cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4332042

> Australia has described the outcome of a meeting between members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources as a "backwards step". > > Attendees said Russia and China vetoed all proposed measures, including one to renew existing krill management measures. > > Conservationists say member countries should regroup and figure out how to tackle Russia and China ahead of the next meeting in 2025.

UK-based company Space Solar is partnering with Reykjavik Energy and Icelandic sustainability initiative Transition Labs to develop a space-based solar power plant that can deliver about 30 megawatts of electricity – potentially enough to power between 1,500 and 3,000 homes – from 2030. The system will collect sunlight in space through solar panels and then transmit it as radio waves at a specific frequency to a ground station, where it will be converted to electricity for the grid.

The satellite is expected to be scalable and quite big. Even if a full version of their CASSIOPeiA power array is not built, we are talking about the heaviest single object in space that is not a space station, and when all the arrays are splayed out, much larger than the International Space Station.

The company aims to have a scaled-up version of the system in space by 2036, which would supply gigawatts of electricity.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4332042

> Australia has described the outcome of a meeting between members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources as a "backwards step". > > Attendees said Russia and China vetoed all proposed measures, including one to renew existing krill management measures. > > Conservationists say member countries should regroup and figure out how to tackle Russia and China ahead of the next meeting in 2025.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4332042

> Australia has described the outcome of a meeting between members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources as a "backwards step". > > Attendees said Russia and China vetoed all proposed measures, including one to renew existing krill management measures. > > Conservationists say member countries should regroup and figure out how to tackle Russia and China ahead of the next meeting in 2025.

In 2022, when China was still paralyzed by zero-COVID lockdowns, we published a note entitled “The Chosen Few,” which highlighted the growing concentration of European foreign direct investment (FDI) in China among a small number of firms, countries, and sectors. Two years on, we take a new look at EU investment in China, assessing what has changed since Beijing abandoned its strict pandemic-era curbs and opened to the world again.

• Completed EU greenfield investment in China rebounded over the past year to reach a record high of €3.6 billion in the second quarter of 2024. This surge came despite growing geopolitical and economic headwinds that led US and Japanese firms to pare back their investments in China. European M&A in China, by contrast, has slowed sharply over the past two years.
• To a greater extent than ever before, EU investments in China are being driven by Germany and its carmakers. German FDI made up 57% of total EU investments in China in the first half of 2024, 62% in 2023, and a record 71% in 2022. This was driven by auto-related FDI, which has accounted for roughly half of all EU investment in China since 2022.
• These investments are deepening the dependency of some of Germany’s largest companies on the Chinese market at a time when economic de-risking from China is a stated policy goal in Berlin and Brussels. As we saw in October, when the German government voted against EU duties on electric vehicle imports from China, these deepening ties can have a major influence on Germany’s policy toward China. This is likely to become a growing source of tension within the EU and between Europe and the United States.
• Several multi-billion-euro investments were announced in the first half of 2024, meaning that completed EU FDI levels are likely to remain high through the end of the year and into 2025. But these levels will probably come down in the years ahead. Much of the EU’s recent investment in China has been driven by a push to localize production, in part to insulate China operations from geopolitical tensions and trade barriers. Once this defensive capacity is built up, and in the absence of a more positive economic outlook, EU investment in China is likely to slow.

Australia has described the outcome of a meeting between members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources as a "backwards step".

Attendees said Russia and China vetoed all proposed measures, including one to renew existing krill management measures.

Conservationists say member countries should regroup and figure out how to tackle Russia and China ahead of the next meeting in 2025.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4327016

> Australia is reportedly set to boost its missile defence capabilities after the recent Chinese test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the South Pacific, which has raised "significant concerns" in Canberra as the Indo-Pacific region enters a "missile age". > > In a speech on Wednesday, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy was quoted as saying by international news agencies [...] that his country plans to increase its missile defence and long-range strike capabilities. Conroy added that Australia will cooperate with its security partners -- the United States (US), Japan, and South Korea -- on issues of regional stability. > > Why does Australia need more missiles? > > "Why do we need more missiles?," posing this question, Conroy answered before the National Press Club in Canberra that "strategic competition" between the US and China "is a primary feature of Australia's security environment". > > Conroy added that that competition is "at its sharpest in our region", the Indo-Pacific, which is on the cusp of a new missile age, where missiles will also serve as "tools of coercion". > > [...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4327016

> Australia is reportedly set to boost its missile defence capabilities after the recent Chinese test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the South Pacific, which has raised "significant concerns" in Canberra as the Indo-Pacific region enters a "missile age". > > In a speech on Wednesday, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy was quoted as saying by international news agencies [...] that his country plans to increase its missile defence and long-range strike capabilities. Conroy added that Australia will cooperate with its security partners -- the United States (US), Japan, and South Korea -- on issues of regional stability. > > Why does Australia need more missiles? > > "Why do we need more missiles?," posing this question, Conroy answered before the National Press Club in Canberra that "strategic competition" between the US and China "is a primary feature of Australia's security environment". > > Conroy added that that competition is "at its sharpest in our region", the Indo-Pacific, which is on the cusp of a new missile age, where missiles will also serve as "tools of coercion". > > [...]

