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The federal government is going to court to force a Toronto company to sell a $34-million stake in a Calgary-based lithium firm that it bought off a Chinese company.

The government had already deemed the previous Chinese owner's investment in Lithium Chile Inc. to be harmful to national security, and it says in a Federal Court application that the new buyer has failed to co-operate with efforts to prove it isn't owned or influenced by China's government either.

Lithium is a critical mineral used in batteries and clean power. The application says it is at the heart of Canada's "energy security in the transition to a low-carbon economy."

The Attorney General of Canada filed the application in Federal Court this month for an order directing Gator Capital Ltd. to dispose of its shares in Lithium Chile, headquartered in Calgary with mining properties in Argentina and Chile.

The government claims that Gator's owner, Wing Hong Chan, has not replied to any demands for information after it paid $34 million for the 20 per cent stake in Lithium Chile.

"Gator has repeatedly and deliberately failed to provide information in response to multiple requests for information, three ministerial demands, and repeated attempts to obtain a response from Gator and/or Mr. Chan," the application says.

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Under the Investment Canada Act, the minister can order foreign actors to divest from Canadian businesses if their investments are found to be potentially "injurious to national security"

Chengze Lithium was given 90 days to sell, and one condition of the divestment order was that it couldn't sell or assign them to a Chinese state-owned enterprise, or a company under the influence of the government of the People's Republic of China.

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Cross posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29925608

Archived

A proposed dam in China’s Medog county would be the world’s largest hydroelectric project, surpassing even China’s Three Gorges Dam, which is currently the largest dam in the world. The Yarlung Tsangpo, originating from the Tibetan Plateau, flows into India as the Brahmaputra River and continues into Bangladesh as the Jamuna. And not surprisingly, China’s ambition has alarmed downstream countries.

Reports suggest that this dam could significantly alter water flow patterns, affecting millions of people who depend on the river for agriculture, fisheries, and daily consumption.

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India, which relies heavily on the Brahmaputra River, is likely to face serious hydrological challenges. The river provides water to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and other northeastern states, supporting nearly 130 million people and six million hectares of farmland. If China diverts or controls the river’s flow, India could experience unpredictable floods during monsoon seasons and severe droughts in dry months. A 2024 study published in the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs warned that China could manipulate water releases, potentially affecting India’s economic and strategic interests. Indian hydrologists have expressed concerns that sediment flow, crucial for agriculture, may be blocked by the dam, reducing soil fertility in the northeastern plains.

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China’s unilateral decision to build the Medog dam, without consulting downstream nations, raises geopolitical tensions in South Asia. The lack of a water-sharing treaty between China, India, and Bangladesh further exacerbates the situation. While China has provided hydrological data to India since 2006 and to Bangladesh since 2008, experts argue that such data-sharing agreements are insufficient in preventing potential water conflicts. India has expressed concerns about China’s control over transboundary rivers, with policymakers advocating for stronger diplomatic and strategic countermeasures.

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[Edit title for clarity.]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29860748

The Canada-EU Leaders’ meeting took place on February 12, 2025. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa met to discuss ways for EU and Canada to work more closely to promote global economic security and stability amidst rising geoeconomic tensions.

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With President Donald Trump confirming a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports—alongside a separate, still-pending tariff specifically targeting Canada and Mexico, which would be stacked to a whopping 50%—Trudeau arrived in Europe seeking to reinforce economic alliances and push back against US protectionism.

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Trudeau emphasized that partnerships like NATO and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) thrive on trust. “You can always trust Canada,” he told reporters, highlighting how CETA has increased Canada-EU trade by 66% since 2017.

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Yet, as US protectionism escalates, Canada and Europe must look beyond existing agreements. Expanding cooperation in critical sectors like minerals, clean energy, and technology could help both sides reduce dependence on the US market and build a more resilient economic framework. ...

Though the EU and Canada have the CETA trade agreement—which they have touted as important for trade and investment—and a critical minerals partnership, in a hyper-competitive global economy they need to further deepen and strengthen economic ties.

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Canada utilized the meeting to further discussions on enhancing their security and defense cooperation. Since 2021, Canada’s participation in the EU’s Military Mobility project, alongside the United States and Norway, has boosted EU-NATO cooperation and has become yet more relevant since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29808568

Archived

[...]

