Mistral点评

• Hong Kong eyes boost in cruise ship traffic after mainland China eases visa rules for foreigners arriving at ports
• Cheung Chau bun-scrambling contest draws mainland Chinese visitors, Hongkongers eager for taste of tradition
• US tariffs on China: what’s the real impact, and what could happen next?
• China calls for ‘upgraded’ CPEC, calls on Pakistan to ensure workers’ safety
• On the eve of his visit to China, Putin says Russia is prepared to negotiate over Ukraine
• How Xi’s visit exposed the split in Europe over China
• Putin expected to tout China’s ‘premier importance’ in Russian foreign policy and trade, as Beijing seeks ‘delicate balance’
• China property: Hangzhou, the headquarters of Alibaba and Geely, mulls buying unsold homes to boost market
• Scarborough Shoal: China’s coastguard ‘defends rights’ as Philippine activists head to contested waters
• Vietnam’s Catch-22 in courting China as a rare earth partner
• South China Sea: Philippines sends warship to assert sovereignty, counter alleged reclamation activities by Beijing
• ‘Never thought of giving up’: China doctor dies after 4 years battling cancer, shares journey, inspires countless sufferers
• [Sport] Gordon Corera: The West has struggled to keep up with China’s spy threat
• Hiring of overeducated China graduate at crematorium sparks renewed debate over country’s dire youth job market
• Filipino activists and fishermen sail in 100-boat flotilla to disputed shoal guarded by China
• EU feels heat from all sides as decision on Chinese EV duties looms
• Australia suspends China working holiday visas to overhaul scheme
• China adjusts added value accounting to mitigate data manipulation, clean up GDP statistics
• China-US artificial intelligence talks ‘deep, professional and constructive’
• China retiree, 78, and pole dancing champion wins gold medal, represents country in Asia’s Got Talent contest
• Alibaba, Tencent beat forecasts with strong results, a harbinger of China’s improving corporate earnings as economic growth takes root
• South China Sea: Philippine civilian convoy sails towards disputed Scarborough Shoal
• South China Sea: Philippine admiral’s scandal sparks concerns about Chinese military exchanges, security threats
• China population: Beijing rounds up experts for birth rate recommendations as youths report reluctance
• Vietnam risks wider Spratlys dispute with more land reclamation: Chinese think tank
• An India-China thaw may be on the horizon if Modi is re-elected
• China and Russia to shore up ‘no limits’ partnership with Thursday meet up
• US to Increase Tariffs on $18 Billion of Chinese Imports

Hong Kong eyes boost in cruise ship traffic after mainland China eases visa rules for foreigners arriving at ports

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3262821/hong-kong-eyes-boost-cruise-ship-traffic-after-mainland-china-eases-visa-rules-foreigners-arriving?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong has welcomed a new tourism initiative unveiled by Beijing to allow foreign tour groups arriving at cruise ship ports in mainland China to travel within its borders visa-free for more than two weeks, saying it should bring more visitors to the city.

The measure would further develop Hong Kong’s cruise ship industry and help the city become part of multi-stop itineraries of tourists visiting the Greater Bay Area, a spokesman from the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said on Wednesday.

“The new policy announced by the National Immigration Administration will allow international cruise companies to develop more itineraries that include mainland ports and Hong Kong,” he said.

“As Asia’s cruise hub, Hong Kong attracts visitors from around the world to come for cruise travel. They would stay in Hong Kong before or after their voyages to experience our tourism offerings and bring economic benefits to the city.”

The Greater Bay Area aims to link nine cities in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau – an area spanning 56,000 sq km – to create an economic powerhouse by 2035.

From Wednesday, tour groups consisting of two or more foreigners arriving on the mainland via cruise ships can travel visa-free for up to 15 days, given they are received by or have had their itineraries organised by Chinese agencies.

The mainland’s 13 cities with cruise ports are Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Lianyungang, Wenzhou, Zhoushan, Xiamen, Qingdao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beihai, Haikou and Sanya.

It is an extension of a pilot programme launched in 2016 that allowed visa-free entry at the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, which was suspended during the pandemic but resumed last year.

Tourism lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said the new policy would not take cruise ship traffic away from Hong Kong but rather bolster it.

“Increasing the amount and variety of cities that international cruises can dock at will be good for everyone,” he said. “It offers more route choices to travellers as well.”

Given the role Hong Kong’s airport played in global airline travel, more “fly and cruise” travellers might head to the city before they set out to visit other Chinese coastal cities, he said.

“In the past, cruise ships that docked in Hong Kong tended to have routes involving other countries, like Taiwan, South Korea and Japan up to the north … maybe Shanghai as well,” he said.

“But now, they can make many stops along the country, which can really help solidify our position as a multi-stop travel destination [within the country].”

Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal made headlines in August last year when Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas returned to Hong Kong for the first time in more than a year, with tourists complaining of long waits for public transport out of the port.

The fiasco led to further criticism of urban planning in the wider Kai Tak area, including the district’s overall transport system, why the port only had one access road and its underused facilities.

Yiu said while the transport problems had “largely been solved”, challenges pertaining to the wider area were the result of “inconsistencies” with development.

“The terminal was built and being used long before the surrounding area was developed into a space suited for visitors,” he said, adding he expected the problems would be solved once surrounding areas underwent further development.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung told the Post in December authorities had plans to recalibrate Kai Tak’s role in Hong Kong, as the area had changed greatly compared to when the cruise terminal was first proposed and built.

Cheung Chau bun-scrambling contest draws mainland Chinese visitors, Hongkongers eager for taste of tradition

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3262823/cheung-chau-bun-scrambling-contest-draws-mainland-chinese-visitors-hongkongers-eager-taste-tradition?utm_source=rss_feed

Mainland Chinese tourists and Hongkongers were eagerly awaiting the signature bun-scrambling competition on outlying island Cheung Chau on Wednesday night, with some lining up hours in advance to ensure they had the best seats in the house.

More than two dozen people were already in line as early as 5.30pm to secure their spots for the contest, which begins at midnight, although tickets were only being handed out at 10pm.

At the front of the line was Cheung Kwok-keung, a regular at the annual event.

The 40-year-old meter reader said he left his home in Tsuen Wan and arrived on the island in the early hours to ensure he would secure the ideal position to enjoy the competition and take pictures.

“There are not many places to go in Hong Kong, but this festival is an annual tradition of the city,” said Cheung, who has been attending the event every year for more than a decade.

“My friends and I lined up early and we took turns to eat so we could have the best seats to enjoy the competition.”

The contest, the climax of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival or Da Jiu Festival, shortlisted 12 finalists this year – nine men and three women.

Participants will scale a 14-metre tall (46 feet) tower covered with 9,000 plastic buns, each of which carries a score according to their placement. They have to snatch as many buns as possible within three minutes, and the climber with the highest score wins.

Also waiting in line early for the tickets was mainland Chinese tourist Kaiseria Xu from neighbouring Shenzhen, who was on a one-day trip to attend the festival for the first time.

Xu, 23 and a master’s student in hydrobiology, said she arrived in Cheung Chau at 10am, and watched the Piu Sik – or floating colours – parade in the afternoon and tasted ping on buns before lining up at about 5.30pm for the competition.

She said she visited Hong Kong almost every week, mostly for shopping and visiting different landmarks. But this trip was a little different.

“I’m impressed by the festival and tradition. It’s worth waiting in the line for hours and staying up late at night,” said Xu, adding she would take a ferry to Central after the competition and catch a midnight bus home.

Tiga Wang, a 28-year-old Huizhou native who came to Hong Kong for work last September, also said she was glad to experience the traditional activities for the first time.

“I love the atmosphere here,” she said. “I even took a day off tomorrow so I can stay up late for the bun-scrambling event tonight.”

But not all tourists who flocked to Cheung Chau for the festival wanted to stay late amid concerns over the long wait for ferries.

“We are not going to stay till the evening for the race. There are too many people and it will be a long wait for the ferries,” said Yao Aiyou, an office clerk in her fifties who visited the outlying island with her husband.

The bun scrambling competition is said to have its roots in a ritual started in 1894 to appease the spirits of islanders killed in a plague and was revived in 2005.

The event was banned for 27 years after two bun towers collapsed mid-race in 1978, injuring 24 people.

US tariffs on China: what’s the real impact, and what could happen next?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3262807/us-tariffs-china-whats-real-impact-and-what-could-happen-next?utm_source=rss_feed

US President Joe Biden’s latest tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and other goods may trigger similar actions from Europe and pace up a reshuffle of crowded industries inside China, according to experts in international relations.

And they expect that Biden’s decision, largely seen as being rooted in political motivations during an election year, could have big ripple effects, leaving China under threat of collective duties from the West amid industrial overcapacity concerns.

With the European Union soon to conclude an anti-subsidy probe into China’s EV sector, and with high-ranking US officials focusing on overcapacity implications during their recent visits to China, the two have been “basically synchronised” in blocking China’s new-energy exports, said Chen Fengying, a senior researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing.

Washington’s proposal on Tuesday looks to raise tariffs on Chinese EVs from 27.5 per cent to 100 per cent. Other products affected included solar cells, semiconductors, batteries and aluminium products, with suggested duties ranging from 25-50 per cent.

Instead of immediate, substantial damage to affected sectors, given the relatively small amount of related exports to the US, Chen said “it’s more about the psychological impact – the tendency [for others] to follow suit”.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, agreed that besides winning over voters in an election year, Biden’s latest move also sends a message to Europe, where President Xi Jinping recently paid a visit, that they “should follow us and not embrace China”.

But such an alliance would not be solid, as Europe is already split due to the war in Ukraine, he said. “Nor would the increased duties offset the all-round advantages in China’s new energy industry.”

China’s clean-energy sector has been widely accused of being excessive and flooding other markets with relatively cheaper goods thanks to government subsidies. Beijing has repeatedly denied such claims, calling them an excuse to pursue trade protectionism.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday after meeting in Beijing with Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi touched on Washington’s repeated sanctions, including its latest tariff-hike proposal, saying the actions represent “the most typical bullying in the world today”.

And noting that such moves are forms of unilateralism and protectionism, he said: “At this critical moment of global economic recovery, the international community should warn the US not to create new troubles for the world.”

Meanwhile, observers in China have pointed to “destructive competition” in the clean-energy sector, even if they do not consider its capacity to be excessive in terms of global demand. And top Chinese leaders have acknowledged that “overcapacity in some industries” was among the major economic challenges that they were looking to tackle this year.

“It’s true that we have some overcapacity for ourselves,” Chen said, adding that she expects more mergers and acquisitions to take place in new-energy industries as pressure from the West mounts.

“We must select the fittest and eliminate the weak ones. Those that are capable of going overseas should go,” she said, suggesting destinations such as Africa.

Washington’s new tariffs could also mark the start of a long-term strategy to contain China’s new-energy industry, starting with tariffs on complete vehicles and on upstream products later, said Zang Chengwei, a researcher specialising in international trade at the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According to Tuesday’s announcement, the proposed tariffs for natural graphite and permanent magnets would not be enforced until 2026.

“Although China isn’t exporting a huge amount of new-energy products to the US, it’s a great amount when it comes to total exports to the world,” Zang said, adding that China enjoys cost advantages in those categories compared with the US and Europe.

