Hun Sen vs Facebook amid another fixed election
Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, will no longer be able to threaten resistance followers on his Facebook page, but he can also stifle their votes as the nation gets ready for a general election.
Hun Sen, who has ruled the nation as the head of the Cambodian People’s Party for almost 40 years, appeared to possess deleted his Facebook page on June 30, 2023. Whether Hun Sen had taken down the page or Meta had removed it wasn’t quickly obvious.
Hun Sen’s Facebook page and Instagram account should be suspended immediately for six months, according to a proposal made by the oversight committee of the parent company of Facebook. In the movie, he urges political opponents who claim vote-rigging to choose between the” legal program” and” a bat.” Hun Sen furthermore threatens to” collect CPP people to resist and conquer( opposition) up” in the Facebook video that was posted on January 9.
Hun Sen, who had often posted on Facebook to his 14 million followers, receives a slap in the face from the selection. But as a political analyst in Cambodia, I am aware that it won’t significantly influence the outcome of the general election, which is set for July 23, 2023. Hun Sen served as Cambodia’s prime minister for 38 times. And new developments have merely strengthened Hun Sen’s hold on power.
Numerous functions, no criticism
As in the six national parliamentary elections held since officially democratic elections were reinstated in 1993, voters going to the polls will once more be given little real choice.
It’s not that voters didn’t have a choice of several functions on July 23. In actuality, the Cambodian People’s Party, which currently holds power, will be one of many events on the poll. Other than the CPP, there were 19 different events in the 2018 national poll.
The primary opposition group, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, is not on the list of events permitted to run, which presents a problem for democracy observers. The Thai Supreme Court, which is presided over by a permanent council part of Hun Sen’s CPP, ordered the convenient dissolution of the CNRP on November 16, 2017.
Additionally, for administrative motives, the Candlelight Party— the last vestige of legitimate, trustworthy resistance in Cambodia— was denied registration for the upcoming election. CLP supporters think that a police raid on the criticism headquarters years earlier resulted in the theft of the missing documents that prevented registration.
These actions continue decades of Hun Sen and his ruling CPP’s removal of true choice from Vietnamese ballots. And it has been successful for Hun Sen and the CPP: In the most recent election, which was held in 2018, they received 77 % of the vote and won all 123 seats in the National Assembly.
Commander of the Khmer Rouge to authoritarian president
After being appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister by the Vietnamese forces that liberated Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge in 1979— a murderous regime in which Hun Sen served as a commander — and then occupied the nation for ten years— Hun Send rose to power.
In 1985, Hun Sen took office as prime minister after Chan Sy passed away while his nation was still under Asian rule. Since then, he has continued to hold onto energy through tenure and a significant amount of brute force.
In a deal negotiated by Ranariddh’s father, King Norodom Sihanouk, Hun Sen was able to wriggle his way into the prime ministership – sharing position as” second prime Minister” with equal power to the” first chief minister ,” Prince Nirrodh. This was true even after the CPP lost the popular vote in 1993.
Hun Sen orchestrated a revolution in 1997 and succeeded Norodom Ranariddh after having an affair with his co-prime minister. Hun Sen resumed his position as the only prime minister in an election the next year and launched a campaign of repression, making arrangements for political rivals to be detained, imprisoned, and occasionally exiled.
By allowing opposition figures Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy to shape the opposition CNRP in 2012, he let his shield down. In the 2013 vote, the CNRP narrowly defeated the CPP; some might even claim that it did, but who was in charge of counting the votes?
Since then, efforts to install opposition to the CPP have been further thwarted by the amazing changes in Cambodia’s society and economy, which have given Hun Sen credit for sound economic management.
Cambodia’s monthly gross domestic product growth averaged close to 8 % from 1998 to 2019 prior to the Covid-19 crisis. Since 1995, total national income, which is based on the purchasing power of the average person, has also increased tenfold, from US$ 760 to$ 5, 080.
But it has come at a price. Growth in the economy and infrastructure has been attributed to a land grab that has harmed remote producers. One farmer I heard of said that economic growth meant” they build a path and steal my land.”
And generally, that road was constructed by the Chinese using loans that the Thai people and their descendants will be required to pay back.
From oligarchy to a system of nepotism?
Hun Sen, however, is hesitant to make his report public for the benefit of citizens or a free press.
The state has imposed restrictions on independent media in advance of the July 23 vote. Hun Sen shut down the Voice of Democracy, one of the last absolutely independent sources.
