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• Ice Pact: US, Canada and Finland sign polar icebreaker deal in challenge to China
• Chinese team tests deep-sea mining vehicle that could put entire South China Sea in reach
• Chinese woman swept to sea while swimming at Japanese beach rescued after 37 hours
• China taps its envoy to Israel as new European Union ambassador
• Chinese warships spotted off Alaska coast, US Coast Guard says
• What’s behind the rise of China’s second-tier cities? | Podcasts
• The EV trade war between China and the West heats up | Business
• Outrage in China over use of unwashed fuel tankers to transport cooking oil
• In Philippines, Chinese national’s arrest over fake papers deepens concern over Pogo links
• Japan-Philippines deal could spell trouble in South China Sea, maritime expert warns
• 3 factors that will shape Britain’s China policy under Labour
• China’s costly metro security is straining resources to get economic engine back on track
• Big things come in small packages: can Samsung’s new smart ring help its China comeback?
• Nato summit live: China accuses alliance of seeking security at expense of others after Ukraine row
• China’s consumers up travel interest despite worries, eye ‘rigorous yet relaxed’ lifestyle
• East China’s Suzhou latest to join ‘tighten belts’ call as Beijing leads austerity drive
• Doctors back creative China boy penalised for using medical diagnosis in maths test
• Mainland China customs seize more than 100 snakes from man at Hong Kong-Shenzhen border
• Outrage in China after reports of fuel tankers transporting cooking oil
• China tells NATO not to create chaos in Asia and rejects label of ‘enabler’ of Russia’s Ukraine war
• Why cicadas are popular among daring foodies in China and are consumed as a delicacy
• China deports US suspected child sex abuser in law enforcement push to improve ties
• South Korea risks ‘crossfire’ by partnering Nato amid Ukraine war, US-China rivalry
• China starts building pivotal dam to manage Yellow River, the world’s muddiest waterway
• Chinese researchers see carbon fibre potential for submarine drones despite Titan tragedy
• Why China pet owners are embracing acupuncture to treat their cats and dogs
• Mainland China’s Shandong carrier trains near Taiwan as US, allies stage Rimpac drill
• New top US envoy to Taiwan pledges to help the island with self-defense as threats from China loom
• China building twice as much wind and solar power as rest of world – report
• Singapore’s US$288 billion Temasek stays bullish on China – targets US, India for growth
• China KOL berated for taking cash tips while live-streaming from rescue boat in severe floods
• China’s military commits to full ‘rectification’ in corruption investigations’ wake
• Hong Kong police to replace US-made service revolvers with mainland Chinese pistols
• NATO allies call China a ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia’s war in Ukraine
• China a ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia’s war in Ukraine, says Nato in stern rebuke
• Japan investigates captain after warship enters China’s territorial waters despite warnings
• China Xiaohongshu users unite to help older strangers akin to caring for own parents
• China’s ‘low-altitude economy’ soars as UAVs rise 48%, regulator eyes healthy development
• Apple video ads use humour to trumpet privacy protection for Chinese iPhone users
• Dog Weddings on the Rise in China

Ice Pact: US, Canada and Finland sign polar icebreaker deal in challenge to China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3270009/ice-pact-us-canada-and-finland-sign-polar-icebreaker-deal-challenge-china?utm_source=rss_feed

The US, Canada and Finland have announced an initiative to collaborate on the production of polar icebreakers, a move meant to jump-start an expansion of shipbuilding capacity to supply a global market increasingly dominated by China.

The trilateral “Ice Pact” will include information sharing on icebreakers – the workhorses of polar coastguard fleets – to create an interoperable product class across three countries, as well as joint efforts to attract buyers from among “allies and partners”, a senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration told reporters.

The initiative was revealed during the ongoing Nato summit in Washington, and, according to the official, is “consistent with the message you’ve been hearing this week” at the bloc’s annual meeting. It is the second trilateral partnership on maritime technology and production announced by Biden, after he established Aukus with Britain and Australia in 2021.

“The Ice Pact will reinforce the message to Russia and China that the United States and its allies intend to … doggedly pursue collaboration on industrial policy to increase our competitive edge in strategic industries like shipbuilding, to build a world-class polar icebreaking fleet at scale.”

The pact is also meant “to project power into the polar regions to enforce international norms and treaties”, according to the official.

“Without this arrangement, we’d risk our adversaries developing an advantage in a specialised technology with vast geostrategic importance, which could also allow them to become the preferred supplier,” he said.

