Mistral点评

• Uygur group wins appeal over UK probe into ‘slave labour’ cotton from China’s Xinjiang
• Chinese Communist party expels two ex-defence ministers for corruption
• China shipbuilders cast off Russia, yielding to Western sanctions after blacklisting
• Taiwan raises travel risk warnings for mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over new anti-separatist rules
• Lunar rock samples: Chinese space agency calls on US to ‘remove obstacles’ to cooperation
• U.S. to receive first pandas in 20 years after farewell party in China
• Zhou Guanyu is huge for F1 in China. But he’s fighting to keep his job.
• China’s ‘fastest delivery man’ qualifies for Paris ‘people’s’ marathon in Olympics
• Jordanian minister banks on Middle East stability in courting Chinese investment
• Former Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu under investigation for corruption
• Southeast Asian start-ups lured to Hong Kong by mainland China link, funding opportunities
• Hong Kong 5,000 yuan duty-free limit for mainland Chinese visitors to rise but ‘far below’ hopes
• China kindergartens offer practical education with rope training, cooking, washing up to boost enrolment
• China’s economy ‘is full of hope’, but market reforms key to healthy, sustainable foundations
• China businessman bowls over Sweden with hometown beef ramen noodles, earns US$140,000 a month
• US needs to rethink its democracy-versus-authoritarianism view of China rivalry: professor
• Alibaba taps China’s top generative AI start-ups to boost offerings on DingTalk
• Indonesia detains 103 foreigners, including from China, Malaysia in suspected cybercrime raid
• China calls on scientists of all nations to study lunar samples, but notes obstacle with the US
• US urged to take firm steps in support of Philippines amid rising South China Sea tensions
• China says U.S. can’t stop it from taking ‘giant steps’ in space
• China busker Guo Zhuang finds online fame with classic cover version, triggers hometown tourism surge
• South China Sea: China plucks US Navy probe from disputed Second Thomas Shoal: video
• China advises ‘softer approach’ to law enforcement to ease jitters in private sector
• Prospect of low-priced Chinese EVs reaching US from Mexico poses threat to automakers
• China’s Ding Xuexiang revealed as head of party science and technology body
• Dates set for China’s long-awaited third plenum when policy direction will be revealed
• Herders hemmed in by India and China’s Himalayan stand-off: ‘every year our difficulties mount’
• Duped China wife discovers ‘doctor’ husband of 5 years is actually jobless, penniless liar during divorce
• Microsoft maintains AI services in Hong Kong, as OpenAI curbs API access from mainland China
• World’s first carbon fibre passenger train ready to (quietly) roll into Chinese city
• South China Sea clash not armed attack, Philippines needs to ‘do more’ than protest: Marcos
• Elderly woman in China defies death after using hand grenade as hammer for 20 years
• Soho China, Shimao, R&F and 8 other Chinese developers may be ineligible for mainland cash
• How will EU’s shift to right alter China trade, tech and other elements of relationship?
• Cracks start to emerge in Philippines’ South China Sea stance
• Mainland China says it is still holding former Taiwanese soldier who was picked up while fishing
• Indonesia wants Chinese tourists to look beyond Bali holidays, mulls visa waiver
• MWC Shanghai: AI in focus as China’s telecoms operators and gear makers seek new growth
• US House panels consider how to counter China security threats and ‘unfair’ trade practices

Uygur group wins appeal over UK probe into ‘slave labour’ cotton from China’s Xinjiang

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3268350/uygur-group-wins-appeal-over-uk-probe-slave-labour-cotton-chinas-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed

British authorities must reconsider whether to open a probe into the importation of cotton allegedly produced by slave labour in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, a London court ruled on Thursday, allowing an appeal by a Uygur rights group.

The World Uygur Congress, an international organisation of exiled Uygur groups, took legal action against Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) after it declined to begin a criminal investigation.

Rights groups and the US government accuse China of widespread abuses of Uygurs and other Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang, from where the vast majority of Chinese-produced cotton emanates.

Beijing vigorously denies any abuses, and its embassy in Washington has previously described allegations of forced labour as “nothing but a lie concocted by the US side in an attempt to wantonly suppress Chinese enterprises”.

The Chinese embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

In its legal action, the World Uygur Congress argued that the NCA wrongly failed to investigate whether cotton from Xinjiang amounts to “criminal property”.

Last year, a judge at London’s High Court ruled there was “clear and undisputed evidence of instances of cotton being manufactured … by the use of detained and prison labour as well as by forced labour”.

But the legal challenge was dismissed on the grounds that the British authorities’ approach to the law – which was that there has to be a clear link between alleged criminality and a specific product – was correct.

The Court of Appeal overturned that decision, ruling that “the question of whether to carry out an investigation … will be remitted to the NCA for reconsideration”.

Rahima Mahmut, UK Director of the World Uygur Congress, described the ruling as “a monumental victory and a moral triumph”.

“This win represents a measure of justice for those Uygurs and other Turkic people who have been tortured and subjected to slave labour,” Mahmut said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the NCA said: “We respectfully note the judgment of the Court of Appeal and are considering our next steps.”

Chinese Communist party expels two ex-defence ministers for corruption

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/27/chinese-communist-party-expels-two-ex-defence-ministers-for-corruption

The Chinese Communist party has expelled two former defence ministers for corruption, including Li Shangfu, who disappeared from public view along with other senior figures last year.

Li was sacked as defence minister in October, two months after he disappeared from public life. He served just seven months as defence minister. No explanation was given for his sudden removal, which temporarily destabilised efforts to rebuild US-China defence dialogues.

On Thursday, Chinese state media said that Li and Wei Fenghe, another former defence minister, had been expelled from the CCP for “serious violation of party discipline and the law”. The accusations against the two men include accepting gifts and money and facilitating improper benefits for others.

The allegations are the result of a months-long investigation by the central military commission.

State media said that Li’s and Wei’s cases would be transferred to the prosecutorial wing of the military for criminal charges.

Wei was defence minister immediately before Li, having served since 2018. He previously led the rocket force, a sensitive arm of the military responsible for China’s nuclear arsenal. Wei had also largely disappeared from public events.

Last year brought a series of dramatic reshuffles in China’s military leadership, including in the rocket force, where two top generals were replaced with men from other parts of the armed forces. Analysts said that this suggested an attempt to break patronage networks in the unit.

In December, three senior aerospace and defence industry executives were removed from a top CCP advisory body.

Qin Gang, a former foreign minister who has not been seen in public for a year, was also sacked without explanation last year after a brief stint in office.

Xi Jinping, China’s president and head of the military, has made anti-corruption a cornerstone of his leadership since coming to power in 2012. But the numerous purges last year have raised questions about the efficacy of his graft-busting campaign. Some of the senior figures to be axed, such as Li, Wei and Qin, were appointed with Xi’s approval.

People purged from the senior ranks of the CCP may be left to live their remaining years in political and social exile, or they may face harsher criminal penalties. Last month a court sentenced to death Bai Tianhui, a former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings, a bank, for accepting bribes of more than 1.1bn yuan.

The military purge is thought to be related to an investigation announced last year into corruption in military procurement. Li was head of the equipment procurement department between 2017 and 2022.

The expulsions of Li and Wei will be officially confirmed when the CCP’s central committee has its long-delayed third plenum next month. On Thursday, it was announced that the meeting of top CCP leaders would take place on 15-18 July.

China shipbuilders cast off Russia, yielding to Western sanctions after blacklisting

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3268322/china-shipbuilders-cast-russia-yielding-western-sanctions-after-blacklisting?utm_source=rss_feed

Some Chinese shipbuilders who saw opportunity in anchoring their business to orders from Russia are being forced to adapt amid pressure from Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, with shipyards in eastern China severing long-standing ties with their Russian buyers in recent weeks, according to a major company and domestic media reports.

The moves come two years after five Chinese companies were told they would need to stop work on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project in northern Siberia, due to sanctions from the European Union, according to the Norway-based energy industry publication Upstream. But at the time, the situation was seen to be “changing every day”.

Among those five entities was Wison New Energies, a Shanghai-based firm that now says it has “decided to discontinue all ongoing Russian projects and will immediately and indefinitely stop taking any new Russian business”.

In an English post last week on LinkedIn, which no longer has a presence in China, the company appeared to convey a message of compliance to the Western world – as it came just weeks after one of the other four entities named two years ago, the Shandong-based Penglai Jutal Offshore Engineering Heavy Industries, was blacklisted by the US Treasury Department for dealings with Russia.

“We appreciate the good relations we have built with our Russian partners in the past and value the work we have done together,” the Wison statement says. “However, in view of the strategic future of the company, we have to make this difficult decision.”

Analysts say the trend illustrates how Chinese companies have become collateral damage as the West steps up efforts to penalise Russia for its war in Ukraine, and as sanctions disincentivise business with Russia.

They say Chinese shipbuilders should diversify their client bases to navigate the geopolitical maelstrom – a tactic that Wison appears to be employing as the 27-year-old firm “actively seeks new development opportunities”.

Wison also said it had decided to sell its equity interest in Zhoushan Wison Offshore & Marine, a firm in neighbouring Zhejiang province that helped build modules for a massive Arctic-LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project overseen by Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek.

Reuters reported in April that gas-liquefication at the Artic-LNG 2 project had been suspended due to sanctions and a shortage of gas tankers.

The West’s sanctions imposed since the Ukraine war began in 2022 have complicated deals between Chinese and Russian firms.

On Monday, the Ministry of Commerce protested the European Union’s listing of Chinese companies in its 14th round of sanctions against Russia.

The June 24 sanctions package adds 69 individuals and 47 entities subject to asset freezes and travel bans. Nineteen of those are Chinese companies. One EU target this time is liquefied natural gas (LNG).

“These are unilateral sanctions and constitute long-arm jurisdiction,” the ministry said in response to a reporter’s question. The ministry urged the EU to “unconditionally stop listing Chinese companies”.

“China will resolutely safeguard the rights of Chinese companies’ legitimate interests.”

Xu Tianchen, senior economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit market research firm in Beijing, said Russia has emerged as a huge market for Chinese shipbuilders but that a market bonanza is being scuppered by sanctions.

“Bilateral trade in shipbuilding has been very lopsided for years,” Xu said. “China’s ship-related export value to Russia is more than 100 times the other way round, and it has been the case for many years – not just after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

“This reflects China’s enormous shipbuilding capacity and its growing global market share.

“Russia, on the other hand, is a minuscule player in shipbuilding, lagging far behind countries like China, South Korea, Japan and Greece.”

Russia’s reliance on Chinese ships and parts has probably grown since 2022 because the cut-off of supplies affects the construction and maintenance of ships in Russia, Xu added.

“[But] tightening Western sanctions pose an immediate risk to Chinese firms because ships can be easily classified as dual-use goods, which are being scrutinised more closely than before,” he said. “In fact, many companies and banks are already self-sanctioning to avoid such risks, or exploring alternative payment systems to circumvent potential sanctions.”

For some shipyards, cutting ties with Russia may put them in financial straits and without other options.

Zeng Ji, a professor of ocean engineering with Shanghai Maritime University, said orders from Russia were hard to replace for some Chinese shipbuilders, given that many are running excess capacity.

“Big orders used to flow from Russia because the country lacks capabilities to build large commercial vessels. A number of shipyards in Liaoning and Shandong in northern China, and Zhejiang in eastern China, rely on deals with Russia to stay afloat,” said Zeng, who added that Russian buyers find Chinese shipyards offer value-for-money products and services.

“Chinese shipbuilders making components for Russia who also receive orders from clients in the West or source parts elsewhere now have to weigh which side is more important and make difficult decisions. They now need to diversify their business and clients.”

Shipbuilding cooperation was among the focal points, along with the space and aviation industries, featured in a joint statement signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s May visit to China to mark 75 years of diplomatic ties.

And earlier this month, China’s state-backed Economic Daily quoted Alexey Likhachev, chief of Russia’s Rosatom, a state-owned atomic energy conglomerate, as saying that he had recently briefed Putin on jointly developing Arctic shipping routes with China, and that Russia would attract partners there in shipbuilding, port construction and logistics cooperation.

“This will be a joint project that truly meets the interests of the two countries,” the newspaper quoted Likhachev as saying.

Xinhua also reported this month that, at a bilateral cooperation forum held in Saint Petersburg, the Shanghai-based NewNew Shipping Line entered into a deal with Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom for a joint venture to design and construct high-ice-class container ships and to jointly operate Arctic routes connecting the ports of China and Russia.

NewNew Shipping Line’s parent Torgmull, a logistics company, said in a phone interview that cooperation programmes with Russia were “progressing well for now” but that they would monitor the evolving situation.

Lu Xiang, a research fellow in US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said some Chinese investments in Russia may remain “low-key” due to a lack of publicity.

“In principle, the sanctions will have some impact on shipbuilders who are there,” Lu said, adding that some still will not be deterred.

“If there’s a commercial need, then of course there’s a need for investments,” he said. “I don’t believe the EU’s sanctions will cause a shrinking of investments, and we’ll actually see growth. Any enterprise in any location will consider the other location’s laws and reactions, then the risk and returns will be weighed. Decisions on risk versus return will vary from company to company.”

In 2023, global shipbuilding output grew by 10 per cent, year on year, to 35 million compensated gross tonnes, and China emerged as a frontrunner, contributing 50 per cent of the total output for the first time, eclipsing South Korea at 26 per cent and Japan at 14 per cent, according to shipbuilding-data-cruncher Clarksons.

South Korean shipbuilders could commiserate with their arch-rivals in China as both are nursing losses due to Russian clients being unable to pay to take delivery of vessels.

Samsung Heavy Industries is in a legal dispute with a Russian client involving LNG ships, and their case will be heard at the Singapore Arbitration Court.

HD Hyundai has resold ships it originally built for Russian clients, but Hanwha Ocean is still looking for new buyers.

“Since these cancelled projects were already in progress, shipyards are faced with the challenge of finding other uses for the hull blocks. Even though LNG carriers are in high demand from Korean shipbuilders at the moment, other customers will likely have different requirements and specifications for their orders,” said Carl Martin, a technical researcher with MRC Inc, a Busan-based maker of hi-tech navigation and communications equipment for various sea vessels.

“[Finding new buyers] could take a while, and during that time the ships and hull blocks are taking up valuable space that shipyards could be using for other orders in their backlog,” he explained.

---

Taiwan raises travel risk warnings for mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over new anti-separatist rules

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268333/taiwan-raises-travel-risk-warnings-mainland-china-hong-kong-and-macau-over-new-anti-separatist-rules?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwan has raised its travel warnings for mainland China – as well as Hong Kong and Macau – after Beijing released new judicial guidelines that could carry the death penalty for “diehard separatists”.

Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council said the new rules “severely threatened” the personal safety of Taiwan residents.

The updated guidelines raise the warnings for the mainland and two special administrative readings from yellow – for places “requiring special attention” – to orange, the second highest level in the four-tier system.

Residents are now warned to avoid “ unnecessary travel”, the same warnings in force for places such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Lebanon.

The council said that if residents “really have a need” to travel to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, they should “avoid getting involved in or discussing sensitive issues and affairs, photographing ports, airports, military exercise venues, and carrying books on politics, history, religion”.

Beijing’s new guidelines – effective from last Friday – said the police and legal system must “severely punish Taiwan independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession crimes .... and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity”.

Cases deemed to have “severely endangered the state and the people” could warrant the death penalty in mainland China, while those involved in separatist activities can be jailed for between 10 years to life.

Beijing spokesman insisted the rules would only target a “very few diehard separatists” and not the “Taiwan public”.

Taipei issued another statement earlier this month asking residents to exercise increased caution when travelling to Hong Kong after some tourists reported being stopped and searched by local police for no apparent reason.

It also said Hong Kong’s 2020 National Security Law and this year’s passing of Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, had increased the risk for visitors to the city.

Beijing has branded Taiwan’s new leader William Lai Ching-te as an “obstinate separatist” and has been angered by comments he has made since taking office last month.

He said the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, and the People’s Republic of China are “not subordinate to each other” in his inauguration speech and repeated the comments at a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the Huangpu Military Academy.

On Thursday the mainland defence ministry said Lai, “will surely be judged by history and severely punished by law” for attempting to “tamper with history and split the country”.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.

Most countries do not recognise the island as independent, but its main international backer the United States opposes any attempt to take it by force and is legally bound to supply Taiwan with weapons to defend itself.

