East Asia

Jiang Mengnan ( China Dialogue ) – Around the world, tech and finance companies have been laying staff off. In 2022, tech firms’ payrolls fell by 164,000 employees, with a further 166,000 jobs cut in the first quarter of 2023, according to tracking platform Layoffs.fyi. In China, youth unemployment is also rising, hitting 20% this […]

China

In 2024, China will hit Peak Gasoline, with its Demand on a Downward Spiral ever After

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Yale Environment 360 points to recent energy reports as suggesting that China will hit peak gasoline next year. That is, after 2024 the country’s demand for gasoline to fuel automobiles will fall every year. China was one of the last advanced economies to lift COVID-19 restrictions, as President Xi Jinping […]

China

Will China Leapfrog America in the Middle East Using its Green Technology and EVs?

Neil Thompson

Over the past decade, since Xi Jinping became the General-Secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012, he has accelerated China’s return to political prominence. In turn, China’s ambitious global programme of economic, diplomatic and political expansion has pushed the world back towards a state of multipolarity. As well as developing China’s domestic […]

China

China as a Mediator in Israel-Palestine

Middle East Monitor

Nor Aishah Hanifa ( Middle East Monitor ) – China’s rise in the 20th century and its advancement in the 21st create what is called a realist security dilemma, and a power struggle in international relations, especially with the baton holder of superpower status, the United States. China’s steady growth as an economic powerhouse and […]

Batteries

China adds 62 Gigawatts of Solar Capacity in Just 5 Months, Compared to 10 Gigs in the US

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Carrie Xiao at PV Tech reports that in the first five months of 2023, China has installed 62.1 gigawatts of solar capacity at a cost of $13.6 billion. Year on year, it was a 140% expansion. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this advance, a typical […]

Afghanistan

The Limits Of China’s Budding Relationship With Afghanistan’s Taliban

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Abubakar Siddique | – ( RFE/ RL ) – China has played a visible role in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in 2021. Beijing is among only a handful of countries to maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul, where the Chinese ambassador regularly meets with Taliban officials. There has also been a surge […]

Batteries

The Real Project for a New American Century: Ford Receives $9.2 Billion Loan for EV Battery Plants to Counter China

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – David Shepardson at Reuters reports that Ford Motor Co. and its partner SK of South Korea have received a $9.2 billion loan for 3 battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee from the Department of Energy under the loan program called Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM). It is the biggest single […]

China

Xi Jinping backs Palestine entry into Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as Beijing offers to Mediate Israeli-Palestinian Peace

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas accomplished a great deal on his 4-day visit to Beijing, including a Chinese agreement to try to bring Palestine into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, if the other members agree. Chinese President Xi Jinping and he announced on Tuesday a strategic partnership. Some months ago Foreign Minister […]

China

Peace for Ukraine Courtesy of China? Another Step in Beijing’s Rise to Global Power

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – All wars do end, usually thanks to a negotiated peace agreement. Consider that a fundamental historical fact, even if it seems to have been forgotten in Brussels, Moscow, and above all, Washington, D.C. In recent months, among Russian President Vladimir Putin’s followers, there has been much talk of a “forever war” […]