veto

TikTok has dodged the bullet of the US veto. Although it has not been free

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TikTok has announced through a press release the creation of a new one joint venture with which it seeks to meet the demands of the United States Government. This operation will give rise to a new subsidiary majority controlled by a group of American investors close to the president of the country. The agreement. TikTok now operates in the United States under a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The joint venture allows Bytedance to retain 19.9% ​​of the new company, with the rest under the control of three companies: Oracle, Silver Lake Management and MGX. The constitution of the new subsidiary will allow TikTok to continue operating normally in the country, complying with the executive order signed by Trump on September 25, 2025. The data. The main objective of the Joint Venture is to meet Trump’s demands. That user data remained in the United States was one of the main ones. “The majority U.S.-owned joint venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software safeguards for U.S. users.” The algorithm. The content recommendation algorithm will be updated in the United States, leaving it in the hands of the joint company. The Oracle cloud will be in charge of ensuring this, and it will be specifically designed to make recommendations based on data from American users. Although the United States has gained access to the algorithm, it is not done with your property. Bytedance licenses, but does not sell its most valuable asset. Qor what is important. The fight between TikTok and the United States was not a whim, it was a geopolitical war around one of the most important social networks for China. trump even banned the application in the United Statesafter considering it a “risk to national security” in 2024, throwing a dart at Bytedance with a Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act made to measure. Within hours of completely shutting down, the president extended the deadline for the vetoin order to reach an agreement. Trump made it clear that, if China wanted reduce its tariff burden, the price to pay was TikTok. During 2025, the future of the social network was up in the air. Neither winners nor losers. There are two sides to this new agreement between China and the United States. For Bytedance, TikTok is not important in the United States only because of its unique users (less than 10% of its global base): it is also important because the bulk of creators that feed their algorithm from the country. Although it loses participation in TikTok in the United States, it maintains a user base. Maintains algorithm. Resolves tension without giving up one of your most precious assets. On the United States side, although it has not been able to take over the app 100%, it achieves one of its main objectives: that user data stays in the country. In Xataka | Young people have decided to stop posting (so much) on Facebook and Instagram. “AI-generated garbage” has free rein

The fighters and bombers were a warning to Japan. Now China has taken action with a devastating veto: pandas

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The crisis between China and Japan has entered a deeper and symbolically harsher phase, marked by a clear transition from direct military pressure to political, cultural and emotional coercion. It all began after the statements of the Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, stating that a Chinese attack against Taiwan would mean an existential threat for Japan, a phrase that Beijing interpreted as the prelude to a possible Japanese military involvement in a conflict on the island. From warning to punishment. Since those words, China has raised the pulse with a calculated combination of demonstrations of force and indirect retaliation: J-15 fighters illuminating Japanese aircraft with radar from the Liaoning aircraft carrier, joint flights of strategic bombers Chinese and Russians near the Japanese archipelago and a diplomatic campaign that seeks to isolate Tokyo by remembering the Japanese imperial past and its role in World War II. Heaven as a message. The aerial maneuvers They are not isolated