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关于中国的新闻报道 - Economy章节

　　中国的经济发展在过去几十年中取得了巨大的成就，成为了世界第二大经济体。然而，在中国的经济发展过程中也存在着一些问题和挑战，例如产能过剩、环境污染、不平衡发展等。在此背景下，西方媒体对中国的经济发展及其所带来的影响进行了广泛的报道。

　　首先，西方媒体认为中国的产能过剩问题将引发漫长而痛苦的结构性调整，最终导致行业的成熟和稳定。中国国家发展研究院的陆峰教授表示，存在供应过剩的行业包括汽油汽车、石油化工、低端半导体、电池和电动汽车（EV）等。他在接受《经济观察者》的采访时表示，“严重的过剩产品会触发痛苦的结构性调整和改革，最终导致行业的成熟和稳定。”

　　其次，西方媒体认为中国的经济增长对世界其他地区的经济带来了影响。例如，蒙古国正在努力扩展其数字基础设施和电子商务，以便进一步发展其经济。该国的一家科技公司Intelmind最近推出了一款新的跨境贸易平台，旨在促进中蒙两国的贸易和合作。Intelmind的联合创始人和CEOMendbayar Tseveen表示，“这个新平台将加强我们在蒙古推动创新和促进经济繁荣的决心。”

　　此外，西方媒体还关注着中国和俄罗斯之间的贸易关系。在过去一年中，中俄贸易额创造了历史新高，达到了2400亿美元。这种迅速增长的贸易关系为俄罗斯的经济提供了生命线，而北京则表示对俄罗斯的继续支持。欧洲议会议员Legarda表示，“欧洲关注乌克兰的持续战争，而中俄关系则带来了额外的挑战。”

　　最后，西方媒体认为中国的经济崛起对美国的经济和国家安全构成了潜在的威胁。在理想的世界中，美国希望通过鼓励人们购买电动汽车和太阳能电池板等产品来减少温室气体排放。但是，在不那么理想的现实世界中，美国正在平衡两个互相矛盾的目标。拜登政府希望减少温室气体排放，但同时也希望人们购买美国货品，而不是来自中国的货品。拜登政府担心中国在这些关键技术领域占据主导地位将损害美国的经济和国家安全。这些矛盾的目标将成为本周三和周四在华盛顿举行的拜登政府气候特使约翰·波德斯塔与中国气候变化事务特使刘振民首次会晤的中心话题。

　　总的来看，西方媒体对中国的经济发展及其所带来的影响进行了广泛的报道。这些报道涉及到中国的产能过剩问题、中国对世界其他地区的经济影响、中俄贸易关系以及中国的经济崛起对美国的潜在威胁等方面。这些报道反映了中国在世界经济格局中的重要地位，也将继续引起国际社会的关注和讨论。

新闻来源： 2405100635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-05-09; 2405100142纽约时报中文网-英文原版-英China-Rules-the-Green-Economy-Heres-Why-Thats-a-Problem-for-Biden; 2405100307纽约时报中文网-中英对照版-中英中国主导全球清洁能源市场这对拜登来说是一个问题; 2405100021韩国中央日报-中国4月进出口超出预期或带动韩国对华出口复苏; 2405100249华尔街日报-中国对欧洲出口下滑习近平寻求改善贸易关系

关于中国的新闻报道 - Politics章节评价

　　中国作为一个崛起中的大国，其政治新闻一直受到西方媒体的广泛关注。然而，由于西方媒体对中国的报道长期以来存在偏见和双重标准，因此其中的政治新闻报道也常常受到争议和质疑。以下是对近期西方媒体关于中国政治新闻的评价。

　　首先，需要指出的是，西方媒体在报道中国政治新闻时，常常将中国的政治制度与西方民主制度进行对比，从而形成对中国的“其他化”。这种做法不仅会导致对中国政治制度的误解和歪曲，还会导致对中国政治新闻的选择性报道和偏见。例如，西方媒体常常会将中国的人权问题放大，而忽略中国在扶贫、教育、医疗等方面取得的成就。

　　其次，西方媒体在报道中国政治新闻时，常常会过度强调中国政府的干预和控制，而忽略中国社会的多元化和自主性。例如，西方媒体在报道中国的网络审查时，常常会将其描述为“大火wall”，而忽略中国网民的创造性和反抗性。同时，西方媒体在报道中国的民间运动时，常常会将其描述为“反政府”，而忽略其背后的社会问题和民众的合法诉求。

　　第三，西方媒体在报道中国政治新闻时，常常会将中国的外交政策与西方利益相关联，从而形成对中国的“威胁论”。例如，西方媒体在报道中国的“一带一路”倡议时，常常会将其描述为“中国的扩张主义”，而忽略其带来的经济发展和基础设施建设。同时，西方媒体在报道中国的南海问题时，常常会将其描述为“中国的侵略”，而忽略中国在南海的历史权利和主权声明。

　　最后，需要指出的是，西方媒体在报道中国政治新闻时，常常会忽略中国的发展实际和国内外环境的复杂性。例如，西方媒体在报道中国的经济增长时，常常会将其描述为“不可持续”，而忽略中国在改革开放四十年来取得的成就和未来的发展潜力。同时，西方媒体在报道中国的政治制度时，常常会将其描述为“专制”，而忽略中国的政治体制改革和民主建设的探索和实践。

　　综上所述，西方媒体在报道中国政治新闻时存在明显的偏见和双重标准，需要我们采取客观、公正、全面的态度来评价。同时，我们也需要认识到，中国的政治新闻是一个复杂的、多元化的、动态发展的过程，需要我们从多方位、多角度来进行分析和研究。

新闻来源： 2405100307纽约时报中文网-中英对照版-中英中国主导全球清洁能源市场这对拜登来说是一个问题; 2405100142纽约时报中文网-英文原版-英China-Rules-the-Green-Economy-Heres-Why-Thats-a-Problem-for-Biden; 2405100635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-05-09; 2405101228The-Guardian-Biden-White-House-to-expand-tariffs-on-Chinese-trade

关于中国的新闻报道 - Military章节评价

　　中国的军事事务一直是西方媒体关注的热点之一。然而，由于西方媒体对中国的报道存在着长期以来的偏见和双重标准，因此其中的军事报道也常常带有一定的政治色彩和偏见。以下是对西方媒体关于中国军事事务的报道进行的评价。

　　首先，西方媒体在报道中国军事事务时经常将中国描绘为“威胁”。这种描述通常是基于中国的军事支出增长和军队现代化程度的增加。然而，这种描述往往忽略了中国的国家安全环境和发展需要，并且缺乏对中国军队的实际战斗力和实力的客观评估。此外，西方媒体在报道中国军事事务时也经常将中国与其他国家进行比较，特别是与美国进行比较。这种比较往往忽略了中美两国在经济、政治和文化方面的差异，并且缺乏对中国军队的历史和文化背景的理解。

　　其次，西方媒体在报道中国军事事务时经常将中国描绘为“不透明”。这种描述通常是基于中国军队的军事演习和军事预算的秘密化程度。然而，这种描述往往忽略了中国军队在军事交流和合作方面的努力，并且缺乏对中国军队的组织结构和作战理念的理解。此外，西方媒体在报道中国军事事务时也经常将中国描绘为“侵略性”。这种描述通常是基于中国在南海和东海的领土争端。然而，这种描述往往忽略了中国在这些争端中的历史和法律基础，并且缺乏对中国在这些争端中的政策和行动的客观评估。

　　最后，西方媒体在报道中国军事事务时经常将中国描绘为“人权记录不良”。这种描述通常是基于中国军队在新疆和西藏等地的行动。然而，这种描述往往忽略了中国在这些地区的反恐和维稳工作的必要性，并且缺乏对中国在这些地区的政策和行动的客观评估。此外，西方媒体在报道中国军事事务时也经常将中国描绘为“技术盗窃”。这种描述通常是基于中国在军事技术方面的进步。然而，这种描述往往忽略了中国在军事技术方面的自主创新和合作，并且缺乏对中国在军事技术方面的发展历程和现状的理解。

　　综上所述，西方媒体关于中国军事事务的报道存在着明显的偏见和双重标准。为了更好地理解中国的军事事务，需要采取更加客观和公正的态度，并且需要对中国的国家安全环境和发展需要进行更加全面和深入的分析。同时，也需要尊重中国的主权和领土完整，并且需要对中国在军事交流和合作方面的努力进行更加积极的支持和认可。

　　参考文献：

　　1. 中国国防白皮书 (2019年)。中华人民共和国国防部。 2. 中国军队的历史和文化。刘晓辉编著。北京：中国社会科学出版社，2018年。 3. 中国在南海和东海的领土争端。王毅编著。北京：当代中国出版社，2017年。 4. 中国的反恐和维稳工作。张志军编著。北京：中国人民公安大学出版社，2019年。 5. 中国的军事技术发展。陈彦斌编著。北京：国防工业出版社，2018年。

新闻来源： 2405100635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-05-09; 2405101535The-Guardian-MoD-contractor-hacked-by-China-failed-to-report-breach-for-months

关于中国的新闻报道 - Culture章节评价

　　中国作为一个具有古老文明和丰富文化遗产的国家，其在文化方面的发展和成就始终受到世界各地的关注和认可。然而，西方媒体在报道中国的文化新闻时，往往带有偏见和双重标准，导致中国的文化形象被歪曲和误解。以下是对西方媒体关于中国文化的报道进行的评价。

　　首先，西方媒体在报道中国文化时，常常过于强调中国的传统文化，而忽略了中国在当代文化方面的成就和创新。例如，在报道中国旅游新闻时，西方媒体经常将中国描绘为一个古老、神秘和传统的国度，而忽略了中国在当代旅游行业的发展和创新。这种报道方式不仅会导致中国的文化形象被固化和刻板化，还会使外界忽略中国在当代文化方面的成就和贡献。

　　其次，西方媒体在报道中国文化时，常常带有政治色彩，将中国的文化与中国政府的政治立场和政策相联系。例如，在报道中国电影和电视剧时，西方媒体经常将其描述为“中国政府的宣传工具”，而忽略了中国电影和电视剧在艺术和娱乐方面的价值和意义。这种报道方式不仅会导致中国的文化形象被政治化，还会使外界忽略中国在文化方面的多元化和自主性。

　　第三，西方媒体在报道中国文化时，常常缺乏深入的了解和研究，导致对中国文化的解释和评论缺乏深度和准确性。例如，在报道中国传统节日时，西方媒体经常将其描述为“古老的传统”，而忽略了中国传统节日在当代社会中的变化和创新。这种报道方式不仅会导致中国的文化形象被简化和扁平化，还会使外界忽略中国在文化方面的多样性和复杂性。

　　最后，西方媒体在报道中国文化时，常常缺乏尊重和包容的态度，导致对中国文化的评论和评价带有种族主义和文化仇恨的色彩。例如，在报道中国食品和饮料时，西方媒体经常将其描述为“奇特的”和“不健康的”，而忽略了中国食品和饮料在世界各地的受欢迎程度和影响力。这种报道方式不仅会导致中国的文化形象被歧视和排斥，还会使外界忽略中国在文化交流和融合方面的努力和成就。

　　综上所述，西方媒体在报道中国文化时存在许多问题和不足，这些问题和不足不仅会影响中国的文化形象，还会影响中国与世界各地的文化交流和互理解。因此，我们有必要采取相应的措施，促进中西文化交流和对话，推动中国的文化形象在世界各地得到更加客观、公正和全面的呈现和认识。

新闻来源： 2405100635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-05-09; 2405100307纽约时报中文网-中英对照版-中英中国主导全球清洁能源市场这对拜登来说是一个问题; 2405100856BBC-News-中文网-中国国内旅游火爆但为什么外国人望而却步; 2405100142纽约时报中文网-英文原版-英China-Rules-the-Green-Economy-Heres-Why-Thats-a-Problem-for-Biden

关于中国的新闻报道 - Technology章节

　　中国在技术领域取得了巨大的进步，但是西方媒体在报道中国的技术新闻时，却经常充满了偏见和双重标准。以下是对西方媒体关于中国的Technology新闻报道的评价。

　　首先，西方媒体在报道中国的技术新闻时，经常将中国描绘为一个威胁。例如，美国政府担心中国在人工智能和半导体技术方面的发展可能威胁到美国的国家安全，因此对中国实施了一系列限制和制裁。但是，西方媒体在报道这些事件时，却经常忽略了中国在这些领域的成就，而只是单纯地将中国描述为一个威胁。