Australia is reportedly set to boost its missile defence capabilities after the recent Chinese test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the South Pacific, which has raised "significant concerns" in Canberra as the Indo-Pacific region enters a "missile age".

In a speech on Wednesday, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy was quoted as saying by international news agencies [...] that his country plans to increase its missile defence and long-range strike capabilities. Conroy added that Australia will cooperate with its security partners -- the United States (US), Japan, and South Korea -- on issues of regional stability.

Why does Australia need more missiles?

"Why do we need more missiles?," posing this question, Conroy answered before the National Press Club in Canberra that "strategic competition" between the US and China "is a primary feature of Australia's security environment".

Conroy added that that competition is "at its sharpest in our region", the Indo-Pacific, which is on the cusp of a new missile age, where missiles will also serve as "tools of coercion".

[...]

Vor einem Jahr waren zu Halloween noch Tausende Menschen auf den Straßen. Mehrheitlich waren sie dort, um nach der Corona-Pandemie mal richtig zu feiern und sich zu verkleiden.

Es gab auch satirische und regierungskritische Kostüme. Zum Beispiel hatten sich auch Menschen als Corona-Helfer in weißen Schutzanzügen verkleidet, ein Symbol für Chinas strikte Null-Covid-Politik. Es gab vereinzelt Festnahmen. Kritik an der kommunistischen Regierung in China ist nicht erwünscht, genauso wenig wie Menschenansammlungen - Versammlungs- und Meinungsfreiheit gibt es in China nicht.

"Im vergangenen Jahr waren hier richtig viele Leute", erzählt Lü Lü. Sie arbeitet in einer Bar, direkt an einer der Straßenkreuzungen [in Shanghai], die im vergangenen Jahr von Menschenmassen überfüllt waren. "Aber dieses Jahr gibt es seit vergangenem Wochenende überall Polizei. Die Straßen sind mit Zäunen abgesperrt. Und manche Kostümierte wurden abgeführt."

[...]

Viele Kostümierte wurden nicht in die U-Bahn reingelassen. Am Ausgang war auch Polizei, manche mussten ihre Kostüme ausziehen oder ihr Make-Up entfernen. "Es ist strenger als im vergangenen Jahr," [sagt ein verhinderter Party-Teilnehmer].

[...]

Die Einschüchterung der Behörden hat in der Nacht funktioniert, die Straßen blieben weitgehend leer, und der Regen hat auch noch die letzten Feiernden vertrieben.

Lithuania’s incoming Social Democratic government will target defence spending of at least 3.5% of its gross domestic product, the party’s leader said on Monday.

The Baltic country of 2.9 million people which neighbours Russia will spend about 3% of GDP on its armed forces this year, according to NATO estimates, making it the military alliance’s sixth-biggest spender as a share of its economy.

Three-quarters of Lithuanians think Russia could attack their country in the near future, a Baltijos Tyrimai/ELTA opinion poll found in May, following its attack on Ukraine in 2022.

“Our election manifesto says that it should be not less than 3.5%, and this is unavoidable … security and defence will receive as much money as needed,” Social Democrat leader Vilija Blinkeviciute told reporters after her party’s landslide election victory on Sunday.

[Edit typo.}

The post-War order is meant to provide a check on the untrammelled power of the powerful, whether through military invasions or more subtle ways of bending the will of other countries—methods such as interference, coercion and malicious cyber intrusions.

Yet when asked recently how Australia would address China’s influence in the Pacific, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, ‘China’s doing what great powers do, and great powers try to lift their influence and expand their influence in the region that they wish.’

[...]

The type of influence China exercises is not something we can accept as simply ‘what great powers do’. It launched a cyber attack on the Pacific Islands Forum, spreads online disinformation in the Pacific to undermine democracies and weaken Pacific partnerships, sought security agreements that lack public transparency, and undertaken various other malicious activities—such as hybrid and grey zone operations.

