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☆ NASA's chief says China is being 'very, very secretive' and pretending its space projects aren't linked to the military
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA chief Bill Nelson accused China on Wednesday of secretly working on military projects in space. Nelson told lawmakers that NASA believes Beijing is masking these projects as civilian efforts. "We believe that a lot of their, so-called civilian space programs is a military program," Nelson continued. Related storiesThe NASA chief alluded to the Spratly Islands, an archipelago in the South China Sea claimed by several nations. Meanwhile, China has repeatedly denied that it intends to establish any military presence in outer space.

Persons: Bill Nelson, Nelson, —, Artemis Organizations: NASA, China, Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, South China, Artemis Accords, Alxa League, Inner, Getty, UN, Embassy, Business Locations: Beijing, China, Spratly Islands, South, Russia, Alxa, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Washington , DC

☆ Major companies in China are setting up their own volunteer armies
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese companies are doing something rarely seen since the 1970s: setting up their own volunteer armies. According to China’s Military Service Law, male militia members should be 18 to 35 years old. It was latest in a slew of militias established by major Chinese companies in the past year. After 1949, when the party took control of mainland China, the units were eventually embedded into governments, schools and companies. This can, in the long run, save the PLA resources by delegating some duties to militia forces to care for,” Heath said.

Persons: Xi, ”, Neil Thomas, Nuo Nuo, Huang Zhiqiang, Qilai Shen, Liu Jie, Mao Zedong, Mao, Timothy Heath, homebuyers, Heath, ” Heath, Willy Lam, Sam Yeh, ” Lam, China’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, People’s Armed Forces Departments, America’s National Guard, Communist, Asia Society, Center for, Communist Party, China Labour Bulletin, Foxconn, Yili, Armed Forces Department, China’s Military Service Law, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, government’s Communist Party, Inner Mongolia Autonomous, Bloomberg, Getty, Shanghai Municipal Investment Group, Construction Investment, Development, Defense Ministry, People’s Armed Police, Armed, Rand Corporation, Jamestown Foundation, Party, Taiwan Locations: China, Hong Kong, Center for China, Beijing, Zhengzhou, Henan, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, Yili, Shanghai, Mengniu, Nantong city, Jiangsu, Huizhou city, Guangdong, Wuhan, Hubei province, People’s Republic, United States, Taiwan, Fangchenggang City, Guangxi, ”, PLA, Taiwan's, AFP

Xie Xuguang, from CNOOC Gas and Power Group's research centre, told a conference on Thursday that China's total gas demand may reach 396.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year. "We're expecting industrial gas demand to recover in the second half. Gas demand growth this year was seen at between 5.7% and 7.4%, according to estimates this week by ICIS, Energy Aspects and SIA Energy. China's total gas demand was forecast to peak in 2040 at 700 bcm, Xie added, echoing a previous forecast by state major Sinopec. Imports of both piped gas and liquefied natural gas were both expected to increase to meet rising domestic demand.

Persons: Stringer, Xie Xuguang, Xie, CNOOC, Andrew Hayley, Chen Aizhu, Christian Schmollinger, Michael Perry Organizations: Sinopec, Inner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous, REUTERS, CNOOC Gas, Power, ICIS, SIA Energy, Imports, Thomson Locations: Erdos, Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, TIANJIN, Japan, Russia's, Siberia, Russia

☆ Floods, mudslides kill two in northwestern China city
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Qinling Mountains in Xian will continue to experience extreme weather conditions, which will lead to soil erosion and possibly further mudslides, the broadcaster said. A man holding a child walks across a damaged bridge after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China August 7, 2023. In southwestern Guangxi on Friday, heavy rainfall in the city of Nanning led to urban flooding, forcing rush hour commuters to drive vehicles and motorcycles through waterlogged roads, CCTV said. Local authorities set up cordons to allow drainage work on some roads, while the city dispatched nearly 3,900 police to help. In Huozhou city in the northern province of Shanxi, some low-lying houses faced stagnant water breaches, as floods from heavy rain trapped some residents in their buildings, the broadcaster said.

Persons: Xian, Doksuri, Tingshu Wang, Engen Tham, Miral Organizations: China Central Television, REUTERS, Local, Xinhua News Agency, Thomson Locations: Nanning, Beijing, Harbin SHANGHAI, China, Fujian, Xian, Zhuozhou, Hebei province, Harbin, Guangxi, Jilin, Huozhou, Shanxi, Mongolia

☆ China's energy security push drives up fossil fuel approvals - research
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( David Stanway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"China's government has put energy security and energy transition at odds with one another," said Greenpeace's Gao Yuhe, who led the research published on Thursday. "Beijing has clearly stated that coal power will still grow at a 'reasonable pace' into 2030," she said. China's National Energy Administration (NEA) did not immediately reply to a fax sent requesting a comment on the coal plants and their power generation policies. The increase in China's coal usage reflects a worldwide pattern. The International Energy Agency said last week that global coal consumption reached a record 8.3 billion tons in 2022, with strong growth in Asia offsetting declines elsewhere.

