Thai court suspends Pita as lawmaker as parliament votes on PM
BANGKOK: Thailand’s Constitutional Court ordered a temporary suspension of prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat from parliament on Wednesday (Jul 19) after accepting a case against him alleging he was unqualified to run in a May 14 election. Pita, who was due to contest a parliamentary vote on the premiership on Wednesday,Continue Reading
Turkey once again turning its face toward the West
Turkey is starting to address its mistakes. First, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to a turnaround in monetary policy under new Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and new central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan.
Now, Turkey appears to be engaging in geopolitical maneuvering.
Despite seemingly “warm” relations with Russia, Ankara first handed over the Azov commanders to Ukraine and then agreed to Sweden’s admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Moscow was not enthusiastic about this step, to say the least.
Also read: Calling Erdogan’s bluff on NATO
Viktor Bondarev, head of Russia’s Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, said Turkey is turning from a neutral country into an unfriendly one. The rhetoric against the former “partner” in the Russian media has also become more aggressive.
What influenced the Erdogan team’s decision?
First, Ankara needed to demonstrate solidarity with its NATO partners ahead of the North Atlantic Council meeting in Vilnius on July 11.
Second, Turkey might have sent a signal emphasizing the importance of the agreements taking into account Moscow’s refusal to extend the agreement that allows Ukraine to export grain and other food products safely across the Black Sea.
Unfortunately, Russia did not seem to pick up on this signal and declared the agreements terminated.
It is fair to say that this decision was expected. As early as June, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, had indicated that the chances of extending the grain deal were virtually non-existent.
Peskov outlined the conditions set by the Russian side, which included the integration of the Russian Agricultural Bank into the SWIFT system. While the European Union had expressed willingness to consider this step, ultimately no action was taken.
What now?
Russia stands to face a significant loss of access to in additional revenues. Furthermore, the strained relations with Turkey could deteriorate further, resulting in the loss of yet another ally and disrupting the existing supply chain.
As far as the world economy is concerned, Chicago wheat futures rose by 3.5% after the disruption of the grain deal. However, catastrophic consequences are not expected, as Russian grain exports will not be affected, thereby avoiding any significant deficit.
Moreover, the market has already factored in the decline in crop yields and exports from Ukraine. In turn, the primary concerns revolve around the potential impact of El Niño on farms and the US Federal Reserve’s rhetoric.
In relation to the latter, if the hawkish monetary policy persists, the likelihood of a recession will rise, consequently impacting not only the S&P 500 but also the prices of commodities such as oil and wheat.
SEMICON events transcend the chip wars
SEMI, the international association representing the semiconductor equipment and materials industry and other parts of the electronics manufacturing and design chain, recently held two annual regional exhibitions and conferences: SEMICON China in Shanghai and SEMICON West in San Francisco.
Judging from the large number of exhibitors and wide range of technologies presented at the events, it is obvious that the global semiconductor industry is endeavoring to maintain cohesion despite the interference and interventions of tech war-agitating politicians.
SEMICON China 2023 was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from June 29 to July 1, attracting a record 1,100 exhibitors from China, Japan, Korea, Europe and the US.
Related forums discussed integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing technology and supply chain issues, automotive IC design, power and compound semiconductors, carbon neutrality and sustainability, and workforce development.
It was the largest of the regional SEMI exhibitions, which in the words of its sponsor was “a key enabler of collaboration and innovation across the entire electronics supply chain including chip design, manufacturing, assembly and test, equipment and materials.”
The exhibition was preceded by the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC), organized by SEMI and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) together with the Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It was held on June 26 and 27 in Shanghai and virtually from June 29 to July 26 at SEMI Cloud.
The conference featured symposiums covering manufacturing processes, systems integration, materials, equipment, device and circuit design, and emerging semiconductor technologies.
Topics such as artificial intelligence, 6G, neuromorphic computing, advanced memory, 3D integration and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) were also addressed.
