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☆ Inspired by Ukraine war, Taiwan launches drone blitz to counter China
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

These drones range from jet-powered, long range surveillance aircraft to small quadcopters deployed by ground troops. Taiwan should accelerate mass production of a range of military drones to boost self-reliance in the struggle with Beijing, it concluded. U.S. drones range in size from two-kilogram, hand-launched drones to 14,500-kilogram long range surveillance drones. Unlike Taiwan, China began mass-producing unmanned aircraft long before the Ukraine conflict. Hundreds of technology experts, including specialists in AI, were recruited to the military, according to UCSD analyst Cheung.

Persons: Tsai Ing, ”, Tsai “, Max Lo, “, Hawk Yang, Yang, Tsai, Joe Biden, ’, Lo, Tai Ming Cheung, ” Cheung, Nancy Pelosi, ” Tsai, Chang, Xi Jinping, Xi, Cheung, ” Elsa Kania Organizations: Reuters, People’s Liberation Army, Thunder Tiger Group, “, Communist Party, Taiwan, Taiwan Affairs Office, U.S . Department of Defense, White, Pentagon ., Teal, University of California, PLA, U.S . House, Airborne, Washington -, Strategic & International Studies ., Royal United Services Institute, 20th Party Congress, UCSD, Center, New, New American Security, China's Ministry of Defense, Pentagon Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Taipei, Taiwan, China, Asia, United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, America, Republic of China, “ China, Kinmen, Beijing, Washington, Pentagon . U.S, U.S, University of California San Diego, Chiayi, Strategic & International Studies . Ukraine, London, Chang Kong, Today, New American

Pan Gongsheng was appointed Saturday as the new Communist Party chief at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), in a surprise move as Beijing bolsters its drive to arrest the country’s economic slowdown and stem a slide in its currency. Pan currently serves as the deputy governor of the PBOC. “My initial reaction is this suggests Xi [Jinping] is more concerned about China’s economy than before the 20th Party Congress,” Thomas said. Since then, he has spent nearly two decades working at large state-owned banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC). After returning to China, he was promoted to deputy governor at the PBOC in 2012.

Persons: Yi Gang, Pan Gongsheng, Janet Yellen, Pan, Yi, didn’t, Guo Shuqing, Neil Thomas, wasn’t, ” Thomas, Xi, Mao, Thomas, China’s, Biden, ” Organizations: Beijing CNN, Cambridge University, Harvard University, Communist Party, People’s Bank of China, Securities Times, CNN, Ant, Asia Society, Center for, Communist Party’s, Committee, 20th Party Congress, Wall Street Journal, Treasury Department, Renmin University of China, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, ABC, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Beijing, P Global, PMI Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, China, Shanghai, Center for China, United States, West

[1/4] A worker walks across a construction site in the Central Business District, ahead of the opening of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, February 28, 2023. Nearly 3,000 delegates will gather in the Great Hall of the People west of Tiananmen Square for the first National People's Congress (NPC) of the post-zero-COVID era, although some precautions remain including testing and quarantine for journalists. It will also discuss Xi's plans for an "intensive" and "wide-ranging" re-organisation of state and Communist Party entities, state media reported on Tuesday, after a three-day meeting of the party's central committee. China's economy grew just 3% last year, one of its worst showings in nearly half a century. "We will strive to spur growth and have policy tools to do that, mainly by channelling money into big projects," Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the economic policy commission at the state-backed China Association of Policy Science, told Reuters.

☆ When China and Saudi Arabia meet, nothing matters more than oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Saudi Arabia is China’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and the top global supplier of crude oil. Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesEnergy is coreLast year, bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and China hit $87.3 billion, up 30% from 2020, according to Chinese customs figures. China’s crude imports from Saudi Arabia stood at $43.9 billion in 2021, accounting for 77% of its total goods imports from the kingdom. Beyond security of supply, Saudi Arabia could offer Beijing another prize with bigger geopolitical ramifications. Eurasia Group’s Kamal believes it’s “highly unlikely” that Saudi Arabia would take such a step, unless there is an implosion on the US-Saudi relationship.

☆ Chinese protesters are reacting to a broken social contract
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Diana Fu | Diana Fu Is Associate Professor Of Chinese Politics At The University Of Toronto | Non-Resident Fellow At The Brookings Institution. She Is Author Of The Book | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

However, a deeper cause for this unrest is that the protesters are responding to a broken social contract between the Chinese Communist Party and the people. Despite swift censorship, a Chinese social media post referencing the incident had been viewed 180,000 times before it was deleted. With 20% youth unemployment, businesses closing, migrant workers left homeless and preventable deaths mounting, some Chinese citizens are withdrawing their consent to be ruled. Chinese protesters normally avoid such rhetoric, preferring to stick to bread-and-butter economic or local issues, which are more likely to yield concessions. It is significant that this time, Chinese protesters are borrowing a tactic from Hong Kong protesters in 2020 — holding up pieces of blank paper.