---

Lunar rock samples: Chinese space agency calls on US to ‘remove obstacles’ to cooperation

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3268324/lunar-rock-samples-chinese-space-agency-calls-us-remove-obstacles-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed

China welcomes scientists from around the world to study lunar rock samples from the historic Chang’e-6 mission, but a space official said the United States should “remove obstacles” to cooperation between the two nations.

Scientists worldwide were encouraged “to jointly carry out scientific research on lunar samples and data”, Bian Zhigang, vice-administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said on Thursday.

Asked at a press conference in Beijing whether scientists from the US wanted to take part in that research, Bian said: “I believe they do.”

“[But] if the US really wants to have normal space exchanges with China, I think they should take practical measures to remove obstacles” that limit cooperation, he said.

“The root cause of the obstacles … lies in domestic laws such as the Wolf Amendment of the United States, which hinder Sino-US space cooperation.”

The Wolf Amendment, which was passed in 2011, prohibits the American space agency from using government funds to engage in direct space cooperation with China without explicit permission from Congress.

Bian said China had always been open to space cooperation and exchanges with the US.

He said China’s achievements in space were made possible by its own efforts and knowledge, and while the US law had stymied cooperation “it cannot hinder the rapid development of China’s space industry”.

The Chang’e-6 lunar probe successfully landed back on Earth on Tuesday after collecting rock samples from the moon’s far side – making China the first country to do so.

“The geological structure, material composition and early cosmic environment of the far side of the moon are full of mysteries,” Bian said.

Liu Yunfeng, head of international cooperation at the CNSA, said the space agency had set up an application process for international scientists who want to take part in the research.

“China welcomes scientific researchers from all countries to apply in accordance with the relevant procedures and share the benefits,” Liu said.

The Chang’e-6 mission was carried out in cooperation with Pakistan, France, Italy and the European Space Agency on four scientific payloads, including a microsatellite and radon gas detector.

“After the success of the mission, heads of multinational space agencies and international organisations, international peers and friends, sent us congratulations and look forward to deepening cooperation,” Bian said.

With just a year and a half to launch the Chang’e-6 mission, chief designer Hu Hao said it had been challenging to take into account different languages and working habits while planning the international payloads.

“It should be said that we have succeeded in dealing with these challenges,” Hu told reporters.

Bian said the Chang’e-7 and Chang’e-8 missions were next, with the aim of surveying resources on the south pole of the moon.

Six international payloads have already been selected for Chang’e-7, while 200kg of payload has been set aside for the Chang’e 8 mission, with 30 applications for cooperation already received, according to Liu.

China is also planning to build an international lunar research base, and Liu said the CNSA had signed cooperation agreements for the project with more than 10 countries so far.

“We look forward to working with more international peers to make new contributions to expanding human cognition, enhancing human well-being, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind in the field of outer space,” Bian said.

U.S. to receive first pandas in 20 years after farewell party in China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/06/27/pandas-san-diego-zoo-china/2024-06-27T08:01:57.078Z

Giant panda lovers rejoice, two of the black and white fluffballs are headed to the United States from China — an operation involving a motorcade, a chartered flight, a dedicated entourage and a bespoke menu, according to Chinese wildlife officials.

Yun Chuan and Xin Bao are the first pair of pandas to enter the United States in more than two decades, and will set up home at the San Diego Zoo in California, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said in a statement.

Before their big move, the pair attended an elaborate farewell ceremony in their honor in China’s Sichuan Province on Wednesday, which U.S. and Chinese dignitaries attended along with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance President and CEO Paul Baribaul and Todd Gloria, San Diego mayor.

Three-year-old female panda Xin Bao is “gentle and well-behaved,” while male panda Yun Chuan, four, is “smart and lively,” the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda said in a statement, adding that the duo would enjoy “carefully prepared fresh bamboo, bamboo shoots, fruit, vegetables, and specially made steamed buns” during their flight.

The duo will also be accompanied by several experienced nutritionists and vets, and once at the zoo, the Chinese experts will stay for around three months to help the pair through the quarantine and adjustment period, the center added.

The pandas’ relocation is part of ongoing efforts between the two nations to protect the mammals, officials from both nations said. Pandas are no longer considered endangered but their status is listed as “vulnerable,” according to The World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The animals are also star attractions in zoos in the United States — and have long been associated with China’s diplomatic efforts.

China is home to the only natural habitat for pandas, and panda diplomacy can be traced as far back as 685 A.D. Since then the mammals have been sent to nations around the world, serving as strategic goodwill ambassadors, attempting to soften China’s image abroad. In recent decades, China has lent pandas on renewable 10-year contracts for a fee, with all cubs born abroad to be sent back before they turn four.

The bears often become celebrities in the process — while the departure of three pandas from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington last year triggered tearful farewells and fears the United States would eventually be left with no pandas.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance leaders joined esteemed dignitaries and conservation leaders in China for a farewell ceremony honoring Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, the two giant pandas coming to San Diego Zoo. pic.twitter.com/u16ujsIjU0

— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) June 26, 2024

Yun Chuan is the son of Zhen Zhen, who was born at San Diego Zoo in 2007, the San Diego Wildlife Alliance said.

The pandas will be given “several weeks” to adjust to their new surroundings before going on display to members of the public, alliance said, adding that the zoo would share information about how to see the duo once health care teams deemed the pandas ready to meet the public.

WWF estimates that just 1,860 giant pandas remain in the wild, facing threats that include climate change, loss of food supplies and habitat fragmentation.

“Although the conservation status of the giant panda is improving, there is still much work needed to ensure they remain on the path to recovery with healthy and flourishing populations,” the statement said.

Chinese wildlife officials said the loan of the two pandas would open a new round of panda conservation cooperation between the United States and China. The China Wildlife Conservation Association added that it hoped conservation efforts between the two countries would also lead to improvements in managing panda diseases, and help promote “friendship between Chinese and overseas peoples.”

It is not just San Diego that is eagerly awaiting a panda delivery.

Later this year, two new giant pandas will arrive in Washington, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced last month. The move came as a surprise, given the tense relationship between the United States and China, which owns and leases all giant pandas in U.S. zoos, The Washington Post reported at the time.

In fact, China’s pandas are so popular in Washington that one Chinese ambassador previously joked: “Many people don’t realize it, but there are actually two Chinese ambassadors in Washington: me and the panda cub at the National Zoo.”

Zhou Guanyu is huge for F1 in China. But he’s fighting to keep his job.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/27/zhou-guanyu-f1-china/2024-06-20T15:52:57.496Z

The 14th driver to cross the finish line at the Chinese Grand Prix in April stopped his car in the middle of the track. Zhou Guanyu could hear his name chanted in the grandstands he once haunted as a boy, and his knees buckled as he climbed out of the cockpit. The cheers grew louder for China’s first and only Formula One driver, who had just competed in his first home race and — despite finishing near the back of the field — earned a hero’s welcome home. He covered the tears on his cheeks with his hands.

The event in Shanghai, where Zhou was born, had not been held in five years because of the coronavirus pandemic. Its return signaled F1’s renewed plans to grow in China, and in the days before the race, Zhou trumpeted the potential of the sport in his hometown, which will hold the second race on the schedule in 2025.

But Zhou could not say for sure whether he would race there in a year’s time — or even beyond. Zhou is a marketable face for the sport in China, already worth millions in sponsorship dollars and an inspiration for a new generation of young drivers there — yet his own career in F1 faces an uncertain future.

Zhou has never won an F1 race. He has not made a podium in three years on the grid. His contract with Sauber expires after this season, and it remains unclear if the Swiss team will re-sign the 25-year-old. While he has been publicly vocal about performance issues with his car, veteran and up-and-coming drivers alike are vying for his seat. His camp has been in contact with other teams about a potential seat in 2025, which probably will be affected by movement from other free agent drivers and how Zhou — who has earned no points through 10 races in 2024 — performs over the final stretch of this season.

“I feel like there should be a spot for me in the future on this grid,” he said. “But I just don’t know where.”

Even with his career at a crossroads, Zhou has not walled himself off from the noise. He said he doesn’t mind the conversation or hearing people’s opinions on social media. “If you’re strong enough, you can practice that confidence in yourself,” said Zhou, adding that it is exactly what he did after he secured a seat with Alfa Romeo in 2021, when he constantly heard fans doubt whether he deserved it or had just earned the spot because of money.

The road to that point had been more nuanced than that. His family moved with him from China to Sheffield, United Kingdom, when he was just 12 years old to chase a career in racing. Zhou didn’t know any English, let alone how to drive competitively. He struggled to communicate with other team members at first. For nearly a decade, he toiled in the minor leagues in Europe — from karting to F4 to F3 to F2 — and often yearned for home. “I loved this sport. But honestly, I didn’t feel like it loved me back,” he once wrote, reflecting on a childhood that had placed him in the cutthroat world of competing against other kids with F1 dreams.

“Being Chinese, moving to a totally different country, a different mentality, made him grow up faster,” said Rene Rosin, the team principal for Prema, a talent factory in Italy where Zhou raced in F4 as a teen. “It’s quite difficult, but he’s opened up a path for quite a few drivers from China now that are doing the same, moving into Italy or Europe and progressing in this opportunity.”

There are no Chinese drivers in the F2 or F3 feeder series, but Rosin said his team could have multiple Chinese drivers next season. And there are nearly a dozen Chinese drivers in the global karting pipeline, a direct result of Zhou’s influence, according to Mia Sharizman, who helped develop Zhou “as a once-in-a-generation project” in F2 as the former Alpine Academy director.

“These are kids that are 12, 13 years old, that all want to be him,” Sharizman said. “I told him, at the end of the day, your legacy is to make these kids believe. ... They may all not get there, the next generation. Maybe one will, in 20 years’ time.”

Zhou had attended the first F1 race in Shanghai when he was 6 years old in 2004, and towering posters of his face were plastered on the grandstands when he raced there in April. A documentary about his life called “The First One” was released in theaters there the week of the race. Tickets sold out well before the weekend. He wore a helmet emblazoned with a map of the city’s subway system and met with sponsors. He mostly celebrated with his family, who had sacrificed everything to get him there.

“It was very special and emotional,” he said. “For them it was good, too, to have your kid you went so far away from home for, trying to reach this dream.”

Since finishing the race in Shanghai, he has only felt the pressure of rivals chasing after his seat at Sauber, a position now only more coveted given Audi’s investment in the team for the 2026 season.

At the Canadian Grand Prix in June, his frustration bubbled over. He hit a barrier during the first practice round and slammed into a wall during the second. “I have no idea what’s happening with the car. The car is so strange, man,” he told his crew over the radio before walking back to the team’s hospitality tent with his helmet on. Before the race in Barcelona, his team switched back to a chassis used earlier in the year in hopes of curing its issues; Zhou finished 13th.

At times, it has felt just as grueling off the track; week after week, Zhou is faced with fresh questions about his future. Some have wondered, after more than a decade of climbing through the lower rungs of the sport and into this position, whether he would be willing to take a year off and serve as a reserve for a team. He might not have a choice.

“I don’t want to be the reserve. I don’t want to take a year off,” he said. “In Formula One, when you take a year off, it’s difficult to come back.”

China’s ‘fastest delivery man’ qualifies for Paris ‘people’s’ marathon in Olympics

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3268042/chinas-fastest-delivery-man-qualifies-paris-peoples-marathon-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed

A delivery worker from China has been chosen to compete in the Paris 2024 Mass Participation Marathon, the first ever event for amateur athletes at the Olympics.

More than 800,000 people across the world have applied to join the event.

Luan Yushuai, 39, gained enough of the critical sport credits required to be qualified for the race and become one of 40,048 candidates – including 120 from China – selected via a lucky draw, the Dazhong Daily reported.

Sports credits are gained by taking up the running challenges set out on a special app, either alone or as part of a team, based on time, distance and other factors.

“I’d like to experience running in the Olympics. Really looking forward to it,” Luan said.

The Games’ organisers decided to open a marathon to the public to create an opportunity for as many people as possible to get close to the heart of the historic sporting event.

Participants will be following in the footsteps of the professional runners on the same route, according to the Paris Olympics 2024 website.

Hailing from a village in Jilin province in northeastern China, Luan has been working as a delivery rider in Beijing for nine years.

As well as running fast to meet work deadlines, he trains in his spare time by covering a distance of 400km every month. To increase his strength and stamina, he attaches sandbags to his legs while working.

“Delivering goods and running are two indispensable things in my life,” he said.

Luan started running marathons in 2017 when a customer, who is a sports club owner, offered to coach him for free.

In 2021, he came first in a half marathon race in Beijing among non-professional runners.

Luan has competed in many events in the last seven years. His best marathon time was 2 hours, 25 minutes and 55 seconds, earning him the nickname “China’s fastest delivery man”, the report said.

He registered at the Paris Olympics website in 2021 to apply for the Mass Participation Marathon before working towards gaining the sports credits.

“I took up the running schedule after work. Although it is exhausting, I liked doing that,” Luan said.

By the end of last year, he had accumulated 100,000 points, which qualified him to be entered into the drawing lots stage.

The marathon is scheduled to take place on the evening of August 10.

“He is so inspiring. From his story, I know that there are opportunities in every corner of our life,” one online observer said on Weibo.

“Bravo, brother. That is the Olympic spirit. I am moved by you,” said another.

Jordanian minister banks on Middle East stability in courting Chinese investment

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3268238/jordanian-minister-banks-middle-east-stability-courting-chinese-investment?utm_source=rss_feed

A Jordanian cabinet minister banked on stability returning to the Middle East “one day” as he made a pitch to lure Chinese investment to a region troubled by the escalating war in Gaza.

Ahmad Hanandeh, the minister of digital economy and entrepreneurship, told a forum at the “Summer Davos” in northeastern China on Wednesday the conflict was concerning and had brought instability to the region, and to the world.

“Security and stability is the fuel of growth … which is something we think will be back one day,” he said, when asked whether economic prospects for the Arab nation had dampened.

The crisis in Gaza – now in its ninth month and with no end in sight – is expected to dent economic growth in the Middle East. The International Monetary Fund has projected Jordan’s growth could slow to less than 2 per cent.

“To be honest, I’ll give you an answer not as a minister … I’ll just answer you as an Arab citizen. We’re worried [about] what’s happening in Gaza. It concerns us,” Hanandeh said.

“There is a pain in the heart of each and every Arab Muslim in the world. There is disappointment [in] what’s going on.”

China’s cautious approach towards the war – which has avoided condemning Hamas – has been criticised by Israel and some Western countries, but Jordan appreciated and valued Beijing’s position, Hanandeh said.

Hanandeh was speaking at a panel discussion at the 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions – or Summer Davos – in Dalian, Liaoning province, where he spoke of China’s ties with Jordan and the broader Arab world, particularly concerning trade.

China has been one of the Middle East’s top trading partners and the minister was confident it would stay that way.

In describing Jordan’s economic relationship with China, Hanandeh likened Beijing to an older brother “who’s very skilful”, saying that “whenever something is needed, [China] immediately jumps on it”.

“They make it very cost effective, very fast and they just deliver it,” he added. “I do believe China will remain playing the role of a strategic [and] important trading and economical partner for Arab countries.”

The Arab state, which is an emerging market taking part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has key Chinese projects spanning from energy to infrastructure.

Other analysts on the same World Economic Forum panel said China’s ties with the Middle East were not just about trade, arguing that Beijing could shoulder greater responsibility in the region.

Liu Qian, founder and chairwoman of advisory firm Wusawa Advisory, said China’s relations with the region started with trade and investment but had evolved beyond economics.

“A new defining theme of the relationship between China and the Middle East is really that China is increasing its economic influence [and] dominance in certain sectors, on certain countries,” she said, adding that there had also been growing frustration over Washington’s “incoherent and sometimes unreliable policies”.

The United States has long been a key player in the region but its influence has waned in recent years following its withdrawal from Afghanistan and abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

In one example, Liu cited China’s brokering of the historic peace deal between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia as a reflection of Beijing’s influence in the region beyond economics, and spilling over into security and broader geopolitics.

“That sends a solid message that China is here to stay in the Middle East, and that China is here to expand its influence,” said Liu, who was formerly the managing director of The Economist Group in Greater China.

Other examples, including China’s naval drills in the Gulf of Oman and engagement with regional countries through its belt and road framework, were also clear signals that it “is not just in China’s interest but also in the Middle East’s interest to have an alternative power”.

Victor Chu, chairman and chief executive officer of First Eastern Investment Group, said he expected China and the Gulf region to become a “really comprehensive partnership”, given the speed at which Gulf states were developing.

