China

FILE - American flags are displayed together with Chinese flags on top of a trishaw on Sept. 16, 2018, in Beijing. Over the past four decades, U.S. universities have educated millions of Chinese students, many of whom have stayed in the country and become top researchers and distinguished professors. The number of Chinese students in the United States is down, and U.S.-Chinese research collaboration is shrinking, with academics shying away from potential China projects over fears that seemingly minor missteps could end their careers.

Florida prepares to drop China investments per new bill

Florida pension-fund managers are ready to begin the process of dropping investments in China-owned companies, anticipating that Gov. Ron DeSantis will sign a bill directing divestment.The bill (HB 7071), which was unanimously approved last week by the House and Senate, would require the State Board of Administration to develop a plan by Sept. 1 for selling holdings tied to companies that are majority-owned by the Chinese government, the Chinese communist party or the Chinese military. Divestment would then have to occur within one year.

Investments in more than 200 Chinese state-owned entities accounted for $277 million, or 0.16 percent, of the Florida retirement system fund. Of that, $53.6 million is linked to China Construction Bank Corp. and $46.4 million is in Kweichow Moutai, which specializes in a particular Chinese liquor. Those China-Linked Investments could vanish is a proposal rolled out before the legislature is approved.

Government & Politics

Lawmakers could divest state of investments linked to China

Jim Turner/News Service of Florida

The Florida House on Wednesday rolled out a proposal to divest an estimated $277 million in state pension-fund investments in Chinese state-owned companies.The proposal, approved by the House State Affairs Committee, would require the State Board of Administration to develop a plan for selling holdings tied to Chinese companies by Sept. 1 and complete divestment within one year. The State Board of Administration invests state money, including in the pension fund.

Business/Economy

US tensions with China are fraying long-cultivated academic ties. Will the chill hurt American interests?

The Associated Press

In the 1980s, Fu Xiangdong was a young Chinese virology student who came to the United States to study biochemistry. More than three decades later, he had a prestigious professorship in California and was conducting promising research on Parkinson’s disease.But now Fu is doing his research at a Chinese university. His American career was derailed as U.S.-China relations unraveled, putting his collaborations with a Chinese university under scrutiny. He ended up resigning.Fu’s story mirrors the rise and fall of U.S.-China academic engagement.

Cultural Affairs

'White people food' is trending on Chinese social media

Emily Feng

A look at the "white people food" trend that's caught on with millennials in China.(Story aired on Weekend Edition Sunday on June, 25, 2023.)

Government & Politics

Conference at FGCU touches on trends and China's role in world

Sheldon Zoldan/Special to WGCU

China is seeking to regain what it once was until a few hundred years ago, the most powerful economic region in the world, said Daniel Franklin, the executive editor and acting U.S. editor of The Economist magazine.He spoke at the 3rd Annual Hanseatic League of Universities Conference at Florida Gulf Coast University on Tuesday afternoon. His topic: The world in 2050: Big Trends That Will Shape the Future.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year.

How Rubio Can Fix His Cuba Double Standard: Tell U.S. To Break China Ties

Tim Padgett

I’m waiting any moment now for Marco Rubio to demand that President Obama recall our ambassador to China and shut down our embassy there. That’s because...