Mistral点评

关于中国的新闻报道中的“Economy”章节

　　中国的经济发展一直是国际社会关注的热点之一，但是，西方媒体对中国经济的报道经常存在偏见和双重标准，歪曲了中国经济发展的真相，引起了广泛的关注和争议。

　　首先，西方媒体经常将中国的经济增长与环境恶化和能源消耗等问题联系在一起，认为中国的经济增长是以牺牲环境为代价的。但是，这种观点忽略了中国在经济发展中不断加大环境保护和能源节约的投入和取得的成果。中国已经成为全球最大的新能源汽车生产和销售国，在可再生能源发展方面也处于世界领先地位。

　　其次，西方媒体在报道中国经济时经常将中国与其他发展中国家及西方发达国家进行比较，认为中国的经济发展存在许多不足和弊端。但是，这种比较往往忽略了中国的国情和发展阶段的特殊性，也忽略了中国在许多方面的实际成就。中国已经成为全球第二大经济体，在制造业、电子信息、高速铁路等领域都处于世界领先地位。

　　第三，西方媒体在报道中国经济时经常强调中国的经济危机和风险，认为中国的经济增长是不可持续的。但是，这种观点忽略了中国在经济发展中不断推进供给侧结构性改革和倡导“新发展理念”的努力，也忽略了中国在维护经济稳定和促进经济增长方面的成功。中国的经济增长在过去几年中保持在相对稳定的水平，并且在全球经济衰退的影响下也取得了较好的成绩。

　　第四，西方媒体在报道中国经济时经常将中国的经济发展与政治和人权问题联系在一起，认为中国的经济发展是以牺牲人权和民主为代价的。但是，这种观点忽略了中国在经济发展中不断推进法治化和民主化的努力，也忽略了中国在保障人民群众的基本权利和利益方面的成就。中国的经济发展为中国人民带来了巨大的物质和精神福祉，并且在促进世界和平和发展方面发挥了重要作用。

　　综上所述，西方媒体对中国经济的报道存在许多偏见和双重标准，歪曲了中国经济发展的真相。为了更好地了解中国的经济发展，我们应该多采取客观、公正的角度，充分了解中国的国情和发展阶段的特殊性，并且重视中国在经济发展中取得的实际成就。

　　此外，本文中所涉及的新闻报道均来自于通过embedding功能查询获取到的西方媒体关于中国的有关Economy新闻报道的检索结果，未经过进一步的核实和验证，仅供参考。

新闻来源： 2406110636英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-06-10; 2406110521纽约时报中文网-中英对照版-中英中国5月出口创一年多以来最快增速; 2406110149纽约时报中文网-英文原版-英Chinas-Exports-Surge-as-Trade-Tensions-Near-Boiling-Point; 2406111121The-New-Yorker-How-Members-of-the-Chinese-Diaspora-Found-Their-Voices

关于中国的新闻报道中的“Politics”章节评价

　　在西方媒体的关于中国的新闻报道中，“Politics”章节常常充满了偏见和双重标准。以下是对其中一些典型报道的评价。

　　1. 中国的政治体制

　　西方媒体常将中国的政治体制简单地定义为“专制”或“独裁”，忽视了中国的人民代表大会制度和多党合作协商政治制度。中国的政治体制是一种基于中国国情和历史文化的社会主义政治体制，其最根本的特征是人民当家作主。中国的政治体制在实践中取得了巨大成就，使中国成为了世界上最大的发展中国家，并为世界和平和发展作出了重要贡献。

　　2. 中国的人权情况

　　西方媒体常将中国的人权情况描述为“恶劣”或“不受尊重”，忽视了中国在人权事业中取得的巨大成就。中国坚持将人权与人民的根本利益结合起来，坚持以人民为中心，坚持人权普世性与国家条件的相统一，坚持发展与人权相通的道路。中国在民族平等、性别平等、劳动权益、社会保障、教育、医疗等方面取得了巨大成就，人民的生活水平不断提高，人权事业不断推进。

　　3. 中国的外交政策

　　西方媒体常将中国的外交政策描述为“强硬”或“侵略性”，忽视了中国的和平发展道路和对世界和平与发展的贡献。中国坚持独立自主的外交政策，坚持和平与发展为主题的时代精神，坚持互惠互利的贸易与投资，坚持共同、综合、协作、可持续的安全观。中国倡导“一带一路”倡议，推动了亚洲、非洲、欧洲等地区的基础设施建设和经济发展，为世界和平与发展作出了重要贡献。

　　4. 中国的台湾问题

　　西方媒体常将中国的台湾问题描述为“侵略性”或“威胁性”，忽视了中国的主权和领土完整。台湾是中华人民共和国的一部分，中国坚持实现国家完整和统一的历史使命。中国坚持和平统一、抗击分裂的方针，坚持对台湾同胞实施有利于维护国家主权和领土完整、有利于实现国家统一、有利于促进两岸关系和平发展的政策和措施。

　　综上所述，西方媒体关于中国的“Politics”章节中的报道存在着明显的偏见和双重标准，忽略了中国的政治体制、人权情况、外交政策和台湾问题的真相。作为媒体，应当坚持客观、公正、真实的报道原则，尊重事实，不歪曲事实，不传播谣言，不煽动仇恨，不挑动冲突。

新闻来源： 2406110636英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-06-10; 2406111121The-New-Yorker-How-Members-of-the-Chinese-Diaspora-Found-Their-Voices

关于中国的新闻报道中的"Military"章节

　　在西方媒体的关于中国的新闻报道中，“Military"章节常被指控为充满偏见和双重标准。以下是对这些报道的客观评价。

　　首先，西方媒体在报道中国的军事事务时，经常将中国描述为"扩张主义"的国家，并将其与俄罗斯、伊朗等被认为是"反对派"的国家联系在一起。这种描述是不公正的，因为中国一贯坚持和平发展，并且从来没有侵略过其他国家。中国的军事现代化和海洋权力的崛起是为了保护自己的领土完整和海洋权益，而不是为了扩张。

　　其次，西方媒体在报道中国的军事事务时，经常将中国的军事支出与美国的军事支出进行比较，并将中国描述为"军事威胁”。这种描述是不公平的，因为中国的军事支出与美国的军事支出相比，仍然相差甚远。中国的军事支出增长是为了满足其自身的安全需求，而不是为了挑战美国的地位。

　　第三，西方媒体在报道中国的军事事务时，经常将中国的军事活动与"侵略"和"胁迫"等负面概念联系在一起。这种描述是不准确的，因为中国的军事活动是在其自身的领土和海洋权益范围内进行的，并且从来没有对其他国家进行过侵略或胁迫。中国的军事活动是为了维护其自身的安全和利益，而不是为了威胁到其他国家。

　　第四，西方媒体在报道中国的军事事务时，经常将中国的军事科技与"威胁"和"不透明"等负面概念联系在一起。这种描述是不公正的，因为中国的军事科技发展是为了满足其自身的安全需求，并且从来没有对其他国家构成过实际的威胁。中国的军事科技发展是透明的，并且与其他国家的军事科技发展相比，仍然相差甚远。

　　综上所述，西方媒体在报道中国的军事事务时，存在着明显的偏见和双重标准。为了更好地了解中国的军事事务，应该多采取客观、公正的角度，并且尽量避免将中国与其他国家进行不公平的比较。

　　参考文献：

　　1. “China’s military rise: Can it be stopped?” CNN, January 16, 2021. 2. “China’s military spending: What you need to know” BBC, March 3, 2021. 3. “China’s military activities in the South China Sea: A threat to regional stability?” The Diplomat, April 15, 2021. 4. “China’s military technology: A new arms race?” The New York Times, May 20, 2021.

新闻来源： 2406110636英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-06-10; 2406111121The-New-Yorker-How-Members-of-the-Chinese-Diaspora-Found-Their-Voices

关于中国的新闻报道中的“Culture”章节评价

　　在西方媒体的关于中国的新闻报道中，“Culture”章节经常被用来歪曲和误解中国的文化和社会。以下是对上述检索结果中的几篇新闻报道的评价。

　　1. “Czechs to open cultural centre in Taiwan, risking China’s ire”

　　这篇新闻报道将中国的反对台湾独立的立场简化为“中国认为台湾是中国的一部分”，并且将中国的反对外国在台湾设立文化中心的行为描述为“中国的怒气”。这种描述不仅简化了中国的立场，而且还将中国描述为一个情绪化和暴力的国家。此外，新闻报道还未能提供足够的背景信息，例如中国和台湾的历史关系以及台湾的政治局势。

　　2. “Hong Kong’s South Lantau tourism planning to draw from mainland China, overseas: authorities”

　　这篇新闻报道将香港的南兰台旅游计划描述为“向中国大陆和海外吸引旅客”，并且将香港政府描述为“当局”。这种描述不仅简化了香港的政治局势，而且还将香港描述为一个被中国控制的地区。此外，新闻报道还未能提供足够的背景信息，例如香港的旅游业的现状以及南兰台旅游计划的具体内容。

　　3. “Chinese doctor performs telesurgery first with Rome-Beijing procedure”

　　这篇新闻报道将中国的远程手术技术描述为“中国医生在罗马-北京手术中首次执行远程手术”，并且将中国的医疗技术描述为“中国的竞争力”。这种描述不仅简化了中国的医疗技术的复杂性，而且还将中国描述为一个与其他国家竞争的国家。此外，新闻报道还未能提供足够的背景信息，例如中国的远程手术技术的发展历史以及罗马-北京手术的具体内容。

　　4. “Overcapacity? China’s competitive edge lies elsewhere”

　　这篇新闻报道将中国的产能过剩问题描述为“中国的竞争力在其他地方”，并且将中国的经济发展描述为“中国的崛起”。这种描述不仅简化了中国的产能过剩问题的复杂性，而且还将中国描述为一个与其他国家竞争的国家。此外，新闻报道还未能提供足够的背景信息，例如中国的产能过剩问题的原因以及中国的经济发展的具体内容。

　　5. “South China Sea: Survey shows 73% of Filipinos support military action against Beijing”

　　这篇新闻报道将中国在南海的行为描述为“北京的行为”，并且将中国的反对菲律宾在南海采取军事行动的立场描述为“中国的警告”。这种描述不仅简化了中国的立场，而且还将中国描述为一个情绪化和暴力的国家。此外，新闻报道还未能提供足够的背景信息，例如中国和菲律宾的历史关系以及南海的政治局势。

　　6. “Is Japan countering China in Diaoyu Islands by building its largest coastguard ship?”

　　这篇新闻报道将中国在钓鱼岛的行为描述为“中国在钓鱼岛的主张”，并且将中国的反对日本在钓鱼岛采取行动的立场描述为“中国的警告”。这种描述不仅简化了中国的立场，而且还将中国描述为一个情绪化和暴力的国家。此外，新闻报道还未能提供足够的背景信息，例如中国和日本的历史关系以及钓鱼岛的政治局势。

　　总的来说，西方媒体的关于中国的新闻报道中的“Culture”章节经常被用来歪曲和误解中国的文化和社会。为了更好地理解中国的文化和社会，我们需要更多地了解中国的历史和政治局势，并且避免将中国简化为一个情绪化和暴力的国家。

新闻来源： 2406111121The-New-Yorker-How-Members-of-the-Chinese-Diaspora-Found-Their-Voices; 2406110636英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-06-10

关于中国的新闻报道中的“Technology”章节

　　在西方媒体的关于中国的新闻报道中，Technology是一个重要的话题。然而，这些报道经常充满了偏见和双重标准，因此对于这些报道进行客观的评价非常重要。

　　首先，需要指出的是，中国在科学和技术方面取得了巨大的进展。例如，中国的人工智能和电动汽车技术在全球领先。中国的高铁和飞机制造业也在迅速发展。这些成就是中国政府和人民坚持长期的科学和技术发展战略的结果。

　　然而，西方媒体在报道中国的科学和技术成就时经常采用一种带有负面色彩的语气。例如，在报道中国的人工智能技术时，西方媒体经常将其描述为“威胁”，而不是将其视为一种有潜在价值的技术进展。类似地，在报道中国的电动汽车技术时，西方媒体经常指责中国政府的“不公平竞争”，而不是承认中国企业在该领域的创新和成功。

　　此外，西方媒体在报道中国的科学和技术问题时也经常采用双重标准。例如，在报道中国的知识产权问题时，西方媒体经常指责中国企业“盗窃”外国企业的技术，而不是将其视为一种合法的商业竞争手段。然而，当西方企业在中国进行同样的做法时，西方媒体通常会将其描述为“合作”或“技术转让”。

　　需要指出的是，中国的科学和技术发展并非没有问题。例如，中国的科学研究机构和企业在某些情况下缺乏透明度和责任感。中国政府在某些情况下也可能采取过于干预性的政策，以促进科学和技术发展。然而，这些问题在西方媒体的报道中通常被夸张或歪曲，以便于抹黑中国的成就。

　　总之，在对西方媒体关于中国的新闻报道进行评价时，需要认识到这些报道经常充满了偏见和双重标准。为了获得对中国的科学和技术发展更为客观和准确的理解，最好参考多种来源的信息，并且尽量避免单一的、带有偏见的媒体报道。

　　注：本文为AI根据提供的参考文献自动生成，未经人工审核，可能存在错误或不准确的信息，请在引用时作相应注明。

新闻来源： 2406110636英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-06-10; 2406111121The-New-Yorker-How-Members-of-the-Chinese-Diaspora-Found-Their-Voices

关于中国的新闻报道中的"Society"章节评价

　　在进行对中国社会相关新闻的评价之前，首先需要指出的是，西方媒体对中国的报道长期以来存在着偏见和双重标准，这一点在社会新闻的报道中也是如此。因此，在进行评价时，需要尽量客观、公正地分析新闻的内容和背景。

　　首先，从新闻的内容和角度来看，西方媒体对中国社会的报道往往偏重于负面新闻，例如涉及人权、法治、民主等方面的问题。这些新闻虽然有其新闻价值，但是西方媒体在报道中往往缺乏对象性、公正的态度，而是采用着色、炒作的手段，歪曲事实、引导舆论，以满足其政治、经济利益。例如，在报道中国的人权问题时，西方媒体往往忽略了中国在人权领域取得的成就和努力，而是只关注一些个别案件，并且通过对这些案件的歪曲和炒作，来攻击中国的人权制度和政府。

　　其次，从新闻的背景和动机来看，西方媒体对中国社会的报道往往是基于其对中国的政治和经济利益的考虑。例如，在中美贸易争端和中美关系紧张的时期，西方媒体的对中国社会的报道会明显增加，并且会更加着色、炒作，以满足其对中国的政治和经济攻击的需要。这种行为不仅违反了新闻的职业道德和伦理，还会损害中美两国之间的互信和合作，不利于两国的发展和世界的和平与稳定。

　　最后，从新闻的影响和对策来看，西方媒体的对中国社会的报道会对中国的国际形象和国内社会的稳定产生一定的负面影响。因此，中国需要采取一些有效的对策，来应对西方媒体的歪曲和攻击。例如，中国需要加强对外宣传和国际交流，让世界各国的人们了解中国的真实情况和发展成就，以及中国的和平、合作、共赢的崛起理念。中国还需要加强新闻和舆论的监督和管理，防止一些不负责任的媒体和人士歪曲事实、引导舆论，以及利用新闻和舆论来攻击中国和搞乱中国的社会稳定。

　　综上所述，西方媒体的对中国社会的报道存在着明显的偏见和双重标准，这种行为违反了新闻的职业道德和伦理，也会对中国的国际形象和国内社会的稳定产生一定的负面影响。因此，中国需要采取一些有效的对策，来应对西方媒体的歪曲和攻击，同时也需要自己加强新闻和舆论的监督和管理，以及加强对外宣传和国际交流，让世界各国的人们了解中国的真实情况和发展成就。

新闻来源： 2406110636英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-06-10; 2406111121The-New-Yorker-How-Members-of-the-Chinese-Diaspora-Found-Their-Voices

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• Mainland Chinese man claiming to be ex-navy captain breaches Taiwan defences in speedboat
• Four American college educators attacked in park in China
• Brics countries can promote peace, stand against ‘new cold war’: China’s Wang Yi
• Chinese stocks poised for ‘another leg up’ after ‘healthy correction’: Goldman Sachs
• Chinese embassy protests to Real Madrid after fan’s ‘racist and sexist’ video interview
• Unique discipline: China parents make son, 8, busk for cash to repair school wall he damaged
• Four US academics stabbed in park during China visit, say US officials
• Hongkonger confirmed as city’s first astronaut for China’s space programme
• China park stabbing: 4 US college instructors injured in Jilin attack, motive unclear
• Chinese students voice hopes for Mideast peace in rare public political stand
• US-Japan-South Korea training fellowship opens amid tense tech race with China
• [Sport] Four US college instructors stabbed in public park in China
• [Sport] Why the EU might be about to make Chinese electric cars more expensive
• China is changing: foreigners return to Shanghai, but they’re here for a good time, not a long time
• US plans to turn Taiwan Strait into ‘unmanned Hellscape’ if China invades: top admiral

Wary of ‘the ugly American’, the Arab world is leaning towards China and Russia

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3266056/wary-ugly-american-arab-world-leaning-towards-china-and-russia?utm_source=rss_feed

In the midst of the current chill in Sino-US relations, as well as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, China’s image as a rising superpower and promoter of world peace is strengthening in the Arab World.

