
EU accepts AliExpress' commitments to catch illegal online products
BRUSSELS :The European Commission on Wednesday said it had accepted commitments made by Alibaba's AliExpress to address concerns over the dissemination of potentially illegal and pronographic materials through its platform.
The commission said it had made binding a series of "wide-ranging commitments" that address concerns related to the platform's systems to monitor and detect illegal products, such as medicines, food supplements, and adult material.
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CNA
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Austrian GP follows Miami in extending F1 contract to 2041
SPIELBERG, Austria :The Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring will stay on the calendar through 2041 after announcing on Sunday a contract extension that equals Miami as the longest in Formula One. The current deal, last extended two years ago, ran to 2030. The circuit in Spielberg is owned by the Austrian energy drinks company that owns Red Bull Racing, and has Dutch four times world champion Max Verstappen as their star driver, and Italy-based Racing Bulls. Miami agreed a 10-year extension to 2041 last month. Behind them, Bahrain has a deal to 2036, Melbourne to 2035, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to at least 2032. "Austria has long been an incredibly special race for Formula One so it's fantastic we have secured the long-term future of a Grand Prix so deeply rooted in the sport's history," said Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali. Verstappen has won a record five times in Spielberg, a 4.3km circuit known for its picturesque backdrop and undulating layout. The late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, whose son Mark is now at the helm, invested heavily in renovating the circuit. "I am delighted that Formula One will remain at the Red Bull Ring for many years to come. I am proud to continue my father's legacy," he said.


Independent Singapore
an hour ago
- Independent Singapore
Singapore urges calm as PM Wong calls for balance in a world caught between superpowers
CHINA: Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's prominent official visit to China, his first sanctioned tour outside Southeast Asia since taking office in May, has underscored Southeast Asia's larger diplomatic plan—an expanding commitment to multilateralism amidst growing ambiguity about U.S. engagement in the region. According to the latest SCMP report, the five-day trip, which coincides with the 35th anniversary of China-Singapore ambassadorial bonds, comes on the heels of a robust electoral triumph for Wong's dominant party. A strategic debut: Wong's China visit signals ASEAN's priorities Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Summer Davos in Tianjin, Wong stressed the value of overhauling old-fashioned global agendas to mirror today's digital and economic realities. He mentioned Singapore's initiatives, along with those of Japan and Australia, to formulate innovative global guidelines for e-commerce. This effort now has the support of more than 70 nations, as a classic example of realistic and logical collaboration among 'like-minded' states. 'This is painstaking work, but there is no alternative,' Wong said. 'A new system doesn't appear by magic—you have to build it.' See also World Bank Growth Forecast Down for Asia Xi's multipolar vision meets ASEAN caution Chinese President Xi Jinping resonated similar demands for fighting 'unilateral bullying' and being on 'the right side of history,' indirectly disparaging U.S. trade protectionism. Nevertheless, specialists continue to be doubtful about whether China will support its pomposity with practical policy changes. Chin-Hao Huang, a political science professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, noted that ASEAN's objectives are to diminish geopolitical aggression, endorse negotiations, and preserve a rules-based order, which aligns with Wong's message. 'To what extent is China going to live up to the expectations of being a responsible stakeholder,' he said. The U.S., Huang added, has shown diverse indicators, hesitating between advocating transnational guidelines and withdrawing into separatist tactics. This contradiction, predominantly under President Donald Trump, has deepened ASEAN's drive to strengthen regional multilateral institutions without over-dependence on any global force. ASEAN hedging in an era of great power rivalry As the U.S. commitment falters, Southeast Asia appears to be silently reassessing, reframing its allegiances, and changing course. A recent Foreign Affairs article contended that nations across the region are 'gradually but discernibly' slanting toward China, even as many profess noninvolvement. Scholars Yuen Foong Khong and Joseph Liow found that while Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand have continued to adopt successful evasion approaches, others, such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, are evidently aligned with China. See also PM Lee: ASEAN may have to choose sides in US-China standoff Benjamin Ho from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies clarified that Wong wanted to prompt China that a firm and unchanging, rules-based structure would benefit Beijing just as much as its neighbors. 'Given the uncertainty of American commitment to the region, countries in the region, including China, have the responsibility to sort of ensure that the multilateral order doesn't vanish or get totally wrecked,' he stated. Wong recapped Singapore's pledge to maintain solid and durable ties with all major powers, including the U.S., EU, India, and Japan. This calculated balancing act, predictors infer, allows Singapore to function as a political conduit in a progressively diverged world. The future of multilateralism: Rhetoric or reality? While Wong's visit produced new commitments to strengthen and develop bilateral collaboration in areas such as AI, green finance, and digital trade, questions remain about the usefulness of what he calls 'flexible multilateralism.' The model highlights flexible, consensus-driven collaboration among eager partners, distinct from the unyielding, obsolete international institutions that have fought in order to advance. See also Carey Island to get mega port However, with the United States withdrawing from free trade treaties like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and even halting WTO subsidies, many ASEAN adherents are turning to China-led efforts, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, to sustain economic impetus. 'The global economic configuration has changed,' Huang said. 'China is now the world's second-largest economy, and Southeast Asia must adjust to reflect that reality, without abandoning the principles that have underpinned its growth and stability.' To that end, Singapore's message is strong and clear-cut—it is not picking sides, but defending and supporting a multilateral future that is adaptable, wide-ranging, and well-matched to a world that is no longer defined exclusively by post-World War II institutions.


CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Commentary: China's AI dragons risk choking each other
TOKYO: It's a story that has played out many times in the history of China's tech sector. Notoriously fierce competition means that whenever a new craze comes along, scores of rivals emerge ready to pounce. Firms are then locked in a race to the bottom when it comes to pricing. The food delivery wars forced out smaller players over the years and led bubble tea – another consumer fad fallen prey – to be sold this month for as little as 1.68 yuan (less than US$0.25). A similar cutthroat market has left behind a trail of zombie cars in the electric vehicle sector. Now the same forces are in full swing in the booming artificial intelligence industry. The stakes could not be higher. The government is betting that the technology will uplift swaths of the economy. Eager to not be left behind, AI startups, including the so-called Little Dragons, are awash with funding, and even the Big Tech companies like Alibaba are going all-in. INTENSE COMPETITION For now, AI firms in China are focused on the tech industry's classic playbook: scaling up userbases and racing for market share. But a key difference this time around is that nobody has actually cracked the key to getting consumers to pay. DeepSeek and open-sourcing breakthroughs have made some headway in cutting down on costs, but eventually something will have to give. It has all undoubtedly spurred a vibrant innovation ecosystem and the widespread adoption of AI applications. But it has also forced players to slash prices and even offer services for free, making the industry's path to monetisation uncertain. The intense competition means the biggest risk for Chinese AI firms may not be Washington's chip curbs or other external factors, but each other. It represents a stark contrast to the dominance of a few large players in Silicon Valley. For example, China's top 10 global AI chatbots generated just US$1 million in revenue from Apple's iOS app store in the last 12 months ending in May, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts wrote in a note last week. Most of this came from Baidu's Ernie Bot, which stopped charging consumers in March. By contrast, OpenAI's ChatGPT bot alone garnered iOS revenue of $669 million in the same period. The dilemma has been simmering for a while. At a tech conference last year, Baidu CEO Robin Li criticised the abundance of AI models in China, complaining of a 'significant waste of resources, particularly computing power'. At the same conference, the CEO of MiniMax, one of the Little Dragons, predicted a major consolidation on the horizon. NOBODY WILLING TO BACK OUT OF THE RAT RACE An industry concentration would help ameliorate some of the pressures. But instead, the release of DeepSeek's market-moving reasoning model earlier this year has only spurred fresh pandemonium. Nobody seems willing to back out of the rat race anytime soon. There were more than 3,700 registered generative AI tools operating in China, according to one analysis of government registration data as of April, and cyberspace administrators were approving roughly 250 to 300 new products per month. Not all will survive. Some firms may be tempted to seek growth abroad. But geopolitical realities may get in the way of making it in overseas markets, where consumers have shown more willingness to pay for AI services. Already, countries from Australia to Italy are restricting the use of DeepSeek or banning it on government devices. There was brief hope that the rise of AI agents would offer a way to differentiate a company's products, but even this has already become a crowded field. This puts the Little Dragons at higher risk. Tech giants like Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent have more resources to play the long game, especially in a sector marked by high costs for chips and computing resources. Official support and insatiable hype remains a strong propellant of China's AI sector. A former top official predicted earlier this week that the nation is on the cusp of generating more than 100 DeepSeek-like breakthroughs. But in the long run, it seems just as likely to produce at least a hundred zombie chatbots or AI agents.