News that caught our eye / The week ending December 6, 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.
China blasts US arms sale to Taiwan, President Lai's US transit / November 30, 2024
The US State Department finalized a sale of more than $350 million in arms to Taiwan last Friday, just hours before Taiwan’s President, Lai Ching-te departed on a trip taking him to Hawaii and Guam. China fiercely condemned both the sale and the US’ approval of Lai’s trip to US territories (Reuters).
China bans exports to US of gallium, germanium, antimony in response to sanctions / December 3, 2024
China announced new restrictions on exports of various minerals to the US in response to the US’s move to add more than 140 Chinese companies to its “entity list,” that is, a list of Chinese companies that can’t receive advanced technological imports from Western tech companies. China is the largest producer of many of these minerals, although the US has its own deposits it could be mining, but currently isn’t doing so (ABC News).
After China's mineral export ban, how else could it respond to U.S. chip curbs? / December 3, 2024
As tensions continue to rise in the trade war between China and the US, China could employ other means to frustrate the US and its efforts to contain China’s technological advancements. Security reviews of products made by US manufacturers, slowing down customs clearances, and “unreliable entity list” and “anti-foreign sanctions” laws already in place could all be used to counter the US (Reuters).
World's Largest Gold Deposit Worth $80 Billion Discovered in China / November 29, 2024
China’s state media reported a discovery of more than 1000 tons of gold—the largest ever found—between 2,000 and 3,000 meters underground in the central Hunan Province in China. Already the world’s largest producer of gold, China sees this deposit as a further way of strengthening its resource security (Newsweek).
Biden travels to Africa where policies were ‘over-promised and under-delivered' / December 2, 2024
President Biden’s trip to Africa to hi-lite his administration’s successes in development projects is being overshadowed by China’s ubiquitous presence in the continent and its decade-long efforts to invest, develop and control much of Africa’s “critical raw materials,” or CRMs. While numerous Biden officials have visited the continent, US involvement in Africa has been lackluster (Fox News).
Chinese government moves to cover up deadly ‘revenge against society’ attacks / November 30, 2024
Although China has suffered nearly ten attacks labeled “revenge against society” in the last few months, China’s state media and government have gone to great lengths to block both reporting on the events and public displays of mourning over the victims of the attacks. Many are speculating that the attacks are in response to increasing poverty and strict government controls, but Chinese media has reported that “personal issues” prompted many of the attacks (news.com.au).
"Go Find Another Sucker": Trump's Big Warning For India, China, Russia / December 1, 2024
If President-elect Donald Trump has a weapon in his hand to reign in countries wandering away from the US dollar as the standard currency in trading, that weapon is the tariff. In reference to a recent BRICS conference and approval of establishing a new monetary currency, Trump said he plans to place tariffs up to 100% against countries that drop the dollar as its trading currency (NDTV World).
America’s nuclear submarine crisis on a collision course with China / December 2, 2024
COVID-19, supply chain shortages, inflation, and labor shortages are among the reasons the US Navy is behind in submarine production and completing repairs. Currently, the Navy has 66 nuclear-powered submarines, but only 40 are operationally ready. Both China and Russia are strengthening their submarine arsenal (Fox News).
"Very unique" Russian sub spotted in the South China Sea; Philippines responds / December 2, 2024
While the passage of a Russian submarine through the South China Sea is legal and not unusual, the Philippine military was alarmed by the sub’s presence about 80 nautical miles from its territory due to its unusual type, measuring more than 240 feet long and carrying a load of long-range missiles. Russia and China’s war game exercises have occurred all along the western Pacific, from Malaysia all the way to the Aleutian Islands (CBS News).
Illegal immigrant from China shipped weapons to North Korea from California: DOJ / December 3, 2024
An illegal immigrant from China has been charged with exporting US firearms and ammunition to China, which were then sent to North Korea, allegedly to be used in an attack against South Korea, or so the defendant thought. Evidently, the North Korean government paid him millions of dollars to smuggle the weapons out of the US.(Fox News).
Losses in China lead to $5 billion charge for GM as it cuts the value of its assets / December 4, 2024
GM’s joint ventures in China have struggled to be profitable in the Chinese market this year, so the company is restructuring its businesses in China with the hope that they will be more profitable in 2025. Foreign automakers in China have been struggling against domestic carmakers like BYD, who have increased their product quality and have the advantage of government subsidies to competitively undercut foreign vehicle prices (AP News).