“If [the US] doesn’t start early in containing China, China would definitely hold a significant share of the American market in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, not all American companies are welcoming the new tariffs, with some fearing that the added costs could make it harder to compete in the US and abroad, according to the US-China Business Council, a non-profit organisation of 270 American companies that do business in China.

Given that prior tariffs have not sufficiently addressed concerns about China’s unfair market practices, “it is unclear how continuing those and piling more tariffs on will be any more effective”, the council’s president, Craig Allen, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Additionally, levying new tariffs invites retaliation from China, which combined could further disadvantage US companies selling goods and services in China’s market, compared with their foreign competitors,” he said.

Options for China to fight back are rather limited, according to Donald Low, a senior lecturer and professor of practice with the Institute for Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“It can increase its tariffs on US goods, but if those are hi-tech goods, this might hurt China’s efforts in technology upgrading,” he said, adding that if tariffs were increased on low-tech goods – like those used in agriculture – it would simply induce Chinese consumers to switch to similar goods from other countries.

Presumably, China could increase subsidies to those industries affected by the new tariffs, he explained, “but to the extent that such industries are already subsidised, doing so is not just costly, it might cause other countries to introduce similar, countervailing tariffs on Chinese imports”.

Additional reporting by Sophie Chew

China calls for ‘upgraded’ CPEC, calls on Pakistan to ensure workers’ safety

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262819/china-calls-upgraded-cpec-calls-pakistan-ensure-workers-safety?utm_source=rss_feed

China is ready to work with Pakistan to develop an “upgraded version” of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor infrastructure project, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.

In talks with Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s new deputy prime minister, Wang hailed the “ironclad” relationship between the neighbouring countries and pledged to advance the CPEC, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

The CPEC is a key project under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, with more than US$65 billion pledged for developments in Pakistan including roads and railways.

“Both sides should effectively implement the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation, strengthening our cooperation in areas like industry, agriculture, mining, new energy and information technology,” Wang said, citing a pact signed by the two nations in 2022.

Wang also pointed to their strategic partnership and noted that Dar had chosen China for his first official visit since becoming deputy prime minister last month, underscoring the importance of the countries’ relationship.

Dar’s visit comes after five Chinese engineers were killed by a suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan in March. The engineers had been working on a dam project. Pakistan’s military has alleged that the attack was planned in neighbouring Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan national.

On Wednesday, Wang called on Pakistan to ensure the safety and security of Chinese workers and investments in the country.

“[We] hope that Pakistan will do its best to safeguard Chinese personnel in Pakistan and ensure the security of Chinese businesses and projects so they may continue their work in Pakistan without concerns,” Wang said.

“China calls for further deepening of counterterrorism security cooperation between the two countries.”

In response, Dar pledged greater efforts to apprehend the perpetrators of the March attack and to enforce the law to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals and projects in Pakistan. He also called for the international community to unite in a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of terrorism.

Wang and Dar also discussed the global economy and developments in the Middle East during the meeting, according to the Chinese readout.

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister also met Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, who described the two countries as “iron brothers”, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Ding said during the meeting that China was willing to maintain high-level strategic communication with Pakistan and to ensure the CPEC’s development was “high quality”.

On the eve of his visit to China, Putin says Russia is prepared to negotiate over Ukraine

https://apnews.com/article/china-russia-putin-beijing-xi-3212ef85d8318cf853f956173f3a682aFILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during their dinner at The Palace of the Facets, a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, March 21, 2023. Putin says his regime is prepared to negotiate over the conflict in Ukraine in an interview with Chinese media on the eve of visit to partner Beijing that has backed Moscow in its full-scale invasion of its neighbor. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

2024-05-15T12:00:02Z

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says his regime is prepared to negotiate over the conflict in Ukraine in an interview with Chinese media on the eve of visit to partner Beijing that has backed Moscow in its full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

“We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours,” Putin was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

The Russian leader’s two-day trip starting Thursday comes as his country’s forces have pressed an offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region that began last week in the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began, forcing almost 8,000 people to flee their homes.

Along with Moscow’s efforts to build on its gains in the nearby Donetsk region, the 2-year-old war has entered a critical stage for Ukraine’s depleted military that is awaiting new supplies of anti-aircraft missiles and artillery shells from the United States.

“We have never refused to negotiate,” Putin was quoted as saying by Xinhua. “We are seeking a comprehensive, sustainable and just settlement of this conflict through peaceful means. We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said any negotiations must include a restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression, and security guarantees for Ukraine.

China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but has backed Moscow’s contentions that Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, despite Putin’s public avowals of his desire to restore Russia’s century-old borders as the reason for his assault.

The Kremlin said in a statement that during their talks, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will “have a detailed discussion on the entire range of issues related to the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation and determine the new directions for further development of cooperation between Russia and China and also have a detailed exchange of opinions on the most acute international and regional issues.”

The visit furthers the effort by China and Russia to topple the U.S.-led Western democratic order in favor of a more authoritarian model that crushes political opposition, human rights and freedom of speech.

Speaking Tuesday in the upper house of Russian parliament, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow and Beijing are “objectively interested in maintaining our lead in efforts to establish a more fair and democratic world order.”

“Russia and China aren’t alone in their efforts to reform an international system and help establish a multipolar global order,” he said.

Lavrov noted that the “duet of Moscow and Beijing plays a major balancing role in global affairs,” adding that “the Russian president’s forthcoming visit to (China) will strengthen our joint work.”

Moscow has forged increasingly close ties with Beijing as the war has dragged into a third year, diverting the bulk of its energy exports to China and relying on Chinese companies for importing high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.

The Russia-China military ties have also strengthened. They have held a series of joint war games in recent years, including naval drills and patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. Russian and Chinese ground forces also have deployed to the other country’s territory for joint drills.

China remains a major market for Russian military, while also massively expanding its domestic defensive industries, including building aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.

Putin has previously said that Russia has been sharing highly sensitive military technologies with China that helped significantly bolster its defense capability. In October 2019, he mentioned that Russia was helping China to develop an early warning system to spot ballistic missile launches — a system involving ground-based radar and satellites that only Russia and the U.S. possessed.

How Xi’s visit exposed the split in Europe over China

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3262540/how-xis-visit-exposed-split-europe-over-china?utm_source=rss_feed

On the first day of President Xi Jinping’s state visit to France, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a bold statement after meeting Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron. She warned that unless China changed its stance on trade – that is, by becoming fairer and keeping its economy open – the European Union would begin using a full spectrum of “trade defence instruments”.

Put differently, she was warning of trade retaliation unless China adopted a new approach to its exports and imports. It was a curveball for France and China, and a sign of how different Europe had become, as Xi returned after five years.

In western Europe, the optimism that once surrounded a state visit by a Chinese leader has all but faded. Conversations about cooperation or development have turned into whispers amid a growing sense of friction, distrust and unshakeable divergence.

But in central and eastern Europe, China is experiencing something quite different. Hungary and Serbia are standing closer with China, creating a new dynamic in Europe where the west and east are moving in opposite directions, reminiscent of the Cold War.

One of the clearest signs was the new partnership between Serbia and China for a “shared future”. From July, their trade deal will take effect with about 95 per cent of Serbian exports to China becoming tariff-free in a decade. The impact of the alliance is clear from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s remarks that the trade deal would “guarantee a future” for Serbia.

Serbia’s future now hinges on a closer, deeper relationship with China, not the West.

In the eyes of Serbia, the road to growth and prosperity goes through Beijing, not Washington or Brussels. This is a huge boost for China. A new cohort of countries is aligning around the world’s second largest economy.

But for the European Union, Serbia’s reorientation presents a strategic dilemma. Von der Leyen has been pushing for EU enlargement, focusing on drawing in the Balkans, which include Serbia. Is this still possible as Belgrade moves closer to the east?

In France, the new dynamic was also on display, but in a different way.

In his meeting with Macron, Xi urged support in avoiding a “new cold war”. After two days of pleasantries, including a trip to the mountains, the outcome of Xi’s visit to France was more gridlock. This was unexpected, considering France has been banging the drum for European sovereignty, and not being a vassal of the United States, for some time.

From the outset, it seemed the door was wide open for China to make huge gains. However, with western Europe, Xi is seeing hesitation and paralysis in how far nations want to go with China. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to China last month has largely been seen as a geopolitical stalemate.

The elephant in the room is the US. The US-led order, built on the transatlantic alliance, while being squeezed, remains intact.

This means that, when Xi returned to China, there would have been two Europes in his mind: one aligned with the US, the other with China. This is a massive change from five years ago, when there was one Europe.

For China, this represents a huge opportunity but with a limited runway. The gems in Europe are the large economies. But if these are off-limits to China and its investments are confined to the smaller economies in Eastern Europe, its strategy would have to be quite different.

Is Beijing aware of this? Perhaps. That is why Hungary, the last stop on Xi’s tour, is pivotal. The massive investments by Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and carmaker BYD represent a Chinese green strategy. Through green exports, China can tap both sides of Europe, using one for manufacturing and the other for sales. Soon, the EU could be dominated by a Chinese green industry from within the bloc.

For the EU, and the collective West, the new sources of divergence are not just immigration or Ukraine, but also China. The China question will play a far greater role than any other issue, affecting the very stability and future of nations. The EU is being forced to keep members in check regarding China, or risk the economic union breaking into pro-US and pro-China tribes.

Almost five years ago, when Xi visited Europe, it was all smiles and roses. Italy became the first developed nation to join the Belt and Road Initiative, Greece positioned itself as a logistical hub between Asia and Europe, and France inked a deal to sell 300 Airbus planes to China. All of Europe was open to China, even amid pressure from the US.

But fast-forward five years, and in the post-pandemic world, with wars raging in Europe and the Middle East, the Chinese are witnessing a fracturing in the European landscape. The openness towards China, once championed by Brussels, is shifting eastward. As countries like Serbia and Hungary look forward to greater cooperation with China, others like France and Germany are setting limits.

For China, the stakes could not be higher. In Serbia, Xi said: “We shall jointly confront hegemony and the politics of power.” For China, its new alliances will be instrumental in taking on the United States.

Xi’s trip to Europe, with visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, was about two aspects. First, seeing which doors are open and which are locked shut, something only a head of state can accurately gauge. And second, it was about drawing in nations, and using them as part of a grand strategy, as China seeks to reassert its power on the world stage.

Putin expected to tout China’s ‘premier importance’ in Russian foreign policy and trade, as Beijing seeks ‘delicate balance’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262806/putin-expected-tout-chinas-premier-importance-russian-foreign-policy-and-trade-beijing-seeks?utm_source=rss_feed

Analysts expected Ukraine and the Brics summit to be among the top issues on the table during Vladimir Putin’s meetings in Beijing, as the Russian president again commended China’s peace efforts in the warring region ahead of his arrival.

Putin’s two-day stopover this week – just seven months since his last visit – will include an agenda that stretches from the war in Ukraine to anticipation from the Global South bloc for an annual summit in October, which could see new joiners announced.

