china

A Pakistani astronaut at the Chinese space station is not only unusual. It is China occupying US power vacuum

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In the coming years, the Chinese Space Station Tiangong You will receive your first crew of another nation, Pakistan. Although it will be a short -term mission, it represents a cycle change: China opening to other countries, while the United States closes. The agreement. China and Pakistan They signed a cooperation agreement on Friday To train Pakistani astronauts and perform the first international missions to the Chinese Space Station Tiangong. China and Pakistan will dedicate a year from May to select Pakistani astronauts, who will be trained in China before joining their counterparts in the neighboring country in the Orbital Laboratory for short -term missions. Chinese-Pakistan ties. Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China in 1950. The two nations have continued to strengthen ties since then, both economically as in the military and technological: according to the CIA, China even helped develop Pakistan’s nuclear program in the 80s. In recent years, Pakistan has sought to improve his spatial capabilities by resorting to the help of his neighbors. In May, it was one of the countries that placed experiments aboard the Chang’e-6 lunar probe, which ended up turning China into The first country to recover successfully Soil samples of the hidden face of the moon. Which symbolizes tiangong. China decided to develop its own space station after the United States prohibited Any direct collaboration between NASA and the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA), preventing its participation in the International Space Station. After trying two prototypes (Tiangong-1 between 2011 and 2018 and Tiangong-2 between 2016 and 2019), China launched the first module of its permanent space station in 2021. The Tiangong Space Station has three modules and is uninterruptedly inhabited Since 2022, with astronaut rotation missions, first, every three months, and then, every six. The twilight of the ISS. With 16 pressurized modules (the oldest, 26 years old), the International Space Station has long been the maximum exponent of cooperation between countries. But Structural fatigue begins to be a problem and maintenance investments have been increasing. The official plan (Elon Musk has his own) is to keep the ISS operational until 2030 and then tow it to a safe place where to let it disintegrate by entering the atmosphere. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, wants to have its own space station, and NASA trusts that the ISS is replaced by a commercial stations plethora. The future of the low orbit. There are few companies that are developing commercial space stations to offer space tourism services, experiments in microgravity and, ultimately, cover the hole that the ISS will leave from 2030: Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Voyager Space and Airbus… But neither does it lack ambition to China in the extensions planned for its space station, Tiangong, which in the coming years will double the number of modules to six And it will begin to accommodate, as we have seen, astronauts from other countries. Another next milestone will be the launch Xuntian Space Telescopescheduled for 2026. It will share the same orbit as the station (400 km altitude) and may be coupled to it for maintenance and improvement tasks. China occupies power vacuum. When NASA definitely abandons the low terrestrial orbit (or delegate it to its commercial partners), China will be there to occupy the void, opening to other countries to accommodate its astronauts, taking advantage of a abandonment of functions in international cooperation. It will not be the first time that China occupies a space that the United States leaves free. It has occurred on the Moon, ignored by NASA for a long time from the Apollo missions, occasion that the Chinese space agency took the opportunity to achieve symbolic milestones such as alunizar on the hidden satellite face and bring the first soil samples. Cycle change. With NASA receiving instructions to conquer Mars after Elon Musk convinced Donald Trump that the moon is a distraction, the NASA Artemis missions They are questioned. Now China has an opportunity. Not only to establish the “De facto International Space Station” in the low terrestrial orbit, but also a series of milestones that NASA had marked in its calendar of symbolic victories. The First woman who steps on the moon It could be China, if Artemis ends up falling apart. And then the first lunar orbital station? And then the First manned lunar base? If there is a cycle change, China will take advantage of it. Images | Shujianyang, China Ministry of Foreign Affairs In Xataka | 400,000 meters above the earth, China is undertaking a crucial mission in its space station: fortify it In Xataka | It is not that Elon Musk has managed to introduce its influence on NASA. Is that he has entered sweeping

China has discovered a source of energy so massive that potentially lasts 60,000 years. The bad news: is Torio

