China keeps pressure on Philippines despite US ally – Asia Times

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The Philippines and the United States ‘ annual Balikatan joint military exercises this year ( April 22 through May 10 ) broke new ground. Thus did China’s answer to it. The South China Sea and Taiwan Strait spots were demonstrated by the practice areas and the weapons deployed. Beijing’s rebellion amid the group’s show of force is exposed by a rise in Chinese vessel presence in Manila’s eastern exclusive economic zone and another harsh maritime incident over a disputed reef.

The display of strength and the response to it heightened tensions in the turbulent waters and posed concerns about the drill’s warning price. The parties are allowing more hazard while reducing the scope for politics, according to the symbolism and messages.

expanded and developed display of supporters ‘ power

The 39th Balikatan training was billed as the “most powerful, most ambitious and most complicated” however. It expanded on improvements made in more new drills, which had turned into a field testing facility for new defence ideas and arms.

In Cagayan, one of the Philippines ‘ northern provinces opposite Taiwan, US-made Patriot weapons were amphibiously inserted by land and sea in 2022.

In Zambales, a southern province facing the West Philippine Sea, live-fire demonstrations of Patriot and Avenger weapons took place last year. For the first time, a sinking exercise ( SINKEX ) was also conducted with a decommissioned corvette as a mock target hit by volleys from land, air, and sea platforms. The occasion was likewise held off Zambales, 235 km from Scarborough Shoal, a contested have between Manila and Beijing.

This time, it was the change of the Typhon floor- based weapon, with a range of 1600 kilometers, to appear in a mutual military exercise preceding Balikatan. Patriot missile missiles were likewise deployed for the first time at Clark, a former US airport in northern Luzon.

It’s interesting to watch whether these weapons will eventually be prepositioned in agreed locations under the Philippino-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement ( EDCA ). The Mod missiles have been stationed in unknown locations for a long time following the training, which has fueled speculation that they are now stationed in the nation. The number of EDCA foundations increased from five to nine next year, adding three new locations in southern Palawan and northern Luzon.

Will China react the same way it did when South Korea approved the installation of US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ( THAAD ) missiles on its soil if they ever get fixed in these locations? If so, Manila’s waning relationships with its big cousin and largest business partner perhaps more crumble. Beijing condemned the weapon deployment. Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the PRC Defence Ministry, stated that the region was “heard a lot of risk of war” and that “intermediate-range missiles are proper and offensive weapons with a powerful Cold War colour.”

New Balikatan rounds have sharpened the additional defense and multi-domain orientation. Island security and conquering, air and missile protection, as well as security and information operations were included in this year’s iteration. The Philippine Coast Guard, an organization that is leading the charge against China in challenging circumstances, participated for the first time.

In Palawan, a crucial state facing the South China Sea, US HIMARS missiles were even fired.

In the state of Ilocos Norte, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s official residence, a SINKEX was held, which is also in northeastern Luzon. Despite claims that the incident was accidental, a Chinese-made original naval tanker became the target.

Most notably, for the first time, sea activities went beyond the government’s 12 navigational- mile regional seas. France, which hopes to provide Manila with boats, dispatched a ship to visit their Filipino and American peers, who sailed from the Sulu Sea to the South China Sea. Paris’s entrance was its first. Fourteen states, including brother South China Sea littoral states Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, even sent spectators.

China: angry and unaffected

Manila’s extraordinary movements were met by Beijing’s strong measures. Near Spanish military installations in the South China Sea, Chinese government and army vessels were spotted. Three Chinese sea study vessels were among them when they were discovered in the Second Thomas Shoal, a new collision between the two companions. Another was seen off Catanduanes and Samar, manner off in the country’s south facing the Pacific Ocean.

Four Chinese PLA Navy vessels tipped off the allied fleet of four ships, two from the Philippines, one from America, and one from France, who were conducting international maritime drills in the South China Sea.

While Balikatan was afoot, a fresh event happened in Scarborough Shoal. Three Chin Coast Guard ships rammed and used water cannons to harm two Asian state arteries. That incident followed a March March incident in which two Chinese coast guard ships blew up a Philippine human vessel while also being impacted by high-pressure water blasting.

The assumption that Balikatan would urge China to behave politely and restrain from acting assertively sprang up, especially given the presence of foreign fleets. The most recent sea event was denounced by a number of nations. But beyond flouting international law and social costs, China’s rebellion made a strong statement: The upgraded exercising no longer deters Beijing, nor does Manila’s clarity travel in the contested water.

Will this cause the alliance to adjust its response? Despite suffering injuries to sailors and property damage, Chinese actions continue to fall short of the definition of an “armed attack” required to stoke the much-detested US pledges of ironclad commitment to its junior ally. China may be encouraged by the Scarborough Shoal water-blasting scandal. More untoward instances, in turn, may erode trust in the alliance’s ability to push back beyond rhetorical denunciations.

In order to ward off China, the Philippines has deepened defense relations with the US and other partners. This includes creating a more expansive and evolved Balikatan. A failure to obtain satisfactory outcomes may necessitate a new analysis. This may serve as a catalyst for China’s desire to lessen Manila’s strong ties with its former colonist and long-standing ally and to obliterate non-regional powers from the intractable sea dispute.

Yet, close calls and all, disputants still tolerate further risk. With its vigorous coverage of Chinese activities in tense situations and its involvement in coordinated activities with allies and partners, Manila continues to stand strong. No anticipated high-level discussion with Beijing has been sparked by diplomatic protests.

The first defense chiefs to meet on the sidelines of the this year’s Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore since 2022, marked a stark contrast. As the US approaches elections in the late summer, it is one of a number of high-level official contacts to try to bolster ties between the two rivals.

Last April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of State Janet Yellen made quick trips to China. Blinken’s trip coincided with the early days of Balikatan.

The South China Sea is only one of the many contentious thorny issues that divide the two biggest powers, and it might not even be the most pressing one. Beijing, on the other hand, is not backtracking and exerts pressure on its smaller neighbor despite having a major ally nearby.

If China’s response to this year’s Balikatan shows the limits of deterrence, the South China Sea may be in for more turbulence.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, is the president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies.

