ReportWire

Tag: China

  • FACT FOCUS: Trump blames Biden for the agricultural trade deficit. It’s not that simple

    [ad_1]

    As President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package this week to help U.S. farmers hurt by tariffs, he placed responsibility for the U.S. agricultural trade deficit on former President Joe Biden.

    But in casting blame elsewhere, he is ignoring other factors, including his own role. Currently, farmers — especially those that produce soybeans and sorghum — have had a hard time selling their crops while getting hit by increasing costs after Trump raised tariffs on China earlier this year as part of a broader trade war that has contributed to the deficit.

    Experts say that it is a massive oversimplification to blame any one administration or policy.

    Here’s a closer look at the facts.

    CLAIM: There was an agricultural trade surplus during Trump’s first term that former Biden turned into an agricultural trade deficit.

    THE FACTS: This is both misleading and missing context. It is true that there was an agricultural trade surplus when Trump entered the White House in 2017, which has since become a significant deficit. However, according to experts, this can be attributed to actions taken by both administrations, as well as factors outside their control such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “I don’t want to let U.S. trade policy off the hook here, but it’s one element of a broader, more complicated kind of story,” said Cullen Hendrix, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

    Still, Trump held Biden solely responsible for the agricultural trade deficit at a White House roundtable Monday where he announced the farm aid package.

    “In my first term, we had an agricultural trade surplus by a lot,” the president said, misrepresenting the numbers. “We had a big surplus. We knew we were exporting American agricultural products all over the world, making a net profit and, in many cases, a very substantial profit. He came in and ruined it. Biden turned that surplus into a gaping agricultural deficit that continues to this day.”

    What the numbers show

    The yearly agricultural trade balance, which reflects the amount of those goods the U.S. has exported versus the amount it has imported, had been positive for nearly 60 years until 2019 during Trump’s first term.

    According to data from the Department of Agriculture, it stood at a surplus of approximately $16.3 billion at the end of 2016 and fell the next year, Trump’s first as president, to one of about $13.66 billion. The balance further decreased over the next two years, ultimately turning into a deficit of about $481 million. It returned to a surplus in 2020 at about $3.39 billion, which further increased in 2021 — the year Biden entered the White House. In 2022, it transitioned back to a deficit that grew to approximately $36.45 billion by the end of 2024. As of August, the latest data available, there was an agricultural trade deficit of about $36.3 billion.

    The yearslong trade war between the U.S. and China is partly to blame for the agricultural deficit, experts say. Trump fired the first shot in January 2018, with 30% tariffs on imported solar panels, which led to additional tariffs and import curbs from both sides that continued to a certain extent under Biden.

    The countries signed a Phase One trade deal in January 2020 through which China committed to buying an additional $200 billion of U.S. goods and services over the next two years. However, the Peterson Institute later found China had bought essentially none of the goods promised.

    What is the current situation?

    Trump has instituted even more tariffs on Chinese imports since returning to the White House. In response, China has retaliated with tariffs and import curbs on U.S. goods, including key farm products.

    The White House said in October, after Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, that Beijing had promised to buy at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of the calendar year, plus 25 million metric tons a year in each of the next three years. China has purchased more than 2.8 million metric tons of soybeans since Trump announced the agreement, according to AP reporting. That’s only about one quarter of what administration officials said China had promised, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said China is on track to meet its goal by the end of February, which is two months later than the White House originally promised.

    “China’s been refusing large U.S. purchases in favor of other trade partners,” said Hendrix. “This is a lamentable, but kind of predictable, consequence of the United States engaging in this trade war and weaponizing trade policy. Our trade partners are going to seek to diversify both for self-insurance — we’re talking about food, we’re talking about survival here — and to punish the U.S. for kind of changing the rules of the game so unilaterally.”

    But there are myriad other factors that have contributed to the current deficit, experts say. For example, high purchasing power enabled by a strong U.S. dollar and a desire by U.S. consumers to buy high-value goods that aren’t produced domestically. A stronger dollar also decreases demand for U.S. exports, as this makes it more difficult for other countries to buy those products.

    In addition, Brazil and Argentina have begun exporting soy, corn and beef, competing directly with U.S. exports and lowering prices for such goods. Major world events of which the U.S. government has little or indirect control, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate variability and the Russia-Ukraine war, have also contributed.

