Christian Edwards

The university in southern China linked to its DNA-editing formerassociate professor He Jiankui, has <a id="c3e27de4-c167-316c-a52c-0232f6e080ea" href="https://beta.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2176109/university-denies-chinese-frankenstein-has-been-detained-over"> told the South China Morning Post </a> that the scientist has not been put under house arrest, despite reports that he had.

He, who stands by his claims to have produced the world’s first gene-edited babies, <a id="b0720786-5b95-3c56-a871-3c5c319c8e17" href="https://www.mingpao.com/"> was reported </a> by local Hong Kong's Ming Pao ( 明報) local newspaper to have been brought back to Shenzhen by the university's president and placed under house arrest somewhere on campus.

The reports claimed he was taken there after he made an appearance at the <a id="66253d09-916c-39bb-a739-a5f9d93da8e4" href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/gene-editing/2nd_summit/index.htm"> Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing </a> in Hong Kong on Wednesday. He has yet to be seen in public since the summit.

Facing his colleagues at the summit, He <a id="64f5d060-6251-3f0b-a128-327fa4f000c8" href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2175370/chinese-scientist-he-jiankui-apologises-says-he"> defended the experiments </a> that have attracted global condemnation.

In a glowing <a id="e7824ac1-a700-3749-a109-ff50d625fcdf" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjleMIQpahw"> interview with CCTV in 2017 </a> , He was praised for his work in radical gene-sequencing and comes off as gripped by an enthusiasm for the apparent enormity of the experiments.

"Some people said we shook the global gene-sequencing industry. Right. It’s me. He Jiankui. I did it," he told CCTV.

However, last week, Xu Nanping, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, <a id="be5a9861-f328-305c-aebb-1c6fee4b4ff8" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11/29/c_137640246.htm"> told the Xinhua News Agency </a> that Chinese authorities had ordered the research of anybody involved in "the gene-edited babies incident" to be suspended.

Xu said the experiments were "extremely abominable in nature."

He's instant notoriety that has since stunned the science world began <a id="35a3e0a2-b5ff-39e1-a17e-fe73830600c6" href="https://www.apnews.com/4997bb7aa36c45449b488e19ac83e86d"> a week earlier </a> with a YouTube video in which he claimed that gene-edited twins had been born in China. He has not produced any scientific literature to back up the claims.

He said that his team of researchers had modified twin sisters’ embryos using a molecular tool that allows scientists to edit sections of DNA. In this case, allegedly switching off an HIV-related gene because their father, but not their mother, was infected with the virus.

The result He claims, was newborn twin girls, who have been bestowed with immunity to HIV through "CRISPR"-edited DNA.

Many researchers are interested in <a id="5a9725f9-d91e-38f3-ab6c-722e5dab67ca" href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/bill-gates-pushing-genetic-editing-with-crispr-2018-4"> using the CRISPR technology to eliminate or treat genetic diseases </a> , as Business Insider has previously reported, but the idea that He has gone ahead and manipulated human genes caused much disquiet.

More than 120 researchers condemned He's work in a letter as "unethical" and "crazy," while <a id="5660a7c4-ac3c-36a9-a2ab-e0d35351c5c0" href="http://tech.qianlong.com/2018/1127/2966563.shtml"> in this article from Qianlong.net </a> , He is condemned for "opening Pandora's Box just for an irresponsible adventure."

He was also condemned by Chinese health officials and is facing an investigation from the Ministry of Science and Technology, which has ordered him or anyone connected to the experiments not to <a id="33a34bcd-9e14-3aa9-a24a-f7f1dba3bc0d" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11/29/c_137640246.htm"> touch a test tube. </a>

A spokeswoman for the SUSTC told The Post that the only information about his whereabouts that now mattered was going to come via the official channels.

"Right now nobody’s information is accurate, only the official channels are," the spokeswoman told The Post.

The Shenzhen university distanced itself from He <a id="d8301de0-7b12-3f06-a9b0-c0c87ac5fa9b" href="http://www.sustc.edu.cn/news_events_/5524?from=timeline&amp;isappinstalled=0"> in a statement Monday </a> . It saidthe researcher had been on unpaid leave from February 1, 2018 and was not expected to return until January 2021.

It also said it would establish an independent committee and investigate the matter.

