold required to form a majority government. The result is a landmark upset that ousted the incumbent DMK from power, ending the party’s latest tenure leading the state. For Vijay, the next critical step is transitioning from a charismatic crowd-pleasing campaigner to a skilled coalition builder: over the coming days, he will negotiate with smaller regional parties and independent elected legislators to secure the additional support needed to claim the chief minister’s post.

    Political analysts and observers across India frame the result as a clear reflection of growing voter fatigue with the decades-long DMK-AIADMK duopoly, particularly among the state’s fast-growing young electorate. “Vijay carries a different kind of verve,” explains social scientist Shiv Visvanathan. “He offers a sense of fun, confidence and an aura of competence rooted in individuality, and that gives him a different kind of power.”

    Unlike many celebrity politicians who jump from the screen to the campaign trail without long-term groundwork, Vijay’s path to electoral politics has been more than 15 years in the making. As early as 2009, he began restructuring his vast network of fan clubs into the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, a grassroots welfare organization that delivered local aid, educational support and disaster relief to communities across the state. By 2011, the network tested its political influence by aligning with an AIADMK-led coalition, proving that stardom could translate into organized voter support. Over the following decade, Vijay increasingly wove political messaging into his public appearances, speaking to young audiences about widespread youth unemployment, student exam stress, and government corruption, while also taking high-profile positions on national issues such as criticizing the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act. He formally launched TVK only in 2024, but his slow, deliberate conversion of popular stardom into organized political capital set him apart from other celebrity aspirants who have failed to gain traction in Tamil Nadu politics, from Rajinikanth to Kamal Haasan.

    In the lead-up to voting, Vijay has deliberately crafted a new public persona distinct from his film identity, making high-profile visits to prominent Hindu temples and Christian churches across the state. Images of these visits have circulated widely on social media and broadcast news, a notable shift in a state whose modern politics was shaped by the rationalist Self-Respect Movement, which fought for equal rights for marginalized castes. Analysts frame this visible turn to faith as a deliberate strategic choice to broaden his electoral appeal.

    Polling data confirms that Vijay’s surge is driven most strongly by two key demographic groups: young voters and women. According to Pradeep Gupta, chief pollster at Axis My India, voters between the ages of 18 and 39 — who make up 42% of Tamil Nadu’s total electorate — have turned out for TVK in overwhelming numbers, particularly first-time voters. Significant support also crosses caste lines, including large backing from Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes communities across the state. “He’s the new hope for Tamil Nadu,” says prominent political strategist Prashant Kishor, summing up the sentiment driving his rise.

    For most supporters, the appeal of TVK is rooted less in detailed policy platforms and more in a widespread desire for change after decades of rule by the two legacy parties. Even though the incumbent DMK delivered solid governance, including 11.2% economic growth in 2024-25 and strong social indicators that rank among India’s best, voters have expressed growing restlessness with the same entrenched political leadership. “This is not a verdict against Dravidian politics,” notes prominent Indian vocalist and social activist TM Krishna. “It is something else. Vijay offers a new imagination.”

    Vijay’s ideological positioning has also resonated with Tamil Nadu’s long-standing tradition of regional autonomy: he has positioned the national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as his core ideological adversary, and the incumbent DMK as his immediate political rival, aligning with the state’s historic resistance to the BJP’s national expansion rooted in Tamil language and identity politics.

    Not all observers are convinced of TVK’s long-term potential, however. Analyst and author Nilakantan RS argues that the party lacks substantive policy positions on key state issues, framing Vijay’s public gestures and temple visits as carefully calibrated marketing moves rather than reflections of a clear governing vision. “There is an absence of any original position on real issues,” he says. “Virality has become the currency of his actions.” Critics warn that this focus on image over policy could leave a Vijay-led government without the administrative depth needed to address the state’s pressing challenges.

    Vijay’s path to power has also not been without setbacks. Last year, a deadly crowd crush at one of his party rallies killed dozens of attendees, drawing widespread criticism of his initial response to the tragedy. Yet voters ultimately forgave the incident, and it failed to dampen enthusiasm for his campaign. His final planned film, *Jana Nayagan* (People’s Leader), which was set for a January release ahead of the election, also ran into protracted delays after a dispute with India’s national film classification board, and it remains unreleased to date.

