China all in on RISC-V open-source chip design – Asia Times

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It’s” RISC on” in China.

The Chinese government plans to promote the nationwide use of open-source RISC-V integrated circuit ( IC ) design standards under new guidelines that may be announced in the next few weeks, Reuters reported.

China’s Cyberspace Administration, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology and National Intellectual Property Administration are all presumably involved, according to the Reuters record.

If so, it may offer a great press forward to a pattern that has been gathering speed for several years now and a big pushback against the US state, which, under presidents Trump 1.0, Biden and Trump 2.0, has constantly sought to police the global semiconductor business and suppress its growth in China.

Hong Kong‘s government is also promoting RISC-V ( pronounced “risk-five” ) to make a place for itself as one of China’s IC design centers. The creation of a Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute may enhance the coverage.

Writing under the article” The Role of RISC-V in Shaping the Future” in Sbs Times, Frankwell Lin, CEO of Taiwan’s Andes Technology, noted that:

AI’s expanding control – spanning programs like words recognition, imaging, and natural language processing – underscores the critical part of advanced semiconductors. RISC-V, with its open architecture and very customizable infrastructure, is revolutionizing AI startups, enabling them to tackle inference-heavy tasks more efficiently than fixed-function counterparts. This flexibility positions RISC-V as a linchpin in the evolution of high-performance computing ( HPC ), addressing the rapidly evolving demands of AI applications.

Lin also points out that:

RISC-V’s momentum extends beyond AI, finding applications in EVs, IoT, and 5G. Its ability to foster innovation through an open architecture not only drives technical breakthroughs but also disrupts traditional business models, making it an essential technology for economic growth and recovery across these sectors.

In January, the Chinese Academy of Sciences ( CAS ) announced that its XiangShan RISC-V processor will be ready this year, with modification to support AI dynamo DeepSeek. Xiangshan is” the world’s top-performing open-source processor core”, according to CAS.

The XiangShan project was launched in 2019 to develop a high-performance RISC-V processor” with a focus on regular updates and improvements to the processor’s design, performance, and power efficiency”, in the words of TechRadar. The Beijing Institute of Open Source Chip was created to support the project.

In February, Alibaba announced that it will start shipments of its newest RISC-V processor, a server-grade CPU, to customers this month. Alibaba, which plans to invest more than US$ 50 billion in AI and cloud computing over the next three years, recently announced a new AI model that it claims outperforms DeepSeek.

RISC-V is an open standard instruction set architecture based on Reduced Instruction Set Computer design principles. A free, non-proprietary platform for the development of IC processors, it is an ideal way for the Chinese ( or anyone else ) to develop an alternative to the proprietary semiconductor technologies of America’s Arm, Intel, Nvidia and other Western firms that are subject to US government export controls.

The RISC-V concept was conceived at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010. The RISC-V Foundation was established in 2015 to support and manage the technology, with the Institute of Computing Technologies of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as one of its founders.

A China RISC-V Alliance was established in 2018 with the goal of creating a complete open-source computing ecosystem by 2030. Also in 2018, the city of Shanghai introduced financial incentives for RISC-V development and Chinese RISC-V specialist StarFive was founded with the support of SiFive, the technology leader headquartered in Santa Clara. &nbsp,

In 2020, the RISC-V Foundation was incorporated in Switzerland as the RISC-V International Association, moving out of the United States to avoid potential disruption caused by then-president Donald Trump’s China trade war policies.

US policymakers and politicians would like to use export controls to limit China’s use of the technology, but indications are it is too late for that. China already accounts for about 50 % of RISC-V core shipment volumes.

Several Chinese companies are “premier” members of RISC-V International, including Alibaba Cloud, Huawei, ZTE, Tencent and semiconductor products and services supplier Beijing ESWIN. Andes Technology, Google, Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Synopsis and SiFive are also premium members.