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China sits on a virtually unlimited energy reserve. Only the Bayan Obo mine, in the Interior Mongolia region, could contain about 1 million tons of Torio, sufficient to meet the country’s energy needs for 60,000 years. In interior Mongolia. While the world, with China at the head, looks for alternatives to fossil fuels to complement the intermittent supply of renewables, the answer could be resting under our feet. More specifically, under the ground of Interior Mongolia, the Autonomous Region of China that limits the north with Mongolia. According to South China Morning Posta newly declassified 2020 study has revealed that Bayan Obo’s site could contain enough Torio to supply all the energy needs of China for millennia. Virtually unlimited. Only five years of mining waste in the largest field of rare earths in Interior Mongolia contain both Torio and the demand for US homes for the next thousand years, according to the study of China Geological Review magazine that CMP quotes. If it is exploited to the fullest, Bayan Obo’s mining complex could produce 1 million tons of thorium. We would be talking about enough production to supply China for 60,000 years, the article suggests. Context. The thorium is a radioactive element that is estimated between three and four times more abundant than uranium in the earth’s crust. Until recently, the official figures placed the Chinese reserves around 100,000-300,000 tons, in themselves of the largest in the world. With a potential of 1 million tons, Bayan Obo would go from being the largest rare land mine on a virtually unlimited Torio source. Some geologists described the finding as a change of play that would give China the worldwide control of the production of the material. Not so fast. In most cases, the thorium is obtained as a byproduct in rare earth processing (specifically, monacite) or uranium mining and phosphates. China is already the main producer of rare earths, and therefore manages large amounts of minerals containing Torio. Why don’t you exploit it commercially on a large scale? Because the thorium is a radioactive residue of delicate management. Its extraction, either by acid or alkaline digestion of Monacita, or as a recovery of mining tails, complicates waste management with the use of alkaline acids or metals that generate toxic and radioactive wastewater. Perspectives These challenges are not insurmountable, but require a regulatory framework and an important investment for the thorium to be competitive in front of Uranium in the Obtaining safe nuclear energy. And especially in front of renewable sources, which have been cheaper thanks to the exponential growth of the Chinese supply chain. However, the thorium can end up being key to reducing fossil fuel dependence (after all, renewables need batteries to offer continuous supply), and China already has Torio reactor testslike the TMSR-LF1 of 2 MW and its future scaled 10 MW version that could be ready in 2030. If the results are positive, China could end up making the jump to the first 100 MW Torio nuclear power plants. Image | Google In Xataka | The reactors of molten salts and Torio are the nuclear response to solve our energy future (and silence criticism) In Xataka | The moment of the thorium: what if we do not have to wait for the merger to have much more safer nuclear energy?

How China has advanced the US on its presidential plane

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Every time the president of China, one of the main economic and military powers of the world, travels abroad in a State visita safety operational complex is activated. From transport to personal protection, everything is designed to minimize any risk and ensure that the diplomatic agenda runs without any setback. In the most complex trips, China displays a Boeing 747 fleet. According to simple flyingwhile an airplane is reserved for Xi Jinping, another transports its accompaniment personnel and a third is responsible for the load, including the presidential limousine. A logistics scheme reminiscent of the United States uses in this type of displacement. China and the United States choose Boeing Boeing is going through difficult timesbut that does not prevent him from manufactured some of the most emblematic aircraft in the world. A clear example is the Boeing 747in service since 1970 and still considered a reference in aviation. Both the United States and China have chosen it for the transport of its leaders, being a key piece on international trips. President Donald Trump has two Boeing 747-200b (VC-25), in service since the 1990s. These aircraft have been deeply modified to function as true control centers in the air, with private suites, offices, meetings and advanced communication and defense systems to guarantee VVIP level security. Xi Jinping travels in a Boeing 747-8, a more modern version than used by the president of the United States. This aircraft was delivered In December 2014but it was not until 2016 when it received its VVIP configuration, with specific modifications for presidential transport. Of course, the information about this point is extremely scarce. What is known is that, although the logo of China Airits use is reserved exclusively for Xi Jinping and acts as its air operations center. As we indicated above, the Chinese government also asks the state airline to have commercial aircraft for official functions when necessary. China uses a Boeing 747-8 for the transport of personnel and a Boeing 747-400 load for logistics support. In the latter the Hongqi N701Xi Jinping’s armored limousine, considered the Chinese version of the American “The Beast”, which in the case of the US moves into a C-17 Globemaster IIIa military load plane built by Boeing. Although there is no confirmed replacement plan, China could replace its presidential plane of the American Boeing with an alternative of its own manufacturing. The country has already developed with SUCCESS THE COMAC C919a narrow fuselage plane, and works on the C929a wide fuselage model that could become a viable candidate. The United States has been trying to replace its Boeing 747-200B presidential by Boeing 747-8, but the process has been full of delays. In this context, the Boom Supersonic CEO, Blake Scholl, has suggested that The White House leaves 747 and bet on a special version of the Overtureits supersonic development plane. Images | Hugo Luc | United States Air Force | Asuspine In Xataka | That a plane ends upside down in flames with 80 passengers inside is not good news. What happened later yes

