Anyone

The European Union's first-ever summit with the five resource-rich states of Central Asia, will focus on critical minerals needed for a growing defense industry and the bloc's green transformation.

The EU is taking a keen interest in Central Asia that comprises Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, as realization seeped in that Europe was far too dependent on China for critical minerals.

As EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa meet Central Asian leaders in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, sustainable development and Russia's attempts to evade sanctions, among other issues, will be on the table.

But most attention will be paid to infrastructure development required to tap into the region's valuable resources.

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The European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) noted that the potential for production expansion is significant. "Kazakhstan currently produces 19 of the EU's 34 critical raw materials and is poised to expand to 21. Uzbekistan ranks as the world's fifth-largest uranium supplier and is also rich in silver, titanium, molybdenum, and gold," it found

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Experts say the EU's efforts are aimed at infrastructure development to help Central Asia extract these minerals in a sustainable way and, in turn, help the EU diversify its supplies.

"The EU offers something different than China and the US, and that's joint ventures with Central Asian companies," Vesterbye said, "That means more investments, industrialization, and growth for local businesses. That's music to the ears of Central Asian leaders."

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The region is a big part of the EU's €300-billion ($324-billion) Global Gateway Project that is billed as a rival to China's Belt and Road Initiative and focuses on developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). This corridor will improve connectivity between the EU and Central Asia and cut travel time to 15 days.

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20327401

Archived

We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?

In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?

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How Are They So Cheap?

• Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previously warned of an ‘extremely high risk’ that Temu and Shein were using forced labour – for Shein this would look like as part of their supply chain manufacturing and Temu for offering products on their e-commerce site.

• Materials: Another huge sacrifice Shein and Temu make in a bid to keep prices extremely low yet profits up is with the quality, in particular the materials they use. The low-quality materials used and assemblage of items with little attention to longevity means the products often deteriorate and/or break quickly. But this is good news for Shein and Temu! Throwaway culture is how these platforms thrive, as they rely on our constant need to consume.

• Mode of production: Both Shein and Temy rely on high levels of consumption, to drive high levels of production, with a streamlined mode of production. This requirement for overconsumption is evident in marketing efforts on both brands’ platforms. Users are constantly bombarded with micro-advertisements on social media outlets such as Tiktok and Instagram, and even on their individual apps, there are offers, games and gambling opportunities to keep users addicted to buying.

What Are the real costs?

• Carbon Emissions: It is no secret that the fast fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions, responsible for approximately 10% of all global emissions every year. Global supply chains, manufacturing of textiles, assembling of garments and transportation all add up towards a brands carbon footprint. Shein and Temu, more than ever, prioritize and even encourage throwaway culture (buy, throwing away, buying again) for profit.

• Toxic Chemicals and Pollution: Dying and treating textiles in the fashion industry is a huge contributor to water pollution globally, especially when regulation is poor/poorly enforced by authorities. This affects the quality of water for people locally and also for aquatic life. Furthermore, a recent investigation carried out by authorities in South Korea found carcinogenic substances (promoting the development of cancer) hundreds of times over the legal limit in Shein clothing. Similarly, a European investigation into toys, baby products, electronics and cosmetics sold on Temu that breach European regulation, with one toy tested containing phthalates 240 times above the legal limit. (Phthalates can affect the function of organs and long-term can affect pregnancy, child growth and development and affect reproductive systems in both children and adolescents).

• Excessive Demand for Raw Materials and Textile Waste: The world consumes approximately 80 billion new clothing items every year – that is a lot of new clothes! Brands like Shein and Temu rely on this constant consumption to continue to make a profit, however there is only so much resource on Earth, and everything has to go somewhere. Estimates predict Shein alone produces nearly 200,000 new items each day. One of the ways countries have dealt with ultra fast fashion consumption is by shipping textiles overseas. Ghana receives 150,000 tonnes of used clothes dumped every year, with approximately half of these unusable. The clothing is commonly dumped and burnt, polluting local ecosystems with dangerous industrial chemicals, and damaging freshwater sources for local people. This exportation of textile waste is a new wave of ‘clothing colonization’, in which exponential consumption in the ‘Global North’ flows to the ‘Global South’.

