‘Huge egos are in play’: behind the firing and rehiring of OpenAI’s Sam Altman

Blake Montgomery

GUARDIAN
Thu, November 23, 2023

Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

LONG READ

OpenAI’s messy firing and rehiring of its powerful chief executive this week shocked the tech world. But the power struggle has implications beyond the company’s boardroom, AI experts said. It throws into relief the greenness of the AI industry and the strong desire in Silicon Valley to be first, and raises urgent questions about the safety of the technology.

Related: OpenAI ‘was working on advanced model so powerful it alarmed staff’

“The AI that we’re looking at now is immature. There are no standards, no professional body, no certifications. Everybody figures out how to do it, figures out their own internal norms,” said Rayid Ghani, a professor of machine learning and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. “The AI that gets built relies on a handful of people who built it, and the impact of these handfuls of people is disproportionate.”

The tussle between Sam Altman and OpenAI’s board of directors began on Friday with the unexpected announcement that the board had ousted Altman as CEO for being “not consistently candid in his communications with the board”.

The blogpost appeared with little warning, even to OpenAI’s minority owner Microsoft, which has invested about $13bn in the startup.

The board appointed an interim CEO, Mira Murati, then the chief technology officer of OpenAI, but by Sunday had tapped another, the former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Altman returned to the startup’s headquarters for negotiations the same day; that evening, Microsoft announced it had hired him to lead a new artificial intelligence unit.

On Monday, more than 95% of OpenAI’s roughly 750 employees signed an open letter asserting they would quit unless Altman were reinstated; signatories included Murati and the man many believed was the architect of Altman’s ouster, OpenAI’s co-founder and chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever.

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who many believe was behind Altman’s ouster, at a Ted AI conference in San Francisco on 17 October. 

Photograph: Glenn Chapman/AFP/Getty Images

By Wednesday, Altman was CEO once again. OpenAI’s board had been reconstituted without Altman and the company president, Greg Brockman, who had quit in solidarity but also was rehired, and without two members who had voted to fire them both.

In the absence of substantive regulation of the companies making AI, the foibles and idiosyncrasies of its creators take on outsized importance.

Asked what OpenAI’s saga could mean for any upcoming AI regulation, the United Kingdom’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said in a statement: “Because this is a commercial decision, it’s not something for DSIT to comment on.” In the US, the White House also did not provide comment. Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Josh Hawley of Missouri, chairs of the US Senate subcommittee that oversaw Altman’s testimony earlier this year, did not respond to requests for comment; Blumenthal and Hawley have proposed a bipartisan AI bill “to establish guardrails”.

In a more mature sector, regulations would insulate consumers and consumer-facing products from the fights among the people at the top, Ghani said. The individual makers of AI would not be so consequential, and their spats would affect the public less.

“It’s too risky to rely on one person to be the spokesperson for AI, especially if that person is responsible for building. It shouldn’t be self-regulated. When has that ever worked? We don’t have self-regulation in anything that is important, why would we do it here?” he asked.

The political battle over AI

The struggle at OpenAI also highlighted a lack of transparency into decision-making at the company. The development of cutting-edge AI rests in the hands of a small, secretive cadre that operates behind closed doors.

At the moment, there’s no public body running tests of programs like ChatGPT, and companies aren’t transparent about updates 

Rayid Ghani of Carnegie Mellon University

“We have no idea how a staff change at OpenAI would change the nature of ChatGPT or Dall-E,” said Ghani. At the moment, there’s no public body running tests of programs like ChatGPT, and companies aren’t transparent about updates. Compare that to an iPhone or Android’s software updates, which list the changes and fixes coming to the software of the device you hold in your hand.

“Right now, we don’t have a public way of doing quality control. Each organization will do that for their own use cases,” he said. “But we need a way to continuously run tests on things like ChatGPT and monitor the results so as to profile the results for people and make it lower risk. If we had such a tool, the company would be less critical. Our only hope is that the people building it know what they’re doing.”

Paul Barrett, the deputy director of the center for business and human rights at New York University’s business school, agreed, calling for regulation that would require AI makers to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of their products the way pharmaceutical companies do.

“The fight for control of OpenAI provides a valuable reminder of the volatility within this relatively immature branch of the digital industry and the danger that crucial decisions about how to safeguard artificial intelligence systems may be influenced by corporate power struggles. Huge amounts of money – and huge egos – are in play. Judgments about when unpredictable AI systems are safe to be released to the public should not be governed by these factors,” he said.

Acceleration v deceleration

The split between Altman and the board at least partly seemed to fall along ideological lines, with Altman and Brockman in a camp known as “accelerationists” – people who believe AI should be deployed as quickly as possible – and “decelerationists” – people who believe it should be developed more slowly and with stronger guardrails. With Altman’s return, the former group takes the spoils.

“The people who seem to have won out in this case are the accelerationists,” said Sarah Kreps, a Cornell professor of government and the director of the Tech Policy Institute in the university’s school of public policy.

Kreps said we may see a reborn OpenAI that fully subscribes to the Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s “move fast and break things” mantra. Employees voted with their feet in the debate between moving more quickly or more carefully, she noted.

“What we’ll see is full steam ahead on AI research going forward. Then the question becomes, is it going to be totally unsafe, or will it have trials and errors? OpenAI may follow the Facebook model of moving quickly and realizing that the product is not always compatible with societal good,” she said.

What’s accelerating the AI arms race among OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants, Kreps said, is vast amounts of capital and the burning desire to be first. If one company doesn’t make a certain discovery, another will – and fast. That leads to less caution.

The Pioneer Building, OpenAI’s headquarters, in San Francisco, California. Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA

“The former leadership of OpenAI has said all the right things about being cognizant of the risk, but as more money has poured into AI, the more incentive there is to move quickly and be less mindful of those risks,” she said.

Full speed ahead

The Silicon Valley wrestling match has called into question the future of the prominent startup’s business and its flagship product, ChatGPT. Altman had been on a world tour as an emissary for AI in the preceding weeks. He had spoken to Joe Biden, China’s Xi Jinping and other diplomats just days before at the Apec conference in San Francisco. Two weeks before, he had debuted the capability for developers to build their own versions of ChatGPT at a splashy demo day that featured the Microsoft chief executive, Satya Nadella, who has formed a strong partnership with Altman and cast his company’s lot with the younger man.

How could nations, strategic partners and customers trust OpenAI, though, if its own rulers would throw it into such disarray?