The topics were teased in a written interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua, where Putin reaffirmed the “unprecedented level of strategic partnership” between the two countries despite a “difficult global situation”.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told Russian media that Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign a declaration to step up the strategic partnership and ministers from both sides will sign 11 inter-governmental documents.

The visit will include a one-on-one talk, a walk through a park, and tea and dinner together, he added.

Putin will also visit Harbin, capital of China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, which neighbours Russia, and speak with students at the Harbin Institute of Technology, according to Wednesday’s press conference at the Kremlin.

Moscow-based analyst Andrew Korybko said Putin intended to use the trip to signal China’s “premier importance” in Russia’s foreign policy and trade relations, and to reciprocate after Xi made Russia his first overseas destination since beginning his third term in March last year.

Korybko said Putin would like to personally invite Xi to the Brics summit, to be held in the city of Kazan in southwest Russia, and work towards “financial multipolarity”, through de-dollarisation, a reference to creating alternative non-Western financial payment systems, and a Brics basket currency.

“Expanding the number of formal Brics members and affiliates will certainly be discussed, but it is premature to speculate on the content,” Korybko said, adding that while a larger bloc could “speed up multipolarity processes”, it might also result in disunity.

Andy Mok, a senior research fellow at the Centre for China and Globalisation, a non-governmental think tank in Beijing, said the talks were urgent because of “US-induced global instability” and an “increasingly weaponised global financial system”.

“They will push for Brics expansion to counterbalance Western influence and fortify ties with emerging economies,” Mok said.

Brics recently welcomed Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as new members. Putin said their “seamless integration” would be one of Russia’s main goals as “we are actively assisting them in joining the existing network of cooperation mechanisms”.

Korybko said Xi’s recent meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron over Ukraine may figure into the discussions, as Beijing seeks to mediate the conflict.

“Beijing is well aware of its causes and global geopolitical significance, which is reflected in its 12-point plan … published in February 2023,” Putin wrote in his response to Xinhua. “The ideas and proposals contained in the document show the genuine desire of our Chinese friends to help stabilise the situation.”

However, Putin said Beijing’s initiatives were not supported by Kyiv and its Western allies, and that “they are not ready to engage in an equal, honest and open dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests”.

Zhang Chi, an associate lecturer of international relations at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, said Beijing’s continued stance on the conflict may prove to be a “stumbling block” in Sino-European economic relations.

“While China is eager to expand its exports, Europe’s quest for strategic autonomy is complicated by the war in Ukraine, which has become a significant point of friction between the two powers and threatens to strain political relations further,” Zhang said.

Germany’s previous reliance on Russian natural gas and subsequent challenges served as a “cautionary tale” for Europe to become more wary about depending on another single source, particularly China in terms of technology, Zhang argued.

“As Europe reassesses its supply chains and strategic partnerships, the balance between engagement with China and maintaining its own strategic autonomy becomes more delicate,” Zhang said.

Recent developments in Ukraine, including a US Congress bill to provide an additional US$61 billion in military aid to the embattled nation, as well as Denmark, the Netherlands, and the US committing to deliver F-16 fighter jets, make the war a “critical topic” in Putin and Xi’s talks.

“These moves are perceived by Russia and China as exacerbating tensions, prompting discussions on a coordinated response to what they see as heightened Western involvement,” Zhang said, adding that China would seek a “delicate balance”.

Beijing-based political analyst Xu Qinduo said Beijing would continue an independent foreign policy in which Moscow was a partner on global security and the West a trade counterpart.

“In a sense, [Putin’s trip] is more significant for Russia than for China as Moscow is at war with the West and needs to maintain a strong and growing relationship with China – the world’s second largest economy and a tech powerhouse,” Xu said.

Xu added that Xi may want to discuss the possibility of an Olympic truce, after Macron called for China to join his push for a “moment of diplomatic peace” during the Paris Olympic Games, which begin in July.

China property: Hangzhou, the headquarters of Alibaba and Geely, mulls buying unsold homes to boost market

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3262810/china-property-hangzhou-headquarters-alibaba-and-geely-mulls-buying-unsold-homes-boost-market?utm_source=rss_feed

Authorities in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, are planning to buy homes and rent them at affordable rates, the first such move by a local government after the country’s top decision-makers pledged last month to reduce inventory and boost sales.

The Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of the technology hub’s Linan district said it would buy housing units and car parking spots. The units will not exceed 70 square metres (753 sq ft) and the price will be based on the prevailing market rate, the bureau said in a notice on Tuesday.

The procurement process will run from May 15 to May 24, and the total floor area to be bought will be capped at 10,000 square metres, the bureau said, adding that the selected developers will not be allowed to sell on the open market.

“This move shows that the ‘national team’ is trying to implement the Politburo meeting’s call to ‘digest existing housing inventory’ and ‘optimise new housing’,” said Yan Yuejin, a director at the Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute. “The initiative also sheds light on how to absorb the projects that developers have built.”

This approach is different from recent moves to relax restrictions around housing purchases, as it depends on the fiscal capacity of local governments, Yan added.

After the Politburo meeting on April 30, China’s top leaders said they were assessing comprehensive measures to reduce the housing inventory and boost sales.

Last week, Hangzhou, the headquarters of Alibaba Group Holding and carmaker Geely, and Chengdu, the capital of southwest Sichuan province, lifted all curbs on home purchases.

The latest move by Hangzhou’s Linan district coincides with a report by Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources on Wednesday that the State Council, China’s cabinet, was soliciting feedback for a preliminary plan under which state-owned enterprises will be tasked with purchasing unsold homes from distressed developers with loans from state-backed banks.

This would be the most ambitious plan to bolster the country’s slumping property market since an industry-wide downturn began in late 2020.

However, it remains to be seen whether China’s local governments have the capacity to digest the excess inventory.

Official data shows that the area of unsold homes stood at 3.6 billion square feet in 2023, the most since 2016, while a report from Tianfeng Securities suggested that it would cost upwards of 7 trillion yuan (US$969 billion) to absorb this inventory.

Chinese property stocks responded positively. China Vanke rose 3.6 per cent to 7.73 yuan and Poly Developments and Holdings Group added 3 per cent to 9.92 yuan on Wednesday.

Prices of new homes in China’s 70 medium and large cities fell for a 10th consecutive month in March, dropping 0.3 per cent from February, according to official data. Contracted sales by the nation’s top 100 builders tumbled 49 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the previous year, according to China Index Academy.

Scarborough Shoal: China’s coastguard ‘defends rights’ as Philippine activists head to contested waters

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262812/scarborough-shoal-chinas-coastguard-defends-rights-philippine-activists-head-contested-waters?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s coastguard carried out “regular rights defence and law enforcement activities” near a contested South China Sea shoal, state broadcaster CGTN reported late on Wednesday after a group of Philippine activists and fishermen embarked on a supply mission to the area.

The enforcement activities were carried out “in Huangyan Island waters in accordance with the law”, the report said, referring to Scarborough Shoal, which is known in the Philippines as Panatag Shoal.

Earlier in the day, as the group headed for the shoal about 220km (120 nautical miles) west of the Philippine island of Luzon, Beijing warned Manila that it would respond to breaches of its sovereignty.

“If the Philippine side abuses China’s goodwill and infringes on China’s territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction, China will safeguard its rights and take necessary countermeasures in accordance with the law,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

“The relevant responsibilities and consequences will be borne entirely by the Philippine side.”

The group known as the Atin Ito Coalition comprises a flotilla of about 100 small fishing boats and five wooden-hulled bigger ships, and is expected to sail to the Scarborough Shoal and deliver supplies, including fuel and food packs, to the Filipino fishermen in the area.

Both countries claim the shoal and tensions between Beijing and Manila are running high over the disputed territory, where repeated confrontations, sometimes involving clashes between Chinese and Philippine ships, have deepened concerns of an armed conflict.

The shoal is a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and rocks that used to be a common fishing ground for China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and has been controlled by China since 2012.

Manila filed an international arbitration case over the maritime dispute – and others – with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and in 2016 the tribunal found that China’s claims to most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.

But in May 2016, the Philippines said fishermen were allowed to fish freely in the disputed waters and were not experiencing harassment from the China Coast Guard. Observers at that time said the policy change was part of Beijing’s attempt to improve ties with incoming president Rodrigo Duterte.

Six months later, following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Peru in November, Duterte’s office said the Chinese leader had agreed that the Philippine fishermen would “continue to have free access to their traditional fishing grounds, apart from offering them training such as in fish culture to sustain their livelihood and families”.

On Wednesday, Wang, from the Chinese foreign ministry, said that under “a goodwill arrangement” made in 2016, “a small number of Filipino fishermen were allowed to carry out normal fishing operations” in the waters near Scarborough Shoal.

“Meanwhile, China would manage and supervise the relevant activities of the Philippine fishermen in accordance with the law,” he said.

Since the Atin Ito supply mission was announced earlier this month, China has steadily stepped up its presence in the Scarborough Shoal. On Monday, the China Coast Guard said it had “normalised” training in the waters off the shoal.

Meanwhile, Beijing is pursuing outreach with other Southeast Asian nations.

In a meeting on Tuesday with Erywan Yusof, the foreign minister from Brunei – another rival claimant – China’s top diplomat Wang Yi called on countries in the region to work together to accelerate negotiations to “for the early conclusion” of the long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea.

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Vietnam’s Catch-22 in courting China as a rare earth partner

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3262520/vietnams-catch-22-courting-china-rare-earth-partner?utm_source=rss_feed

Two weeks before Vuong Dinh Hue was forced to resign as head of Vietnam’s parliament, he visited Beijing and met executives from Chinese state-owned enterprises, including China Rare Earth Group.

As assembly head, one of the four “pillars” of leadership in Vietnam, Hue was angling for Chinese investment and potentially technology transfers by dangling the possibility of tax deductions, rent cuts and other incentives. He is the second high-ranking official to be removed in two months, after president Vo Van Thuong in March – just when Vietnam is attempting to expand its rare earth industry.

Rare earths, essential in powering the global energy transition, are growing in value. They are required to produce the permanent magnets in clean-energy products from electric vehicles to wind turbines.

Vietnam wants China, with its advanced technology and know-how, to help it develop its rare earth industry chain, but only up to a point – Hanoi also wants to maintain control over its domestic industry and innovation.

China may be willing to help establish the infrastructure a Vietnamese rare earth industrial complex requires, although export restrictions prohibit it from directly granting any country access to Chinese processing technologies.

On a more strategic level, working with Vietnam on rare earth processing could help Beijing “de-risk” from America’s “de-risking” policy. Establishing processing plants in Vietnam would help Chinese companies keep customers in developed countries by circumventing the “Made in China” label.

Beijing appears to be seizing the opportunity. China’s Baotou INST Magnetic, an Apple supplier, has reportedly leased a factory in northern Vietnam for a magnet plant. Other companies have joined Vietnam’s rare earth industry, including South Korea’s Star Group Industrial, which plans to produce 5,000 tonnes per year of high-end neodymium magnets by 2025.

Vietnam has long sought partnerships with countries that have advanced technology in the sector, such as Japan, South Korea and Australia. But previous collaboration attempts, which include investments in Vietnam’s mining, supply chain and research, have not yielded sufficient progress to kick-start its rare earth industry.