[Tesla owner Elon Musk’s close involvement in the new U.S. administration could have a] potentially adverse side effect as China considers using Tesla as a pawn in trade negotiations.

Tesla car sales were flat in 2024, and to maintain its astronomic valuation, Musk has bet the automaker’s entire future on autonomy, both in the form of self-driving cars and humanoid robots, seeing them as a much more lucrative opportunity than the low-margin traditional business of selling cars. He now spends most of Tesla’s earnings calls talking up a future in which autonomous fleets of “Cybercabs” will roam the streets and replace human drivers. The company has slowly been rolling out its Full-Self Driving (FSD) tech through an optional add-on for current Tesla owners, with plans to begin testing a fully autonomous taxi service in Austin sometime this year.

[...]

China is Tesla’s second biggest market, however, and the country has heretofore not allowed it to begin rolling out autonomous technology there. President Trump’s recent move to place 10% tariffs on goods exported from China has created an opportunity for the country to use the president’s confidant as leverage. From the Financial Times:

Chinese authorities are contemplating using the approval of Tesla’s autonomous-driving licence as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with Trump, said two of the people with knowledge of the delay, adding that this was the main reason for the hold-up in granting the permit.

The approval could still come soon, depending on how trade negotiations developed, one of the people added. But another said that some people at the company believed a speedy consent was unlikely unless there was “a major breakthrough or concession” in trade talks.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29758952

Here is the study (pdf).

The study also criticizes that social and environmental risks persists, e.g. in Chinese-funded battery plants in Hungary, where "a number of health & safety breaches have also been recorded and working and living conditions of migrant workers are described by some as "modern day slavery", the study says.

Summary:

Europe’s ambition to build a world-leading battery industry is facing many headwinds. As local plans falter, over 90% electric car and storage batteries are produced by South Korean and Chinese companies in the EU. An additional 40% of announced battery gigafactories are from these companies, who are global leaders in the technology and more likely to succeed.

Many European carmakers are entering partnerships with Chinese battery players to secure the supply. But there are concerns about the environmental and social conditions under which some of these facilities, e.g. CATL battery plant in Hungary, are operating. Critically, as homegrown battery companies struggle, will the upcoming partnerships with foreign battery leaders enable the EU to gain the expertise we lack? Is it the road to becoming a battery powerhouse or an assembly plant?

T&E has commissioned a study to Carbone 4 and independent experts to find out. The study analysed the environmental and social conditions in the CATL battery plant in Hungary and the LG one in Poland, as well as the technology transfer provisions in the VW-Gotion and CATL-Stellantis battery partnerships. It finds that:

While hundreds of millions were given to these two factories alone, environmental and social risks persist:

• Together, the two Asian factories analysed received at least EUR 900 mln in state aid subsidies from the Hungarian and Polish governments, often drawn from the European post-covid recovery fund. However, no environmental or social conditions were attached by the European Commission, or auditing performed.
• A clear breach of the EU's Industrial Emissions Directive on air pollution was found (but unclear if governments given derogation), as documents show that both factories exceed the EU limit for NMP, a toxic substance used in cathode manufacturing. In addition, poor water management plans and questions around the ability of the host countries, notably Hungary, to provide sufficient energy were raised.
• Precarious working and broader social conditions were also noted in Asian factories in Hungary. This is largely due to an insufficient local legal framework around temporary contract workers under which thousands of migrant workers in battery factories are hired. A number of health & safety breaches have also been recorded and working and living conditions of migrant workers are described by some as “modern day slavery”.

Upcoming Chinese-EU battery ventures lack local knowledge sharing

The analysis, largely relying on external experts due to the lack of public data, also looked at decision making, technology/skills transfer and other key conditions in two recent partnerships. It finds that:

• No EU-wide (or national) requirements on technology transfer, local content or other conditions in joint ventures exist in Europe. This results in pure business to business (or member state to China) agreements focusing on short-term battery supply.
• While VW invested EUR 1.1 billion into Gotion and holds 26.47% of shares, it is said to have less significant say in battery operations. Experts point out that the partnership is more about securing LFP battery supplies to VW’s European operations, than comprehensive knowledge or IP transfer to Europe.
• Taking the form of a 50-50 JV, Stellantis and CATL were offered EUR 300mln in state aid for the planned LFP plant in Zaragoza, Spain. No conditions on technology or skills transfer were attached to this subsidy.
• Despite very little information available on the latter JV, expert after expert has pointed out that it is about supplies, not technology transfer: for Stellantis, the main goal appears to be access to the LFP battery technology to supply electric cars on the EU market.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29758952

Here is the study (pdf).