It certainly wasn't always this bleak for the scientist local media have begun calling "China's Frankenstein," (中国的弗兰肯斯坦). According to public records reviewed by The Post, from 2015, He had received 41.5 million yuan (US$5.96 million) in government funding for his research on genome sequencing.

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Read More: The CRISPR gene-editing tool has been tested on a human for the first time— here’s how it works

The Chinese scientist who claims to have edited baby DNA is reportedly not under house arrest after all

French President Emmanuel Macron's government will meet with the "Gilets Jaunes" demonstrators, or the "Yellow Vests" after reports that security forces fired over 12,000 canisters of tear gas at protestors who sacked parts of the French capital in scenes of violence that shocked Paris over the weekend.

Macron was taken to the Arc de Triomphe on Sunday, the scene of the worst violence, upon his return from the G20 summit in Argentina.

The Prime MinisterEdouard Philippe is being sent to meet protest organisers and party leaders as part of a "constant wish for dialogue," the Elysee Palace said.

Environment Minister Francois de Rugy met representatives of the "yellow vests" last week but failed to convince them to end the protests, <a id="2037c728-68da-3b63-ac33-0d40b87503a7" href="https://www.france24.com/en/20181202-france-consider-state-emergency-prevent-riots-recurring"> Agence France Presse reported on Sunday night. </a>

Demonstrators had earlier written in graffiti on the historic paris monument, itself raised in honor of the French revolutionaries who died storming the Bastille: "We have the right to revolt," "Macron resign" and “The yellow vests will triumph!”

According to <a id="783ea5ec-4064-304f-a0b1-30cbbfa189ff" href="http://www.europe1.fr/societe/gilets-jaunes-la-justice-a-multiplie-par-trois-leffectif-du-parquet-de-paris-pour-juger-les-responsables-des-violences-3812456"> Radio Europe 1 </a> several dozens of cars were torched, buildings set aflame, and shop windows smashed while riot-gear clad officers set up a perimeter and began firing tear gas and water cannons into the crowds.

The heavy clashes started shortly before 09:00 CET on the Place de l'Etoile, at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, when groups of people tried to force their way through a police checkpoint Police set up the checkpoint to prevent a planned protest from turning violent like it had the previous week.

The situation escalated from there according to most reports.

Dressed in distinguishing vests and gas masks, the 1,500 protesters or so began tearing at the streets, ripping up ancient cobblestones off the paved road and engaging in running battles with the gendarmerie and the riot squad.

In a <a id="f8e7d0c2-d012-3929-a6ed-d359642c3bef" href="https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2018/12/01/ce-quil-sest-passe-aujourdhui-a-paris-na-rien-a-voir-avec-lexpression-pacifique-dune-colere-legitime"> statement released by the Elysee, </a> Macron said he has asked his interior minister to prepare security forces for more protests and directed the prime minister to hold talks with political party leaders and representatives of the protesters.

"What happened today in Paris has nothing to do with the peaceful expression of a legitimate anger," Macron said.

However, the 40 year-old president and former investment banker may be regretting his earlier dismissive attitude toward the Gilet Jaunes when he said they were "shaming France," by protesting over the rising price of fuel.

Since then the demonstrators that have expressed such outrage have turned their fury on the broader policies of the Macron administration, and on the president himself.

Macron toured the devastated Champs-Elysee and the Arch de Triomphe, shattered glass and shop fronts, roads ripped up, the shells of burned out cas and perhaps hardest for the president to see - graffiti on the walls of the Arch de Triomph denouncing the presidency.

The damage inside the monument was even worse.

The statue of the <a id="f8ebc43b-ac2a-3d6a-a8b7-e5629db122c6" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne"> Marianne </a> , a symbol of French freedom and Resistance was reportedly hacked at and vandalized by the gilets jaunes who entered the Arc de Triomphe monument during clashes with police.

According to Europe 1, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux had earlier volunteered that the government could impose a state of emergency on Sunday.

By the time Macron landed in Charles de Gaulle Aeroport, more than 400 people had been taken into custody.

It is thought the cost of the rioting, the worst in Paris since 1968, may already be in the hundreds of millions of euros.

The damage to the French state is almost certainly worse.

Macron has found himself increasingly isolated at home, tied up with world events and negligent, even arrogant in his dismissal of the issues that confront people everyday in France.

