China Watch

China urges US to correct ‘erroneous ways’ over trade probes ahead of Paris talks– www.france24.com

pgnewser March 16, 2026 0

Blurb:

 

Beijing said on Monday it has “lodged representations” and urged Washington to “correct its erroneous ways” after the US launched new trade probes last week, with negotiators from both countries meeting in Paris.

Washington’s trade investigations target 60 economies including China and will look into “failures to take action on forced labor” and whether these burden or restrict US commerce.

Those investigations came a day after a separate set of US probes centred on excess industrial capacity that target 16 trading partners including China, which Beijing’s foreign ministry criticised as “political manipulation”.

“We urge the US side to immediately correct its erroneous ways, meet China halfway… and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiations,” Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a statement.

Trump-Xi China summit may be delayed if Trump wants to stay in Washington for Iran war: Bessent– www.cnbc.com

pgnewser March 16, 2026 0

Blurb:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping could be delayed for logistical reasons during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Trump suggested on Sunday that the summit could be delayed as the U.S. pressures China to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Bessent walked those comments back on Monday, arguing the summit would be delayed if Trump chooses to stay in Washington to coordinate the war effort in Iran.

“If the meetings are delayed, it wouldn’t be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Paris. “If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics.”

MIKE CONAWAY: As China’s Espionage Threat Widens, America Must Lock Down Its Own House– dailycaller.com

pgnewser March 13, 2026 0

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands a respectable 5’8”, but during his recent visit to China he was — as the kids say — “mogged.”

Soldiers of the People’s Republic’s honor guard, all more than six feet tall, towered over him on both sides.

The optics were hard to miss. The empire that once humiliated China into opening its ports and surrendering Hong Kong now approached Beijing like Oliver Twist asking for more gruel.

Trump raises China stakes with Section 301 trade probe before Beijing Xi meeting– www.cnbc.com

pgnewser March 12, 2026 0

Blurb:

With a high-stakes summit in Beijing less than three weeks away, the U.S. has launched sweeping trade investigations that put China squarely in its crosshairs, adding a new layer of friction to an already complicated relationship.

The probes, which will be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, aim to identify unfair trade practices, particularly structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.

While casting a wide net over a dozen trading partners, the move takes a clear aim at China, given its well-documented issues such as overcapacity and forced labor, said Dan Wang, China director at the political consultancy Eurasia Group.

As Trump’s negotiating position has been weakened by the military aggression in Iran, “U.S. needs to establish credible threat on tariffs as it remains Trump’s top pressure tool,” Wang said, although Beijing was likely unsurprised by the escalation.

“Maximizing leverage before major bilateral meetings seems to be a standard move now,” she said.

The probes followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, which curtailed his ability to deploy tariffs at will, giving China a boost in leverage ahead of the summit.

The Trump administration is “pivoting to its other tools to continue its tariff agenda … [tariff] is clearly a card that Trump wishes to have in his pocket for negotiations,” said Lynn Song, chief economist at ING Bank.

China passes new ethnic minority law, prioritise use of Mandarin language – Reuters

pgnewser March 12, 2026 0

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China passes new ethnic minority law, prioritise use of Mandarin language  Reuters
from news.google.com

China passed a law on a “shared” national identity among the country’s 55 ethnic ‌minority groups on Thursday, a move critics say will further erode the identity of people who are not majority Han Chinese and risk making anyone challenging that “unity” a separatist punishable by law.
Called “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress”, the ethnic minority law aims to forge national unity and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the ​Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at its core, a draft copy of the law showed.

Senate Examines China’s Exploits of US Birthright Citizenship– www.dailysignal.com

pgnewser March 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

The Chinese Communist Party oddly found a reason to promote the U.S. Constitution, or at least an interpretation of it, journalist and author Peter Schweizer noted before a Senate panel Tuesday.

At a hearing on birthright citizenship, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., asked Schweizer if the Chinese government promotes exploiting the concept.

“They have run articles in the People’s Daily, which is the main news organ of the Communist Party, explaining that you have a constitutional right in the United States,” said Schweizer, president of the watchdog Government Accountability Institute and author of the recent book, “The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon.”