“The fact that the board hasn’t given a clear statement on its reasons for firing Altman, even to the CEO that the board itself hired, looks very bad,” said Derek Leben, a professor of ethics at Carnegie Mellon’s business school. Altman, Leben said, came out the winner in the public relations war, the protagonist in the story. Kreps agreed.

In favor of decelerationists, Leben said, is that this saga proved they are serious about their concerns, if ham-fisted in their expression. AI skeptics have criticized Altman and others for prophesying doom-by-AI in the future, arguing such concerns overlook real harms AI does in the present day and only aggrandize AI’s makers.

The fact that people are willing to burn down the company suggests that they’re not just using safety as a smokescreen for an ulterior motive

Derek Leben of Carnegie Mellon

“The fact that people are willing to burn down the company suggests that they’re not just using safety as a smokescreen for an ulterior motive. They’re being sincere when they say they’re willing to shut down the company to prevent bad outcomes,” he said.

One thing OpenAI’s succession war will not do is slow down the development of AI, the experts agreed.

“I’m less concerned for the safety of AI. I think AI will be safe, for better or for worse. I’m worried for the people who have to use it,” said Ghani.

Johana Bhuiyan contributed reporting

Taiwan’s cat warrior to the rescue?

Hsiao Bi-khim’s impressive record might help save Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party from electoral defeat


ANTONIA FINNANE TAIPEI 24 NOVEMBER 2023 2006 WORDS

Hsiao Bi-kim during a news conference on Monday after she was nominated as vice-presidential candidate. Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo

Last Sunday night Taiwan’s representative in Washington, Hsiao Bi-Khim, arrived back home from San Francisco. Ninety-two-year-old microchip magnate Morris Chang was on the same flight, fresh from completing his duties as Taiwan’s envoy at APEC. With all eyes on Chang, Hsiao was able to slip quietly past the gathered reporters without having to smile for the cameras. The following day she resigned from her Washington post to take on the role of running mate for vice-president Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, in the 2024 general election.

In an election noted for the number of male candidates promising to take on a female running mate, Hsiao was not the first woman to make an appearance in this role. In September, independent presidential candidate Terry Gou, billionaire founder of Foxconn, made headlines with his choice of running mate: actress and motivational speaker Tammy Lai, familiar to Taiwanese Netflix subscibers as the fictional presidential candidate in the series Wave Makers. Gou has withdrawn from the race but Terry and Tammy posters can still be seen on buses all over Taipei.

In contrast to Tammy Lai, Hsiao Bi-khim’s political experience is firmly grounded in Taiwanese party politics. She first came to prominence in 1999, when at the age of twenty-seven she was invited to serve as international affairs director for the DPP. Appearing on television for the first of many such interviews, she explained who she was: born in Japan in 1971 to a Taiwanese father and American mother, educated in the United States, Taiwanese in her heart. In transliterating her personal name into English, she uses the Taiwanese pronunciation, Bi-khim, not the Mandarin.

Her career unfolded within the occasionally uncomfortable embrace of the DDP. She grew up under martial law in Taiwan, before multi-party elections were a possibility, and left for the United States in 1986, the very year the DPP was founded. By the time she returned as an adult, Taiwan was in transition to democracy and the DPP was beginning to challenge the ascendancy of the ruling Kuomintang, or KMT.

Hsiao was working for DPP leader Chen Shui-bian in 2000 when he inflicted on the KMT its first crushing defeat in a general election. She surrendered her American citizenship that same year in order to qualify for public office. The following year, aged thirty, she was herself elected to the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament. She has now spent close to quarter of a century working in political or para-political roles in or for Taiwan.

This second homecoming comes at a crucial time in the political cycle. The 2024 election is less than two months away. President Tsai Ing-wen, who brought the DPP back to power in 2016, has completed two terms of office and by the terms of the constitution is ineligible to stand again. Next May she will hand over to whoever wins the 13 January election. The DPP will be hoping that it is Lai Ching-te, and so far opinion polls have him in the lead.

Although the lead is steady, it is slim, and popular sentiment favours a change of government. If Taiwan had a two-party preferred system of voting, Lai would be staring at defeat. Last week that possibility seemed closer to realisation when the dynamic new Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP, signed an agreement with the KMT to run a unity ticket. In the lead-up to the agreement, support for Lai dropped to well below the 35 per cent “safety bar.” This marriage of convenience quickly collapsed, but with Lai’s approval ratings so low, even a victory in the presidential election would mean political chaos if a correspondingly low number of DPP legislators were to be returned.

Under these circumstances, Hsiao Bi-khim’s appearance at Lai’s side on Monday could not have been better timed. For the preceding five days, the media had been in a frenzy first over the deal between the KMT and the TPP and then over its spectacular collapse. For longer still, the potential deal and its brokers had dominated the local political news. The DPP’s loss of visibility over this period contributed to its decline in opinion polls. With the deal in shambles, the sight of the high-achieving and well-regarded Hsiao standing alongside the current vice-president should have been reassuring to more than simply DPP supporters. That has yet to show in the polls.

Disaffection with the DPP government in the electorate is attributable to Taiwan’s economic slowdown. Projected growth this year is the lowest in eight years — since Tsai Ing-wen took office, that is. Outside an enviable high-tech industry, manufacturing on the island is disappearing. Salaries are stagnant and prices are rising. The workforce is ageing. Youth unemployment is high and job security low. A young male “precariat” is flocking to alternative parties.

Adding to the malaise are sanctions by China, including bans on tourism to the island and imports of Taiwanese produce, which are slated home by critics government to the deterioration of relations with China under Tsai Ing-wen. Markets responded positively to news of the opposition unity ticket — while it persisted — last week.

If the economy were booming, other things would matter less. As it is, opposition parties have found plenty of other targets for attack: the government’s handling of Covid; corruption on the part of legislators; incidents of sexual harassment and their cover-up (not limited to the DPP but particularly damaging to it as the party in office); food safety; energy security; sleeping with the enemy; and even the shelf life of eggs.

Hsiao, who is close to the current president as well as the wannabe future one, can’t avoid being associated with the DPP’s failures, such as they are. But she has a strong record as a legislator and political campaigner, and strong ties to the south and east, important factors in a country where the capital and much of the population are in the north. She grew up in Tainan, where her father served as pastor in the Presbyterian church. Between 2012 and 2020 she was the DPP representative in Hualien, on the east coast, once a “deep blue” KMT stronghold. Hsiao is credited with weakening the KMT’s grip there in 2012 and breaking it in 2016, when she won the seat.