This year’s Nato summit marks a new level of agreement among members of the transatlantic security alliance on how to counter Beijing’s influence, as they grow more defiant of China’s trade with Russia as a form of support for Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

The joint initiative is likely to bring further tension to the Arctic region, which is becoming increasingly important in global power plays as climate change creates the possibility for new shipping routes, and because of its strategic location and natural resource extraction potential.

Although China has no direct access to the Arctic Ocean, Beijing has declared the country to be a “near-Arctic state”, a designation that it uses to push for a greater role in stewardship of the region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping first raised the idea of the “Polar Silk Road” in Moscow in 2017, when he unveiled a series of plans with Russia in the Arctic to be incorporated into China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a trade and infrastructure strategy spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Months later, Beijing released its official Arctic policy white paper, in which it first asserted the “near-Arctic state” status. The paper suggested more scientific exploration, the opening of a shipping route across the Arctic, as well as the development of oil, gas, mineral resources and other non-renewable energy sources, fishing and tourism in the region.

As part of the plan, China has been developing a new heavy icebreaker plus semi-submersible heavy-lift ships – so big that they can carry other ships.

Declining shipbuilding capacity has emerged as one of the biggest concerns for US policymakers looking at national security vulnerabilities with respect to China. That was one of the key messages witnesses told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), a congressional advisory body, in March.

Biden has also faced pressure from unions to act on China’s advances in the industry. The United Steelworkers and other North American unions recently called for a probe into the country’s “unreasonable and discriminatory” practices in the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sector.

The administration official briefing reporters on the Ice Pact initiative said the US Coast Guard has only two polar icebreakers, both “reaching the end of their usable lives”.

“We intend to scale up by multiples of the current amount as soon as we can,” he added, but he declined to give a specific time frame.

The US government is substantially behind on its Polar Security Cutter programme – a plan to acquire as many as five polar icebreakers, also known as PSCs – which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns.

The estimated US$3.2 billion needed was calculated in 2021, before inflation began picking up in the US, and only about US$2 billion has been appropriated, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The Coast Guard originally intended to have the first PSC in 2024, but the delivery date may now be pushed back as far as 2029 or later, it said.

The Biden administration official said the PSC programme could cost as much as US$10 billion “to fully deploy the fleet that we want”.

The Ice Pact “could involve operational interoperability”, which would “increase the incentive for Finnish and Canadian companies to invest in American shipyards but also to train American workers,” he said.

“We have tentative agreements with [Finland and Canada] to fund a workforce development exchange,” the official added. “We’ve also made tentative suggestions from our Coast Guard and Navy to sponsor personnel exchanges of the officers who lead shipbuilding for the US.”

Meanwhile, China recently launched its fourth next-generation polar icebreaker, the Jidi, adding to a growing fleet tasked with supporting research and replenishing supplies for the country’s seven stations at the North and South Poles. It was designed and built by CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering Company in Nansha, which is owned by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

The Polar Research Institute of China, a central government agency that plans and coordinates the country’s polar activities, said in a study published last year that China had completed the field testing and evaluation of an underwater listening device to be deployed as a large-scale network in the Arctic Ocean.

The acoustic information collected by the network could be used in a wide range of applications, including “subglacial communication, navigation and positioning, target detection and the reconstruction of marine environmental parameters,” according to the study.

Chinese team tests deep-sea mining vehicle that could put entire South China Sea in reach

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3270047/chinese-team-tests-deep-sea-mining-vehicle-could-put-entire-south-china-sea-reach?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese deep-sea mining vehicle has successfully completed sea trials, moving a step closer to extracting minerals from the ocean floor.

The prototype, called Kaituo 2, was developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and has undergone five test dives, the Shanghai municipal government said on Tuesday.

The deepest was conducted in the western Pacific, where the vehicle reached a depth of 4,102.8 metres (13,460.6ft), a national record.

Kaituo 2 is designed to operate at a maximum depth of 6,000 metres. That would put the ocean floor of the entire South China Sea within reach, since its average depth is 1,212 metres and the deepest is 5,559 metres.

“The vehicle must not only navigate freely through the rugged underwater terrain and complex sea conditions but also efficiently mine and collect resources and recover effectively,” project leader Yang Jianmin was quoted as saying in a report on the university’s website.

“That led to three major technical challenges that have long plagued international deep-sea mining: navigating complex seabed terrain, extracting diverse mineral forms efficiently, and safely managing heavy equipment in rough sea conditions,” said Yang, a professor at SJTU’s School of Ocean and Civil Engineering.

