Biden imposes sanctions on Myanmar military leaders who directed coup

President Joe Biden announced he will sanction military leaders in Myanmar who directed the coup that deposed and detained its elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and others.
Biden also said the Myanmar’s “military must relinquish the power it seized” and release the coup’s prisoners.
“We will identify a first round of targets this week, and we’re also going to impose strong exports controls,” Biden said in announcing two new executive orders related to the sanctions.
Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won Myanmar’s democratic election in a landslide last fall. But generals behind the coup have claimed this election as fraudulent.

We will identify a first round of targets this week, and we’re also going to impose strong exports controls,” Biden said in announcing two new executive orders related to the sanctions.

Biden also said, “We’re freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.”

Biden says Pentagon to review strategy toward China

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the Pentagon would review its strategy toward China, looking at pivotal areas including intelligence, technology and Washington’s military footprint in the region.

Speaking during a visit to the Pentagon, Biden said Austin had briefed him on a new China task force that would look at the military’s strategy related to China.
 
Biden said China and issues related to it would require government agencies working together, along with bipartisan support in Congress and strong alliances.
 
“That’s how we’ll meet the China challenge,” Biden said, flanked by Austin and Vice President Kamala Harris.
 
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 15-member task force would be created at the Pentagon to review the strategy and present recommendations within four months.

Dems block Stefanik amendment barring funds to Confucius Institute partners after Biden nixes Trump rule

Possible Early Covid-19 Cases in China Emerge During WHO Mission
WHO team scrutinizing cases of 90 patients with coronavirus-like symptoms in October 2019, two months before Beijing acknowledged first infections

About 90 people were hospitalized with Covid-19-like symptoms in central China in the two months before the disease was first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, according to World Health Organization investigators, who said they pressed Beijing to allow further testing to determine whether the new virus was spreading earlier than previously known.
 
Chinese authorities performed antibody tests on about two-thirds of those patients in the past few months, according to the investigators, and said they found no trace of infection by the virus. But members of the WHO team probing the pandemic’s origins said any antibodies could have subsided to undetectable levels during the delay.
 
“Further studies are needed,” said Peter Ben Embarek, the food-safety scientist who led the WHO team, which wrapped up a four-week visit to China on Wednesday.
 
Team members said they urged China to conduct wider tests on blood samples collected in autumn 2019 around Hubei, the province that is home to Wuhan, to look for evidence about when the virus was first circulating. Chinese authorities said they hadn’t yet obtained necessary permissions to test samples, many of which are held in blood banks, WHO investigators said.

The European Union will step up appeals to the U.S. to align its foreign policy priorities with the bloc, arguing that a common western front would stand a better chance of forcing China to pursue fairer trade policies.
 
When the EU unveils its new trade strategy next week, it will concede that the U.S. had valid concerns when it blocked the World Trade Organization’s ability to rule on international disputes, and reform of the Geneva-based body should take those into consideration, according to a draft of the proposal seen by Bloomberg.
 
The EU is updating its trade priorities as it seeks to fundamentally alter its economy to meet new environmental and digital objectives, while also addressing growing inequalities caused by globalization. But the draft says one of the EU’s main goals will be to ensure that China commits to its international obligations.
 
“The rapid rise of China, demonstrating global ambitions and pursuing a distinct state-capitalist model, has fundamentally changed the global economic and political order,” according to the trade policy review. “This poses increasing challenges for the established global economic governance system.”

@guardian
 
China bans BBC World News after criticizing pandemic and Xinjiang coverage

BBC World News will no longer be allowed to air in China, according to a decision announced on Thursday by the country's broadcasting regulator.

China's State Film, TV and Radio Administration said BBC World News reports about China were found to "seriously violate" broadcast guidelines, including "the requirement that news should be truthful and fair" and not "harm China's national interests".
 
It said that the BBC's application to air for another year would not be accepted.
 
The BBC said in a statement: 'We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this course of action. The BBC is the world's most trusted international news broadcaster and reports on stories from around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or favour."
 
The commercially-funded BBC World News TV channel broadcasts globally in English. In China it is largely restricted and appears only in international hotels and some diplomatic compounds, meaning most Chinese people cannot view it.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent more than $10,000 of taxpayer money on China-made pens for attendees at private dinner parties he hosted, including CEOs, conservative media figures and Republican donors, according to State Department records.
 
The pens Pompeo handed out to his Madison Dinner guests cost an average of more than $26 apiece, according to the records, first reported Thursday by the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.