Japan was one of the earliest investors. Back in 2011, under pressure after China started to squeeze its rare earth exports, Japan decided to invest in Vietnam’s Dong Pao mine. But the mine ceased operations around 2015 after cheap Chinese rare earths flooded the market and Japan’s investment in Lynas, an Australian rare earth miner, became more successful.

Today, Vietnam’s rare earth processing technology remains weak. Purities of up to 99.9 per cent are required in the rare earths used to make high-quality permanent magnets. But Vietnam can only refine rare earths up to 70 per cent in laboratory settings – far below the industry standard and its export requirement of 95 per cent.

China looks like Vietnam’s best bet in its search for a rare earth partner. Over the four decades it took Beijing to develop its now dominant rare earth processing industry, it relied on cheap labour, electricity, chemical feedstock and transport, as well as loose environmental regulations and a coordinated export control policy regime.

Today, it has addressed both the financial and environmental problems of the sector and developed cutting-edge technologies. It is highly qualified to give Vietnam advice on how to jump-start its rare earth industry.

China continues to make great strides in rare earth processing, recovering metals from ore through electrical fields rather than traditional chemical leaching – the new method boosts efficiency, reduces impurities and is more environmentally friendly – and discovering new ores.

In a partnership, Vietnam stands to benefit from China’s experience and advanced technologies. Beijing, meanwhile, wants to source raw materials from Vietnam, which has the world’s second-largest rare earth deposits after China.

Vietnam’s other great advantage in developing a rare earth industry is, for now, theoretical: its labour force.

The country lacks the targeted education and corporate training required to produce the talent needed for the industry. This can be overcome in the short term through corporate training contracts. Importantly, over time, the country can cultivate its own highly skilled workforce by expanding and adding mining engineering programmes at its universities.

Given that the average Vietnamese mining worker salary is only around 30 per cent of what their Chinese peers get, Vietnam’s competitively priced low-skilled labour also gives it an advantage over China.

However, Vietnam does not want to be indebted to Beijing nor does it want to be geopolitically isolated over its rare earth processing vision to the point that it can’t work with China’s strategic competitors. To become a global player in rare earths, it cannot afford to pick a side in the US-China rivalry, or even appear to snub one over the other.

Vietnam faces a Catch-22: it needs Chinese expertise to develop domestic capacity but doesn’t want to invite exploitation. It wants lessons in rare earth innovation and is willing to pay with raw materials and other incentives to attract Chinese industrial players. It’s just not willing to make sacrifices that stifle or suppress its potential at home-grown innovation.

On top of this strategic dilemma, Vietnam’s political turmoil threatens its rare earth dialogue with Chinese enterprises. Negotiations over such a highly-valued industry require time and investment that a revolving leadership door could undermine. More high-profile departures could delay or derail Hanoi’s ambitious plans.

South China Sea: Philippines sends warship to assert sovereignty, counter alleged reclamation activities by Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3262788/south-china-sea-philippines-sends-warship-assert-sovereignty-counter-alleged-reclamation-activities?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines has bolstered its presence in the South China Sea by deploying a navy warship to assert its sovereignty and counter alleged Chinese reclamation activities, while it shores up surveillance capabilities with a space technology partnership with the United States.

The efforts by Manila reflect a multipronged strategy to address escalating tensions in the disputed waters, analysts say.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, on Tuesday confirmed the deployment of a warship to the Sabina Shoal, a maritime feature in the West Philippine Sea located 75 nautical miles (120km) off the coast of the Philippine island of Palawan.

“The navy has increased its patrols in Sabina Shoal. For the past good number of days, we have had one warship stationed in the area. This is to ensure that whoever is doing that, whoever is piling up dead corals in Sabina Shoal, we will be able to expose their activities,” Trinidad told ABS-CBN News.

The West Philippine Sea is Manila’s term for the section of the South China Sea that defines its maritime territory and includes its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Trinidad was referring to the Philippines’ discovery of piles of crushed coral near the Sabina Shoal over the weekend, which officials said was a sign China was undertaking land reclamation activities in the area to build up an island to thwart the movements of Philippine vessels.

“We will do everything to ensure that Sabina and all other features within our EEZ will remain under Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Trinidad said.

The Philippine Coast Guard said the situation at the Sabina Shoal was similar to what had happened recently in the Sandy Cay of Pag-asa Island, also known as Thitu Island, where coral reefs were severely damaged with debris strewn throughout the area.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denied the accusations on Tuesday, saying claims of “China’s reclamation” were rumours spread by the Philippines designed to vilify China and mislead the international community.

In a separate interview on Tuesday with One News PH, Trinidad said China’s recent aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea, including its vessels’ use of water cannons to disrupt the activities of the Philippine Coast Guard, were attempts to bait Manila into starting an open conflict.

“It’s a new face of aggression in terms of the actions that are now more geared towards imposing their will. This time their water cannons are very strong. It’s an escalation of previous actions by them, but it is not yet at the threshold of conflict,” he said.

“They would like to win without fighting. But more importantly, without the adversary fighting back against them. So they will do everything which is not in the book, except firing the first shot … making you commit the first mistake.”

Political analyst Sherwin Ona, an associate professor of political science at De La Salle University in Manila, told This Week in Asia the warship deployment indicated the navy would now be augmenting “the limited resources of the Philippine Coast Guard” that had largely been in charge of patrolling and monitoring the disputed waters.

Jose Antonio Custodio, a defence analyst and a fellow at the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers, said involving the navy in patrols around the West Philippine Sea signalled that Manila was preparing for potential escalation.

“If so needed, the Philippine navy can respond quickly to any developing situation,” Custodio told This Week in Asia.

Against the backdrop of Beijing’s recent activities in the South China Sea, long-time allies the Philippines and United States have agreed to cooperate on the potential use of space technology for maritime domain awareness to keep an eye on vessels within Manila’s territorial waters and EEZ.

In a joint statement released on Monday, the US and the Philippines said they conducted the first Bilateral Space Dialogue, held in Washington on May 2, during which they agreed satellite monitoring was a “priority area for bilateral cooperation”.

The new platform is designed to strengthen cooperation and advance bilateral exchanges in civil space matters, including the use of space for maritime domain awareness and space situational awareness.

The Bilateral Space Dialogue programme will be useful in monitoring and documenting vessels in the Philippines’ territorial waters and EEZ, ensure the safety of mariners at sea, monitor and help protect the environment, and help combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

When asked about the latest cooperation reached between Washington and Manila, Ona said the message was clear – all the efforts of the Philippines and its allies were meant to present a solid and unified response against Chinese aggression.

“I believe that this is part of the ongoing efforts to defend our telecommunication environment,” Ona said. “This can act as deterrence if we can access these technologies and at the same time protect our telecoms systems. It’s also part of grey zone tactics and interference with telecoms and cybersecurity.”

Custodio said the Bilateral Space Dialogue programme agreement “increases the ability of the Philippines to monitor the vast maritime domain which is its EEZ and to track movements of possible threats to its interests there”.

This would allow the Philippines to boost its situational awareness and properly respond to any developments in the area, he added.

Ray Powell, a maritime expert and security analyst at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, said Manila had much to gain by increased space cooperation with the US, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.

“Better access to space technology can help the Philippines improve its maritime domain awareness and communications,” Powell said.

“We don’t know yet how much exposure it will take to actually deter China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea. So far, Beijing has not been deterred but has in fact escalated, but its escalation has only served to increase the Philippines’ determination and its international support.”

‘Never thought of giving up’: China doctor dies after 4 years battling cancer, shares journey, inspires countless sufferers

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3262386/never-thought-giving-china-doctor-dies-after-4-years-battling-cancer-shares-journey-inspires?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese influencer who had used his platform to detail his four-year-long battle with gastric cancer has died at the age of 43.

Xu Zhendong, from Jiangsu province in eastern China, was a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor and father of two children.

On September 2020, Xu was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer and hospitalised for treatment.

During the illness, his parents consistently took him to the hospital for checkups, assisted him with walking and helped him with his physical therapy. They also cooked healthy and delicious meals for Xu.

Xu remained grateful for his parents’ dedication, saying: “A parent’s love is the most selfless love in the world.”

In May 2023, Xu posted his first video on Douyin, comparing his appearance before and after the cancer diagnosis.

“The relentless disease turned me from a lively, cheerful, sunny boy to what I am now. But I have always fought against it with a positive attitude. It has been nearly three years now, and I am hoping for a miracle,” he wrote.

After the first video, he consistently shared his experience fighting cancer on Douyin, China’s TikTok, eventually amassing 200,000 followers on the platform.

He would typically share snippets from his daily activities, including getting haircuts, going to rehab, and celebrating his mother’s birthday. He also documented his hospital stays.

Xu’s Douyin bio read: “I never thought of giving up. I hope being a cancer-fighting influencer can contribute a little to help society.”

When a fan asked him what caused the cancer, Xu replied: “Depression, anger, and anxiety were the main contributors to the illness.”

This statement has no medical support, and mental health diseases are not associated with an increased risk of cancer outcomes.

Xu mentioned that his condition had deteriorated rapidly over the four years. He had endured 50 chemotherapy sessions and six surgeries, with his weight dropping to just 32.5kg.

He told his followers that the treatment period was excruciating.

“Sometimes I don’t want to continue the treatment, but I keep fighting for my parents and my children. I must be strong,” Xu said.

Xu posted his last video about his cancer treatment on April 24.

He wrote: “Even though I’m battered and bruised, while I’m still alive, nothing can extinguish me.”

On April 26, Xu’s mother announced he had passed away at home earlier in the day.

“Fourty-three years of companionship was not enough. My son’s journey was short, but a mother’s concern lasts a lifetime. When you left, my heart was bleeding,” she wrote.

A fan, also suffering from gastric cancer, wrote: “I will continue to fight my disease inspired by your determination. Thank you for your courage.”

Another fan honoured him and wrote: “I hope Dr Xu is free from pain in heaven. A cheerful mind leads to a healthy body, and I will always remember that.”

[Sport] Gordon Corera: The West has struggled to keep up with China’s spy threat

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmm33rm32veo[Sport] Gordon Corera: The West has struggled to keep up with China’s spy threat

Hiring of overeducated China graduate at crematorium sparks renewed debate over country’s dire youth job market

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3261824/hiring-overeducated-china-graduate-crematorium-sparks-renewed-debate-over-countrys-dire-youth-job?utm_source=rss_feed

A graduate in China with a master’s degree who was offered a job as a funeral cremator has reinstated the country’s high rate of youth unemployment at the centre of public debate.

At the end of April, Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau in Guangdong province, southern China released a list of successful job applicants on the internet for the position of cremator at funeral centres in the city, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.

Among candidates was a graduate with a master’s degree in philosophy from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Others include a graduate in architecture and another in chemistry from top universities in Guangzhou.

An official from the bureau said cremation workers are entitled to bian zhi, a benefit that ensures a stable, lifelong job. In China, bian zhi is only given to employees of government departments or government-affiliated institutions.

Candidates for the cremation position should have at least a tertiary education, a permanent residency in Guangzhou and a driving licence. The job requires them to touch and move bodies and includes some night shifts.