    “The tariffs can exacerbate the situation, but generally the fact that you may have a deficit or a surplus is really more dependent on global prices,” said Joseph Glauber, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who served as the Department of Agriculture’s chief economist from 2008 to 2014 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

    Asked whether Trump blames solely Biden for the agricultural trade deficit, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that “farmers suffered for years under Joe Biden,” but that Trump is committed to “helping our agriculture industry by negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade.”

    ___

    Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Nvidia: Reports of an Elaborate Chinese GPU Smuggling Operation Are ‘Far-fetched’

    [ad_1]

    If some of Nvidia’s top-shelf GPUs—the physical artifacts currently at the center of the AI craze—hypothetically fell into the wrong hands, Nvidia’s next moves would have to placate a lot of parties, from shareholders to regulators to customers to China hawks in the Senate like Tom Cotton. 

    And a new report does say smuggled GPUs are now being used illegally by the Chinese company Deepseek, which, for someone like Cotton, would be like the One Ring being smuggled directly to Sauron. But for what it’s worth, Nvidia calls the details of the report “far-fetched.” 

    According to one of the tech news site The Information’s anonymously-sourced scoops, the Chinese AI company Deepseek is somehow training its latest models on Nvidia’s latest GPUs—ones built on the Blackwell architecture, pretty much the most in-demand pieces of technology in the universe. If that were true, one problem for Nvidia would be that giving companies in China access to the most advanced GPUs would be a violation of stringently enforced export rules—even after Trump moved to loosen restrictions earlier this week. 

    But don’t worry, China hawks. According to a company statement viewed by Yahoo Finance, the folks at Nvidia “haven’t seen any substantiation or received tips of ‘phantom data centers’ constructed to deceive us and our OEM partners, then deconstructed, smuggled and reconstructed somewhere else.”

    Phew. That’s a very specific denial that really zeroes in on the details of the story, but it’s good to know that (deep breath) fake data centers created for the purpose of deceiving Nvidia or its unwitting suppliers or customers, which are dismantled, smuggled, and rebuilt somewhere in China, is something Nvidia hasn’t seen substantiated reports of, or received tips about. 

    “While such smuggling seems far-fetched, we pursue any tip we receive,” the Nvidia representative added, per CNBC.

    And it’s true. It totally does sound farfetched if it’s not really happening. If it’s happening, the word for it is “ingenious.” In fact, it’s downright Now-You-See-Me-esque.

    According to reports in May from this year, the lower-end prices of a single Blackwell GPU ranged from $6,500 to $8,000. That being the case, can you imaging the black market price? Such prices are a big part of why Nvidia is one of the rare AI companies that seem to consistently haul in money instead of just burning it, and are also why Nvidia bulls say the company is about to be worth $6 trillion.

    And nothing hammers home the reasoning for an absolutely insane price tag on a piece of silicon quite like a cinematic (alleged) smuggling operation.  

    [ad_2]

    Mike Pearl

    Source link

  • Analysis-Asian investors flock to Gulf debt in hunt for yield and growth

    [ad_1]

    ABU DHABI/SINGAPORE, Dec 10 – Asian investors are piling into Gulf bonds and loans this year, reflecting both deepening trade and finance ties with the fast-growing region and an uncertain outlook elsewhere, including the world’s top two economies, the United States and China.

    Bond issuance in ​the Middle East and North Africa region jumped 20% year-on-year to $126 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to LSEG data, ‌with full-year records in sight both for the region and broader emerging market debt sales outside China.

    That growth, driven largely by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, represents both rising financing needs linked to ‌oil- and gas-producing economies’ efforts to diversify, and growing demand from Asian investors reshuffling their portfolios.

    “Clearly there has been a shift with Chinese investors actively diversifying away from U.S.-based investments,” said Nour Safa, head of debt capital markets for the Middle East and North Africa at HSBC in Dubai.

    Chinese investors have become more comfortable with the region and were now doubling down on investments in both bonds and loans, which have seen particularly strong demand from Asia, Safa said.

    Middle East loans syndicated in Asia-Pacific more than tripled to over $16 ⁠billion year-to-date from less than $5 billion last year, LSEG ‌data showed.