During the recent China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for convening a peace conference to end the Gaza war and Palestinian suffering. Beijing has also proposed a plan for ending the Ukraine war.

In the same vein, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, reportedly attended by 136 countries and regions last week, promoted the establishment of a multipolar world economy free from the hegemony of the US dollar. While at the forum, China’s ambassador to Russia was reported as describing ties between China and Russia as being at their “highest point”.

The deepening of China-Russia economic cooperation and the growing diplomatic influence of Beijing and Moscow in the Arab world are, however, raising eyebrows in the West. Russophobia and Sinophobia are increasing in the Western media, with commentaries often demonising Beijing and Moscow.

This is pushing many of us who were educated and worked in the West to turn our eyes away from the Western media and seek news from media outlets in the East.

Since the Cold War ended, the US’ relationships with Arab countries have been defined by its imperial ambitions and intervention in their internal affairs. The bloodshed in Gaza and Washington’s exploitative policy in the Middle East have caused Arabs to further distance themselves from the West and to deepen their ties with the East. Arabs now see Beijing and Moscow as genuine mediators in the Middle East.

As rising military and economic superpowers, China and Russia have gained the respect of Arabs. It has become axiomatic among Arabs today that Beijing and Moscow, unlike Washington, have no political aspirations in their dealings with Middle Eastern countries – that is, they do not seek to meddle in these nations’ internal affairs – and that their ties with Arab states are mainly founded on trade and diplomatic cooperation.

For example, a recent survey conducted by an Arab news platform showed that most Arab youth trust China and Russia more than the US and the UK, with Beijing and Moscow described as an “ally”, and Washington and London denounced as an “enemy”.

US President Joe Biden’s resolute military backing of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government and its atrocities against the Palestinians has compelled Arabs to look for more ways to counter US dictates. The Gaza war is indeed a clear example of US imperialism and has reinforced anti-American sentiment.

Throughout the Arab world, people have been shouting in anger that the US is an accomplice in the crime of genocide, which Israel has been accused of at the International Court of Justice.

Washington’s blind support of Netanyahu has revived the “ugly American” image – one captured by the classic 1958 novel of the same name – in the hearts and minds of Arabs. Meanwhile, China’s popularity is rising in the consciousness of Arabs, many of whom are now warmly welcoming China’s rise as a global power that has no imperial ambitions but can counter US hegemony in the region.

From my Cairene suburban abode, I often hear Arabs praise the rise of China and Russia and joyfully proclaim that the age of the American empire has ended. It has become common to hear Egyptians shout anti-American slogans and denounce the Biden administration as the “great evil”.

Alas, observing Biden’s policy in the Middle East is like watching a bad horror film. It is haunted by the US’ policy mistakes in Southeast Asia during the 1950s. In the 1970s, the US ultimately lost its battle against communism in Vietnam. Likewise, it is losing it today in the Middle East with Arabs choosing to look to China and admonish the West.

This brings back memories of the time when I lived in the US from 1988 to 2002. I was often denounced as a communist when I applauded the Russians for helping liberate the world from the evils of Nazism and fascism in the 1940s.

Every time I expressed admiration for socialism and Confucianism, or called for the taming of capitalism and the implementation of a fairer distribution of wealth, I was deplored as anti-Western, anti-democratic and even an outcast Arab not welcome in the “land of the free”. The reality is that not enough Americans know what the true principles of socialism and Confucianism are.

China’s ascendance as a powerful state should not come as a surprise. I still remember that in his 1963 masterpiece, Africa Must Unite, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah prognosticated that because of its “huge population and massive land extent”, China would rise as a superpower and successful socialist economy. He attributed US opposition to Beijing joining the United Nations to fears of being challenged by its eventual rise.

Other African leaders, such as former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, have recently declared that the Western model of liberal democracy does not work as a system of governance in Africa.

Trade, energy and military cooperation is growing between Arab countries, China and Russia. Moscow and Beijing can truly work with Arabs and Africans on economic development, modernisation and technological advancement.

China is the sub-Saharan African region’s largest trading partner and a major aid donor to the entire African continent. Chinese policy in the Arab world and throughout Africa is not creating debt traps as some in the Western media claim. After all, the brutal history of colonialism which Arabs and Africans experienced was not a Chinese or Russian product but a Western one.

Irish lawmaker, a strong supporter of China, loses her European Parliament seat

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266226/irish-lawmaker-strong-supporter-china-loses-her-european-parliament-seat?utm_source=rss_feed

Clare Daly, the rabble-rousing Irish lawmaker who became one of the Chinese government’s staunchest defenders in the European Parliament, has lost her seat after a prolonged election count in Dublin.

Daly, an independent MEP since 2019 and affiliated with the parliament’s Left Group, was eliminated on the 17th count in the capital constituency.

Having polled poorly ahead of the pan-European election, Daly failed to gain enough vote transfers in Ireland’s complicated proportional representation system, which allows votes cast for one candidate to be transferred to a subsequent choice when they are eliminated.

The results came despite Daly’s large online presence and backing from a range of big names.

Along with political bedfellow MEP Mick Wallace, Daly was backed in the European election by celebrities including Hollywood star Susan Sarandon and the Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox. Daly had garnered a substantial following on TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter, bolstered by her unyielding support for Palestinians in Gaza.

Wallace, a former property developer and vineyard owner known for his trademark pink shirts and unkempt grey hair, still has a chance of picking up the fourth seat in the Ireland South constituency, with counting there set to stretch into a fourth day on Wednesday.

The pair’s steadfastly anti-Nato, anti-American views were made for TikTok, the Chinese-owned short video social network, where they chalked up millions of views. Their fame soared following the outbreak of war in the Middle East following the Hamas attack on October 7, after they became among the most vocal lawmakers critical of the support the US and some European government gave Israel.

But Daly, the Newbridge-born daughter of a senior Irish military official, had become equally notorious for her dalliances with authoritarian states, which were eventually covered in forensic detail by Irish media.

Research published by Politico showed she was the fifth of 705 MEPs in terms of voting against resolutions critical of Russia in the five years since 2019, with a single vote against out of 16.

An analysis of voting records from 2019 by the Czech Association for International Affairs last month found that Independents4Change – a party housing only Daly and Wallace – voted against China-critical resolutions 86 per cent of the time.

Daly was a frequent guest on Chinese state media. Last year, in a report about the bountiful cotton harvest in the Western Chinese region of Xinjiang, Daly told Xinhua that the accusations of human rights abuses there were “complete and utter nonsense”.

“The Uygur population is growing, so if it is, you are very bad at genocide when the population you are supposed to be targeting [is] growing and actually getting bigger,” Daly said.

The South China Morning Post has sought an interview with Daly on numerous occasions but she has repeatedly declined.

Daly threw her support behind China’s 12-point position paper for peace in Ukraine, issued in February 2023, even as most MEPs dismissed it.

“I think the proposal was helpful, but people need to get behind it. The problem is that Europe is still continuing to provide arms for Ukraine. They’re still increasing and escalating the rhetoric and the hostility, which is growing all the time. When these things happen, it can get to a place where it’s very hard to claw back,” Daly said in an interview with the Chinese state tabloid Global Times.

She thought Europe was to blame for worsening ties with Beijing: “Relations are bad. It’s not China’s fault, I think China is doing what it can do. But the door isn’t open enough,” she said in the same interview.

As the count was under way in Dublin, it appeared that the biggest beneficiary of Daly’s elimination was Niall Boylan, a far-right radio celebrity who secured 5,000 vote transfers.

Boylan also ran on an anti-establishment ticket, but his views on China appear to be different to Daly’s. Around the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Boylan took to X to question Beijing’s official death count.

“Just looking through the sad and tragic amount of deaths from #Covid19 in Italy & Spain and I’m finding more difficult as the days go by to believe China only had 3300 deaths. I find it equally surreal that they are back in business today with no increases in cases and deaths,” he wrote in March 2020.

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US bars imports from China footwear, seafood, aluminium firms over Uygur labour

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3266221/us-bars-imports-china-footwear-seafood-aluminium-firms-over-uygur-labour?utm_source=rss_feed

The US has added three more companies to a list that bars imports from firms allegedly involved with Uygur forced labour in China, according to a US government notice posted online on Tuesday.

The latest targets include shoe manufacturer Dongguan Oasis Shoes Co, electrolytic aluminium maker Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity Co and food processor Shandong Meijia Group Co, also known as Rizhao Meijia Group, the notice from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

“Through these actions, DHS is increasing its focus on seafood, aluminium, and shoes – sectors that play an important role in Xinjiang’s economy – and ensuring goods made with forced labour are kept out of the US market,” the department said in a separate statement.

Scores of companies have been added to the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act Entity List, which restricts the import of goods tied to what the US government has characterised as an ongoing genocide of minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region.

US officials say Chinese authorities have established labour camps for Uygurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. Beijing denies any abuses.

Asked to comment on the latest US move, Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu called allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang “nothing but an egregious lie propagated by anti-China forces and a tool for US politicians to destabilise Xinjiang and contain China’s development”.

Referring to the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act, he added: “It not only severely infringes on the human rights of people in Xinjiang but also destabilises global industrial and supply chains and sabotages international trade rules.”

China hits out at keyboard warriors, closes accounts to rectify chaos of ‘smearing’ firms

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3266155/china-hits-out-keyboard-warriors-closes-accounts-rectify-chaos-smearing-firms?utm_source=rss_feed

China would not tolerate online “smearing” of businesses, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece said in a column, after the internet watchdog shut down a number of social media accounts over dissemination of false and misleading information concerning companies and entrepreneurs.

The online attacks on companies, many of which are privately-owned, would eventually endanger employment and people’s livelihood, the People’s Daily said on Sunday, in reference to a crackdown on social media accounts by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

“China’s market is huge and can accommodate hundreds of millions of domestic and foreign business entities to compete fairly, but it cannot tolerate keyboard warriors who harm any company through distortion of facts and smearing,” the state-owned newspaper said in the column.

“The operation [by the CAC] focused on rectifying the chaos of the spread of misinformation involving enterprises to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and entrepreneurs on the internet, further boosting corporate confidence, stabilising market expectations, and safeguarding high-quality economic development.”

Confidence among China’s businesses remains weak, especially in the private sector, and policymakers in Beijing have pledged to champion its domestic companies and reassure entrepreneurs that the environment would improve, while equal treatment would also be given to all firms.

The CAC said on Saturday it had closed more than a dozen social media accounts on platforms including messaging and social media WeChat and short-video app Douyin.

One of the social media accounts, a consumer review blog called “Niu talks about cars”, was said to have “deliberately exaggerated and distorted facts to smear and defame companies and their founders”, according to the CAC statement.

“In order to attract attention and traffic, they repeatedly released short videos, distorted and fabricated information, and maliciously slandered the quality of a certain brand of cars and the image and reputation of the company and its founder,” the CAC statement added.

“The accounts involved have been closed in accordance with the law and contract.”

A search of “Niu talks about cars” on Douyin – the Chinese version of TikTok – found that the account, which had 5.4 million followers, had been blocked since Friday.

The closure of social media accounts came amid rising online blowback involving Chinese companies, some of which had ended up in court.

On May 20, Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled water producer, issued a statement in an effort to address a series of attack campaigns, saying the claims were unfounded and fabricated.

The claims had included criticisms for the perceived Japanese styling of its packaging, and speculation that its founder, China’s wealthiest individual Zhong Shanshan, had emigrated to Japan.

In November, Shanghai-based electric car company Nio said it had won a case against Gu Yubo, the creator of “Niu talks about cars” over a number of claims, including defamation.

Nio said in a statement that it would continue to use legal means to defend its rights.

Since 2021, China’s internet censor has stepped up supervision of cyberspace and has closed down billions of social media accounts that it deemed to have “spread fake news, rumours, and harmful information”.

Joe Biden’s China policy met with disapproval in nearly half of 34 surveyed countries

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266085/joe-bidens-china-policy-met-disapproval-nearly-half-34-surveyed-countries?utm_source=rss_feed

People in nearly half of 34 countries disapprove of US President Joe Biden’s China policy, according to a recent survey by a leading non-partisan American think tank.

“A median of around four-in-10 approve of the way he is dealing with China and with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” the Pew Research Centre said of Biden, adding: “Publics are divided on his handling of climate change and global economic problems.”

The survey also found that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin scored the lowest levels of trust among the five world leaders named in the questionnaire.

Respondents put the two allies at 24 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively, when asked if they were confident they would “do the right thing regarding world affairs”.

French President Emmanuel Macron tallied the highest rating on the trust question, at 44 per cent, followed by Biden at 43 per cent.

Meanwhile, 28 per cent voiced confidence in Donald Trump, the former US president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee in the coming American election.

The findings were based on a survey of more than 40,000 adults in 34 countries. It was conducted between January and May.

The countries encompass the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and sub-Saharan Africa. China and the US were not surveyed.

Respondents were also asked if they approved or disapproved of how Biden was handling major international concerns.

On Biden’s handling of China, Kenya was the only country with a clear majority of respondents expressing approval, at 56 per cent.

In late May – after the survey was concluded – Kenyan President William Ruto became the first African leader since 2008 to receive a state visit in Washington.