Asked about the protests on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the Chinese government was adjusting its Covid measures based on the realities on the ground. “We believe that with the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the support of the Chinese people, our fight against Covid-19 will be successful,” he said at a regular news briefing. Zhao also addressed the detention of BBC journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested Sunday while covering the protests in Shanghai. The Communist Party “has a lot of experience accumulated over the years in dissipating social unrest,” she said. Most of the people who protested appeared to be from the Han ethnic group that dominates China.

☆ Take Five: A UK budget and trouble in crypto land
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The long-awaited UK fiscal plan is (almost) here and after the ructions unleashed by September's mini-budget, markets are paying close attention. UK markets have recouped most of the maxi-losses from the mini-budget, but the outlook is grim. Reuters Graphics2/ CRYPTO CHAOSThe crypto world has been thrown into fresh chaos by a meltdown at FTX. Big banks too are starting to pare back staffing levels. September data showed a measure of underlying retail sales rising thanks to strong wage gains and savings, even as the broader number came in flat.

BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and a delegation of business leaders landed in Beijing on Friday morning, kicking off the first visit by a leader of a G7 nation to China in three years. China's strict zero-COVID policy and growing tensions with the West have made it unfeasible for leaders of major western powers to visit China, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has only just resumed foreign trips. Amid historic inflation and looming recession in Germany, Scholz will be looking to emphasise the need for continued cooperation with China, analysts say. In the run-up to the visit, there had been criticism of the visit within the EU and the German government coalition, mainly from the Green Party and the Liberals. Scholz has changed his tune even faster, but he does not have as solid of a domestic political standing as Merkel," said Wang.

Xi Jinping consolidated his power in China with a reshuffle of the politburo standing committee. He also used the event to unveil the new members of the politburo standing committee. He is a new entry to the standing committee, and at 60, is its youngest member. He is another new member of the politburo standing committee and will help lead the central commission for discipline inspection. He previously worked as the party leader in Yan'an, which once served as the headquarters of the party before it took control of the whole country.

☆ China is caught in a zero-Covid trap of its own making
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The new political ecology also provided more incentive for local governments to impose more draconian Covid control measures,” Huang said. Chinese health officials maintain that changing tack now would risk a huge surge in infections and deaths that could overwhelm the country’s fragile health care system. Zhengzhou, a city of 12 million, imposed sweeping lockdown measures last month after identifying dozens of Covid-19 cases. On Wednesday, the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, where the Foxconn plant is located, announced new lockdown measures. As the winter approaches, experts warn that China could be hit by a new wave of infections – and a new cycle of draconian lockdowns.

☆ China's Xi greets Vietmanese ally with ceremony, call for defiance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Chinese President Xi Jinping meets the media following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told the visiting leader of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party on Monday that both countries and parties should "never let anyone interfere" with their progress, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Trong's was the first visit by a foreign leader since Xi secured a precedent-breaking third term as General Secretary at the Chinese Communist Party's 20th party congress this month. The visit by Trong - who holds more power than either Vietnam's president or prime minister - was a showcase of Communist unity. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also visit China this week.

☆ China's Xi greets Vietnamese ally with ceremony, call for defiance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ An embarrassing defeat 73 years ago is a preview of the problems China would face in an attack on Taiwan today
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Chinese Communist troops who stormed Kinmen island in October 1949 expected a quick victory. The planChinese Communist troops take prisoners at bayonet point after heavy fighting in Shanghai on May 21, 1949. Kinmen Island, 59 square miles in size and home to some 40,000 people, was essential to this plan. A model of a soldier in a bunker near the Hujingtou Battle Museum in Little Kinmen, Taiwan in April 2018. By day's end, the PLA troops who had retreated to the beaches had also surrendered.

☆ Beijing Has Few Good Options to Retaliate for Chip Bans
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jacky Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Employees work on a semiconductor production line of Jiangsu Azure in Huaian, China. The U.S. imposed sweeping restrictions on technology exports to China. Beijing so far hasn’t retaliated against the Biden administration’s extensive semiconductor export controls targeting China. That might be set to change, however, now that the 20th Party Congress has formally confirmed President Xi Jinping as party leader for a third consecutive term. There are no easy options for China, but the way in which the country responds will be a key signal on how the two superpowers’ fencing match will evolve in the new era of Biden and Xi.

☆ What happened to former Chinese leader Hu Jintao?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Analysis Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

China's former leader Hu Jintao is lifted from his chair by a young aide at the closing of the Communist Party Congress on Saturday. Neither has the incident been reported in Chinese language media, or discussed on Chinese social media, where conversations around senior leaders are highly restricted. Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao is taken by the arm and escorted out. “For whatever reasons, Xi ordered Hu to be escorted out when he must have thought that Hu might not behave exactly as Xi would have wanted,” he said. Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao pats the shoulder of his protege, Premier Li Keqiang.