And that’s just in the Pacific—China is carrying out this malicious activity globally, not to mention being the main supporter enabling Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Of course, other significant powers seek influence, but responsible nations don’t behave like this.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4321125

> Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullinawarned comments, made to a group of State Duma lawmakers, come a week after the Central Bank hiked its key rate to a record-high 21%, taking it even further than the emergency rate of 20% initially introduced after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. > > “With high inflation, economic growth cannot be sustainable,” the Central Bank head told Russian lawmakers. “It’s a dangerous illusion to think that increased inflation can be reliably kept within a certain zone.” > > “That’s why we’re not planning to take any shortcuts as we move toward our 4% target,” she added, defending the regulator’s tight monetary policy as an “inevitable reaction to what’s happening in the economy.” > > [...] > > Seasonally adjusted price growth in September rose to 9.8% year-on-year from 7.5% in August. Core inflation, meanwhile, increased to 9.1% from 7.7% over the same period. > > [...] > > Russia has faced volatile prices since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and strict countermeasures in a bid to stabilize the economy. So, too, has defense spending soared as Moscow ramps up arms production for the war in Ukraine. > > Russia’s draft budget for 2025, passed by lawmakers in its first reading last week, allocates around one-third of total state spending — or 6.3% of GDP — to the military, a figure unprecedented since the days of the Cold War. > > Given that so much of the current spending is driven by the state, which is less responsive to higher borrowing costs, analysts fear that raising interest rates may not be an effective measure against inflation. > > [...] > > Analysts have cautioned that Russia may be entering a period of “inflation without growth,” while also warning the economy is inching closer toward stagflation — when the economy grows slowly and prices shoot up.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4321125

> Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullinawarned comments, made to a group of State Duma lawmakers, come a week after the Central Bank hiked its key rate to a record-high 21%, taking it even further than the emergency rate of 20% initially introduced after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. > > “With high inflation, economic growth cannot be sustainable,” the Central Bank head told Russian lawmakers. “It’s a dangerous illusion to think that increased inflation can be reliably kept within a certain zone.” > > “That’s why we’re not planning to take any shortcuts as we move toward our 4% target,” she added, defending the regulator’s tight monetary policy as an “inevitable reaction to what’s happening in the economy.” > > [...] > > Seasonally adjusted price growth in September rose to 9.8% year-on-year from 7.5% in August. Core inflation, meanwhile, increased to 9.1% from 7.7% over the same period. > > [...] > > Russia has faced volatile prices since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and strict countermeasures in a bid to stabilize the economy. So, too, has defense spending soared as Moscow ramps up arms production for the war in Ukraine. > > Russia’s draft budget for 2025, passed by lawmakers in its first reading last week, allocates around one-third of total state spending — or 6.3% of GDP — to the military, a figure unprecedented since the days of the Cold War. > > Given that so much of the current spending is driven by the state, which is less responsive to higher borrowing costs, analysts fear that raising interest rates may not be an effective measure against inflation. > > [...] > > Analysts have cautioned that Russia may be entering a period of “inflation without growth,” while also warning the economy is inching closer toward stagflation — when the economy grows slowly and prices shoot up.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4320639

> - Chinese citizens' seemingly popular attitudes toward their government as party propaganda gained in direct surveys -and covered by China Central Television, Xinhua, China Global Television Network, China Dailyand other state-controlled outlets- provide a false narrative as survey respondents conceal their opposition to the regime due to the threat of repression. > - Deeper analyses find that Chinese citizens are far more fearful of expressing opposition to the regime under its leader Xi Jinping than in other autocracies, suggesting that observers should be sceptical about public opinion surveys in China that rely on direct questioning. > - The [Chinese Communist Party] CCP’s sprawling internal security apparatus compels citizens to engage in widespread self-censorship, at a rate nearly three times higher than in Vladamir Putin’s Russia. > - Researcher say the CCP confronts widespread frustration. Its recent policies, including the increase in repression and sabre-rattling over Taiwan, should be seen as an effort to contain this frustration. > > [Edit typo.]

Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullinawarned comments, made to a group of State Duma lawmakers, come a week after the Central Bank hiked its key rate to a record-high 21%, taking it even further than the emergency rate of 20% initially introduced after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“With high inflation, economic growth cannot be sustainable,” the Central Bank head told Russian lawmakers. “It’s a dangerous illusion to think that increased inflation can be reliably kept within a certain zone.”

“That’s why we’re not planning to take any shortcuts as we move toward our 4% target,” she added, defending the regulator’s tight monetary policy as an “inevitable reaction to what’s happening in the economy.”

[...]

Seasonally adjusted price growth in September rose to 9.8% year-on-year from 7.5% in August. Core inflation, meanwhile, increased to 9.1% from 7.7% over the same period.

[...]

Russia has faced volatile prices since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and strict countermeasures in a bid to stabilize the economy. So, too, has defense spending soared as Moscow ramps up arms production for the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s draft budget for 2025, passed by lawmakers in its first reading last week, allocates around one-third of total state spending — or 6.3% of GDP — to the military, a figure unprecedented since the days of the Cold War.