The study also criticizes that social and environmental risks persists, e.g. in Chinese-funded battery plants in Hungary, where "a number of health & safety breaches have also been recorded and working and living conditions of migrant workers are described by some as "modern day slavery", the study says.

Summary:

Europe’s ambition to build a world-leading battery industry is facing many headwinds. As local plans falter, over 90% electric car and storage batteries are produced by South Korean and Chinese companies in the EU. An additional 40% of announced battery gigafactories are from these companies, who are global leaders in the technology and more likely to succeed.

Many European carmakers are entering partnerships with Chinese battery players to secure the supply. But there are concerns about the environmental and social conditions under which some of these facilities, e.g. CATL battery plant in Hungary, are operating. Critically, as homegrown battery companies struggle, will the upcoming partnerships with foreign battery leaders enable the EU to gain the expertise we lack? Is it the road to becoming a battery powerhouse or an assembly plant?

T&E has commissioned a study to Carbone 4 and independent experts to find out. The study analysed the environmental and social conditions in the CATL battery plant in Hungary and the LG one in Poland, as well as the technology transfer provisions in the VW-Gotion and CATL-Stellantis battery partnerships. It finds that:

While hundreds of millions were given to these two factories alone, environmental and social risks persist:

• Together, the two Asian factories analysed received at least EUR 900 mln in state aid subsidies from the Hungarian and Polish governments, often drawn from the European post-covid recovery fund. However, no environmental or social conditions were attached by the European Commission, or auditing performed.
• A clear breach of the EU's Industrial Emissions Directive on air pollution was found (but unclear if governments given derogation), as documents show that both factories exceed the EU limit for NMP, a toxic substance used in cathode manufacturing. In addition, poor water management plans and questions around the ability of the host countries, notably Hungary, to provide sufficient energy were raised.
• Precarious working and broader social conditions were also noted in Asian factories in Hungary. This is largely due to an insufficient local legal framework around temporary contract workers under which thousands of migrant workers in battery factories are hired. A number of health & safety breaches have also been recorded and working and living conditions of migrant workers are described by some as “modern day slavery”.

Upcoming Chinese-EU battery ventures lack local knowledge sharing

The analysis, largely relying on external experts due to the lack of public data, also looked at decision making, technology/skills transfer and other key conditions in two recent partnerships. It finds that:

• No EU-wide (or national) requirements on technology transfer, local content or other conditions in joint ventures exist in Europe. This results in pure business to business (or member state to China) agreements focusing on short-term battery supply.
• While VW invested EUR 1.1 billion into Gotion and holds 26.47% of shares, it is said to have less significant say in battery operations. Experts point out that the partnership is more about securing LFP battery supplies to VW’s European operations, than comprehensive knowledge or IP transfer to Europe.
• Taking the form of a 50-50 JV, Stellantis and CATL were offered EUR 300mln in state aid for the planned LFP plant in Zaragoza, Spain. No conditions on technology or skills transfer were attached to this subsidy.
• Despite very little information available on the latter JV, expert after expert has pointed out that it is about supplies, not technology transfer: for Stellantis, the main goal appears to be access to the LFP battery technology to supply electric cars on the EU market.

South Korea has accused Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of sharing user data with the owner of TikTok in China.

"We confirmed DeepSeek communicating with ByteDance," the South Korean data protection regulator told Yonhap News Agency.

The country had already removed DeepSeek from app stores over the weekend over data protection concerns.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29659002

• Some Temu sellers use fake shipping labels to avoid delivery costs within the U.S.
• Scammers advertise counterfeit USPS postage on Chinese social media, charging as little as 60 cents to deliver packages in America.
• USPS loses millions of dollars a year to counterfeit postage and is cracking down.

Some Chinese Temu merchants are padding their profits by using counterfeit postage labels to trick the U.S. Postal Service into delivering packages for free. Posts on Chinese social media openly promote fake labels for as little as 60 cents, and the scam costs the USPS millions of dollars a year, Rest of World has found from interviews with sellers, logistics operators, and USPS employees.