    With China’s economy slowing and Washington’s tariff-centred policies making investors rethink their exposure to the vast pool of U.S. assets, the Gulf appeals with its stability and solid growth prospects.

    The IMF projects the region will grow 3.9% this year and growth ‍will accelerate to 4.3% in 2026. In contrast, global growth, projected at 3.2% in 2025, is seen slowing to 3.1% next year.

    “Investors are being more cautious about U.S. Treasuries and are diversifying into several alternate markets,” said Oliver Holt, Nomura’s head of debt syndication in Singapore, with high-rated government-backed Middle East issuers often catching investor attention.

    Deepening economic ties are also helping ​with Gulf-Asia trade rising 15% to a record $516 billion last year, around double the value of the region’s trade with the West, according to London-based Asia ‌House.

    ASIA TAKES BIGGER BOND ALLOCATIONS

    Ritesh Agarwal, Emirates NBD Capital’s head of debt capital markets, said Asian institutions – hedge funds, asset managers and private banks – have driven a rise in the region’s debt allocations over the past 12 to 18 months.

    According to Agarwal, average Asian allocation in Gulf debt issues now ranged between 15% and 20%, up from 5% to 7% in early 2024. He said that while the majority of investors were not from mainland China, Chinese capital was flowing through Asian accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore and, for Islamic bonds, Malaysia.

    A combination of high demand and strong credit fundamentals has allowed Gulf issuers to price bonds at near historic-low ⁠spreads over U.S. government debt.

    For example, Asian investors bought 40% of AA-rated Qatar’s $1 billion 3-year ​bond last month which priced at just 15 basis points over U.S. Treasuries.

    Gulf bonds typically can ​give Asian investors higher yields compared to similarly rated credits in Asia, said Chong Jiun Yeh, group chief investment officer at Singapore-based UOB Asset Management.

    Typically, a BBB-rated U.S. dollar bond from the Gulf can add 10 to 20 basis points in total yield compared ‍with similar Asian credits, he said.

    Chinese interest rates ⁠have generally been below those in the U.S.

    Several Gulf borrowers were also planning to issue bonds in yuan on China’s domestic fixed-income market – so-called “Panda bonds” – said Clifford Lee, global head of investment banking at Singapore’s DBS Group, who has organised meetings for Gulf banks with Chinese onshore investors.

    “We predict ⁠that once regular issuance flow begins, it can unlock access to an over $20 trillion market,” Lee said.

    In some early deals, Saudi National Bank issued the first Singapore dollar bond in late November, while ‌the UAE emirate Sharjah raised 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in October.

    (Reporting by Rachna Uppal in Abu Dhabi and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; ‌Additional reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Dubai; Editing by Karin Strohecker and Tomasz Janowski)

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Why Russia and China Are Sitting Out Venezuela’s Clash With Trump

    [ad_1]

    For two decades, Venezuela cultivated anti-American allies across the globe, from Russia and China to Cuba and Iran, in the hope of forming a new world order that could stand up to Washington.

    It isn’t working.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Kejal Vyas

    Source link

  • Hong Kong fire that engulfed apartments finally doused as death toll nears 130, search for victims continues

    [ad_1]

    Hong Kong — The death toll from a fire that tore through a Hong Kong residential complex climbed to 128 on Friday as more bodies were found in the blackened towers, authorities said. Secretary for Security Chris Tang told reporters at the scene that the search for victims was continuing and the numbers could still rise.

    The fire at the Wang Fuk Court complex started Wednesday afternoon and was only fully extinguished Friday morning. Dozens of people, including firefighters, were injured in the blaze.

    Firefighters were still combing through the high-rise complex apartment-by-apartment in a final attempt to find anyone alive after the massive fire engulfed seven of the complex’s eight towers in one of the city’s deadliest blazes ever recorded.

    Firefighters rest in front of the Wang Fuk Court residential estate following a massive, deadly fire that tore through the complex in Tai Po district, Hong Kong, China, Nov. 28, 2025.

    Leung Man Hei/Bloomberg/Getty


    Crews were prioritizing apartments from which they had received more than two dozen calls for assistance during the blaze, but which they were unable to reach due to the intensity of the fire, Derek Armstrong Chan, a deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services told reporters early Friday morning.

    “Our firefighting operation is almost complete,” he said.