The least well-known of the premier member Chinese companies, ESWIN, has R&amp, D centers in Beijing, Shanghai, seven other Chinese cities, South Korea and the UK, manufacturing plants inXi’an and Chengdu, and sales offices in Qingdao, Shenzhen, nine other Chinese cities, South Korea, Japan and the US.

Altogether, the RISC-V International Association has 24 “premier” members, 166″ strategic” members, and 205″ community” members in Europe, Asia and the Americas, according to the RISC-V website.

The fourth annual RISC-V Summit China was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, last August, where more than 100 companies, research institutions and open-source technology communities participated. Ranking with similar events in Europe and North America, it attracted some 3, 000 domestic and foreign attendees and about half a million viewers online.

These developments are being followed closely by tech companies, consulting firms and government officials in the US. In December 2023, the Jamestown Foundation, a conservative research and analysis consultancy following national security-related trends from Washington, DC, wrote that:

China’s engagement with RISC-V is a testament to its strategic foresight and ambition to reshape the semiconductor industry, challenging long-established norms and power structures. The increasing influence of Chinese entities in the RISC-V International Foundation is a clear indicator of China’s intention to steer the direction of RISC-V development.

This shift in control away from the United States is not merely about technological advancement but about altering the global tech order. China sees RISC-V as an opportunity to enhance its self-innovation capabilities, foster self-sufficiency, and navigate the complexities of increasing geopolitical tensions.

Follow this writer on&nbsp, X: @ScottFo83517667

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DBS investigating cause of overnight disruption to digital banking, ATM services

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SINGAPORE: DBS services, including mobile banking, ATMs and NETS, have been restored after an overnight disruption on Saturday ( Mar 8 ). According to interruption monitoring site, Downdetector.com, issues spiked just after midnight and continued earlier 9am. &nbsp, DBS acknowledged the problems accessing online companies in a Twitter post atContinue Reading

China ‘mass produces’ semiconductor-related papers – Asia Times

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China has become the nation’s No. 1 country in publishing semiconductor-related papers, more than the following three ranked countries combined, according to a report published by the Emerging Technology Observatory ( ETO ) at Georgetown University. &nbsp,

The ETO report said that from 2018 to 2023, Chinese scholars published 160, 852 academic articles, more than the US ( 71, 688 ), India ( 39, 709 ), Japan ( 30, 401 ), and South Korea ( 28, 345 ). Regarding the number of quotes per article, the US achieved 17.6, compared with China’s 14.8. &nbsp,

All the leading 10 research institutions were based in China, except France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, which ranked No. 3. &nbsp,

From 2018 to 2023, the Chinese Academy of Sciences ( CAS ) published 14, 387 chip-related articles, followed by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (7, 849 ), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (5, 446 ), and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (5, 237 ). &nbsp,

Nevertheless, China just ranked five globally regarding the number of documents published by device makers.

Samsung published 1, 940 articles from 2018 to 2023, followed by STMicroelectronics ( 1, 070 ), Intel ( 951 ), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp ( TSMC, 611 ) and China Electronic Technology Group Corp ( CETC, 594 ).

In terms of the number of citations per article, Intel achieved 17.3, followed by Samsung ( 16.8 ), IBM ( 15.4), and Samsung ( 16.8 ). CETC ranked simply 10th. &nbsp,

The South China Morning Post (SCMP), owned by Alibaba’s co-founder Jack Ma, reported on the ETO statement with the article” Tech battle: China leads US in number, quality of silicon research, record finds”. It referred to “quantity” as Foreign experts’ large number of quotes per post.

Zachary Arnold, a lead analyst at&nbsp, the ETO, told Nature publication that although the study’s results do not think that China is currently leading the chip-making area, “it’s showing us where items are headed”.

The ETO statement added that if China develops its analysis work into professional applications, the US may soon find it impossible to apply export controls to maintain its competitive advantage in high-performance device design and production.

