The leaders of China and Russia vowed to deepen their “strategic partnership” in a show of solidarity in Moscow on Thursday, casting themselves as defenders of the world order.
Russian President Vladimir Putin played host to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the eve of a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
The two sides signed a joint statement to “further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in the new era between China and Russia.”
Their meeting comes three years after Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, triggering the deadliest conflict in Europe since the World War II.
It also came as Taiwan’s president, in Taipei, marked the World War II anniversary by making broad comparisons between threats to European peace and aggression from China.
FILE PHOTO: Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te holds a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan February 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo(Ann Wang/Reuters)
President Lai Ching-te told diplomats: “Authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy, and greater inequality.” He added that Taiwan – a self-governing island that China claims as its own – and Europe were “now facing the threat of a new authoritarian bloc.”
The meeting between Xi and Putin was the latest display of solidarity in what they billed in 2022 as a “no-limits” friendship. Within days of that declaration, Putin had launched a war in a sovereign nation – Ukraine – in a repudiation of international law.
While China has avoided providing overt diplomatic and military support for the invasion of Ukraine, it has thrown Russia an economic lifeline that has helped it navigate Western sanctions.
Xi’s China is facing its own forms of pressure from the West, as the country is now locked in a tariff war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 8, 2025.(Evgenia Novozhenina/AP)
The Chinese leader made veiled references to the United States in his remarks Thursday.
China and Russia should “be true friends of steel that have been through a hundred trials by fire,” Xi told Putin. He also said they would work together to counter “unilateralism and bullying.”
Ja Ian Chong, associate professor at the National University of Singapore, said the more than 20 cooperation agreements signed by China and Russia on Thursday reflected that, in the current geopolitical landscape, both China and Russia need each other’s assistance.
Sung Kuo-Chen, a researcher at the Center for International Relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, said Xi may be concerned that Trump – who is often viewed by critics as sympathetic to Moscow – will seek to win over Putin to jointly isolate and contain China.
“This is what Xi Jinping worried about the most. He wants to once again enhance and consolidate the strategic cooperative relationship between China and Russia,” Sung told RFA.
Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin.
U.S. and Chinese officials will hold high-level talks in Switzerland this weekend, a first step toward easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies over tariffs but experts did not expect immediate breakthroughs.
Analysts said Wednesday the talks were a necessary step towards de-escalating tensions amid the ongoing trade war, but negotiations to resolve differences between the two countries may be protracted.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Geneva, the first official engagement between the two countries since U.S. President Donald Trump increased tariffs on imports from China to as much as 145%.
“De-escalating won’t be simple. It’s much easier to ratchet up restrictions versus lifting them,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
“Expectations should be modest for this meeting. It is a first step in a potentially longer process, which is complicated by a lack of trust and diametrically opposing views on how trade is conducted between the two largest economies,” Cutler told Radio Free Asia.
Chinese scholar Zhang Li agreed. He expects China and the U.S. to engage in protracted negotiations on a range of issues, including tariffs imposed by both nations, smuggling of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl into the U.S., and other trade imbalances.
“Such protracted negotiations may last throughout the entire term of the Trump administration, resulting in a continuous trade war between China and the U.S., which is also a feature of the new Cold War between China and the U.S.,” Zhang told RFA.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington.(Evan Vucci/AP)
In 2024, China’s total manufacturing output reached 40.5 trillion yuan (US$5.65 trillion). Foreign trade volume – exports and imports – was 43.85 trillion yuan (US$6.1 trillion), of which exports accounted for 25.45 trillion yuan (US$3.49 trillion).
In March, Chinese imports to the U.S. were the lowest in five years, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. U.S. trade deficit widened to a record $140.5 billion in the month, with imports from at least 10 countries, including Vietnam and Mexico, at record levels.
Trump – who on Wednesday held a swearing-in ceremony at the Oval Office for the new U.S. ambassador to China, David Perdue – said he was not open to lowering the 145% import duties on Chinese goods.
His comments came a day after Bessent, in an interview on Fox News, said the current tariffs imposed are unsustainable and that both sides had a “shared interest” in talks.
“We don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade,” Bessent said. He stressed that “de-escalation” will be the focus, instead of a “big trade deal.”
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng speaks at the 11th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing, Jan. 11, 2025.(Aaron Favila/AP)
China on Wednesday said the U.S. has repeatedly indicated in the recent past that it wants to negotiate and that the upcoming meeting had been requested by the U.S.
“China firmly opposes the U.S.’s tariff hikes. This position remains unchanged,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said at a media briefing.
“Meanwhile, as we’ve stressed many times before, China is open to dialogue, but any dialogue must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit,” Lin said.
Washington and Beijing have been engaged in a tit-for-tat increase in tariffs ever since Trump imposed a 10% tariff on China on Feb. 4, citing its role in the trade in fentanyl, a deadly opioid that has become a major cause of death in America.
China, in turn, hit back with a 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas, and a 10% on crude oil, large cars, and agricultural machinery, prompting Trump to raise China tariffs further by 10% to a total 20%, followed by several more increases until eventually settling at 145%.
In China, the steep U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have triggered a wave of factory closures in major export hubs in the country, with sources telling RFA that there is a prevailing sense of helplessness among the general public, given little consumer activity and a rise in protests by unpaid workers.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang and Chen Meihua for RFA Mandarin.
Donald Trump has made it clear that one of his top goals is to maintain the dominance of the US dollar as the global reserve currency.
When he was running for president in 2024, Trump promised he would punish any country that sought alternatives to the US currency by hitting them with sky-high tariffs.
“Many countries are leaving the dollar. They’re not going to leave the dollar with me!”, Trump vowed at a campaign rally. “I’ll say, ‘You leave the dollar, you’re not doing business with the United States, because we’re going to put 100% tariff on your goods’”.
Since Trump has returned for his second term as US president, however, his tariffs and trade war have actually accelerated the decline of the dominance of the US dollar, not slowed it.
A flurry of so-called “origin washing” advertisements have flooded Chinese social media platforms, offering exporters ways to avoid steep U.S. tariffs by re-exporting and freight forwarding goods or falsely labeling their place of manufacture.
Video ads posted on Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, show businesses promoting “one-stop re-export and freight forwarding services” via Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand to circumvent growing restrictions on export re-routing via these markets.
“Chinese manufacturers that have the U.S. as their main market must find a way to survive,” Taiwanese businessman Lee Meng-chu told Radio Free Asia, noting the “huge demand” for transit solutions that enable exporters to sell to the U.S. but evade the 145% U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese imports.
Freight forwarders, or customs brokers, have emerged as key facilitators, managing customs declaration documents, clearance, and certificates of origin, with their service fees set to rise with the spike in demand, said Lee. Some freight forwarders are even helping exporters change or reload containers to disguise origins, he said.
One Douyin user, “Freight Forwarder Lao Wang,” claims to have established a new U.S.-recognized transshipment channel where “80% of products are fully compliant through traceability of origin,” a video posted on the platform showed.
His advertised “one-stop solution” covers the entire supply chain services and includes “domestic customs declaration, ship booking, trans-shipment port operation, second-level ship booking, and U.S. customs clearance and delivery.”
Many users on Douyin warn that re-export trade – the process of exporting previously imported goods without use or modification – has been hardest hit due to increasing scrutiny as countries deploy artificial intelligence technology to monitor global shipping routes in real time and investigate tax evasion through Southeast Asian re-exports.
Vietnam has intensified inspections of raw material origins to prevent fraudulent origin certificates, while Thailand has strengthened product origin verification for U.S.-bound exports to combat tariff evasion.
“The entire supply chain needs to be clearly declared, down to the source of buttons,” warns one Douyin user. “Tariff fraud carries penalties up to 20 years imprisonment, 300% fines on the amount of taxes evaded, and 10-year profit tracing.”
U.S. law requires imported goods to undergo “substantial transformation” before they can legally claim a new origin country.
