#china

#china

Jim O'Neill, the economist who coined the term BRIC' 25 years ago, argues that the group is losing its relevance. At its peak, the BRICS coalition of economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was seen as a serious attempt to move away from the United States dollar and the domination of Western economic institutions like the World Bank, Group of Seven (G7), and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Researchers in China have reportedly tested a new, gravity-defying wind turbine system that they say could generate power from the airspace above cities. The turbine is called the S2000 Stratosphere Airborne Wind Energy System, or SAWES. Held up by what is essentially a helium blimp, the machine reportedly generated 385 kilowatts of electricity from 2,000 meters (more than 6,500 feet) above the city of Yibin in China's province of Sichuan, according to a recent Euronews report.

TP-Link is no longer owned by a Chinese company and its products are assembled in Vietnam, but Paxton's lawsuit claims that because the company's "ownership and supply-chain are tied to China" it's subject to the country's data laws, which require companies to comply with requests from Chinese intelligence agencies. The lawsuit also says that firmware vulnerabilities in TP-Link's hardware have already "exposed millions of consumers to severe cybersecurity risks."

Sustained recognition reflects strong local expertise and expanding IP capabilities across the region MAIDENHEAD, England-(BUSINESS WIRE)-RWS (RWS.L), a global AI solutions company, has been named Outstanding IP Service Team in China 2025 at the Enterprise IP Strategy Forum and Annual Conference of In-house IP Managers in Beijing. The recognition marks the fourth consecutive year that RWS's team in China has received the award, following wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Applied Materials Inc. will pay $252.5 million to settle a US Commerce Department investigation into improper exports to China, ending a yearslong saga for the largest American supplier of chipmaking machinery. The agreement resolves allegations by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security that certain shipments to China between November 2020 and July 2022 didn't comply with export regulations, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The US has spent the better part of a decade now trying to kneecap China's domestic semiconductor industry by limiting access to key chipmaking technologies like extreme and deep ultraviolet (EUV / DUV) lithography. However, US export policy under the past two administrations has largely targeted specific companies like China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), rather than blocking sales at a country level.

Two independent journalists were detained by Chinese officials after they published a report alleging corruption by a local official in southwestern China, rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday, condemning the incident. Police in Chengdu said they were investigating a 50-year-old man surnamed Liu and a 34-year-old surnamed Wu on suspicion of making "false accusations" and conducting "illegal business operations." Authorities said they were placed under "criminal coercive measures," a term typically referring to detention.

Current policies and strategies must be tested to see if they are still fit for purpose

Among them is the country's embrace of human-like AI systems, which are increasingly being embedded in cuddly, commercial, transactable toys - for adults, strikingly, in addition to children - at the same time that state regulators are considering a broader crackdown on that exact type of tech. New reporting by China Daily reveals the rise of AI companion toys among adults in China, a trend emerging as more of the country's citizens live alone than ever before.

But after decades of outsourcing tungsten production, the federal government has now begun restricting imports. United States Tungsten founders Stacy Hastie and Randy Waterfield saw this coming. They're reviving what was once America's largest tungsten mine, the Tungsten Queen. It's a site holding an estimated 1 million tons of tungsten with an in-ground value approaching $450 million, the company says. And it says it is already in talks with the U.S. Government.

Sir Keir Starmer is only one of the middle power leaders trekking to Beijing to renew relations. No one has forgotten China's increasing international forcefulness, its handling of the pandemic and its closer relations with Russia as war engulfed Ukraine. But the wildness of Donald Trump's first year back in power is spurring Canada, France and others to hedge their bets. This, not whisky tariff cuts, is what the British prime minister sought.

"The early-2024 speculation about regime collapse is clearly all in the rearview mirror," said Anthony Davis, an analyst with the Janes defense and security publications. Over the past year, the military has reclaimed key towns and trade routes in the northeast that had fallen to a trio of armed groups. It has also rebuilt battalions depleted by death and desertion and conducted phased elections, which concluded on Sunday. "They are in the best position since the coup, said Kyaw Htet Aung, head of conflict, peace and security research at the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar).

It has been clear for many years that China's status as a second global superpower poses challenges to the world's democracies. Donald Trump's marauding behaviour as president of the first-placed superpower makes those challenges more acute. In the past, the UK's relationship with Beijing has been anchored, and sometimes dictated, by the alliance with Washington. Mr Trump's contempt for former allies, expressed as sabotage of Nato and a scattergun imposition of tariffs, scrambles the old strategic calculus.

An AI-manipulated photo of two pandas showing same-sex behavior has led to two Chinese men being detained by local authorities. The 29-year-old and 33-year-old were arrested for "maliciously" associating queerness with certain Chinese cities, according to The Washington Post. The men allegedly shared the AI-manipulated image of pandas at the "panda capital" of Chengdu, which is in the country's southwest region.

For years, the 46-year-old had lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Hongkou, a residential neighbourhood that sits along the Huangpu River. Neighbours described her as quiet. She rarely chats with people. We only see her when she goes to and from work, and occasionally when she comes out to pick up takeout, said a local resident interviewed by a Chinese reporter.

A Chinese Muslim...and six Afghans were killed. Several others were wounded,

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., sent a letter Thursday to NSF interim director Brian Stone asking the agency to revoke China-linked entities' access to the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support - or ACCESS - program, according to a copy of the missive first seen by Nextgov/FCW. ACCESS is a free, nationwide collection of supercomputing systems made available to academics and other researchers. It's frequently used across U.S. institutions and national labs to assist with national security and economic research.

Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a historic moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis. The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world's biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects.

On Tuesday, Li Yingqiang, the leader of the Early Rain Covenant Church, was taken by police from his home in Deyang, a small city in Sichuan province, according to the statement. Li's wife, Zhang Xinyue, has also been detained, along with two other church members: Dai Zhichao, a pastor; and Ye Fenghua, a lay member. At least a further four members were taken and later released, while some others remain out of contact.

Taoiseach should give more than a perfunctory nod to serious concerns about the Asian giant's record Ireland rightly places human rights and the rule of law at the heart of our foreign policy. It is evident in how we have stood resolutely with Ukraine since Russia's illegal invasion and where we have called out the horrors of the ongoing attacks of the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza and the West Bank.

Most dramatically, first Israel and the United States bombed Iran's nuclear facilities. Some commentators feared that President Trump's decision to bomb Iran would drag the United States into the "forever wars" in the Middle East that presidential candidate Trump had pledged to avoid. The tragic war in Gaza had become a humanitarian disaster. After years of promising to reduce engagement with the region from Democratic and Republican presidents alike, it appeared that the US was being dragged back into Middle East once again.

China aims to impose a unique strategy to address a falling birth rate that threatens its long-term stability. As of January 1, 2026, the government will levy a 13 percent value-added tax (VAT) on various contraceptives, including condoms. The decision amends the Value Added Tax Law, which in 1993 exempted birth control products from taxation. At the time, the measure was part of China's effort to contain its accelerating population growth.