English news:
Washington imposes new restrictions on Chinese diplomats in US
"We’re simply demanding reciprocity"
--- Shocking! Truly shocking! With the mandate of heaven China obviously is above reciprocity. We demand respect!
"In addition to controls on university visits and meetings with officials, US authorities will have to give approval for all cultural events with an audience of more than 50 people hosted by Chinese diplomats"
--- Free movement for free people! Chinese in the US are free, so they should be allowed to do whatever they want. In China nobody is free, so obviously we can't just let foreign diplomats run around freely. Only logical.
US imposes new restrictions on Chinese diplomats
"we're taking further steps to ensure that all official PRC embassy and consular social media accounts are properly identified as government accounts, Chinese government accounts."
--- Shocking. Truly shocking. Chinese diplomats are simply simple people. Why should they identify as regime stooges?
"The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC condemned the new restrictions, claiming they were a violation of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations and Consular Relations"
--- Hmm, if China has similar restrictions, wouldn't that mean that China is in violation of the Vienna Conventions?
The US is standing firm with Taiwan, and it's making that point very clear
"To deter Chinese aggression, the US has to be transparent."
--- Well, the US should openly say that it would support Taiwan in case of Chinese invasion attempts. Ambiguity in this point is not a good idea with a power-hungry despot in power & hawkish generals who want to prove how tough they are.
"US intends to force China to 'fire first shot' over Taiwan"
--- Yes, if there is war, it will all be the US's fault. China will against its will be forced to invade Taiwan. No doubt about that.
"If military cooperation between the US and the island was discovered and poses real threats to the mainland and challenges the sovereignty of China, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will be forced to take effective action to eliminate that threat and may even realize reunification by force once and for all"
--- See?
Pentagon Releases Annual China Military Power Report
"The Pentagon assesses that China has likely considered additional military logistics facilities in Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan."
--- Not sure about Thailand, Singapore & Indonesia. They are quite wary of growing Chinese power as well. But in all of these countries it also depends on what the elites want & how they can achieve their aims vs. a not-so pro-Chinese public.
Meanwhile, 'Forbes' thinks that something important has been left out of the Pentagon's report: Guess What’s Missing From The Pentagon’s China Report—Taiwan’s Missiles
Premier League rights: China deal terminated with immediate effect
"PPTV withheld its latest payment of £160m, due in March
[...] PPTV feels the product is no longer worth what they initially agreed to pay"
--- Business with Chinese characteristics. "We have a contract? So what? We don't like that contract anymore, so we don't need to implement its conditions."
Hong Kong court acquits media mogul Jimmy Lai of intimidation
"prosecutors alleged Lai’s foul language towards the reporter during a confrontation, which was caught on video, amounted to intimidation"
--- Because said reporter worked for a pro-CCP outlet. Luckily, unlike the prosecution, there are still a number of independent judges in HK.
"the magistrate [...] found the reporter, who was granted anonymity by the court, was neither an honest nor reliable witness, and had been part of a special team assigned to follow public figures, including Lai"
[Tibetan soldier's death near tense India-China border sheds light on covert unit
The force recruits mostly from Tibetan refugees](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-china-tibet/tibetan-soldiers-death-near-tense-india-china-border-sheds-light-on-covert-unit-idUSKBN25T2JN)
"The force recruits mostly from Tibetan refugees"
--- Hurts the CCP particularly badly. Tibetans still fighting against them.
China offers bounty for Inner Mongolia protesters
"headshots of 129 people alongside the cash reward of 1,000 yuan (US$150) for leads were unveiled Wednesday as authorities looked to extinguish dissent.
They are all suspected of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”"
--- They openly criticised regime policy! This is equal to blasphemy!
"“A common national language is a symbol of a country’s sovereignty,”"
--- Hmm, so Switzerland, Belgium et al. are not sovereign countries?
China or US ? Philippines Foreign Policy Plays Both Sides
"The Philippines, an old U.S. ally and more recent friend of China, is awkwardly bouncing one superpower off the other"
--- For someone who doesn't know much about the Philippines it looks more like it's just Duterte who wants to get closer to China, but is held back by rather negative views on China by public & military.
Video News:
--- DW News: "Germany announces shift in approach to China relations2
Deutsche Nachrichten:
Herr Vystrcil ist ein Taiwaner
"ein Akt des Protests und, wenn man so will, des Widerstands gegen China, motiviert durch den Konflikt um die Städtepartnerschaft zwischen Prag und Peking"
--- Die KPCh kann es nunmal nicht ertragen, daß es in Demokratien unterschiedliche Standpunkte gibt. Die Scheißregierung soll gefälligst ihre Untertanen auf Linie bringen.
"Außenminister Tomas Petricek noch einmal betont: Man respektiere Pekings Doktrin vom einen China mit zwei Systemen"
--- Was zeigt, daß es auch in Tschechien noch zuviele naive Spinner in der Politik gibt. Wer jetzt noch nicht begriffen hat, daß diese "2 Systeme" nur eine Verschleierungstaktik waren, hat nicht richtig aufgepasst.
Deutschlands neuer China-Plan
"Berlin will seine Beziehungen diversifizieren, sich breiter aufstellen, weitere Freihandelsabkommen abschließen – auch um nicht mehr so abhängig von Peking zu sein"
--- Klingt vernünftig.
"Wir stärken dabei den Gedanken einer multipolaren Welt"
--- Da hat man Peking aber mißverstanden. Wenn Peking von einer multipolaren Welt redet, ist natürlich gemeint, daß alle Pole in China liegen.
Quarantäne mit Meerblick
"Von 1897 bis 1914 stand Qingdao unter deutscher Kolonialverwaltung. Die deutschen Greueltaten hat man indes bewusst verdrängt."
--- Deutsche Greueltaten gab es in China auch eher wenige.
"Für die Hotels sind die Quarantänegäste zwar eine gute Einnahmequelle – umgerechnet 1200 Euro zahlen die Deutschen für 14 Tage Vollpension"
--- Scheint auch ein relativ gutes Hotel gewesen zu sein. Da hatten sie Glück, daß es sich bei den Reisenden um relativ wichtige Ausländer (sonst wären sie auch gar nicht reingekommen) handelte.
Indien sperrt PUBG Mobile und 117 weitere Apps mit China-Verbindungen
"Diesmal handelt es sich um Apps wie den Mobilableger des Shooters Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), den Onlinemarktplatz Taobao und den Bezahldienst Alipay"
--- Vor allem bei den Mobilspielen dürfte es weh tun. Die bringen chinesischen Firmen viel Geld.