Is it violence? to release a report claiming that the primary minister’s son and apparent heir signed an established government contribution to Turkey following the earthquake on behalf of his father. Hun Sen claimed that the report had damaged the president’s standing and that only the prime minister is permitted to sign off on international aid items.
A senior government official had been the supply. Voice of Democracy was yet held accountable and instructed to regret, which it did but was later silenced.
Hun Sen has been effective in stifling Cambodian criticism and media scrutiny, but he is powerless to stop sanctions and global attention.
The European Union, the White House, and the UN have all denounced Cambodia’s violations of human rights and anti-democratic law.
The US had some Thai commanders on the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability record, which was used to okay” culprits of serious human rights misuse and problem around the world ,” even before the most recent crackdown on opposition parties and independent media.
The EU, for its part, reduced the number of Cambodian goods eligible for zero duty imports due to concerns about human rights by 20 %, which will result in an estimated 1 billion euros($ 1.1 billion ) in annual revenue for Cambodia.
However, neither Facebook’s decision to deny him access to a social media account nor these actions have significantly pushed Cambodia toward political procedures.
Sophal Ear, Associate Professor at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management
Beyond his intellectual appointment, Sophal Ear has not disclosed any important affiliations. He also does not work for, demand, own shares in, or get funding from any businesses or organizations that might profit from this article.
Under a Creative Commons license, this post has been republished from The Conversation. read the article in its entirety.
Biggest Buddha cries for Myanmarâs little dictator
The largest stone Buddha in the world, currently being built in Naypyidaw, the military funds of Myanmar, is said to be able to withstand winds and earthquakes measuring up to 8.8 on the Richter scale at a speed of 193 kilometers per hour.
According to state media reports, the enormous 25-meter Buddha, which weighs over 5,000 tons and was etched from more than 20,000 tons of granite, is almost finished after three and a half years of construction.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the State Administration Council ( SAC ), is also evidently excited based on reports of his June 29 visit to the construction site.
During his page visit, Min Aung Hlaing boldly declared that the project will be built completely” without foreign specialists” and has employed over 150 workers, including those from the Myanmar Engineering Society and Military Engineering Corps.
According to state media reports, the Maravijaya-carved image depicts a very typical Buddha present” with 32 wonderful features and 80 little characteristics of the Lord Buddha.” & nbsp,
The goal of the monument was portrayed as calm in a document that covered the first part of its assembly in October 2021, just as numerous conflicts were raging in Myanmar following the February coup that year that established the SAC.
The Buddha image is being constructed with the intention of demonstrating the success of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar to the rest of the world, preserving the nation’s peace and tranquility, helping to develop the area through the appointments of local and foreign visitors, and advancing position growth.
Actually before his tragic and terrible revolution, Min Aung Hlaing had taken a keen interest in the enormous monument’s construction. He is said to have often stopped by significant council stages of the statue.
He saw the” Unnalon Holy Hair installation,” for instance, in May. The third part of the image was transmitted and installed on February 13 at the fortunate hour and date of 2:43 am. The statue’s conclusion appears to be a bet on the defense ruler putting his spiritual fortunes on it.
Given that his junta is in charge of a sharp reversal of advancement gains over the past ten years and that hunger levels are once again hovering around 40 % of the community, this may lead many people in Myanmar to question his spending priorities.
Giant Buddha figures are not uncommon in South Asian Myanmar or Theravada Buddhist nations.
The Maha Bodhi Tahtaung in Monywa, which is home to a 90-meter-long reclining Buddha with 31 surfaces inside as well as the second tallest Buddha monument in the world, has some of the largest Buddhas in Myanmar.
( The Statue of Unity in India, which stands at 182 meters tall, is the tallest Buddha statue in the world. )
In Bago City, the popular Chaukhtatgyi in Yangon’s Bahan municipality, and the Mon State capital of Mawlamyaing, there are also enormous reclining Buddhas, all of which serve to highlight the long history of religious building and support for the Tibetan clergy, or sangha, in Myanmar.
The Lawka Chantha Abhaya Labha Muni, also known as Kyauk Taw Gyi Pagoda, which was carved in 2013 from 700 tons of stone that were winnowed down to 400 plenty when finished, will be dwarfed by the Maravijaya Buddha. The monument was so large that it needed to be transported by particularly constructed barges and railways.
