Did coerced labour build your car? – [May 2025]

[…] The UK is the largest European market for Chinese cars, say analysts. One in ten cars imported is now from China. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, has said that the Chinese market share for EVs is even higher: accounting for China-built cars, like Teslas, roughly one third of all EVs on UK roads are Chinese.

The UK government has signalled that it won’t levy tariffs on China’s EVs — as the US and EU are doing – a decision that was warmly welcomed by BYD. That means Britain has become “a safe haven market for Chinese manufacturers”, said Schmidt. The government’s energy strategy includes significant commitments on pushing EVs, which it sees as “a crucial step towards achieving the UK’s net zero target”. In early 2025, BYD urged EU lawmakers to “copy the UK”.

Last month, the chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would be happy to ride in a Chinese-made EV. But concerns over forced labour were highlighted later that month when the government said that legislation creating a new state-owned energy company would specify a slavery-free supply chain for its solar panels, largely due to concerns over Xinjiang.

“The UK is increasingly a major dumping ground for products made with forced labor,” said Chloe Cranston at Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest international human rights organisation. Seen a decade ago as at the forefront of legislation to tackle modern slavery, the UK’s approach is now widely seen as obsolete.

“We need new laws which hold companies accountable for failing to take meaningful steps, and which ban the import of products made with forced labour,” Cranston added […]

Yes, and produce more of this stuff in Europe. And do not expose inverter management interfaces to the internet.

German sector’s competitiveness has deteriorated in some areas, especially in comparison with Asia.

Which areas? Is there any detailed information?

We are hearing exactly the same stories from Asia, only that they are saying to be falling behind, too.

‘They’ll be suffering’: Small businesses in Hong Kong caught in the middle of US-China trade war

[Hong Kong Entrepreneur Danny] Lau, who is also the honorary chairman of the Chinese special administrative region’s SME association [in HongKong], told CNA that survival remains shaky for its members even as a temporary trade truce materialised between the US and China […] Lau said he has tried to enter other markets like the Middle East, but their populations are much smaller than America’s.

“(The) US market is a big market and they can pay higher prices. They are looking for some quality products, and sometimes they need them fast, (which means) they don’t mind paying higher prices,” he added.

I don’t know what individual investors will do as it’s hard to pigeonhole, but the ones in Elon Musk’s and Donald Trump’s immediate environment are already benefiting, and there is much reason that this will go on. Musk’s DOGE was not (only) about firing public employees but rather placing the ‘right’ people in positions. In many of the U.S. agencies - such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Treasury Department, the Department of Defense - there is now at least one person who has work for or has close ties to Musk, Peter Thiel, Palmer Luckey, and other tech entrepreneurs close to the Trump circles.

After supporting Donald Trump’s first election campaign, Anduril Technologies founder Palmer Luckey was fired from Facebook. Now Mr. Luckey is back teaming up with Meta to build XR for the American Military. Peter Thiel’s Palantir has signed a $30 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to build a new surveillance system called ImmigrationOS. Elon Musk’s SpaceX was awarded a $5.9 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force to launch Pentagon missions.

Musk spent $290 million for Trump’s presidential campaign, Luckey gave $400,000. Thiel is said to have donated $1.5 million in Trumps 2016 campaign, but also has close ties to the Vice President as Thiel funded JD Vance’s campaign when he ran for governor of Ohio.

You will easily find many sources regarding other tech billionaires.

So it is absolutely possible that a lot of money will go from the U.S. to Europe in the foreseeable future, but Trump’s inner circle benefits most. They don’t appear to have reason to regret anything imho.

[Edit typo.]

Profit mag vielleicht auch ein Motiv des Herrn Kretschmer sein, aber es ist vielleicht nicht das einzige.

Kretschmer fordert anderen Umgang mit Russland: Sachsens Regierungschef schlägt Nord Stream als Verhandlungsmasse vor

… „Nord Stream ist eine mögliche Eröffnung für ein Gespräch mit Russland“, behauptet Kretschmer im Interview. Putin soll also durch die Aussicht gelockt werden, wieder mehr Gas nach Europa zu verkaufen – gleichzeitig verspricht sich der Ministerpräsident durch den Import des CO₂-intensiven Rohstoffs sinkende Energiepreise für deutsche Firmen. „Es würde unsere Situation schon sehr verbessern, wenn man etwa 20 Prozent des Gases aus Russland holt.“

Nach Kriegsbeginn im Februar 2022 drosselten die EU-Staaten ihre Gasimporte aus Russland. Sie machten 2024 aber immer noch einen Anteil von 19 Prozent aus. Bis Ende 2027 will die EU-Kommission den Kauf von russischem Gas vollständig verbieten – Kretschmers Vorschlag steht diesem Ziel entgegen …

South China Sea: 3,500,000 square kilometres.

Your other two points are equally out of touch.

What an absurdely weird whataboutism. (Spoiler: Taiwan, India, South China Sea.)

Following outcry from Moscow, Serbia’s president vows to halt weapons contracts if arms are bound for Ukraine

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has responded to accusations from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service that Serbian defense enterprises continue to supply ammunition to Ukraine, calling some of the allegations false. In recent remarks cited by the local media, Vučić said he’s discussed the matter with Vladimir Putin privately and in the presence of the two nations’ diplomats. “We have formed a working group with our Russian partners to establish the facts [regarding the supplies]. Some of the things being alleged are simply untrue,” the Serbian president stated.

Vučić added that he would order the cancellation of contracts for misuse if it became known that the final recipient of the weapons would be a warring party.

That’s literally exactly what neutrality means, they don’t care who you consider an enemy because they’re not picking a side

Aside from the fact that China accounts for 80% of sanctions circumvention routes against Russia, thus supporting the Kremlin in its war, China is supplying Russian military factories with chemicals, gunpowder, components, just to name another example.

There have been 1,200 anti-Trump rallies across the US this weekend, and there is even a Lemmy instance dedicated to this just in case you missed it: https://50501.chat/

Quick reminder that it is Russia that started the war and invaded Ukraine, and that Russia officially spends 40% of its budget for military, that’s ~10% of its GDP (for comparison: the GDP rate in western Europe is around 2%).

[Edit typo.]