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20327401

Archived

We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?

In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?

...

How Are They So Cheap?

• Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previously warned of an ‘extremely high risk’ that Temu and Shein were using forced labour – for Shein this would look like as part of their supply chain manufacturing and Temu for offering products on their e-commerce site.

• Materials: Another huge sacrifice Shein and Temu make in a bid to keep prices extremely low yet profits up is with the quality, in particular the materials they use. The low-quality materials used and assemblage of items with little attention to longevity means the products often deteriorate and/or break quickly. But this is good news for Shein and Temu! Throwaway culture is how these platforms thrive, as they rely on our constant need to consume.

• Mode of production: Both Shein and Temy rely on high levels of consumption, to drive high levels of production, with a streamlined mode of production. This requirement for overconsumption is evident in marketing efforts on both brands’ platforms. Users are constantly bombarded with micro-advertisements on social media outlets such as Tiktok and Instagram, and even on their individual apps, there are offers, games and gambling opportunities to keep users addicted to buying.

What Are the real costs?

• Carbon Emissions: It is no secret that the fast fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions, responsible for approximately 10% of all global emissions every year. Global supply chains, manufacturing of textiles, assembling of garments and transportation all add up towards a brands carbon footprint. Shein and Temu, more than ever, prioritize and even encourage throwaway culture (buy, throwing away, buying again) for profit.

• Toxic Chemicals and Pollution: Dying and treating textiles in the fashion industry is a huge contributor to water pollution globally, especially when regulation is poor/poorly enforced by authorities. This affects the quality of water for people locally and also for aquatic life. Furthermore, a recent investigation carried out by authorities in South Korea found carcinogenic substances (promoting the development of cancer) hundreds of times over the legal limit in Shein clothing. Similarly, a European investigation into toys, baby products, electronics and cosmetics sold on Temu that breach European regulation, with one toy tested containing phthalates 240 times above the legal limit. (Phthalates can affect the function of organs and long-term can affect pregnancy, child growth and development and affect reproductive systems in both children and adolescents).

• Excessive Demand for Raw Materials and Textile Waste: The world consumes approximately 80 billion new clothing items every year – that is a lot of new clothes! Brands like Shein and Temu rely on this constant consumption to continue to make a profit, however there is only so much resource on Earth, and everything has to go somewhere. Estimates predict Shein alone produces nearly 200,000 new items each day. One of the ways countries have dealt with ultra fast fashion consumption is by shipping textiles overseas. Ghana receives 150,000 tonnes of used clothes dumped every year, with approximately half of these unusable. The clothing is commonly dumped and burnt, polluting local ecosystems with dangerous industrial chemicals, and damaging freshwater sources for local people. This exportation of textile waste is a new wave of ‘clothing colonization’, in which exponential consumption in the ‘Global North’ flows to the ‘Global South’.

...

Archived

The pursuit of net zero has relied on Uighur Muslims forced to work in appalling conditions. Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance.

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Many of the Chinese workers who are helping us to go green do not want to be at those factories. They do not arrive at work to manually crush silicon and load it into blazing furnaces because of a love of renewables, much less to earn a decent wage.

They are there as part of a mass forced labour programme by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that critics describe as a genocide. A reliance on men and women from the Uighur Muslim minority living in detention centres has helped the Xinjiang region to become the epicentre of the solar industry over the last 15 years.

At its peak, analysts believe that 95 per cent of the world’s solar modules were potentially tainted by forced labour in the region [of Xinjiang, in northwestern China]. This reliance on products partly made through working conditions that would be unfathomable in modern Britain represents what the Conservative MP Alicia Kearns calls an ethical “blind spot”.