incidents, but carefully choreographed messages. The passage of the Liaoning south of Okinawa, the radar jams and the flights of nuclear-capable bombers over the Sea of ​​Japan and the East China Sea are part of a pattern of intimidation that seeks highlight two ideas: that China is willing to escalate and that Japan cannot count on an automatic response from the United States. Washington, focused on stabilizing its relationship with Beijing and ambiguous about its degree of involvement in a crisis over Taiwan, has left Tokyo in an uncomfortable position. Only after the Chinese-Russian flights came a joint response with American B-52 bombers and Japanese fighters, a sign of deterrence that does not clear up the underlying uncertainty and confirms that the regional balance has become more fragile. The pressure changes. But the most revealing turn in Chinese strategy comes when the confrontation has left the strictly military level and has filtered into everyday life. Beijing has urged its citizens to avoid Japan, discouraged Chinese students from enrolling in Japanese universities, cut flights and dropped organized tourism. Added to this is a waterfall of cultural cancellations: concerts suspended, screenings canceled and shows held in empty pavilions following decisions by Chinese organizers. These are not improvised gestures, but a form of selective punishment that seeks to generate visible costs for Japan without crossing military thresholds, a warning addressed both to Tokyo and other countries tempted to express similar commitments to Taiwan. Panda diplomacy. In this context it takes on all its meaning. the withdrawal of the last giant pandas in Japan. Since the normalization of relations in 1972, pandas have been one of the more refined tools of Chinese soft power: iconic animals, formally on loan, that symbolize friendship, scientific cooperation and goodwill, but whose legal ownership always remains Chinese. Over the decades, Beijing has used its transfer, renewal or withdrawal as a political thermometerrewarding fluid relationships and freezing those that come into conflict. “Panda diplomacy” is not folklore, but a carefully designed form of strategic signaling, capable of conveying closeness or disapproval without the need for official communications. Tokyo is left without pandas. The decision to return to China to Xiao Xiao and Lei Leithe last two pandas at the Ueno Zoo, leaves Japan without any for the first time in more than half a century. Although formally it is presented as the expiration of an agreement and a logistical issue, the chosen moment and Beijing’s silence regarding any possibility of renewal make the march of the pandas in a political gesture impossible to ignore. In a city where these animals are a mass phenomenon and a cultural and economic asset, their departure functions as a tangible reminder who controls the symbols of the bilateral relationship. The expectation of hundreds of thousands of visitors saying goodbye to the pandas underlines the extent to which Chinese punishment has moved beyond the strategic level. to the emotional. A calculated climb. The sequence is revealing: first, military warningsafter, diplomatic pressureand finally, sanction cultural and symbolic. China thus displays a manual of gradual coercion that combines hard and soft force to shape the behavior of its neighbors. Japan, far from giving in, maintains its position on Taiwan supported by public opinion increasingly critical of Beijing, while assuming that the bilateral relationship has entered its lowest point since the Senkaku Islands crisis in 2012. The disturbing thing about the episode is not only the removal of some pandas wave concert cancellationbut the clarity with which China has demonstrated that it has multiple levers (military, economic, cultural and symbolic) to respond to any political challenge. And she is willing to use them all, progressively, when she considers that her red lines have been crossed. Image | Alert5, kumachii, Colegota In Xataka | Everything is going great between China and Japan, they are just pointing heavy weapons at each other In Xataka | China has drawn a very clear red line to Japan: being an ally of the United States is good, supporting Taiwan is bad.

