China

It's really cool that the trend is going on. It's also interesting how this seems to correlate so well with inflation in the US (ignore badly applied statistical test):

Guess that capital gotta keep expanding at all costs :)

By Timur Fomenko, political analyst

While overt belligerence no longer dominates the discourse over the island, Washington is very much gearing up for a confrontation

The year 2024 has been muted when it comes to tensions between the US and China so far. Despite the looming unpredictability of the US election, high politics in Washington has been overwhelmingly focused on Israel and Ukraine, and since Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in San Francisco, things have been relatively calm between Washington and Beijing.

But that does not mean there is nothing going on underneath the surface. While the US has avoided high level antagonism with China for the time being, Washington’s ambition to contain Beijing, as well as preparing for a potential war over Taiwan, remains as steadfast as ever. Recently, it was reported that the US has permanently placed special forces in the Taiwan-governed island of Kinmen, where they are said to be training local soldiers.

Kinmen is essentially the last territory that can be considered ‘part of the mainland’ still ruled by Taiwan, officially known as ‘the Republic of China’. Located just 20 miles or so off the coast of Fujian province, it is isolated from the island of Taiwan itself and has subsequently become a target of Chinese retaliation against Taipei over the years, especially during the Mao era. In an invasion scenario, it is expected that Beijing would seize Kinmen Island first, making it a stepping stone and therefore the first line of defense.

Although the US formally committed in the three communiques with China in 1972 not to place soldiers on the island, it has gradually been undermining its commitment to the One-China policy by increasing military assistance to Taipei in various forms, despite claiming that it “does not support independence” in the process. In doing so, the US strategy has been to claim it supports the ‘status quo’, ‘opposes the use of force’, but nonetheless is attempting to move the goalposts in Taiwan’s favor by preventing reunification from occurring on Beijing’s terms.

This has been made vastly easier by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) repeatedly winning elections in Taiwan, even though it has lost control of the island’s legislative Yuan.

China has nonetheless insisted that reunification will be completed, by force if necessary, and has aimed to put pressure on the island, advancing its own military presence and capabilities. The US in turn has moved to sell more and more weaponry to Taipei, attempting to hold back the change in the balance of power and communicate the message that conquest will come with severe costs for China, even if it succeeds.

For the US, the military stakes of losing Taiwan are incredibly high. While US support for Taiwan is communicated in the typical ideological terminology of ‘democracy’, in reality, the island’s fate will ultimately determine who is the hegemon of the Asia-Pacific. This is because Taiwan is an integral piece in the ‘first island chain’ which spans down all the way from the islands of Japan to the South China Sea.

Whoever controls Taiwan island subsequently controls all the critical shipping lanes on China’s periphery, and this also can militarily checkmate Japan itself.

[...]

In other words, if Taiwan is lost, the South China Sea is also lost

[...]

( Full original article, un-archived link: https://www.rt.com/news/592095-us-china-taiwan-war/ )

China is surely jealous of the high food prices we have here in the West...

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09BEIJING3128_a.html

The first day of the traditional Chinese calendar (农历, nóng lì) is known as 春节 (chūn jié, Spring Festival) or Chinese New Year, this year it falls on February 10, 2024.

The traditional Chinese calendar system uses 天干地支 (tiān gān dì zhī, abbreviated to 干支) to mark the years:

• 10 天干 (tiān gān, Heavenly Stems), they can be used like an alphabet:
  • A 甲 (jiǎ)
  • B 乙 (yǐ)
  • C 丙 (bǐng)
  • D 丁 (dīng)
  • E 戊 (wù)
  • F 己 (jǐ)
  • G 庚 (gēng)
  • H 辛 (xīn)
  • I 壬 (rén)
  • J 癸 (guǐ)
• 12 地支 (dì zhī, Earthly Branches), which corresponds to the 12 生肖 (shēng xiào, animals of the Chinese zodiac), and is also used in the traditional Chinese clock system, they can be used like a numbering system:
  • 1 子 (zǐ) / 鼠 (shǔ, rat) / 11 pm to 1 am
  • 2 丑 (chǒu) / 牛 (niú, ox) / 1 am to 3 am
  • 3 寅 (yín) / 虎 (hǔ, tiger) / 3 am to 5 am
  • 4 卯 (mǎo) / 兔 (tù, rabbit) / 5 am to 7 am)
  • 5 辰 (chén) / 龙 (lóng, loong or Chinese dragon) / 7 am to 9 am
  • 6 巳 (sì) / 蛇 (shé, snake) / 9 am to 11 am
  • 7 午 (wǔ) / 马 (mǎ, horse) / 11 am to 1 pm
  • 8 未 (wèi) / 羊 (yáng, sheep) / 1 pm to 3 pm
  • 9 申 (shēn) / 猴 (hóu, monkey) / 3 pm to 5 pm
  • 10 酉 (yǒu) / 鸡 (jī, rooster) / 5 pm to 7 pm
  • 11 戌 (xū) / 狗 (gǒu, dog) / 7 pm to 9 pm
  • 12 亥 (hài) / 猪 (zhū, pig) / 9 pm to 11 pm

So in this system, the first year is 甲子 (A1), then 乙丑 (B2), 丙寅 (C3) and so on, rotating through the 10 天干 and 12 地支 until all permutations are reached. Thus there are 60 years (六十甲子) total in a cycle from 甲子 (A1) to 癸亥 (J12).