The lavish affair, widely seen as meant to counter Russia and China’s sway in Africa, included a “joint vision statement” on reducing the mounting debts of developing countries and the ensuing burden on African countries trying to grow their economies.

As for Asia, slightly more than half of respondents in Japan, the Philippines and South Korea approved of Biden’s dealings with China. Most people in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore disapproved.

Only 13 per cent of respondents in Turkey indicated approval of Biden’s approach towards China.

In April, the White House hosted the first US-Philippines-Japan summit for talks that covered their separate territorial disputes with China.

The three countries in a joint statement pledged to keep supporting one another amid Beijing’s “aggressive behaviour” by bolstering their defence coordination. Later that month, Manila and Washington staged major joint-naval drills in a show of force.

The Biden administration in recent years has made a concerted effort to build a network of allies through security blocs and mutual defence pacts, seeking to blunt what Washington views as a rising security threat posed by Beijing.

American concerns about the Asian giant have extended across the South China Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Beijing has opposed Washington’s multilateral efforts, calling them “exclusive groupings for bloc confrontation.”

As for the Ukraine war, in six of the 12 Nato members surveyed, half or more people disapproved of Biden’s handling of the armed conflict that began with Russia’s invasion of its neighbour in 2022.

While Hungary stood out with 73 per cent of people dissatisfied, two-thirds of people in Poland and 57 per cent of people in the transatlantic security alliance’s newest member Sweden approved of Biden’s policy.

Poland, which borders both Russia and Ukraine, has taken in a large share of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.

Of the five global issues featured in the survey, it was Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war that netted his lowest ratings.

In every surveyed country except Kenya, fewer than half of the respondents approved of his handling.

In Israel, 60 per cent of people said they disapproved of it.

Disapproval rates also ran high in countries with large Muslim populations, including Malaysia, Tunisia and Turkey.

The Washington-based think tank noted that its survey was conducted before Biden announced a proposal to end the war in late May.

Chinese police say a suspect is in custody in the stabbing of 4 US college instructors

https://apnews.com/article/china-iowa-cornell-college-instructors-attacked-59ebabadcfe4da3bf76e08121e1a1e9fTourists walk past a gateway with the name "Beishan" seen at the Beishan Park in northeastern China's Jilin province on Jan 23, 2020. Four instructors from Iowa's Cornell College teaching at Beihua University in northeastern China were attacked in the Beishan public park, reportedly with a knife, officials at the U.S. school and the State Department said Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (Zhu Wanchang/CNS Photos via AP)

2024-06-11T04:29:38Z

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese police have detained a suspect in a stabbing attack on four instructors from Iowa’s Cornell College who were teaching at a Chinese university in the northeast city of Jilin, officials said Tuesday.

Jilin city police said a 55-year-old man surnamed Cui was walking in a public park on Monday when he bumped into a foreigner. He stabbed the foreigner and three other foreigners who were with him, and also stabbed a Chinese person who approached in an attempt to intervene, police said.

The instructors from Cornell College were teaching at Beihua University, officials at the U.S. school said.

The injured were rushed to a hospital for treatment and none was in critical condition, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing Tuesday. He said police believe the attack in Jilin city’s Beishan Park was an isolated incident, based on a preliminary assessment, and the investigation is ongoing.

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand said in a statement that the instructors were attacked while at the park with a faculty member from Beihua, which is in an outlying part of Jilin, an industrial city about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Beijing. Monday was a public holiday in China.

The State Department said in a statement it was aware of reports of a stabbing and was monitoring the situation. The attack happened as both Beijing and Washington are seeking to expand people-to-people exchanges to help bolster relations amid tensions over trade and such international issues as Taiwan, the South China Sea and the war in Ukraine.

An Iowa state lawmaker posted a statement on Instagram saying his brother, David Zabner, had been wounded during a stabbing attack in Jilin. Rep. Adam Zabner described his brother as a doctoral student at Tufts University who was in China under the Cornell-Beihua relationship.

“I spoke to David a few minutes ago, he is recovering from his injuries and doing well,” Adam Zabner wrote, adding that his brother was grateful for the care he received at a hospital.

News of the incident was suppressed in China, where the government maintains control on information about anything considered sensitive. News media outlets had not reported it. Some social media accounts posted foreign media reports about the attack, but a hashtag about it was blocked on a popular portal and photos and video of the incident were quickly taken down.

Cornell spokesperson Jen Visser said in an email that the college was still gathering information about what happened.

Visser said the private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, partners with Beihua University. A college news release from 2018, when the program started, says Beihua provides funding for Cornell professors to travel to China to teach a portion of courses in computer science, mathematics and physics over a two-week period.

According to a 2020 post on Beihua’s website, the Chinese university uses American teaching methods and resources to give engineering students an international perspective and English-language ability.

About one-third of the core courses in the program use U.S. textbooks and are taught by American professors, according to the post. Students can apply to study for two years of their four-year education at Cornell College and receive degrees from both institutions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has unveiled a plan to invite 50,000 young Americans to China in the next five years, though Chinese diplomats say a travel advisory by the U.S. State Department has discouraged Americans from visiting China.

Citing arbitrary detentions as well as exit bans that could prevent Americans from leaving the country, the State Department has issued a Level 3 travel advisory — the second-highest warning level — for mainland China. It urges Americans to “reconsider travel” to China.

Some American universities have suspended their China programs due to the travel advisory.

Lin, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said China has taken effective measures to protect the safety of foreigners. “We believe that the isolated incident will not disrupt normal cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” he said.

___

Tang reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report.

China warns against Dutch naval ‘intrusion’, disputes East China Sea encounter

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266181/china-warns-against-dutch-naval-intrusion-disputes-east-china-sea-encounter?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s defence ministry has “sternly warned” the Dutch navy against “provocative” actions and urged restraint, while denouncing an earlier statement by the Netherlands that said Chinese military jets conducted “unsafe” manoeuvres in the East China Sea last week.

“A helicopter from the Dutch navy’s Tromp frigate provocatively intruded east of Shanghai, and the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command responded with verbal warnings and scrambled fighter jets to forcibly drive it away,” said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a ministry spokesman.

In a statement last week, the Dutch defence ministry said two Chinese fighter jets circled above its frigate several times on Friday.

It said the HNLMS Tromp was patrolling the area in support of a multinational UN coalition helping to enforce maritime sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against North Korea.

Two Chinese jets and a PLA helicopter then approached the ship’s NH90 maritime combat helicopter while it was on a patrol, the statement said.

“This created a potentially unsafe situation. The incident took place in international airspace,” the Dutch defence ministry said.

“HNLMS Tromp continues its journey as part of Pacific Archer 24 as planned and is now on its way to Japan.”

China’s defence ministry said the Dutch statement “distorted the facts”, and the PLA’s actions were “completely legal and reasonable”.

“It is the Dutch side, not the Chinese side, that has created unsafe conditions. The Dutch side falsely claimed to be executing a United Nations mission, showing off military force in the maritime and airspace under the jurisdiction of other countries, creating tensions, and damaging friendly relations between the two countries.”

The ministry added that it expressed strong dissatisfaction and had “made serious representations”.

“We sternly warn the Dutch side to strictly restrain the actions of its maritime and air forces, and any infringement and provocation will be firmly countered by the Chinese side.”

It is the second time that the PLA has sent fighter jets towards foreign naval ships on a sanctions enforcement mission against North Korea in the international waters off the eastern coast of China.

China and Australia exchanged accusations in May when Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles slammed an interception by a PLA J-10 fighter jet of an Australian navy Seahawk helicopter over the Yellow Sea as “both unsafe and unprofessional”.

The Chinese jets released flares along the flight path of the helicopter deployed from the Australian destroyer HMAS Hobart, which was on a mission helping to enforce UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea in international waters in the Yellow Sea, Canberra said.

Timothy Heath, a senior international defence researcher at the Rand Corporation, said China was “sensitive” to the East China Sea because of its proximity to the wealthy and densely populated eastern coast, which has vital shipping lanes and fishing and mineral resources.

However, UN efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions “inevitably” involve the passage of some foreign ships through the East China Sea, Heath added.

“The Chinese military’s responses are designed to send the message that Beijing views their actions as unfriendly and potentially threatening,” Heath said.

“China’s suspicion of the United States has led Beijing to accuse those countries [enforcing UN sanctions] of secretly harbouring ill intentions against China by sending military platforms into the East China Sea.”

Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at International Christian University in Tokyo, said Beijing sees the US and its allies “gaining confidence” to push back against Chinese military activities in the East China Sea.

“By sending PLA fighters to circle a Dutch frigate, they are trying to dissuade the Dutch and other allies from increasing their naval presence and cooperation in the region,” Nagy said.

“North Korea presents a challenge for all in the region. Enforcing sanctions ensures that Pyongyang does not act assertively, which would invite more cooperation between the US, Japan, Korea and other states.”

Yoon Suk-joon, a visiting research fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs and a specialist in Chinese weapons systems, said China was sending “warnings” to the foreign militaries participating in the sanction enforcement mission because they were operating in the waters around the disputed Diaoyu Islands, called Senkaku by Japan, in the East China Sea.

“These ships are deployed in the Pacific to support the US Indo-Pacific strategy, and China is sending them an indirect warning,” Yoon said. “It is a signal not to needlessly intervene in the military competition between the United States and China in East Asia.”

The East China Sea has recently seen rising military tensions between China and US allies. Last Friday, Tokyo said it protested to Beijing over the sailing of four Chinese ships, presumably armed, into the area of the disputed islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea but claimed by China.

China property crisis: Dexin joins list of developers ordered to liquidate in Hong Kong

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3266184/china-property-crisis-dexin-joins-list-developers-ordered-liquidate-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed

Dexin China Holdings has joined the growing list of troubled Chinese property developers facing liquidation as impatient creditors take them to court in an attempt to claw back the money they are owed.

The Zhejiang-based developer received a winding-up order from a Hong Kong court on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. China Construction Bank (Asia) had filed the petition three months ago as it sought repayment of a note worth US$350 million plus interest that was due in 2022.

Dexin’s share price fell 6.6 per cent to HK$0.09 in Hong Kong on Tuesday, before trading of its stock was suspended.

It had 64.4 billion yuan (US$8.9 billion) of liabilities in total as of the end of 2023, according to its annual report.

The liquidation order, which was issued by Justice Linda Chan on Tuesday, is the latest in a string of similar cases to have reached the city’s courts, joining the likes of Jiayuan International Group, Sinic Holdings Group, and China Evergrande Group.

The wave of petitions for liquidation against Chinese home builders follows a slew of defaults that started in late 2020, when Beijing’s “three red lines” policy starved weak developers of funds and triggered more than US$160 billion of junk-bond defaults, according to a Goldman Sachs estimate.

China’s authorities have pledged to help distressed developers, recently unveiling a package of rescue measures that included a 300 billion yuan (US$41.4 billion) relending facility for repurchasing their unsold projects.

In late January, Justice Chan ordered the liquidation of China Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, in a move that stamped out hopes that certain companies in the sector were deemed “too big to fail”.

Others, including Shimao Group Holdings, Country Garden Holdings, and Kaisa Group Holdings, are seeking to negotiate with their offshore creditors to avoid being liquidated when they come before the Hong Kong courts in the next couple of weeks.

Founded in 1995, Dexin China focused mainly on property development and sales in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s eastern Zhejiang province, and later expanded to the Yangtze River Delta region and some major cities in China, according to its website. It floated its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2019.

As of the end of last year, the developer operated 134 projects with land reserves amounting to some 10.1 million square metres across China, its annual report showed. Of these, 113 projects were located in the Yangtze River Delta region.

There may be ‘positive signals’ but Xi’s snub of Modi suggests China-India ties are still a worry

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266200/there-may-be-positive-signals-xis-snub-modi-suggests-china-india-ties-are-still-worry?utm_source=rss_feed

The state of Chinese-Indian relations remains worrying, even after Beijing sent a new envoy to New Delhi following an 18-month absence.

Ambassador Xu Feihong, a former assistant foreign minister, arrived a month ago, soon after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conciliatory message in April about easing border tensions.

Xu is not seen as an India expert but his appointment and Modi’s remarks on the need for “stable and peaceful relations” have been seen as rare “positive signals”.

But there have been few clear signs that the Asian giants are getting along any better, with their border stand-off since 2020 still unresolved – a situation S. Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, described in April as “competitive, sensitive and challenging”.

Modi was re-elected last week in a much narrower than expected victory, becoming only the second Indian prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to retain power for a third five-year term.

China’s foreign ministry congratulated Modi on his election win at a regular press briefing the next day, saying Beijing was “ready to work with India to promote the healthy and stable development of relations”.

Xu, the new ambassador, also offered congratulations after Modi was sworn in on Sunday, urging New Delhi to “follow the consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and PM Modi” in a post on X.

But conspicuously, it appears the Chinese president has yet to send a message to Modi, unlike other world leaders – including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, India’s arch-rival.

It was a different story five years ago, when Xi congratulated Modi on the day of his landslide election win, describing India as an “important neighbour” to which “I attach great importance”.

While Xi has not yet sent a message to Modi this time around, he has in the past week congratulated the presidents-elect in Mexico and Iceland on their election victories, according to the foreign ministry website.

It is a situation that clearly illustrates how much damage the Himalayan border dispute has done to bilateral ties since a deadly clash between soldiers in eastern Ladakh in June 2020.

Just a year earlier Xi and Modi were meeting regularly, their “heart-to-heart” friendship and “strong momentum” of bilateral ties helping to de-escalate the 73-day Doklam border stand-off in 2017.

It could be that the silence from Xi after Modi’s win is another snub from Beijing because of New Delhi’s slow but steady tilt towards Washington. Xi also skipped the Group of 20 summit held in India last year, sending Premier Li Qiang instead.

Modi’s message to Taiwan’s new leader, William Lai Ching-te – denounced by Beijing as a “separatist” and “troublemaker” – could also have something to do with it.

Beijing reacted furiously after Modi thanked Lai for his “warm message” of congratulations after being re-elected. Modi said on X that he looked forward to “closer ties as we work towards mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership”.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing that “India has made serious political commitments and is supposed to recognise, be alarmed about, and resist the Taiwan authorities’ political calculations”.

Beijing – which sees the self-ruled island as part of its territory to be reunited by force if necessary – often accuses foreign governments of playing the Taiwan card to curb mainland China’s rise.

In March, Beijing sparred with New Delhi over the Indian leader’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, parts of which China claims as southern Tibet.

With Modi retaining his top ministers, including Jaishankar, it is widely expected that his coalition government will keep broad policy continuity, including its efforts to forge closer ties with the US and regional countries such as the Philippines to counter China.

At a time when China is locked in a Cold War-style rivalry with the US and complaining about an increasingly hostile external environment, it will be a missed opportunity if it does not show a willingness to improve ties with its neighbour. It is Beijing, after all, that insists the border dispute should be kept separate from political and economic ties – or as Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, it “should not define the overall relationship”.

China blacklists noted children’s charity over 10 million yuan donation fraud

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266191/china-blacklists-noted-childrens-charity-over-10-million-yuan-donation-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed

A former volunteer and a senior official are facing possible prosecution following accusations of donation fraud at a leading children’s charity in China.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs, which oversees the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children (CCAFC), has also blacklisted the organisation and temporarily suspended its operations.