Chen Yunji, a co-founder of AI-chip architecture firm Cambricon, told Nature that China’s ability to make high-end cards lags behind its chip architecture, largely according to US export controls. &nbsp,

However, the quality of some scientific papers in China is in fear due to the activities of “paper mills”, which refer to businesses that produce false or low-quality manuscripts&nbsp, and promote author.

On December 31 last month, China’s Supreme People’s Court issued instruction calling for a crackdown on “paper mill”. It also called for lower courts to bite down on “paper business bars” and severely punish those who committed research scams.

US export controls

In 2019, the Trump administration asked ASML, the world’s largest chip equipment supplier in the Netherlands, to stop shipping extreme-ultraviolet ( EUV) lithography machines to China. EUV lithography can make 7nm chips in a single exposure and 2-3nm chips in multiple exposures.

Since then, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp ( SMIC ) has tried making 7nm chips using deep-ultraviolet ( DUV) lithography machines and multiple exposure techniques. It&nbsp, successfully made Kirin 9000s chips for Huawei Technologies ‘ Mate60 smartphones, which were launched in September 2023.

At the beginning of 2024, the Dutch government stopped granting licenses for ASML to export its NXT: 2000i and subsequent DUV immersion systems to China. &nbsp,

” China’s scientific and technological innovation has more than once defied people’s imagination”, Minister Wang Yi, member of the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and Foreign Minister, said in a press conference in Beijing on March 7.

” This journey has not been smooth. Be it missile technology, space science or chip making, unjustified external suppression has never stopped. But where there is a blockade, there is a breakthrough, where there is suppression, there is innovation”.

Citing an ancient Chinese verse,” No mountains can stop the surging flow of a mighty river”, Wang said blockade cannot stop China’s technological advancement. &nbsp,

He said science and technology should not be used to create an iron curtain but be shared by all, China is ready to share its technology with the Global South. &nbsp,

He stressed that “high fences and small yards”, a policy that forbids China from obtaining US high technology during the Biden era, could not suppress China’s spirit of innovation. He said decoupling and disruption of supply chains will only lead to self-isolation.

US President Donald Trump, who began his second term on January 20 this year, also thinks Biden’s “high fences and small yards” &nbsp, policy does not work.

White House officials have recently met with Japanese and Dutch officials to discuss stopping Tokyo Electron and ASML from maintaining semiconductor gear at Chinese chip fabs.

They said Japan and the Netherlands should ask their firms to match the limits the US has placed on its own companies, including Lam Research Corp, KLA Corp and Applied Materials Inc.

Surpassing South Korea?

China has been trying to make its lithography for a decade by pouring tens of billions of dollars into the semiconductor industry. However, the program failed to achieve the expected results due to corruption. In July 2022, a dozen top Chinese officials and executives of a national investment fund and related companies were arrested.

China now focuses on chip design and packaging technologies, which do not rely on EUV lithography.

The Korea Institute of S&amp, T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), a think tank in South Korea, said in a recent survey that China has overtaken Korea in nearly every major area of semiconductor technology.

The survey, which interviewed 39 industry experts, said China now leads in high-intensity and resistance-based memory technology, scoring 94.1 % compared to Korea’s 90.9 %. The highest benchmark is 100 %.

Resistance-based memory, or resistive random access memory ( ReRAM or RRAM ), is a future technology suitable for deep learning computations. It will eventually replace traditional flash memory.

KISTEP also found that Korea lags behind China in high-performance, low-power artificial intelligence ( AI ) chips, scoring 84.1 % compared to China’s 88.3 %. &nbsp,

It said the rise of China’s chip technology is a wake-up call for Korea, which must accelerate its technological innovation with government and private-sector support. &nbsp,

Last year, Huawei struggled to make enough Kirin 9100 chips for its new flagship smartphone, Mate70, due to SMIC’s limited production capability of 7nm chips. &nbsp,

A Henan-based IT columnist said China could use its 14nm chip processing and 3D packaging technology to make chips with performance equivalent to 3nm and 5nm chips. This would involve stacking up some mid-end chips to increase computing speed.

