Anti #US sentiment explodes in #India as Biden / Harris remain cold to New Delhi's needs for sitting on stockpiles of unused vaccines, jealously guarding patents & turning a deaf ear to the dire situation in Covid-wracked countries such as India & Brazil timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/anti-…
2) Even American civil society, lawmakers, and businesses are joining the denunciation of Washington amid reports that the US is sitting on huge stockpiles of vaccines though demand is plateauing or dropping across America, which has ked to many vaccinations centers shutting down
3) In a surprise push back against the America first argument, the US Chamber of Commerce on Friday urged the administration to urgently send vaccines to countries badly affected by Covid-19, warning "no one is safe from the pandemic until we are all safe from it."
4) Even former administration officials and Democratic Party stalwarts urged the Biden White House to respond to India's needs. "India’s current wave requires immediate support from the United States and the international community.
5) India has always stepped up to support others in need and now the time has come for us to help India," tweeted Nisha Biswal, a former US assistant secretary of state for South Asia in the Obama administration.
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#Chinese Smart TV-Maker Accused of Spying on Owners' Other Devices
The smart televisions spy on its users by scanning their homes for other devices connected to the wifi network every few minutes, owners of the devices have reported on social media. rfa.org/english/news/c…
2) Smart TVs made by Skyworth were found to have an app -- Gozen Data -- installed on the Android-based operating system of the TV, according to a post on the V2EX website titled "My TV is monitoring all connected devices."
3) "The service was sending back the hostnames, mac, ip, and even the network delay time, as well as detecting the nearby wifi SSID names and mac addresses and sending them off to ... a database."
#Chinese Businessman to Admit Smuggling Marine Tech from #US to #China
Qin Shuren is pleading guilty to illegally exporting equipment that officials say could help China as it builds an undersea drone armada wsj.com/articles/busin…
2) On Wednesday, Mr. Qin is set to plead guilty in federal court to felony charges that he illegally procured more than $100,000 in U.S. marine technology for a Chinese military research institute.
3) U.S. officials and court documents filed in the case describe Mr. Qin as a cog in Beijing’s grand plan to build an undersea drone armada—one built in part on acquiring advanced U.S. and allied technology—that is emerging as a threat to American naval might.
#China's airline suspends cargo flights bringing medical supplies to #India
State-run Sichuan Airlines has suspended all its cargo flights to India for 15 days, disrupting traders' efforts to get much-needed oxygen concentrators & other medical supplies😲 wionews.com/india-news/chi…
2) In a letter seen by PTI, the company said in the face of sudden changes in the epidemic situation (in India), in order to reduce the number of imported cases, it is decided to suspend the flights for the next 15 days.
3) The suspension of cargo flights came as a surprise to agents and freight forwarders who are frantically trying to procure the oxygen concentrators from China.
My take: Make no mistake, this is intentional, trying to hurt India during its pandemic crisis.
THREAD: #China responds to #US alliances with ‘wolf warrior’ defiance. Will it backfire?
"China pick fights with so many other countries, they make threats & they’ve kind of driven everyone else into our arms. It looks very self-defeating, overreaching" latimes.com/world-nation/s…
2) Beijing pick fights with so many other countries, they make threats & they’ve kind of driven everyone else into our arms. It looks very self-defeating, overreaching, which makes you wonder, how is Xi Jinping making decisions? Is he living in an echo chamber?”
3) “There’s an elevated sense of confidence in that the Chinese believe they have weathered the storm of COVID & the storm of the Trump administration”.
China believes itself the “relative winner,” she said, and thus it can speak to the U.S. and its allies as it likes.
2) Three new Chinese navy warships demonstrate the communist country's intention to become a major maritime power and challenge the United States, according to a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR).
3) On April 24, Xi Jinping attended a handover ceremony in Hainan for a trio of new navy warships. They comprise the Type 094A ballistic missile nuclear submarine Changzheng 18, Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Dalian, and the Type 075 amphibious assault ship Hainan.
#US Pharmaceutical Industry Dispatches Army of Lobbyists to Block Generic Covid Vaccines
The pharma industry has mobilized over 100 lobbyists to defeat the IP waiver request at the #WTO that would allow the production of generic covid vaccines.
2) Pharmaceutical lobbyists working against the proposal include Mike McKay, a key fundraiser for House Democrats, now working on retainer for Pfizer, as well as several former staff members to the U.S. Office of Trade Representative, which oversees negotiations with the WTO.
3) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the International Intellectual Property Alliance, which all receive drug company money, have dispatched dozens of lobbyists to oppose the initiative.