China

Reports of globalisation's death are premature, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo, the University of British Columbia and the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. "The potential economic cost of doing this is too high for the U.S., China, their allies, and the entire world. The breakdown of globalisation ultimately hurts consumers, which we are all experiencing too well. Globalisation is not over," said Dr Victor Cui, a professor at Waterloo's Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business.

The People's Bank of China said on its website that it has conducted 46 billion yuan (about 6.7 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2 per cent, Xinhua reported. The move is aimed at keeping liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, according to the central bank. A reverse repo is the process in which the central bank purchases securities.

It is the second largest contributor to the UN's coffers, sending $491 billion or 15.24 per cent of its annual budget, and an important contributor to other agencies. Beijing's 'One Bridge One Road' project has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into projects in scores of developing countries, in many cases clamping them into a debt trap.

China draws power from its central place in Asia's economic system. The United States draws its power from its military capability and unrivalled regional defence networks. Whether this uneasy cohabitation between unequal superpowers results in a settling point or outright conflict is an open question.

Mike Minihan's chilling memo spoke of a confluence of events for it -- the US and Taiwan distracted by the 2004 presidential elections -- giving China's President Xi Jinping a chance to move on the long-coveted island nation. Add to that, Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine based on claims not too different from China's on Taiwan, an outcome Beijing is closely watching.

Some analysts see the project as a disturbing expansion of Chinese power, and the United States has struggled to offer a competing vision, as per an article in the Council on Foreign Relations. The initiative has stoked opposition in some Belt and Road countries that have experienced debt crises, the article said. China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived.

Tentative first steps taken towards normalisation of ties from the stormy phase of Trump-triggered trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic, had led to the first in-person summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in Bali, which, in turn, was to be built upon with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's first visit to Beijing, for wide-ranging talks, including a meeting with the Chinese President.

An open letter titled "Suggestions on improving protection from vaccine-induced harm nationwide" called on the National Health Commission to investigate all cases of major health problems occurring after vaccination, and to call in independent and scientific investigators to probe their claims, RFA reported.

Asked by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez about State Department's efforts to push back against China's "systematic effort to subvert the ability of the United Nations human rights system", Sherman said that it was important for the United States to maintain representation at the organisation, RFA reported.

"We know the PRC (People's Republic of China) used these balloons for surveillance. High-resolution imagery from U-2 flybys revealed that the high-altitude balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations," CNN quoted the official as saying on Thursday. Signals intelligence refers to information that is gathered.