    As post-election coalition negotiations get underway, the moment remains a historic one for Tamil Nadu politics. A state that has long blurred the lines between cinema charisma and political power is once again turning to a beloved film icon to deliver the change a majority of voters are demanding. “This election is to herald change,” Vijay declared on the campaign trail. His supporters echo that sentiment: “People are tired of both major parties. They want change. They see TVK as that change,” says TVK spokesperson Felix Gerald. Whether that promise of change will translate into a stable new government and durable political authority remains to be seen, but the 2026 election has already irrevocably broken the decades-old political order in one of India’s most important states.

  • Moment Indonesian river overflows from heavy rain

    Moment Indonesian river overflows from heavy rain

    On May 4, severe heavy rain triggered a destructive river overflow in Bogor, a regency located in Indonesia’s West Java province, leaving a popular outdoor glamping facility completely ruined by fast-moving floodwaters.

    Local reports confirm that the swelling river, pushed far beyond its banks by hours of intense downpour, unleashed a raging torrent that swept through the glamping site. The rushing water damaged infrastructure, destroyed luxury camping units, and forced any visitors or staff present to evacuate quickly. As of initial reports, no official casualties have been confirmed, but the facility has suffered extensive, irreversible damage that will take months to repair.

    Bogor, which sits in a low-lying region near Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, is no stranger to seasonal flooding. The country’s tropical monsoon climate regularly brings intense rainfall between November and May, increasing the risk of river overflows and flash floods across low-lying and rural areas. This latest flood event comes as climate scientists have warned that rising global temperatures are intensifying extreme weather events across Southeast Asia, leading to more frequent and severe bouts of heavy rainfall and flooding that threaten communities, tourism infrastructure, and local livelihoods.

    The glamping facility, which catered to nature-focused tourists looking for a luxury outdoor experience near Bogor’s popular forest and mountain attractions, was a popular weekend getaway for both domestic and international visitors. Local tourism officials have noted that the destruction of the site will have a short-term negative impact on the area’s small tourism-dependent businesses, which have only recently recovered from pandemic-related travel restrictions.

  • Deadly China plane crash was caused by fuel cut-off, says report

    Deadly China plane crash was caused by fuel cut-off, says report

    Three and a half years after the deadliest Chinese aviation disaster in decades, newly released U.S. investigation data has shed fresh light on the 2022 crash of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735, which claimed all 132 lives on board when the Boeing 737 plummeted into a hillside in southern China.

    According to data obtained by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) via a Freedom of Information Act request, fuel flow to both of the jet’s engines was intentionally cut while the aircraft was cruising at 29,000 feet, a finding that lends credibility to unconfirmed theories that the crash was deliberate. The data, pulled from one of the plane’s recovered black boxes that was sent to the NTSB’s Washington D.C. lab for analysis, confirms that both engine fuel control switches were manually moved to the “cut-off” position, after which the engines’ rotational speeds dropped sharply.

    Fuel switches are purpose-built cockpit controls designed to regulate the flow of jet fuel into the engines, used almost exclusively by flight crew to start engines during pre-flight preparation or shut them down after landing. No mechanical malfunction is known to automatically shift both fully functional fuel switches into the cut-off position during cruise flight.

    The timeline of the disaster, recorded by independent flight tracking service FlightRadar24, aligns with the new data: on March 21, 2022, the flight departed Kunming, Yunnan’s provincial capital, on a routine scheduled domestic trip to Guangzhou, southern China’s major trade hub. After more than an hour of uneventful flight, the aircraft suddenly entered an uncontrolled, rapid descent. In just two minutes and 15 seconds, it dropped from a cruising altitude of 29,100 feet to under 10,000 feet, with its final recorded altitude logged at 3,225 feet at 14:22 local time. Air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the flight crew during the descent but received no response.

    China’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA), which is leading the official investigation into the crash, has yet to publish a final public report, justifying the delay on grounds of national security concerns. Shortly after the crash, CAA officials confirmed that the flight crew held valid operating licenses, had passed required pre-flight health checks, and were properly rested, ruling out basic fatigue or certification issues. When media speculation emerged that the crash was an act of pilot suicide, the CAA issued an official denial, stating that such baseless rumors misled the public and disrupted the ongoing investigation.