Sponsors included Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC), Naura and Anji from China; Tokyo Electron and Fujifilm from Japan; ASM, Edwards and Zeiss from Europe; Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA from the US; and ACM Research, which was founded in California but now conducts most of its product development, manufacturing and service activities through its subsidiary in Shanghai.
ACM Research owns an extensive patent portfolio in deposition and photoresist processing, single wafer and batch wet cleaning, electroplating, stress-free polishing, wafer manufacturing and packaging. It remains active in North America and also has operations in Europe, South Korea and elsewhere in Asia.
ACM Research’s example shows how difficult actual decoupling might be and how much semiconductor-related technology is already available in China.
AMEC makes etch and deposition equipment. It has gained traction both in China and overseas, notably with Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest chip producer. AMEC recently won a legal battle in a Shanghai court against Lam Research, which had accused it of infringing on its etch-related patents.
The diversified Naura Technology Group makes etch, deposition, oxidation/diffusion, cleaning, annealing and other types of semiconductor production equipment.
Preliminary figures from AMEC and Naura indicate that their profits more than doubled year-on-year in the six months to June on sales growth of nearly 30% for AMEC and more than 60% for Naura.
This performance is attributed to US sanctions, which have led Chinese semiconductor makers to turn to domestic equipment makers.
Anji Microelectronics manufactures chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries, post-CMP and post-etch cleaning solutions, photoresist strippers and other wet chemicals and additives used in the semiconductor manufacturing process.
SEMICON West 2023, North America’s most prominent microelectronics exhibition and conference, was held from July 11 to 13 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Its overarching themes were supply chain disruptions, climate change and sustainability, and talent shortages – issues key to the long-term growth of the semiconductor industry.
Government investment in chip manufacturing, smart manufacturing with data and AI, heterogeneous design and integration using advanced packaging technology, smart mobility, smart medtech and other topics were also addressed.
Advanced packaging received particular attention from Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec), Applied Materials and others.
Cerebras Systems of Sunnyvale, California, won the 2023 SEMI Award for North America for process and technology integration for developing the world’s largest integrated circuit chip for complex artificial intelligence (AI) computation applications training with very large AI databases.
As reported in the daily SEMICON digest on July 12, Cerebras, “implemented wafer-scale integration with advanced packaging and system design for AI and other deep-learning applications as standalone units and in clusters for large-scale data centers.”
The Design Automation Conference (DAC) 2023, which ran from July 9 to 13, was held across the street from SEMICON West. DAC exhibitors and participants covered electronic design automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, embedded systems and software, automotive applications, RISC-V, and intellectual property and data security issues. Both events were crowded, with attendance reaching pre-Covid levels.
SEMI also released its mid-year semiconductor equipment forecast at SEMICON West, predicting an 18.6% decline in total sales of wafer fab, assembly & packaging, and test equipment to US$87.4 billion in calendar 2023, followed by a 14.4% rebound to an even $100 billion in 2024.
Forecasting a big round number would seem to indicate a fair amount of uncertainty, but SEMI is not alone in this regard.
SEMI did not publish a forecast for 2025, but its president and CEO, Ajit Manocha, said “Projections for robust long-term growth driven by high-performance computing and ubiquitous connectivity remain intact.”
Manocha, formerly CEO at GlobalFoundries, added that “Despite current headwinds, the semiconductor equipment market is set to see a strong rebound in 2024 after an adjustment in 2023 following a historic multi-year run.”
Sales of wafer fab equipment – including wafer processing, clean room and other facilities and mask/reticle equipment – are forecast to drop 18.8% to $76.4 billion in 2023 and then rebound by 14.8% in 2024, accounting for a fairly steady 87-88% of the total.
Sales of assembly & packaging equipment are expected to be more volatile and sales of test equipment less so, but they have a relatively small impact on the overall trend in capital spending.
The cycle is being driven by memory chips. Equipment sales to makers of NAND flash memory are forecast to drop by 51% to $84 billion this year and then rebound by 59% to $13.3 billion in 2024.
