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February
Dutch host first summit on 'responsible' use of AI in the military
Written by Nur Yasmin
Delegations from both the United States and China are set to attend a summit on the "responsible" use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military this week in the Netherlands, the first of its kind.
Though it is not clear the 50 countries attending will agree to endorse even a weak statement of principles being drafted by the Netherlands and co-host South Korea, the conference comes as interest in AI more broadly is at all-time highs thanks to the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT program two months ago.
Organizers did not invite the Russian Federation because of the conflict in Ukraine, which will be a major topic of discussion at the summit, which runs from Feb. 15 to 16 in The Hague.
"This is an idea for which the time has come," Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra told members of the foreign press in the run-up to the event. "We're taking the first step in articulating and working toward what responsible use of AI in the military will be."
The event may be an early step toward someday developing an international arms treaty on AI, though that is seen as far off.
Leading nations have so far been reluctant to agree any limitations on its use, for fear doing so might put them at a disadvantage.
Some 2,000 people including experts and academics are attending a conference alongside the summit, with discussion topics including killer drones and slaughter bots.
The U.S. Department of Defense will discuss where it sees potential for international cooperation at a presentation on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands referred to a position paper in which China underlined the need to avoid "strategic miscalculations" with AI and to ensure it does not accidentally escalate a conflict.
U.N. countries that belong to the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) have been discussing possible limitations on lethal autonomous weapons systems - which can kill without human intervention - since 2014.
Hoekstra said the summit will not replace that debate but will look at other aspects of military AI.
Examples include definition of terms, how AI could safely be used to accelerate decision-making in a military context, and how it could be used to identify legitimate targets.
"We are moving into a field that we do not know, for which we do not have guidelines, rules, frameworks, or agreements. But we will need them sooner rather than later," Hoekstra said. (Reuters)
February
Moscow accuses Japan of Russophobia, making 'vicious attacks' over Ukraine war
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russia, locked in a decades-old territorial dispute with Tokyo over a chain of Pacific islands, on Tuesday accused Japan of engaging in Russophobia and mounting "vicious attacks" over the war in Ukraine.
Soviet troops seized the islands off the northern coast of Japan at the very end of World War Two. The unresolved clash over who has sovereignty over the chain - known in Russia as the Kuril Islands and in Japan as the Northern Territories - has prevented the two sides from signing a formal peace treaty.
Japan - which joined other allies in imposing sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine invasion - marks a Northern Territories Day commemoration every Feb. 7 to remind people of its claim.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the event this year "was marked by a particular intensity of Russophobia," citing statements by officials and what she called "aggressive actions" by far-right Japanese forces near Russian missions.
"We noted that this time the baseless territorial claims to the southern Kuril Islands were accompanied by vicious attacks against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine," she said in a statement. The Russian military has presence on the islands, which have a population of roughly 20,000.
Zakharova, reiterating Russia's long-standing position that it has sovereignty over the islands, accused Japan of rewriting history and ignoring post-war realities. Japan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan tightened its Russia sanctions last month in the wake of missile attacks on Ukraine, adding goods to an export ban list and freezing the assets of Russian officials and entities. This prompted Moscow to warn of an unspecified impact on its relationship with Japan. (Reuters)
February
TSMC approves capital injection of $3.5 bln for Arizona factory
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW) said on Tuesday its board had approved a plan of capital injection of up to $3.5 billion to TSMC Arizona.
TSMC in December tripled its planned investment at the Arizona chip plant, which began construction late last year, to $40 billion.
The company said the capital injection is part of the planned $40 billion spent.
The factory, among the largest foreign investments in U.S. history, will start production in 2024, using advanced 5 nm technology.
TSMC expects its Phoenix factories to create 13,000 high-tech jobs, including 4,500 under TSMC and the rest at suppliers. (Reuters)
February
Japan visitors rise to near 1.5 mln in Jan as tourism recovers
Written by Nur Yasmin
Visitors to Japan climbed to nearly 1.5 million in January, the national tourism agency said on Wednesday, showing an accelerating recovery in tourism after the government scrapped COVID-19 curbs in October.
