Seven Chinese nationals tried to illegally enter Guam as U.S. tested missile, authorities say Seven Chinese citizens were arrested on charges of illegally entering Guam around the time the U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted a key missile interception test using a new radar, the island's Customs and Quarantine Agency has said.

Seven Chinese nationals tried to illegally enter Guam as U.S. tested missile

“Guamanian authorities said that all of the Chinese nationals arrived on the same boat from Saipan, and that the investigation was ongoing.”
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

G.M. Led in China for Years. Here’s How It Ended Up 16th in Sales. (Gift Article) General Motors has gone from market leader to also-ran in the world’s largest car market, stymied by its own missteps and Chinese policies that favored its local rivals.

Good Keith Bradsher article, ostensibly about the decline of GM China, but in fact about the evolution of the automobile industry in China. For those who don't think industrial policy can achieve much, it's a little hard to explain what happened in China.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/b...

BREAKING: Chinese national charged with acting as an illegal agent of the PRC while serving as a campaign official for LA-area politician. This is the latest in a series of srories about PRC interference in local US elections. (1/x)
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/u...

I think the article's generalization about the increasing number of people seeking to emigrate from China is accurate.

Source: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/through-darien-gap-new-path-chinese-asylum-seekers-united-states

China doesn't release statistics about people leaving the country to seek asylum (and likely does not even have them) so we can't accurately measure the rate of people fleeing China.

The rate of PRC citizens illegally entering the US has increased dramatically in the last three years.

That figure is for "visa lodgment" which is an application for asylum sent from outside Australia. Onshore applications by people who already arrived by plane is over 10k the past 12 months.

Boat arrivals (which is focus of the article) can apply for asylum but can't resettle in Australia.

Brazil Traders ‘Sell First, Ask Later’ as Panic Hits Markets First it was a collapse in the currency. Now the rest of Brazil’s financial markets are in the cross-hairs as investors lose faith in the government’s ability to contain a deepening fiscal crisis.

First it was a collapse in the currency.

Now the rest of Brazil’s financial markets are in the cross-hairs as investors lose faith in the government’s ability to contain a deepening fiscal crisis

EU leaders avoid direct accusation over Chinese role in Russia’s war in Ukraine A draft statement suggests leaders from the bloc’s 27 members will not accuse Beijing of crossing a major red line.

New: European Union leaders will avoid directly calling out China over Russia’s war in Ukraine at a major summit this week, according to a draft statement

www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

“The European Council strongly condemns support by third countries, and actors and entities therein, which enable Russia to sustain its war of aggression against Ukraine,” read a draft statement negotiated by representatives of the 27 states.

EU leaders avoid direct accusation over Chinese role in Russia’s war in Ukraine A draft statement suggests leaders from the bloc’s 27 members will not accuse Beijing of crossing a major red line.

EU getting ready to wimp out on its own security again.

EU leaders set to avoid direct accusation over Chinese role in Russia’s war in Ukraine - A draft statement suggests leaders from the bloc’s 27 members will not accuse Beijing of crossing a major red line
www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

Coalition accuses Labor of targeting think tank over China criticism A government review wants to rein in public funding for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which has been highly critical of China and keeps an office in Washington.

The Australian opposition has accused the government of targeted payback against a think tank for its criticism of China. www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Every UK engagement with China prior to development of their strategy means they have no clear objectives for engagement.

They’re walking into a buzz saw of Chinese talking points declaring the precedence of Beijing’s interests over unclear UK goals or priorities.
#sleepwalking

Chinese embassy spokesperson in London over the alleged spy case:
“Stop creating trouble!”

Good luck with the new embassy.

Bluesky could become target of foreign disinformation, experts warn Platform’s moderation approach exposes vulnerabilities to China's, Russia’s malign influence campaigns

Bluesky has exploded in popularity. But among those who have joined are Chinese and Russian state media and some suspicious looking accounts. For this story I explored whether the hot new platform is equipped to protect itself against foreign influence. www.voanews.com/a/bluesky-co...