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It is not only solar panels that are linked to widespread human rights abuses in the so-called Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region. Fuelled by an abundance of cheap, coal-driven electricity, the region produces vast amounts of everything from cotton to the lithium batteries that are ever more essential to our tech-driven lives.

But as governments across the world invest in solar energy in the race to reach net zero, experts have described a critical opportunity to curtail what has been one of Xinjiang’s champion industries.

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Alan Crawford, a chemical engineer who authored a 2023 report that exposed several companies with ties to forced labour, said that transparency from Chinese producers had decreased as a result. “Transparency has gotten worse because the Chinese know that people like us are looking,” he said.

While the Chinese authorities maintain that the Uighur community is free, images of internment camps have shown razor-wire fences manned by police. Leaked police files revealed a shoot-to-kill policy for escapers.

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The pervasiveness of forced labour across the early stages of the production process makes it difficult to find polysilicon from Xinjiang that has not been contaminated by forced labour. Hoshine Silicon, the dominant MGS producer in Xinjiang and a major supplier to the region’s polysilicon producers, has engaged in “surplus labour” programmes at its factories.

One propaganda account from 2018 details how a married couple were engaged in a “poverty alleviation” scheme in which they were moved 30 miles from their home in the rural Dikan township to work at a Hoshine factory in Shanshan county, leaving behind their children. The couple were described as being “relieved” of their worries by transferring their seven-acre grape farm to the state.

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[Laura] Murphy, a senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said legislation introduced in the US in 2021 showed how supply chains can be cleaned up. The Uighur Forced Labour Prevention Act, which bans the import of goods linked to the region, has led to thousands of solar panel shipments being stopped by US customs.

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It is for this reason that Murphy believes the UK should mirror the US approach, a strategy already being pursued by the European Union. If the UK’s controls against forced labour are not robust, there is a high probability that the UK will simply become a “dumping ground” for the tainted goods not wanted by the US.

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Andrew Yeh, executive director of the China Strategic Risks Institute, said relying too heavily on China for solar energy products could also leave Britain vulnerable in a geopolitical crisis.

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For Murphy, legislation is the only meaningful response to the issue. [...] She said: “Whatever it is that other countries think they might be doing to discourage it, shy of legislation, shy of enforcement, it is not working.

“We can be morally outraged all we want and we can express our desires not to have forced labour-made goods, even at governmental level. But until we actually put it in law and enforce it, companies will continue to import goods made with forced labour into the UK.”

[...]

According to Ethan Wallace, a vice president with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), the idea of a trade war helping small-scale farmers has merit.

"The farm to table marketers, the farmers with the roadside stands, the small and medium-sized producers that the market direct to consumer, are the ones that stand to gain the most out of out of all of this," Wallace said. "As consumers decide to buy local, they're looking for those people."

The hope for the industry as a whole, Wallace said, is that those consumers also prioritize looking for Canadian labels in grocery stores.

That's because while smaller operations can benefit from the broadening of their customer base, larger farms that have specialized in products that are often exported won't be so lucky. Crews work to get cut hay into bales and into an awaiting tractor trailer in Thorndale, Ontario.

[...]

Archived

The former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announces in a post on Facebook that he will leave the social media platform.

"I can no longer be involved in or support media platforms that contribute to undermining democracy", Löfven writes in the post.

He does, however, mean that "good forces" remain on the platform and takes the opportunity to thank his friends.

"Aware that many good forces are present here, I would like to say: thank you all friends, we'll meet in other contexts", writes the former Prime Minister.

Stefan Löfven concludes the post with an appeal.

"As long as you're here – do your best to stand up for what's good!"

Archived

After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union and neighboring countries this week.

The rollout, which covers 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, marks Meta’s largest global expansion of Meta AI to date, though European users will initially access only a limited version of the technology.

European users will initially have access to what Meta describes as an “intelligent chat function” available in six European languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian.

