Day: March 16, 2023

New Data Links Pandemic’s Origins to Raccoon Dogs at Wuhan Market

Chin@Strategy

An international team of virus experts said on Thursday that they had found genetic data from a market in Wuhan, China, linking the coronavirus with raccoon dogs for sale there, adding evidence to the case that the worst pandemic in a century could have been ignited by an infected animal that was being dealt through the illegal wildlife trade. The genetic data was drawn from swabs taken from in and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market starting in January 2020, shortly after the Chinese authorities had shut down the market…

China’s Speed in Selling Arms Prompt US Partners to Buy From Beijing, Say Officials

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON —  China’s ability to move quickly on military sales is costing the United States in two key regions and could have even more dire consequences in the years to come, top U.S. military officers are warning lawmakers. The blunt assessments from the commanders of U.S. Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East and South Asia, and from U.S. Africa Command come as a growing number of defense officials voice concerns about the rapid military modernization that has already made China the Pentagon’s “pacing challenge.” “This is…

White House Voices Support for Bipartisan Push to Ban TikTok

Chin@Strategy

white house —  Time may be running out in the U.S. for Chinese-owned entertainment platform TikTok, with the White House on Thursday supporting proposed legislation that would effectively ban the app over concerns about the safety of the data of the 100 million Americans who use the trendy video platform. “The bottom line is that when it comes to potential threats to our national security, when it comes to the safety of Americans, when it comes to privacy, we’re going to speak out, and we’re going to be very clear…

The TikTok wars – why the US and China are feuding over the app

Chin@Strategy

TikTok is once again fending off claims that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf. China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday accused the US itself of spreading disinformation about TikTok’s potential security risks following a report in the Wall Street Journal that the committee on foreign investment in the US – part of the treasury department – was threatening a US ban on the app unless its Chinese owners divest their stake.…

North Korea Says ICBM Launch a Response to US-South Korea Drills

Chin@Strategy

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA —  North Korea says its Thursday intercontinental ballistic missile launch was a response to ramped up U.S.-South Korea military exercises that began this week. State media released photos showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, alongside his young daughter, observing the launch of what the North said was a Hwasong-17 ICBM. North Korea conducted the “launching drill” in response to “the large-scale provocative and aggressive war exercises of the United States and the South Korean puppet traitors,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency. “We will…

Hong Kong: two arrested for possessing ‘seditious’ children’s book

Chin@Strategy

Hong Kong’s national security police have arrested two men for possessing children’s books deemed seditious by the authorities – in the latest of a string of moves that underlines the state of civil freedoms in the city. The two men, aged 38 and 50, were arrested and detained after police and customs officers searched their homes and offices and found copies of “seditious publications” that allegedly “incited hatred or contempt” against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments and the judiciary, according to a police press release cited in the local…

House G.O.P. Hunts for Evidence That Biden Family Deals Were Improper

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday released financial records showing that Hunter Biden and other relatives of President Biden received more than $1 million in 2017 from an associate who had entered into a business deal with a Chinese energy company, as they hunted for evidence that the president and his family have profited improperly from his position. The disclosure came as the House Oversight Committee ramps up its investigation into the international business transactions of Mr. Biden’s family, obtaining more than a decade of bank records through subpoenas and…

TikTok Could Be a Hard Sell to Potential Buyers

Chin@Strategy

TikTok has what many Silicon Valley companies lust after: A culture-making machine beloved by 100 million Americans and deep-pocketed advertisers. That doesn’t mean they will line up to buy it. TikTok said on Wednesday that the Biden administration was pushing the company’s Chinese owners to sell the app or face a possible ban. But there are probably few companies, in the tech industry or elsewhere, willing or able to buy it, analysts and experts say. At a price of $50 billion or more — the value some analysts said TikTok…

US senators introduce bill to curtail China’s alleged attempts at repressing its nationals abroad

Chin@Strategy

To become law, the bill would have to pass both the House of Representatives and Senate. The bill requires the State Department to address transnational repression in its annual human rights country reports and to train personnel on identifying relevant abuses. It instructs the intelligence community to prioritise identifying transgressors and US President Joe Biden to sanction them. Advertisement The bill further requires the development of an inter-agency plan to raise costs for perpetrators, conduct regular outreach to diaspora groups, engage with diplomats who intimidate their co-nationals and study the…

UN Envoy Sees ‘No Prospect’ for Political Settlement in Myanmar  

Chin@Strategy

new york —  The United Nations envoy for Myanmar said Thursday that the prospect for a political settlement to that country’s military takeover is not likely. “With both sides intent on prevailing by force, there is no prospect for a negotiated settlement,” Special Envoy Noeleen Heyzer told the General Assembly in a briefing on the situation. Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence since the military rejected the November 2020 election results and overthrew the democratically elected civilian government on February 1, 2021. Since then, rights groups say thousands…