While enormous religious statues are ubiquitous in Myanmar, so too is the defense rulers’ pursuit of celestial absolution for widespread crimes. Min Aung Hlaing is merely the most recent autocrat to support spiritual building initiatives in the fervent belief that creating enormous Buddhas will result in their good reincarnation rather than their return to the” eager spirit realm ,” where they belong to be incessantly tormented by their numerous victims.
There are increasing reviews of SAC officials engaging in yedaya, or Myanmar dark secret, which is also frequently used by centuries of religious generals, in addition to the construction of enormous religious institutions.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council( SLORC ), the current junta regime’s clear inspiration, visited Myanmar with a Buddha Tooth Relic that had been taken from China in the middle of the 1990s. To increase their spiritual well-being and appease the Tibetan priesthood, that oppressive regime constructed beautiful temples, apparently using forced prison labor.
The government and dharma haven’t always gotten along. In the recognized Buddhist council, the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, there have occasionally been friendly, about parasitic relations, particularly with traditional or ultranationalist monks.
Activist priests staged people marches to protest declining living standards and the then-military regimes’ fatal socio-economic policies at other times, including in 1990 and 2007. These protests were met with antagonistic opposition from the two energy centers.
The rise of the Buddhist monk-led Patriotic Association of Myanmar, or Ma Ba Tha, which contributed to an increase in anti-Muslim persecution and at times open violence, put the relationship between the military-controlled central state and Buddhist clergy to the test during General Thein Sein’s 2011 – 16 administration.
The most well-known pro-military priest is Sitagu Hsayadaw, who was revered throughout the nation up until his backing of the Ma Ba Tha led to some unrest. To the dismay of many in Myanmar, Sitagu expressed help for the coup shortly after it was staged and continues to approach up to Min Aung Hlaing, as Myanmar Here’s director Swe Win noted earlier in 2023.
Aung San Suu Kyi has reportedly been urged by senior National League for Democracy ( NLD) officials to step down from politics and work to bring about peace in the nation by the powerful Ottama Thara of the Thabarwa Monastery in Thanlyin township, which is close to Yangon’s commercial capital.
In the intensely spiritual but horrifyingly aggressive conflict areas of Sagaing and Magwe, some monks previously associated with Ma Ba Tha are then reportedly supporting SAC-raised death squads like the Thwe Thouq( blood drinkers) and terrible militias such as the Phyu Saw Thee.
State media frequently reports that despite the monks’ purported ignorance and possible because of their alleged support for the SAC, the anti-coup resistance has targeted them for assassination. Some monks are also known to play their standard roles in health, education, and humanism while also participating in covert assistance for resistance initiatives.
Even though the revered monastic disbanded the Ma Ba Tha in 2017 and apparently urged the government not to step a revolution in January 2021, the beautiful funeral arrangements for the past chairperson of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, Bhamo Hsayadaw, who passed away at the age of 94 on May 25, were another sign of his spiritual compulsions.
At the June 6 death, Pallbearers included Min Aung Hlaing, Vice Senior General Soe Win, and other top SAC authorities in an apparent effort to accumulate good works to balance out their numerous combat crimes.
The silicon sculpture of Bhamo Hsayadaw will feature cutting-edge synthetic teeth to represent his distinctive smile, the creation of renowned sculptor Aung Kyow Tun, as if to emphasize the surreal aspects of these spiritual performances.
However, Min Aung Hlaing’s enormous Buddha statue in Naypyidaw won’t be looking over kindly on him or his junta as Myanmar suffers from a brutal multi-sided war, serious army violence, natural disasters, and heartbroken economy.
In fact, in March, officials abruptly covered the granite statue’s face as stripes appeared around its eyes, causing the Maravijaya picture to appear to cry. It was hardly a good omen for an religious dictator looking for religious pardon for his numerous, well-documented karmic crimes.
Separate scientist David Scott Mathieson focuses on conflict, charitable, and human rights issues in Myanmar.
WeChat flows across the Great Firewall of China
People can easily discuss opinions and information on WeChat, a platform for information sharing and information distribution. People and organizations have used the software as a successful promotion, communication, and publicity tool despite the worries about censorship. & nbsp,
This has made it necessary to take a more subtle approach to the censorship debate and take into account its social, economic, and cultural benefits.
