Month: April 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in China hours after Senate TikTok ban vote, new funding for Taiwan

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He is expected to meet the American business community in the city before travelling to Beijing to meet his counterpart Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping on Friday, according to Reuters. US is ‘stubbornly’ trying to contain China, Beijing says ahead of Blinken visit Blinken’s visit comes hours after the US Senate passed a bill to order short-video app TikTok to be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, as well as a US$95 billion aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. All are issues straining US-China relations and…

AfD politician to run in European elections despite aide’s alleged spying for China

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A far-right German politician has said he will continue to run for the upcoming European parliamentary elections despite allegations that his adviser was spying for the Chinese government. Maximilian Krah, who is the lead contender for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, told journalists in Berlin: “I am and will remain the main candidate” after an emergency meeting with party bosses on Wednesday morning after the allegations came to light. Krah, a jurist and Catholic, said he regretted that the affair would “overshadow terribly” the June election but said he…

The Sexual Revolution Behind China’s Demographic Crisis

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During the late 1970s, China implemented the “one-child policy.” The primary goal was controlling population growth, which could have hindered the country’s economic development. The policy was enforced through severe fines, forced abortions for women, and denying government benefits to children born outside the state plan, who couldn’t receive hukou registration. The human cost of the policy was significant, but it worked – for a time. China’s one-child policy effectively created a demographic dividend, which occurs when a country’s birth and death rates both decline. The consequence was an astonishing…

China and Russia eye stronger intelligence and law enforcement ties as top security officials meet

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The Russian Security Council said in a statement that the two discussed “further strengthening cooperation between the law enforcement agencies and special services of the two countries”. “Opinions were exchanged on some issues on the international agenda. The parties confirmed their focus on enhancing coordination in the international arena,” it said. Pancakes and dancing: how Russia and China are trying to boost cultural ties Chen, who also holds a seat on the Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo, began a nine-day trip to Russia on Saturday. The Chinese foreign ministry said he…

US sanction threats against Chinese banks over Russia trade ties risk ‘gargantuan’ financial instability

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But any financial sanctions against China as a major trading partner with much of the world would set back transactions in Europe and the US, where merchants conduct brisk business with China, the analysts said. This could severely impede the interests of American companies and investors in ChinaBrian Wong, Centre on Contemporary China and the World “The US would be creating a gargantuan source of financial instability for not only China, but also itself,” said Brian Wong, a fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the…

Facing repression in China, Muslims seek freedom in NYC

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In a dramatic surge, U.S. border patrol authorities detained more than 24,000 Chinese citizens crossing the southern border in fiscal year 2023, a 12-fold increase from the previous year. Many come seeking asylum, and among those that do, a small group of China’s ethnic Hui Muslims stands out. Aron Ranen brings us the story from the Big Apple. Voice of America

China warns US after Senate passes aid bill worth billions to Taiwan – video

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Beijing has warned Washington to stop arming Taiwan after the US Senate approved a bill that includes $8bn for countering China’s actions threatening America’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region. The package covers a wide range of parts and services aimed at maintaining and upgrading Taiwan’s military hardware and is meant to counter the threat of invasion by China, which claims the island as its own territory. Separately, Taiwan has signed billions in contracts with the US for the latest-generation F-16V fighter jets, M1 Abrams tanks and the Himars rocket systems,…

China, India must be ready to seize peace in Ukraine, not just the West

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On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed a US$95 billion foreign aid package that includes military support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The bill has since been approved by the Senate and presidential approval awaits. Having been stalled for months due to Congressional infighting driven by the opposition of a pro-Trump faction of Republicans, things are now moving quickly. This list of recipients offers a succinct summary of stretched US foreign policy commitments. Wars in Ukraine and the Levant rage on, while the US retains a watchful eye on…

Seven teenagers arrested in Australia anti-terrorism probe

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Seven teenagers in Australia have been arrested in a sweeping anti-terrorism operation in the wake of last week’s stabbing attack of a bishop in Sydney. New South Wales Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told reporters Wednesday that more than 400 federal, state and local authorities were involved in the operation. He said the suspects, who are between 15 to 17 years old, were associates of the 16-year-old boy charged in the April 15 attack on Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a service that was streamed live online. Emmanuel was seriously…

Cause for concern: US watching China’s ‘breathtakingly fast’ space development ‘very, very closely’, top commander says

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China’s “breathtakingly fast” development in space is a “cause for concern” for the United States Space Force, the country’s space commander has warned. At a press briefing on Wednesday, General Stephen Whiting, head of the US Space Command, said China had tripled its number of intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance satellites in Earth orbit over the past six years, while also improving the lethality, precision and range of the country’s terrestrial forces. United States Space Force General Stephen Whiting said there was an “obvious cause for concern” in China’s development. Photo:…