Many Chinese manufacturers had initially planned to completely move their production bases to Southeast Asia or other low-cost regions, noted Sun Kuo-Hsiang, professor of the Department of International Affairs and Business at the University of South China.
However, they were forced to resort to “origin washing” as either the construction of factories had not been completed or due to lack of production capacity, Sun told RFA.
European and U.S. authorities have also stepped up scrutiny on the certificate of origins, but inspection capabilities cannot keep pace with the number of businesses openly promoting “origin washing” services through ads on social media, said Sun.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Xia Xiaohua for RFA Mandarin.
During the New Democratic Revolution, the Chinese trade unions united and mobilised the broad masses of workers to bravely throw themselves into the revolutionary torrent against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism with a fearless revolutionary spirit. They fought bravely and made important contributions to achieving national independence and people’s liberation and establishing the new China.
During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Chinese trade unions united and mobilised the broad masses of workers to actively participate in the construction of New China with a sense of ownership and passion, worked hard and built enterprises with arduous efforts, and sang the strong voice of the times that “we workers are powerful”.
China reported a surge in the number of tourists and strong consumer activity during the five-day Labor Day holiday, but netizens have taken to Chinese social media to question the accuracy of the data, citing multiple economic pressures and a decline in exports.
China’s Ministry of Transport data showed total cross-regional passenger traffic averaged 293 million trips per day, up 8 percent from a year ago, while sales of major retail and catering businesses were up 6.3 percent during the holiday, the state-run Global Times reported.
“The twin boom in travel and consumption not only ignited the holiday economy but also revealed the depth and vast potential of China’s economic development,” a Global Times editorial on May 5 said.
Contrary to Chinese state media reports, sources in the region said the overall consumer sentiment and market environment during this year’s May Day holiday was far worse than before.
Once-bustling shopping venues were devoid of their usual volume of eager shoppers, while cost-conscious travelers were opting for cheaper alternatives to get around, they added.
For example, the Baidu search index showed the search popularity of “green train” increased significantly during the May Day holiday, as many passengers sought the cheap but time-consuming mode of travel, instead of the more expensive but significantly faster high-speed rail option.
The reality of the middle and low-income groups “having holidays but no budget” is very different from Chinese state media reports of “boom in consumption,” say netizens.
Wuhan resident Zhang said shoppers were few when he visited the popular Wangfujing shopping complex on Zhongshan Avenue.
“(It) was empty and there were not many people … The atmosphere is definitely not as good as before. Prices have gone up; even the price of medicine has gone up,” Zhang said.
Last month, RFA reported that businesses in major export hubs in southeastern China were announcing factory “holidays” – halting production and slashing employee wages and work hours – with more than 50% of export companies in Zhejiang set to take a “long holiday” after the Labor Day holiday on May 1.
“Even if we receive orders (from the U.S.) now, we have to transfer them to Vietnamese factories,” Chen Xiaoqin, head of a foreign trade company in Shenzhen city in Guangdong province, told RFA.
“Many factory production lines in Guangdong have stopped. What do you think we should do?” she asked.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
On 2 May Foreign Affairs published an article, “Will China Escalate?: Despite Short-Term Stability, the Risk of Military Crisis Is Rising,” by Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP).
There are many claims made in the article by Tony Zhao who seemingly looks at China, a 5000-year old Asian civilization, through a western lens (similar to the western-centric analysis made by John Mearsheimer).
Zhao asserts that Beijing views itself vis-à-vis the United States as in a “strategic stalemate.”
Comment: What exactly is meant by stalemate? And what statement emerging from Beijing attests to it viewing itself as in a stalemate? The chess metaphor applied to China is a cultural faux pas, as the popular strategizing board game the Chinese play is weiqi (go in English). Draws/stalemates are not a weiqi strategy and are rare.
Zhao: “Trump’s early second-term actions have strengthened Beijing’s conviction that the United States is accelerating its own decline, bringing a new era of parity ever closer.”
Economic data reveal that the US has been overtaken by China on real GDP/PPP, and economic indicators point to the US potentially heading into recession with a -0.3% growth in Q1 2025, while China’s growth in Q1 2025 was 5.4%.
Zhao warns that the current stalemate may not last and that over the next four years the “risk of a military crisis will likely rise as the two countries increasingly test each other’s resolve.”
Comment: It is obvious how the US is testing China’s resolve. But how exactly is it that China is testing the US’ resolve — other than as a defensive response to US machinations? Zhao does not give any examples of this. Vague, unsubstantiated statements should be greeted with extreme skepticism, and such statements speak to a writer’s professionalism and credibility.
Zhao: “The risk of a U.S.-Chinese military crisis could sharply escalate if Beijing further closes the capability gap with Washington and perceives international indifference to Taiwan’s status, grows frustrated with nonmilitary efforts to unite Taiwan with China, and foresees more pro-Taiwan leadership in Washington and Taipei.”
Comment: The logic behind this sentence is perplexing. Is Zhao suggesting that China should maintain a capability gap so that it is inferior to the US? Furthermore, there is no international indifference to Taiwan’s status. As of June 2024, 183 countries have established diplomatic relations with China under the One China Principle, which acknowledges Taiwan as an inalienable part of China. Depicting China as “frustrated” is contrary to the longstanding stoic image that China usually projects. Xi Jinping is definitively not a fulminating, blustering politician as is commonly found in Washington. As for military efforts to “unite Taiwan with China,” the famous Chinese military strategist Sunzi (Sun Tzu) wrote in The Art of War (Chapter III- “Attack by Stratagem”): “In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.”
Zhao does admit, “Beijing has shown similarly little inclination to initiate near-term military conflict, even over issues of core national interest such as Taiwan.” He obviates this by following up with: “This restraint, however, has been underwritten by a military buildup, spanning conventional and nuclear forces, that Chinese officials see as critical to shifting the balance of power with the United States.”
Comment: The Chinese military build-up is, arguably, a necessity given the belligerence of the US toward whichever nation does not adhere to its demands. That Taiwan has a form of de facto independence is attributable to the US inserting its 7th Fleet into a Chinese civil war to protect the losing KMT side from the Communist forces (see William Blum, “1. China 1945 to 1960s” in Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II). Moreover, the US has been unfaithful in its adherence to the One China Policy that it effectively ratified in the 1972 Shanghai Communique.
Zhao: “[China’s] seemingly contradictory surges in economic and diplomatic outreach and its military muscle flexing, evident in high-profile drills near Australia and Japan in February, are, in China’s view, actions characteristic of the great power it believes it has become.”
Zhao: “For its part, the Trump administration is beefing up the United States’ military deterrent against China amid growing concerns about Beijing’s aggressive actions in Asia.”
Comment: This is farcical. How is it that China whose military spending is effectively 52% of US military spending would cause the US to increase its deterrence? (see table below) What are China’s “aggressive actions”? Backwards logic and unsubstantiated allegations.
Chinese and US military spending compared Source: CEPR, 17 Dec 2024
Zhao: “Senior Defense Department officials aren’t fully aligned on the importance of Taiwan to U.S. strategy. Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, for example, has said that ‘Americans could survive without it’ and is pushing instead to thwart China’s broader regional dominance.”
Comment: What is the importance of Taiwan to the US besides as part of a military containment zone? Does the US’ military encirclement of China convey peaceful intent? Also, what evidence is there that China wants to dominate outside its borders? China rejects hegemony and seeks win-win relationships.
Zhao writes of “the ratcheting up of tensions sparked by the trade war …”
Comment: Which actor is primarily responsible for ratcheting up tensions? Which actor started the tariffing? This information is important and relevant and needs to be identified and conveyed to the reader
*****
It is clear who is the aggressor. China is not ringing the US with military bases. China is not stoking Hawaiian separatist sentiment from the continental US. Are Chinese warships plying US waters?
Foreign Affairs is published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is a think tank and publisher described as an “influential ruling class organization” whose members come predominantly from the corporate business community which finances the CFR.
Zhao is listed as a senior fellow at the CEIP, which was ranked as the world’s number one think tank in 2019. Imagine that: such ill-thought-out journalism from a high-ranking think-tank fellow.