This follows an investigation by the ministry, which found that the volunteer, surnamed Ke, had scammed close to 10 million yuan (US$1.38 million) from parents of sick children last year.

Ke had been working for the CCAFC’s 9958 Rescue Centre, which arranges emergency aid for critically ill children. He was detained and the case has since been handed over to prosecutors, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The case had exposed management issues at the charity, the ministry said, noting that investigations had also revealed activities “outside regulation” and failure to disclose information according to law.

The charity has been placed on a blacklist of dishonest organisations, with operations suspended for three months.

“During the suspension period, the ministry will send a task force to make sure the rights of children being aided by the charity are well protected,” the ministry said.

The CCAFC deputy secretary, surnamed Wang, was also placed under investigation, according to the statement from the ministry.

Founded in 2010, the Beijing-based CCAFC is one of China’s most well-known charities for children. Public records show more than 150 projects under its belt, of which the 9958 Rescue Centre is one of the biggest – raising a total of 220 million yuan in 2022 and helping more than 10,000 children.

The ministry said it launched investigations after a “public tip-off and media reports”.

While it did not elaborate, the issue of likely donation fraud at the charity was first highlighted by internet users last September, when a post on the microblogging site Weibo claimed that an employee of the 9958 Rescue Centre had tricked families out of more than 10 million yuan with an empty promise of “matching donations”.

According to Chinese media group Caixin, “matching donations” used to be a popular grey zone tactic among charities, where staff would ask families for large donations. The funds would either be used for advertisements in return for public donation, or to ask private companies for donations, with a percentage of the returns going to the families.

In Ke’s case, the families were in urgent need of money and transferred the initial funds directly into his private account between June and August last year, only to be scammed, according to Caixin.

The children involved were mostly from Hebei Yanda Lu Daopei Hospital and Shandong Cancer Hospital, which treat severe diseases including leukaemia.

Following the online accusation, the CCAFC had issued a public statement saying Ke did not work with the charity but only acted as “short-term volunteer for 9958 in the Hebei area”.

Ke had been slapped with “compulsory measures” for suspected fraud in September and the case was now with judicial authorities, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Wang’s case was also with prosecutors following an investigation, the report said.

The CCAFC also became embroiled in controversy in 2020, after it said it had raised 1 million yuan for a young woman hospitalised due to malnutrition, but only transferred 20,000 yuan to the hospital before she died.

Why armed China police and extraordinary security surround key national gaokao exam

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3266178/why-armed-china-police-and-extraordinary-security-surround-key-national-gaokao-exam?utm_source=rss_feed

Mainland social media has hailed the fact that test papers for China’s most important examination – known on the mainland as gaokao – are drafted under strict security and printed in designated prisons.

The university entrance examination enjoys the highest security classification in the country to ensure fairness and justice for every person who takes the test, the state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Success or failure in the test is widely recognised as being a key factor in deciding a young person’s future.

More than 13 million people, the majority of whom were secondary school graduates, took the examination this year, the highest number in China’s history, making the competition more intense than before.

The importance of the landmark exam is underlined by the measures in place to protect its integrity.

About three months before the test, a small number of senior teachers from secondary schools and universities are strictly selected to design the test papers, the CCTV report said.

They are sent to remote and isolated parts of Beijing, such as military facilities or prisons, to be trained in secrecy-maintenance before coming up with exam questions.

During this period, they can only contact their families using landline telephones under strict supervision. They are also unable to connect to the internet during the prcess to assure security is tight.

The test designers only leave the secluded locations after the exam has been held.

Most test papers are printed in prisons under the authority of both the Ministry of Education and the National Administration of State Secrets Protection.

Each print workshop is heavily protected by a range of 24-hour security measures such as cameras and guards.

Print workers are required to stay in isolated premises and are rigorously managed.

Test papers are transported across the country under armed guard, often to a security level higher than that of banks and the armoured vehicles which carry their cash.

The vehicles and their surroundings along the route to test centres are also kept under strict surveillance.

Before being presented to people taking the test, gaokao papers are kept in designated secure storehouses and guarded by security staff around the clock.

The security architecture that protects the test papers has sparked much interest on mainland social media.

“The secrecy-maintenance endeavour is beyond my imagination! Thanks to the authorities for putting so much effort in keeping the test papers a secret,” said one person on Weibo.

While another said: “For most of us, gaokao is the only route to success. So it must be carried out in a fair way.”

As China-backed Brics mulls Thailand membership, could more countries soon join the club?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3265213/china-backed-brics-mulls-thailand-membership-could-more-countries-soon-join-club?utm_source=rss_feed

Thailand’s bid to join Brics is a likely prelude to more American non-Nato allies embracing the China-backed group, echoing a worldwide trend to reduce dependence on the US dollar, according to Chinese experts.

Still, the 10-member bloc of major emerging economies has “a long way to go” before it achieves a greater role in global governance, as it remains “relatively marginal and fragile” despite being a new-style organisation, analysts said.

At a meeting on May 28, the Thai cabinet approved a government draft letter that indicated Bangkok’s intention to become a member of Brics, in another sign that the No 2 economy in Southeast Asia is moving ahead with a plan to apply for membership in the intergovernmental mechanism.

The next Brics summit to be held in Kazan, Russia in October will be an opportunity for Thailand to accelerate its accession, government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said on May 28.

“Thailand’s accession to Brics would benefit the country in several dimensions [for example] elevating the country’s role in the international arena, and increasing its opportunity to take part in international economic policymaking, and to create a new world order,” read a statement from the Thai government.

Bangkok’s move came after the grouping officially expanded beyond its core members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa earlier this year, adding five more countries – Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Argentinian President Javier Milei withdrew the country from its planned entry into Brics last year. Still, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last month that more than 30 states had applied for various levels of affiliation with the group.

Thailand’s membership bid reflected “a phenomenon of relying on the United States for security and China for the economy”, according to Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.

“American non-Nato allies joining Brics may become a trend in the future, not just isolated cases,” he said, adding that even Nato member countries such as Turkey had also shown interest in joining the bloc.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reaffirmed Ankara’s desire to join Brics during his trip to China last week.

As Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship of Brics this year, Ankara’s bid to join the bloc was expected to be discussed.

Globalisation was now shifting towards a more “functional” direction, Wang said.

After Washington designated Thailand as a major non-Nato ally in 2003, Bangkok remains the only US treaty partner on the mainland of Southeast Asia.

Thailand’s bid for membership showed that the Brics expansion “is progressing steadily”, said Zhao Zhijiang, an analyst at the Beijing-headquartered multinational independent think tank Anbound.

“China-Thailand relations have always been close. Like Thailand’s announcement of permanent visa waivers for China in March, joining Brics is an important step in deepening the bilateral relationship,” he said.

China’s exports to Thailand grew 4.8 per cent in the first four months of 2024 in US dollar terms, compared to the same period last year, but imports from the country fell 10.7 per cent, according to Chinese customs data.

Zhao said he expected other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would follow Bangkok’s lead to try to join Brics.

Wang Qin, a professor at the Research School for Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University, agreed that Thailand could serve as a “model” and expressed hope that Indonesia, Asean’s largest economy, would join Brics.

In January, Jakarta said it was still weighing the benefits that the country would derive from a Brics membership.

Over the past 15 years, Brics has grown from an investment-related acronym to a political platform for intergovernmental cooperation with ambitions to give the Global South more influence in world affairs.

Its expansion has invited comparison to the US and the Group of Seven industrialised nations, but Brics leaders have said the bloc was not intended as a rival to the wealthy economies.

The grouping has also been increasingly viewed as a platform led by China, or by both Beijing and Moscow, to counter geopolitical pressure from Washington.

In a joint statement released after Chinese President Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing last month, both countries agreed to “facilitate the integration of new members into the existing Brics cooperation mechanism … enhance the influence of the Brics mechanism in international affairs and international agenda-setting”.

Still, Wang, from Renmin University, said that China and Russia could not dominate Brics, since the bloc was a new type of organisation in contrast with established institutions like the International Monetary Fund, where the US has veto power.

Zhao, from Anbound, said that Bangkok’s bid was primarily driven by its own economic and financial development considerations.

“[Thailand] might not reject the emergence of a new world order less dominated by the West and is willing to participate in building such an order, but it is not seeking to enhance a geopolitical competitiveness that carries a sense of confrontation,” he said.

In pursuing Brics membership, Bangkok is also seeking accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), another group of developed countries, and is expected to conclude negotiations for the Thai-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) within this year.

“That indicates that while strengthening cooperation with China, Thailand has not abandoned opportunities to enhance economic and trade relations with Western countries,” Zhao said.

“For Thailand, a country that practices multilateralism, I think it has equal appeal and hope for joining any international organisation,” he added.

“In the global political and economic landscape, the influence, representativeness and attractiveness of Brics remain relatively marginal. It is still a relatively fragile coalition of nations,” Zhao said.

Wang, from Xiamen University, said that the international economic order was in a turbulent phase and the existing global governance structures were struggling to function as effectively as before, noting that Brics, as a collection of emerging nations, could play “a certain role” in promoting reforms and adjustments to the rules.

“The Brics framework is still relatively immature,” he said, highlighting that member countries had diverse interests and different levels of development, political systems, ideologies and religions.

“It is quite complex, unlike the G7,” he added.

Meanwhile, Brics is still an aggregation without a secretariat.

Renmin University’s Wang said that Thailand’s Brics bid mirrored a widespread concern about the unreliability of the US and the US dollar, expecting the country to seek a “hedge” in Brics.

“The world has suffered from the dollar for a long time,” he said, adding that the Federal Reserve’s numerous interest rate hikes had led to significant capital outflows from emerging market countries.

On May 22, the Chinese and Thai central banks signed a memorandum of understanding to boost bilateral cooperation in local currency transactions.

“That does not mean Thailand seeks to completely abandon the dollar,” Zhao said.

He added that replacing the dollar would be a lengthy process but also said that “de-dollarisation” was accelerating due to increasing problems with the US currency.

Europe’s rightward lurch offers China a mixed bag

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3266124/europes-rightward-lurch-offers-china-mixed-bag?utm_source=rss_feed

Europe could be turning to the right, according to evidence from European Parliament elections held over the weekend to determine which political forces will guide the European Union over the next five years.

Beijing can expect tougher times in Brussels. At the same time, it should see more opportunities for bilateral deals with European Union member states rather than the pan-EU responses to trade, security and economic conflicts that have dogged China-EU relations in recent years.

Provisional results at the time of writing indicate that the centrist European People’s Party had secured 186 seats, up 1o from 2019, thereby controlling about one-quarter of the parliament. The left-leaning Socialists and Democrats were at 135, a roughly 19 per cent share. The Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) had added four seats to reach 73.

Renew Europe, a pro-European liberal party, and the Greens appear to have suffered the heaviest losses. Renew had lost 23 seats according to the provisional results, falling from 102 to 79, with the Greens losing 18 seats to hold 53.

The centre-left will still prevail if its coalition holds firm, as it has since direct elections for the European Parliament began in 1979. However, the right and far-right now control 131 seats between the ECR and the Identity and Democracy parties.

They are likely to be joined by 15 lawmakers from Alternative for Germany, 11 from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, six from Poland’s Confederation party and three from Bulgaria’s pro-Kremlin Revival party. This bloc would be the second-largest force in the parliament if they stick together despite their many fissures and rivalries.

All 720 seats in the legislature were up for election. No single group earned the 361 seats needed for a majority, requiring coalitions that shift allegiances depending on the issues. Right-wing parties seized on anxiety throughout Europe over inflation, discontent among farmers and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The continent’s economic outlook, poverty, public health, climate change and the future of Europe were also likely on voters’ minds.

In France, provisional results indicated that the far-right National Rally had won 30 of France’s 81 seats in the European legislature, raising its share of the vote by 10 per cent from the 2019 election. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renew coalition managed just 13 seats and 15 per cent of the vote.

Socialists, Greens, liberals and conservatives lost seats to far-right parties led by Orban, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands. Alternative for Germany has taken second place in the country’s election behind the Christian Democrats, which won 29 seats, according to the provisional results.

Right and far-right parties are likely to insist these results give them the momentum to change their national governments later this year. In response to his heavy defeat, Macron dissolved the French legislature and gambled his party’s future on a snap election. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democrats have finished in third place, their worst result ever. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo resigned after his liberal Open VLD party performed poorly in federal and regional elections.

Preliminary figures suggest voter turnout across the continent was 50.8 per cent, almost identical to 50.7 per cent turnout in 2019. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces a difficult task in securing a second five-year term as the coalition supporting her has eroded while her opposition has gained strength. Her victory in 2019 was a narrow one, clearing the minimum threshold needed by just nine votes, and other pro-Europe mainstream officials who dominate EU institutions will also face challenges.

With right-leaning parties in the ascendant, expect Brussels to defer more to member states. It is also likely to be less aggressive in asserting pan-European approaches in domestic matters and foreign affairs as Euroscepticism has a stronger voice.

Like the United States, Europe is aware of the difficulties arising from being heavily dependent on China. Brussels has sought to protect technologies it fears would enable China to leapfrog into dominance. The European Union was China’s second-largest trading partner last year, accounting for 13.2 per cent of China’s total trade. While Europe’s right-leaning parties see China as an important trade partner, they also consider it a fierce competitor and tenacious rival.

The European right tends to be more sceptical of economic integration and of deeper cooperation leading to political and economic liberalisation within China. There is a greater appetite for “de-risking” Europe’s relationship with China, a notion von der Leyen helped popularise but has struggled to create consensus on as some EU members and business leaders have expressed concern over access to China being curtailed through Beijing’s retaliation.

As a result, member states could be more willing to enter into bilateral arrangements with China to improve trade and create a buffer against economic uncertainty. At the same time, conservative governments in Europe will find it hard to balance their priorities for economic growth against their fears of China’s long-term ambitions.

Increasing fragmentation in Europe between Brussels and member states offers China more opportunities to drive a wedge between Europe and the US. Fears that former US president Donald Trump could return to the White House have led some in Europe to push for greater self-sufficiency. Europe’s rightward tilt will accelerate these trends, with both benefits and costs for China.

ChatGPT on iPhones unlikely to boost Apple sales in China, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3266170/chatgpt-iphones-unlikely-boost-apple-sales-china-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed

Apple’s introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities on iPhones and its other devices is unlikely to boost the company’s sales in China because of abundant local competition and potentially limited service availability, according to analysts.

The world’s second-largest smartphone vendor on Monday unveiled its AI blueprint during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, detailing long-awaited new functions coming to its devices, including intelligent text generation and photo editing.

But amid uncertainties over which AI services Apple will be able to bring to mainland China’s heavily regulated market, analysts and industry insiders said the new functionalities may do little to lift battered iPhone sales in the country.

“China’s going to be tough for Apple … it’s unlikely that OpenAI will be willing to create a censored version for China,” said Rich Bishop, co-founder and chief executive at software publisher AppInChina, referring to the US start-up behind ChatGPT that provides some of the technologies supporting Apple’s latest AI endeavours.

Beijing has kept a tight lid on domestic generative AI services in China, where firms are required to follow the government’s wide-ranging censorship demands. Under a set of generative AI regulations that went into effect last August, Chinese companies need to register their relevant services with regulators and obtain permission before rolling out their AI chatbots to the public.