In an <a id="3502f3b9-2f18-34f4-a76b-315f723fb594" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-france-the-pain-behind-the-yellow-vest-protests-is-felt-mostly-outside-paris/2018/11/30/9b3db7c2-f18a-11e8-99c2-cfca6fcf610c_story.html?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.587c690b48c1"> interview with the Washington Post </a> on Friday, a Yves Rollet from Besancon called Macron "President of the Rich."

Unemployment remains high, most notably among the young who face more than 20% unemployment in many regional areas of France.

And France is a nation divided. Not just by race, but by class and by generation. Some, like the Gilet Jaune, feel they have nothing much to lose.

Should a state of emergency be declared, it would be the first time since the 2015 terror attacks, according to Euro News.

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Timeless art destroyed, 12,000 canisters of tear gas fired in anti-Macron riots in Paris

Chinese state media is breathing an official and collective sigh of relief on behalf of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the temporary deal struck between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping over the weekend at the G20 summit in Argentina.

While a <a id="4a9090d5-76f1-38d1-a45e-27d668d78677" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-china-trade-war-tariffs-90-days-2018-12/?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> 90-day ceasefire on new tariffs to allow for trade negotiations </a> not only takes the sting out of the strained relations between the US and China, it also saves the Chinese leadership from what would have been a potentially intolerable embarrassment to its all-powerful leader on a spotlit world stage.

Instead, state media have been able to credit Xi with stepping in to save the day, just as the US-China trade conflict began to look a lot more like a full-blown trade war.

Dr Kevin Carrico, lecturer in Chinese Studies in Macquarie University, told Business Insider that Xi is staring down pressures that no other Chinese leader has had to face in decades.

"International condemnation of [Xi's] concentration camp system in Xinjiang, growing hints of a potential economic downturn, and even questions within China about the wisdom of his response to the trade war and his leadership as a whole," Carrico said. "To use Trump's language, he is not winning."

"And this is precisely why he needs to portray this as a win," Carrico said of state media's rallying behind its leader.

<h1> State media described the meeting between the leaders as "frank and friendly" </h1>

Chinese state media were very quick to paint the 90-day window of certainty as a total success, calling it a "breakthrough," "a new era" and a "win-win."

State-run <a id="11a43e41-fca1-3f6e-a369-6cfaa6390f57" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/leaders/2018-12/02/c_1123796067.htm"> Xinhua News Agency </a> described the meeting as taking place in "a frank and friendly atmosphere."

According to Xinhua, Xi and Trump exchanged in-depth views and "ultimately reached an important consensus."

"Both sides agreed to expand cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit, manage their differences on the basis of mutual respect, and jointly promote Sino-US relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability," itnoted with its familiar tone of reassurance.

<a id="4517d281-ab00-3fe7-ad85-91700259bb77" href="https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d774e3341444d31457a6333566d54/share_p.html"> China Global Television Network </a> described the meeting as heralding a new era and presenting Xi as setting the tone in negotiations.

Trump, CGTN noted, expressed enthusiasm at the start of the meeting that they would achieve "something great" on trade for both countries.

<a id="a5a314ff-9d43-35dd-a1c5-941f9d4a1533" href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201812/03/WS5c046648a310eff30328e89d.html"> China Daily </a> gushed that international experts applauded President Xi's address at the G20 summit for promoting multilateralism, cooperation and free trade just as the world is facing a "surge in unilateralism and protectionism."

<a id="8e94bdf5-e47d-34b3-aa1f-84f09cd90b8d" href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1129902.shtml"> The Global Times </a> , a party-aligned tabloid, wrote in an op-ed that the agreement was of "momentous significance."

In a telling nod to its readers that even Xi can't win every little discussion with a wholly unpredictable negotiating partner, the Global Times said, cautioning that there may be up and downs to come.

"The Chinese public needs to keep in mind that China-US trade negotiations fluctuate."

“It is my great honour to be working with President Xi,” is another Trump statement that also found broad support across state media.

<h1> Xi brought in an impressive lineup </h1>

A reflection of how seriously the Chinese side took the weekend's summit is the who's who list of top CCP officials flanking president Xi in his talks with Trump, which were ultimately less face-to-face and more a meeting of many minds.

