News List

—Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to launch a “joint action plan” to better highlight the rapid run-up in debt associated with China's lending for international infrastructure projects. “Increasingly we see instances where [low-income countries] have borrowed excessively, and unsustainably, from large,… Read more »

Besides Wednesday's live-fire naval drill in the Taiwan Strait, the PLA has been flying fighter jets and bombers close to the self-ruled island - possible signs of a coordinated battle plan, say experts Recent patrols by China's air force in and around Taiwan appear to be part of a coordinated strike plan across different branches of Chinese military that will encompass the entire area -… Read more »

Beijing's tit-for-tat trade spat with Washington could come back to bite China when it comes to soybeans and even the grain sorghum to some extent. Analysts say China can get soybeans from South America but still won't get enough to meet its overall domestic needs. Also, there's a premium price on Brazilian beans now so U.S. supplies look more competitive to other buyers. Earlier… Read more »

Cars crawl along downtown streets in much of China every weekday, generating angry honks and late arrivals. To ease that of gridlock of some 20 years, Chinese urban metro systems keep expanding, and the capital Beijing restricts the numbers of cars on city roads during peak commute hours. China's skies have always kept relatively clear of private jets. Commercial airliners fly so… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) spoke on the House Floor today in continued support of the Jones Act. Below is a video and transcript of his remarks: “Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my continued support of American maritime jobs through enforcement of the Jones Act. “The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 is more commonly known as the Jones Act, named for the primary sponsor at the… Read more »

HONG KONG — China carried out live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, its state news media reported, an exercise intended to show the growing strength of its navy and deliver a message to self-governed Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. The war games were the first in the Taiwan Strait since 2016, Chinese state television reported. They were held… Read more »

The annual State of Global Air Report was published on Tuesday by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and it found that over 95 percent of the world's population is breathing unhealthy air. Long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to the deaths of 6.1 million people in 2016 with strokes, heart attacks, lung disease and lung cancer causing many of them. Air pollution is now the… Read more »

Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), submitted the following statement to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing to continue to fund reproductive services for veterans as part of FY 2019 appropriations: Good afternoon, Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz, and other members of the subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to… Read more »

China, the world's second-largest economy, grew at 6.8 percent in the first three months of 2018, thanks to strong consumer demand, robust exports and investment in the country's real estate market. It was the third-straight quarter for 6.8 percent growth year-on-year and fueled in part by a widening trade gap with the U.S. As The New York Times notes, "The country's quarterly… Read more »

China is about to open the world's longest sea bridge to traffic in the latest demonstration of its infrastructure ambitions. The 55-kilometre bridge and tunnel project links the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau with the mainland, slashing travel time and linking up to 60 million people into a metropolis-style economy. When the first cars begin crossing… Read more »