Sepia

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50419002

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[A] recent analysis of 267 Chinese‑financed projects in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda (Angola), Lusaka (Zambia) and Nairobi (Kenya) shows that while China delivers an impressive volume of infrastructure, it risks reinforcing Africa’s national government dominance in decision-making on urban infrastructure development.

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Cities – their governments and residents – are excluded from the project planning and negotiation process.

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The agreements were mostly negotiated and funded through national ministries or state agencies. This happens partly because many cities are legally restricted from taking on external debt, and partly because lenders prefer working with sovereign governments.

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If African cities are to manage the rapid urbanisation and meet the needs of the roughly 1.5 billion people expected to live in urban areas by mid-century, they need more than new bridges and roads.

They need the fiscal power and planning capacity to plan, finance and govern infrastructure on their own terms.

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These steps would be useful:

• rethink how urban infrastructure is discussed

• strengthen municipal revenue and financial capacity

• improve planning coordination across governments.

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The challenge for African cities is not simply attracting more finance but gaining the authority and capacity to guide urban development. China will likely remain an important financier. But no external partner can substitute for strong city institutions, transparent financial systems, and coordinated planning.

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Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50418147

Taiwan's Cabinet dismissed the Taiwan-related policy proposals unveiled by Beijing on Sunday as a "tool of coercion," while responses from outside government ranged from caution to support.

The package of 10 policies and measures "to boost ties with Taiwan" was announced on Sunday at the conclusion of Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun's (鄭麗文) visit to Beijing, which featured a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平).

According to China's official Xinhua news agency, the measures by the CCP's Taiwan Work Office include plans to resume individual travel to Taiwan by residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province.

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In a statement, Taiwan Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) noted that "most" of the 10 measures involved policies that Beijing had previously suspended for unfounded reasons, causing severe harm to Taiwan's farmers, fishermen and industries.

"Past experience has repeatedly shown us that this highly uncertain and selective approach...is merely a tool for coercion and political maneuvering, which uses exchanges as a tool and trade as a weapon," Lee said.

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Lee said Taiwan's government is in favor of "healthy, orderly" cross-strait exchanges that are in line with the principles of equality and dignity.

The government will conduct risk assessments of all cross-strait exchanges to ensure they don't impact Taiwan's economy or industries, she added.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top government agency handling cross-strait affairs, said Beijing was trying to sideline Taiwan's democratically-elected government with the policies, placing cross-strait relations under a KMT-to-CCP and "one China" framework.

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Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50418147

Taiwan's Cabinet dismissed the Taiwan-related policy proposals unveiled by Beijing on Sunday as a "tool of coercion," while responses from outside government ranged from caution to support.

The package of 10 policies and measures "to boost ties with Taiwan" was announced on Sunday at the conclusion of Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun's (鄭麗文) visit to Beijing, which featured a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平).

According to China's official Xinhua news agency, the measures by the CCP's Taiwan Work Office include plans to resume individual travel to Taiwan by residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province.

...

In a statement, Taiwan Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) noted that "most" of the 10 measures involved policies that Beijing had previously suspended for unfounded reasons, causing severe harm to Taiwan's farmers, fishermen and industries.

"Past experience has repeatedly shown us that this highly uncertain and selective approach...is merely a tool for coercion and political maneuvering, which uses exchanges as a tool and trade as a weapon," Lee said.

...

Lee said Taiwan's government is in favor of "healthy, orderly" cross-strait exchanges that are in line with the principles of equality and dignity.

The government will conduct risk assessments of all cross-strait exchanges to ensure they don't impact Taiwan's economy or industries, she added.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top government agency handling cross-strait affairs, said Beijing was trying to sideline Taiwan's democratically-elected government with the policies, placing cross-strait relations under a KMT-to-CCP and "one China" framework.

...

Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50389287

The way that vast amounts of fake news about London is posted online is been revealed in new research from City Hall.

“Poisonous” narratives about “London in decline” have increased by between 150-200 per cent in the last two years, while those making negative claims about migrants in the capital have increased by more than 350 per cent.

A report, from the Greater London Authority’s City Intelligence unit (opens pdf), said there were “clear signs of coordinated and inauthentic activity” that included “high volume, repetitive posting and the use of AI-generated content to produce and amplify misleading, emotive or unverified claims”.

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, in a speech on Thursday evening at King’s College, said the capital was facing a “dark blizzard of disinformation” as he called on social media companies and the Government to do more.

The City Hall research (opens pdf) said the fake content was being created or shared by extreme right-wing groups in the UK, as well as accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements.

It analysed posts between March 2024 and March 2026 on mainstream platforms - such as X, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube - and fringe platforms such as Telegram, VK and Weibo.