The list included some high-ranking names: Xi's protege and General Secretary of the CCP Ding Xuexiang, Vice Premier and respected economist Liu He, Director of the CCP'sCentral Foreign Affairs Commission Yang Jiechi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Chairman of the powerful National Development &amp; Reform Commission He Lifeng.

White House trade adviser and China hawk Peter Navarro was reportedly at the dinner with Xi and his top cadres.

Of course, the US could still go ahead with the 25% tariff increase if both sides fail to come to an agreement within the 90 days.

But it seems more likely that Xi and Trump's teams have put a pin in further escalating an already tense trade stand-off in favour of letting each side search for common ground, including a sought after agreement for Beijing to come back and buy a “substantial” amount of soy beans.

Trump added that if unless China could find a way to tilt the balance of trade power more favorably towards US businesses, hostilities will resume in January.

Still, the White House said the bilateral talks in Buenos Aires on Saturday, were "highly successful".

Trump agreed to hold off on plans to increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, while China agreed to begin negotiations on "forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cybertheft, services and agriculture,” according to the White House.

Nevertheless, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hailed the discussions as "profound," remarking the meeting had set a new course in bilateral relations.

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Chinese state media hailed the trade war ceasefire between China and the US as a win for Xi Jinping

A new report <a id="23463252-1088-3636-abf0-3158cdd81bc3" href="https://www.apnews.com/4a749a4211904784826b45e812cff4ca"> from the Associated Press </a> indicates that electric-car makers, including Tesla, transmit data from its owner-operated vehicles to the Chinese government.

More than 200 manufacturers like Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Mitsubishi and US-listed electric vehicle startup Nio, tell the Chinese government where you are with positioning data alongside a whole batch of other data point, the Associated Press has found.

AP reports, that the data is sent to "government-backed monitoring centers," and largely happens without drivers being aware that their movements and other information in being tracked.

While the tracking of electric cars adds another layer to China's growing arsenal of social surveillance tools, the information is publicly available, according to the AP.

"Electric vehicles in China transmit data from the car’s sensors back to the manufacturer. From there, automakers send at least 61 data points, including location and details about battery and engine function to local centers," The AP reports.

Thye decision by the Chinese government to obligate electric vehicle makers to provide such data points for centralized and undefined uses stands in contrast to other major car markets like the United States, Japan, and Europe which are generally not in the business of harvesting real-time location data from privately-owned vehicles.

Modern cars also generally gather data on the car’s internal systems and track information to better understand driving habits and transmit that information back to the car manufacturer. But the notion of sending data to the government would generally invite significant privacy concerns.

Not so in the China of today under President Xi Jinping, who heads up a special all-powerful cyber unit that sits above every other committee and government department overseeing anything cyber-side, from propaganda, surveillance to internet censorship.

In February 2014, Xi created for himself a new title and position as head of the newly created Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (中央网络安全和信息化委员会 or CCAF), sitting above even the central propaganda department or the State Internet Information Office (国家互联网信息办公室) assuming personal control of all aspects of China's cyber-future.

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In April, Xi made a surprise and somewhat historic visit to a Cyberspace conference in Beijing, detailing his vision of what cyberspace governance with Chinese characteristics looks like.

"China has achieved historic progress in the development of cybersecurity and informatization, formed a model of cyberspace governance with Chinese characteristics, and developed a strategic thought to advance the country's strength in this regard," <a id="e9a8ea74-9483-3cea-af9b-f7a98cd0f208" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/21/c_137127374.htm"> the Xinhua News Agency reported Xi as saying </a> .

Xi has been very big on enhancing military-civilian integration across "cybersecurity and informatization," calling it a "key and cutting-edge frontier field with the greatest vitality and potential in the drive for integration," <a id="61c654d6-c8fa-32ae-ad14-3d0354db3d1b" href="http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201804/23/WS5adce162a3105cdcf6519be5.html"> China Daily reported </a> in April.

Whatever that means, it is clear that Xi intends for the Chinese Communist Party to form the center of a military approach to public governance from where his CCAF can literally direct the traffic.