Good news for China, not so much for the western technology industry

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The Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) has established a measure that will affect cobalt exports. No more cobalt? The market regulation and control authority of strategic mineral substances (Arecoms) has announced that cobalt exports will be detained for at least four months. According to He explained Its president, Patrick Luabya, the decision seeks to control the supply of cobalt in an international market that is facing an overproduction of metal. The importance of cobalt. There is a common metal that both electric vehicles and mobile devices and other technologies share: cobalt. In this century, I know has promoted its demand. However, the production of cobalt in the RDC, which represents around 70% of the world supply, has fallen together with the lithium. This has caused other cobalt producers, such as Russia and Australia, to win more prominence. The reason for the oversupply has been the increase in production by From the Chinese company CMOCsince he has doubled his extraction in two large mines in the country. This situation has had an impact on supply and demand, causing a price drop. In fact, according to Fastmarkets data, cobalt reference prices They have dropped out of 10 dollars per pounda level that had not been seen in more than 20 years. The current impact on the global market. Despite this fall, the markets have entered into tension with the measure taken by RDC. But they have been able to breathe calm because the suspension of exports have not meant an immediate change in the price of cobalt. However, market experts consider that, in the short term, this action could generate a market stiffnesssince cobalt stocks will accumulate in the RDC instead of going to Chinese deposits, as is often the case. China. Although the suspension of exports has not yet affected prices, this can benefit the Asian country. Chinese companies, which They already control A significant part of the offer and cobalt production may be strengthened from this crisis. In fact, China It has access to other cobalt sources Like Australia, Russia and Indonesia. Particularly the latter has great cobalt reservations and has experienced significant growth in its production. In addition, the Congo decision has reinforced China’s domain, while the West faces greater difficulties in ensuring essential materials for technological and energy sectors. In this way, the Asian country has taken a dominance position in front “The war of tariffs” against Donald Trump. It should be added that the latter You will need many materials That has China. The western technology industry. The measure has directly affected the technological sector of Europe and the United States, since they depend on the cobalt to make batteries of electric vehicles and electronic devices. However, the Democratic Republic of the Congo seeks to redefine its role in the global market And he has asked Europe and the United States for help through an agreement. In this approach, the African country has established an agreement by which they offer strategic minerals in exchange for support for the stability and development of the country. This proposition starts from the RDC is facing internal tensions. In particular, the east of the Congo is being the scene of armed conflictssome with alleged relationship with Rwandawhich has intensified the violence in rubber and bukavu, both border cities with Rwanda are known for their mines rich in different elements. With this proposal, the RDC expects to attract Western investment and reduce its dependence on China in the mining sector. It remains to be seen if the United States and Europe will accept the agreement, which would allow them to ensure more stable access to these strategic resources. Copper. It should be noted that the cobalt is mainly extracted as an byproduct of copper in the Congo. The suspension of cobalt exports It will not affect Production or copper exports, another key mineral that Congo also produces in large quantities. This means that, although the export of cobalt is limited, copper exports will follow its normal course, without important changes. The suspension of exports will continue for three more months and will be revalued. During this period we will have to be attentive to future actions of the West and as China will redraw the energy map. Image | The International Institute for Environment and Development (IED) Xataka | The cobalt is what triggers the price of batteries. Japan has just found a much cheaper alternative