In the Chinese press she stands accused of serving American rather than Taiwanese interests: the expression “running dog of the Americans,” so often used in Mao’s time, has been used of her. But in a country with a favourable view of the United States, her native-level English, American heritage and strong performance as Taiwan’s representative in Washington all count in her favour. Her commitment to Taiwan is unassailable. She speaks Taiwanese as well as English and Mandarin.

True to her Presbyterian upbringing (Presbyterian being synonymous with progressivism in Taiwan), she stands for progressive politics. Taiwanese society is socially conservative and in a referendum in 2018 a majority voted against marriage reform. When the legislature nonetheless passed the reform bill, Hsiao didn’t brush over the contradiction but pointed to the responsibility of a government to all its citizens. “We need to take responsibility for the referendum last year,” she declared, “and we need to take responsibility for people who have suffered from incomplete laws or faced discrimination.”

If she is more progressive than the majority of her compatriots on social issues, Hsiao is at one with them on the issue of Taiwanese sovereignty. A majority of people in Taiwan now identify as Taiwanese rather than as hybrid Chinese–Taiwanese and hostility to China is deep-seated among DPP supporters.

It follows that China regards the DPP in general as anathema. As de facto ambassador in the United States, Hsiao was subject to vitriolic attacks in the Chinese media. News of her pending appointment as presidential running mate was criticised as portending a phenomenon of “independence on top of independence” in Taiwanese politics. Ever responsive to signals from China, the KMT called the announcement a recipe for disaster, bringing “troubles at home, perils abroad.”

It is difficult to tell how greatly China features as a factor in the minds of electors. Taiwanese have virtually no appetite for unification under the Chinese Communist Party but they have lived for a long time with the threat of forced unification hanging over their heads. It is impossible not to be struck by a certain sangfroid in the attitudes of people on the street. As they will point out, they have no means of preventing a war. While they wait for the threat either to eventuate or to evaporate, they want to be able to buy fresh eggs, see a doctor when they need to, and house their families if they have them. The birth rate in Taiwan has itself become a political issue, with rival candidates offering rival policies to get women to have more babies (KMT) or get more women to have babies (TPP).

The dangers of provocation posed by the DPP’s leaning towards independence nonetheless make cross-strait relations an obvious issue for opposition parties. Accordingly, KMT campaign posters are running the slogan “We don’t want war; peace on two shores.” Both the KMT and the TPP have promised to resurrect the Cross Straits Services Agreement in the interests both of boosting the economy and easing political tensions. This very agreement inspired a massive protest in 2014 and helped to bring down the KMT government in 2016. During the 2014 student occupation of the Legislative Yuan, Hsiao Bi-khim was one of the legislators who supported the protestors by keeping watch at the premises. But times have changed since then, as everyone knows. One of the leaders of the 2014 protest is now himself running for the TPP.

Hsiao won’t be able to avoid talking about cross-strait relations in the lead-up up to the election. At an international media conference on Thursday she had to field a barrage of questions on exactly this issue. Contrary to statements from China, however, she is not one of the independence diehards of the DPP. To the extent that Lai is regarded as leaning just a bit too far in that direction, Hsiao may help give balance to his campaign and claw back some middle ground. This would be true to her established image as a “cat warrior” who — in contrast to China’s “wolf diplomacy” — treads a delicate line between self-determination and confrontation.

Election campaigns in Taiwan are restricted by law to a period of twenty-eight days counting backwards from the eve of the election day. The pre-campaign has been rumbling on for most of this year, pending the formal registration of candidates on or before Friday 24 November. Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim registered on Tuesday.

On Wednesday and Thursday this week it still seemed possible that the KMT and TPP would patch things up, but the chance was faint. TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je had said publicly that he hates three things: “mosquitoes, cockroaches, and the KMT.” Granted that he was in a bad temper, it was a difficult statement to unsay. A poll taken in the middle of the week showed, moreover, that the gap between the DPP and KMT had narrowed to less than one percentage point, reducing the KMT’s incentive to seek an alliance.

On Friday morning, all speculation ended when separate TPP and KMT tickets were announced. Ko Wen-je would team with TPP legislator Wu Hsin-yeh — a woman, as he had promised. The KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih had also said he provisionally favoured a woman as running mate, but in the end he came up with senior party figure, Jaw Shaw-kong. If the mid-week poll is right, the contest will boil down, again, to a two-party race between the DPP’s Lai-Hsiao team and the KMT’s Hou-Jaw.

Seventy-two years old, the son of a KMT soldier and an advocate of unification, Jaw could hardly provide a starker contrast to Hsiao Bi-khim. More clearly than the presidential candidates themselves, the two symbolise the different choices facing the electorate in January. •



ANTONIA FINNANE is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne currently resident in Taipei.

Majority of Canadians want ‘neutral’ or no role in Israel-Hamas conflict: Ipsos

By Saba Aziz Global News
Posted November 24, 2023 

During question period on Thursday, Mike Morrice, the Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre, criticized the Liberal government for not doing enough to ensure the release of hostages during the delay of the Israel-Hamas deal. “They can't even seem to bring themselves to say the words cease-fire,” Morrice told the house. “We welcome humanitarian pause that will be happening starting tomorrow,” Joly said, and added, “We'll continue to support the fact that Canadians need to get out of Gaza.”

Most Canadians believe that Canada should play a neutral role or completely stay out of the Israel-Hamas conflict, now in its second month, new polling suggests.

Four in 10 (41 per cent) of Canadians said in an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and released Friday that the country should be a “neutral mediator” in the conflict. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) said that Canada should not be involved at all.

While 18 per cent said Canada should support Israel, a smaller proportion at nine percent said the country should support the Palestinians.

The polling was done between Nov. 14 and 16, before the announcement of a temporary ceasefire agreed upon by Israel and Hamas and which is expected to take effect Friday. Under the terms of the deal, both sides have agreed to a four-day halt in hostilities and for Hamas to release 50 Israeli hostages taken in the deadly Oct. 7 attack in exchange for prisoners held in Israel.

Darrell Bricker, global CEO of Ipsos public affairs, said the polling indicates “a lot of sympathy” for the hostages and for the people who are suffering because of the conflict.

4 days is a Band-Aid on a huge gaping open wound’: temporary Israel-Hamas ceasefire sparks anger

“I think Canadians are not looking at this through the lens of geopolitics,” Bricker said in an interview with Global News.

