Questions and Answers about
China
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in TechnologyWhat is Ernie Bot?
Answer: Baidu, China’s search engine mogul. unveiled Ernie Bot, China’s AI chatbot sensation, on Aug. 31, 2023. Not before Beijing approved Baidu’s decision to release Ernie Bot to the public, of course. By the afternoon of its grand debut, Ernie Bot became the top app on Apple’s iOS store in China. And as a cherry…
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in BusinessWhat’s the link between Alibaba and the Brooklyn Nets?
Answer: Joseph Tsai, a co-founder and executive vice chairman of Alibaba, bought the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and became the sole owner of the NBA team. In June 2023. Alibaba announced that Tsai would succeed Daniel Zhang as board chairman. Tsai is a Taiwan-born Canadian citizen who helped start Alibaba in 1999 with Jack Ma…
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in TechnologyWhich US state became the first to pass a bill banning TikTok from app stores?
Answer: Montana passed a bill that makes it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok in the state. The bill was motivated by concerns about potential Chinese spying through the app. It specifies that the ban would be lifted if TikTok is sold to a non-Chinese company or Congress passes a law banning TikTok nationwide.…
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in PlacesWhich island nation was once known as Formosa?
Answer: Taiwan is an island nation in East Asia that was formerly called Formosa by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. The Formosan black bear is an endangered subspecies of black bears native to Taiwan and is seen as a symbol of Taiwanese identity._x000D_
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in BusinessWhere is Elon Musk building Tesla’s new factory to make Megapacks, the huge batteries that can keep the lights on for thousands of homes?
Answer: Elon Musk announced plans to build an upcoming factory in Shanghai, China, on April 9, 2023. The factory will annually produce 10,000 megapacks – Tesla’s energy storage products that stabilize energy grids and prevent power outages. Building work on the proposed factory is expected to begin later this year. with battery production due to begin…
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in BusinessAccording to court filings, why did FTX owner Sam Bankman Fried bribe Chinese officials?
Answer: In 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried instructed those working for him to pay a bribe of $40 million to one or more Chinese officials to help unfreeze trading accounts maintained by FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, that held up to $1 billion in cryptocurrencies. Bankman-Fried was charged with 13 criminal counts, including foreign bribery, on March…
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in TechnologyDid TikTok’s CEO tell Congress that China didn’t influence his company?
Answer: China’s commerce ministry declared it opposed a TikTok sale just hours before Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s CEO, testified before Congress about TikTok’s ties to China on March 23, 2023._x000D_
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in PoliticsWho is the first world leader to shake Putin’s hand since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest?
Answer: Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 20, 2023. He is the first world leader to meet the Russian leader, a few days after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine. Xi presented China as a global peacemaker intent on ending the Ukraine war. In its…
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in AnimalsWhat are raccoon dogs?
Answer: On March 17, 2023, scientists unveiled new data on the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic — and put this confusing creature in the spotlight. Raccoon dogs are members of the canine family, which includes domestic dogs but are most closely related to foxes. They are native to East Asia, including parts of China,…
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in PlacesWhat is NORAD?
Answer: A joint military organization of the US and Canada, NORAD identifies and tracks objects in the air, including recent “UFO” sightings, like the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, 2023. NORAD has since adjusted its radar system to be more sensitive, catching more flying objects. The…
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in PoliticsWhat kind of device was shot down over the Atlantic by the US in Feb. 2023?
Answer: US military officials notified the Biden administration of a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” flying over Montana on Feb. 4, 2023. According to the Pentagon. China launched the balloon to collect military information, but China called it a “mainly meteorological balloon.”_x000D_
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in BusinessWhy is the US government halting license approvals for American firms to export to Huawei?
Answer: The Biden administration is tightening Huawei restrictions by halting license approvals for American firms to export to the Chinese tech giant, the Financial Times reported on Jan. 30, 2023. Since 2019, The US government has aimed to stop the Chinese Communist Party from getting sensitive technologies with military applications through its ties with Huawei.
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in FilmsWhich movie received the most nominations at the 2023 Oscars?
Answer: The Academy awarded 11 2023 Oscar nominations, including best picture. to Chen-Wen Lo’s science-fiction movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The film tells the story of a Chinese immigrant struggling to finish her taxes and her multiverse adventures. It also earned four acting nominations.
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in PlacesWhat is the name of the current Chinese zodiac year?
Answer: The Chinese zodiac names each year after one of its 12 signs; this year is the Rabbit year. Despite being China’s biggest annual holiday, Lunar New Year celebrations have been muted for the past three years due to the pandemic. Jan. 22, 2023, marked the first time in three years that people could finally…
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in HistoryBefore 2022, when was the last time China recorded a population decline?
Answer: China last saw a population decline during the Great Leap Forward at the end of the 1950s. Mao Zedong’s campaign for collective farming and industrialization led to a massive famine that killed tens of millions._x000D_
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in PoliticsAccording to his tax returns, how many foreign countries did Ex-US President Trump have accounts in until 2018?
Answer: The House of Representatives released Donald Trump’s tax returns on Dec. 30, 2022. The thousands of financial documents became the subject of a lengthy legal battle after Trump broke a precedent by not releasing his tax returns while running for president. According to his tax returns. Trump had accounts in China, the United Kingdom,…
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in TechnologyWhich government is estimated to own more than half of the world’s surveillance cameras?
Answer: Industry researcher IHS Markit estimates that more than half of the world’s nearly one billion surveillance cameras are in China. The New York Times analysis found that the police strategically chose locations, such as residential buildings, karaoke lounges, and hotels to maximize the amount of data their facial recognition cameras could collect.
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in BusinessWhich country is home to Assassin’s Creed maker Ubisoft?
Answer: Ubisoft Entertainment is France’s biggest video games developer. It’s headquartered in the suburbs of Paris, with development studios worldwide. Ubisoft’s franchises include “Assassin’s Creed,” “Prince of Persia,” and “Tom Clancy’s.” China’s largest social network and gaming firm Tencent raised its stake in Ubisoft Entertainment on Sept. 7, 2022, in a deal that values the…
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in PoliticsWhat’s the 4-nation Quad?
Answer: The 4-nation Quad, Formally the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. It began after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when the four countries joined together to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance to the affected region and was formalized in 2007. The nations regrouped in…
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in FoodWhat’s a Wok?
Answer: A wok is a deep round-bottomed cooking pot that originated in China. Chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt wrote “The Wok: Recipes and Techniques,” a book with 200 wok dishes. The book was published in March 2022.