This upcoming new year is the 甲辰 (jiǎ chén) year, the 41st year in the cycle. 辰 corresponds to 龙 making it the Year of the Loong. The Loong or Chinese dragon is different from the western concept of dragon, it is an auspicious symbol, a symbol of authority, strength, wisdom, luck, etc.

Examples:

(source: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/658fe7c0000000001101fb46)

(source: https://weibo.com/3009609487/NCqfgttAo)

Post image:

龙行龘龘 (lóng xíng dá dá, also the theme of CCTV's 2024 Spring Festival Gala), the phrase describes loongs soaring proudly and enthusiastically (source: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/65b212d6000000002c03e694)

You can read about the reason I'm asking this in the spoiler. TLDR I'm just wondering if there's some debunking I can do since western media is oh-so-not-trustworthy

Any truth to this one? I mean being anti-gmo is not rare, so I'm not surprised if it was true. I don't have a good handle on high quality china news (And cannot read their sites myself, even with translators it's a slow experience).

Edit: Oops, I had to go AFK after posting this and didn't get to clarify as the comments were all being. I meant do Chinese people broadly believe in the conspiracy theories around GMOs such as causing cancer or making your DNA change or something like that. Of course GMOs are complicated science and are a tool used by capitalists to patentize (did I make up that word? Lol) the food industry, which is a natural science and typically difficult to patent.

Chinese tourists pose for photos with the Merlion statue at Marina Bay in Singapore, May 3, 2023. (File photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)

Singapore (VNA) - Singapore and China have agreed to a 30-day mutual visa-free entry for their citizens, which will formally come into force on February 9 - the eve of the Lunar New Year.

As reported by the Channel News Asia, plans for the 30-day mutual visa exemption agreement were announced last December during the two countries’ highest-level annual bilateral forum, which was co-chaired by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.

Singaporeans holding ordinary passports can currently enter China without a visa for 15 days for purposes like sightseeing, visiting family and business. China resumed this arrangement in July last year, more than three years after it was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese citizens currently require a visa to enter Singapore.

Between January and November 2023, Singapore welcomed a total of 12.4 million tourists, of which the number of Chinese visitors was just over 1.2 million.

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- By the end of 2023, all pre-roll advertisements had been removed from China's cable TV and Internet Protocol TV services as the result of a targeted campaign, according to an inter-agency meeting on Tuesday.

The ongoing campaign aims to tackle unreasonable TV fees and streamline TV services for the benefit of audiences, said the meeting, which was held by authorities including the National Radio and Television Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration for Market Regulation.

In over four months, the initial phase of the campaign also led to an average reduction of more than 50 percent in various TV package fees, and audience-friendly upgrades to TV home screens, navigation, fee-charging services and applications, according to the meeting.

CHANGCHUN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Jilin, a key agricultural province in northeast China, reported grain production of 41.87 billion kilograms in 2023, setting a new record, despite the challenges posed by floods in certain regions.

The average grain yield per mu (approximately 0.067 hectares) stood at 479.1 kg last year, positioning the province at the forefront of grain-producing regions nationwide, according to the government work report released at the annual session of the Jilin Provincial People's Congress on Wednesday.

In 2023, the province implemented a raft of measures to increase grain output, such as expanding cultivated areas, improving the quality of farmland and seeds, and promoting agricultural machinery.

The province developed nearly 8 million mu of high-standard cropland and 254,000 mu of arable land transformed from saline-alkali soil. The integrated mechanization rate for crop cultivation reached 94 percent, the government work report said.

Jilin Province plays a crucial role as one of China's significant commodity grain bases.

In 2024, the grain production of Jilin is expected to surpass 44 billion kg. It strives to develop all permanent basic cropland into high-standard cropland by 2027, it noted.

Image too large to upload. Check link for image FILE PHOTO: National flags are placed outside a room in Beijing, China, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — China, which once criticized and urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to “read more to develop a proper understanding” on the Taiwan issue, now said it appreciates the chief executive’s assurance that the Philippines adheres to the One China Policy.

“We appreciate President Marcos reiterating the Philippines adherence to the one-China policy, emphasizing Taiwan is a province of China and the Philippines not endorsing Taiwan independence,” said the China Embassy in Manila in a statement on Wednesday.

This, after Marcos made it clear that he only extended greetings to Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te “out of common courtesy.

The Department of Foreign Affairs previously explained that President Marcos’ controversial congratulatory message to Lai was only his way of thanking them for hosting nearly 200,000 Taiwan-based Filipino workers.

“Nevertheless, the Philippines reaffirms its One China Policy,” DFA told reporters then.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy on Wednesday said “there is but one China in the world” and that Taiwan “is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”

“The complete reunification of China is where global opinion trends and where the arc of history bends. China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable,” it added.