Author: Htet Lin

HIGH POINT — A year after a near dead-heat between China and Vietnam for the bragging rights as the top furniture exporter to the United States in 2021, Vietnam reclaimed the top spot it first earned in 2020 and widened the gap as well. Vietnam saw its exports to the United States rise by 7%, reaching nearly $9.7 billion for 2022, while China’s business fell by 7%, dropping it to about $8.5 billion and reducing its share of the overall market to 28%. In 2021, China and Vietnam each accounted for 31% of the U.S. export market and just $17.5…

China has awarded PaukPhaw scholarships to 111 university students of the Naypyitaw State Academy founded by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, the latest in Beijing’s steps to rekindle ties with Myanmar military generals after it distanced itself from the regime following the 2021 coup. Students from 12 different fields of study received 500,000 kyats (around US$ 180) each for the 2022-23 academic year in a ceremony held at the academy on Friday. According to junta media, PaukPhaw (“fraternal”) scholarships will be awarded to a total of 800 university students from East Yangon University, Yangon Education University, Yangon University of Foreign…

Do Thi Kim Loan, general director of Sao Nam Trading and Production Co Ltd, which makes wooden flooring, said the company’s export orders are down 35% to 40% year-on-year this year, as orders from the US market, its major export market, dropped sharply. “With exports to the United States plunging, we seek to export to Canada and accept outsourcing orders from Australian customers. “Australian wood flooring importers ship materials to my company, we carry out the final processing stages, pack and re-export them. This is an adaptation to partially offset the decline in our major market.” Binh Duong-based furniture company…

BANGKOK: Russia’s backing for Myanmar’s military rulers is unacceptable and destabilising, with its supply of weapons helping to fuel a conflict that has become a catastrophe for the country, a top US official said. The United States is concerned about the wider impact of the escalating crisis in Myanmar since a coup in 2021 and advancement of the junta’s ties with Russia, which could seek to establish military bases in the country, US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet told Reuters. “Anyone who is talking to Moscow needs to tell them that their continued military support for the junta is unacceptable.…

During the last four decades, Afghanistan has witnessed a series of destructive wars, and it is a fact that war causes deaths, destroys infrastructures, and severely impacts various aspects of people’s lives. Throughout these times, Afghan teachers have always served the youth of the country, with honesty and dedication. In the last 20 years, while the international community provided generous financial assistance to the country, systemic corruption and mismanagement of the funds by past governments resulted in the waste of resources and pushed Afghan teachers to the edge of poverty. Most recently, the ascent of the Taliban to power exacerbated…

To understand why the warming US–Philippines relationship is China’s own doing, it is helpful to look back to the foreign policy stance of Ferdinand Marcos’ populist predecessor. The Philippines recently granted the United States access to four more military bases, reportedly including at least one strategic location facing Taiwan. It’s an agreement sealed less than a year into the first term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr – a decision compelled by China’s own behaviour. To depict Marcos’ approach towards the United States as a mere reversal of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s China policy would be short-sighted. A more appropriate characterisation of the reset…

The more you help Big Tu – General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense as candidate for Prime Minister chance to become prime minister Only the third round by proposing a draft The Amnesty Act at the end of the alley until the PDRC mob of Mr. Suthep Thaugsuban, who was almost exhausted, did not stick, tens of thousands of thousands of millions of people came out to oppose it. ​ It also makes the Thai Ruam Party create a nation of General Prayut There seemed to be hope immediately after being humiliated. small number of MPs But…

Beijing has developed and approved by President Xi Jinping a plan to build up China’s nuclear potential. It is known that the Chinese intend to bring the total number of nuclear warheads to 900 units. According to the Kyodo agency, the People’s Liberation Army of China will receive up to 550 nuclear warheads by 2027, and 900 by 2035, when the 100th anniversary of the creation of the country’s armed forces will be celebrated. Russia and the United States are the only ones in our time who officially possess a full-fledged nuclear triad – intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic aircraft capable of delivering…

Religious buildings were damaged by an earthquake in Mandalay and Sagaing regions in central Myanmar on Thursday. The earthquake measured 5.2 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was east of Tada-U in Mandalay, according to the junta’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology. The Me Nu Oak-kyaung (brick monastery) was damaged, according to an official from the Department of Archaeology and National Museum. The monastery was built for Nanmadaw Me Nu, the chief queen consort of King Bagyidaw, in 1822. “The Me Nu Oak-kyaung, Yadana Seme and Manaung Yadana pagodas were slightly damaged. We estimate around five percent of those…

KEN Huynh loves Christmas Carols night. The Vietnamese Catholic Community has put on carols nights for many years. It attracted thousands of people each year to the lawns of the community’s centre in Inala, and this year Mr Huynh hoped it would bring the people back together after COVID. He said listening to the carols always lifted his spirits. “Most of our songs are in Vietnamese,” he said. “Occasionally if we have a young group they might sing in English, and we welcome that too. We welcome everyone at Christmas.” The food stalls with authentic Vietnamese food were always popular,…