News that caught our eye / The week ending November 29, 2024
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NOTE: The news reports below are not in chronological order. There is often a time lag in their reaching the US and in gaining our attention. These reports reflect the opinions of a variety of news sources.
Curated by James Getka.
How Xi Jinping is going back to Confucius to define China’s future / November 24, 2024
While the West has struggled with the disintegration of its history through various social and political groups denouncing Western values, President Xi has led a strong nationalist movement in China, even fusing modern Communist philosophy with ancient Confucianism, giving Communism an even stronger legitimacy as a governing philosophy. The “Confucian Canon” is the latest project to promote China’s historical roots (SCMP).
Xi's LatAm trip promotes friendship, solidarity, cooperation, development / November 24, 2024
President Xi’s participation in a number of conferences in South America in mid-November was a parade of his strong promotional ideals, including “fairness, justice, openness and inclusiveness,” words that South American countries ready for their turn at development were eager to hear. “Improving global governance” is Xi’s lofty agenda (The Global Times).
China says top military official suspended, placed under investigation / November 28, 2024
Miao Hua, director of the political work department on the powerful Central Military Commission that oversees the People’s Liberation Army is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” the Chinese Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday. Nearly twenty Chinese officials have thus been removed from their offices for corruption charges over the last year or so (Al Jazeera).
APEC showdown: Xi at the center, Biden on the sidelines / November 24, 2024
President Xi appeared to be running circles around US President Biden at the APEC and G20 summits in South America in mid-November, with Xi taking center stage in two official photos while Biden was relegated to the back row in one photo and didn’t even appear in the second. Xi spoke in lofty terms and carried a truckload of economic offers while Biden’s offers were considered “outdated and stale” (T-Magazine).
Trump vows tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China on day one / November 26, 2024
In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration and the flow of drugs into the US, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to add a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China once he is president. The tariffs would hit both American consumers as well as the three countries, but those countries could solve the issue by curtailing the flow of migrants and drugs into the US (BBC News).
'Counter to facts and reality': China, Mexico, Canada respond to Trump tariff threats / November 26, 2024
Leaders and representatives from China, Canada, and Mexico all responded negatively to Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on imports from those countries on his first day in office in January. China rejected the notion that it was exporting fentanyl precursors to the US, and Mexican and Canadian officials warned of the negative impacts of tariffs. None of them acknowledged the benefits of stopping illegal immigration or curtailing the drug trade (USA Today).
3 Americans detained for years in China have been released / November 27, 2024
The White House announced that three US citizens imprisoned in China have been released and are returning to the US in a prisoner exchange brokered between the Biden administration and China. No information on who the Chinese prisoners were was given. In response, the US State Department lowered its travel warning to “level two,” advising travelers to be cautious when traveling to China (PBS News).
Nvidia Slips Again On Post-Earnings Blues, New China Trade War / November 27, 2024
Nvidia stock slipped just below its 50-day average just before Thanksgiving as investor analysts were not very impressed at its third-quarter earnings, and how the threat of a tariff trade war would affect the economy. Nvidia’s earnings were better than expected but didn’t “wow” investors even though it is still the leader in the tech economy (Investor’s Business Daily).