“We’re actually at the beginning of a huge China-Middle East partnership, which will basically rival [the] other paramount relationship that we’ve known in the last 50 or 60 years,” he said.

In his assessment of the future of China-Arab relations, Chu said there was increasingly a role for China to play as a “constructive interlocutor”.

He said it would be in Beijing’s interest as it could dilute negative perceptions of China’s role in other parts of the world, and aid the push for stability – the precondition for economic and investment prospects in the region.

“That’s an enormous, vested interest for all sides, for China, and indeed other countries, to play a useful role,” said Chu, who co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council.

“There are very few credible interlocutors left who can do honest brokerage, and the Chinese is one of them.”

China had earlier angled to play a mediator role in the Gaza war but its success has been limited, with its efforts so far focused on calling for dialogue and a ceasefire and pushing for a two-state solution.

According to Liu, China was keen to play a more active role but was mindful of the “extraordinary level of complexity on the ground”.

“Before China feels that it’s fully ready economically, geopolitically, militarily … it won’t dive fully into it,” she said.

Hanandeh was blunt in saying that tensions between Beijing and Washington was “not making our life … easy”.

“It’s a complex file, to be honest, to deal with,” he told the forum. “We have a very old, strong ally [in] the US … and China is an old friend and a trading partner for so many years.”

But he made clear that even as the Arab state counted Washington as a long-time partner, it still welcomed Chinese investors with open arms.

“We see there are so many opportunities for Chinese companies that they can tap … into the Arab world,” he said, adding that there were opportunities in sectors ranging from digital economy to agriculture to renewable energy.

“So the sky’s the limit and the door open.”

---

Former Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu under investigation for corruption

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3268303/former-chinese-defence-minister-li-shangfu-under-investigation-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing has officially announced that former defence minister Li Shangfu is under investigation for corruption and has been expelled from the Communist Party.

The announcement came months after his abrupt dismissal from office.

More to follow...

Southeast Asian start-ups lured to Hong Kong by mainland China link, funding opportunities

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3268314/southeast-asian-start-ups-lured-hong-kong-mainland-china-link-funding-opportunities?utm_source=rss_feed

Several Southeast Asian start-ups are choosing Hong Kong to develop their business, pointing to the city’s connection to mainland China and wider funding sources as the main reasons, while dismissing concerns about a brain drain.

The firms were among 10 that won awards at City University’s HK Tech 300 Southeast Asia Start-up Competition, and hailed from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The competition involved more than 100 start-ups, with each winner receiving HK$1 million as an angel investment from the university’s flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme, HK Tech 300.

“The very main reason [for developing our business in Hong Kong] is the connection to the mainland, and then the accessibility to venture funding, grant funding or government funding,” said Harry Chen Hong-yuan, partner and chief financial Officer of E3A Healthcare.

The company, which produces medical devices for women and newborns, was founded in Singapore in 2019 and set up a holding company that year in Hong Kong.

The firm established a research and development centre in the city last year after learning about funding provided by Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Fund, as well as a receiving a grant from the Science Park.

“So we thought that was helpful for us to lower our costs,” Chen said. “And the other thing is that Hong Kong has a lot of universities … because we are a medical device company, we have to work with a lot of hospitals and usually through the institution is the best way to connect with local clinical resources.

“And also these universities provide talent for us.”

Chen said a future goal was to move his research team in Singapore to Hong Kong, so he could establish the city as the firm’s main R&D base because of lower costs made possible by different grants and funds locally.

The firm also plans to launch its products in Hong Kong this year and is working with local distributors.

Another start-up that is interested in developing its business in Hong Kong is Smartos, a Vietnamese firm that provides a property management platform.

Founder and CEO Tran Hanh Trang also pointed to funding as one of the reasons she hoped to expand her business to Hong Kong, in addition to the city’s supportive innovation ecosystem and the large potential market.

“The source of funding available here for [start-ups] is big,” she said. “For start-ups, the initial funding is really important for us to be able to invest in developing the solution.”

Tran said Hong Kong was a “megacity” filled with commercial and residential buildings, which the firm hoped would mean a similar demand for its services as in Vietnam.

Hong Kong has experienced an exodus of talent and companies in recent years, with the government taking an all-out approach to attract people and firms to the city through various initiatives and schemes.

The efforts followed an earlier migration wave amid previously stringent Covid-19 controls and Hongkongers accessing new pathways to settle overseas after political changes in the city.

Both Tran and Chen dismissed these concerns. They said practical issues surrounding their work were what concerned them.

Chen said the cost of living in Hong Kong was an issue for some employees. He said some had opted to commute from Shenzhen to their office in the Science Park rather than rent a flat nearby because of high housing prices in Sha Tin.

Tran, meanwhile, was concerned about the availability of generative artificial intelligence models from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, which they used in their products.

Despite OpenAI rolling out its AI services in more than 160 countries, the products remain officially unavailable on the mainland and in Hong Kong. Users have turned to virtual private networks or third-party apps to access ChatGPT, while developers need to use proxies and outbound servers to bypass restrictions.

Tran said the firm would find a way to integrate systems that were supported in Hong Kong into its products to resolve the issue.

Hong Kong 5,000 yuan duty-free limit for mainland Chinese visitors to rise but ‘far below’ hopes

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3268315/hong-kong-5000-yuan-duty-free-limit-mainland-chinese-visitors-rise-far-below-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing is planning to raise Hong Kong’s duty-free shopping allowance of 5,000 yuan (US$688) per mainland Chinese tourist, but the amount will be “far below” the 30,000 yuan proposed by industry representatives, government sources have said.

Visitors from across the border currently need to pay a tax of 13 to 50 per cent to the mainland government for purchases made in Hong Kong that exceed 5,000 yuan per trip, a measure introduced in 1996.

Tourism and retail industry insiders have been urging mainland authorities to increase the threshold since the reopening of borders after the pandemic as big-spending visitors were found to be opting for more cultural experiences rather than pure shopping. The city’s currency is also expensive due to its peg to the US dollar.

There were hopes the limit could eventually be in line with Hainan Island’s current 100,000 yuan per year, with an increase to 30,000 yuan in the first phase.

The increase to 30,000 yuan would be parallel with what Hainan got in 2018. Hainan got its first rise in 2018 from 5,000 yuan in place since 2011.

But a source familiar with the matter said Hong Kong’s initial increase would be “far below” 30,000 yuan and even under 20,000 yuan.

Latest numbers from the Census and Statistics Department showed retail sales in April dropped 14.7 per cent year on year, following a 6.9 per cent decrease in March.

Last month, Annie Tse Yau On-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, renewed calls for the tax threshold to be increased, saying more visitors to the city might not help much if the duty-free amount remained the same.

She also expected overall sales to decline by a low double-digit percentage this year.

China kindergartens offer practical education with rope training, cooking, washing up to boost enrolment

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3265264/china-kindergartens-offer-practical-education-rope-training-cooking-washing-boost-enrolment?utm_source=rss_feed

Videos which show daily routines at kindergartens in China, where pupils are instructed in basic life skills and take part in a range of physical activities, have captivated international audiences on TikTok.

The preschools for very young children, aged 3 to 6, have been dubbed military-style for their intense programmes.

In viral videos, children are seen engaging in rope training, playing basketball and ping pong, climbing ladders and vaulting.

They also prepare meals, do washing up, embroidery, and interestingly, make shoe insoles.

One video shows children rhythmically moving to music while standing inside bamboo cross frames, jumping in and out with impressive agility.

Another scene captures a child balancing on a yoga ball while jumping over a rope with other children. They demonstrate remarkable discipline, coordination and teamwork.

In the same video, a little girl is filmed jumping over some tires as tall as she is and then performing a somersault on a mat.

Aside from physical training, the classes also emphasise the teaching of practical life skills.

One particularly popular video, which attracted 516,000 likes and 8.8 million views, features students starting a fire and cooking.

A narrator says: “While kids in other kindergartens eat, sleep, and play games, kids in this Chinese kindergarten do laundry and cook, learning self-reliance.

“They have outdoor stoves corresponding to their height and they make their own meals every day. From washing and chopping vegetables to cooking, they eat their own cooked meals with such gusto. After eating, they voluntarily clean up and even line up to wash dishes.”

A teacher explained that the 2018 ban on teaching primary school curriculum in kindergartens has resulted in a shift towards more innovative and varied activities.

A mother interviewed by mainland magazine South Reviews, said the rich diversity of activities is a strategy used by kindergartens to attract enrolment.

It aims to address the challenge of declining birth rates, which has led to the closure of many preschools.

It is an approach that has proven effective.

For instance, one kindergarten in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, southeastern China, which is popular on both TikTok and Weibo, teaches children how to raise chickens, ducks and rabbits, in addition to meal preparation.

This approach to learning has drawn interest from parents who have travelled from places as far as Harbin and Inner Mongolia in the north to enrol their children. Many places are full until 2026.

The diverse programmes have also impressed people overseas on TikTok, who draw comparisons between Chinese preschool education and that of their own countries.

“Most kids in the US do not even know how to turn on a stove,” one person said.

“If they had this in America, they would charge US$5,000 for tuition,” said another.

“I love this curriculum, but in Australia, educators will say everything is not safe,” a third person wrote.

“Do they take adults?” said nother.

China’s economy ‘is full of hope’, but market reforms key to healthy, sustainable foundations

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3268297/chinas-economy-full-hope-market-reforms-key-healthy-sustainable-foundations?utm_source=rss_feed

Unswerving market-oriented reforms would be key for China’s upcoming third plenum, said a former senior official with Beijing’s top economic planner.

“China’s economic reform has been going on for 45 years, and this year marks the 46th year, and the most important core issue is reconciling the relationship between the government and the market,” said Peng Sen, a former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

“Letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation, that means minimising government intervention in the micro economy,” Peng said during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions – also known as Summer Davos – on Thursday in Dalian.

The top-level Politburo confirmed on Thursday that the delayed plenum would last for four days from July 15, and would aim to build a high-level socialist market economy by 2035.

The meeting, which will be attended by more than 370 full and alternate members of the new Central Committee, is expected to endorse a wide-ranging communique covering deepening reform and pushing forward China on a path to modernisation.

Peng, who is currently president of China Society of Economic Reform, an academic association affiliated with the NDRC, added that the government should not play such a large role in its socialist market economy.

“[The government] is mainly for creating a better environment for competition,” Peng added.

China should have better policies to support the “vibrant, competitive and creative market entities”, especially the creativity development of private firms, he said.

The backbone of China’s economy, the private sector contributes 50 per cent of tax revenues, more than 60 per cent of gross domestic product and over 70 per cent of technological innovations.

It also provides more than 80 per cent of urban employment and accounts for over 90 per cent of market entities.

Private firms should, according to Peng, be able to enjoy fair competition in China’s market economy.

On Tuesday, deputy NDRC director Zheng Bei also said in a report to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress – China’s top legislature – that private enterprises faced hidden entry barriers in some key sectors, and that the protection of the property rights and interests of private firms and entrepreneurs remained insufficient.

There are still shortcomings from the authorities in terms of policy implementation and the supply of services to the private sector, Zheng added.

China’s economic reform should include further improvements of basic regulatory systems, including on property rights, market access and fair competition, Peng said.

“These regulations are crucial to the improvement of the entire market system,” he added.

Meanwhile, China should step up efforts to create a unified national market, which was touched on during the tone-setting central economic work conference in December, and is key to eliminating local protectionism and market fragmentation, Peng said.

At the same time, reforms of market-based allocation of production factors are also required, Peng added.

“Land, capital, labour, technology and data should be all allocated by the market and priced by the market, thus to revive the market’s vitality and inject new impetus into the Chinese economy,” he said.

“China’s economy is full of hope, at the same time it still faces many severe and complex difficulties.

“But through reforms, especially market-oriented reforms, I think we can lay the best foundation for China’s next step of healthy and sustainable development.”

China businessman bowls over Sweden with hometown beef ramen noodles, earns US$140,000 a month

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3265266/china-businessman-bowls-over-sweden-hometown-beef-ramen-noodles-earns-us140000-month?utm_source=rss_feed

An entrepreneur from China has set up a thriving business in Sweden selling traditional Lanzhou beef ramen from his hometown on the mainland.

Zhou Yan, 31, from Gansu province in north-central China, opened the Ox Lan Beef Noodle eatery in the country’s capital, Stockholm, on March 25 and quickly attracted local customers.

He is now earning one million yuan (US$140,000) a month.

The restaurant is so popular that Zhou had to add extra outdoor seating to accommodate the overflow.

“On peak days, we sell more than 300 bowls of noodles, which is the maximum a noodle chef can make,” said Zhou.

Lanzhou noodles, known for their unique hand-pulled technique, have outshone local Japanese ramen shops, which typically use pre-made noodles, according to Zhou.

Fresh handmade noodles are prepared in front of customers by skilled noodle chefs, who repeatedly roll, pull, and twist the dough into thick and thin strands, resulting in a texture that is more chewable than the machine-made versions.

Many local influencers visit the restaurant with their cameras to film the chefs practising their skills

Originating from Lanzhou, a city along the Yellow River and a historical stop on the ancient Silk Road, the noodle-making process dates back to the Tang dynasty (618-907).

A proper bowl features top-quality beef and hand-pulled noodles and is expected to meet five standards. A clear broth, white radishes, bright red chilli oil, jade green coriander, and smooth yellow noodles.

Zhou, originally a pop music major who graduated in 2015, found it challenging to succeed in the music industry.

Dramatically deviating from his original career path, he spent two years preparing for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam before pursuing a Master’s degree in Management in Britain.

“Studying music was about chasing a dream, but I needed to make a living in reality,” Zhou said.

After earning his degree in 2019, Zhou launched a start-up in the wellness industry in Shanghai, which swiftly generated annual profits of more than two million yuan (US$280,000).

Using the capital, he decided to venture overseas.

In October last year, seeing the success of Japanese ramen restaurants in Sweden, Zhou invested about three million yuan (US$420,000) to introduce his hometown’s traditional noodles to Sweden.

Since its March opening, the restaurant has been bustling, which speaks volumes about Zhou’s business acumen.

He is doing so well that he returned to China at the end of May to recruit three additional noodle chefs, and plans to open more branches.

A bowl of Zhou’s noodles sells for 159 Swedish krona (US$15).

In China’s first-tier cities, a bowl of Lanzhou beef noodles costs about 10 yuan (US$1.4), and even less in Lanzhou itself.

“Just as Western fast food has spread throughout China’s streets, I want to promote traditional Chinese food like Lanzhou noodles worldwide,” Zhou said.

“If Lanzhou noodles were introduced to Italy, maybe they could compete with Italian pasta,” one online observer in China said.

“For those wanting to start a business, selling traditional Chinese food abroad is definitely profitable,” said another.

“I suggest opening a hotpot restaurant,” a third person said.

US needs to rethink its democracy-versus-authoritarianism view of China rivalry: professor

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3268261/us-needs-rethink-its-democracy-versus-authoritarianism-view-china-rivalry-professor?utm_source=rss_feed

The US should re-examine its “dangerous” democracy-versus-authoritarianism framing of its rivalry with China because it risks nudging Beijing closer to Moscow and Pyongyang, according to a leading Chinese academic.

Li Cheng, professor of political science at the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World, told a forum in the northeastern city of Dalian on Thursday that the framing was “too simplistic, too narrow-minded, too ideological”.

“But most importantly, [it’s] too dangerous. Not only dangerous to the world … but even dangerous to the United States,” Li told a panel discussion analysing US-China relations at the “Summer Davos”.

Li cited former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski’s position that the most dangerous scenario for the United States would be a coalition of China, Russia and Iran over a shared need to deal with American pressure.

“If that’s the case, the United States will face three enemies – from the east, from the west, from the south. Is that an era or scenario we want to enter? Unfortunately, we’re moving in that direction,” he said.

China has called for a “peaceful coexistence” with the US, a move Li said would resonate well with other countries. “My view is the US needs to review the narrative to serve its best interests,” he said.

Lynn Kuok, the Lee Kuan Yew chair in Southeast Asia Studies at the Brookings Institution, also described Washington’s narrative as “flawed”.

Not only did it unnecessarily deepen tensions between the two rival powers but it also pushed authoritarian countries “who might have more differences between themselves than with the US” closer together, Kuok told the forum.

“If we’re talking about trade disputes or technology disputes or even disputes about how to better handle climate change, we can solve those particular issues as long as the other side isn’t seeming to be an ideological enemy,” she said.

