Australian Wealth Fund Invests Taxpayer Money into Chinese Companies Linked to Human Rights AbuseAustralia’s sovereign wealth fund is using billions of taxpayer dollars to fund at least 50 high-risk Chinese companies that pose serious human rights and national security threats. Future Fund, whose aim is to “invest for the benefit of future generations of Australians,” was exposed to have stakes in 22 companies linked with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and 14 companies linked to the oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The $243 billion (US$164 billion) fund also invested in 14 companies that invested in countries that Australia has sanctioned, including Russia, Iran and North Korea. A further six companies were identified as raising ethical or governance-related concerns....

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Taiwan’s Vice President: 'If I Become President, the Possibility of War With China Will Be Lowest'Lai Ching-te, vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, amid the Chinese communist regime’s increasing war threat, said, “If I become president, the probability of a war between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will be the lowest.” The Republic of China was established in 1911 after the fall of China’s last imperial dynasty—the Qing Dynasty. After being defeated by the communists in China’s civil war, the nationalist government retreated to the island of Taiwan, the last territory of the Republic of China, while the communists established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Today, Taiwan’s official name is still the Republic of China....

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Absent Patriarchs: Growing Divide in CCP Hierarchy Evident at Li Keqiang's FuneralProminent Chinese communist patriarchies were absent from the recent official funeral of former Premier Li Keqiang. A China watcher has said it is an indication of a growing split in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hierarchy over the scrutiny of Mr. Li’s death. The 68-year-old’s body was cremated at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing on Nov. 2. State media CCTV broadcasted a video showing CCP leader Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, shaking hands with Mr. Li’s wife, Cheng Hong, at the ceremony that day. Six other Mr. Xi’s Politburo of Central Committee members attended the funeral....

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China's Financial Giant Zhongzhi Teeters on Brink of CollapseThe fiscal crisis plaguing China’s largest private asset management corporation, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group (ZEG), has reverberated through multiple industries in China. Often dubbed China’s “Blackstone,” ZEG managed assets exceeding approximately $516.7 billion. But when it was learned in August that it was facing a liquidity crisis, panic in the market followed. Concerns arose that ZEG’s crisis could be as dire or worse as the Evergrande or Country Garden crises, posing a substantial financial threat to China. ZEG’s core investment management platform, Zhongrong International Trust, and its subsidiaries, namely Hengtian Wealth, Datang Wealth, Xinhu Wealth, and Gaosheng Wealth, all experienced significant defaults....

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