tirsdag 30. juni 2026
To Compete with China, US Must Win Next Generation Wireless
Mobile Artificial Intelligence is the next frontier of technological competition, and the ability to compete will depend largely on the strength of wireless networks and how effectively new 6G technologies are supported. A little-known secret in the tech world is the tight relationship between mid-band spectrum and global AI leadership. America’s technological advantage in AI depends on access to adequate spectrum, the invisible range of frequencies that carry wireless signals.
China’s AI Data Center Boom: How it Compares to the US
Since generative AI took off around 2022, the boom has opened a new front in the United States and China's race for technological supremacy.
More than 3,000 data centers have sprung up across all 50 states, with more than 1,400 others in various stages of development, according to Data Center Map, a Denmark-based commercial database. The thousands of specialized computer chips needed to process and store AI workloads consume enormous amounts of energy and require constant cooling to prevent overheating.
Residents and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about energy-intensive centers' impact on local power grids, water supplies and electricity costs, with 71 percent of respondents to a March Gallup poll opposed to data-center construction in their communities.
More than 3,000 data centers have sprung up across all 50 states, with more than 1,400 others in various stages of development, according to Data Center Map, a Denmark-based commercial database. The thousands of specialized computer chips needed to process and store AI workloads consume enormous amounts of energy and require constant cooling to prevent overheating.
Residents and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about energy-intensive centers' impact on local power grids, water supplies and electricity costs, with 71 percent of respondents to a March Gallup poll opposed to data-center construction in their communities.
China Hails Breakthrough in ‘Artificial Sun’ Project
China has achieved a major engineering milestone in its fusion energy program, marking a major step forward on what media has dubbed the "artificial sun" project.
Fusion generates energy by combining light atomic nuclei rather than splitting heavy atoms, the method used in conventional nuclear power plants. While the reaction occurs naturally in stars, reproducing it on Earth requires temperatures of over 180 million degrees Fahrenheit while containing the plasma with powerful magnetic fields, as no material structure can withstand direct contact with these temperatures.
Fusion generates energy by combining light atomic nuclei rather than splitting heavy atoms, the method used in conventional nuclear power plants. While the reaction occurs naturally in stars, reproducing it on Earth requires temperatures of over 180 million degrees Fahrenheit while containing the plasma with powerful magnetic fields, as no material structure can withstand direct contact with these temperatures.
EU gets tough on China as trade imbalance stokes deindustrialisation fears
As European Union trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic hosted Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels for talks on Monday, the Slovak diplomat was all smiles.
But behind the diplomatic niceties, Sefcovic’s message to China rang out loud and clear. Addressing the media after a marathon day of negotiations with Wang, Sefcovic may not have literally said “enough is enough,” but he hardly needed to. “China’s exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking,” Sefcovic said. “This trend is not sustainable. The status quo is not an option.”
For a long time, Europe was seen as the Transatlantic counterargument to United States President Donald Trump’s protectionism, defending free commerce and trade against a rising populist tide. That now feels like a distant memory.
But behind the diplomatic niceties, Sefcovic’s message to China rang out loud and clear. Addressing the media after a marathon day of negotiations with Wang, Sefcovic may not have literally said “enough is enough,” but he hardly needed to. “China’s exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking,” Sefcovic said. “This trend is not sustainable. The status quo is not an option.”
For a long time, Europe was seen as the Transatlantic counterargument to United States President Donald Trump’s protectionism, defending free commerce and trade against a rising populist tide. That now feels like a distant memory.
China’s New “Ethnic Unity” Law: Why Taiwan, Uyghurs, and Tibetans Are Alarmed
On March 12, 2026, China’s National People’s Congress adopted the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, a sweeping piece of legislation that takes effect July 1, 2026. The law codifies more than a decade of policy under Xi Jinping aimed at forging a single, Party-defined “Chinese national identity” out of the country’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups.
The statute represents the culmination of a policy shift dating back to the 2014 Central Ethnic Work Conference, in which Beijing moved away from the Soviet-derived framework of nominal ethnic autonomy and toward what scholars call “second-generation ethnic policies” – an assimilationist approach prioritizing a unified national identity over accommodation of ethnic difference. Provincial governments in places like Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia had already passed local “ethnic unity” regulations in 2015 and 2021 respectively; the new statute elevates this approach into national law.
The statute represents the culmination of a policy shift dating back to the 2014 Central Ethnic Work Conference, in which Beijing moved away from the Soviet-derived framework of nominal ethnic autonomy and toward what scholars call “second-generation ethnic policies” – an assimilationist approach prioritizing a unified national identity over accommodation of ethnic difference. Provincial governments in places like Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia had already passed local “ethnic unity” regulations in 2015 and 2021 respectively; the new statute elevates this approach into national law.