☆ The ‘Anti-Navy’ the U.S. Needs Against the Chinese Military
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Mike Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As Xi Jinping secured a third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, U.S. foreign policy entered a window of maximum danger. In a speech to the 20th Party Congress, Mr. Xi made clear that unification with Taiwan “must” and “can, without doubt, be realized.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that Mr. Xi is moving on a “much faster timeline” to take Taiwan, and Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday said he couldn’t rule out an invasion in 2022 or 2023. Domestically, Mr. Xi’s problems—a structural economic slowdown, skyrocketing household debt, and the demographic buzzsaw of the largest group of retirees in human history—will all get worse in the 2030s.

☆ U.S. takes note of China congress, says important to keep communications open
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it had taken note of the Communist Party congress in strategic rival China that confirmed Xi Jinping in an unprecedented third term as leader, and stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open. read moreState Department spokesperson Ned Price told a regular briefing the party congress would not bring a change in the U.S. approach to China, which he referred to by the initials of its official name. "We continue our efforts to keep lines of communication open, including at the leader level," she said. "We believe it important to keep those conversations ongoing and we will continue to do that." Xi secured an unprecedented third leadership term on Sunday and introduced a top governing body stacked with loyalists, cementing his place as China's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

☆ Xi Jinping predecessor removed from China's 20th Party Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailXi Jinping predecessor removed from China's 20th Party CongressCNBC's Eunice Yoon, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss takeaways from China's Party Congress, the removal of Xi's predecessor from the Congress, the market reaction to Xi's re-election.

Three of the four new Standing Committee members owe their political rise to Xi, and the fourth is believed to be closely aligned with him. All but Guangdong party chief Li Xi worked under Xi in the 2000s, either in affluent Zhejiang province or in Shanghai. By excluding Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, both 67, from the party Central Committee and Standing Committee, Xi broke with the "seven-up/eight-down" rule that those aged 67 or under would remain for another five years. No woman has ever made it onto the Standing Committee. NOT TROUBLE-FREEThe run-up to the party congress was hardly smooth, with China facing sharp economic slowdown, frustration over zero-COVID and worsening relations with the West.

☆ Live broadcast shows former Chinese president being abruptly escorted out of the Communist Party Congress closing ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was abruptly escorted out of China's Party Congress's closing ceremony. Hu was sitting next to President Xi Jinping on Saturday before he was removed. Footage shows ushers trying to lift Hu out of his seat before leading him out of the Great Hall of the People. It is unclear why he was involuntarily removed from the Party Congress closing ceremony, which takes place in Beijing every five years. Most of the closing ceremony took place behind closed doors, but cameras and reporters were allowed in for the final portion.

☆ Anti-Xi protest spreads in China and worldwide as Chinese leader begins third term
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Obtained by CNNCNN spoke with two Chinese citizens who scribbled protest slogans in bathroom stalls and half a dozen overseas Chinese students who put up anti-Xi posters on their campuses. Chen had tried to share the Sitong Bridge protest on WeChat, China’s super app, but it kept getting censored. But as the widespread anti-Xi posters have shown, the rising nationalistic sentiment is by no means representative of all Chinese students overseas. In the day following the protest in Beijing, Jolie saw on Instagram an outpouring of photos showing protest posters from all over the world. But the extensive censorship around the Sitong Bridge protest also betrays its paranoia.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX How China's Communist Party Congress works
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Yew Lun Tian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A day after the congress, the newly elected Central Committee will convene behind closed doors at its first plenum. The 200 Central Committee members with voting rights will then vote "yes" or "no" on each of the proposed candidates for the two committees. The Central Committee will then elect one person from the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) to be the general secretary. The general secretary will then introduce his new team and speak about the work ahead. The Central Committee also approves the make-up of a new secretariat and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

☆ Is it time to invest in China's internet giants? Two strategists weigh in
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investing in China's technology giants may seem like a risky move to some investors, but one analyst says valuations are "extremely cheap" and China tech buys are an obvious choice now. Tencent and Alibaba are "extremely strong companies," according to Anand Batepati, portfolio manager at GFM Focus Investing. "Unless you think that the government or some external force is going to destroy 90% of their existing business, then I think it's a no brainer" to buy these stocks, he told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Tuesday. However, Gil Luria, technology strategist at D.A. Investors should avoid Chinese big tech stocks because their overseas expansion could be affected as the country is headed toward an "isolationist path," Luria said.

☆ The entire commodities market is waiting for Chinese demand to recover, says analyst
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe entire commodities market is waiting for Chinese demand to recover, says analystTimna Tanners of Wolfe Research says the 20th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party "didn't give that much confidence."

☆ Chinese stocks tumble to multi-year lows in New York and Hong Kong amid party congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Chinese stocks have hit multi-year lows in New York and Hong Kong amid growing concerns about China’s rising Covid cases and economic outlook. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng (HSI) Index tumbled as much as 3% in Thursday’s morning trade. The fall comes just a day after the city’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee, promised to invest billions of dollars to bring global talent and businesses back to Hong Kong. The heavy decline followed a sharp sell-off in Chinese stocks listed on Wall Street overnight. “China’s National Party Congress failed to drive a positive catalyst, ” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist for IG Group, on Thursday.

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