I would really like to know what exactly 'normalizing' means as China has likely a different view which is not limited to, but includes the Baltic states.
The French TV interview with China’s Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, was already raising eyebrows real-time as the diplomat hesitated to respond to the host’s request to clarify the ambassador’s, and implicitly, China’s position: “Is Crimea, in your eyes, Ukraine?” After a short pause, Lu Shaye snickered and said: “It depends on how one perceives this problem. There’s history, isn’t it?”
What happened in the next seconds caused an international scandal: to drive his point on Ukraine home, the ambassador questioned the sovereignty of all countries that re-established or established independence as the USSR collapsed, as he said: “under the international law, even these countries of the ex-Soviet Union don’t have the effective status”.
It drew ire also from the Baltic states. And even though China rowed back soon later on its diplomat's remarks and eventually found a replacement for the embassy in France, many label Beijing's move as rhetoric as in February 2025, Lu Shaye was named Special Representative of the Chinese Government for European Affairs, a position he has been holding since.
So Vilnius may normalize the ties, but it will understand that the regime in Beijing isn't a friend.
We'll likely never know for sure, but one reason might be UEFA's opposition. All the world cup finalists in the last 70 or so years came from Europe, with the only exceptions being Argentina and Brazil. The majority of elite players are in European clubs. You can't do something like that without Europe.
Yes, we know that. Sanchez, who celebrated himself as the hero of migrants just a few weeks ago, also said this week that Spain is under 'attack' after he deployed the military following a mass migration influx into the country.
Now he just needs fresh publicity to distract from the endless series of corruption cases in Spain, involving his close allies and family members. That's really a shame, and it doesn't help the climate nor migrants, let alone the Spaniards.
Yes, we know that. Sanchez, who celebrated himself as the hero of migrants just a few weeks ago, also said this week that Spain is under 'attack' after he deployed the military following a mass migration influx into the country.
Now he just needs fresh publicity to distract from the endless series of corruption cases in Spain, involving his close allies and family members. That's really a shame, and it doesn't help the climate nor migrants, let alone the Spaniards.
Yes, but OP is seeking headline that make Europe look bad. They posted the same story a few days ago from another sources (here, if interested, but it's the very same stuff).
[Mathilde Jourde, a researcher at French think tank IRIS] ... says that much of the disinformation centres on European climate and energy policy, like the European Green Deal, a roadmap launched in late 2019 to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050 ...
The United States and Russia are both fossil fuel exporters, which means they could benefit from a reduction in the EU’s decarbonisation goals, the IRIS report says. But Jourde says the aims of this kind of disinformation could be much wider: "The disinformation itself might not be the main objective. For Russia, for example, this could serve as a strategic objective amid ongoing tensions in Europe surrounding the war in Ukraine" ...
Russian disinformation is certainly spread by state media outlets like Russia Today, which has been banned by the European Union since 2022, but it is often concealed, according to the report. It is often spread by channels aligned with the state such as Portal Kombat, a vast network of disinformation sites discovered in 2024 by Viginum, the French service combating foreign digital interference.
Climate disinformation is also spread by those with links to the government, like conservative think tanks that can coordinate campaigns against environmental policy in Europe. One such body is the [U.S.-based] Heartland Institute, according to the IRIS report. The organisation is openly sceptical of climate change and “receives funding from companies such as ExxonMobil and from Republican donors”. The Heartland Institute opened an office in London in 2024 with the aim of influencing European energy policy ...
Other state actors are also spreading climate disinformation, though perhaps less aggressively. China, for one, “won’t deny that climate change is happening, nor its seriousness, but it will promote certain narratives to defend its position”, the researcher said .The country seeks, for example, to highlight its response to climate change and minimise its responsibility, instead insisting on the role of Western nations. The IRIS report notes that “certain points of convergence can be identified” between China and Russia. China also took part in influence operations during the Hawaii wildfires in 2023 and during the floods in Spain in 2024 ...
This is only the first part of the story, and it doesn't cite a source other than 'a leglal scholar' without going into detail. The part of the article that has (hopefully) more content is behind a paywall.
The AfD does everything what it's being told by the party's headquarters in Beijing (btw, is AfD chief Alice Weidel still holding her monthly meetings with China's ambassador to Germany?).
Such headlines are highly welcomed by propagandists to sow division among Western societies in an attempt to make Europe and its allies look bad (unfortunately, this instance is a fruitful ground if you look, for example, at OP's post history).
At the same time, negative news about China are highly censored by the regime in Beijing, which makes it easier for propagandist to frame China as the 'better' country.
Don't know whether a meaningfully large amount of people believe in these disinformation campaigns, but it doesn't help to fight climate change, which is inherently a global issue.
