--- Ragasa, Ragasa, Ragasa ... because nothing else matters. Media are great.
China gives up developing-country treatment in bid to boost WTO in face of Trump tariffs
"It was not clear whether the announcement would lead to greater access for foreign goods to China’s vast market."
--- Phhh... It's pretty clear that it won't. Anyway, as usual, reality is a bit different from what China initially claims:
China says it won't change developing country status but will forgo benefits
"China will not change its developing country status, but it will forgo asking for Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) in future negotiations at the World Trade Organization [...] China remains a key member of global south and will always be a developing country"
--- Translation: China wants to have special status forever and wants to be able to use it whenever it likes to.
Is the US really losing to China in Southeast Asia?
"China and the United States occupy first and second place for overall influence in only three countries – Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In every other country, either a Southeast Asian neighbour or Indo-Pacific middle power ranks as a top two partner. And every country has well diversified partnerships, in the sense that no one external partner dominates across diplomacy, defence, economic and cultural engagement. Where does all of this leave the two big picture questions raised above? To the extent that there is a US-China competition in Southeast Asia, China is indeed “winning”. But describing the region’s geopolitics in these terms alone does little to illuminate the complex choices facing its diverse countries."
--- Yep, believe it or not: there is more to the world than just China and the USA.
Europe has lost one superpower ally – can it afford to be in the crosshairs of two?
"Trump treats Europe as subservient: he’s happy to see it inflict economic pain on Beijing at its own cost, but wants to avoid incurring such costs himself. As with most things Trump-related, it’s a toss of the coin whether he escalates or strikes deals with Beijing, naturally over the heads of European and Asian partners. [...] Russia represents a vital threat to European security and Europeans will bend over backwards to keep the US engaged in their defence. This is likely to fail – regardless of how much flattery and self-abasement they offer to Trump. And while Europe could potentially confront Russia without the US, it cannot do so while China is in its crosshairs too."
--- Trump here, Trump there, Trump everywhere. But is Trump more than a blip? After all, there will be elections again in the USA.
Xi visits Xinjiang to mark region’s anniversary
China’s internet censors have a new target: pessimists
Typhoon Ragasa makes landfall in China after 17 killed in Taiwan
--- China Uncensored: "China is so much better"
--- BBC News: The US and China: Are we heading for space wars?
--- BBC News: Super Typhoon Ragasa makes landfall in China
Wie Unabhängigkeit bei seltenen Erden gelingen könnte
"Die Situation bei den seltenen Erden ist in der westlichen Industrie seit Monaten sichtlich angespannt - und die nächsten Jahre werden entscheidend. Klar ist, dass der Weg, um von China unabhängiger zu werden, ein sehr langer wird. Sowohl Unternehmen als auch Politik werden sich die Frage stellen müssen, wie viel ihnen Versorgungssicherheit bei kritischen Rohstoffen wie den seltenen Erden wert ist."
--- Wird Zeit, dass die Frage nicht nur gestellt, sondern auch beantwortet wird.
China nimmt Abschied von der Rolle als Entwicklungsland
"Die sogenannte besondere und differenzierte Behandlung (SDT) der WTO bevorteilt Entwicklungsländer und ermöglicht ihnen etwa, höhere Zölle festzusetzen, oder gibt mehr Zeit für die Umsetzung von Abkommen. Obwohl China die zweitgrößte Volkswirtschaft der Welt ist, besteht die kommunistische Führung in Peking nach wie vor auf Chinas selbst erklärtem Status als Entwicklungsland."
--- Den Status als Entwicklungsland will China auch in Zukunft behalten. Es geht nur darum, bei zukünftigen Verhandlungen auf spezielle Sonderregelungen zu verzichten. Was aber, wie bei China so üblich, nicht wirklich verbindlich ist. Bestehende Sonderregelungen sind sowieso nicht betroffen.