The Kaituo 2 looks a bit like a tank, with four tracks and a drill at the front. It has a collection system and ore storage in the middle, and an umbilical cable connecting it to the surface.

It is 6 metres long, 3 metres wide and 2½ metres high and weighs about 14 tonnes.

The mining vehicle operates autonomously once it is on the ocean floor, adjusting its tracks to the seabed terrain without human intervention, according to the SJTU report.

During the trials, Kaituo 2 navigated steep underwater mountains over 30 degrees and rugged terrain, cutting and collecting various types of seabed minerals.

The report said it collected more than 200kg (441lbs) of minerals rich in copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese, all of which are critical minerals used in everything from technology to defence and medicine.

The mining vehicle’s advanced technologies – such as intelligent path planning, tracking and obstacle avoidance – were also put to the test during the trials, along with an environmental monitoring system.

Yang’s team has been focused on developing deep-sea mining equipment since 2013. Their earlier prototype vehicle, Kaituo 1, reached a depth of 1,305 metres during trials in 2021.

While seabed mining is not yet happening at a commercial scale, activities are intensifying globally as deep-sea minerals become a new battleground for national resource competition.

For example, Japan collected 649kg of cobalt- and nickel-rich crust at a depth of 1,600 metres in 2020. The following year, Belgium’s Global Sea Mineral Resources and the Indian National Institute of Ocean Technology put deep-sea mining vehicles to the test at depths of 4,500 metres and 5,270 metres, respectively.

In 2022, Canada’s The Metals Company carried out seabed mineral collection, transport and surface system tests at a depth of 4,400 metres.

The Cook Islands and Japan are currently conducting deep-sea mineral exploration within their national jurisdictions. And in January, Norway’s parliament voted to allow deep-sea mining in the Norwegian Sea.

The environmental impact of extracting minerals from the ocean floor remains controversial.

Greenpeace outlined the potential problems – from chemical pollution to noise, vibrations and light – in a report released in May.

“In the dark ecosystems of the deep sea, chemical pollution caused by mining may be deadly to bottom-dwelling creatures,” the report said.

“The mining activities also create a lot of floating debris that can cloud the water for a long time, suffocating marine life. Additionally, the noise, vibrations and light from mining can disturb the behaviours and communication of marine mammals.”

Chinese woman swept to sea while swimming at Japanese beach rescued after 37 hours

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3270142/chinese-woman-swept-sea-while-swimming-japanese-beach-rescued-after-37-hours?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese woman who was swept out to sea while swimming at a Japanese beach was rescued 37 hours later after drifting in an inflatable swim ring more than 80km (50 miles) in the Pacific Ocean, officials said on Thursday.

Japan’s coastguard launched a search for the woman, identified only as a Chinese national in her 20s, after receiving a call Monday night from her friend saying she had disappeared while swimming at Shimoda, about 200km (125 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

She was probably swept out to sea by a current and an evening seaward wind from the mountains and her swim ring made it more difficult to move against the wind, experts said.

The woman was spotted by a cargo ship early Wednesday, about 36 hours after she disappeared off the southern tip of Boso Peninsula, the coastguard said. The cargo ship asked a passing LPG tanker, the Kakuwa Maru No 8, to help.

Two of its crew members jumped into the sea and rescued the woman, officials said. She was airlifted by a coastguard helicopter to land, they said.

In a video released by the Japanese coastguard, the woman – dry and wrapped in a pale blue blanket – stood on the deck of the tanker with a crew member who stood by her in case she lost her balance, while others quietly looked on.

A coastguard helicopter hovered above. When she was attached to a rope and safely taken into the , she waved at the tanker crew.

Crew members of the tanker who helped in the rescue told TV Asahi that they shouted to the woman not to give up as she bobbed up and down in waves that were about 2 metres (6.5 feet) high. Two of them jumped into the water and tied a rope around the woman, while other crew pulled her up to the tanker, they said.

One crew member said everyone was relieved the woman survived, even though she seemed to be exhausted.

Social media was filled with messages praising the crew members who helped in the rescue as “heroes,” saying they did a “good job,” while others celebrated the woman’s perseverance and survival in good health.

The woman was slightly dehydrated but was in good health and walked away after being examined at a nearby hospital, the officials said. The coastguard said she had drifted more than 80km (50 miles) and was lucky to have survived despite the danger of heatstroke, hypothermia at night or being hit by a ship in the dark.

