State Media Criticism of Trump’s ‘Addiction to Twitter Diplomacy’ Signals China’s Frustration

By Kristin Huang on January 4, 2017

China’s state media has lambasted Donald Trump for conducting foreign policy through Twitter, in a commentary reflecting Beijing’s frustration with the US president-elect’s unorthodox style of diplomacy after his tweets broached sensitive issues in Sino-US relations. State-run news agency Xinhua published the article, headlined “Addiction to Twitter diplomacy is unwise”, late on Tuesday night, hours after Trump’s tweet accusing China of refusing to help the United States contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Media, Politics, Technology
Donald Trump, Twitter, Diplomacy

China’s Largest Freshwater Lake Is Shrinking

By Dominique Mosbergen on January 4, 2017

China’s largest freshwater lake is under serious threat, and it seems no one can agree on how to save it. Poyang Lake can swell to over 1,700 square miles, an area larger than Rhode Island. But photographs released by China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency in November show it completely dry in parts, desiccated by drought. The website EcoWatch describes tourists walking “on large portions” of the parched lake, located in Jiangxi province. Photos show ships stranded on the exposed lakebed, while cattle graze on what is usually the lake floor.

 

Environment
Climate Change, Global Warming, Ministry of Environmental Protection

Obama Got Tough on China. It Cost U.S. Jobs and Raised Prices

By Patrick Gillespie on January 4, 2017

Protect American jobs by getting tough on China. That's the underlying idea behind President-elect Donald Trump's threat of a 45% tariff against China as a ploy to bring jobs back to America. Before pursuing that strategy, however, Trump might want to check out what happened when his predecessor tried that. President Obama slapped a stiff 35% tariff on Chinese tires in 2009 after American companies complained about unfair competition. They said China was flooding America with tires at low prices making it tough for U.S. companies to compete. The tire tariff gradually waned, and finally ended in 2012.

Business, Economy, Politics
Trade, Trade Deficit, Tariffs, Donald Trump

Uncertainty Over New Chinese Law Rattles Foreign Nonprofits

By Chris Buckley on January 4, 2017

The hotline rings, but nobody answers. China’s Ministry of Public Security opened the line last month to answer questions about the new law regulating foreign nonprofit organizations, which takes effect on Sunday. But this week and last, calls went unanswered, exemplifying the uncertainty that still surrounds the law, raising concern among thousands of nongovernmental organizations about their ability to continue their work in the new year. The law, which places a raft of new requirements on foreign nonprofits operating in China, is another building block in President Xi Jinping’s fortification of one-party rule, which he sees as threatened by foreign influence and unfettered civil society.

Politics, Society
NGOs, Regulation