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Japan and US need to up their game in the Senkakus – Asia Times

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When the&nbsp, People’s Republic of China wants anything that belongs to someone else, it is frequent and drives to get what it wants. And it’s willing to use force if needed. Japan knows the sense, when it comes to its&nbsp, Senkaku Islands&nbsp, at the southeastern end of the&nbsp, Ryukyu&nbsp, network. They are more similar to Shanghai than Tokyo. The PRC refers to the archipelago as the Diaoyu Islands and claims them as its own.

Map: Wikipedia

Given the PRC’s extremely aggressive behavior as it seeks to control&nbsp, Philippine&nbsp, maritime territory, it is worthwhile taking stock of the Senkaku position.

Swarming and “osmosis”

When the day comes, China will get the Senkakus in full control. &nbsp, For the last 15 years, the Chinese have been steadily expanding&nbsp, their marine presence in terms of speed, area and numbers and types of ships and boats involved. &nbsp, &nbsp,

We’ve seen&nbsp, China Coast Guard, People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia, “regular” fishing vessels and other Chinese government agency&nbsp, ships, &nbsp, with the People’s Liberation Army Navy ( PLAN, or Chinese Navy ) lurking close by. Yet Chinese aircraft have snuck into Asian aircraft around the Senkakus.

It will be more things in more areas and more often in Japan’s territorial waters, and more often. In other words, within 12 yards of the Senkaku Islands. Japan will eventually discover that it just lacks the resources and submarines to halt Chinese incursions. &nbsp,

China may have taken the Senkakus by “osmosis” more than&nbsp, by surprise. &nbsp, &nbsp,

At 8:29 AM on April 27, 2024, a Chinese study vehicle off the Senkaku Islands is closely watched and protected by a China Coast Guard patrol vehicle. Photo: © Sankei / Naoki Otake

Over the past ten years, the Chinese have “flooded the area” with hunting boats. to incorporate a few hundred or more boats backed up by China Coast Guard ships around the Senkakus. And with the Foreign Navy atop the list. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Beijing was demonstrating that whenever it wants, it is impose “administrative power” over the Senkakus. And the overmatched Japan Coast Guard has no authority to stop it. The agreement, and precisely US duty to protect Japan, only applies to areas under Chinese “administrative control”.

One can picture a scenario in which China makes a political choice and swarms the region with ships and boats. It puts people&nbsp, onshore on the Senkakus, and warns the Chinese to have clear or “it’s battle”.

On Sunday December 10, 2023, a Taiwanese Coast Guard deliver approaches the Second Thomas Shoal, or Ayungin Shoal, in the contested South China Sea, using water cannons on a Spanish Navy-operated M/L Kalayaan provide boat. Photo: Handbook / Philippine Coast Guard

China skates properly

Japan is justify itself stronger than the Philippines. &nbsp, It has a solid Coast Guard and military – athough

  • Chinese send numbers are now far more impressive than those of the Chinese.
  • the numbers space is expanding, and
  • the newer China Coast Guard vessels are as big as ships and built for fighting, &nbsp, while Japan Coast Guard&nbsp, boats are either. &nbsp, &nbsp,

However, Japan has the option of using its foreign investments in China as a tool. The PRC may suffer if Japan were to stop investing in, exporting technology, and business. &nbsp, &nbsp,

The Philippines has no equivalent utilize.

Thus, one can at least now understand the Senkakus ‘ relatively unaggressive Chinese strategy. Even though the end goals are the same, that is in contrast to what it is doing in Spanish waters.

The Chinese would prefer for the Chinese to flame only one shot at a Taiwanese ship. Then they could make up their minds that they were the offended group, raise their profile, and act even more aggressively. That would include shooting at the Chinese and getting on the territories, saying,” We had no alternative”.

A China Coast Guard send approaches within one mile of Uotsuri Island, Ishigaki City, Okinawa, in the morning of April 27 and encroaches into Chinese regional lakes. Photo: © Sankei / Naoki Otake

Moving past the 15-year mark of “patience.”

Japan takes pride in never having “taken the hook.” Rather, it responds properly and securely in challenging all Chinese incursions. Because Japan has maintained it for about 15 times, this becomes tiresome. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Will the Chinese eventually use armed force rather than simply blocking and shadowing Chinese ships and directing them to leave Japanese territory? &nbsp, Even. &nbsp, &nbsp,

However, one has a suspicion that Tokyo will have already made a decision before it will be very soon. By then, they’ll face a&nbsp, fait accompli&nbsp, with the Chinese ( and the PLAN ) parked right offshore of the islands in large numbers and refusing to move. However, a landing group occupies the islands. And Beijing threatens to declare war on allies, including the nuclear weapons.

How to keep this from happening

The US and Japan must coordinate efforts to defend the Ryukyus and the Senkakus, including standard operations with Chinese troops and the beach watch on a regular basis on US Navy ships and US plane. &nbsp, &nbsp,

And to release any Chinese boats that enter the Senkakus ‘ territorial waters. &nbsp, &nbsp,

The Senkakus ‘ use of the defense treaty would be much greater than the typical US statements. &nbsp, &nbsp,

We’ve seen how effectively such pronouncements work in the case of the Philippines. And they have n’t been as restrained as they have been around the Senkakus. &nbsp, &nbsp,

From Beijing’s view, bullying the Japanese is one point– and they enjoy doing&nbsp, it. Another option is to bully the Asian while US troops are present. &nbsp, &nbsp,

In the latter scenario, assuming the Americans have the guts to defeat the Chinese, the chance formula is radically different. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Include financial pressure

And Tokyo and Washington should work together to impose economic and financial stress and trade regulations on China as part of a” Senkakus strategy.” &nbsp, &nbsp,

Applying pressure from these guidelines is preferable to simply matching whatever ships, boats, or airplane China flies into the Senkakus ‘ place. China has the resources to improve its activity. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Thus, Beijing should play a second “game” that puts actual pressure on the economy where it is hurting.

And to make it hurt even more, highlight the immense outside success of the Chinese Communist Party’s top leaders.

One point is for certain: China has said it intends to take the Senkakus. ( That’s for starters, since it has also claimed the rest of the Ryukyu Islands. ) And one should consider Xi Jinping’s word and act appropriately.