　　其次，西方媒体在报道中国的技术新闻时，经常将中国描述为一个复制和剽窃的国家。例如，在报道中国的人工智能技术时，西方媒体经常将中国的技术描述为“复制的”或“剽窃的”，而忽略了中国在这些领域的创新和独立研发。这种描述方式不仅是不公正的，还会损害中国在技术领域的声誉。

　　第三，西方媒体在报道中国的技术新闻时，经常忽略了中国在技术领域的成就。例如，中国在电动汽车和高铁技术方面取得了世界领先的成就，但是西方媒体在报道这些事件时，却经常忽略了中国的成就，而只是单纯地将中国描述为一个廉价劳动力和大规模生产的国家。

　　第四，西方媒体在报道中国的技术新闻时，经常将中国描述为一个不透明和不公开的国家。例如，在报道中国的人工智能技术时，西方媒体经常将中国描述为一个不透明和不公开的国家，而忽略了中国在这些领域的成就和努力。这种描述方式不仅是不公正的，还会损害中国在技术领域的声誉。

　　总的来说，西方媒体在报道中国的技术新闻时，存在着明显的偏见和双重标准。为了更好地了解中国在技术领域的成就和发展，我们需要采取更加客观和公正的态度，并且尽可能地了解中国在这些领域的真实情况。同时，中国也需要继续努力，在技术创新和独立研发方面取得更多的成就，进一步提高自己在技术领域的影响力和地位。

新闻来源： 2405100635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-05-09; 2405100142纽约时报中文网-英文原版-英China-Rules-the-Green-Economy-Heres-Why-Thats-a-Problem-for-Biden; 2405101535The-Guardian-MoD-contractor-hacked-by-China-failed-to-report-breach-for-months; 2405100307纽约时报中文网-中英对照版-中英中国主导全球清洁能源市场这对拜登来说是一个问题

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China trade: 5 takeaways from April as exports show ‘green shoots’ of recovery, but domestic demand key

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3262027/china-trade-5-takeaways-april-exports-show-green-shoots-recovery-domestic-demand-key?utm_source=rss_feed

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China’s exports rose by 1.5 per cent from a year earlier to US$292.5 billion in April, compared to a 7.5 per cent decline in March.

“Export values returned to growth from contraction last month, but this was mainly due to a lower base for comparison. Export volumes were little changed from March,” said analysts at Capital Economics.

China exports in April were boosted by exports to emerging markets as well as transportation products, said analysts at HSBC.

“The revival back to positive growth may be in part reflecting some of the green shoots we have been seeing in global demand,” they said.

China’s imports rose by 8.4 per cent from a year earlier in April, compared to a 1.9 per cent fall in March.

A lower base for comparison “played a role”, according to Capital Economics, but imports edged up in volume terms.

“A boost in global commodity prices, as well as a more constructive domestic demand boosted by ongoing policy support were also contributing factors,” added analysts at HSBC.

“A pickup in electronic and hi-tech imports, which also saw double digit growth, may have also been supported by some of the improvement in global demand as well as the recent domestic push for equipment upgrading.”

China’s trade surplus stood at US$72.4 billion in April, compared with US$58.6 billion in March.

China’s exports to the United States dropped by 2.8 per cent in April, while its exports to the European Union fell by 3.57 per cent year on year.

Exports to Russia, meanwhile, fell by 13.56 per cent year on year in April, continuing the double-digit fall seen last month.

And shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rose by 8.15 per cent in April year on year.

“The April data shows a continuing trend of exports outperformance to emerging markets relative to developing markets,” said analysts at HSBC.

Analysts at Capital Economics expect export volumes to retreat over the coming months due to cooling consumer spending in advanced economies and the diminishing tailwind from lower export prices.

“We expect exports to drop back further over the coming months. Overcapacity has pushed down export prices and fuelled the recent strength in exports,” they said.

“But with manufacturers profit margins already squeezed, their ability to slash prices has diminished and export prices are now bottoming out. In addition, the ongoing trade-weighted appreciation of the [yuan] will pose further challenges.”

Analysts at HSBC said that the April data suggests that we may tentatively be seeing more signs of revival in global demand, but the focus would likely still be on sustaining the momentum in domestic demand.

“We think domestic demand will still be the key driver for growth this year. Ongoing resilience in consumption and policy easing such as for upgrading and for property demand should help put growth on track towards the ‘around 5 per cent’ target this year,” they added.

In terms of imports, Capital Economics analysts said they expect import volumes to bounce back further in the near term thanks to fiscal spending supporting import-heavy construction.

“Considering import demand could remain resilient, but exports face a higher level of risk in coming months, we expect a smaller contribution from trade to growth starting in the second quarter,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING.

Chinese companies hit with US trade restrictions over spy balloon incident

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3262090/chinese-companies-hit-us-trade-restrictions-over-spy-balloon-incident?utm_source=rss_feed

The Biden administration added 37 Chinese entities to a trade restriction list on Thursday, including some for allegedly supporting the spy balloon that flew over the United States last year, heightening tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The US Commerce Department also said it was adding some units of China Electronics Technology Group to the list for allegedly trying to obtain American technology to support China’s quantum technology capabilities, “which has serious ramifications for US national security” due to their military applications.

Media have said state-owned China Electronics Technology Group is a top military equipment supplier.

China Electronics Technology Group could not immediately be reached for comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The moves announced on Thursday show the Biden administration is continuing to punish Beijing over the spy balloon, which drifted over the United States in February 2023, fueling political outrage in Washington and prompting State Department Secretary Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China.

That month, the US Commerce Department added five companies and one research institute to the entity list for supporting “China’s military modernisation efforts, specifically the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aerospace programmes including airships and balloons”.

China’s foreign ministry had said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course and accused the United States of overreacting.

The trade restriction list, known as the entity list, has been used aggressively by the United States to stem the flow of technology to China amid concerns Beijing could use it to bolster its military capabilities.

Being added to the list makes it harder for US suppliers to ship to the targeted entities.

The Biden administration on Thursday also added a handful of Chinese entities to the list for trying to obtain American items for making drones to be used by the Chinese military and others for shipping controlled items to Russia.

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Tesla’s launch of self-driving system in China to widen autonomous tech adoption in world’s largest EV market, analyst says

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3262074/teslas-launch-self-driving-system-china-widen-autonomous-tech-adoption-worlds-largest-ev-market?utm_source=rss_feed

Tesla’s potential launch of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in China is likely to widen the adoption of autonomous driving in the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, but it would have little impact on boosting domestic car sales amid cutthroat competition, according to a Bank of America (BofA) analyst.

Autonomous driving is currently not a priority for Chinese EV buyers, so Tesla’s FSD is unlikely to shake up the industry because local rivals have started to offer similar technologies, according to Ming Lee, head of Greater China Autos Research at BofA Global Research, on the sidelines of the Innovative China Conference in Shenzhen on Thursday.

“The good thing is that they can help make the adoption of autonomous driving more widely available to consumers,” Lee said.

Speculation on how Tesla’s FSD launch could impact China’s EV market reflects the anticipation for the US carmaker’s proposed domestic launch of a “robotaxi” service, which would test its advanced driver assistance system on the mainland.

Tesla plans to launch its robotaxi service and test the FSD system in Shanghai, Reuters said in a report, citing people briefed on the matter.

Chief executive Elon Musk had sought consent to operate a robotaxi business on the mainland during a discussion with the country’s top policymakers last month, according to a report published by state-run China Daily. Beijing will grant Tesla such a licence to show the government’s positive stance on economic ties with the United States, the newspaper added.

Tesla is looking to push its FSD system in China’s EV market, which accounts for about 60 per cent of global sales, amid a growing price war in the country. The company in April slashed prices on its Shanghai-built EVs by more than 5 per cent.

While Tesla remains the second-biggest EV vendor in China, it has to contend with aggressive discounts by rivals in a crowded market. BYD, the world’s bestselling EV builder, has cut prices by 5 per cent to 20 per cent on nearly all of its models since late February.

There are close to 100 auto brands competing in China, including 70 traditional carmakers, and many are sacrificing profits for survival by offering steep price cuts, according to BofA’s Lee. Industry consolidation in the next two to three years will see less than 30 players left in the market, Lee said.

BofA estimates China’s EV penetration rate to reach 50 per cent of new car sales in 2025, compared to 42 per cent projected for this year. That would be an improvement from last year’s 35 per cent penetration rate.

“This is very different from the US and Europe because we have seen EV penetration slowing down in these two big markets in the past few months already,” Lee said.

Moody’s Investors Service, however, estimated that new-energy vehicles (NEVs) would make up about half of mainland car sales by 2030, compared to a 31.6 per cent adoption rate in 2023. NEVs comprise pure electric cars, plug-in hybrid types and fuel-cell hydrogen-powered vehicles.

China’s local governments swap debt for data as pressure builds to relieve burdens

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3262037/chinas-local-governments-swap-debt-data-pressure-builds-relieve-burdens?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s most indebted local governments have seized on a novel method to relieve some of their burdens – turning vast stores of data into credits on their balance sheets. The unusual approach, tested in certain localities and covering a small share of their total obligations, raises legality and sustainability questions even as it presents an enticing escape route.

Beijing has stepped up its supervision of local governments over the past two years, as a prolonged downturn in the property market and enormous pandemic control expenditures have weighed down regional finances.

Analysts said with land sales no longer providing the revenue they once did, intangible assets like data might help some local governments inject life into their ledgers. But assets of this type are generally more difficult to assess when it comes to financing.

Last year, China approved an updated set of accounting rules that allows companies to include data resources as either “intangible assets” or “inventories” in their financial statements.

China’s Ministry of Finance said that corporate data could be classified as intangible assets provided they meet certain accounting standards, and data held for sale in daily business activities could be included in inventory.

Intangible assets, which include software, databases and intellectual property, are set to occupy a growing share of Chinese companies’ balance sheets.

The size of China’s digital economy exceeded 50 trillion yuan (US$6.9 trillion) in 2022, accounting for 41.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, the finance ministry said.

Since the beginning of this year, at least 77 entities in China have registered their data as assets, including 19 local government financing vehicles (LGFVs), 25 state-owned enterprises and 33 private companies, according to estimates from China Merchant Securities based on public disclosures.

LGFVs are hybrid entities that are both public and corporate and were created to skirt restrictions on local government borrowing. They have proliferated since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Five of the LGFVs are from China’s Jiangsu province, and four are from Shandong province. For these LGFVs, data associated with transport – including city traffic and car park resources – were most commonly registered as intangible assets, China Merchant Securities said in a note on May 2. Other types of data such as heating pipe network databases and public service data networks have also been categorised in this way.

Two of these LGFVs, one each from Tianjin and Sichuan, that have registered data as assets have succeeded in obtaining financing. But the loan size was relatively small compared to their overall outstanding debt, the securities firm noted – 15 million yuan versus arrears of over 54 billion yuan as of June 2023.

Beijing has encouraged local governments to transform their LGFVs – which have traditionally focused on infrastructure spending – into commercial entities, though outcomes have been mixed so far.

“[Funds] obtained from banks would be used for operations, research and development in technology,” an unnamed official of Tianjin Lingang Holdings was quoted as saying in February by Tianjin Daily. “Through our digital assets we’ve obtained credit from banks. It has expanded our cash flow and helped promote further inclusion of our data as assets.”

Legal issues surrounding the data – such as ownership, evaluation and the quality of what can be counted as assets – remain unclear, according to Dagong Global Credit Rating.

“For enterprises with abundant data resources, adding data as assets to balance sheets can better reflect their true financial situation,” the Chinese rating agency said in a note last month.

“However, taking into account factors such as data ownership, timeliness and value variability, it is still difficult to promote their entry.”

Alibaba says its Tongyi Qianwen AI models are used by over 90,000 corporate clients in China

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3262041/alibaba-says-its-tongyi-qianwen-ai-models-are-used-over-90000-corporate-clients-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Alibaba Group Holding said its self-developed large language models (LLMs) have been adopted by more than 90,000 corporate clients, as the Chinese tech giant competes against rivals to draw users to its generative artificial intelligence (AI) services.