    As the aircraft was manufactured by American aerospace firm Boeing, the NTSB was granted authority to assign a senior investigator to assist the Chinese-led probe, a standard arrangement for international aviation accident investigations. Prior to the release of the NTSB data, the disaster’s cause had remained a subject of global speculation, with possible causes ranging from structural failure and mid-air collision to pilot error and deliberate action. The new NTSB findings are the first official verified data to publicly support the deliberate action theory, though Chinese authorities have not yet commented on the newly released information.

    China has seen dramatic improvements in commercial aviation safety over the past three decades, with fatal air crashes remaining extremely rare. The 2022 MU5735 crash was the deadliest air disaster to occur in Chinese airspace since 1992.

  • China invokes rules to blunt US sanctions on ‘teapot’ refiners

    China invokes rules to blunt US sanctions on ‘teapot’ refiners

    In a landmark move marking the first practical deployment of a half-decade-old Chinese counter-sanctions legal framework, Beijing has moved to block the enforcement of United States sanctions targeting five independent Chinese “teapot” oil refiners, including Dalian-headquartered Hengli Petrochemical Refinery, which Washington blacklisted over accusations of violating US restrictions on Iranian crude imports.

    Issued on May 2, the order from China’s Ministry of Commerce relies on the *Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extraterritorial Application of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures*, widely known as China’s “Blocking Rules.” The ministry formally ruled that all US sanctions measures—including placing the five petrochemical firms on the US Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, freezing their assets under US jurisdiction and imposing transaction bans—“shall not be recognized, enforced or complied with” within Chinese territory. The order also bars Chinese domestic companies and financial institutions from participating in the US sanctions regime, though it did not explicitly clarify whether the prohibition extends to Hong Kong, which processes a large share of China-Iran crude oil transactions.

    The five refiners were added to the US SDN list in staggered actions between March 2025 and April 2026: Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co Ltd on March 20, 2025; Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co Ltd on April 16, 2025; Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group Co Ltd on May 8, 2025; Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co Ltd on October 9, 2025; and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co Ltd on April 24, 2026.

    In an April 28 statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US Treasury department’s sanctions enforcement arm, said that beginning in March 2025, it had designated multiple China-based independent refiners that had collectively processed billions of dollars in crude oil originating from Iran, which it claimed ultimately supports the Iranian government. OFAC also issued a formal warning to global financial institutions, noting that the US was prepared to leverage its full range of regulatory authorities and deploy secondary sanctions against any foreign financial institutions that continue to facilitate transactions tied to Iran’s oil sector.

    Chinese policy analysts and state media have framed the first-ever use of the Blocking Rules—originally adopted in January 2021 at the end of US President Donald Trump’s first term—as a measured, principled response to US unilateralism, representing a shift from holding counter-sanctions tools in reserve to active deployment against extraterritorial US pressure.

    Liu Chunsheng, an associate professor of international trade at the Central University of Finance and Economics, told Hong Kong media that the Blocking Rules were activated because the US has repeatedly abused unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, acting as a self-appointed global police force that uses sanctions to disrupt legitimate economic and trade activity by Chinese firms. He characterized the US actions as a form of economic and trade bullying designed to coerce other nations into aligning with its policy priorities.

    “The Blocking Rules are a targeted legal mechanism to counter unreasonable external sanctions, protect the legitimate rights of Chinese companies operating overseas, safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and uphold a fair international economic and trade order,” Liu explained, adding that the move sets a critical precedent for other countries, particularly developing economies, facing similar unilateral pressure from the US.

    Cui Fan, a professor of international trade at the University of International Business of Economics and chief expert at the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, noted that since 2025, the US has steadily expanded sanctions targeting Chinese refining, shipping and port companies connected to Iranian oil trade, imposing asset freezes and broad transaction bans while rejecting legitimate claims from Chinese firms. He warned that allowing these unilateral measures to go unchallenged would disrupt China’s energy supply chain stability and undermine China’s energy security and core development interests.

    “Against this backdrop, activating the Blocking Rules is a necessary step to safeguard China’s national and corporate interests, while the framework establishes formal institutional mechanisms to protect the lawful rights of Chinese citizens, legal entities and other organizations,” Cui said. He also pointed to the rapid growth of the US SDN list, which now includes roughly 18,900 global entities and individuals, more than 1,100 of which are linked to mainland China and over 400 connected to Hong Kong. Washington’s so-called “50% rule,” which designates any entity directly or indirectly 50% or more owned by a sanctioned party as also blocked, even if not explicitly named, extends sanctions impact to a vast network of affiliated firms across the global economy.