Gibraltar airport was born as a British military bastion. Now Spain has imposed a veto that will be very expensive

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Since its construction during the Second World War on the narrow strip that separates the Rock from the isthmus, the Gibraltar airport It has been much more than a landing strip: an RAF military enclave, a nerve center for British logistics in the Mediterranean and, at the same time, a constant source of diplomatic friction with Spain. Today, and after Brexit, that old tension resurfaces in new forms. More restrictions. The United Kingdom has confirmed that the restrictions imposed by Spain on the overflight of British military aircraft remain in force, affecting flights arriving or departing from the Royal Air Force (RAF) air base in Gibraltar. Despite this, the British Ministry of Defense insists that the measure has no operational impact and that the base continues to operate as a sovereign military airfield under full authority of the United Kingdom. So he reiterated it Under Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, Alistair Carns, in response to a series of parliamentary questions posed by Liberal Democrat MP Helen Maguire, who asked for clarification on the logistical and financial consequences of this situation. Carns claimed that RAF aircraft simply They trace alternative routes to avoid Spanish territorial airspace, in accordance with the restrictions imposed by Madrid, and that Gibraltar’s operational capacity has not been compromised. The big doubt. Nevertheless, admitted that no formal study has been carried out on the economic costs derived from diverting flights through other international air information regions, despite the increase in fuel costs and flight time that this implies. The dimension of the blockade. The debate about the military overflights reflects a historical conflict between London and Madrid that has survived all diplomatic stages, from the Cold War to Brexit. Spain, relying on international law and its claim of sovereignty over Gibraltar, maintains that all British military activity in the area must comply with its air traffic rules. For the Spanish Government, overflight restrictions are not a sanction, but a legitimate expression of its jurisdiction over the airspace it considers its own. An RAF Hawk at the airport What do the English say? From the British perspective, however, these limitations are a inheritance of tensions that surround the sovereignty of the Rock and a technical rather than political obstacle. In the Westminster Parliament, the issue continues to be a recurring theme, periodically reactivated by particularly combative deputies who see every Spanish gesture as a threat to the British integrity of the enclave. To them, successive governments of the United Kingdom have always responded in the same way: reaffirming their full sovereignty over Gibraltar and the right of its inhabitants to self-determination, without opening any loophole for territorial negotiations with Spain. A Lockheed Hudson of No. 233 Squadron RAF lands at Gibraltar in August 1942 Gibraltar after Brexit. Brexit introduced a new framework of relations that fully affected Gibraltar’s position. After months of negotiationSpain, the United Kingdom and the European Commission reached an agreement that established a joint system customs and border control. Under this pact, Spain will assume controls on the European side at the Peñón port and airport, which will allow more fluid transit to destinations within the European Union. However, the military issue was left out of those understandings. The Liberal Democrat Helen Maguire brought this sensitive point back to the table by asking whether the impact of restrictions Spanish reports on the operations and costs of the British Ministry of Defence. Carns’ response was blunt: air limitations continue, aircraft avoid Spanish space and the base maintains its sovereign status. But, as we said before, the absence of an official calculation on additional spending reflects political will to publicly minimize any consequences derived from the dispute, preserving the narrative of autonomy and absolute control over Gibraltar. Strategic impact. Although London maintains that the Spanish veto does not interfere In its operational freedom, the diversion of military routes involves a considerable logistical effort. Instead of crossing the Iberian Peninsula, aircraft must border it by the Atlanticprolonging the journeys from the British Isles to Gibraltar and complicating supply at a point of strategic value for British operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The RAF base in Gibraltar, next to the port used by the Royal Navy, constitutes an essential axis for surveillance, supply and military transit missions to Africa and the Middle East. The United Kingdom has not revealed figures on the economic impact of the diversions, but parliamentary sources acknowledge that fuel and planning costs are inevitable, especially in rapid deployment exercises or emergencies. Even so, the Ministry of Defense avoid recognizing officially these damages, aware that admitting them would imply granting Spain a political advantage in a matter where each diplomatic gesture has symbolic weight. A geopolitical symbol. If you also want, the conflict over Gibraltar’s airspace condenses centuries of friction between both nations and is projected as a microdemonstration of the balance of power in the Mediterranean. A pesar de los acuerdos pos-Brexit y de la cooperación en materia fronteriza y económica, la defensa del Peñón continúa siendo un terreno de maximum political sensitivity. The RAF base and the port of Gibraltar are more than simple military infrastructure: they represent the last vestige of British projection in southern Europe, a symbolic platform of sovereignty in disputed territory. The Spanish restrictions They do not prevent the operation of that presence, but they require a constant effort of logistical adaptation and a careful diplomatic balance. In this context, the United Kingdom maintains its usual line: denying any operational impact and reaffirming that Gibraltar continues to be, both in the air and on land, an unbreakable piece of its strategic identity. Image | Dicklyon, Harry Mitchell In Xataka | The Strait of Gibraltar was very different eight million years ago. So different that there were two In Xataka | In World War II, Hitler gave Spain the keys to Gibraltar. He did not have what Franco demanded in return