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According to the City Hall research, extreme-Right wing (ERW) and UK ERW groups, Russian-aligned or “Pro-Kremlin” groups, Beijing-aligned groups and MAGA (Make America Great Again)-aligned groups were “assessed as active in promoting or amplifying misleading content related to London”.

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Among the key findings:

• London is increasingly the target of online narratives portraying the city as unsafe or in decline. Topics such as knife crime, violence against women and girls, migration and policing are frequently incorporated into this framing.
• Online activity relating to these narratives has increased over the past two years.
• For example, analysis of X API data using keyword-based Boolean searches between March 2024 and March 2026 suggests that: o overall London-related posting activity increased by around 7%, while o ‘London in decline’ narratives increased by around 150–200%, and o migration-related narratives referencing London increased by over 350%.
• There are clear signs of coordinated and inauthentic activity. These include high-volume, repetitive posting and the use of AI-generated content to produce and amplify misleading, emotive or unverified claims.
• A range of platforms and actors appear to be involved, both within the UK and internationally. This includes extreme right-wing groups in the UK, as well as accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements.

...

Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50389287

The way that vast amounts of fake news about London is posted online is been revealed in new research from City Hall.

“Poisonous” narratives about “London in decline” have increased by between 150-200 per cent in the last two years, while those making negative claims about migrants in the capital have increased by more than 350 per cent.

A report, from the Greater London Authority’s City Intelligence unit (opens pdf), said there were “clear signs of coordinated and inauthentic activity” that included “high volume, repetitive posting and the use of AI-generated content to produce and amplify misleading, emotive or unverified claims”.

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, in a speech on Thursday evening at King’s College, said the capital was facing a “dark blizzard of disinformation” as he called on social media companies and the Government to do more.

The City Hall research (opens pdf) said the fake content was being created or shared by extreme right-wing groups in the UK, as well as accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements.

It analysed posts between March 2024 and March 2026 on mainstream platforms - such as X, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube - and fringe platforms such as Telegram, VK and Weibo.

...

According to the City Hall research, extreme-Right wing (ERW) and UK ERW groups, Russian-aligned or “Pro-Kremlin” groups, Beijing-aligned groups and MAGA (Make America Great Again)-aligned groups were “assessed as active in promoting or amplifying misleading content related to London”.

...

Among the key findings:

• London is increasingly the target of online narratives portraying the city as unsafe or in decline. Topics such as knife crime, violence against women and girls, migration and policing are frequently incorporated into this framing.
• Online activity relating to these narratives has increased over the past two years.
• For example, analysis of X API data using keyword-based Boolean searches between March 2024 and March 2026 suggests that: o overall London-related posting activity increased by around 7%, while o ‘London in decline’ narratives increased by around 150–200%, and o migration-related narratives referencing London increased by over 350%.
• There are clear signs of coordinated and inauthentic activity. These include high-volume, repetitive posting and the use of AI-generated content to produce and amplify misleading, emotive or unverified claims.
• A range of platforms and actors appear to be involved, both within the UK and internationally. This includes extreme right-wing groups in the UK, as well as accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements.

...

Web Archive link

The way that vast amounts of fake news about London is posted online is been revealed in new research from City Hall.

“Poisonous” narratives about “London in decline” have increased by between 150-200 per cent in the last two years, while those making negative claims about migrants in the capital have increased by more than 350 per cent.

A report, from the Greater London Authority’s City Intelligence unit (opens pdf), said there were “clear signs of coordinated and inauthentic activity” that included “high volume, repetitive posting and the use of AI-generated content to produce and amplify misleading, emotive or unverified claims”.

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, in a speech on Thursday evening at King’s College, said the capital was facing a “dark blizzard of disinformation” as he called on social media companies and the Government to do more.

The City Hall research (opens pdf) said the fake content was being created or shared by extreme right-wing groups in the UK, as well as accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements.

It analysed posts between March 2024 and March 2026 on mainstream platforms - such as X, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube - and fringe platforms such as Telegram, VK and Weibo.

...

According to the City Hall research, extreme-Right wing (ERW) and UK ERW groups, Russian-aligned or “Pro-Kremlin” groups, Beijing-aligned groups and MAGA (Make America Great Again)-aligned groups were “assessed as active in promoting or amplifying misleading content related to London”.

...

Among the key findings:

• London is increasingly the target of online narratives portraying the city as unsafe or in decline. Topics such as knife crime, violence against women and girls, migration and policing are frequently incorporated into this framing.
• Online activity relating to these narratives has increased over the past two years.
• For example, analysis of X API data using keyword-based Boolean searches between March 2024 and March 2026 suggests that: o overall London-related posting activity increased by around 7%, while o ‘London in decline’ narratives increased by around 150–200%, and o migration-related narratives referencing London increased by over 350%.
• There are clear signs of coordinated and inauthentic activity. These include high-volume, repetitive posting and the use of AI-generated content to produce and amplify misleading, emotive or unverified claims.
• A range of platforms and actors appear to be involved, both within the UK and internationally. This includes extreme right-wing groups in the UK, as well as accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements.