“They’re looking at this through the lens of a humanitarian crisis and regardless of how we got here, there’s a lot of suffering that’s going on and that’s what really has caught Canadians’ attention.”

Israeli officials say the Oct. 7 attack killed 1,200 people in Israel. The Hamas-run Gaza health authorities say 13,300 people have been killed in Gaza from retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

There are growing concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as the fate of the roughly 250 hostages taken from Israel by Hamas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has repeatedly been calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting, urged the Israeli government last week to exercise “maximum restraint” in its military operations in Gaza and around the territory’s largest hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that Israel works to minimize civilian casualties but Hamas embeds itself in the civilian population.

Ottawa has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, though, which a majority of Canadians (81 per cent) in the Ipsos poll said should be implemented immediately.

Netanyahu sharply responds to Trudeau over Israel comments ahead of APEC

Almost 70 per cent of the respondents believed there should be a ceasefire but with the caveat that Hamas releases the hostages.

Most Canadians (87 per cent) also ssaid civilians in Gaza should be allowed to flee to a safe country.

“(Canadians) want people to be able to get out of danger, they want those hostages to be released and they want peace to resume,” Bricker said.

A majority of the population (84 per cent) is concerned that the conflict could escalate more broadly in the region, the Ipsos poll showed.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between Nov. 14 and 16, 2023, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18-plus was interviewed. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18-plus been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to, coverage error and measurement error.

— with files from The Associated Press

South African lawmakers vote in favor of closing Israel's embassy and cutting diplomatic ties

ALL COUNTRIES WANTING A CEASEFIRE SHOULD DO THIS

MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Updated Tue, November 21, 2023 



Pro-Palestinian supporters demonstrate at the entrance to the Israeli embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. Israel has recalled its ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, back to Jerusalem “for consultations” ahead of a parliamentary vote in the African country to decide the fate of the Israeli embassy. The two countries’ diplomatic relations have recently witnessed a rise in tensions over the Israeli war on Gaza which has killed thousands of people. 

(AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A majority of South African lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of a motion calling for the closure of the Israeli embassy and the cutting of diplomatic ties until Israel agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza.

The vote on the motion supported by the ruling African National Congress party came as President Cyril Ramaphosa in a meeting with other world leaders accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza with its military offensive in the beseiged territory in search of its Hamas militant rulers.

The motion tabled by the opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters received the support of 248 parliament members while 91 lawmakers opposed it.

The vote came after Israel's foreign ministry said it had recalled its ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, back to Jerusalem “for consultations."

The two countries’ diplomatic relations have witnessed a rise in tensions over the war in Gaza. Ramaphosa previously said his country believes Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed.

South Africa announced last week that it had referred what it called Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza to the International Criminal Court for an investigation. Its cabinet has called on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Earlier this month, South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel and withdrew all its diplomatic staff.

Ramaphosa's new comments Tuesday came in a virtual meeting of BRICS countries attended by leaders of the bloc including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Israel-Hamas war began after the Palestinian militant group's surprise attacks on Israel on Oct.7 killed about 1,200 people. Israel's retaliatory strikes on Gaza have killed more than 12,700 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

South African leader accuses Israel of war crimes. Putin and Xi strike more cautious note at meeting

GERALD IMRAY
Updated Tue, November 21, 2023



South Africa BRICS Israel Palestinians
In this image made from video supplied by South Africa's Presidency, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses BRICS leaders for a virtual meeting of leaders of developing countries Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Ramaphosa accused Israel of war crimes, condemned Hamas for its attack on Israeli civilians that sparked the conflict and said both sides were guilty of violating international law.

 (South Africa Presidency via AP Photo)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accused Israel of war crimes and acts “tantamount to genocide” in Gaza during a virtual meeting Tuesday of leaders of developing countries, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.

Ramaphosa also condemned Hamas for its attack on Israeli civilians that sparked the war in Gaza and said both sides were guilty of violating international law.

“The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by Israel is a war crime,” Ramaphosa said at the start of the meeting of leaders and top diplomats from the BRICS bloc of countries. “The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide.”

“In its attacks on civilians and by taking hostages, Hamas has also violated international law and must be held accountable for these actions,” Ramaphosa said.

Putin and Xi struck more cautious notes, calling for a cease-fire and the release of civilian hostages but not launching the same level of criticism of either side as Ramaphosa.

Also joining the meeting were leaders and officials from fellow BRICS members Brazil and India, and from Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, which are set to join the bloc in January.

Ramaphosa chaired the “extraordinary meeting” and made the opening remarks because of South Africa's position as current chair of BRICS.

Putin said there was a “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza and it was “shocking to watch how surgeries are performed on children without anesthesia." He again blamed the crisis on what he called failed diplomacy by the United States.

“All these events, in fact, are a direct consequence of the U.S. desire to monopolize mediation functions in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement," Putin said while appearing on teleconference from the Kremlin. He called for a cease-fire in Gaza, the freeing of hostages and the evacuation of civilians from the Gaza Strip.

Putin's comments were in line with Russia's careful approach to the Israel-Hamas war, which may present an opportunity for it to advance its role as a global power broker. Putin proposed last month that Moscow could mediate in the conflict due to its relationships with both Israel and the Palestinians. He said Tuesday that the BRICS bloc could play “a key role” in finding a political settlement.

Putin has condemned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on towns in southern Israel that led to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, now in its seventh week, while warning Israel over its response and against blockading the Gaza Strip.

More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and minors, and more than 2,700 others are missing and believed to be buried under rubble, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says it has been unable to update its count since Nov. 11 because of the health sector’s collapse.

Gaza health officials say the toll has risen sharply since, and hospitals continue to report deaths from daily strikes, often dozens at a time.

The Health Ministry in the West Bank last reported a toll of 13,300 but stopped providing its own count Tuesday without giving a reason. Because of that, and because officials there declined to explain in detail how they tracked deaths after Nov. 11, the AP decided to stop reporting its count.

The Health Ministry toll does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants but has not provided evidence for its count.

Russia and China are leading voices in BRICS, which has largely cast itself in recent years as standing against the perceived dominance of the West in global affairs. But it has struggled to adopt united policies or positions on many issues because of the differing priorities of the five current members.

The meeting came a day after China’s top diplomat hosted the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia in Beijing, their first stop on a tour of U.N. Security Council permanent members. That underlined China’s longstanding support for the Palestinians and its growing geopolitical influence.