“But when the other side is like the evil one or the enemy, then it becomes very hard to solve even these difficult but still solvable issues.”

Kuok said that the democracy-versus-authoritarianism framing could also complicate Washington’s partnerships in Asia, given that several countries in the region – including Singapore and Vietnam – were not liberal democracies.

Asked about cooperation between China and the US, Kuok said the two countries had shared challenges – such as climate change and artificial intelligence safety – to tackle, and that working together could create habits of communication that could improve ties.

But for collaboration to be meaningful, “cooperation must not be held hostage” to other issues, she stressed.

This was the case when former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan and Beijing responded by suspending dialogue with the US on a host of issues including climate change. Most of the dialogues resumed after presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in San Francisco in November.

“If we are to be serious about addressing some of these non-traditional threats, then we need to be able to continue doggedly with pursuit of resolution of those challenges without allowing other thorny issues to derail such conversations,” she said.

“I think it’s clear that we will have to have political will to address these challenges.”

Graham Allison, a political-science professor at Harvard University, said Washington and Beijing had a common interest in avoiding a nuclear war, a topic that he believed would have been discussed at the November summit.

“In principle, logic should suggest that if my survival requires some level of cooperation with you, however competitive we are, I’m going to manage a relationship that’s both fiercely competitive and deeply cooperative,” he told the forum.

But Robin Niblett, a distinguished fellow and former director of Chatham House, was less optimistic of the great power relationship, saying there was “a sense that each side sees the other as a deeper threat almost inevitable” due to their different systems of governance.

“I think the reality is the two sides are not just confronting each other as military competitors. They are confronting each other … as ideological competitors. Not communism versus capitalism … but it is between top-down governance and bottom-up governance,” he said.

That dynamic meant that the US and China saw each other in zero-sum terms, but there were still gaps of cooperation – areas outside the zero-sum competition.

Niblett cited climate change as one example, saying the more competitive China was in the EV sector, the more it appeared to be undermining American economic competitiveness. However, the two countries could find “a sort of different space” to cooperate in on climate change, such as carbon capture and storage.

“The lanes need to be lanes that don’t tip over into a perception of how you’re strengthening the other side in the geopolitical and ideological competition,” he said.

“It’s very difficult to do but it is the reality. We are in a zero-sum world and if you’re in a zero-sum world, you need answers to find the absolute gains in very targeted areas.”

In Shanghai a day earlier, US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns was equally bleak in his outlook, saying it “doesn’t help in international politics if you present a fiction – everything’s okay in this relationship, or it should be okay if you on the other side would just work with us”.

“I would just use the modern US-China relationship as the example of that. We are strategic rivals,” he said at an AmCham Shanghai event, though he listed climate change and global health as issues that the two countries could reach consensus on.

“So as usual, it’s complicated. And when you’re a diplomat on the Chinese or American or European side or Japanese side, you’re managing both parts of the equation. You’re managing conflict. You’re trying to promote areas we can work together. You’re trying to balance that as best you can.

“I think right now, honestly, the issues that fall under the competition label are much more numerous than the cooperation ones.”

Additional reporting by Vanessa Cai

Alibaba taps China’s top generative AI start-ups to boost offerings on DingTalk

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3268300/alibaba-taps-chinas-top-generative-ai-start-ups-boost-offerings-dingtalk?utm_source=rss_feed

Alibaba Group Holding is giving developer access on DingTalk to six Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups to expand generative AI features on the workplace messaging platform, in its latest bid to gain an edge in the increasingly competitive market.

The Hangzhou-based e-commerce and cloud computing giant, which has built its own AI model Tongyi Qianwen, is partnering with MiniMax, Moonshot AI, Orionstar, Baichuan, Zhipu Ai and 01.AI to develop new AI functions for DingTalk, the platform said said on Wednesday.

The move comes as Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, puts AI at the core of its business strategy and promotes DingTalk to more enterprise clients. DingTalk’s rivals, including Tencent Holdings’ WeCom and ByteDance’s Feishu, are also rushing to incorporate AI models into their products.

For the six start-ups collaborating with Alibaba, the tie-up is expected to help introduce their AI products to more users faster via China’s biggest workplace communication tool by user numbers.

By the end of 2023, DingTalk said it had over 700 million users, including 25 million organisations ranging from corporate to educational institutions.

DingTalk’s new AI partners represent some of the leading players in China’s heated race to catch up with top global competitors in the sector.

Baichuan, Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI and MiniMax are known locally as the “four new AI tigers”.

Beijing-based unicorn 01.AI, which runs an open-source AI model Yi, was founded by Lee Kai-fu, a venture capitalist and former president of Google China.

OrionStar, established in 2016, in January launched a medium-scale model Orion-14B that the company said has outstanding performance among models with less than 20 billion parameters.

DingTalk said that by combining the strengths of various models, it can provide users with a variety of offerings that include industry-specific and client-customised solutions.

For example, it is working with Moonshot AI to explore the application of AI’s long-text processing and generative capabilities in educational scenarios.

DingTalk’s start-up partners are also expected to enhance its AI agent feature, added in January to help users streamline their workflow by completing certain tasks, following a similar move by Feishu. Around 500,000 customised AI agents had been created on DingTalk by the end of May, the platform said.

Tongyi Qianwen will continue to support some existing features on DingTalk, such as instant messaging, document processing, audio and video-related functions, the platform said.

DingTalk last year integrated a number of Tongyi Qianwen-supported AI features into the platform, allowing users to compose articles or generate social media posts based on simple text prompts, and provide new members of a group chat with a summary of previous conversations.

DingTalk said it currently has over 5,600 ecosystem partners, including more than 100 entities involved in building AI models, agents, solutions and plug-ins.

---

Indonesia detains 103 foreigners, including from China, Malaysia in suspected cybercrime raid

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3268323/indonesia-detains-103-foreigners-including-china-malaysia-suspected-cybercrime-raid?utm_source=rss_feed

Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 foreign nationals after a raid at a villa on the resort island of Bali, officials said on Thursday.

Those arrested, including Taiwanese, Chinese and Malaysians, were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, along with possible cybercrimes.

Immigration authorities said they conducted the raid on Wednesday at a villa in Kukuh village in Tabanan district and detained 91 men and 12 women. Computers and cellphones were also seized, they said.

“They are suspected of not having documents and misuse of immigration permits. Currently, the possibility of cybercrime is being investigated based on the number of computers and cellphones found at the scene,” Silmy Karim, the director general of immigration, said in a statement Thursday.

Authorities distributed photos showing dozens of detainees lying on their stomachs next to a swimming pool and the three-story villa. All are currently being held at a detention centre in Denpasar, Bali, officials said.

Authorities said they are investigating whether the group might have ties to international syndicates.

Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration plans to carry out another joint operation to monitor foreign nationals in Bali. It aims to ensure that foreigners are staying on the island in accordance with regulations and to maintain order and security.

The raid comes after more than 40 Indonesian agencies, including the ministry overseeing immigration, were impacted by a cyberattack on the country’s data centres, an official said on Wednesday.

The latest cyberattack, the worst that the country has experienced in recent years, disrupted immigration services and affected operations at Indonesia’s major airports for days.

Forty-four government agencies, including key ministries, were targets of the ransomware attack, said Usman Kansong, an official from the communications ministry.

Indonesia’s communications ministry announced earlier this week that the attacker had used malicious software called LockBit 3.0 and demanded an US$8 million ransom, which the government refused.

The LockBit cybercrime group is notorious for using ransomware to digitally extort its victims.

China calls on scientists of all nations to study lunar samples, but notes obstacle with the US

https://apnews.com/article/china-change-6-moon-samples-probe-nasa-c8aa729d0e026349231a05914f9f69f4Bian Zhigang, Deputy Director of the China National Space Administration speaks during a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, Thursday, June 27, 2024. China's space officials said Thursday they welcomed scientists from across the world to apply to study the lunar rock samples the Chang'e 6 probe brought back to earth in a historic mission, but noted there were limits to that cooperation, specifically with the U.S. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

2024-06-27T09:03:49Z

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s space officials said Thursday they welcomed scientists from around the world to apply to study the lunar rock samples that the Chang’e 6 probe brought back to Earth in a historic mission, but noted there were limits to that cooperation, specifically with the United States.

Officials said at a televised news conference in Beijing meant to introduce the mission’s achievements that any cooperation with the U.S. would be hinged on removing an American law that bans direct bilateral cooperation with NASA.

“The source of the obstacle in US-China aerospace cooperation is still in the Wolf Amendment,” said Bian Zhigang, vice chair of the China National Space Administration. “If the U.S. truly wants to hope to began regular aerospace cooperation, I think they should take the appropriate measures to remove the obstacle.”

The Wolf Amendment was enacted in 2011 and prevents direct U.S.-Chinese bilateral cooperation except in cases where the FBI can certify that there is no national security risk to sharing information with the Chinese side in the course of work.

Still, China could cooperate with scientists of other countries. It worked with the European Space Agency, France, Italy and Pakistan in the Chang’e 6 mission.

“China welcomes scientists from all countries to apply according to the processes and share in the benefits,” said Liu Yunfeng, director of the international cooperation office of the China National Space Administration.

Meanwhile, little information about the global first achieved Tuesday was announced. Chinese officials declined to reveal how many samples they actually gathered or any preliminary findings.

“I’m afraid this matter will not be revealed until tomorrow, so I hope everyone can wait patiently for another day,” Chang’e 6 chief designer Hu Hao said at the news conference.

On Monday, Chinese scientists said that they anticipate the returned samples will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rock and other material that scientists hope will answer questions about geographic differences on the moon’s two sides. The mission had aimed to gather two kilograms (more than four pounds) of material.

The near side of the moon is what is seen from Earth, and the far side faces outer space. The far side is also known to have mountains and impact craters and is much more difficult to reach.

The probe’s journey to the far side of the moon was historic in that it was the first time a probe had successfully taken off and brought back samples from the far side directly. Previous samples thought to be from the far side of the moon are from meteorites found on Earth.

The probe had landed in the moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater created more than 4 billion years ago. The samples scientists are expecting will likely come from different layers of the basin, which will bear traces of the different geological events across its long chronology, such as when the moon was younger and had an active inside that could produce volcanic rock.

Officials did announce some future plans, with a planned Chang’e 7 probe to explore resources on the moon’s South Pole. Further down the line, they have planned Tianwen-3 for around 2030 to carry out a Mars sample return mission and a Tianwen-4 Jupiter exploration mission.

HUIZHONG WU China correspondent based in Taiwan twitter

US urged to take firm steps in support of Philippines amid rising South China Sea tensions

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3268286/us-urged-take-firm-steps-support-philippines-amid-rising-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

A senior US official in the Philippines has reiterated an appeal to China to stop harassing Filipino vessels in the South China Sea, but observers say firm actions are needed from Washington amid the risk of tensions spiralling out of control in the event of an accidental clash.

United States ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson on Wednesday gave reassurance of Washington’s support for Manila, saying at a press briefing in Manila: “The chorus against threats to peace and stability in the South China Sea is growing louder and stronger each day.”

“We urge the [People’s Republic of China] to cease harassment of Philippine vessels lawfully operating in the Philippine exclusive economic zone,” the envoy added, stressing Manila’s “sovereign rights” and “freedoms of navigation” in the South China Sea for all ships.

The Philippines and the US are bound by their 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) which obligates both sides to help each other in the event of an attack on one side by an external power. Washington has said the treaty’s scope extended to the South China Sea dispute.

Political analyst Edmund Tayao, president and CEO of think tank Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists, told This Week in Asia that US pronouncements had been helpful, noting they made China aware of the dire implications if it went beyond deploying “grey-zone tactics” to buttress its territorial claims.

“Still and all, doubts remain as this rhetoric is not consistent if we review statements before. It was the US that ... established a partnership with China before recognising it without consulting Japan which was supposed to be its close ally during the Cold War,” Tayao said, referring to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing in 1979.

“So, the US has to do concrete actions, that is to have its presence in the region more, perhaps assisting the Philippines and other southeast Asian countries in policing the region.”

The US can signal to China its firm support of the Philippines over the South China Sea dispute without invoking the MDT, according to Tayao.

In 2022, US Vice-President Kamala Harris said Washington had a “profound stake in the future” of the region and stood ready to support Manila during her visit to Palawan, an island in the western part of the Philippines facing the South China Sea.

US President Joe Biden reassured Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr in May last year that Washington’s commitment to defending its Southeast Asian ally remained “ironclad”.

Tayao said it remained to be seen if the US could be counted on by the Philippines in times of need. “Other than talk, there has not been any concrete action shown,” he said.

The comments by the US envoy came in the aftermath of a June 17 clash between the Philippine navy and Chinese coastguard at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, in which several Filipino sailors were injured with one having his thumb severed. The Philippine side was attempting to resupply troops stationed on a military outpost at the shoal.

Mike Chinoy, a non-resident senior fellow at the University of Southern California US China Institute, said on Wednesday in an interview with ABS-CBN Dateline Philippines that one great danger in the South China Sea was an accidental clash between the US and China.

“There are large naval Chinese vessels and a large Chinese military presence in the waters of the Philippines. And more broadly in the South China Sea there are American naval assets that are transiting those waters just like they transit in Taiwan Strait …there are planes flying,” Chinoy said.

Analysts have flagged the potential of overlapping risks in the South China Sea to trigger a serious conflict, partly because of the proximity of some Philippine islands to Taiwan.

China views Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reintegrated into mainland control, by force if necessary. While many nations, including the US, do not officially acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state, they oppose any use of force to alter the existing status quo.

“The biggest immediate danger is an accidental clash. Chinese and American ships could run into each other, planes could collide, and people could die or get injured,” Chinoy said.

Chinoy, a former Beijing-based CNN bureau chief, added that the crisis could spiral out of control even if the Chinese or the Americans attempted to avoid a fight with each other. “There’s a lot of poking, jabbing, testing, and probing going on right now.”

A war between the two superpowers would have catastrophic implications for the region and beyond, Chinoy said.

“I think there is a high risk, but nobody wants to get into a conflict. Even the Chinese are pushing the envelope but they are cautious. They don’t want a war. President Xi [Jinping] doesn’t want a war.”

China says U.S. can’t stop it from taking ‘giant steps’ in space

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/27/china-far-side-moon-lunar-probe/2024-06-26T19:52:54.173Z

Beijing is celebrating its successful world-first mission to collect samples from the far side of the moon, saying U.S. efforts to deter China can’t keep it from making “giant steps" in space.

China this week became the first country to retrieve rocks and other materials from the little-known lunar hemisphere, which experts say could be a gamechanger in humanity’s understanding of how the moon came to be, when its Chang’e 6 lunar probe returned to Earth on Tuesday after a 53-day mission.

China’s methodical steps over the years to extend its reach from Earth orbit to the moon and even Mars have worried U.S. officials, especially as NASA’s Artemis moon program faces delays.

The country had a “unique advantage of the system of mobilizing all resources nationwide” to advance its space ambitions, China National Space Administration’s vice administrator Bian Zhigang said Thursday in Beijing’s first public comments since the return.

Chinese officials blamed a long-standing U.S. law that prohibits direct space research cooperation for stopping the two powers working together. But the U.S. stance “cannot prohibit China from making giant steps forward in its space program,” he said, noting the project allowed the country to hone key technological areas that would boost long-term space capabilities.

Bian’s remarks underscored Beijing’s ambitions to become a space superpower and scientific force as the United States’ main rival in space exploration, laying out plans to land Chinese astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and set up a base at the moon’s south pole. This has created a new frontier in its broad rivalry with the United States, which also includes computer chips and solar panels.

Before the latest mission, China had already successfully landed unmanned spacecraft on the far side of the moon and brought back samples from the near side, but the Chang’e 6 mission combined the two.

The uncrewed Chang’e 6 mission blasted off on May 2 and landed on the far side of the moon on June 2. It collected rocks and other material from near and around an impact crater called the Apollo basin, which is part of the South Pole-Aitken basin and the oldest, largest and deepest known crater on the moon, Chinese officials said Thursday.

A parachute carrying the Chang’e 6 returner landed at 2:07 p.m. local time on Tuesday at a designated desert area in Inner Mongolia, according to the live stream on a Chinese state media channel. Engineers monitoring the landing applauded, the video showed.

The returner carried about 4.4 pounds of lunar soil samples, which were flown to Beijing to be unboxed.