...

Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50387254

China is intensifying its exploitation of Uyghur people in Xinjiang to maintain control over global mineral supply chains. “The system of coercive labor allocation applied to minority communities in Xinjiang will continue under the 15th five-year Plan," a study authored by Uyghur researcher Nyrola Elimä Global Rights Compliance (GRC), an international NGO, and directed by Samir Goswami, finds.

“China’ s plans to dominate semiconductors, clean energy, and artificial intelligence are all dependent in part on Xinjiang – for both its critical minerals, and the cheap, repressed forced labor used to extract them,"

Here is the full report: Strangling Supply, Exploiting Labor: Inside China’s Five-Year Plan in Xinjiang (pdf)

Among the report’s key findings:

• China's goals in semiconductors, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing all depend on upstream raw materials, and Xinjiang is being deliberately positioned to supply them.
• The Plan aims to concentrate industrial development and employment absorption in southern Xinjiang – the area with the highest Uyghur population density and the most extensively documented record of forced labour. Every policy applied to Xinjiang, such as employment, economic development, education, culture, becomes an instrument of social control and ideological re - engineering.
• Industrial electricity in Xinjiang costs about 2.7 cents per kWh, far below roughly 7.5 cents in the U.S. and 22 cents in the EU. Given that power accounts for 40 to 60 % of processing costs for materials like titanium, magnesium, and lithium, this price d isparity creates a significant competitive barrier for Western producers.
• Advanced technology systems, including U.S. military capabilities and AI, are heavily dependent on Chinese lithium - ion batteries, much of which rely on raw materials including lithium and graphite, sourcing from Xinjiang., China holds a strategic lever ove r these critical technologies - and they can’t dominate this production without exploiting the labor of Uyghur people.
• The 15th Five - Year Plan will accelerate close monitoring, surveillance and re-intervention for Uyghurs who refuse to participate will continue throughout the 2026 to 2030 period.
• The CCP also adopted the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which pursues assimilation practices for ethnic minorities to strengthen the “cohesion” of Chinese culture and identity. When combined with the industrial ambitions of the Five-Year Plan, this Law facilitates the continued eradication of Uyghur identity and culture alongside the strategic resource exploitation of their homelands.

...

China is intensifying its exploitation of Uyghur people in Xinjiang to maintain control over global mineral supply chains. “The system of coercive labor allocation applied to minority communities in Xinjiang will continue under the 15th five-year Plan," a study authored by Uyghur researcher Nyrola Elimä Global Rights Compliance (GRC), an international NGO, and directed by Samir Goswami, finds.

“China’ s plans to dominate semiconductors, clean energy, and artificial intelligence are all dependent in part on Xinjiang – for both its critical minerals, and the cheap, repressed forced labor used to extract them,"

Here is the full report: Strangling Supply, Exploiting Labor: Inside China’s Five-Year Plan in Xinjiang (pdf)

Among the report’s key findings:

• China's goals in semiconductors, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing all depend on upstream raw materials, and Xinjiang is being deliberately positioned to supply them.
• The Plan aims to concentrate industrial development and employment absorption in southern Xinjiang – the area with the highest Uyghur population density and the most extensively documented record of forced labour. Every policy applied to Xinjiang, such as employment, economic development, education, culture, becomes an instrument of social control and ideological re - engineering.
• Industrial electricity in Xinjiang costs about 2.7 cents per kWh, far below roughly 7.5 cents in the U.S. and 22 cents in the EU. Given that power accounts for 40 to 60 % of processing costs for materials like titanium, magnesium, and lithium, this price d isparity creates a significant competitive barrier for Western producers.
• Advanced technology systems, including U.S. military capabilities and AI, are heavily dependent on Chinese lithium - ion batteries, much of which rely on raw materials including lithium and graphite, sourcing from Xinjiang., China holds a strategic lever ove r these critical technologies - and they can’t dominate this production without exploiting the labor of Uyghur people.
• The 15th Five - Year Plan will accelerate close monitoring, surveillance and re-intervention for Uyghurs who refuse to participate will continue throughout the 2026 to 2030 period.
• The CCP also adopted the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which pursues assimilation practices for ethnic minorities to strengthen the “cohesion” of Chinese culture and identity. When combined with the industrial ambitions of the Five-Year Plan, this Law facilitates the continued eradication of Uyghur identity and culture alongside the strategic resource exploitation of their homelands.

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Red Hat ... states that quitting China won’t mean a net reduction in head count.