    The fire started midafternoon Wednesday in one of the Wang Fuk Court complex’s eight towers, jumping rapidly from one to the next as bamboo scaffolding covered in netting, in place for renovations, caught ablaze until seven buildings were engulfed.

    It took more than 1,000 firefighters some 24 hours to bring the five-alarm blaze under control, and almost two days later, smoke still continued to drift out of the charred skeletons of the buildings from the occasional flare-up.

    The final search of the buildings was expected to be complete later Friday, at which point officials have said they will officially end the rescue phase of the operation at the complex in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong’s border with mainland China.

    It was unclear how many people could be inside the buildings, which had almost 2,000 apartments and some 4,800 residents. Hong Kong leader John Lee said early Thursday morning that officials had not been able to make contact with 279 residents.

    “We will endeavor to force entry into all the units of the seven blocks concerned so as to ensure that there is no other possible casualties,” Chan said.

    Wong, a 71-year-old man, was photographed in tears outside the burning building claiming his wife was trapped inside.

    Wong, a 71-year-old man, was photographed in tears outside the burning building claiming his wife was trapped inside.

    Reuters


    He said an updated figure on the number of missing people could not be calculated until the search and rescue operation was complete.

    The apartments from which a total of 25 unanswered rescue calls were received, which are being prioritized, were primarily on higher floors, where the fire was last extinguished, he said.

    More than 70 people were injured in the blaze, including 11 firefighters, and about 900 people were housed in temporary shelters.

    Most of the casualties were in the first two buildings to catch fire, Chan said.

    Arrests amid investigation into the deadly blaze

    The apartment complex housed many older people. It was built in the 1980s and had been undergoing a major renovation. Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency said on Thursday it was investigating possible corruption relating to the renovation project.

    Three men, the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, and police said company leaders were suspected of gross negligence.

    Police have not identified the company where the suspects worked, but The Associated Press confirmed Prestige Construction & Engineering Company was in charge of renovations in the tower complex. Police have seized boxes of documents from the company, where phones rang unanswered Thursday.

    HONG KONG-CHINA-FIRE

    A body is transferred for identification in the aftermath of a major fire that swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, Nov. 28, 2025.

    Peter PARKS/AFP/Getty


    Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, allowing the unusually fast spread of the fire. There was also word on Friday that fire alarm systems in at least some of the buildings affected may not have been functioning properly.

    Police also said they found plastic foam panels – which are highly flammable – attached to the windows on each floor near the elevator lobby of the one unaffected tower. The panels were believed to have been installed by the construction company but the purpose was not clear.

    Authorities planned immediate inspections of many housing estates undergoing major renovations to ensure scaffolding and construction materials meet safety standards.

    The fire was the deadliest in Hong Kong in decades. A 1996 fire in a commercial building in Kowloon killed 41 people.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump Is Silent on Taiwan After Talking to Xi—and That Is Fine With Taipei

    [ad_1]

    Taiwan is making the most of the U.S.’s policy of “strategic ambiguity,” even as President Trump’s stance raises concern for some in Taipei.

    [ad_2]

    Joyu Wang

    Source link

  • The Deadly Mix of Factors That Made a Hong Kong High-Rise Fire so Devastating

    [ad_1]

    The fire spread at an astonishing pace.

    It started Wednesday afternoon. When Ho Wai-ho and his fellow firefighters arrived at the scene about 10 minutes later, the blaze was already racing up the green netting and bamboo scaffolding covering the 31-story high rise.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Yang Jie

    Source link

  • Where Trump Sees Deals, Russia and China See a Chance to Disrupt U.S. Alliances

    [ad_1]

    U.S. adversaries are using President Trump’s eagerness to strike deals as a chance to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies and undermine the Washington-led security order that has for years held them in check.

    In Europe, Russia is seeking to exploit Trump’s desire to halt the war in Ukraine and strike business deals with Moscow by shaping a peace plan that meets many of its strategic objectives, including winning chunks of Ukrainian territory and closing off any hope Kyiv had of joining NATO.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Jason Douglas

    Source link

  • Vanke’s Bid to Delay Bond Payment Sparks Selloff in Chinese Developers

    [ad_1]

    China Vanke’s 000002 -5.60%decrease; red down pointing triangle proposal to delay repayment of an onshore bond led to trading halts in three other local notes and triggered a selloff in shares of Chinese property developers, ratcheting up fears about the country’s drawn-out real estate crisis.