veto the F-35 that the US sends to Israel

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The first blunt scene took place last week. The decision of the Government of Pedro Sánchez to send the ship Maritime Action Furor P-46 to escort the Global International Flotilla Sumud was a milestone in contemporary Spanish foreign policy. The second, which has been known a few hours ago, has a more “nuclear” range: Spain is vetoing the sending of weapons from the United States to Israel. Solidarity and geopolitics. As we said, sending Furor P-46 It is included in the flotilla safety Integrated by half a hundred civil vessels with activists from 45 countries, including figures such as Greta Thunberg or Ada Colau, which seeks to take help to Gaza and symbolically break the Israeli naval block, after having suffered drones attacks in Greek waters. With more than 65,000 dead Palestinians Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive in October 2023 and a population undergoing hunger, forced displacements and ruins, the Spanish gesture becomes political and moral relevance. Sanchez defended In the UN General Assembly that international law and safety of navigation in the Mediterranean are respected, stressing that Spain will not remain indifferent to a humanitarian catastrophe of this magnitude. The furor P-46 in front of the Italian. The Spanish deployment contrasts with the Italian response under the command of Giorgia Meloni, which despite criticizing the mission as “unnecessary and dangerous,” said two frigates, have sent two frigates, The Virginio Fasan and The alpineboth with anti -submarine combat capabilities, long -range missiles and crews of more than 160 sailors. The furor P-46, on the other hand, is a maritime action ship smaller (2,840 tons, 93.9 meters in length and 51 crew members), armed with a cannon 76 mm pick autumn and two MK-38 machine guns. Although limited in military power against Italian frigates, their deployment transmits a different message: It is not a matter of war, but of symbolic protection of civilians and a commitment to international legality. If you want, even the fact that the machine guns of the fury are of Israeli origin adds a paradox loaded with meanings, placing Spain in a field where diplomacy mixes with symbolic and political pressure. The furor P-46 A historical veto. The other face of the Spanish strategy has been THE VETO TO TRANSIT for the bases of Rota and Morón of American aircraft and ships loaded with armament for Israel. Although the bilateral agreement 1988 defense grants the United States wide prerogatives Use, Madrid retains the last word and has applied the clauses that exclude “controversial charges”. In other words, this has forced, for example, DESCRIBE F-35 fighters Israelis towards the Azores, and even took the official plane of Netanyahu To avoid space Spanish aerial to go to the UN. The measure reflects a will to exercise full sovereignty in strategic infrastructure, unchecking American logic without breaking the alliance. If in 2002 the government of José María Aznar allowed, through A secret orderthat planes with prisoners for Guantanam Mark distance With Washington, aware that Gaza’s political sensitivity does not admit ambiguities. Historical comparative: from Iraq and Libya to Gaza. The current position inevitably recalls Spanish management in previous conflicts. In 2003, Aznar aligned with George W. Bush and Tony Blair in the invasion of Iraq, in a decision that It generated massive rejection in Spanish society and ended up eroding its political capital. A decade later, in 2011, under the government of Zapatero, Spain participated In the intervention of NATO in Libya, sending fighters and frigates in combat operations against Gaddafi, although presenting it as part of a Civil Protection Mission. In both cases, Spain acted as an obedient ally within the Atlantic framework, prioritizing cohesion with Washington and Brussels about the affirmation of its own policy. Loop represents the reverse: Now the nation is placed as a critical voice in the EU, sending a ship Not to fightbut to protect a civil flotilla, and prohibiting the transit of weapons towards a traditional ally in the United States such as Israel. The Mediterranean as a board. The scenario is not accidental. The Eastern Mediterranean has become a space of geopolitical friction where the interests of Israel, Türkiye, Egypt, Greece and now of the European powers converge. With its involvement, Spain seeks to strengthen its profile as Mediterranean power With your own agenda. He Furor shipping P-46 and the Veto to Rota and Morón They place Madrid in the thin line between humanitarian solidarity and diplomatic pressure, between the symbolic gesture and the strategic calculation. The message, a priori, is clear: Spain does not intend to be a mere spectator or a simple appendix of American politics, but an actor who intends to recover space on a board where the EU still seeks a common voice. Giro and projection. The combination of measures configures a Background change In Spanish foreign policy. Of secondary partner in Iraq and Libya, Spain aims to be actor with proper name In Gaza, articulating a strategy that combines three axes: Humanitarian solidarityDefense of International Law and affirmation of sovereignty in its strategic bases. If you want also, when betting on a line different from Washington’s (I had already done it With the “rearme”) and align with a speech closer to European public opinion, the Sánchez government seeks to reposition the nation as moral power in the Mediterranean and as a reference in the defense of humanitarian causes. Of course, it remains to be seen if this strategy will be sustainable in the face of diplomatic pressure and tensions with allied partners, but what it seems indisputable right now is that it marks a historical turn regarding the role that Spain had played in international conflicts during the last decades. Image | Pikiwikisrael, Carlosvdehabsburg In Xataka | The F-35 not only costs a fortune, it has a button that Spain does not like. So he told the US that he doesn’t want them In Xataka | A group of countries is being formed after the decision of Spain: those that are closing the door … Read more

With more and more foreign population, Murcia has reminded Spain of its great dilemma: integrate or veto