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Creating, distributing, and buying fake USPS labels is a crime, and overseas warehouse operators also risk significant jail time by processing parcels with these labels. It is likely that only a small minority of merchants use counterfeit labels, but these numbers could rise as logistics costs increase. Shipping is a major cost for e-commerce sellers, with USPS charging up to $10 for a parcel weighing about 2 pounds (around 1 kilogram).

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Tesla is victorious in almost every court case thanks to a justice system that acts as the long arm of the Chinese Communist Party.

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Tesla has sued more than a dozen journalists and even its own customers, weaponizing a legal system that operates as an extended arm of the Communist Party regime.

In every case where a ruling has ensued, Tesla won its lawsuit. One of the few open cases remains—related to Zhang Yazhou, more on that below—and that is only because she is appealing the verdict handed down against her.

Moreover, of the 81 civil judgements in which Tesla owners sued the company over safety and quality issues or contract disputes, only nine were victorious.

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[Tesla owner Elon] Musk can count on a powerful ally. China’s second-highest ranking official behind president Xi Jinping is none other than the man that helped Elon Musk build his massive Chinese vehicle factory: state premier and former Shanghai party boss Li Qiang.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29607342

Archived

Here is the data at Hugging Face.

A team of international researchers from leading academic institutions and tech companies upended the AI reasoning landscape on Wednesday with a new model that matched—and occasionally surpassed—one of China's most sophisticated AI systems: DeepSeek.

OpenThinker-32B, developed by the Open Thoughts consortium, achieved a 90.6% accuracy score on the MATH500 benchmark, edging past DeepSeek's 89.4%.

The model also outperformed DeepSeek on general problem-solving tasks, scoring 61.6 on the GPQA-Diamond benchmark compared to DeepSeek's 57.6. On the LCBv2 benchmark, it hit a solid 68.9, showing strong performance across diverse testing scenarios.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29606431

Archived (available only in Dutch)

Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor in Constitutional Law, warns against copying the destructive tech-giant model that exists in the US and China. He proposes developing European tech companies to ensure that Europe retains its sovereignty, according to a commentary in the Dutch newspaper 'De Volkskrant' [only in Dutch, but you'll find a useful translation].

To limit the influence of US and Chinese tech giants, Europe will have to try to repel such companies while making plans for its own tech industry. According to Reijer Passchier, big tech in the US has led to unprecedented inequality of wealth and the state has little control over these companies. Tech giants are willing to innovate, but only when this is to their advantage. If not, they will go all out to stop competitors threatening their business model. Elon Musk is an example of their powerful position. At the same time, problems arise from mixing public and private interests and the interests of the companies often take precedence over those of society. In China, the state is able to control the tech giants through its authoritarian political system and strict control over internet access.

'Europe must avoid allowing such fundamental risks to arise.' Passchier says that Europe has the means to develop both technical and institutional opportunities that are both democratic and in line with the rule of law. As an example, Passchier mentions the messaging app Signal – a company that uses technology to serve society, without putting profits first. More information?

Archived

Check Point is set to reveal a new Chinese cyber campaign targeting suppliers of manufacturers in “sensitive” domains in the US and across the globe.

In an exclusive interview with Infosecurity at the firm’s CPX 2025 conference, Lotem Finkelsteen, Check Point’s Director of Threat Intelligence & Research, said his team was working on a new investigation into a Chinese hacking group.

Finkelsteen confirmed his team had observed the threat group actively infiltrating the networks of firms that supply components for the manufacturing industry, including in “sensitive” domains, and many other sectors.

These primary targets include suppliers of chemical products and physical infrastructure components like pipes. Some are Check Point’s customers. Check Point plans to release a full report on the campaign in the next few weeks.

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Targeted edge devices include operational relay boxes (ORBs), which are often either virtual private server (VPS) hosts or poorly secured Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g. routers) that intelligence services have traditionally used to infiltrate networks.

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The approach shows similarities with the Volt Typhoon cyber espionage campaigns that targeted critical infrastructure and telecommunications organizations in the US and elsewhere in 2023 and 2024. These campaigns allowed Volt Typhoon to infiltrate some US government agencies in 2024.

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