Yong Jian is a contributor to the Asia Times. He is a Chinese journalist who specializes in Chinese technology, economy and politics. &nbsp,

Read: Huawei’s Mate70 to flex high-end chip self-sufficiency

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Circle Line services back to normal after delays due to train fault

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Due to a train fault, delays on&nbsp, Wednesday afternoon ( Mar 5 ) caused inconvenience for Circle Line commuters.

Around 4.10pm, transportation company SMRT posted an update on Facebook urging commuters to add 30 hours of travel time between the Serangoon, Promenade, and Serangoon MRT channels in both directions.

This was afterwards increased to 40 days before SMRT announced that train service had “resumed to normalcy” at around 5 p.m.

During the disruption, &nbsp, SMRT reported that there were completely standard bus services between the Serangoon and Promenade MRT stations. Between Bartley and Mountbatten, a flight train company was even available. &nbsp,

Additionally, SMRT advised people to take other roads on the North-South, North-East, Downtown, and East-West ranges.

One passenger claimed they had been stuck in the station for more than 30 minutes on SMRT’s Instagram page.

Adhana Mohd Isa, the train’s owner, wrote,” The station is so uncomfortable, they should allow us leave.”

Another said that the location of the shuttle buses ‘ stops close to the Bartley MRT place was unclear to commuters.

This is the most current MRT disruption in a row. &nbsp,

A disturbance on the North-South Line on February 7th, which started at around 5:30 am and continued until until late in the evening, was reported. An architectural vehicle that malfunctioned at a railroad crossing in Bishan Depot after regular maintenance work caused the accident. This prevented carriages from entering customer traffic.

A signal wrong at the Buangkok MRT place, which happened at around 6.10am, caused a postpone on the North East Line on February 10.

A signaling issue between Paya Lebar and Marymount terminals on the Circle Line broke out a day later. It caused a power outage that affected 17 railways and caused night ride difficulties.

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‘New strategies’ needed for Thai media

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In the new age of AI, people trust and transparency are increasingly important.

PUBLISHED: 4 Mar 2025 at 16: 02

Bangkok train passengers read content from their mobile phones. (File photo)
Bangkok coach passengers read text messages on their phones. ( File photo )

The Thai advertising is being urged to create new methods to adapt to the quickly expanding and crowded media environment, which is threatening its life.

At a recent meeting of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok, media experts said that the changing audience’s habits, fake news, artificial intelligence ( AI), and the rise of unqualified content creators on social media will be the biggest threats to journalism in 2025.

In response, it is crucial for the media to increase its competitive edge, increase people believe, and address the rise in AI impact.

54 % of Thais trust the media, according to the Reuters Institute and Oxford University’s 2024 Digital News Report, an improvement from 50 % in 2021. Thailand is now one of the media-trusting countries on the planet.

According to Mitch St. Hilarire, the Asia Pacific agent for the Writers without Borders Journalism Trust Initiative, Thai internet stores may also do more to raise their requirements and guidelines.

” This great confidence didn’t necessarily last long, and there should be preparations for unforeseen difficulties,” he said.

This includes creating and publishing editor guidelines, disclosing money, posting bylines, and developing sources to ensure trust and transparency.

If used incorrectly, AI poses a further threat to the integrity of media morality. With over 40 million monthly users, Sanook .com has been the most popular news site in Thailand for 20 years. It uses AI in full disclosure.

” It’s about how to survive in the future,” said Pinpaka Ngamsom, Tencent Thailand ( Sanook ) head of content.

She said,” This upheaval of AI is not a pattern; it’s more about how we use and maximize it than whether we should use it or not,” she continued.

The implementation of AI is largely influenced by the increasing need for information, accuracy, and competitors in online media in addition to changing audience preferences.

Ms. Pinpaka argued that using AI as a resource is analogous to using a calculator to calculate an calculation, and that well-trained, knowledgeable editors may make use of AI in their work.