    The escalating sanctions dispute has further strained already tense bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington just two weeks before a scheduled May 13-14 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China. The two leaders are expected to address a wide range of contentious issues during the summit, including ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, persistent trade frictions, and competing export control regimes.

    The escalation builds on a series of recent US actions targeting Sino-Iranian energy ties: In mid-April, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US had sent formal warnings to two unnamed Chinese banks, alerting them to potential secondary sanctions if they continued facilitating transactions tied to Iranian oil. On April 24, OFAC added Hengli Petrochemical to the SDN list, calling the refiner one of Iran’s most important crude customers, alongside blacklisting roughly 40 shipping firms and vessels it accuses of being part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” for undocumented oil shipments. Four days later, OFAC issued its broader warning to financial institutions over secondary sanctions risks tied to Chinese independent teapot refiners.

    Adopted in January 2021, the Blocking Rules establish a formal interagency process led by the Ministry of Commerce, working alongside China’s national planning agency and other relevant departments, to assess whether foreign laws and measures constitute improper extraterritorial application. The assessment is based on four core criteria: whether the foreign measure violates international law or foundational norms of international relations; its potential impact on China’s sovereignty, security and development interests; its potential harm to the lawful rights and interests of Chinese individuals and entities; and other relevant contextual factors.

    The framework also includes a formal exemption process: Chinese entities seeking permission to comply with restricted foreign sanctions must submit a written request to the Ministry of Commerce outlining the rationale and scope of the requested compliance, and the ministry issues a decision within 30 days, with accelerated processing for urgent cases. Some independent analysts note that this exemption structure could allow large Chinese banks with global operations and US-based assets to seek approval to comply with US sanctions, while smaller regional Chinese banks can continue processing Iranian oil transaction settlements while absorbing the associated regulatory risk.

    Zhou Chengyang, a Chinese current affairs commentator, told Russian media outlet Sputnik that independent refiners including Hengli are expected to continue settling crude purchases in Chinese renminbi, diversifying settlement channels and combining strategic reserve drawdowns with market-based procurement to maintain stable oil supply operations. The framework for processing these transactions has already been tested in recent years: In 2012, OFAC added China’s Bank of Kunlun to the SDN list for its role in settling Iranian oil trades, which resulted in the bank being expelled from the global SWIFT dollar clearing system. In 2019, OFAC added Bank of Kunlun to its stricter CAPTA sanctions list, which restricts foreign banks from maintaining US correspondent accounts for the institution.

    Chinese state media reports confirm that despite sweeping US sanctions, Bank of Kunlun has continued facilitating Iranian and Russian oil transaction settlements through China’s own Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), relying on a barter-style clearing mechanism that offsets payments through matched reciprocal trade flows rather than direct US dollar transfers. Under this structure, Chinese importers and Iranian exporters settle accounts through reciprocal credit arrangements via partner banks, allowing trade to proceed without relying on the US dollar or Western clearing infrastructure.

  • A Taiwanese town embraces a slow pace of life through a snail race

    A Taiwanese town embraces a slow pace of life through a snail race

    Tucked in Taiwan’s earthquake-prone Hualien County, the small town of Fenglin has built a gentle, well-loved reputation: a place where the frantic pace of modern life fades, and visitors can step back to breathe and reconnect. With a population of just 10,000 — down threefold from decades ago and now marked by a super-aged demographic with over 20% of residents over 65 — Fenglin did not fight its slow rhythm. Instead, it leaned into it, turning that identity into a symbol of community resilience, anchored by an unlikely local icon: the garden snail.

    Fenglin’s bond with snails dates back to 2014, when it joined the Cittaslow international network, a global movement of small communities dedicated to centering quality of life, local food systems, and sustainable development over rapid growth. The movement’s official symbol, fittingly, is a snail carrying a small cluster of buildings on its back — a metaphor that aligned perfectly with Fenglin’s natural character.

