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China Watch
Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy party takes initial step toward disbanding. — 20 February 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 12 media reports (LINK)
China's holdings of US Treasuries fall to lowest level since 2009. — 19 February 2025 (LINK limited)
— Analysts say the change partly reflects China's desire to diversify its foreign reserves by buying assets such as gold. But they add that Beijing is seeking to disguise the true extent of its Treasury holdings by shifting them to custodian accounts registered elsewhere.
China urged the United States to "correct its mistakes" after the U.S. State Department removed previous wording on its website about not supporting Taiwan independence, which it said was part of a routine update. — 17 February 2025 (LINK)
— The fact sheet on Taiwan, updated last week, retains Washington's opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own. But as well as dropping the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence", the page added a reference to Taiwan's cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the U.S. will support Taiwan's membership in international organisations "where applicable".
Council on Foreign Relations: Southeast Asia: Trump's commitment to tariffs and unwillingness to foster trade stability in Asia might lead Asian countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and many developing regions, to increasingly rely on Chinese goods and technology — well beyond auto manufacturing. — 14 February 2025 (LINK)
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei denied entry to Switzerland due to lack of visa. — 11 February 2025 (LINK)
— Ai Weiwei, 67, was imprisoned in China in 2011 and banned from traveling after making statements critical of the government. He was eventually released and left the country.
China imposes up to 15% tariffs on select U.S. imports in response to Trump's tariffs. — 4 February 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 452 media reports (LINK)
— China imposed tariffs on a range of products, including liquefied natural gas, coal, farm machinery and other imports from the United States. Peking slapped an additional 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural equipment, larger cars and pickup trucks, as well as an additional 15 percent tariff on coal and natural gas. China slapped an additional 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural equipment, larger cars and pickup trucks, as well as an additional 15 percent tariff on coal and natural gas. It also announced new restrictions on exports of tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum, and other metals used in cutting-edge technology products, citing "national security and interests." The government also put PVH — the American retailer that owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands — on its "unreliable entities" list — (LINK)
— China has revived antitrust investigations into Google and Nvidia, while considering a new probe against Intel.
Ex-senior U.S. Federal Reserve advisor charged with economic espionage to benefit China. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)
Italy blocks access to the Chinese AI application DeepSeek to protect users' data. — 31 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 92 media reports (LINK)
— This block means that DeepSeek will not be available on app stores in Italy. However, the ban could be bypassed online through use of virtual private networks.
Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 is better than DeepSeek's R1 but underperformed in creative writing tasks if compared to other AI models. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)
South China Sea: Philippines arrests five more Chinese for 'spying' on Philippine Navy assets in Palawan. — 30 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 16 media reports (LINK)
DeepSeek and ChatGPT answer sensitive questions about China differently. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)
— For example: What does Winnie the Pooh mean in China? For many Chinese, the Winnie the Pooh character is a playful taunt of President Xi Jinping. ChatGPT got that idea right. DeepSeek's chatbot said the bear is a beloved cartoon character that is adored by countless children and families in China, symbolizing joy and friendship. Then, abruptly, it said the Chinese government is "dedicated to providing a wholesome cyberspace for its citizens." It added that all online content is managed following Chinese laws and socialist core values, with the aim of protecting national security and social stability.
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng puts focus on Chinese innovation. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)
— Under Liang's leadership, DeepSeek deliberately avoided app-building. Instead, it concentrated research talent and resources on creating a model that could match, or better OpenAI, and it hopes in the future to continue focusing on cutting-edge models that will be used by other companies to build consumer and enterprise-facing AI products.
