Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu has not been publicly seen for the past two weeks, fueling discussions on social media about his whereabouts and the Chinese Communist Party’s power struggles. As of Wednesday, Gen. Li hasn’t been heard from publicly for 15 days. His last public appearance was on Aug. 29, when he addressed a security forum and held talks with visiting defense ministers from Ghana, Zambia, and several other African countries. The absence of the public face of the regime’s military recalled the disappearance of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, the protégé of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. On July 25, Mr. Qin was abruptly replaced after disappearing from public view for 30 days. No reason was provided in the brief official statement issued by state media....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/chinas-top-defense-official-disappears-from-public-view-5490787
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reaffirmed his nation’s longstanding policy on the controlled release of treated radioactive wastewater during the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 6. Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Qiang softened his rhetoric on the issue, signaling a potential thaw in relations between the two nations. Japan began releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima power plant on Aug. 24. The shift in Beijing’s tone over the release of the treated wastewater comes amid growing concern in Japan over the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) actions, prompting experts to advocate for a more action-oriented diplomatic approach to reduce dependency on China....
Beijing on Sept. 13 seemingly offered a rationale behind the state’s partial ban on iPhones while denying that it would outright ban Apple products. “We noticed that there have been many media reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. Bloomberg reported that the official English translation of the remarks omitted the reference to media reports. “China has not issued laws and regulations to ban the purchase of Apple or foreign brands’ phones,” Ms. Mao said, adding that all companies operating in China need to adhere to regulations, and the government places “great importance” on security....
The government has blocked the Lords’ attempt to push through a law aimed at ensuring forced organ harvesting is barred from the UK’s public supply chain on Wednesday. MPs removed an amendment targeting the practice from the Procurement Bill for the second time after peers re-inserted it on Monday. If the clause became law, it would have allowed a contracting body to exclude suppliers found to be involved in forced organ harvesting, which is defined as “killing a person without their consent so that their organs may be removed and transplanted into another person.” Suppliers involved in the dealings of any devices, equipment, or services related to forced organ harvesting would also be excluded....