Nvidia flew to Beijing with Trump to sell but China said no
A month ago, the CEO of the world’s most valuable company boarded Air Force One in Alaska as a last-minute addition to President Trump’s Beijing delegation. Jensen Huang came to sell Nvidia’s H200 chips, just cleared for export by Washington. But Beijing said no.
It’s pushing Chinese firms to use Huawei and other domestic sources instead. Nvidia’s market share in China collapsed from 95% to essentially zero last year. The summit was framed as a negotiation over what China would buy from America: planes, soybeans, chips. The Huang episode reveals Beijing’s actual priority: technological independence, then supremacy. Trade, markets and profitability be damned.
As China reaches parity and even overtakes the West in more technologies, the direction of technology transfer is reversing. Early signs are already visible.
It’s pushing Chinese firms to use Huawei and other domestic sources instead. Nvidia’s market share in China collapsed from 95% to essentially zero last year. The summit was framed as a negotiation over what China would buy from America: planes, soybeans, chips. The Huang episode reveals Beijing’s actual priority: technological independence, then supremacy. Trade, markets and profitability be damned.
As China reaches parity and even overtakes the West in more technologies, the direction of technology transfer is reversing. Early signs are already visible.
China imposes export controls on 40 Japanese entities as tensions with Tokyo rise
China imposed new export controls Monday on 40 Japanese entities it says are contributing to the country’s “remilitarization,” as tensions with Tokyo rise. Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been increasingly tense since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year implied Japan could intervene if China used military force against Taiwan, an island democracy China claims as its own.
Meanwhile, Japan has accelerated its military expansion, especially by adding offensive capabilities, which Beijing has condemned. China’s Commerce Ministry on Monday placed 20 Japanese entities, including multiple divisions of Mitsubishi Corporation, on a control list, which prohibits Chinese and foreign exporters from selling to them dual-use items made in China. Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
Meanwhile, Japan has accelerated its military expansion, especially by adding offensive capabilities, which Beijing has condemned. China’s Commerce Ministry on Monday placed 20 Japanese entities, including multiple divisions of Mitsubishi Corporation, on a control list, which prohibits Chinese and foreign exporters from selling to them dual-use items made in China. Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
A Chinese dissident recounts his perilous dinghy escape to South Korea and how he got to Canada
A roughly 40-hour sea journey on a dinghy with a dying phone. Detention in South Korea. That’s just part of what Chinese dissident Dong Guangping endured to escape his native country. He arrived late last week in Canada, a destination he had eyed for more than a decade.
Dong had been locked up in China several times, including for his activities commemorating the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and past efforts to flee. “It’s like living in a cage. Very suffocating,” he said in an online video interview with The Associated Press from Toronto, referring to the lack of freedom of expression in China.
Dong had been locked up in China several times, including for his activities commemorating the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and past efforts to flee. “It’s like living in a cage. Very suffocating,” he said in an online video interview with The Associated Press from Toronto, referring to the lack of freedom of expression in China.
Self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui gets 30 years in US prison for fraud conviction
A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced Monday to 30 years in a U.S. prison for a massive financial fraud that a federal judge said cost over 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars.
Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a U.S.-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom packed with his supporters by Judge Analisa Torres. She said he “preyed on those seeking to bring Democracy to China,” taking their money so he could live lavishly.
Before he was sentenced, Guo protested his treatment in jail, saying he was taken to the hospital early Monday. He disputed a prosecutor’s portrayal of him as a malingerer faking illness, saying he repeatedly vomited as he was returned to jail before being brought to court.
Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a U.S.-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom packed with his supporters by Judge Analisa Torres. She said he “preyed on those seeking to bring Democracy to China,” taking their money so he could live lavishly.
Before he was sentenced, Guo protested his treatment in jail, saying he was taken to the hospital early Monday. He disputed a prosecutor’s portrayal of him as a malingerer faking illness, saying he repeatedly vomited as he was returned to jail before being brought to court.
lørdag 27. juni 2026
China’s AI Data Center Boom: How it Compares to the US
Since generative AI took off around 2022, the boom has opened a new front in the United States and China's race for technological supremacy. More than 3,000 data centers have sprung up across all 50 states, with more than 1,400 others in various stages of development, according to Data Center Map, a Denmark-based commercial database. The thousands of specialized computer chips needed to process and store AI workloads consume enormous amounts of energy and require constant cooling to prevent overheating.
Residents and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about energy-intensive centers' impact on local power grids, water supplies and electricity costs, with 71 percent of respondents to a March Gallup poll opposed to data-center construction in their communities.
Torbjørn Færøvik: EU er grundig lei av Kina
Utrolig, men sant: I årets første kvartal hadde EU et underskudd i varehandelen med Kina på 98 milliarder euro. Det er mer enn én milliard euro per dag.
