China is now the “good guy” on AI rather than Donald Trump’s US, where the technology is being pursued in a dangerous “wild west” manner, a former UN and UK government adviser has told MPs. Prof Dame Wendy Hall, who was a member of the UN’s AI advisory board and co-wrote a review of AI for Theresa May’s government, told the House of Commons business and trade committee that China was backing multinational attempts to introduce global governance of AI, in contrast to America, which had set up a race…
Tag: China
V&A censored catalogues after demands by Chinese printer
One of the UK’s leading museums has accepted demands by a Chinese firm that publishes its catalogues to remove images that fall foul of the country’s censorship laws. The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests by the Chinese printing company to delete maps and images from at least two recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian after freedom of information requests. Like other prominent institutions, including the British Museum, Tate and the British Library, the V&A often uses Chinese printers because they can produce catalogues…
UK steel exports to EU at risk as bloc doubles tariffs and halves quotas
The EU is to go ahead with plans to double tariffs and halve quotas on imports of steel from July, in a move designed to curb Chinese imports but which could damage UK exports to the bloc. The decision by EU lawmakers and member states after late night talks on Monday, will reduce duty-free quotas by 47%. Exact country allocations have yet to be determined. The EU industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, hailed the agreement as the “strongest ever” safeguard agreed and a “victory for our steel mills, our steelworkers and…
China Evergrande’s billionaire boss pleads guilty to fraud
A former steelworker who rose to become one of China’s richest people has pleaded guilty to charges including fundraising fraud after the collapse of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer. The property group’s founder, Hui Ka Yan, “pleaded guilty and expressed remorse” in trial proceedings at a court in China’s southern city of Shenzhen against him and Evergrande, the court said in a posting on its official WeChat account. He also pleaded guilty to misuse of funds and illegally taking public deposits. The company has defaulted since 2021 on…
In the UK, Keir Starmer has few fans. I learned that in China it’s a very different story | Martin Rowson
The prime minister’s meal in a Yunnan restaurant in Beijing has spawned a national menu. The man has, bizarrely, become a phenomenon It’s always heartening when people agree with you. I had Keir Starmer down as a non-ideological technocratic centrist dad the moment I first clocked him, with a tin ear for both simple human interaction and the darker subtleties of the political arts. So despite carrying his famous “Ming vase” over the line in the 2024 election, I’ve been wholly unsurprised by him flatfooting and pratfalling through jagged shards…
Congratulations to the Artemis II crew – but the case for sending astronauts into space is rapidly shrinking | Martin Rees and Donald Goldsmith
The 2020s has seen a revival of the “Apollo spirit”. The US and China are seemingly in a race to send humans to the moon by the end of the decade – and thereafter, perhaps, even to Mars. Nasa astronauts have just returned from a 10-day journey looping around the moon. Although they arrived back safely, Nasa accepts that the lack of data makes it impossible to quantify the risks involved – this represents only the second launch for the Artemis system and the first to carry astronauts. To date,…
Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader people on both sides of strait are Chinese in rare meeting
Cheng Li-wun’s visit to Beijing has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with critics accusing her of being too close to China In a rare meeting with Taiwan’s opposition leader, China’s leader Xi Jinping declared people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and want peace. Friday’s meeting in Beijing between Xi and Cheng Li-wun, the chair of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT), is the first such contact in a decade. The visit has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with Cheng’s critics accusing her of being too close to China, a country that…
Who can claim victory if Iran ceasefire holds? An early winner is China
Beijing’s powerbrokers are credited with winning Iran over, although one analyst says they were ‘pushing an open door’ Middle East crisis – live updates As the world struggles to make sense of what, if anything, was achieved by the ceasefire deal announced by the US and Iran on Tuesday, one major power that stands to win regardless is China. Beijing’s powerbrokers are being credited with pushing Iran towards agreeing to the ceasefire, bolstering its status as a regional mediator. In China’s tightly censored domestic media, articles basking in the glory…
The Idealism of the Space Program Isn’t Enough
I am a firm nonbeliever when it comes to the cult of John F. Kennedy, but like an atheist admiring the King James Bible, even I can appreciate some of the Kennedy scriptures. So as our latest lunar mission circles back to Earth, I find myself revisiting the speech at Rice University that launched us moonward. In that address, Kennedy declared that America would be ascending to the moon for the same reason that mountain climbers attempt Everest: because “space is there, and we’re going to climb it.” What’s striking,…
The Guardian view on North Korea and the Kims: whoever’s at the helm, the regime serves only itself | Editorial
North Korea is unique in turning a putatively communist state into a dynastic system now in its third generation. So while the proposition that Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter will inherit power is sparking debate, unexpected political transitions are not entirely new. On Monday, South Korea’s intelligence agency said that it had “credible” information that Kim Ju-ae is positioned as her father’s successor. Its briefing to legislators in Seoul followed appearances alongside her father highlighting her military credentials – including driving a tank – and months of rhetorical inflation, with state…