The number of foreign visitors for both business and leisure rose to 1,497,300 last month from 1,370,000 in December, the Japan National Tourism Organization said in a release. More than a third of the arrivals were from South Korea.
Arrivals were down 44% from January 2019, before the pandemic hit. (Reuters)
February
Avalanches killed 10 people in Tajikistan's eastern Gorno-Badakhshan region on Wednesday, authorities said, after heavy snowfall in the area.
One avalanche destroyed several buildings in the provincial capital Khorog, killing eight people, the emergencies committee said. Another hit the town of Vanj, killing one person; the third casualty was reported on a highway between capital Dushanbe and the city of Varzob. (Reuters)
February
China says U.S. balloons flew over Xinjiang, Tibet, warns of countermeasures
Written by Nur Yasmin
China said on Wednesday that U.S. high altitude balloons flew over its Xinjiang and Tibet regions, and that it will take measures against U.S. entities that undermine Chinese sovereignty as a diplomatic dispute festered.
Washington and Beijing are locked in a tussle over flying objects after the U.S. military this month shot down what it called a Chinese spy balloon over the coast of South Carolina. Beijing says its balloon was a civilian research vessel mistakenly blown off course, and that Washington overreacted.
This week, China countered that U.S. balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times on round-the-world flights since May 2022.
"Without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities, it has illegally flown at least 10 times over China's territorial airspace, including over Xinjiang, Tibet and other provinces," Wang told a regular daily briefing on Wednesday.
The White House has disputed China's allegations.
Washington has added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing's suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist.
"The U.S. has abused force, overreacted, escalated the situation, and used this as a pretext to illegally sanction Chinese companies and institutions," Wang said.
"China is firmly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant U.S. entities that undermine China's sovereignty and security in accordance with the law," Wang said, without specifying the measures.
The balloon dispute has delayed efforts by both sides to mend relations, although U.S. President Joe Biden has also said that he does not believe ties between the two countries were weakened by the incident.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who postponed a planned trip to Beijing over the balloon, is considering meeting China's top diplomat Wang Yi in Munich this week, sources have said. (Reuters)
February
Pilot of crashed Nepal plane reported no power in engines -preliminary report
Written by Nur Yasmin
The pilot of a Yeti Airlines plane which crashed in Nepal killing 71 people said before the crash there was no power from the aircraft's engines, a preliminary investigation report said on Wednesday.
The plane crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhra on Jan. 15 in one of Nepal's worst airplane accidents in 30 years.
There were 72 passengers on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals. Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted person presumed to be dead.
The report said the pilot flying the aircraft handed over the control to the pilot monitoring before it crashed.
The information in the preliminary report may change as the investigation progresses, it said.
The panel has up to the end of February to submit its final report.
Earlier this month, the panel said an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder showed the propellers of both engines went into "feather in the base leg of descending."
Aviation expert K.B. Limbu said then that propellers going into feather meant there was "no thrust" in the engine, or that it did not produce any power. (Reuters)
February
North Korea seen launching new ICBM military unit amid troop refurbishment
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea may have launched a military unit tasked with operating new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in line with its recent restructuring of the military, state media video footage suggested.
During a nighttime parade last week, North Korea showcased multiple ICBMs that are large enough to strike nearly anywhere in the world. The missiles included what some analysts said could be a prototype or mockup of a new solid-fuel ICBM in canister launchers.
A video aired on Feb. 9 by the reclusive country's official broadcaster and seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed that a previously unknown flag was attached to the new ICBM's launcher, indicating the military might have created a separate unit to operate the weapons.
Cho Han-bum, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said the flag "effectively confirmed the new ICBM unit" and could signal a forthcoming test of a solid-fuel weapon.
Many of North Korea's specialised units have their own flags. The ICBMs shown at past military parades were decorated with the national flag or nothing.
The new red-gold flag, with a black missile soaring into the sky inside a circle, was also displayed among other military flags when leader Kim Jong Un and his family walked into the parade venue.
Another flag was seen at the parade, apparently featuring the massive Hwasong-17 ICBM, which can most likely reach the U.S. mainland. It was marked with "2022.11," which could refer to the date when the North successfully launched the Hwasong-17 as it resumed ICBM testing for the first time since 2017.