Older editors may apply AI as a tool to prevent misinformation because they can write independently as well as using AI as a tool.

AI in news even poses a risk of spreading misinformation because, unlike Google, AI is unbiased and completely reliant on the information it receives.

” Artificial better works with experts,” she said.

According to Mr. St. Hilarire, the use of AI in media is about upholding morality in the office and how to use it. If businesses are open to the public about their use of artificial intelligence, at least consumers are aware and able to trust that it isn’t misconceptions.

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Lessons for Asia from Trump-Zelensky showdown – Asia Times

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Trump’s brusque treatment of Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office next week wasn’t really about Ukraine. The world was sent the message that US alliances are becoming more and more dependent on local political calculations. &nbsp,

The reality is clear for Asian countries that have long relied on Washington to balance Beijing, among other things; America’s corporate agreements can no longer get assumed.

The US has long positioned itself as the Indo-Pacific’s stabilizing army, but Trumpism has replaced persistence with interpersonal uncertainty. The outcome? a area exposed to unpredictable policy decisions, chaotic security guarantees, and economic reversals.

Eastern leaders must now be aware that Washington’s goals may not always be aligned with their own. The key to surviving from doubt is to take decisive action in reshaping local security on their own terms as well as to guard against uncertainty.

What does a nation in the middle of an existential conflict like Ukraine send a message to Taiwan, Japan, or South Korea if Washington is met with indifference? &nbsp,

Trump’s habit of treating alliances as economic burdens is more than just rhetoric; it also reflects his willingness to restructure, downgrade, or otherwise. &nbsp,

His prior emphasis on boosting defense spending by Tokyo and Seoul in order to avoid losing US protection served as a reversal of the policy tenet that single alliances can support American interests at the very least. &nbsp,

His recommendation that both countries should think about developing their own nuclear arsenals served as a stark reminder that the US protection awning is no longer a guarantee; it is a bargaining chip.

Asian countries may now assume that US military support may be governed by political will. This entails bolstering indigenous defenses, supporting self-sufficiency, and creating local security partnerships that operate independently of Washington. This strategic move may be viewed as the start of Japan’s development of its defence budget and South Korea’s accelerated weapon programs.

Trump’s monetary policies make no difference between supporters and enemies. The taxes against Canada and Mexico, which are America’s closest trading partners, demonstrate how economic nationalism overshadows standard connections.

The effects are likely to be serious for Asia’s export-driven economy. As susceptible to sudden price increases and regulatory changes as China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and South Korea, which are all seriously integrated into US supply chains, are also.

History suggests usually for those who hoped Trump’s extreme decoupling from China would benefit additional Asian economies. &nbsp,

His business policies are reactive rather than proper. Instead of creating choice supply chains, the goal is to force US businesses into resuming production. Asiatic countries must get ready for a world where supply chains are in flow, trade treaties are governed by presidents more than economic logic, and access to the US market is provisional.

A significant push toward regional economic integration is required as the response. Although the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership ( CPTPP ) is a strong framework, it needs to be expanded and strengthened by more comprehensive intra-Asian trade agreements. &nbsp,

In order to maintain economic stability, it will be crucial to strengthen the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP ) so that it can function as an independent counterweight to Beijing and Washington.

Trust is the foundation of intelligence-sharing, and it might be lacking in the event of a Trump administration. &nbsp,

His past of disclosing labeled intelligence, putting traditional intelligence agencies before personal diplomacy, and putting institutional strategy before personal diplomacy makes reliance on US intelligence an extremely risky proposition for Asian countries.

Therefore, it is necessary for Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN nations to immediately create stronger provincial intelligence-sharing mechanisms. Beyond just defense, alliances between Japan and India, as well as between South Korea and Australia, may be expanded into planned intelligence capabilities. &nbsp,

Asia must constantly develop its own networks to reduce the risks of uncertain information flows from Washington. It cannot continue to passively receive US intelligence. The idea of holding off on to the region’s future is becoming increasingly likely to be an Asian nation’s losing plan. &nbsp,

The training is obvious: there is no longer a time for dominance.

