For much of the global economy, 2023 is going to be a tough year as the main engines of global growth – the US, Europe and China – all experience weakening activity, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned. The new year is going to be “tougher than the year we leave behind,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on the CBS Sunday morning news program Face the Nation on Sunday. “Why? Because the three big economies – the US, EU and China – are all slowing down…
Day: January 1, 2023
China’s warplane incursions into Taiwan air defence zone doubled in 2022
China’s warplane incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone nearly doubled in 2022, with a surge in fighter jet and bomber sorties as Beijing intensified threats towards the island democracy. Self-ruled Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion. Communist party rulers claim the island as part of China’s territory and have vowed to seize it one day. Relations have been icy for years under President Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive leader in a generation. 2022 saw a deeper deterioration, as Xi’s military ramped up incursions and launched the largest war games…
In North Korea, speaking in Southern accent gets you sent to the coal mines
In North Korea, speaking in a South Korean accent can get you expelled from school and sent to work in the coal mines. That’s exactly what happened to four North Korean university students who were caught last month speaking on their cell phones with the softer accent and terms of endearment used by their neighbors to the south, sources inside the country told Radio Free Asia. The students likely picked up the manner of speech from listening to outlawed songs, movies or television dramas such as “Crash Landing on You”…
China’s Xi Jinping calls on young people to ‘revitalize’ post-lockdown rural economy
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the nation’s youth — who are facing unprecedented levels of unemployment — to seek out new opportunities in rural areas, echoing late supreme leader Mao Zedong’s call for urban youth to “go down to the countryside” during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. His latest slogan — which comes after Xi has been out of the public eye in the wake of a U-turn away from his zero-COVID policy — has been also taken up by the official Communist Party newspaper. “[We should] encourage all…
China can expect repeat Covid infections with new Omicron strains on the way, scientists say
Among the unknowns are how often the reinfections occur, how severe they are compared with initial infections and what their long-term health effects are. In most parts of the world, reinfections have become common, with three or four major infection peaks in 2022. Advertisement In a study led by Peking University, researchers examined 6.6 million cases from around the world and found the average reinfection rate of all pre-Omicron variants was around 2 per cent. However, Omicron is much more transmissible and its reinfection rate is expected to be significantly…
Labor flags wastewater tests on inbound planes as mandatory Covid checks for China arrivals resumes
Australia is planning to introduce wastewater testing for incoming flights in an attempt to gather more information about the possible entry of new Covid variants. The health minister, Mark Butler, announced the measure on Monday in a round of interviews defending the decision to reimpose pre-flight Covid testing for passengers from China as necessary because of a “absence of comprehensive information” about the disease in China. The announcement on Sunday has already prompted calls to expand pre-flight testing, with the independent MP Monique Ryan questioning if it was now “time…
China-Australia lithium tie-up highlights symbiotic bond, ‘mutual respect’ amid green energy drive
According to Tianqi Lithium, Australia produces 51 per cent of the world’s lithium, while China has bought over 90 per cent of the country’s lithium this year based on figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Tianqi Lithium CEO Raj Surendran expects global lithium demand will triple to 1.5 million tonnes by 2027 amid the growing demand for electric vehicles. Advertisement “[We are] getting trains two and three up and running in 2025 and 2027 on top of the train one that is gradually being ramped up,” Surendran told the…
Blinken Discusses US-China Relationship in Call With China’s Qin
Washington — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with incoming Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang over the phone Sunday, Blinken said on Twitter, after China last week appointed its ambassador to the United States to be its new foreign minister. Blinken said he discussed the U.S.-China relationship and maintaining open lines of communication in his phone call with Qin. China on Friday appointed Qin, its ambassador to the United States and a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, to be its new foreign minister, as Beijing and Washington seek…
Canada, Australia Impose COVID Rules on Travelers From China
BEIJING — Australia and Canada have joined a growing list of countries requiring travelers from China to take a COVID-19 test prior to boarding their flight, as China battles a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for much of the pandemic. Australian health authorities said Sunday that from Jan 5. all air travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao will need to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within two days of their departure. Canadian authorities announced similar measures that will also…
Don’t expect US-China relations to significantly improve in 2023
Economically, the Biden administration ramped up efforts to restructure global supply chains to isolate China. It placed hundreds of Chinese companies and individuals on its blacklists. Then, to hobble the country’s tech sector, it imposed a total export ban on semiconductor technology to the country. What is more, Washington continued hollowing out the “one-China” principle, developing substantial relations with Taiwan through military exchanges and arms sales. President Joe Biden himself went further than previous US presidents in pledging to defend the island. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) speaks during…