They are at “worse conditions” in the sense of percentages and collateral requirements compared to IMF loans, however they do not force the target country to adopt economic and political changes suicidal to them in the long term.
Read the reports, or at least the summaries. Chinese loans come with a lot (more) string attached than anything from the West.
You are never providing any source for what you say. You are just parroting pro-China talking points likely learned in the ml comms. This is complete waste of time.
Chinese loans come at much worse conditions compared to IMF loans. This is clear by many independent investigation. I provided two of them.
You cant't provide any proof for you claims as they are wrong. China and Israel are close allies, the ties have been becoming stronger in recent years.
China severely limited double-use exports back in 2023/2024.
This is false.
Here is a brief list of sanctions involving Israel. As you will see, all the sanctions imposed are by the EU, European countries, the U.S., U.K., Australia, Japan, and other democratically governed states. None from China.
This is .. (in fact, it is better) compared to Europe-backed IMF investments, which force countries into capitalism and austerity in ways that Chinese “no-strings-attached” investment just can’t.
This is false, too.
China's loans come with a lot of "strings attached" if you want to put it that way. Amongst others, one report, How China Collaterizes: New Report Reveals Hidden Structures in Global Lending (pdf), sheds light on the secured lending practices of Chinese creditors in low- and middle-income countries and shows how Chinese creditors secure priority access to cash flows and liquid assets far beyond the IMF or World Bank has ever done, as the report says,
In a typical transaction, debtors [from low and middle-income countries] promise to route their principal commodity export revenues through overseas bank accounts [at banks in mainland China] that remain out of public sight and largely beyond their control until the debts are repaid. The cash balances in these accounts, mostly located in China and controlled by the lenders, can be very large; in low-income, commodity-exporting countries, they average more than 20% of annual public debt service to all external creditors ...
Almost half of China’s ... lending portfolio, or nearly $420 billion across 57 countries, is effectively collateralized—mostly with deposits in bank accounts abroad ... As security, Chinese lenders strongly prefer liquid assets—in particular, cash deposits in bank accounts located in China. They also want visibility and control over revenue streams ...
Collateral is often unrelated to the stated purpose of the loan ... Instead of relying on infrastructure project assets and future revenues, which may never materialize, [Chinese lenders] seek access to established export proceeds. Exporters commit to route these proceeds through offshore bank accounts over the life of the loan, which gives creditors leverage in the relationship as well as a source of repayment.” The report notes that the World Bank and the IMF have recently raised concerns about “collateralization involving unrelated assets or revenues” and warned that it is “likely to create problems" ...
(ii) carry relatively high interest rates [ the typical rescue loan by Chinese banks requires interest rates of 5 percent, considerably higher than the comparable average IMF interest rate of around 2 percent], and
(iii) are almost exclusively targeted to debtors of China's Belt and Road Initiative.
As the researchers conclude amongst others,
We see historical parallels to the era when the US started its rise as a global financial power, especially in the 1930s and after World War 2, when it used the US Ex-Im Bank, the US Exchange Stabilization Fund and the Fed to provide rescue funds to countries with large liabilities to US banks and exporters ... Over time, these ad hoc activities by the US developed into a tested system of global crisis management, a path that China may possibly pursue as well.
... [China's] recent loan forgiveness to [the Sudanese] Burhans’ regime, which is illegitimate and undemocratic, was paired with Chargé d’Affaires Xu Jian’s statements that China would continue $30 million of grant-funded projects in Sudan and aim to resume CNPC [China National Petroleum Corporation] operations within the country ...
The deals [betweeen Sudan and Chinese companies operating in Sudan], however, expose that [China] is benefiting from the weak regime; it can control assets more easily and establish long-term deals with incredibly one-sided terms. China has made substantial claims for peace ... But while this rhetoric calls for peace, the position effectively stays real intervention and allows for more time to finalize deals with the current junta ...
China is sequencing its debt, offering small tokens of grace through debt forgiveness and then locking in longer-term and fully extractivist deals. The Eastern Sudan Advisory Council’s warning should be taken seriously beyond Sudan as well. Agreements concluded under these conditions carry real legal exposure once the war ends, and the communities whose resources are being contracted away extend into South Sudan and beyond ...
The statement by @balsoft@lemmy.ml that "whatever human rights abuses exist in China are immaterial" is dehumanizing and discredits them completely. It is also noteworthy that China has been increasing trade ties with Israel extensively in this decade, this includes the supply of surveillance technology in Gaza.
It's certainly not perfect (what is?), and there is much to improve, but at least I try to be less pessimistic (as a pessimist by nature, I have to make small steps toward a more positive world view :-))
The German Ministry for the Environment published a Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (pdf) in 2024 at latest (I couldn't find an older one). The paper contains protective measures for heat waves and other climate-related threats.
