Taiwan has warned its high-tech professionals that if they visit mainland China, they could be stopped for questioning – or even barred from leaving the country – under new regulations that analysts told Radio Free Asia were put in place likely because Beijing is afraid of losing AI talent. The new regulations that took effect on Sept. 15 allow Chinese authorities to prevent its citizens from leaving the country if violations of export-control or technology-transfer rules could endanger “industrial or technological security.” The law applies to visiting citizens of Taiwan…
Tag: China
Trump invades the UN with a brutish speech | Ted Widmer
Expectations were low for Donald Trump’s address to the UN on Tuesday, and yet somehow it was even worse than expected. He does not perform well in formal settings, like chambers of government, preferring a blingier room, like Mar-a-Lago, or an outdoor rally. For years, he has made no secret of his hostility to the UN, and the very principles of international order that define it. In recent years, that hostility has deepened into something more like a full-on assault, with frequent attacks on the International Criminal Court (perhaps out…
Vietnam’s leader is likely to warn of threats to middle powers.
The podium of the United Nations was an unusual setting for the leader of a global superpower to threaten to “annihilate the Islamic republic” of Iran or to declare that, in another conflict, “to the victor belong the spoils.” Yet that was exactly what President Trump did on Tuesday, in threatening Iran if it failed to make a deal to end a war that had stretched far longer than Mr. Trump anticipated, and justifying his claims on Venezuelan oil reserves after American forces deposed its leader. Mr. Trump has long…
Six-year-old breaks women’s world Rubik’s Cube record – video
Six-year-old Lian Yunzhi broke the women’s 3×3 average world record twice at two World Cube Association-certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday. She posted averages of 4.52 and 4.27 seconds, after solving the Rubik’s Cube five times. She is the first female speedcuber to average less than 4.5 seconds. The Guardian
Six-year-old Chinese girl ‘sets new women’s Rubik’s Cube world record’
A six-year-old Chinese girl has set a new women’s world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube in just over four seconds, state media reported. “Speedcuber” Lian Yunzhi broke the women’s 3×3 average world record twice this month at two World Cube Association certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday. She posted averages of 4.52 and 4.27 seconds, after solving the Rubik’s Cube five times. The girl, who is from Chengdu, is “the first female speedcuber to average under 4.5 seconds”, CCTV said. A video…
European drugmakers say they are ‘losing ground’ to US and Chinese rivals
Some of Europe’s biggest pharmaceutical companies have said the continent is “losing ground” to rivals including the US and China in developing new drugs and attracting investment. The chairs of nine companies, including Britain’s AstraZeneca, GSK and Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, wrote to Andy Burnham and the national leaders of other European countries on Tuesday to call for action to “safeguard our companies’ future”. The letter, entitled Europe is Losing the Pharma Investment Race – But the Comeback is Within Reach, called on governments to treat medicines as strategic infrastructure, secure…
China’s Leader Xi Seeks to Extend Truce with Trump During U.S. Summit
When China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and President Trump meet in Washington this week, the two men will be operating on vastly different clocks. The American president is constrained by the immediate demands of a midterm election in November and a grinding war. The Chinese leader is gearing up for a norm-shattering fourth term as head of the ruling Communist Party, that will keep him in power for another five years. For Mr. Xi, the disparity in political realities gives him an edge in maintaining the truce that the two…
The world freaked out about AI doomsday. Now what?
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you while reading and disagreeing with Jenny Odell’s 2019 book How to Do Nothing. I’m pro-screen time. Today in tech, we’re discussing the upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, in which AI will likely feature prominently. Trump, Xi, AI Last week, the world freaked out about an AI apocalypse. Now the two most powerful men, running the countries with the two most advanced AI industries, are going to discuss that…
EU spends three times more on imports from China than bloc exports there
Consumers and businesses in the EU are spending three times more on Chinese imports than their counterparts in China are buying from the bloc, a study has shown. Customs data showed the gap between the EU’s imports from China and exports to China, the trade deficit, ran at more than €1bn (£860m) a day in July. The new data comes just days after the EU commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the trade imbalance must be arrested, and before Xi Jinping’s summit with Donald Trump on Thursday in Washington.…
Australia investigating how F-35 fighter jet parts bound for US went missing in Hong Kong
Richard Marles says the Department of Defence is examining how F-35 fighter jet parts bound for the US from Australia were unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong. The acting prime minister said “very much everything that has occurred at the Australian end” will be reviewed, however, he claimed the technology parts were not “sensitive”, as first reported by Politico over the weekend. The parts, which were being transported by another unknown third party on behalf of manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, still remain unaccounted for months later following their unplanned diversion to Hong…