«Situasjonen er ganske enkelt uholdbar», buldret Antonio Costa, president i Det europeiske råd, i forrige uke. EU-kommisjonens Ursula von der Leyen er ikke mindre oppbrakt og varsler en ny lov som kan tvinge selskaper til å spre sine innkjøp på flere land og leverandører.
Tanken er at selskaper i strategiske sektorer ikke skal legge nesten hele verdikjeden til Kina hvis varen er kritisk for Europa. Det kan gjelde sjeldne jordarter, permanente magneter, batterimaterialer, halvledere og forsvarsrelaterte deler som kan stoppe europeisk industri hvis Beijing strammer til.
«Situasjonen er ganske enkelt uholdbar», buldret Antonio Costa, president i Det europeiske råd, i forrige uke. EU-kommisjonens Ursula von der Leyen er ikke mindre oppbrakt og varsler en ny lov som kan tvinge selskaper til å spre sine innkjøp på flere land og leverandører.
Tanken er at selskaper i strategiske sektorer ikke skal legge nesten hele verdikjeden til Kina hvis varen er kritisk for Europa. Det kan gjelde sjeldne jordarter, permanente magneter, batterimaterialer, halvledere og forsvarsrelaterte deler som kan stoppe europeisk industri hvis Beijing strammer til.
Shen Lu: My Grandmother’s Hens
On a spring day in 1996, my aunt brought her city friends to our village for an outing. We lived deep in the mountains, dozens of miles from Hangzhou, where my aunt worked.
I was five and had lived in the village my entire life. I fantasized about living in the city. Not long before, I had learned the Chinese words gongren (workers) and nongmin (farmers) from a children’s magazine. I asked my mother which we were. My mother said we were farmers. Workers lived in the cities, and farmers worked in rice paddies in the countryside, she explained. “But I’m not farming,” I said. “Why am I a farmer?” I was puzzled.
It would take me a few more decades to grasp how China’s stratified hukou system worked against its majority rural population, depriving them of opportunity and mobility. I don’t remember how my mother addressed my question, but that conversation in the mid-1990s left an impression: Everything associated with the city was superior, and farmers lived a backward life.
I was five and had lived in the village my entire life. I fantasized about living in the city. Not long before, I had learned the Chinese words gongren (workers) and nongmin (farmers) from a children’s magazine. I asked my mother which we were. My mother said we were farmers. Workers lived in the cities, and farmers worked in rice paddies in the countryside, she explained. “But I’m not farming,” I said. “Why am I a farmer?” I was puzzled.
It would take me a few more decades to grasp how China’s stratified hukou system worked against its majority rural population, depriving them of opportunity and mobility. I don’t remember how my mother addressed my question, but that conversation in the mid-1990s left an impression: Everything associated with the city was superior, and farmers lived a backward life.
Japan needs more foreign workers, but many feel unwelcome
"I was shocked. It is too much to pay 100,000 yen to extend my visa every three years," said Srijana Sunar, a 29-year-old Nepali woman who has been working at factories in Japan since 2018. She earns 145,000 yen ($900/€790) per month.
In late May, the Japanese government enacted a bill raising the maximum fee for changing residency status or extending a period of stay tenfold from the current 10,000 yen to 100,000 yen by the end of March 2027. Srijana's husband, Spandan Sunar, who has worked in Japan since 2016 at a transportation company and a Japanese language school, told DW his long-term efforts have "not been rewarded" by Japanese society.
"We are not newcomers. We have proper visa status, we follow the rules and we pay taxes, but our freedom to choose jobs and working conditions is very limited," he said in fluent Japanese.
In late May, the Japanese government enacted a bill raising the maximum fee for changing residency status or extending a period of stay tenfold from the current 10,000 yen to 100,000 yen by the end of March 2027. Srijana's husband, Spandan Sunar, who has worked in Japan since 2016 at a transportation company and a Japanese language school, told DW his long-term efforts have "not been rewarded" by Japanese society.
"We are not newcomers. We have proper visa status, we follow the rules and we pay taxes, but our freedom to choose jobs and working conditions is very limited," he said in fluent Japanese.
DW honors Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai
Arriving in Hong Kong as a penniless 12-year-old stowaway from southern China, Jimmy Lai sought only freedom and a future. At the time, Lai could never have imagined how his life would become forever intertwined with this former British colony.
"I'll sink with the ship, because this place gives me everything," said Lai in an interview about Hong Kong with DW a few months before he was taken into custody in December 2020. He was one of the first high-profile figures to be targeted under a "national security law" imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing following a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Beijing had said the law would restore Hong Kong "from chaos to order" after demonstrations in 2019 opposing an extradition bill morphed into massive protests against Beijing encroaching on Hong Kong's civil liberties.