DRAM equipment sales, meanwhile, are forecast to drop by 28% to $8.8 billion this year and rebound by 31% to $11.6 billion in 2024.
Logic IC and foundry related demand is much more stable. It is forecast to decline by 6% to $50.1 billion this year and then rise by 3% to $51.6 billion in 2024.
China, Taiwan and South Korea remain the three largest markets for semiconductor equipment. SEMI expects Taiwan to take the lead this year and China to regain it in 2024.
The Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) has cut its sales forecast for fiscal 2023 (ends March 2024) from -5% to -23%.
The downturn has turned out to be more severe than the SEAJ had originally anticipated and reality has set in as fantasies about the metaverse and a quick rebound in PC and smartphone sales have faded.
Tokyo Electron, Japan’s leading semiconductor production equipment maker, had been touting a concept called MAGIC (metaverse, autonomous vehicles, green energy, IoT & information, and communications).
Now, CEO Toshiki Kawai, who is also chairman of the SEAJ, says the recovery of memory demand has been slower than initially expected.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s DRAM production is at a two-year low and, according to reports from South Korea, is likely to remain subdued for the rest of this year, with capacity expansion pushed out until there are clear signs of recovery in demand.
The SEAJ now expects semiconductor capital spending to come roaring back stronger than ever in fiscal 2024 and 2025, with rises in sales of Japanese equipment of 30% next year and 10% the year after catapulting the industry to new record highs.
It its view, the metaverse has been replaced by ChatGPT, electric vehicle and renewable energy demand remains strong, and a smart phone replacement cycle appears to have begun.
A forecast must be made, but that doesn’t mean it will turn out to be correct. A year ago, the SEAJ forecast 3.7% sales growth for fiscal 2023.
And it remains to be seen how sanctions on China and China’s retaliatory restrictions on exports of the niche chip-making metals gallium and germanium might drag down sales over the coming year.
Follow this writer on Twitter: @ScottFo83517667
Leon Perera, Nicole Seah resign from Workers’ Party over extramarital affair
Both Mr Perera and Ms Seah are married. Mr Perera, who turns 53 this year, has two children. Ms Seah, 36, had her second child in April last year. The pair sat on the WP’s central executive committee. Mr Perera headed the media team while Ms Seah was the youth wingContinue Reading
Charter court suspends Pita
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 11:59
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday morning suspended Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat from duty as an elected member of the House of Representatives.
The court made the announcement after accepting for consideration a complaint involving Mr Pita’s inherited shareholding in defunct media company iTV Plc.
The constitution prohibits parliamentarians from holding stock in a media organisation. Mr Pita has argued the 42,000 shares were part of his late father’s estate, which he managed as executor. He said title had since been transferred to relatives.
The suspension does not prevent his being nominated as prime minister, which the joint sitting was also debating on Wednesday.
S$1 million over-disbursement of grants by CAAS, weakness in controls at PA among lapses flagged by Auditor-General
SINGAPORE: The over-disbursement of grants by S$1 million (US$754,000) by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and weaknesses in controls at the People’s Association (PA) were among the lapses flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) on Wednesday (Jul 19). The AGO’s audit report of public agencies in Singapore forContinue Reading
How China sees Russiaâs Wagner fiasco
“Within a day, with not a single shot fired and not a drop of blood seen, the ‘armed rebellion’ that attracted global attention was settled.” That’s how one Chinese news commentary described the Wagner incident that shook Russia.
However, in the aftermath of the short-lived uprising, views in China remain diverse and often conflicting.
The official response from China has been muted. In a two-line statement, the foreign ministry described the incident as “Russia’s internal affair” and offered an assurance of China’s support in helping Moscow “maintain its stability and achieve development and prosperity,” reaffirming its “good neighborliness” and its “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the New Era” with Russia.
Other opinions, particularly in the media, have been more reflective of the situation.
The hawkish Global Times took shots at the “wishful thinking of the West.” Citing Chinese international relations experts Wang Yiwei and Cui Heng, its report denied that Wagner’s call to move to Moscow constituted an “armed rebellion,” instead calling it a mere display of dissatisfaction with the ruling regime.