Beijing will not give up unless it is given a strong, unwavering Japanese and American protection. &nbsp, &nbsp,

There is no cut to get made.

Former US minister and previous US Marine official Grant Newsham. He is the author of the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-China-Attacks-Warning-America/dp/1684513650″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>When China Attacks: A Warning To America.

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The West needn’t worry about Putin’s visit to Hanoi – Asia Times

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Vladimir Putin was greeted as an old friend in the Asian capital Hanoi shortly after making his journey to North Korea last month. His 22-hour state visit was greeted with the best possible level of respect and led to a number of contracts on electricity, science, and technology. There was also speak of the once-close supporters working together on defense and security.

In many ways, this display of affection comes as no surprise. After all, it was the socialists in North Vietnam who, with the help of the Soviets, won the war in 1975 and then joined Saigon ( then Ho Chi Minh City ) and the west in uniting.

Many of Vietnam’s current political, business, and academic elite members have previously studied or worked for the Soviet Union in the past ten years, and they are acutely aware of how close the country is to the Communist Party of Vietnam ( CPV ).

However, the myriad of movements to a growing participation and the greeting of old friends sparked questions and concerns. If the West be concerned about Putin’s warm welcome in Hanoi after decades of cooperation and soaring integration with the US and european marketplaces?

We think no. While the present rulers of the CPV, as well as other rulers, were shaped by the apex of the Soviet- Asian attachment, Vietnam’s younger generations are no.

The government’s 100 million inhabitants displays a very unique – and more American – orientation. The rulers of Vietnam’s flourishing digital market, for example, generally studied in the West and talk English, rather than Russian.

The US has a lot more control on Vietnam than the time-tested Russian companion does. This is especially true for the generations born after or after 1986, when the state implemented a number of free-market measures known as “i Mimi.” For most of these individuals, Russia is mysterious, outside of past training and a few regions where it invests or sends visitors.

Their coming-of-age has been a result of growing northern acclaim. Russian language programs in Vietnamese schools and universities have drastically decreased, and Russian language courses are much less popular than French and Chinese. The widespread import of Western information, such as the global standard certificate for tertiary education curriculum and the Scholastic Aptitude Test, has contributed to Vietnam’s rise of global education.

Go west, young gentleman

Young Vietnamese, including the sons and daughters of Russian-educated social, business, and scientific officials, are also becoming more widespread. Our own study, which was published in 2021, compared the background of Vietnam’s online leaders, who were mostly born after the Soviet Union decline, with those of the country’s leading businesses in more traditional fields like caffeine, furniture, and steel.

A significant change was observed when looking at the international experience of both founders. Returnees from the West are increasingly at the forefront of Vietnam’s rising startups, as opposed to the former Soviet Union.

In comparison to their older counterparts, the owners of Vietnam’s high-performing technology companies are 15 times more likely to have US experience. And they are 35 times more likely than the heads of Vietnam’s large, standard companies to be graduates of American institutions.

The businesses who are generating new success in Vietnam and shaping the speed of its cultural norms, economic growth, and modern connections have backgrounds that are greatly different from those of the older technology.

This generational shift towards a Western context, both in business and past, suggests to us that Putin’s state visit may really add up to a largely ceremonial training. As part of their long-standing “bamboo diplomacy,” in which Vietnam pragmatically engages with all powers, we see Vietnam’s leadership rolling out the red carpet for Putin.

For two interrelated reasons, it is unlikely to reflect deeper ambitions or future plans for the nation’s transition from bamboo diplomacy.

First, over the past 30 years, the West has established a strong and tangible footing in Vietnam’s every aspect of cultural, economic, and technological life, from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to Hanoi in the north. Indeed, Hanoi even seems to welcome the West when it comes to security, a juxtaposition with Vietnam’s inventory of Russian- made arms.

Second, Vietnam’s political leadership will steadily come to have more Western- educated returnees in senior positions. The Vietnamese elites ‘ strong ties to Russia will grow as the commitment to making agreements with their former allies grows.

Not to mention the country’s already somewhat Westernized economy, which is supported by the growing Western-educated business community and is fueled by free trade agreements and foreign investment.

The fact that the CPV welcomed a US assistant secretary of state, Daniel Kritenbrink just three days after Putin left is perhaps the most obvious indication of Vietnam’s commitment to its bamboo diplomacy. The American friend’s visit to the US confirmed the country’s position of being a” comprehensive strategic partner” in Vietnam, placing it on par with both China and Russia.

Ba- Linh Tran is a senior lecturer at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, while Robyn Klingler-Vidra is associate dean for global engagement and associate professor of entrepreneurship and sustainability at King’s College London.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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IDF admits it can’t win; Netanyahu isn’t listening – Asia Times

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Israel’s government made the decision to acknowledge the loss of its eight and a half-month war in Gaza, and it was also the failure of the objective set out by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who declared he would kill the militant group following the Hamas attack on October 7.

On June 19 the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces ( IDF), Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told Channel 13 News that the aim of eradicating Gaza’s leadership was unattainable.

This is just another example of Hamas being destroyed and making people vanish. Hamas is an plan, Hamas is a celebration. People who believes we can end Hamas is bad because it is rooted in the people’s hearts.

At one level, the IDF director was only restating what experts had cautioned only after Hamas’s dying of 1, 143 individuals, including 767 citizens, and its violence of about 250 others. An all- out defense assault, from the air and on the ground, would permit Hamas to manifest itself as the protector of Gaza’s civilians, yet as Israel killed several thousands of them.

But, at another level, this entrance was the Jewish government’s concern to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu had snapped three days earlier at a cabinet meeting that” to achieve the goal of destroying Hamas’s capabilities I’ve had to make decisions that were n’t always accepted by the military leadership.”

The IDF was essentially telling the excellent minister that Hamas ‘ program A of annihilation was ineffective. What is strategy B, then?

In Hagari’s words:” If the government does n’t find an alternative” Hamas” will remain in Gaza”.

Netanyahu’s eternal combat

The prime minister’s office refused to give way to the martial, responding to Hagari’s meeting by doubling down on having “defined as one of the war objectives the death of Hamas’s defense and governance skills”.

