NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Thursday / December 9
Xinjiang law
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill 428 - 1 to ban all imports from China's Xinjiang region unless the US government determines that products are not made by forced labor.
In the nominally autonomous region of Xinjiang, where the Chinese Communist Party government has been conducting a campaign of mass detention, forced labor, forced sterilization, targeting the Uyghur people due their ethnic identities and religious beliefs.
The Biden administration warned earlier this year that businesses with supply chains and investments in Xinjiang pose a "high risk" of violating US laws regarding forced labor
.
The bill also requires the US President to impose sanctions on foreign organizations and individuals who "knowingly" facilitate the forced labor of Uighurs and other oppressed minorities.
The bill requires the U.S. State Department to determine whether China's treatment of Muslim minorities constitutes a crime against humanity or genocide and to establishe strategies to address it.
Xinjiang-origin products are deeply integrated into lucrative global supply chains, according to the American news site Axios. Nike and Coca-Cola were among the companies lobbying against the bill.
Sincan also supplies approximately 50% of the world's production of polysilicon, a raw material used in the production of solar panels.
China CPI
China's official consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.3 percent in November compared to the previous year, while the producer price index (PPI) increased by 12.9 percent.
Data released on Thursday showed consumer prices in China rose only last month, but factory gate inflation eased.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the official consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.3 percent in November compared to the previous year, up from 1.5 percent in October.
This figure fell short of the analysts' expectations of a Bloomberg survey, which predicted it would rise to 2.5 percent.
Beijing Boycott
Canada joined Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States in support of the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Wednesday.
Weeks after the Biden-Xi summit aimed at softening strained relations between the world's two largest economies, the United States was the first to announce a boycott this week, saying it would not attend February's Beijing Olympics diplomatically citing China's human rights.
China has described the boycotts as a smear campaign.
US and Israeli military plans
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, on Thursday.
Austin and Gantz are expected to discuss possible worst-case military exercises to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails and their country's leaders demand it, a senior US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
But US and European officials said last week's Vienna talks on Iran's new government's sweeping demands have raised suspicions in the West that Iran is playing against time in advancing its nuclear program.
Biden's comments on Ukraine
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday it was "not on the table" to land American troops in Ukraine to deter a possible Russian invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would send a delegation to Washington in a week to follow up on Tuesday's meeting with Biden about the Ukraine crisis.
Biden said he hoped there would be an announcement of high-level talks with Russia and its key NATO allies to discuss Moscow's "concerns about NATO and the possibility of lowering the temperature along the eastern front."
Biden stated that the United States has a moral and legal obligation to defend its NATO allies if attacked, but this obligation did not extend to Ukraine.
Biden said he made it clear to Putin that there would be unprecedented economic consequences if Russia invaded Ukraine, and that he was confident Putin got the message.
US stocks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.32 points, or 0.1%, to 35,754.75, rising towards the end of Wednesday's trading day. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 4,701.21, closing 0.9% of its record.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 15,786.99.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill 428 - 1 to ban all imports from China's Xinjiang region unless the US government determines that products are not made by forced labor.
In the nominally autonomous region of Xinjiang, where the Chinese Communist Party government has been conducting a campaign of mass detention, forced labor, forced sterilization, targeting the Uyghur people due their ethnic identities and religious beliefs.
The Biden administration warned earlier this year that businesses with supply chains and investments in Xinjiang pose a "high risk" of violating US laws regarding forced labor
.
The bill also requires the US President to impose sanctions on foreign organizations and individuals who "knowingly" facilitate the forced labor of Uighurs and other oppressed minorities.
The bill requires the U.S. State Department to determine whether China's treatment of Muslim minorities constitutes a crime against humanity or genocide and to establishe strategies to address it.
Xinjiang-origin products are deeply integrated into lucrative global supply chains, according to the American news site Axios. Nike and Coca-Cola were among the companies lobbying against the bill.
Sincan also supplies approximately 50% of the world's production of polysilicon, a raw material used in the production of solar panels.
China CPI
China's official consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.3 percent in November compared to the previous year, while the producer price index (PPI) increased by 12.9 percent.
Data released on Thursday showed consumer prices in China rose only last month, but factory gate inflation eased.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the official consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.3 percent in November compared to the previous year, up from 1.5 percent in October.
This figure fell short of the analysts' expectations of a Bloomberg survey, which predicted it would rise to 2.5 percent.
Beijing Boycott
Canada joined Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States in support of the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Wednesday.
Weeks after the Biden-Xi summit aimed at softening strained relations between the world's two largest economies, the United States was the first to announce a boycott this week, saying it would not attend February's Beijing Olympics diplomatically citing China's human rights.
China has described the boycotts as a smear campaign.
US and Israeli military plans
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, on Thursday.
Austin and Gantz are expected to discuss possible worst-case military exercises to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails and their country's leaders demand it, a senior US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
But US and European officials said last week's Vienna talks on Iran's new government's sweeping demands have raised suspicions in the West that Iran is playing against time in advancing its nuclear program.
Biden's comments on Ukraine
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday it was "not on the table" to land American troops in Ukraine to deter a possible Russian invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would send a delegation to Washington in a week to follow up on Tuesday's meeting with Biden about the Ukraine crisis.
Biden said he hoped there would be an announcement of high-level talks with Russia and its key NATO allies to discuss Moscow's "concerns about NATO and the possibility of lowering the temperature along the eastern front."
Biden stated that the United States has a moral and legal obligation to defend its NATO allies if attacked, but this obligation did not extend to Ukraine.
Biden said he made it clear to Putin that there would be unprecedented economic consequences if Russia invaded Ukraine, and that he was confident Putin got the message.
US stocks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.32 points, or 0.1%, to 35,754.75, rising towards the end of Wednesday's trading day. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 4,701.21, closing 0.9% of its record.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 15,786.99.