Bian invited researchers from around the world, including the United States, to apply for access to study the new samples.

‘Extremely exciting’

The far side is the lunar hemisphere that is always facing away from Earth. It is also referred to as the “dark side,” not because of a lack of light, but because scientists know so little about that hemisphere.

The first samples from the lunar far side are “extremely exciting” and “might tell us a completely different geological story,” said Carsten Münker, a professor for geochemistry at the University of Köln in Germany who has applied to access samples collected by a previous Chinese lunar mission.

The Chinese mission covered sites “which have never been explored. All American and Russian missions went to the central nearside,” Münker said.

Two portions of the samples will be stored permanently, while the remaining will be distributed later to “scientists in China and foreign countries in accordance with the lunar sample management regulations,” Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-6 mission, told China’s CRI News Radio on Wednesday.

U.S. officials in NASA, the Pentagon and in Congress are concerned about the steady progress in China’s space exploration, because its civilian space program is directly tied to its military and the technologies developed by the space agency can be used to improve military capabilities.

Dual-use space technologies can help strengthen the nation’s science and technology sector and modernize its military, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. China’s advancements in space can help its military develop missiles, lasers and robots that can be used for combat in space, according to its 2023 report on the Chinese military.

But U.S. officials say that despite Beijing’s progress, the United States remains on track to return astronauts to the lunar surface ahead of China.

“I’ve been fairly pointed in my comments that we’re in a space race with the Chinese, and that they are very good,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told The Washington Post in a recent interview. “Especially in the last 10 years, they’ve had a lot of success. They usually say what they mean, and they execute on what they say.”

Research collaboration between the United States and China on space is rare. But following the Chang’e 5 mission’s return to Earth in 2020, NASA urged its scientists to apply for access to the roughly four pounds of lunar soil and rock it collected.

A long-standing U.S. law bars the use of NASA funds for projects with China or Chinese-owned companies without congressional approval due to concerns about the potential transfer of sensitive U.S. data or technologies to China.

U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns has said he does not believe the Chinese are interested in cooperating with the United States on space research.

“I don’t believe the Chinese have shown much of an interest in working with the United States” on space, Burns said during a Council on Foreign Relations event in December. “So in a way it’s contested. It’s a contested area and we feel comfortable with where we are.”

Even if U.S. researchers were given access to the latest samples, it would take many years before they could study them.

International researchers waited three years to apply for access to samples from the previous mission, Chang’e 5, which landed and returned to Earth in 2020. Ten applicants were interviewed in April this year, and China has yet to announce its selection. Five of those applicants were American.

The samples from the latest mission could be “very different” from the rocks collected from the near side of the moon from previous missions, researchers say. The materials collected by Chang’e 6 from the far side are believed to be older samples that can help explain the early history of the moon, experts say.

Kentaro Terada, a professor at Osaka University studying planetary sciences who also applied for samples from a previous Chinese mission, said “there is the high possibility” that the far side samples might hold records of early moon and hopefully some terrestrial elements of billions of years ago, which scientists have failed to find from previous near-side samples.

“I am looking forward to seeing the isotopic differences between the far-side sample and the near-side sample [of] Apollo,” Terada said, adding that some early Earth elements may have been transported to the moon by winds and preserved in lunar soils.

Samples from the far side could be “a game changer,” said Frederic Moynier, a French cosmochemist who applied for Chinese lunar samples from a previous mission.

“Chang’e 6 with far side samples would be very important to test” previously held beliefs about the moon, Moynier said.

China busker Guo Zhuang finds online fame with classic cover version, triggers hometown tourism surge

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3263043/guo-zhuang-china-busker-finds-online-fame-classic-cover-version-triggers-hometown-tourism-surge?utm_source=rss_feed

A 25-year-old man from rural China has shot to fame after his cover version of an old love song went viral on social media, and his poignant, inspiring life story was revealed.

Guo Zhuang, who calls himself Guo Youcai on short video platform Douyin, has a street stall barbecue business which he operates in the evenings in Heze, Shandong province, eastern China.

Every morning, he appears on live-streaming busking in the square in front of the local abandoned railway station, reported the Qilu Evening News.

The young man dresses as though he is middle-aged in a retro style that includes a slick pompadour haircut, wide-shouldered jacket, striped shirt, colourful tie and black leather gloves.

For about a year, only a few dozen people a day would listen to his singing in a live-streaming session.

But since May, Guo has become an online celebrity after his version of Promise, a song made popular in the mid-1990s by Taiwanese singer E-Jun Lee, won the hearts of many on mainland social media.

His hometown of Heze, a previously little-known place, instantly grasped the opportunity to raise its profile on the internet.

The result was that tens of thousands of people, mainly tourists, gathered in the station square to watch Guo’s performance.

Local authorities rapidly repaired a road near the area, and telecoms operators sent made sure there was a good internet connection in the immediate environs.

Tens of volunteers were allocated to distribute free bottled water and peonies to tourists, as Heze is known as China’s peony hometown

While many people are attracted to Guo’s image and singing style that are unusual for a young person, people online are also intrigued by his life story.

Guo was born into a poor rural family. His mother died when he was 10 and he was sent to live with his aunt when his father formed a new family.

He dropped out of school at 13, and had at a variety of jobs, including delivering food and selling shoes.

In his spare time, he enjoyed singing and spent six yuan on a book about techniques so he could polish his skills.

In 2019, he met Su Chang, who fell in love with him for his tenacity and work ethic. She was not put off when she learned about his humble background, lack of academic education and small income. The couple is now engaged.

On Su’s advice, Guo began his barbecue business that year.

Guo said he was grateful to Su and also to her family, which supported their union and did not ask for a bride price – an old Chinese custom still prevalent throughout the mainland.

Guo saw his followers on Douyin skyrocket from 100,000 on May 10 to 4.8 million a week later.

“I intended to harvest a wisp of spring breeze, but now I have got a whole season,” he said, expressing astonishment at his fame.

“As long as there are audiences watching my live-streaming, I am happy and satisfied because I am doing what I like,” he said.

Guo will not be giving up his day job though, because he and his fiancée say they understand how fleeting fame can be.

“Online fame is not reliable. It’s just like floating clouds. What is most important is to stand on solid ground and do solid work,” Su said.

South China Sea: China plucks US Navy probe from disputed Second Thomas Shoal: video

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268263/south-china-sea-china-plucks-us-navy-probe-disputed-second-thomas-shoal-video?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese coastguard intercepted a device dropped by a US military aircraft that could detect submarines in the South China Sea, according to video posted by the state broadcaster on Wednesday.

Yuyuan Tantian, a social media channel affiliated with China Central Television, posted a video showing a plane with US Navy markings on its fuselage releasing an object into the sea near the sensitive Second Thomas Shoal.

The moment was described on the video as “US military aircraft circling over the South China Sea and dropping unidentified objects”.

The video, which was posted as tensions persist between China and the Philippines over the disputed waters, said the event happened “in recent days”, but no specific date was given.

Chinese coastguard vessels immediately sailed to waters near the Second Thomas Shoal to retrieve and inspect the device, according to the video, which has been shared thousands of times on various social media platforms.

In the video, a battery specification label can be seen on a device with the words “Ultra Electronics” at the top.

According to the company’s website, Ultra Electronics is a British defence and security company that supplies the US army. Its businesses include maritime communications, precision control systems and forensic technology.

Yuyuan Tantian’s video cited a maritime expert named Yang Xiao as saying the device could “detect” and “counter” Chinese submarine signals underwater.

The video claimed that the sonar emitted by the device could disturb marine life such as dolphins, possibly even stranding them.

Neither Chinese or US authorities have commented on the video.

China and the Philippines have competing sovereignty claims over the Second Thomas Shoal, where both sides have clashed several times in recent months. Beijing calls the shoal Renai Jiao, while Manila calls it Ayungin Shoal.

China’s coastguard said last Monday it had conducted a “boarding inspection” of a Philippine vessel on a mission to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre – a World War II era navy vessel intentionally grounded on the shoal to serve as a military outpost.

Manila accused the Chinese coastguard of physically attacking and damaging its vessels and said eight Filipino crew members were injured in the stand-off, including one who lost a thumb.

The latest in a series of stand-offs in the busy, resource-rich waterway over the past year has heightened fears of a major conflict in the region, especially as Manila moves closer to the US, its treaty ally.

Washington earlier said it stood by its long-time defence ally, condemning Beijing’s “escalatory and irresponsible actions” in the area and reiterated that armed attacks on Philippine forces, public vessels, aircraft and coastguards would invoke their mutual defence treaty.

CCTV said on Saturday that a People’s Liberation Army naval task force had “recently” conducted a four-day combat drill in the South China Sea, but did not give an exact date.

China advises ‘softer approach’ to law enforcement to ease jitters in private sector

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3268257/china-advises-softer-approach-law-enforcement-ease-jitters-private-sector?utm_source=rss_feed

An editorial in the Study Times – the newspaper of China’s chief ideological training institution – has called for a “softer approach” to law enforcement, joining other government bodies in demanding a pullback from the heavy-handed treatment of some firms which has generated panic in the private sector.

The commentary from the Central Party School, which urged the creation of a “fair, just, stable and predictable” environment for law enforcement, was published soon after an incident that had many enterprises worried about police raids over long-dormant tax bills – and shortly before a major economic conclave scheduled for next month.

The much-anticipated third plenum of the Communist Party’s Central Committee – a gathering which has typically laid out the country’s economic strategy for the next five to 10 years and set to begin July 15 – is expected to provide a plan that makes good on China’s frequent pledges to improve business sentiment.

“Constructive interaction between an environment with the rule of law and private companies is a requirement for developing the economy,” the piece read, pointing out complaints from some private enterprises over issues like “too frequent” inspections by local law enforcement and “inappropriate” administrative fines.

The editorial followed a report on Tuesday from the National Development and Reform Commission – China’s top economic planner – delivered to the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, the leading body of the country’s top legislature which works outside full sessions.

The commission stressed the need to support the country’s private sector, and made specific mention of an end to “selective” law enforcement methods.

The “practicality” of law enforcement came up in the Study Times piece as it addressed problems encountered in implementation.

“It is necessary to clarify different roles and functions along the chain of implementation,” the editorial said, “such as the combination of fragmented operations by different departments.”

“Novelty” is necessary when carrying out laws, the authors said, which could reduce “inappropriate” disruptions to company operations at a time when the economy is facing downward pressures.

“Currently, law enforcement work at the grass roots level focuses on small and micro-sized enterprises,” the piece noted, citing “integrated investigations” and the development of “joint law enforcement plans” as examples of potential reforms.

The Study Times also emphasised “agility” in terms of the capability of law enforcement – especially among on-the-ground personnel – and suggested tackling situations in effective and efficient ways.

“Simplifying the process of implementation and using communication, negotiation, coordination and participation instead of hard penalties to redress issues are encouraged,” the editorial said.

In recent weeks, controversy has been generated over Chinese media reports that several listed firms had been asked by local governments to pay tax bills dating back as far as the 1990s, and the creation of several joint task forces between police and tax authorities has made businesses wary of what may come next – compounding an already weak outlook on China’s overall economy.

The State Taxation Administration, however, has denied that it would launch a national investigation.

In addition to the Study Times piece, a front-page commentary by party newspaper People’s Daily said on Wednesday that China will continue on the path of economic reform, with new policies strengthening “coordination” to “prevent [departments] working separately and restraining each other”.

---

Prospect of low-priced Chinese EVs reaching US from Mexico poses threat to automakers

https://apnews.com/article/china-vehicles-mexico-evs-automakers-tariffs-f526c5e52b95b624bb4b15d2038e289aFILE - A BYD Seagull electric vehicle, with its hood open, is shown at the Caresoft Global facility April 3, 2024, in Livonia, Mich. China's BYD last year introduced the Seagull, a small EV that sells for just $12,000 in China. (AP Photo/Mike Householder, File)

2024-06-27T07:00:08Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a scenario that terrifies America’s auto industry.

Chinese carmakers set up shop in Mexico to exploit North American trade rules. Once in place, they send ultra-low-priced electric vehicles streaming into the United States.

As the Chinese EVs go on sale across the country, America’s homegrown EVs — costing an average of $55,000, roughly double the price of their Chinese counterparts — struggle to compete. Factories close. Workers lose jobs across America’s industrial heartland.

Ultimately, it could all become a painful replay of how government-subsidized Chinese competition devastated American industries from steel to solar equipment over the past quarter-century. This time, it would be electric vehicles, which America’s automakers envision as the core of their business in the coming decades.

“Time and again, we have seen the Chinese government dump highly subsidized goods into markets for the purpose of undermining domestic manufacturing,’’ Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, wrote in an April letter to President Joe Biden that called for an outright ban on Chinese electric vehicles in the U.S. “We cannot let the same occur when it comes to EVs.’’

Low-priced Chinese EVs pose a potentially “extinction-level event’’ for America’s auto industry, the Alliance for American Manufacturing has warned.

The trade deal that Beijing could potentially exploit — the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — was negotiated by the Trump administration and enacted in 2020. Its rules could let Chinese autos assembled in Mexico enter the United States, either duty-free or at a nominal 2.5% tariff rate. Either way, China could sell its EVs well below typical U.S. prices.

To defuse the threat, the U.S. does have options. Customs officials could rule that Chinese EVs don’t qualify for the low-duty or duty-free benefits of being assembled in Mexico. U.S. policymakers could also pressure Mexico to keep Chinese vehicles out of that country. Or they could bar Chinese EVs from the U.S. on the grounds that they would threaten America’s national security.

For his part, Donald Trump told Time magazine in April: “I will tariff them at 100%. Because I’m not going to allow them to steal the rest of our business.’’

Whatever steps the U.S. government might take, though, would likely face legal challenges from companies that want to import the Chinese EVs.

The threat from Beijing is emerging just as U.S. automakers face slowing EV sales even while investing billions to produce them in a high-priced bet that Americans will embrace battery-powered autos in the coming decades. Comparatively high prices, despite federal tax incentives for buyers, have weakened EV sales in the United States. So has public anxiety about a scarcity of charging stations, potentially made worse by rising thefts of cables at charging stations.

Optimists suggest that an influx of ultra-low-priced Chinese EVs could accelerate U.S. electric vehicle purchases, speed up investment in charging stations and force down prices.

“It would be cheaper just to let the Chinese cars come in, forget all the tariffs and subsidies, let the market figure it out,’’ said Christine McDaniel, a senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center who was a trade official in the George W. Bush administration. “Yes, it would be disruptive. But EVs would get on the road in the U.S. a lot faster.”

At stake is an enormously consequential question: Who stands to dominate the manufacture and sale of zero-emissions electric vehicles?

China has so far taken a daunting lead. It accounted for nearly 62% of the 10.4 million battery-powered EVs that were produced worldwide last year. The United States, at No. 2, made about 1 million — less than 10% of the total, according to the consulting and analysis firm GlobalData.

In achieving technological breakthroughs while holding down costs, Chinese automakers have made remarkable strides. China’s BYD last year introduced a small EV called the Seagull that sells for just $12,000 in China ($21,000 for a version sold in some Latin American countries). Considered a marvel of engineering efficiency, its lightweight design allows the Seagull to go farther per charge on a smaller battery. BYD has said it’s considering building a factory in Mexico — but only for the Mexican market.

U.S. policymakers and auto companies are less than reassured.

“Just look at China — look at how big their market share is in EVs,’’ John Lawler, Ford Motor’s chief financial officer, said at this month’s Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference. “Those are significant competitive threats we need to deal with. They have a development process that is much faster — 24 months.’’ (By contrast, U.S. vehicles have typically undergone development for four to five years, though that’s been reduced to three years or less for EVs.)

Critics note that BYD and other Chinese EV makers have achieved their cost efficiencies thanks to heavy government subsidies. Beijing spent 953 billion Chinese renminbi (more than $130 billion at current exchange rates) on EVs and other green vehicles from 2009 through 2021, according to researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“It’s not competition,’’ Biden asserted last month. “It’s cheating.’’

Last month, Biden drastically raised the tariff on Chinese EVs, from the 27.5% established under Trump to 102.5%. It’s meant to price even the bargain-priced BYD Seagull out of the U.S. market. (Europeans are worried, too: The European Union says it plans to impose tariffs of up to 38.1% on Chinese EVs for four months starting in July.)