Global Times further stated that the Kremlin’s ability to stop the revolt within 24 hours refutes any claims of Putin growing weak, lumping such claims among many “cognitive warfare” tactics of the West for fanning “anti-Russia sentiment” or stemming from ignorance of Russian politics.
A report in the People’s Daily similarly credited strong public support to the Russian government as a major factor in defusing the crisis.
However, such assurances have failed to calm Chinese investors, particularly in the energy sector, who rushed to stop shipments as the news of the revolt broke.
Others in the media have displayed concerns. An editorial in the China Daily described the situation as an “uneasy calm” that displays Russia’s socio-economic and political problems and contradictions – specifically stemming from the use of private mercenaries – that have come to the fore since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Reasons given for the mutiny range widely: heavy losses incurred during the prolonged war, failure to demilitarize Ukraine, demands for more cash, tussles with the Russian Ministry of Defense and Prigozhin’s own political ambitions.
One state reason stands out as particularly important: the Russian defense ministry’s order to incorporate all private mercenaries under its command by July 1. Talking to China’s Observer, military expert Song Zhongping noted that Prigozhin feared losing power and, as the deadline neared, decided to wage a mutiny.
While all commentaries have criticized Moscow’s overreliance on private mercenaries as “getting caught in one’s own cocoon” (zuojian zifu 作茧自缚), Song stated that Wagner did play an unparalleled role in the war. Being a private military company independent of the state, Wagner took losses without impacting the legitimacy of the Russian state or its purse.
Even though Putin’s political acumen and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s diplomatic skill in handling the crisis have been hailed, many in China believe that the dust has not yet fully settled.
Talking to Sina News, Geng Xin noted that the Wagner fiasco was not a “false alarm” as many “contradictions” continue to lurk – first and foremost being the dilemma in Russia on whether it sees itself as part of the East or the West. Such a phenomenon is coupled with a poor record of economic development, with the Russian political elite’s miscalculations that a return to the former “glory” of the Soviet Union is possible.
A second contradiction is the underestimation of Ukraine’s potential to fight back and the disastrous decision to go to war.
Third, an ineffective military system allows too much space for private mercenaries, posing a major challenge.
Fourth is the phenomenon termed “chaos giving birth to heroes” (luan shi chu xiaoxiong 乱世出枭雄), in which all political, social and economic contradictions elevate inequality to the extent of producing men prone to revolt, such as Prigozhin.
It’s noted that Prigozhin not only refused to surrender but openly defied Vladimir Putin by describing Wagner soldiers as “true patriots.” Talking to The Observer, Tan Dekai said that many in Russia see Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as a product of the oligarchic system and do not think he is fit for the job.
Being a war hero, Prigozhin enjoys popularity, but Russians do not favor him as a leader. The continued presence of several private military forces such as those held by Gazprom is seen as a threat for China since a divided Russia ruled by warlords would invite external forces, particularly the United States, to intervene.
Another commentary in Sina News described the incident as the “biggest gray rhino” since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. That’s a term Xi Jinping used in his 20th Party Congress Report to refer to unexpected security threats.
Russia has claimed that this incident will not impact the “special military operation” in Ukraine, but many in China are not so sure.
The Paper, a Shanghai-based publication, noted that Prigozhin has destabilized the two main arteries of Russia’s military offensive, Rostov Oblast in South and Voronezh Oblast in North.
A war between Wagner and the Russian military would have been disastrous but, even with the crisis averted, dealing with the demobilized soldiers and ensuring their loyalty in Prigozhin’s absence would be an uphill task.
Beijing is also worried about the misuse of Moscow’s nuclear arsenal. As Ukraine’s counteroffensive intensifies, many in China believe Putin did the right thing to negotiate with Prigozhin. But will he come out stronger? They say he will, but this is dampened by concerns of entrenched problems in post-Soviet Russian society.
Summing up: ‘No limits’ no more?