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China is home to many very talented programmers. That upside is balanced by China’s unique regulatory and legal system that means most large organizations in China employ representatives of the Communist Party, and many of those members organize party cells in the workplace. Perhaps Red Hat just wants to operate in a less complicated jurisdiction that, unlike China, is not accused of fostering industrial espionage.

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Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50339354

[Taiwan's] Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said on Saturday that [oppostition party] Kuomintang (KMT) Chairperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) was "playing with fire" with her remark a day earlier that the Taiwan Strait should "never be a chessboard for interference by external forces."

Cheng made the remark during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing on Friday, as she called for Taiwan and China to forge closer ties and avoid conflict.

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Cho told reporters in Taoyuan that the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway open to free transit, and Cheng's remark revealed an "erroneous" strategy that unilaterally pandered to China.

Comparing Cheng's stance to "playing with fire," Cho said it would put Taiwan's future and its people's free and democratic way of life at risk.

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In a statement later the same day, the KMT rejected Cho's comments, saying that Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was unable to handle cross-strait relations and was resorting to smearing the opposition as pro-China.

The KMT added that the DPP government, despite years in power, has only escalated confrontation with and created hostility toward Beijing.

Premier Cho, who is from the DPP, also criticized Cheng for echoing Xi's remarks about facilitating the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" during her meeting with Xi.

Cho warned that Cheng's comments were a "mistake," as they could have fueled China's ambition to absorb the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan.

The phrase "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" refers to the CCP's goal to turn China into a great power by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC), but it also connotes making Taiwan officially part of the PRC.

China's "national reunification," which includes annexing Taiwan, is an "essential step toward national rejuvenation," according to a White Paper published by China's Taiwan Affairs Office in 2022 and other official speeches and documents.

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The KMT and the Chinese Communist Party "engaged in nearly 100 years of political struggle. Yet in yesterday's meeting, the Kuomintang appeared to have completely lost its confidence," Cho said.

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Cho also criticized the KMT leader for proposing the establishment of a cross-strait peace framework to "institutionalize peace."

He said history has proven that in the various negotiations between the KMT and the CCP -- and in the case of Tibet and Hong Kong -- "peace without strength is bound to fail."

"Such peace can instead embolden aggressors, and only peace backed by strength can serve as the foundation of national power," Cho said.

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Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50263861

Taiwanese officials are tracking what they view as a worrying rise in Chinese naval activity and military pressure against the island, even as ​Beijing presses a message of peace and cooperation in meetings with Taiwan's opposition leader.

"China is continuously and persistently expanding its military capabilities, and the military threat it poses to us is becoming increasingly severe," Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo told lawmakers on Thursday amid ​anger among the ruling party over the decision by members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to skip talks on stalled defence-spending.

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Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun said on April 9 in Shanghai in a plea for peace, as government lawmakers in Taipei expressed anger at her party for skipping crucial defence budget talks.

Ms Cheng, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), is in China on what she has called a “peace” mission to lessen tensions at a time when Beijing has stepped up military pressure against the island it calls its own.

China refuses to talk to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a “separatist”. Mr Lai’s administration has called on Ms Cheng to tell China to stop its threats, and says Beijing should engage with the democratically elected government in Taipei.

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In Taipei, lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) condemned the KMT for skipping talks in Parliament on how to progress with stalled plans to spend an extra US$40 billion (S$51 billion) on defence.

“Don’t intentionally put this off because of the meeting with Xi Jinping tomorrow. Don’t link this to the Chinese communists,” said the DPP’s Mr Chen Kuan-ting, who is joint head of the defence and foreign affairs committee.

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cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50263861

Taiwanese officials are tracking what they view as a worrying rise in Chinese naval activity and military pressure against the island, even as ​Beijing presses a message of peace and cooperation in meetings with Taiwan's opposition leader.

"China is continuously and persistently expanding its military capabilities, and the military threat it poses to us is becoming increasingly severe," Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo told lawmakers on Thursday amid ​anger among the ruling party over the decision by members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to skip talks on stalled defence-spending.

...

Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun said on April 9 in Shanghai in a plea for peace, as government lawmakers in Taipei expressed anger at her party for skipping crucial defence budget talks.

Ms Cheng, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), is in China on what she has called a “peace” mission to lessen tensions at a time when Beijing has stepped up military pressure against the island it calls its own.

China refuses to talk to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a “separatist”. Mr Lai’s administration has called on Ms Cheng to tell China to stop its threats, and says Beijing should engage with the democratically elected government in Taipei.

...

In Taipei, lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) condemned the KMT for skipping talks in Parliament on how to progress with stalled plans to spend an extra US$40 billion (S$51 billion) on defence.

“Don’t intentionally put this off because of the meeting with Xi Jinping tomorrow. Don’t link this to the Chinese communists,” said the DPP’s Mr Chen Kuan-ting, who is joint head of the defence and foreign affairs committee.

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