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☆ Dutch trade minister: China protest over export rules is 'understandable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM/AMSTERDAM, March 9 (Reuters) - The Netherlands' Trade Minister said a Chinese protest over the Dutch decision to impose restrictions on computer chip technology exports was "understandable", but on Thursday said she expected diplomatic relations would remain good. Liesje Schreinemacher was speaking in Stockholm after the Netherlands said on Wednesday it would follow the U.S. in imposing stricter export rules. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the Dutch rules would "limit normal economic and trade exchanges between Chinese and Dutch companies". Asked whether Dutch restrictions, which are expected to be in place by this summer, will actually be more lax than comparable U.S. restrictions imposed on its own companies last year, she avoided the comparison. Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Writing by Toby Sterling; Editing by Alex Richardson and Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Hong Kong CNN —Europe’s biggest producer of advanced chipmaking technology has joined the United States in its escalating standoff with China. Japan has also been involved in three-way discussions with the Netherlands and the United States, a source familiar with the talks told CNN. China said Thursday it “firmly opposes” the Netherlands’ upcoming curbs, which come just months after the United States restricted sales of some semiconductor machinery to Beijing. He accused Western countries led by the United States of trying to “contain” and “suppress” China. European battlegroundThe announcement of the Netherlands’ export restrictions, the details of which are expected to be confirmed before the summer, isn’t the first time the US-China tech rivalry spilled over into Europe.

[1/2] Sri Lankan rupees are seen in a bowl at a vegetable vendor's shop amid the rampant food inflation, amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 29 , 2022. China has extended its "firm support to Sri Lanka through a debt treatment", EXIM Bank wrote in the letter to the Sri Lankan government on March 6. "Meanwhile, we would like to expedite the negotiation process with your side regarding medium- and long-term debt treatment in this window period, with a view to finalising the specifics of a debt treatment in the coming months. We will make our best efforts to contribute to the debt sustainability of Sri Lanka." The letter mirrors what EXIM Bank sent to Sri Lanka in January, except for the target of finalising debt-treatment specifics in the coming months.

☆ China says US trying to 'deprive' it of right to develop in tech row
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) - China said the U.S. is trying to deprive it of developmental rights and perpetuate its own hegemony, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks in response to a question on TikTok being potentially a target in an upcoming U.S. bill banning some foreign technology. Two U.S. senators plan to introduce legislation this week aimed at letting the government "ban or prohibit" foreign technology products such as Chinese-owned TikTok, Senator Mark Warner said on Sunday. read moreReporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The U.S. has warned on China's support for Russia. Now the EU says 'we need to remain vigilant'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The CIA Director Bill Burns told CBS News last week that he is confident China is considering providing lethal aid to Moscow. China's role in international politics in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year has been a particularly sensitive one for western nations. Europe's top diplomat said the West needs to be vigilant when it comes to support for Russia from China, after U.S. officials warned that Beijing could be about to send lethal weapons to Moscow. Blinken had previously told NBC that there is information that China is "strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia." "The U.S. has been pouring lethal weapons into the battlefield in Ukraine and heightening tensions, while spreading false and malign accusations against China.

☆ China says its official bilateral loans are less than 5% of Ghana debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - China's official bilateral loans involving Ghana account for less than 5% of the West African country's total debt, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday. Multilateral and commercial debt account for the vast majority of Ghana's external debt, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing. Germany's finance minister recently singled out China during a visit to Ghana, as he called on countries that have lent to the embattled nation to form a creditor committee quickly to help it restructure its debt. China has been consistent in criticising multilateral lenders for not taking haircuts on loans extended to debtor countries while Beijing is being asked to do so on credit it has extended bilaterally. Ghana owes China $1.7 billion, according to the International Institute of Finance, a financial services trade association focused on emerging markets.

☆ China scoffs at FBI claim that Wuhan lab leak likely caused COVID pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The FBI has assessed that a leak from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan likely caused the COVID pandemic, director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday, a claim China said had "no credibility whatsoever". "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray told Fox News. His comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that the pandemic was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided, the Journal reported. The virus was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019 before spreading round the world and killing nearly 7 million people.