Persons: David Gray, Gao Yuhe, Xi Jinping, Gao, Jorrit Gosens, David Stanway, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Mongolia Autonomous, REUTERS, Companies Greenpeace, Greenpeace, National Energy Administration, International Energy Agency, National Development, Reform Commission, European, Global Energy Monitor, Australian National University, NEA, Thomson Locations: Baotou, China's, Mongolia, Mongolia Autonomous Region, SINGAPORE, China, Beijing, Asia, European Union

☆ Covid vaccine maker Novavax sees a pathway to survival – but it won’t be easy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesNovavax has a clear message for Wall Street: The cash-strapped Covid vaccine maker sees a pathway to survival. The 36-year-old company will continue to rely on its protein-based Covid vaccine – its only commercially available product – for most of its revenue this year. Once the U.S. government's supply of free Covid vaccines runs out, all three companies will sell updated shots directly to health-care providers. A health worker prepares a dose of the Novavax vaccine as the Dutch Health Service Organization starts with the Novavax vaccination program on March 21, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands. But Taylor emphasized that the plan will help Novavax refocus on its top priority: delivering an updated vaccine in the coming months.

Persons: Jakub Porzycki, Novavax, Covid, Cowen, Brendan Smith, John Jacobs, Smith, that's, Silvia Taylor, Taylor, Jefferies, Roger Song, Patrick Van Katwijk, Mayank Mamtani, let's, Mamtani, Let's, Song, Ding Genhou Organizations: NurPhoto, Getty, Pfizer, Moderna, CNBC, Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, FDA, Dutch Health Service Organization, Riley Securities, U.S, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Reuters, Visual China Locations: Krakow, Poland, Maryland, U.S, The Hague, Netherlands, Moderna, Geneva, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

☆ China coal mine death toll at six, 47 missing as rescue resumes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CGTN/Handout via REUTERSFeb 24 (Reuters) - The death toll from a coal mine collapse in northern China rose to six with at least 47 people missing as rescue efforts resumed after a landslide had halted the search for survivors, state media said on Friday. Six people had been pulled alive from the mine in Inner Mongolia by 10:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) on Thursday, state media reported. Three hundred rescue workers were using heavy machinery and rescue dogs in their search for the miners, state media said. The mine, once underground, was converted to an open-pit operation in 2012, according to state media. It had suspended production for three years before restarting in April 2021, state media said, without specifying the cause of the closure.

☆ China reports huge rise in Covid deaths after WHO criticized Beijing for heavily undercounting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The World Health Organization said this week that China was heavily under-reporting deaths from COVID, although it was now providing more information on its outbreak. China, which last reported daily COVID death figures on Monday, has repeatedly defended the veracity of its data on the disease. On Saturday, Jiao said China divides COVID-related deaths between those from respiratory failure due to coronavirus infection and those from underlying disease combined with coronavirus infection. Last month, a Chinese health expert at a government news conference said only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting COVID would be classified as COVID deaths. However, he said, it was unclear whether the new data accurately reflects actual fatalities because doctors are discouraged from reporting COVID-related deaths and the numbers include only deaths in hospitals.

☆ Chinese astronauts return to earth after 'successful' six-month mission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Three Chinese astronauts landed back on earth on Sunday on board the re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, state broadcaster CCTV reported, bringing to an end a six-month mission on China's space station. Staff at the landing site carried out the exhausted-looking crew one by one and by just after 9 p.m. all three had safely exited the capsule, CCTV reported. A new crew of three fellow Chinese astronauts arrived at the space station aboard the Shenzhou-15 to take over from them on Wednesday. The space station represents a significant milestone in China's three-decades long manned space programme, first approved in 1992. It also flags the start of permanent Chinese habitation in space.

China accounts for 60% of global soybean imports, and upon arrival, the beans are crushed into protein-rich hog feed to support the country’s strong appetite for pork. When soybean imports are strong, that often indicates healthy feed demand and a sufficiently large hog herd. China substantially upped pork imports in 2019 after disease spread through its hog herd starting in 2018, potentially killing up to 40% of the country’s pigs. China’s pork imports have risen a bit since the mid-year slump due to a notable increase in Brazilian shipments since the beginning of this year. Through October, China’s 2022 soybean imports of 73.2 million tonnes were down 7.5% on the year.

Representatives of coal miners in Indonesia and Australia, the world's two largest exporters of thermal coal, were ebullient at the Coaltrans event, but also cautious that the current windfall is unlikely to last beyond 2023 or 2024. In theory both of these solutions do offer some hope for coal miners, but then the main problem comes in. For higher energy Australian thermal coal the cost of the offsets is even less, given its current high price, coming in at just over 2%. Also, as coal miners, and other polluters, compete for offsets, the price will invariably rise, thereby adding to the cost. For exporting coal miners, there is probably a narrow path to remaining in business for the long term.

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