Tencent, a Chinese company, owns the functional communication and social media app WeChat and its Chinese counterpart Weixin. Content is produced and distributed in a jumble of open and public societal circles. & nbsp,
Customers can choose which companions they want to stop from seeing their” Times” in private and group messages. Without the need or consent of the account holders, it is possible for a consumer to locate and adopt any Official Account or Channel in public places.
For server-based political censorship & nbsp, for WeChat and Weixin users, and for semi-public spaces like chat groups and Moments. For instance, a information sent from one WeChat accounts to another account based in Australia is not censored politically because it passes through Tencent’s host in Singapore. & nbsp,
However, if the same message is sent to a Weixin account, Tencent’s site in Shenzhen, which merely enacts political censorship for the account in question, receives it. If the text contains keywords that are blacklisted, the Weixin user might not get it. & nbsp,
This results in a conversation gap in group conversations where WeChat users can see everything that has been posted but Weixin people might not be able to see all of it.
WeChat users have been linked to the Weixin government system by China’s social censorship regime. When chatting to Weixin accounts, WeChat users must not only learn how to self-censor or creatively & nbsp, avoid being censored, but also abide by China’s internet governance rules when using the official accounts and channels of WeCuhat, as well as gaming, and WeCart Pay. These limitations are stated in the WeChat Privacy Policy and the & nbsp.
Analytic content management on WeChat is focused on public spaces. Chinese laws and content moderation laws apply to official records and channels. WeChat Official Accounts come in two varieties. Weixin account buyers with matching Taiwanese authorities verification are eligible for free membership accounts. & nbsp,
Service transactions are made available to business account holders, including those from other countries, through a paid verification process. Personal content producers who cater to Australia’s Mandarin-speaking people use membership accounts. These transactions are subject to Weixin information restraint and terms of service and are registered under the names of Foreign individuals or organizations.
The WeChat accounts of former Australian prime secretary Scott Morrison falls under this heading. Australian media framed his account in terms of WeChat censorship and foreign interference in Australian politics when it was” hacked” in January 2022. Critics and nbsp called for the ban on WeChat. & nbsp,
The event was actually caused by administrative carelessness in managing his bill, which was registered and owned by a Chinese national who later sold it to an organization that provides tech companies based in China. The Australia Broadcasting Corporation created a company account on WeChat in response to this incident in order to continue providing information to Mandarin speakers.
WeChat’s data flow is clearly a politically driven experience, according to research. Organic systems and their varying degrees of affinity and trust determine the roads and fault lines of information as well as & nbsp, misinformation. WeChat is made for people who use the software in a variety of cultural settings, interests, and contexts.
WeChat’s use reflects the” circle culture”( quanzi wenhua ) of China on social media, where people frequently congregate in like-minded groups. The relationships between people are stronger the smaller and more shut the lines are. & nbsp,
The need for regulator monitoring or user self-censorship increases with the size and openness of the loops. This can be seen on WeChat in a variety of settings, as well as in subculture groups like online & nbsp, fan circles, and the new forums where young people can engage in propaganda and influence campaigns against the Chinese government.
Tencent is a participant in the global push for & nbsp, automated content moderation, and algorithmic social media platform recommendations. To accommodate various person behaviors and program governance regimes in foreign markets, WeChat adopts differentiated content moderation practices. & nbsp,
A top-down, one-size-fits-all platform of understanding censorship not only simplifies a very complicated mechanism but also runs the risk of ignoring the countless ways that WeChat can be used for political engagement, cultural integration, and municipal dialogues.
Haiqing Yu is a teacher and ARC Future Fellow at RMIT University’s College of Design and Social Context and School of Media and Communication.
At the University of Technology Sydney’s Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Wanning Sun teaches media and communication research.
This andnbsp, post, and was initially published by East Asia Forum and are being reprinted with a Creative Commons license.
Thai elephant flown home after alleged abuse in Sri Lanka
EPAA political dispute over a Thai elephant that was given to Sri Lanka. in 2001 over its alleged abuse led to the elephant’s return to its native country.
The 29-year-old Muthu Raja arrived in Thailand on a commercial reparation flight on Sunday for 19 million baht(£ 425 000,$ 540 000 ).
After hearing that the dog had been tortured while being kept in a Buddhist temple, Bangkok demanded its profit.
The prime minister of Sri Lanka. claimed to have publicly apologized to the Thai king.
The 4, 000 kg( 8,800 lbs ) elephant was airlifted to Chiang Mai in a steel cage that had been specially constructed, and it was accompanied by four Thai operators and an zookeeper from Sri Lanka..
