China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-12-20
Lithuania faces tough balancing act over ties with China
"Following its parliamentary elections in October, Lithuania’s new prime minister, Gintautas Paluckas, vowed to restore full diplomatic relations with China without “humiliating” Lithuania and “falling to our knees and begging for anything.”"
--- It would be quite moronic to think that that's possible. China won't accept anything but a reversal of the previous policies towards Taiwan (& probably would even demand some kind of apology).
"Lithuania’s new foreign minister, Kestutis Budrys, said China bears the responsibility of initiating steps to restore diplomatic relations with Lithuania."
--- Good luck with that.
"Since the new government has pledged to keep developing economic and cultural ties with Taiwan, Boruta told VOA that Lithuania is unlikely to make fundamental changes to its relationship with China under the center-left-led administration."
--- If so, there definitely won't be any restoration of normal relations by China.
Xi Jinping urges Macau to diversify economy away from casinos
"China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged the gambling hub of Macau to diversify away from casinos"
--- Since the CCP is in control, there is no need to 'urge', you can just command Macao to prohibit gambling, just like in China. But that would upset the good relations the CCP has with the triads.
After 25 years of Chinese rule, Macau’s civil society has entered ‘a bitter winter’
"Some people at the time argued that we were moderates, different from the radicals in Hong Kong. Thinking back, this was of course entirely irrelevant"
--- Yep. Because for the CCP everyone who opposes commie rule is an enemy, unrelated to the methods used.
India and China's path to lasting border peace
"Alka Acharya, honorary director of the Institute of Chinese Studies in New Delhi, said regional dynamics have witnessed very high levels of turbulence over the past few months and there are pervasive doubts regarding the likely policies of Trump amidst the tribulations of war and violence in a tumultuous world.
"It may be somewhat premature to describe the present phase as 'pivotal' — in the sense of a qualitative shift. There is certainly an incremental and cautious political and military process underway,""
--- & that's how it is. Talking about a 'lasting border peace' is utter bullshit. As long as the CCP is in power, there will be no settled border.
Republican Spending Bill Proposal Is Amazing for China, and for Musk
"The original bill, which was renegotiated after Donald Trump and Elon Musk came out against it, would have prohibited or required notification of overseas transactions involving China in sectors like semiconductors, quantum technology and artificial intelligence.
It also would have included an expanded review of Chinese real estate purchases near national security-sensitive sites and a requirement to study national security risks posed by Chinese-made consumer modems and routers.
[...] Elon Musk had been leading the charge against the funding deal, demanding Republicans don't back it, despite backing from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
"'Shutting down' the government (which doesn't actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill," Musk wrote in one of dozens of X posts railing against the continuing resolution.
[...] Musk, who is the world's richest man, has significant business interests in China. His company Tesla opened a "gigafactory" in Shanghai in 2019, building cars for the Chinese domestic market as well as Australasia. By 2022, China accounted for about 22.5 percent of Tesla's total revenue."
--- Musk is a liability. His influence is one of the reasons why caution against all this talk about 'China hawks' in Trump's shadow government. We will have to wait & see what is actually implemented. This bill definitely doesn't bode well.
US plans to blacklist company that ordered TSMC chip found in Huawei processor, source says
China coast guard says it ‘drove away’ Philippine aircraft over Scarborough Shoal
--- China Uncensored features the usual weekend news variety:
--- BBC News: Ros Atkins on: UK-China tensions as alleged spy Yang Tengbo identified
--- Sky News (AUS): China’s police presence in Solomon Islands expected to ‘stay’
Mutmaßliche Spionage in Kiel: China warnt Deutschland wegen Ermittlungen vor „Verleumdung“
"„Wir hoffen, dass die deutsche Seite sich auf die Fakten stützt und aufhört, sogenannte Spionagefälle für Manipulation und Verleumdung zu nutzen“, sagte der Sprecher des Außenministeriums, Lin Jian, am Freitag. Die Bundesregierung müsse die „legitimen Rechte und Interessen der chinesischen Bürger in Deutschland“ schützen."
--- Übersetzung: 'Was immer Chinesen in Deutschland machen, ist OK (solange es der KPCh dient). Kritik an China deswegen ist nicht erlaubt.'
Viel China, wenig Portugal
"Noch vor der Übergabe war der Einfluss der Volksrepublik auf Macau größer als auf Hongkong. Die meisten Menschen in Macau haben sich mit der Zugehörigkeit zu China arrangiert und identifizieren sich laut Umfragen als Chinesen."
--- Ein Grund dafür mag sein, daß Festlandschinesen inzwischen ja auch die Mehrheit in Macao sind.