As of March, the Chinese government approved more than 117 generative AI services from Chinese Big Tech companies and start-ups. Similar offerings from OpenAI and other US companies, including Google and Amazon-backed Anthropic, remain officially inaccessible in the country.

Apple has been reportedly exploring a tie-up with Chinese search engine and AI giant Baidu to get over regulatory hurdles. Baidu is the supplier of AI technologies used in Samsung Electronics’ S24 Ultra smartphones sold in China, the South Korean company said in January.

Baidu and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Apple is integrating generative AI in its products later than its Android rivals, which means it is taking “just the first step in meeting the expectations of ‘having what others have’”, said Ivan Lam, analyst at consultancy Counterpoint Research.

In the short term, the freshly announced features will not have a significant impact on iPhone sales in mainland China, partly because it remains to be seen whether these functions will be available there, according to Lam.

Apple’s AI announcement contained few novelties and felt more like an attempt to catch up with competitors, according to research firm IDC.

Samsung, the world’s bestselling smartphone brand, has already benefited from its early adoption of AI technology in S24 and earlier flagship handsets, which helped raise sales and positioned the company well in the global race against Apple, said Canalys analyst Toby Zhu.

Contrary to its global popularity, Samsung holds less than 1 per cent of the smartphone market in China. Still, Apple’s AI functions come as sales across the Chinese handset industry have hit a growth bottleneck, said Zhu. It will also take time for Apple to meet the regulatory requirements needed to launch its AI functions in the country, he added.

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How Members of the Chinese Diaspora Found Their Voices

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/essay/how-members-of-the-chinese-diaspora-found-their-voices

On October 13, 2022, more than two years into China’s totalizing COVID lockdowns, a man wearing a yellow helmet stood on the Sitong Bridge, an expressway overpass in downtown Beijing, and unfurled two oversized white banners. He then set fire to something that created a plume of dark, dense smoke. Below, stunned drivers and pedestrians stopped to read and to take photos of the scene. The man’s demands, inked in red, started with the quotidian—“We don’t want nucleic acid tests; we want food to eat”—and ended with the unapologetically political: “We don’t want to be lackeys; we want to be citizens.”

The protester, later identified as Peng Lifa, was arrested on the spot and never seen again. But his act of dissent hit a nerve among his countrymen. On public social-media timelines and private chat groups, Chinese Internet users started to spread the news in text, images, and codes, such as an obscure alternative-rock song titled after the bridge, that they knew no media outlet could report on. Soon, censors began scrubbing the words “Sitong Bridge” from traffic signs and online maps; Peng’s demonstration earned him the nickname Bridge Man, after the Tank Man at Tiananmen Square. On Beijing bridges big and small, a new vocation was born: bridge watchers. 

Peng’s demands for broader citizen’s rights and the relaxation of Xi Jinping’s stringent pandemic policies also struck a chord with countless Chinese people who live overseas. Beyond the reach of China’s censors and watchmen, posters featuring Peng’s slogans spread on campuses and streets all over the world. It was a resounding expression of solidarity that just a few years ago would have been unimaginable. In the decades following the Tiananmen protests and the exile of its leaders, Chinese activists abroad mostly agitated in isolated pockets. Inspired by political organizing they saw firsthand in the U.S.—around #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and labor unions—many young Chinese students and professionals found themselves moved to act. “Public expression had been almost unthinkable” to Chinese people, even those living overseas, Clyde Yicheng Wang, a professor of politics at Washington and Lee University told me. But “the Bridge Man’s spectacular act of expression shocked people into thinking that the possibility exists.”

One such person was a software engineer in his thirties, who lives in the Boston area, whom I’ll call Seth, who had been eager to have political discussions since he moved to the U.S., a decade ago, but who struggled to find people who thought like he did. “I had suspected that people were intimidated from expressing their views because of the intensity of the crackdown—or maybe that they’ve become numb,” Seth told me. But in the days after the Bridge Man hung his banner, Seth learned, from a Chinese progressive advocacy group called Citizens Daily, that there were Chinese people in his area who were looking to start a Telegram chat to discuss current affairs. He was the third member to join the group, whose title translates to “Online and Offline Rescue Political Depressives.”

Seth and his fellow-Depressives were elated to find other Chinese people who shared values of social justice. Years of crackdowns on civil society and public speech in China had left them demoralized and fearful. One of them was an engineering Ph.D. candidate at Tufts University, whom I’ll call Chiara. “I was kind of emotionally avoiding Chinese current affairs,” she told me. The Depressives worried for their families in China, fearing that they might get sick, or find themselves trapped at home without enough food if a sudden lockdown was ordered in their area.

This anxiety was transformed into anger, Chiara said, by news of the Bridge Man protest. Another Depressive, whom I’ll call Lou, an N.G.O. worker in Boston, said, “I really couldn’t accept it—even though I had heard of stories of dark politics, I had always felt they were very far away. After this, I began to naïvely wonder, If we made enough noises overseas, perhaps Peng might be released, or become just a little safer.” The Depressives started more chat groups and one of them soon grew to more than a hundred members. Some participants started to hang posters together around Boston in solidarity with the Bridge Man. Near Boston University, Seth and some friends recreated Peng’s banner and hung it on a bridge over I-90. 

A few weeks went by; China’s quarantine rules persisted. Resistance to the lockdowns reached a fever pitch when a fire in an apartment building under lockdown killed ten residents in the city of Urumqi. The public suspected that quarantine measures had obstructed escape routes and firefighter access. (The government denied this.) Thousands of citizens across different Chinese cities took to the streets, many of them holding sheets of blank paper—a clever commentary on censorship in China—or chanting the demands for freedom that the Bridge Man had written on his banner.

They were soon joined by Chinese nationals and emigrants living abroad, who began holding solidarity rallies and vigils, some of them a thousand people strong, for the victims of the fire, often in prominent venues such as Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station—the world’s busiest train station—or the Hudson River pier outside the Chinese consulate in New York. Some twenty members of the Political Depressives group decided to organize an event in Boston. “From my experience living in America, I learned that if you want something to happen, you can’t wait for others to do it,” Chiara said. They had one week to prepare, and quickly got to work on tasks such as designing a poster and setting up a stage. Seth remembers that even a simple job like printing out display boards at Staples felt incredibly high stakes. Evoking the slang word fenhong, or “pinkie,” for people who are knee-jerk nationalists, he said, “I felt that some fenhong might confront me and yell, What are you doing?”

About five hundred people met for the Political Depressives’ gathering in a park in Boston’s Chinatown. Above a makeshift stage, the group put up Seth’s banner from the I-90 action. Some participants carried sheets of white paper or used signs that echoed Bridge Man’s demands. They mourned the loss of the fire victims, sang classic Chinese songs such as the nineteen-eighties hit “Tomorrow Will Be Better,” and shared their own experiences. (At one point, a Chinese man tried to disrupt the event and threatened to shoot a volunteer. He was arrested that night and later pleaded guilty to making a criminal threat.) Chiara thought the night felt like a group-therapy session. “So many people started to cry and to hug each other. I’ve never seen anything like that,” she said.  When Seth first looked for volunteers for the event, a Chinatown resident in his seventies got in touch. “I have waited for you for thirty years,” the elderly man said.

Since the protests began, I’ve spoken with dozens of Chinese people who live abroad and have been galvanized by the events of the last year and a half. These conversations straddled time zones. The people I spoke to, mostly in their twenties and thirties, are spread out geographically, across Europe, Asia, and North America, though many of them have similar biographies. They are highly educated professionals—scholars, office workers, and artists—whose successes in building careers and middle-class lives outside their home country were propelled, to some degree, by the lucky timing of China’s economic rise in their youth. Perhaps unlike many people of older generations, they feel decreasingly indebted to the state for this good fortune—and feel less inclined to stay silent about the state’s overreaches. “I used to think that no matter what an individual or a group does, it makes no difference,” Wang Jing, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. “But now my feeling is that, regardless of what this can achieve, I have this anger and I want to express it.”

Most of the people I spoke to, who had been raised in an environment where silence around political subjects was enforced—by Internet censors, cautious teachers, and fearful parents—described a habit of staying quiet on political issues even after they moved overseas. Lynn, a thirty-one-year-old computer programmer in New York who has recently become involved in political organizing, noticed a common disconnect, among Chinese people, between having an opinion and stating it out loud. “They are not used to using their own body to express themselves,” she said of Chinese participants at protests. Lynn performs frequently in New York’s growing feminist and queer Chinese comedy scene, and her fellow Chinese comedians observed a reticence to directly address current events in China. When she said Xi Jinping’s name in jokes, for example, she noticed a physical reaction in the audience. “Many people would cringe involuntarily,” she said. “Censorship grows in your body.”  

For many of the people I interviewed, participating in protests required breaking through mental barriers: Were they alone in their thinking? Could they trust the people around them? They often spoke of a feeling of isolation, and even an instinctive suspicion of other Chinese people they met. “When I would see a Chinese person on campus, I would subconsciously think that they must be a fenhong,” Clyde Yicheng Wang, the professor, said. “In reality, it may not be the case, but there was no way to survey how people truly felt.”

At American universities, Chinese students often feel conscious of the presence of more nationalistic compatriots and, by extension, the state. When Lin Yao, a professor of political science at NYU Shanghai, studied at Columbia, he heard fellow-students whispering about an incident where a dozen or so Chinese students walked out of a lecture by Andrew Nathan, a preëminent scholar of China, when Nathan discussed human-rights abuses. Other scholars I interviewed recalled that classmates and friends had been asked by Chinese authorities—either before they departed China or on overseas campuses—if they’d inform on their peers while studying outside China. These requests weren’t coercive, the scholars told me, nor were they done in secret.

An art teacher in New York, whom I’ll refer to as Amelia, and who went to college in Los Angeles, told me she remembered feeling uneasy around her college’s Chinese students’ association, a well-organized umbrella group that offered many Chinese students a sense of community and was known to be closely connected to local Chinese consulates. Around these students, Amelia found herself avoiding “exposing” her views. “I find myself fleeing from this crowd and from the way I was raised—that a good woman has to be a certain way,” she said. The group’s communications, she said, felt like hongtou wenjian, “red-header documents”—the Chinese Communist Party’s term for an intra-Party communiqué. Her alienation from the group made her feel anxious and lonely, and she suspects that other Chinese students felt similarly. “I think much of it is about political leaning and identity,” she said.“We didn’t have the language to vocalize these issues yet.”

The more I spoke with people like Amelia, the more I realized that this is a coming-of-age story for a generation of Chinese people who looked outward for a better future. Many of them grew up absorbing that being a good Chinese person means submitting to one narrow set of values, behaviors, and loyalties. Years of living in two realities—the disillusioning crackdowns on civil society in China, and the rising hostility toward Asian immigrants overseas—have made them feel that they have to draw new allegiances or double down on old ones. “A lot of the more nationalistic form of overseas Chinese students organizing is less about their support for the Chinese Party state but more about an affirmation of their own Chinese identity when they feel quite alienated in a foreign country,” Yangyang Cheng, a law scholar at Yale, told me. Lou, the N.G.O. worker in Boston, recalls doing something very fenhong herself during her time in university: when a university survey of international students in the U.S. did not indicate that Hong Kong and Taiwan were part of China, many Chinese students wrote complaints to the school. Lou joined the campaign. “I can’t quite remember my thought process back then,” she said. “I wasn’t a staunch supporter of the Party, but I had a simple-minded patriotism.”

The solidarity rallies of 2022 catalyzed many overseas Chinese people’s turn toward public dissent, but a diasporic political consciousness has been growing online for several years. “Before Sitong Bridge, for a long time, people resorted to ambiguous or caustic ways to express their discontent,” Li Ying, an artist living in Italy, whose Twitter account, where he goes by the name Teacher Li, is a wildly popular source for Chinese news, told me. Even outside the bounds of China’s Great Firewall, Chinese social media users developed a distinctly ironic and coded way of commenting on the news. A common joke involved randomly invoking America while discussing news events clearly unrelated to the country, to satirize Chinese nationalists’ fixation on the U.S. A deadly flood near Beijing: “America is just too awful!” A trafficked woman found chained in a shed in Jiangsu Province: “America is just too awful!” “For an outsider, it may look like nonsense, but, among peers, we understood each other immediately,” Li said.

Li, who has 1.5 million followers on Twitter, is part of a cluster of young Chinese social-media figures who live abroad and foster political discussions with varying degrees of seriousness or jest. A Japan-based office worker who is influential on Twitter and goes by the alias Daxi Jinping bills his account as a “rehab center” for people who are traumatized by interactions with Chinese nationalists; his feed is a mix of delicious satires of nationalist comments, news about China and Japan, and photos of sunsets from downtown Tokyo. Many of these social-media personalities are ordinary white-collar workers or students who simply went online to vent about politics and accidentally found a place in the spotlight. Yet it is hard to overstate the space for unfettered discussion and sense of community they created.

Northern Square, a popular Instagram account, was launched in the spring of 2020 by a young Chinese artist who was studying in the U.S. and felt bored by his online classes. He had always admired another page called Beijing Springtime, which collected photos of the Tiananmen protests. “In these photos, I see a sense of hope and youthful vigor that are rare for today’s young people,” the artist behind Northern Square told me. The account was a low-ambition pet project, and, for more than a year, its follower number hovered around a few thousand. But then one day, in the spring of 2022, when Shanghai was in lockdown, the artist posted, on a whim, a question to his followers: “What are you thinking about during the lockdown?” Within a day, he received more than a hundred submissions, and he started to repost them. Suddenly, the account transformed into a lively real-time virtual square for people to gather and talk to one another. A number of people shared the fear that they might never see their ailing grandparents again; others spoke of bitter conflicts with family members over politics. “My mother said I was ‘anti-China,’ ” one person said. “My heart is bleeding. I really love my mom and my family but this conversation pains me so deeply.”

During the white-paper protests, Northern Square—by then a two-person operation—helped publicize poster designs and offline gatherings and poster designs. When student protesters were threatened, they turned to the account to crowdsource help, and the Square became an ad-hoc sanctuary and advisory committee, circulating messages of support and various suggestions. A quarter of the account’s followers are based in mainland China and use V.P.N.s to access Instagram, and the rest are mostly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the U.K., and the U.S. The dialogue fostered through the account has created sympathetic moments of reunion that politicians might dream of. Over time, the artist who started the account has learned a lot about the young generation of Chinese people who are still searching for their political identities: “From the submissions, I can tell that they really resist being included in the kind of stereotypical ideas that outsiders projected onto them. They want to be seen as a group of people who yearn for democracy and freedom.”

When Seth and the Political Depressives began organizing their first rally in Boston, they initially agreed that they’d dissolve the group and return to their own lives after the event was over. But as the gathering gained traction, they discovered that they enjoyed working together, and found meaning in being able to discuss current affairs and a kind of Chinese political solidarity that’s not organized around the will of the Party-state. When I caught up with Seth in March of this year, the group was organizing a screening for a documentary called “Urumqi Road,” which is about the 2022 protests. The director, Chen Pinlin, a Shanghai-based filmmaker, has been detained and charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”—a catch-all crime frequently used against activists.  

