USA | Simon Roughneen

Microsoft expanding in Ireland with 200 new engineer recruits – dpa international

Outside an Amazon office in Dublin (Smon Roughneen)

DUBLIN — US computer and software maker Microsoft is hiring 200 engineers in Ireland and will build a new “engineering hub” to bolster its operations in the country, where it employs 2,500 people. Microsoft Ireland announced on Monday that “recruits will be involved in the development of new cloud services and technology solutions for customers around the globe.” Meeting Microsoft Ireland managing director Cathriona Hallahan at government headquarters in Dublin, Deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) Leo Varadkar labelled the announcement as “really good news” that could set Ireland up “to be a leader in engineering.” Hallahan said the expansion the country “at the centre of innovation,” while Martin Shanahan, chief executive of government investment agency IDA Ireland, said it shows Ireland’s attractiveness to investors “despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.” In contrast to the rest of the economy, Ireland’s large electronics/technology and pharmaceutical/medical sectors have prospered due to the pandemic and related restrictions.

Xi keen on US-led trade pact ditched by Trump – dpa international

DUBLIN — Chinese President Xi Jinping told Asia-Pacific leaders – including US President Donald Trump – on Friday that Beijing will “give positive consideration to the idea of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).” The CPTPP is the revised version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional trade deal promoted by the US during the 2008-16 Obama administration. The US withdrew from the TPP shortly after Trump took office in early 2017, prompting the 11 other signatories to rewrite the agreement, which Britain is also interested in joining. Xi and Trump were taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which is being hosted by Malaysia, but taking place by video link due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Under-fire Chinese app TikTok to set up European hub in Ireland – dpa international

DUBLIN — Video-sharing app TikTok will invest 420 million euros (500 million dollars) in a European data storage centre in Ireland, the company announced on Thursday. The proposed hub will house European user data, according to Roland Cloutier, TikTok’s global chief information security officer, who said the move will strengthen “safeguarding and protection of TikTok user data” in a “state of the art physical and network security defence system.” Cloutier said “hundreds” of jobs will be created – an announcement welcomed by IDA Ireland, the state investment promotion agency, as “good news.” IDA Ireland Chief Executive Officer Martin Shanahan said IikTok’s statement “postions Ireland as an important location in the company’s global operations.” Banned in China, US online giants Facebook, Google and Twitter have substantial operations in low-tax Ireland.

US pilot confirmed dead after fighter jet crashes off British coast – dpa international

DUBLIN — A US Air Force pilot has died after a F-15C Eagle fighter jet crashed into the North Sea off the British coast on Monday morning. After a day-long search, RAF Lakenheath, the southern English base from where the aircraft took off, said on Monday evening that the pilot had been located and “confirmed deceased.” RAF Lakenheath described the death as a “tragic loss for the 48th Fighter Wing community” and issued “deepest condolences” to the pilot’s family and the 493rd Fighter Squadron.

Singapore PM warns of impact on Asia of US-China power rivalry – dpa international

KUALA LUMPUR — Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong fears rising tensions between the US and China could undermine security and economic growth across Asia and called on both sides to pull back from confrontation. Lee flagged his concerns in an article titled “The Endangered Asian Century” published in the US journal Foreign Affairs, which has a history of running watershed essays by policymakers involved international relations.Fearing that smaller Asian countries could be forced to take sides if intransigence grows between the world’s two biggest economies, Lee called for cooperation between the US and China, even as tensions rise over the coronavirus pandemic, trade, the disputed South China Sea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. “The two powers must work out a modus vivendi that will be competitive in some areas without allowing rivalry to poison cooperation in others,” Lee implored.

China called out for “extreme hostility” to religion – UCA News

KUALA LUMPUR — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has singled out China for its “extreme hostility” to religion and accused the ruling Communist Party of demanding “that it all alone be called God.” Pompeo was speaking at the release of the U.S. Government’s 2018 Report on International Religious Freedom on June 21. “In China, the government’s intense persecution of many faiths — Falun Gong practitioners Christians, and Tibetan Buddhists among them — is the norm,” Pompeo said. “The Chinese Communist Party has exhibited extreme hostility to all religious faiths since its founding. The party demands that it alone be called God.”

US defense chief assails China’s “toolkit of coercion” – Asia Times

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, June 1, 2019 (Simon Roughneen)

SINGAPORE — In a highly-anticipated policy address in Singapore, acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan warned today (June 1) China that “behavior that erodes other nations’ sovereignty and sows distrust of China’s intentions must end.”At the same time, America’s top defense official stopped short of demanding countries take sides in the US-China economic and military face-off and said that there is still a chance for the two superpowers to come to terms.“The United States does not want any country in this region to have to choose or forgo positive economic relations with any partner,” Shanahan said, adding in a veiled reference to China that “some in our region are choosing to act contrary to the principles and norms that have benefitted us all.”

Second Trump-Kim summit set for Feb 27-28 in Vietnam – Nikkei Asian Review

SINGAPORE — U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Feb. 27-28. “Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months. If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,” Trump said in his State of the Union address in Washington late Tuesday. “Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one.” Vietnam, which opened up its economy under Doi Moi reforms in the 1980s, has also been touted by the U.S. as a possible model for Pyongyang to follow. The country emerged as a likely host after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited last July, shortly after the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. Pompeo lauded the “once-unimaginable prosperity and partnership” between Vietnam and the U.S., before turning to North Korea.

Disappearance of Saudi Arabian journalist overshadows global financial meeting – Los Angeles Times

NUSA DUA — U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Saturday that he was sticking with plans to attend a government-sponsored investment conference in Saudi Arabia this month despite the uproar over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist, although he said he would reconsider that decision “if more information comes out.” Mnuchin said he was concerned about the fate of Saudi-born journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, last week and has not been seen since. Turkish investigators say Khashoggi, a well-connected Washington Post columnist who had become a critic of the powerful Saudi crown prince, was killed and his body dismembered by an elite Saudi security team. Saudi officials say Khashoggi left the consulate freely, but have not substantiated their claim.

How Beijing is winning control of the South China Sea – Nikkei Asian Review

SINGAPORE — It was tame enough weighed against his usual invective, but by itself Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s account of a conversation he had with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was startling. During a meeting between the two leaders in Beijing in May 2017, the subject turned to whether the Philippines would drill for oil in a part of the South China Sea claimed by both countries. Duterte said he was given a blunt warning by China’s president. “[Xi’s] response to me [was], ‘We’re friends, we don’t want to quarrel with you, we want to maintain the presence of warm relationship, but if you force the issue, we’ll go to war,” Duterte recounted.