We’ve recently updated our FAQ on the definition of a “temporary activity.” Though there is still no clear-cut definition, we’ve added additional detail from informed sources to help address questions about whether authorities are likely consider a particular event a “temporary activity.” This includes factors such as activity funding, publicity, and attendee affiliation. See the full FAQ here.
Anzetse Were is a Nairobi-based international development economist and newspaper columnist who is increasingly worried about a resurgence of autocratic rule in Africa. Buoyed by the United States’ apparent receding interest in promoting democratic and civil society values around the world, Africa’s authoritarian leaders are now seemingly taking comfort in their countries’ deepening ties with China.
In the early months of 1949, it became increasingly clear that Mao Zedong’s Communists would win the Chinese civil war. This presented U.S. President Harry S. Truman with an unappetizing set of choices. He could either acknowledge the Communist victory and forge a modus vivendi with Beijing, which was the approach favored by his ambitious Secretary of State, Dean Acheson.
China anticipates more conflict in the Middle East following the United States’ move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which in turn would disrupt its investment plans in the region, diplomatic observers said。
Four former Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT, +2.37%) engineers have been charged with attempting to steal chip designs from the semiconductor equipment company to sell to a Chinese startup.
Two American B-1B heavy bombers joined large-scale combat drills over South Korea on Thursday amid warnings from North Korea that the exercises and U.S. threats have made the outbreak of war “an established fact”.
Historical greenhouse-gas emissions data make clear that much of the burden of climate change lies with rich countries. The US, the UK, Germany, and others built their economies burning fossil fuels without thinking about the consequences.
Fears that China risks being the cause of a fresh global financial crisis have been highlighted by the International Monetary Fund in a hard-hitting warning about the growing debt-dependency of the world’s second biggest economy.
China clocked in GDP growth of 6.9% in the first three quarters of 2017, and is set to end the year at 6.8%. But Peking University finance professor Michael Pettis believes that the figure is no indication of the actual state of the Chinese economy.
In November, the non-profit watchdog Freedom House called China “the worst abuser of Internet freedom” of the 65 countries it surveyed. And yet, on December 3, Apple CEO Tim Cook keynoted China’s annual World Internet Conference. “The theme of this conference—developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits—is a vision we at Apple share,” Cook said—this not long after the California company, under pressure from Beijing, removed from their app store in China all Virtual Private Network, or VPN, products that allow iPhone users inside the country to leap the Great Firewall in an end-run around Internet censorship. Why do CEOs such as Cook, and Google’s Sundar Pichai, attend these types of events? What is the impact of their participation in and statements at these events likely to be? How much influence do these large companies have over China’s Internet regulation and what do they stand to gain or lose by publicly supporting Internet freedom?
