ASIANOMICS

🇺🇸🌏US military's logistics drill aims to burnish East Asia crisis response Drills in East Asia this summer by the US military body charged with moving munitions and equipment will help it better coordinate and communicate with allies in response to a crisis. On a visit to East Asia, TRASNCOM Commander Randall Reed, told reporters it was essential to maintain and expand ties in the region so as to ensure a swift US response to disasters and counter threats to peace and security. "We're going to have a series of exercises and will test the current logistics architecture and infrastructure which provides sustained freedom of manoeuvre," he said on a teleconference, without giving further details of location or timing. #USA @asianomics

🇹🇼🇨🇳🇵🇭 "The Chinese PLA Navy has intensified its presence in the Western Pacific, with its Liaoning carrier strike group advancing farther south to operate east of the Philippine archipelago. This marks the furthest deployment of the Liaoning into the Western Pacific to date. Its position east of Samar and west of Guam is not only symbolic but strategic and that it sends a dual message — one to Taiwan and Japan, and another, more direct one, to the Philippines." 🔗Ian Ellis

🇺🇸🇨🇳 Trump and Xi agree to more talks as trade disputes brew US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping confronted weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals in a rare leader-to-leader call on Thursday that left key issues to further talks. During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi told Trump to back down from trade measures that roiled the global economy and warned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, according to a Chinese government summary. But Trump said on social media that the talks focused primarily on trade led to "a very positive conclusion," announcing further lower-level U.S.-China discussions, and that "there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products." #USA#China @asianomics

🇨🇳🇪🇺EU industry could grind to a halt over China’s rare earth restrictions Chinese government restrictions on the export of rare earth elements have forced some European companies to halt production using the highly sought-after minerals essential for making smartphones and electric vehicles. The measures announced by Beijing on April 4 were seen as retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”, but European industry now warns it is being caught in the crossfire. The EU Chamber of Commerce in China has held several meetings with China’s Ministry of Commerce, its secretary general Adam Dunnett said, and senses Beijing is overwhelmed with applications to export the minerals vital for many hi-tech goods. “Thousands of applications need to be reviewed but the ministry’s resources are limited. We’ve seen a sprinkling of approvals in the last week, but some companies have lodged dozens of applications … some have had to stop production,” Dunnett, also vice-chair of the European Business Organisation, told journalists in Brussels. #China#EU @asianomics

🇯🇵🇰🇷 Japan PM pledges to boost ties with key partner South Korea under Lee Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed hope for a stable improvement in ties with South Korea under new President Lee Jae Myung, saying he wants to hold summit talks at an early date. Ishiba said Japan and South Korea should work as "partners" in tackling global challenges, and trilateral cooperation with their common ally the United States is also necessary at a time of security threats posed by North Korea. Japanese officials will be watching for changes in Seoul's stance toward Tokyo under Lee, a liberal known for his hard-line stance on wartime issues related to Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, including compensation for Korean laborers. #Japan#SouthKorea @asianomics

🇨🇳🇧🇾 Belarus lauded by Xi as China's true friend Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Belarus as a true friend of China as he met Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of the nation, on Wednesday and urged the Russian ally to join Beijing in opposing "hegemony and bullying". Xi, greeting Lukashenko in Zhongnanhai, the seat of power in Beijing, congratulated him on his re-election, Xinhua reported, adding that China and Belarus were "true friends and good partners." "You have very accurately pointed out the main feature of our time - the unprecedented pressure from the West on us, primarily on the People's Republic of China," Belarus' state news agency BelTA cited Lukashenko as saying. #China#Belarus @asianomics

🇰🇵 North Korea pulls capsized warship upright after botched launch North Korea appears to have returned to an upright position its stricken Choe Hyun Class destroyer that partially capsized during a botched launching ceremony, US researchers said. Leader Kim Jong Un, who witnessed the failed launch of the 5,000-tonne warship, said the accident damaged the country's dignity and vowed to punish those found responsible. Commercial satellite imagery from June 2 showed the destroyer upright for the first time since the May 21 accident, the 38 North programme, which studies the nuclear-armed North, said in a report. #NorthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 South Korea's new President Lee vows to revive democracy from 'near demise' South Korea's new liberal President Lee Jae-myung pledged to raise the country from the near destruction caused by a martial law attempt and revive an economy besieged by global protectionism that is threatening its very existence. Lee faces what could be the most daunting set of challenges for a South Korean leader in nearly three decades, ranging from healing a country deeply scarred by the martial law attempt to tackling unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States, a major trading partner and a security ally. He promised deregulation to spur innovation and growth in business and pledged to reopen dialogue with North Korea while maintaining a strong security alliance with the United States and bringing balance to diplomacy. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇨🇳🇰🇷 China installed 3 more buoys in Yellow Sea China has installed three more large-scale buoys in the Yellow Sea, where its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) overlaps with that of South Korea. According to the South Korean military on Saturday, the Navy confirmed the presence of the three buoys in May 2023. All are located within China’s EEZ. Since 2018, Beijing has already installed ten similar observation buoys, each three meters wide and six meters tall, near the provisional maritime zone (PMZ), where the two countries’ EEZs intersect. Although China says the devices are used for maritime and weather observation, concerns are growing in South Korea that they could also be used for military purposes or as leverage in future EEZ negotiations. Buoys marked in black and numbered 1 to 10 were installed between 2018 and 2022, while those marked in red and numbered 11 to 13 are new. #China#SouthKorea @asianomics

🇨🇳China adds aerial refueling to pilot training in move to boost combat readiness China’s air force has introduced aerial refueling to its pilot training program as the People’s Liberation Army tries to step up combat readiness and long-range capabilities. The move was highlighted in a report by state broadcaster CCTV that included footage from a PLA training video. It showed instructors from the PLA Air Force’s Shijiazhuang Flight Academy piloting two J-10 fighter jets in a refueling drill, supported by a YU-20 tanker. Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said it was a significant step for the air force as it tried to cultivate real-combat capabilities from the earliest stage in a pilot’s training. #China @asianomics

🇨🇳🇫🇷China bristles at Macron linking Ukraine defense to Taiwan threats China criticized as a "double standard" attempts to link the defense of Ukraine with the need to protect Taiwan from a Chinese invasion - a thinly veiled reference to a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron in Singapore on Friday night. As part of a broader address on the risks of division between China and the United States, Macron told the Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting that if Russia was allowed to take any part of Ukraine without constraint then "what could happen in Taiwan?". In a Facebook post, China's embassy in Singapore said that comparing the Taiwan issue with the Ukraine issue is "unacceptable". "The two are different in nature and not comparable at all," the post said, saying that Taiwan was entirely an internal affair for China. #China#France @asianomics

🇵🇭🇪🇺 Philippines and EU to set up security and defense dialogue, minister says The Philippines and the European Union have agreed to start a dialogue on security and defense in order to tackle emerging threats like cyber attacks and foreign interference, Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo said. The announcement came during the visit to Manila of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas for meetings with Manalo as well as a courtesy call with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Kallas said the new dialogue will be a "dedicated platform" in which the regional bloc and the Philippines can deepen defense cooperation, share expertise on security matters and explore joint initiatives. #ThePhilippines#EU @asianomics