The installation is one of the barriers for the total triumph of the solar panels. China wants to fix it with “stickers”

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Betting on the installation of solar panels is something that seems key in the Ride for decarbonization in which we are immersed. And the country that has proposed to dominate the production and sale Of these panels is China. Multitude of companies have risen to the ship of the production of photovoltaic panels, so much that a Price war that is not favoring To the industry itself. And in that wild competitiveness, betting on innovation is key. As a result, one of these companies has recently shown its new products. The objective: fill all the roofs of these flexible solar panels. The keys. That company is Polyshine Solar, a Shanghai -based company that has been focusing solar panels that can boast something very unique: being light. This is not easy, but at the opening of the World Smart Energy Week, held in Tokyo, the Chinese company has shown His new flexible panels. These panels stand out for three key features: their simple installation with an adhesive layer that allows a fast deployment, its flexibility to adapt to various surfaces and a weight 70% lower than conventional glass panels. Behind those happy lords are the panels “Paradigma change”. Although what attracts attention is the weight of the panel and a flexion radius that the company has affirmed that it is 0.5 meters, which define As a “paradigm change” in the energy transition is the ease of application of the panel. Thanks to this simplification of the installation by reducing the action to a process of “paste and generating electricity”, Polyshine Solar considers that it will be something that democratizes access to renewables. Characteristics. On the margin, these modules are available in several versions with powers that vary between 505 W and 535 W. The energy conversion efficiency is between 19 and 20.1% and the panels have dimensions of 2,246 x 1,185 x 2.5 mm and a weight of 7.5 kg. This combination of weight, flexibility and the ease of placing them, “eliminate installation barriers on curved surfaces or structures with low load capacity, without additional reconditioning costs,” Comment The company. Apart from the adhesive surface, you can also hang and hold with straps. Guarantees. Polyshine states that, after 25 years, their panels will maintain at least 84.8% of their output power. They have IP68 protection against water and dust thanks to an EVA encapsulated and can operate in a temperature range between -40 ° and 85 ° Celsius. For a few years, the company’s light panels have been placed In areas such as acoustic barriers for roads within cities, resisting vehicle vibrations. And challenges. Now, as well Comment The company, getting a reduction in weight is not easy and is something that is at odds with efficiency. Each 0.1% increase in lightness and flexibility represents a challenge because it is something that can affect energy production. To face this, these years have opted for highly transparent materials, and the fruits are modules that generate 2% more energy in the same conditions as similar products. They do not specify what these similar products are, but they do comment that, although 2% look little, when 1,000 m² of their panels are installed, there are additional 5,000 kWh per year. Beyond corporate discourse, this progress reflects a change of focus on industry: they not only seek Improve energy efficiencybut optimize weight and ease of installation for Accelerate the adoption of renewables. Images | Polyshine (LinkedIn) In Xataka | The biggest problem of Perovskita’s solar panels was its durability. China has just resolved it