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The AI assistant will be integrated across Meta’s suite of applications, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Users can access Meta AI by tapping a blue circle icon within these apps to initiate conversations.

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Meta has indicated this limited release is just “the first step” in its ongoing efforts to bring more AI capabilities to European users.

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Archived

[Op-ed by Tauno Tõhk, Research Fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) since October 2024, specialising in China and Chinese foreign interference. Before joining the ICDS.]

The current EU approach is structured according to the 2019 “Strategic Outlook on China,” a document providing a framework for EU-China relations.

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However, despite persistent China-related security issues, security concerns are largely absent from the Strategic Outlook, the key document shaping EU-China relations. Since it was adopted, Europe’s security landscape has changed dramatically, particularly due to Russia’s illegal military aggression against Ukraine. China’s backing of Moscow’s war efforts directly undermines European security. However, it is important to recognise that the security challenges China poses to the EU extend beyond its support for Russia, encompassing a range of well-documented hybrid activities.

... Despite repeated claims of neutrality, China has become a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s illegal military aggression against Ukraine. It provides dual-use goods, helps to circumvent sanctions, and facilitates Russia’s hybrid operations. [...]

• China’s role as a “circumvention hub” for EU’s sanctions against Russia, acting as both a supplier to Russia and a transit route for western products.
• Chinese entities have been sanctioned by the EU for supplying drone and microelectronic components to Russia. Chinese officials and state-controlled media have provided a platform for Russia’s talking points and disinformation narratives.
• China has criticised sanctions against Russia and regularly accused the west of starting and fuelling the war.

The security challenges China poses to the EU extend beyond its support for Russia

In diplomatic engagements with China, the EU and individual member states have consistently emphasised China’s support to Russia as a key irritant in EU-China relations.

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A Threat to Security and Values

Beyond its support for Russia, China poses a challenge to European security in and of itself. This includes potential conflicts over Taiwan and the South China Sea, hybrid activities targeting EU member states, and weaponising economic and trade links for political purposes.

A conflict in the Indo-Pacific would have global ramifications. The report by Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission Sauli Niinistö calls the potential economic and security impact of Chinese aggression against Taiwan or in the South China Sea “staggering” for Europe, likely triggering opportunistic behaviour from Russia against an EU member state.

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National threat assessments confirm China’s targeting of the EU.

• The Swedish Security Service considers China, alongside Russia and Iran, as the greatest threat to Sweden’s security, stating that Beijing attempts to influence Stockholm’s decision-making.
• The Danish Defence Intelligence Service notes that China is trying to sow discord between European countries to weaken the EU’s unity, for example, when mitigating risks of cooperation with China.
• The Belgian security service similarly claims China is trying to damage intra-European relations.
• Germany’s domestic intelligence services state that China seeks to create a favourable environment outside its borders for the Communist Party’s objectives and looks for influential political figures to speak in favour of Chinese interests.

[...]

Western cyber security agencies have attributed cyber activities targeting European governments and lawmakers critical of Beijing as well as naval research activities and technology development to China’s state-sponsored threat actors. The EU has sanctioned individuals and organisations associated with APT10, a group linked to China’s Ministry of State Security.

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The EU should acknowledge this reality and explicitly label China a security challenge.

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Several member states’ security services already list China among the primary security threats, especially given Beijing’s close alignment with Moscow. Officially recognising these concerns at the EU level would help forge consensus on China policy. It also shields member states from the ramifications of acting alone and facing potential Chinese retaliation in isolation, allowing them to rely on a unified stance when calling out Chinese activities that endanger European security.

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The Bank of Finland’s Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT) expects Russia’s annual GDP growth to slow to around 2 % this year and about 1 % in 2026 and 2027.