“There are just a few openings for this position, but we’ve received many resumes from applicants,” the official said.

“Although workers in this role will have bian zhi, their monthly salary is not as high as online rumours have suggested. Very few people earn as much as 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) per month.”

The incident has focused public attention on the country’s depressed job market for young people.

The unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group climbed to 15.3 per cent for the first quarter of this year, while for 25 to 29-year-olds, edged up to 7.2 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

About 12 million graduates will leave mainland universities to join the job market this summer.

The cremation story has been viewed 6 million times on Weibo and received 1,000 comments.

“The person only needs to interact with human remains, and does not get involved in office politics and interpersonal relationships, unlike other civil service positions,” one online observer pointed out.

“It’s a perfect example of diploma devaluation,” said another.

Filipino activists and fishermen sail in 100-boat flotilla to disputed shoal guarded by China

https://apnews.com/article/south-china-sea-scarborough-shoal-philippines-991e0ecee638f917e30b4947ee8c91caIn this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, fishing boats carrying activists and volunteers belonging to a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, pass by waters off Palauig Point, Zambales province, northwestern Philippines as they head towards Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday May 15, 2024. A flotilla of about 100 mostly small fishing boats led by Filipino activists sailed Wednesday to a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing's coast guard and suspected militia ships have used powerful water cannons to ward off what they regard as intruders. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

2024-05-15T03:52:10Z

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A flotilla of about 100 mostly small fishing boats led by Filipino activists sailed Wednesday to a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s coast guard and suspected militia ships have used powerful water cannons to ward off what they regard as intruders.

The Philippine coast guard and navy deployed one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishermen, who set off on wooden boats with bamboo outriggers to assert Manila’s sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal. Dozens of journalists joined the three-day voyage.

Activists and volunteers, including a Roman Catholic priest, belonging to a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito — Tagalog for This is Ours — planned to float small territorial buoys and distribute food packs and fuel to Filipino fishermen near the shoal, organizers said, adding they were prepared for contingencies.

“Our mission is peaceful based on international law and aimed at asserting our sovereign rights,” said Rafaela David, a lead organizer. “We will sail with determination, not provocation, to civilianize the region and safeguard our territorial integrity.”

In December, David’s group with boatloads of fishermen also tried to sail to another disputed shoal but cut short the trip after being tailed by a Chinese ship.

China effectively seized the Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped atoll with a vast fishing lagoon ringed by mostly submerged coral outcrops, by surrounding it with its coast guard ships after a tense 2012 standoff with Philippine government ships.

Angered by China’s action, the Philippine government brought the disputes to international arbitration in 2013 and largely won with a tribunal in The Hague ruling three years later that China’s expansive claims based on historical grounds in the busy seaway were invalid under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The ruling declared the Scarborough Shoal a traditional fishing area for Chinese, Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen. In the past, fishermen have anchored in the shoal to avoid huge waves in the high seas in stormy weather.

China refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected the outcome and continues to defy it.

Two weeks ago, Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships used water cannons on Philippine coast guard and fisheries boats patrolling the Scarborough Shoal, damaging both craft.

The Philippines condemned the Chinese coast guard’s action on the shoal, which lies in the Southeast Asian nation’s internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. The Chinese coast guard said it took a “necessary measure” after the Philippine ships “violated China’s sovereignty.”

The Chinese coast guard has also reinstalled a floating barrier across the entrance to the shoal’s vast fishing lagoon, the Philippine coast guard said. The Philippine coast guard removed a similar barrier in the past to allow Filipinos to fish there.

In addition to the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the territorial disputes.

Chinese coast guard ships had also ventured into waters close to Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in the past, sparking tensions and protests, but the Southeast Asian nations with considerable economic ties with China have not been as aggressively critical against Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions.

The Philippines has released videos of its territorial faceoffs with China and invited journalists to witness the hostilities in the high seas in a strategy to gain international support, sparking a word war with Beijing.

The increasing frequency of the skirmishes between the Philippines and China has led to minor collisions, injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged supply boats in recent months. It has sparked fears the territorial disputes could degenerate into an armed conflict between China and the United States, a longtime treaty ally of the Philippines.

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Follow AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

JIM GOMEZ Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines. twitter mailto

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EU feels heat from all sides as decision on Chinese EV duties looms

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3262731/eu-feels-heat-all-sides-decision-chinese-ev-duties-looms?utm_source=rss_feed

EU investigators are putting the finishing touches on a blockbuster probe of subsidies in China’s electric vehicle sector, but pressure is mounting from all sides as they decide what to do next.

A decision on whether to impose provisional duties on EVs made in China is expected close to a June 5 deadline, with Brussels thought to have gathered ample evidence that subsidies in the sector exist, and that they have distorted the European market.

The outcome, then, rests on a political decision by the European Commission, the ramifications for which became more complicated this week.

US President Joe Biden’s plan to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on made-in-China EVs is seen as a way to force Brussels to act, and also to give the commission a benchmark against which to calculate higher duties.

“I think this ramps up the pressure for the EU to put tariffs on Chinese EVs as well, in the higher part of the 20 to 60 per cent bracket,” said Rem Korteweg, an expert in trade and geopolitics at the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank.

“It gives the EU cover to do so. Brussels can point at DC and say it is pursuing a coordinated approach.”

There was already a feeling in Brussels that an existing 27.5 per cent US tariff on Chinese EVs meant that Europe was their most logical export market.

Research from Rhodium Group last month found that the average EU anti-subsidy duty is 19 per cent, and the analysis posited that Brussels would need a duty of around 50 per cent to stop a deluge of Chinese EVs from arriving at its ports.

Some EU member states with big automotive ties to China, however, have been voicing their opposition to any push to match the United States, or to put tariffs on the imports at all.

“We don’t want to dismantle global trade, that’s a stupid idea,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said this week, Politico reported. “Punitive tariffs as a one-size-fits-all solution is not a good idea for importing and exporting countries.”

Speaking at the same forum in Denmark, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed out that “currently at least 50 per cent of imports of electric vehicles from China are from Western brands that produce there themselves and import them to Europe”.

The commission has the authority to put provisional duties on the imports without member state support. But these would have to eventually be voted on by capitals via qualified majority if they were to become permanent.

Commission sources said no decision had been made, and insisted that no pressure was being felt. The resistance from member states had been anticipated, and there is a prevailing sense that if Brussels backs down now, it would look weak in the eyes of Beijing.

“What does it achieve if we make all this noise and hype and then not do anything about it?” asked one senior official.

The Chinese government has been lobbying through various channels to kill the investigation, up to the highest level. The EV issue was on the agenda when Chinese leader Xi Jinping met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris last week.

In an interview with Bloomberg this week, Macron reiterated his support for the probe.

“It’s not a geopolitical agenda, we don’t want to blackmail and push back some of the production, we want to be sure it’s fair. It’s fair to launch precisely inquiries and look in details at the situation and revise it. If we are weak, if we are threatened by the fact that you can have retortion measures, you just don’t do what you have to do,” Macron said.

While the presidents were enjoying wine and cheese in the Pyrenees on May 7, meanwhile, Xi dispatched a group of 12 economists to Brussels – led by ex-deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund Zhu Min – for what sources described as a “real discussion” on the spat and other economic concerns with the cabinet of Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s trade chief.

In the eight months since the inquiry was initiated, it’s understood that Beijing has made several “political” offers to Brussels in a bid to end it. The commission’s response has always been that the investigation is technical in nature, sparked by China’s own subsidies, and so a political resolution is not up for grabs.

Some economists have warned that making EVs more expensive could set back the bloc’s climate objectives, and make it more economically uncompetitive.

“While there is a temptation to approach trade policy solely through the lens of trade defence to shield domestic industries, the EU must be careful to avoid slipping into protectionism,” said Emilie Kerstens, a Brussels-based researcher into green trade at the climate change think tank E3G.

“Unlike the US, the EU is much more dependent on trade with China. Engaging in a trade war undermines its climate ambitions as well as its own competitiveness.”

According to the Rhodium report, “EU imports of EVs from China ballooned from US$1.6 billion in 2020 to US$11.5 billion in 2023, accounting for 37 per cent of all EV imports in the bloc.”

“While the market share of China-produced EV models in the European market has only increased slightly to 19 per cent, the share of Chinese and Chinese-owned brands has increased substantially in the last two years.”

Australia suspends China working holiday visas to overhaul scheme

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3262741/australia-suspends-china-working-holiday-visas-overhaul-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed

Australia has suspended its working holiday visa programme for Chinese citizens, ahead of changes which will see applicants from certain countries compete for a limited number of spaces.

Citizens from China – along with Vietnam and India – will need to take part in lottery-style bids for the working holiday visa programme starting in the financial year ending June 2025, a spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Home Affairs said in a statement.

The intake of Chinese applicants in the current financial year has been “paused” while the changes are being put in place, the spokesperson added. The application process is expected to restart later in 2024.

Under Australia’s working holiday visa, people aged 18 to 30 years old can make longer-than-normal visits to the country and work to fund their stays. The initial visa runs for 12 months, but can be extended for a second or third year under certain conditions.

Australia offers 5,000 such places each year to Chinese citizens, under a previous free-trade agreement struck by the two countries. But demand for the visa class was expected to “substantially” exceeded availability going forward, the home affairs spokesperson said.

The government would also introduce a new innovation visa to attract exceptionally talented workers, replacing a controversial investor migrant programme that it argued had few economic benefits.

The changes announced in the annual budget, delivered by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday, are part of a broad overhaul of its migration system as Australia aims to lure skilled workers and top talent while reducing overall immigration.

The new visa also replaces the global talent visa programme that ends late in 2024, with an aim “to target exceptionally talented migrants who will drive growth in sectors of national importance,” the government said.

“The Business Innovation and Investment visa programme (BIIP) will cease,” it said, referring to the so-called golden visa that offers a pathway to permanent residency through investment in the country.

The centre-left Labor government is facing growing calls to curb migration as a post-pandemic surge in students and other arrivals exacerbated an already tight rental market, fuelling headline inflation.

Additional reporting by Reuters

China adjusts added value accounting to mitigate data manipulation, clean up GDP statistics

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3262665/china-adjusts-added-value-accounting-mitigate-data-manipulation-clean-gdp-statistics?utm_source=rss_feed

China revised its method for calculating the added value of the financial sector to improve the accuracy of gross domestic product statistics in the first quarter of this year – a change cited by many analysts as the proximate cause for April’s contraction in aggregate social financing, the first drop of its kind in almost two decades.

The correction was also implemented to aid efforts from financial regulators to prevent capital from idling in the financial system and provide more support for the real economy, they argued.

Aggregate financing, which includes bank credit, bonds and stock market funding, shrank by 18.9 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) in April from the previous month. The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, said on Saturday the decline was the first observed since October 2005.

The M1 money supply – which comprises currency in circulation plus some banking deposits – dropped 1.4 per cent in April year on year, the first decline in more than two years.

“April’s financial data reflects far more complex issues than it appears,” China International Capital Corporation, a Beijing-based investment bank, wrote in a note on Sunday.

“It showed that domestic demand remains weak, but is more affected by efforts to curb data manipulation in the financial sector.”