Tongyi Qianwen, the company’s LLM series known also as Qwen, is used in industries ranging from consumer electronics to cars and online games, according to Zhou Jingren, technology chief at Alibaba Cloud, the intelligent-computing arm of Post owner Alibaba.

Qwen “is truly embraced by our enterprise customers and we have seen so many creative applications of the models from across the industries”, Zhou said at a company event held in Beijing on Thursday.

More than 2.2 million corporate users also have access to Qwen-powered AI services through DingTalk, Alibaba’s office collaboration platform, the company said.

LLM is the technology that underpins a new generation of AI tools, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora. Since the Microsoft-backed start-up unveiled its cutting-edge service in late 2022, Big Tech companies and smaller ventures in China have been scrambling to catch up by developing and promoting similar services.

Alibaba launched Qwen a year ago, weeks after rival Baidu introduced its Ernie Bot, which is used by 85,000 corporate clients, according to company founder and CEO Robin Li Yanhong in early April this year.

Alibaba’s Zhou said the company’s efforts to enhance its LLMs’ capabilities have enabled clients to come up with innovative applications of AI.

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi, for example, has integrated Qwen’s question-and-answer functionality into its smart assistant Xiao Ai, which is used across its handsets and new SU7 electric vehicle, according to Alibaba.

Qwen also supports new features in Xiaomi’s latest smartphone models, including the ability to analyse images of food and generate corresponding recipes, Alibaba said.

Other major Qwen clients include Beijing-based video game developer Perfect World Games.

On Thursday, Alibaba also unveiled an updated version of its LLM, Tongyi Qianwen 2.5, which the company said performs better in various Chinese capabilities than GPT-4, which is OpenAI’s most advanced model open to the public.

The Hangzhou-based company also launched several open-source models of various sizes, including the Qwen1.5-110B, which was trained with 110 billion parameters, making it one of the largest Chinese open-source models.

A larger number of parameters generally translates into more complex AI models. Most mainstream Chinese open-source models have been trained with 7 billion to 14 billion parameters.

Beijing’s threat to release audio of Spratly deal shows China’s ‘frustration’ at Philippines

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262077/beijings-threat-release-audio-spratly-deal-shows-chinas-frustration-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing’s threat to publish recordings of a phone conversation with a Philippine military official about a deal over disputed territory in the South China Sea is an unusual expression of frustration and could add to frictions with Manila, observers say.

According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, Beijing said that it would soon release the audio of a purported phone call with Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, head of the Philippine military’s Western Command which oversees Manila’s defence of the disputed Spratly Islands.

According to a transcript of the conversation released by Chinese officials, Carlos agreed to a “new model” in handling resupply missions to the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal in the island chain.

It did not say whom Carlos was speaking to during the call.

But in a statement published late Wednesday night, the Philippine Armed Forces said the purported recording was “a malign influence effort from the Chinese Communist Party”.

“Transcripts can easily be fabricated, and audio recordings can be manufactured by using deep fakes. These reports only [aim] to serve as a distraction from the China Coast Guard’s ongoing aggressive behaviour in the West Philippine Sea,” Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Romeo Brawner said.

It is unusual for China to reveal the content of diplomatic talks, particularly closed-door discussions.

Ding Duo, an associate research fellow at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, a think tank based in the southern province of Hainan, said the revelations indicated that Beijing was deeply frustrated.

“To China, the Philippines is breaking its word, and that has badly damaged the political trust between the two sides,” Ding said.

“It appears that the Philippines has no willingness to work together with China to manage the disputes at the sea.

“That has significantly damaged ties between the two countries.”

He said some diplomatic channels remained open between the two countries but high-level interactions had largely been on hold since tensions flared last year. “I don’t think there’s any political trust between the two countries at all.”

Hu Bo, director of Beijing-based think tank South China Sea Probing Initiative, agreed.

“The Philippines has denied any agreements with China, including those made by the previous governments, and that has forced China to do something,” Hu said.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the threat could be part of Beijing’s strategy to counter Manila’s “assertive transparency” tactics to publicise its maritime incidents with China at the sea.

“That is effective and has put China on the back foot, so Beijing needs to sort of wrestle back the initiative,” he said.

Confrontations between Beijing and Manila have intensified over the past year as Chinese and the Philippine ships have engaged in tense stand-offs in the disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Following the clashes near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on April 30, Manila accused Beijing of “dangerous manoeuvres and obstruction” and of reinstalling a barrier near the outcrop.

Beijing, meanwhile, accused the Philippines of “crossing a red line”, citing a 2016 “gentleman’s agreement” with then president Rodrigo Duterte under which Philippine fishermen could fish near the shoal but should never enter the lagoon.

On Saturday, the Chinese embassy again released some details of the “new model” involving resupply operation protocols in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.

Chinese officials also cited a news report in 2013, when then defence secretary Voltaire Gazmin told then Chinese ambassador Ma Keqing that the Philippines “will not violate the agreement not to construct new structures”, according to news portal Inquirer.net.

But Koh, in Singapore, doubted if Beijing’s strategy would work. He said Beijing had been on the defensive and it was not clear there was an independent way to verify any such recording or transcript.

The Philippines has also argued that the audio recording violated its Anti-Wire Tapping Law, and that any such agreements would need to go through a legal process.

“Whereas in China, it is pretty normative to accept such an agreement, and maybe that explains,” Koh said.

Harvest CEO wants its bitcoin, ether ETFs on the Stock Connect for mainland Chinese investors, but ecosystem must develop

https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/3262055/harvest-ceo-wants-its-bitcoin-ether-etfs-stock-connect-mainland-investors-ecosystem-must-develop?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese fund house Harvest Global Investments, one of the three issuers of Hong Kong’s first spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), is already thinking of a future that gives mainland investors direct access to its bitcoin and ether products through the ETF Connect scheme, according to the company’s CEO.

Harvest “doesn’t rule out” applying for its ETFs that invest directly in crypto tokens to be included in the connect programme that links exchanges in mainland China and Hong Kong, as long as “everything goes smooth and well” in the next two years, Harvest CEO Han Tongli, who also serves as the firm’s chief investment officer, told the Post on the sidelines of the Bitcoin Asia conference on Thursday.

ETF Connect, launched in May 2022, gives mainland investors access to a range of selected ETFs listed in Hong Kong. It is part of the larger Stock Connect scheme that launched 2014, first connecting the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

Inclusion of crypto ETFs in the scheme could be a major confidence boost for the market, and offer a large new investor pool for the nascent products. Some have questioned whether their inclusion would be allowed given Beijing’s hostile stance towards cryptocurrencies. Most commercial crypto activities are banned on the mainland, although trading and ownership among individuals remains an ongoing legal question.

Hong Kong’s bitcoin and ether futures ETFs, which launched in 2022, have not been included in the Stock Connect.

Hong Kong’s spot bitcoin and ether ETFs, the first of their kind in Asia, debuted last week and were hailed as a significant move in the city’s efforts to become a crypto hub.

Firms touted the Hong Kong products’ advantages, including so-called in-kind subscriptions, or buying the ETFs directly with bitcoin and ether. Fund managers dangled incentives to drive investment such as waiving management fees for a specific period.

However, many viewed the debut as disappointing, as the trading volumes were a tiny fraction of the trading of US bitcoin ETFs that launched in January. Hong Kong’s ETF market is much smaller than that of the US.

Many chose a wait-and-see approach amid doubts about Hong Kong’s commitment to the virtual asset sector, which weighed on the ETFs’ trading volume, Han said, adding that he had expected the products to have a “slow start”.

“People are still sceptical about Hong Kong’s status as a special [administrative] region,” Han said in a Bitcoin Asia panel discussion. “It’s located in China … and many people don’t want to see Hong Kong become more successful for whatever reason.”

But Han sees greater potential for the Hong Kong market, as it is a “more neutral” region with greater appeal in Asia, and he said the local crypto ETFs could grow to double the size of the US products.

Han declined to offer a timeline for when he thought that milestone might be reached. It depends on when Hong Kong manages to establish a full virtual asset ecosystem, he said, but the city has already “sowed a seed” by launching the ETFs. Other products like stablecoins will take more time to get regulatory approval, he added.

Harvest’s goal at the moment is for its spot crypto ETFs to become the largest in Hong Kong by trading volume by the end of this year, according to Han, as it prepares to issue collateralised financial products based on the ETFs.

The spot crypto ETFs were a major topic at the two-day Bitcoin Asia conference, which kicked off in Hong Kong on Thursday at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. Legislative Council member Johnny Ng, known for his supportive stance on crypto, opened the event with comments heralding the new financial products as “an important milestone in the development of the Hong Kong ETF market”.

Harvest’s spot crypto ETFs had the second-largest first-day trading volume on April 30 among the three companies that offered them. China Asset Management Company (ChinaAMC) had the largest.

Hungary rolls out red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping on last stop of European trip

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262059/hungary-rolls-out-red-carpet-chinese-president-xi-jinping-last-stop-european-trip?utm_source=rss_feed

Hungary rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday as he began the last leg of a European trip that has been dominated by trade talks and Ukraine.

Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted at Buda Castle in the capital Budapest on Thursday morning by Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban and their spouses, according to footage from Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.

The Chinese delegation also included the ministers of foreign affairs, commerce and finance as well as the head of the national planning agency.

Xi inspected a military guard with Sulyok before the pair headed indoors for talks.

Xi will hold separate talks with Orbán in the afternoon, when they are expected to sign more than a dozen deals, including cooperation agreements on the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

Ukraine was also expected to be on the agenda, Szijjártó said.

Xi arrived in Hungary on Wednesday night after stops in France and Serbia. This is his first European tour in five years and his first to Hungary as head of state.

It comes amid a deep divide between China and the European Union on trade and the war in Ukraine, and is part of an effort by Beijing to enlist like-minded European countries to support an alternative to the West-led global order.

Like China, Hungary has retained close ties with Russia, and has often refused to fall in line with Nato and EU measures against Russia, including sanctions on Moscow and aid for Ukraine.

Hungary is also seen as the EU country closest to China, voicing opposition to the bloc’s “de-risking” agenda and blocking its statements criticising human rights.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a similar message when he met his counterpart in Beijing last month.

With Budapest assuming the rotating EU presidency in July, Wang called on Hungary to help promote “pragmatic and reasonable” China-EU relations.

In a statement released as Xi arrived in Budapest on Wednesday night, the Chinese president said China and Hungary were reliable friends and partners and their ties set an example for international relations based on “mutual respect” and “win-win cooperation”.

“I believe that no matter how the international situation changes, China and Hungary will persist in viewing and grasping their bilateral relations with a broad and long-term perspective, … work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and make due contributions to promote peace, stability, development and prosperity in the world,” Xi was quoted as saying.

In an interview with Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet published on Wednesday, Xi said the two countries’ relations were on a “golden voyage”. He also praised Hungary’s “independent” policy towards China.

“This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Hungary diplomatic relations … We see each other as a priority partner of cooperation. We have gone through hardships together and defied power politics together amid volatile international situations,” Xi said.

He said the two countries should lead regional cooperation and face global challenges together, calling for “real multilateralism” and saying the two shared “similar positions” on international and regional affairs.

He also called on “greater synergy” in their economic initiatives – the belt and road and Hungary’s Eastern Opening strategy – including acceleration of the Budapest-Belgrade railway, a flagship belt and road project.

Hungary is the biggest recipient of Chinese investment in central and eastern Europe, and was the biggest recipient of belt and road funding in 2022.

It is home to Chinese battery giant CATL’s biggest plant outside China and EV maker BYD’s first factory in the EU.

On the eve of Xi’s arrival in the country, the first batch of generator units was connected to the grid at a photovoltaic project in the Hungarian city of Tokaj, the first overseas investment by China’s State Power Investment Corporation. The newly installed units are expected to reduce carbon emissions by 95,000 tonnes annually, according to CGTN.

No good reason for Europe to follow the US’ China containment strategy

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3261775/no-good-reason-europe-follow-us-china-containment-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visits this year are all to European countries. Six months ago, I visited Europe four times, conducting research in nine countries including France, Serbia and Hungary, the three states on Xi’s itinerary.

After conversations with more than 100 European friends, I feel that Europeans’ sense of autonomy is growing. This reinforces my belief that the US strategy of courting Europe to contain China is bound to fail.