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, though, potentially lets vehicles assembled in Mexico — even if made by European or Asian automakers — enter the U.S. at a much lower tariff or none at all. If made-in-Mexico cars met the USMCA’s requirements, they could enter the United States duty-free. At least 75% of a car and its parts would have to come from North America. And at least 40% of it must originate in places where workers earn at least $16 an hour.

Still, for a Chinese EV maker like BYD, qualifying for duty-free treatment under the USMCA might be difficult even if it tried to source parts in North America.

“Even North American automakers have a challenging time reaching those thresholds,” said Daniel Ujczo, senior counsel at the Thompson Hine law firm in Columbus, Ohio.

But there’s an easier way that Chinese EV makers could use Mexico to try to dodge Biden’s killer 102.5% import tax: They would have to pay only 2.5% — the tax imposed on most cars imported to the United States — if they could show that assembling their EVs in Mexico involved a “substantial transformation’’ that essentially turned them from Chinese into Mexican cars.

U.S. officials could reject the notion that a substantial transformation occurred during the assembly process. But the U.S. would struggle to prevail if that decision were challenged in the U.S. Court of International Trade, “given the substantial changes that typically take place in automotive assembly factories,’’ David Gantz, a trade lawyer and a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, has written.

Still, Gantz said by email: “My takeaway is that using one or more of the available trade and national security mechanisms available to the U.S. government, the U.S. will be successful in excluding Mexican/Chinese EVs.’’

The “most effective and quickest’’ way to keep out Chinese EVs, Gantz argues, would be to block them on national security grounds. Today’s EVs, after all, are loaded with cameras, sensors and other technological gizmos that could collect images from the autos’ surroundings and sensitive personal information from drivers. And China isn’t merely an economic competitor. It’s a geopolitical adversary — and potentially a military one, too.

“U.S. fears regarding possible use of connected vehicles to spy on military installations or powerplants are not irrational,’’ Gantz wrote.

Biden has even warned that the EVs “could be remotely accessed or disabled.’’ In February, he ordered his Commerce Department to investigate the technology in Chinese “smart cars,’ ' a potential prelude to blocking Chinese EVs on national security grounds.

McDaniel of the Mercatus Center argues that the United States has significant leeway to do what it wants — especially given Mexico’s dependence on the U.S., its No. 1 export market.

“You could imagine a scenario where the U.S. tells Mexico: ‘Don’t even think about allowing this (Chinese EV) investment into Mexico,’ ” she said. ” 'We will not allow those cars into the U.S.’ ’’

“What’s stopping the White House,” McDaniel said, “whether it’s right now or the next administration, from just releasing a new document, an executive order, saying, ‘We will no longer recognize products from our USMCA partners if they have more than X percent content from foreign entities of concern, including China’ ”?

The U.S. has additional leverage because the USMCA comes up for review in 2026. If it seeks to alter the agreement — perhaps adding a provision to ban or limit Chinese EVs from Mexico — but fails to prevail after negotiating with Canada and Mexico, it could let the USMCA expire.

McDaniel noted that the World Trade Organization, which was established to enforce global trade rules, has become largely toothless. The WTO’s Appellate Body — its supreme court — effectively stopped functioning in December 2019 because the U.S. blocked the appointment of new judges to the panel. Trade cases now go unresolved indefinitely.

“We’re not in a WTO world anymore,’’ McDaniel said. “It’s ‘might makes right’ — that’s the sort of world we’re in.’’

____

AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

---

China’s Ding Xuexiang revealed as head of party science and technology body

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268226/chinas-ding-xuexiang-revealed-head-party-science-and-technology-body?utm_source=rss_feed

In a sign that Chinese President Xi Jinping is delegating more powers in his unprecedented third term, top-ranking Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang has been revealed as head of the ruling Communist Party’s Central Science and Technology Commission.

State news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday that Ding addressed the second plenary session of the National Science and Technology Conference in Beijing as head of the new commission, as well as in his capacity as a Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) member.

The commission was established in March last year – as part of a far-reaching overhaul of government and party organs – to oversee China’s drive towards self-reliance in science and technology, but its leadership was unknown until now.

The commission was one of several new bodies formed at the “two sessions” annual parliamentary meetings last year, which marked the beginning of Xi’s third term as head of state.

Also last year, Premier Li Qiang was announced as head the Central Finance Commission – another party body founded in March – while Ding was appointed executive vice-premier and months later became the State Council’s point man on science development.

Meanwhile, Xi’s chief of staff Cai Qi was made head of the policymaking Cyberspace Affairs Commission, a role previously held by Xi. His appointment was not revealed until this year, as exclusively reported by the South China Morning Post.

Neil Thomas, a Chinese politics fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Centre for China Analysis, said the appointment suggested that Xi is feeling more politically secure than in his first two terms.

“Xi, in his third term, appears to be adopting an approach of delegated centralisation, where he cedes none of his centralised political authority but delegates more policymaking tasks to trusted aides,” he said.

“This more oracular leadership style may help Xi to conserve energy as he ages, deflect blame for any policy mistakes onto his lieutenants, and preserve his political dominance by dividing governance responsibilities among different networks of his supporters.”

Thomas noted that Ding’s background – including mechanical engineering studies at university before spending the first 15-plus years of his career at the Shanghai Research Institute for Materials – made him a good fit for the role.

According to Xinhua, Ding faced hundreds of China’s top academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering – the country’s top research institutions – in his formal debut in the new role.

Ding told the scientists to focus on their key tasks and anchor on strategic goals with a firm determination and tenacious will, invoking the Chinese saying that it takes “10 years to sharpen a sword”, Xinhua said.

He also emphasised the need for “a new system” to mobilise resources nationwide and speed up China’s scientific and technological innovation so that the country can break through the major bottlenecks it is facing.

Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, noted that science and technology policies were previously handled by Liu He, the former fourth ranking vice-premier.

Ding’s appointment shows a “stronger political will behind science and technology development as it will be led by a PSC member, who is at the innermost decision making circle”, he said.

A political scientist from Nanjing University said an additional advantage for Ding is that he is the youngest member of the seven-man PSC, giving his career a longer runway.

“Ding is only 61. He is most likely going to continue to serve in the next PSC after the party’s 21st National [People’s] Congress in 2027,” said the political scientist, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“My guess is that part of the reason for putting Ding in charge of the tech drive is to ensure continuity and consistency in China’s science and tech policies for the next decade, as much science and tech research takes time to bear fruit,” he said.

---

Dates set for China’s long-awaited third plenum when policy direction will be revealed

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268234/dates-set-chinas-long-awaited-third-plenum-when-policy-direction-will-be-revealed?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s ruling Communist Party’s elites will meet from July 15 to 18 for the long-awaited third plenary session, a gathering expected to shed light on the development direction of the world’s second-largest economy amid intense external challenges.

It is expected to be a defining moment of President Xi Jinping’s third five-year term as the party’s leader and to cover a wide range of goals, from the economy to social development and state building.

The decision was announced at a meeting of the Politburo, the party’s 24-man decision-making body, on Thursday, signalling a consensus among the party elites on how best to cope with China’s economic challenges given the ferocity of international competition and internal difficulties.

The session, also known as a plenum, traditionally sets the economic strategy for the next five to 10 years and is often seen as the most important of the seven party gatherings held over the Central Committee’s five-year cycle.

The meeting, which will last four days, will be attended by more than 370 full and alternate members of the new Central Committee.

It is also expected to endorse a wide-ranging communique that will be dissected by officials at all levels as they try to come up with ways to reach the goals set out in the document.

On April 30, Beijing announced the third plenum would be held in July after a much-discussed but unexplained delay.

Over the past four decades, the third plenums have typically been held in October or November. It is the first time since 1984 that the party has not convened one in the year following the twice-a-decade party congress. The last congress was held in the autumn of 2022, the year Xi began his third term as party general secretary.

In the past, third plenums were the key opportunity to send early policy signals to the party and the public of what the party’s priorities would be for the next five to 10 years.

Beijing offered no explanation for the delay in its April 30 statement but China has been grappling with a series of formidable challenges, including a sluggish economic recovery, intense geopolitical headwinds and ongoing personnel changes in leadership.

The gathering next month will be held just months before China celebrates the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.

It will also be before the end of the year and therefore meet the stipulation in the party’s constitution that it hold at least one plenum a year.

Last year was the 45th anniversary of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening up, and the 10th anniversary of Xi’s own series of reforms – milestones that came and went without the plenum.

In addition to signalling economic policy, the third plenary session is also the usual forum to show party solidarity and offer updates on investigations into sacked high-level officials.

Beijing has said little about what prompted the removal last year of former foreign minister Qin Gang and former defence minister Li Shangfu – both of whom are members of the Central Committee.

Qin, China’s shortest-serving foreign minister, disappeared in June last year before being stripped of his remaining titles in the government. Li, China’s shortest-serving defence minister, has not been seen since August and has also lost all his titles.

Two others – former PLA Rocket Force commander Li Yuchao and agriculture minister Tang Renjian – have been officially placed under corruption probes but are still members of the committee.

The formal expulsion of officials from the elite body requires a formal resolution during the plenum.

Herders hemmed in by India and China’s Himalayan stand-off: ‘every year our difficulties mount’

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3268231/herders-hemmed-india-and-chinas-himalayan-stand-every-year-our-difficulties-mount?utm_source=rss_feed

Lines on a map once meant little to India’s Tibetan herders of the high Himalayas, expertly guiding their goats through even the harshest winters to pastures on age-old seasonal routes.

That stopped in 2020, after troops from nuclear-armed rivals India and China clashed in bitter hand-to-hand combat in the contested high-altitude border lands of Ladakh.

Swathes of grazing lands became demilitarised “buffer zones” to keep rival forces apart.

For 57-year-old herder Morup Namgyal, like thousands of other seminomadic goat and yak herders from the Changpa pastoralist people, it meant traditional lands were closed off.

“The Indian army stops us from going there,” Namgyal said, pointing to treeless, ice-streaked peaks. “But this is our land, not China’s.”

Chushul village sits in freezing air at an altitude of some 4,300 metres (14,110 feet), although the herders used to take their flocks even higher.

China and India, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia.

But the 2020 border skirmish, which killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, rang alarm bells.

Both sides pulled back tens of thousands of troops and agreed not to send patrols into a narrow dividing strip.

“The physical separation of the two militaries has greatly reduced the risk of clashes,” the International Crisis Group (ICG) wrote in a report last year.

But the herders say they are the losers, caught in a conflict not of their making.

The Changpa, ethnic Tibetan Buddhists, are expertly adapted to goat farming in the extreme environment, conditions that produce some of the finest cashmere wool, which is prized for its exceptional warmth.

But Namgyal said his flock of fluffy-white goats are suffering. His animals, once combed, yield superfine under-hair that is spun into cashmere yarn used in luxury scarves.

Herders say the lost pastureland was less harsh in winter, providing grazing even when temperatures sink to -35 degrees Celsius (-31 degrees Fahrenheit).

“We used to go to these areas for winter grazing,” said Konchok Stanzin, a local councillor in India’s Ladakh.

Stanzin claimed as much as 450 square kilometres were declared out of bounds in Chushul alone, an area upon which some 2,000 people from 12 villages once depended.

It is a sensitive topic, and Stanzin tactfully noted that the “army’s point of view may be different”.

A senior Indian security official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said restrictions had to be imposed because livestock movement into buffer zones was “considered as aggression”.

For decades, Indian troops patrolled frontier areas. After 2020, the two sides withdrew.

“Infrastructure in the shape of defence observation posts and other structures has been dismantled,” Stanzin said.

However, having pulled troops back, India and China are bolstering their defence infrastructure in other ways.

On the Indian side, that includes new roads, dug-in artillery positions, bunkers and sprawling army camps.

India’s military does not routinely comment on operations in the area.

But after the last border talks in February, it said it was “seeking complete disengagement” along the dividing line as an “essential basis for restoration of peace”.

China’s defence ministry said last month the border situation was “generally stable”, with the two sides using diplomatic and military channels for “resolving on-the-ground border issues”.

The area remains a concern.

The ICG think tank warned that the “lack of clarity” on the frontier meant that “hostile encounters are bound to recur”, with potentially far-reaching consequences for regional security.

“The dispute in the Himalayas is now about strategic competition between the two biggest Asian powers as much as the border’s territorial value itself,” it said.

“Preventing further fighting depends on ensuring that competition can be handled amicably on the high ground.”

India has provided insulated winter huts for the Changpa.

One government official suggested the buildings created permanent settlements, bolstering a strategic defensive policy to solidify India’s presence.

Namgyal Phunchok, a Changpa community leader in Chushul, said the pastoralist way of life had been undermined.

“In winter, the government supplies us fodder for our goats,” Phunchok said. “But it is not the same as naturally grazing.”

Phunchok said his people were once “like an army without weapons and salary”, acting as unofficial eyes and ears like a military patrol.

“Today, that land is lost to us,” he said.

Production of cashmere wool has slumped, and around a tenth of the families in his village have quit rearing goats entirely.

“Every year our difficulties mount,” Phunchok said.

---

Duped China wife discovers ‘doctor’ husband of 5 years is actually jobless, penniless liar during divorce

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3265180/duped-china-wife-discovers-doctor-husband-5-years-actually-jobless-penniless-liar-during-divorce?utm_source=rss_feed

A wife in China who has been married for five years to a man she thought was a doctor has only found out he is penniless and unemployed as she prepares to divorce him.

The woman filed for divorce at a court in Wuxi, Jiangsu province north of Shanghai in April because she was fed up with her husband not contributing to the household finances.

He also often argued and hit her, the Yangtze Evening News reported.

She got to know the man years ago after both had divorced other people. He claimed he was a senior doctor at a major hospital in the city. Three months later, they registered their marriage.

The couple soon had a daughter, but during the marriage, they frequently quarrelled over “financial matters”, the woman said.

Every day the husband left home early in the morning, saying he was going “to work” and returned home late in the evening.

However, he never gave his wife any money. He does not own any property, neither does he have a car in his name, she said.

Whenever she asked him about his income, he changed the subject. Sometimes, they had disputes over their daughter’s education.

On several occasions, the husband was violent to his wife and she had to call the police.

The woman said as soon as she suspected her husband was lying about his job, she checked with the hospital where he said he worked, and they confirmed he was not an employee there.

Lying again, he told her he had signed an employment contract with another medical institute, even though he worked in the hospital.

When the court investigated the man’s employment situation, it transpired that neither the institute nor the hospital had hired him.

Faced with the evidence, the man confessed he had been jobless for years, and that the hospital employment document he had presented to his wife and the court was bought online.

“I lied for the purpose of contending for my daughter’s custody,” the man said, admitting that his daily living expenses were funded by his mother.

The court granted the divorce. The woman obtained custody of their daughter and the man was ordered to pay 1,000 yuan (US$140) a month towards her upbringing.

The man was also fined for “making false statements” in court, but the punishment was not revealed in the report.

Unusual divorce cases frequently make headlines in China.

In 2022, a woman in the south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, filed for divorce when she found out her husband had married somebody else while still married to her.

He had shown the other woman a fake divorce certificate and went on to have two daughters with her.

The court not only permitted the plaintiff’s divorce request and annulled the man’s marriage to the other woman, but also sentenced him to prison for one year and 10 months for bigamy and forging a legal document.

---

Microsoft maintains AI services in Hong Kong, as OpenAI curbs API access from mainland China

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3268233/microsoft-maintains-ai-services-hong-kong-openai-curbs-api-access-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Microsoft said it would continue to allow customers in Hong Kong to use OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) models through its Azure cloud computing platform, after the start-up announced it was moving to restrict access to its services from unsupported regions such as mainland China and Hong Kong.

“There has been no change to our Azure OpenAI service offerings in Hong Kong,” Microsoft’s local office said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Thursday. “We continue to provide access to eligible customers in Hong Kong, via models deployed in regions outside Hong Kong.”

“As an independent company, OpenAI makes its own decisions,” Microsoft added.

OpenAI, which counts Microsoft as its biggest investor, earlier this week sent a notice to developers in “unsupported countries and territories”, which include mainland China and Hong Kong. The firm said it would take “additional measures” to block attempts from those regions to access its AI models via application programming interfaces (APIs), starting July 9.

An API is software that allows two computer programs to communicate with each other.

OpenAI’s services, which have been introduced in over 188 countries and regions, are officially unavailable in mainland China and Hong Kong, where users often access popular models such as ChatGPT through virtual private networks or third-party apps, while developers turn to proxies and outbound servers to bypass restrictions.

The San Francisco-based start-up did not elaborate on the reasons behind its latest move, which comes as the US government is ramping up efforts to cut off China’s access to advanced AI technology, citing national security concerns.

