News that caught our eye / The week ending January 31, 2025
Tap here for our archives.
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.
Slithering Into the Year of the Snake / January 28, 2025
Christians in China need to navigate the intricacies of the Chinese New Year, honoring traditions and customs without falling into the idolatry that sometimes appears in some customs. This article offers access to ten additional articles that further explore New Year customs from a Christian perspective (China Source).
CIA believes lab leak most likely caused COVID outbreak / January 26, 2025
New CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, ordered the release of a study by the CIA that concluded with “low probability” that the COVID-19 virus came from the Wuhan virology lab and not from an animal. The agency still acknowledges that the virus could have emanated from either source (Sky News).
China’s support for Myanmar regime backfires; scam syndicates thrive / January 25, 2025
China is battling against international human trafficking, kidnapping, online scams, and fraud that recently included the abduction of a popular actor, Wang Zing. The principal countries involved in these crimes are Thailand and Myanmar. But China’s support for the governments of these two nations conflicts with its duty to rescue its citizens held there and to stop the crimes from happening (VOA).
Chinese Man Rejects Rs 2 Crore Offer, Lives In House Surrounded By Highway / January 25, 2025
Like the movie, Up, Huang Ping is an elderly man who didn’t want to give up his home in the city of Jinxi, southwest of Shanghai, China. The government planned to build a highway where his house stood. After offering money and other properties to Huang so that he would sell, the government built the highway around his house. Now, as the road prepares to open, Huang wonders if he made the wrong choice (NDTV World).
Puzzling fossils unearthed in China may rewrite the human story / January 25, 2025
Human-like skull fossils found in China fifty years ago are the focus of current anthropologists who are suggesting the larger than usual skull fragments represent a new species alongside homo erectus, homo sapiens, and others. The theory challenges the concept that humanity descended from one species (CNN Science).
China's Population Decline Worsens / January 26, 2025
In spite of a slight increase in births in China in 2024, the population still shrank by almost 1.4 million people, and the number of marriages in 2024 decreased to a level not seen since 1980. Local governments continue to offer pro-natal policies, but many are concerned that won’t be enough (WION World News).
Tech stocks fall as China's DeepSeek sparks U.S. worries about the AI race / January 27, 2025
China’s AI developer DeepSeek released its latest AI component in December, but its high-quality abilities became known this week, stunning the US and global tech stock market into a freefall. Even energy companies, projected to build additional power plants to provide electricity to anticipated AI centers, lost value in their stocks, some by 20% or more (NBC News).
Trump says China's DeepSeek AI 'should be a wake-up call' for US tech companies / January 27, 2025
China’s DeepSeek AI app shot to the top of the Apple Store’s most popular downloads last weekend, prompting a freefall in global tech stocks as the new app’s quick and low-cost development and seemingly excellent performance stunned the tech world. President Trump acknowledged its success and advised US tech companies to challenge the new competition (NBC News).
Why market panic over China's DeepSeek is 'overblown,' analysts say / January 27, 2025
While investors and others panicked over DeepSeek’s surprise hit on the global tech market, some analysts saw a positive side of the app’s challenging popularity and production affordability. Citing Jevon’s Paradox, where technological advancements at a lower cost drive up the overall demand for a product, these analysts see other AI companies benefiting from the demand and the challenge to be more efficient and innovative (Yahoo! Finance).
Truth struggles against propaganda and censorship on China’s DeepSeek AI / January 28, 2025
The answers that China’s DeepSeek AI app gave to several questions revealed the app’s foundation in CCP communist ideology and propaganda, while other AI apps offered more thorough answers on issues like Uyghur Muslims, Taiwan, and Tiananmen Square (VOA).
China’s Economy Stumbles in Sign Rebound Hinges on More Stimulus / January 26, 2025
Although China met its 5% growth target in 2024, factory activity and construction and services all fell in January after a brief uptick prompted by government stimulus in the fourth quarter of 2024. Other economic indicators were also down. One economist worried that the economy in China will stall unless the government does more to refuel the economy (Yahoo! Finance).
Donald Trump Fires "Tremendous Tariff-Maker" Warning at India, China / January 28, 2025
As Donald Trump threatened to strike tariffs on foreign countries during his campaign, his threat continues now that he is the US President. On Tuesday, he cited an economic imbalance in trade between the US and countries like India, China, and Brazil, acknowledging that these countries are looking out for themselves, but also stating that the US will now do the same for itself (NDTV World).
As Trump's tariffs loom, analysts say China is better prepared for a US trade war / January 29, 2025
Although President Trump’s 10% tariffs against China are expected to go into effect on Saturday, China today is not the same China Trump dealt with eight years ago during his first presidential term. China has advanced considerably in resources and technology even from that time. While China’s officials may be concerned about Trump’s trade war, they may be in a better position to weather the onslaught (CBS News).
Tithing as Proof of Citizenship / January 27, 2025
In China, house churches and their pastors are often charged with fraud for accepting offerings as the government seeks to end “unauthorized” religious organizations. Being unregistered is technically similar to not applying as a 501-C-3 non-profit organization in the US, except that in China, registering as a church also hands over control of much of the church’s functions to the government’s regulations. Nevertheless, Chinese Christians see giving as a function of their citizenship in the kingdom of God (China Partnership).