China’s leverage rises before high-stakes summit as Supreme Court curbs Trump tariffs
"Analysts said the ruling could change the dynamics around efforts to extend a trade truce negotiated last year and complicate Trump’s push for Beijing to buy large quantities of U.S. soybeans, Boeing aircraft and energy exports.
“It limits Trump’s ability to deploy tariffs at will, reduces pressure on Beijing to expand soybean purchases or ease rare earth access, and gives China leverage to push for the removal of the remaining 10% tariffs linked to fentanyl,” said Dan Wang, China director of Eurasia Group."
--- Meh, most of these tariffs didn't have that much of an effect anyway. And...
"While Trump’s tariff authority may be somewhat diminished, he could deploy non-tariff measures, such as technology controls and sanctions against Chinese entities, as negotiating tools, experts said.
“The measures with real structural impact remain non-tariff tools,” said Wang. These include expanded export controls on advanced chips and broader restrictions against Chinese tech firms"
--- Yep.
A Chinese official’s use of ChatGPT accidentally revealed a global intimidation operation
"The Chinese law enforcement official used ChatGPT like a diary to document the alleged covert campaign of suppression, OpenAI said. In one instance, Chinese operators allegedly disguised themselves as US immigration officials to warn a US-based Chinese dissident that their public statements had supposedly broken the law, according to the ChatGPT user. In another case, they describe an effort to use forged documents from a US county court to try to get a Chinese dissident’s social media account taken down.
[...] “This is what Chinese modern transnational repression looks like,” Ben Nimmo, principal investigator at OpenAI, told reporters ahead of the report’s release. “It’s not just digital. It’s not just about trolling. It’s industrialized. It’s about trying to hit critics of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] with everything, everywhere, all at once.”"
--- Using Western AI makes Chinese influence operations a bit easier because they can use proper English. But if you know what to look for, it's still fairly easy to detect.
Google disrupts Chinese-linked hackers that attacked 53 groups globally
"the group had confirmed access to 53 unnamed entities across the 42 countries, with potential access in at least 22 more countries at the time of disruption"
--- This is still way more dangerous than China using AI for influence operations.
"Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement that "cyber security is a common challenge faced by all countries and should be addressed through dialogue and cooperation.
"China consistently opposes and combats hacking activities in accordance with the law, and at the same time firmly rejects attempts to use cyber security issues to smear or slander China.""
Japan to deploy missiles on island near Taiwan by 2031
"Japan plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles to its remote western island near Taiwan by March 2031"
--- Probably too late for a Taiwan invasion, which may happen as soon as next year.
"China imposed export curbs on 20 Japanese companies and entities, citing national security concerns."
--- Well, security concerns, the CCP is still angry that the Japanese prime minister doesn't want to kowtow.
German chancellor warns of trade imbalance with China during first Beijing trip
"the arrival of these goods is sparking acute angst in Germany – the traditional engine of Europe but one that's been stuttering, economically, for years.
Notably, its once mighty car industry is shedding jobs in what's become a bumpy transition to electric vehicles - a field China dominates."
--- True German angst. The once mighty car industry is not shedding that many jobs and it's still just as mighty as before. Only the profits are a little bit smaller than before. But they're still making profit.
"Speaking to reporters, Merz said the relationship opens up opportunities, "but also entails risks."
"We want to further strengthen our partnership... However, we will of course also protect our interests," he said, after earlier stating that trying to decouple from China would be a mistake."
--- Because German industry leaders are still betting on the Chinese market. Stupid as they are. But sooner or later China will decouple itself. So Germany should be prepared.
s.a.: Germany weighs China risks in new trade era
--- China Uncensored: "China Invaded. And A President Falls"
--- China Uncensored: "It Was Supposed To Be a Routine Investigation. It Turned Into Pure Terror"
--- DW News: "'Talks less, do more' – The challenges of Merz's visit to China"
Xi will Partnerschaft auf "neues Niveau" heben
"Xi und er hätten "bekräftigt, dass wir die umfassende strategische Partnerschaft zwischen unseren beiden Ländern vertiefen wollen, dass wir uns weiterentwickeln wollen", sagte auch Merz in der chinesischen Hauptstadt. "Und dass wir unsere Gemeinsamkeiten herausstellen und uns gemeinsam den Herausforderungen stellen, vor denen wir stehen."
--- Ich will mal hoffen, dass das nicht viel mehr als leeres Geblubber ist. Denn eine strategische Partnerschaft mit China ist mehr als dämlich.
""Merz erklärte bereits, China wolle eine größere Bestellung bei Airbus aufgeben. "Es wird insgesamt bis zu 120 zusätzliche Flugzeuge geben, die bei Airbus bestellt werden""
--- Die auch ohne seinen Besuch bestellt worden wären.
"Merz hat die chinesische Führung in Peking ersucht, ihren Einfluss bei den Bemühungen um ein Kriegsende geltend zu machen. "Wir wissen eben auch, dass die Signale aus China in Moskau sehr ernst genommen werden", sagte Merz nach seinem Treffen mit Xi. Doch Xi verzichtete erneut auf eine direkte Schuldzuweisung an Russland."
--- Welch eine Überraschung!
Spione auf Rädern?
"Nach Recherchen von WDR und NDR haben das Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) und die Zentrale Stelle für Informationstechnik im Sicherheitsbereich (ZITiS) in einem gemeinsamen Projekt Fahrzeuge mehrerer chinesischer Hersteller untersucht. Dabei wurde analysiert, welche Daten die Autos sammeln, in welchem Umfang dies geschieht und ob Informationen ins Ausland fließen.
Zu den Ergebnissen der Untersuchung und der Risikobewertung wollen sich BfV und ZITiS nicht äußern. Und auch das Bundesinnenministerium gibt sich wortkarg."
--- Man will China ja nicht verärgern, gerade jetzt, wo der Kanzler dort zu Besuch ist.
"Nach Informationen von WDR und NDR dürfen etwa chinesische Autos nicht auf dem Parkplatz des Operativen Einsatzführungskommando in Schwielowsee bei Potsdam geparkt werden. Ihre Halter müssen eine gesonderte Fläche nutzen. Ebenso gilt ein solches Verbot für die Liegenschaften des Bundesnachrichtendienstes."
--- Immerhin etwas.