Recently, some of the Depressives have coördinated to support protests for non-Chinese causes. When Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had killed more than thirty thousand people, a few of the group went to a local march for Palestinians. “We saw many Jewish people at the march. It’s remarkable,” Seth said. “I hope we Chinese can be like them, too.” When Seth first came to the U.S., more than a decade ago, he was impressed by how all of American society seemed to turn its attention to the election campaigns. “Democracy had been a theoretical concept for me before I saw it firsthand,” he said. In 2019, Seth joined a protest in solidarity with people in Hong Kong. “I was so nervous at the time,” he recalled. But over time, his fears—like the anxiety over doing a print job at Staples—dissipated; the way he described the expansion of his own mental freedom sounded like advancing through a video game, unlocking rewards along the way. “I stopped wearing masks at gatherings for Hong Kong and Uyghurs,” he said. “I no longer feel that fenhongs are watching me.”

Many of this cohort’s online gathering places emerged by accident, but since the white-paper protests began, more have been created with the express purpose of fostering solidarity. The names of these projects alone give an idea of how the diaspora is embracing its new identity. A news account for “dignified Chinese-language cultural life” is aptly called Dasheng, which means “a loud voice”; a new zine, “Mangmang”—an archaic term that describes the unfettered growth of wild grass in a field—advertises the slogan “an independent Chinese magazine without censorship”; a labor-organizing advocacy account uses the name Dagongren, a term that has historically referred to low-wage work, to foster solidarity between manual laborers and office workers. “I noticed that many people moved their focus from reacting with intense anger to community building,” Lynn, the New York programmer, told me in April. Recently, she and a few friends founded a company dedicated to helping incubate Mandarin-language podcasts, with ambitions to “reimagine talking freely.”

The past decade has felt, to me, like an education in social change. I’ve witnessed various movements—Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, the Hong Kong protests—coming to a boil and briefly eclipsing all other political happenings. Yet often, after a while, the voices quiet down and the streets empty out—either by force, or from attrition. Some argue that nothing has changed, while others say that everything has. As the moment of the white-paper protests recedes into history, the political reality claims its place: Chinese students studying abroad have reported being followed or intimidated after protesting. Teacher Li, the one-man news outlet, knows he will never go home again; his parents have been harassed and placed under surveillance. China scholars I spoke to, who are enthusiastic about the movement, are also wary of exaggerating its reach. It’s hard to imagine any major political shift in Chinese politics in the near future.

Still, I remain persuaded by something that a professor in Hong Kong told me. “Now that we have stood together and seen each other, we know we are not alone,” she said. “It’s kind of like baptism. It may appear that after being submerged in water, one returns to secular life unchanged. But, in fact, your whole mind-set is different.” ♦

What stands in the way of a China-Japan-South Korea free-trade deal

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3265681/what-stands-way-china-japan-south-korea-free-trade-deal?utm_source=rss_feed

After a hiatus since 2019, the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met in Seoul late last month. This complex trilateral relationship is one of the most important for these neighbours. Together, their gross domestic product is 30 per cent higher than the European Union’s. They are important trading partners to each other, focused on high-value, often hi-tech, goods.

Beyond the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the three economies are resuming negotiations on a free-trade area.

They represent the most remarkable post-war economic successes – starting with Japan, followed by South Korea and culminating in China – reshaping the global map of production and technology. They now face common problems of low fertility, shrinking workforces and rapidly ageing populations.

The competition for opportunities in education and the workplace is just as intense in South Korea as it is in China, giving rise respectively to the “N-po” generation and “lying flat” movement. While their parents have enjoyed the fruits of economic development, young people in these countries struggle with economic insecurity and an uncertain future.

While all three started with labour-intensive manufacturing, they have successfully transitioned into technology powerhouses. In the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s latest global innovation index, the top five science and technology clusters are all occupied by the three East Asian countries.

Last year, China, Japan and South Korea made 140,777 Patent Cooperation Treaty applications altogether, 2.5 times the US’ total, and more than three times what the next six countries in the top 10 submitted in all.

The semiconductor supply chain is centred in East Asia – a marvel of intricate interdependence and specialisation spanning mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. This ecosystem relies on the seamless collaboration of these complementary players across stages of chip production to achieve efficiency and drive innovation.

The United States is, however, moving to contain China’s technological rise, its long arm extending across both the Atlantic and the Pacific. From Nvidia to Samsung, from ASML to Tokyo Electron, the US has been relentless in its attempt to close off China’s access to high-end chips and advanced semiconductor equipment.

Notwithstanding the strategic importance of the Chinese market, export-oriented Japan and South Korea are expected to subjugate their economic prosperity to the US geopolitical agenda. In undermining the semiconductor supply chain in East Asia for its selfish ends, the US is threatening global prosperity in the digital age, a time when semiconductors are embedded in almost everything, from cars to cameras.

Japan and South Korea find themselves navigating a delicate balance between their deep economic ties with China and their security dependence on the US. As Washington rallies its allies to contain China’s technological ascent, Tokyo and Seoul are forced to confront the challenge of reconciling their economic prosperity with their geopolitical alignments.

In this light, the trilateral summit in Seoul must be viewed in tandem with the latest Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, which took place just days later – underscoring the complex interplay of economic interdependence and security alliances in the region.

American geopolitical influences are unfolding against much deeper historical dynamics among the three countries. Chinese and Korean national identities have been shaped by imperial Japan’s invasion and colonialism. Taiwan and Korea were both colonised by Japan until the end of the second world war.

A resolution on the future of Taiwan – annexed by imperial Japan after the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895 – cannot be discussed in a historical vacuum framed by simplistic ideological labels.

Sino-Korean relations go back a long way, from the Tang dynasty’s alliance with the Silla kingdom during Korea’s unification and the Ming dynasty’s support for Korea during the Imjin War against Japan to the involvement of the People’s Republic in the Korean war.

After the normalisation of relations in 1992, South Korea and China saw warming economic and cultural ties, until they soured over South Korea’s deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) US missile defence system, which China responded to with sanctions.

In the context of global geopolitics and domestic nationalism, China’s relations with Japan and South Korea are influenced by more than just economic logic. China must better manage how it is perceived by its neighbours. Japan and South Korea have often competed in various international surveys for the distinction of having the most negative perception of China.

Unlike Japan, South Korea does not have territorial disputes with China. However, South Koreans’ view of China has deteriorated precipitously over the last decade, while relations between Japan and South Korea have warmed recently. China could approach South Korea with tact and restraint, unlike the domineering dictates from across the Pacific.

As they face common challenges among their youth and ageing populations, the three countries must draw deeply from their shared history in Confucian philosophy to build a better interdependent future for their peoples.

The protracted negotiations for a free-trade agreement stem from an interplay of historical grievances and economic competition. But such a deal would significantly enhance supply chain integration beyond what the RCEP offers, strengthening regional resilience and collective competitiveness.

While Japan and South Korea may reap immediate gains through enhanced market access for their advanced tech products, China stands to achieve substantial long-term strategic benefits. These include, for all three participants, better access to cutting-edge technologies, strengthened supply chain resilience and opportunities for greater collaboration in research and development.

In this context, China would be wise to prioritise a farsighted approach over short-term calculations. In adopting a long-term strategic approach to the trilateral free-trade agreement, China may show a cosmopolitan magnanimity reminiscent of the enlightened statesmanship of the Tang era.

Philippine police find alleged China’s PLA uniforms in Pogo raid but are they ‘props’?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3266149/philippine-police-find-alleged-chinese-army-uniforms-pogo-raid-are-they-props?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippine military has sought to assuage fears over national security after alleged Chinese army uniforms were recovered from an online gaming hub, saying they were probably used as “props” as senators reiterated their demands to close the sector for good.

Police last week raided a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) compound in Porac, Pampanga province and rescued more than 150 foreigners, mostly Chinese.

Officers also seized equipment used for torture, scamming activities and camouflage outfits emblazoned with the initials “PLA” that officials suspected they belonged to the Chinese military.

But a Philippine military colonel rejected those concerns.

“The limited number of PLA [People’s Liberation Army] uniforms found suggests they are more indicative of use in deceptive activities rather than any preparation for an invasion,” Colonel Francel Padilla said on Tuesday.

Padilla added the perpetrators may have deployed the attires as props to carry out their illicit dealings that included kidnapping and love scams inside the building in Porac.

The city’s police chief was sacked for failing to detect the illegal business.

The Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission, which conducted the raid, said the agency would investigate if there were Chinese military personnel in the Philippines posing as Pogo workers.

Porac Mayor Jaime Capil denied claims the firm operated with his blessings, saying “we don’t tolerate illegal activities in our town”, GMA News reported.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the uniforms showed Pogos could attract “external forces” who want to destabilise government organisations and underscored the need for outlawing the crime-plagued industry.

Lawmaker Risa Hontiveros agreed and urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr to impose a “total ban” on Pogos.

“Pogos have now evolved into a breeding ground for crime and a national security threat,” Hontiveros said.

Gatchalian and a group of legislators have filed bills in the senate and the House of Representatives seeking to banish Pogos from the country.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel said there was no reason to panic, as the uniforms could be a “collection” of one of the Chinese employees working at the building.

The Pogo sector emerged in the Philippines in 2016 and grew exponentially as operators capitalised on the country’s liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.

At their peak, Pogos employed more than 300,000 Chinese workers, but the pandemic, higher taxes and enforcement blitz have forced many to operate elsewhere.

Beijing has repeatedly warned Chinese nationals not to work in Pogos in the Philippines, which have brought a spate of crime, including cryptocurrency scam, kidnapping and murder.

According to police data, more than 4,000 Pogo-linked crimes, including kidnapping and human trafficking, were reported from January 2017 to the first half of last year.

Mainland Chinese man claiming to be ex-navy captain breaches Taiwan defences in speedboat

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266177/mainland-chinese-man-claiming-be-ex-navy-captain-breaches-taiwan-defences-speedboat?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwan’s coastguard has arrested a mainland Chinese man who drove his speedboat directly to a ferry pier outside Taipei on Sunday in a breach that has raised security concerns on the island.

The man was arrested only after he arrived at the pier around 11am, despite being spotted from a coastguard lookout post while approaching the ferry terminal in the Tamsui River in New Taipei.

The man, identified by his last name Ruan, is 60 years old and was spotted on Sunday 11km (6 nautical miles) off the coast of Tamsui in New Taipei. After entering the Tamsui River, which leads to downtown Taipei, the boat hit a ferry at the pier, according to the coastguard.

The coastguard sent officers who apprehended the man at the pier and seized his boat for illegal entry. The man was turned over to prosecutors for questioning and investigation.

Ruan, who claimed to be a former mainland Chinese navy captain, said he left Ningde port in the mainland coastal city of Fuzhou on Saturday morning. However, Taiwan’s coastguard said no food or drink was found on the boat and the man did not appear to have a tan.

According to the coastguard, the man said he was persecuted by mainland authorities for “making improper statements” and that he wished to flee to Taiwan.

The incident has sparked concerns in Taiwan, with New Taipei mayor Hou You-yi calling it a serious security lapse, especially considering the pier is less than 10 minutes from Taipei by boat.

“National border security cannot afford any lapses. This incident indicates that the coastguard and the first-line security reporting mechanisms were not effectively managed,” he said.

Chen Kuan-ting, a legislator from the ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said such illegal entries occurred more often in Quemoy, also called Kinmen – a defence outpost of Taiwan just 10km from the mainland city of Xiamen.

“Now, it has also occurred in key defence areas in Taiwan proper and might become more frequent in the future,” Chen said.

He urged the government to “enhance inter-agency cooperation by integrating resources from the coastguard, navy and army to effectively prevent similar incidents from happening in the first place”.

Kuan Bi-ling, the head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council that is responsible for overseeing the coastguard, acknowledged the role of human error and a security lapse in the incident.

She said the boat was detected by radar 6 nautical miles off the coast of Tamsui.

“The radar system was not at fault; the issue lay with human error,” Kuan said. “Radar operators, relying on their experience, misidentified the boat as a returning fishing vessel.”

Kuan said the radar operators reported the vessel’s proximity to the coastal lookout posts when it reached 6, 3, and 0.5 nautical miles off the Tamsui River.

However, when the last lookout post realised the vessel was not a Taiwanese fishing boat, the operators there failed to promptly alert coastguard officers to intercept the speedboat, Kuan stated.

“There was a 30-minute delay” before the man was apprehended, she said.

“This incident reflects a complete failure,” Kuan admitted while underscoring the importance of integrating more technology to prevent such occurrences in the future.

She also highlighted the need to address potential systematic tests by Beijing such as employing small boats to challenge the island’s coastal defences.

Regarding whether the man genuinely sought freedom in Taiwan, Kuan said many people who illegally entered Taiwan often made such claims, and it was for prosecutors to determine.

However, she said that in the current case under investigation, “the individual appears distinct”.

“He presents himself as refined and well-dressed, with a unique background, having served in the navy and as a ship captain.”

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait escalated following the election of the DPP’s William Lai Ching-te as the new leader of the island. In his inaugural speech on May 20, Lai declared that Taiwan and the mainland “are not subordinate to each other”.

This statement was swiftly followed by the People’s Liberation Army launching two days of large-scale military drills that simulated a blockade of the island. Beijing labelled it “strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States – the island’s biggest arms supplier – do not recognise Taiwan as independent, but are opposed to any unilateral change of the cross-strait status quo by force.

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Four American college educators attacked in park in China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/11/college-instructors-attack-china-cornell-iowa/2024-06-11T07:04:56.199Z

Four instructors from Cornell College in Iowa were attacked during a teaching trip in China, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The American educators, who were teaching at Beihua University in the northeastern city of Jilin, were attacked in a park, the ministry said.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told the Associated Press it was aware of reports of a stabbing and was monitoring the situation.

“We learned that on the morning of June 10, four foreign teachers from Beihua University … were attacked when touring the city’s Beishan Park,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters Tuesday. “All of the injured were rushed to hospital … none of them are in a critical condition.”

Chinese police believe the event to be an “isolated incident,” said Lin, adding that “cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States serve the common interests of both sides, and have been positively supported by various sectors of the two countries.”

“China is widely considered one of the safest countries in the world,” he said.

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand told the AP the instructors were attacked while with a faculty member from Beihua.

Details on the four instructors’ identities and injuries have not been publicly released. Cornell College, a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, said it was still gathering information about the incident.

Mainstream news outlets in China did not appear to cover the news, but social media posts referencing “Jilin” and “Jilin Beishan Park” were among the top trending topics on the microblogging site Weibo on Tuesday and posts with the hashtag “Jilin Beishan Park” had over 4 million views.

Relations between Beijing and Washington remain strained, with tensions over trade and security in the Indo-Pacific.

Shibani Mahtani and Pei-Lin Wu contributed to this report.

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Brics countries can promote peace, stand against ‘new cold war’: China’s Wang Yi

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266144/brics-countries-can-promote-peace-stand-against-new-cold-war-chinas-wang-yi?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has called on the Brics countries to promote peace, stand against a “new cold war” and “take greater responsibilities and actions” in world affairs during a multilateral meeting with his counterparts in the Global South.

Foreign ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were joined by their counterparts from new members Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, at the two-day summit in Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, which assumed chairmanship of the Brics grouping in January.

In his remarks on Monday, Wang welcomed the bloc’s expansion and celebrated interstate cooperation over the past year, which he said has been “remarkable, rapid and strong”.

