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Asian Shares Mixed on US Rally, China Economic Growth Woes U.S. News & World Report
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is leading an official congressional delegation to Asia on Friday, two sources said, although it's unclear whether the trip will include a stop in Taiwan.
One of the sources who reviewed the itinerary Thursday afternoon said it listed a Taiwan visit as "tentative." The trip will include visits to Asian allies Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
Bloomberg News first reported that Pelosi's delegation is departing Friday, the last day the House is in session before its monthlong August recess.
In another development, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said Chinese officials were pressuring him to try to halt Pelosi's trip to Taiwan. He said in an interview that an official from the Chinese Embassy called his office and demanded that he tell the speaker to call the trip off.
On Monday, China's consul general in San Francisco delivered a similar message to Larsen in person during a long-planned meeting in his Seattle district.
"He brought it up, as well, and made that request," said Larsen, a co-chair of the bipartisan U.S.-China Working Group. "I think it's a gross miscalculation on the part of the Chinese to try to pressure any member of Congress on any travel anywhere, much less this trip, if it's occurring."
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Pelosi has invited senior lawmakers to join her on the trip, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., who led a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan last year.
Takano declined to comment about the trip Thursday afternoon. Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said they also had been invited by Pelosi but could not make the trip.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill also declined to comment. The speaker's office has a policy of not discussing any international travel by lawmakers in advance, citing security concerns.
Earlier reports that Pelosi might visit Taiwan sparked international headlines and stern warnings that Beijing would carry out a "forceful" response if she sets foot on the democratic island of 24 million people, which China sees as being under its control.
Some of the threats have been aimed at Pelosi herself. "If the US can't restrain her, let China restrain her & punish her," Hu Xjin, the former editor of the Chinese state newspaper Global Times, tweeted. "PLA Air Force will surely make her visit a disgrace to herself and to the US." ("PLA" is the People's Liberation Army.)
One of the sources said Pelosi had been hosting meetings in her office all week about the Asia trip and the Taiwan controversy. The source said discussions about a potential visit were extremely delicate given the possibility of military escalation.
"The Chinese could always make a miscalculation. Cowboys could miscalculate," the source said. "And you have our folks who are going to do what they are trained to do to ensure security."
President Joe Biden, who spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, had raised concerns about Pelosi's possibly traveling to Taiwan. He said over the weekend that U.S. military officials have told him that visiting Taiwan "is not a good idea right now."
Tensions over Taiwan were among the issues Biden and Xi discussed by phone.
In their readout of the two-hour-plus call, the Chinese used tough rhetoric to warn against any U.S. support for Taiwan's independence.
"Those who play with fire will perish by it," the Chinese said in a statement. "It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this."
Lawmakers from both parties rallied behind Pelosi, however, urging her to make the trip and emphasize U.S. support for the self-governing island.
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July 28 (Reuters) - Bearish bets on the Thai baht extended on risks around recession, the Chinese economy, and inflation, while short bets on most Asian currencies eased slightly but remained firmly around multi-month highs, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
The fortnightly poll of 13 analysts showed short bets on the Thai baht were the highest since January 2018, having steadily built up since early-March when the Ukraine war set off a series of factors and pressured the tourism-reliant, net oil importing country.
Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, is among the laggards on the policy normalisation bandwagon, which its peers and major central banks have hopped on since long, further elevating the risks of a negative impact from rising costs amid weak activity in top regional economy China.
The Thai currency, the most shorted among Asian units, has depreciated about 14% since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and 10.3% so far this year, placing it at the bottom of the rung with the Indian rupee and South Korean won .
"Market players remain short on the Thai baht vs the U.S. dollar until they are really certain that the U.S. Federal Reserve will pass the peak of hawkishness," Poon Panichpibool, a market strategist with Krung Thai Bank said.
But, he said that weakness in the dollar after the Fed meeting would encourage investors to be bullish on the baht, relying on the recent green shoots observed in tourism and the economy.
The Fed overnight delivered another 75 basis points (bps) rate hike, and reiterated its resolve against stinging inflation in the world's biggest economy even at the risk of economic weakness and a slowing jobs market. read more
Analysts at Maybank, however, cautioned that although the greenback weakened after the Fed's move, Chair Jerome Powell is "still hawkish"; that could keep the Fed on an aggressive tightening path, ultimately continuing to support the safe haven dollar.