Analysts in Moscow share similar beliefs. Talking to Russia Today, Dmitry Trenin described the deal as nothing short of a miracle, specifically as concerns were high over a lack of opposition against Prigozhin’s march into Rostov-on-Don and on to Moscow.
Vladimir Bruter noted that the incident has heavily tarnished Moscow’s international image and keeping up prolonged warfare with Ukraine would be “too optimistic” to expect. He believes that the need of the hour is to formulate a consistent plan for the military operation.
But will Putin end the war? As of now, no. He would like to deal with the internal challenges to his authority that the incident has exposed and making a move to negotiate first would be equal to conceding defeat.
While Beijing has reaffirmed its “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Russia in its official statement, opinions reflect that a prolonged war with growing aggression from private military groups would be bad news.
The main reasons for supporting Russia remain the challenge Moscow presents to the expanding influence of Western liberal ideas that China views as a threat and Beijing’s own sovereignty concerns over Taiwan.
Nevertheless, Beijing will never allow any partnership, no matter how “comprehensive,” to derail economic development that robs Beijing’s international significance and tarnishes the image of the Communist Party at home.
Neither can it afford to send military troops in support of Moscow and face Western sanctions. The idea remains to engage so far as the relationship remains profitable but when tides turn unfavorable, Beijing finds itself caught in the quagmire.
Hence China is highly likely to reassess its “no limits” partnership with Moscow, but without an official announcement – just as support for Russia was never explicitly committed to.
Beijing is likely to push ahead its peace plan for ending the war once again before Washington does. But how well China succeeds depends on to what extent Putin agrees to listen to Beijing, for he certainly has bigger ambitions and far less at stake.
The incident does, however, present a flickering hope for the United States and China to restart dialogue. Analysts in China agree that ensuring stability in nuclear-armed Russia and bringing the war to an end are concerns Beijing shares with Washington.
Instability in Russia is a mounting concern that China finds hard to address on its own. If sincere attempts to end the war do spring from Beijing, the United States must be ready to work with China.
However, for that to happen, Beijing must tone down its prerequisites for dialogue with Washington that have blocked all high-level attempts at thawing the ice. The Wagner incident could facilitate what diplomatic negotiations so far have failed to achieve.
Cherry Hitkari ([email protected]) is a non-resident Vasey fellow and young leader at Pacific Forum, which originally published this article. Asia Times is republishing with permission.
Smarter cooling for a cooler planet
More than a third of all the electricity consumed in the United Arab Emirates goes to one simple, yet essential task – keeping us cool. That soars to as much as 70% during summer.
In sweltering countries with poor electricity systems, such as Iraq or Lebanon, the lack of air-conditioning is a threat not just to comfort, but to survival.
Climate change is accelerating this challenge. Average UAE temperatures have climbed from about 27.5 degrees Celsius in the 1950s to over 28 degrees in the 2000s, and above 29 degrees in 2021. Iraq has heated up nearly 3 degrees since the 1980s.
The extreme heat events affecting southern Europe and parts of the United States and China demonstrate that demand for cooler air is only going to increase globally.
Urbanization, the loss of vegetation and surface water, and the proliferation of brick, concrete, and asphalt surfaces that absorb heat and re-radiate it at night make cities even hotter than the average, and give people little relief even when the sun sets.
In the Persian Gulf region, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain have committed to net-zero carbon targets between 2050 and 2060, and the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is under increasing pressure to decarbonize.
Yet expanding populations, more and bigger buildings, and surging middle-class lifestyles require more electricity, and gas and oil combustion remains the main means of producing it – burning money to cool homes but heat the planet.
Wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states can, and will, grow increasingly reliant on solar, wind and nuclear power. But this is impossible for a country like Iraq, where the population rises by a million each year and where peak electricity-production capacity is only 22 gigawatts when 35GW is needed in summer.
Cooling more efficiently
There are about 60 million A/C units in the Middle East today, and the International Energy Agency sees that growing to 210 million by 2050. The growth will be even more dramatic in populous countries now reaching middle-income status, such as India and Indonesia.