China is building and applying facial-recognition technology; tech giants monitoring their own customers; forcing citizens to download apps that monitor their content; requiring Chinese tech companies, like Alibaba, to share data; having law enforcement officers wear special glasses to identify people in crowded places, like streets and train stations, and <a id="ee23117b-3bf5-31a6-abd5-8daa7dfb2193" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-is-watching-its-citizens-in-a-modern-surveillance-state-2018-4?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest#5-having-law-enforcement-officers-wear-special-glasses-to-identify-people-in-crowded-places-like-streets-and-train-stations-6"> the list goes on </a> .

Analysts have suggested Xi is building <a id="ebaac3f7-f6d1-36cb-a0c1-49625934dfb2" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/02/21/china-internet/?utm_term=.241622832a28"> the world's first digital autocracy </a> beginning with a digitally-enhanced social-credit system that scrutinizes every action and decision, good or bad, and collates a potentially limitless variety of data to provide each citizen with a color-coded social rank that describes who you are in the eyes of the CCP.

“You’re learning a lot about people’s day-to-day activities and that becomes part of what I call ubiquitous surveillance, where pretty much everything that you do is being recorded and saved and potentially can be used in order to affect your life and your freedom,” Michael Chertoff, who was Homeland Security secretary under President George W. Bush <a id="2480e2b7-442a-3cc5-a5f9-ce13987baf5d" href="https://www.apnews.com/4a749a4211904784826b45e812cff4ca"> told AP </a> .

Chinese officials say the electric-car data is only used to improve public safety, facilitate industrial development and infrastructure planning, and to prevent fraud in subsidy programs, the AP reports.

However, while sales of alternatively fueled cars made up 2.6% of China's total car sales last year, China has made it very clear the creation and distribution of new energy vehicles is national priority.

According to Bloomberg China is leading the shift to electric vehicles.

Every second electric car sold today goes to China and Bloomberg expects this to continue through 2025, when 19% of all passenger vehicle sales will be in China. That will coincide nicely with the vision of local policymakers that AP says are targeting 20% of all car sales by the same year.

EV sales in China hit 95,000 in May 2018, up 128% on May 2017.

From next year, AP says that all automakers in China must meet production minimums for new energy vehicles, part of Beijing’s aggressive effort to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources and place itself at the forefront of the alternative energies industries.

These government regulations on sharing data from next-generation connected cars sets a worrying precedent, AP observes, and if China can hit its new car targets in 2025, then the government will be gleaning a whole new and rich stream of data without even leaving the government-backed monitoring center.

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SEE ALSO: Elon Musk said Tesla owners will be able to use their phones to summon their vehicles from 'across the continent' in a few years

Electric-car owners in China are worried their vehicles are sending their locations to the government

Any remaining optimism for the long-awaited meet between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires later this week have taken a big hit as the dueling superpowers fall deeper into a trade war.

The stakes have risen sharply in recent weeks just as relations between the US and China have skirted new lows.

The US and China have been engaged in a trade war since July, with tariffs and takedowns flying back and forth with an increasing intensity. The consequences stretch well beyond the economies of the two global superpowers.

Professor James Laurenceson, the deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology in Sydney told INSIDER that the upheaval in once-reliable trade between the US, China and the trading nations caught in the middle, is incrementally undermining US legitimacy.

"These have the potential to make louder broader questions around the value of US leadership in the region," Laurenceson said.

Countries in the Asia-Pacific are among those directly hit with US steel tariffs and, perhaps more importantly, indirectly via tariffs imposed on Chinese goods that so many Asia-Pacific regional supply chains feed into.

Trump <a id="1e603068-0086-3d04-a9fd-01d6605daaa0" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/trump-eyes-china-tariffs-pushing-total-500bn-181127061925772.html"> earlier this week </a> pledged to raise tariff rates on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese imports as early as January 2019. Even the most staunch US security allies like Australia have spent years effectively staking out a position on trade that now stands at polar opposites with the US's position.

"While the countries of the region, without fail, emphasize the importance of the World Trade Organization to resolving disputes, President Trump and the most influential voices in his administration consider it anti-US," Laurenceson said.

"Whether President Trump understands the consequences of an escalating trade war is secondary to the fact that he simply doesn’t care."