In a military surrender, the IDF issued another speech – that it was committed to stated war targets, including destroying Hamas’s controlling and military capabilities. Hagari, according to this speech, had only spoken about “eradicating Hamas as an ideology and an idea”.

But the leaders, and Netanyahu, knew that the warning bell could not be unrung – especially as, just ten days before, past IDF chief Benny Gantz had fired his personal photo at the prime minister.

One of the three members of the war cabinet, Gantz, gave Netanyahu a three-week ultimatum on May 18. He claimed in a televised address that the prime minister had put his personal and political goals before the state of Israel’s existential needs, allowing “hard-right zealots” to put the nation in danger.

Instead of focusing on Hamas ‘ “destruction,” Gantz made six strategic demands: placing a priority on the release of hostages and appointing a new political leadership in Gaza.

Netanyahu rejected all the demands, including a timeline for a course toward a state of Palestine and Israel’s return to normal contact with Arab nations. On June 9, Gantz left the war cabinet. A week later, the prime minister dissolved the body.

No strategy ( A or B)

This has only prolonged Netanyahu’s dilemma. He will be in political and legal jeopardy unless Hamas ceases to exist on the day a ceasefire is announced for Gaza.

In Israel, early elections are likely to follow, and he is far behind Gantz and the National Unity Party in terms of polling. He might be facing bribery charges, which the war has effectively suspended.

The state of the war in Gaza according to the Institute for the Study of War
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that the military operation’s “intensive” phase is almost over. Graphic: Institute for the Study of War

But there is prospect neither of his promised destruction of Hamas nor that Gaza’s civilians, – facing death, starvation and deprivation each day – will rise up against the leadership.

In a rare enforcement of a “red line,” the US examined any plans for an extensive ground assault on Rafah. Netanyahu has made ambiguous statements about a redeployment of the army in an effort to deter pressure, while still using bombs against Hamas and civilians.

What does Netanyahu do to ward off the pressure from both inside and outside of Israel, with no plan B? He plays for time. In the past week, Netanyahu has said he supports only a “partial” hostage deal with Hamas, so Israel could resume fighting after women, the elderly, and sick were released.

He has chosen to engage in a discussion with the US regarding the supply of American weapons for Israel’s conflict. Additionally, he has threatened to intensify the fighting with Hezbollah along the northern Lebanese border.

None of these is a plan B for Gaza. They are Netanyahu’s personal plan A. Use a daily distraction or diversion to divert attention away from the media’s attention on the ceasefire talks, the carnage in Gaza, or the failure to “destroy” Hamas.

The IDF’s warning and Gantz’s departure from the war cabinet serve as a signal that the military is weary of an open-ended assault with no political vision.

But when will that weariness lead to a decisive rejection of Netanyahu’s approach? For now, given that the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has not indicated he will make a break – and given the pressure from hard- right ministers to ethnically cleanse Gaza in a long- term occupation – that question, like Netanyahu’s options, has no answer.

Scott Lucas is a professor of international politics at University College Dublin’s Clinton Institute.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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America’s priority should be chip design leadership – Asia Times

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Chips&nbsp, are the&nbsp, important economic and military drivers of the technological planet. Yoon Suk Yeol, president of South Korea, recently stated that command in the field of microprocessor technology is crucial to a nation’s economic life ( Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2024 ). The effect on defense things is enormous. As David Goldman and I wrote in the the&nbsp, Wall Street Journal&nbsp, on December 23, 2018:” Silicon, never Steel, will get the Next War”.

In accordance with that philosophy, hundreds of billions of dollars are being used from federal money to grow the sector in nations like China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and the US. In the US, the CHIPS Act allocated$ 50 billion to help manufacturing opportunities. These substantial commitments must be taken into account when considering the cost of a state-of-the-art, full-scale factory, which costs between$ 20 billion and$ 30 billion. And these flowers end up being outdated in a few years. A significant national endeavor requires keeping up with the cutting-edge of device manufacturing technology.

As the&nbsp, original&nbsp, creator of the market, the US is facing significant new competition. The first goal in the US should be to retain management in innovative product style because that authority impacts economic&nbsp, growth&nbsp, and the US&nbsp, still&nbsp, leads the world in this regard.

While the US-based economy expanded, much of the production and packaging of cards has moved elsewhere. But, the key to the value creation process, or complex high-end product development, is still largely in the US. Over 50 % of the top-tier bits are developed in the US and supported by US-based companies for marketing. This is possible because of the big design technology center in the US, which includes numerous design-focused companies, a sizable educational group of designers, continued DARPA and other federal agencies support, and the availability of venture capital funding for new modern design companies.

Fresh businesses with encouraging products are acquired by larger businesses with effective acquisition programs, giving them the resources to grow quickly. Thus, US- designed large- performance chips continue to lead the world industry the Americans ‘&nbsp, diversity and ability to quickly proceed concepts into big business products.

On the basis of its special AI-enabling systems, Nvidia’s recent history as a fresh US chip design business is a prime example of how revolutionary chip design helped it become one of the three most important companies in the world ( at about three trillion dollars ). The use of “neural networks” ( massive parallel data processing ) computing chips, which mimic the way the human brain manages data, is the new technological concept behind AI. The concept was also known for many years in medical circles, but because it required a lot of chip processing power, applying it to genuine problems was unprofitable.

Researchers in image research demonstrated the value of the technology by applying Moore’s law as financial chip concentrations increased over time. Quick programs were found in video game equipment used in computer games. But the discovery to large applications in AI came when the CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, &nbsp, saw the AI programs of the Nvidia items and decided the company’s coming by concentrating all of its efforts on AI applications&nbsp, while exiting different applications. With annual sales that surpass$ 100 billion, the company currently holds the position of effective monopoly in processing chips for AI.

A key underlying factor drove this success. Not the US government’s recommendations, but the work of thousands of talented technologists who work together to develop innovative ideas into valuable products. To continue maintaining essential leadership in the chip technology sector, this underlying success factor needs to be supported and encouraged.

Henry Kressel Ph. D is a technology expert with numerous ground-breaking achievements in electronic devices, an author, a trial executive, and a long-term investor in private equity.

