China Archives

Free Press Dies in Hong Kong As China Freezes Paper’s Assets

22Jun

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian, Democracy, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

Free Press Dies in Hong Kong As China Freezes Paper’s Assets

June 22, 2021--The writing may have already been on the wall for the forced closure of the Apple Daily paper when China passed its security law. But the news yesterday that China's strong-arm control of Hong Kong would force the pro-democracy tabloid to shut down still stung like an unexpected bite. In the past week, Hong Kong authorities froze the paper's financial assets, arrested two of the paper's senior executives and raided the paper's offices. Unable to pay staff or operations, the paper is expected to close within days. The forced closure of the paper made headline news around the world on Monday. And in Hong Kong, it represents "the biggest sledgehammer blow to Hong Kong's fast-vanishing civil liberties" since the handover to China in 1997, an editorial in the Apple Daily sa...

Beijing Strikes Back Against Western Sanctions

17Jun

By Spencer HayesNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Globalization, Disintegration, Nationalism, Populism, Human rights, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

Beijing Strikes Back Against Western Sanctions

June 17, 2021--China's National People's Congress passed sweeping legislation last week to retaliate against Western sanctions and those who enact them. The Anti-foreign Sanctions Law gives China's authority to blacklist individuals and organizations who create or implement discriminating measures against China or its citizens or interfere with China's internal affairs, according to a Reuters analysis of the legislation. If targeted and placed on a blacklist, individuals and organizations could face the following consequences: Deportation from ChinaBanned from travel to China.Chinese assets dissolved or frozen.Transaction within China restricted. Western Sanctions The new law comes in response to sanctions that the European Union, United States, Canada and Britain issued ag...

22Mar

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Domestic Politics, Global Trade, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting

March 22, 2021--The kid-gloves came off at the first in-person meeting between the United States and China under the new U.S. administration. In a sign that tensions between the world's two largest economies are rising, the diplomats exchanged political punches from the beginning. They met first in front of cameras at the beginning of two-day strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. Typically, televised remarks might be a brief exchange of niceties. But , this exchange was anything but typical. It wasn't brief. And it wasn't polite. In fact, the opening remarks turned into an extended exchange of insults and condemnations between the countries' top diplomats. The United States launched the first blows. U.S. Cites Concerns on Hong Kong, Human Rights and Coercion U.S. Secr...

China’s Leaders Want Hong Kong to Only Elect ‘Patriots’

7Mar

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian, Democracy, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

China’s Leaders Want Hong Kong to Only Elect ‘Patriots’

China Plans to Change Hong Kong's Election System; West Says Freedoms Are At Risk March 7, 2021-As China's National Legislature opened its annual legislative session on Friday, pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong and around the world watched with bated breath. This week, delegates at the National People's Congress (NPC) are taking up reforms to Hong Kong's electoral system that would guarantee only "patriots" serve. The proposed changes would effectively bring Hong Kong representatives under the control of China. China Wants Hong Kong 'Patriots' According to a transcribed statement of a speech by Wang Chen, China intends to change the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The senior Chinese lawmaker said the goal is to bring the politica...

U.S. Raises ‘Deep Concerns’ About Conclusions of WHO Investigation

16Feb

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian, Diplomacy and International Law, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, UN Security Council, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Raises ‘Deep Concerns’ About Conclusions of WHO Investigation

Feb. 16, 2021-As the United States reengages with the World Health Organization under the new administration, its top national security officers are raising "deep concerns" about the credibility of the organization. The criticism comes as the WHO completed a controversial mission to Wuhan, China to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The WHO team, which included 17 participants representing China, ignored key information that scientists from the lab in Wuhan collected bats and virus samples from caves in China and brought them back to the lab. In the end, the WHO ceded the mission of scientific discovery to that of collaborating with China. U.S. Membership On his first day of office January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden informed UN Secretary General António Guterres...

China’s Exports Rise, Adding to Economic Growth in 2020

8Nov

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Economics, Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

China’s Exports Rise, Adding to Economic Growth in 2020

November 8, 2020--China's foreign trade expanded 4.6 percent year-on-year in October, helping the country sustain economic growth for the year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, China's foreign trade grew by 1.1 percent in the first 10 months of the year, according to official data the Chinese government released yesterday. With exports accounting for nearly a fifth of China's economy, the export growth helped lift China's GDP by 4.9 percent in the third quarter. Export Growth Jumps in October In response to the impact of the global pandemic, the government streamlined customs procedures and provided incentives for cross-border e-commerce. Mechanical and electrical parts accounted for the largest share of the country's exports. Textile exports, which include masks, incre...

In the Midst of Pandemic, China Sets Economic Growth Target Aside

22May

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Economics, Types of News: Brief

In the Midst of Pandemic, China Sets Economic Growth Target Aside

May 22, 2020--As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the government's work report at the start of China's 13th National People's Congress, one thing was notably missing: a target for economic growth. For decades, China's strength has come from a nearly single-pointed focus on increasing the size of its economy. Today, as its nation's leaders gather in the Great Hall of the People for their annual legislative session, the focus is on recovering from the ongoing blows of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The COVID-19 epidemic is the fastest spreading, most extensive, and most challenging public health emergency China has encountered since the founding of the People's Republic," Mr. Li said as he delivered his address to delegates. "At present, the epidemic has not yet come to an end, while th...

COVID-19, From Bats to Humans: Examining the Wuhan Connection

17Apr

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian, Globalization, Disintegration, Nationalism, Populism, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, UN Security Council, Types of News: Analysis

COVID-19, From Bats to Humans: Examining the Wuhan Connection

April 17, 2020--A great and tragic mystery of 2020 is the origin of the COVID-19 virus that is sweeping the world with sickness and death. Some researchers point to a seafood market in Wuhan. Others say it could have started in a Chinese lab in Wuhan. Most certainly, it came from bats. But how did it jump to humans? From Wuhan to the World To date, the COVID-19 virus that has infected over 2 million people worldwide and killed 149,000 people. Of the first 309 confirmed cases in China, 270 cases were confirmed in Wuhan. Of the first 41 patients hospitalized in Wuhan with the virus, 27 of them, 66 percent, had a connection to a food and wild animal market. Wholesale Food Market As early as December 2019, reports from China pointed to the connection to the Huanan Seafood Wholes...

14Oct

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

Tenuous US-China Trade Talks

October 14, 2019--High-level trade talks between U.S. and Chinese leaders last week produced some results but left the possibility for higher tariffs open in December if details are not settled. "We have a great deal. We're papering it now," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday. "China is going to keep their word. They want to make the deal." China's chief negotiator signaled modest support. "We have made substantial progress in many fields," Vice Premier Liu He said through an interpreter on Friday. "We are happy about it." The partial deal, which is not yet settled, comes at a time when trade between the two countries has fallen. According to a report today in the Financial Times, China's imports from the United States fell 26.4 percent in September while its exports t...

3Dec

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

U.S.-China Head Off Trade War

Dec. 3, 2018-Meeting in in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the sidelines of the G20 summit over the weekend, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed prevent a pending hike in tariffs scheduled to take effect in less than a month. It was their first formal face-to-face meeting since Trump visited China in November of 2017. "It’s an incredible deal," Trump said to reporters on Dec. 2 on Air Force One. "It goes down, certainly — if it happens, it goes down as one of the largest deals ever made.... And what I’d be doing is holding back on tariffs. China will be opening up. China will be getting rid of tariffs." Timeout on Tariff Hikes In effect, the agreement gives U.S.-Chinese negotiators 90 days to complete talks on the following trade issues: forced techn...