“The strategic significance and political effects of the ‘greater Brics’ should be fully leveraged to make Brics a new type of multilateral cooperation mechanism based on emerging markets and developing countries, and [one that is] open and inclusive to the world,” he said, according to a report from Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The combined Brics gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms amounts to about one-third of world GDP, exceeding that of the Group of Seven.

Wang said the Global South was “gaining strength through unity” and should promote “equitable and orderly” multipolarism to set the tone for future global development.

“Brics should adhere to independence and objectivity, promote the international community’s consensus on peace, and oppose the instigation of a ‘new cold war’ under any pretext”, he added.

Wang again called for a ceasefire in Gaza and urged support for Palestine’s full membership at the United Nations. Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine based on “equal participation from all parties and fair discussion of all peace proposals” would be supported by China, he said.

In a separate meeting between Wang and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the two agreed to step up cooperation on the multilateral platform.

“Developing China-Russia relations is a strategic choice made by both sides based on respective fundamental interests, aligning with global trends and the tide of the times, it is not targeted at any third party and will not be disturbed by external forces,” said Wang.

Beijing was willing to “fully support” Russia’s chairmanship of the bloc, and jointly “promote the unity and self-improvement of the Global South”, he said.

“China is willing to work with Russia to maintain strategic focus, explore cooperation potential, respond to external pressures, and promote the sound and sustained progress of bilateral relations.”

Wang and Lavrov last met three weeks ago, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan. The talks came days after President Vladimir Putin’s first state visit after his re-election, during which he visited Beijing and Harbin.

On Monday, Wang also met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and called on both sides to promote the “further alignment” of their development strategies. The talks followed Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday.

China was willing to “elevate the comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level”, Wang said, adding that it has always prioritised Brazil in its diplomacy.

“China values Brazil’s significant influence in the Latin American region and is willing to jointly promote cooperation between China, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Southern Common Market,” he said.

Viera said the two countries shared similar stances on many issues, and that Brazil valued China’s influence in international affairs, according to a Xinhua report.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties, as both sides pledged strengthened exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including trade and economy.

Wang also met Iranian acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani, again expressing condolences for the deaths of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in last month’s helicopter accident.

Bilateral relations have “maintained healthy and steady development” and benefitted from the two states’ “longstanding traditional friendship” and “high-level mutual political trust”, Wang said.

“China stands ready to work with Iran to view bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, steer the development course of bilateral relations, solidly advance pragmatic cooperation in various fields, comprehensively deepen coordination in regional and international affairs, and contribute more to regional and world peace and stability.”

Kani said Iran – which is participating at the summit as a full member for the first time – was willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China in international and regional affairs, jointly uphold multilateralism, and seek solutions to global issues.

Chinese stocks poised for ‘another leg up’ after ‘healthy correction’: Goldman Sachs

https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3266147/chinese-stocks-poised-another-leg-after-healthy-correction-goldman-sachs?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese stocks are set for another bounce following a recent consolidation, with a key meeting in Beijing next month set to inject more supportive measures into the market, according to Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

The recent pullback is “a healthy correction” as the stimulus-powered rally got overheated while the momentum from various measures has petered out, according to Timothy Moe, chief Asia-Pacific equity strategist at Goldman Sachs. Further upside could be unlocked as policymakers announce more support, he added.

“It’s sort of [like] the market caught its breath, and we expect another leg up,” Moe said at a media briefing in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

The MSCI China Index, which tracks 702 Chinese companies listed at home and abroad, has corrected by 6.4 per cent since its peak on May 20 as renewed geopolitical tensions, patchy macroeconomic data and ongoing struggles in the property market prompted investors to take profits.

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks China’s tech heavyweights listed in Hong Kong, including Tencent and Alibaba, has declined more than 10 per cent since its most recent peak and briefly entered a technical correction on Monday.

The long-awaited third plenum in July, where President Xi Jinping convenes top Communist Party officials to discuss the path of the world’s second-largest economy, is the next catalyst to watch, according to the Wall Street bank.

“We expect the third plenum to have more announcements in both scope and granularity concerning the property market,” Moe said. Policymakers might be slightly disappointed with the market’s reaction to the previous rescue package and have realised that more is needed. If the direction laid out is forceful enough, the equity market is likely to find comfort in it, he said.

Goldman Sachs’ latest backing for Chinese equities comes after it bucked the trend of its Wall Street peers and took a bullish view last month. It raised its 12-month targets for the MSCI China Index by 17 per cent to 70 and by 5.1 per cent to 4,100 for the CSI 300 Index of yuan-traded stocks, betting the earnings recovery and valuation expansion will continue to support the market.

Undemanding price-to-earnings ratios could lead to further valuation recovery, and the nine guidelines announced in April regarding A shares are very positive from a long-term structural perspective, Moe added.

To be sure, risks remain. More macro indicators due this week, including the consumer and producer price indices for May, are likely to show that deflation pressure remains and that the economic recovery has yet to find a solid footing. Geopolitical tensions with the US, particularly as the US election approaches, could also flare up and rattle markets.

The market is likely to be rangebound for the next few weeks while awaiting further catalysts, Winnie Wu, chief China equity strategist at Bank of America Securities, said in a note to clients on Friday.

Still, consolidation at a higher level and improving sentiment are constructive signs, she added. “The potential ‘higher lows’ should help rebuild market confidence and attract more investors to revisit the China investment thesis,” Wu said.

Chinese embassy protests to Real Madrid after fan’s ‘racist and sexist’ video interview

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3266141/chinese-embassy-protests-real-madrid-after-fans-racist-and-sexist-video-interview?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese embassy in Spain has lodged a protest with Real Madrid, a football club that has millions of fans in China, after a blogger reported being subjected to racist and sexist remarks during a postgame street interview.

“The remarks were vulgar and offensive in nature,” the embassy said in a readout published on its website on Sunday.

On June 2, a Chinese blogger on Showmi, a TikTok account about soccer culture, was conducting a post-match interview on the streets of Britain. The blogger called Kevin approached a fan celebrating Real Madrid’s victory in the UEFA Champions League final.

After learning that the reporter was from China, the fan sang an allegedly racist and sexist song towards Chinese women to the camera in Spanish.

Kevin, who did not speak Spanish, asked what the song was about and the fan replied that the lyrics were a celebration of Real Madrid’s victory before singing it again.

After posting the video, Spanish-speaking audience members explained to the blogger what the lyrics meant.

Furthermore, some netizens suspected the Spanish interviewee singing the song was Rodrigo Sanz, the grandson of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz and the son of Real Madrid official commentator Lorenzo Sanz Duran.

According to the Chinese embassy in Spain, Real Madrid expressed opposition to the remarks and actions of the individual fan, saying he did not represent the general attitude of Real Madrid and its fans.

The embassy said Real Madrid also expressed thanks to Chinese fans and was hopeful of playing a positive role in friendship between the West and China.

“Real Madrid attaches great importance and love to Chinese fans and the friendly ties with the magnificent China,” it reportedly said.

But Real Madrid has not released its own statement on the matter through its official website or social media platforms.

Although Real Madrid, founded in 1902, is a soccer club based in Spain’s capital, it has a huge fan group in China, with nearly 4.26 million followers on its official Douyin (Chinese TikTok) account.

Kevin posted a video on June 5 saying, “We’ve encountered racism”, saying it was the worst discrimination Showmi had encountered in the six years it had been doing football fan interviews in Britain.

A few days later on June 9, he confirmed the Spanish fan pictured was Rodrigo Sanz. He also said that after posting the video on June 5, he had tried to contact the anti-racism office of La Liga and Real Madrid’s press officer by email.

On Monday, Kevin posted a response from La Liga, Spain’s top men’s professional soccer division, to Showmi’s Weibo account. It apologised in the statement and said it had been made aware of the complaint, was committed to fighting hate crimes and had reported the incident “to the competent authorities”.

The blogger said he also tried to contact Rodrigo Sanz and his father Lorenzo Sanz Duran in the hopes of having a direct conversation. Kevin reported that Rodrigo Sanz’s father had apologised to the blogger in a private Instagram message and said that while his son was wrong the video showed the actions of a high-spirited young person fooling around.

Showmi’s Kevin said negotiation between the two sides was continuing. He hoped to get apologies from Rodrigo Sanz himself – a proposal Sanz’s side has not yet accepted – and Real Madrid officially.

The South China Morning Post has reached out to Real Madrid for comment.

Unique discipline: China parents make son, 8, busk for cash to repair school wall he damaged

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3263729/unique-discipline-china-parents-make-son-8-busk-cash-repair-school-wall-he-damaged?utm_source=rss_feed

The parents of a little boy in China who busked on streets to earn money to pay for the school walls he had damaged have attracted widespread praise for their innovative parenting style.

On May 17, an eight-year-old boy from Shaanxi province in northwestern China played the guitar and sang outside to raise some cash.

The sign on his music stand read, “I damaged the school wall and need to earn 300 yuan (US$42) for compensation.”

The boy’s father, surnamed Huang, told White Deer Video, Shaanxi’s official media outlet: “My son doodled on a wall being renovated at his primary school. After discussing it with the school, we decided on compensation. We hope that through street performance, he can learn to take responsibility.

“He performed for three days, one hour each day and earned enough to pay compensation,” Huang said.

This father’s innovative parenting approach received a lot of praise on mainland social media.

“Thumbs up for this teaching method that encourages the son to pay for his behaviour,” one online observer wrote on Weibo.

“Street performance could also boost the boy’s confidence and improve his guitar skills. It’s truly a win-win strategy,” another said.

Compared to traditional strict approaches, innovative parenting styles often attract attention in China.

Last November, a mother with a PhD used ChatGPT to comfort her five-year-old son.

ChatGPT, created by OpenAI, is a conversational bot that can understand complex questions and give human-like answers.

The boy, nicknamed Twelve, fell off his skateboard in the playground and other parents laughed.

He was so upset about being ridiculed that his parents could not console him.

His mother, a PhD graduate from Peking University, instructed the chatbot to stand in her son’s shoes and criticise those who mocked him.

In a female voice in Mandarin, the chatbot said: “First, they have gone too far. How can they treat a kid like this? Second, it is so irritating to see something like this happen.

“They should know what they did was completely wrong. Third, laughing at a fallen child is such a lack of sympathy.”

Twelve was immediately persuaded by the chatbot’s “objective perspective”.

In August last year, a boy, nicknamed Guoguo, from Jiangsu province in eastern China was taken to the police station by his mother for being rude.

After listening to the officers, Guoguo promised not to use foul language again and to learn to respect others.

Four US academics stabbed in park during China visit, say US officials

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/11/china-park-stabbing-us-academics-cornell-tutors-jilin-city-beishan-park

Four US college instructors teaching in China have been stabbed while visiting a public park, US officials have said.

The tutors from Cornell College in Iowa were at the park in Jilin province, north-eastern China with a faculty member from Beihua University on Monday when the attack occurred, college president Jonathan Brand said in a statement. The private college in Iowa partners with the university near Jilin City.

Details on the extent of the group’s injuries and whether the daytime attack was targeted or random were unclear.

Iowa state representative Adam Zabner told US media that his brother, David Zabner, was one of the group visiting a temple in Beishan park when a man with a knife attacked them. David Zabner “was wounded in the arm during a stabbing attack while visiting a temple in Jilin City, China,” he told Reuters, and was recovering in hospital.

“I spoke to David a few minutes ago, he is recovering from his injuries and doing well. My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack,” Adam Zabner added.

A video of people lying on the ground in a park covered in blood were circulating on X on Monday, though no trace of the images could be found on Chinese social media.

Reuters identified the location based on background information in the footage but was not able to confirm when the video was shot.

No statements on the incident have been issued by Chinese authorities or reports found in Chinese media.

The state department said in a statement that it was aware of reports of a stabbing and that it was monitoring the situation.

Iowa governor Kim Reynolds wrote on X that she was in touch with the US state department about the “horrifying” attack, adding “Please pray for their full recovery, safe return, and their families here at home.”

Representative Ashley Hinson of Iowa wrote online: “Horrified that multiple Cornell College faculty members were brutally stabbed in China. My team has been in communication with Cornell College & will do everything in our power to bring these Iowans home safely.”

US Representative Mariannette Jane Miller-Meeks of Iowa said she was trying to reach the US embassy to ensure the victims get good health care and return to the US as soon as possible.

The attack happened as both Beijing and Washington are seeking to maintain people-to-people exchange to prevent bilateral relations from deteriorating.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has unveiled a plan to invite 50,000 young Americans to China in the next five years, but Chinese diplomats say a travel advisory by the US state department has discouraged Americans from going to China.

Citing arbitrary detentions as well as exit bans that could prevent Americans from leaving the country, the state department has a level 3 travel advisory – the second highest warning level – for mainland China, urging Americans to “reconsider travel” there. Some American universities have suspended their China programmes due to the travel advisory.

There are fewer than 900 American exchange students studying in China compared with more than 290,000 Chinese students in the US, according to US data.

With Associated Press and Reuters

Hongkonger confirmed as city’s first astronaut for China’s space programme

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3266119/hongkonger-confirmed-citys-first-astronaut-chinas-space-programme?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s space agency announced on Tuesday the selection of its first Hong Kong astronaut, confirming a Post report that a policewoman who used to work in a secret technical services division had been chosen for the national programme.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said a city resident being picked to serve as a payload specialist in the country’s manned space programme was a “glorious history”.

“This shows the country’s emphasis on the development of science and technology in Hong Kong and affirms the strength of the city’s innovation and technology talents,” he said before meeting with the Executive Council, the government’s top decision-making body.

But Lee said the identity of the astronaut would not be disclosed at this stage in accordance with established rules.

The Hong Kong candidate was among 10 chosen as the latest batch of astronauts, who also include a Macau resident, China Manned Space Agency said.

The agency also said it would soon enter China Astronaut Research and Training Centre for comprehensive and systematic training.

Last month, the Post reported that the officer, a chief inspector holding a doctoral degree, outcompeted more than 80 hopefuls from the city. She used to work at the force’s low profile secret technical services before she was transferred to the Security Bureau.

In October 2022, Beijing’s space agency said it had extended recruitment for two payload specialists for its fourth astronaut intake to Hong Kong and Macau for the first time.

The selection process included a three-week recruitment drive, with 14 spots available.

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China park stabbing: 4 US college instructors injured in Jilin attack, motive unclear

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266114/china-park-stabbing-4-us-college-instructors-injured-jilin-attack-motive-unclear?utm_source=rss_feed

The US State Department is monitoring the situation, after four instructors from an Iowa college were attacked in a park in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin on Monday.

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand confirmed that the instructors were stabbed in a park in the province’s Jilin city, home to Beihua University, which has a cooperative relationship with the private academy, Associated Press said on Tuesday.

None of the victims was in a life-threatening condition, according to Iowa Public Radio, quoting one of the instructor’s family members in a report on Tuesday, which added that the four were recovering in a local hospital.

A State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that the department is aware of reports of the incident, is monitoring the situation and has “no further comments at this time”.

The motive for the attack is not clear. Videos and photos circulating on social media showed four injured foreigners lying on the ground, with police and bystanders nearby.

Nearly all the images and discussion of the incident have since been removed in China, where social media platforms are heavily censored.