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Spain is (increasingly) a land of immigrants. If the national register is growing and caressed already the 50 million inhabitants is basically for The thrust of the population born abroad, which compensates for the PLANCHAZO OF BUSINESS. As it becomes more diverse and combines different cultural and religious traditions, Spain confronts an urgent challenge: decide what position to adopt before that hodgepodge, increasingly palpable in public spaces. In Jumilla, Murcia, that debate has just turned strongly. Jumilla earrings. Jumilla It is a town in the region of Murcian Altiplano of almost 27,300 inhabitants famous for their Wines and pears. Today, however, it stars holders in the media throughout the country (and some foreigner) for a very different reason: his City Council has approved a measure that will prevent the hundreds of Muslims who reside there (more or less 7.5% From its inhabitants it comes from countries where this belief is majority) to celebrate religious festivities in the municipal sports center, as they have been doing in The last years. “Over -up and incompatible”. To understand it, you have to go back a few weeks ago, when you vox, with A single councilor In the corporation, he presented a proposal “in defense of Spanish identity”. The text can be read in full in The X account of Vox Murcia but basically stated that the Consistory vet the celebration of the Lace -up party or “other commemorations outside our traditions” for being “incompatible with the identity (…) Spanish”. Did he go ahead? The proposal went through the Plenary at the end of the month, with the negotiation of local budgets as a backdrop, and gave rise to a debate during which the PP presented an amendment that was validated with the popular votes, the abstention of Vox and the rejection of the mayor of the PSOE and IU-PODAMOS-AV. What did you raise The amendment? Broadly speaking, “urges the government team to promote cultural activities, campaigns and proposals that defend our identity and protect traditional religious values and manifestations.” Not just that. The text also slides that the Consistory will retouch the regulations that regulates the enjoyment of sports facilities so that they are “exclusively” to events organized by the municipality itself and makes it clear that “in no case” will be used for “cultural, social or religious activities outside the City Council.” Enough for the measure to have generated a considerable stir. “Is the Muslim word?” In view of the great controversy that has been generated and that what happened in Jumilla has echoed even in The pages of The Guardianthe municipal government, in the hands of the PP, has not taken long to calm the spirits. “It does not go from religion or nationality”, He claimed Yesterday his spokesman, Maricarmen Cruz, in statements collected by RTVE. “Where does the Muslim word appear, where the word ban appears?” The Consistory argues that the people have great sports activity and need their pavilions to focus on that use. Who wants to celebrate other types of acts will need to look for another place. “We have not vetoed anything,” emphasize Cross. “Jumilla has more spaces. Who has said to centralize there?” “Land of Christian roots”. The reality is that the amendment approved in full complicates that the near them 1,500 Muslims that live in the town they celebrate the collective prayer of the end of Ramadan and the Lamb party in the City Council sportsman, as they have done during The last four years. “The measure comes from where, from a embarrassing and racist motion of Vox. What has done is bleaching it,” complaint the former mayor and local spokesman of the PSOE. The truth is that Abascal’s formation has not taken long in Remove chest So consider a pioneer measure that “prevents celebrating Islamic parties in public spaces.” “Spain is and will always be a land of Christian roots”, He underlined Yesterday the training in X. The Central Executive He has already warned which will supervise “very closely” the effects of the agreement in search of “hate speeches” and Jumilla’s Muslim population It does not hide His concern: “They have taken away a place to pray and now it is an erzo, but we do not know what else they can take us tomorrow.” Click on the image to go to Tweet. “It’s discrimination”. The debate is interesting enough (and broad) to have reached the Catholic Church. The country It echoes Today of the discomfort of Spanish bishops due to Jumilla’s motion, a text in which no confession is cited but the use of public spaces for religious acts is restricted. “Attentive against the fundamental rights of any human, and does not affect only a religious group, but all religious confessions”, Catholic prelates warn. “Making these restrictions for religious reasons is a discrimination that cannot occur in democratic societies.” Beyond Jumilla. Jumilla’s case comes only a few weeks after Pacheco Torre disturbancesalso in Murcia, which left a wave of violence aimed at the Maghreb population. Both case reflect a reality that transcends the Murcia community and points to one of the great challenges Spain has ahead: with an immigrant population In clear ascent (Among the nationalities that grow the most are the Moroccan and Algerian), the country must decide what position to assume before the new identity and religious manifestations. And that affects both newly arrived immigrants and their children, born in Spain and retain their legacy. In the near horizon, debates appear as what attitude adopt to parties linked to other cultures and the presence of religious symbols in public spaces (Hiyab yes or no) or even in cemeteries. Two models: France and the United Kingdom. Spain has two models close to those to look, that of France and the United Kingdom. The first has opted for example for a Restrictive regulations On the use of the hijab that has led to situations such as the one lived last summer, when Sounkamba Sylla He was about to stay out of the … Read more

