Donald Trump has suggested he might allow Nvidia to sell chips in China that are more technology advanced than currently permitted, despite deep-seated fears in Washington that Beijing could harness US artificial intelligence capabilities to supercharge its military. In a briefing on Monday, the president suggested he could “make a deal” for Nvidia to sell a downgraded version of its flagship Blackwell chip in China. The move could open the door to China securing more advanced computing power from the US, even as the two countries battle for technology supremacy,…
Category: The Guardian
Chinese warship crashes into own coast guard vessel while chasing Philippines boat in South China Sea
A Chinese warship collided with a vessel from its own coast guard while chasing a Philippine patrol boat in the South China Sea on Monday, Manila said, releasing dramatic video footage of the confrontation. The incident occurred near the contested Scarborough Shoal as the Philippine Coast Guard escorted vessels distributing aid to fishers in the area, said coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela in a statement. Video released by Manila showed a China Coast Guard ship and a much larger vessel bearing the number 164 on its hull colliding with…
Chinese warship and coast guard vessels collide in South China Sea – video
Two Chinese vessels have collided with each other while chasing a ship from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in disputed waters in the South China Sea. ‘A collision took place between China Coast Guard vessel 3104 and People’s Liberation Army Navy ship 164,’ the PCG said in a statement. The collision occurred near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. The Guardian
US-China trade truce deadline looms threatening escalation of economic tensions
A trade truce between the US and China was set to expire on Tuesday, threatening an escalation of economic tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Chinese officials said they hoped the United States would strive for “positive” trade outcomes on Monday, as the 90-day detente reached between the two countries last month was due to expire. “We hope that the US will work with China to follow the important consensus reached during the phone call between the two heads of state … and strive for positive outcomes on the…
Why Peak China may finally have arrived | George Magnus
Proclamations about the inevitability of China’s dominance of the global economic system, or the so-called Chinese century, were made long before Donald Trump’s attempts to stymie its trade with the US. Common concerns about coercive politics and human rights aside, some notions of China as an unstoppable economic, technological and military behemoth sit alongside others focused more on an increasingly sclerotic, over- centralised political economy, that depends on wasteful economic stimulus, and features poor governance and institutions. The fusion of these notions suggests that we may already have reached “peak…
Nvidia and AMD agree to pay 15% of China chip export revenues to US
The chipmakers Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the US government 15% of their revenue from advanced chips sold to China in return for export licences to the key market. The unprecedented move, an apparent reversal of US national security restrictions on the chip sales, signalled an easing in the US-China trade war. Donald Trump has weaponised trade restrictions and tariffs to bring business to US shores. However, the quid pro quo arrangement, first reported by the Financial Times, is potentially unconstitutional. The arrangement will lead to Nvidia giving…
‘I don’t expect to live a normal life’: how a Leeds teenager woke up with a Chinese bounty on her head
It was Christmas Eve 2024 and 19-year-old Chloe Cheung was lying in bed at home in Leeds when she found out the Chinese authorities had put a bounty on her head. As she scrolled through Instagram looking at festive songs, a stream of messages from old school friends started coming into her phone. Look at the news, they told her. Media outlets across east Asia were reporting that Cheung, who had just finished her A-levels, had been declared a threat to national security by officials in Hong Kong. There was…
China diplomat tipped as next foreign minister detained by authorities – report
Liu Jianchao, a senior Chinese diplomat widely seen as a potential future foreign minister, has been detained by authorities for questioning, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Liu was taken away after returning to Beijing in late July from an overseas work trip, it reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. China’s State Council Information Office, which handles media queries for the Chinese government, and the Chinese Communist party International Liaison Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Liu, 61, has led the Communist party’s…
Chinese investment banker Bao Fan released from detention after two years, source says
Bao Fan, star dealmaker and the founder of the boutique investment bank China Renaissance Holdings, has been released more than two years after being detained by Chinese authorities, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. China Renaissance sent shock waves through the country’s financial sector in 2023 when it announced it was unable to contact Bao, who founded the bank in 2005 with two others and still owns nearly 49% of its issued shares. The company’s share price tanked as a result of his detention. He was one…
Alarm in China that efforts to control Chikungunya virus are infringing on rights
There is growing alarm in China that official efforts to control the spread of Chikungunya virus, a non-fatal mosquito-borne disease that has been spreading in the south of the country, are infringing on people’s personal rights. A single mother living in Zhanjiang, a port city in Guangdong province, posted a video on social media this week showing a group of people, including a uniformed police officer, entering her children’s bedroom in the middle of the night and taking blood samples from the boy and the girl, without their mother’s presence…