Xi Jinping used the annual legislative session to lock in his tenure as president and reinforce China’s assertive foreign policy and the reemergence of its economy.

Article by Ian Johnson

March 17, 2023 4:05 pm (EST)

This month saw the Chinese rite of spring known as the lianghui, or “two sessions”: the annual meetings of the national advisory committee and the country’s parliament. Neither body holds much power, and it’s easy to write the whole exercise off as empty theater. Yet, public rituals are meant to deliver messages, and this year’s lianghui offered two important points: President Xi Jinping and his muscular foreign policy are here to stay, and China is back open for business after three years of fighting COVID-19—even if its return to growth is bolstered through unsustainable deficit spending.

SÁNG ÁNH 25/03/2023 13:32 GMT+7

TTCT – Saudi Arabia làm lành với Iran mở ra hy vọng về một Trung Đông bớt đi những tang thương bom đạn.

4 h sáng 14-9-2019, quân Houthi (thân Iran) từ Yemen bắn qua Saudi 25 máy bay không người lái, có lẽ giá thành là 15.000 USD một chiếc, tức tổng trị giá 375.000 USD. 19 chiếc trúng đích là khu Nhà máy dầu Abqaiq-Khurais, làm tê liệt sản xuất trong hai tuần. 

Khu nhà máy này chiếm 1/2 sản xuất dầu của Saudi (mà dầu của Saudi thì chiếm 5% của thế giới) – khoảng 5,7 triệu thùng/ngày.

Cuộc tấn công khiến Saudi mất 365 triệu đô la một ngày với giá dầu lúc đó là 64 USD/thùng. Tuy dần dà cũng khắc phục được, thị trường chứng khoán Saudi mất ngay 40 tỉ USD. 

Continue reading Saudi Arabia và Iran: Bán anh em xa… →

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN

Updated 5:12 PM EDT, Thu March 23, 2023

03:15New YorkCNN — 

In his first appearance before Congress on Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled by lawmakers who expressed deep skepticism about his company’s attempts to protect US user data and ease concerns about its ties to China.

It was a rare chance for the public to hear from the Chew, who offers very few interviews. Yet his company’s app is among the most popular in America, with more than 150 million active users.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Thursday’s hearing.

Washington has already made up its mind about TikTok

The hearing, which lasted for more than five hours, kicked off with calls from a lawmaker to ban the app in the United States and remained combative throughout. It offered a vivid display of the bipartisan push to crack down on the popular short-form video app and the company’s uphill battle to improve relations with Washington.

Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, opened Thursday’s hearing by telling Shou: “Your platform should be banned.”

The US government is once again threatening to ban TikTok. What you should know

Chew used his testimony to stress TikTok’s independence from China and play up its US ties. “TikTok itself is not available in mainland China, we’re headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we have 7,000 employees in the U.S. today,” he said in his opening remarks.

“Still, we have heard important concerns about the potential for unwanted foreign access to US data and potential manipulation of the TikTok US ecosystem,” Chew said. “Our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns. We have addressed them with real action.”