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Thai-US projects get cash back

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PUBLISHED: 3 Mar 2025 at 05: 27

Dr Opas Karnkawinpong
Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong

After the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) announced the lifting of the suspension order previously issued on projects ‘ activities and approved reimbursement for expenses incurred during the suspension, cooperation between Thailand and the United States has resumed.

The collaboration is a component of Thailand’s efforts to promote public health, including improving the ability of health personnel, boosting the capacity of the public health system, and Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, the permanent secretary of public health.

This cooperation agreement covers 31 non-research tasks for this fiscal year, with a complete expenditure of 279.1 million ringgit.

Following an administrative get from the US government, the US CDC recently issued a Notice of Award informing all functions that actions under funding after January 24 would be terminated, suspended, or restricted.

Activities funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief ( Pepfar ), which were permitted to continue, include those relating to the prevention and treatment of HIV and tuberculosis caused by HIV, such as the purchase of medicines, laboratory tests, storage, and distribution of medical supplies.

Following a ruling from the US District Court in Rhode Island on January 31st, the US CDC issued a fresh see on February 11 announcing the cancellation of the suspension purchase.

He claimed that despite the suspension, numerous projects continued thanks to funding from both domestic and international organizations as well as the support from the private sector and NGOs. According to sources, this made for little upheaval.

According to Dr. Opas, the government furthermore strengthened its internal power during the time, including encouraging medical research and development and adopting technology and innovation to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

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China’s live-fire flex shows Australia is no naval match – Asia Times

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The actions of Task Group 107 of the Chinese navy have been the focus of the American media over the past few weeks as it has sailed north along the American coast and conducted a number of live-fire routines.

Much of the conversation focused on “gunboat politics,” with some rumors floating around.

The American political controversy has also been predominated by the live-fire exercises. The fact that these activities are routine and completely legal has become lost in the wake of all the charges.

When one of these exercises caused disruption to human aircraft, the American government was right to house a problem with its Chinese counterpart. However, the general response was an incredible overreaction.

No evidence that Chinese ships engaged in surface-to-air exercises, and it’s not clear whether the primary firings involved medium-sized or smaller arms.

In any case, the facts suggest that the Chinese ship’s disturbance was caused by incompetence or inadequate execution rather than by some more wicked reason.

The People’s Liberation Army-Navy’s ( PLA-N) deployment is not unimportant, but as it happens frequently, the Australian public debate is lacking in substance.

While a number of resigned naval commanders have formally underlined the significance of the live-fire tasks, these voices have typically been drowned out by the militarization of the topic. This demonstrates how poorly the Department of Defense communicates with the government.

Senior officers are much more able to make public comments in issues of their concern in various nations, including the United States.

We might have avoided this pointless stoush if Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, the main of military, or Vice Admiral Justin Jones, the main of joint operations, had been given the authority to describe how live-fire exercises are performed frequently by American warships deployed in our area.

Body from the maritime sector

The true impact of Task Group 107’s activities is how it has shown the very different paths of the PLA-N and its Royal Australian Navy rival.

A Type 055 Renhai-class ship, a Model 054A Jiangkai II ship, and a Type 903 Fuchi-class replenishment send make up the work group. This strong force embodies the Chinese navy’s fast expansion.

It is acknowledged that the Renhai-class ships are some of the most effective surface combatants already in use.

They weigh 13 000 tons and have 112 vertical-launch system (VLS ) missile tubes. The Hobart-class battleship, the flagship area warship of the American navy, weighs only 7, 000 tonnes and has 48 VLS weapon cells.

Although these are quite simplistic measures, it would be foolish to assume that Chinese tech is significantly superior to that of Australia or its friends. Similar to the general-purpose battleships that Australia is attempting to gain, China’s Type 054A battleships are made available.