☆ China spent years angrily trying to shut down the theory that COVID-19 came from its labs. It failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China has pushed another theory, suggesting the COVID-19 may have jumped to humans from frozen food shipped from elsewhere in the world. Lab leak theory initially dismissedThe suspicion that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Wuhan lab has circulated since the earliest days of the pandemic. Trump sought to use the pandemic to discredit China, using the xenophobic term "China virus" to describe the disease. A group of scientists criticised the WHO for dismissing the lab leak thesis too hastily, and pointed to gaps in the report's evidence. Yet the lab leak theory has continued to gain credibility, despite China's efforts, and scientists who once dismissed it now think it's a credible explanation.

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.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China must be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. ambassador to China said on Monday, after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The department made its judgment with "low confidence" in a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress, the Journal said, citing people who had read the intelligence report. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday there were a "variety of views in the intelligence community" on the pandemic's origins. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

☆ US must push China to be honest about COVID origins, US envoy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns on Monday said Washington must push Beijing to be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burns' comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment. Four other U.S. agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that COVID-19 was likely the result of natural transmission, while two are undecided, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

☆ Oil lower on firm dollar, market shrugs off Russian supply cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Oil storage tanks stand at the RN-Tuapsinsky refinery, operated by Rosneft Oil Co., at night in Tuapse, Russia. Oil prices inched lower in volatile trade on Monday, as a stronger dollar and fears of recession risks offset gains arising from Russia's plans to deepen oil supply cuts. A firm dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency more expensive for holders of other currencies. Adding to the downside pressure, U.S. crude oil inventories surged to the highest level since May 2021 last week, data from the Energy Information Administration showed. Oil prices have fallen by about a sixth in the year since Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian troops first marched into Ukraine.

☆ China has always maintained communication with all sides including Ukraine - foreign ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China has always maintained communication with all sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including Kyiv, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular news briefing on Monday. Mao Ning was answering a question on Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying he would welcome talks with China. In another question on Zelenskiy saying that he planned to speak to China President Xi Jinping, Mao said "China's position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and very clear." "The core is to call for peace and promote dialogue and promote a political solution to the crisis. We have always maintained communication with the sides involved including Ukraine," Mao said.

☆ China says proposed U.S. ban on Chinese buying U.S. property violates market rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The United States is violating the principles of market economy and international trade rules in considering a ban on Chinese citizens buying property in the United States, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday. "Generalizing the concept of national security and politicising economic, trade and investment issues violate the rules of market economy and international trade rules," spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing. Mao was responding to a question when asked about Texas and Florida considering a ban on Chinese citizens in the United States from buying property. Over the years, Chinese enterprises have invested in the United States and made important contributions to promoting domestic employment and economic development in the United States," said Mao. The move comes as the United States proposes increased retaliatory measures after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down after entering U.S. airspace.

☆ China accuses the US of information 'warfare' as the Biden administration says Beijing's spy balloon program has targeted 40 countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China has targeted more than 40 countries with its surveillance balloon program, the US said. China denied this and accused the US of waging information "warfare" on Beijing. "This is what we assess is part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program," Ryder said, adding, "This is a program that's operated for several years." Ryder said the purpose of the Chinese surveillance balloons was to study "strategic sites," including "strategic bases" in the continental US. Chinese officials have admitted the downed balloon belonged to China but said it was a weather balloon that blew off course.

☆ China says it wants its busted balloon back after the US Navy fished the suspected spy craft out of the ocean
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China now wants its busted balloon returned to it after the US shot it down. US Navy divers fished pieces of the massive balloon out of the Atlantic Ocean this weekend. The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. Chinese officials have admitted the balloon belongs to China but said it was a weather balloon that blew off course. Newly released images from the US Navy show divers pulling debris from the massive balloon out of the Atlantic Ocean.

☆ After US pops 1st balloon, China admits the 2nd one floating over Latin America is also theirs and gave the same excuse that it was just lost
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China's Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that the balloon spotted over Latin America last week was also Chinese-owned. A separate suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that floated over the US last week was shot down Saturday. That was the same explanation China offered for the unmanned balloon spotted over the US late last week. US Pentagon officials have said the balloon spotted over Latin America is also a surveillance balloon. Mao said China had spoken with Latin American countries about the balloon.