To cure a wound on its front left leg, it will receive therapy.
Animals are revered as sacred animals in Thailand and Sri Lanka..
Three elephants, including Muthu Raja, were given to Sri Lanka.’s authorities in 2001 by the Thai imperial family so they could get trained to transport religious artifacts.
In the north of the nation, a church was entrusted with the care of Muthu Raja.
Animal rights organizations claim that it was forced to work alongside a uploading team in the temple and that an injury that was long-forgotten caused it to become strong.
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After months of fruitless attempts to persuade Sri Lanka.’s government to take action, the activist group Rally for Animal Rights and Environment( RARE ), according to its founder Panchali Panapitiya, lobbied for Thai officials to step in last year.
According to Ms. Panapitiya, Sri Lanka. has” disrepute” as a result of the loss of its wildlife officials to take action, The Independent reported. Additionally, RARE has requested that authorities bring charges against those in charge of the animal’s abuse.
The Muthu Raja was found to be in poor health during a visit last year, according to Sri Lanka.’s wildlife minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who told local media that Thailand had been” adamant” in demanding its return.
When Muthu Raja was taken out of the church past November, AFP reported that he was in pain and had sores all over him. According to activists, its coach is to blame for some of those wounds.
Most of its wounds have recently healed since it was partially relocated to Sri Lanka.’s National Zoological Garden.
In June, Sri Lanka.n Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena informed his parliament that he had apologized to Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn for Muthu Raja’s alleged abuse and had been able to” re-establish trust between the two countries.”
According to Thai culture minister Varawut Silpa-archa, the government stopped exporting elephants around three years ago as a result of activist protests.
The animals division in Bangkok stated that it is keeping an eye on the state of Thai elephant that have already been sent abroad.
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Parsing Chinaâs response to the Wagner rebellion
On June 24, 2023, selfish forces descended on Moscow, and it’s good that more than just Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ruling class were watching with worry. There may have been some worried heads over in China as well.
Beijing has played a sort of balancing work throughout the conflict in Ukraine, supporting Putin as an ally and giving Russia an economic pillar while attempting to protect China from the possibility of any imbalance in its neighboring nation. A revolution in Russia would ruin this meticulous political maneuver and give Beijing a new headache.
The turbulent 24-hour period in which selfish main Yevgeny Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin is discussed here by Joseph Torigian, an analyst on China and Russia at American University.
Are there any hints as to how Beijing perceived the situation?
Given that there hasn’t been much formal commentary, it will be difficult to guess what Beijing actually believes. Russians are aware of how tightly regulated Foreign internet are, just like their own.
Russians have previously been very concerned with how the Chinese media portrays them. China may therefore take care to ensure that what is printed is accurate so that Taiwanese officials don’t hear anything from Russian officials.
But, genuine concerns from Beijing might surface. Political commentator Hu Xijin claimed in a later-deleted message that Progozhin’s armed uprising had brought the political climate in Russia to its breaking point. Despite of his goal, Russia is no longer able to go back to the nation it was before the uprising.
Similar to this, when reporting on the Wagner Group incident, China Daily, a release run by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party, quoted two anxious Chinese researchers.
Such remarks might be a simple method for Beijing to tell Moscow that it needs to organize its home. These opinions might even serve as a reminder to the rest of the world that Beijing and Moscow won’t always work in lockstep because China and Russia have different political systems.
The Chinese authorities will also take great care not to support the claim that Beijing is concerned about the proper relationship. A state-run Chinese paper called Global Times has previously disputed claims made by Western media that China’s” guess” on Putin was an error. Such assertions will be presented in China as a scheme to sour Sino-Russian relationships.
Did the Wagner incident therefore have an impact on China’s backing of Putin?
The Chinese authorities probably also sees Putin as the best option for maintaining balance in Russia and thinks that backing him is essential to maintaining their diplomatic ties.
Putin did come victorious rapidly and with little bloodshed, according to some Chinese critics. They might be correct; some Western observers also think Putin will survive the crisis, despite the fact that the uprising is widely seen as embarrassing.
Officials in Moscow did anticipate that the People’s Republic of China will show its support for Putin on the Russian edge given how important China was to them during the war in Ukraine.
For assistance was anticipated and appreciated during earlier intimate moments in the relationship. Nikita Khrushchev, the head of the Soviet Union, narrowly defeated a coup in 1957. He was so appreciative that the Chinese celebrated his success and promised to provide them with nuclear weapons.