According to Financial News, a publication under the central bank, regulators are now calculating the financial sector’s added value – a major component of GDP – by net interest incomes, net bank charges and commission incomes.

Previously, value was determined primarily by the year-on-year growth rate of bank deposits and loans, a method which was easier for local authorities to manipulate to artificially enlarge the reported size of their economies.

To expedite statistical GDP growth, some local banks temporarily “borrowed” deposits from companies or banks in other regions and returned them once assessments were concluded, Shanghai news outlet Yicai said in an article over the weekend.

“Inaccurate data can result in suboptimal decision-making by policymakers who lack real information to accurately assess the financial sector and the overall economy,” it warned.

China has a relatively high share of financial added value in the accounting of its GDP compared to other countries. The figure is close to 8 per cent, surpassing the 4.8 per cent average for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

These high proportions – already raised by lawmakers as an issue during a discussion of the top legislature in November – run counter to Beijing’s plan to empower the real economy, itself outlined as a priority at last year’s twice-a-decade central financial work conference.

The PBOC and the National Bureau of Statistics began to adjust the quarterly accounting of financial added value in the first quarter of this year.

“Given that the optimisation measures only became widely known by the market since April, its disruptions to money and credit growth are expected to be more concentrated in the second quarter and are likely to persist into the second half of the year,” Financial News wrote in an article on Saturday.

The new calculation method will alleviate pressure on financial institutions to make temporary large-scale deposits and loans, consequently resulting in a contraction in the money supply, total loans and other readings, the newspaper said.

“Particularly when conducting year-on-year comparisons, indicators such as increment and growth rate of financial added value will be significantly influenced, and these disruptions may extend into the following year before gradually dissipating.”

China-US artificial intelligence talks ‘deep, professional and constructive’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262721/china-us-artificial-intelligence-talks-deep-professional-and-constructive?utm_source=rss_feed

China and the US exchanged views “deeply, professionally and constructively” in their first intergovernmental talks aimed at reducing the risks of artificial intelligence and improving world governance.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout, at the talks in Geneva on Tuesday the two sides recognised that there are opportunities and risks in the development of AI technology.

They also reaffirmed their continued commitment to the implementation consensus reached when President Xi Jinping met his US counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco last November, the readout said.

The Chinese delegation was led by Yang Tao, director general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, and included officials from the science and technology ministry, the National Development and Reform Commission and other government agencies.

Tarun Chhabra, special assistant to the president and senior director for technology and national security, and Seth Center, acting special envoy for critical and emerging technology, led the US side, with Commerce Department officials also present.

Both sides introduced their views on AI technology risks and governance initiatives as well as measures taken to promote AI-enabled economic and social development, according to the readout.

Yang said China has always stuck to the principle that AI technology should be people-centred and used for good to ensure that AI technology is beneficial, safe and fair. He also expressed Beijing’s willingness for more communication with Washington over AI governance.

“China supports strengthening the global governance of AI and advocates for the United Nations to play the role of main channel,” Yang said.

“[China] is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the international community, including the US, in order to form a global AI governance framework and standards and norms with broad consensus.”

The readout said that during the meeting the Chinese also made clear its “solemn position” on US restrictions and suppression of China in the field of artificial intelligence.

Expectations were low for any concrete achievements from the talks, which are intended to implement an agreement struck by Xi and Biden at their November meeting.

In a background briefing before the talks, a US official said the meeting would not focus on “promoting any form of technical collaboration or cooperating on frontier research in any matter”.

China retiree, 78, and pole dancing champion wins gold medal, represents country in Asia’s Got Talent contest

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3261816/china-retiree-78-pole-dancing-champion-wins-gold-medal-represents-country-asias-got-talent-contest?utm_source=rss_feed

Wearing glamorous make-up, a mini skirt and high heels, Dai Dali, gracefully spins, does the splits and hangs upside down from a pole on stage.

It is hard to believe, but Dai is 78 years old.

The former bookshop employee in Sichuan province, southwestern China, has taken to pole dancing since she retired.

The oldest pole dancer in China has enjoyed her hobby for 14 years, and has captivated observers with her determination to keep dancing into her 80s.

Dai now live streams her daily training sessions on Douyin, and has attracted about 180,000 followers.

“Don’t let age limit us. I want to age gracefully,” Dai said.

At the age of 70, when some retirees barely manage to shuffle around the shops in their slippers, Dai won a gold medal in a professional pole dancing competition.

She has showcased her talent on state broadcaster CCTV, represented China in the Asia’s Got Talent competition, and been invited to perform on NBC’s Reality Show Little Big Shots: Forever Young.

At her Asia’s Got Talent performance, Dai received a standing ovation from all four judges.

One of the judges, American music producer David Foster, who was going through a divorce at the time, said humorously: “I think I met my next wife.”

Dai responded that she felt “very honoured”, but playfully added: “He is a little too young for me.”

Dai was drawn to the hobby as a way of keeping fit when she was 64. There was a pole dancing studio near the gym where she attended folk dancing classes, and she was intrigued by the “feeling of flying in the air”.

When she started training her legs were often covered in bruises, but she enjoyed the process of “conquering” all the challenges.

“I used to have inflammation and swelling in my left wrist before I started pole dancing; I could barely do anything with my hand. But now it’s much better,” Dai told the Post in 2015.

“As I’ve got older, my muscles have weakened, and I’m not as strong as I used to be. However, years of practice have continuously improved my technique and flexibility,” she said recently.

On social media, some criticised her for picking up such a “sexual” and “seductive” hobby, but she chose to ignore such comments.

“When I spin on the pole and perform the moves I love, I feel beautiful,” she said.

She has even had a 9-ft pole installed in her bedroom at home for daily practice.

Her family is very supportive, though her husband prefers playing mahjong. Her grandson has been a loyal fan of her hobby since his childhood.

In Dai’s Douyin comment section, aunties in their fifties and sixties share photos of themselves practising dance or yoga, inspired by Dai’s active lifestyle.

“I hope to live like you when I’m 70,” one online observer said.

“You’re 75 years old, but with the looks of a 25-year-old, and the mindset of a 15-year-old,” another commented.

Recently, Zhenzhen, a 63-year-old woman in China was complimented for her youthful appearance and strong body, achieved by training regularly in the gym for eight years after retiring.

In 2016, a 73-year-old man from Shanghai won the title of “most modern grandpa” in a modelling competition for senior citizens, with his age-defying physical appearance.

He had been on a strict diet and exercise regime for about two years and said he “hangs upside down” to stay young.

Another man, Wang Deshun, wowed Chinese social media when he walked the catwalk at a fashion show aged 79 in 2015, showing off his muscles. He also became the oldest person in the country to receive an official pilot’s certificate.

Alibaba, Tencent beat forecasts with strong results, a harbinger of China’s improving corporate earnings as economic growth takes root

https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3262676/alibaba-tencent-beat-forecasts-strong-results-harbinger-chinas-improving-corporate-earnings-economic?utm_source=rss_feed

Two of China’s largest technology companies beat their earnings forecasts, as Chinese consumers spent more online on retail goods and games, a harbinger of improving corporate profits in the nation’s post-pandemic economy.

Alibaba Group Holding, one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, reported a 10-per cent jump in net profit, its biggest annual earnings growth since 2021, as its revenue beat analysts’ forecasts in the financial year that ended on March 31.

Net profit at Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest games publisher, jumped by 62 per cent in the first quarter, comfortably beating the consensus forecast compiled by Bloomberg, while sales rose 6 per cent.

Strong financial results by the two companies – with more than 300,000 staff between them – are the touchstones of the growth in corporate earnings and economy that global investors are looking for, as they debate whether China’s post-pandemic recovery was a flash in the pan.

The outlook for profitability among Chinese companies looks bright because China’s economic growth is showing signs of stabilising after emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, UBS said on May 8.

That is a relief for investors, helping them recover from the 4-per cent average decline in first-quarter net income among the 5,000 companies listed on the stock exchanges of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to UBS. Earnings had fallen earlier because consumers had refrained from spending amid a property slump.

“From a macro perspective, recent property sales and new starts have yet to hit bottom, while overall earnings remained pressured amid subdued demand in the first quarter,” said Meng Lei, a strategist at UBS in Shanghai. “Looking ahead, earnings are set to pick up as property activity stabilises and inflation recovery fuels household income and consumer spending growth.”

UBS was among the global investment banks and brokers that dialled down their scepticism about China’s growth prospects in recent months, joining Goldman Sachs and BNP in saying that they are now “positive” on the world’s second-largest economy. HSBC switched its position on China’s equities from “underweight” to “neutral.”

China’s economy expanded by 5.3 per cent in the first three months, at a faster pace than the previous quarter, according to official data.

The state of retail sales is of particular importance to economists and China watchers, as spending by consumers is key to restarting the country’s economic growth engine. Sales growth slowed to 3.1 per cent in March, as consumers eschewed big ticket purchases such as residential property and vehicles.

Here, the corporate earnings by Alibaba and Tencent are important indicators. Alibaba, which operates Taobao and Tmall Marketplace, sells everything from personal and household goods to fresh produce, and even conducts land and ownership auctions for companies. Tencent earned 180 billion yuan last year, or about 30 per cent of its group revenue, from the world’s largest catalogue of mobile games, including such blockbusters as Honour of Kings and PUBG Mobile.

Improved corporate earnings are crucial to the upwards momentum in Chinese stocks listed on the mainland, Hong Kong and New York, analysts said.

“We are seeing a resurgence in investor interest in Chinese stocks, including the internet industry, and Tencent is poised to be a top choice for larger funds due to its decent profit growth,” said Shawn Yang, a senior analyst at Arete Research.

China’s benchmark CSI 300 Index has risen 15 per cent from its February low after a slew of state measures such as direct stock purchases and restrictions on short selling. Overseas investors snapped up yuan-traded stocks for a third consecutive month in March largely because of improving sentiment and recalibration of portfolios by global money managers.

Tencent is the largest stock on Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index, which crossed the 19,000-level this week, capping a 27.8-per cent rally from January’s low to return to a bull market. Tencent’s stock has gained 45.6 per cent in the same period.

South China Sea: Philippine civilian convoy sails towards disputed Scarborough Shoal

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3262715/south-china-sea-philippine-civilian-convoy-sails-towards-disputed-scarborough-shoal?utm_source=rss_feed

Civilians on board Philippine fishing boats sailed on Wednesday towards a China-controlled reef off the Southeast Asian country to distribute provisions to Filipino fishermen and assert their rights to the disputed waterway.

The trip to the waters around Scarborough Shoal comes two weeks after China coastguard vessels fired water cannon at two Philippine government boats in the same area, in the latest maritime incident between the countries.

A Philippine coastguard boat will escort the civilian convoy, which includes around 100 people on four commercial fishing vessels and a number of smaller outriggers, organisers said on Wednesday as the convoy left a northern Philippine port.

“Our mission is peaceful, based on international law and aimed at asserting our sovereign rights,” Rafaela David of Atin Ito said in a statement on the eve of the trip to give food and fuel to fishermen.

“We will sail with determination, not provocation, to civilianise the region and safeguard our territorial integrity.”

