Red Lanterns

New supply chain regulations adopted by the United States and the European Union are forcing many companies to take a stand on the issue of Uyghur exploitation. The German automaker sold its controversial Urumqi plant "for economic reasons", but it is still renewing its business plans in China. The Japanese clothing brand says that it does not use cotton from Xinjiang.

Shanghai-based SpaceSail wants to reach remote areas of Brazil in the coming years thanks to an alternative to Starlink. The South American country currently relies on Elon Musk's company, but the latter has recently faced off the country’s Supreme Court.

Xi’s tour of the region began yesterday. One stop included the virtual inauguration of Chancay Port, a key trade hub between China and the region. His aim is to boost cooperation and multilateralism. Donald Trump's return to the White House is a challenge for the future.

A state research institute in Guangzhou is working on integrated offshore power plants based on the combined use of wave, wind and solar energy to create self-sufficient communities of up to a thousand people. The goal is to boost China’s presence on the artificial islands it created, and boost its claims to the sea, which are challenged by other countries in Southeast Asia.

Trump shows a more aggressive and isolationist approach, Harris is more prudent and inclined to stability. Towards Beijing, a desire to protect national interests prevails on the US side. Over the years, China has softened the tone of ‘wolf-warrior diplomacy’. And it is looking ahead to the 5 November vote without officially exposing itself, although it seems to be betting on the Democratic candidate.

Using satellite images, a recent report shows 20 new Chinese settlements with about 7,000 residents in Bhutanese territory. For experts, China’s strategy began in the 1990s and is aimed at India, becoming more aggressive in recent years. In the last year alone, seven new villages have been built in strategically important areas at around 4,000 metres above sea level.

In villages still dominated by householders, women who marry an ‘outsider’ lose access to local services and compensation for expropriated collective land. With increasing levels of education and greater social connections, more and more of them are taking these kinds of disputes to court. But the road to their protection remains an uphill one.

Priests from Fujian travelled to the province of repressions against the Uyghurs to ‘educate the patriotic spirit’ and ‘grow in the path of Sinicisation’. They were led by Bishop Vincenzo Zhan Silu, one of the two Chinese bishops who will participate in the Synod. Tourism promoted as the Party's preferred path to cover up the detention of figures like Ilham Tothi and other human rights violations.

A recent study found that almost half of all cancers diagnosed between 2007 and 2021 are linked to being overweight. Due to socio-cultural changes, more and more young people are obese. The Beijing government has launched a strategic plan to avoid exorbitant economic expenditure.

On social media, Geng He appeals to the US government and the international community for news of her husband, a Christian lawyer and activist. She is not asking for his release, but wants to know about his fate. Five members of the Shengjia Church in Shunde are on trial on spurious charges of "illegal business operations", a generic term used to persecute believers.

The editor-in-chief of AsiaNews recounts his trip back to the Chinese capital, which he had to forcibly leave in 2011 when his visa was cancelled in one of the moments of friction between China and the Holy See. The tale of "a great modern metropolis which, like it or not, shares the uncertainty of a generation struggling to survive with many other cities in the world. A social and existential emergency that transcends the boundaries of political systems and ideologies".

For years, China has been focusing on “minor” sports to get as many gold medals as possible. In Tokyo it won 38 against 39 for the United States. Most successes came in only six sports and mainly by women. This strategy is still pursued today in a highly centralised system with doping casting its long shadow.