- 190 Posts
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81·10 days agoThey shouldn’t buy Chinese buses to avoid running into security risks like Norway, Denmark, UK, Australia, and practically all others that bought from China. The reports on security issues of buses ‘made in China’ over the last couple of years paint a clear picture.
Just a few weeks ago, Italy awarded a solar capacity in first ‘Not made in China’ auction. Europe needs more of this also beyond solar, hopefully soon ‘Made only in Europe’ auctions.
This is based on official numbers. According to these, the Chinese economy is always doing great. There was never a downturn, it’s always growing, and always by around 5%. Because this annual rate is needed to achieve Xi Jinping’s long-term growth target.
Don’t say something else if and when you are in China, though, or if you would like to do business in China, and Goldman Sachs has a strong presence there, it’s one of the few Western banks with a license for fund sales in China, for example.
In 2024, Zhu Hengpeng, a renowned Chinese economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expressed doubt of China’s 5% annual growth, claiming the growth to be much lower. He disappeared then for some months. (In the meantime he is back again working for the academy, but he is now convinced that the 5% is the number to be announced, at least that’s what he is doing).
I could tell you a lot more, but I know I can save my breath. You wouldn’t believe anyway. Your post history’s spin tells clearly that you are not interested in independent information.
Just look at @plyth’s comment history. There’s nothing but these weird and skewed pieces. Save our breath I would say.
the Chinese economy has grown by about 30 per cent over the past five years
Not even Chinese economists believe China’s official GDP growth rates of 5% annually. This is rubbish.
the EU had to roll over when Trump threatened tariffs, China refused to bend, and its tough strategy has so far been successful.
There are several economic reports that say the exact opposite. One analysis from April 2025 says that US tariffs with retaliation by other countries will shrink the EU’s GDP by -0.05 percent and China’s GDP by -0.27 percent.
The EU-US agreement that has been reported as unfavorable for Europe was, indeed, a joke. This was not a deal at all as it was not even legally binding. For example, we see now that the EU is not even remotely buying US energy for the ‘agreed’ 250 billion dollars but just a small fraction of it (a fact that all analysts have always been predicting). The only thing where the EU gave in was when it ditched the import tariffs for agricultural products from the US. Sounds impressive and weak - until you hear that these agri tariffs were in the range of 1-2 % on average. That’s next to nothing.
These are just two points out of this very weak article. Not that I contradict everything, but what the author here does is simply conveying Chinese narratives (and he does only that). It would be good if he read other stats and reports rather than just the Chinese ones.
[Edit typo.]
The least thing the Chinese party-state has in mind is democracy.
The article falls short of a lot of explanations, the most important likely being democracy. It doesn’t even touch the issue even though China is a serial human rights abuser. It’s almost hilarious to interpret this as China ‘saving the soul of democracy.’ This, of course, doesn’t make any sense.
It also says that CO2 emissions in China have been stagnating for over a year and a half. Although this is true, it is very likely because of a downturn in Chinese production. We will see what happens if and when the economic environment improves and output increases. Most economists are very sceptical and think China’s stagnating CO2 emissions is temporal rather than structural. China is -as the article also admits- the world’s largest polluter. No country is on track to meet the Paris goals, but the EU and its members states are better than China. And during the COP30 last year, just 83 countries joined a global movement committing themselves to phase out fossil fuels. Among these are European countries, many from South America, the Caribbean. China is not among them, the globe’s biggest polluter openly refuses to phase out fossil fuels.
The authoritarian state is the worst thing for the future of the world and the humanity. This is blatant propaganda.
Why is this in Europe?
This is irrelevant if and when Italy is going to vote in favour of Mercosur, what it reportedly will. It would be enough for the necessary majority vote and the deal could be signed on Jan 12.
I am not sure as I am not an expert for this industry, but I assume it’s about price hikes to increase profits for the pharmaceutical industry. Unlike in the US, prices for drugs in Europe are subject to strong price regulations, meaning that the companies face legal limits on how to set prices. That’s how I read that at least, but maybe there is someone around with more expertise in the pharmaceutical sector.
The dentists also filed a lawsuit against their advisors in the meantime. According to several reports in 2025, the fund made investments in private capital such as start-ups and real estate projects (including unsecured loans) amounting to around 50% of their assets. This deviates sharply form usual investment-grade guidelines imho (I used to work in this industry and think I understand this a bit). According to VZB’s website (and the article) the fund’s investment committee is composed exclusively of practicing dentists rather than asset management professionals. This is not a good idea imho.
