Day: January 14, 2022

America and China are one military accident away from disaster

Chin@Strategy

Jan 15th 2022 IN AN AGE of superpower rivalry and distrust, it is odd to talk of good fortune smiling on America’s relations with China. But in one important domain, the rivals have shared a long streak of astounding luck. It is two decades since the last fatal encounter between the armed forces of America and China. Today the skies and seas around China swarm with a growing number of planes and warships from each side. In Beijing, scholars and officials talk of when, not whether another accident will occur.…

Damian Hinds says there will be review of suspected Chinese agent’s activities

Chin@Strategy

A comprehensive review is to be held into how a suspected Chinese agent was able to get so close to senior British politicians, the security minister, Damian Hinds, has said. MI5, the domestic intelligence agency, on Thursday took the unusual step of circulating a warning to MPs accusing Christine Lee – a prominent London-based solicitor – of being engaged in “political interference activities” on behalf of China’s ruling communist regime. The Chinese embassy rejected the claims, accusing the authorities of “smearing and intimidation” against the Chinese community in the UK,…

What’s Behind China’s New National Standardization Outline Document?

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement China’s “Standards 2035” project gained headlines in April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. October 2021 saw the release of the National Standardization Development (NSD) outline document as the first official document detailing China’s ambitions in the coming decade in the realm of technical standardization processes. The NSD visualizes a standardized system that promotes high-tech innovation and “opening up” of the technology sector, while also leading to high-quality development. The core points covered in the document provide a glimpse into the Chinese state’s strategic approach toward technical…

China’s Trade Surplus Surges to New Heights

Chin@Strategy

All over the world, families finding themselves with more time at home because of the pandemic have responded by buying more furnishings, consumer electronics and other goods made in China. Those purchases pushed China’s trade surplus to its highest level ever last year, according to data released on Friday by the Chinese government. The country’s surplus in December also shattered by a wide margin the record for the highest single month, set only two months earlier. China’s trade surplus reached $94.5 billion in December, breaking the previous record of $84.5…

Covid-19 in China: patients express concern after hospitals ordered to close over patient deaths

Chin@Strategy

The Xian Gaoxin Hospital was one of two medical facilties ordered to close. Photo: Handout and Xian International Medical Centre, in Xian city, China’s Shaanxi province, involved in recent scandals while under Covid-19 lockdown which resulting in a death and a miscarriage, have been ordered to suspend operation for rectification. (credit: Xian Gaoxin Hospital) South China Morning Post

MI5 warning on lawyer ‘sends a clear message to China’s allies in UK’

Chin@Strategy

The suggestion that a British Chinese solicitor has been allegedly working on behalf of China to influence UK politics adds further evidence of the bilateral relationship mutating from a “golden era” to an “ice age”. The latest development will clearly not help improve ties and, along with previous incidents, make the “China v the west” narrative increasingly look like an early cold war plot: suspected influence operations and – although not apparently the case here – alleged espionage as well as expulsion of personnel. On Thursday, the British political establishment…