India, which also wants to be seen as a leader of the developing world, has long walked a tightrope between Israel and the Palestinians and historically has close ties to both.

South Africa has been fiercely critical of Israel over the war in Gaza and had already filed a request with the International Criminal Court to investigate it over alleged war crimes. South Africa has for years compared Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own past apartheid regime of racial segregation.

Ramaphosa called for the International Criminal Court to “urgently” initiate prosecutions against those responsible for what he termed war crimes on both sides and said South Africa also wants to see a cease-fire and the deployment of a U.N. force to monitor the cease-fire.

Later Tuesday, a large majority of South African lawmakers voted in favor of a motion to shut down the Israeli Embassy and cut diplomatic ties with Israel until it agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza. Israel had recalled its ambassador for consultations before the vote took place.

___

AP Israel-Hamas war coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war


How Israel-South Africa Relations Fell Apart Over Gaza

Armani Syed

TIME
Tue, November 21, 2023 

Supporters during the ANC KZN Palestinian Solidarity March on Oct. 26, 2023 in Durban, South Africa. The group is standing in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against Israeli and over the war in the Gaza Strip.

 Credit - Darren Stewart—Gallo Images / Getty Images

Israel has recalled its ambassador, Eliav Belotserkovsky, to South Africa “for consultations,” as the African nation prepares to host a summit for world leaders and a vote on whether to shut down its Israeli embassy and sever diplomatic ties.

Belotserkovsky has been called to Jerusalem amid South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s criticism of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, according to Israel’s foreign ministry. “Following the latest South African statements, the Ambassador of Israel to Pretoria has been recalled to Jerusalem for consultations,” Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs posted late Monday on X.

South Africa has been vocal in reprimanding Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and filed a referral to the International Criminal Court, seeking an investigations into what Ramaphosa has described as Israel’s “war crimes” and “tantamount to genocide.”

Earlier in November, South Africa also recalled its ambassador to Israel and withdrew its diplomatic presence on the ground.

“Given that much of the global community is witnessing the commission of these crimes in real time, including statements of genocidal intent by many Israeli leaders, we expect that warrants of arrest for these leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, should be issued shortly,” South African minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, also told reporters on Monday.

South African diplomats have long identified likeness between life for Palestinians under occupation and those who lived under apartheid, the legal system for racial separation in South Africa from 1948 until 1994.

In July 2022, over a year before Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, South African diplomat Nalendi Pandor said, “For many South Africans, the narrative of the Palestinian people's struggle does evoke experiences of our own history of racial segregation and oppression."

Israel began striking the Palestinian enclave in response to Hamas attacks, in which 1,200 were killed and around 240 taken hostage.. Since then, at least 13,000 Gazans have died, among them thousands of children, U.N. workers, and journalists. At least 1.4 million people of Gaza’s 2.2 million population have been displaced by the war.

Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress party, among other smaller parties, will support a motion brought about by leftist opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters to close Israel’s embassy in the nation. South Africa’s parliament is set to vote on the matter Tuesday, which would take effect until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and further negotiations carried out by the U.N.

The move comes just as South Africa prepares to host a virtual summit with the BRICS, an economic bloc of nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to discuss Israel’s war on Gaza. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, will also join the group in January.

Among the leaders attending are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has expressed his support for Palestinians and welcomed diplomats from Arab and Muslim nations in Beijing Monday.
More From TIME

Russia and India have taken a strategic approach to the conflict, keeping in mind longer term aims.

Putin has been accused of using the conflict to his political advantage, placing the blame with the U.S. "I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failed policy in the Middle East of the United States, which tried to monopolize the settlement process," Putin told Iraq's prime minister on Oct. 10. He offered condolences to Israel on the loss of lives six days after the attack, but said a Hamas delegation was in Moscow for talks on Oct. 17.

At the time of the Hamas attacks, Modi expressed “complete solidarity” with Israel. While Modi has since “strongly condemned” civilian deaths in the war, India also abstained from a U.N. assembly vote on a “humanitarian truce” on Oct. 27.

Ramaphosa is set to chair a meeting where leaders will deliver statements on Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, after which a joint statement will likely follow.

Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com.

South Africa to chair emergency BRICS summit on Gaza crisis

Melissa Chemam with RFI
Tue, November 21, 2023 

AP - Gianluigi Guercia

Tuesday's virtual meeting will be hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the hope of drawing up a common response to the Israel - Hamas conflict, now entering its seventh week.

"Leaders of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - will gather [under the South African presidency] for an emergency virtual meeting, inviting the leaders of the [new] BRICS countries - Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates," the South African president’s office said in a statement.

Hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the members will discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Gaza Strip.

South Africa said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres would take part in the virtual meeting, and that it was expected to end with a joint statement.

The meeting comes days after leaders from the APEC group, which includes China and the United States, failed to agree on a joint response to the Israel - Hamas war.
Criticism

China's President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both confirmed that they will take part in the virtual summit.

Russia has maintained historically close ties with both Israel and the Palestinians, and Putin has said Russia could play a mediating role.

Putin has criticised the West for allegedly stoking tensions in the region and Israel for its conduct in the conflict.

South Africa calls for UN force to protect civilians in Gaza

China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinians and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Read more on RFI English

 

Advancing Indigenous Economic and Trade Priorities

BY CHUCK HOSKIN JR 

 

NOVEMBER 19, 2023

Guest Opinion. As the largest Indigenous nation in the United States with more than 460,000 citizens, Cherokees can be found all across the globe. Cherokee Nation Businesses has global reach, too, with trading partners and business operations on six continents. At the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in California, I spoke about the unique role that Cherokee Nation and other Indigenous peoples play in the global economy.

I was honored to speak at this international gathering with a specific focus on Indigenous communities. At the summit, I was able to meet with world leaders and advocate for improving Indigenous participation in global economic growth. It also provided an opportunity to engage with Indigenous leaders from APEC member countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada for cultural exchange and learning best practices from one another.

Together, we are dispelling myths, such as the perception that Indigenous communities are stewards of the environment and nothing more. While conservation is crucial and Native peoples have a wealth of knowledge on sustainability, the world must recognize our capacity to advance wealth-building for our citizens, health care access, educational options, expanded connectivity, cultural preservation, and more.

Cherokees have always creatively pursued economic partnerships, from our first trade treaties signed with Europeans in the 1600s to our modern international business operations with an economic impact topping $3 billion. We do all this while maintaining a steadfast commitment to our sovereignty, self-determination, and cultural traditions.