China performing real fire exercises in front of its coast

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Occurred last weekbut the shock was so great that since then they have not stopped The communiqués happen With diploma doing overtime trying to find a meeting point in what happened. As in TaiwanAustralia found a situation to some excorees last Friday. Suddenly, a fleet of ships Not announced I was doing shooting practices in its waters. It was China, and since then they do not agree. The alarm Last week, a group of Three Chinese warships (A cruise of Renhai classa frigate and a supply ship) entered the exclusive economic zone of Australia Without declaring its purpose (Only 150 nautical miles from Sydney). According to Australian defense minister, Richard Marles, although he was not unpublished at all, was “unusual.” And there was more: on Friday, commercial flights between Australia and New Zealand They had to deviate Suddenly after Chinese ships alert the pilots that flew over an exercise area with real fire. Although it has not been confirmed that the shots occurred on the same day, the New Zealand Navy reported that the next day, on Saturday, Yes there was real fire activity. His Minister of Defense, Judith Collins, He expressed his concernespecially for The lack of communication by China. “Unfortunately, tensions have increased,” he said, remembering the recent launch of a ballistic missile Chinese Intercontinental in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, he admitted that they did not know the next movements of Chinese ships, which has led his government to ask for explanations from the Embassy of the Nation. The concerns. Therefore, and although China did not violate international law, the authorities of both countries have criticized publicly The lack of early warning appropriate. Not just that. The naval episode occurs a few days after an incident between a Chinese hunting and a patrol plane Australian in the South China Sea. Canberra denounced the action as “dangerous and unprofessional”, while Beijing accused Australia of provocation. The Chinese response and the reasons. The Chinese Defense Ministry He rejected the accusations Of both nations, ensuring that they issued multiple security notices in advance and accusing the Australian and Neozyn Governments of “deliberately exaggerating the incident. As for the big question, experts consider this incursion A strategic background. Michael Shoebridge, former Australian defense official, had the Washington Post This week that China seeks to press Australia for His military alliances With Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam, countries that have territorial disputes with Beijing. Plus: China is expanding its influence In the Pacific, trying to consolidate security agreements with small island nations, which worries Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the exercises also demonstrate the growing Chinese naval capacity at a time when it seeks to project more power in the region. China in the area. The presence of Chinese warships in the south of the Pacific adds to a growing militarization of the region by Beijing. In fact, in recent years it has increased His presence near Japanand has done exercises with real fire near Australia or Challenged to the United States In the South China Sea. Moreover, had in Japan Times That the naval deployment in waters east of Australia has lit the alarms in Canberra and Tokyo. According to Andrew ShearerGeneral Intelligence Director of Australia, this is the further incursion ever carried out by a group of tasks of the Navy of the Popular Liberation Army, and its objective seems to be normalizing the Chinese military presence in the region. Evaluate the allied response. It could be another of the hypotheses that some experts point out. Shearer warned That China was not only sending a message to Australia, but sought to evaluate and mold the responses of the countries of the region. According to Euan GrahamAnalyst of the Australian Institute of Strategic Policy, the Popular Liberation Army is calibrating the reactions of Australia and Japan, both key allies of the United States. “The absence of a firm response from Australia or a statement of support from Washington will only be emboldened to China to continue pressing. Its objective is to normalize its military presence in the region and find fissures between the United States and its Pacific allies,” Graham explained. What seems clearly clear is that recent naval exercises with real fire of China, now in the Sea of ​​Tasmania, have relieved tensions in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Although Australia has no direct territorial disputes with China, her growing naval presence In the region, along with their alliances with the United States and other Asian powers, it seems that they look from Beijing as a challenge to their influence. Image | CCTV In Xataka | First it was a cut underwater cable. 24 hours later Taiwan has found a China Army in front of the island In Xataka | To motivate its Chinese workers, it has opted for a prize. His name is Caracol, and it is a public humiliation

First it was a cut underwater cable. 24 hours later Taiwan has found a China Army in front of the island

