25-Oct-2021 Kusu News

20-Oct-2021 BBC

With her reassuring smile, Chinese blogger Guyanmuchan cuts a friendly figure on Weibo.

The young woman commands a devoted following of 6.4 million fans on China's Twitter-like platform, where she posts hot takes and videos on current affairs.

But the cute aesthetics of her brand - her page features a dreamy picture of a girl posing in the woods - belie her often acidic tone.

The European Union is "on a dog leash" to America, according to a recent post. Rising Covid rates in the US state of Texas was evidence of "civil war" where "Americans are currently killing one another with biological warfare", said another.

Guyanmuchan is among a new crop of bloggers known as the "ziganwu", whose rise in fame on Chinese social media has been inextricably linked with the ascendancy of Chinese nationalism.

Their name refers to the infamous "wumao" army of trolls who are paid to spread state propaganda - but the difference is that the "ziganwu" do it for free.

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Biden says US will defend Taiwan if China attacks

22-Oct-2021 BBC

President Joe Biden said the US would defend Taiwan if China attacked, in an apparent departure from a long-held US foreign policy position.

But a White House spokesman later told some US media outlets that his remarks did not signify a change in policy.

The US has a law which requires it to help Taiwan defend itself.

But it pursues a policy of "strategic ambiguity," where it is deliberately vague about what it would actually do if China were to attack Taiwan.

China has yet to respond to Mr Biden's comments.

Biden’s Nominee for Singapore Ambassador Pledges to Bolster Economic, Security Ties

However, tech entrepreneur Jonathan Kaplan’s promise to raise press freedom concerns is likely to get a chilly reception.

22-Oct-2021 The Diplomat

President Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the long-vacant post of U.S. Ambassador to Singapore has said that he aims to “promote shared prosperity” and build on the longstanding security ties between the two nations.

Technology entrepreneur Jonathan Kaplan, who was nominated for the post by Biden in July, made the remarks Wednesday during a Senate confirmation hearing for the president’s nominees for ambassadors to Singapore, China, and Japan.

During the hearing, Kaplan noted that Singapore is a “vital economic partner” for the U.S. and planned to “strengthen our bilateral trade relationship, advance an economic agenda that promotes a shared prosperity, further secure economic resiliency and our access to supply, and work with Singapore to tackle the climate crisis.” He also said that he would look for opportunities to strengthen the security partnership between the two nations.

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India, China Strike Out in Talks to Ease Border Dispute

Neighbors bulk up with troops and equipment as Himalayan winter nears

11-Oct-2021 WSJ

The latest round of high-level military talks between India and China failed to reach a deal to defuse tensions along their disputed border, the two countries said Monday, as troop deployments in the region have reached their highest level in decades.

The talks held between Indian and Chinese army commanders on Sunday were the latest efforts by the nuclear-armed neighbors to cool a standoff at the border. A Himalayan melee in June 2020 left 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers dead.

India and China have been negotiating since then over ways to calm the situation. Both say they want a resolution, but both have built up their military presence in the region.

On Monday, India and China, which share a 2,000-mile border, pointed fingers at each other for the stalemate.

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