China

CNBC reports: A leader of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said he has asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over China-related data security concerns. The wildly popular short video app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, which faced U.S. scrutiny under President Donald Trump. Brendan Carr, one of the FCC’s commissioners, shared via Twitter a …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States would intervene militarily if China attempts to take Taiwan by force, a warning that appeared to deviate from the deliberate ambiguity traditionally held by Washington. During a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Biden was asked if the US would be willing to go …

Reuters reports: Twitter’s servers, staff and customers are almost entirely out of President Xi Jinping’s reach. But Tesla produces half of its automobiles in Shanghai, where it enjoys tax breaks, and depends on local suppliers for critical components. It seems likely that Twitter, under its new owner, will relax bans on political speech. Former President Donald Trump may get his …

Reuters reports: China’s financial hub Shanghai reported over 27,000 coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting a record a day after President Xi Jinping said that the country must continue with its strict “dynamic Covid clearance” policy and pandemic control measures. Shanghai is battling China’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, with the city’s 25 …

Reuters reports: China’s commercial hub of Shanghai ground to halt on Friday after the government locked down most of the city’s 26 million residents to stop the spread of COVID-19. Fresh official guidance indicated that many in China’s most populous city will now be required to stay home as long as it takes to control the outbreak – instructed not …

The BBC reports: China has announced its biggest city-wide lockdown since the Covid outbreak began more than two years ago. The city of Shanghai will be locked down in two stages over nine days while authorities carry out Covid-19 testing. The important financial hub has battled a new wave of infections for nearly a month, although case numbers are not …

Reuters reports: The Shanghai Disney Resort said on Sunday it will temporarily close until further notice from Monday, citing the coronavirus pandemic in China. “Due to the current pandemic situation, Shanghai Disney Resort, including Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park will be temporarily closed from Monday, March 21, 2022,” it said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor …

The Associated Press reports:  In a speech on Saturday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng criticized the far-reaching Western sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine and said the root cause of the war in Ukraine “lies in the Cold War mentality and power politics.” Echoing a Kremlin talking point, the Chinese envoy said if NATO’s “enlargement goes further, …

Politico reports: President Joe Biden will speak to China’s Xi Jinping on Friday, the two leaders’ first call since Russia invaded Ukraine and one that could play an outsize role in determining the trajectory of the war. During the conflict’s early weeks, Russia has aligned itself with China, and Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin reinforced their nations’ ties during …

The New York Times reports: Russia asked China to give it military equipment and support for the war in Ukraine after President Vladimir V. Putin began a full-scale invasion last month, according to U.S. officials. Russia has also asked China for additional economic assistance, to help counteract the battering its economy has taken from broad sanctions imposed by the United …

The South China Morning Post reports: China’s censors have deleted multiple scenes and altered reference about a recurring lesbian character in the 1990s US television sitcom Friends, which has sparked outrage among the popular show’s large audience on the mainland. That has practically buried the lesbian identity of recurring character Carol Willick in the first season of Friends, which major …

The Wall Street Journal reports: News Corp was the target of a hack that accessed emails and documents of some employees, including journalists, an incursion the company’s cybersecurity consultant said was likely meant to gather intelligence to benefit China’s interests. The attack, discovered on Jan. 20, affected a number of publications and business units including The Wall Street Journal and …

USA Today reports: Olympic athletes from several countries – including the United States – are being encouraged to leave their personal cell phones and laptops at home next month due to cyber surveillance concerns at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant first reported Tuesday that the Dutch Olympic Committee is “anticipating Chinese surveillance during the Games” and …

Reuters reports: The United States is at risk of paying an “unbearable price” due to its actions over Taiwan, Wang Yi, state councillor and foreign minister, said in an interview with state media on Thursday. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its …

An open letter to Rubio from the New York Times: Dear Senator Rubio, Your most recent letter again misrepresented our work and the courageous efforts of our sources and our reporters to make this tragic story known to the world. And we want to make clear that your demands are not just antithetical to a free press, they may actually …

The Guardian reports: An editorial in a Chinese state-run news website has suggested Communist party members are obliged to have three children for the good of the country, as Beijing seeks to address plummeting birthrates. The editorial, which was first published last month, went viral this week and drew sharp reaction from Chinese internet users, with millions of shares, views …

ESPN reports: China on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Olympic spirit by announcing an American diplomatic boycott of February’s Beijing Winter Games, amid an increasingly bitter feud over the Biden administration’s decision not to send officials over human rights concerns. The U.S. is attempting to interfere with the Beijing Winter Olympics “out of ideological prejudice and based …

Reuters reports: U.S. politicians should stop calling for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics to avoid hurting bilateral ties and China will take “countermeasures” if necessary, China`s foreign ministry said on Monday. The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that U.S. government officials will not attend the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, CNN reported on Sunday. Those …

CNN reports: The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources. The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing. The National Security Council, which …

The Verge reports: Twitter has removed a total of 2,160 accounts linked to Chinese regional and state propaganda campaigns, the social network has announced as part of its latest data release on misinformation campaigns. The accounts were attempting to push back against allegations of human rights abuses by the Chinese government against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang. Twitter says 2,048 …