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24 hours after the Taiwan authorities have stopped a ship manned by Chinese citizens under the suspicion of having cut a new cable Communications submarine, the island has encountered a surprising scene in front of its coasts: China has deployed an army and initiated real fire exercises. The tension intensifies. As explained by the island’s government, China carried out “shooting training” exercises In the waters near the southwest coast of Taiwan, in a maneuver that Taipei has described as “provocative and dangerous.” The exercises seem to be framed in a series of Chinese military maneuvers that, at least in the last three years, have included large -scale war drills. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reported that, shortly before 9 am, detected 32 Chinese military planes performing a joint exercise of preparation for combat along with 14 warships in the Taiwan Strait. The operation was carried out without prior notice and in an area Only 74 kilometers from the coastwhich represents a violation of international standards and a danger to navigation security and commercial flights in the region. Taiwan’s response. The Taiwanese government He condemned the maneuvers and displayed his own strength to monitor the situation. The cities of Kaohsiung and Pingtung, located in southwest Taiwan, host important naval and aerial bases, in addition to the largest port on the island, a key node in international maritime trade. According to Taipei, the recent Chinese military activity, including the one carried out in front of the coast of Australiashow that China is the biggest threat for the stability of the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region. For its part, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs avoided making direct comments on Taiwan’s complaints and just affirmed that the maneuvers were part of a scheduled shooting training. China reinforces its reunification speech. While the Chinese armed forces carried out these exercises, Wang Huning, the fourth leader in the hierarchy of the Communist Party, reiterated the official Beijing position on The “reunification” with Taiwan. During a meeting on issues related to the island, Wang stressed The need for China “Maintain the initiative and control over relations through the Taiwan Strait” and “advance without hesitation in the cause of the reunification of the homeland.” What did the neighbor say? Taiwan’s government responded by rejecting Beijing’s sovereignty statements and reaffirmed that only the Taiwanese people You can decide your future. To all this we must remember that President Lai Ching-Te, whom China considers a “separatist”, has reiterated his commitment to the defense of Taiwanese democracy. A day after cable cut. It We count yesterday. Frictions between Taiwan and China have not limited themselves to the military field. 24 hours before Chinese “simulation”, both parties exchanged accusations in relation to the Damage to an underwater cable of communications off the southwest coast of Taiwan. The Taiwanese authorities arrested a freighter with Chinese crew, the Hong Tai 58, registered in Togo, on suspicion of being involved in the incident. China, meanwhile, accused Taiwan of Manipulate the situation and launch accusations without conclusive evidence. Not just that. Taiwan has revealed in the last hours that the Hong Tai 58 was already part of A list of 52 boats Linked to China that the island’s security agencies consider a potential threat to telecommunications infrastructure. Looking back, it is the fifth case around failures/cuts/Sabotage of submarine cables registered in the region so far this year. So much so, that the Taiwan government has established a parallel with similar incidents occurred in the Baltic Sea After the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What seems clear is that the situation in the area, far from appeasing, has climbed the confrontation in a few days. China continues reinforcing its military presence In the region, while Taiwan and its allies, particularly the United States, observe with concern the increase in these maneuvers and the hardening of the forced reunification discourse. The combination of military pressure, sabotage of critical infrastructure and that growing belligerent rhetoric by Beijing points to an intimidation and wear strategy, one that raises the risk of an open conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Image | Naval Surface In Xataka | Taiwan lives an unprecedented situation in three decades: there is an army of 53 planes and 90 Chinese ships in front of the island In Xataka | Taiwan has just stopped a ship after cutting an underwater cable. The problem is that there are only Chinese citizens inside

Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, is probably the new richest person in China. He doesn’t want to know anything about that

