Day: March 15, 2024

TikTok Bill’s Progress Slows in the Senate

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After a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a nationwide ban sailed through the House at breakneck speed this week, its progress has slowed in the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader who determines what legislation gets a vote, has not decided whether to bring the bill to the floor, his spokesman said. Senators — some of whom have their own versions of bills targeting TikTok — will need to be convinced. Other legislation on the runway could…

China officials unprepared for struggle, Xi Jinping told CCDI ahead of ‘lying flat’ campaign

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“How [can we] maintain the trail blazing spirit among officials? After decades of peaceful rule, many party members and cadres have not experienced the test of life and death, lacking the tempering of brutal struggles and harsh environments,” Xi said. “They love to seek comfort and enjoyment, rest on their laurels and become complacent. They will panic and lose their confidence easily amid the great struggle with many new historical characteristics.” What is ‘lying flat’, and why are Chinese officials standing up to it? Xi called on party members to…

US lawmakers want a TikTok sale or ban, but China’s ByteDance won’t give up without a fight

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The bill is headed to the US Senate, where both Democratic and Republican leaders have rejected the idea of fast-tracking its passage. 03:10 Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide While US President Joe Biden said last week he would sign the bill into law if it passes both chambers, ByteDance and TikTok can still challenge the divestment order in US courts. In a video published on the platform,…

Why China’s plan for ‘new productive forces’ should make the West sit up

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Year Zero of China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry coincided with the announcement of “Made in China 2025”, a full-scale decade-long industrial strategy for China to become a global leader in high-end manufacturing. China’s three EV champions, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, began around 2015, when Made in China 2025 was introduced. Over the next nine years, China’s EV industry grew, from non-existence to world domination. It is no surprise that Made in China 2025 was grossly underestimated by the West early on. It also began on a modest industrial foundation.…

China is in America’s sights as US defence increases its budget for Indo-Pacific deterrence

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“This request will bolster our ability to defend our country, paced to the challenge posed by an increasingly aggressive People’s Republic of China,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. The PDI budget includes money for ballistic missile defence activities that contribute to developing and integrating a joint missile defence system to defend Guam against missile threats, as well as funding for exercises, training and experimentation activities, plus planning and design for military construction investments in the western Pacific. Austin added that he expected some funding may go…

China-Russia-Iran Maritime Drills Send Signal to West

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tel aviv, israel —  China conducted joint military drills this week with Russia and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, a critical water conduit near the entry to the Persian Gulf. The five-day exercise, “Maritime Security Belt 2024,” involved both naval and aviation forces, with the primary objective of enhancing the security of maritime economic activities, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. The drills may have been planned long in advance of the current Israel-Hamas war, but their implication and message to regional players and the West are highly significant,…

Apple to pay $490m to settle claims it misled investors over sales in China

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Apple has agreed to pay $490m to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging chief executive Tim Cook misled investors about a steep downturn in iPhone’s sales in China that culminated in a jarring revision to the company’s revenue forecast. The preliminary settlement filed Friday in Oakland, California, federal court stems from a shareholder lawsuit focused on the way Apple relayed information about how iPhone models released in September 2018 were performing in China, one of the company’s biggest markets. Cook signaled that the new iPhones were off to a good start…

China Gives Warnings on Vietnam-Australia Strategic Relationship

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washington —  A new, closer diplomatic relationship between Australia and Vietnam is drawing warnings from China against forming “exclusive circles” in the Indo-Pacific region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Monday’s daily news briefing, “To advocate bloc confrontation and build exclusive circles goes against the trend of the times and the common aspiration of regional countries.” Although Wang did not mention Vietnam or Australia by name, he was responding to a question posed by one of China’s official media outlets, Shenzen TV, about an agreement the two nations…

Vietnamese police track down Montagnards in Thailand

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Police from Vietnam’s Dak Lak province made unexpected visits to two areas in Thailand where a number of ethnic minorities are seeking refugee status on grounds that they have been persecuted, they told Radio Free Asia.  Members of the Montagnard community said they panicked when the agents visited their homes on Thursday to persuade and threaten them to return to Vietnam. The term “Montagnard” was coined by French colonialists to describe tribes who live in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, many of whom are Christians, but Vietnam has rejected use of the…

Military conscription poised to start in Myanmar’s Yangon

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In the clearest sign yet that a military draft will soon go into effect in Myanmar, junta authorities are summoning draft-eligible youths and taking information door-to-door throughout the largest city of Yangon, residents said Friday. The move comes after the junta enacted a conscription law last month requiring selected young men and women to serve in the military, which is trying to replenish its ranks after suffering a series of battlefield defeats against rebel groups fighting them since the military seized power in a 2021 coup. In reaction, many young…