Nury Vittachi

West passes laws saying ALL cars must be connected—and then bans Chinese cars because they’re connected! . QUICK HISTORY In 1996, General Motors released the first mass market “connected car” series. Three models, the Cadillac DeVille, Seville and Eldorado, originally transmitted just voice, but by the early 2000s, they included GPS location data, remote diagnosis, sat-nav functions and so on. The “connected car” was such an obviously good idea that connectivity changed from being an option to being compulsory. Russia required all cars to be connected in 2017, and in 2018, the European Union added a law that ALL new cars in all member countries should transmit data, arguing that this would aid emergency services and manufacturers. Chinese carmakers obediently obeyed, no choice—but then came an unexpected problem. . THEY’RE CONNECTED! Western politicians and mainstream journalists started shrieking that Chinese cars were “connected”! They TRANSMITTED INFORMATION back to manufacturers! This is an outrage! The politicians and journalists refused to countenance the obvious response—all cars do the same thing. The idiocy became ridiculous in recent years, and it wasn’t just people in the United States. . PARANOID BRIT A British MSM-believer went viral when a doorbell camera recorded her long tirade that the Chinese-made car parked in that boring suburban street was sending information about the location back to China. (“President Xi! I am a BYD car and I am reporting that I am parked in a boring suburban street where a deeply paranoid woman is ranting!”) This week, the U.S. military banned BYD electric vehicles from a key U.S. air base on Okinawa, a once free and independent island, now colonized by Japan and the U.S. military. “These vehicles present an unacceptable and unmitigable risk to our personnel and our mission,” Lt. Col. Alli Stormer told Reuters. . DRONES TOO Incidentally, the same logical absurdity has been complained about by drone-flying clubs and emergency services in the United States. That country passed a law saying that all drones must transmit location data. The world’s biggest dronemaker, DJI of Shenzhen, obeyed. The US then made a huge fuss: DJI drones transmit location data! They are dangerous! The US has now passed a new law making it illegal to import DJI drones to the US, to the dismay of drone enthusiasts and outdoor rescue services. The west is losing its stranglehold over the world for many reasons: one of which is certainly its own small-mindedness. . .

The "made in America" Trump phone appears to be made in China, a US website revealed today

I MADE A MUSIC VIDEO. With friends over dinner, we changed the words of The Fool on the Hill to make it about “the man with a foolish brain” who is “a man of a thousand vices” etc. I’m a Beatles’ fan so had fun recording it

Find China on this graph. You can't

Chinese glass firm Hengxinfeng used this riot scene as cheeky promotion. Glassmaker Kermis Cheung tells me it looks real (not AI). The glass on the floor is the shattered outer layer. There's a shop with plate glass windows opposite clothes shop Alatone at 96 Rue Rambuteau, Paris

A group in the west tried to stir up anti-Russian feelings by asking: “What if a different country occupied a fifth of your country’s territory?” Unfortunately, they chose Ireland as an example—not realizing that a different country DOES occupy a similar chunk of the island!

“Do you understand who you are dealing with? This is America. Back up.” A United Nations meeting was dramatically suspended yesterday after US ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla both ignored the chair’s plea for order in the chamber. The problem started when Waltz blamed Cubans for the shocking US embargoes and blockades that are causing huge suffering to the people of the island. Cuban representatives, astonished at the way Waltz blamed the victims for the crisis, in their eyes, stood up and objected, citing Rule 71, which allows listeners to raise a point of order. Ambassador Waltz responded that the Cubans didn’t like the substance of his speech, so were not raising a point of order. But when complaints continued, this caused Ambassador Waltz to lose his temper and shout “Back up! Back away. Do you understand what you’re dealing with? This is America.” . INTERNATIONAL TERRITORY The rest of the United Nations was outraged by this attitude, as the UN building is legally international territory. When Waltz refused to stop his tirade, Khalilur Rahman, chair of the 81st session, ordered that the meeting be instantly suspended. Waltz ignored him. The meeting was then resumed, but footage of the argument created a huge storm on social media. Some people in the US defended Waltz’s narrative, blaming Cubans for the suffering caused by the US embargos. But much of the commentary from the rest of the world said that the United Nations, for the safety of the delegates and the organization itself, should no longer be situated in New York. When New York was originally chosen as the site, the US pledged not to politicize US visa access to meetings—but has regularly broken the pledge, such as refusing to allow visas for Palestinians. . .

The most popular story in the Taipei Times today is one about a small surcharge on Starbucks drinks. I share this for three reasons. 1) People around the world are fed the ridiculous image that the people on this island live in fear of missiles from mainland China. They don’t. They’re smart. They know the US and its agents, the DPP, do inane amounts of fear-mongering about their friends and cousins (literally cousins) on the mainland. Taiwan residents are just ordinary people, and many live lives of enough decadence that accessorizing your designer coffee can be the biggest deal of all. 2) Taiwan people go to the mainland all the time. Taiwan Tourism Bureau statistics show that 1.84 million people visited the mainland in the first half of this year. That’s a record high. And THAT is what absolutely terrifies the US: peace and friendship. (It can do huge damage to US politicians weapons portfolios.) 3) If you look down the list of top stories in the Taipei Times, the last one is Typhoon Champi, a massive hurricane-strength storm that has shut roads, triggered evacuations and already started killing and injuring people. Now you might think THAT should be the big story. But hey man, say my Taiwanese friends. Starbucks is adding the equivalent of US$00.50 on certain drinks! Fifty cents! Time to hit the streets! Oh, no, wait, it’s raining. They're going to go and use a mainland-style instant ordering app to get some bubble tea delivered instead. . .