The poll's responses were collated before the Fed hike.
Elsewhere, sentiment for the Philippine peso improved over the past two weeks after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in mid-July raised its key interest rates by 75 bps in an off-cycle move. read more
Chinese yuan , seen as a safer bet among Asian currencies, was the second-least shorted currency in the region, while short positions on the Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah , and the Malaysian ringgit moderated slightly but remained firm.
The Asian currency positioning poll is focused on what analysts and fund managers believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, Singapore dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Taiwan dollar, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht.
The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long on U.S. dollars.
The figures include positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
The survey findings are provided below (positions in U.S. dollar versus each currency):
Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MANILA, Philippines — Any Asian aggressor who violates the sovereignty of other countries in the region risks punitive counter actions, just like what Russia is confronting now for its invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. secretary of the Navy said in a veiled warning to China’s increasingly assertive behavior.
Carlos Del Toro told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday night in Manila that the U.S. military focus in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the disputed South China Sea, would never slacken and in fact has intensified despite the war in Ukraine.
He did not name China but underscored that Beijing has encroached in sovereign waters of its Asian neighbors and violated international law with impunity.
He renewed assurances by President Joe Biden that the U.S. would honor its obligations under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty in case Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the disputed South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have had increasingly tense territorial spats in the last decade.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also lay claim to the strategic waterway, one of the world’s busiest, which China claims virtually in its entirety on historical grounds. Beijing rejected a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its claims and continues to defy the landmark decision.
“As President Biden has said, if one country violates one inch of Filipino sovereignty, whether it be at sea or on shore or an offshore island, we will be there to support the Filipino nation and the Filipino people in every possible way,” Del Toro said.
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China’s move to transform seven disputed reefs into missile-protected island bases in the Spratlys, the most hotly contested section of the South China Sea, “is very concerning” and prompted the U.S. and other Western nations to press on with freedom of navigation patrols around the Chinese-claimed territories to underscore “that they are not in the possession of the PRC,” he said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Chinese officials were not immediately available for comment on Del Toro’s remarks but they have repeatedly warned the U.S. to stay away from what they say is a purely Asian dispute. Chinese forces have at times responded to U.S. and Australian aerial and sea patrols by firing flares and using jamming equipment to warn them to move away. Some U.S. Navy ships have been chased closely, according to U.S. military officials.
The Chinese actions increase the risk of miscalculations and U.S. forces have been trained “to be very disciplined” and to stick to long-established rules of engagement to avoid confrontations, Del Toro said.
“It’s important to videotape all of these illegal actions that these countries are actually doing so the entire world can see exactly how they are behaving,” he said.
Del Toro said potential Asian aggressors should learn from the current troubles of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has faced sanctions from Western nations and their allies, which also provide weapons and humanitarian support to Ukrainians.
“I think that’s a tremendous lesson that countries who were free, democratic and principled will work together against adversaries who were not,” he said.
If such level of aggression is ever committed in the Asia-Pacific, “I’m convinced that allies and partners will come together to do the same thing here in the Pacific,” Del Toro said.
After meetings in Singapore and Thailand, Del Toro flew to the Philippines this week to meet top military and defense officials and hold, he said, “some classified discussions about additional capabilities that we could actually continue to help provide to the Philippines, a call for greater cooperation for more ... complicated exercises.”
He cited the expansion of American combat exercises with Filipino forces and an ongoing 26-nation exercise in Hawaii involving 38 warships, four submarines and thousands of military personnel. Called the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the drills are the world’s largest held biennially.
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America’s military engagement with the Philippines ran into difficulties under former President Rodrigo Duterte, who threatened to end the presence of visiting American forces and a key defense pact that allowed thousands of U.S. Marines and troops to train in the country, Washington’s oldest treaty in Asia. But the alliance held up.
The brash-talking populist had often criticized U.S. security policy while nurturing cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin. His tirades against Washington eased after it provided millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine at the height of the pandemic in the Philippines.
Del Toro’s visit reflects a renewed charm offensive by Washington after Duterte’s exit and the recent election of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Del Toro was behind a recent decision to name a future U.S. Navy destroyer the USS Telesforo Trinidad, in honor of a Filipino-American sailor who rescued two crew members when their ship caught fire more than a century ago.
“It’s symbolic of the bonds between our two nations, our commitment to the shared values … to freedom, and democracy,” he said.