… despite Trump’s repeated claims, there has been no official announcement or decision in France confirming any increase in prescription drug prices.
Did all Russians as a whole decide what they want? All Chinese?
This is a gross oversimplification.
“I discussed obviously the situation in terms of Irish beef exports into China, the tariff situation in respect of dairy products”
Yeah, Xi Jinping increased prices for dairy products for Chinese people by introducing tariffs, very much as Trump did in the US for other goods. It’s time that Ireland and other EU farmers diversify its trade imo.
And what did they say about forced labour and the China’s genocide in East Turkistan, Tibet? Beiijng’s aggression against Taiwan? Was that an issue?
From a left-wing perspective, it does not make sense to create blackouts in residential districts (unless they were very well off …
Creating blackouts or any other form of violence never ‘makes sense’ in residential districts.
And what does ‘left-wing’ and ‘right-wing’ even mean, at least in the extreme forms? What difference does it make when violence rules? Violence, imho, doesn’t make sense. It may take some time until we eventually know for sure who is responsible, maybe indeed some weirdos hired by malign foreign states.
But as you mention the ‘left-wing perspective:’ Here on Lemmy is a larger group that calls itself left-wing, but in their communities they literally hail aggression and cheering violence against people, including violence against Ukraine by Russian invaders. Just read their comms.
As we know from other posts, there has been a study last year about this.
This study investigates the presence of left-wing extremism on the Lemmygrad. ml instance of the decentralized social media platform Lemmy, from its launch in 2019 up to a month after the bans of the subreddits r/GenZedong and r/GenZhou … Their [Lemmygrad users’] support can extend beyond backing these authoritarian regimes [particularly Russia, China, and North Korea], even cheering on their violent actions, as evidenced by their posts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, we observe anti-Zionist and antisemitic behaviors, which show similarities to right-wing extremism … Our analysis suggests a concerning endorsement of authoritarian actions and extremist rhetoric on Lemmygrad. ml, further indicating that left-wing extremist communities on decentralized platforms should receive more attention from the academic community.
[Edit typo.]
It’s needless to say that I don’t support the U.S. attack on Venezuela as it is beyond the rule of law, but Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez joins these critics to distract from his own corruption scandals. This is is some sort of staged morality as Sanchez is fighting for his political survival.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel this is not only a civil case but also a criminal case.
Spain PM Pedro Sánchez and the Ruling PSOE Face Mounting Legal Challenges in 2026
The most significant legal proceedings target [Spanish Prime Minister and leader of the Socialist Party PSOE] Pedro Sánchez’s immediate family and close political allies, marking a critical moment for Spain’s centre-left government. The investigations span a range of alleged misconduct, from potential corruption to influence peddling, and could have far-reaching consequences for the ruling coalition.
One of the most high-profile cases involves José Luis Ábalos, former Transport Minister and key PSOE organiser, who faces potential imprisonment of up to 24 years. Prosecutors allege he engaged in criminal organisation, accepting bribes, misappropriating public funds, and exploiting insider information during the COVID-19 pandemic’s emergency procurement processes.
Particularly sensitive is the investigation into Begoña Gómez, the Prime Minister’s wife, who is being scrutinised for potential professional misconduct related to her business activities. Simultaneously, David Sánchez, the Prime Minister’s brother, will stand trial on May 28th for alleged influence trafficking and improper conduct in the Badajoz Provincial Administration.
The legal challenges represent an unprecedented threat to the PSOE’s political reputation. Unlike previous corruption scandals that primarily implicated lower-level party members, these investigations reach directly into the Prime Minister’s inner circle, potentially undermining public trust in the government …
I posted this in another thread, but it also fits here:
Their intention is to eventually destroy the community by using it as a dumping ground for Chinese (and Russian) propaganda.
It goes hand in hand with a range of other accounts engaging in second-hand intimidation (and even death threats to some users) against anyone with a different opinion, engage in whataboutism, false equivalence (“Russia’s invasion is bad, but the Ukraine war is only a proxy war against the West”) and some historical fan fiction (“The Soviet Union was a dream to live in before the CIA destroyed it”).
We have been seeing this also on Reddit. Many subreddits fall to very questionable ideologies that leave no room for discussion, which kills any vivid community (or prevents it from growing). In the tankies’ own communities (where everyone gets banned who is only slightly criticizing China or Russia), as you may know, they are not only supporting autocratic genocidal policies, but are literally cheering the violence, as one study says:
What is deeply concerning is that there are also many admins and mods here in the Lemmyverse that support this exremely radicalized community. Such users should get banned imo. This has nothing to do with freedom of opinion.