Day: December 13, 2021

How much does the diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 matter?

Chin@Strategy

Some flip this argument on its head, insisting that engaging in sporting competition, rather than boycotting, ensures the opportunity for valuable sporting diplomacy, and means international scrutiny, both of which can result in positive change. This is an argument the FA uses when asked about participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where despite reforms, workers’ rights remain a major concern for human rights organisations, and homosexuality is illegal. BBC

Slovakia’s Growing Ties With Taiwan Signal Discontent With China in Central and Eastern Europe

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Advertisement On the evening of December 5, a delegation of 43 Slovak government officials, business representatives, and academics touched down at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport. The group, led by Slovak Deputy Economic Minister Karol Galek, represents the Central European country’s highest-level diplomatic visit to Taiwan since the opening of its Taipei representative office in 2003. Over the course of the six-day trip, the delegation met with leading Taiwanese officials, toured key research institutions, and signed nine memoranda of understanding (MOUs), primarily focused on trade and high-tech collaboration. While the visit…

Mainland China reports first case of Omicron coronavirus variant

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Mainland China has reported its first case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in the northern city of Tianjin, posing what could be the biggest threat to date to the country’s zero-Covid strategy. The Chinese authorities reported on Monday that the Omicron case was detected on 9 December from an overseas returnee, who showed no symptoms on arrival. The patient is being quarantined and treated in a designated hospital. At the same time, the eastern province of Zhejiang has been battling a rise in new infections of the Delta variant…

Didi’s Wall Street Exit Signals Investors Playing by China’s Rules

Chin@Strategy

When the Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing decided to delist its shares in the United States, it was an abrupt reversal that illustrated the growing rift between Wall Street and China’s rapidly growing corporate sector. Barely six months ago, Didi had been the latest Chinese start-up darling to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, following the path of such companies as Alibaba and Baidu to list its shares in the world’s premier financial hub. Now Didi’s move to relocate its listing to the Hong Kong stock exchange almost…

Will China’s Regulatory ‘Great Wall’ Hamper AI Ambitions?

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement In September the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced a three-year plan to regulate predictive algorithms, and Chinese companies scrambled to comply with new regulations. News of the plan came on the heels of two other stringent policies – the Data Security Law (DSL) and Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) – which were passed earlier this year and came into full effect in November. China’s push for data security and algorithmic governance should be viewed as a new chapter in the country’s storied attempts to regulate the technology sector.…

Across the World, Covid Anxiety and Depression Take Hold

Chin@Strategy

PARIS — A recent cartoon in the French daily Le Monde featured a bedraggled man arriving at a doctor’s office for a Covid-19 vaccine. “I am here for the fifth shot because of the third wave,” he says. “Or vice versa.” His bewilderment as France suffers its fifth wave of the pandemic, with cases of the Delta variant rising sharply along with Omicron anxiety, captured a mood of exhaustion and simmering anger across the world two years after the deadly virus began to spread in China. Uncertainty bedevils plans. Panic…