Some of the largest hotel companies in China have received an A+ rating for plant-based policy commitments in a scorecard released at Shanghai Climate Week.
Marriott Greater China, Langham Hospitality, IHG Hotels & Resorts and eight other leading hotel operators are leading the industry’s protein transition in China, according to a new report.
These hotel groups have received an A+ score for their corporate policies on increasing plant-based food offerings, the highest possible rating on the scorecard compiled by Lever China.
The Shanghai-based consultancy firm, part of the Lever Foundation network, presented the scorecard at Shanghai Climate Week, where hospitality executives and sustainability leaders committed to adapting a plant-based framework beyond hotels, and across corporate and campus catering, among other operations.
It comes at a time when China is eating more protein per capita than the US, and mostly from plants. Both national and local governments are promoting plant-based and novel foods, since projections show meat intake in the country – already the leading meat consumer – is set to grow further.
Courtesy: Lever China
Which hotels are leading China’s plant-based shift?
In the China Hospitality Industry Plant-Based Foods Scorecard, Lever Foods analysed hospitality companies’ food policy goals, whether they had set precise timelines and premier targets for protein transition, and if they’re engaging in action steps.
To bag an A+ score, a company is required to have publicly set a timebound target to make at least 30% of all meals plant-based or increase the percentage of non-animal foods served per guest by at least 20%.
In addition, hotel operators must be engaging in at least three action steps, which include making a sizeable portion of the menu plant-based by default in an F&B outlet at each hotel, introducing at least 10 new vegan recipes every year, offering a minimum of two professional development courses annually, and using signage or phrasing to encourage diners to choose meat alternatives.
Accor Hotels and Langham have pledged to make 50% of their menu plant-based by 2030 across all their global locations, while Orange Hotel and OctaveHotels are leading the immediate charge in Greater China, committing to a 30% transition to animal-free foods by this year.
IHG, Marriott, Dossen Group and Yee Hotel (a subsidiary of the White Swan Hotel Group), meanwhile, are aiming to make 30% of their menus vegan by 2025. Same goes for Ahn Lan Resorts & Hotels, Artyzen Hospitality Group’s Macau and Hengqin locations, Baiyun Hotel (all by 2026), and Ascott’s South China operation (by 2028).
“Plant-forward menu strategies are quickly becoming a hallmark of industry leadership in the hospitality sector, delivering measurable benefits to both business operations and broader societal goals of public health and environmental sustainability,” said Cecilia Zhao, sustainability head at Lever China.
Courtesy: Lever China
Plant-based eating on the rise in China
The commitments by the likes of IHG, Dossen and Orange Hotels have all come in collaboration with Lever China, which has been helping the industry ramp up its protein transition efforts.
Polling shows that almost all (98%) Chinese consumers would eat more plants if they were informed about the benefits of a vegan diet, just as research suggests that half of all protein consumption in the country must come from alternative sources by 2060, if the company is to decarbonise effectively.
Lever China has additionally signed a strategic partnership with the Low-Carbon Hotel Development Institute, a state-affiliated organisation, to boost the adoption of plant-based foods in the country’s hotel industry.
The Chinese government has been promoting plant-based foods, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently publishing a briefing with a call to action to “develop new food resources such as plant-based meat”. President Xi Jinping has also called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.
In China’s most populous region, the Guangdong province, local officials are planning to build a biomanufacturing hub to pioneer tech breakthroughs in plant-based, microbial and cultivated proteins.
The Lever Foundation, meanwhile, recently announced that it had supported 175 food businesses across Asia to commit to responsible sourcing, with 17 shifts towards improved production systems and five pledges to significantly ramp up the use of plant-based foods in the last year alone.
According to its website, it has helped shift 29 million corporate meals to plant-based and prevented 82 million kgs of CO2e from businesses each year.
Its work in China speaks to consumer demand, with 88% of local consumers holding hospitality and retail businesses responsible for managing the health and sustainability of their food supply chains, according to a recent survey. Another 77%, meanwhile, are more likely to visit establishments with specific policy goals to increase the use of plant-based food.
Hong Kong police have arrested the father and brother of wanted U.S.-based activist Anna Kwok, local media reported on Friday.
The police said they arrested two men aged 35 and 68 on Wednesday, suspecting them of violating the national security and crimes ordinances by “attempting to directly or indirectly handle the funds of fugitives.” They didn’t identify the men.
Local media said the police discovered that Kwok’s father, Kwok Yin-sang, traveled overseas to meet her. After returning to Hong Kong he tried to withdraw nearly US$14,000 from his daughter’s life and accident insurance policies, police said.
Kwok’s brother worked at an insurance company, according to the Sing Tao Daily, and may have used his knowledge of the industry to help manage his sister’s finances.
Kwok’s father was denied bail while her brother was released, Reuters reported. The family’s lawyer could not be reached for comment, the news agency said.
Anna Kwok is the executive director of the Washington-based political lobbying group the Hong Kong Democracy Council. Hong Kong authorities offered a HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounty for her capture, accusing her of “colluding with foreign forces” under the national security law, which bans criticism of the authorities.
Kwok’s parents and two brothers were detained in August last year and questioned over whether they had any contact or financial dealings with her.
Kwok wrote on Facebook at the time that her family had never helped her and were probably unaware of the nature of her work. She said the Hong Kong government wanted to silence her by harassing her family, but she would not give up trying to pave the way for Hong Kong’s freedom and self-determination.
Edited by Mike Firn and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Cantonese.
The world needs an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and able to remain stable in the long run, removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies.
— PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, October 9, 2009.
Only Xi can rescue Trump from his self-created tariff blunder, but his price will shock the West.
The Story So Far
President Trump’s tariffs will barely affect China’s GDP growth but, says Molson Hart, by April 10 America will face an economic catastrophe worse than the global financial crisis (GFC), as hospitals close and the bond market triggers hyperinflation.
As my subscribers know, China began preparing for this moment in 2009, when the PBOC1 started developing mBridge, the international trading platform on which countries trade in their own currencies quickly and securely. mBridge has been operating smoothly since 2022.
Next came CIPS, China’s alternative to SWIFT’s slow, expensive, insecure, dollar-denominated system. CIPS daily transaction volume surpassed SWIFT’s last week.
But by far its most ambitious project was an international reserve currency modeled on Keynes’ bancor2 system, which makes surplus countries invest their excess foreign reserves abroad and deficit countries reduce their foreign borrowings accordingly. Keynes proposed the bancor at Bretton Woods in 1945 when, after centuries as the world’s reserve currency, the pound sterling could no longer afford to serve both domestic and global needs. The United States rejected it, insisting that the dollar replace the pound. President Trump recently admitted that the United States is fast approaching that moment.
The PBOC aimed to introduce the bancor in the late 2030s but will bring that forward , to save the US dollar from collapse. It will also support America as it adapts to the new regime. Then, freed of international obligations, the RMB, the USD and the Euro can focus on domestic priorities.
The rescue
PM Li Qiang, who has known him since their Shanghai days, will invite Elon Musk and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to convey the bancor offer to the White House and even allow Trump to claim credit for it. Implementation will require years of patience, trust and skill, but Trump has no alternative. War is definitely not one: the US was never a match for China militarily, as Beijing demonstrated in 1951. Nor is a trade war: China’s GDP will be unaffected by tariffs and grow 5.4%, by $1.7 trillion, this year while America’s is already contracting.
Xi the Merciful
Moral leaders whose own states always act correctly will unfailingly attain primacy. States wishing to exercise humane authority must be the first to respect the norms they advocate, because leaders of high ethical reputation and great administrative ability are attractive to other states and, since the domestic determines the international, winning hearts and minds is more important than winning territory. Being compassionate in great matters and overlooking small ones makes one fit to become lord of the covenants. Rulers win leadership by acting morally and, by presiding over the meetings of other states, earn international acknowledgement of their humane authority.
— Xunzi, 300 BC.
