China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-07-23
China seeks to unite Palestinian factions with reconciliation deal
"Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have signed a declaration agreeing to form an interim "national reconciliation government" for the occupied West Bank and Gaza after the war with Israel, in a meeting brokered by China"
--- As expected, China claims success (for something which had been negotiated without much Chinese input). But, well, it's dubious that anything will come of it, because:
"The declaration is in effect an expression of intent as there are major obstacles to making such an agreement work."
--- & it's not the 1st such agreement, either:
"It is the latest of several reconciliation deals Hamas and Fatah have agreed on in their long fractured relationship, none of which have yet led to the end of the schism."
--- So, why would this agreement work, if the others didn't? There are already voices from within Palestinian factions that it won't.
"Israel has also ruled out a role for Hamas or Fatah in governing Gaza after the end of hostilities there."
--- Another problem.
s.a.: Hamas and Fatah sign agreement in Beijing ‘ending’ their division, China says
Leaked plan reveals bid to get Chinese officials to have more kids
"The document, which circulated online in the form of a screenshot before being identified as a leaked draft by the Quanzhou Municipal Health Commission, lists a number of ways being considered by city officials to "organize and implement the three-child policy."
[...] The leaked Quanzhou document, which was confirmed by health officials as a genuine leak by "negligent" staff in comments reported by Jiemian News, goes a little further than sloganeering, calling on officials lead by example and have more children themselves, while proposing an array of support services to help them.
"Party members and cadres at all levels and cadres of state-owned enterprises benefiting from [connections to government] business units should take the lead in implementing the three-child policy," the document says in a section titled "key tasks and measures.""
--- & so begins the way towards an actual 3-child policy.
Of course, lack of children is only part of the problem, ageing is another. But don't worry, the CCP is working on it, too:
China’s leaders have floated the idea of raising the retirement age. It hasn’t gone down well
"Delaying retirement age on a ‘voluntary basis’? Just like the elder generation was ‘voluntarily’ forced to have only one child or laid off from state enterprises?"
--- Volunteering with commie characteristics.
More than a Mirage: UAE combat aircraft in China
"the presence of the Mirage 2000s raises the issue of Chinese access to Western military-aircraft. Also worthy of note is that this type of aircraft is also operated by the Taiwanese air force"
--- Arab allies for the West seem to be sort of a liability in some cases.
Chinese ‘cybercrime syndicate’ behind gambling sites advertised at European sporting events
"A new report from cloud network security company Infoblox exposes an alleged Chinese cybercrime syndicate that it dubs Vigorish Viper — a name referring to the fee charged by a bookie — that is helping fuel an illegal global gambling economy worth approximately $1.7 trillion annually and is allegedly linked to cyber fraud-related human trafficking in Southeast Asia.
The syndicate provides a technology suite for mobile betting applications including software, website hosting, domain name system configurations, payment systems and mobile apps. The researchers said the technology was developed by the company known as Yabo Group, which according to the investigative football outlet Josimar struck sponsorship deals with some of Europe’s biggest football clubs — including Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and AS Monaco.
After those deals were inked, Chinese authorities went after the company as part of a years-long crackdown on offshore gambling because of concerns about capital outflow. They accused it of "overseas manipulation and domestic infiltration," having allegedly recruited 80,000 “domestic agents” and attracted nearly six million gamblers. Thousands were arrested and Yabo Group appeared to be no more."
--- Well, the Chinese decapitated the dragon. Too bad it has a bunch of other heads (a number of which probably well-connected to the CCP). But, hey, China did something.
Historic Hong Kong tofu brand admits importing bean curd from China after food safety checks expose origin
"Liu’s confirmation was the latest development in a saga that began when his mother said in a recent interview with TVB that the Centre for Food Safety’s checks had brought the family “hell.” She said the brand’s reputation had been tarnished overnight after the Centre for Food Safety published a press release saying that tests had found 1.3 times excess bacteria in their tofu.
Days later, the Centre for Food Safety published another press release saying a follow-up test had again found excess bacteria in their tofu – this time exceeding the standard by 13 times."
--- That's what you get when you source food from China.
China lifts sanctions on US communications company Viasat (... because they noticed that they actually need the products)
Kuleba lands in China, urges 'direct' peace talk discussions with Beijing
Tibetan parents forced to enroll children at state-run residential schools
--- China Unscripted: "This is How the War with China Begins | Brent Sadler"
--- CNBC: China's economy is stagnant and shows no signs of growing
--- CNA: Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, agree to form unity govt after talks in China
Fatah und Hamas haben sich offenbar versöhnt
"In China haben sich offenbar 14 palästinensische Gruppierungen getroffen und eine gemeinsame Erklärung zur Beendigung ihres jahrelangen Streits unterzeichnet. Unter ihnen waren auch die rivalisierenden Gruppen Fatah und Hamas - das berichten chinesische Staatsmedien.
Neben einem "Ende der Spaltung" sieht die Deklaration auch eine "Stärkung der palästinensischen Einheit" vor, wie der Sender CCTV meldete."
--- Verhandlungen in die Richtung gibt es schon länger. Nachdem es in letzter Zeit nach einer Einigung aussah, hat China dieses Treffen vereinbart, um den Erfolg für sich zu reklamieren. Naja, ob es ein Erfolg wird, ist wohl noch fraglich:
"die Versuche, eine Einheitsregierung zu bilden, sind wiederholt gescheitert"
--- Es darf bezweifelt werden, daß sich die Hamas dauerhaft der PLO/Fatah unterordnet.
"Weder Israel noch dessen enger Verbündeter USA akzeptieren eine Beteiligung der Hamas an einer Nachkriegsordnung für den Gazastreifen."
--- Tja...
vgl.: Das Märchen von der Übergangsregierung