China has installed eight Type 055 cruisers as of 2020, adding to its fleet of over 30 Model 52C and Model 52D warships and a ton of Type 054A frigates.

This navy’s overall growth is far greater than any other navy’s overall. Every few years, Chinese ships produce the same level of combat power as the whole Royal Australian Navy.

We have seen extremely little of this marine ability in our area up until recently. In 2022, a PLA-N task army was stationed off Australia’s east coast. A similar power was present in the South Pacific next year. In the foreseeable future, the majority of economists predict more Chinese warships will be stationed in the area.

The PLA-N’s little army of replenishment boats, which resupply naval vessels at sea, have a significant impact on Chinese international operations.

This appears to be changing as the PLA-N’s features and objectives change. China was anticipated to “build more replenishment ships” in a recent US Department of Defense report in order to help its expanding long-duration hero ship deployments.

trying to keep up with the rhythm

Australia is making significant investments to recover its army in response to the Chinese expansion. This method, however, has been delayed and problematic.

However, this year, the Defense Department revealed that the style for the new American frigate has been moved forward until 2026. So the army now has a small fleet of only 10 surface warriors, the majority of which are small and aging Anzac-class frigates.

The appearance of the Chinese job group also unfavors another new decisions.

From a certain perspective, the Arafura-class onshore police vehicle program’s reductions make sense. However, these ships would have offered more options for Australians who had repeatedly spied on foreign warships in their prime.

In addition, the growing need for American ships to chaperone Chinese vessels in our region will put an extra strain on American replenishment capacity.

Both of Australia’s supplies boats are currently out of services. Extra funding was also eliminated from the most recent defense budget. The Chinese work force’s actions are not some ostentatious use of gunboat diplomacy in our area.

This unscientific communication has, in many ways, distracted attention from a much bigger problem. Foreign naval ships will be a fact of life in our area. And because of the past 15 years of failures on both sides of politics, Australia’s army is unprepared to face that challenge.

Richard Dunley is UNSW Sydney’s senior lecturer in background and sea plan.

This content was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Learn the article’s introduction.

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Blue Line malfunction strands commuters

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PUBLISHED: 26 Feb 2025 at 12: 03

Commuters were left stranded as a malfunction brought services to a halt on the MRT Blue Line service for about 10 minutes around 8.30am on Wednesday morning. Services had returned to normal by 9.15am. (Photo: JS100 Radio/@Sararatc)
Around 8.30am on Wednesday morning, a malfunction caused the MRT Blue Line company to stop for about 10 minutes as a result. By 9o’clock in the morning, companies were back to normal. ( Photo: JS100 Radio/@Sararatc )

A breakdown on Bangkok’s MRT Blue Line train services caused stranding for about 10 days during rush hour on Wednesday night.

Between Chatuchak and Phahon Yothin channels, the failure occurred around 8:30 am. Services resumed about 10 minutes later and had returned to normal by 9.15am, the operator, Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc ( BEM), said.

BEM expressed regret to the commuter crowds that were left waiting at stations along the route and the people on the affected railways.

The statement said there was &nbsp,” a company disturbance at Chatuchak place, heading to Phahon Yothin station”.

” We are working to hastily handle the issue”, the statement said. ” Passenger may experience difficulties of up to 10 days. Choose politely anticipate longer journey times. We sorry for any pain”.

The shutdown and its cause were not described in the announcement.

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India: A billion people have no real money to spend, says report

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7 minutes before
Nikhil Inamdar, BBC News, Mumbai
Getty Images The image shows a woman wearing a sleeveless black top buying ornaments at a jewellery store in Amritsar in northern India.Getty Images

India is home to 1.4 billion people, but around a billion among them don’t have enough money to spend on any discretionary goods or services, a new report estimates.

The government’s consuming group, which is essentially the potential marketplace for start-ups or company owners, is only about as big as Mexico- 130-140 million people- according to the report from Blume Ventures, a venture capital firm.

