Elon Musk has suggested tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing. The billionaire’s remarks were published just days after he floated a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine which drew condemnation in Ukraine. The world’s richest person told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday: “My recommendation … would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy. And it’s possible, and I think…
Day: October 7, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 23: The Type 075 LHD: Development, Missions, and Capabilities
When the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned its first Type 075 class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) in April 2021, it represented an important advance in power projection capability for China’s maritime forces. For the first time, the PLAN had an amphibious warship capable of hosting significant rotary wing forces while acting as the flagship for an amphibious task force. Now with three Type 075 class ships either in or soon to be in service, the PLAN has expanded its amphibious capability even further. The Type 075’s dedicated aviation support…
Xi Jinping Is the Second Coming of Mao Zedong
Mao is widely regarded today in the West as, at best, a flawed patriot and, at worst, a brutal dictator. The Great Leap Forward of 1958 to 1962, his misguided attempt at rapid industrialization, contributed to a famine that killed tens of millions of Chinese. So intent were ordinary Chinese on raising steel production that they melted down hoes, plows and other iron implements in crude backyard furnaces, leaving them nothing to work the fields. Less than a decade later, Mao instigated the Cultural Revolution: Students turned in their teachers…
UN body reaches long-term aviation climate goal of net zero by 2050
A United Nations body has agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for aviation of net-zero emissions by 2050, despite challenges from China and Russia, as countries aligned overwhelmingly with airlines amid pressure to curb pollution from flights. Nevertheless, environmentalists criticised the non-binding nature of the agreement as toothless. The decision, described as a compromise by several European countries who wanted a more ambitious target, was met with applause by members at the 193-nation International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) assembly, held every three years. China, backed by Russia and Eritrea, questioned…
Tibet at a ‘critical moment’ for survival, top US diplomat says
Tibet now faces a “critical moment” for the survival of its distinct religious, cultural and linguistic heritage as China’s policies in the region threaten Tibet’s national identity, a top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday. “PRC authorities continue to wage a campaign of repression against the Tibetan community,” U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Uzra Zeya said at a gathering held on the sidelines of UN Human Rights Council meetings this week in Geneva, Switzerland. Central to Beijing’s campaign to fully absorb Tibet into China is its plan to install a…
Biden Administration Clamps Down on China’s Access to Chip Technology
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday announced sweeping new limits on the sale of semiconductor technology to China, a step aimed at crippling Beijing’s ability to access critical technologies that are needed for everything from supercomputing to guiding weapons. The moves are the clearest sign yet that a dangerous standoff between the world’s two major superpowers is increasingly playing out in the technological sphere, with the U.S. trying to establish a stranglehold on advanced computing and semiconductor technology that are essential to China’s military and economic ambitions. The package…
Biden administration imposes sweeping tech restrictions on China
The Biden administration on Friday published a sweeping set of export controls, including a measure to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US tools, vastly expanding its reach in its attempt to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances. The rules, some of which go into effect immediately, build on restrictions sent in letters earlier this year to top toolmakers KLA Corp, Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc, in effect requiring them to halt shipments of equipment to wholly Chinese-owned factories producing advanced…
The CCP’s Changing Understanding of the Soviet Union’s Collapse
Advertisement The war in Ukraine drew attention to the complicated China-Russian relationship. Since the Soviet Union era, Beijing has had mixed sentiments toward Moscow. The Soviet Union was the “big brother” and “China’s tomorrow” during the golden decade of the 1950s. However, it soon became China’s ideological archrival and security threat following the Sino-Soviet split. Despite the hostility, China viewed the collapse of the Soviet Union as a great tragedy of the global communist movement and an alarming sign for itself. Since the Soviet collapse in 1991, perhaps no country…