How Beijing may have responded if the rebellion had gotten worse is a matter of debate. History suggests that while the Chinese may be tempted to step in, they are also aware of the difficulties any such activity may present.
For instance, some members of Beijing’s authority considered offering financial support during the 1991 coup attempt by Russian hardliners against then-President Mikhail Gorbachev. Those early plans were abandoned by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, a longtime Russian skeptical, and the coup was unsuccessful.
What can the Chinese had learned from their own program?
It’s difficult to overstate how events in Russia have generally influenced Chinese perceptions of their own nation.
What some in China believed the Russians were doing right or wrong had an impact on all of these things, as well as the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, the Cultural Revolution, and the socioeconomic changes under the” reform and opening-up” system starting in the late 1970s and policies toward ethnic minorities.
However, some people in China might be curious about their current shared interests with Russia. There is no doubt that Presidents Putin and Xi Jinping share a set of liberal, Western-skeptic, and statist” elected inclinations.”
However, the Chinese Communist Party’s” command over the gun ,” as Chairman Mao put it, and the Xi administrations’ war on corruption are two very different things.
Although it is difficult to imagine such a mutiny in their own system, the Chinese will probably take pride in it and taking care not to brag about it.
At the American University School of International Service, Joseph Torigian teaches foreign service as an assistant teacher.
Torigian has not disclosed any important affiliations outside of their educational appointment and does not work for, demand, individual shares in, or get funding from any business or organization that might profit from this article.
Under a Creative Commons license, this article is republished from The Conversation. Read the original publication.
Africa and ASEAN enter partnership to promote digital economies
Areas of integration include finance, decentralized assets, and funding.On October 1st, the second Africa x ASEAN Digital Economies and Fintech quarter begins.In order to promote electronic economies, Africa and ASEAN signed a partnership agreement that identified banking, decentralized assets, and funding as the convergence focus. Officials, organization leaders, and top finance…Continue Reading
Japan shuns the market with chip firm nationalization
The government-controlled Japan Investment Corporation ( JIC ) will acquire TOKYO – JSR, one of the top two photoresist manufacturers in the semiconductor industry, and delist it from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
As Japan tightens its ties with US export restrictions on high-end chips and chip-making technology to China, the proper state purchase, valued at 909.3 billion yen( US$ 6.4 billion ), was announced on June 26.
Crucial elements in chip-making supply chains are photoresists, the light-sensitive materials used to type circuit patterns on silicon and other types of chips during the photo-lithographic approach.
A 20-day sweet give period should start by late December after receiving regulatory authorization, with JIC acquiring 100 % possession of JSR in first 2024. Mizuho Bank and the Development Bank of Japan may provide financing for the transaction.
Due to the bargain, investors’ preferences, information disclosure required to analyze market trends, and completely market economics are most likely to suffer.
At the same time, from Tokyo’s perspective, the possibility of a foreign invasion and” environmentalist” owners interfering in Chinese management decisions will be eliminated.
Semiconductors have been identified as a crucial strategic industry by the government as part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s” fresh capitalism” initiative, an ambiguous strategy to promote economic growth, raise wages, and more fairly spread wealth.
In a statement to reporters last month, Kishida stated that” securing an industrial center of transistor technology in Japan is essential from both the standpoints of renewables and economic security.”
The sweet offer, according to JIC,” is designed to help JSR to smoothly and quickly market its bold, moderate – to long-term strategic investments without being constrained by the short – term impact on business efficiency ,” or without financial market discipline.
Additionally, the buy-out will allow JSR to” flexibly pursue structural reforms and restructuring” and” provide an opportunity for industry reorganization and private fund acquisition to strengthen the international competitiveness of[ Japan’s ] semiconductor materials industry ,” according to a company statement. & nbsp,
The transaction, in the opinion of JSR management,” reinforces our solid business foundation and accelerates green growth, and it’s the best strategic option at this point” for allJSR stakeholders.
What then is the real motivation behind the offer? Nearly 90 % of the global market for semiconductor photoresists is controlled by JSR, its main rival Tokyo Ohka Kogyo( TOK ), and three other Japanese companies, Shin – Etsu Chemical, Fujifilm, and Sumitomo Chemical.