Beijing is hunting much bigger game than tariffs: the liberation of Palestine. China, Palestine’s oldest and most loyal friend, has endured America’s genocidal mania for generations and now has the tools to end their shared misery.
Every major US industry, from arms to hi-tech to automotive, relies entirely on Chinese rare earth metals and lacks the skills to manufacture them. Beijing restricts REM exports and forbids foreign buyers, like Occupied Korea, to on-sell them to the West. If the US wants them, it must end the genocide before the last of its REM stockpiles is exhausted: eight months at most. The clock is running down.
This year, we will witness the most momentous events since WWII. Global leadership will return to Asia, America will enters its post-imperial twilight, and Palestine will become free and independent, and the Zionists return to Ukraine whence they came.
Appropriately, Xi is in Moscow today…to celebrate Victory Day.
1 China and the Central Bank of Russia, whose head is the world’s best central banker, created these facilities. I omitted this to save time and space.
2 The so-called Triffin Dilemma.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Godfree Roberts.
The Australian government’s new $1.2 billion critical minerals stockpile plan appears to be more of a political statement than a transformative industrial policy. While some headlines have framed it as a billion-dollar mining windfall, the real intention seems to be signalling, both to domestic voters and international allies, that Canberra is serious about supply chain…
Images of a new amphibious anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) carrier has emerged on Chinese social media in late April. Based on the tracked Norinco Type 05 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) chassis, the unnamed vehicle featured a missile launcher carrying a pair of four-cell containers, which are presumably equipped with the HJ-10 or HJ-13 ATGM typically […]
BANGKOK – The United States has approached Beijing for talks to defuse an escalating trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry said Friday, in a possible sign of progress toward ending a tit-for-tat tariff battle that threatens global economic growth.
The ministry said China is open to talks and urged Washington to correct its “erroneous” practices and cancel tariffs, the state-controlled Global Times reported.
“We will fight, if fight we must,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said, according to the report. “Our doors are open, if the U.S. wants to talk.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, demanding the country buy more American products. China responded with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump said last month that Washington and Beijing were in talks on the tariffs and expressed confidence that the world’s two largest economies would reach a deal over three to four weeks. China’s commerce ministry had only said it was maintaining working-level communication with its U.S. counterparts.
Friday’s announcement from the commerce ministry confirms a report the day before on Chinese social media platform Weibo by Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account linked to state broadcaster CCTV.
It said the U.S. had reached out “through multiple channels” without giving details.
China had no need to engage in talks, the post said. “China needs to observe closely, even force out the U.S.’ true intentions, to maintain the initiative in both negotiation and confrontation,” it said.
Trump said Wednesday there was a “very good chance” of a deal with China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that high tariffs on both sides needed to be addressed in order for talks to progress.
“I am confident that the Chinese will want to reach a deal. And as I said, this is going to be a multi-step process,” Bessent said. “First, we need to de-escalate, and then over time, we will start focusing on a larger trade deal.”
Edited by Stephen Wright and Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Mike Firn for RFA.
Not a day goes by without a new shock to Americans and our neighbors around the world from the Trump administration.
On April 22, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecasts for global growth in 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent and warned that no country will feel the pain more than the United States. Trump’s policies are expected to drag U.S. growth down from 2.7 percent to 1.8 percent.
It’s now clear to the whole world that China is the main target of Trump’s trade wars. The U.S. has slapped massive tariffs — up to 245 percent — on Chinese goods. China hit back with 125 percent tariffs of its own and refuses even to negotiate until U.S. tariffs are lifted.
Not a day goes by without a new shock to Americans and our neighbors around the world from the Trump administration.
On April 22, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecasts for global growth in 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent and warned that no country will feel the pain more than the United States. Trump’s policies are expected to drag U.S. growth down from 2.7 percent to 1.8 percent.
It’s now clear to the whole world that China is the main target of Trump’s trade wars. The U.S. has slapped massive tariffs — up to 245 percent — on Chinese goods. China hit back with 125 percent tariffs of its own and refuses even to negotiate until U.S. tariffs are lifted.
An auxiliary policeman in central China’s Henan province is seeking justice for his “stolen life” after he found out an impersonator had appropriated his college entrance examination results 35 years ago to study at a medical school.
Xi Nan, 54, sat for the country’s notoriously gruelling university entrance exams, known as gaokao, in 1990. He had assumed he had fared poorly in it, when he didn’t receive an admission notice. He then applied to join the local public security system where he has served as an auxiliary police officer for 35 years.
But a chance review of personnel files by the municipal health commission of Mengzhou county-level city in 2022 had revealed that Xi’s identity had been stolen by a man who was then the vice president of a hospital in the city.
While the imposter was dismissed from his position and had his educational credentials, including his medical college qualifications, revoked by the health commission in 2022, the case has not yet been referred to the judicial department for handling, Xi told Chinese state media Modern Express last week.
Those involved in the identity theft have, so far, not been investigated according to law, which makes it hard for him to let go, said Xi on Modern Express. He is now pursuing legal action against the impersonator for foiling his dreams of going to medical college.
On April 22, Qinyang county officials announced its municipal government and the Municipal Party Committee had set up a joint team comprising the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission, Public Security Bureau, and Education Bureau, among other departments, to investigate the case.
Numerous cases of identity theft from students from rural and low-income backgrounds have come to light in recent years, where gaokao results – hailed in China as the great equalizer – have been used by those from more affluent, well-connected backgrounds to attend colleges and universities.
Students take an examination on an open-air playground at a high school in Yichuan, Shaanxi province April 11, 2015. (Reuters)
In 2018, an investigation conducted by Shandong province in eastern China found at least 242 cases of imposters who had robbed the identities of other students and used their gaokao exam results to get into colleges. Their degrees, which they received in 2002 through 2009, were revoked.
Similarly, in 2020, a woman in Shandong province sought justice after she discovered an imposter had appropriated her college entrance exam scores in 2004 to gain admission into a university. That same year, another woman in Shandong said her gaokao results had been used by an importer to get into a college in 1997.
This latest case has sparked intense debate among Chinese netizens about corruption and bribery in institutions, with many noting that students from more disadvantaged backgrounds suffer from the lack of transparency and fairness in the system.
Guo Bin, a graduate of Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said “lower class” people who are smart and hardworking are being deprived of the opportunities they deserve.
“This deprivation is not done by one person, but by people with power, such as local officials, police station chiefs, deputy county heads, and political and legal committee secretaries,” Guo, who now lives in the United States, told RFA.
Already residents in the agricultural province of Henan attribute the low undergraduate admission rate for its students, just 47%, to unfair policies that rig the system against those from poorer, rural backgrounds. In comparison, 79% of students in Shanghai and 77% in Beijing can expect the gaokao to secure them a college admission.
Last year, around 1.36 million high school students took the gaokao in Henan, the largest number from any province, city or region, in the hopes of altering their future with a college degree.
As a student from the countryside, Xi Nan said he too had believed the college entrance exam was his only way to achieve his dreams. He had thought it was fate that he had failed the exam, but had never expected that someone had robbed him of his opportunity.
“It was like a bolt from the blue, and it is hard to describe in words,” said Xi.
His imposter, Li Xi Nan, claimed his father and uncle had handled his college admission procedures at the time.
A 2022 review of cadre files by the Mengzhou Municipal Health Commission revealed discrepancies in the details provided by the impersonator, Li Xi Nan. They found that the name, date of birth, parents’ names, and study experience listed in Li Xi Nan’s high school records did not match those in his college registration form.
Several netizens questioned why this latest case had not been censored by authorities, and if it was instead being hyped up as the people involved in it had fallen out of favor with or angered those in power.
Others asked who should be held responsible.
“This reflects that China’s totalitarian system is not subject to supervision or checks and balances, especially when it comes to power-for-money deals and official-business transactions,” Chen Pokong, a current affairs commentator living in the U.S., told RFA.
“The education system colludes with officials to steal the opportunities from children of ordinary families and give them to officials’ children. This is very common in China,” Chen added.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Xia Xiao Hua for RFA Mandarin.