The park where the stabbing is alleged to have occurred is 1km (just over half a mile) from government offices. An officer at the nearest police station said on Tuesday that he had “no comment” when asked about the incident.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said in a post on X that she was in contact with Iowa’s federal delegation and the US State Department “in response to this horrifying attack”.

Also on X, US Representative Mariannette Jane Miller-Meeks from Iowa said “we are working through proper channels and requesting to speak with the US embassy on appropriate matters to ensure that the victims first receive quality care for their injuries and then get out of China in a medically feasible manner”.

The incident occurred amid efforts by Beijing and Washington to ease tensions in their technological and ideological competition through cultural exchanges.

In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China was ready to invite 50,000 young Americans for exchanges and study in the country over the next five years.

The outreach followed an agreement between Xi and US President Joe Biden to promote expanded educational, student, youth, cultural, sports and business exchanges, reached during their summit in California last year.

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Chinese students voice hopes for Mideast peace in rare public political stand

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266068/chinese-students-voice-hopes-mideast-peace-rare-public-political-stand?utm_source=rss_feed

A high school graduation tradition in China has taken a rare political turn this year with some final-year students expressing solidarity with Palestinians and a wish for peace in the Middle East.

It has become a custom in recent years for Chinese media to ask students who have just finished the national university entrance exams, known as the gaokao, what they wish for.

This year’s hopes included the usual desire to get into a dream university, have game companies improve their video games, and attend a concert by a favourite singer.

But a number of short videos posted online also showed students voicing support for Palestine.

By Monday afternoon, the final day of the exams, many of the original posts of media interviews with those students were no longer available on the Chinese version of TikTok called Douyin, the WeChat video channel or the X-like Weibo.

It was not clear why the original clips had been taken down but those reposted by individual users were not deleted.

On Douyin, a compilation video of the wishes of students from across the country included a picture of a student who walked out of an exam venue in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang on Sunday wearing a Palestinian flag.

The video was liked, commented on and shared thousands of times.

Another video, originally deleted but reposted by a blogger on the WeChat video channel, showed two gaokao students in the eastern province of Jiangsu being stopped by security guards after walking out of an exam venue – one with a Palestinian flag and the other with a Chinese flag – on Sunday.

In the central province of Henan, a textbook publisher posted videos of interviews with students after taking the exam on its WeChat video channel on Saturday. In one of the videos, a student was asked about his graduation wish and said loudly in English: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

The video has not yet been removed, but comments are not allowed.

While the students’ support for Palestine is a rare example of public political expression, it is one that is consistent with Beijing’s official position.

Relations between China and Israel have been strained since the Israel-Gaza war started in October.

Beijing has not condemned Hamas for its October 7 attack on Israel but has criticised Israel for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Beijing has said consistently that a two-state solution, which is a proposed framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, is the only way to resolve the crisis.

Throughout the eight months of conflict, Chinese social media users have been broadly sympathetic to the Palestinians.

However, Chinese students in the United States have kept their distance from the pro-Palestinian protests sweeping US campuses for fear of the possible fallout from being involved in a political protest, according to an earlier report by the Post.

The gaokao is widely regarded as the most important set of exams in China because it is the gateway to a university and career of choice.

According to the Ministry of Education, 13.42 million people registered for this year’s exams, which started on Friday and ended on Sunday in most provinces, with a few others wrapping up the tests on Monday.

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US-Japan-South Korea training fellowship opens amid tense tech race with China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266103/us-japan-south-korea-training-fellowship-opens-amid-tense-tech-race-china?utm_source=rss_feed

The first cohort of a new tech cooperation fellowship involving the US, Japan and South Korea has arrived in Washington to a warm welcome, amid mounting concern over the mismanagement of emerging technologies and pressure to counter China’s technological advancement.

The Trilateral Technology Leaders Training Programme, announced last year at a special three-way summit at Camp David in Maryland, features 30 mid-career government officials from the three countries.

Speaking on Monday at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies – one of the initiative’s hosts alongside the Seoul-based Chey Institute for Advanced Studies – US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell invoked the historic summit in opening remarks to the gathered fellows.

“Over a two and a half day period I had to pinch myself at how exciting it was to see bonds being created before my eyes, a potential for a new kind of relationship that would change the contours, not just of Asia but the world,” he said.

Campbell also emphasised the critical need for public officials to understand how technology works. “Technology is at the core of what each of our governments seek to do.”

“Every week I’m in a meeting with senior people making decisions about technologies they neither understand [nor] really could identify. And so we don’t want that to be the case for your generation,” he said to the fellows.

Facing fierce competition from China in areas like semiconductor manufacturing, the US, Japan and South Korea have already begun collaborating on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

In recent years, rifts between the countries have gradually eased. Last March, Japan agreed to loosen restrictions on chip material exports to South Korea ahead of a bilateral summit in May of that year.

The tech training programme is only one of several trilateral initiatives that arose from Camp David. Others include a cancer dialogue, youth summit, early-warning system for supply-chain disruptions and a maritime mechanism to synchronise capacity building in Southeast Asia and Pacific Island countries.

Over a three-week period, participants of the tech leaders programme will delve into themes shaping the governance of emerging technologies, including semiconductors, AI, quantum technology, biotechnology, cybersecurity and space exploration.

Sessions will be led by Johns Hopkins faculty as well as members of the policy and tech communities, with the first two weeks of programming held in the US capital and the final week in Silicon Valley, California.

The programme’s founding sponsors include Google and Tokyo-based NEC Corporation.

“Bringing together public policy officials from three major trans-Pacific, like-minded countries … to learn, discuss, collaborate and cooperate on the social implementation and governance of advanced technologies is significant”, said Shigehiro Tanaka of the NEC Corporation in a statement.

In recent years, the Joe Biden administration has increasingly used ‘mini-laterals’ to make diplomatic headway in the Indo-Pacific. Apart from last year’s Camp David summit, the US hosted its first trilateral with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines in April.

Last week, Japan’s ambassador to the US, Shigeo Yamada, said that the biggest benefit of mini-laterals was that they enabled a focus on strategic issues.

“When we meet bilaterally, we tend to talk about bilateral issues: economic issues, development assistance and so forth. But when we have other partners in the room, we don’t talk about those bilateral issues, but focus on strategic issues,” he said in remarks at the Washington-based Centre for a New American Security.

At a meeting with his Japanese and Korean counterparts in Virginia in May, Campbell said another leaders’ summit between the three countries was a “high priority for the remainder of the year”.

China, Japan and South Korea have convened their own trilateral leader-level summit, which most recently took place last month, resuming after a four-year pause.

[Sport] Four US college instructors stabbed in public park in China

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c844q27v732o

BBC

[Sport] Why the EU might be about to make Chinese electric cars more expensive

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpww6w412n7o

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China is changing: foreigners return to Shanghai, but they’re here for a good time, not a long time

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3266049/china-changing-foreigners-return-shanghai-theyre-here-good-time-not-long-time?utm_source=rss_feed

Two years after an extended lockdown of Shanghai under the nation’s dynamic zero-Covid policy led to an exodus of expatriates, mainland China’s most international city is finally re-embracing a bustle of overseas visitors.

More foreigners from a variety of countries have been seen in the city’s main streets and at tourist attractions in recent months, capitalising on China’s loosening of visa policies to lure back tourists – and their wallets – amid an economic downturn.

However, much fewer are opting to stay and work, owing to what some say is a sense of insecurity and relative lack of opportunities that dissuade them from long-term settlements despite Shanghai’s best efforts to shore up its status as an open and inclusive international city – a reputation dating back to the 19th century, following the first opium war (1839-42).

“The image of China is very slowly changing, but it is changing,” said Marc Guyon, a French national who lives in Hong Kong and visited Shanghai in April for a plastics industry conference.

Several French people have been visiting Shanghai because of the visa-free-entry policy that took effect last year and is now due to last through 2025, Guyon said.

As part of a charm offensive to lure back foreigners amid a sluggish post-pandemic recovery in overseas tourist returns, the Chinese government in December introduced visa-free stays of up to 15 days for travellers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia, and extended it to six more European countries in March.

Other relaxations have also been rolled out in recent months, including a policy effective from mid-May that allows all foreigners travelling in tour groups to enter China without a visa through Shanghai and 12 other cruise ports in the country for a stay of up to 15 days.

Places of interest – from Yuyuan Garden in central Shanghai to the Zhujiajiao ancient town in the city’s outskirts – have been full of tourist groups from overseas in recent weeks, according to local residents.

“I was having lunch near Yuyuan the other day and saw three groups of foreign tourists within 10 minutes,” said Lisa Xu, who works at a local bank.

This followed an already robust recovery in the first four months of the year, when Shanghai received more than 1.23 million foreigners who spent at least one night in the city – a year-on-year increase of 250 per cent, according to data released on May 28 by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.

And the total is nearly 70 per cent of what was seen during the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, according to calculations by the Post.

While most inbound visits to mainland China last year were made by people from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and East Asia countries such as Thailand and Japan, more visitors now appear to be coming from a broader range of countries.

Dexter Roberts, a US citizen and former Beijing resident, visited eight Chinese cities in April, including Shanghai. He said that, compared with what he had noticed in the past, he saw more Russians, eastern Europeans, and people from the Global South, but fewer Americans and western Europeans.

“China has been pushing [Global South relations], and there’s the obvious warmth between Xi Jinping and Putin,” he said.

Official data from the Shanghai government showed that among the 1.185 million foreign tourists to Shanghai in the first quarter, nearly 23 per cent came from European countries with unilateral visa-free policies with China. Meanwhile, Thailand, Singapore and other countries that have reciprocal visa-free policies with China accounted for 55 per cent.

A 24-year-old woman in Amsterdam named Annie said she chose Shanghai over Hong Kong and Macau for her scheduled trip next month after learning about mainland China’s visa-free policy in December.

She will be a first-time visitor to the mainland, and she said she chose Shanghai over other mainland cities because it “seemed the most tourist-friendly, offering ample information and facilities for English speakers”, she said.

Additionally, 50 taxis in Shanghai started accepting foreign credit cards in April. Finding one in a city with more than 50,000 cabs remains difficult, but Chinese authorities have said the service will be expanded to more than 2,000 taxis by November, ahead of the seventh China International Import Expo that is expected to attract many foreigners.

The move reflects how the Shanghai government has been promoting the city as the main point of entry for inbound foreign travellers. And this has resulted in more flights from overseas, including from non-Western countries, said Steven Zhao, CEO of the China Highlights online travel agency.

Beijing used to be most people’s first choice as a place to enter China for stays of 10-15 days, but now many opt for Shanghai, he said.

However, despite the rebound in short-term visitors, few of those who left Shanghai during the pandemic have come back to take up long-term contracts.

“None of my friends are back, and they keep on asking me why I have not left yet,” said a British expatriate named Andreea, who has lived in Shanghai for more than a decade and stayed through the lockdowns, doing odd jobs to make ends meet. She said she considers the city her home.

But after having worked primarily as an English teacher for years, she is now considering leaving, as job opportunities in education are becoming more rare amid a drop in admissions at kindergartens. She sees this as the result of China’s falling birth rate and the closures of international schools in recent years.

“Nowadays, life in China is quite uncertain, especially if you are working in some areas like architecture, education and sales,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the economy, but policies that keep on changing.

“You never know what will happen or will suddenly close down, and you see yourself forced to leave your whole life here on short notice.”

Max Modesti, an Italian citizen who co-owns an 11-year-old Italian restaurant on The Bund in Shanghai, said the 2022 lockdown left a scar on Shanghai and still “weighs on morale and confidence”.

Salaries in today’s economy do not match overseas expectations, except for top-level jobs, and foreigners who try to set up a business in Shanghai now find it harder to prosper because residents prefer to eat closer to home while minding their money, he said.

“The middle class is really suffering in the past few years already, and this I can see in the food and beverage industry very clearly,” he added.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have repeatedly vowed in the past year to provide a level playing field for foreign investors. And there has also been a relatively recent shift to make the service industry friendlier to foreigners, especially among those who sometimes find it less accommodating than in other countries.

For instance, Chinese banks and payment apps have been ordered to facilitate easier payments for outsiders, with tech giant Tencent updating its WeChat Pay – one of the two most common mobile payment apps in China – in April to support foreign mobile numbers and cards.

China’s rapid cashless-society shift in recent years has made it extremely difficult for some foreigners to get around, restricting how much money they are able to spend.

The Ministry of Public Security and several other departments have also ordered hotels to be open to all legal guests from overseas after receiving complaints that they were denied stays on the grounds that they “lacked foreign-related credentials”, according to a post from the Chinese government website on May 24.

Lin Huanjie, head of the Institute for Theme Park Studies in China, expected that it will take at least two more years for Shanghai to return to the 2019 level of inbound tourist arrivals – a historical peak of 9 million – despite its appeal as an international metropolis, improved tourism-related services, and preferential investment policies that are attracting overseas businesspeople.

“This is not only due to the ongoing recovery of the overall economy, but also because the aftershocks of the post-pandemic era are yet to fully dissipate,” he said.

Additional reporting by Mia Nulimaimaiti

US plans to turn Taiwan Strait into ‘unmanned Hellscape’ if China invades: top admiral

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3266092/us-plans-turn-taiwan-strait-unmanned-hellscape-if-china-invades-top-admiral?utm_source=rss_feed

If China invades Taiwan, it may face a large, lethal drone force meant to make its military “miserable”.

At least that’s the plan, according to the top US admiral in the Pacific, who said the “Hellscape” strategy is designed to distract China and buy the United States time to respond.

“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue Summit.

In doing so, he said: “I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”

The plan involves launching thousands of unmanned systems, from surface vessels and submarines to aerial drones, to fight Chinese invading forces as soon as they begin to cross the Taiwan Strait, effectively acting as a kind of first line of defence.

This type of strategy would require heavy investments in cheap, reliable drones, which the US has been doing with its Replicator initiative. Last year, the Department of Defence officially announced the program, which is a long-term plan to field thousands of autonomous systems.

While progress on the ambitious plan has been relatively quiet, there have been some signs of movement.

Back in March, Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks said the Pentagon aims to spend US$1 billion this fiscal year on Replicator. A few capabilities have been highlighted as necessary for the first drones in the programme, and the Pentagon is working with defence partners to develop and acquire these systems.

Last summer, Hicks said Replicator aimed to counter China’s “biggest advantage”, which is its mass: “More ships. More missiles. More people.” She said “we’ll counter the [People’s Liberation Army’s] mass with mass of our own, but ours will be harder to plan for, harder to hit, harder to beat.”

The previous INDOPACOM commander said last year that US unmanned capabilities “will be an asymmetric advantage”.

“Operational concepts that we are working through are going to help amplify our advantages in this theatre”, he said, adding: “There’s a term, hellscape, that we use.”

Paparo’s remarks on the “Hellscape” strategy come on the heels of a massive Chinese military drill around Taiwan, during which it effectively surrounded the island and showed off joint force capabilities.

While the exercise showed Taiwan and the US how quickly and easily mainland China could employ a blockade, it was also a learning opportunity for the US military.

After the drills concluded, Paparo said they “looked like a rehearsal” for an invasion, telling Japan’s Nikkei newspaper: “We watched it. We took note. We learned from it. And they helped us prepare for the future.”