Just a few weeks ago, the German Ministry (together with the World Health Organization, the German State of Berlin, and some NGOs) released a statement following their joint work on heat-related issues. Amongst others, it says,
In 2017, the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUKN) published recommendations for the development of heat–health action plans at the regional and local authority level in Germany.
So, apparently the German government started the work at least in 2017.
This is what I could find in five minutes. I am not an expert for this, but the statement that 'Germany has no plan' for this is simply not true. And it seems that here in Europe, more is done than in many other parts of the world.
The only one to really benefit from this is Gianni Infantino, as he probably gets paid a lot for that sale.
I agree he will benefit. But Gianni Infantino wouldn't likely be the only one to benefit, though.
The lead investor for the FIFA subsidiary is reportedly Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.
The two brothers are said to be close. Their father, property investor Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations, but was pardoned in 2020 by Trump, shortly before the end of Trump's first term. Today, Charles Kushner is U.S. Ambassador to France.
An interesting detail here is that Joshua Kushner is known to donate high sums to politicians from the Democratic Party. His wife, the model Karlie Kloss, recently attended an event linked to former (Democratic) U.S. President Barack Obama, and she previously said that she never met and didn't vote for Trump.
This is obviously not limited to Germany or Europe, unfortunately, as the world has been experiencing such heat waves and the related consequences frequently.
In 2023, for example, when China had its warmest year on record since 1850, fatalities caused by heat waves were over 300% higher than the historical average, according to the medical journal The Lancet.
The study recognizes some successes in China to limit the number of heat-related fatalities, but also says:
The absence of a national health adaptation plan limits strategic direction and financial investment. Coal consumption increased ... and only 24% of rural homes used clean heating in 2023, leading to exposure to indoor air pollution. Moreover, fossil fuel subsidies continue to grow, further complicating the transition to cleaner energy sources.
Does anyone know what the German or European plans are?
This is obviously not limited to Germany or Europe, unfortunately, as the world has been experiencing such heat waves and the related consequences frequently.
In 2023, for example, when China had its warmest year on record since 1850, fatalities caused by heat waves were over 300% higher than the historical average, according to the medical journal The Lancet.
The study recognizes some successes in China to limit the number of heat-related fatalities, but also says:
The absence of a national health adaptation plan limits strategic direction and financial investment. Coal consumption increased ... and only 24% of rural homes used clean heating in 2023, leading to exposure to indoor air pollution. Moreover, fossil fuel subsidies continue to grow, further complicating the transition to cleaner energy sources.
Does anyone know what the German or European plans are?
Yeah, but, again, the headline satisfies OP's propaganda appetite while the content is once again behind a paywall.
I would really like to know what exactly 'normalizing' means as China has likely a different view which is not limited to, but includes the Baltic states.
In 2023, China's then Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, created a “we told you so” moment for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,
It drew ire also from the Baltic states. And even though China rowed back soon later on its diplomat's remarks and eventually found a replacement for the embassy in France, many label Beijing's move as rhetoric as in February 2025, Lu Shaye was named Special Representative of the Chinese Government for European Affairs, a position he has been holding since.
So Vilnius may normalize the ties, but it will understand that the regime in Beijing isn't a friend.
We'll likely never know for sure, but one reason might be UEFA's opposition. All the world cup finalists in the last 70 or so years came from Europe, with the only exceptions being Argentina and Brazil. The majority of elite players are in European clubs. You can't do something like that without Europe.
Yes, we know that. Sanchez, who celebrated himself as the hero of migrants just a few weeks ago, also said this week that Spain is under 'attack' after he deployed the military following a mass migration influx into the country.
Now he just needs fresh publicity to distract from the endless series of corruption cases in Spain, involving his close allies and family members. That's really a shame, and it doesn't help the climate nor migrants, let alone the Spaniards.
Yes, we know that. Sanchez, who celebrated himself as the hero of migrants just a few weeks ago, also said this week that Spain is under 'attack' after he deployed the military following a mass migration influx into the country.
Now he just needs fresh publicity to distract from the endless series of corruption cases in Spain, involving his close allies and family members. That's really a shame, and it doesn't help the climate nor migrants, let alone the Spaniards.
Yes, but OP is seeking headline that make Europe look bad. They posted the same story a few days ago from another sources (here, if interested, but it's the very same stuff).
The site is behind Cloudflare and paywalled here.
As a related report:
United States, Russia, China - state actors spreading climate disinformation in Europe
As someone already posted, there is a web app: https://shaded.openrouteservice.org/
This is only the first part of the story, and it doesn't cite a source other than 'a leglal scholar' without going into detail. The part of the article that has (hopefully) more content is behind a paywall.