The potential creation of the ICBM unit came after Kim called for developing more ICBMs and a larger nuclear arsenal this year to counter threats from the United States and its allies.
North Korea's state media reported on a restructuring of its Korean People's Army (KPA) and redesign of its flags this week, saying the change was in line with its push for "building a powerful army."
"Many units of services and arms of the People's Army have been expanded and reorganised, major operational combat duties assigned to them as required by the new situation and environment and the strategic and tactical missions of overall units changed," the official KCNA news agency said on Monday. (Reuters)
February
North Korean food shortage seems to be worsening, South Korea says
Written by Nur Yasmin
A North Korean food crisis appears to have deteriorated, South Korea said on Wednesday, as a newspaper reported that North Korea has cut rations to its soldiers for the first time in more than two decades.
North Korea has effectively acknowledged serious food shortages, South Korea's unification ministry said, referring to a North Korean state media report this month about plans for an "urgent" ruling party meeting on agriculture.
"Its food situation seems to have deteriorated," the South's unification ministry, which handles relations with North Korea, said in a statement.
North Korea has over recent decades suffered serious food shortages, including famine in the 1990s, often a result of natural disasters such as floods damaging harvests.
The isolated country is under strict international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes and in recent years its limited border trade was virtually choked off by self-imposed lockdowns aimed at preventing COVID-19.
South Korea's DongA Ilbo newspaper said on Wednesday that North Korea has reduced daily food rations to its soldiers for the first time since 2000, citing an unidentified senior South Korean official.
The unification ministry said it could not confirm details of the media report but it and other agencies were monitoring the situation.
North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported on Feb. 6 that the Workers' Party of Korea had called a meeting of the party's Central Committee for late February for the "very important and urgent task to establish the correct strategy for the development of agriculture".
The South's unification ministry said it was rare for North Korea to call such a special meeting.
Last month, the U.S.-based monitoring group 38 North said North Korea's "food availability has likely fallen below the bare minimum with regard to human needs", with food insecurity at its worst since the famines of the 1990s.
South Korea's Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said recent North Korean media reports of leader Kim Jong Un's daughter appearing at state functions could be aimed at drumming up unity and shoring up loyalty to the ruling family amid deepening humanitarian woes.
"North Korea's food situation doesn't seem very good," Kwon told parliament. "We're seeing a number of signs ... though it doesn't yet look like there's a stream of people starving to death."
Kwon also said North Korea has asked the U.N. food agency, the World Food Programme, for help but talks did not progress because of differences over the monitoring of any aid.
The WFP, which has helped North Korea over the years, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. (reuters)
February
Philippines, U.S. To Hold Biggest War Games In Years
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Philippines and the United States will this year carry out their biggest joint military drills since 2015, Manila's army chief said on Wednesday, against a backdrop of growing tensions with China in the South China Sea.
The exercises underscore improved ties with the United States under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and come as the Philippines condemns China's "aggressive" actions in the disputed waterway, including its use of a "military-grade laser" against one of Manila's vessels earlier this month.
The annual 'Balikatan' exercises will be conducted in the second quarter and involve more than the previous year's 8,900 troops, army chief Romeo Brawner told reporters.
"All of these exercises that we are doing are in response to all types of threats that we may be facing in the future, both man-made and natural," Brawner said.
President Marcos on Tuesday summoned China's ambassador to express "serious concern" over the intensity and frequency of China's activities in the South China Sea, most of which China claims as its territory.
China's use of a laser against a Philippine vessel on Feb. 6, which its foreign ministry insists was legal, has sparked expressions of concerns and support from Australia, Japan, and the United States.
Washington "will redouble its efforts with our Philippine ally" to bolster the Philippine military and coast guard's defence capabilities "as we work shoulder-to-shoulder to uphold the rules-based international order," Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said on Twitter.
The Philippines has granted Washington greater access to its military bases as part of the latter's efforts to deter China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea and tension over self-ruled Taiwan.
In 2015, more than 11,000 troops from both countries participated in the joint military exercises.
"The exercises will involve a myriad of activities, not just focused on developing the war fighting capability of both armed forces, but also of the other non-traditional roles such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response," Brawner said. (Reuters)