Uyghur human rights advocates are criticizing Harvard University for training officials from a Chinese paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. government for human rights abuses, including mass detention and forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Officials from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) participated in Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s executive training programs in 2023 and 2024, according to research by the China-focused think tank Strategy Risks. The program, delivered in partnership with China’s National Healthcare Security Administration, focused on health insurance governance and public health policy. Strategy Risks’ findings were later reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the XPCC in July 2020 under the Global Magnitsky Act, citing the organization’s central role in implementing mass surveillance, internment, and forced labor policies targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The sanctions prohibit U.S. individuals and institutions from engaging in most forms of cooperation with the XPCC.
China’s National Healthcare Security Administration presents the fifth international healthcare experience learning and training course that was held with Harvard University in October 2023.(China’s National Healthcare Security Administration)
“The XPCC is not a neutral administrative body—it is the paramilitary arm of the Chinese Communist Party,” Sabrina Sohail, director of advocacy and communications at Campaign for Uyghurs, told RFA. “By training its officials, Harvard risks legitimizing a system complicit in genocide.”
Sohail said that the XPCC is “complicit in forced sterilizations, organ harvesting, and unethical experiments on Uyghurs.”
“The institution’s link to XPCC officials after sanctions were imposed is not just ignorance of the U.S. law and policy; it is lending legitimacy to those responsible for mass internment, forced labor, and systemic human rights abuses,” she said.
The XPCC, also known as “Bingtuan,” operates as a quasi-military and economic body in Xinjiang. It oversees major agricultural and industrial sectors and maintains its own police force, courts, and media. U.S. officials have accused it of helping to administer detention facilities and forced labor programs central to China’s repression of Uyghurs.
The U.S. government has determined the abuses against the Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim group, amount to genocide. An estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs were interned in Xinjiang, in China’s far west, after 2017.
China denies allegations of rights abuses. Its Commerce Ministry describes XPCC as “a strategic force for national stability and border defense” that operates under “a unique management system that combines the functions of the Party, government, military, and enterprises.” It runs development zones, 16 listed companies, and more than 3,000 enterprises.
Henryk Szadziewski, director of research at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said that U.S. institutions should understand the legal and ethical risks of working with sanctioned entities.
“The XPCC is under U.S. sanctions for atrocity crimes targeting Uyghurs,” he said. “It’s the responsibility of academic institutions in the U.S. – and elsewhere – to be aware of those sanctions and avoid any form of cooperation that could violate U.S. law or undermine human rights.”
The report by China-focused think tank Strategy Risks.(Strategy Risks)
Strategy Risks, which first reported the 2023 training, described the XPCC’s involvement as part of a broader pattern of Chinese state-linked entities seeking credibility through partnerships with Western academic institutions. Emma Barss, the group’s research director, said that American universities must take greater responsibility when it comes to foreign collaborations.
“Engagement with groups like the XPCC is not value-neutral,” Barss told RFA. “Universities need to recognize the role they play as institutions with strong cultural and political influence. They should be much more careful about the types of groups they engage with and thereby provide legitimacy to.”
Harvard did not respond to multiple requests for comment from RFA before publication. In a statement to the Free Beacon, a spokesperson from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health said the training sessions were organized in cooperation with China’s National Healthcare Security Administration, or NHSA, and that the XPCC’s inclusion was managed by Chinese authorities.
“Each year, the NHSA invites the local officials who administer health insurance and elder care programs in each administrative region of China,” the spokesperson told the Free Beacon. “In Xinjiang, that often includes officials from the XPCC.”
The spokesperson also told the Free Beacon that the program aimed to “build capacity for public officials across China to create effective insurance programs with sustainable financial models.” The course was reportedly attended by 50 to 60 local officials from various provinces each year.
Language referencing XPCC’s participation in the inaugural 2019 training was included on a Harvard website but later removed. Harvard’s communications office told the Free Beacon this was part of a broad website overhaul that affected multiple departments.
The controversy comes as Harvard faces growing scrutiny over its ties to foreign governments, including China. Between 2019 and 2022, the university received nearly $70 million from Chinese sources, more than from any other country, according to U.S. Department of Education data cited by college newspaper The Harvard Crimson.
Harvard is facing pressure from the Trump administration, which is withholding some of its federal funding over alleged antisemitism on campus. The administration is also probing its foreign ties.
Critics of Trump, however, have lauded Harvard’s willingness to stand up for academic freedom as the administration seeks more influence over its operations.
Bill Ackman, a prominent Harvard donor, publicly commented on the XPCC reports on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “This is not a good look for @Harvard. Harvard should immediately address these accusations and provide transparency to prove they are not correct—or alternatively, explain how this was allowed to occur.”
Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Shahrezad Ghayrat for RFA Uyghur.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The Philippines has arrested a Chinese man for operating a surveillance device near the offices of its election commission, less than two weeks before the country’s midterm polls, adding further strain to relations between the two countries.
Tensions have been rising between Manila and Beijing, fueled by rival flag-raising displays on the disputed Sandy Cay in South China Sea.
“When we made the arrest, that was the third time he had come to Comelec,” said Philippine National Bureau of Investigation spokesman Ferdinand Lavin on Wednesday, referring to the country’s election commission.
The man, a Macau passport holder, was allegedly using an “IMSI catcher,” a device capable of mimicking a cell tower and snatching messages from the air in a 1 to 3 kilometer radius.
The arrested man also visited other locations, including the Philippine Supreme Court, the Philippine Department of Justice and the U.S. embassy, according to Lavin.
China denied any attempt to tamper with Philippine elections.
“We will not and have no interest in interfering in such internal affairs of the Philippines,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday when asked about the arrest at a news conference.
“We also advise individual politicians in the Philippines not to take the chance to hype up issues related to China, make something out of nothing and seize the opportunity to profit.”
On April 3, China said it had detained three Filipinos for espionage, prompting the Philippines to claim it was retaliation for Manila’s arrest of five Chinese nationals a week earlier.
The latest arrest came as Manila signed an agreement with New Zealand allowing the deployment of troops on each other’s territory, a move aimed at bolstering security in a “deteriorating” strategic environment, and one likely to further antagonize China.
New Zealand Minister of Defence Judith Collins said that the deal reflected a commitment based on understanding “the risks to the international rules-based order.”
Both countries had “a real understanding that the strategic environment that we are operating in is deteriorating,” Collins said.
“There are those who follow international law and there are those who want to redefine it,” Teodoro said, referring to China’s so-called “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims nearly the entire sea under its “nine-dash line,” a claim rejected by an international tribunal in 2016, which ruled in favor of the Philippines’ assertion that China’s claims were unlawful.
Despite the ruling, China has continued to assert its presence through patrols, island-building, and militarization, while the Philippines has sought to defend its claims through diplomatic protests and military partnerships.
“We need to deter this kind of unwanted behavior,” he said, adding that Manila and Wellington would work toward “military-to-military training.”
The agreement with New Zealand serves as the latest example of the Philippines strengthening defence and diplomatic ties with like-minded partners, as Chinese-Philippine relations continue to be tested by repeated confrontations between their coastguard vessels in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines and Japan pledged on Tuesday to deepen security ties, agreeing to begin talks on a defense pact and enhance intelligence sharing, while jointly opposing efforts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas by force.
Manila is also reportedly in talks with Canada and France to establish potential defense agreements.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
Dozens of ordinary Chinese investors who lost their money after the collapse of a state-backed financial services group in eastern China’s Shandong province have been detained by authorities for drawing attention to the issue through foreign media and for “being used by overseas anti-China forces,” two sources told Radio Free Asia.
Last month, several investors among the nearly 100,000 impacted by a purported 20 billion yuan (or US$2.74 billion) financial scam linked to Shandong province-based Jianghaihui Group spoke with international media outlets, including RFA, hoping to create global awareness about the scandal and prompt corrective action.
Sources on Wednesday told RFA that Chinese authorities had detained many of these investors, accusing them of “being used by overseas anti-China forces,” after they gave the interviews to journalists and shared news articles about the scandal in social media groups or privately.
