Day: September 23, 2021

China Aiding Myanmar Armed Groups in Their COVID-19 Fight

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement Earlier this week, the news agency AFP carried an interesting report detailing the Chinese government’s support to Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations and rebel groups. According to the report, Beijing has already handed over nearly 13 million doses to the military junta that overthrew the elected civilian government in February, plunged Myanmar and its healthcare system into chaos. At the same time, it has also more quietly supported the armed rebel groups whose autonomous territories border on China’s Yunnan province, some of which are in open conflict with the military…

In Biden’s Foreign Policy, Friends and Foes Claim Echoes of Trump

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They include Mr. Biden’s continuation of Trump-era trade tariffs, which Democrats roundly denounced before Mr. Biden took office but his officials quickly came to see as a source of leverage in their dealings with China. Similarly, Iranian officials complain bitterly that Mr. Biden has not lifted any of the numerous economic sanctions that Mr. Trump imposed after he withdrew from the nuclear deal. Early in Mr. Biden’s presidency, some European allies urged the administration to lift some of those restrictions as a way to jump-start nuclear talks, but Biden officials…

In the West, China holds growing sway over Chinese-language media

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Sep 23rd 2021 IN 2019, AT a conference in China of Chinese-language media firms from around the world, a senior official deviated from his script to make his point clear. It was, he said, the “duty and mission” of such firms to help “retransmit” news from China’s state-controlled press at “important times”. But the more than 400 delegates from over 60 countries, including America, Australia, Britain and Canada, would have needed no reminding. Their presence itself was a sign that China had already succeeded in bringing much of the world’s…

Afghan Uyghurs Fear Taliban Will Deport Them to China

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Ibrahim’s parents fled political turmoil in China for Afghanistan more than 50 years ago. At that time, Mao Zedong had unleashed the Cultural Revolution, and life was upended for many Uyghurs, the mostly Muslim ethnic group in Xinjiang that included Ibrahim’s parents. Ibrahim was born in Afghanistan. But now he, too, is trying to escape the clutches of Chinese authoritarianism. He and his family have been afraid to leave their home in Afghanistan since the Taliban, the country’s new rulers, took control last month, venturing outside only to buy essentials.…

Who’s Buying Evergrande?

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A look inside Robinhood during meme-stock mania The trading app Robinhood has grown explosively, gone public and, for good measure, is now getting into crypto wallets. But internal exchanges between company managers revealed in a new legal filing — featuring Robinhood’s C.E.O., Vlad Tenev — highlight the tensions between fast growth and consumer protection. A class-action lawsuit brought by Robinhood users alleges that the company was negligent during a period of extreme market volatility in late January, knowing it had insufficient capital to handle all the trading by new and…

Business groups are divided as China seeks self-reliance.

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China’s push for self-sufficiency in a wide range of industries is dividing foreign companies, with some welcoming it as another chance to invest there while others worry that it will cause risks to the country’s trading partners and its own economy. Two influential groups of foreign businesses in China issued very different reports on Thursday. They revealed a striking divide on whether international companies support China’s push to replace imports with a self-reliant emphasis on domestic production. China has been heavily subsidizing its manufacturers of semiconductors, commercial aircraft, electric cars…