The market share of JSR is already predicted to be between 30 and 35 %, while TOK’s share is probably only a few percentage points lower. This industry does not clearly need government support given its prominent position on the global market.
Additionally, JSR doesn’t seem to require any additional funding that JIC might be able to offer. The business has a strong balance sheet, and internal resources are used to cover cash expenditures. In the financial year that ends on March 2024, control hopes to achieve a 9.5 % operating margin.
However, a deep-pocked and like-minded state owner would be of great assistance if” strong strategic investments” entails doubling capital spending.
Mitsunobu Koshiba, chairman emeritus of JSR and an outside chairman of Rapidus, the business founded in 2022 to offer superior logic chip factory solutions in Japan, seems to be one website between federal policy and the buy-out. By 2027, Rapidus, which collaborates with IBM, hopes to achieve mass production at two nanometers( 2nm ).
The” Post 5G Information and Communication Systems Infrastructure Enhancement R & amp, D Project,” run by Japan’s state New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization ( NEDO ), also includes Rapidus. Additionally, it collaborates with IMEC, a global nanoelectronics R & amp, D center with its headquarters in Belgium.
JSR is the owner of Inpria, an Oregon-based business that specializes in metal-oxide photoresists( the majority are made of plastics ). By the end of the decade, Inpria‘s resists, which were created especially for EUV printing, are anticipated to pave the way for chip generation at 1nm and smaller.
The advanced cards will be essential to proper industries like quantum computing, automatic vehicles, neuro-morphic devices, and 6G telecommunications. JSR and Inpria collaborate attentively with leading device manufacturers like Intel, TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix.
JSR is more than just a producer of silicon materials. Additionally, compared to 29 % for semiconductor materials, its life sciences division is anticipated to produce 32 % of sales this fiscal year. Electronic components like display, integrated circuit packaging, and plastics are expected to make 11 % of the contribution, followed by other materials of 4 %.
The life sciences industry, which is centered on biopharmaceuticals, needs to invest in potential development, product development, advertising, and operational effectiveness. For a portion of JSR’s capital expenditure and management attention, it competes with electrical materials.
JSR control anticipates that JIC will help” a thorough expansion strategy and action plan” for the life sciences. It could be argued that dividing JSR into two companies, which would be easier to do without open shareholder disputes, would provide the most beneficial support.
An impartial electronic materials company could focus on overcoming obstacles from smaller Chinese, South Korean, American, German, and fresh Chinese competitors who are all vying for a larger market share while also staying ahead of TOK in photoresists.
The tender offer will be made for 4, 350 yen($ 30 ), a 34.5 % premium over the asking price just before the buy-out was revealed, and only 4 % below the all-time high set in December 2021.
JSR closed at 4, 110 hankering on June 30, a 27 % increase over the news of the deal. Over the same five days, TOK’s share price increased by 9 %.
For TOK or other material manufacturers, an intense rival with preferential financing would not be great news, but investors may soon have few options.
On the other hand, owners are currently profitable. As one trader stated in a private conversation, he was happy to accept the profit even though his account did not purchase JSR in anticipation of repurchase.
Policy-driven investments was, of course, refuse, as it did in the cases of Japan Display, which stood no prospect against the South Koreans and Chinese, and Elpida, a DRAM manufacturer that Micron bought for incredibly low prices after Chinese banks failed.
Or, coverage success may result in the acquisition and delisting of additional Chinese tech companies, which could be advantageous to current shareholders.
Eric Johnson, Director of JSR, referred to JIC as a” natural source of capital” while speaking on camera for investors and the media. However, the Development Bank of Japan and 24 major private sector companies make up the remaining 96.5 % of JIC, which is owned by the Chinese state.
According to a company speech, JIC defines its function as follows:” We, Japan Investment Corporation, provide risk investment to fields in which most secret owners are reluctant to invest.” While enhancing global fight, we want to encourage business and industry move.
Reluctance to spend, however, does not appear to be an issue in this instance. According to the bank’s website, JSR is followed by experts from 19 stocks companies. 54 % of its shares are owned by foreign buyers.
Additionally, JSR anticipates a transitional buy-out, stating in its” Highlights of the Transaction” statement that the” plan” will” relist” once continuous growth and expansion in corporate value is realized.
This suggests that JSR and JIC anticipate a dangerous and energetic time when the stock market’s short-termism will make it more difficult for the company to keep up with developments in the device market.
That’s in line with the viewpoint of JIC CEO Keisuke Yokoo.