    Vanke, one of China’s biggest real-estate companies, was once regarded as one of the country’s most solid developers. It is among the few major Chinese developers that have yet to default amid the country’s massive property bust.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Jiahui Huang

    Source link

  • Exclusive | Trump, After Call With China’s Xi, Told Tokyo to Lower the Volume on Taiwan

    [ad_1]

    Chinese leader Xi Jinping was angry, and President Trump was listening.

    Days after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi outraged China by suggesting a Chinese attack on Taiwan could mobilize a Tokyo military response, Xi spent half of an hourlong phone call with Trump, people briefed on the matter said, hammering home China’s historic claim to the democratic self-governing island as well as Washington and Beijing’s joint responsibility to manage the world order.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2] Lingling Wei
    Source link

  • Three Arrested in Hong Kong Housing Fire That Killed At Least 36

    [ad_1]

    Police in Hong Kong said three people have been arrested in connection with a fire that engulfed a housing complex and killed at least 36 people. 

    The three men were arrested for alleged manslaughter, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police Force said. 

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Joseph Pisani

    Source link

  • Anthropic called to testify in House on China-backed cyberattack

    [ad_1]

    A US House committee is calling on Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei to testify about a Chinese cyber-espionage attack the company revealed earlier this month. Leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee asked Amodei to appear before the panel on Dec. 17 to discuss the rise of AI-orchestrated cyberattacks. The committee also requested testimony […]

    [ad_2]

    Bloomberg News

    Source link

  • Alibaba’s cloud business revenue soars 34% driven by AI boom

    [ad_1]

    HONG KONG (AP) — China’s Alibaba Group posted a 34% jump in revenue from its cloud business in its most recent quarter, buoyed by the boom in artificial intelligence.

    But overall revenue at the Chinese tech group for the July-September quarter increased by just 5% year-on-year to 247.8 billion yuan ($35 billion), and profit fell 52% from last year, as a fierce price war in China’s e-commerce landscape — including in the food delivery segment — eroded into short-term profitability. JD.com, its e-commerce rival, reported a 55% net profit drop in the same quarter.

    Alibaba started out in e-commerce and later turned its focus to cloud and AI technologies. Earlier this year, it pledged to invest at least 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) in three years in advancing its cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

    CEO Eddie Wu said in prepared remarks Tuesday that the group’s “significant” investments in AI had helped its revenue growth. The 34% cloud revenue growth was faster than the 26% increase in the April-June quarter.

    The company added that demand for AI was “accelerating” and its “conviction in future AI demand growth is strong.” It also will probably end up investing more than the planned 380 billion yuan in AI to meet surging demand, Alibaba said Tuesday.

    On Monday, Alibaba announced that its upgraded AI chatbot Qwen — which aims to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT — recorded 10 million downloads in the first week after its public launch.

    Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel.


    Follow on

    The company’s Hong Kong shares gained 2% Tuesday and just before the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange, shares rose 2.4%. Shares have gained more than 90% so far this year, fueled by optimism over its progress in AI.

    Chinese companies have been gaining ground in AI since tech startup DeepSeek upended the industry, raising doubts over the dominance in the sector of its U.S. rivals.

    Recent earnings reports by other Chinese tech giants have been mixed.

    Tencent, which rivals Alibaba in AI, this month reported a strong 15% year-on-year gain in its revenue for the July-September quarter. But Baidu, which also competes with Alibaba in AI development, recorded a 7% drop in revenue in the same quarter compared to last year.

    Concerns among investors and analysts over an overblown AI bubble have also been growing, although strong earnings at Nvidia last week slightly eased worries.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • China launches spacecraft to bring 3 stranded astronauts back from space station sometime next year

    [ad_1]

    Beijing — China launched the Shenzhou 22 spacecraft on Tuesday to help bring back a team of astronauts after a damaged spacecraft left them temporarily stranded on China’s space station.

    The Shenzhou 22 will be used sometime in 2026 by the three astronauts who docked on the Tiangong space station on Nov. 1.

    The Long March-2F Y22 carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-22 spaceship, blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Nov. 25, 2025 in northwest China. 