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Xiaomi has been chaining Good financial results quarter after quarter, marking a milestone in the Hong Kong bag. That good behavior of their actions has made the Fortuna de Lei Junco -founder and CEO of the brand, has grown like foam in recent months until it becomes the richest man in China. The most curious thing is that he doesn’t want to know anything about all that. Xiaomi triggered. Xiaomi’s shares have registered a 286% growth since the presentation of the first brand electric car. With the presentation of Su7 Ultra, the most sporty and luxurious versionthat upward trend is maintained. According to published The Chinese media specialized in Finance Cailianshe, the good results of Xiaomi have promoted the fortune of Lei Jun until they convert it, even for a few moments, in the richest person in China. The Xiaomi CEO has first surpassed the tycoon of bottled waterZhong Shanshan, and Pony Ma, CEO of Tencent. The richest … for a while. We say that Lei Jun has been for a moment the richest man in China because, As they point out From Coilianshe, short operations have stopped the escalation of the price of Xiaomi shares that began the day with 4%profits, to close the session falling 5.68%. That fluctuation has made Jun occupy the first position until the actions have fallen again throughout the day. It is estimated that Lei Jun has a heritage close to 44,000 million dollars. However, Jun himself He denied the rumor who had become the richest man in China in an internal alumni chat at the University of Wuhan he attended. It is not humility, it is taboo. In the West, it would be a source of joy and joy for any millionaire to reach, even if only for a moment, the highest fortune position in his country. However, Lei Jun hastened to deny the news. It is not humility. Being ultrarrico in China is not well seen. As they pointed out in The worldthis taboo seems to be a cultural vestige of the anti -capitalist doctrine that Mao Zedong promoted in the late 70s of the last century with the “Cultural Revolution“ Such and as they tell in theBBCpublic opinion in China does not see with good eyes that the millionaires show their fortunes, they often reproach their behavior to whom it shows an opulent life through Xiaohongshu, known as “Chinese Instagram”. Young and rich. In fact, since Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, the authorities have been applying the doctrine of “common prosperity“, which considers the millionaires in bad taste make ostentation of your wealth not to exalt social inequalities. The ads of luxury products on radio and television were also restricted. In 2023, a “austerity campaign” began in which the big companies and financial entities asked their employees not to travel in the first class or not wear clothes or ostentatious jewels. Jack Ma’s toll to highlight. Most likely, Lei Jun’s rush for denying his alleged fortune comes from Lessons left Jack Ma In the past. The founding millionaire of Alibaba paid a high personal cost for wanting to create one of the largest companies in China. Government pressure reduced his empire to ashesalthough has resurfaced again. Chinese hermeticism. This cultural and political secrecy makes it extremely complicated Forbes either Bloomberg The studies that Hurun publishes annually With the estimated fortune of each of the millionaires, but this leaves a distorted image of these assets, which are subject to constant market fluctuations. For example, the 2024 Hurun list assigns the first three positions to Zhang Yiming (49.3 billion dollars), CEO of Bytedance; Zhong Shanshan (47.9 billion dollars), CEO of Nongfu Spring and Pony Ma (44.4 billion dollars) of Tencent. Lei Jun is in the 19th place of that list with an estimated fortune of 18.3 billion. The Forbes list assign you 42.5 billion dollars and Bloomberg 46.9 billion dollars. In Xataka | China has been cutting its technology for years. Xi Jiping has just opened the door for that to change Image | Wikimedia Commons (Wipo)