Russian growth in recent years has been driven by surging government spending on the war in Ukraine. We expect government spending to increase further this year, but production is already stretched to capacity, limiting potential for further output gains. The country’s labour shortage has grown more acute, inflation is accelerating and sanctions are limiting Russia’s foreign trade. Although a full-blown economic crisis in the immediate future is unlikely, Russia’s economic development is subject to exceptionally high risks as long as it continues the prosecute its war in Ukraine.

• Output growth is expected to slow even with the expected increased government spending. Labour shortages and production capacity constraints mean that growth levels of earlier years are now out of reach, so inflation will accelerate.

• Investment possibilities are limited by decreasing earnings, rising labour and material costs, as well as an increased tax burden from higher tax rates. Total investment, however, will be sustained by budget financing and other government support measures.

• The outlook for private consumption is also bleaker. Purchasing power has been eroded by lower wage growth and rising inflation, and consumer expectations have dimmed. Consumer credit has become more costly and harder to get, and the extensive interest-support programme for housing loans has ended. Despite distinctly lower growth, full employment, modest improvement in purchasing power and spending of household savings should be enough to sustain private consumption this year. The role of the public sector in driving consumption will also become more pronounced.

• The vigorous growth in government spending during the war on Ukraine has driven Russia’s government finances into deficit, with deficits running at roughly 2 % of GDP a year since the start of the war. The current budget framework calls for a reduction in the annual deficit to around 1 % of GDP during 2025‒2027. This framework relies on rather optimistic assumptions, however, so the deficit could again turn out higher than planned.

• Oil prices, Russia’s relations with China and sanctions are among the most significant external factors affecting the outlook for the Russian economy. A significant tightening of sanctions would weaken Russia’s economic development. A sharp and prolonged drop in oil prices would also significantly curtail Russia’s government finances and ability to make war. Russia’s economy could severely suffer if relations between China and Russia degrade. Russia has become highly dependent on China in recent years.

• War has degraded the Russian economy’s long-term growth possibilities, and output gains have relied upon government spending on branches connected to the war effort. Investment in war also diverts assets that could otherwise go to sustained economic growth that promotes national well-being.

What would a ceasefire mean?

• If the fighting in Ukraine ends, [Russian] spending needed to sustain the war effort is unlikely to diminish [...] as it would go to stockpiling and regenerating resources for future conflicts.

• If no lasting peace agreement is achieved, the temporary truce or ceasefire agreement would give Russia an opportunity to rebuild its economy for making war later. Russia’s re-arming possibilities are most solid in scenarios involving a truce that leads to a partial lifting of sanctions (even briefly). Larger export earnings would enable Russia to build up new economic buffers. Loosening restrictions on imports would allow Russia to build up its stores of critical import goods and components for the future needs of its military-industrial complex.

Archived

Philosophy professor Jason Stanley announced this week that he will leave Yale, while history professors Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, who are married, decided to leave around the November elections. The three professors will work at Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

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"I am very grateful to Russia's special services, which always support us in our fight against colour revolutions, primarily with information," Deputy Prime Minister Alexandar Vulin said in an interview with Russia's RIA state news agency.

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Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic often describes protests as attempts to mount a "colour revolution", a reference to pro-Western protests that toppled governments in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in recent decades.

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Aleksandar Djokic, a Belgrade-based political scientist critical of the government, said Vulin's remarks "are echoing how much Russia's support is important for the regime".

"The only open support to the regime comes from Russia, all others are either neutral or are condemning it," he said.

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Outgoing Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede described the plan as aggressive, and said the duo had not been invited for meetings. Meanwhile, the island's likely next leader accused the US of showing a lack of respect.

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It governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Denmark. The US has long held a security interest - and has had a military base on the island since World War Two.

It is also thought Trump is interested in the island's rare earth minerals. His son Donald Jr visited Greenland before Trump's inauguration in January.

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Trump appeared to escalate his campaign to take over the island during a conversation with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte earlier this month.

[...]

According to recent polls, almost 80% of Greenlanders back independence from Denmark. But an opinion survey in January suggested an even greater number rejected the idea of becoming part of the US.

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