One of the sources said that more than a dozen depositors in several cities in Shandong province, including Weifang and Zaozhuang, have been placed under administrative detention by local police in recent days.
“All the people who had contacted you (RFA) from here were detained,” said the first source named Wang, who is one of the female investors affected.
“They (the police) said we (victims) were being used by international anti-China forces and that we were all committing crimes,” she added.
Wang, like the other sources RFA interviewed, provided only their surname for security reasons.
In late March, RFA reported that the chairman of Jianghaihui had fled China for the United States, along with his wife, after the company abruptly shut down, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of distraught investors who had deposited their savings in financial schemes run by the firm.
Sources told RFA that the investors have been repeatedly summoned by officials of the local public security organ for interrogations and subjected to detention and constant surveillance for sharing information with international journalists.
“The police used the news posted on major (overseas) websites and detained more than a dozen people. There were some people from other provinces and cities too and others who shared (the reports) with each other. The people from the Public Security Bureau showed me (the reports) and said these were anti-China forces,” said Wang.
The majority of those detained are women, with some of them released two weeks ago, while several others continued to be held, said the second source.
“The detainees said that they did not know that the people interviewing them were journalists … The police demanded us not to contact anti-China forces abroad again,” Zhang, another female investor, told RFA.
Investors said they had believed the fundraising schemes run by Jianghaihui were genuine as they were launched as part of government measures to shore up the balance sheets of private enterprises.
They accused the local government of failing to fulfil its supervisory duties. Through appeal letters, protests, and media outreach, the victims have sought justice for themselves in the Jianghaihui case which they say amounts to “contract fraud.”
Illegal fundraising or contract fraud?
In a letter to the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Public Security, the investors appealed for a thorough investigation, as well as help in recovering their lost funds and safeguarding their rights.
They also questioned why local police had classified the case as “illegal fundraising.”
It should instead be termed as “contract fraud,” noted the investors, as Jianghaihui had held six major financial business licenses, issued by the government, paid taxes, and cleared annual audits every time.
Since 2023, there have been a spate of similar cases as many financial companies, under the pretext of financing small businesses, have raised large sums of money which they have transferred overseas, leaving helpless investors behind, said a third source.
“Many financing companies in various places … used this model to raise funds in a planned manner, and then transferred the funds out (overseas), and then chose a time to flee (China),” said Le, a resident of Linyi, Shandong.
“Some companies transferred assets and then used a scapegoat agent to take the blame. The people can’t get their money back,” she added.
According to a citizen journalist-run social media X account, “Mr. Li is not your teacher,” police in Beijing on April 22 cracked down heavily on protests by hundreds of Chinese investors who were victims of the recent collapse of Zhongrong International Trust.
Before declaring bankruptcy in 2024, Zhongrong was one of China’s largest shadow banks and managed assets worth $108 billion in 2022.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
Cuba may slowly ease its crippling blackouts and strengthen the electricity grid as it begins building seven solar parks with the first batch of equipment from China.
The Chinese aid helps Cuba’s plan to build 92 solar installations by 2028, adding about 2,000 megawatts to the island’s power grid and help reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports. Once completed, the project would significantly boost Cuba’s strained power system, which currently has a capacity of 7,264 MW.
Installation work is set to begin soon in Artemisa, about 50 kilometers west of Havana, where the equipment arrived late last month. Additional solar parks are planned for the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma and Guantanamo.
Protests by workers demanding back wages are spreading across China in a sign of growing discontent among millions suffering the brunt of factory closures, triggered by steep U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports amid an economic downturn.
Across the country – from Hunan province’s Dao county in central China to Sichuan’s Suining city in the southwest and Inner Mongolia’s Tongliao city to the northeast – hundreds of disgruntled workers have taken to the streets to protest about unpaid wages and to challenge unfair dismissals by factories that were forced to shut due to the U.S. tariffs.
“Strike! Strike!” shouted workers outside a Shangda Electronics’ factory in Suining city on Sunday, in a video of the protest that was posted on social media by X user ‘@YesterdayBigcat,’ a prominent source of information about protests in China.
The workers said the Sichuan-headquartered company, which manufactures flexible circuit boards, had not paid them wages since the start of the year and social security benefits for nearly two years – since June 2023.
Analysts at U.S.-based investment bank Goldman Sachs estimated that at least 16 million jobs, across industries, in China are at risk due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of a 145% tariff on Chinese imports.
They expect the Trump administration’s tariff increases will “significantly weigh on the Chinese economy,” with slower economic growth likely to put further pressure on the country’s labor market, particularly in export-related sectors.
In China’s manufacturing industry, the communication equipment sector is likely to lose the most jobs, followed by apparel and chemical product sectors, Goldman analysts, including Xinquan Chen and Lisheng Wang, wrote in a note to clients on Sunday.
Earlier this week, more than a dozen migrant workers in Tuanjie village in Xi’an prefecture-level city in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province complained at a local project department, saying they had not received their wages since February 2025.
Last week, on April 24, hundreds of workers of Guangxin Sports Goods in Dao county went on strike after the company’s factory was shut down without paying employees their compensation or their social security benefits.
Workers at the company’s factory, which produces sports protective gear and related accessories, said Guangxin Sports unfairly dismissed more than 100 female employees, aged over 50 years, in September 2024 on the grounds of “reaching retirement age,” without paying them their wages or guiding them on retirement procedures.
When Radio Free Asia contacted Guangxin for a comment, a male employee at the company immediately hung up the phone on hearing the word “reporter.” The Dao County Labor and Social Security Bureau told RFA that “Guangxin still has dozens of employees operating.”
Elsewhere in Inner Mongolia, many construction workers gathered on the rooftops of Jincan Royal Garden Community in Tongliao city on April 25 where they threatened to jump off the building if they were not paid the back wages they were due, another video posted on the same X account showed.
Economic pressures
Experts say the growing number of worker protests in China reflect the current crisis of poor management at some Chinese companies and signal deepening economic troubles for the country amid trade tensions with the United States.
Beijing-based activist Ji Feng, who was among the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, said many Chinese business owners he met recently have complained bitterly about the difficulties they face, including the lack of business activity and funds.
“Some bosses even said that they would rather go to jail than do anything,” Ji told RFA.
“As long as there is a protest (by workers), the company must find a way to borrow money to pay wages. For example, if wages are in arrears for three months, they must be paid monthly even if they need to borrow money. If they cannot be paid on time, the government may arrest people (employers),” Ji said.
He noted, however, that worker protests are not a new phenomenon, with these increasing after the pandemic as China’s economic environment deteriorated.
According to the U.S.-based nonprofit Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor, the majority of protests tracked in China during the third quarter of 2024 were led by workers, who accounted for 41% of in-person and online dissent events in the country.
About three-quarters of all protests recorded in China were linked to economic grievances, including workers demanding unpaid wages, homeowners facing stalled housing projects, and rural conflict related to land confiscation, Freedom House said.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Huang Chunmei for RFA Mandarin.
An international investigation involving dozens of news organizations has revealed how Beijing is exploiting global institutions – from Interpol to the United Nations – to silence critics and expand its authoritarian reach worldwide.
Led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the project, China Targets, brought together more than 100 journalists from 42 media organizations, including Radio Free Asia.
Over a 10-month period, reporters interviewed 105 individuals across 23 countries who had been pursued, harassed, or threatened by Chinese authorities – often for merely expressing dissent online or engaging in peaceful activism.
Targets include pro-democracy advocates from China and Hong Kong, as well as Uyghur and Tibetan exiles. Many described experiences of digital surveillance, threats to family members still in China and transnational pressure campaigns carried out through diplomatic or legal channels.
China Targetsdocuments how protests were suppressed during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s foreign visits. Since 2019, at least seven of Xi’s 31 trips saw local police detain or harass protesters.
The investigation also found that Beijing has weaponized international organizations such as Interpol – abusing its Red Notice system to target dissidents – and co-opted parts of the United Nations to surveil and intimidate human rights advocates, particularly those speaking out about abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet.