China prepares to lead the manufacture of chips for advanced weapons

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China monopolizes gallium production. In fact, Up to 2022 monopolized 98% of the world gross Gallic, and this figure presumably has barely varied since then. For the country led by Xi Jinping This metal has a strategic value comparable to the one for the US due to its potential in military applications. And, in addition, Gallium export control allows China to respond to the sanctions to which the US and their allies are subjecting this Asian country in the scope of the semiconductor industry. Gallium is a very special metal. Its physicochemical properties make it suitable to be combined with other metals with the purpose of manufacturing a special type of integrated circuits called broadband semiconductors. These chips have three properties that make them very valuable to intervene in the manufacture of Advanced military teams: They support voltages, temperatures and frequencies higher than integrated conventional silicon circuits. During the 70s the US Advanced Defense Research Projects (Darpa) He dedicated many resources to the development of semiconductors in which Gallium was involved due to the potential he had in military technology projects. He Gallium Arseniuro (GAAS) played a fundamental role in the development of the global positioning system (GPS), and also in Radark tuning and precision weapons. China has taken a very important step forward Currently, Gallium Nitruro (GAN), which also has Darpa’s backing, is being used to make state -of -the -art radars that are capable of accurately identifying smaller, fast and numerous objects at more distance. Each of these radars incorporates several thousand chips in which the gallium intervenes. Everything we have just seen invites us to reach an obvious conclusion: Gallium is an essential metal for the US. But this country is not the only military superpower on the planet. The Chinese army and research institutions have been working with Gaul for many years and developing technologies that allow you to use it Third generation advanced semiconductors. As we have seen, China has Gallium in abundance, but producing integrated circuits with this metal is not easy. Neither for the country led by Xi Jinping nor for which Donald Trump is currently governing. Modifying electrons energy levels, it is possible to accurately control climbing and reduce defects To manufacture gallium nitruro, silicon and sapphire substrates are often used, but the effectiveness of the processes used so far was moderate because the hexagonal atomic structure of the GAN causes the appearance of a defect known as climbing. In broad strokes this curious phenomenon triggers the displacement of groups of atoms in a certain region of the crystal, which affects its structure and reduces its properties. In fact, GAN manufacturing defects cause electric leaks, reduce their thermal stability and reduce the performance of semiconductors. Until now the researchers who work with GAN had difficulty understanding why these defects appear in the crystalline structure of this material. And also to deal with them. But the team of scientists led by Professor Huang Bing at the University of Beijing (China) has identified the cause which triggers the production of defects during the growth of the Gan Crystals. What these scientists have discovered is that modifying the energy levels of electrons it is possible to accurately control the climbing and reduce defects. “Traditional strategies to avoid defects include the use of different substrates and the adjustment of crystallization temperatures, but these approaches only address symptoms, not the cause,” Professor Huang Bing explained. If China manages to get this research from the laboratory and bring to production chains this technology will have the ability to manufacture cheapest GAN -GAN semiconductors, of more quality and a much larger scale. And at this juncture it will not be unreasonable to anticipate that it will be done with the leadership of the application of 3rd generation semiconductors in the military field and 5G technologies. Image | TSMC More information | SCMP In Xataka | This semiconductor is spectacular. So much so that for the MIT is its nº 1 candidate to replace the silicon

Donald Trump’s government plans to be even harder with China. His problem is that he needs Netherlands and Japan

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The administration led by Joe Biden has approved during his management years several very ambitious China sanctions. The last one entered into force On December 2just a few weeks before Biden and his team leave the White House. These prohibitions are aimed priority to Chinese companies that They design and produce lithography equipment that intervene in the manufacture of advanced semiconductors, hence the impact they are presumably having on the Chinese chips industry is deep. As expected, China soon react. Just one day later the government led by Xi Jinping announced the prohibition of export of critical minerals to the US. It was possible that the arrival of Donald Trump’s government and his entourage contributed to calm the waters with China a little, but nothing is further from reality. The climbing of sanctions and other moschadillas that have starred US and China in recent years will continue, although now under the baton of Donald Trump. The US prepares more sanctions with the complicity of the Netherlands and Japan According to Bloomberg News Trump’s team wants to even more harden the sanctions to which China is already subjected. The US government has not officially confirmed it, but according to this means of communication, the new sanctions package addresses two different areas that seek to hinder more the development of the Chinese semiconductor industry. The first measure proposes to restrict the quantity and types of chips that NVIDIA can deliver to its Chinese clients without processing a license. Deepseek R1’s success is promoting the adoption of NVIDIA GPU H20 for models training It is important that we do not overlook that Jensen Huang’s company leads the GPU market for applications of artificial intelligence (AI) with an approximate quota of 80%. And, in addition, the success of China AI Deepseek R1 He is promoting The adoption of the GPU H20 of nvidia for Model training (And also that of The Ascend 910 chips of Huawei to solve inference tasks). Whatever this is not all. And, again according to Bloomberg, several US officials have recently met with their Dutch and Japanese counterparts. Presumably they are negotiating what steps they can take to drastically limit the participation of the engineers of the Dutch company ASML and the Japanese Tokyo Electron, which are two of the most important lithography equipment manufacturers on the planet, in the maintenance of the production equipment of the production equipment of semiconductors that are being used by their Chinese clients. The US needs the complicity of the Netherlands and Japan to make this measure prosper, and it is very likely to do so soon. From one thing we can be sure: as has happened on other occasions, China will respond. Image | ASML More information | Reuters In Xataka | Japan has triggered the alarm: China has in its hands the world production of chips and batteries thanks to the gallium

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