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Low yield for SMIC-Huawei Nvidia knockoff? So what? – Asia Times

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Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp ( SMIC ), the world’s third largest chip- foundry after Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung, is reportedly struggling to increase the production yield of an artificial intelligence ( AI ) chip for Huawei Technologies. &nbsp,

Since last year, SMIC has been making Huawei’s Ascend 910B, a 7 nm device which is said to be equal to 80 % of Nvidia’s A100 in terms of AI- training performance. Chinese media accounts said earlier this year that Huawei could make about 400, 000 to 500, 000 models of Ascend 910B in 2024.

Since the United States Department of Commerce urged chip-making products manufacturers and suppliers to stop shipping products to SMIC, Huawei has faced obstacles in the production of the Ascend 910B device, according to The Information, a San Francisco-based technology information website. &nbsp,

It stated that Huawei will have to halt Huawei’s sale of the AI device to Taiwanese businesses like Tencent, Baidu, ByteDance, and Alibaba. &nbsp,

According to a follow-up article from the Chosun Daily in South Korea on June 27, the production of Ascend 910B is estimated to be around 20 %. &nbsp,

SMIC claimed to have been mass-producing the device for more than six weeks, but four out of five of the chips are also inoperable. On June 28, tech platforms and Chinese media widely quoted the two studies. &nbsp,

But, a calculation made by Asia Times with open statistics showed another picture: Despite a 20 % offer, Huawei can still accomplish its goal of making 400, 000 to 500, 000 Ascend 910B cards with comfortable this year. &nbsp,

Since 2019, SMIC has relied on Semiconductor Manufacturing South China Corp ( SMSC), its 38.52 %- owned, to produce 14nm or below chips.

SMSC has two fabs in Shanghai, known as SN1 and SN2, each with maximum monthly production capacity of 35, 000 12- inch wafers. &nbsp,

According to public information, SN1 focuses primarily on producing 14nm chips, while SN2 produces 10nm and 7nm chips. &nbsp,

It’s unclear whether SN2 reached its maximum capacity by the end of 2023 as scheduled. SMIC has n’t released SMSC’s financial and operational data since 2021, which is why. &nbsp,

A technology columnist at Taiwan’s Anue news website said SN2 can produce 20, 000 12- inch wafers per month for 7nm chips. &nbsp,

If SMSC only sets aside a 2, 000- wafer capacity for Ascend, it can already make 262, 000 chips per month or 3.14 million chips per year, given that each wafer can be split into 131 units of 910B chips. &nbsp,

The actual yield of SMSC’s 7nm process is also unknown. Last September, Reuters estimated the figure at below 50 %. It may be around 30 %, according to a research note published by a Chinese website in March 2023.

But even if the yield is more like the Chosun Daily’s estimation, which is only 20 %, SMSC can still make 628, 800 Ascend 910B chips annually, meeting the target of 500, 000 units. &nbsp,

In case there is any hiccup, Huawei can reduce the production of its HiSilicon Kirin 9010 chips to ensure the stable supply of Ascend 910B, which is priced at 120, 000 yuan ( US$ 16, 512 ) each in China. &nbsp,

Because they are larger than typical processors, each wafer can only yield dozens of Ascend 910- series chips. In an article published on June 21, a Guangdong-based columnist with the pen name” Realistic Idealist” states that because AI chips have much higher social and market values, they should always be given more attention when there is a conflict between smartphone processors and them. &nbsp,

He claims that while US sanctions will undoubtedly shorten China’s chip industry, they will also help it develop Chinese substitute goods over time. Once Ascend chips are widely available in China, he says, Nvidia’s downgraded products will have no market in the country. &nbsp,

In March, Nvidia’s H20 chip, a downgrade model that fulfills US export rules, was ready for pre- ordering in China for about 100, 000 yuan each. Alibaba reportedly ordered over 30, 000 H20 chips. &nbsp,

Sanctions against SMSC

SMIC currently holds four of the board‘s seats. The Big Fund’s National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II and the Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II, which both have a 23.08 % stake, are the other shareholders of SMSC.

Due to” China’s military-civil fusion (MCF ) doctrine and evidence of activities between SMIC and entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex,” the US Department of Commerce added SMIC, SMSC, and nine other units, to its Entity List in December 2020.

According to the US Commerce Department, US products that are specifically required to produce semiconductors at advanced nodes 10 nanometers or below are subject to a presumption of denial to stop China’s military modernization efforts. &nbsp,

SMIC and SMSC could continue to expand their production by purchasing ASML’s most advanced deep ultraviolet ( DUV) lithography equipment until 2023, including the 2050i and 2100i. They can still currently find used DUV lithography equipment in China while ASML must still offer them maintenance services. &nbsp,

Reuters reported that the US Commerce Department sent dozens of letters to US suppliers to SMIC in February of this year, suspending the sale to SMSC, in February of that year. Entegris was forced to stop millions of dollars worth of shipments of its chipmaking materials and parts to China from US suppliers.

Nazak Nikakhtar, a former assistant secretary for industry and analysis at the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration ( ITA ), stated in a recent interview that the US government’s analysis of China’s technological capabilities is a little superficial, leading to ineffective sanctions and chip export controls.

Read: Yield and cost in doubt if Huawei revives 5G chips

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Supremes, 6-3, make Trump obstruction charge harder – Asia Times

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Due to a decision from the US Supreme Court on June 28, 2024, hundreds of people charged with participating in the mob at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, will have to be re-indicted and perhaps dropped. Former US President Donald Trump is one of the defendants who allegedly violated the obstruction law in a broad sense, according to the higher court.

The Supreme Court ruled in Fischer v. United States that three plaintiffs who were accused of participating in the mob at the US Capitol could not be subject to a federal law prohibiting obstructing an official proceeding. Trump is hardly a plaintiff in the case; however, Jack Smith has charged him with violating the same act differently.

I’ll reveal what the judge’s decision means for the plaintiffs on January 6 and for Smith’s case against Trump as a law professor who teaches and writes in the areas of legal rules and federal authorities.

Costs against Capitol rioters

According to their prosecutions, Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang and Garret Miller were present at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. During the mob, police allege that all three people allegedly assaulted police officers inside the Capitol building. One of the people, Lang, brandished a pitcher and a stolen police weapon, and another, Miller, afterwards, on social media, called for the death of US Representative Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez.

