China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-04-26
Blinken says China helping fuel Russian threat to Ukraine
"Mr Blinken was also keen to stress progress had been made in some areas."
--- Yeah, well, except for actually talking to each other, what would that be?
"He praised Beijing for making efforts in stopping supplies of the drug fentanyl reaching the US.
[...] Mr Blinken also stressed he felt Beijing can play a "constructive" role in the Middle East, pointing towards China using "its relationship with Iran to urge" against further escalation in its confrontation with Israel."
--- Phhh... Those efforts of Beijing are restricted to saying that China will do something about fentanyl. & about the ME, even Blinken talks about possibilities, not reality.
"Mr Xi [...] added the countries should "be partners, not rivals", saying that if the US took "a positive view of China's development", relations could "truly stabilise, get better and move forward""
--- Translation: 'Let us do whatever we want, then you are allowed to be our friend.'
""We've taken action already against Chinese entities that are engaged in this," he said. "And what I make clear today is that if China won't act, we will.""
--- Good. At least this is much better than anything that eg. Scholz said.
s.a.: US and China should be 'partners,' Xi tells Blinken
s.a.: China warns US not to step on its 'red lines'
Blinken tells CNN the US has seen evidence of China attempting to influence upcoming US elections
"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has seen evidence of Chinese attempts to “influence and arguably interfere” with the upcoming US elections, despite an earlier commitment from leader Xi Jinping not to do so."
--- Just like Chinese commitments regarding fentanyl.
EU pulls its gun on China
"For years, Brussels has repeatedly taken an emollient tone with Beijing, seeking ultimately futile dialogue on state subsidies and overcapacity in sectors such as steel, aluminum and green tech, rather than choosing direct confrontation and a tit-for-tat trade war.
Now the gloves are off
[...] “For a long time, we talked about the European Commission having this toolbox. But we questioned the ability of the European Commission to use this toolbox effectively. Now we see that actually the European Commission is able and willing to use it,”"
--- Good on the EU, but the problem are individual countries, like Germany. Scholz et al. contradict tougher EU policies by kowtowing to China. We will see whether the EU will be able to keep up fighting China against European opposition.
Decoding China: Competing for control over digital future
"At this year's Hannover Messe trade fair, it seems obvious that major industrial innovations are no longer possible without China.
[...] The logo on the China stand, "Make Things Better," reads like a self-confident slogan: Chinese companies have already taken the lead in some sectors worldwide. Themes such as digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) would be inconceivable without Chinese involvement"
--- Utter bullshit. This is the typical naive nonsense you see a lot in German media. They just believe Chinese propaganda.
TikTok will not be sold, Chinese parent tells US
"The statement from ByteDance came in response to an article by the technology industry website The Information that said it was exploring the potential sale of TikTok’s operation in the US without the algorithm that powers it."
--- One article. Then, in certain media, that becomes 'earlier reports'. & that's how bullshit spreads.
It is highly unlikely that TikTok would be sold. Simple CCP fact.
Vulnerabilities across keyboard apps reveal keystrokes to network eavesdroppers
Calls grow for proof of whereabouts of Tibet’s missing Panchen Lama
Alleged Chinese spy 'held key roles' in overseas democracy groups
--- China Uncensored features the weekend news variety again:
--- BBC News: "China’s Xi Jinping meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken"
--- Sky News: "Is China powering Russia's war?"
Die USA und China sprechen wieder miteinander. Einig sind sie sich nicht
"Zwar sprechen die beiden rivalisierenden Supermächte nach mächtigen Funkstörungen im letzten Jahr wieder miteinander. Viel Einigkeit herrscht aber nicht."
--- Womit eigentlich schon alles über das Treffen gesagt wäre.
"Xi schlug gegenüber Blinken auch versöhnlichere Töne an. Die beiden Länder sollten Partner und nicht Rivalen sein; sie sollten gemeinsam erfolgreich sein und sich nicht gegenseitig schaden"
--- Das ist nicht 'versöhnlicher', sondern der übliche chinesische Standpunkt. & der bedeutet auch nur, daß China erwartet, tun zu können, was es will, ohne kritisiert zu werden.
"Sehr klar, sehr direkt": Blinken mahnt China - Xi stellt Bedingungen
"Die USA hoffen zudem, dass China seine guten Beziehungen zum Iran nutzt, um das Land zur Zurückhaltung angesichts der eskalierenden Spannungen mit Israel zu drängen. So könnten sich Chinas Beziehungen "positiv" bei dem Versuch auswirken, die Spannungen im Nahen Osten "abzubauen" und "die Ausbreitung des Konflikts zu vermeiden", sagte Blinken. Sein chinesischer Kollege Wang Yi habe zugestimmt, in dieser Frage in Kontakt zu bleiben."
--- Wie immer. In Kontakt bleiben. Aber nichts tun.
Decoding China: Innovationsbedarf umschifft die Politik
"Auf der Hannover Messe wird deutlich, dass große Industrieinnovationen ohne China nicht mehr möglich sind.
[...] Das Logo des Chinastands Make Things Better (Mach die Dinge besser) liest sich dabei wie ein selbstbewusster Slogan. In einigen Bereichen haben sich chinesische Unternehmen schon heute weltweit an die Spitze gesetzt. Themen wie Digitalisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) wären ohne chinesisches Engagement nicht denkbar."
--- DW zeigt mal wieder große Chinakompetenz. Man glaubt einfach chinesischer Propaganda.
Mutmaßlicher chinesischer Spion bot sich BND an
Spionageaffäre: China weist Anschuldigungen aus Deutschland als »reine Erfindung« zurück
--- tagesschau: Diplomatische Gespräche: US-Außenminister Blinken in China
--- Arte: Elektroautos: China in der Offensive | Mit offenen Karten - Im Fokus
True. But you also know how the Chinese are. They're like pouty kids. You've got to find (or invent) SOME damned thing to praise them about, even if it requires overinflating a very minor achievement to massage their sensitive egos, before criticizing something else. Otherwise they wall up.
The chances of China actually doing anything to cooperate are one in a million. But that's one more chance per million than there'd have been if Blinken hadn't thrown them a bone in his speech.
"True. But you also know how the Chinese are. They're like pouty kids. You've got to find (or invent) SOME damned thing to praise them about, even if it requires overinflating a very minor achievement to massage their sensitive egos, before criticizing something else. Otherwise they wall up."
Luckily, that's not generally true. That mostly goes for officials, businessmen & the ideologically challenged. Rarely had that problem with my students. They were able to cope quite well with my straightforward honesty.
You had a better experience than I did then, and I'm just going to leave it at that. Admittedly, you're not the only China expat of whom that can be said. I seemed to find the worst there was to find.
Well, I have to narrow down what I wrote before. I should have said 'regular students'.
I've had some peculiar courses for - hmm - 'special' students (rich brats who failed the gaokao, but wanted to study in the USA, anyway). Particularly the male students in these classes were problematic.
Yeah, the rich brats you just mentioned sound more like the ones I taught. I spent my first three Beijing years at a school called Chaoyang Aidi, which was basically governed by "the parents are paying good money for an A and it's your job to deliver it, dammit."