We have great potential to do even more and to invest those profits back into our reservation in northeast Oklahoma. Within the Cherokee Nation Reservation are important free trade zones (FTZs) tied to the Port of Catoosa and Port of Muskogee, where our region exchanges goods with the entire world.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

However, navigating international trade is made more difficult by uncertainty around what rights are reserved for Indigenous peoples. Native communities, including the Cherokee Nation, have struggled with a legacy of underinvestment and a lack of clarity for how we fit within international legal frameworks. Too often, Indigenous voices are left out of the intricate negotiations of international trade agreements. At the APEC Summit, we made recommendations for more inclusive trade policies that integrate Indigenous perspectives and needs.

The summit was a great opportunity to make progress on these issues. As we continue to strengthen our government-to-government relationship with the United States and call on the federal government to meet its trust and treaty obligations, Cherokee Nation is stepping into a greater role on the international stage.

Inspired by the Cherokee historical journey from simple bartering to modern international commerce, we are lifting up the economic hopes of Indigenous peoples everywhere.

Chuck Hoskin, Jr. is the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

(Photo/Courtesy of the Cherokee Nation)

 

Philippines considers deploying USNC microreactors

16 November 2023

The Philippines' largest electric distribution utility, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), has signed a cooperation agreement with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) of the USA to study the potential deployment of one or more Micro-Modular Reactor (MMR) Energy Systems in the Philippines.

The signing of the agreement between USNC and Meralco (Image: USNC)

The agreement was signed by Meralco Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan and USNC Founder and CEO Francesco Venneri on the sidelines of the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit in San Francisco. The signing was witnessed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

Under the agreement - which builds on the partnership between the two companies announced in August - USNC will conduct a pre-feasibility study that will run for four months to familiarise Meralco with MMR systems and how these can be effectively utilised in the Philippines. Depending on the results of the pre-feasibility study, Meralco has the option to conduct a more detailed feasibility study with a focus on the adoption and deployment of MMR energy systems.

USNC said the study will help Meralco in critical decisions and potential future activities on project-specific studies and project development plans at identified sites. The study will assess financial, technical, safety, and siting, among other considerations.

The MMR is a 45 MW thermal, 15 MW electrical high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, using TRISO (tristructural isotropic) fuel in prismatic graphite blocks. The graphite blocks contain stacks of ceramic FCM fuel pellets. The helium-cooled reactor can be flexibly fuelled with uranium enrichments from 9% to 19.75% and will have an initial licensed nuclear plant lifetime of 40-years.

"USNC is changing the nuclear safety and national energy security conversations in the Philippines with the MMR," Pangilinan said, adding: "This cooperative agreement moves us forward with a partner who understands these important issues alongside the essential nature of the cost and reliability of the electricity supply."

"This also signifies the commitment of the Philippines, through Meralco, to explore and utilise diverse energy sources for the benefit of Filipinos. We believe that nuclear technology will help balance the need to meet the growing demand of our country with the equally crucial need to transition towards a sustainable energy future," he said.

Venneri said: "Meralco is demonstrating real leadership in advancing the energy security and sustainability roadmap for the Philippines. Our MMR nuclear batteries can play a major role in delivering those benefits. The plans that will quickly follow this study place Meralco well on the way toward creating a reliable, low-carbon, equitable and secure future for Filipinos."

President Marcos welcomed the agreement, saying the "partnership is a significant step towards exploring clean and sustainable energy options for the Philippines". He added that the agreement "is aligned with our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to climate change".

In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the Philippines decided to build the two-unit Bataan plant. Construction of Bataan 1 - a 621 MWe Westinghouse PWR - began in 1976 and it was completed in 1984 at a cost of USD460 million. However, due to financial issues and safety concerns related to earthquakes, the plant was never loaded with fuel or operated. The plant has been maintained.

In March 2022, then President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order that outlined the government's position for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the Philippines' energy mix, taking into account economic, political, social and environmental objectives. President Marcos included new nuclear among his campaign pledges before winning the election in May last year.

123 Agreement concluded

Also on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders' Summit, US Vice President Kamala Harris met with President Marcos, where they discussed ongoing efforts to deepen security ties and expand commercial and economic cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Harris and Marcos "welcomed the conclusion of a historic '123' civil nuclear cooperation agreement", according to a statement from the White House. It said the agreement "will deepen our partnership to build a global clean energy economy and strengthen our shared commitment to improving energy security and advancing the global non-proliferation regime".

Negotiations on the 123 Agreement were launched in November 2022 during a visit by Harris to the Philippines.

Formal cooperation agreements are required between countries that want to trade nuclear power goods and services, and those involving the USA are called 123 Agreements after the paragraph of the country's 1954 Atomic Energy Act which requires them.

"This agreement will provide the legal basis for US exports of nuclear equipment and material to the Philippines, which will support American workers and businesses," the White House said. 

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

WOWZERS
ChatGPT maker OpenAI ousts Sam Altman as CEO

Reuters Published November 18, 2023

Sam Altman, CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI and ChatGPT creator speaks during a talk at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel June 5, 2023. 

— Reuters

The board of the company behind ChatGPT on Friday fired OpenAI CEO Sam Altman —to many, the human face of generative AI— sending shock waves across the tech industry.

OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will serve as interim CEO, the company said, adding that it will conduct a formal search for a permanent CEO.

“Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” OpenAI said in a blog without elaborating.

Greg Brockman, OpenAI president and co-founder, who stepped down from the board as chairman as part of the management shuffle, quit the company, he announced on messaging platform X late on Friday.


“Based on today’s news, I quit,” he wrote.



The departures blindsided many employees who discovered the abrupt management change from an internal message and the company’s public-facing blog. It came as a surprise to Altman and Brockman as well, who learned the board’s decision within minutes of the announcement, Brockman said.

“We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding, “We will be fine. Greater things coming soon.”



The now four-person board consists of three independent directors holding no equity in OpenAI and its Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. The organisation did not immediately answer a request for comment on Brockman’s claims.

Backed by billions of dollars from Microsoft, which does not have a board seat in the non-profit governing the startup, OpenAI kicked off the generative AI craze last November by releasing ChatGPT. The chatbot became one of the world’s fastest-growing software applications.

Trained on reams of data, generative AI can create human-like content, helping users spin up term papers, complete science homework and even write entire novels. After ChatGPT’s launch, regulators scrambled to catch up: the European Union revised its AI Act and the U.S. kicked off AI regulation efforts.