Writing in <a id="548ea313-751a-3376-aff5-a7a0ca00590e" href="http://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/logic-wayside/g20"> The Interpreter </a> for the Sydney-based think tank, <a id="5d1c21c2-5ff0-30c8-a21b-88d2ee77adaa" href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/"> The Lowy Institute </a> , nonresident fellow Dr. Merriden Varrall said that while it would be nice to picture a rosy reimagining of Washington and Beijing coming together, defusing the ticking trade tensions, maybe even forestalling Trump's promised escalation of tariffs, the chasm dividing the two sides just yawns wider.

"Despite the hope, there is little reason to be optimistic that such a deal will be made, or, if it is, last long. The domestic political imperatives for each leader are at least as weighty as any economic logic," <a id="bfe4dcb9-32f7-3fd8-ab6b-6149a5cf5bdb" href="http://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/logic-wayside/g20"> Dr. Varrall said </a> .

Public pressure in the form of the hardline constituents that form the core power base of both presidents are working hard to ensure Xi and Trump blink last and least in Buenos Aires.

This is perhaps among the reasons why the self-described dealmaker in the White House told <a id="9ba2315f-b3ce-386a-a1bc-60bd39d3bc1b" href="https://www.wsj.com/asia"> The Wall Street Journal </a> on Monday that he would stick to a promise to slap broad new tariffs on Chinese imports if no deal emerges from Argentina.

The potential for relations to fall apart sometime over the weekend are higher when the two sides choose to trade barbs, rather than goods. Instead of concentrating on finding a trade breakthrough, the opposing administrations are intensifying hostilities in the lead-up to the summit.

Last week, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer released a statement calling out China for its ongoing "unfair, unreasonable, and market-distorting practice."

In return, a roundly annoyed Ministry of Finance and Commerce (MOFCOM) made very clear its feelings about Trump, after the ill-timing of the trade investigation update.

According to The Wall Street Journal, with just days away from meeting with Xi, <a id="611419c2-faee-3f25-a0ea-b3808c215ba8" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/transcript-of-president-trumps-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-1543272091"> Trump vowed anew </a> to paint tariffs all over whatever remaining imports are coming out of China, should the two sides fail to reach agreement.

The <a id="d54a410b-eb39-3162-a684-1aedb57d53e3" href="https://ustr.gov/"> United States Trade Representative </a> (USTR) is on point for an investigation into what it says is <a id="ddf81683-2360-3da8-a641-475b95025afe" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-begins-section-301-investigation-2017-8?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> China's theft and manipulation of US intellectual property </a> , unwelcome technology transfers and the trade in corporate secrets.

In its latest update made available last week, <a id="1f36befb-effc-3a3b-a2e5-30b5aebe5c6d" href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investigations/301%20Report%20Update.pdf"> Lighthizer said </a> China has not only failed to check the "unfair" practices that have blistered bilateral trade relations, but has apparently stepped up its operations.

The 50-page report goes on to cite a long menu of cases that have targeted the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and other nations across a whole slew of industries.

"China conducts cyber intrusion and cyber theft hand-in-hand with the physical theft of intellectual property, many times with the use of insiders," the report claims.

Here is USTR's report in <a id="d005439c-7d50-3017-ab74-2f318b46e69e" href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investigations/301%20Report%20Update.pdf"> full. </a>

It’s been four months now that the US and China began to slap tariffs on each other’s goods. So far, $US360 billion worth of goods has been subject to duties.

Pouring oil on the fires ahead of this week's critical meeting between Trump and Xi, MOFCOM on Friday <a id="4d0b6750-c871-32ee-a324-30cbde42cd2c" href="http://www.china.org.cn/business/2018-11/23/content_74200559.htm"> called on the US to put a stop to its "destructive" policies </a> .

In the face of that criticism, MOFCOM said that these latest accusations from the US were "totally unacceptable" and ignored the facts.

"By putting domestic laws above international laws, the United States has broken its commitment to all members of the World Trade Organization and has disregarded and damaged multilateral rules of the World Trade Organization," Gao Feng, a ministry spokesperson, said.

But on the issue of corporate espionage, China appears to have dug in, the USTR report suggests.

Late last week, the Trump administration <a id="1e9c688f-00a4-34c9-a62b-0b5616b81ba7" href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/us-asks-allies-to-shun-huawei-china-tech-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> reached out to its key allies </a> and urged them not to allow the Chinese tech-giant and telecommunications provider, Huawei, access to critical infrastructure.