The MENA region certainly needs more air-conditioning, but it also needs to be much more intelligent about how it manages its increasingly extreme temperatures.
Four broad approaches can help us keep cool at a reasonable cost to pocket and planet.
The first is more mindful behavior – not cooling unused rooms, shading windows from the sun, minimizing cooling while away, using fans rather than chillers when temperatures aren’t too high, and not cooling indoor spaces to arctic levels.
Reforming energy subsidies, encouraging consumers to pay a fair price for power, and charging more at peak periods are frugal strategies for people, governments, and the environment.
Second comes better air-conditioning technology. This can be as simple as using the most energy-efficient models on the market. Better control systems can avoid pointlessly cooling empty areas, for example, by connecting a single exterior unit to two indoor units and managing the flow between them intelligently.
Many modern units use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are powerful greenhouse gases and often leak, but can be replaced with non-warming alternatives.
New ideas are promising. American companies Transaera and Bill Gates–backed Blue Frontier, for example, use salts or sponge-like materials to remove humidity from the air before cooling it, reducing energy use by up to 70%.
Barocal, developed at Cambridge University, has developed cheap, non-toxic “plastic crystals” that absorb and release heat – instead of gases – when pressure is applied or removed.
In June last year, Strata Manufacturing, the aerospace unit of Mubadala Investment Company, revealed a partnership with two German companies, Hyperganic, an artificial-intelligence-based engineering system, and EOS, an industrial 3D-printing company. The intention is to develop the world’s most efficient residential air-conditioning system.
Meanwhile, district cooling, where a central plant distributes cold water, is increasingly adopted in new developments in the GCC. It can reduce electricity use by about half and has twice the lifetime of conventional systems.
Empower, Emicool and Tabreed are UAE-based district cooling providers that are expanding into Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India. But it’s somewhat inflexible, better suited to sites with a high population density, and not easily retrofitted to existing buildings.
A third approach is to make buildings more energy-efficient. Simple fixes include better insulation around windows and doors, shading exposed areas, and painting dark surfaces white. Smart systems can cool ahead of the hottest midday period or before evening when solar generation drops off, effectively using buildings as thermal batteries to limit load on the grid.
Innovative paints and materials, such as the optical films developed by SkyCool Systems in the United States, radiate heat into deep space using wavelengths that can pass through the atmosphere, saving up to 40% in air-conditioning energy use.
Finally, we need to reimagine urban spaces – including by drawing inspiration from historic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cities, with their narrow, shady streets, whitewashed facades, shutters, wind towers, flowing open water, and greenery.
Shelters with solar air-conditioning and cooling paints, and naturally cooled walkways and bicycle tracks allow people to get out of their cars and outdoor workers to recuperate even in the hotter months.
Working with nature rather than against it has the advantage of not being totally reliant on technology – and on uninterrupted electricity.
Investment in innovative air-conditioning is minuscule compared with other green technologies. Last year, just US$278 million of venture capital was spent on cooling our indoor spaces, versus $5.4 billion to solar, $3 billion to hydrogen, and even $384 million to electric airplanes.
MENA, the hottest populous region in the world, will need more investment, and cool heads, to seize the air-conditioning opportunity.
This article was provided by Syndication Bureau, which holds copyright.
Follow Robin Mills on Twitter @robinenergy.
5 people, including 3 children, taken to hospital after Sengkang flat fire
SCDF said that shouts of help could be heard coming from inside the unit when they arrived and firefighters from Sengkang Fire Station and Punggol Fire Station “conducted forcible entry through the front door”.
The unit was smoke-logged and the firefighters had to carefully manoeuvre their way into the unit, it added.
According to SCDF, five people were found inside one of the bedrooms and rescued by the firefighters.
They were taken to Singapore General Hospital for smoke inhalation and one of the adults also sustained minor burn injuries.
About 50 residents from the affected block were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a precautionary measure.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that the fire is likely to have been caused by an electrical origin in the kitchen,” said SCDF.Continue Reading