    VCG / VCG via Getty Images


    Earlier this month, another group of Chinese astronauts from the Shenzhou 20 mission faced a nine-day delay in their return to Earth after their craft’s window was damaged. They eventually returned using the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft, which had just carried the replacement crew to Tiangong.

    While the three-person crew landed safely on Earth, three of their fellow astronauts on the replacement crew were temporarily left without a guaranteed way to return in case of an emergency.

    The Shenzhou 20 spacecraft – the damaged one, which for now remains in space – will be brought down to Earth later and assessed, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The space program determined it didn’t meet safety standards for transporting the astronauts.

    Chinese astronauts have been carrying out missions to the Tiangong space station in recent years as part of Beijing’s rapidly progressing space program, initially building out the station module-by-module.

    China developed Tiangong after the country was excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns, since China’s space program is controlled by its military.

    Tiangong, which means “Heavenly Palace,” hosted its first crew in 2021. It is smaller than the International Space Station, which has been operating for 25 years.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Farmer aid package could be announced within 2 weeks, USDA head says

    [ad_1]

    An aid package for American farmers could be announced in a matter of weeks, according to Agriculture Department Secretary Brooke Rollins. CBS News correspondent Lana Zak has more from Iowa City.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • China’s Simulated Attack Shows How It Could Jam Musk’s Starlink Over Taiwan

    [ad_1]

    A group of researchers in China may have found a way to disrupt Starlink communications, creating a massive airborne barrier to jam signals that jump from one satellite to the next.

    The new study, published in China’s peer-reviewed journal Systems Engineering and Electronics, simulates a detailed attempt to jam a constellation of 10,000 satellites across an area as large as Taiwan, the South China Morning Post reports.

    SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are difficult to jam, and attempts to block their signals from the ground would be fruitless. Instead, the researchers suggest deploying nearly 1,000 jammers in the air using drones, balloons, or aircraft. A team of researchers from Zhejiang University and the Beijing Institute of Technology devised the newly proposed strategy.

    Electronic warfare

    In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, SpaceX enabled Starlink service to help maintain connectivity in areas where communications infrastructure had been damaged. The Ukrainian military used Starlink connectivity for communications on the front lines, as well as to connect drones to control centers.

    The use of Starlink in Ukraine highlights the crucial role the satellite network can play in warfare. In the event that China invades Taiwan, the researchers behind the new study have come up with a way to bypass Starlink’s constantly shifting patterns.

    Unlike traditional geosynchronous constellations that are parked over the equator, the orbital planes of the Starlink satellites are not fixed. The satellites, placed in low Earth orbit, are constantly moving in and out of view, and a single user terminal hops between multiple satellites rather than connecting to just one. That means that even if the Chinese military succeeds in overpowering the signal from the ground, the connection will jump to another satellite within seconds.

    In order to successfully monitor or interfere with Starlink’s signal, the new study suggests deploying a swarm of jammers in the air to create a massive barrier using drones. The researchers simulated the jamming attempts, testing whether a Starlink satellite could still maintain a usable signal despite the interfering noise.

    The grid of virtual jammers flew at an altitude of 12 miles (20 kilometers) and were spaced out at around 3 to 5 miles (5 to 9 kilometers) apart while emitting noise at various power levels. The researchers also tested out two types of antennas, one with a wide beam that covered more area and another with a narrow, more powerful beam that required extra precision.

    The study proposes an ideal way to interfere with Starlink signals, using a narrow-beam antenna with a 26-decibel-watt jamming power that’s spaced 4 miles (7 kilometers) apart. To cover the entire area of Taiwan, which spans 13,900 square miles (36,000 square kilometers), China would need to deploy at least 935 jammers, each suppressing about 14.8 square miles (38.5 square kilometers).

    The researchers note that they would need to acquire actual measurements of the radiation pattern data of Starlink user terminals for more accurate results.

    [ad_2]

    Passant Rabie

    Source link

  • China’s Xi Calls Trump in Unusual Move to Discuss Ukraine, Taiwan

    [ad_1]

    In an unusual diplomatic move, Chinese leader Xi Jinping initiated a phone call with President Trump on Monday, discussing Taiwan and Ukraine as Washington, Kyiv and Moscow try to hammer out a plan to end the war.