On Wednesday the New Zealand government rejected an application from the national telecom provider, Spark, to involve Huawei in the rollout of the country's next-generation 5G network, on national-security grounds, <a id="9009c150-33e0-3830-ad3d-159472a10f9e" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/business/huawei-new-zealand-papua-new-guinea.html"> The New York Times reported. </a>

Trump in an interview with The Wall Street Journal asserted the only US-China deal that appeals to him is "China has to open up their country to competition … otherwise, I don’t see a deal being made. And if it’s not made, we will be taking in billions and billions of dollars," Trump said, <a id="908454ec-471d-3edf-aa24-dbe334d30e0e" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/transcript-of-president-trumps-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-1543272091"> according to a transcript of the conversation </a> published on Monday.

The US president's latest assertions are not likely to sit well with Xi, as <a id="c4af1c8b-314c-360c-a7d4-ba1f176f118c" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-problem-with-chinas-corporate-debt-load-2017-1?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> China's prospects for avoiding the so-called middle-income trap </a> that has affected emerging economies throughout history continues to loom imposingly on Xi's economic horizon.

Trump and Xi are reportedly set for a working dinner at the summit that runs Friday and Saturday, in what is likely to be one of the most important economic meals in modern history.

Answers, in one form or another, will come when the two sides meet face-to-face again this week.

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Hopes for a resolution in the US-China trade war appear dim ahead of the G20 summit

The New York Times is reporting a harrowing breakthrough in the investigation into the crash of the Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8that fell into the Java Sea in October, killing all 189 people on board.

Flight data taken from a recovered black box prepared by Indonesian air crash investigators for release on Wednesday, was reviewed by The <a id="1addfa79-2a23-390e-aea1-2edde022e715" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/world/asia/indonesia-lion-air-crash-.html"> New York Times </a> .

The data reveal how hard the two pilots battled to stay in the air and the difficulties they faced in dealing with what may have been a rogue automated system. The data are also consistent with the investigator's main lead that the Boeing system installed on its latest generation of 737s to prevent the plane’s nose from getting too high and causing a stall actually forced the nose down because of incorrect data sent from sensors on the fuselage.

According to information gathered from the aircraft’s flight data recorder — the black box — JT610 was repeatedly pushed into a dive position thought to be due to the automated system's malfunctioning sensors, a fault that began moments after take off.

From the moment the wing flaps were retracted at 3,000 feet, the two pilots fell into a life-and-death tug-of-war against a new, automated anti-stall system that is reportedly not <a id="82d134c9-1a92-3ae0-a54a-f3f62baed6ef" href="https://www.businessinsider.nl/boeing-reaction-to-safety-feature-on-737-max-jets-2018-11/"> even referred to in the cockpit manual </a> of the 737 Max 8.

With the readings on the 737 Maxincorrect even as the packed jetliner taxied out, once JT610 Max 8 was airborne, the pilots control column began to shake as the precursor to an imminent stall. Over the next 13 minutes of the plane being airborn, a back-and-forth between the pilots and the system may have happened more than 24 times as the pilots sought to retake control before the Lion Air flight plummeted into the sea at 450 mph.

<a id="a64ca1e2-bad0-3e9d-abb7-0e4d51e86c39" href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/lion-air-pilot-fought-to-control-plane-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> “The pilots fought continuously until the end of the flight,” </a> said Capt. Nurcahyo Utomo, the head of the air accident subcommittee of the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee. Nurcahyo said that in the case of Lion Air Flight JT610, the stall-prevention system had been activated and is a central focus of the investigation, according to The Times.

"If the pilots of Lion Air 610 did in fact confront an emergency with this type of anti-stall system, they would have had to take a rapid series of complex steps to understand what was happening and keep the jetliner flying properly. These steps were not in the manual, and the pilots had not been trained in them," according to <a id="28666c8b-e58a-330a-afb4-b38f702bfa15" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/16/world/asia/lion-air-crash-cockpit.html"> The Times </a> .

Ahead of these latest revelations, we haven't learned that much about what happened aboard JT610 for those desperate 13 minutes.