Associated Press journalist Aaron Favila contributed to this report.
The leaders of Central Asia’s five nations edged toward closer cooperation but remain well short of the integrated community that has been a goal in the region for decades. Analysts say the five must still build trust while balancing ties with Russia and China.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed the positive at the July 21 summit in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, claiming that regional dialogue has created a constructive environment for multidimensional cooperation.
“We have removed many barriers to the free flow of goods and people,” he said. “We have active cultural and tourism exchanges now. This is allowing us to expand trade and investment” in the region of more than 77 million people, the majority under age 45.
Mirziyoyev and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan emphasized progress made on economic ties and connectivity, climate and green energy, tourism, water sharing and hydropower investments.
While publicly silent on Russia’s war in Ukraine and recent civil protests that turned violent in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the leaders also agreed to forge a network of security and intelligence services. Observers note that the governments tend to blame bloodshed on “foreign elements.”
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, whose government worries about possible sleeper cells in Afghanistan, said the five nations must work together against “threats of terrorism, extremism, drugs and arms trafficking, cybercrime and other forms of cross-border organized crime.”
Turkmenistan’s new leader, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, struck a similar note, saying, “In the context of the extreme aggravation of the world situation, we need to preserve unity and solidarity.”
Like his colleagues, he pledged closer partnership on transport, communications and water resources.
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev maintained that Central Asia has yet to unleash its transport and logistical potential. He said his government is committed to developing a Trans-Caspian corridor stretching from China and Kazakhstan across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and parts of Eastern Europe.
He said Kazakhstan is also ready to participate in the construction of a railroad from Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan through Kabul to Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.
“We call on our partners to actively use the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad, the shortest route between East Asia and the Persian Gulf,” he said.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov admitted his country still must solve border disputes with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“I want to confirm that we have a strong will to complete these negotiations on mutual agreements,” he said, promising to create “transnational bridges of peace, friendship, and trust.”
Japarov urged his fellow leaders to sign a proposed pact on friendship, good neighborly relations and cooperation. “I hope this treaty will serve as the reliable basis for common prosperity in Central Asia.”
But Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are not yet on board and say they still are reviewing the document.
Central Asia experts suspect that the two nations’ authoritarian leaders are reluctant to be bolder, compared to the more confident Kazakh, Uzbek and Kyrgyz presidents. Turkmenistan’s closed economy imposes barriers to cooperation.
“Still, this should still be a starting point,” said Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Three out of five countries sealing oral promises with some sort of a document is movement in the right direction.”
Umarov said increasing discourse about closer cooperation reflects dynamism.
“Political leaders are interested at least in thinking together about what the region’s future might look like. It was not like that several years ago.”
Tashkent-based scholar Farkhad Tolipov said the leaders “see the need for stronger collaboration now, and this should lead to homegrown institutional frameworks.” As of now, he asserted, the region leans into Russia- and China-led blocs.
Umarov sees Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as the region’s closest partners, “which is a good thing as it would be much easier to add other countries to the existing strong partnership initiatives between the two biggest economies of Central Asia.”
Annual consultations among the five leaders are “a huge leap forward,” he added. “This is not only a great opportunity to meet exclusively without any foreign actor but to create connections.”
Marlene Laruelle, director of the Central Asia program at the George Washington University, agrees.
“We see trends toward more regional cooperation, but it is cooperation, not integration,” she told VOA. “A bloc is not realistic yet. There is still too much mutual distrust.”
She said the obstacles include differences in policy approaches and the lack of bottom-up momentum to integrate.
Tokayev suggested that representatives from Russia and China might be included in future regional summits, but Umarov pointed out that these powers already have other venues for dialogue with the region.
“This should be done without damaging the safe space where Central Asian states can have an open discussion about anything, including their policies towards China and Russia,” she said.
Uzbek analyst Anvar Nazir sees dependence on Moscow and Beijing as another obstacle to closer integration.
“As long as leaders fear and lean on these powers, Central Asia will not become an independent region,” he said.
Several Tajik experts told VOA they still see the Kremlin’s deep impact on the political mentality.
“Central Asia is a ground for geopolitical games, and with each state facing enormous political and economic challenges, there is more room for Russia and China, while the West remains passive,” analyst Ilhom Yusupov said.