Hidetoshi Saito, a senior member of the Society of Water Rescue and Survival Research, said in a televised interview that the woman’s survival was like “a miracle”.

The Chinese embassy in Tokyo on Thursday noted the safe rescue of the woman in cooperation with the Chinese consulate and the Japanese authorities as well as the cargo and the tanker crew.

In the message, the embassy urged Chinese residents in Japan to check weather and maritime conditions, use caution when going to the beach or engaging in marine activity and to choose locations staffed by lifeguards.

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China taps its envoy to Israel as new European Union ambassador

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3270144/china-taps-its-envoy-israel-new-european-union-ambassador?utm_source=rss_feed

China has nominated its ambassador to Israel to be its next envoy to the European Union, aiming to fill a vacancy that has been open since March.

Cai Run, a career diplomat, is expected to take up his position in September, the South China Morning Post has learned. He replaces Fu Cong, who left Brussels to become Beijing’s ambassador to the UN in New York four months ago.

Cai has been placed in Tel Aviv since 2021, according to a resume posted on the Chinese foreign ministry’s website.

Between 2015 and 2020, he was China’s envoy to Portugal and, between various stints in Beijing, spent several years as a minister counsellor at the country’s embassy in the United States.

He returns to Europe at a crunch time in the EU’s relationship with China, which has nosedived due to Beijing’s alleged support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China proclaims to be neutral in the war, but is broadly seen to have taken Moscow’s side, particularly in reportedly exporting dual-use products that have military applications.

Cai will also need to deal with an escalating series of trade disputes.

The European Commission imposed tariffs of up to 38.1 per cent on the import of Chinese-made electric vehicles last week, alleging pervasive state subsidies in its supply chain. EU member states are set to take a non-binding vote on the provisional duties on Monday.

Cai’s nomination will be approved by the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, multiple sources said.

The Chinese mission to the European Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Shandong native’s tenure in Israel included the outbreak of war in October, when the Hamas militant group launched an unprecedented assault that has since met with a devastating response from the Israeli Defence Forces.

Having previously maintained friendly ties with Israel, China has since positioned itself as a staunch supporter of Palestinians, leading to a deterioration in relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The Post has also learned that Russia – which retains diplomatic ties with Hamas, designated in the West as a terrorist organisation – has nominated Sergey Vershinin, its deputy minister of foreign affairs who has also overseen a Middle Eastern portfolio, as its new envoy to the EU.

In recent months, Cai found himself under pressure from the Israeli government over Beijing’s siding with the Palestinian side. In January, Israel’s foreign ministry summoned Cai after state-owned shipping giant Cosco stopped calling at the country’s ports.

Cai had previously been asked by Netanyahu to relay a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, asking for help in securing the release of Noa Argamani, an Israeli-Chinese woman who had been kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attack. Her mother, Liora, was suffering from brain cancer, from which she has since died. Argamani was rescued in June.

Cai’s predecessor as EU ambassador, Fu Cong, was seen as a gregarious figure in Brussels, who regularly granted interviews to international media.

He arrived late in 2022, with the war in Ukraine still in its first year, and his tenure was dominated by European efforts to persuade China to influence Russia to halt the invasion.

Fu successfully lobbied around the EU institutions and member state embassies for months against adding Chinese names to a blacklist of businesses accused of funnelling sanctioned EU-made goods to the Russian military.

But his efforts ran aground in February, when four entities – three mainland Chinese and one Hong Kong – were added to the register.

Since then, the floodgates have opened. A further 19 firms from either mainland China or Hong Kong were added to the 14th package of sanctions in June, as part of the EU’s attempts to hobble Russia’s military.

Cai will arrive in Brussels at a time of flux. While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to win a second term in office next week after a vote in the European Parliament, other top roles will change.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is expected to become the bloc’s new diplomatic chief. Former Portugal president Antonio Costa – whose time in office coincided with Cai’s tenure in Lisbon – is the next president of the European Council.

The Post has also learned that two EU officials with China-related briefs have effectively swapped jobs.

Filip Grzegorzewski, the departing head of the EU’s Taiwan office, is set to become head of its strategic communications division, a body charged with debunking disinformation and exploring foreign manipulation – most often from Russia, but frequently from China too.

He is to take the place of Lutz Guellner, who is bound for Taipei to head up the EU’s representative office on the self-ruled island.