David said the group was undeterred by reports of a “heavy presence” of Chinese vessels near the shoal and would go ahead with plans to also drop a dozen buoys marked “WPS is ours”.

WPS is the acronym for the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for the South China Sea waters immediately west of the Philippines.

Scarborough Shoal has been a potential flashpoint since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

The reef is about 240km (150 miles) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims by the Philippines and other countries, and ignoring an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

To press its claims, Beijing deploys coastguard and other boats to patrol the waterway and has turned several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarised.

Tensions over the disputed waters and reefs have intensified in the past 18 months as Manila pushes back against China’s growing assertiveness.

This is the second civilian convoy organised by the Atin Ito group. A previous trip to the South China Sea in December was aborted due to shadowing by Chinese vessels.

South China Sea: Philippine admiral’s scandal sparks concerns about Chinese military exchanges, security threats

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3262705/philippine-admirals-scandal-sparks-concerns-about-chinese-military-exchanges-security-threats?utm_source=rss_feed

High-profile accusations against a top Philippine navy officer who was once part of a military exchange programme with China have put the spotlight on other officials who had joined the same initiative, raising questions about the potential for broader diplomatic fallout and threats to national security.

Vice-Admiral Alberto Carlos is currently at the centre of a geopolitical scandal after the Chinese embassy in Manila claimed to have an audio recording of him agreeing to a controversial “new model” to manage conflict over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea that would constrain the Philippine military’s ability to act.

While the accusations remain unsubstantiated, Carlos’ ties to Beijing have been scrutinised in light of his attendance at a Chinese naval college, where he was the first Filipino military officer to have completed a course there as part of an intergovernmental programme.

This Week in Asia has learned from interviews with military insiders that 38 officers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines took part in the programme, which began in 2008.

Following a request from senators to abort the programme – which was raised after a lawmaker noted “with alarm” that some military officers up for promotion had studied in China – the armed forces’ Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jnr said in August the military was no longer sending officers to China.

However, he revealed that the discontinued programme was the product of a memorandum of understanding signed between Beijing and Manila in 2004 and noted that many other countries had similar initiatives with China, including other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

He also said the point of the programme was to learn best practices from other countries’ militaries to see what could be applied to theirs.

Carlos is on leave from his post as chief of the navy’s Western Command, which guards Palawan and the country’s maritime interests in the West Philippine Sea – Manila’s term for the section of the South China Sea that defines its maritime territory and includes its exclusive economic zone.

Carlos is the most senior Philippine military officer to have once studied in China. In 2008, he took a general staff course at People’s Liberation Army (Navy) Command College in Nanjing.

Last week, the Chinese embassy in Manila claimed Carlos had approved a new “1+1” model for avoiding conflict around the highly disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the West Philippine Sea in a conversation with an embassy official.

An alleged audio transcript leaked to select reporters by the embassy claimed that Carlos had confirmed to the embassy that his superiors had approved the new model, which would only allow Manila to deploy one coastguard vessel and a resupply boat to its outpost on the shoal and, in response, China could launch one coastguard ship and a fishing boat.

The accusations have since been strongly denied by a number of Philippine officials and agencies, with some alleging that the embassy’s evidence had been fabricated.

Aaron Jed Rabena, a professorial lecturer at the University of the Philippines Asian Centre who specialises in strategic studies and geopolitics, told This Week in Asia that the disclosure of a wiretapped conversation without the consent of the person being tapped was “a violation of the Vienna Convention and [the Philippines’] anti-wire tapping law” and could prove problematic for the embassy.

Rabena, who has a doctorate in international relations from Shandong University, cautioned that this could have “economic repercussions or a tit-for-tat expulsion of some of our diplomats”. He also said it could destroy any goodwill China had nurtured with other Filipino alumni of its military schools.

“That’s possible, others might be worried that they are being recorded, including our diplomats and other government agents or agencies that deal with the West Philippine Sea issue,” he said.

Chester Cabalza, founding president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank in Manila, said the accusations against Carlos could have a chilling effect on fellow alumni of the military exchange programme with China.

Cabalza, who studied at the National Defence University in Beijing, asked how any of them could trust China if they could be “used by them” in the same way they had used Carlos.

He recalled that Beijing was “very aggressive” two years ago in consolidating the Philippine military officers who had studied in China into an alumni association.

A military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told This Week in Asia that during last year’s Balikatan military exercises between US and Philippine troops, an officer who had studied in a Chinese military school said he was asked by a former classmate in Beijing to share materials about the drills.

The military officer who was interviewed said there was no protocol in the armed forces about sharing such materials with former foreign classmates.

Military officers should be wary of such approaches, warned retired Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong during a closed-door forum sponsored by the Stratbase ADR Institute think tank in Manila in January of last year.

Ong said the “co-opting” of key defence officials to “establish a secure foothold in the Philippines, at the expense of the country’s maritime interests” was part of China’s “political warfare”.

China had also taken a softer approach, such as hosting “alumni events” for officers who had once studied in the country, he said.

Ong on Tuesday confirmed to This Week in Asia what he had earlier told the forum, adding that the Chinese embassy’s recent actions showed it was not just a diplomatic mission but was also used to “influence the decisions of military leadership and to use local media to convey disinformation”.

“Taken together with the current trajectory of domestic politics – the intention is to distract the country and government away from the [West Philippine Sea] issue, create discord and distrust among Filipinos, and weaken the institutions involved in fighting for our sovereign rights in [the area],” he said.

Rabena the lecturer said Manila’s military exchanges with Beijing were “a bit different” because the countries’ maritime disputes “cast malice into things related to or done by China”.

Still, he expressed hope that military-to-military ties might resume “when tensions lessen”, noting that Brawner had said the exchange programme was only temporarily halted.

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China population: Beijing rounds up experts for birth rate recommendations as youths report reluctance

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3262644/china-population-beijing-rounds-experts-birth-rate-recommendations-youths-report-reluctance?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top political advisory body has gathered some of its highest ranking members to discuss how to build an environment friendly to raising families, a clarifying moment for the country’s worrying demographic trends as earlier incentives show little progress in buoying a sharp decline in fertility rates.

Despite Beijing’s relaxation of limits on the number of children permitted per household and promises of financial support to new parents, a recently published survey showed a lack of employment prospects and maternity benefits are large enough deterrents for would-be parents to outweigh the benefits of cash payments or tax incentives.

Over 100 members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), many of whom are subject-matter experts in demography or economics, joined the meeting in Beijing on Saturday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

“Beijing needs to systematically plan its population policy and increase social support for childbearing to alleviate the financial burdens associated with parenthood and children’s education,” said Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong.

The high-level conclave underscores the intensity of focus China has placed on looming demographic challenges as the country – historically reliant on a large labour force to fuel economic growth – attempts to halt a precipitous slide in birth rates.

A total of 9.02 million babies were born in 2023, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January – the lowest figure since the founding of the country in 1949.

In the same year, the fertility rate in China – the number of children a woman can be expected to have in her lifetime – plunged from 2.6 births in the late 1980s to 1.19, according to data from the United Nations.

The present figure is significantly lower than the replacement rate of 2.1 and even trails Japan’s fertility rate of 1.31, a country in a long and public struggle with low birth rates and an ageing population.

Beijing’s demographic disquiet extends beyond labour shortages. The low fertility rate has exacerbated a population imbalance caused by decades of the country’s one-child policy – an official limit of one child for most households – with a shrinking cohort of working-age individuals expected to support a growing elderly population, posing a particular challenge to pension sustainability.

In 2016, Beijing relaxed the policy and allowed couples previously under the one-child limit to have a second child, and in 2021, it raised the threshold to three. Several provinces like Hunan and Henan have increased their childcare allowances.

However, these factors are of least concern for educated youth in China, according to a survey conducted by Mao Zhaoyan, a professor at Capital University of Economics and Business.

Conversely, policies to propel employment – especially for young women – were named as the most conducive for incentivising childbirth.

The survey polled 32,282 college students across eight provinces in China between November 2021 and January 2022, a time when the Covid-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc on the job market.

However, even after virus control measures were lifted at the end of 2022, China’s employment picture remains subdued. Government data showed about 15.3 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 were out of work in March.

Around 60 per cent of college students said they believe ensuring employment equity for women and offering sufficient paid maternity leave are the primary factors which would increase their willingness to give birth, according to survey results. The findings were posted Friday on the WeChat account of the Journal of Youth Exploration, a publication of the Communist Youth League of Guangzhou.

Nearly 40 per cent of respondents cited sufficient parental leave for men and access to high-quality public schooling as conditions that would boost their interest in starting a family, with over 30 per cent citing the importance of flexible work schedules.

In addition, over 40 per cent of students said that their fertility intentions were unchanged by the shift to a three-child policy, while only around 10 per cent named policies such as tax breaks, housing incentives and cash allowances for childbirth as having an impact on their decision. Nearly 18 per cent reported an unwavering opposition to having a child, saying no policy could influence their decision.

Several provinces in China extended maternity leave for women from around three months to nearly six months in 2021, while men’s maternity leave remained unchanged at half a month.

The cost burden of extended maternity leave mostly falls on companies, dissuading many from hiring women and dampening market confidence at a time when economic morale is already low.

“We need to provide young people with maternity-friendly work environments,” Mao said. “[Policymakers] should include incentives for maternity and parental leave in maternity insurance to avoid shifting the burden to recruiters.”

China is one of the world’s most expensive places to rear children. In 2023, the cost of raising a first child to the age of 18 was estimated at 538,000 yuan (US$74,351) in a study by the Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute – 6.3 times the country’s per-capita gross domestic product.

Vietnam risks wider Spratlys dispute with more land reclamation: Chinese think tank

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262683/vietnam-risks-wider-spratlys-dispute-more-land-reclamation-chinese-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed

Vietnam has reclaimed more land in the South China Sea in the past three years than in the previous four decades, a Chinese think tank said on Tuesday, warning that the activity could “complicate and expand” disputes in the waters.

In its report “Construction on Islands and Reefs Occupied by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in the Nansha Islands”, the Beijing-based Grandview Institution said that until 2019, Hanoi carried out only modest reclamation efforts on the 29 disputed islands and reefs it controlled in the Spratly Islands.

But then it embarked on major dredging and landfill work, adding dramatically to the original 0.7 sq km (173 acres) of land on the features.

“Vietnam has carried out large-scale land expansion on several islands and reefs, adding 3 sq km of new land, far exceeding the total construction scale over the previous 40 years,” said Liu Xiaobo, the report’s author and director of Grandview’s Centre for Marine Studies.

The assessment was based on data published in November by the US-based Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

China and Vietnam have conflicting claims in the Spratlys, a group of South China Sea islands that Beijing calls the Nanshas and Hanoi refers to as Quần đảo Trường Sa.

“Vietnam has occupied more Chinese islands and reefs, stationed more troops and built more facilities than any other coastal state to the South China Sea,” the Grandview report said.

It said that after 2021, Vietnam started using large cutter suction dredgers to reclaim land. The dredgers are specialised maritime vessels equipped with a rotating cutter and designed to dredge rock, clay, silt and sand.

In a report in December, Grandview said Hanoi had been “extremely low-key and secretive” about its island construction.