Thus the antimony arrives in the US mocking China’s veto

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The antimony may not appear in the holders as Lithium either cobaltbut it is equally crucial. It is used in batteries, semiconductors, military equipment and flame retarders. Its availability determines the rhythm of entire industries. And at this time, his supply is at the center of a Geopolitical stuff Between China and the United States. Since Beijing prohibited its export To Washington in December 2024, everything seemed to indicate that American factories would run out of mineral. However, commercial records show another reality: the US continues to receive tons of antimony, only now they arrive under another flag. The unexpected redirection. In response to new sanctions imposed by the Biden Administration – the toughest to date against Chinese companies – China officially vetoed the exports of antimony, Galio and Germanio to the US. All of them essential minerals for strategic technologies: chips, telecommunications, renewable energy and defense. Chinese sanctions made alarms jump in the industry. In a matter of months, the price of the antimony quadrupled: it went from about $ 13,000 to more than $ 60,000 per ton, According to Reuters. Battery companies and manufacturers of military teams were forced to look for alternative sources not to stop their production. However, commercial data told a different story. Between December 2024 and April 2025, the United States imported 3,834 metric tons of antimony oxides from Thailand and Mexico. Two countries that, until then, almost did not appear on the global map of the antimony. Creative transfers. A Reuters Report has pointed out That there is no direct evidence in the sending documents that it is Chinese antimony, but commercial flows point to an ingenious transhipment system: the mineral leaves China, passes through third countries, and ends in the US with a different label. The process may include re -designing as innocuous materials – Hierro, Zinc, even “art material” – and the use of intermediaries in Asia. Chinese companies, such as Youngsun Chemicals, have proven to be experts in avoiding regulations. His Thai subsidiary, Thai Unipet Industries, has multiplied by 27 his shipments to the US in six months. The great Asian intermediary. As He has collected Reuters, Thailand does not produce antimony in significant volumes and has only one smelting. However, between January 2024 and May 2025, it has become a key receiver of Chinese antimony exports. Thai Unipet, in particular, has sent more than 3,300 tons to the United States, according to commercial platforms such as Importyeti and Export Genius. Documents do not reveal the origin of the mineral, but analysts and export patterns point to a systematic use of the country as a legal bridge. And Mexico as a key piece. With a single antimony cast iron –Repeat only in April 2025– And without significant extraction of the mineral, now is among the three main Chinese export destinations. In 2023 it did not even appear in the Top 10. As explained in the news agency, the phenomenon is explained by the chain mounted around Youngsun & Essen, the Texan subsidiary of Youngsun Chemicals, which previously received antimony directly from China. Today, the mineral travels via Thai Unipet and enters the US through Mexico or Thailand, in a difficult operation to track, but clearly designed to overcome the Chinese veto. The problem multiplies. The antimony crisis is not exclusive to the United States. In Europe, The situation is equally tense. This metal, considered strategic by the European Commission, is key to weapons, defense, aerospace, electronics and medical systems. His shortage has created a bottleneck that threatens the technological supply of the continent. According to analyst Ellie Saklatvala, from Argus Media, Europe faces fierce competition for accessing minerals such as antimony, renio and hafnio. While prices scale, the European Union has approved plans to diversify its supply and finance own mining projects, such as rare earths in Extremadura. But those solutions are still far from materializing. Global reconfiguration of the mining map. The pressure is forcing structural changes. In the US, the outgoing administration of Biden approved the reopening of a historic mine in Idaho, closed since 1996, which could cover up to 35% of the national antimony demand. The perpetual company Resources, backed by billionaire John Paulson, plans to operate at full capacity in 2028. In addition, companies like Clarios They plan to build A critical mineral processing plant for $ 1 billion, while Nyrstar seeks to produce antimony in Australia, although it requires government support. China, meanwhile, Intensifies surveillance about transford and smuggling. Chinese companies that do not make due diligence on the fate of their products can face fines, prohibitions or even prison sentences of more than five years. Both sides of the game. The antimony case is not unique. China is also playing a similar asset, using the same approach to obtain latest generation artificial intelligence chips, whose export has been expressly prohibited by the US. As my partner explained In this report, Chinese military and academic entities have accessed graphic processing units (GPU) of manufacturers such as NVIDIA, AMD and Intel through intermediaries located in Malaysia and Singapore, which have emerged as neuralgic centers of technological smuggling towards the Asian country. This pattern – eating sanctions through third countries – reflects the real difficulty of containing a power like China in a hyperconnected world. Just as the US continues to receive antimony under other flags, China continues to feed its development in thanks to indirect routes. On both fronts, intermediaries are key actors. The challenge is evident: in this new commercial war, no blockade is airtight, and each loophole becomes an access road. Lessons of an invisible war. The antimony case illustrates how a globalized economy can find routes even under block. But it also highlights the fragility of supply chains and the urgent need to relite, recycle and diversify. Because this time was the antimony. Next time, it could be the bismuth. Or the cobalt. Or lithium. And when it comes to technologies that define the economic and military power of a nation, … Read more