☆ China urges calm after U.S. shoots down suspected spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"What I want to emphasize regarding this unexpected accident is that both sides, especially the U.S., should remain calm," said China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning. BEIJING — China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning urged both sides to remain calm after the U.S. said it shot down what it called a Chinese spy balloon. "What I want to emphasize regarding this unexpected accident is that both sides, especially the U.S., should remain calm," Mao said in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation. The U.S. military shot down the balloon over the weekend. China has called the balloon a "civilian unmanned airship" and said it was primarily conducting weather research before it was blown off course.

Beijing condemned the shooting down of the balloon as an "obvious overreaction" and urged Washington to show restraint. Some U.S. Republicans have questioned why the balloon was not shot down before it was allowed to travel across the United States. Senior U.S. officials have offered to brief former Trump administration officials on the details of what the White House said were three China balloon overflights when Donald Trump was president. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China learned its balloon had drifted over the United States after being notified by Washington. On Sunday, Colombia's military said it sighted an airborne object similar to a balloon after the Pentagon said on Friday another Chinese balloon was flying over Latin America.

☆ China Says It Is Looking Into Spy-Balloon Allegation by U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Brian Spegele | Joyu Wang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said China had no intention of violating other countries’ airspace. BEIJING—China declined to say whether it sent a spy balloon over the continental U.S. but said it wanted to handle the allegation calmly with Washington. U.S. officials said on Thursday that a Chinese reconnaissance balloon had been spotted over Montana, adding that it was expected to pass in a southeasterly direction over the country for a few days.

☆ Trump and other Republicans call for the US 'to shoot down' a suspected Chinese spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trump called for the US to "SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON" as a suspect Chinese spy craft floats above the US. Other Republicans took a slightly more measured approach, arguing that it was "a mistake" not to have shot down the suspected spy balloon but not necessarily saying that it should be done now. Bloomberg reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin advised President Joe Biden not to order the shoot down the balloon due to the risk of falling debris. "It was a mistake to not shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area," Rubio wrote on Twitter. "Shoot down the balloon.

☆ China tells U.S. to remain 'cool-headed' over suspected spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowBeijing urged Washington to remain "cool-headed" Friday, as it investigates reports that a suspected Chinese-operated spy balloon has been hovering over sensitive U.S. airspace. Spotted over MontanaFootage of what appears to be a high-altitude balloon was captured by an eyewitness over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. A senior defense official said the balloon is still over the U.S. but declined to say where it is now. A senior defense official said authorities are continuing to monitor the balloon closely and will take "all necessary steps" to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information. The balloon does not pose a threat to civil aviation because of its altitude, the official added.

☆ Spy balloon witness thought it might have been a star or UFO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Chase Doak was getting ready to leave work when he spotted what he thought might have been a star or even a UFO. It turned out to be a spy balloon floating high over the United States and his images have been seen around the world. The Pentagon reported on Thursday that a spy balloon it suspected is Chinese had been flying over the country for a couple of days. But it was just a run-of-the mill Chinese spy balloon!" China has itself often complained about surveillance by the United States, including its deployment of ships or planes near Chinese military exercises.

☆ China 'seriously concerned' about report U.S. has halted approvals of exports to Huawei
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Jan 31 (Reuters) - China is seriously concerned about a report that the United States has stopped approving licences for U.S. companies to export items to tech giant Huawei, a foreign minsitry spokesperson said on Tuesday. "We are closely following relevant developments," Mao Ning told a regular news briefing in response to a query on the export curbs. read moreReporting by Yew Lun Tian; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China says it is ‘deeply concerned’ about reports of the latest US clampdown on Huawei
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has hit back after reports that Washington is moving to further restrict sales of American technology to Huawei. “China is deeply concerned,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry, said at a press conference Tuesday. The following year, the US government expanded on those curbs by seeking to cut Huawei off from chip suppliers using US-made technology. US officials have argued that Huawei poses a risk to US national security. Western security experts, however, have said that China’s national security and intelligence laws require Chinese companies to comply with demands for information.

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