Altman, who ran Y Combinator, is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He was the face of OpenAI and the wildly popular generative AI technology as he toured the world this year.

Altman posted on X shortly after OpenAI published its blog: “I loved my time at OpenAI. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say about what’s next later.”



Altman did not respond to requests for comment.

Murati, who has worked for Tesla, joined OpenAI in 2018 and later became chief technology officer. She oversaw product launches including that of ChatGPT.

At an emergency all-hands meeting on Friday afternoon after the announcement, Murati sought to calm employees and said OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft is stable and its backer’s executives, including CEO Satya Nadella, continue to express confidence in the startup, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Information previously reported details of the meeting. “Microsoft remains committed to Mira and their team as we bring this next era of AI to our customers,” a spokesperson for the software maker told Reuters on Friday.

In a statement published on Microsoft’s website, Nadella said: “We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI… Together, we will continue to deliver the meaningful benefits of this technology to the world.”
Earthquake

The shakeup is not the first at OpenAI, launched in 2015. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk once was its co-chair, and in 2020 other executives departed, going on to found competitor Anthropic, which has claimed it has a greater focus on AI safety.

Well-wishers and critics piled onto digital forums as news of the latest shuffle spread.

On X, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Altman “a hero of mine,” adding, “He built a company from nothing to $90 billion in value, and changed our collective world forever. I can’t wait to see what he does next. I, and billions of people, will benefit from his future work — it’s going to be simply incredible.”



“This is a shocker and Altman was a key ingredient in the recipe for success of OpenAI,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “That said, we believe Microsoft and Nadella will exert more control at OpenAI going forward with Altman gone.”

The full impact of the OpenAI surprise will unfold over time, but its fundraising prospects were an immediate concern. Altman was considered a master fundraiser who managed to negotiate billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft as well as having led the company’s tender offer transactions this year that fueled OpenAI’s valuation from $29bn to over $80bn.

“In the short term it will impair OpenAI’s ability to raise more capital. In the intermediate term it will be a non-issue,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at hedge fund Great Hill Capital.

Other analysts said Altman’s departure, while disruptive, would not derail generative AI’s popularity or OpenAI or Microsoft’s competitive advantage.

“The innovation created by OpenAI is bigger than any one or two people, and there is no reason to think this would cause OpenAI to cede its leadership position,” said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria.

“If nothing else, Microsoft’s stake and significant interest in OpenAI’s progress ensure the appropriate leadership changes are being implemented.”

As late as Thursday evening, Altman showed no signs of concern at two public events. He joined colleagues in a panel on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in San Francisco, describing his commitment and vision for AI.

Later he spoke at a Burning Man-related event in Oakland, California, engaging in an hour-long conversation on the topic of art and AI. Altman seemed relaxed and gave no indication anything was wrong, but left right after his talk was over at 7:30 pm.

The event organiser said at the event that Altman had another meeting to attend.

Analysis-What China's Xi gained from his Biden meeting

MICHAEL MARTINA AND GREG TORODE
November 16, 2023



By Michael Martina and Greg Torode

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - When Chinese President Xi Jinping met executives for dinner on Wednesday night in San Francisco, he was greeted with not one, but three standing ovations from the U.S. business community.

It was one of several public relations wins for the Chinese leader on his first trip in six years to the United States, where he and President Joe Biden reached agreements covering fentanyl, military communications and artificial intelligence on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

All three were outcomes the United States had sought from China rather than the other way around, said two people briefed on the trip.

But Xi appeared to have achieved his own aims: earning U.S. policy concessions in exchange for promises of cooperation, an easing of bilateral tensions that will allow more focus on economic growth, and a chance to appeal to foreign investors who increasingly shun China.

China's economy is slowing and earlier this month it reported its first quarterly deficit in foreign direct investment. And the ruling Communist Party has battled political intrigues that have raised questions about Xi's decision-making, including the sudden and unexplained removals of his foreign minister and defense minister.

"If the U.S. and China can manage their differences ... it will mean that Xi Jinping doesn't have to divert all of his attention to that (bilateral relations)," said Alexander Neill, an adjunct fellow at Hawaii's Pacific Forum think-tank.

"He needs to focus on his domestic agenda which is incredibly pressing."

DROPPING SANCTIONS FOR COOPERATION

Securing Xi's promise of Chinese cooperation on stemming the flow of fentanyl to the United States was high on Biden's to-do list for the summit. A senior U.S. official said the agreement under which China would go after specific companies that produce fentanyl precursors was made on a "trust but verify" basis.

In return, the U.S. government on Thursday removed a Chinese public security forensic institute from a Commerce Department trade sanction list, where it was placed in 2020 over alleged abuses against Uyghurs, a long-sought diplomatic aim for China.

Critics warned removing sanctions against the institute signals to Beijing that U.S. entity listings are negotiable, and have questioned the Biden administration's commitment to pressuring China over what it says is the Chinese government's genocide of Uyghurs.

"This undermines the credibility of our entity list and our moral authority," said a spokesperson for the Republican-led House of Representative's select committee on China.

On top of that, Biden's Republican opponents argue the U.S. is missing an opportunity by not leveraging China's flagging economic momentum for more diplomatic gains.

Biden also touted as a success an agreement to resume military dialogues cut by China following then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 trip to Chinese-claimed Taiwan.


But while Beijing would welcome lower tensions, this is unlikely to change Chinese military behavior the U.S. sees as dangerous, such as intercepts of U.S. ships and aircraft in international waters that have led to a number of near-misses.

"China fears hotlines could be used as a potential pretext for a U.S. presence in areas it claims as its own," said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.

Biden administration officials have acknowledged that creating functional military relations won't be as easy as semi-regular meetings between defense officials.

"This is a long, hard, slow slog and the Chinese have to see value in that mil-mil before they'll do it. That's not going to be a favor to us," one senior Biden administration told Reuters in October in the run-up to the Xi-Biden meeting.

PARTNER AND FRIEND?

In his public remarks to Biden, Xi suggested China sought peaceful coexistence with the United States, and he told business leaders China was ready to be a "partner and friend" to the U.S., words partially aimed at a business community alarmed by China's crackdown on various industries and the use of exit bans and detentions against some executives.

Similarly, Xi's televised garden walk with Biden, and the largely respectful reception given to Xi by his American hosts, was highlighted in China's tightly controlled media to show a domestic audience that their president is managing the country's most important economic and political relationship.

