Day: July 4, 2023

In a high-stakes standoff, it’s time to talk

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing Thursday, making her the second cabinet-level official to visit China this year and signifying that China and the U.S. are talking again – or at least trying to. Yellen’s trip will stress the importance for both countries “to responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern, and work together to address global challenges,” the Treasury Department said in a statement on Sunday. The relationship between China and the U.S. has been unraveling as the two countries spar over trade, technology…

Chip wars: how semiconductors became a flashpoint in the US-China relationship

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As US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen heads to Beijing in an attempt to steady economic ties, high on the agenda will be how to navigate the growing chip war between China and the US. Despite diplomatic overtures from both sides, the competition in advanced technology between the two superpowers shows no sign of letting up. On Monday, Beijing set a hostile tone for Yellen’s trip as it set export restrictions on two minerals that the US says are essential to the production of semiconductors and other advanced technology. Chinese state…

Hollywood Is Making More Movies, TV Shows About Asian Americans 

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Washington —  In recent years, there have been more prominent TV shows and movies featuring Asians and Chinese Americans, with many of them targeting younger audiences. The increase in media showing Asian Americans is more than just a product of the streaming era. For summer camp director C.C. Hsu and her students, it is also a step toward more accurate representations of their identities. The summer camp hosted by the Washington DC Taiwanese School, located in Maryland about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north of the U.S. capital, is made up…

China gets a new central bank chief as economy struggles for lift-off

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Receive free People’s Bank of China updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest People’s Bank of China news every morning. China’s new central bank head Pan Gongsheng is set to take the helm at a critical moment for the world’s second-largest economy, as it fights to reset a post-Covid recovery that looks increasingly unsteady despite relinquishing some of its powers in a regulatory shake-up. Not only has the PBoC’s authority been weakened, with some supervisory functions hived off to another regulator, but China’s economy…

People’s Bank of China’s new head faces recovery test

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Receive free People’s Bank of China updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest People’s Bank of China news every morning. China’s new central bank head Pan Gongsheng is set to take the helm at a critical moment for the world’s second-largest economy, as it fights to reset a post-Covid recovery that looks increasingly unsteady despite relinquishing some of its powers in a regulatory shake-up. Not only has the PBoC’s authority been weakened, with some supervisory functions hived off to another regulator, but China’s economy…

China’s efforts to understand Europe remain a work in progress

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Receive free Chinese politics & policy updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Chinese politics & policy news every morning. We instinctively understand others through projection: by assuming they think and feel like us. Countries often make the same mistake in their foreign policy. At the heart of China’s relations with Europe over the past two years lies a cognition gap: its foreign policy elite underestimated the extent of European support for Ukraine. China’s international relations experts, dominated by a strain of realism that…

China Warns of ‘Multiple Natural Disasters’ in July

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Beijing —  Chinese authorities have warned of extreme weather and “multiple natural disasters” in the coming month, as heavy rain damaged infrastructure and forced thousands to be evacuated. An alert was in place on Tuesday for rain-triggered disasters in large swaths of central and southwestern China, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Meteorological authorities have warned the country will face “multiple natural disasters in July, including floods, severe convection weather, typhoons and high temperatures,” the agency said. And in a sign of the damage caused by the downpours, workers…

Beijing Jabs in US-China Tech Fight with Chip Material Export Curbs

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BEIJING/SHANGHAI —  Companies caught out by China’s decision to restrict exports of two metals widely used in semiconductors and electric vehicles were racing to secure supplies on Tuesday as some industry suppliers worried that curbs on rare earth exports could follow. Monday’s abrupt announcement of controls from Aug. 1 on exports of some gallium and germanium products has ramped up a trade war with the United States and could potentially cause more disruption to global supply chains. Analysts saw the move, which the Chinese commerce ministry said was to protect…

Hong Kong warrants spark fears of widening ‘long-arm’ political enforcement by China

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Concerns are growing that China could start using the Interpol “red notice” arrest warrant system to target anyone overseas, of any nationality, who says or does something the ruling Communist Party doesn’t like, using Hong Kong’s three-year-old national security law. Dozens of rights groups on Tuesday called on governments to suspend any remaining extradition treaties with China and Hong Kong after the city’s government issued arrest warrants and bounties for eight prominent figures in the overseas democracy movement on Monday, vowing to pursue them for the rest of their lives.…

Nigerian Experts Weigh In on Chinese Navy’s Visit to Nigeria

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ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Chinese navy is making a port call in Nigeria this week in a rare visit to West Africa, where Beijing has been seeking to expand its influence. Three warships of China’s People’s Liberation Army fleet arrived at Nigeria’s economic hub, Lagos, on Sunday, bringing about 700 sailors. The Nigerian Navy and Chinese Embassy on Monday said the five-day visit signified growing relations between Beijing and Africa, with the goal of tackling maritime security threats and maintaining stability in the Gulf of Guinea. Security analyst Chidi Omeje…