Tag Archives: China

Bloomberg News reports: The Biden administration has decided to postpone Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing after detecting a Chinese surveillance balloon that was lingering at high altitude over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana, according two officials. Blinken was set to have meetings in Beijing early next week in the first such visit by a top US …

The Insider reports: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called on President Joe Biden to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon “immediately,” while suggesting that former President Donald Trump would have already done so. Greene, who has promoted conspiracy theories dealing in QAnon, 9/11 “trutherism,” and a Jewish-backed “space laser” causing the 2018 California wildfires, was recently appointed to the House …

The Associated Press reports: China said Friday it was looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace over sensitive sites — a discovery that further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country” and …

CNN reports: The Pentagon is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States, a senior defense official said on Thursday. The Pentagon has been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said. He added that the US military decided against shooting …

The Associated Press reports: The United States and the Philippines on Thursday announced plans to expand America’s military presence in the Southeast Asian nation, with access to four more bases as they seek to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. The agreement was reached as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in …

The Hill reports: China is warning House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) against visiting Taiwan after reports that the GOP leader is planning a trip later this year to the island, which is a flashpoint in the rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. “We urge certain individuals in the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao …

Reuters reports: A top Republican in the U.S. Congress said on Sunday the odds of conflict with China over Taiwan “are very high,” after a U.S. general caused consternation with a memo that warned the United States would fight China in the next two years. In a memo dated Feb. 1 but released on Friday, General Mike Minihan, who heads …

NBC News reports: A four-star Air Force general sent a memo on Friday to the officers he commands that predicts the U.S. will be at war with China in two years and tells them to get ready to prep by firing “a clip” at a target, and “aim for the head.” In the memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC …

The Texas Tribune reports: The governments, citizens and businesses of Russia, China and two other nations would be prohibited from buying real estate in Texas under legislation awaiting action by the state Senate that warns that such purchases might be harmful to national and state interests. Texas ranks third in the nation as a destination for foreign entities seeking to …

USA Today reports: The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to …

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports: Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to halt plans for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. battery plant over his concerns about Chinese influence cost one of the poorest areas of Virginia a reported 2,500 jobs with potential for more. If Ford finalized the project, the plant would have gone in the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry …

The New York Times reports: The world’s most populous country has reached a pivotal moment: China’s population has begun to shrink, after a steady, yearslong decline in its birthrate that experts say is irreversible.  The government said on Tuesday that 9.56 million people were born in China last year, while 10.41 million people died. It was the first time deaths …

The Associated Press reports: China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December following complaints it was failing to release data, and said the “emergency peak” of its latest surge appears to have passed. The toll included 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with …

Axios reports: India is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous country sometime this year, the UN projects. The milestone could have major economic and societal implications for both countries — and may eventually influence trade flows and upend the global balance of power. India was home to 1.417 billion people as of last year, compared to China’s …

The New York Times reports: The protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere could be restored within several decades, scientists said Monday, as recent rogue emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals from China have been largely eliminated. In a United Nations-sponsored assessment, the scientists said that global emissions of CFC-11, a banned chemical that has been used as a refrigerant and in …

The Associated Press reports: Patients, mostly older people, laid on stretchers in hallways or took oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as a COVID-19 outbreak stretched public health facilities’ resources in China’s capital Beijing, even after its reported peak. The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city’s east was packed Thursday with newly arrived patients. Beds ran out by midmorning, even as ambulances …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit early next year, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia’s flailing invasion of Ukraine. In effusive introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders broadcast on state television, Putin also said …

From the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs office: On Dec. 21 (China Standard Time), a People’s Liberation Army – Navy J-11 fighter pilot performed an unsafe maneuver during an intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, which was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace. The PLAN pilot flew an unsafe maneuver by flying …

NBC News reports: Lawmakers and staffers must delete TikTok from any House-issued mobile phones and are prohibited from downloading the popular app on such devices, according to an internal memo obtained by NBC News. The memo, sent Tuesday by Catherine L. Szpindor, the chief administrative officer of the House, said the ban comes after her office’s cybersecurity unit found TikTok …

CNBC reports: The Biden administration will require airline passengers traveling from China to test negative for Covid before entering the U.S., federal health officials said on Wednesday. All travelers originating from China, Hong Kong or Macau will be required to get tested for Covid two days before their departure to the U.S. The requirements, which apply regardless of nationality and …