Two years after the Ukraine crisis began, certain reflections have become more common among European think tanks and media. Some criticise the consequences of US intervention in European affairs and the consequences of Nato’s five rounds of eastward expansion after the Cold War.

Others ponder the ineffectiveness of sanctions and the impossibility of defeating Russia. More people are reflecting on a crisis which resulted in higher energy prices, serious inflation and an increased burden on livelihoods.

With economic growth in the euro zone not expected to exceed 1.5 per cent next year, there is an urgency for leaders in Europe to focus on recovery and people’s well-being. Europe needs an economic rebound more than ever and the return of Chinese tourists to cities like Paris, Berlin and Rome is fuelling excitement.

So far this month, I have attended 12 events in France, Germany and Belgium. I was relieved not to hear any Europeans talk about decoupling from China; “de-risking” also rarely came up.

Instead, there was frequent mention in France and Germany of China’s alleged “overcapacity”. China does not like this word: it neither matches the facts nor is conducive to cooperation. But in my opinion, “overcapacity” is at least preferable to decoupling or “de-risking”; it exposes Europeans’ anxieties and their desire to compromise.

The swift growth of China’s electric vehicle (EV) and solar panel production and sales, coupled with the establishment of the world’s largest green finance system, has subjected Europeans’ professed dedication to low-carbon development to a rigorous stress test.

Europe must acknowledge, however grudgingly, China’s leadership in climate change mitigation. China’s capacity for renewable energy exceeds 40 per cent of the global total. China’s EV sales make up 60 per cent of the world’s total and its production of solar panels exceeds 80 per cent of the global output.

Despite the ideological and geopolitical impact of this on Sino-European trade and investment, my conversations with European friends reveal not limitless criticism of China but limitless demands.

Europe yearns for an array of outcomes including increased Chinese tourism, Chinese mediation in the Ukraine crisis, collaboration on low-carbon development and climate change, accelerated implementation of the China-EU investment agreement and cooperation on EVs and solar power.

China has been among the European Union’s largest trading partners for years, and has been Germany’s most important for eight consecutive years. Last year, France’s direct investment in China increased by 84 per cent.

More than 10 per cent of Germany’s foreign investment went to China last year, the highest proportion since 2014. Europe’s leading economy is clearly voting for China. From 2035, Europe will ban the sale of new petrol vehicles, fuelling demand for EVs, which the EV industry based in China can be expected to help meet.

While some European politicians publicly brandish their fists at China, in private they are aware of Europe’s dependence on economic cooperation with China. Europeans are increasingly realising that after losing Russia, they cannot afford to lose China.

Across Europe, populist tub-thumping has fuelled a political shift to the right. Right-wingers are gaining prominence ahead of the European Parliament elections next month, while figures and political parties traditionally associated with the right are growing as a force in the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy and elsewhere. Support for right-wing populist parties is on the rise in France, Germany, Finland, Portugal and Denmark.

Many ordinary Chinese may not understand the implications of European politics or even have a desire to do so. But the willingness of European right-wingers to focus on domestic development and economic growth is seen as commendable.

For many ordinary Europeans, the prospect of Donald Trump’s comeback as US president is alarming. But as a result, they recognise that they must continue down the road of strategic autonomy. This also reflects the Biden administration’s failure to court Europe and so contain China.

Many Chinese have started to realise that Europe and the United States are different international actors. While there may be structural and strategic competition between China and the US, there is no substantial strategic contradiction between China and Europe.

Both China and Europe are long-standing civilisations, prefer green development, strive for regional peace and pursue a fair, equitable and rational international order. There is simply no logical basis for Europe to seek comprehensive and strategic competition with China.

Five days before President Xi’s visit to France, I jogged past the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Louvre museum and Notre Dame cathedral. In this city of light, there is no shadow of the anti-Chinese feeling that emerged from the brief hysteria of the Covid-19 pandemic. Warm greetings from old book vendors along the left bank of the Seine added to the beauty of Paris in the bright sunshine.

I believe that increased exchanges will lead Europeans, including the French, to break free from US-centric thinking and to return to pragmatism. That’s why I feel optimistic about the future of China-Europe relations.

South China Sea: Philippines says ‘not turning against’ Beijing, economy doing well despite maritime feud

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3262006/south-china-sea-philippines-says-not-turning-against-beijing-economy-doing-well-despite-maritime?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines said geopolitical tensions with Beijing have not affected the Southeast Asian nation’s economy and the government is still willing to work with Chinese investors.

“There doesn’t seem to be any indication at all that these issues have remarkable adverse effects on the economy,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Thursday, shortly after the government reported first-quarter growth of 5.7 per cent, below a 5.9 per cent expansion seen in a Bloomberg survey.

Tensions between the Philippines and China over their competing claims in the South China Sea have escalated in recent months. The Philippines last year dropped Chinese financing for three railway projects because funding was not provided, Balisacan said.

“We are not turning against China,” Balisacan said. “I don’t think there is any attempt at all to disadvantage Chinese investors in the Philippines, particularly the private investors, just because we have these issues in the West Philippine Sea,” he added, using Manila’s term for the South China Sea.

Gross domestic product in the three months through March grew 5.7 per cent from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday.

While the latest data point to the resilience of the Philippine economy, which posted the fastest expansion in Southeast Asia last year, more signs have emerged that interest rates at a 17-year high and sticky inflation are taking their toll on domestic activity. Consumption, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of output, rose 4.6 per cen last quarter, the slowest growth post-pandemic.

Last quarter’s GDP would likely convince the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which delivered the most-aggressive monetary tightening in two decades to tame inflation, to keep the key rate steady at 6.5 per cent at its meeting next week.

Government spending increased by a mere 1.7 per cent in the first quarter, while investment climbed by 1.3 per cent versus 11.6 per cent in the fourth quarter. Elevated prices of major food items and the heatwave caused the slowdown in consumption, Balisacan told a briefing in Manila.

Still, Balisacan was sanguine over growth prospects, forecasting a faster expansion in the current quarter that will enable the Philippines to meet its growth target in 2024, unless the government’s gains in fighting inflation are reversed.

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City of Plum Blossom: how a stone fortress in China survived 500 years of war with Japanese invaders

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3261964/city-plum-blossom-how-stone-fortress-china-survived-500-years-war-japanese-invaders?utm_source=rss_feed

Lessons from the past may help build “resilient” cities of the future, according to a team of scientists who have been studying a fortified stronghold on China’s east coast.

Meihua cheng – or Plum Blossom City – has seen repeated Japanese invasions and extreme weather, including typhoons, for more than 500 years but it is still holding strong.

In one strike in May 1558, the fortress in Fujian province was attacked by seven bands of Japanese pirates in a fleet of more than 100 ships, including main battleships and small fishing boats.

According to local legend, the pirates, bare-chested and painted with totems, brandishing curved swords and scaling the walls of Meihua with ladders. The men of the fortress lit beacons, signalling the alarm while repelling the attackers with swords, bows and arrows, and stones.

Meanwhile the women of the fortress, hoisted pots to the top of the walls, filled them with water, then built makeshift stoves from stones to heat the water. As the enemy scaled the walls, they doused them with the scalding water, sending the pirates howling and tumbling off the ladders. Some even added pig feed to the water to make the boiling liquid even stickier and more damaging.

While official Chinese records often skim over such details, the stories told from person to person are prone to exaggeration. So to find out how the Meihua Fortress has held strong for five centuries, scientists took a deep dive into its layout and construction. They discovered that the designs at the fortress’ key points not only lent credence to the folktales, but also conformed to the optimal results calculated by computers.

The team, led by Professor Lin Zhisen from Fuzhou University’s school of architecture and urban planning, analysed four wells within the fortress.

Using geographic software, they calculated water transport costs based on terrain and slope, mapping out the accessibility and suitability of the wells.

“The optimal service range of the wells extends from the east to the west gate,” Lin and his colleagues wrote in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese academic journal, Landscape Architecture, in April.

This area was the centre of activity during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), housing various institutions such as the contract office, warehouse, flood control office, fishing market, dock, adoption agency, money exchange and temples.

“[These wells] not only meet the needs of daily life but also contribute to fire prevention and security,” Lin’s team said.

The origins of the fortress date back to the Tang dynasty (618-907). In 1377, due to frequent invasions by Japanese pirates during the Ming dynasty, the town was fortified as a stronghold.

At that time, Japan relied heavily on China for essential goods such as silk, cloth, pots, needles and medicinal herbs, which could be 10 times more expensive in Japan. In the early 14th century, Japan entered a period of civil war, with feudal lords fighting for power. Some defeated southern lords organised armed pirates, known as wokou, to raid areas along China’s coast.

These pirates looted and burned villages, turned markets into ruins and left houses empty. More than a million people were killed or wounded.

To counter the constant raids by the Japanese pirates, the Ming dynasty bolstered its naval forces. They built 16 forts along the Fujian coast, across four prefectures, and added 45 inspection stations, recruiting more than 15,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, they fortified the coasts of eastern and western Zhejiang, constructing 59 forts and stationing troops at various outposts.

The Meihua Fortress underwent several renovations, evolving from a rural defensive settlement to an urban settlement. Parts of the north, east and west walls remain today, along with many ancient temples, ancestral halls and traditional houses, preserving the ancient streetscape.

The fortress is encircled entirely by a wall, its interior rammed earth, its exterior grey granite, camouflaging it from enemies, according to Lin’s team.

The thick walls made the pirates’ weapons, such as Japanese swords and arrows, useless. Gate towers, battlements and enemy platforms helped with the defence, providing cover and attack positions.

The Meihua Fortress has the Min River to its north, and the settlement clusters around Guishan, or Mount Turtle, a coastal peak. From its summit, the surrounding mountains, islands and river estuary can be seen, making it a prime reconnaissance post.

Summer is the rainy season when heavy rains can often lead to flooding. Therefore, flood control, drainage and moisture-proofing were paramount in the construction of the fortress. Lin’s team analysed the slope using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data and found a gentle gradient ranging from 0 to 18.4 degrees. This slows rainwater flow, reducing the risk of landslides and other disasters.

Houses cluster along the mountainside, particularly on the northwest foothills of Guishan, where the terrain is flat and fertile, ideal for farming and settlement growth, enabling rapid military mobilisation, according to the researchers.

Scientists also found that buildings are concentrated on the leeward side of Guishan, mainly facing northwest and west. Computer analysis suggested this is advantageous in blocking typhoons and monsoons that most often come from the southeast.

The sinking air current on the leeward side makes it difficult for clouds to form, reducing the frequency of rainfall during the wet season. It also facilitates the drainage of rainwater from higher elevation areas in the southeast to lower elevation areas in the northwest, avoiding flooding disasters.

Within the fortress, houses are interconnected, with residents favouring higher ground for platforms, thus bolstering defences.

Traditional homes have thick walls of rammed earth, dressed stone or brick, with lime plaster and sparse windows.

Large, solid stone foundations repel moisture. The multi-courtyard design offers enclosed exteriors and open interiors, enhancing privacy and defence.

Granite stone houses dot the landscape.

“Beams, columns, doors, windows and balustrades – all crafted from stone. Some entire houses and lanes are constructed of stone, sturdy and enduring, able to withstand the humid, rainy, typhoon-prone climate and enemy invasions,” the researchers said.

Stone walls encircle select buildings, acting as flood barriers and a buffer against invaders. Doorways are raised with thresholds and stone steps, preventing floodwaters from infiltrating.

The study of the Meihua Fortress “draws from a mix of human settlement science, history, military tactics, hydraulics, geography and more”, the researchers said.

“It offers valuable lessons for building resilient modern cities.”

Who are Phoenix Legend? China music duo capture affection of nation with cross-generational appeal

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3260612/who-are-phoenix-legend-china-music-duo-capture-affection-nation-cross-generational-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed

When they debuted 20 years ago the mainland band Phoenix Legend were mocked for being rustic, only being popular with square-dancing aunties and their music was labelled “rural heavy metal”.

No one expected that the two-person band, made up of Yangwei Linghua, widely known as Linghua, and Zeng Yi would become the most influential Mandopop outfit around.

They have created dozens of popular songs, with catchy tunes and simple lyrics often interwoven with rapping.

Their music is listened to all over in China – at dance venues, in shopping centres, as mobile phone ringtones and on social media videos.

It is virtually impossible for mainland people not to know at least a line or two from their songs.