    China has provided crucial diplomatic and economic support to Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Now as Trump pushes to make a decisive move to end the war, Beijing is seeking to play a more visible role.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2] Lingling Wei
    Source link

  • A Chinese humanoid robot walked 66 miles in 3 days, right into the Guinness World Records

    [ad_1]

    Shanghai — A Chinese robot has stepped into the Guinness World Records after completing a three-day, 66-mile trek, the longest reported distance ever walked by a humanoid machine.

    The AgiBot A2, which stands about five feet and six inches tall, set off from the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou on the evening of November 10, traversing highways and city streets before arriving at Shanghai’s historic waterfront Bund area on November 13, according to Guinness World Records.

    Shanghai-based robot maker AgiBot said its two-legged ambler “navigated varied surfaces … all while adhering to traffic regulations” during its continuous 66-mile journey, which was certified as the first feat of its kind on Thursday.

    Video clips published by AgiBot showed the silver-and-black A2 trudging along a road past cyclists and scooters, before picking up its pace and marching down the Bund in front of the Shanghai skyline.

    An image taken from a promotional video posted on YouTube by Shanghai-based robotics company AgiBot shows its A2 humanoid walking down a road in the Chinese city in November 2025, during what the Guinness World Records said was a record-setting 66-mile stroll over three days.

    AgiBot/YouTube


    The world’s tech firms are pouring massive sums into physical AI, with Morgan Stanley predicting that the world could have more than a billion humanoid robots by 2050.

    The Chinese government has encouraged domestic firms to develop humanoids, in the hopes of leading the global robotics industry.

    Beijing hosted the world’s first-ever humanoid robot games in August, where more than 500 “athletes” vied in disciplines ranging from basketball to competitive cleaning.

    AgiBot says the A2 is designed for customer service roles, and is equipped with a chat function and lip-reading capabilities.

    Earlier this year, “CBS Mornings” spoke with engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who are working to keep America in the robotics race.

    “I like to think about AI and robots as giving people superpowers,” said Professor Daniela Rus, who leads MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. “With AI, we get cognitive superpowers … On the physical side, we can use machines to extend our reach, to refine our precision, to amplify our strengths.”

    “CBS Mornings” cited research and advisory firm Gartner’s estimate that by 2030, 80% of Americans will interact daily in some way with autonomous, AI-powered robots. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Takeoff of China’s flying taxis hits turbulence

    [ad_1]

    HONG KONG (AP) — An unmanned, oval-shaped craft from flying taxi maker EHang hovers, whirring noisily like a mini-helicopter over a riverside innovation zone on the outskirts of the southern Chinese business hub of Guangzhou, part of a trial of a mini-flying taxi that once might have been found only in sci-fi films.

    In nearby Shenzhen, food-delivery drones already are part of daily life and a novelty attraction for tourists, even if such services cost more. In the waterfront park surrounded by high-rises, Polish tourist Karolina Trzciańska and her friends ordered bubble tea and lemon tea by phone, just to give it a try. Their drinks arrived via a drone buzzing through the drizzle about 30 minutes later.

    “This is the first time I’m seeing something like this, so it was super fun to see the food being delivered by the drone,” she said.

    Such businesses are growing quickly with support from the government, though the take off of the so-called “low-altitude economy” faces obstacles such as strict airspace controls and battery limitations.

    Activities in airspace below 1,000 meters (about 3,280 feet) accounted for business turnover worth 506 billion yuan ($70 billion) in 2023, about 0.4% of China’s economy. By 2035, it’s expected to hit 3.5 trillion yuan (about $490 billion), said Zhang Xiaolan, a researcher at the State Information Center, a think tank affiliated with China’s main planning agency.

    Flying cars are in the making

    Guangdong province, home to drone giant DJI with an estimated 70% of the global commercial drone market, leads in development of the low-altitude economy, followed by wealthy eastern coastal provinces Jiangsu and Zhejiang, near Shanghai, according to a report by a research unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, and other institutions.

    Other big players in Guangdong include EHang, logistics company SF Express’s drone arm Phoenix Wings, and automaker XPENG’s flying car unit ARIDGE.

    In October, Guangdong announced it plans to speed up construction of flight service stations and platforms to facilitate airspace operations and will support locally issued discount vouchers for low-altitude tourism.

