See tagged statuses in the local Rambling Readers community
#China’s United Front Work Dept campuses are the focus.
#Taiwan bans academic exchanges & credits with three mainland Chinese universities https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3299492/taiwan-bans-academic-exchanges-3-mainland-chinese-universities?utm_source=rss_feed
#China's #media influence in #Africa goes beyond infrastructure investments. A political science scholar reveals how Beijing is shaping perceptions by partnering with local outlets and training journalists. https://buff.ly/3QdzmmO #softpower
By Mitchell Gallagher, Wayne State University
As U.S. President Donald Trump rolls out broad-based tariffs and severs some U.S. ties to the U.N., China is seeking to exert more influence on the global stage, underlining its commitment to multilateralism. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/02/19/world/politics/china-us-upheaval-un/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #china #us #un #who #wangyi
#China a student burns ‘inflatable girlfriend’, sparks fire after roommate returns early https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3298501/china-student-burns-inflatable-girlfriend-sparks-fire-after-roommate-returns-early?utm_source=rss_feed
Once #Trump has capitulated to #Putin over #Ukraine, what comes next? #China wants to invade #Taiwan, so will #Russia provide military support (probably not, I expect ordinary Russians would object) or will Russia invade somewhere in #Europe to provide a distraction, knowing that #USA will tell Europe to sort out their own problems?
"European Parliament urges lawmakers to only use encrypted messages after China hacks"
https://www.politico.eu/article/european-parliament-urge-mep-message-signal-encryption/
"New research by cyber intelligence firm Recorded Future on Thursday showed the group had breached telcos as recently as January, including in Italy and the U.K., despite U.S. sanctions."
#Signal #Europe #EU #EuropeanParliament #Surveillance #technology #espionage #China #SaltTyphoon
In case you didn’t know this, #Tesla is aggresively suing bloggers and news outlets that criticize them—and even their own customers—in #China. They use their cozy relationship with the Communist Party to bully and punish critics into silence.
“In a review of public court documents, the AP found that Tesla won nearly 90% of civil cases over safety, quality or contract disputes brought by customers.”
Please, get rid of your Teslas.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tesla-sues-customers-journalists-china-defamation/
She said no: marriages in #China plummet to record low
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/12/china-marriage-statistics-plummet-record-low
As JD Vance delivered his speech about “European overregulation” and criticized “endless compliance costs imposed on the US companies by GDPR” I have seen some voices from Europe who said something to the effect “I don‘t know a single EU company happy about #GDPR either”.
Well, it’s kind of obvious companies aren’t happy because GDPR was not made to make companies happy but to protect the privacy of consumers 😄
This regulation is based on fundamental differences between US and EU legal systems. In EU, you own and control your personal data. In US it’s owned by whoever managed to extort it from you, and then aggregate, personalise and resell to any other entity anywhere.
For example, if you want to pay higher insurance premium because you have genetic tendencies to diabetes or obesity - well, that’s the US way of doing business, but it’s not the only one, nor …
As JD Vance delivered his speech about “European overregulation” and criticized “endless compliance costs imposed on the US companies by GDPR” I have seen some voices from Europe who said something to the effect “I don‘t know a single EU company happy about #GDPR either”.
Well, it’s kind of obvious companies aren’t happy because GDPR was not made to make companies happy but to protect the privacy of consumers 😄
This regulation is based on fundamental differences between US and EU legal systems. In EU, you own and control your personal data. In US it’s owned by whoever managed to extort it from you, and then aggregate, personalise and resell to any other entity anywhere.
For example, if you want to pay higher insurance premium because you have genetic tendencies to diabetes or obesity - well, that’s the US way of doing business, but it’s not the only one, nor it’s somehow axiomatically “better”. And yes, high insurance premiums also have the effect of increasing overall country’s GDP, just as a house burnt and rebuilt also does this magic, yet somehow few people celebrate it 😉
Then someone asked me if I really “feel that my data is better protected thanks to GDPR”. And yes, as a matter of fact the most invasive behavioural profiling aren’t being rolled out by companies like Twitter or Facebook to EU specifically because of GDPR, while in US they just roll them out without asking anyone.
Anyone… of course except for the states which have regulations very similar or even more restrictive than GDPR, such as California. Yet, because California is “their”, these companies and their CEOs with high media presence simply shut up and make their apps compliant with CCPA without all this barking about “how GDPR kills out business”.
It’s the same with EU VAT, about which Vance also whined, whereas US sales tax accounting rules are not even harmonized across states. But hey, you know what? An US business that has to emply a tax consulting company to get multi-state accounting right also increases overall GDP! 😄
So effectively what in US is perceived as each state’s fundamental right, sign of their diversity and key part of their autonomy, in the EU is portrayed as something equivalent to Soviet Union style central planning. And when they post all the memes about “bottle caps” in EU, they of course never mention a gazillion of state-level archaic or absurd regulations which are nonetheless binding, especially if someone likes to build a class lawsuit around them.
And now as Tesla opened a new factory in #China, I’ve never seen Musk make a single critical remark about the overregulation in China, even though it’s even more complex than EU and US taken together due to its vast geographic and administrative diversity.
"'The new administration is actively, and with unprecedented speed and ferocity, apparently seeking to tear down and undermine some of the very scientific foundations upon which our leadership has been so painstakingly built,' [Ranking Member Zoe] Lofgren said. 'I just don’t know how anyone reconciles the rhetoric about competing with #China with pulling the rug out from under our own #research enterprise.'"
Zhao Lusi shines needed light on #China’s treatment of mental health https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3297186/zhao-lusi-shines-needed-light-chinas-treatment-mental-health?utm_source=rss_feed
US Postal Service suspends inbound parcels from Hong Kong, mainland #China https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3297391/us-postal-service-suspends-inbound-parcels-hong-kong-mainland-china?utm_source=rss_feed
#Canada & #Mexico given 30-day #tariff reprieve. But not #China.
China retaliates with additional tariffs of up to 15% on select U.S. imports - coal, oil and gas - starting Feb. 10.
Initiates probe in #Google platform activities.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/04/china-levies-tariffs-on-select-us-imports-starting-feb-10.html