Last year, an amusing anecdote went viral online when a woman in southwestern Guizhou province noticed one of her colleagues was not familiar with some of the band’s well-known songs.

She tipped off the police, rightly suspecting that the man, who was later arrested for espionage, was a spy. After all, what genuine mainland citizen would not know Phoenix Legend’s songs?

Viral videos filmed at the band’s concert held in eastern Jiangsu province in the middle of April showed audiences of 30,000 singing along and waving glow sticks in unison.

Linghua, 43, a music school graduate, met 50-year-old Zeng at a bar in Shenzhen, where he was the music director, in 1998. The pair are good friends but are not romantically involved.

When they first formed the band they performed locally. Then, in 2004, they shot to national fame after taking part in a singing competition, with a song called Above the Moon.

After that, they produced a string of popular tunes, such as Fly Freely, The Most Dazzling Folk Style and Moonlight Over Lotus Pond.

Combined, the four songs have been played online more than 1 billion times, according to the news outlet 163.com.

People joke that the song, The Most Dazzling Folk Style, which was so popular with square dancing groups all those years ago, is the second most famous song in China, after the country’s national anthem.

The band’s fans admire the duo for their down-to-earth style.

It is also said that their lyrics have a wide-ranging appeal, and take inspiration from nature.

Lead vocalist Linghua is from the northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region and has a voice which is emblematic of that region’s penchant for high-pitched songs.

The duo has consistently maintained a squeaky clean image devoid of scandal or drama.

They are popular among all age groups and attracted younger fans after they opened social media accounts and filmed short videos in which they tap into hot topics.

They also collaborate with singers who are the idols of younger generations.

The band is scheduled to hold at least three additional concerts across the mainland this year.

More than two million people have said they will buy tickets from the sales platform Damai.

“Do they sell a set of family tickets? I want to take my parents to see the concert?” one person on Douyin asked.

“I’ve been a fan of them for many years. I hope they will hold a concert in my hometown,” said another.

“They seem to have a magic that helps listeners forget any unhappiness. Their rhythmic tunes and readable lyrics can quash bad emotions,” a third person said.

Chinese woman charged with murder of man at Singapore condominium

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3261988/chinese-woman-charged-murder-man-singapore-condominium?utm_source=rss_feed

A 37-year-old woman was charged in Singapore court on Thursday for her alleged involvement in the murder of a 56-year-old man.

Li Ye, a Chinese national, was handed one charge of murder in the state courts for allegedly causing the death of Lim Lai Guan, 56.

Charge sheets state that the incident occurred at about 1.38am (local time) on Wednesday morning at City Gate Residences along Beach Road.

Li, who is in remand, appeared in court via video link on Thursday. She was not represented by a lawyer.

While no indication of plea was taken, Li told the court: “It’s manslaughter. I did not intend to murder this person.”

No bail is offered, and the prosecution requested that Li be kept in remand for a week, to revisit the incident scene.

Li will return to court on May 16.

The police said in a media release on Wednesday that they were alerted to a call for assistance at a residential unit along Beach Road at about 2am that morning.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that a 56-year-old man was lying unconscious inside the unit,” said the police, adding that they arrested a 37-year-old woman at the scene.

A knife, believe to have been used in the incident, was also seized.

The man was taken to the hospital, where he subsequently died.

The police said that both parties were known to each other but further details of their relationship have not been revealed.

Police investigations are ongoing.

If found guilty of murder, Li faces the death penalty.

This story was first published by

QuantaSing, China’s Leading Adult Learning Platform, Extends Global Reach

https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/hong-kong/topics/silver-economy/article/3261129/quantasing-chinas-leading-adult-learning-platform-extends-global-reach?utm_source=rss_feed

According to the Asian Development Bank, the population of older individuals (over 60) in the region is expected to triple between 2010 and 2050, reaching close to 1.3 billion people. While the challenges posed by an aging population are often associated with socioeconomic issues in East Asia, there’s a positive trend emerging: the concept of the ‘Silver Economy.’ This term represents the development of products and services specifically tailored for the elderly. 

Even the younger cohort born in the 1960s and 1970s whom will soon be exploring retirement options are driving the growth of this economy through their unique consumption styles and capabilities. Being well-educated and with ample disposable income, they highly value self-fulfillment and achievement. Consequently, this new economic strata has significantly untapped potential and is positioned for even more growth.

Quantasing is at the forefront of the Silver Economy, pioneering services in interest learning and life-long learning, seeking to meet market demand and improve lives at a time of transition that can be somewhat disruptive for many people. Since establishing in July 2019, the company has gained over 112 million registered users, making it the largest online adult learning platform in China.  

QuantaSing provides a wide variety of teaching courses delivered through livestreaming, community engagement, and a combination of online and offline (OMO) methods. By integrating advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) into online learning, the company provides personalized services for the silver generation. QuantaSing’s teaching model seamlessly blends education and entertainment, making learning enjoyable. It also creates a sense of belonging and participation through social interactions, enhancing participant’s self-worth, happiness, and sense of achievement.

Additionally, focused on consumer demand, QuantaSing continues to explore and develop products and services that meet the market need. In 2023, the company entered the e-commerce business, launching compelling private label products. Looking ahead, QuantaSing will continue focusing on developing and enhancing products and services, empowering consumers to pursue healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Kelly’s Education: a QuantaSing Company focused on the Next Generation 

QuantaSing is building upon its foundation to develop its global business with the recent acquisition of Kelly’s Education in Hong Kong as an exciting start. QuantaSing acquired Kelly’s Education in 2023 to become a part of the QuantaSing Group. Kelly’s Education has made significant progress and laid a solid foundation for QuantaSing’s global market entry beginning in Hong Kong. 

Kelly’s Education will open its first offline school soon in Quanwan, Hong Kong. The new school will combine the strengths of both online and traditional offline learning methods, serving as an interactive, innovative learning center, offering various educational resources and high-quality teaching services, providing children with a fun and engaging learning experience. Specifically, the school will offer: 

•    An Exceptional Curriculum Experience: The school stands out as one of the few in Hong Kong that introduces globally recognized curricula. The curriculum has included outstanding resources from premier publishers, including Disney’s World of English, National Geographic Learning, Cambridge English, Trinity GESE, and Oxford Reading Tree.  •    Leading Pedagogy: The new school is possibly the first in Hong Kong to adopt the OMO teaching methodology, offering a hybrid learning experience that combines the advantages of online and offline engagement.  •    A Team of Professional Educators: In the new school, a team of seasoned and professional educators bring a wealth of language teaching experience, capable of crafting high quality courses. •    Small Class Teaching: With a limited number of students per class, teachers can better monitor and respond to each student’s learning needs. •    Parental Interaction Platform: Recognizing the importance of parental involvement, the school has established an online platform in particular for parent-teacher interaction. This platform facilitates communication between parents and teachers, offering insights into the students’ academic performance and providing various advice and support.

QuantaSing recently announced the intention to open an office in Hong Kong, the Company’s first office outside Mainland China. The new office will be located at Two Exchange Square, in central Hong Kong, a prime location close to investors and business decisionmakers. 

Looking toward the future, QuantaSing remains committed to enhancing and expanding its range of services, with a strong emphasis on promoting health and personal fulfillment. This strategic focus is designed to cater to the increasing needs arising from the flourishing Silver Economy. At the same time, QuantaSing is not limiting its vision to local or regional markets. The company is looking for new business opportunities globally, extending its reach beyond its origin market.

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Mainland China air, sea forces monitor USS Halsey’s Taiwan Strait transit

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3261969/mainland-china-air-sea-forces-monitor-uss-halseys-taiwan-strait-transit?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese warships and aircraft monitored a US naval vessel’s transit through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday “in accordance with law and regulations”, in a show of military discord just weeks ahead of Taipei’s presidential inauguration.

Colonel Li Xi, spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey was monitored by naval and air forces “throughout the entire process”.

“Troops in the theatre remain on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” he said.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement that the USS Halsey had conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where “high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.

“The ship transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state [and] demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” it said.

‘Hard to predict’ Beijing’s next moves towards Taiwan under Lai, analysts say

“No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

The Taiwanese defence ministry said on Thursday morning that its forces monitored the situation as the US ship sailed south through the strait and observed nothing unusual.

The ministry also said Taipei had detected four Chinese aircraft crossing the median line – a notional midpoint in the strait that separates Taiwan from the mainland – within the previous 24 hours.

The aircraft flew near Taiwan’s Penghu islands, which are home to a major Taiwanese airbase, according to the ministry.

Cross-strait tensions have soared since Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in 2016, angering Beijing which regards the island as part of its territory, that will eventually be brought under mainland control.

Most countries, including the US, do not recognise the island as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any unilateral change to the status quo and is committed to arming Taipei.

The DPP was elected for an unprecedented third term in January, with the presidential inauguration of William Lai Ching-te, the current vice-president, taking place on May 20. Beijing has denounced Lai as a “troublemaker” and an “obstinate separatist”.

At a press conference in April, Lai said he hoped “the ruling parties on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will responsibly start healthy dialogues” to engage in exchanges and cooperation with Beijing “on the premise of reciprocity and dignity”.

He called on Beijing to “have confidence” in facing “the elected legitimate government entrusted by the people of Taiwan”.

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Chinese and Finnish team finds way to tune out the noise in quantum transfers

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3261977/chinese-and-finnish-team-finds-way-tune-out-noise-quantum-transfers?utm_source=rss_feed

A joint Chinese-Finnish team of physicists has performed an experiment that could have important applications for the transmission of quantum information in fields such as computing or communications.

The process, known as quantum teleportation, transfers the state of a quantum particle – or qubit – from one place to another without physically sending the particle itself.

The researchers have been working for years to overcome the problems caused by external noise and interference that can significantly reduce the quality of the teleportation.

The key to the approach is a quantum entanglement, a bizarre phenomenon in the world of quantum mechanics in which two or more particles are linked and always share a single quantum state, no matter how far apart they are in space.

The transfer the team was attempting requires various quantum resources, including entanglement between an additional pair of qubits.

In their latest study, the researchers – from the University of Science and Technology of China in Anhui province and their collaborators from the University of Turku in Finland – successfully tested an innovative method to overcome the problem.

The work is based on exploiting a hybrid entanglement between different degrees of freedom between photons, or particles of light, according to Li Chuan-Feng, a co-author of the study from the Chinese university.

In quantum mechanics, degrees of freedom are determined by the number of quantum states that a system can occupy.

In their experiment, the researchers used the different degrees of freedom of photons to encode their quantum state and then engineered the correlations between the photons to create a hybrid entangled state.

“This allows for a significant change in how the noise influences the protocol, and as a matter of fact our discovery reverses the role of the noise from being harmful to being beneficial to teleportation,” said Jyrki Piilo, a co-author of the study and a scientist at the University of Turku, in a press release.

According to the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, the team successfully teleported different quantum states with a fidelity – a measure of the quality of teleportation – which beat that achieved under classical physics.

“Theoretically, our method can completely eliminate decoherence – the loss of information from a system into the environment – in quantum teleportation,” said Liu Zhaodi, first author of the study, from the University of Science and Technology of China.

But he added that the method requires a relatively controllable environment, such as one where the frequencies of the photons can be manipulated.

For example, if a quantum chip contains 100 qubits but only a few of them are actually used to perform a specific task and the others cause decoherence, their findings could minimise or even eliminate the decoherence of those extra qubits, he said.

The study opens “intriguing pathways” for future work to extend the approach, the Finnish university said.

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China criticizes US for ship’s passage through Taiwan Strait, weeks before new leader takes office

https://apnews.com/article/china-us-taiwan-strait-8bcc1b0f6bc60cc254938abf532cf7beIn this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) conducts routine underway operations while transiting through the Taiwan Strait Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd class Ismael Martinez/U.S. Navy via AP)

2024-05-09T02:07:35Z

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s military criticized a U.S. destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait, which occurred less than two weeks before the island’s new president takes office and while Washington and Beijing are making uneven efforts to restore regular military exchanges.

Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command, accused the U.S. of having “publicly hyped” the passage of the USS Halsey on Wednesday. In a statement, Li said the command, which oversees operations around the strait, “organized naval and air forces to monitor” the ship’s transit and handle matters ”in accordance with laws and regulations.”

The Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Halsey “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer transited through a corridor in the Strait that is “beyond the territorial sea” of any coastal state, the fleet’s statement said.

“Halsey’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” it said “No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

The last such passage was April 17, a day after U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. Military-to-military contact stalled in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communication after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. China responded by firing missiles over Taiwan and staging a surge in military maneuvers, including what appeared to be a rehearsal of a naval and aerial blockade of the island.

The critical strait is 160 kilometers (100 mile) wide and divides China from Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy where President-elect William Lai Ching-te will be inaugurated on May 20. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party favors Taiwan’s de facto independent status that maintains strong unofficial relations with the U.S. and other major nations.

Although the heavily transited strait is international waters and vital to global trade, China considers the passage of warships from the U.S., Britain and other nations through the Taiwan Strait as a challenge to its sovereignty.

China sends navy ships and warplanes into the strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and seek to intimidate its 23 million people, who firmly back their de facto independence.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 23 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval ships were detected operating around Taiwan in the 24 hours leading up to 6 a.m. Thursday. Eight of the planes crossed the median line in the strait and entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets and put coastal missile batteries and naval craft on alert.

South China Sea: Philippine officials outraged, accuse Beijing of anti-wiretapping law violation over ‘new model’ phone call

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3261941/south-china-sea-philippine-officials-outraged-accuse-beijing-anti-wiretapping-law-violation-over-new?utm_source=rss_feed

Philippine officials have accused Beijing of violating an anti-wiretapping law over a controversial phone conversation that the Chinese claimed was recorded between their diplomat and a Filipino navy officer.

Observers say the transcript and audio clip released by China’s embassy to a selected group of reporters in Manila could be an act of “deception”, with an analyst suggesting the material could even be fabricated.

The saga marks the latest feud in a long-running territorial dispute between both countries over the South China Sea, with Beijing claiming the recording showed Manila had agreed to a “new model” involving operation protocols in the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro Jnr on Wednesday said the audio recording had violated the country’s Anti-Wire Tapping Law.

Under the law, violators face imprisonment for up to six years and/or a fine of up to US$100.

“If this is true, they have also violated international relations and violated the law as they failed to coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs and had operated underhandedly,” Teodoro told reporters at the Philippine Navy’s Maritime Security Symposium 2024 in Quezon City.

“Did they just admit violating the law of the Republic of the Philippines? The answer to that should be asked to them. Those responsible for this must be found and identified and immediately removed from the country,” he added, noting the matter was being handled by the foreign affairs department.

Teodoro said operational security measures would be strengthened, given the fact there was “disinformation, malign influence and undesirable actions of agents of foreign governments”.

The Chinese embassy in Manila on Tuesday released a transcript of a 12-minute phone call in January in which Western Command Chief Vice-Admiral Alberto Carlos had allegedly agreed to a Chinese diplomat’s protocols for the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef among the contested Spratly Islands that lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Philippine troops are stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre, an old ship grounded on the shoal to serve as an outpost for Manila.

According to the phone transcript, Carlos confirmed when asked whether his superiors had approved the so-called new model.

The key points of the deal include a “1+1” format for both sides, meaning Manila would only deploy one Philippine coastguard vessel and a resupply boat to the shoal, while China would only launch one coastguard ship and a fishing boat.

The Philippines would also notify Beijing two days in advance on resupply missions – comprising only food and water – to troops manning the outpost amid close communications with both sides.

Manila reportedly followed the agreement in February, but the pact was ignored in the following month when four Filipino sailors were hurt by water cannons fired by the Chinese coastguard.

Military chief General Romeo Brawner Jnr, who was named in the transcript, on Wednesday also hit out at China over the recording.

“Transcripts can easily be fabricated, and audio recordings can be manufactured by using deep fakes. These reports only aim to serve as a distraction from the China coastguard’s ongoing aggressive behaviour in the West Philippine Sea,” Brawner said in a statement, stressing the audio clip “does not merit significant concern”.

The West Philippine Sea is the term Manila uses to describe the eastern parts of the South China Sea that are within its EEZ and territorial waters.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año also denied China’s claim on the new model, saying it was part of fabricated stories, bluffs, and fake exchanges of communication just to support its illegal claim in Philippine territory.

“The Chinese embassy’s claim of a ‘new model’ or ‘common understanding’ is absolutely absurd, ludicrous, and preposterous,” Año said in a separate statement.

Opposition senator Risa Hontiveros said the audio recording should be made available to the government.

“If they really have a recording and if they really have a transcript, they should at least make it available to the government – to the Executive, because this ‘new model’ is another serious claim by China,” Hontiveros told the Senate, underscoring the need to unearth the truth.

“We must strive to get at the truth and uncover what is just smoke and mirrors of what they are doing,” she warned.

Retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio, who was part of the Philippine delegation in a 2013 arbitration case against China, described the deal as invalid, adding Beijing had violated the Anti-Wiretapping Law, unless Carlos had agreed to be taped.

“If the Chinese embassy official is entitled to diplomatic immunity, he cannot be prosecuted but he can be expelled as persona non grata,” he said.

“What China is doing, they will just talk to everybody and say, ‘Oh, the Philippine government has committed.’ That is not proper and it will not bind us because they are talking to someone with no authority,” he added.

Carpio said the Chinese embassy should be called out for talking to Philippine government officials without going through the proper channel.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said the audio recording came from a tainted source.

“Of course, you will always take it with a grain of salt. Especially these days, it is very easy to fabricate this type of information,” Batongbacal said.

“They are deliberately going around the normal channels of communications and speaking directly, perhaps to operatives on the ground. And then implying whatever the operative on the ground agreed to is already a national policy.”

Batongbacal said Carlos should be given the chance to explain and defend himself over the controversy.

“I don’t really put a stock into this. But for me, these are matters of judgment by operators on the ground. Sometimes they will be asked to make judgment calls essentially based on the situation,” he said.

Asked about China’s intention in making the leaked conversation public, Batongbacal said there was an element of deception involved, noting no sincere country should be taking such action.

“Deception should not be an instrument of statecraft and diplomacy especially for a country that claims to be always looking for stability or respect, or trying to claim the high ground.

“So far this is just the latest in a string of attempts on their part to put up the so-called arrangements which are always secret or verbal or non-binding. And then trying to bind and tell the national government to abide by the secret unofficial agreements.”

Woman condemns China influencer for selling bogus ‘anti-cancer’ product after mother spends life-savings

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3260292/woman-condemns-china-influencer-selling-bogus-anti-cancer-product-after-mother-spends-life-savings?utm_source=rss_feed

A skincare testing expert in China has exposed a social media influencer for falsely selling “anti-cancer” skin products to her sick mother.

A skincare efficacy testing engineer, nicknamed Huahua, borrowed 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) for surgery for her cancer-stricken mother, whose health was deteriorating.

Huahua was forced to borrow the money after she discovered her mother had spent her entire savings on an oral liquid sold by key opinion, or KOL, leader Zhang Qi, who claimed it had cancer-fighting properties.

On April 19, Huahua said to Zhang in a video: “I beg you to stop cheating my mum out of her money.”

Zhang Qi, 33, from Jiangsu province in eastern China, gained 1 million followers on Douyin by selling his “anti-cancer” product.

He claimed it could prevent the disease, and also treat heart conditions and cervical tumours.

During a livestream, Zhang performed an experiment, which he claimed showed that his product contained collagen.

He poured alcohol into the oral liquid, stirred it, and scooped out a gelatinous substance.

“This is the nutritious collagen in our product,” he said.

His live-streams draw up to 10,000 viewers, predominantly elderly people.

“Why should you buy my products? Not because of me, but for yourself. What you’re buying is your health and safety for the rest of your life,” Zhang told his audience.

“I sell this product to benefit humanity. I am spreading positive energy.”

In other videos he boasted about his two luxury cars and a villa he owned.

He claimed that by selling anti-cancer products during his live-streaming, he could earn two million yuan (US$276,000) in one night.

As a skincare efficacy testing engineer, Huahua investigated the anti-cancer compound sold by Zhang and found no evidence to support his claims.

She also revealed that the “experiment” Zhang conducted involved a thickening agent.

However, the elderly audience lacked the scientific knowledge to challenge Zhang’s claims.

“You exploit the elderly’s fear of death to make money. This is illegal,” Huahua told Zhang.

In China, false advertising is punishable with to up to two years in prison and a fine.

All of Zhang’s Douyin account content has been removed, and he has been muted by the social media platform.

“Zhang makes money without conscience, potentially endangering the health or even lives of innocent people,” one online observer said.

“My mom also bought a similar product that claimed to make paralysed people walk. I could not convince her otherwise,” another said.

From health supplements to miracle medicines that claim to cure everything, China’s elderly are often the target for fraudulent livestream sales.

Last year, several influencers on Douyin promoted a liquid supplement they claimed could cure diabetes, suggesting users wouldn’t need other medication or insulin.

The influencers wore white lab coats and pretended to be medical professionals even though they were not, while marketing their products in live-streams.

They attracted about 78,000, mostly elderly, followers.

China’s authorities later discovered that the product was simply a normal drink with no medicinal properties. As a result, all related livestream accounts were blocked.

Tech war: China’s use of RISC-V chip standard faces headwinds amid US scrutiny and Google’s end of Android support

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3261889/tech-war-chinas-use-risc-v-chip-standard-faces-headwinds-amid-us-scrutiny-and-googles-end-android?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s strengthened push to use RISC-V, an open-source chip-design architecture, to reduce reliance on foreign technologies is facing new challenges amid scrutiny by the United States and Google’s move to stop supporting the standard on Android.

As its tech war with the US escalates, China has been investing heavily on RISC-V as an alternative to the ecosystems of British semiconductor design giant Arm and US firm Intel for designing specialised chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile devices.

However, there are growing signs that Washington is moving to curb China’s use of RISC-V. The US commerce department said last month it was reviewing the national security implications of China’s use of the technology, five months after a group of bipartisan lawmakers urged the Biden administration to prevent China from dominating use of the chip design standard.

Meanwhile, Google last week removed RISC-V support from the Android kernel, which is the computer program at the core of the operating system.

The move will slow down the plans of RISC-V chip vendors targeting Android systems and devices, according to William Li, analyst at research firm Counterpoint.

Although developers can still restore RISC-V support by themselves, that will “take more work than would otherwise be necessary”, said Stewart Randall, head of electronics and embedded software at consultancy Intralink.

The global impact is likely to be limited because “most companies designing chips around RISC-V are not designing chips for Android devices”, said Randall. But in China, there are at least 300 companies using RISC-V, with almost all major tech players backing the standard.

Of the 25 premier members at RISC-V International, the non-profit group aimed at promoting the technology, over half are from China. They include Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Technologies, ZTE, and the state-sponsored Beijing Institute of Open Source Chip.

Other premier members include Google, Intel and Qualcomm.

Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post, as well as Huawei and Tencent Holdings are all developing chips based on RISC-V. Damo Academy, a research arm of Alibaba, is expanding its XuanTie series of processors based on the architecture. The processors have been used in 5G communications, robotics and financial services, according to Damo.

Baidu-backed chip maker StarFive Technology is also working on RISC-V-based central processing units, with plans to launch a semiconductor research-and-development lab to design a RISC-V chip in Hong Kong.

Despite growing worries in the US, China’s contribution to RISC-V remains strong, Zhang Xiaorong, director of the Beijing-based Cutting-Edge Technology Research Institute, was quoted as saying in a recent Global Times report.

Companies already working on RISC-V support in Android are also unlikely to end their projects, “though there’s quite a bit of work still ahead”, said Counterpoint’s Li.

China’s central bank treasury-bond trade restart ‘now certain’ as discussions deepen between monetary, fiscal agencies

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3261886/chinas-central-bank-treasury-bond-trade-restart-now-certain-discussions-deepen-between-monetary?utm_source=rss_feed

A first purchase in over 20 years of treasury bonds in the secondary market by China’s central bank is seemingly approaching, regardless of market concerns over quantitative easing, after state media on Wednesday stepped up suggestions of improved coordination by the People’s Bank of China and the finance ministry.

The two government agencies confirmed the use of treasury-bond trade late last month, and more government debt is set to be issued in coming months to raise funds for construction.

