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The Chinese Embassy in Washington called self-ruled Taiwan "an inalienable part of China" and said the one-China principle was an "overwhelming trend" internationally. When Taiwan temporarily averted a split with Honduras after President Xiomara Castro took office in January 2022, U.S. State Department officials remained wary. The Biden administration is also keeping a close eye on tiny Belize for any cracks in its Taiwan relationship. Two U.S. officials said Washington was putting less stock in Taiwan maintaining its diplomatic allies in favor of efforts to increase its participation in international organizations. While denied a seat in the United Nations, Taiwan is a member of the WTO and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

☆ Tim Cook and Bob Iger to meet with House China committee members
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

L to R: Microsoft President Brad Smith, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Disney CEO Bob Iger. Lawmakers will also dine with entertainment producers and screenwriters who have been critical of the industry’s approach to wooing Chinese viewers, the source said. On Friday, lawmakers will have conversations with former Defense Secretary James Mattis as well as Apple CEO Tim Cook. China is Apple’s third-largest geographic business segment after the Americas and Europe, accounting for more than $74 billion in company revenues last year. “This committee was set up to build out the bipartisan consensus on the CCP and the actions we need to take to defend ourselves,” the source said.

☆ The future of auto: Is the EV hype here to stay or fade away?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | 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 future of auto: Is the EV hype here to stay or fade away? Hosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC. Mike Guy, Road & Track Magazine, and Tony Quiroga, Car and Driver editor-in-chief, join the show to discuss the EV market.

☆ Lawmakers aim to train more truck drivers, ease supply chain issues through bipartisan bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A semi truck used by students while earning their commercial driver's license (CDL) parked at Truck America Training of Kentucky in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. WASHINGTON — A pair of bipartisan lawmakers have reintroduced legislation offering tax credits to U.S. truck drivers in an effort to address a dire pandemic-related shortage. The Strengthening Supply Chains Through Truck Driver Incentives Act aims to combat what lawmakers said was a shortfall of about 80,000 commercial truck drivers in 2021, caused by hiring and retention challenges. The bill would establish a two-year refundable tax credit of up to $7,500 for truck drivers with a valid Class A commercial driver's license who drive at least 1,900 hours in a year. Ten advocacy organizations representing the trucking industry, including the American Trucking Associations and American Loggers Council, have backed the bill.

☆ Apple's Tim Cook, Disney's Bob Iger to discuss China with lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A group of lawmakers will travel to California to meet with tech and media executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Disney CEO Bob Iger, to discuss China-related topics, CNBC has confirmed. Around a dozen lawmakers representing both parties on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are set to make the three-day trip, led by Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., a spokesperson for the committee told CNBC. Just last week, Cook, whose company relies on China's massive workforce for phone production, met with China's minister of commerce about supply chain issues. Gallagher has previously said he wants Iger and Big Tech executives to testify before the panel. Companies named in this report either did not immediately respond or did not provide a comment.

☆ Putin has made so many nuclear threats since he invaded Ukraine that people are increasingly shrugging them off
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Putin has made a lot of nuclear threats since the war in Ukraine began. Putin's latest threat involves moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Over the weekend, Putin announced a plan to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders members of the EU and NATO, by summer. Tactical nuclear weapons (also known as battlefield nukes) are generally intended for use on a smaller scale at shorter ranges and are less powerful than strategic nuclear weapons. That said, tactical nuclear weapons still have the capacity to wreak havoc and kill tens of thousands of people.

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China's government had access to the short video app's user data. "The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," McCarthy said on Twitter. In Thursday's hearing, the TikTok CEO was asked if of the app, has spied on Americans at Beijing's request. Republican Representative Neal Dunn then referenced the company's disclosure in December that some China-based employees at ByteDance improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the company. McCarthy, a Republican, said in a tweet on Sunday, "It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true — China has access to TikTok user data."

☆ Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

And the Chinese government’s authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. People rallied during a "Stop Asian Hate" march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Foley Square in New York, on April 4, 2021. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment. “Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect.

