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The US and China sought to manage their great power competition at Europe’s premier defence summit on Saturday, even as their top diplomats traded thinly veiled barbs at their respective roles in the current global tumult. In back-to-back speeches at the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke of the need to carefully manage the superpowers’ differences, continuing a relative thaw that is expected to see US President Donald Trump...

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Last week, US ambassador to Poland Tom Rose cut off contact with his host country’s parliamentary speaker over what he described as “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against President Donald Trump. Washington would “not permit anyone to harm US-Polish relations nor disrespect” the president, Rose warned, without specifying the insults. However, lower house speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, a left-wing Polish politician, had earlier criticised Trump’s policies and said he would not support an...

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Japan has released the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that Tokyo says tried to flee an inspection while in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Japan’s fisheries agency said the captain was released before 8pm on Friday after China submitted documents guaranteeing payment of bail, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday. The agency said the boat, the Qiong Dong Yu, was seized inside Japan’s EEZ off its southwestern Nagasaki prefecture on Thursday. It was ordered to stop for an inspection...

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People across China are buying up gold in large volumes ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, as surging prices for the precious metal fuel its popularity as both a festive gift and an investment. From migrant workers splashing out on gold-coated jewellery, to white-collar workers pouring their savings into gold-linked investment funds, the metal is widely seen not only as a marker of social respectability, but also as a safety net amid an uncertain world. The rising demand comes amid an...

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More Taiwanese are visiting mainland China but the numbers have yet to cross pre-Covid levels, data from the island’s tourism body shows. Taiwanese media attributed the slow recovery to continued cross-strait tensions and partial travel restrictions. According to Taiwan’s Tourism Administration, around 3.24 million Taiwanese visited the mainland last year, nearly 17 per cent more than in 2024. But this was still 20 per cent lower than the figure for 2019, the year before the coronavirus...

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China’s travel industry is expecting a sharp increase in visitors to Australia during this month’s extended Lunar New Year holiday, as millions of tourists fan out across the world for a nine-day break. Industry insiders said the lure of wine, seafood, nature and flexible small-group itineraries was driving interest in the island country. Australia is projected to attract “the most travellers from China” during the break, with bookings likely to more than double over last year’s total, according...

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Artificial intelligence is already reshaping industries and markets, even though artificial general intelligence (AGI) – a still theoretical form of AI capable of humanlike reasoning across many tasks rather than single specialised functions – has yet to be achieved. That was the message of a recent essay posted on X by start-up founder Matt Shumer, titled “Something Big Is Happening”. He likened the current moment to the period just before the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that the disruption...

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“Our destiny will be intertwined with yours”, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, sending a strong message of US commitment to transatlantic ties. Europe was the US’ “oldest friend” and the US’ “cherished allies”, Rubio said, adding “we want Europe to be strong”. “We believe that Europe must survive. Because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately our destiny is and will...

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday took advantage of being on the world stage to blast Sanae Takaichi’s remarks that a Taiwan contingency constituted an emergency for Japan, suggesting Japan’s military involvement in a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. “This is the first time in 80 years that a Japanese Prime Minister has uttered such words. It directly violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and it directly challenges the fact that Taiwan has been returned to China. It completely...

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Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has appealed for public support amid a dispute about a special military budget, warning that the deadlock could delay key weapons deliveries and risks the island slipping down the US arms supply priority list. The NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special budget has been repeatedly blocked by opposition parties, even as Taipei comes under increasing US pressure to prove its commitment to its own defence. Analysts warn that continued delays could weaken...

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is a battleground for the United States and China, but it can also be an area for dialogue and cooperation on regulation and global governance, according to researchers in Hong Kong and Singapore. The team highlighted “policy convergence” on AI at the local level and challenged the “conventional and stereotypical” expectations of policy models in China and the United States that mainly focused on divergence. “Despite fierce competition between the two AI superpowers,...

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There is this old British chestnut that says justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. Justice has been amply served in the 20-year sentence handed down to former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, but it has not been seen to be done in many quarters, especially in the West. There is the reality of justice and the appearance of it, and the two don’t always or even usually coincide. There are two main reasons behind the widespread Western criticism of Lai’s case. One is that...

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Chinese scientists have developed microelectrodes that can flex and move with the brain, potentially paving the way for more advanced and adaptable brain-computer interfaces, according to a study published by the peer-reviewed Nature Electronics. The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the design of the neuronal activity recorders was inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami, with its intricate 3D designs achieved by cutting and folding paper. The scientists said their design...