    Its technology and financial hub Shenzhen has launched a 15-million-yuan ($2.1 million) award for companies that earn certifications required for passenger eVTOLs, short for “electric vertical take-off and landing” vehicles that lift off the ground like helicopters, among other incentives.

    China’s Civil Aviation Administration has granted certificates allowing EHang to offer commercial passenger services with its pilotless eVTOL, a low-altitude aircraft that can reach speeds of 130 kph (81 mph) with a maximum range of 30 kilometers (19 miles).

    EHang hasn’t launched commercial routes, but its vice president, He Tianxing, says it aims to start with aerial sightseeing services. The company has been building takeoff and landing sites in 20 Chinese cities over the past two years. He expects aircraft of various companies will be flying multiple routes, possibly after five years.

    He envisions eventual citywide networks using the rooftops of malls, schools and parks as terminals.

    “It can’t just be a research product, nor an engineer’s toy,” he said.

    Accidents, battery limitations and airspace controls

    The biggest challenge for developing eVTOL aircraft is maintaining longer flights and overcoming battery capacity limitations, said Guo Liming, co-founder of Shenzhen-based Skyevtol, whose single-seat manned eVTOL aircraft, priced at around $100,000, can only fly 20 to 30 minutes before it must be charged.

    It also has not all been smooth skies.

    In September, two XPENG’s eVTOL aircraft collided after a rehearsal for an exhibition and one of them caught fire while landing. The company said no one was hurt, but another expo canceled flying demonstrations a week later.

    Undeterred, XPENG has continued to showcase its flying cars, including a six-wheeled ground vehicle with a detachable eVTOL aircraft. Having invested over $600 million, the company said it has more than 7,000 global orders for its “Land Aircraft Carrier” and has begun preparing for mass production.

    A trial run of sightseeing flights in Dunhuang, a key ancient Silk Road destination famous for its Buddhist caves and dunes, is planned for next July.

    It’s unclear how quickly such aircraft might begin carrying paid passengers regularly. Some companies elsewhere have burned through their funding before reaching the commercial launch stage. In Germany, air taxi makers Lilium and Volocopter filed for bankruptcy, though the latter was later bought by Diamond Aircraft Group, a subsidiary of a Chinese firm.

    After years of commercialization, drone applications are not that widespread in China.

    Even though the country leads in drone technology and manufacturing, policy constraints including limited airspace access, may mean overseas markets are more promising, said Frank Zhou, managing director at GBA Low Altitude Technology Co., which provides technological software to clients.

    “Perhaps for some Southeast Asian countries, if I introduce these applications to them, their demand could explode,” he said.

    Less than one-third of China’s low-altitude airspace was accessible for general aviation use in 2023 and there were problems with uneven distribution and a lack of internet connectivity, Zhang, the State Information Center researcher, said in a report. The number of registered general aviation aerodromes in China, excluding private airports, was just about a tenth of those in the U.S., she said.

    Officials are easing their grip, but there’s turbulence ahead

    Chinese policymakers are gradually working to close the gap. The military generally commands use of most Chinese airspace but has pledged to simplify approval procedures and shorten review times in Shenzhen and five other provinces.

    Proposed revisions of the civil aviation law include a chapter on development and promotion of civilian activities, addressing low-altitude airspace allocation and supervision.

    It’s still early days, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking.

    He expects progress toward commercialization to materialize around 2030, with passenger-carrying eVTOLs for tourism or industrial purposes starting before flying taxi services. Some of the aerial products could become key exports, he said.

    China is a latecomer to the industry but now leads in developing small drones and low-altitude airspace investments, said Chen Wen-hua, director at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Research Centre for Low Altitude Economy.

    One advantage is the ruling Communist Party’s ability to mobilize regulators, industry players and universities to work toward the same goal, he said. But development of the technologies involved and safety concerns and public acceptance will determine how quickly different applications of drones and low-flying vehicles are adopted.

    The future for the low altitude economy is bright, Chen said, “however, the road leading to that bright future might be treacherous.”

    ____

    Associated Press video producer Olivia Zhang and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Japan’s New Leader Infuriated Beijing. She Isn’t Backing Down.

    [ad_1]

    Workaholic Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is riding high despite the perils of a fight with Beijing.

    [ad_2]

    Jason Douglas

    Source link