The US has imposed sanctions on Chinese painkiller makers – including one man described as the biggest producer of anabolic steroids in the world – as it vowed to step up action to curb the addiction epidemic that killed a record 100,000 Americans last year. With people who are dealing with addiction increasingly turning to cheaper pills bought online from abroad, Joe Biden signed an executive order that makes it easier for the US to target foreign drug traffickers. The actions “will help disrupt the global supply chain and the…
Day: December 15, 2021
Biden’s China Dilemma: How to Enforce Trump’s Trade Deal
“I want the farmers to come tell me, ‘Sir, we can’t produce that much,’” he added. When Mr. Trump signed the trade deal with China in January 2020, those estimates became enshrined as the word of the U.S. government. And though Mr. Biden and his deputies have criticized the trade deal for failing to address many of the most pressing trade issues that the United States has with China, they have since promised to uphold it. In a call last month with President Xi Jinping of China, President Biden underscored…
Will Germany Depart from the Merkel Model on China? Beijing Will Have a Say.
Advertisement Germany’s new coalition government “dares more progress,” promising a set of relatively progressive social, economic, and electoral policies for their country through 2025. Analysts are split on implications for German China policy, but those arguing the Merkel model will persist overlook a key driver of souring sentiment: China’s own behavior. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his cabinet appear to disagree about the trajectory of German China policy. The battle will be between a status quo, Merkel-like approach of prioritizing economic cooperation and limiting public discussion of democratic values, in the…
Putin and Xi Hold Video Summit
MOSCOW — President Biden may have his alliance of democracies, but Russia and China still have each other. Xi Jinping addressed Vladimir V. Putin as his “old friend,” and the Russian president called his Chinese counterpart both his “dear friend” and his “honorable friend,” as the two leaders held a video summit on Wednesday — a display of solidarity in the face of Western pressure over Ukraine, Taiwan and many other matters. In footage of opening remarks released by the Kremlin, Mr. Putin said he would attend the opening ceremony…
China housing market slumps again as another developer runs into trouble
China’s giant housing market has continued to decline in the past month and another major developer showed signs of financial distress as state-owned enterprises began carving up the carcass of the failing property giant Evergrande. House prices, sales, investment and construction data released on Wednesday all showed renewed signs of the crisis in the market, which accounts up to 30% of the country’s output and which appears certain to drag on the world’s second biggest economy. It comes a day after shares in one of China’s largest developers, Shimao Group,…