But American policymakers see Central Asia countries finally acting in their own interest.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu recently told VOA that the region is now setting the agenda for the C5+1 dialogue with Washington.
“This is exactly what we hoped would happen: Central Asian countries have their own voice now,” Lu said. “That really demonstrates that these are sovereign countries with their own interests and agenda. Central Asian states show great leadership in telling us what they want from this relationship.”
This story originated in VOA's Uzbek Service
July 26 (Reuters) - Tournament hosts Japan retained their East Asian Championship women's title on Tuesday after being held to a 0-0 draw by China in Kashima, east of Tokyo.
The draw means Futoshi Ikeda's side finished two points clear of China, the reigning Asian champions, while South Korea came third after their 4-0 win over Taiwan.
The title is Japan's second in a row in the regional competition and fourth in total, moving them one win clear of North Korea, who are not participating this time, as the competition's most successful nation.
Riko Ueki went closest to opening the scoring in the second half for Japan when her shot from distance beat Chinese goalkeeper Zhu Yu only for the ball to come back off the crossbar.
The South Koreans secured third place with a comprehensive win over Taiwan, with Kang Chae-rim, Lee Min-a and Ko Min-jung all finding the net after an own goal from Chang Chi-lan had given Colin Bell's side the lead in the 35th minute.
The final round of matches in the men's tournament will be played in Toyota on Wednesday, with Japan needing to defeat defending champions South Korea to claim the title.
Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Hugh Lawson
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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HAIFA, Israel, July 26 (Reuters) - The city of Haifa is set to become an increasingly significant east Mediterranean shipping hub, with Chinese and Indian firms buying into its ports as Israel normalizes ties with its Gulf Arab neighbours under a U.S. diplomatic push.
Earlier this month, as U.S. President Joe Biden visited the Middle East, India's largest port developer Adani Ports (APSE.NS) and Israeli minority partner Gadot agreed to buy Haifa Port for 4.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion).
Its founder, Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, said via Twitter that the deal was of "immense strategic and historical significance", and the company is betting the port will become a link to Europe and create new trade lanes with Asia.
A year before, Chinese rival Shanghai International Port Group (600018.SS) (SIPG) said it saw the same potential when it inaugurated its 5.5 billion shekel Bay Port container shipping terminal right next door.
Their convergence on Haifa touches on a broader contest between Chinese, Indian and U.S. interests, said Carice Witte, executive director of SIGNAL, an Israeli policy group that specializes in China-Israel relations.
"When you see China at a port in Haifa, Haifa now becomes an incredibly important strategic point," she said. "Whereas maybe in the past it was not perceived that way, Israel in general and Haifa very specifically - its relevance as a piece on the puzzle has changed."
The two ports are too big to serve just Israel, and officials expect the underdeveloped bay of Haifa to become a hub for trade and transshipment, meaning the handling of goods that are unloaded in Israel and then sent to other countries.
This would have been unthinkable just a decade ago, when Israel was politically isolated from potential trade partners in the region.
But while peace talks with the Palestinians remain stuck, Israel has normalized ties with new markets like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, and all the while forging deeper trade ties with countries in the Far East.
"Israel is a very important place, connecting east and west," Miao Qiang, CEO of SIPG's Bay Port, said at the terminal's control center. "All ships from the Suez Canal from east to west are (passing) through this area."
Just outside, new cargo railways are being constructed that will link into the nationwide network and, should regional integration continue, potentially into Jordan, which could then link up Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Adani Ports did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Opher Linchevski, chief executive of Gadot, said the joint venture aimed to benefit from "the warming relationship between Israel and the Arab Gulf countries".
The expansion of Haifa bay is also expected to alleviate problems with congestion, after crises from COVID-19 lockdowns to Russia's invasion of Ukraine fed into a global supply chain crunch that earlier this year snarled a fifth of the global container ship fleet in ports.
Average ocean dwell times - the period a vessel spends at a port - are currently 2.5 days per load at the Port of Haifa, down from a peak of 3.5 days in May but is still 75% higher than at the start of the year, data from supply-chain tracking platform FourKites showed.
The country's ports currently handle a total of about 3 million TEU, the standard unit for 20-foot containers. SIPG expects that to jump to 5 million TEU in 5 to 8 years, at which point Bay Port's capacity could double to 2 million TEU, with half of the business dedicated to transshipment.
Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Haifa and Jonathan Saul in London; Editing by Jan Harvey
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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