Taiwan Simulates Countering a Chinese Maritime Blockade in Tabletop Drill

Taiwanese officials have simulated countering a Chinese Maritime blockade with a tabletop exercise, using a scenario in which China demands that any shipping to the island first get Beijing's approval and also boards or seizes ships.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and regularly sends its military around the island.

However, Taiwan's government has become more wary of other forms of non-military pressure that Beijing could exert to try to control Taipei, like using its Coast Guard to try to enforce legal jurisdiction over shipping to the island. This month, China's Coast Guard mounted what it said was a "law enforcement" patrol off Taiwan's East Coast, saying it inspected shipping.

Reference Sources

1. usnews - Taiwan Simulates Countering a Chinese Maritime Blockade in Tabletop Drill
2. apnews - China defends patrols east of Taiwan after 3 European nations raise alarm

South Korea plans new chip cluster as AI boom strains capacity

South Korea is expected to unveil plans for a new Chipmaking cluster on Monday, as a senior Presidential adviser said the country needs to quickly ramp up production capacity to remain competitive amid the artificial intelligence boom.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the country's two major chipmakers, both operate massive facilities south of Seoul in satellite cities called Yongin, Icheon, and Pyeongtaek.

Those facilities have grown rapidly in recent years to meet AI-fueled demand for chips, straining local supplies of water and electricity and filling most available land.

Kim Yong-Beom, a senior policy adviser to the President, said chipmakers have no choice but to expand production into other regions. Along with building new fabs, Kim said that the AI boom could make it necessary for Samsung and SK Hynix to speed up construction of production facilities by 10 years to have them completed by 2034 or 2035.

Kim flagged 2044 as the year SK Hynix had set as the year it aimed to complete its chip cluster in the city of Yongin.

The plans for a Public-Private partnership to construct new semiconductor clusters in Chungcheong province, roughly 90 minutes south of Seoul, and Jeolla province in the country's Southwest will be announced at the Presidential office on Monday, according to local media reports.

Reference Sources

1. nikkei - South Korea plans new chip cluster as AI boom strains capacity

Apple raises prices on MacBook and iPad due to memory crunch, hints at more to come

Apple has raised prices for some Mac computers and iPad tablets due to higher memory and storage chip costs.

The company said it had so far absorbed the higher costs to shield customers but had now reached a point where it needed to begin raising prices on a number of products, including Macs and iPads. Updated prices on Apple's US website show that the starting price of the MacBook Neo has risen from US$ 599 to US$ 699.

The 13-Inch MacBook Air with 512 GB of storage now starts at US$ 1,299, up from US$ 1,099.

For iPads, the starting price of the Neo, its lowest-priced laptop aimed at winning market share from affordable Windows and Chromebook laptops, would take the starting price of the Neo from $599 to $699 months after launch.

The increase shows even the world's most valuable consumer electronics company, with supply chain relationships that are the envy of the industry, is not immune to a memory price surge that has dulled the outlook for Smartphone and PC sales.

Reference Sources

1. bernama - Apple Raises Prices Of Some Macs, Ipads Amid Surging Memory Chip Costs
2. thestarmy - Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket
3. telegraph - Apple raises iPad and MacBook prices as AI pushes up costs
4. ft - Apple increases MacBook and iPad prices by 20%
5. cnbc - Apple raises prices on MacBook and iPad due to memory crunch, hints at more to come

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.  

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Uploaded by Ian Huang