☆ U.S. House speaker McCarthy says lawmakers to move forward with TikTok bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), joined by fellow Republican lawmakers, holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on March 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China's government had access to the short video app's user data. "The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," McCarthy said on Twitter. McCarthy, a Republican, said in a tweet on Sunday, "It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true — China has access to TikTok user data." Former U.S. President Donald Trump lost a series of court rulings in 2020 when he sought to ban TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a unit of Tencent.

☆ TikTok users are making fun of Congress members for their questions to app CEO Shou Chew
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Meanwhile, TikTok creators are leading the way ridiculing members of Congress. “There needs to be an age limit in Congress,” one caption by user @rachelhannahh said about a clip of US Rep. Many of the TikTok video clips suggested Congress members don’t know how modern technology works. They believe members of Congress are detached from technology and unaware of how tech companies within their own country operate, resulting in easily mockable questions. “What color is the algorithm?” said user Christian Divyne in a video mocking some of the questions Congress members asked Chew.

"This is not a good moment for American diplomacy," said William Kirby, a professor of Chinese studies at Harvard University. A source familiar with that conversation called it the most antagonistic U.S.-China engagement since contentious talks in Alaska early in the Biden administration. Name me one," Biden said in his speech, evidently referring to a host of domestic and foreign policy challenges facing China. However, Biden is likely to find Xi emboldened in any call after a Chinese-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and his meetings with Putin. Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. House panel on China to highlight abuse of Uyghurs in second hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Michael Martina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - A new U.S. congressional committee on China will hold its second hearing on Thursday, seeking to highlight what Washington says is an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China's Xinjiang region. Rights groups accuse Beijing of abuses, including forced labor, mass surveillance and the placement of 1 million or more Uyghurs - a mainly Muslim ethnic group - in a network of internment camps in Xinjiang. China vigorously denies abuses in Xinjiang, and says it established "vocational training centers" to curb terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism. A United Nations report last year said China may have committed crimes against humanity in the region. Its top Democrat, U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, told reporters that what happens to the Uyghur community in China affects Americans.

☆ Inside the demise of Vice, from turning away a $3.5 billion Disney offer to a 'painful' downward spiral that has the media giant scrambling for a buyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The talks fizzled, Disney backed off, and Smith set off for California to drum up other interest in Vice Media. Vice Media Group co-CEOs Bruce Dixon, left, and Hozefa Lokhandwala. Vice Media GroupOne former Vice insider familiar with the current situation told Insider that staffers were warning vendors they needed to threaten to stop work in order to get paid. Just a few months later, Rupert Murdoch tweeted, "Who's heard of Vice Media? Refinery29 quickly lost key staff and was not well integrated into Vice Media, the two former staffers said.

☆ Rep. Jamaal Bowman says the push to ban TikTok is 'xenophobic' and 'part of another Red Scare'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But Rep. Jamaal Bowman — among the most prolific TikTokers in Congress — is pushing back. And amid growing bipartisan calls in Washington for a nationwide ban on the popular video-sharing app, he's decided to speak up. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers increasingly speak of TikTok as a potential vector for malign influence from the Chinese Communist Party. "Me being against a ban of TikTok is not about thinking TikTok is the greatest thing ever, and that there aren't regulations and reforms needed." The Biden administration, meanwhile, is threatening to ban TikTok if ByteDance doesn't sell its stake in the company.

☆ Why SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket looks unlike anything the company has ever built before
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Not only is Starship the world's largest, most powerful rocket, it also looks unlike anything SpaceX has ever built. Veronica G. Cardenas/ReutersThis silver-black color scheme is a vast change from SpaceX's white Falcon 9 rockets or NASA's orange and white Space Launch System. SpaceX's silver rocket made of steelSpaceX's Starship rocket is made of stainless steel. SpaceX's black-studded Starship spacecraftStarship is covered on one side with black tiles to help protect it upon atmospheric re-entry. SPACEXSpaceX wouldn't comment on whether, or not, that's the reasoning for their silver Starship rocket.

☆ Paul Ryan Says Even MAGA Diehards Believe Trump Can’t Win in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +23 min

Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado Talk Paul Ryan Says Even MAGA Diehards Believe Trump Can’t Win in 2024For a good long time during the George W. Bush and Obama presidencies, Paul Ryan was considered one of the intellectual leaders and shining stars of the Republican Party. Get out of this race.” But I don’t think Trump is going to get the nomination. I don’t think we want the lack of liberty that comes with government-made equality. Where I part company with the left is I don’t believe in socialism. I don’t believe in equality of outcomes.