Given that so much of the current spending is driven by the state, which is less responsive to higher borrowing costs, analysts fear that raising interest rates may not be an effective measure against inflation.

[...]

Analysts have cautioned that Russia may be entering a period of “inflation without growth,” while also warning the economy is inching closer toward stagflation — when the economy grows slowly and prices shoot up.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4320639

> - Chinese citizens' seemingly popular attitudes toward their government as party propaganda gained in direct surveys -and covered by China Central Television, Xinhua, China Global Television Network, China Dailyand other state-controlled outlets- provide a false narrative as survey respondents conceal their opposition to the regime due to the threat of repression. > - Deeper analyses find that Chinese citizens are far more fearful of expressing opposition to the regime under its leader Xi Jinping than in other autocracies, suggesting that observers should be sceptical about public opinion surveys in China that rely on direct questioning. > - The [Chinese Communist Party] CCP’s sprawling internal security apparatus compels citizens to engage in widespread self-censorship, at a rate nearly three times higher than in Vladamir Putin’s Russia. > - Researcher say the CCP confronts widespread frustration. Its recent policies, including the increase in repression and sabre-rattling over Taiwan, should be seen as an effort to contain this frustration. > > [Edit typo.]

• Chinese citizens' seemingly popular attitudes toward their government as party propaganda gained in direct surveys -and covered by China Central Television, Xinhua, China Global Television Network, China Dailyand other state-controlled outlets- provide a false narrative as survey respondents conceal their opposition to the regime due to the threat of repression.
• Deeper analyses find that Chinese citizens are far more fearful of expressing opposition to the regime under its leader Xi Jinping than in other autocracies, suggesting that observers should be sceptical about public opinion surveys in China that rely on direct questioning.
• The [Chinese Communist Party] CCP’s sprawling internal security apparatus compels citizens to engage in widespread self-censorship, at a rate nearly three times higher than in Vladamir Putin’s Russia.
• Researcher say the CCP confronts widespread frustration. Its recent policies, including the increase in repression and sabre-rattling over Taiwan, should be seen as an effort to contain this frustration.

[Edit typo.]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4295120

> China is trying to silence Dutch journalists in China as well as Chinese dissidents in the Netherlands, researchers at the Leiden University have discovered. > > The methods employed vary from “spreading propaganda and misinformation, to far-reaching intimidation of journalists and their sources, personally targeted smear campaigns, cyber infiltration, and identity fraud: in the Netherlands, Europe and worldwide." The researchers said this is a worrying development. > > [...] > > This inquiry was prompted by a story written by journalist Marije Vlaskamp of the Volkskrant, who reported that unknown individuals were filing bomb threats under her name. She had received a message on Telegram in which someone demanded she take an article criticizing China offline. > > According to researchers from Leiden University, China is focused on “a war of attrition on critical voices on China, so that they become less active, get phased out, or give up completely.” This has affected Dutch correspondents in China but also Chinese people in the Netherlands who support the opposition in Hong Kong, LGBTI people, Tibetans, and supporters of the Uyghurs. > > They have to deal with “intimidation tactics that are common in China” and therefore apply "self-censorship and self-surveillance as standard.” The researchers note that China primarily employs subtle pressure tactics pinpricks that only those with extensive background knowledge can fully understand > > One example noted that intermediaries are sometimes used to approach critics. They are able to make it clear to those targeted that they are being watched and that private information about them has been obtained.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4295120

> China is trying to silence Dutch journalists in China as well as Chinese dissidents in the Netherlands, researchers at the Leiden University have discovered. > > The methods employed vary from “spreading propaganda and misinformation, to far-reaching intimidation of journalists and their sources, personally targeted smear campaigns, cyber infiltration, and identity fraud: in the Netherlands, Europe and worldwide." The researchers said this is a worrying development. > > [...] > > This inquiry was prompted by a story written by journalist Marije Vlaskamp of the Volkskrant, who reported that unknown individuals were filing bomb threats under her name. She had received a message on Telegram in which someone demanded she take an article criticizing China offline. > > According to researchers from Leiden University, China is focused on “a war of attrition on critical voices on China, so that they become less active, get phased out, or give up completely.” This has affected Dutch correspondents in China but also Chinese people in the Netherlands who support the opposition in Hong Kong, LGBTI people, Tibetans, and supporters of the Uyghurs. > > They have to deal with “intimidation tactics that are common in China” and therefore apply "self-censorship and self-surveillance as standard.” The researchers note that China primarily employs subtle pressure tactics pinpricks that only those with extensive background knowledge can fully understand > > One example noted that intermediaries are sometimes used to approach critics. They are able to make it clear to those targeted that they are being watched and that private information about them has been obtained.