The three gentlemen were accused of a number of acts, including assault on a federal officer, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and obstructing a legislative hearing by federal prosecutors. The Supreme Court charm is addressing that next command.

The accused argued before the trial that the barrier charge against them was solely based on the tampering with the proof, not the violent disturbance of a congressional hearing. The DC Circuit US Court of Appeals overturned the district court’s decision and ordered the situation to go back to test.

The Supreme Court finally consented to hear the case, putting the test on hold while it considered the barrier law’s range.

Defining a get- all expression

The Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs and held that the legislation just forbids data tampering in a 6 to 3 judgment from Chief Justice John Roberts. The defendants then appealed the case to the appeals court to determine whether the plaintiffs had broken the law in accordance with that narrower reading by attempting to stop Congress from confirming the state ‘ true electoral votes.

The jury began with the blockage law’s text. The law penalizes people who “alters, damages, mutilates, or conceals a history, file, or other thing” or who “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any formal proceeding”. The defendants ‘ lawsuits in Congress to formally announce the election results would have otherwise obstruct (ed ) by the government.

But the judge rejected that argument, holding that the word “otherwise obstructs” refers only to restriction that – like changing, destroying, mutilating or concealing a report, document or image – impairs the availability or integrity of evidence for use in an official proceeding. The government’s catch- both for “otherwise obstructing” an established proceeding may be read in popular with the list of actions that precedes it, the court explained. Otherwise, the list would be redundant.

The court also pointed to the law’s historical background. Congress, the court explained, enacted this specific obstruction law in 2002 in the wake of the Enron accounting fraud scandal. Its goal was to fill a void in the country’s existing obstruction laws, which at the time prohibited ordering a third party to destroy incriminating evidence but did not do so by destroying the evidence oneself.

The government’s reading of the law, the court explained, would stretch it far beyond that purpose, prohibiting forms of obstruction that had nothing to do with evidence and that Congress never intended to criminalize.

What this means for Jan. 6 defendants– and for Trump

The Fischer defendants ‘ case is still ongoing despite the Supreme Court’s decision, who are likely to go on trial for assault and disorderly conduct charges.

But it may lead to the dismissal of obstruction charges, or reversal of obstruction convictions, for other January 6 defendants. According to an NPR database, federal prosecutors have charged at least 250 other defendants with obstruction of an official proceeding, and 128 have been convicted.

The decision may also undermine former president Donald Trump’s case against him, who Smith has charged with obstructing the same statute. The former president is likely to ask for dismissal of that charge if that case survives a separate pending Supreme Court appeal.

Trump may not be successful, though, as the obstruction charge against him is largely motivated by the claim that he organized slates of electors to report false election results to Congress. That could result in compromising the validity of the evidence presented in the certification hearing.

The former president is also facing charges of obstruction on numerous other counts. However, the decision may narrow the case and make it more difficult for the special counsel to give evidence to the jury regarding the January 6 incident. Under this new ruling, that violence alone may not count as obstruction.

The Fischer case also demonstrates how occasionally, especially in high-stakes cases, justices can use legal reasoning strategies that they are quick to criticize in other contexts. Members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority cited the obstruction law’s legislative history in the opinion, which conservative jurists like the late Justice Antonin Scalia frequently called unreliable.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Fischer case may have a significant impact on the special counsel’s long-awaited prosecution of former president Trump.

But even if it does not, it still sheds important light on the court’s inner workings and the federal government’s power to safeguard the integrity of its proceedings.

The University of Richmond’s assistant professor of law is Riley T. Keenan.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Okinawa rape revives opposition to American bases – Asia Times

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Fear of China appears to have combined with a phenomenon known as “base weakness” to quiet popular anger, despite another American service member being charged with sexual assault in Okinawa, which sparked anger among the local community and brought the island’s big and contentious US military appearance back in the spotlight.

As reported by the Japanese press, airman Brennon Washington, age 25, found a teenage girl in a park on the night of December 24, 2023, convinced her to get into his car and then drove back to his residence, where he raped her. The girl was under the age of 16 when it was raised from 13 to the age of consent in Japan.

Following the incident, a girl’s family member called the police. Washington was captured on security camera images. The US Air Force confirmed the identification and stated that he was not on duty at the time. On suspicion of nonconsensual sexual behavior and kidnapping, Washington was indicted on March 27.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry received a formal complaint to US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel the same day as the indictment. The Okinawa prefectural government did not learn about the incident until June 25 and the news media did not make a report about it.

The Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP ) candidate for prime minister Fumio Kishida won the majority of seats in the Okinawa prefectural assembly on June 16. A coalition of leftist parties supported Governor Denny Tamaki, whose career has been based on opposition to US military installations in Okinawa.

On June 23, Kishida was present at the ceremony held at the Peace Memorial Park in the city of Itoman, which was located at the southern end of the island where the fighting ended, to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa.

In his address, Kishida, who also represents Hiroshima in the Japanese Diet, said that the dreadful reality of the Battle of Okinawa must not be forgotten. He declared his desire to keep things calm. Kishida was born in Tokyo, but his family is from Hiroshima.

Governor Tamaki told the audience that the “people of Okinawa are deeply anxious due to the ongoing rapid expansion of the Self-Defense Forces ‘ deployment, in addition to the memories of the tragic Battle of Okinawa.” Protestors in the audience jeered Kishida, but did not disrupt the event.

Governor Tamaki filed a formal complaint with the US Air Force’s 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base on June 27. Brigadier General Nicholas Evans received the message from vice governor Takekuni Ikeda, asking for an apology and compensation.

The meeting lasted about 15 minutes and ended without Evans apologizing or explaining why it had taken so long to inform Okinawa prefectural officials, according to Japan’s left-leaning Asahi Shimbun.

According to Evans, the crime claim “does not reflect most of the US service members that work for the Japan-U.S. alliance,” according to the US military’s daily Stars and Stripes. It is regrettable that Okinawa’s citizens are concerned.

Washington has been released on bail while the trial is pending, but he is still housed at Kadena Air Base. On July 12 at Naha District Court, a hearing is scheduled. Naha is the capital of Okinawa Prefecture.