Besides sweeping export curbs on advanced chips, Washington is also looking into ways to limit China’s use of computing power offered by US cloud providers to train AI models and support related applications.

Microsoft, which does not offer generative AI services in mainland China, launched enterprise support for OpenAI models in Hong Kong in March last year, allowing developers to apply for access to a range of systems including GPT-3.5, ChatGPT, Codex and DALL-E 2.

On the mainland, authorities have approved 117 home-grown large language models – the technology behind ChatGPT and other generative AI services – for public release. Industry insiders and analysts have said OpenAI’s service ban on China-based developers is set to push users towards domestic platforms.

Beijing-based Zhipu AI, considered one of the country’s top OpenAI alternatives, announced a “special house-moving plan” to help China-based OpenAI users “easily switch to home-grown [LLMs]”, according to a post published on its WeChat account.

Other start-ups such as Baichuan and 01.ai, as well as Big Tech companies like Alibaba Group Holding and Baidu, are also dangling perks ranging from steep discounts to freebies to draw developers affected by OpenAI’s new measures.

Alibaba owns the Post.

---

World’s first carbon fibre passenger train ready to (quietly) roll into Chinese city

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3268246/worlds-first-carbon-fibre-passenger-train-ready-quietly-roll-chinese-city?utm_source=rss_feed

China has built the world’s first passenger train made from carbon fibre, a material that makes it much lighter and more energy-efficient than conventional trains.

The metro train – known as Cetrovo 1.0 or the Carbon Star Rapid Transit – was unveiled in Qingdao, in the eastern province of Shandong, on Wednesday.

It has completed in-factory testing and is ready to go into operation in the coastal city later this year, according to its developer Qingdao Sifang Rolling Stock Co, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation.

The train’s main load-bearing structures – including car body and bogie frame – are built with carbon fibre composite materials, the company said. That makes its body and frame 25 per cent and 50 per cent lighter, respectively, than those of a conventional train.

Overall, it is 11 per cent lighter than a traditional train, and the company said energy consumption would be reduced by 7 per cent. That would mean a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of about 130 tonnes a year – equivalent to planting more than 40 hectares (100 acres) of trees.

“In the field of rail transit, a key technology is to reduce the vehicle’s body weight and its energy consumption while ensuring vehicle performance towards a greener, low-carbon future,” Qingdao Sifang said on WeChat.

Cetrovo trains are designed with a top speed of 140km (87 miles) per hour – much faster than the current average speed of 80km per hour, state tabloid Global Times reported in 2019, when a trial run was completed in Qingdao.

It said the train, which is fully automated and driverless, can manoeuvre around curved or steep tracks and can operate in harsh environments such as high temperatures and altitudes.

Traditional metro trains are made of steel, aluminium alloy and other metal materials, and reducing their weight has been a major challenge.

Carbon fibre could be the answer. The lightweight yet super-strong material is made from thin strands of carbon atoms that are tightly woven together. It is five times stronger than steel but with less than a quarter of the weight, making it ideal for use in planes, sports equipment – and now trains.

The company said the reduced weight would mean significantly less wear on the wheels and tracks, making it cheaper to maintain, and it would also be a quieter journey for passengers.

It said the train had an intelligent anti-collision early warning system and an obstacle detection system, which could automatically send alerts and bring the train to a stop in an emergency.

The price of carbon fibre has steadily come down in the past few decades and it has gone from being a luxury material used mainly in aerospace to a more common material used in products such as cars and bicycles.

In the 1980s it cost about US$200 per pound (454 grams), and by the end of the 2000s it was down to US$30 to US$50 per pound. Today, prices for industrial-grade carbon fibre range from US$7 to US$15 per pound.

But carbon fibre remains relatively expensive compared to traditional materials like steel or aluminium, largely due to its complex manufacturing process and the cost of raw materials.

China Railway Construction Corporation is the world’s biggest rolling stock manufacturer. It won its first US contract in 2014 to supply metro trains to Boston. Founded in 1900 during the German occupation, Qingdao Sifang is one of the oldest rolling stock manufacturers in China.

South China Sea clash not armed attack, Philippines needs to ‘do more’ than protest: Marcos

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3268219/south-china-sea-clash-not-armed-attack-philippines-needs-do-more-protest-marcos?utm_source=rss_feed

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Thursday his country needed to “do more” than protest the “illegal action” taken by China against his country’s navy during last week’s routine resupply mission in the South China Sea.

“We have filed over a hundred protests, we have already made a similar number of démarche,” Marcos told reporters. “We have to do more than just that.”

No shots were fired on June 17, so the actions by the China coastguard could not be considered an armed attack, but it was a “deliberate action to stop our people” from resupplying troops stationed at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, Marcos said.

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Marcos’ remarks on Thursday.

A Philippine sailor suffered “serious injury” after what its military described as “intentional-high speed ramming” by the Chinese coastguard, which the Chinese foreign ministry has disputed, saying their coastguard’s actions were lawful.

The United States, which has condemned China’s actions, reaffirmed its ironclad commitment to the Philippines during a call between Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart on Wednesday.

“The two officials discussed the importance of preserving the rights of all nations to fly, sail, and operate – safely and responsibly – wherever international law allows,” the Pentagon said in a readout.

The Philippines has not asked the US for support in resupplying its troops, its Washington ambassador said on Wednesday, adding that the US was providing only “visuals” to aid his country.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said the Philippines had sought a meeting with Chinese officials to lower tensions, not resolve territorial claims, and hoped it would occur “maybe early next month”.

Romualdez said that if the Philippines was not able to resupply its troops, it would amount to “killing our soldiers” through starvation and thirst.

“I don’t think China wants to have a major conflict. And definitely we do not want to have one. And so, that’s a good starting point,” he said.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

An international tribunal dismissed China’s expansive claims in 2016, a ruling that Beijing rejects.

Elderly woman in China defies death after using hand grenade as hammer for 20 years

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3268091/elderly-woman-china-defies-death-after-using-hand-grenade-hammer-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed

An elderly woman in China who thought she was using a simple hammer to crack nuts and embed nails for 20 years was shocked to discover that the tool was actually a hand grenade.

The astonishing story began two decades ago when the woman, surnamed Qin, who is now 90 years old, from Xiangyang, Hubei province in central China, found an unusual “metal lump” while working on her farm in Huangbao county.

Mistaking it for a hammer because of its shape, she took it home and used it for various household tasks.

“I’ve been using it at home to pound red pepper, crack nuts, and hammer in nails,” Qin explained in a video that has trended online.

The revelation that she was, in fact, dealing with a deadly device came to light on June 23, when workers were demolishing her old home recognised it as a hand grenade.

They immediately alerted the authorities.

The Huangbao police station quickly responded by reporting the incident to the local public security authorities, who sent officers and a bomb disposal unit to the scene.

According to the trending online video, the wooden handle of the grenade had become smooth and glossy from years of use, while the head showed significant pits from repeated hammering.

Notably, a section of the grenade’s fuse was exposed.

The police have since confiscated the weapon and said: “After confiscating the grenade, we asked professionals to destroy it.”

They also held a safety education session for villagers.

Officers warned them: “If you find any suspicious objects that look like hand grenades, you must report it to the police immediately. Do not touch it or use it as a hammer, or the consequences could be disastrous!”

Dazhong Daily reported that the grenade was a domestic Type 67, identifiable by the protective metal cap on its wooden handle.

Its failure to explode for over two decades sparked online speculation.

Some people suggested it might be a training grenade, identical in shape but not filled with gunpowder.

Others countered by saying that because the police confiscated it, it could not be fake, adding: “Its failure to explode is just an exceptional case.”

The incident also caused much amusement on social media.

One online observer said: “It’s impressive that Grandma Qin used the hand grenade as a hammer for over 20 years without ever pulling the fuse out of curiosity.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have resisted my desire to pull it and see what happened.”

Another person added: “Apparently, even hand grenades have principles and won’t explode on kind-hearted elderly people.”

While a third quipped: “The handle has even become smooth and shiny. The grenade might be thinking, ‘Please, Officer, take me away quickly. I’ve been given too many tasks during my time here.’”

“Watching the video, even the police looked stunned! This old lady is truly lucky and blessed,” said another person.

---

Soho China, Shimao, R&F and 8 other Chinese developers may be ineligible for mainland cash

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3268147/some-chinese-property-developers-could-be-dropped-stock-connect-market-access-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed

A clutch of Hong Kong-listed Chinese property developers risk losing the backing of mainland investors, as their market values fall below the threshold limit for inclusion in the Stock Connect programme.

The cross-border investment scheme gives mainland investors access to a large pool of stocks traded in Hong Kong, while overseas investors are able to buy yuan-traded shares on the mainland’s exchanges.

Soho China, Shimao Group Holdings, Guangzhou R&F Properties and eight other companies on the Hang Seng Composite SmallCap Index have seen their market capitalisation fall below the HK$4 billion (US$512.2 million) floor that qualifies them for the scheme. That would be a further hit to these developers that are already plagued by liquidity stress and growing calls for winding-up by unpaid creditors.

Based on the rules set by the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, any stock on the small-cap gauge will be kicked out of the cross-border investment scheme, should their average month-end market value fall below the HK$4 billion mark for 12 consecutive months preceding the review date.

The expulsions may take place as early as August, when the mainland’s exchanges are set to verify the eligibility for the mutual access scheme following the quarterly index rebalancing by compiler Hang Seng Indexes.

Mainland Chinese property stocks listed in Hong Kong will be dealt a blow if they are made ineligible for purchase by mainland investors, as onshore investors were the main drivers of a recent rebound. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index had rebounded by as much as 40 per cent within a month through May 20, after Beijing introduced a broad package to bail out the industry last month. Now, most of those gains have been erased.

“Typically, mainland funds dominate the trading in these smaller property stocks in Hong Kong and without such support, these stocks could very probably fall even lower,” said Wu Kan, an investment manager at Soochow Securities in Shanghai. “Overseas investors have no appetite for these small-caps. The property market is still in a downturn and the time could be longer than expected.”

Among the 23 property developers on the Hang Seng small-cap gauge, almost half face the risk of getting booted from the Stock Connect.

The sizes of the companies under risk straddle a broad spectrum, ranging from CIFI Holdings Group, which has a market capitalisation of HK$3.6 billion, to Cosmopolitan International Holdings, valued at HK$495 million. The list includes Shimao, which is capitalised at HK$2.89 billion and Guangzhou R&F, which is valued at 3.5 billion. Sino-Ocean Group Holdings, valued at HK$3.1 billion, is also among those at risk.

The property market is on shaky ground in contrast with a month ago, when hopes were high for a turnaround in the sector after China lowered the down payment ratio to a record low and cut mortgage rates nationwide in what has been seen as the most forceful rescue measures to shore up the industry so far. But confidence plunged after home prices fell at the fastest pace in nearly a decade in May.

A slew of winding-up petitions filed by creditors against Chinese developers have also weighed on sentiment. Shimao was given a four-week reprieve by a Hong Kong court on Wednesday, giving it more time to secure lenders’ approval for its debt restructuring proposal, as a growing number of creditor-led liquidation petitions put pressure on the sector. Country Garden Holdings, once China’s biggest developer by sales, is also facing a liquidation hearing next month, while Dexin, a medium-sized developer in the east Zhejiang province was ordered by a Hong Kong court to be liquidated this month.

“The policy effect of stimulating demand is limited,” said Zhao Xuxiang, an analyst at Orient Securities. “Whether the property market can sustain a recovery depends on expectations of residents’ incomes and their expectations of home prices.”

---

How will EU’s shift to right alter China trade, tech and other elements of relationship?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3268148/how-will-eus-shift-right-alter-china-trade-tech-and-other-elements-relationship?utm_source=rss_feed

The European Parliament’s expected shift to the right could complicate the EU’s trade ties with China and inject new uncertainties into the bloc’s approach towards Ukraine and the intensifying US-China rivalry, analysts said.

A record number of right-wing politicians were elected to the parliament in early June in an election involving 373 million voters in 27 European Union countries.

The centre-right European People’s Party, to which incumbent president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen belongs, retained most seats in the parliament while the socialists and the liberals suffered heavy defeats.

Their losses were blows to the respective parties of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, and the results prompted Macron to call snap legislative elections to be held in France from Sunday.

Wang Yiwei, a Europe specialist at Renmin University, said the right-wing surge was likely to spur the EU – which already has a de-risking strategy to cut economic dependence on China and boost its own competitiveness – to toughen its stance by pressing ahead with punitive measures, such as recently-introduced increased tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

He said the most direct impact would be on green cooperation, as right-wing politicians are highly sceptical of the EU’s green agenda.

“The original purpose [for EV imports] was to reduce emissions, but they now say … the Green New Deal is wrong and harms the industry and employment. This would cause greater troubles for China,” Wang said.

The EU set an ambitious climate goal to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030, prompting a surge in electric vehicle imports from China. Of 1.8 million EVs China sold to the world, more than a quarter went to Europe.

Cristina Vanberghen, a senior expert at the European Commission, said the EU still sought cooperation with China on green energy, and the right-wing influence in this area should not be exaggerated.

But she said they might impose “slightly stricter scrutiny of Chinese investments in Europe and more rigorous evaluations of trade agreements to protect domestic industries”.

“The EU might adopt a more cautious approach to its dependencies on China for critical raw materials, technology, and consumer goods, but in fact this is already happening,” she said.

“Right-wing parties’ views on China can vary, but they often emphasise national interests. This might lead to a more transactional approach in EU-China relations, where cooperation is pursued selectively based on clear benefits to the EU.”

The right-wing faction Identity and Democracy (ID) also made significant gains in the parliamentary polls thanks to the French opposition party National Rally’s landslide victory against Macron’s ruling party.

Philippe Le Corre, a senior fellow specialising in China-EU relations at the Asia Society, said the agenda of the National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen was France first, which might see her continue to push for “reduced trade dependency” on China.

Le Pen proposed to halt wind power development, a move expected to further hit China, which is already facing an anti-subsidy probe into wind turbines sold to Europe. China exported over €1 billion worth of wind turbines to Europe last year.

Wang said the EU’s future policy towards China remained to be seen, depending on who would fill the top jobs, including president of the European Council and the foreign policy chief.

Apart from trade disputes, China-EU relations have been tense amid accusations of espionage, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and the supply of dual-use goods that support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Wang said past criticism that “the reason the Ukraine war could not be won is because China supports Russia” may not hold up in future as far-right politicians who appeared to be “pro-Russia” and opposed to continuous funding for Ukraine could create pressure on the EU’s Ukraine policy.

Right-wing winners in the elections, such as Le Pen’s National Rally and Austria’s Freedom Party, were suspected of having close ties with Russia, including receiving funding from the Kremlin and empowering its propaganda amid the Ukraine war.

The Alternative for Germany Party, which beat Scholz’s Social Democratic Party to rise to second in the election, was also accused of spying for Russia and China. However, it was kicked out of the ID faction before the election because of these scandals.

Frans-Paul van der Putten, a China expert at the Dutch think tank Clingendael Institute, said existing EU policies towards China were likely to continue following the elections, including continued pressure on Beijing regarding its trade with Russia, with the Ukraine war and growing US-China tensions having “a major impact on Europe’s perception of China as a potential or actual threat”.

The EU has been increasingly caught up in the US-China rivalry, facing growing pressure from Washington to impose hi-tech restrictions on Beijing. Meanwhile China has urged the EU to maintain its “strategic autonomy” while appearing to ramp up efforts to improve relations with the bloc.

Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to France to meet Macron and von der Leyen last month, his first trip to the country since the pandemic, and Scholz visited China in April.

Ding Chun, director of Fudan University’s Centre for European Studies, said he did not expect major change from Brussels following the right-wing rise, but cautioned that the bloc might adjust its priority in policy areas from energy transition to economic and technological autonomy.

“The voice about … EU strategic autonomy has lessened amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but it has not completely disappeared. Its future direction will depend on multiple variables, including the policy of the new EU administration and the US election.”

Former US president Donald Trump has reportedly threatened to pull US funding for Ukraine and extend tariffs to all European goods if re-elected.

Vanberghen said Trump might foster closer ties with the EU’s right-wing parties as they share similar “nationalist and populist” agendas, including trade protectionism, which “could significantly impact EU-China relations”.

She said Europe might “find economic alignment with China more appealing, especially in terms of market access and investment opportunities” if Trump escalates protectionism measures. But she said “a complete pivot towards China is unlikely” because European countries are not likely to distance themselves from the US on security.