Within China they are clear what they think of the US technological veto

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On May 29, the Office of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce gave the order to its national EDA software companies (Electronic Design Automation): They had to stop selling their products to China. The movement sought continue torpedoing its semiconductor industryone in which this software is key to continue advancing in advanced lithographic processes. China’s response is being clear: they see it as one of the greatest growth opportunities in its history. The context. The semiconductor industry is one in which the software is key to automating verification designs and processes. The margin of error is minimal, and there US companies such as Cadence, Synopsy and Siemens They have been key for years. These three companies dominate, in a combined way, 74% of the Global EDA market. The United States has informed these three companies to stop selling their software to Chinese groups, in an attempt to isolate it from an essential tool to continue advancing in chips manufacturing. Why is it important. The EDA software is the highway that each chip passes before entering production. The United States wants to stop the development of China in semiconductors, warned that the country has been preparing its greatest counterattack for years. At the beginning of September 2023 the Chinese government approved a item of 41,000 million dollars specifically intended for those companies that produce the equipment involved in the manufacture of integrated circuits. China has invested billions of dollars to have your lithography teamsit is clear that prefers to prioritize its technology to adapt the existingand is about to Achieve self -sufficiency in the development of your own 5 nm lithography. The performance by wafer is still low but something is clear: sooner or later, China will be the world leader in chips. The answer. Although the EDA industry stars three US companies, Chinese local companies have been moving forward in the development of this type of software. Specifically, there are three other big names playing in the country of Xi Jinping: Empyrean Technology, Primarius Technologies and Semitronix. After knowing the news and the new US export restrictions, the action of each of these three companies shot over 20% in the case of companies such as Primarius. Yang Lianfeng, president of that company, He counted In an interview that EDA national suppliers are seeing in this movement “the best development opportunity in history”. A national counteroffensive. Yang points out that China will not try to replicate the American EDA software. It will establish its own ecosystem, making this mosquadilla an opportunity to strengthen its self -sufficiency in national semiconductors. Young companies such as Industrial Univista Software Group, founded by former Synopsy and Cadence executives, They have made free disposal free tests of its Eda Univista Archer platform. This company, founded in 2020, serves more than 200 Chinese companies for integrated circuit design, and struggle to be the fourth name in the list of companies that aspire to lead in EDA. The limitations. China wants to answer these new restrictions as soon as possible, but the way will be complex. The race to jump to the two nanometers is crucial, one in which Nvidia, ASML and TSMC have been working for years. Companies like Xuanjie, the Chips Design Unit founded by Xiaomi, would have trouble jumping to this lithographic process. Their chips are manufactured by TSMC and the Xring 01 It is based on the TSMC three nanometers process. But the designs are their own and without access to American Eda tools, currently, it does not seem possible to break this barrier. The American veto hits right in the most critical bottleneck in the chain, but also pushes China to accelerate in its national substitute. In Xataka | China promised them very happy monopolizing rare earths. The problem is that he did not think of the smugglers

The US opted to veto the advanced chips of AI in China. The shot has come absolutely for the cylinder head

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In September 2022 the United States intensified its commercial war with China with a singular measure: prohibited export of advanced chips from AI to the Asian giant. That decision was aimed at protecting the innovation capacity of the United States and incidentally Zancadilla to China. Or try, because the truth is that the play has been a real pifia. Nvidia is suffering the consequences. The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, gave a talk in Computex in which critical strongly that measure and all that followed it. “Four years ago, Nvidia had 95% market share in China. Today is only 50%. The rest is Chinese technology. They have a lot of local technology they would use if they did not have Nvidia.” The veto has caused the opposite effect. Huang continued to say that those measures They have caused just the opposite that was intended. Instead of leaving China back in the field of technological innovation, they have awakened it. “Export controls have provided them with the spirit (to innovate), and government support has accelerated its development. Our competition is intense in China. “ The H20 chip has been a ruin for Nvidia. The last of the examples of this disaster we have In the H20 chipa “trimmed” and less capable version of its most advanced chips that was developed precisely for the Chinese market. Although During all 2024 Nvidia was allowed to export that chip to China, in April the US government prohibited these sales. That caused some losses of 5.5 billion dollars In Nvidia, a hard blow from which they now try to recover with A new version that Not even It will be based on Hopper architecture. USA should back. For Huang, the strategy is the wrong one: “If the US wants to stay ahead, we need to maximize and accelerate the diffusion (of our technology), not limit it.” The Government prepares the review of the “AI DIFFUSION RULE” issued by Biden in January 2025. This regulation further restricted exports to China of Hardware and AI software. CUDA, also threatened. The hardware is no longer the problem, but there is an important one with CUDA, the NVIDIA ecosystem that is absolute reference for solutions of IA software solutions. Huawei has an alternative called Cann, but there are several Western companies that also want to get rid of the domain of CUDA. Among them are Intel, Openai and of course, AMD, that in fact It has technically higher chips to those of Nvidia but that actually behave worse for having lower software. But China goes to yours. The striking thing about all this is that the US strategy has caused a spectacular effect in China, where the development of “very socialist” models It is now overwhelming – Deepseek R1 is the clear example. But they are also making surprising chips Like Huawei’s Ascend 910ccomparable to the almost mythical Nvidia H100. The thing does not end there: they are already preparing the deployment of The new ascend 910dwhich is supposed to even go further. Image | Nvidia | Dominic Kurniawan In Xataka | There is a great threat to the US if you send thousands of advanced chips from AI to the Middle East. That end in China