Trump administration urged to take on China’s ‘Pharma Death Grip’– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser March 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

The Trump administration is being urged to tackle imported generic pharmaceuticals, most of which are made in China, due to national security implications.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, wants the Commerce Department to consider using Section 232 national security tariffs on imported generic medicines and their ingredients. Such a move would frame the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain as a national security vulnerability rather than a purely economic issue.

The push comes as policymakers recognize the United States relies heavily on China for key pharmaceutical materials, particularly the raw components of many antibiotics, while producing a small share domestically, China specialist Gordon Chang said.

“Healthcare, as evident in country after country, is best left to the market, but as China weaponizes trade—and continually threatens war—it’s clear that Washington has to temporarily implement non-market solutions to ensure that Americans have access to the medicines they need,” he wrote in a paper published on Conservative Political Action Conference’s website titled “China’s ‘Pharma Death Grip’ on America.”

OpenClaw sparks boom as Chinese firms race into the AI agent era– technode.com

pgnewser March 10, 2026 0

Blurb:

The open-source AI agent framework OpenClaw has recently gone viral worldwide, drawing significant attention from the tech industry. By enabling AI to move beyond generating content to actually executing tasks, the framework is widely seen as a key step toward the AI agent era. A growing number of Chinese technology companies are actively exploring similar approaches and rolling out related products.

Moonshot AI was among the first to launch Kimi Claw, a native integration with OpenClaw. The product emphasizes zero-code deployment and one-click setup, while also offering free computing power subsidies for OpenClaw calls, lowering the barrier for users. The move has attracted a large influx of users and helped accelerate the company’s overseas expansion, with the number of paying international users surging and overseas revenue surpassing domestic revenue for the first time.

China calls for end of conflict in Middle East amid global instability– www.france24.com

pgnewser March 9, 2026 0

Blurb:

China said that Iran’s decision to name Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader following the killing of his father was a domestic matter, and it opposed any attempt to target him. The conflict has threatened global energy security and trade, as well as China’s oil supplies. An instability that the economic giant does not see fit to its interests, as FRANCE 24’s Yena Lee reports from Beijing.
from www.france24.com

STEVE MILLOY: Trump Checkmates China With Oil– dailycaller.com

pgnewser March 9, 2026 0

Blurb:

President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela and Iran are the first time that any president has made any progress against China’s decades old effort to peacefully subvert the U.S.

It is no secret that China has two goals: to seize control of Taiwan and to become the lone global superpower by 2049, the centennial of the communist control over the country. China is our primary geopolitical rival, if not our mortal enemy.

Over the past few decades, China has successfully subverted the U.S. through globalization. The U.S. now depends on China for antibiotics, energy, technology hardware and vital rare earth minerals and their processing. China could shut off exports of these and other goods, and our economy, society and security would be crippled.

Yes, China would hurt itself by doing these things, but China is an iron-fisted totalitarian state where any social unrest would be much more easily (read brutally) addressed than in the U.S.

Canada’s military chief says allies to talk defending Gulf states from Iran – National– globalnews.ca

pgnewser March 6, 2026 0

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Canada’s defence chief Gen. Jennie Carignan said allies are in talks about possibly helping Persian Gulf states defend themselves against bombing from Iran.

Speaking to reporters at a defence and security conference in Ottawa Thursday, Carignan said a meeting is set for early Friday morning to discuss such a proposal among allied militaries and the Canadian Armed Forces would present a recommendation to the government.

“The Gulf states must also indicate what they need,” Carignan said in French. “We are in communication with them to get an idea of the needs because it’s clear that if they don’t need us… we won’t look at options to support them.”

The Energy Squeeze China’s in Over Operation Epic Fury Is Just a Foretaste of What Is Yet to Come – RedState– redstate.com

pgnewser March 5, 2026 0

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I never thought I would say this, but this week has convinced me that the Trump Administration is possibly the first administration in decades to execute a politico-military strategy and shape events rather than just bounce, pinball-like, from one flashing light to another. Bear with me as I lay out what I think is going on, and feel free to excoriate me in the comments if you disagree.