Month: December 2022

China Launches WTO Dispute Over US Chip Export Controls

Chin@Strategy

Washington —  Capping a year of increasing tension between Washington and Beijing over advanced chips used in everything from smartphones to weapons of mass destruction, China has initiated a trade dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States for imposing wide-ranging semiconductor export controls on China. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security announced an extensive set of regulations on October 7, which restricted chips made using American tools from being exported to China, in addition to any semiconductors designed for artificial intelligence applications.…

China: another Covid wave expected in rural areas after lunar new year

Chin@Strategy

China is preparing for another wave of Covid to hit its more vulnerable countryside in early 2023, as the current wave of infections overwhelms hospitals and intensive care units in many cities. The lunar new year, China’s most important holiday, falls in late January. It offers a chance of reunion after years of separation under the harsh internal travel restrictions and lockdowns of the previous zero-Covid policy. But as hundreds of millions of workers head home, many are expected to take the disease with them, to areas that have fewer…

In China, here is what we want the west to know about our Covid response | Zheng Zeguang

Chin@Strategy

Over the past weeks, Beijing has become the first city to go through the infection peak, and life and work are returning to normal in the capital. The Covid-19 situation in China is generally stable and controllable, and people are making plans to work, study and travel. That’s why the Chinese government has announced that, starting from 8 January, Covid-19 will be managed with measures against Class B instead of the more serious Class A infectious diseases in accordance with the law. There will also be new cross-border travel rules.…

China bridles as EU states prepare to scale up Covid monitoring

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European countries are preparing to scale up the monitoring of potential new coronavirus variants from China, as Spain becomes the second EU state to bring back mandatory testing at airports in response to Beijing’s rapid rollback of anti-infection measures. Spain on Friday followed Italy’s lead by requiring arrivals from China to show a negative test result, though unlike Rome it makes exceptions for those who can prove they are fully vaccinated. At a press conference announcing the new measures, the Spanish health minister Carolina Darias also said she was pushing…

Putin invites Xi to Moscow as Russia pursues alliance with China

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Vladimir Putin invited his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday to make a state visit to Russia next spring, as Moscow seeks to deepen its ties with China amid growing international isolation over the war in Ukraine. Speaking to Xi via a videoconference, Putin said Russia’s ties with China are the “best in history”, expressing his wish to extend military collaboration and inviting Xi to visit Moscow. Without mentioning the war in Ukraine, Putin said he shared the same views with Xi “in the face of unprecedented pressure and provocations…

China names ambassador to US Qin Gang as new foreign minister

Chin@Strategy

Wang was promoted to the 24-member Politburo and is expected to replace 74-year-old Yang Jiechi as President Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy aide. Qin is known as one of the toughest voices within the foreign ministry, and he was sent to the United States as ambassador in July 2021 during a difficult time in US-China relations. Advertisement President Joe Biden’s administration has maintained most of the tough trade, defence and technology policies from the Donald Trump era, while Beijing has continued building up its military and nuclear arsenals. In Washington,…

A world slipping towards war needs peaceful leaders who will negotiate

Chin@Strategy

Up to now, great power contestation is contained only by mutual fear of all-out nuclear war. While the outcome is unknown, the lines of that contest are becoming clearer. Unlike in 1971, when the United States cleverly drew China out of the Soviet camp, the Biden administration is rallying allies through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Aukus and the Quad to contain Russia and China as existential threats. 03:11 Putin orders first mobilisation since WWII while leaders condemn Russia’s Ukraine invasion at UN Diplomacy is the art of negotiating through…

Amid the climate crisis, Covid and crumbling democracies, I find hope in people who show the best of humanity | Trent Zimmerman

Chin@Strategy

As we farewell 2022, many of the world’s citizens will be hoping for a better new year. It is hard to look back on the past year – indeed couple of years – without a high degree of angst about the direction of our global community. We have been battered by a pandemic that, while past the peak for most nations, is still disrupting societies and economies. After two years of its hermit-like isolation, 1.4 billion Chinese citizens are now experiencing a nationwide Covid onslaught for the first time with…

Vladimir Putin expects Xi Jinping to make state visit in spring – video

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President Vladimir Putin has said he expects his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to make a state visit to Russia next spring, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia’s flailing military campaign in Ukraine. In introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders, broadcast on state television on 30 December, Putin said: ‘We are expecting you, dear Mr Chairman, dear friend, we are expecting you next spring on a state visit to Moscow.’ Putin said the visit would ‘demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese…

New Omicron subvariant XBB could be more infectious, better at evading immunity, study finds

Chin@Strategy

Some substitutions to the spike protein increase its ability to bind to the ACE2 – or angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 – receptor. Others help it to evade immunity from vaccination or previous infection. The Omicron subvariants that have spread more efficiently got these substitutions from single mutations in a lineage – for instance, the emerging subvariant BQ.1.1 is a descendant of BA.5, which is spreading in southern China at present. Advertisement But XBB is different, according to the Japanese study. The subvariant – which is expected to become dominant in some…