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3 weeks ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
South Korea’s new left-leaning president, Lee Jae-myung, plans to foster friendly relations with China and reduce tensions with North Korea, in contrast with the staunchly pro-U.S. stance of his conservative predecessor. In his inauguration speech Wednesday, Mr. Lee advanced what he calls a “pragmatic” diplomacy rooted in South Korea’s national interests.
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3 weeks ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
Six months after South Korea’s conservative leader shocked the nation by declaring martial law, voters turned out in record numbers to elect his replacement. The left-leaning opposition party candidate Lee Jae-myung was immediately sworn in as president on Wednesday, after winning 49% of the June 3 vote and defeating the People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo, who won 41%. Voter turnout was nearly 80%, the highest in 28 years.
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1 month ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
Moving nimbly between clacking looms, Chinese textile worker Li Xiaojuan switches spools and ties loose threads, keeping machines humming as they weave white and lavender towels. “I like working here,” says the mother of two teenagers, pulling off her safety mask and wiping back a strand of hair. Ms. Li says her job pays $1,300 a month and allows her and her husband, a shopkeeper, to make ends meet – for now.
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1 month ago | 
csmonitor.com | Laurent Belsie |Ann Scott Tyson
When representatives from the United States and China meet for talks in Geneva on Saturday, they will take the first step toward normalizing a key economic partnership that has spun out of control since the first Trump administration’s trade war measures in 2018. Now, in a series of tit-for-tat escalations initiated by President Donald Trump, the world’s two biggest economies have imposed tariffs so high that trade between the two is dwindling.
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2 months ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson |Ali Martin
Sitting behind her cramped stall inside China’s sprawling Yiwu wholesale market, Huang Youping pours another cup of oolong tea, and waits for customers. Surrounded by shelves of colorful Christmas crèches, carousels, and snow globes, Ms. Huang says that under normal circumstances, half of the exports from the factory she represents are bound for the United States.
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2 months ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
The way Beijing sees it, a resolution of the current trade war with the United States will take more than simply lower tariffs. It will require a significant increase in the value of an all-important Chinese commodity: “face.”In traditional Chinese culture, face, or mianzi, means pride, honor, and prestige. Losing it amounts to shame. “Trees can’t live without bark, men can’t live without face,” goes a Chinese saying.
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2 months ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
As Myanmar’s civil war enters its fifth year next month, the conflict has claimed more than 50,000 lives, including several thousand civilians. The fighting has displaced some 3.3 million of Myanmar’s 54 million people. Worsening their plight, a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the country on March 28, killing more than 3,600 people and leaving a wave of destruction. Where is the troubled, multiethnic Southeast Asian state, once known as Burma, headed now?
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2 months ago | 
flipboard.com | Ann Scott Tyson
3 hours agoMalaysia: China’s Xi begins state visit to Malaysia[Note: no sound] SHOTLIST: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (APR. 15, 2025) (PRIME MINISTRY OF MALAYSIA - RESTRICTED) 1. VARIOUS OF CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING GETTING OFF AIRPLANE / OFFICIA CEREMONY 2. VARIOUS OF MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER, ANWAR IBRAHIM WELCOMING XI JINPINGKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - APR.
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2 months ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
Across China – from gritty factory floors to warehouses and shipping docks – the flow of exports screeched to a halt last Friday, as 145% U.S. tariffs took hold, and Beijing announced countermeasures. Two-way trade was essentially dead. But in his first public comments on President Donald Trump’s tariff war, Chinese leader Xi Jinping did not betray any concern. “China will stay confident, composed, and focused,” he said, speaking in the quiet elegance of a formal Beijing meeting hall.
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2 months ago | 
csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson
China’s export-fueled growth strategy is facing a major roadblock as tariffs threaten to wall off America – by far China’s biggest overseas market – which absorbs about $400 billion worth of Chinese goods each year. President Donald Trump warned that he could raise U.S. tariffs on China to more than 100% on Wednesday if Beijing doesn’t back down from tit-for-tat levies. “China will fight to the end,” shot back China’s Ministry of Commerce.