In one high-profile case, documents reviewed by RFA show that Chinese authorities enlisted billionaire Jack Ma to try to personally persuade a Chinese businessman whose extradition was being sought from France to return to China.
The revelations come amid mounting international concern over Beijing’s efforts to reshape global norms and institutions in line with its political interests. Critics warn that these moves are undermining international frameworks originally designed to protect fundamental rights and the rule of law.
Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jane Tang for RFA and ICIJ.
30 April 1975. Saigon Fell, Vietnam Rose. The story of Vietnam after the US fled the country is not a fairy tale, it is not a one-dimensional parable of resurrection, of liberation from oppression, of joy for all — but there is a great deal to celebrate.
After over a century of brutal colonial oppression by the French, the Japanese, and the Americans and their various minions, the people of Vietnam won victory in one of the great liberation struggles of history.
It became a source of inspiration and of hope for millions of people oppressed by imperial powers in Central & South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Civil war – a war among several
The civil war in Vietnam, coterminous with the war against the Western powers, pitted communists and anti-communists in a long and pitiless struggle.
Within that were various strands — North versus South, southern communists and nationalists against pro-Western forces, and so on. As various political economists have pointed out, all wars are in some way class wars too — pitting the elites against ordinary people.
As has happened repeatedly throughout history, once one or more great power becomes involved in a civil war it is subsumed within that colonial war. The South’s President Ngô Đình Diệm, for example, was assassinated on orders of the Americans.
By 1969, US aid accounted for 80 percent of South Vietnam’s government budget; they effectively owned the South and literally called the shots.
Donald Trump declared April 2 “Liberation Day” and imposed some of the heaviest tariffs on Vietnam because they didn’t buy enough U.S. goods! Image: www.solidarity.co.nz
US punishes its victims
This month, 50 years after the Vietnamese achieved independence from their colonial overlords, US President Donald Trump declared April 2 “Liberation Day” and imposed some of the heaviest tariffs on Vietnam because they didn’t buy enough US goods!
As economist Joseph Stiglitz pointed out, they don’t yet have enough aggregate demand for the kind of goods the US produces. That might have something to do with the decades it has taken to rebuild their lives and economy from the Armageddon inflicted on them by the US, Australia, New Zealand and other unindicted war criminals.
Straight after they fled, the US declared themselves the victims of the Vietnamese and imposed punitive sanctions on liberated Vietnam for decades — punishing their victims.
Under Gerald Ford (1974–1977), Jimmy Carter (1977–1981), Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), George H.W. Bush (1989–1993) right up to Bill Clinton (1993–2001), the US enforced the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917.
The US froze the assets of Vietnam at the very time it was trying to recover from the wholesale devastation of the country.
Tens of millions of much-needed dollars were captured in US banks, enforced by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The US also took advantage of its muscle to veto IMF and World Bank loans to Vietnam.
Countries like Australia and New Zealand, to their eternal shame, took part in both the war, the war crimes, and imposing sanctions and other punitive measures subsequently.
The ‘Boat People’ refugee crisis While millions celebrated the victory in 1975, millions of others were fearful. The period of national unification and economic recovery was painful, typically repressive — when one militarised regime replaces another.
This triggered flight: firstly among urban elites — military officers, government workers, and professionals who were most closely-linked to the US-run regime.
You can blame the Commies for the ensuing refugee crisis but by strangling the Vietnamese economy, refusing to return Vietnamese assets held in the US, imposing an effective blockade on the economy via sanctions, the US deepened the crisis, which saw over two million flee the country between 1975 and the 1980s.
More than 250,000 desperate people died at sea.
Đổi Mới: the move to a socialist-market economy In 1986, to energise the economy, the government moved away from a command economy and launched the đổi mới reforms which created a hybrid socialist-market economy.
They had taken a leaf out of the Chinese playbook, which under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping (1978 –1989), had moved towards a market economy through its “Reform and Opening Up” policies. Vietnam saw the “economic miracle” of its near neighbour and its leaders sought something similar.
Vietnam’s economy boomed and GDP grew from $18.1 billion in 1984 to $469 billion by 2024, with a per capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) of $15,470 (up from about $300 per capita in the 1970s).
After a sluggish start, literacy rates soared to 96.1 percent by 2023, and life expectancy reached 73.7 years, only a few short of the USA. GDP growth is around 7 percent, according to the OECD.
An unequal society Persistent inequality suggests the socialist vision has partially faded. A rural-urban divide and a rich-poor divide underlines ongoing injustices around quality of life and access to services but Vietnam’s Gini coefficient — a measure of income inequality — puts it only slightly more “unequal” as a society than New Zealand or Germany.
Corruption is also an issue in the country.
Press controls and political repression As in China, political power resides with the Party. Freedom of expression — highlighted by press repression — is severely limited in Vietnam and nothing to celebrate.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rates Vietnam as 174th out of 180 countries for press freedom and regularly excoriates its strongmen as press “predators”. In its country profile, RSF says of Vietnam: “Independent reporters and bloggers are often jailed, making Vietnam the world’s third largest jailer of journalists”.
Vietnam is forging its own destiny What is well worth celebrating, however, is that Vietnam successfully got the imperial powers off its back and out of its country. It is well-placed to play an increasingly prosperous and positive role in the emerging multipolar world.
It is part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the ASEAN network, and borders China, giving Vietnam the opportunity to weather any storms coming from the continent of America.
Vietnam today is united and free and millions of ordinary people have achieved security, health, education and prosperity vastly better than their parents and grandparents’ generations were able to.
In the end the honour and glory go to the Vietnamese people.
Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese people who reached out to the United States, and sought alliance not conflict. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz
I’ll give the last word to Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese people who reached out to the United States, and sought alliance not conflict. He was rebuffed by the super-power which had a different agenda.
On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh square:
“‘All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’
“This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.
“… A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eight years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent.
“For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country — and in fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilise all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.”
And, my god, they did.
To conclude, a short poem attributed to Ho Chi Minh:
“After the rain, good weather.
“In the wink of an eye,
the universe throws off its muddy clothes.”
Eugene Doyle is a community organiser and activist in Wellington, New Zealand. He received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in 2023 for community service. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam War. This article was first published at his public policy website Solidarity and is republished here with permission.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – China avoided directly commenting on North Korea’s confirmation of its troop deployment to Russia and reiterated support for a “multilateral solution” to the conflict.
North Korea on Monday acknowledged for the first time that it sent troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, six months after reports of their presence first emerged.
China, one of North Korea’s few allies, has been under pressure to serve as a restraining influence on Pyongyang as the U.S. and its allies worry that the deployment of North Korean troops could dangerously escalate the Ukraine war.
“Regarding bilateral interactions between Russia and the DPRK, we’ve stated our position on multiple occasions. China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during a regular press briefing on Monday.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name.
“We have been actively working for a ceasefire and promoting peace talks,” Guo said, without elaborating.
China previously called for a “multilateral solution” to the Ukraine crisis, saying: “all parties need to promote the de-escalation of the situation and strive for a political settlement.”
Ukraine estimates as many as 14,000 North Korean soldiers, including 3,000 reinforcements to replace its losses, are in Russia to fight Ukrainian forces who occupied parts of Russia’s Kursk region last summer in a counteroffensive.
Reports of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia first surfaced in October. Even as evidence of their presence grew – including when North Korean soldiers were taken captive by Ukrainian forces in Kursk and interviewed – neither North Korea nor Russia acknowledged their presence.
The U.S. previously voiced concern to China over “destabilizing” actions by North Korea and Russia and said Beijing should be concerned about steps that Russia had taken to undermine stability and security.
Last year, speculation emerged that ties between North Korea and China had cooled as Pyongyang moved closer to Moscow in recent years, but China’s foreign ministry in October dismissed such suggestions.
