Gotion Inc. is the US subsidiary of a Chinese EV battery maker. It plans to build a plant on a parcel of farmland in Michigan. But that’s dividing local residents. VOA’s Carolyn Calla Yu reports from Green Charter Township, Michigan. Camera: Songlin Zhang, Contributor: Bo Gu Voice of America
A senior Chinese general has called on the military’s procurement and technological development arms to improve the “quality of our weaponry”, so that the People’s Liberation Army can fulfil its modernisation goal and win any battles it may face. General Zhang Youxia, first vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said advanced arms and better quality control must be the top priority for officers, to protect the lives of troops in case of conflict in an increasingly challenging global environment. The CMC, chaired by President Xi Jinping, is the top…
At the Mate 60 Pro’s surprise launch on Tuesday, Huawei declined to provide details about the handset’s processor or on whether it supports 5G mobile networks, prompting industry analysts, tech bloggers, consumers and other interested parties to look for answers outside the company. Based on tests that it conducted on the smartphone, Chinese benchmarking website AnTuTu on Wednesday identified the central processing unit (CPU) in the Mate 60 Pro as the Kirin 9000s from Huawei’s chip design unit HiSilicon. The CPU has a 12-core configuration and a top clock speed…
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo wrapped up a four-day visit to China on Wednesday in the latest move by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to stabilize commercial and trade links between the world’s two largest economies. In public remarks Wednesday, Raimondo said that she is hopeful about holding regular and direct talks with Chinese officials, but that she is “very clear-eyed” and does not expect every issue with Beijing will be resolved “overnight.” Earlier in her visit, she said American companies have told her that China’s…
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, on Wednesday described his government’s relationship with Beijing as “complicated and sophisticated”. He said the UK’s approach was “clear-eyed” and pragmatic, neither seeking to isolate the world’s second largest economy nor shying away from raising disagreements. The balancing act may prove difficult. Cleverly is the latest in a series of western government officials – from the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to the French president, Emmanuel Macron – to have visited China in recent months hoping to repair soured relations and trade ties.…
Dong Yuhui, who had been one of New Oriental’s English-language tutors, joined the company’s newly formed e-commerce live-streaming team and started pitching a range of goods on TikTok’s Chinese sibling Douyin. Viewers soon became drawn to Dong’s unique pitching style, which involves reciting poems, English phrases and musical accompaniment while attempting to sell books, cooking pans, steaks, shrimp and more. 03:27 Former private tutors become top-selling live-streamers in China Former private tutors become top-selling live-streamers in China During their debut live stream on Taobao, Dong, Yu and others pitched a…
Vatican City — When Pope Francis travels to Mongolia this week, he will in some ways be completing a mission begun by the 13th-century Pope Innocent IV, who dispatched emissaries east to ascertain the intentions of the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire and beseech its leaders to halt the bloodshed and convert. Those medieval exchanges between Roman pope and Mongolian khan were full of bellicose demands for submission and conversion, with each side claiming to be acting in the name of God, according to texts of the letters that survive. But…
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo hailed “an important beginning” for Beijing and Washington to manage tensions on Wednesday, while also calling on China to address market concerns for American firms. She made the remarks hours before wrapping up her four-day trip to China, which yielded the establishment of working groups to facilitate further bilateral communication. But during a press conference after a visit to the Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services joint venture on Wednesday, Raimondo did not elaborate on the first exchange on the thorny issue of export controls that took…
Uyghur advocates have called on western tourism companies to stop selling package holidays that take visitors through Xinjiang, where human rights abuses by authorities have been called a genocide by some governments. The request comes as China reopens to foreign visitors after the pandemic, and as its leader, Xi Jinping, calls for more tourism to the region. A report by the US-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), released on Wednesday, said western tourism to the region risked supporting the normalisation of Chinese government policies that were “intended to destroy the…
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, who is in China to meet government officials, has faced criticism from members of the Conservative party who want a tougher line against a state that has imposed sanctions against several British MPs and peers for speaking out about human rights violations in the country. Speaking to Sky News, Cleverly said he had raised rights issues with Chinese officials. Pressed over violations in Xinjiang province, he said: ‘I’ve had a number of conversations with senior representatives of the Chinese government, and I have raised…