China and Russia should not emerge victorious from the coronavirus pandemic, the British ambassador to the US said recently.

The diplomat called the strategic competition from Moscow and Beijing a big challenge and for them being able to cope and solve the problems of coronavirus is not an acceptable outcome.

As if we allow this to happen we can wake up one day and discover Chinese standards in areas such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, she said.

Pearce expressed concerns that the PRC might set the rules for future technological development, and compared the situation with the proliferation of nuclear technology in the 1950s. UK and US at all costs, including direct military use, must not allow this to happen.

She believes that current speed of China's development is unacceptable, Chinese leaders are "authoritarian" and new technologies should benefit only "open markets" and not countries with communist party behind the wheel.

a snail made of harp

an emoji of a baby penguin wearing a blue hat, red gloves, green shirt, and yellow pants

https://openai.com/blog/dall-e/

China’s DC/EP (Digital Currency/Electronic Payment) is a two-tier R&D and pilot project, not a payment product. It may include several payment products that can be tried and promoted. These products have been named e-CNY, or digital CNY.

The DC/EP is a two-tier operation system. The first layer is the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), and the second layer includes commercial banks, telecom operators and third-party online payment platforms. At present, China’s four major banks, i.e. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, as well China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Ant Group, and Tencent are at the second tier and have already started trial operation.

The second-tier institutions should shoulder the following responsibilities. First, they must have sufficient capital to cushion risks. Second, they must follow due KYC (know their customer) procedures, and on top of which bear the responsibilities of anti-money laundering and data privacy protection. Third, they need to invest in technology and equipment, and ensure the continued operation of equipment.

The central bank, being the first-tier entity, has the following duties:

The first is to maintain the stability of the digital CNY. The central bank can achieve this goal by imposing capital or reserve requirements on second-tier institutions.

The second is to build reliable settlement and clearing infrastructure. Theoretically, the central bank should also engage in R&D, but it should focus on the construction of reliable settlement and clearing infrastructure instead of digital currency products.

Third, the central bank has the obligation to promote the interoperability of different payment products. The central bank should coordinate among payment products with different standards or parameters to improve their interoperability, a move that will benefit consumers.

Fourth, the central bank must have emergency and contingency plans to deal with a dynamic system. In the event of either a system failure or an upgrade, contingency plans are needed to ensure no disruption to the payment function, otherwise the entire market may be affected. From this perspective, the central bank itself should also develop a digital currency that can play a substitute role in emergency.

In general, in the two-tier DC/EP operating system, the central bank needs to design its role in a way that fully mobilizes the enthusiasm and strength of all other entities involved.

http://www.cf40.com/en/news_detail/11481.html

Note how they care about private banks, this is really bad sign.