The Last Mile (July 12, 2024, ChinaSource)
It is crucial to remember that the purpose of Bible engagement surpasses mere reading: its essence lies in understanding the divine revelations within its pages, which leads to transformative life experiences and a deeper connection with God.
Chinese Upbringing and US Culture (July 10, 2024, ChinaSource)
Because I grew up in China and because this environment is nearly completely non-Christian, I was accustomed to being in a room where most views opposed my own. As a Christian, my faith has never been defined by my surroundings. I am able to befriend people who hold completely different beliefs than mine, but I’m still strong in my own faith.
Will Nepal’s new coalition government tip the scales of India-China rivalry? (July 21, 2024, South China Morning Post)
Nepal will continue its delicate balancing act between India and China, according to observers, after political manoeuvrings saw a new government coalition formed and a new prime minister sworn in this week.
China and Russia Are Breaking the World Into Pieces (July 21, 2024, Bloomberg)
From Ukraine to Gaza to the South China Sea, the world is littered with crises. International cooperation is paralyzed by diplomatic rivalry; techno-optimism has given way to a pervasive techno-anxiety . The sole superpower is limping toward an election with fateful consequences, as its rivals feverishly arm themselves for wars present and, perhaps, future. Each of these challenges, in turn, is symptomatic of a deeper historic shift underway.
Taiwan’s military drills turn serious as China threat escalates (July 21, 2024, Financial Times)
Taiwan’s armed forces will use combat exercises next week to rigorously test its warfighting capabilities for the first time, in a radical departure from decades of scripted performances as the military steels itself against the growing threat from China.
A trip to Shanghai’s AI mega-conference showed me that China’s developers are still playing catch-up to Silicon Valley (July 14, 2024, Fortune) (Subscription required)
The critical problem is that China’s LLMs are limited to using data within the Great Firewall. As investment bank Goldman Sachs noted late last year, “LLM performance improves with scale—more parameters, more and better training data, more training runs and more computation.” There is simply less information in the isolated Chinese-language internet compared to an open internet with sources in many different languages.
Semiconductor analyst theorizes that China might want to destroy TSMC instead of capturing it — Chinese invasion of Taiwan would destroy supply chains, cripple South Korean chipmakers (July 6, 2024, Yahoo News)
"What if China is not deterred by potentially mined TSMC factories and ASML kill switches? What if the reunification plan is based on eradicating the TSMC factories and the Semiconductor supply chain in Taiwan and beyond?"
China Offers 5-Year Mainland Travel Permit to Non-Chinese Hong Kong and Macao Permanent Residents (July 3, 2024, China Briefing)
China’s National Immigration Administration announced the introduction of a five-year multi-entry travel permit for foreign permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macao, aiming to streamline travel to the Chinese mainland, fostering economic integration and enhancing global connectivity within the Greater Bay Area. Such travel permits can be applied starting from July 10, 2024.
China rocked by cooking oil contamination scandal (July 11, 2024, BBC)
The Chinese government says it will investigate allegations that fuel tankers have been used to transport cooking oil after carrying toxic chemicals without being cleaned properly between loads. The controversy has spread online as social media users express concerns about potential food contamination.
China stabbing attacks raise concerns of growing social tensions (July 7, 2024, Financial Times)
In an acknowledgment of the potential racial motivation for the Suzhou attack, major Chinese internet platforms banned hate speech against Japan. But the tragedy was just the latest in a series of recent violent incidents hinting at rising social tensions, said analysts.
AsiaBriefs, produced in partnership with ChinaSource, is a place for you to catch up on news items and analysis from around Asia that you might have missed. It is a curated list of links from published online sources. Clicking a link will take you to a website other than Asia Congress or ChinaSource. Neither Asia Congress nor ChinaSource is responsible for the content or other features on that site. Further, an article’s inclusion does not equal an endorsement. Links to China stories are from ZGBriefs, a weekly publication of ChinaSource that highlights important news and analysis from China. You can read the complete, unabbreviated version of ZGBriefs at ChinaSource, and subscribe to receive it by email every Thursday.
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Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
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