☆ House Committee Lays Out Case for China Threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Charles Hutzler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Members of the new House committee adopted rules for the panel ahead of a prime-time hearing at the Capitol. WASHINGTON—A new House committee holds its first hearing Tuesday evening to draw attention to China’s policies on human rights, business and military power that the panel says pose a challenge to U.S. interests and values. “We may call this a ‘strategic competition,’” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, is expected to say, according to prepared remarks. “But this is not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century, and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake.”

☆ We're going to have to find a way to reduce dependence on China, says Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.)
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | 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 EmailWe're going to have to find a way to reduce dependence on China, says Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) CNBC's Kayla Tausche talks to Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher about where he sees relations with China headed over the next few years.

☆ TikTok is automatically setting a one-hour limit for users under 18 — but it's a setting that's easy to bypass
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok announced a new one-hour screen time limit for teens, among other controls. A bill that would ban TikTok in the US was advanced by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. TikTok also announced updates to its Family Pairing feature that will allow a parent or guardian to link their account to their teen's TikTok and set parental controls. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to advance a bill that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok, according to a report from CNBC. Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, sponsor of the act to ban TikTok, dubbed the app "digital fentanyl," Insider's Brian Metzger reported last week.

☆ Watch live: U.S. House China panel holds first hearing after lawmakers push seven bills targeting Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Gallagher and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., ranking member of the select committee, called the balloon a "violation of American sovereignty" in a joint statement. The administration's move prompted the advancement of several bills designed to bolster U.S. national security against China. Seven out of 10 bills passed by the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday addressed China or its neighbor, Taiwan. The Select Committee will not allow the CCP to lull us into complacency or maneuver us into submission." Matthew Pottinger, former U.S. Deputy national security adviser; former U.S. National Security Adviser H.R.

☆ Kevin McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson access to secret January 6 footage. Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have little to say about it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kevin McCarthy recently gave Fox News host Tucker Carlson access to security footage from January 6. McConnell repeatedly told reporters that he was simply concerned about Capitol security. "Going back to when Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi was Speaker, my main concern is the security of the Capitol," said McConnell. "Good try," replied McConnell, before again repeating his statement about Capitol security. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

☆ The battle over abortion access could return to the ballot box in four states in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Millions of Americans lost legal access to abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The GOP used state ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage to juice turnout, including in the critical state of Ohio. "The majority of Arizonans support safe, legal abortion, and we need to roll back many of the restrictions that are in place now." Two abortion rights groups are teaming up to put the question before voters in 2024. The ballot box might also be abortion rights advocates' best hope as the unicameral legislature appears to be on the verge of breaking a filibuster to pass a 6-week abortion ban.

Instead the opposite happened," said Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the select committee, in his opening remarks. McMaster said the United States must put a priority on expediting delivery of billions of dollars of weapons and munitions that Taiwan has already purchased. Although the committee is bipartisan, some Democratic lawmakers have voiced concerns that it could fuel anti-Asian sentiment within the United States. The select committee has 13 Republican and 11 Democratic members. It will not write legislation, but will draw attention to competition between the United States and China on a range of fronts and make policy recommendations.

Wray's comments Tuesday came after Baier noted that the Energy Department had cited the FBI's earlier findings in its report. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said earlier Tuesday that China has "always been open and transparent" about Covid. In its assessment, the Energy Department also described the "likely" laboratory-related leak as an "accident," the official added. The Energy Department is one of 18 government departments and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said, "China obviously is very threatened by this," but "the lab leak story is not anti-Chinese.

☆ A growing group of lawmakers think TikTok is 'digital fentanyl' and want to ban it. Many others remain skeptical.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Some members of Congress have begun pushing to ban TikTok in the US. "I'm a little less enthusiastic about an all-out ban of it," said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. "I'm an incrementalist on a lot of things, and I would be on this as well," said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on social media and the internet's impact on children. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, another committee member, said she's most concerned about how social media platforms are impacting kids.

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