Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.
As Beijing’s political elites have been holidaying and strategising on their annual seaside retreat to Beidaihe, Chinese robot factories have been churning out humanoids and other robotics faster than you can say ‘I’ll be back.’ At the same time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is trying to keep up with all the new products it aims to ban from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with the capacity to be remotely controlled by their manufacturing country, which includes robots, power inverters, and a plethora of other goods.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Japan published its Defence White Paper, which made the case for its military build-up and described the PRC as a ‘challenge’ to the international world order. Military experts expect policymakers in Tokyo to call for further increases in defence spending, aimed primarily at deterring the PRC from starting a conflict over Taiwan, which could implicate Japan into a long-term war. Beijing had a lot to say about this.
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