There are another 300 million “emerging” or “aspirant” users, but they are afraid purchases who’ve only just begun to open their wallet cords, as click-of-a-button electronic payments make it easy to trade.

What’s more, the consuming group in Asia’s third largest market isn’t “widening” as much as it is “deepening”, according to the document. Which basically means that India’s inhabitants of rich people isn’t actually growing, yet though those who are already wealthy are becoming even wealthier.

All of this is shaping the country’s buyer market in different ways, especially accelerating the trend of “premiumisation” where brands drive growth by doubling down on cheap, upgraded products catering to the rich, rather than focusing on mass-market offerings.

This is obvious in zooming income of ultra-luxury gated housing and advanced devices, also as their lower-end variations challenge. Comparing affordability to 40 % five years ago, only 18 % of India’s overall market is now made up of affordable homes. Additionally, marketed products are capturing a larger share of the market. And there are rising “experience economies,” with cheap tickets for shows by famous musicians like Coldplay and Ed Sheeran selling like hot sweets.

Companies that have adapted to these transitions have thrived, Sajith Pai, one of the article’s artists, told the BBC. ” People who are overly focused on the mass market or have a product mix without a prime business share lose marketplace share.”

The study’s findings boost the long-held watch that India’s post-pandemic recovery has been K-shaped- where the wealthy have gotten richer, while the bad have lost purchasing power.

In fact, this has been a long-term structural trend that began even before the pandemic. The top 10 % of Indians now account for 57.7 % of the country’s income, up from 34 % in 1990, as inequality grows. The bottom half, meanwhile, have seen their share of national income reduce from 22.2 % to 15 %.

Getty Images The image shows two women wearing sun glasses pass stores at a bustling market in New Delhi, IndiaGetty Images

The latest consumption slump, however, has deepened amid not just a destruction in purchasing power, but also a precipitous drop in financial savings and surging indebtedness among the masses.

The central bank of the nation has also stepped down on simple unsecured lending, which increased demand following the Covid pandemic.

Much of the consumption spending of the “emerging” or “aspirant” class of Indians was led by such borrowings and “turning off that tap will definitely have some impact on consumption”, said Pai.

In the near future, two things are anticipated to spur spending: a record-breaking increase in rural demand and a$ 12 billion tax give-away in the recently finished budget. It won’t be “dramatic”, but could boost India’s GDP- largely driven by consumption- by over half a percent, says Pai.

But major longer-term headwinds remain.

According to data compiled by Marcellus Investment Managers, India’s middle class, which has been a major driver of consumer demand, is being squeezed out, with wages essentially staying flat.

“The middle 50% of India’s tax-paying population has seen its income stagnate in absolute terms over the past decade. This implies a halving of income in real (adjusted for inflation) terms,” according to the report, published in January.

The RBI [ Reserve Bank of India ] has repeatedly stated that the net financial savings of Indian households are approaching a 50-year low.” This financial hammering has decimated the middle class’s savings. This pounding “implys that products and services associated with middle-class household spending will likely face a difficult time in the years to come,” it continues.

Getty Images Children buying ice cream from a cart on a hot afternoon in Tehatta, West Bengal, IndiaGetty Images

The Marcellus report also makes the case that as artificial intelligence automates clerical, secretarial, and other routine tasks, white-collar urban jobs are becoming more difficult to come by. ” The number of supervisors employed in manufacturing units ( as a percentage of all employed ) in India has gone down significantly”, it adds.

The government’s recent economic survey has flagged these concerns as well.

It claims that a significant portion of the IT workforce is employed in low value-added services sectors, which are most prone to disruption, that are of particular concern as a result of these technological advancements.

” India is also a consumption-based economy, thus the fall in consumption that can result from the displacement of its workforce is bound to have macroeconomic implications. If the worst-case projections materialise, this could have the potential to set the country’s economic growth trajectory off course”, the survey said.

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