"I'll sink with the ship, because this place gives me everything," said Lai in an interview about Hong Kong with DW a few months before he was taken into custody in December 2020. He was one of the first high-profile figures to be targeted under a "national security law" imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing following a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Beijing had said the law would restore Hong Kong "from chaos to order" after demonstrations in 2019 opposing an extradition bill morphed into massive protests against Beijing encroaching on Hong Kong's civil liberties.
India braces for drought as El Nino looms
Gurpreet Singh, a paddy farmer in India's northern Punjab state, is among millions of farmers anxiously watching the progress of India's monsoon season, with this year's El Nino raising concerns for agriculture, food prices and water security.
El Nino happens when sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, altering rainfall patterns and weather systems across large parts of the world, including India. This year, forecasters have predicted a very strong El Nino, which has historically been associated with weaker monsoon rains in India.
A prolonged rainfall deficit during the "kharif," as the summer monsoon crop season is called, could force farmers to rely more heavily on irrigation, raising cultivation costs and increasing pressure on already-stressed groundwater reserves.
El Nino happens when sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, altering rainfall patterns and weather systems across large parts of the world, including India. This year, forecasters have predicted a very strong El Nino, which has historically been associated with weaker monsoon rains in India.
A prolonged rainfall deficit during the "kharif," as the summer monsoon crop season is called, could force farmers to rely more heavily on irrigation, raising cultivation costs and increasing pressure on already-stressed groundwater reserves.
fredag 26. juni 2026
Torbjørn Færøvik: The EU is thoroughly fed up with China
Incredible but true: In the first quarter of this year, the EU had a goods trade deficit with China of €98 billion. That is more than €1 billion a day.
“The situation is quite simply unsustainable,” thundered António Costa, president of the European Council, last week. Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission is no less indignant and has announced a new law that could force companies to spread their purchases across more countries and suppliers.
The idea is that companies in strategic sectors should not place almost their entire value chain in China if the product is critical to Europe. This could apply to rare earths, permanent magnets, battery materials, semiconductors and defence-related components that could bring European industry to a halt if Beijing tightens the screws.
“The situation is quite simply unsustainable,” thundered António Costa, president of the European Council, last week. Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission is no less indignant and has announced a new law that could force companies to spread their purchases across more countries and suppliers.
The idea is that companies in strategic sectors should not place almost their entire value chain in China if the product is critical to Europe. This could apply to rare earths, permanent magnets, battery materials, semiconductors and defence-related components that could bring European industry to a halt if Beijing tightens the screws.
China’s top military brass undergo 10-week Xi Jinping orientation
China’s top military brass, ranking from Major Generals upward, have just completed a 10-week schooling to become Xi Jinping complaint in their ideological outlook and loyalty. The unprecedented ideology training camp – studying President Xi Jinping’s speeches, reading corrupt cadres’ confessions and marching in formation – took place as the anti-corruption drive in the military deepened, reported the scmp.com Jun 25, citing People’s Liberation Army Daily, the Chinese military’s official newspaper, Jun 24.
The report said Xi personally decided to launch the exercise, which began on April 8, stressing in his opening ceremony speech, “leading officers, especially senior cadres, must take the lead in … building an atmosphere where people speak the truth, offer advice candidly and fight against wrongdoings.”
The report said Xi personally decided to launch the exercise, which began on April 8, stressing in his opening ceremony speech, “leading officers, especially senior cadres, must take the lead in … building an atmosphere where people speak the truth, offer advice candidly and fight against wrongdoings.”
More than 5,300 people still held in Myanmar scam centres: rights group
More than 5,300 people remain trapped in online scam centres in Myanmar near the Thai border, despite a multinational crackdown in the region last year, a human rights group says.
The Thai-based Civil Society Network for Human Trafficking Victim Assistance (CSNHTV) sent a letter to Thai police urging them to take action. It said many of those trapped were foreign nationals held at four locations inside areas controlled by the Myanmar Democratic Karen Buddhist Army militia.
According to the CSNHTV, an estimated 1,600 people trapped are Chinese nationals, and about 200 are people of Myanmar, along with people from the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. “Many of these compounds have yet to be dismantled or subjected to rescue operations to free all remaining victims,” it said.
The Thai-based Civil Society Network for Human Trafficking Victim Assistance (CSNHTV) sent a letter to Thai police urging them to take action. It said many of those trapped were foreign nationals held at four locations inside areas controlled by the Myanmar Democratic Karen Buddhist Army militia.
According to the CSNHTV, an estimated 1,600 people trapped are Chinese nationals, and about 200 are people of Myanmar, along with people from the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. “Many of these compounds have yet to be dismantled or subjected to rescue operations to free all remaining victims,” it said.
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