The Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan all have their eyes on China in disputed waters

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Top story: Chinese spies are using LinkedIn to target foreign government officials in the United States and elsewhere, luring them to betray their countries for cash. But people in Washington are too focused on cracking down on ByteDance-owned TikTok to pay any heed, despite little evidence to back their claims that the popular short video app is a Chinese spy threat. Click through for the whole thing.

The Philippines reported a “confrontation” with Chinese ships in the disputed South China Sea. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Friday that Chinese vessels carried out “dangerous maneuvers” and “aggressive tactics” near the Philippine-held Second Thomas Shoal during a weeklong patrol from April 18 to 24. The PCG also identified over 100 alleged Chinese vessels over the seven days, including ships from the Chinese militia, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, and the Chinese Coast Guard. China’s Foreign Ministry hit back at the accusations, stating that Philippine vessels had “intruded” into Chinese territorial waters on April 23 as a “premeditated provocation designed to deliberately create a friction.”

Meanwhile, Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. urged for the creation of a “direct communication line” with China over fishing rights in the South China Sea. He instructed the PCG and the Philippine foreign ministry “to put together…a map of these fishing grounds” that will be presented to Beijing. The renewed tensions with China come as the U.S. reiterated support for the Philippines and criticized the “continued infringement” of the Chinese Coast Guard in contested waters, just as Marcos arrived in Washington, D.C. yesterday to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Japan is ramping up its maritime security in an updated draft (in Japanese) of its five-year ocean policy released on Friday, which cited repeated intrusions by Chinese Coast Guard vessels into Japanese territorial waters, as well as the joint naval exercises between China and Russia. “The situation in the ocean around Japan is increasingly tense,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said upon the announcement, as his administration tightens up on national security issues, including a pivotal reform of its longstanding defense policy.

China has continued to encroach on the areas surrounding Taiwan with its biggest deployment since it hosted large-scale military exercises a day after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文 Cài Yīngwén) returned to Taipei from her visit to the U.S. in April. China deployed 38 warplanes and six ships near the island on Friday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said, and has since identified dozens more incursions into its waters and airspace in the following days. Meanwhile, Tsai’s predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou (Mǎ Yīngjiǔ 馬英九), today urged Taiwan and China to “engage in dialogue and seek peace” — as his cozying relationship with Beijing offers a stark contrast to Tsai’s ties with Washington.

Paraguay will remain an ally to Taiwan after ruling party candidate Santiago Peña — who has pledged to maintain his country’s longstanding ties with Taipei — won the presidential election. His victory has diffused fears that a win by his rival, Efraín Alegre, would cause Paraguay to switch diplomatic allegiances to Beijing.

China is preparing to release Fāng Bīn 方斌, one of the citizen journalists who vanished more than three years ago after publicizing early videos of overcrowded hospitals and body bags during the COVID outbreak. At the time, the mysterious disappearances of Fang, as well as Chén Qiūshí 陈秋实 and Lǐ Zéhuá 李泽华, drew widespread concern over the lengths the Chinese government would go to in order to silence any voices that dared to criticize China’s early handling of the pandemic.

China’s manufacturing activity declined in April for the first time since December 2022, with the National Bureau of Statistics reporting a purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of 49.2 in April compared to 51.9 in March. The lower-than-expected PMI comes as yet another sign of China’s complicated economic recovery, as it struggles to boost its economy after COVID-zero.

However, consumer spending has started off well in this year’s May Day holiday that commenced on Saturday: According to People’s Daily, during the first three days of the national holiday, an estimated 160 million people traveled by air, rail, water, and road, an increase of 161.9% year-on-year. Official data indicated that revenues of retail and catering companies have jumped 20% to 40% year-on-year, while electric car manufacturer Li Auto had a great April, selling 25,681 units, its highest ever monthly tally. GAC Aion also had a record-breaking tally of 41,012 units.