China unloads Australian coal despite import ban amid power shortage

Australia warns China against ‘threat or use of force’ following Taiwan air incursions

French senators to visit Taiwan amid soaring China tensions

China's Xi instructs army to increase military pressure near Taiwan

Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the country's army to increase military pressure in the southwestern region of Taiwan, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
 
Xi's instruction came at a recent meeting of the Central Military Commission, China's highest military authority, after six democratic nations including the United States and Japan carried out joint military drills near Taiwan earlier this month involving three aircraft carriers.

Fantasia, another debt-laden Chinese property developer, defaults on US$205 million bond, as Evergrande crisis rolls on
 
The missed payment on Monday will add to fears about the financial health of the Chinese property sector
Earlier on Monday, Fitch Ratings downgraded Fantasia’s long-term foreign currency issuer rating to ‘CCC’ from ‘B’, citing the risk of default

CCP channel reposts video threatening to nuke Japan if it defends Taiwan
A video reposted by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee in northeastern China on Sunday (July 11) threatens to "continuously use nuclear bombs" against Japan if it attempts to interfere with a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
 
On Sunday, the Baoji Municipal Committee of the CCP reposted a video to the YouTube-like platform Xigua. In the 5-minute video, created by military commentary channel "Liujun Taolue" (六军韬略), the narrator calls for nuclear attacks against Japan if it attempts to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack, and also proposes a "Japan Exception Theory."
 
The video starts by saying that if Japan "dares to intervene with force" when China "liberates" Taiwan, the communist country will respond with an all-out war against Japan. It said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will strike first with nuclear bombs and continue to use them until Japan surrenders unconditionally "for the second time."
 
After boasting about 60 years of nuclear arms development, the narrator announces that "we solemnly put forward the 'Japan Exception Theory,'" apparently suggesting that Japan become the exception to the "no first use" (NFU) nuclear warfare policy that China declared in 1964.
 
The narrator then gives a history lesson about atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers against the Chinese during the two Sino-Japanese wars and warns that if a third such war breaks out, the Chinese people will "take revenge for both old and new scores." It points out that Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack, therefore, unleashing nuclear weapons upon Japan "will yield twice the result with half the effort."
 
In the second video, the narrator focuses on the numerical superiority and fighting will of PLA forces compared to their Japanese opponents. The video also claims that after Japan is defeated, China will break up its four main islands into independent countries under the "supervision" of China and Russia, which will both establish military garrisons there.

Covid ‘was spreading virulently in Wuhan’ as early as summer 2019, report suggests

Exclusive: Research claims to have uncovered ‘notable, significant and abnormal’ purchases of PCR lab equipment in second half of the year

A new report claims to have uncovered "notable, significant and abnormal" purchases of PCR lab equipment in the second half of that year.

Analysts trawled through PCR procurement contracts in Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and found spending had almost doubled on the previous year.

The study by Internet 2.0, a cyber security consultancy that specialises in examining data from China, says: "We have come to the conclusion that, based on the data analysed, it suggests the virus was highly likely to be spreading virulently in Wuhan, China, as early as the summer of 2019 and definitely by the autumn."

The data and findings have been passed to US government officials amid growing speculation that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan and its existence was covered up for months.

But the new report claims spending on PCR equipment – standard kit in laboratories for amplifying small amounts of DNA and critical in tracking Covid – in Hubei Province increased to £7.8 million in 2019 from £4 million the year before and £3.3m in 2017.

The total 2019 contract value, according to Internet 2.0, was higher than the previous two years put together. The report also found the number of PCR contracts increased from 89 in 2018 to 135.

China PCR Purchases Spiked in Months Before First Known Covid Cases, Firm Says

China's PCR test kit orders spiked months before it raised COVID-19 alarm, says report

Spending on PCR tests in China soared months before first COVID-19 cases revealed: report

China PCR test orders soared before first confirmed COVID case

US suspends shipping of nuclear materials to China’s CGN amid arms build-up concerns
 
The order covers radioactive materials and deuterium for China’s largest state-owned nuclear company, its subsidiaries and related entities
CGN was placed on a US blacklist in August 2019 for allegedly making efforts to acquire advanced US technology and material for diversion to military uses

“We will use the full range of tools we have and develop new tools as needed to defend American economic interests from harmful policies and practices,” Ms. Tai said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Taking questions after her speech, Ms. Tai said the U.S. wouldn’t take any specific new actions until after she has talked with her Chinese counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

@billbirtles
A random Weibo user has posted a video supposedly of a Chinese crew loading up a bulk carrier with coal in Australia… destined for Vietnam for 2 days… and then to be taken to China: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4688527205598568

Biden says he and China's Xi agree to abide by Taiwan agreement

"J'ai discuté avec Xi de Taïwan. Nous sommes d'accord (...) nous respecterons l'accord de Taïwan", a déclaré mardi soir Joe Biden. "Nous avons affirmé clairement que je ne pense pas qu'il devrait faire autre chose que de respecter l'accord."
 
L'accord de Taïwan évoqué par le président américain semble faire référence à la reconnaissance par Washington de Pékin comme seul représentant officiel de la Chine, Taïwan étant seulement l'une de ses provinces. Cela suppose que les Etats-Unis ne peuvent établir des relations diplomatiques avec Taïwan alors que Washington est un important partenaire de Taipei et lui fournit notamment des armes.

Biden says he and China's Xi agree to abide by Taiwan agreement

L’hypothèse de la coïncidence n’est néanmoins pas totalement à exclure. Le journal britannique interroge Amesh Adalja, chercheur principal au centre Johns-Hopkins, une référence dans le suivi de la pandémie, qui ne juge pas si surprenant cette augmentation des achats de réactifs pour tests PCR, « puisque c’est devenu une méthode de choix pour la détection de pathogènes » en tous genres, même avant la pandémie de Covid-19.

First Japan-UK submarine warfare exercise held with China in its sights
First-of-its kind joint exercise in Japanese waters saw two nations put each other’s navies through their paces in service of a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’
Japan’s experience of tracking Soviet vessels during Cold War helps it monitor ‘threat posed by China’s growing submarine capabilities’, an analyst said