Laura Ru
Independent researcher/writer based in Hong Kong. My long-form, analytical articles are collected here https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com/ Contact: [email protected] *Beware of fake profiles with my picture!
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THE EU RAMPS UP ITS TRADE WAR AGAINST CHINA At 9.30am on Tuesday, EU authorities descended upon the Warsaw and Rotterdam offices of Nuctech, a Chinese manufacturer of airport scanning machines.
In the sort of raids usually reserved for busting cartels, officers seized IT equipment and mobile phones. They also “scrutinised office documents and demanded access to pertinent data”, according the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU. In a statement on Thursday, China’s mission to the EU said it deplored the “unannounced inspections” and criticised Brussels for not raising its concerns with the company or Chinese authorities directly. The raids were the first such action taken by the EU since it adopted the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in July last year.
“The Chinese side believes that the EU’s unannounced inspections interferes with the order of fair competition in the market, clearly jeopardises the positive atmosphere of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, and strikes a strong shock to the confidence and sense of security of all foreign companies in the EU, including Chinese ones,” the mission said.
“It also highlights the further deterioration of the EU’s business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies operating in the EU. Protectionism cannot bring prosperity, and suppressing others will only weaken competitiveness of one’s own.”
The EU should “abide by its commitment to open market and the principles of a level playing field, and stop using all kinds of excuses to unreasonably suppress and impede the Chinese companies,” the mission added, expressing hopes for cooperation and exchanges in an “open, fair and equitable way”. "The European side manifested its intention to weaponise the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as a tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe,” the CCCEU said in a statement. @LauraRuHK https://x.com/CCCEUofficial/status/1782816913824895009
China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) 欧盟中国商会 (@CCCEUofficial) on X
On April 23, 2024, China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) was informed that the offices of a Chinese company in Poland and the Netherlands were subject to investigation regarding foreign subsidies. CCCEU expresses serious concern over the unannounced raids.
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At 9.30am on Tuesday, authorities descended upon the Warsaw and Rotterdam offices of Nuctech, a Chinese manufacturer of airport scanning machines.
In the sort of raids usually reserved for busting cartels, officers seized IT equipment and mobile phones. They also “scrutinised office documents and demanded access to pertinent data”, according the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU. In a statement on Thursday, China’s mission to the EU said it deplored the “unannounced inspections” and criticised Brussels for not raising its concerns with the company or Chinese authorities directly.
“The Chinese side believes that the EU’s unannounced inspections interferes with the order of fair competition in the market, clearly jeopardises the positive atmosphere of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, and strikes a strong shock to the confidence and sense of security of all foreign companies in the EU, including Chinese ones,” the mission said.
“It also highlights the further deterioration of the EU’s business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies operating in the EU. Protectionism cannot bring prosperity, and suppressing others will only weaken competitiveness of one’s own.”
The EU should “abide by its commitment to open market and the principles of a level playing field, and stop using all kinds of excuses to unreasonably suppress and impede the Chinese companies,” the mission added, expressing hopes for cooperation and exchanges in an “open, fair and equitable way”. "The European side manifested its intention to weaponise the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as a tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe,” the CCCEU said in a statement. https://x.com/CCCEUofficial/status/1783139241251254665
China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) 欧盟中国商会 (@CCCEUofficial) on X
CCCEU expresses deep disappointment with EC's IPI investigation into China’s public procurement of medical devices. The chamber called on European side to be prudent in use of this unilateral tool, emphasising the importance of prioritising dialogue and consultation mechanisms.
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Chi vive in Italia conosce fin troppo bene il prezzo esorbitante dell'energia elettrica nel suo paese. Probabilmente non sa che la mia bolletta della luce da piu' di un decennio ammonta a zero. Come e' possibile? Allora, premetto che questa bolletta riguarda il mio appartamento di Hong Kong, e che a causa del clima tropicale l'aria condizionata e il deumidificatore sono spesso accesi, in aggiunta al normale consumo di chi abita in un piccolo bilocale e trascorre molto tempo a casa. Il fatto che io, e milioni di altri residenti, non paghiamo neanche un centesimo si spiega facilmente. Non solo il costo dell'energia elettrica qui e' nettamente inferiore che in Europa ma il governo fornisce da anni un contributo pubblico per aiutare chiunque, indipendentemente dal reddito, a far fronte alle spese energetiche. Poiche' il mio consumo e' relativamente basso, ho accumulato crediti per ancora molti anni. @LauraRuHK
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GEORGIA - For the last ten days, protesters have been bringing the traffic of the capital, Tbilisi, to a standstill.
They demand that the government scrap plans to introduce a bill - dubbed the "foreign agent" law - that will increase transparency on interest groups and NGOs making it mandatory for them to reveal who is funding their activities. While activists claim that the law will be used to suppress dissent, similar laws are in force not only in in Russia, but also in several Western countries, as well as in Australia, Israel, and China. The first such law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), was passed in the United States in 1938!
After trying to introduce the bill a year ago, on 17 April, the Georgian parliament passed it in its first reading - the first of three barriers it must overcome before becoming law. EU officials have been very vocal in denouncing the law, claiming it will negatively affect Georgia's progress on the path to EU accession. It comes as no surprise, given that the EU has been funding anti-government activists, under the guise of supporting "civil society", for over a decade. @LauraRuHK
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Repost from Geopolitics Live
US Congress votes for weapons, free healthcare for Ukraine
After months of languishing in congressional purgatory, Washington lawmakers finally passed renewed spending for Ukraine’s proxy war against Russia over the weekend.