of nuclear veto to small renewable support reactors

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The blackout that affected Spain and Portugal on April 28 He has revived the debate of renewables and nuclear. An discussion that has overreach the borders of the Iberian Peninsula and the country’s reference country is discussing it: Denmark. Short. Lars Aagaard, Minister of Climate, Energy and Public Services of Denmark, has confirmed in the Politiken environment that the government is evaluating the possibility of raising the veto to nuclear energy. In addition, he has indicated that the evaluation process will take a year and focus on the pros and cons of reviving nuclear energy. The nuclear past. Denmark made the decision to close the door to the nuclear in 1985. That period was marked by the accidents of Three Mile Island and, a few years later, Chernobil, so he ended up sealing the Danish rejection of a technology seen as dangerous and unpredictable. And what do you want? The Danish minister has mentioned that the analysis will focus on small modular reactors (SMR), a technology that promises shorter construction times and lower financial risks than large traditional plants. However, many SMR are still in the design phase or waiting for regulatory approval, What a question raises about its short -term availability. A little note. SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 electric megawatts per unit, which represents about a third of the generation capacity of conventional nuclear reactors. These reactors can be assembled at the factory and transported to the installation site, which facilitates its deployment in areas with limited infrastructure or in combination with renewable sources to provide a generation of flexible electricity and low carbon emissions. The Danish energy matrix. More than 80% of electricity From the country comes from its wind farms on the high seas, consolidating as a totally renewable country. In addition, it is interconnected with its neighbors, Sweden and Norway, which supply hydroelectric and nuclear energy almost immediately. Voices found. The debate on nuclear energy has polarized the Danish Parliament. As has detailed The Financial Times, four right -wing games have requested to meet with the minister to support nuclear as reinforcement of the electrical system. While the most environmentalist sectors have warned about the risks inherent to nuclear energy and the possibility of diverting funds and care of renewable energy investments. On the border. Neighboring countries the discussion is lived differently. On the one hand, Sweden has Three reactors in operationbut the current government He is trying to reopen More nuclear plants. On the other hand, Finland Inaugurated a central which has evidenced budgetary problems around nuclear projects. For its part, Norway, although a little further from Denmark, has chosen to focus on hydroelectric energy, staying outside the nuclear debate. Forecasts Denmark is at an energy crossroads. With a matrix based on renewable energy, the country must decide whether to continue betting solely on them or consider nuclear energy as a strategic complement. The experience of its neighbors, advances in SMR technology and the global context of energy crisis will be determining factors in a debate that promises to be long and controversial. Image | Andy Dingley Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

If the question was how Rare eeuu would get after China’s veto, the answer is: hard drives

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SSD units may have become the norm in our PCs and laptops, but traditional hard drives continue to have a huge specific weight. This type of storage supports have an additional advantage of which some companies want to take advantage of: they contain Rare earth. Recycling against Chinese restrictions. Last week Western Digital advertisement which has created an important hard -record recycling program. He has done it in collaboration with Microsoft and with specialized companies such as CMR (material critical rcycling) and Pedalpoint Recycling. Picaresque economy for the US. The recycling process will take place in factories located in the United States, and those materials would precisely be used in other manufacturing processes also in the North American country. It’s about A singular measure that is necessary before the difficulties that USA will now have to access Those materialsand it is an example of how the country – like others – will have to go to ingenious solutions to solve the problems derived from the commercial war with China. Hidden rare metals. The objective of this initiative is to obtain rare earth oxides containing disposses, neodymium and proseodimium. Along with these rare metals it is also possible to obtain aluminum, steel, gold, paladium and copper. Hard discs to Gogó. This type of storage support is used massively in large data centers used for example for cloud infrastructure, and their life cycles causes units to be discarded constantly to avoid data losses. WD states that they have already recovered 21.3 tons of hard drives, SSD units and trays in which they are usually encapsulated in those data centers. According to Financial Timeshard drives in data centers have a useful life between three and five years, and it is estimated that the amount of waste globally in this area reaches 75 million tons in 2030. Recycling seems to work. The company responsible highlight that they have managed to recycle 90% of those rare metals, and 80% for the rest of the materials that you want to recycle. A complex but effective process. The discs come from Microsoft data centers and are sent to Pedalpoint to be ordered and processed. The magnets and steel are sent to CMR, and this company makes use of a recycling process called “dissolution without acids” (ADR) which is the one that extracts rare earths. This technology uses a copper salts solution to create a selective leaching that produces 99.5% pure rare oxides. The company avoids aggressive chemicals that could damage these rare earths or adjacent materials, such as aluminum. And more sustainable. According to The study Of the Digital Western engineers, this recycling process produces 95% less greenhouse gases than the traditional mining of these rare and material earths. Recycling hard drives is increasingly interesting. WD’s announcement is striking, especially considering that Microsoft is also involved in that project. However, hard drives recycling has been an area in which some startups are focusing clearly. We talked recently about Hypromag and Cyclic Materialsand in both cases the objective is the same: extract rare earths with recycled hard drives, as WD does. There is Other options underwayof course. But. The collection of these rare earth metals through recycling processes is striking, but China has restricted the export of seven rare metalsand only one of them (Disposio) is commonly used in hard drives. Image | Wikimedia | Barez Omer In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

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