China’s producer prices fall 3.6% in June, biggest drop in nearly two years as deflation deepens
"China’s producer prices plunged 3.6% in June from a year earlier, marking its largest decline in nearly two years, as a deepening price war rippled through the economy that’s already grappling with tepid consumer demand. [...] The PPI has been mired in a multi-year deflationary streak since September 2022"
--- & still, no mention of a recession.
China unveils new steps to aid employment amid trade tensions
""Local governments and departments must take political responsibility for stabilising employment, track policy implementation, and introduce new measures promptly," the cabinet said"
--- So, essentially, the 'new measures' are simply the central government telling regional governments to do something. Which, considering the dire state of regional finances, means that not much will happen. Again.
China's emissions may be falling - here's what you should know
"this would be the first time emissions have fallen even as demand for power across the Chinese economy grew rapidly. Previous drops have only ever taken place during shocks like the Covid pandemic, which slowed the country's economy"
--- Phhh ... Guess what: China has been in a recession for quite a while now (even though nobody wants to admit it).
"Recent data from the UK-based energy think tank, Ember, shows that in April, wind and solar energy together generated more than a quarter of China's electricity for the first time. Meanwhile, electricity generated from fossil fuels over the first four months of 2025 fell by 3.6% as compared with the same period last year. These are dramatic changes for an economy historically dependent on coal"
--- Dramatic, yeah right. Even if you believe Chinese numbers, coal is still around 60%. Anyway, many of the 'green' energy projects are either completely fake or built, but not connected to the grid.
Poisoned water and scarred hills
"We found man-made lakes full of radioactive sludge and heard claims of polluted water and contaminated soil, which, in the past, have been linked to clusters of cancer and birth defects. These journeys were challenging. Beijing appears sensitive to criticism of its environmental record. We were pulled over by police, questioned by them and stuck in a three-hour standoff with an unidentified mining boss who refused to let us leave unless we deleted our footage. Our calls for an interview or a statement have gone unanswered, but the government has published new regulations to try to strengthen its supervision of the industry. Authorities have been making an effort to clean up these mining sites, scientists told the BBC"
--- Cleaning up? More like blocking any negative news from getting out.
China rejects German claim it targeted military plane with laser
"On Tuesday, Germany said a reconnaissance plane was targeted as it flew over the Red Sea, where several European countries have been contributing to surveillance and defensive efforts since early 2024 to protect ships from regular attacks launched from Yemen. The laser was fired from a Chinese warship, which had been spotted several times and had made no communication with the passing aircraft, Germany said. The plane was forced to abandon its mission and return to a military base in the East African nation of Djibouti as a precaution, according to the foreign ministry."
--- Well, forced... More likely, the Germans as usual were overly cautious. But, obviously, it's a breach of protocol. Anyway, Germany is not one to antagonize China without reason, so we can assume that it actually happened. & it wouldn't be the 1st time for China doing this:
"China has been accused of using lasers to target military aircraft before, primarily by the US. China has denied doing so."
--- China, as usual, is totally innocent.
Chef's food decoration at Chinese pre-school poisons 233 children
"More than 200 children are being treated in hospital with lead poisoning in north-west China after school chefs used inedible paint to decorate their food. Eight people have been arrested after tests showed the food samples from a kindergarten in Tianshui City in Gansu province had lead levels that were 2,000 times over the national safety limit. [...] The mayor of Tianshui, Liu Lijiang, said the incident exposed shortcomings and loopholes in public food safety supervision and the city would draw lessons from the event."
--- Public food safety supervision? Virtually non-existent in China. It is very common to use inedible or even poisonous ingredients to make food look or taste better. If anything is done about, then only in the aftermath of major incidents like this one. Whenever you are in China, don't eat anything that looks too good to be true. Because it most likely is too good to be true.
How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban
Ukraine detains Chinese spies tasked with stealing Neptune missile technology, SBU says
China hit by floods, landslides and heat as extreme weather takes its toll
Trump Administration Seeks to Ban China From Buying U.S. Farms
10 years after 709 crackdown, human rights are waning
--- DW News: "Berlin says China targeted German plane with laser"
--- DW News: Taiwan looks for smart ways to tackle military threats from China
--- H I Sutton: New Information On China's Mysterious Ekranoplan
Deutschland wirft China Laserangriff auf Flugzeug vor
"Nach Informationen der Nachrichtenagentur dpa ereignete sich der Vorfall Anfang Juli, als ein deutsches Flugzeug zu einem Überwachungsflug über dem Seegebiet unterwegs war. Dabei sei festgestellt worden, dass von einem chinesischen Kriegsschiff aus ein Laser auf die Maschine gerichtet wurde. Das Anstrahlen mit einem Laser gilt im Militär mindestens als Drohgebärde. [...] "Das zur Seeraumüberwachung im Roten Meer eingesetzte Flugzeug MSP wurde bei einem Routine-Einsatzflug (...) von einem chinesischen Kriegsschiff, das schon mehrfach im Seegebiet angetroffen wurde, ohne Grund und vorherige Kontaktaufnahme angelasert""
--- Drohgebärde, mehr aber auch nicht. Trotzdem lässt man dann das Flugzeug erstmal landen. Pfff...
"In der Vergangenheit hatten sich unter anderem die philippinische und die australische Regierung über chinesische Laserangriffe auf Militärflugzeuge beschwert."
--- Aber natürlich hat China so etwas noch nie gemacht & würde es auch nie machen. Chinesische Marine & Luftwaffe verhalten sich immer extrem professionell & zurückhaltend.
China dementiert Laserangriff auf deutsches Flugzeug
"Die chinesische Marine habe eine Geleitschutzoperation im Golf von Aden und in den Gewässern vor Somalia durchgeführt. Sie sei dabei ihrer internationalen Verantwortung nachgekommen und habe eine gute Kommunikation mit Deutschland und der europäischen Seite gepflegt."
--- Genau. Der Laser war nur ein Kommunikationsmedium. Warum man sowas in Deutschland nicht versteht, ist ein Rätsel.
China und Europa: Frostige Stimmung zwischen China und der EU
"Chinas Führung wird die Unterstützung für Putin so schnell nicht einstellen, an einem schnellen Ende von Russlands Krieg hat man kein großes Interesse. Das wurde Anfang Juli deutlich, als Chinas Außenminister Wang Yi der EU-Außenbeauftragten Kaja Kallas in einem privaten Statement gesagt haben soll, dass seine Regierung es sich gar nicht leisten könne, dass Putin den Krieg in der Ukraine verliere. Man befürchte, die USA würden sich dann voll auf ihre Rivalität mit China konzentrieren."
--- Die einzige Überraschung hier ist, dass Wang das so relativ offen zugibt.
China: Eine Volkswirtschaft im Erschöpfungszustand
"So sind die Erzeugerpreise, die sich bereits seit September 2022 in einer anhaltenden Negativspirale befinden, im Juni mit 3,6 Prozent ganz besonders drastisch eingebrochen."
--- Tja, & so geht's weiter...
China: »Boys' Love« - VR China geht gegen Autorinnen von Schwulenerotik-Romanen vor (Es geht nicht nur gegen Frauen, aber ist halt der Spiegel...)