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Brazilian prosecutors and police launched an extensive crackdown on a Chinese electronics distribution network accused of laundering more than one billion reais (US$190 million) over seven months through a system allegedly related to one of Latin America’s most powerful crime syndicates. The Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC, syndicate allegedly sold imported consumer electronics throughout Brazil via a Chinese e-commerce platform called “Knup Brasil”, including mobile phone chargers,...

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On the margins of a glitzy security event in Bavaria, the foreign ministers of France and Germany revived a dormant diplomatic format with China, in what was described as part of a larger effort to prevent the world’s superpowers from picking Europe apart. France’s Jean-Noel Barrot and Germany’s Johann Wadephul hosted China’s Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference, reviving a configuration not seen since the days of French President Emmanuel Macron’s first term. “If we do not stick together,...

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In the following article, Mick Kelly, the Political Secretary of the Freedom Road Socialist Organisation (FRSO) in the United States, argues that the US is on a collision course with socialist China. Scholarly international relations journals, such as Foreign Affairs, regularly carry articles about a coming war between the two countries. Mick notes that in … Continue reading An analysis of the escalating US threats toward China

The post An analysis of the escalating US threats toward China appeared first on Friends of Socialist China.

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China has banned carmakers from selling new vehicles for less than it costs to make them, including through discounts and subsidies, as regulators continue trying to smother a persistent price war that has sent hopes of profitability up in smoke for most producers. In “pricing guidance” released on Thursday, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) listed a series of tactics that would result in below-cost pricing for new vehicles, warning that carmakers using any of them would face...

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In a move that escalates tensions between Beijing and Washington just weeks ahead of US President Donald Trump’s anticipated trip to Beijing, the Pentagon added a wide range of Chinese companies to a list of firms with alleged links to the military before withdrawing the document. Giants like Alibaba Group Holding, Baidu and BYD are among the firms added to the list. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post. Released on Friday, the updated designation also names firms...

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In the article below, Professor Jiang Shixue argues that “coercive diplomacy” best characterises the foreign policy of the United States. He defines coercive diplomacy as the use of diplomatic language backed by military or economic pressure to force other countries into submission. Jiang writes that the United States, as the world’s sole superpower, routinely applies … Continue reading Coercive diplomacy is diplomacy of muscle

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The meeting comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in April. The trip is expected to take place in early April, although the exact dates have yet to be confirmed. Trump has said that Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will visit the United States “towards the end of the year” but details of that trip also have not...

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In the following analysis for Beijing Review, Carlos Martinez assesses British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s January visit to China as a significant moment in the recalibration of Britain-China relations amid accelerating geopolitical changes. The trip – the first by a British prime minister in eight years – signals a cautious thaw after a prolonged diplomatic … Continue reading Deal diplomacy: Starmer’s China trip bets on business over ideology

The post Deal diplomacy: Starmer’s China trip bets on business over ideology appeared first on Friends of Socialist China.

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Beijing has for the first time revealed the intricate composition of China’s consumer price index (CPI) basket, and a fresh recalibration sees it shift more weight towards services and new types of consumption goods. The basket adjustment itself, conducted every five years, comes as the Chinese leadership seeks to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of deflationary pressure while avoiding a prolonged Japan-style spiralling of prices. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has...

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Fiscal strains are forcing Chinese provinces to slash their budget-revenue expectations for 2026 due to the knock-on effects of a five-year property market slump, and analysts cite the shift as a warning sign that intense debt pressures continue to drag down the nation’s economic growth outlook. Major provinces are budgeting for 2 to 3 per cent growth this year in general public operating revenue, broadly in line with last year but below broader economic growth targets, Fitch Ratings said in a...

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In the highest-ranking sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui, 11 crimson beads remained undisturbed for 3,000 years among bronze vessels, ivory tusks and fragments of gold. They are carnelian – a red gemstone prized across the ancient world, from the Indus Valley to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. In China, however, carnelian was not commonly found in elite burials until the late Western Zhou dynasty (c1046-771BC), with red tones traditionally represented by other minerals, such as ochre and...

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China and the US are likely to secure several “very positive” outcomes but not a “grand bargain” at their presidential summit in April, according to the board chief of a major American business lobby. James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said on Friday that “the optics [of] announcing deals” such as aircraft and soybean sales might be US President Donald Trump’s primary objective for his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing this...

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