The bill’s passage prompted a dramatic display of patriotic pride – but not for the United States. A sea of Ukrainian flags was observed as representatives waved miniature versions of the blue and yellow banner. The scene prompted criticism from some Republicans, who questioned the legality of the display of a foreign flag in the legislative chamber.
“You'll see that of that, only $14 billion is direct military aid to the Kiev regime in Ukraine,” said security analyst Mark Sleboda on Sputnik’s Fault Lines program. “The largest chunk of that is $20 billion worth that is supposedly going to restock US military inventories because the Biden administration cut too deep into the US military's own supplies already.”Perhaps most controversially, a significant portion of the aid will go towards simply maintaining Ukrainian civil society – a contentious prospect as the country is frequently ranked Europe’s most corrupt.
“$8 billion is going to support the Ukrainian budget, because it is entirely dependent on Western aid,” said Sleboda. “So they'll be paying for peoples' salaries and health care for Ukrainians because actually Ukraine has a government health care system… Hey, American taxpayers, you can't get a health care system but the Kiev regime that you support in Ukraine thanks you for your hard-earned tax dollars for that, because that's part of the Ukrainian budget.”Boost us! | Subscribe to @geopolitics_live
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Reuters reports that some of the missiles were contained in a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine that Biden approved on March 12 while other ATACMS were part of a $1 billion weapons package approved on Wednesday. So basically the House of Representatives and Senate just rubberstamped decisions that had already been made. So much for US "democracy". Since ATACMS have already been used in Ukraine, but failed to tip the balance - Russian forces are advancing - they are clearly not the wunderwaffe described by Western propaganda outlets. By supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles the US is strengthening Russia's determination to push Ukrainian positions further back and expand the buffer zone that is necessary to protect Russian territory. @LauraRuHK
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Ahead of Antony Blinken's visit, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a 3,000 words press release in order to explain China's position and a 5-point agenda. By spelling out the meeting's objectives China is sending a clear message: if you twist our words you can't pretend it's some sort of misunderstanding. Establishing the right perception is the first and most important point, because the US side has yet to establish a correct perception of China. If this issue is not resolved, dialogue becomes impossible and the visit a complete waste of time -spreading lies about Xinjiang, falsely accusing China of engaging in "ethnic genocide" would be a non-starter as far as China is concerned. If the correct perception is established, then China hopes to strengthen dialogue, effectively manage differences, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly shoulder responsibilities as major countries. I assume threatening to sanction Chinese banks that do business with Russia would also go down like a lead balloon 😏 @LauraRuHK
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Antony Blinken arrives in Shanghai, meets with business leaders before heading to Beijing for talks on Friday with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and a likely meeting with President Xi Jinping. His arrogance and total lack of diplomatic skills was in full display in March 2021 during the China-US summit in Alaska. Back then Yang Jiechi reminding the American delegation that they forgot all established diplomatic protocol when they opened the summit with unwarranted accusations. "The US does not have the qualification to say that they want to speak to China from a position of strength". Let's see if Blinkey has learned how to speak to China. We can use Blinken's performance in Alaska as a yardstick to judge his current one and see how it compares. 😏 @LauraRuHK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-3o-jBP7M
Top US and China officials clash publicly in Alaska
The United States and China levelled sharp rebukes of each others' policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration on Thursday, with deeply strained relations of the two global rivals on rare public display during the meeting's opening session in Alaska.
https://str.sg/J95kSparring in a highly unusual extended back-and-forth in front of cameras, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan opened their meeting with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage, fresh off of Mr Blinken's visits to allies Japan and South Korea. "We will... discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies," Mr Blinken said in blunt public remarks at the top of the first meeting. "Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability," he said. Mr Yang responded with a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the US side awaited translation, lashing out about what he said was the United States' struggling democracy, poor treatment of minorities and criticising its foreign and trade policies. #UnitedStates #China SUBSCRIBE ➤ http://bit.ly/FollowST -------------------- WEBSITE ➤ http://www.straitstimes.com TWITTER ➤
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https://t.me/straitstimesThe Straits Times, the English flagship daily of SPH, has been serving readers for more than a century. Launched on July 15, 1845, its comprehensive coverage of world news, East Asian news, Southeast Asian news, home news, sports news, financial news and lifestyle updates makes The Straits Times the most-read newspaper in Singapore. VIDEO: REUTERS
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This year the 14th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) runs from April 18 to 26. The 46th Moscow international film festival from April 19 to 26. The 8th BRICS Film Festival from April 19 to 23, this year in Moscow. Whoever chose the dates must have thought that film directors, producers, actors, critics etc. have the gift of ubiquity 😏 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoEw1rLusiQ
14th Beijing International Film Festival Opens to Boost Cultural Exchange
The 14th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) kicked off on Thursday in the Chinese capital, bringing together outstanding filmmakers from home and abroad to discuss movie development and promote cultural exchanges in the industry.
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The US has stopped hiding the true purpose of sanctions on Moscow, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said.
"Washington has stopped hiding the true intent of its restrictive pressure on our country. It’s not about any mythical aspirations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, but about banal opportunistic and predatory ambitions. A trivial scenario is in order: if the Americans cannot win in a fair economic competition, sanctions are used," he pointed out, commenting on US officials’ statements about plans to increase pressure on Russia’s energy sector.
Antonov stressed that US officials "use every opportunity" to threaten Russia with restrictions.
Earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt said that Washington expected to further restrict Russia’s access to European energy markets.(Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK
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