03a China

Blurb:

Scientists working with China’s fully superconducting Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) have successfully reached a long-theorized “density-free regime” in fusion plasma experiments. In this state, the plasma remains stable even when its density rises far beyond traditional limits. The results, published in Science Advances on January 1, shed new light on how one of fusion energy’s most stubborn physical barriers might finally be overcome on the road to ignition.

The research was co-led by Prof. Ping Zhu of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Associate Prof. Ning Yan of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. By developing a new high-density operating approach for EAST, the team showed that plasma density can be pushed well past long-standing empirical limits without triggering the disruptive instabilities that usually end experiments. This finding challenges decades of assumptions about how tokamak plasmas behave at high density.

Blurb:

Sweeping tariff increases on imports from China and other countries without free trade agreements (FTAs) with Mexico officially took effect Jan. 1, marking a significant shift in the country’s trade policy aimed at protecting domestic industries and jobs.

The tariff modifications, published in Mexico’s Official Gazette on Dec. 30, affect 1,463 product categories across more than a dozen sectors including automotive, textiles, clothing, steel, plastics, footwear, furniture, toys, aluminum and glass. The new duties range from 5% to 50%, with the highest rates applied to vehicles from China and certain other Asian nations.

Blurb:

A growing number of ultra-wealthy Chinese nationals are turning to U.S. surrogates to have children on American soil, taking advantage of America’s largely unregulated market and birthright citizenship, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

In one such case, Chinese video game billionaire Xu Bo has sought parental rights for at least four unborn children in Los Angeles, having already fathered or arranged surrogacy for at least eight additional children, according to the WSJ. The trend coincides with intensifying debates over the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of U.S. citizenship for anyone born in the country, a policy the Trump administration has sought to reinterpret.

Blurb:

The daughter of pro-democracy activist, businessman, former newspaper owner, and Catholic convert Jimmy Lai has spoken out for the first time since her father’s incarceration five years ago as his trial under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law (NSL) continues to plod along. 

In an EWTN video interview and in a Washington Post op-ed, Clarie Lai says that her father, who just turned 78 years old, is languishing in prison, “shrinking to nothing. If China fails to act, he’ll be a martyr.”

“My father is suffering from rapidly deteriorating health,” Claire wrote in the Post. “He has diabetes and hypertension, his hearing and vision are failing, he has suffered from months-long infections and is in constant pain that sometimes leaves him struggling even to stand up. But the most visible and alarming sign of his plight is severe weight loss.”

Blurb:

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will permit semiconductor giant Nvidia to export its high-end H200 chips to China, potentially handing Beijing a boost in the battle for artificial intelligence supremacy. In characteristic fashion, Trump is insisting on the U.S. government taking a 25 percent cut of the sales.

The H200 isn’t Nvidia’s most advanced chip, but it outclasses the cut-down models that Nvidia had designed especially for the Chinese market. The deal is undoubtedly a product of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s lobbying in Washington, but it also appears designed to curry favor with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom Trump hopes to secure a significant trade agreement.

The move comes amid a flurry of conciliatory behavior toward China. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, is reportedly tasked with blocking any U.S. government action that could jeopardize a potential trade deal with Beijing. Vice President J.D. Vance has been echoing Chinese rhetoric, and the administration effectively killed legislation that would have required U.S. firms to offer the government first-purchase rights on key chips.

Blurb:

 

Another South American country has gone “far-right” and the timing couldn’t be better for the U.S. as it seeks to secure its critical mineral supply chain.

Several weeks ago, Bolivia elected Rodrigo Paz as its new president. He promptly planned to scrap a ream of taxes as one of his first moves since becoming the nation’s first conservative leader in nearly two decades.

The government has also repaired relations with Washington after years of anti-American hostility dating back to when ex-President Evo Morales, a charismatic coca-growing union leader, kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008 and cozied up to Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

The U.S. State Department has already announced agreements on nuclear cooperation and security assistance, and Paz has said his administration will allow Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in Bolivia for the first time, after his predecessor refused to give it an operating license last year.