Trump Team Seeks to Toughen Biden’s Chip Controls Over China
"The meetings come in addition to early discussions in Washington about sanctions on specific Chinese companies, other people said. Some Trump officials also aim to further restrict the type of Nvidia Corp. chips that can be exported to China without a license, Bloomberg News has previously reported. They’re also having early conversations about tightening existing curbs on the quantity of AI chips that can be exported globally without a license"
--- Tightening rules is one thing, most importantly existing loopholes need to be closed & rules properly enforced.
Trump Proposes New Ship Fees to Challenge China’s Maritime Might
"China has targeted the maritime, shipbuilding and logistics sectors for dominance, effectively undercutting competition and winning “market share with dramatic effect,” the Office of the US Trade Representative said in its proposal Friday.
China’s market share has grown from less than 5% of global tonnage in 1999 to more than 50% in 2023. China owned 19% of the commercial world fleet as of January last year, and it controls production of 95% of shipping containers, the office said.
Higher costs for shipping on Chinese vessels could present an opportunity for shipbuilders in South Korea and Japan.
Katherine Tai, who served as Joe Biden’s trade representative, last month said the US ranks 19th in the world in commercial shipbuilding, with a volume of less than five ships being built each year. China, in comparison, builds more than 1,700 per year"
--- It's dubious that new fees would do much to counter Chinese dominance in this field, but we will see.
China’s Xi stresses strength of Russia ties in Putin call as Washington warms to Moscow
"“History and reality show that China and Russia are good neighbors that cannot be moved away, and true friends who share weal and woe,” Xi told Putin"
--- Yeah, who cares about some little wars, border skirmishes & threats with nuclear devastation?! History is what emperor Xi says it is.
Australia found out about Chinese navy live-fire drills through a commercial pilot, official says
"The first notice of the Chinese drills in the Tasman Sea came in a radio transmission on an emergency frequency monitored by a Virgin Australia passenger jet on Friday, according to Australian officials.
The Virgin pilot relayed the information to Australian aviation authorities, who then issued a “hazard alert” via air traffic control, Airservices Australia CEO Rob Sharp told a parliamentary hearing.
Airservices Australia Deputy CEO Peter Curran told the hearing that at least 49 aircraft diverted their flight paths on Friday to avoid the flotilla of three Chinese warships conducting the exercise.
The New Zealand and Australian governments said China did not issue a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) about the drills"
--- As usual, totally reasonable & professional behaviour ... with Chinese characteristics.
Taiwan detains Chinese-crewed cargo ship after undersea cable damaged
"Taiwan’s coastguard has detained a cargo ship and its Chinese crew after an undersea cable in the Taiwan Strait was damaged on Tuesday, saying it cannot rule out the possibility it was a deliberate “grey zone” act.
“Whether the cause of the undersea cable breakage was intentional sabotage or a simple accident remains to be clarified by further investigation,” the coastguard said in a statement. “It cannot be ruled out that it was a grey-zone intrusion by China.”"
--- Well...:
"on 22 February the cargo ship was detected stopping “very close” to the Penghu cable, off the coast of the city of Tainan. Coastguard vessels were sent to the site at about 2.30am on Tuesday, which noticed that the cargo ship had dropped anchor. It started to move north-west about half an hour before Chunghwa Telecom reported the cable had been cut, the spokesperson said.
The vessel did not respond to attempts by the authorities to communicate with it by speaker and radio"
--- Totally innocent & absolutely normal behaviour. Not suspicious at all.
Upgrading skills, downgrading women's work in China
"an unintended result of these policies is a shift in the workforce that has driven women from factory jobs that were on par with their male counterparts into precarious and lower-quality home-based industrial work in their inland hometowns"
--- Unintended? Really?
"The upgrading reform also heightened the expectation of parents' role—especially mothers—in investing in their children's human capital. As a result, women, who have constituted the backbone of China's position as the "world's factory" in the global supply chain, have been pushed out of factory jobs due to the increased focus on becoming "student companion mothers" and preparing the next generation to be college-educated, skilled workers"
--- Doesn't sound very unintended. Anyway, it is more likely part of the current drive to get people to have more babies.
Over 2 dozen teachers at Aksu school sentenced to prison in Xinjiang
North Koreans face forced labor on Chinese fishing vessels: report
Bangladesh wooed by China as ties with India fray
--- China Uncensored: "China’s Export Abyss"
--- China Uncensored: "China Doesn't Have This Problem"
--- Bloomberg: "Trump Wants More Control of Chips Going to China"
Taiwan setzt verdächtiges Schiff fest
"Das Schiff habe sich seit Samstag in den Gewässern südwestlich von Taiwan aufgehalten und auf wiederholte Anrufe der Küstenwache nicht reagiert. Der Netzbetreiber Chunghwa Telecom hatte einen Schaden an einem Kommunikationskabel gemeldet, das zu den westlich von Taiwan gelegenen Penghu-Inseln läuft."
--- V.a. hat das Schiff ausgerechnet in der Nähe des Kabels erstmal gestoppt, Anker geworfen & ist dann weitergefahren. Aber ist natürlich alles reiner Zufall...
China baut in 90.000-Einwohner-Stadt einen Flughafen für 400.000 Passagiere – aber warum?
"Unklar ist, wann der teuerste Flughafen des Landes überhaupt in Betrieb genommen wird. Sicherheitsbedenken und die Nähe der Berge zum Flughafen verzögerten das Eröffnungsdatum."
--- Die Nähe der Berge? Hat man die vor dem Bau nicht gesehen?
