PARIS/BERLIN, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Allies including France and Germany are working closely on a plan on how to respond should the United States act on its threat to take over Greenland, as Europe seeks to address U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambitions in the region. A U.S. military seizure of Greenland from a longtime ally, Denmark, would send shock waves through the NATO alliance and deepen the divide between Trump and European leaders. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the subject would be raised at a meeting with the foreign…
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The Swiss government has frozen any assets held in Switzerland by Nicolas Maduro and people close to the Venezuelan president. The order is to ensure that potentially illegally acquired assets cannot be transferred out of Switzerland, the government said in a statement on Monday. The freeze comes into force with immediate effect and will remain valid for four years, until further notice. A total of 37 people are currently affected by the freeze, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in an emailed reply to questions. It declined to given any indication…
The US has halted plans to impose sanctions on China’s Ministry of State Security over a massive cyber espionage campaign in order to avoid derailing the trade truce presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping struck in October. Current and former US officials said plans to impose sanctions on the spy agency — and contractors it is allegedly using to conduct a hacking campaign against US telecom networks called “Salt Typhoon” — were put on hold to avoid undermining the US-China détente. The administration would also not enact major new export…
Christophe Fouquet, the CEO of ASML, a leading Dutch chip equipment manufacturer, has said that the geopolitical landscape indicates the US will persist in exerting pressure to impose stricter restrictions on ASML’s exports to China, according to a report by Reuters. “One of the debates is, is it really about national security? The other debate you start to see … is does it help us or does it hurt us? I see a lot of companies in the US that start to also ask that question,” he said at a…
Package includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, and has drawn an angry response from China. The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China. The state department announced the sales late on Wednesday during a nationally televised address by president Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. US-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump’s…
President Xi Jinping has urged the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to actively align with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), and better integrate into and serve the country’s overall development. Xi made the remarks on Tuesday while meeting separately with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee Ka-chiu and Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Sam Hou-fai, both of whom are on duty visits to Beijing. During his meeting with Lee, Xi heard a report from the Hong Kong SAR chief…
Governments, institutions and rights groups across the world have condemned the conviction of the former pro-democracy media tycoon and British citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong on national security charges. The 78-year-old was found guilty in West Kowloon district court on Monday of one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion. The charges were brought under the city’s punitive national security law , introduced in 2020, and a British colonial-era sedition law that has been used in recent years by authorities. Lai…