Already under investigators' heavy suspicion is themaneuvering characteristics augmentation system, or MCAS, Boeing's new anti-stall system

Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) <a id="44a7ca05-3cc9-39ab-aae9-728b5dd6ec3d" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/faa-order-pilot-procedure-change-for-boeing-737-max-after-lion-air-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> issued directives earlier in November </a> telling flight crews about the system, which is designed to provide extra protection against pilots losing control through lifting the nose and stalling the engine.

Boeing’s has since said that its safety bulletin was only meant to reinforce existing procedures.

In an internal email sent to Boeing employees, Chief executive Denis Muilenburg defended his company's development and deployment of the Max-generations' MCAS.

According to the <a id="19ef72bf-8fab-396c-a213-f94f6d63f116" href="https://www.alliedpilots.org/AboutUs"> Allied Pilots Association </a> , many aviators, unions, and flight-training departments have said that none of the documentation including pilot’s manuals for the Max 8 included an explanation of the system.

The MCAS is meant to stop pilots from angling the aircraft nose too high which can affect the plane’s speed and lift and cause a stall. It does this by automatically steering the nose of the plane downward if it senses a stall is possible.

On this occasion, while JT610's captainresponded to each nose-down movement by pulling the nose up again, the difficult question remains: why didn’t the pilots just switch off the flight-control system, which is thought to be exactly what the pilots <a id="27dc1681-9e8d-3cda-a0ba-3c75331e60ba" href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/lion-air-indonesia-crash-unstable-boeing-737-vomit-panic-last-flight-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> on the previous day’s flight </a> had done when they had encountered a similar problem?

According to a memo Boeing sent to pilots and customers a week after the crash, the system can suddenly push the nose so far down that pilots cannot lift it back up.

The <a id="e34a30eb-2277-3d4e-ac09-3bbca10e6e02" href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/american-airlines-swa-faa-not-told-lion-air-linked-boeing-737-max-change-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> manufacturer has vehemently denied </a> withholding relevant informationabout the system following the crash, but Boeing has come under criticism for its lack of training and preparation on the subject.

The system, it said, would kick in even if cockpit crews are flying a plane manually and wouldn’t be anticipating a computerized system to take over.

<a id="dc6be511-4132-3b8a-aa3c-661352af751e" href="https://www.businessinsider.nl/boeing-reaction-to-safety-feature-on-737-max-jets-2018-11/"> Earlier this month, </a> Lion Air’s operational director Zwingli Silalahi, said the manual failed to sufficiently inform pilots of the MACS behaviors.

"We don’t have that in the manual of the Boeing 737 Max 8," Zwingli said Wednesday.

Boeing has said that the proper steps for pulling out of an incorrect activation of the system were already in flight manuals, so there was no need to detail this specific system in the new 737 jet.In a <a id="8fd07ea5-cc1b-3851-a939-42861584ca4f" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/world/asia/indonesia-lion-air-crash-.html"> statement to the Times </a> on Tuesday, the plane manufacturer said it couldn’t discuss the matter due to the ongoing crash investigation, but "the appropriate flight crew response to uncommanded trim, regardless of cause, is contained in existing procedures."

The fact is, while the findings detailed for the Indonesian Parliament is more than what was known before,much remains unknown about the doomed flight, including why a plane with apparently problematic sensors was even allowed off the tarmac.

Investigators have yet to recover the cockpit voice recorder, which could explain what steps if any the duo took to regain control of the plane and why, moments before the final dive, the captain handed control to the co-pilot.

A complete account of faults with the sensors on the fuselage, referred to as "angle-of-attack sensors," is now thought to be part of the full report by Indonesian investigators.

One of those sensors was replaced before the plane’s next-to-last flight after the jet experienced malfunctioning data readings, investigators say.

Indonesian officials have questioned the role of faulty airspeed indicators as they investigate the deadly Lion Air crash, <a id="22bdd7c7-3c4b-33f5-a319-3e48556b5ac9" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-officials-consider-role-of-speed-readings-in-lion-air-crash-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> but safety experts say </a> pilots should be able to deal with those faults.

Indonesia's transport ministry, <a id="dcd7f63c-03b8-343f-adc3-d6011f02d2dd" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lion-air-jt610-black-box-found-may-help-explain-crash-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> earlier this month </a> , issued a 120-day suspension to Lion Air's maintenance and engineering directors, its fleet maintenance manager, and the engineer who gave the jet permission to fly.

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