Governor Tamaki warned the public that “untiling this kind of crime will raise mistrust.” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, speaking in Tokyo, did not explain why Tamaki was not informed of the indictment, but did state that “incidents and accidents involving U.S. military personnel cause great concern to local residents and must not be allowed to happen.” We will continue to ask the US side to take steps to prevent these mishaps and accidents whenever possible.

The Japanese government has been making these requests for a very long time. In 1995, three US servicemen kidnapped and raped a 12- year- old girl in Okinawa. In 2016, there were two high- profile incidents. In the first, a US Marine Corps Camp Schwab seaman sexually assaulted a Japanese woman at a hotel in Naha.

A former Marine who worked as a civilian employee at Kadena Air Base in the second incident raped and murdered a 20-year-old Japanese woman who had gone for a walk. She was then stabbed in the head, choked, and dumping her body in the bushes where it was later discovered severely decomposed. Lieutenant General Lawrence Nicholson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, visited the prefecture’s then- Governor Onaga Takeshi to express his “deepest regret and remorse at the incident”. The accused, Kenneth Franklin Gadson, was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor in 2017.

The local Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper recalled the 1955 rape-murder of a 6-year-old Japanese girl by an American soldier and wrote,” The U.S. and Japanese governments have a heavy responsibility for not being able to prevent these recurring incidents.”

According to Stars and Stripes,” the reality that one cannot safely go for a walk in a private community even 72 years since the Battle of Okinawa” contributed to the crime.

Suzuyo Takazato, a founder of Okinawan Women Against Military Violence, notes that statistics show about 120 rapes committed by US military personnel in Okinawa since 1972, but since most rapes are not reported, that is just” the tip of an iceberg”.

In 1972, Okinawa reverted from US military occupation to Japanese rule. No official documents were kept prior to that time, but a booklet titled” Postwar U.S. Military Crimes Against Women in Okinawa,” compiled from newspaper reports and other local sources, lists about 350 sex crimes committed by US troops since 1945.

More than half of the 54, 000 US military personnel in Japan – about 30, 000, of whom 18, 000 are Marines – are stationed in Okinawa, which has a population of less than 1.5 million and accounts for only 0.6 % of Japan’s total land area. The Okinawa Times stated in 2017 that” The fundamental issue is that [ US ground forces are too concentrated on Okinawa” in accordance with a widely accepted statement.

If the details of the most recent kidnapping and rape incident had been made known before the election for the Okinawa prefectural assembly, there is no way to know how the voters would have felt. Before the election, each side held 24 seats. The pro-base faction currently held by the LDP is 27; the anti-base forces of Governor Tamaki are 20; and one is held by an independent.

How the assembly members will vote now that the incident has become a major international event is also uncertain, but public opinion appears to be shifting from an idealistic pacifism that seeks to remove US bases to one that recognizes the dangers posed by China’s assertiveness and the disputes over Taiwan, Taiwan, and the South China Sea.

What might be called base fatigue has also been a result of Tamaki’s long campaign to stop the US Marine Corps ‘ Futenma Air Station from moving to a new location in Henoko, which was constructed in a coastal landfill. Tamaki, an IT engineer who voted for change, claimed that the base issue and other things are not being done are what a person in Naha is too preoccupied with. Those other things include child- care, healthcare and job creation. Perhaps even worse for Tamaki, voter turnout was only 45.3 percent, the lowest ever.

The pace of history is continuing. The US-Japanese military alliance will not be brought on trial, but Benjamin Washington will have a hearing in court.

The Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper’s editor stated to the Voice of America last year that “young people believe that there is nothing we can do about the US military bases, since they already exist, and that they are also necessary for the defense of Japan.”

Follow this writer on&nbsp, X: @ScottFo83517667

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Calls for withdrawal after Biden’s humiliating defeat – Asia Times

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The double success I had hoped for on Thursday, which was Trump defeating Biden in the CNN conversation and the US soccer team beating Panama in the Copa America, was never realized because both Biden and the football team both suffered humiliating loses.

In reality, both bombed, and their fall was heard loud and clear across this country. Biden had no solution to a robust Trump, who got ahead with a lengthy series of his typical lies but who seemed much younger, energetic, nicely- spoken and disciplined. And a good triumph over an inferior team turned into a 1- 2 defeat for the US soccer team, which was reduced to ten players after Timothy Weah received a fatal red card earlier in the match. If the Americans do n’t defeat Uruguay next week, they now run the risk of being eliminated from the competition. &nbsp, It was an awkward fight.

For the leader it was a “painful evening”, writes Robert Reich, teacher and a leading progressive words.

According to renowned critic Andrew Sullivan, Biden should presently “withdraw from the culture.”

Their thoughts are echoed by some, as the Democrat Party and its followers are reeling from what Steven Schmidt, an pro- Trump past Republican, calls” a crisis of the first scale” for Biden. &nbsp,

The&nbsp, Democrat Party may have a Chernobyl- stage panic, and there will be calls for Biden to move away in the&nbsp, 2024 election for younger, rising stars in the party. No one’s desire for an election came out tonight. Joe Biden’s continued support on the campaign trail would be ineffective, leaving the Democratic Party in a likely catastrophic defeat, giving the nation its greatest democracy threat since the Confederacy.

Biden’s performance, writes veteran journalist Joe Klein, was “worse than disastrous. It was sad, it was humiliating. ” Biden appeared to be a hospice patient who lost himself on the way to the bathroom.”

Klein joins all those who believe that things need to change right away:

Joe Biden has had an honorable career and, I believe, he’s been a very good President. It’s tragic to see it end in this manner. But end it must. He cannot win this election. He would not be able to serve as president for the next four years, based on the evidence from last night. He needs to stand down, as soon as possible. He needs to give his convention delegates more room to run for business and allow the Democrats to elect a new leader.

So my hunch that Biden would come through, as he so often had done in big moments, turned out to be wrong, completely wrong. Biden, 81, did show his age, and although it had been much discussed, many were surprised, some even shocked.

Leading Democrats and members of the grass-roots party were in a state of panic. What do we do now? This cannot continue, right? But how and what can we accomplish?