    That quiet commitment to slow living became a lifeline for the region after a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Hualien in April 2024, leaving 18 dead, over 1,100 injured, and cratering local tourism. Fears of aftershocks kept visitors away, and many residents relocated from the quake-prone county entirely. To reverse the downturn and draw travelers back to the region, local organizers launched an annual event that leaned into Fenglin’s slow identity: an open-to-all snail race.

    “Two years after the quake, tourism still feels its impact, because many people worry another large temblor could strike at any time,” explained 32-year-old local resident Hsu Lu. “Many people have already left Hualien because of repeated seismic activity.” For the community, snail racing was never meant to be a silver bullet — just a small, intentional step to rebuild foot traffic. “We thought that our event could attract people, and that would be a small help,” said Cheng Jen-shou, one of the event’s founding organizers.

    This May Day holiday marked the third iteration of the quirky race, drawing dozens of enthusiastic participants and spectators from across Taiwan. Over two days, six preliminary heats sent snails creeping toward the finish line, with heat winners advancing to a grand final that drew cheers from the gathered crowd. The event’s rules are delightfully simple: 10 snails are placed at the center of a round table covered in thin vinyl, and the first to reach the edge takes the top prize.

    Participants bring their snails from across the island, with many locals harvesting their competitors straight from their own backyards. Seventy-year-old Fenglin retiree Li Cheng-wen started raising snails after finding them feasting on leafy greens in his vegetable garden; instead of killing the pests, he turned them into pets, feeding them slices of banana, papaya, and fresh leaves, and giving them daily showers. When selecting racers, he prioritizes two traits: “I usually select those that are very active and pleasing to the eye,” he explained.

    For one family from southern Taiwan, the race became a long-awaited do-over. Kelvin Hong and Tiara Lin traveled five hours from Kaohsiung with their 2-year-old daughter Murphy and their giant African snail Aquaman, who had been signed up for the 2024 race before Lin went into early labor on the drive north. This year, the whole family returned to see Aquaman compete.

    Despite his larger size, Aquaman failed to outpace the local competition. The 2025 crown went to Guage, better known to fans as Brother Snail, a repeat champion owned by 39-year-old Tanya Lin from Hualien. Brother Snail has held the title since 2024, and this year he crossed the 33-centimeter course in just 3 minutes and 3 seconds, earning his champion’s reward: a hearty serving of organic sweet potato leaves and a place of honor on the tiny event’s winner’s podium.

    Beyond the snail race itself, Fenglin’s local government has built out a broader tourism strategy around the town’s slow-life identity, offering guided e-bike tours that stop at historic tobacco barns, well-preserved Japanese colonial-era buildings, and a museum dedicated to the local Hakka ethnic community. The concept has resonated with travelers tired of the nonstop pace of Taiwan’s major cities. University students Annette Lin and Tanya Liu took a 30-minute train from Hualien City to experience the race and Fenglin’s laid-back energy, describing the event as wonderfully unique. Liu summed up the appeal for many visitors: “I think for travel or a trip, it’s a great choice. But maybe living here would not really be my dream choice.”

    For Fenglin, though, the slow pace is not a temporary attraction — it is the core of the town’s identity, and a tool that has helped it rebuild after disaster one small, slow step at a time.

  • Pen pal programs have evolved, but old-fashioned letter writing could be coming back

    Pen pal programs have evolved, but old-fashioned letter writing could be coming back

    Four decades ago, a 13-year-old girl in New Zealand named Molly Nunns mentioned a pair of coveted purple lip-shaped sunglasses she saw in a magazine to her American pen pal, Holly, who lived 9,000 miles away in Concord, New Hampshire. This past March, Holly finally fulfilled the decades-old wish, traveling across the world to hand-deliver the sunglasses to Nunns — closing a 40-year chapter of a friendship built entirely on handwritten letters that has outlasted shifting communication trends and the rise of the digital age.

    The international youth pen pal matching service that first connected Holly and Molly in 1985 shut down long ago, but the tradition of pen pal correspondence is far from dead. Even as postal services across the globe cut back on home delivery — Denmark has stopped residential letter delivery entirely, with Canada following suit and New Zealand reducing delivery days — observers are tracking a steady resurgence of interest in intentional, handwritten letter writing, even among generations raised on constant digital connectivity.