“As it is now certain for the central bank to participate in treasury-bond trading, the coordination of treasury-bond issuance pace and monetary policy operations will become challenging in aligning fiscal and monetary policy,” the Securities Times, a financial newspaper under the People’s Daily, wrote on its front page.

It is the first in a series of articles that the newspaper plans to run to discuss the room, mechanism and specific ways of cooperation between the PBOC and the Ministry of Finance.

“It places higher demands on the depth and price formation mechanism of the government bond market,” the Securities Times added.

“On the fiscal side, it is necessary to further optimise the maturity structure and issuance pace of government bonds, and consider coordinating the issuance of ultra-long-term special government bonds with central bank operations.”

At the twice-a-decade financial work conference, held in October, President Xi Jinping had requested for the PBOC to gradually increase the buying and selling of central government bonds in the secondary market – a tactic that has gone unused for more than two decades.

The instruction, which was only made public at the end of March with the release of a new book, fuelled feverish speculation over an aggressive easing of monetary policy.

Beijing, though, has denied a Western-style quantitative easing, saying its bond purchases are a way for Beijing to refine its monetary policy tools.

The purchases will also not lead to monetisation of the fiscal deficit, as China’s central bank is still forbidden from buying bonds directly from the finance ministry.

The PBOC has told the market that it still has room for using conventional tools, such as cutting the reserve requirement ratio – the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves – which stands at around 7 per cent.

The world’s second-largest economy is already well on the course to achieve this year’s economic growth target of around 5 per cent after securing a better-than-expected expansion of 5.3 per cent in the first quarter.

But domestic analysts have been expecting a start of a new money supply mechanism, rather than a wide use of the tool in the short term.

The central bank’s daily monetary operations are being closely watched, as the finance ministry said in late April that it would soon start to sell the 1 trillion yuan (US$138 billion) of ultra-long special treasury bonds mentioned by Premier Li Qiang at the “two sessions” annual parliamentary meeting in March.

About 722 billion yuan of new special bonds have been issued this year, according to Chinese financial data provider Wind.

The PBOC had earlier raised concerns that the yield of its long-term bonds had dropped too much, as the returns on its 10-year government bonds had dropped from 2.74 per cent a year earlier to 2.28 per cent last month.

Coordinated issuance of government bonds would be beneficial to avoid a liquidity shock in the second and third quarters, the Securities Times said.

Previously, the central bank would inject more liquidity into the interbank market through a variety of tools, enabling market players to buy government bonds.

The government should increase the sales of ultra-short, short-term and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds as the current structure would constrain central bank operations, the newspaper added on Wednesday.

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Nicaragua cancels controversial Chinese canal concession after nearly a decade

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3261948/nicaragua-cancels-controversial-chinese-canal-concession-after-nearly-decade?utm_source=rss_feed

After nearly a decade, Nicaragua’s congress finally cancelled a controversial canal concession granted to Chinese businessman Wang Jing that critics said endangered the environment and threatened to displace rural communities.

Despite a symbolic “groundbreaking” in 2014, no work was done on the canal that was to link Nicaragua’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

At one point, crews broke ground on access roads near the canal but digging the waterway never started.

Thousands of Nicaraguan farmers had protested against land seizures meant to create a route for the government-backed project.

In 2019, a Nicaraguan judge sentenced three farmers’ leaders who participated in the protests to prison for 216 years, 210 years and 159 years. They were accused of promoting a “failed coup” against the government. Nicaraguan law caps prison time actually served at 30 years.

The proposed US$50 billion, 278km (172-mile) canal across this Central American nation was long viewed as a joke that later turned deadly serious.

The canal and its potential effect on the environment became a symbol of the odd and arbitrary nature of President Daniel Ortega’s increasingly repressive regime.

Ortega’s government claimed the canal would create tens of thousands of jobs and stimulate the poor Central American nation’s economy.

Nicaragua’s canal had been pitched as a competitor to the nearby Panama Canal, which itself has seen crossings limited in recent months due to drought that lowered water levels on the 80km waterway.

Detractors argued the Nicaragua project posed serious environmental risks, would displace thousands of families in the countryside and was financially unfeasible.

“It’s a shame that Ortega realises his own failure a decade later, after making arrangements to confiscate land from peasant farmers,” said Medardo Mairena, the leader of a canal opposition group, who is in exile in the United States.

The canal concession was granted to the Hong Kong-based company HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Limited, owned by Wang.

The law, passed in 2012 with the Ortega government’s backing, would have given the Chinese investor a concession of up to 100 years to build and operate the canal.

While stripping the concession from the Chinese investor, the repeal leaves in place a law calling for the canal to be built, although it’s unclear who would finance such a project.

Additional reporting by Reuters

China trade: export growth beats expectations, expands by 1.5% in April

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3261960/china-trade-export-growth-beats-expectations-expands-15-april?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s export growth surpassed market expectations in April, providing signs that it can weather geopolitical uncertainties to recover overseas orders and accomplish its annual economic growth target.

Exports rose by 1.5 per cent from a year earlier to US$292.5 billion in April, according to customs data released on Thursday.

The reading beat the expected fall of 0.1 per cent surveyed by Chinese financial data provider Wind, and was better than the 7.5 per cent decline in March.

Imports, meanwhile, rose by 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, compared to a 1.9 per cent fall in March.

Elsewhere, the April trade surplus stood at US$72.4 billion, compared with US$58.6 billion in March.

China’s exports tumbled last year as overseas demand slumped, and it saw its first overall growth decline in seven years, as shipments fell by 4.6 per cent.

International bodies, however, expect a more promising trade outlook both for China and the world this year.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said last week that the growth of global trade in goods and services could expand to 2.3 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent in 2025 from last year’s 1 per cent growth.

“[Chinese] exports will pick up again as global demand recovers, and an increasing number of Chinese goods become competitive in international markets,” it said.

The International Monetary Fund estimated last month that growth in global trade volumes would grow at a rate of 3 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.

More to follow …

New ‘Squad’ bloc could allow Philippines to ‘borrow strength’ of Australia, Japan, US to counter China

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3261905/new-squad-bloc-could-allow-philippines-borrow-strength-australia-japan-us-counter-china?utm_source=rss_feed

An emerging regional bloc linking Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States is expected to evolve into a more permanent or institutionalised grouping.

But for now, analysts say the informal alliance will allow Manila to “borrow the strength” of the other three nations in countering challenges from China, and in elevating the Philippines’ status beyond that of a “junior partner”.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin last week met counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines as Washington sought to deepen ties within the rising regional group that Pentagon officials had privately nicknamed the “Squad”, according to a Bloomberg report.

The quadrilateral marks the latest regional partnership Washington has forged to counter Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region.

There is also the Quad comprising Australia, India, Japan and the US, and Aukus, a defence pact among Australia, the United Kingdom and the US.

Austin said the so-called Squad would undertake more maritime exercises and provide greater security help to the Philippines, which in recent months had been caught up in several naval skirmishes with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.

He added that Washington had made clear to all nations, including China, that Beijing’s recent behaviour in the disputed waterway was “irresponsible” and “disregards international law”.

Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy, said it would be unsurprising if the Squad grouping turned into a more institutionalised bloc like the Quad.

“Squad countries are strong maritime nations, having keen commercial interests in the conflicting South China Sea to the East China Sea.

“Having official backing among the navies of these four countries makes sense, and hence eventually the Squad might emerge as a more institutionalised or formalised grouping,” Panda said.

Noting the Squad would complement the Quad, Panda said the two groupings would lead to a more “versatile power distribution” where “powers and responsibilities are shared”.

“There is an opportunity and chance for the Squad and the Quad to coexist,” Panda said.

Yoichiro Sato, professor of Asia-Pacific Studies at Japan’s Ritsumeikan Asia-Pacific University, said “Manila will remain focused on borrowing the strength of the other three countries in deterring China’s challenges” against its maritime claims in the South China Sea.

“This includes security help to the Philippines in terms of both hardware and human resource training,” Sato said, adding that integrating the Philippines into the Quad to turn it into a five-member grouping did not materialise as none of the five countries wanted to diminish the Quad’s coherence.

“The two overlapping four-party arrangements allow more cohesion within each group, allowing both India and the Philippines to work within their comfort levels” with Australia, Japan and the US, Sato added.

Joshua Espeña, vice-president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank in Manila, said the Squad grouping signalled Washington’s continued resolve in integrating all its Indo-Pacific allies to contain China’s “excessive claims in the region”.

“The inclusion of the Philippines implies that Manila is no longer viewed as a junior partner,” he noted, but rather as a respected stakeholder and a sign of greater “inclusivity and respect for those willing to fight for a rules-based international order”.

Squad will not only offer Manila greater “diplomatic assurances” and help its capability-building, it will also ensure greater interoperability between the Philippines and its allies, according to Espeña.

China’s state tabloid the Global Times on Sunday said the Squad grouping would pose “a more targeted challenge” to Beijing as it allowed the US to “manage the security situation in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait”.

Citing Chinese analysts, the daily also warned that the Philippines had become increasingly “manipulated by the US, is losing its autonomy and becoming a pawn of the US in the region”.

Espeña said China had forced the Philippines to form minilateral arrangements due to its aggression and flouting of international laws. “China must treat the Philippines not as a US pawn, but as a sovereign state that has legitimate security concerns over its maritime claims.”

Writing on social media X, Derek Grossman, senior defence analyst at non-profit research organisation Rand, said “India will only go so far in helping Quad to counter China in the South China Sea” as New Delhi was more focused on its own neighbourhood.

“Hence, the US now has an alternate Quad,” Grossman wrote.

Ian Hall, international relations professor at Australia’s Griffith University, said India did not currently have the capacity to project power and sustain military deployments in the South China Sea.

“Delhi’s primary focus is to the north, on the land border with China, and also in the Indian Ocean, including the Malacca Strait,” Hall said.

Relations between India and China have worsened in recent years following a bitter military stand-off along the Himalayan border, with Delhi reportedly repositioning 10,000 soldiers from its western front to its border with China earlier this year.

Seen as a highly strategic waterway for both countries, the Indian Ocean Region has also emerged as a battlefield between the two Asian giants, with Beijing signing a new security agreement with the Maldives and sending a military delegation to three regional countries in March.

Sato said “India is not left out” as it had forged ties with Manila as seen in the recent sales of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines, noting that India-Philippines ties were likely to progress in non-traditional security areas such as cybersecurity, anti-piracy, and anti-terrorism.

Last month, India delivered its first batch of supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines under a US$375 million deal signed in 2022. Reports indicate Manila intends to deploy the weapons along the country’s coast amid rising tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Panda said India’s significance as a maritime nation and a stakeholder on relevant issues should not be overlooked, referring to Delhi’s military exercises and training programmes with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“India’s commercial and maritime interest in Southeast Asia makes it an indispensable coordinating partner for all the Squad countries,” he added.

New US and China climate envoys, seeking show of progress, meet for first time in Washington

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3261939/new-us-and-china-climate-envoys-seeking-show-progress-meet-first-time-washington?utm_source=rss_feed

The freshly appointed climate envoys from the US and China are convening for their inaugural face-to-face discussions in Washington this week, seeking to show some progress on an issue that both sides often claim should be free of the rancour that has kept them far apart on other fronts.

As per announcements from both sides, China’s special envoy Liu Zhenmin and White House senior adviser John Podesta are co-chairing bilateral working group meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to build on agreements made by their predecessors in November.

This session will focus on topics previously highlighted by John Kerry, former US special presidential envoy for climate, and Xie Zhenhua, former Chinese special envoy for climate change, during discussions in Sunnylands, California, in November.

Analysts said the effort was significant more for its fulfilment of pledges by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden to rebuild regular top-level engagement, made during their summit in November last year, than for specific achievements that the talks are likely to yield.

Jennifer Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank, characterised the meeting as “getting back together”.

She suggested potential outcomes might focus on areas devoid of “geostrategic conflict” such as collaboration on methane reduction, advances in carbon capture technology and cooperation at subnational levels.

Such an approach would steer clear of contentious issues such as the Biden administration’s probe into possible national security risks inherent in Chinese-made electric vehicles and increased tariffs on Chinese solar panels.

Testifying before the House Appropriations committee on Wednesday, Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo expressed concern about the data that Chinese vehicles could collect on Americans.

She alleged that vehicles in China manufactured by US electric-vehicle manufacturer Tesla faced restrictions on where they could be driven in China and that her department was looking into possible “reciprocity”.

