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Amid a tech cold war with China, U.S. companies have pledged nearly $200 billion for chip manufacturing projects since early 2020. But the investments are not a silver bullet.

Having forced draconian lockdowns on his people, China’s supreme leader is now expecting them to believe that the virus is no worse than a cold
In the chaos of China’s Covid exit wave, China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping, has been curiously absent. His last public pronouncement on China’s “dynamic zero”-Covid policy was in his speech to the 20th party congress in October: “We have adhered to the supremacy of the people and the supremacy of life, adhered to dynamic zero-Covid,” he told delegates, “... and achieved major positive results in the overall prevention and control of the epidemic and economic and social development.” It was, he insisted, overwhelming evidence that the policy was correct and that the party cared deeply for the people.
Xi used his New Year Address yesterday to urge more effort and unity as the country enters a “new phase” in its approach to the pandemic. Until his remarks, the defence of his policy U-turn had been left to others. As distressing images of body bags stacked in hospital corridors, patients on intravenous drips by the roadside and circulated on social media, hapless officials indignantly denied “rumours” of pandemic deaths, repeating claims that China managed the virus better than other countries, demonstrating the superiority of China’s political system, and insisting anyone who says otherwise is either an ill-intentioned foreigner, a traitor to the people or a paid provocateur. They insisted that the reversal was a rational, science-based and well-prepared decision or, as the nationalist mouthpiece Global Times put it last week: “The changing virus variant, accelerated mass vaccination and enhanced medical resources all laid out the foundation for a long planned and orderly Covid response adjustment.”

As American companies recalibrate the risks of relying on Chinese factories to make their goods, some are shifting business to a country far closer to home: Mexico. The unfolding trend known as ...

US firm Thermo Fisher is reported to have sold DNA kits and replacement parts for sequencers directly to Police Force in Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).

Taiwan, North Korea, Iran and Palestine are all potential flashpoints that could distract western attention from the invasion in 2023
It was a good year to bury bad news – and bad deeds – as a clutch of dictators, assorted killers and repressive or anti-democratic regimes can testify. In Myanmar, Yemen, , Nicaragua, , Somalia and , to name a few crisis zones, egregious abuses and unrelieved misery attracted relatively scant, perfunctory international scrutiny.
The main reason for 2022’s blinkered perspectives is, of course, Ukraine, Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945. This is not to say war-torn Tigray or , would otherwise have made global headline news. Hard truth: western interest in developing-world conflicts is generally limited.
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Health minister Mark Butler argues decision ‘will not come as any surprise to the Chinese government’
Australia will impose mandatory Covid-19 testing for travellers arriving from China after a spike in cases in the tourism and business market.
The Australian health minister, Mark Butler, announced on Sunday that travellers from China would need to take a Covid test within the 48 hours before travel and show evidence of a negative result before entering Australia, starting from 5 January.

Chinese leader speaks of continuing struggles as thousands gather in Wuhan, epicentre of the pandemic three years ago
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for more effort and unity as the country enters a “new phase” in its approach to combating the pandemic, in his first comments to the public on Covid-19 since his government changed course three weeks ago and relaxed its rigorous policy of lockdowns and mass testing.
In a televised speech to mark the New Year, Xi said China had overcome unprecedented difficulties and challenges in the battle against Covid, and that its policies were “optimised” when the situation and time so required.

As American companies seek to limit their exposure to the pitfalls of making goods in China, some are moving production to Mexico.

Australia holds first restriction-free party since Covid struck, with more than 1m revellers flocking to harbour
Australia celebrated its first restriction-free New Year’s Eve after two years of Covid disruptions, with more than a million revellers flocking to Sydney’s harbourfront and watching an elaborate fireworks display.
Sydney was one of the world’s first major cities to welcome in the new year and drew huge TV audiences around the world, with a public countdown and fireworks display over its opera house.

Steve Brine said the restriction on people arriving from China to England was only required because Beijing was not ‘upfront’ about its data
The requirement for travellers from China to England to provide a negative Covid test before departure could have been avoided if Beijing was “upfront” about its data, the chair of the Commons health committee has said.
on Friday by imposing checks on travellers from China from 5 January, after criticism from a growing number of Conservative MPs over his “dithering”.

From Ukraine developments and China’s Covid surge to renewable energy and hope for the Amazon
A near-inevitable global recession sparked by a lengthening war in Europe’s frozen east; an energy crisis coupled with soaring inflation; Covid-19 finally running rampant in China – predictions for 2023 are grim. Still, there are reasons to be hopeful. That same energy crisis has spurred an unprecedented demand for renewables, which are expected to boom, while in Brazil, a new president has sworn to protect the Amazon. Repressive regimes, meanwhile, will be nervously looking at Iran, where hardline clerics are locked in a struggle with a formidable pro-democracy uprising that threatens to overwhelm them next year.
Guardian correspondents across the globe have provided their take on what to watch out for in 2023:

AMA chief backs Australia’s policy of not testing arrivals but calls for more transparency, here and overseas
The Australian government is standing firm on its policy to not require incoming travellers from China to test negative for Covid, despite the UK and France joining the list of countries imposing such restrictions.
The Australian Medical Association president, Steve Robson, backed the position on Saturday, saying there was not enough data yet to show that testing every passenger would be beneficial.