    Rachel Syme, a New Yorker writer who launched a grassroots pen pal initiative called Penpalooza at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and later published *Syme’s Letter Writer – A Guide to Modern Correspondence*, says public appetite for analog correspondence is stronger than ever. More than 15,000 people joined Penpalooza in 2020, and hundreds new participants still sign up for every new round of matchmaking Syme organizes every few months. At book signings, she constantly receives requests for pen pal connections, and the New York City stationery shops she visits regularly draw large crowds of eager shoppers.

    Syme notes that for younger people who have grown up constantly glued to smartphones, handwritten letter writing offers a rare chance to step away from the digital noise. “People are very interested in physical, analog things right now,” she explained. “It has an appeal especially to a younger generation who grew up with a phone glued to their hand, to do something that’s more tactile, slower, more intentional, more mindful, but also just disconnected from the internet in every way.”

    Longtime pen pal advocates echo Syme’s observations. Julie Delbridge, a 65-year-old Australian who joined International Pen Friends (IPF) as a teenager in 1979, later became the organization’s president in 2001. Delbridge says letter writing gave her a critical positive outlet during her parents’ bitter divorce, offering non-judgmental connection across borders that shaped her life. “It was a pastime that I totally immersed myself into in a positive way and gained a lot of enjoyment from,” she said. “There was an abundance of non-judgmental friendship, fun and different perspectives.”

    Over its 59-year history, IPF has connected more than 2 million people aged 8 to over 80 from across the globe. While membership peaked in the late 1990s just before mainstream internet adoption, it surged again during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2024 has already seen a sharp rise in new members between the ages of 21 and 26.

    This growing interest extends to educational spaces, too. In 2021, the U.S. Postal Service launched a national pen pal initiative that distributed materials to 25,000 U.S. elementary school classrooms, but pen pal programs have also taken root at the college level. A group of medical students in Texas created an anonymous pen pal scheme to build peer support and encourage emotional reflection amid the high stress of medical training. At Villanova University, professor Kamran Javadizadeh requires students in his literature course “Letters, Texts, Twitter” to exchange handwritten letters with classmates, even when they could easily pass a note to each other in person.

    Javadizadeh argues that instantaneous digital communication erodes a specific type of meaningful connection that only asynchronous letter writing can create. “Something is lost when you have instantaneous communication,” he explained. “So I’m interested in the relationship between synchronous kinds of intimacy and asynchronous forms of intimacy.”

    Gordon Alley-Young, dean of communications at Kingsborough Community College in New York, compares the resurgence of letter writing to the renewed popularity of vinyl records: young audiences are increasingly drawn to tangible, physical media from an earlier era as a counterpoint to digital overload. He has used letter writing as a tool to teach empathy to his communication students, finding that when students respond to case studies of interpersonal conflict presented as personal letters, they offer far more vulnerable, thoughtful advice than when they analyze impersonal case studies.

    “We really want students to connect to what they’re looking at,” he said. “And letter writing encourages that.”

    Even digital platforms are leaning into the pen pal trend, though with a twist. The app Slowly combines modern mobile technology with the slow, anticipatory energy of traditional snail mail pen pal relationships: users send digital messages, but delivery is delayed between one hour and several days to replicate the waiting period that comes with traditional mail. Cofounder JoJo Chan explains that this delay encourages more thoughtful, substantial communication, rather than the quick, superficial greetings common to instant messaging.

    Since launching in 2017, Slowly has amassed 10 million users across more than 160 countries, most between their 20s and 30s. Many users, Chan says, first heard about pen pal relationships from their grandparents and are curious to try the experience for themselves. “Slowly offers a convenient way and a modern way for them to try that experience,” she noted.

    For advocates like Syme, however, the magic of pen pal correspondence lies in its tangible, physical nature. Her guide includes tips for choosing stationery and pens, and ideas for small mementos to tuck into envelopes, but she emphasizes that the content of the letter matters far more than the frills. “There is joy to be had once you fully embrace the medium’s outdated extravagance,” she writes. But, she added in an interview, the core of letter writing is honest connection: “That’s where I think it can get very real, very quickly.”