It said Vietnam might have learned from China’s experience a few years ago and sought to avoid attracting international attention.

Hanoi might also be trying to expand its positions in the Spratlys as much as possible before a code of conduct for the area came into effect. China and Asean have long discussed a code of conduct for the South China Sea.

“Vietnam’s land construction scale in the Nansha Islands is expected to continue expanding,” the institution said in December.

Vietnam and China are just two of the various parties claiming part of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which one-third of global shipping passes.

Tuesday’s report also referred to the Philippines’ increasing efforts to repair and reinforce a warship it grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal, another outcrop in the Spratlys.

Coastguard vessels from China and the Philippines have clashed around the shoal and Scarborough Shoal, and tensions are brewing over Sabina Shoal.

“These are all actions that complicate and expand the disputes and affect peace and stability,” Liu said in the report.

Some observers say the South China Sea presents an even greater risk of conflict than the Taiwan Strait but the institution said it expected the waters to remain generally peaceful this year.

The think tank said the Philippines’ construction on its occupied features in the Spratlys was low-level and the defences there were weak, so they were unlikely to pose a substantial threat to the military presence of other countries and the surrounding waters.

It added that there was no sign that Malaysia had carried out land construction on the islands and reefs it controls in the Spratlys in recent years.

An India-China thaw may be on the horizon if Modi is re-elected

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3262275/india-china-thaw-may-be-horizon-if-modi-re-elected?utm_source=rss_feed

India is in the midst of a pivotal general election. The potential continuity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership could spark a renewed debate on the trajectory of India’s relations with China.

Over the past decade, ties between the two Asian giants have been characterised by a complex interplay of cooperation and competition, marked by diplomatic engagements at the highest levels and border stand-offs underscoring enduring tensions.

There have been several incidents that have tested the limits of both nations’ strategic patience. The 73-day military stand-off in Doklam in 2017, triggered by China extending a road into the disputed territory, brought the two nuclear-armed neighbours perilously close to an armed conflict. Violent clashes in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh in 2020, which resulted in casualties on both sides, exacerbated bilateral tensions.

When Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 2016 G20 summit in Hangzhou, he voiced India’s objections to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through the Pakistan-administered portion of Kashmir, which India also claims.

Despite these flare-ups, there have been concerted efforts to foster dialogue and diplomacy. When Modi met Xi at an informal summit in Wuhan in 2018, against the backdrop of the Doklam conflict, the leaders resolved to provide strategic guidance to their armed forces, to enhance communication and foster trust.

The following year, Xi visited Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu for a second informal summit focused on enhancing bilateral relations and increasing cooperation. However, these engagements have yet to yield tangible results, and the issues fuelling mistrust remain unresolved.

At the heart of the India-China rift lies the thorny issue of territorial disputes, particularly over the unresolved border in the Himalayas. The two countries have vastly divergent perceptions of the Line of Actual Control, a loosely defined ceasefire line, and this has led to periodic incursions and accusations of transgression.

India’s concerns about China’s increasing influence in the Indian Ocean region and its strategic partnerships with India’s neighbours, notably Pakistan, have fuelled apprehensions about a potential encirclement. China’s close relations with Pakistan, underpinned by economic and military cooperation, is a thorn in India’s side. New Delhi views Beijing’s support for Islamabad as a hindrance to regional stability and a potential threat to its national security.

India’s joining of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue has added a new layer of complexity to the India-China equation. The Quad, seen as a counterweight to China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, has raised concerns in Beijing about potential encirclement as well.

On the other hand, China’s actions in the South China Sea, coupled with its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, have fuelled fears of a debt trap and an erosion of sovereignty among smaller nations in the region. India’s opposition to China’s infrastructure initiative and its espousing of a free and open Indo-Pacific have positioned it as a strategic bulwark against China’s regional ambitions, further straining bilateral ties.

If Modi secures a historic third term, his approach towards China may be influenced by a desire to leave a lasting legacy of regional stability and economic cooperation. A pragmatic and statesmanlike approach, driven by the pursuit of long-term bilateral and regional interests, could motivate him to seek a thaw in relations with Beijing.

Such a shift would necessitate significant concessions from both sides, and a willingness to address long-standing grievances and find common ground on contentious issues. India’s concerns about China’s support for Pakistan and Beijing’s growing footprint in the Indian Ocean region need to be allayed.

Similarly, India will need to reassure China that it does not consider the Quad an anti-China grouping and that its involvement is focused on addressing shared regional concerns. While the challenges are formidable, the potential rewards of a pragmatic rapprochement could extend far beyond the bilateral realm, ushering in a new era of cooperation and prosperity for the entire Indo-Pacific.

For Modi, the decision to pursue a diplomatic thaw with China may ultimately rest on his ability to navigate the complex web of domestic political pressures, regional alliances and global power dynamics.

Only time will tell if Modi’s continued leadership can catalyse a diplomatic breakthrough that has long eluded the two Asian giants, or whether the status quo of strategic distrust and periodic tensions will persist, casting a long shadow over the region’s geopolitical landscape.

China and Russia to shore up ‘no limits’ partnership with Thursday meet up

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/14/russia-china-putin-xi-ukraine-meeting/2024-05-13T03:41:20.980Z

In his first overseas trip since securing a fifth term, Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Beijing on Thursday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to reinforce ties with China and their joint efforts to push back against a U.S.-led global order.

The trip will come barely a week after Xi visited Europe for the first time in five years and declined to use his influence to pressure Moscow to end in its war against Ukraine. As well as providing diplomatic support, China has become a critical economic lifeline as Russia copes with mounting Western sanctions.

Xi and Putin both share a vision of a “multipolar” world order, in which countries led by China and Russia can operate by a different set of rules to the ones set by the United States and other liberal democracies.

“I expect both Russia and China will heavily focus their narrative on the failures of the West and in particular the U.S., even if not named directly,” said Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese security and defense policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank.

Coming just after Xi’s Europe visit, Putin’s trip “signals that Beijing has not changed how it views its bilateral relationship with Russia despite consistent calls from European leaders to halt China’s support of Russia’s war economy and defense industry,” Nouwens added.

Putin will be in China through Friday and will visit Beijing and the northern city of Harbin, close to the border with Russia, the Kremlin’s press service said.

It added that the two leaders “will have a substantive exchange of views on the most pressing global and regional affairs.” The negotiations with end with the signing of a joint statement of the heads of state and a number of bilateral documents, the press service said.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Xi and Putin will “exchange views on bilateral relations.”

The meeting between Xi and Putin will be their first bilateral summit since the Chinese leader’s trip to the Kremlin in March 2003, when the two leaders vowed to deepen Sino-Russian political and economic cooperation. Putin and Xi also met in October when the Russian leader, among others, traveled to Beijing to mark 10 years of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi’s flagship foreign and economic project.

This week, the two are expected to shore up their “no limits” partnership, declared just weeks before the invasion. China is now one of Russia’s only remaining trading partners and friends on the global stage.

As Russia launches new offensive operations in Ukraine, it is looking to stabilize his country’s relations with China, including trade and energy, said Zhao Minghao, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

“For Putin, facing pressure from the United States and Western countries, he must ensure this strategic partnership with China,” Zhao said, adding that the partnership is equally crucial for China.

China’s trade with Russia hit a record $240 billion in 2023 — up 63 percent from 2021, before the invasion, and reaching a goal they planned to meet by 2024. During that time, exports of Chinese electronics needed to produce precision-guided weapons systems saw a significant spike, Chinese customs data shows.

But trade flows have increased in both directions. Russia last year became China’s biggest oil supplier as Beijing took advantage of its discounted prices. Western sanctions mean Russia has relatively few big customers left.

Beijing imported 107 million tons of Russian crude oil, an increase of 24 percent compared to 2022, Chinese ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui told Rossiya Segodnya, a Russian state-controlled media group, this month.

“This [visit] demonstrates that the mutual trust between China and Russia has reached a new pinnacle in history,” said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing.

Given the scheduled visit to Harbin in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province, the two leaders may discuss measures focusing on economic development along the Far East border region, Wang said.

“There is a lot of potential for economic collaboration between China and Russia,” Wang added.

Putin may also use this visit to Asia to make good on a pledge to visit North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who traveled to Russia’s Far East last year for a rare in-person summit with Putin, and called relations with Russia his top priority. Kim pledged full support for Putin and his government amid their war in Ukraine.

Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea has ramped up since the invasion, with Pyongyang reportedly providing Moscow with much-needed ammunition and other weapons to replenish its dwindling supplies for the war in Ukraine.

North Korea, which also faces a host of international sanctions relating to its nuclear and weapons program, wants to show it stands with Russia in the face of U.S.-led economic isolation.

Putin last visited Pyongyang since 2000, when he met Kim Jong Il, the father of the current leader.

Pei Lin Wu and Vic Chiang in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

US to Increase Tariffs on $18 Billion of Chinese Imports

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/us-to-increase-tariffs-on-18-billion-of-chinese-imports/7610894.html

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced plans Tuesday to increase tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Among the goods facing new taxes will be electric vehicles (EVs), computer chips, batteries, critical minerals, medical products, steel and aluminum.

The White House released a statement about the plan on Tuesday. The statement explained that the move aims to limit what it called “unfair trade practices” by China. It said U.S. officials were especially concerned that Chinese trade policies on technology transfers, intellectual property, and innovation “are threatening American businesses and workers.”

The U.S. plans come after a four-year examination on trade with China. The examination looked at tariffs put in place by former President Donald Trump, who introduced taxes on about $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.

The examination was carried out under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The act permits the government to take action against trade practices it considers unfair. Section 301 was also the main tool the Trump administration used to defend its tariffs.

China was quick to condemn the proposed new tariffs and urged the U.S. to cancel the plans. A commerce ministry statement said the action “will seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation.” The statement also said the Chinese government is prepared to take its own measures to defend its interests.

The U.S. tariffs are to be activated over the next three years. Tariffs on EVs, solar cells, medical devices, steel and aluminum are set to take effect in 2024.

Currently, there are very few EVs from China in the United States. But officials worry that low-priced models made possible by Chinese government subsidies could soon start flooding the U.S. market.

The tariff rate on EVs is set to increase four times to 100 percent this year. The tariff rate for semiconductors will rise from 25 percent to 50 percent by next year, White House officials said.

Lael Brainard is director of Biden’s National Economic Council. She said the tariffs would increase the cost of some Chinese goods. They would also help block China’s efforts to dominate the market for new, developing technologies.

“China is simply too big to play by its own rules,” Brainard told reporters Monday during a conference call ahead of the announcement.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the U.S. imported $427 billion in goods from China in 2023, while it exported $148 billion in goods.

U.S. officials have said the latest tariff decision was made independently of this year’s American presidential election, which happens in November.

But Brainard noted in her comments that the tariffs would help workers in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Both states are so-called “battleground states” that may decide who wins the election.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

 

The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

tariff – n. a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country

intellectual property – n. property such as inventions, research and media that carry rights for the owner to use, sell or gain from the property

innovation – n. the introduction of changes or new ideas

subsidy – n. money given by a government to help pay costs

dominate – v. to control or have power over someone or something