In CNN’s flash poll shortly after the debate, 67 percent of the debate watchers surveyed, around 565 registered voters, said that Trump had won the debate – a debate that Biden and his team had wanted but which they now, surely, regret having proposed. &nbsp,

In the upcoming days, we’ll see how this panic turns out. It might eventually all settle. There is little the party can do to alter Biden’s intended and official nomination as the party’s presidential nominee at the Democratic convention in August unless he decides to withdraw.

Journalist Klas Bergman has reported from Europe, the Middle East, Central America, Canada and the United States, primarily&nbsp, for&nbsp, the Swedish daily&nbsp, Dagens&nbsp, Nyheter&nbsp, and the&nbsp, Christian Science Monitor. He is the author of Minnesota Politics: How Nordic Immigrants Shaped Minnesotans. This article first appeared on his Substack blog Notes on America, which he writes from his current Los Angeles residence. It is republished with permission. Follow this author on X @ksbergman

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Populism is on the rise and it can degrade democracy – Asia Times

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Democracy is on the increase, according to a lot of people, from the United States and Turkey to India and Hungary.

What is fueling this action?

Democracy is a political theory that views” the people” as a morally upright, good team in community, in contrast to those who are arrogant and out of contact with society. Former president Donald Trump and other politicians have relied on this common framework to maintain their standing among their supporters.

For instance, in a speech at a convention in Budapest in April 2024, Trump referred to the “pic fight to rescue our countries from all of the sinister makes who want to kill them” that he and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán were engaged in. These” frightening forces” usually include everyone from the media and global organizations to the general public and refugees.

Since 2010, Hungary’s populist prime minister Orbán has frequently attributed international organizations like international organizations to stifling Hungarian politics and defying its own interests. Hungary was no longer be regarded as a republic, according to the European Parliament’s decision in 2022.

In its most dramatic, authoritarian form, democracy poses a danger to democracy. It polarizes cultures and causes distrust in authorities.

Political leaders continue to appeal because they pledge to give back strength to the electorate. They frequently deliver something that is wildly diverse from what they say. Without addressing the disparity between the rich and the poor, they frequently make issues like gender and racial injustice worse.

I have spent a lot of my career studying nationalist actions, both as a politician who was in opposition to Orbán’s program and now as a researcher.

One thing I’ve learned from this particular situation is that to stop democracy, politics must first be protected from it.

What’s behind democracy

Democracy is viewed by many journalists and political researchers as a” cultural pushback” against conservative white males who fear the loss of opportunity in a changing world.

Emigration, race and religion are three problems that are often key to some populists ‘ politics. Some experts believe that democracy is also a result of economic factors like a weak market, global commerce, industrial drones, and artificial intelligence.

This is because the development of artificial knowledge, for instance, has led to the reduction of steady jobs in sectors such as manufacturing, which again gave working- class people a pathway to cultural mobility.

Numerous experts and academics continue to question whether democracy is related to the business. This discussion takes different forms, but it usually boils down to statements like this one, made by a popular social scientist about the 2016 U. S. political election:” Status threat, no financial hardship, explains the 2016 political vote”.

In other words, at least according to this argument, white voters ‘ concerns about losing their social standing were a factor in the 2016 presidential election.

It’s the economy

A different source of worry, according to my recent research, is driving populism in Europe, North America, and Latin America: people’s worries about economic insecurity are a key driver.

For instance, Americans who lost their jobs in the manufacturing sector in the 2010s were most likely to turn down the Democratic Party and support Trump in 2016.

People’s anti-immigration attitudes are reportedly fueled by their concern for their own jobs, according to research.

Research also reveals that Europeans who lost their jobs or had their earnings slashed as a result of competition with low-wage immigrant workers, were more likely to feel threatened by globalization. They were also more likely to support nationalism and support populist right-wing candidates throughout Western Europe.

Populist voters in the US

However, research indicates that not all populist voters can be grouped under the same umbrella. Populist voters are a diverse demographic with a variety of goals and concerns.

For instance, artificial intelligence poses a greater threat to jobs in the US and western Europe than it does in eastern Europe, making Americans and Western Europeans more concerned about this issue than eastern Europeans.

Race is another factor. Some white voters who are facing financial difficulties may believe that immigrants and people of color are to blame for the lack of employment and are to blame for their economic problems.

Despite the widespread backing Trump enjoys from many in this group, populism is not just about conservative white men, though. For instance, Democratic politicians in the US have been having a harder time convincing black voters.

Black voters still generally vote for Democrats. However, between 2020 and 2024, the Democratic Party saw a 28 percentage point decrease in black voters. The majority of those who left the party converted to Republican politics.

Since 2008, this voter realignment has taken place. Trump won the election of Trump by four percentage points, beating Republican nominee Mitt Romney by two percentage points, and he also won the same amount of votes from black working-class voters. This shift suggests that the Democrats have a working-class issue rather than a problem involving white working-class members. Economic factors, rather than just racial identity, are a major factor driving voters away from the Democratic Party.

Not all populist voters are extremists

Many media outlets tend to concentrate on the core populist voters, who are masters of outrage with what one populism scholar refers to as “bad manners.” In this context, that means using inflammatory language or making politically incorrect statements, among other tactics, to draw attention to their cause.

However, the most popular populist political movements in countries like Italy and Poland have grown as a result of appealing to voters who are concerned about bread and butter issues. They bring together a core group of voters who are primarily motivated by racism and culture with an additional group of voters who are not primarily driven by these issues.

Finally, voters ‘ support for populist leaders also depends on how nonpopulist, mainstream politicians appeal to them. Inclusive socioeconomic policies, such as expanding unemployment insurance, for example, can help stave off a populist surge.

The way ahead

There is no one- size- fits- all answer to the challenge of populism. Job guarantee programs, for instance, help to reduce the degree of economic insecurity that frequently fuels populist sentiment.

Portable benefits that employees carry from job to job, giving them constant access to health care, retirement savings, and other benefits, may help lessen the anxieties that motivate populists in an economy characterized by gig work and people frequently moving from one job to another.

Increasingly affordable housing and limiting rents can also lead to more stable living conditions.

I believe that a concerted effort must be made to combat the economic insecurity that fuels this global phenomenon in order to counteract right-wing populism. The path forward may be challenging, but the alternative, a world where democracy is eroded and societies are polarized, is even more frightening.

Comparative politics professor at Georgetown University, Gábor Scheiring.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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