I can't believe I worked for this news media company for nine years

ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday warned that the country would be destroyed by a pair of nuclear bombs in “a second holocaust” if he doesn’t win today’s election—as he shared an AI image of Tel Aviv being nuked. He did not tell voters that only one country in the region has a secret and thoroughly illegal arsenal of nuclear weapons, and that is Israel itself. Netanyahu also appeared to trivialize accusations about the killings by the Israeli Defence Forces that have shocked the world, referring to “some foolish, insignificant blood libel storm”. . TRUMP’S EAR In a letter he publicized on x with the image, he crowed about his secret weapon: the fact that he has Trump’s ear. “Finishing the job” of protection against a planned nuclear attack “won't happen with a prime minister who can't pick up the phone and have a continuous, intimate conversation with Trump,” he said. Netanyahu called for the support of voters as crucial to life itself, saying that the people who will not vote for a rival candidate are “Anyone who cares about their own physical existence, that of their family, and their loved ones…” . ATTACKER NOT VICTIM While Israel always presents itself as victim, it has in fact attacked multiple communities in recent years: Iran, Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, and Yemen. Israel’s military operations are largely paid for by the United States, but Tel Aviv also gets massive help from Germany (military equipment and ammunition); and the United Kingdom (intelligence and jet-bomber components). Canada and Australia also have political and supply chain ties with Israel. In all the above countries, the public opposes the provision of support to Israel, but are largely ignored by people in power, for unclear reasons. In recent months, India too has been supplying military tech, drones and rockets to Netanyahu’s armed forces. . .

In 1975, US Christian nationalist Jack Chick warned the world that China was planning to take over Asia, including Australia. Most people in that generation knew this was fearmongering rubbish. Today, 50+ years later, the Australian mainstream media is doing the exact same trick

MUCH LAUGHTER BROKE OUT across Asia as Philippines' water warlord Jay Tarriela “forgot” to mention the nationality of a repulsed vessel in his latest rant. Sea-tyrant Tarriela’s job is to create friction with Chinese sailors and then blame the victims. So there was much surprise when he didn’t mention the nationality of the latest ship his people were repelling. That’s because the vessel turned out to be Vietnamese, not Chinese. The incident confirmed what everyone already knew. Tarriela’s main job isn’t protecting the waters of the Philippines but playing politics: demonizing the Chinese. A US study showed that there is now MORE reclamation being done in that part of the sea by the Vietnamese than the Chinese. Awwwkward...

AMID STUDENT PROTESTS IN THE WEST, UNIVERSITY CHIEFS MEET IN HONG KONG University leaders from more than 20 countries are flying into the Chinese city of Hong Kong this week for a conference on a collaborative—and peaceful—future for the world. This reporter met the organizer. It’s great timing. With protests involving students dominating the headlines in multiple countries days, it seems appropriate that some of the world’s top educators, from Harvard to Cambridge to Kazakhstan to Zhejiang province in China, are gathering together to plan a better future for young adults. A key theme for the Global University Presidents and Leaders’ Summit 2026 is collaboration—not just between the world’s universities, but between academia and industry and governments too, says host Prof Priscilla Leung Mei-fun. . ‘GLOBAL UNIVERSITY TOWN’ The last time this group met, two years ago, Prof Leung recalls they fantasized about having a high tech global university town that smoothly combined crucial elements such academia, and business and government. This year, their dream is coming true. A huge new hi-tech international “University Town” is being developed in the Northern Metropolis development, a massive project that takes in almost one third of Hong Kong’s land mass, and stands shoulder to shoulder with Shenzhen, Asia’s new tech capital. “At that time, we have been talking about if we could have a new piece of land, so that we can develop a universal university town—well, that would be great….” she said. “But two years later, no one would have expected it, Hong Kong already, really made it into reality. We allocated land, we allocated resources, and we put in policies to attract both local universities, as well as overseas universities to join us.” . WORLD’S TOP EDUCATION TOWN The summit, a cross-border, cross-sector, and cross-generational high-level forum for some of the world’s smartest educators, will be held at the convention center in Wan Chai on Tuesday and Wednesday. The organizer is the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship. Hong Kong is already arguably the best education town in the world—with five universities in the world’s top 100 list. So the city really does provide a good model for other countries. But what about politics? Some countries are trying to cut the global academic ties that the world shares—and in particular, some want to cut out China. But Prof Leung is not concerned: this type of political diviseness has always been there. “I think this kind of political tension or we call misunderstanding or labeling will always exist,” she said. With students expressing dissatisfaction in multiple countries, an international meeting of university leaders seems to be the right idea at the right time. . .

GOOGLE: We’ve been totally committed to saving the environment for 20 years. PEOPLE: You illegally cut down 250,000 trees to make room for a datacenter. GOOGLE: GOOGLE: We might paint it green

Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein beats many top Australian companies in a survey of ethics, a new report says. On measures such as payment of fair wages and adherence to sustainability practices, Shein beat top Australian brands such as Myer and Windsor Smith. But its record was far from great, researchers said. Shein and most other brands need to do better, said the Baptist World Aid ethical fashion report, an annual study that passes judgment on the ethics of fashion companies. The Chinese company, founded in 2008 in Nanjing, moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2022 to avoid anti-Chinese demonization. Shein, which is short for She Inside, kept prices low and gambled that they would benefit from added sales volume, in classic capitalist-style: but was criticized in the west as “encouraging overconsumption”. And there we have the real reason why the Chinese are criticized so much. It’s nothing to do with socialism: it’s because some of them are quite good at capitalism. .