The Chinese foreign ministry’s remarks Tuesday came amid media reports that North Korea “urgently repatriated” all of its IT workers based in the Chinese city of Shenyang, after one of them was detained by Chinese public security authorities for allegedly stealing Chinese military technology.
Authorities discovered extensive data related to Chinese weapons and military technologies on the detained North Korean IT worker’s laptop, which had allegedly been obtained through hacking, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with North Korean affairs.
While the specific nature of the Chinese military information found on the worker’s laptop has not been disclosed, it is speculated that it may involve unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, technologies – a field North Korea has recently prioritized for development.
North Korean-linked hacking groups have repeatedly been found targeting military institutions and defence companies worldwide, including in South Korea. While Russia has often been among their targets, it is rare for North Korea to be caught stealing information from its close ally China, sources told Yonhap.
Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
BANGKOK – Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday freed four former lawmakers who each spent more than four years in prison for their part in staging an unofficial primary election in 2020, local media reported.
Claudia Mo, Jeremy Tam, Kwok Ka-ki and Gary Fan were among 47 activists arrested for the election activities. Only two of the 47 were acquitted after a grueling 118-day trial that ended in November 2024 with prison sentences of four to 10 years.
Vehicles carrying the freed activists left three prisons early on Tuesday amid tight security, The Associated Press reported.
Reporters outside Mo’s home were told by husband Philip Bowring that she was resting and didn’t want to speak to them, according to the AFP news agency.
“She’s well and she’s in good spirits,” he said. “We look forward to being together again.”
Mo, Tam, Kwok and Fan – who received the shortest sentences of the 47 – had their prison time reduced after pleading guilty.
A pro-democracy activist protests outside the West Kowloon courts as closing arguments open in Hong Kong’s largest national security trial of 47 pro-democracy figures, Nov. 29, 2023.(Louise Delmotte/AP)
The group organized the 2020 primary to find the best pro-democracy candidates for Hong Kong’s September 2020 Legislative Council election at a time when Beijing was aggressively eroding the territory’s autonomy. More than 600,000 people cast their votes in the preliminary poll.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s governor at the time, postponed the 2020 election, citing health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government then rewrote the electoral rulebook to prevent pro-democracy candidates from running, eventually holding a fresh election in December 2021 in which only “patriots” approved by a Beijing-backed committee were allowed to stand.
On Jan. 6, 2021, the newly formed national security police arrested 55 people. They brought formal charges against 47 of them, then denied bail to the majority.
The 47 pro-democracy activists were charged with subversion under the city’s 2020 National Security Law, a charge which carries a maximum life sentence.
The prosecution argued that their bid to win a majority was “a conspiracy” to undermine the city’s government and take control of the Legislative Council.
The long-running case sparked international outrage, with protests from the U.S., U.K. and Australian governments, and the United Nations. Hong Kong’s last British colonial governor, Lord Patten of Barnes, called the case “an affront to the people of Hong Kong.”
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Mike Firn for RFA.
Evidence grows showing that the US military is setting the stage for war on China.
A leaked memo obtained by the Washington Post reveals that the US Department of Defense has made preparing for war with China into its top priority, giving it precedence over all other issues.
The Pentagon is concentrating its resources in the Asia-Pacific region as it anticipates fighting China in an attempt to exert US control over Taiwan.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a fundamentalist self-declared “crusader” who called for overthrowing the Chinese government, took a trip in March to Japan and the Philippines, where he repeatedly threatened Beijing and boasted of US “war-fighting” preparations and “real war plans”.
Chinese authorities have detained a young man for unfurling pro-democracy banners this month at an overpass in Chengdu in southwest China – a rare form of public protest that is punishable as a criminal offence, two sources told Radio Free Asia
Authorities are investigating whether Mei Shilin, 27, had any overseas connections and have taken criminal detention measures against him, said the two sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.
The exact date of his detention was not immediately clear, sources said.
In China, criminal detention measures for those suspected of “endangering national security” typically mean being held by police for months until formal charges are filed – formally known as residential surveillance at a designated location. Detainees face constant surveillance, interrogations and may be subject to torture.
The sources said Mei is a resident of Youngfu town in Sichuan province’s Muchuan county and he has been missing for more than 10 days.
The three banners read: “Without political system reform, there will be no national rejuvenation,” “The people do not need a political party with unrestrained power,” and “China does not need anyone to point out the direction, democracy is the direction.”
One of the two sources, Qin from Chengdu, said if Mei was found by investigators to have overseas ties, he would be handed over to the State Security Bureau and transferred to the Municipal State Security Bureau Detention Center.
“If no substantial evidence of collusion with foreign forces is found, he will be handled by the Chengdu police,” added Qin, who wanted to be identified by a single name for safety reasons.
Legal experts believe authorities may charge Mei with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a common criminal accusation in China that authorities level against political, civil, and human rights advocates.
“They (the prosecution) may file a case for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble because they don’t want to give him a more glorious charge, such as inciting subversion of state power or subverting state power,” Lu Chenyuan, a legal expert in China, told RFA.
“They are now more inclined to depoliticize (the Mei Shilin case) and want to reduce its political significance,” added Lu.
In this image shared by @whyyoutouzhele on Chinese social media, three banners calling for democracy and opposing one-party dictatorship appeared on an overpass in Chengdu, China.(@whyyoutouzhele)
“Peng Lifa of Sichuan”
Still, the incident – that prompted Chinese netizens to hail Mei as “Peng Lifa of Sichuan” – has made authorities very nervous, sources told RFA on Monday.
Peng Lifa, known as “Bridge Man,” had hung similar pro-democracy banners on Beijing’s busy Sitong Bridge, the slogans from which were chanted during the 2022 White Paper protests.
During the White Paper protests, which took place in several cities in China, people showed blank sheets of paper to symbolize that authorities gave them no voice amid anger over the loss of freedom and pandemic lockdowns.
“In the past half month, the Domestic Security Bureau and traffic police in the entire Public Security Bureau system of Chengdu have been highly nervous. They are afraid that another incident would happen, and then the Public Security Bureau Chief will have to quit his job,” said Qin.
The second source in Chengdu, Yang, who also requested to be identified by a single name, confirmed that Mei was detained by the police and that he had previously sought the help of authorities over a labor dispute, but to no avail.
“He (Mei) previously worked in a technology company in Chengdu,” said Yang.
“He (Mei) was treated unfairly in a labor dispute, and when he complained to the government for help, he was ignored. Such things are actually common,” Yang added.
Former Chinese government official and overseas dissident Du Wen and a social media X account “@YesterdayBigcat,” which posts information about protests in China, also confirmed Mei was behind the banners that hung from a bridge near the Chadianzi Third Ring Road Interchange in Chengdu’s Jinniu District.
Du wrote on X that Mei had sent him a 13-second short video, along with photos and a copy of his ID card, on the day of the incident.
Mei also wrote to Du saying he had prepared these slogans for over a year and hoped to have help in spreading the message.
On April 15, a prominent citizen journalist who manages X account @whyyoutouzhele, also known as “Mr. Li is not your teacher,” received a message, similar to the one Du did, along with pictures of the banners, which he posted on the platform in the early morning hours.
By late evening, the same X account confirmed that the man who had shared the information with him had been out of contact for more than 13 hours.
“The last thing he wanted to convey to the public through us was that he hoped democracy could be realized as soon as possible,” Mr. Li wrote in that followup post that same day.
Du said that in his correspondence with Mei he had urged him to leave China but Mei had insisted on staying.
Mei believed that as a Chinese person he has faced unfairness, “and he wants to shout, even if he is torn to pieces,” said Du.
Mei’s display of the pro-democracy banners in Chengdu caused a stir on Chinese social media and posts about the incident were quickly blocked and removed when shared on WeChat.
“With these three huge banners, Mei expressed a demand (for) political system reform … Such emotional expressions have actually been quite common in recent years,” said Yang.
Yang said that the pressure cooker atmosphere in China meant young people were questioning society and expressing dissatisfaction with the political system.
Rights activists and local Chinese sources also said Mei’s protest was a sign of a latent desire for change.
Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