Article is behind a paywall.
The AfD does everything what it's being told by the party's headquarters in Beijing (btw, is AfD chief Alice Weidel still holding her monthly meetings with China's ambassador to Germany?).
Such headlines are highly welcomed by propagandists to sow division among Western societies in an attempt to make Europe and its allies look bad (unfortunately, this instance is a fruitful ground if you look, for example, at OP's post history).
At the same time, negative news about China are highly censored by the regime in Beijing, which makes it easier for propagandist to frame China as the 'better' country.
Don't know whether a meaningfully large amount of people believe in these disinformation campaigns, but it doesn't help to fight climate change, which is inherently a global issue.
It doesn't help, of course, the people in China, who have been facing severe storms that brought deaths and destructions in recent months.
Read the reports, or at least the summaries. Chinese loans come with a lot (more) string attached than anything from the West.
You are never providing any source for what you say. You are just parroting pro-China talking points likely learned in the ml comms. This is complete waste of time.
Chinese loans come at much worse conditions compared to IMF loans. This is clear by many independent investigation. I provided two of them.
You cant't provide any proof for you claims as they are wrong. China and Israel are close allies, the ties have been becoming stronger in recent years.
@balsoft@lemmy.ml
This is false.
Here is a brief list of sanctions involving Israel. As you will see, all the sanctions imposed are by the EU, European countries, the U.S., U.K., Australia, Japan, and other democratically governed states. None from China.
This is false, too.
China's loans come with a lot of "strings attached" if you want to put it that way. Amongst others, one report, How China Collaterizes: New Report Reveals Hidden Structures in Global Lending (pdf), sheds light on the secured lending practices of Chinese creditors in low- and middle-income countries and shows how Chinese creditors secure priority access to cash flows and liquid assets far beyond the IMF or World Bank has ever done, as the report says,
In another report, China as an International Lender of Last Resort (pdf), China’s rescue loans differ from those of established international lenders of last resort in that they
As the researchers conclude amongst others,
Three Decades in, China Is Cashing in on Sudan’s Collapse
The statement by @balsoft@lemmy.ml that "whatever human rights abuses exist in China are immaterial" is dehumanizing and discredits them completely. It is also noteworthy that China has been increasing trade ties with Israel extensively in this decade, this includes the supply of surveillance technology in Gaza.
You'll find numerous sources across the web.
It's certainly not perfect (what is?), and there is much to improve, but at least I try to be less pessimistic (as a pessimist by nature, I have to make small steps toward a more positive world view :-))
The German Ministry for the Environment published a Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (pdf) in 2024 at latest (I couldn't find an older one). The paper contains protective measures for heat waves and other climate-related threats.
Just a few weeks ago, the German Ministry (together with the World Health Organization, the German State of Berlin, and some NGOs) released a statement following their joint work on heat-related issues. Amongst others, it says,
So, apparently the German government started the work at least in 2017.
There is an EU-funded Intereg Central Europe project regarding the development of municipal strategies and action plans to improve heat resilience in cities.
I found a National Heatwave Plan to reduce heat-health risks in the Netherlands published in 2025.
This is what I could find in five minutes. I am not an expert for this, but the statement that 'Germany has no plan' for this is simply not true. And it seems that here in Europe, more is done than in many other parts of the world.
I agree he will benefit. But Gianni Infantino wouldn't likely be the only one to benefit, though.
The lead investor for the FIFA subsidiary is reportedly Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.
The two brothers are said to be close. Their father, property investor Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations, but was pardoned in 2020 by Trump, shortly before the end of Trump's first term. Today, Charles Kushner is U.S. Ambassador to France.
An interesting detail here is that Joshua Kushner is known to donate high sums to politicians from the Democratic Party. His wife, the model Karlie Kloss, recently attended an event linked to former (Democratic) U.S. President Barack Obama, and she previously said that she never met and didn't vote for Trump.
[Edit typo.]
This is obviously not limited to Germany or Europe, unfortunately, as the world has been experiencing such heat waves and the related consequences frequently.
In 2023, for example, when China had its warmest year on record since 1850, fatalities caused by heat waves were over 300% higher than the historical average, according to the medical journal The Lancet.
The study recognizes some successes in China to limit the number of heat-related fatalities, but also says:
Does anyone know what the German or European plans are?
This is obviously not limited to Germany or Europe, unfortunately, as the world has been experiencing such heat waves and the related consequences frequently.
In 2023, for example, when China had its warmest year on record since 1850, fatalities caused by heat waves were over 300% higher than the historical average, according to the medical journal The Lancet.
The study recognizes some successes in China to limit the number of heat-related fatalities, but also says:
Does anyone know what the German or European plans are?