“Despite tensions with the US, Europe might not necessarily align with China due to broader strategic concerns … European countries may instead pursue a balanced approach, maintaining strong ties with both major powers.”

Cracks start to emerge in Philippines’ South China Sea stance

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3268159/cracks-start-emerge-philippines-south-china-sea-stance?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines may be recalibrating its South China Sea response after its latest clash with China, as observers note Manila’s defence chief adopting a more aggressive stance than President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration.

Analysts warn that Manila must demonstrate unity between its defence and political leadership in order to effectively counter Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Their comments come after National Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr rejected a plan to hold talks with Beijing, stressing that the clash at the Second Thomas Shoal was a violent and illegal move by China.

Teodoro Jnr made his point during a Senate inquiry on Tuesday when Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo gave an update on a mechanism for both countries to work out their differences on the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for those parts of the South China Sea that lie within its exclusive economic zone.

A Philippine working group recently met, in preparation for discussions under the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism with their Chinese counterparts next month, to find out whether both countries can agree on confidence-building measures “for a peaceful resolution through international law and diplomacy”, Manalo said.

The meetings are expected to focus on issues including the June 17 confrontation between the Philippine navy and the Chinese coastguard, in which several Filipinos were injured, including a sailor who lost a thumb. The Chinese coastguard also reportedly seized two lifeboats used for the resupply missions to a Philippine outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal.

During the inquiry, Teodoro Jnr said he opposed the plan shared by Manalo as China typically used such talks to weaken Manila’s position.

When asked by Senator Imee Marcos, chair of the Senate’s committee on foreign relations, if it would be possible for Manila to follow the example of the United States to engage in talks with Beijing on the South China Sea dispute, Teodoro Jnr said he was not optimistic about holding such a discussion.

“No … because they [China] have not displayed a level of trust and confidence that would make me confident enough to engage them on a fair and level-playing-field basis,” Teodoro Jnr said.

According to Teodoro Jnr, since he assumed his current role in June last year, the Philippine and Chinese militaries have yet to meet and discuss issues concerning the West Philippine Sea.

Teodoro Jnr also said an earlier statement by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that the June 17 incident was a misunderstanding was a “preliminary assessment”.

“The Philippines has to take a strong stance,” fefence analyst Jose Antonio Custodio, a fellow of the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers, told This Week in Asia.

“After evaluating, they saw how aggressive the Chinese were. So they decided to push back,” he said of Teodoro Jnr’s comments.

Despite the defence chief’s dismissal of talks on the South China Sea row similar to US-China discussions, Custodio said Manila and Washington were “closely interacting”, and the US supply of F16 aircraft to the Philippines was going ahead as planned.

The Philippines and the US are bound by a 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty that obliges both sides to help each other in times of aggression by an external power. Washington has said the treaty’s scope extends to the South China Sea dispute.

Security analyst Joshua Espeña, a resident fellow and vice-president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, told This Week in Asia that the Philippine defence department was likely readjusting the country’s strategy in a “face-saving” move by talking tough.

“At the political level, Marcos may have said his piece about peaceful settlement but did not necessarily back down on military presence in the West Philippine Sea,” Espeña said.

“However, the military is just a tool of the state, it may shape but not dictate foreign policy. Marcos is not out there now to talk bravado before the international community after the June 17 incident. So the Department of National Defence has been pitted in the middle,” he said.

“It is … responding to the government’s adjustment to recalibrate a new grand strategy based on the new operational environment.”

The latest incident appeared to set the stage for further destabilisation by China that could lead to a serious conflict, according to Custodio.

“By pushing for what is internationally seen as illegal claims in the entire South China Sea, China is the one at fault here if something happens,” Custodio said.

The Philippines would have learnt from the lessons of the Scarborough Shoal crisis when it received US commitment towards defending Manila’s position in the South China Sea dispute, Espeña said.

In 2012, China gained control of the shoal after a stand-off with the Philippines. Tense encounters between both sides over the shoal have erupted since then over their territorial claims and the rights of Philippine fishermen to enter the area.

As a result of US concerns about wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Washington’s position on its defence treaty with the Philippines could be wavering, Espeña said.

“In this case, US confidence is decreasing but not necessarily lacking. If anything, this runs as an opportunity for Manila to get harder on diplomacy with the US on what it can and cannot commit [as] per [the treaty].”

---

Mainland China says it is still holding former Taiwanese soldier who was picked up while fishing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268139/mainland-china-says-it-still-holding-former-taiwanese-soldier-who-was-picked-while-fishing?utm_source=rss_feed

The mainland Chinese authorities have said they are still holding a former Taiwanese soldier who was picked up by the coastguard three months ago.

The man, identified only by his surname Hu, was in good health and had been allowed to see family members on Sunday, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said.

She also accused Taipei of being “maliciously misleading” for claiming that the mainland authorities were detaining more former soldiers or police officers in a possible attempt to recruit intelligence sources.

“As long as Taiwan compatriots do not engage in illegal or criminal activities, they do not have to be worried when travelling to the mainland,” Zhu said.

Hu, 25, and another man surnamed Wu, were rescued by the mainland coastguard in March after their small fishing boat lost power in Weitou Bay, a stretch of water that separates the Taiwanese-controlled island of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, and the mainland province of Fujian.

Wu was released five days later but Hu remained in detention with the mainland authorities saying he had “intentionally concealed information” about his military service.

Hu later applied for “voluntary discharge” from the armed forces through his family, which came into effect in May.

Taiwanese media reported that Hu and his family had been able to keep in contact during his months of detention and were allowed to meet for around two hours in Quanzhou on Sunday.

His mother said he had been “eating well” and had gained 8kg (18 pounds) in detention.

However, she urged the Taiwanese authorities to do more to resolve the situation and also resolve a dispute over a deadly speedboat chase earlier this year.

Beijing accused the Taiwanese coastguard of using “violent and dangerous methods” after a fishing boat from the mainland capsized while being chased near Quemoy, killing two fishermen. The incident also prompted the mainland to step up coastguard patrols near the island, which is just a few kilometres from the mainland.

Taipei said the speedboat was trespassing and insisted its actions were in line with regulations to expel vessels that illegally enter its waters.

Beijing has accused Taipei of “hiding the truth” about the incident, which is being investigated by a judge. In turn Taiwan has accused the mainland authorities of not cooperating with the investigation.

---

Indonesia wants Chinese tourists to look beyond Bali holidays, mulls visa waiver

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3268195/indonesia-wants-chinese-tourists-look-beyond-bali-holidays-mulls-visa-waiver?utm_source=rss_feed

Indonesia’s Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno is on a mission to get Chinese tourists to look beyond Bali for their next tropical getaway.

“Top of mind for Chinese tourists is still Bali,” Sandiaga said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China.

“But increasingly, these younger Chinese tourists would like to experience the other three S of sun, sea and sand – into serenity, spirituality and sustainability,” he added. So the government is developing “Bali experiences” on many other islands to bring in 1.3 million visitors from China this year.

Labuan Bajo, near the island that is home to Komodo dragons, and Unesco World Heritage site Borobudur temple are among the five destinations where the government is developing tourism standards close to Bali’s.

While Chinese tourist spending is expected to rebound beyond pre-pandemic levels this year, Indonesia is losing out to neighbours Thailand and Singapore that offer visa waivers for short visits.

Indonesia will finalise visa waivers for more countries before the change of government in October, said Sandiaga. He previously said that the visa-free entry policy will be expanded to 20 more nationalities, including China, the US and India.

Sandiaga is also expecting tourists to spend more. Visitors used to spend about US$900 per person before the pandemic, now they’re doling out about US$1,600. “So we’re looking at more quality tourist arrival, people who stay longer and people who spend on the local economy,” he added.

MWC Shanghai: AI in focus as China’s telecoms operators and gear makers seek new growth

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3268162/mwc-shanghai-ai-focus-chinas-telecoms-operators-and-gear-makers-seek-new-growth?utm_source=rss_feed

Artificial intelligence (AI) took centre stage at MWC Shanghai, the regional edition of the world’s largest mobile communications industry trade show, as China’s telecommunications network operators and equipment suppliers look to advances in the technology to bolster their businesses.

Senior executives from China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp presented their AI strategies at Wednesday’s opening of MWC Shanghai, which runs until Friday. The event’s main themes are the “AI Economy”, “5G and Beyond” and “Manufacturing DX”, referring to digital transformation.

China Mobile – the world’s largest wireless network operator by number of subscribers, with 998.44 million at the end of May – is pushing AI initiatives that cover native applications, emerging technologies and so-called future industries, according to chairman Yang Jie’s remarks at the conference.

New AI initiatives form part of a broader trend for telecoms network operators to transform their businesses amid slowing user growth around the world, China Unicom chairman Chen Zhongyue said in his keynote address.

“The traditional business based on network communications is becoming saturated, and the growth in user numbers is slowing down,” Chen said. He cited data showing mobile broadband user growth for major telecoms operators worldwide had dropped to 2.3 per cent at the end of last year, from 34.3 per cent in 2014.

Chen’s remarks were echoed by China Telecom chairman Ke Ruiwen, who said that the company – the world’s largest fixed-line network operator, with 192.84 million wireline broadband subscribers – is now in the process of developing its “service, technology and security-oriented business”.

Ke pointed out that China Telecom is now enhancing the supply of intelligent computing power via its network platforms Huiju, Yunxiao and Xirang. The company is already the mainland’s biggest data centre services provider.

The shift in strategy by three of the world’s largest telecoms network operators reflect their industry’s response to increased demand for AI, which calls for more data capacity, digital infrastructure and related services to serve enterprises and consumers.

That sharpened focus on AI, however, potentially face challenges from the Biden administration’s reported investigation of China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom over concerns these firms could exploit access to American data through their US cloud computing and internet businesses by providing it to Beijing.

For US-sanctioned Huawei, its executives at the event stressed the roll-out this year of networks based on 5.5G technology, marketed as 5G-Advanced, by China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and Hong Kong telecoms services provider HKT. These firms comprise some of the operators belonging to Huawei’s 5G-A Pioneers Programme.

5G-Advanced networks are meant to support advanced applications like AI, while providing enhanced mobility and high reliability. At MWC Shanghai, Huawei also launched a joint initiative for high-quality mobile video development in the AI era with global operators, industry customers and other relevant organisations.

“2024 marked the first year of our 5G-A commercialisation and the first year for AI to enter the [network] terminals,” David Wang, chairman of Huawei’s information and communications technology infrastructure managing board, said on Wednesday. He expected this industry development to “open the era of mobile AI and make intelligent services ubiquitous”.

ZTE, the crosstown rival of Huawei in Shenzhen, highlighted its AI innovations at MWC Shanghai, including a series of eyewear-free 3D products powered by AI and its Nebula Telecom Large Model that can help enterprise clients with digital transformation projects.

Like Huawei, ZTE faces scrutiny in the US. The Federal Communications Commission is moving to prevent Huawei, ZTE and other foreign tech companies from certifying wireless equipment over concerns that they pose a threat to national security, according to a Reuters report last month.

ZTE also touted at the trade show its “AI for All” strategy, which covers a wide range of AI devices. These include smartphones, tablets, laptop and desktop computers, and other mobile internet products.

Honor, the smartphone business spun off from Huawei in 2020, talked up the potential of AI at MWC Shanghai, joining its Chinese peers Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi in touting this development.

“AI is revolutionising our lives and driving the smartphone industry forward,” Honor chief executive George Zhao Ming said. “On-device AI … is uniquely positioned to deliver services that are tailored to our preferences.”

Honor rolled out two new offerings at the trade show: an AI-enabled display that can protect eyesight and a deepfake detection feature that alerts users immediately when such an incident occurs.

Tech research firm Counterpoint has forecast global shipments of generative AI-enabled smartphones to exceed 100 million units this year, up from about 47 million in 2023.

US House panels consider how to counter China security threats and ‘unfair’ trade practices

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3268190/us-house-panels-consider-how-counter-china-security-threats-and-unfair-trade-practices?utm_source=rss_feed

The US House of Representatives held hearings on Wednesday on several proposals concerning trade with China, including possible restrictions that could limit Chinese electric vehicles on US streets, block Chinese semiconductors and components from the US market and impose fees on Chinese-made ships looking to dock in US ports.

On a day with multiple House hearings, federal officials and members of Congress repeatedly raised the need to address the national security risks and unfair trade practices posed by China’s technology sectors.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a House subcommittee that her department intends to roll out regulations on Chinese electric vehicles concerning data collection and privacy issues by the end of this year.

“Let’s say we had a million Chinese cars on the road, all connected, all collecting data from Americans – all of that is going back to Beijing,” she told the subcommittee on innovation, data and commerce.

“So we are being very aggressive,” Raimondo said.

The rules the department is drafting, she said, could cover “everything from banning Chinese EVs on the roads in America, to regulations on their software – maybe all the data has to be housed in America”.

Raimondo added that her concerns lay in “the national security issue of all this data making its way back to the Chinese military”.

She also said the department was reviewing public comments on the security risks of connected vehicles, to understand the ability of cars to communicate with external systems, potentially including the capture of data or the remote capacity to disable or manipulate other vehicles.

Raimondo said that the department’s budget provides resources to strengthen the US relationship with allies to “shape the strategic environment in which we operate vis-à-vis China”.

At another hearing, this one by the House select committee on China, lawmakers heard proposals from American experts on tackling Chinese dominance in semiconductors, shipbuilding and drones.

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the committee’s senior Democrat, argued that failing to address such challenges could “invite aggression”.

Krishnamoorthi advocated reinstating an import surge protection mechanism established when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

“It’s time to revive and modernise section 421,” he said, a rule created to enable the US to impose short-term tariffs to mitigate market disruptions caused by sudden increases in imports from China’s cheap manufacturing sector. The section expired in 2013.

Krishnamoorthi accused China of denying US companies access to its market while flooding the US with heavily subsidised goods.

He noted that DJI, a Chinese drone maker that is a global leader in the industry, accounted for 90 per cent of the US consumer market while Skydio, a manufacturer based in San Mateo, California, had to pull out last year of the US market due to DJI’s lower prices.

A Skydio drone selling for US$1,000 was up against a comparable DJI drone that costs US$300, Khrishnamoorti said, contending that DJI was subsidised by the Chinese government.

The select committee and its witnesses seemed to agree that the Chinese Communist Party intends to control technologies and sectors that will determine future conflicts; They also said that China had about 235 times more shipbuilding capacity that the US, and that it was heavily investing in older-generation semiconductors.

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat whose district includes much of Silicon Valley, said he supported the demands labour unions had made that the US impose dock fees on Chinese-made ships, contending that the sector was heavily subsidised by Beijing.

In April, the United States Trade Representative opened an investigation into China’s maritime, shipbuilding and logistics sector for “unfair and non-market practices”.

Docking fees of about US$1 million per cargo freighter, Khanna said, “would be less than US$50 per container, which would mean that Americans may have to pay a few cents more for their jeans or shirts so that we can have American-made ships again”.

Khanna criticised the US Chamber of Commerce, a leading business lobby, for opposing the move.

“They testified ‘No, we can’t pay a few cents more’ … This is the philosophy that bankrupted and deindustrialised America for cheap labour for cheap prices,” Khanna said.

“We kept sending our industry overseas to China and we’re still doing it.”

Representative Andy Barr, Republican of Kentucky, said he supported a dock fee “because I think China is an exceptional case”, but acknowledged that was effectively a “protectionist policy” that “could evolve into something beyond China”.

“I do not believe that we should try to counter China by imitating Chinese industrial policy,” Barr said.

Christopher Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology, told the committee that while US President Joe Biden’s administration had enacted some safeguarding measures “there is more work to be done”, especially for semiconductors that operate both drones and ships.

Miller, a professor at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, claimed that in recent years, Beijing had poured billions of dollars of subsidies into lower-tech “foundational chips”, used in everything from cars to laptops.

“If you project current trends forward, China is poised to see its share of the foundational chip market increased dramatically,” he said.

“Some of these chips will be sold into Chinese markets, but many will be sold into Western markets unless policy changes,” he said, calling for new outbound investment restrictions on lower-end chips.

Biden issued an executive order last year that restricts outbound US investment in advanced technologies like hi-tech chips, AI and quantum.

“Investment flows into China’s chip industry have declined substantially and the new outbound investment restrictions will put further limitations on any investment into the Chinese chips,” Miller said.