"Xi Jinping may have made the calculation that overhyping the American threat does China and his standing in the party and the party itself more harm than good," said Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official who is now a scholar at the National University of Singapore.

"The fact that we are debating whether China is investible is a real problem for China."

At the same time, Xi reiterated to Biden points that he made earlier this year to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging the U.S. president to view U.S.-China relations through "accelerating global transformations unseen in a century."

Analysts say that is code for the belief that China - and Russia - are remolding the U.S.-led international system.

Still, this time pragmatism may have outweighed ideology.

China recognizes it's still necessary for its economic progress to have somewhat normal relations with the U.S. and Western countries, said Li Mingjiang, a professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

"It's the fundamental driving force behind the meeting."

(Reporting by Michael Martina and Greg Torode; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington, and Antoni Slodkowski and Laurie Chen in Beijing; Editing by Don Durfee and Tom Hogue)
China's Xi is courting Indo-Pacific leaders in a flurry of talks at a summit in San Francisco

DIDI TANG
November 16, 2023 



SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping, fresh off his meeting with President Joe Biden, courted Indo-Pacific leaders in a flurry of meetings Thursday at a time of intensifying competition with the United States.

Xi held individual talks with the leaders of Mexico, Peru, Fiji, Japan and Brunei, all on the sidelines of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies.

In a meeting with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, Xi said the two countries should strengthen economic and trade cooperation and pledged China’s support for Peru as host of next year’s summit of APEC leaders.

In particular, Xi said, China will be willing to import more “premium” agricultural products from the South American country and will encourage Chinese businesses to participate in major projects in Peru.

Earlier, Xi held talks with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, praising the Mexican president for his leadership and reform efforts and pledging to bring the China-Mexico relationship to a new level. It was believed to be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation on counternarcotics efforts. China and the United States on Wednesday said the two would work together to stem the flow of fentanyl precursors to countries such as Mexico before the drug is finished and gets smuggled into the U.S.

Xi said the two countries should collaborate in industries such as infrastructure, finance and electric vehicles, while López Obrador said Mexico would smooth the way for Chinese businesses investing in Mexico. The Mexican leader also said his country would be willing to work with China on multilateral affairs and help promote relations between China and Latin America, according to China's state media.


In recent years, many Chinese businesses — faced with tariffs and other restrictions from the U.S. government — have moved some production to Mexico. Xi expressed his sympathy for those affected by Hurricane Otis and said China made emergency arrangements for Mexico to procure relief supplies.

The Mexican president posted on X shortly after his meeting with Xi that the two leaders “reiterated the commitment to continue maintaining good relations to the benefit of our people and our nations.”

Xi met Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Xi said Beijing is treating Fiji as “a good friend and a good partner” in the Global South, roughly referring to developing countries.

The Chinese leader also met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the sultan of Brunei.

In an opening statement, Kishida said China and Japan "share a mutual responsibility to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world.”

China said Xi told Kishida that it is in the interest of the two peoples for the two countries to coexist peacefully, cooperate and grow together. Xi said the two sides should handle differences properly and focus on common interests.

Xi called Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei’s sultan, an “old friend” and said China would work with Brunei to bring benefits to both people.

Xi spent four hours with Biden on Wednesday, their first face-to-face meeting in a year.

Hear from the Iowa woman who's been friends with Xi Jinping for 25 years 

Biden removes sanctions from Chinese institute in push for fentanyl help

Thu, November 16, 2023 


By Alexandra Alper and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Thursday removed the Chinese Ministry of Public Security's Institute of Forensic Science from a trade sanction list, part of a bid to convince Beijing to do more to halt the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

Washington put the institute on the list in 2020 over alleged abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups, effectively barring it from receiving most goods from U.S. suppliers.

Former Chinese ambassador to the U.S. Qin Gang last year described it as "shocking" that the U.S., which had expressed frustration over Beijing's lack of cooperation on fentanyl, would sanction an institute he described as essential to controlling the drug.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters had previously reported the institute would be removed as Biden sought more cooperation from Beijing on fentanyl in a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in San Francisco at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

As part of the meeting, the men agreed to create a working group on counter-narcotics cooperation. The White House's National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment on what, beyond creating the working group, China pledged to do to stem shipments of the deadly narcotic.

The move was criticized by human rights activists and Republicans, who accused the Biden administration of going soft on Beijing over its treatment of Uyghurs.

Rayhan Asat, a human rights lawyer of Uyghur heritage, said she recognized the pressing issue posed by fentanyl, but that the U.S. decision raised questions about U.S. commitment to addressing China's rights abuses.

"The United States has a legal obligation, under federal law, to address atrocity crimes once they have been determined as such. The question then arises: should addressing one issue take precedence over addressing the genocide? Can't we address both?" she said.

Blocking fentanyl "precursor" chemicals has been a priority for Washington as the rate of overdose deaths involving the drug more than tripled from 2016 through 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The removal, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register, came after a "removal proposal" was received and reviewed, the department said in the posting, by a committee composed of representatives of the departments of Commerce, State, Defense, Energy, and sometimes, the Treasury.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Michael Martina and Paul Grant; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Chizu Nomiyama and Josie Kao)

A TYRANT MAYBE

Watch: Blinken winces as Biden brands Xi a ‘dictator’


Rozina Sabur
Thu, November 16, 2023



Antony Blinken appeared uneasy as Joe Biden described Xi Jinping as a “dictator” and briefed the press that a deal to free Israeli hostages could be imminent.

During a press conference following his meeting with the Chinese leader in California, Mr Biden apologised to his secretary of state for revealing too much on the state of Hamas-Israel hostage negotiations.

The US President said: “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here... but we have gotten great cooperation from the Qataris”, a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas.
‘I know Mr Secretary, I’m going to stop’

Mr Biden remarked about a “pause the Israelis have agreed to” as he described progress toward a deal, before cutting himself off as the US secretary of state sat stony-faced.

The president went on to say: “I’m giving too much detail. I know Mr Secretary, I’m going to stop. But I am mildly hopeful.”

Mr Biden made the comments during a solo press conference in northern California following a four-hour summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping.

At the end of the news conference, he was asked whether he still held the view that Mr Xi was a dictator, something he said in June.

“Look, he is. He’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours,” Mr Biden responded.

Mr Blinken appeared to wince and wring his hands when the US President made the remark.