Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao of the U.S. Navy has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and selling sensitive military secrets to China. Zhao originally pleaded not guilty when he was originally charged on August 4th. He was accused of collecting $15,000 in bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for information, photos, and videos that included Navy exercises, operations, resources,… Read more »
A Chinese-Australian journalist named Cheng Lei was detained in 2019 on “murky” espionage charges and was given a closed-court trial in Beijing which resulted in her being detained for 3 years. Cheng Lei has written a story on her hardships in chinese prison since her release, one of which was that she was only allowed to stand in sunlight for… Read more »
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed concerns with chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the attacks in Israel from the terrorist group of Hamas. While China condemned the attacks against Israel, they have seemingly decided to stay neutral in the situation so far by not officially naming the attacks as terrorist attacks. So far the most aggressive standpoint that China… Read more »
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3234232/beijings-burden-why-north-korea-russia-military-ties-could-become-headache-china President of Russia, Vladimir Putin and Dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un have met to discuss an arms trade between the 2 countries. Because of the war in Ukraine, Russia has asked North Korea for artillery shells and anti-tank missiles in exchange for Russia’s advanced satellite technology and nuclear-powered submarines. This can cause problems for China because this… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/18/taiwan-urges-china-to-stop-continuous-military-harassment China has sent 103 warplanes to execute a “military exercise” near the border of Taiwan during a military exercise with 40 of them crossing the halfway point between China and Taiwan. The Taiwanese strait is a place where Taiwan has radar to identify potential air threats. This military exercise executed by China also included the aircraft carrier named, ‘Shandong”… Read more »
Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64870472 Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has recently come out and said that an “independent rapporteur” will be investigating Chinese election interference. Trudeau also says that this issue of foreign interference is a very important matter, and challenges Canada’s sovereignty. According to the Canadian government, this investigator will be looking over the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, for any… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/hong-kong-teacher-struck-off-pro-independence-classes-china-13211164 A Honk Kong teacher was recently fired for supposedly promoting a “pro-independence” message in the classroom. The lesson plan mentioned a banned political party that advocated for Hong Kong autonomy. Government officials are calling the teacher a “black sheep” in the Hong Kong education system This issue arises while education is being forced into the spotlight… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/demand-for-service-robots-set-to-explode-in-china-in-aftermath-of-covid-19-pandemic As countries begin to reopen their economies, businesses are forced to staff their storefronts and warehouses while still following safety precautions. For employees, returning to work means extra risk. For employers, human workers add extra variables that complicate exposure response plans, and costly safety measures coupled with low patronage means smaller profit margins. A Chinese tech… Read more »
Authorities in China are prosecuting 11 people for smuggling $119m (£90m) worth of fish swim bladders from Mexico. They are accused of bringing in 20,000 swim bladders from totoaba fish from the Gulf of California in Mexico and selling them in China. Swim bladders enable totoaba to maintain their buoyancy in the water. They are used in traditional medicines in… Read more »
Chinese exports saw the steepest fall in three years in February, adding to worries about growth in the world’s second largest economy. Official data show exports from China plunged 20.7% from a year earlier, as its trade war with the US took a toll. Imports fell 5.2% and the figures sent Asia stock markets sharply lower. Economists caution the data… Read more »