“The highly publicised failed missions have not deterred everyone. Last week, a Chinese resident commented on a Douyin video about zouxian to Australia. ‘I’m at the end of the road. I can’t survive any more. I want to go. I want to go very much,’ he said.”

“… the UN’s refugee agency – which has registered around a third of all displaced people and refugees – recorded 137,143 asylum seekers from China in 2023, five times the number registered a decade earlier at the start of Xi’s rule. By July this year it had grown to 176,239.”

Fleeing Xi’s China: following the trail of migrants trying to reach Australia through Indonesia A new and high-stakes escape route has been revealed, through the Indonesian archipelago to a smuggler’s boat

Terrific investigative journalism by @helendavidson.bsky.social @theguardian.com on illegal migration from China to Australia via Indonesia.

The tragic desperation of people on the “run” comes through in this piece.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

New York man pleads guilty to helping run ‘secret Chinese police station’

Chen Jinping’s court admission is the first among cases involving Chinese overseas police outposts, of which there are dozens around the world.
www.rfa.org/english/chin...

China’s Housing Rescue Falls Short in City That Signaled the Crisis The limits of government intervention are evident in Zhengzhou, where home prices keep falling.

Good read about the (lack of) progress in resolving the property crisis in Zhengzhou. Grim! China’s Housing Rescue Falls Short in City That Signaled the Crisis www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Told Medvedev I'll buy him a scooter and a pager for Xmas.

He's sulking.

TikTok’s annual carbon footprint is likely bigger than Greece’s, study finds
amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theg...

BREAKING: CNN has now CONFIRMED that the freed “prisoner” in their report was NOT an ordinary citizen as reported and as he claimed.

As local Syrian sources were saying, he was indeed an Assad intelligence officer who faked his story with CNN.
👇

China Will Keep Trying to Spur Consumption Without Big Stimulus China’s top leaders have signaled stronger stimulus to help fill a hole in consumer demand. That doesn’t mean Beijing will roll out a “bazooka” package just yet, or abandon its factory focus.

Keep trying.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

China sees slowest home price decline in 17 months amid signs of stabilisation China's home prices fell at the slowest pace in 17 months in November, with the crisis-hit property market showing signs of stabilising in some major cities amid government efforts to revive the real estate sector.

It’s not all bad news -

China sees slowest home price decline in 17 months amid signs of stabilisation
www.reuters.com/markets/asia...

However, retail sales, a gauge of consumption, grew at its weakest pace in three months at 3.0% last month, much slower than a 4.8% rise seen in October. Analysts had predicted a 4.6% expansion.

China's industrial output in November grew 5.4% from a year earlier, faster than the 5.3% pace seen in October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday, beating expectations for a 5.3% increase in a Reuters poll.

The mixed data underline how challenging it will be for China's leaders to mount a durable economic recovery heading into 2025, when trade relations with China's biggest export market could worsen while domestic consumption also stays weak.

China's weak consumption drags on economy as Trump tariff threat looms China's industrial output growth quickened slightly in November, while retail sales disappointed, keeping alive calls for Beijing to ramp up consumer-focused stimulus as policymakers brace for more U.S. trade tariffs under a second Trump administration.

China's weak consumption drags on economy as Trump tariff threat looms

www.reuters.com/markets/asia...

Have money, will travel: Chinese investors join overseas assets in US visa bids A new cohort of Chinese migrants to the US is on the rise – investors looking to permanently relocate to conduct their business smoothly.

Brain drain and capital flight.

“A new cohort of Chinese migrants to the US is on the rise – investors looking to permanently relocate to conduct their business smoothly”
www.scmp.com/economy/glob...

North Korean troops open fire on Russian unit, Ukraine's military intelligence claims North Korean soldiers killed eight members of the Chechen Akhmat unit in a "friendly fire" incident, HUR said, attributing the attack to persistent language barrier problems.

⚡️North Korean troops open fire on Russian unit, Ukraine's military intelligence claims.

North Korean soldiers killed eight members of the Chechen Akhmat unit in a "friendly fire" incident, HUR said, attributing the attack to persistent language barrier problems.