    For Holly and Molly, that real, lasting connection has shaped 40 years of their lives. The pair exchanged handwritten letters for 15 years before meeting in person for the first time during a 2000 trip to New York, and they have crossed paths multiple times since, including a 2018 visit to New Hampshire from Nunns and her family. When Holly delivered the long-awaited sunglasses on her recent trip, she also brought a printed bound volume of 200 pages of Nunns’ teenage letters, scanned and preserved decades after they were written. While modern technology makes it possible to search and summarize those decades-old scribblings in seconds, it is the depth of the human connection that continues to amaze Holly. After an emotional goodbye at the airport, the pair already plans to meet again — and their correspondence, started 40 years ago, continues.

  • ‘It’s an elite matter’: UAE confirms it’s in talks for swap line loan with US

    ‘It’s an elite matter’: UAE confirms it’s in talks for swap line loan with US

    On a Monday marked by renewed regional volatility following fresh Iranian air strikes against the United Arab Emirates, senior Emirati officials made the first public confirmation that the country is negotiating a currency swap agreement with the United States, framing the arrangement as a marker of membership in an exclusive cohort of US allies rather than a financial lifeline.

    Speaking at the “Make It In The Emirates” manufacturing conference hosted in Abu Dhabi, UAE Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed al-Zeyoudi clarified the context of the ongoing discussions. “We have this discussion and conversation with many, it’s part of an elite group that the US is having this swap policy with. They are only having it with five countries,” Zeyoudi told attendees. He emphasized that the agreement would not act as a bailout, noting instead that it reflects the deep integration of trade and investment ties between the two nations that have created a practical need for the swap arrangement.

    Zeyoudi’s remarks mark the first on-the-record confirmation of the talks from an Emirati government official, after months of conflicting public statements from both sides of the negotiation. The confirmation comes against a backdrop of heightened military tension across the Persian Gulf: a fragile ceasefire collapsed into uncertainty Monday after Iran launched a wave of missiles and drones targeting the UAE, an attack widely viewed as retaliation for a planned US naval transit through the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing US-Israel military operations against Iran-linked forces.

    Weeks prior, UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba pushed back against early speculation that the country was seeking external financial support. In a lengthy post on the social platform X, Otaiba noted the UAE holds roughly $2 trillion in sovereign wealth investments and $300 billion in foreign exchange reserves, stating that “Any suggestion that the UAE requires external financial backing misreads the facts.” He did not, however, explicitly deny that negotiations were underway.

    Former US President Donald Trump first confirmed the existence of talks last month, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later noted that multiple Gulf states and Asian economies had requested access to US currency swap lines. Zeyoudi’s framing of the potential agreement aligns with Otaiba’s earlier pushback, designed to quell rumors that the UAE’s financial position has weakened amid regional conflict.

    Currency swap lines are traditionally a tool to provide central banks with access to US dollar liquidity during periods of economic distress. Historically, Washington has extended these short-term loan arrangements to two distinct groups: lower and middle-income economies facing financial instability, such as Mexico and Argentina, and large developed economies whose stability is seen as critical to global economic health, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. Even with regional disruptions that have cut the UAE’s oil exports by more than half compared to pre-conflict levels – the country continues to ship crude through the port of Fujairah, which bypasses the blockaded Strait of Hormuz – experts note the wealthy Gulf state does not fit neatly into either existing category.

    Brad Setser, a former US Treasury economist now based at the Council on Foreign Relations, described the UAE’s request as slightly unusual given the substantial reserves held by its central bank and the scale of its sovereign wealth funds.

    Beyond economic considerations, the ongoing negotiations are unfolding alongside major shifts in the UAE’s geopolitical alignment. The country has publicly and privately lobbied Washington to adopt a far more aggressive stance against Iran, a position that puts it at odds with neighboring Saudi Arabia, which has backed Pakistani-led mediation efforts to de-escalate regional tensions. The talks also follow the UAE’s high-profile decision to withdraw from the Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel, a move that some analysts have linked directly to the negotiations with the US.

    Ellen Wald, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of *Saudi Inc: The Rise and Fall of the World’s Richest Company*, laid out the broader geopolitical hypothesis in a recent LinkedIn post. “It is possible that this break could also be [the] result of some sort of ‘deal’ between [the] UAE and Israel [and the] US, wherein they helped defend the UAE from Iran in exchange for delivering a major blow to Opec, which Trump has long sought,” Wald wrote. She added that she would not be surprised to see a formal defense agreement between the UAE and US announced in the near future.