Cheap and sleek Chinese EVs turn European heads
JENS KASTNER
HAMBURG, Germany -- European leaders can complain to Beijing all they want about cheap Chinese electric cars flooding the continent, but their resistance may be futile.
This summer, more and more transporters have been spotted on Germany's autobahns ferrying loads of BYD, Leapmotor and Great Wall Motor cars from ports to dealerships. On Swedish and British roads, Xpeng and Polestar cars are also becoming more common.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Diplomat
an hour ago
- The Diplomat
Bangladesh's Post-Hasina Foreign Policy Reset
Following Sheikh Hasina's exit from power in August 2024, Bangladesh began reshaping its foreign policy, gradually moving away from its India-centric posture and pursuing a more diversified diplomatic approach. The interim government has sought to deepen engagement with China, Pakistan, and Western powers such as the United States and the European Union. India, long considered a supporter of Hasina's regime, now faces criticism from Bangladeshis who accuse it of meddling. A major milestone came during Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' visit to China in March 2025. The trip underscored Beijing's emergence as a key economic partner. Bangladesh secured $2.1 billion in loans, investments, and grants, including $400 million for the modernization of Mongla Port and $350 million for the Chinese Industrial Economic Zone in Chattogram. Eight MoUs were signed, covering areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing, and hydrological data sharing related to the Yarlung Tsangpo-Yamuna River. Notably, China's renewed interest in the Teesta River project – long stalled due to tensions with India – illustrates Dhaka's strategic pivot toward Beijing as a counterweight to Indian influence. Other outcomes included an extension of duty-free access for 99 percent of Bangladeshi exports until 2028, discussions to reduce interest rates on Chinese loans, and talks on setting up Chinese factories in textiles, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. Moreover, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency recently warned that China is considering establishing a military presence in several countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Myanmar. However, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen has dismissed the report, denying that China has any such intentions regarding Bangladesh. The potential launch of a direct Chittagong-Kunming flight and a boost in cultural exchanges further solidified this evolving partnership. China also reiterated support for Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue, aligning with Dhaka's push for international cooperation. China has also engaged with Bangladesh's political actors. In June and July 2025, both the BNP and JI sent delegations to China at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party. The BNP team, led by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, held high-level meetings with CCP Politburo member Li Hongzhong, who extended an invitation to the BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman. Around the same time, a high level JI delegation focused on party-to-party governance exchanges and future development projects. These visits reflect Beijing's effort to build ties across Bangladesh's political spectrum as the BNP and JI gain momentum in the post-Hasina landscape. At the same time, Bangladesh has rekindled relations with Pakistan, which were strained under Hasina due to historical baggage from the 1971 Liberation War. Since August 2024, bilateral trade has grown, with new cooperation in construction, food, pharmaceuticals, and IT. The formation of a joint business council and Pakistan's offer of 300 fully funded scholarships signal growing warmth. Defense ties have also progressed, with January 2025 talks on joint exercises and potential procurement of JF-17 Thunder jets as part of Bangladesh's Forces Goal 2030 modernization plan. In a further sign of shifting regional dynamics, a trilateral meeting took place in Kunming in June, involving representatives from China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Although Dhaka declined to join any alliance, the timing suggests growing coordination. These developments point to Beijing's broader ambition to reshape the strategic landscape in South Asia through Pakistan and Bangladesh, leveraging its economic and political clout to challenge India's traditional dominance. This recent activity of China's strategic presence has not gone unnoticed in New Delhi. Yunus' earlier remarks in China, describing Bangladesh as a gateway to India's Northeast and an extension of China's economy, have only amplified Indian anxieties. In Bangladesh, the perception that India supported Hasina's regime has deepened public mistrust. Bangladesh's relations with India have thus sharply deteriorated. Tensions were exacerbated by Dhaka's demand for Hasina's extradition. The interim government wants her returned to Bangladesh to face charges related to corruption and human rights abuses during her tenure. India's reluctance to comply, citing legal and diplomatic complexities, has fueled accusations in Bangladesh that it is shielding a discredited leader. This standoff has deepened anti-India sentiment, with many Bangladeshis viewing New Delhi's stance as evidence of continued interference in their country's affairs. Efforts to stabilize bilateral ties have been hampered by mutual distrust and competing narratives. India has expressed unease over Bangladesh's warming relations with China and Pakistan, particularly the trilateral Kunming meeting, which New Delhi may perceive as a deliberate attempt to counterbalance its influence. In response, India has doubled down on its narrative of protecting minority rights in Bangladesh, particularly for Hindus, which Dhaka dismisses as a pretext for meddling. Critics in Bangladesh, however, view India's focus on minority rights as hypocritical, given its own internal record. The attack on Bangladesh's diplomatic compound in Agartala in December last year, where protesters from Indian far-right organizations burned the national flag of Bangladesh, served as a warning signal for the trajectory of relations. The attack triggered outrage in Dhaka. Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry condemned the Agartala attack as a breach of the Vienna Convention, signaling a more assertive diplomatic posture. The interim government's push for accountability regarding Hasina's regime, coupled with India's strategic imperative to maintain a foothold in Bangladesh, suggests that relations will remain turbulent unless a framework can address the extradition issue and broader geopolitical concerns. Bangladesh's foreign policy has clearly changed in the year since Hasina's exit. The country is moving away from its heavy reliance on India and building stronger ties with China, Pakistan, and Western nations. As Bangladesh becomes more confident on the global stage, relations with India have become tense. Unless both sides find a common ground this mistrust is likely to continue.
Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Japan Today
U.S. gov't may be abandoning global climate fight, but new leaders are filling the void
By Shannon Gibson Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, meets with visiting President of the European Council Antonio Costa, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, right, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 24. When President Donald Trump announced in early 2025 that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement for the second time, it triggered fears that the move would undermine global efforts to slow climate change and diminish America's global influence. A big question hung in the air: Who would step into the leadership vacuum? I study the dynamics of global environmental politics, including through the United Nations climate negotiations. While it's still too early to fully assess the long-term impact of the United States' political shift when it comes to global cooperation on climate change, there are signs that a new set of leaders is rising to the occasion. World responds to another U.S. withdrawal The U.S. first committed to the Paris Agreement in a joint announcement by President Barack Obama and China's Xi Jinping in 2015. At the time, the U.S. agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 and pledged financial support to help developing countries adapt to climate risks and embrace renewable energy. Some people praised the U.S. engagement, while others criticized the original commitment as too weak. Since then, the U.S. has cut emissions by 17.2% below 2005 levels – missing the goal, in part because its efforts have been stymied along the way. Just two years after the landmark Paris Agreement, Trump stood in the Rose Garden in 2017 and announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the treaty, citing concerns that jobs would be lost, that meeting the goals would be an economic burden, and that it wouldn't be fair because China, the world's largest emitter today, wasn't projected to start reducing its emissions for several years. Scientists and some politicians and business leaders were quick to criticize the decision, calling it 'shortsighted' and 'reckless.' Some feared that the Paris Agreement, signed by almost every country, would fall apart. But it did not. In the United States, businesses such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Tesla made their own pledges to meet the Paris Agreement goals. Hawaii passed legislation to become the first state to align with the agreement. A coalition of U.S. cities and states banded together to form the United States Climate Alliance to keep working to slow climate change. Globally, leaders from Italy, Germany and France rebutted Trump's assertion that the Paris Agreement could be renegotiated. Others from Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand doubled down on their own support of the global climate accord. In 2020, President Joe Biden brought the U.S. back into the agreement. Now, with Trump pulling the U.S. out again – and taking steps to eliminate U.S. climate policies, boost fossil fuels and slow the growth of clean energy at home – other countries are stepping up. On July 24, China and the European Union issued a joint statement vowing to strengthen their climate targets and meet them. They alluded to the U.S., referring to 'the fluid and turbulent international situation today' in saying that 'the major economies … must step up efforts to address climate change.' In some respects, this is a strength of the Paris Agreement – it is a legally nonbinding agreement based on what each country decides to commit to. Its flexibility keeps it alive, as the withdrawal of a single member does not trigger immediate sanctions, nor does it render the actions of others obsolete. The agreement survived the first U.S. withdrawal, and so far, all signs point to it surviving the second one. Who's filling the leadership vacuum From what I've seen in international climate meetings and my team's research, it appears that most countries are moving forward. One bloc emerging as a powerful voice in negotiations is the Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries – a group of low- and middle-income countries that includes China, India, Bolivia and Venezuela. Driven by economic development concerns, these countries are pressuring the developed world to meet its commitments to both cut emissions and provide financial aid to poorer countries. China, motivated by economic and political factors, seems to be happily filling the climate power vacuum created by the U.S. exit. In 2017, China voiced disappointment over the first U.S. withdrawal. It maintained its climate commitments and pledged to contribute more in climate finance to other developing countries than the U.S. had committed to – $3.1 billion compared with $3 billion. This time around, China is using leadership on climate change in ways that fit its broader strategy of gaining influence and economic power by supporting economic growth and cooperation in developing countries. Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has scaled up renewable energy exports and development in other countries, such as investing in solar power in Egypt and wind energy development in Ethiopia. While China is still the world's largest coal consumer, it has aggressively pursued investments in renewable energy at home, including solar, wind and electrification. In 2024, about half the renewable energy capacity built worldwide was in China. While it missed the deadline to submit its climate pledge due this year, China has a goal of peaking its emissions before 2030 and then dropping to net-zero emissions by 2060. It is continuing major investments in renewable energy, both for its own use and for export. The U.S. government, in contrast, is cutting its support for wind and solar power. China also just expanded its carbon market to encourage emissions cuts in the cement, steel and aluminum sectors. The British government has also ratcheted up its climate commitments as it seeks to become a clean energy superpower. In 2025, it pledged to cut emissions 77% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels. Its new pledge is also more transparent and specific than in the past, with details on how specific sectors, such as power, transportation, construction and agriculture, will cut emissions. And it contains stronger commitments to provide funding to help developing countries grow more sustainably. In terms of corporate leadership, while many American businesses are being quieter about their efforts, in order to avoid sparking the ire of the Trump administration, most appear to be continuing on a green path – despite the lack of federal support and diminished rules. USA Today and Statista's 'America's Climate Leader List' includes about 500 large companies that have reduced their carbon intensity – carbon emissions divided by revenue – by 3% from the previous year. The data shows that the list is growing, up from about 400 in 2023. What to watch at the 2025 climate talks The Paris Agreement isn't going anywhere. Given the agreement's design, with each country voluntarily setting its own goals, the U.S. never had the power to drive it into obsolescence. The question is if developed and developing country leaders alike can navigate two pressing needs – economic growth and ecological sustainability – without compromising their leadership on climate change. This year's U.N. climate conference in Brazil, COP30, will show how countries intend to move forward and, importantly, who will lead the way. Shannon Gibson is Professor of Environmental Studies, Political Science and International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Research assistant Emerson Damiano, a recent graduate in environmental studies at USC, contributed to this article. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. External Link © The Conversation
Japan Today
5 hours ago
- Japan Today
China's Baidu to deploy robotaxis on rideshare app Lyft
China's tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in recent years Chinese internet giant Baidu plans to launch its robotaxis on rideshare app Lyft in Germany and Britain in 2026, pending regulatory approval, the two companies said on Monday. Last month, Baidu announced a similar agreement with Uber in Asia and the Middle East as it seeks to take pole position in the competitive autonomous driving field both at home and abroad. Lyft and Baidu said Monday that "in the following years" the fleet of Apollo Go driverless cars will be expanded to thousands of vehicles across Europe. They did not specify which other countries the cars would be deployed in, and it was not clear how long it might take to gain regulatory approval for the initial deployment. Driverless taxis are already on some roads with limited capacity in the United States and China, most notably in the central city of Wuhan, where a fleet of over 500 can be hailed by app in designated areas. Their reach is spreading, with Shanghai's financial district Pudong recently announcing a batch of permits for multiple companies to operate robotaxis. China's tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in recent years, with intelligent driving the new battleground in the country's cutthroat domestic car market. Baidu is not alone among Chinese companies in searching to expand its foothold abroad. Its rival WeRide is also active in the Gulf region, and in January announced it had been picked to lead a small pilot project in Switzerland. another Chinese company, said in May that it had signed a deal to launch its self-driving taxis on Uber in "a key market in the Middle East later this year". San Francisco-based Lyft in April said it had agreed to buy German taxi app Freenow, planting a flag in the European market. The acquisition marked Lyft's "most significant expansion outside North America", the group said. © 2025 AFP