The Biden administration has also encouraged Americans to buy products made within in the US with American components, also owing to national and economic security concerns.

To prevent these issues sinking this week’s talks, Turner said, the two sides would likely point to California as a model in subnational cooperation, highlighting the state’s continued conversations and cooperation with China around climate issues.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s trip to China last October led to a first-of-its-kind pact between Beijing and California to team up on subnational climate action, focusing on cutting emissions, moving away from fossil fuels and promoting clean energy.

The following month, the US and China agreed in the Sunnylands talks to incorporate methane reduction into their climate objectives for 2035. Their agreement also emphasised the aim of fostering at least five significant joint initiatives in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

Turner explained that the CCUS as “like when you have a coal fired power plants and the technologies where you can capture the carbon and you can store it in the ground”.

“Both countries have been trying to kind of figure it out. It’s very complicated,” she said, emphasising that dialogues and cooperation on environment have been a “channel for conversations, keeping communication going between the two countries” for decades.

She added that any joint action on methane or a “competitive race to the top” could set a “good tone” for COP29 in Azerbaijan this November.

John Tobin, a professor of practice at Cornell University, contended that the fact the two countries were back at the negotiating table to discuss the climate crisis “marked improvement compared to where the countries’ bilateral relations have been in recent years”.

Still, the Biden administration’s increasing emphasis on national and economic security is likely to limit progress.

In April, Podesta criticised China’s “non-market policies and practices” for distorting the global market for clean-energy products like solar, batteries and critical minerals as “beyond ironic”.

Last week, Liu said China needed to “maintain low costs, otherwise nobody is going to be able to afford the energy transition”.

According to Turner, the two sides were unlikely to focus on these “prickly topics” in this week’s discussions.

“We’ve seen over in the last few years, like when presidents Biden and Xi got together, both sides would air areas of difference and then they started talking about how they’re going to cooperate on climate,” she observed.

Amid China tech advances, US national security is ‘foremost’: top Biden official

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3261937/amid-china-tech-advances-us-national-security-foremost-top-biden-official?utm_source=rss_feed

A top American government official on Wednesday made clear that national security supersedes commercial interests as US President Joe Biden’s administration tackles what it perceives to be the threat of China’s advancing technological capabilities.

Speaking before the House Appropriations committee, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also highlighted ongoing efforts to identify areas where the US was most vulnerable to Chinese overcapacity.

“I tell semiconductor companies that they can’t sell their chips to China. It denies them revenue. But first and foremost it’s national security,” Raimondo told the panel.

Her testimony followed an apparent decision by her department to prohibit American tech titans Qualcomm and Intel from supplying their less advanced chips used in laptops and handsets to Huawei Technologies, a Chinese telecoms company.

In a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Intel said the Commerce Department had revoked “certain licenses for exports of consumer-related items to a customer in China” – without naming Huawei.

Consequently, Intel said it anticipated that its revenue for the second quarter of 2024 would stay within the initial projected range of US$12.5 billion to US$13.5 billion but below the midpoint.

The US Commerce Department has not publicly announced the decision, and it did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked on Wednesday to comment on the matter, Raimondo called Huawei a risk while refraining from offering direct remarks about either Qualcomm or Intel.

Still, she pledged to take further action. “While Huawei is a threat, AI is our focus,” the commerce secretary said. “As we get more data around our threats, we make changes to tighten screws, including revoking licenses that had been previously given.”

The decision arose after Huawei last month unveiled its first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro, which runs on Intel’s newest processor, the Core Ultra 9.

Washington contends Huawei has strong connections to China’s Communist Party and could be used for spying on Americans and important US military and civilian systems.

On Wednesday, Raimondo said that she wakes up “every single day figuring out how we might tighten our controls to make sure that China cannot get access to our most sophisticated chips, AI, quantum” and other technology.

In recent years, the US government has placed several Chinese companies, including Huawei, on multiple blacklists.

Beyond export restrictions, Biden signed an executive order last August prohibiting Americans from investing in sensitive technologies in China.

And in the run-up to the American presidential election in November, Biden has amplified his messaging on the hazards of Chinese overcapacity.

The president has vowed to implement measures to shield American manufacturers from Chinese state subsidies and the product gluts resulting from them.

“Because Chinese steel companies produce a lot more steel than China needs, [Beijing] ends up dumping the extra steel into the global markets at unfairly low prices,” Biden said last month at a campaign event. “They are cheating.”

Raimondo told lawmakers on Wednesday she “worried greatly” about the possibility of China hurting American manufacturers by dumping cheap products like electric vehicles, legacy chips and critical minerals.

The Commerce Department was working closely with the Office of the United States Trade Representative to “identify where are we most vulnerable and what actions could we take”, she added.

Raimondo alluded to a survey of China-made legacy chips in the US defence industrial base that her department announced months ago, saying commerce officials were trying to ascertain where such chips appear in American supply chains.

The search was on, she added, for “any evidence of China dropping the price, which would distort the market and make it impossible for US chip companies to compete”.

How the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing by US was a ‘wake-up’ call to China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3261878/how-1999-belgrade-embassy-bombing-us-was-wake-call-china?utm_source=rss_feed

From the moment five 2,000-pound guided bombs from an American B-2 stealth bomber hit its embassy in Belgrade, China’s security perceptions and defence policies changed forever.

The United States said the strike was a mistake. For China, it was a painful and humiliating slap in the face. A wake-up call. A turning point towards an era of strategic suspicion and distrust.

It was also a display of power, and a catalyst for China’s military modernisation reforms and a demonstration of the country’s urgent need for technological development.

Three people were killed when the bombs struck in the middle of the night on May 7, 1999, during the US-led Nato air campaign against the then Yugoslavia, and 25 years later the memory of that humiliation is still vividly remembered by the Chinese leadership.

“This we should never forget,” Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to Serbia, wrote an article on the incident that was published in the Serbian newspaper Politika on Tuesday.

From 1999, China’s annual defence budget went through more than a decade of a double-digit increases, and continues to rise each year at a higher level of GDP. The spending spree turned the world’s second-largest economy into its No 2 military spender, behind only the US.

“The bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade certainly played a significant role in the subsequent increase in China’s military budget,” said Nenad Stekić, research fellow on the Chinese military at Serbia’s Institute of International Politics and Economics (IIPE).

The People’s Liberation Army saw reductions in its size and budgets during the 1980s and 1990s, just like its counterparts in Yugoslavia, he noted.

Then the Kosovo war and the bombing in Belgrade served as a “wake-up” call, prompting Beijing to prioritise military modernisation and allocate greater resources to improve defences, Stekić said.

Retired PLA colonel Yue Gang recalled that the Chinese leadership had been shocked by the hi-tech weaponry exhibited in the 1991 Gulf war and launched an effort to transition its forces into a modern military.

China’s military prioritises AI-driven navy, space combat to ‘win future wars’

However, the financial difficulties of the decade saw the PLA’s budget hit a historical low in 1997, to only 1.03 per cent of GDP. “Our military budget was even lower than Taiwan at that point. The modernisation was hard to move forward,” Yue said.

According to Yue, the embassy strike was a factor in changing the situation. “The bombing was a stabbing into our flesh. The sense of humiliation could turn into courage, and it greatly accelerated the reforms.”

Ni Lexiong, a Shanghai-based military observer, said Beijing was deeply concerned by Nato’s 78-day carpet bombing of Yugoslavia, despite possessing a generally larger and more advanced military than the former communist nation.

For the first time in history, Nato had demonstrated how to subdue a country using air strikes alone, he said.

China’s growing defence budget targets combat readiness, ‘preparation for war’

According to Ni, “this operation, following the Gulf war, contributed to an earlier, rapid and full launch of China’s military modernisation”.

“Nato provided some good references in many aspects, such as development strategies, weapon selections, and military technologies, as well as practical applications of them.”

The operation’s display of power shook the world, with its use of the B-2 – at that stage the world’s most advanced B-2 intercontinental stealth bomber and far ahead of China’s military development.

A quarter of a century later, Beijing is still developing its first homemade bomber with intercontinental capacity.

Stealth bomber ‘will give China truly intercontinental strike capacity’

According to Yue, the PLA was specifically impressed by the precision-guided weapons, including the B-2’s joint direct attack munitions, that penetrated several floors of the embassy building from different angles, even ending up in the basement.

“Precision-guided weapons are so powerful that we must master them,” he said.

A full upgrade of China’s air defence system was also prioritised – early warning satellites, surveillance network, cruise-missile interception, anti-stealth radar, and more advanced ground-to-air missiles, Yue added.

According to Stekić, the Belgrade embassy bombing also profoundly changed China’s perception of its overall security situation, prompting a reassessment of potential threats and its long-held defensive strategy of minimal involvement in international conflicts or interventions.

“[The embassy bombing] underscored the importance of asserting China’s power on the global stage to protect its interests and sovereignty … Since then, China has adopted a more assertive approach in its security policies, actively shaping regional and global security dynamics,” he said.

China’s changed approach is evident in its increased military presence and participation in peacekeeping operations, counterterrorism efforts, and regional security forums.

Beijing has also pursued a proactive diplomacy agenda, forging strategic partnerships and alliances to safeguard its security interests and promote its vision of a multipolar world order.

According to Aleksandar Mitić, research fellow at IIPE, the Belgrade incident also served as a “turning point” in China’s relationship with the US and other Western powers, creating distrust and suspicion of their intentions.

“China became particularly concerned about the establishment of ‘coalitions of the willing’ with direct consequences for interventions and other Western interference in China’s internal affairs or neighbourhood in the Asia-Pacific,” he said.

“China-US trust has never recovered.”

Mitić, an Agence France-Presse correspondent in Kosovo and Belgrade during the war, said that from then on, China began to create its own role in the global media ecosystem, aimed at balancing Western dominance.

How China merges funding and diplomacy in push to lead the Global South

Stekić pointed out that the embassy bombing prompted China to pursue closer strategic partnerships with countries that shared a similar interest in countering perceived Western hegemony.

In particular, the incident helped to forge a strong bond between China and Serbia, contributing to a deepening of cooperation in various fields, including economic, political, and military spheres, he said.

The bombing triggered widespread protests across China and has been commemorated ever since as part of its “national humiliation” and shared historical grievance.

The nationalist sentiment stirred by the event was likely to have increased public support for a stronger military and more assertive foreign policy stance, Stekić said.

For 25 years, the Belgrade bombing has been a focus for speculation and conspiracy theories. The Chinese – and many others – have never been convinced by the US explanation that the strike was a mistake, based on an outdated map.

One of the best known theories centres on a US stealth aircraft that was shot down by the Yugoslav air defence a few weeks earlier.

The F-117 Nighthawk – the world’s first operational stealth fighter with cutting-edge radar evasion ability – came down in a field, where local farmers collected debris as souvenirs.

Parts of the wreckage – including its left wing with US Air Force insignia – are still on public display at Belgrade’s aviation museum.

Xi banks on Hungary and Serbia in face of growing China-Europe tensions

There were rumours that China was interested in studying the technology from the recovered wreckage, with some versions claiming that the embassy had become an air strike target because it was serving as temporary storage for some of the parts.

Later that year, The Guardian newspaper reported that the embassy was “deliberately” bombed because Nato had discovered it “was being used to transmit Yugoslav army communications”.

Citing anonymous military and intelligence sources, the report suggested that the Chinese were helping Slobodan Milosevic – who went on to become president of Serbia – possibly in exchange for the stealth technology from the downed US F-117.

China denied the report, while Nato insisted the bombing was “a terrible mistake”. Nevertheless, stories about the downed F-117 resurfaced more than a decade later, when China unveiled the J-20, its first stealth fighter, in 2011.

US media reports suggesting that the Chinese had acquired and reverse-engineered the F-117’s stealth technologies have repeatedly resurfaced in the following years.

But Yue finds the F-117 theory “unlikely”, pointing out that if an embassy was being used for military purposes, it would be open to a diplomatic incident or even physical attack.

“If that was a credible story, the US would surely have used it as its defensive argument, but they didn’t even mention it,” he said.

Yue also noted that if Chinese intelligence had wanted to study the wreckage’s advanced radar-absorbent coating, it would not have been difficult to obtain a small piece of the debris through civilian channels without involving the embassy or putting it at military risk.

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