Today, development is moving quickly across the globe, catalyzing contests and business restructuring that cross standard industrial and organizational boundaries, according to Yokoo. We are therefore dealing with a powerful change in the dynamic environment and the structure of business, he said.
However, only time will tell if JSR’s buy-out and withdrawal is the best course of action to safeguard both the future of the business and the objectives of Japan as a whole.
Follow this author on Twitter at @ ScottFo83517667.
Malaysian analytics startup, UrbanMetry, recognized as 2023 Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum
The list of 100 Technology Pioneers simply includes Indonesian companies.The objective is to make places better for everyone, green, and smarter.Leading estate data analytics firm UrbanMetry, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was chosen as one of the” Technology Pioneers” by the World Economic Forum. The 2014-launched startup, led by Koh Cha-Ly(…Continue Reading
Police on alert ahead of today’s opening of parliament
In the event of any opposition violence during significant social events scheduled this month, such as the new parliament’s opening at 5 p.m. on Monday, three city police stations are prepared to stay suspects.
At the police stations in Thung Song Hong, Chalongkrung, and Chorakhe Noy, the Metropolitan Police Bureau has set up features.
According to a directive issued on June 29, the MPB claimed that numerous locations in Bangkok would host rallies for people of various social ideologies in July. These organizations had a propensity for violence, which was against the Public Assembly Act ( 2015 ) and related laws.
The suspects had been held at the police stations of Thung Song Hong, Chalongkrung, or Chorakhe Noy if any arrests occurred.
From July 1 through July 31, or until it was certain that things had returned to normal, these facilities may become partially used for this purpose. Pol Col Wichai Daengpradap, the deputy chief of the MPB’s research division, would oversee the procedure.
At 5 p.m. on Monday, His Majesty the King will rule over the fresh parliament’s opening. The interim prime minister, government, Supreme Court president, heads of separate organizations, House of Representatives members, and senators will all be present at the event.
The House speech and two representatives will then be chosen at the House of Representatives’ Tuesday and Monday sessions.
HDB Q2 resale prices up 1.4%; moderation in rate of increase after cooling measures
Size FOR SALE
According to HDB, there were 6, 409 selling volumes in the second quarter through June 29 of this year. This was 4.6 % less than the same time last year.
Since the second quarter of 2020, it has also been the lowest level in the previous three times.
Eugene Lim, the chief executive officer of ERA Realty Network, stated that the most recent cooling measures put in place in April” may have caused some HDB householders to rethink their plans to switch to a private house.”
Additionally, the switch to resale exclusive homes has been delayed due to the high borrowing costs at the moment, and as a result, this may have even accounted for the lower HDB volume, he said.
According to Lee Sze Teck, senior & nbsp, director of research at Huttons’ Asia, a price match between sellers and buyers also resulted in less transaction volume.
Also, Mr. Lee said that as the HDB increased the supply of cottages with shorter waiting times, buyers were drawn to the BTO business. & nbsp,
Condos TO BE LAUNCHED AT 13, 000 BTO
Additionally, HDB announced that a total of 13, 000 BTO flats would be made available in the second half of this year, or roughly 31 % more than the 9, 923 products that were introduced during the first quarter. & nbsp,
As more task details are finalized closer to the start times, HDB said, the numbers will be reviewed.
Cities and estates like Kallang, Choa Chu Kang, Queenstown, Bedok, and Bishan will see the debut of these apartments.
” HDB has increased the supply of BTO flats by 35 %, from 17, 100 in 2021, to 23, 200 in 20, and 23, 000, 2023, in order to meet the increased housing demand.” & nbsp,
” HDB will keep a close eye on the housing require and keep up an ongoing supply line.” From 2021 to 2025, we plan to launch a full of 100,000 cottages, according to the statement.
With these debuts, according to Ms. Sun, some desire might be shifted to the BTO marketplace.
As HDB launches more cottages in older lands like Kallang, Whampoa, Queenstown, Bedok, and Bukit Merah, which are typically popular with customers, some first-time consumers may be enticed, she said.
She continued,” The closing times for many of these jobs may also be shortened.”
In the meantime, Mr. Lim anticipates that the BTO launches will keep the HDB resale marketplace stable. & nbsp,
As more sellers become aware of the current market conditions and perhaps realistically adjust their price expectations, he said,” This shift may prove useful for new homebuyers seeking their second house in the resale market.”