Chinese warships spotted off Alaska coast, US Coast Guard says

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/11/chinese-warships-alaska-us-coast-guard

Multiple Chinese military warships were spotted off the coast of Alaska over the weekend, the US Coast Guard announced.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said that it detected three vessels approximately 124 miles (200km) north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, as well as another vessel approximately 84 miles (135km) north of the Amukta Pass, a strait between the Bering Sea and the north Pacific Ocean.

All four Chinese vessels were “transiting in international waters but still inside the US exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from the US shoreline”, according to the US Coast Guard.

“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” R Adm Megan Dean of the US Coast Guard said, adding: “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to US interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”

Responding to US Coast Guard radio communication, the Chinese vessels said their purpose was “freedom of navigation operations”.

“Coast guard cutter Kimball continued to monitor all ships until they transited south of the Aleutian Islands into the north Pacific Ocean. The Kimball continues to monitor activities in the US exclusive economic zone to ensure the safety of US vessels and international commerce in the area,” the US Coast Guard said.

Last August, the US dispatched four navy warships in addition to a reconnaissance airplane after multiple Chinese and Russian military vessels carried out a joint naval patrol near Alaska.

At the time, the flotilla, which experts said appeared to be the largest to approach US territory, was described as a “highly provocative” maneuver amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine as well as political tensions between the US and China over Taiwan.

What’s behind the rise of China’s second-tier cities? | Podcasts

https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2024/07/09/whats-behind-the-rise-of-chinas-second-tier-cities

Move over Beijing and Shanghai. Step aside Shenzhen and Guangzhou. China’s four “first-tier cities”, once magnets for new graduates in search of economic opportunities and big-city living, are out of style. Instead, bright youngsters are flocking to “second-tier cities” such as Chengdu and Chongqing, which stand out for their dynamism, culture and quality of life.

Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Gabriel Crossley, our China correspondent in Beijing, ask: what explains the rise of China’s second-tier cities? And can their growth be sustained?

The EV trade war between China and the West heats up | Business

https://www.economist.com/business/2024/07/10/the-ev-trade-war-between-china-and-the-west-heats-up

IN the TRADE war between the West and China, a battle over electric vehicles (evs) has begun. In May, as part of a broader volley against Chinese tech, America slapped a 100% duty on Chinese evs. On July 2nd Canada launched a consultation on what it called “unfair Chinese trade practices” in the EV industry. Three days later a provisional tariff of up to 37.6% on Chinese EVs took effect in the EU. On July 10th, days after the symbolic swipe of opening an anti-dumping probe into European brandy, China’s ministry of commerce signalled it will not take the assault lying down. It says it will study whether the EU’s tariffs create barriers to free trade.

Western car companies with large Chinese businesses fear getting caught in the crossfire. They would join earlier casualties of the intensifying conflict. Chinese government agencies have been told to tear out software and hardware made by American firms such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle, ostensibly on national-security grounds. Some officials have even been told not to buy Apple’s iPhones.

The most obvious target for China in EV tit-for-tat is Tesla. America’s EV pioneer has a huge presence in China and is constantly vying with BYD, a local rival, to be the world’s top maker of battery-powered cars. And yet, far from being the big loser from the tariff spat, Tesla appears to be notching one win after another in China.

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Outrage in China over use of unwashed fuel tankers to transport cooking oil

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/china-outrage-fuel-tankers-transport-cooking-oil

A food safety scandal has caused mounting public outrage in China days before a high-level Chinese Communist party meeting at which leaders will try to boost confidence in the economy.

Last week the state-run newspaper Beijing News published an in-depth exposé on the “open secret” of fuel tankers being used to transport cooking oil, without the tankers being washed or disinfected in between.

In the report, an undercover reporter interviewed a trucker who had driven a tanker of coal-derived fuel from Ningxia, a region in the west of China, to the east coast city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei, a journey of more than 800 miles. The trucker told the journalist that he was not allowed to return with an empty vehicle, and subsequently drove to a facility in another part of Hebei to load up with nearly 32 tons of soya bean oil, without cleaning the tanker. Several other tankers featured in the article made similar journeys.

The scandal has implicated several major Chinese firms including the state-owned oil and grain company Sinograin and Hopefull Grain and Oil Group, a private conglomerate. Both companies said they were investigating the claims.

This week the office of the food safety commission under China’s State Council said it was investigating the claims and that “individuals found violating the law through improper use of tanker trucks will face severe punishment”.

Chinese regulations state that different tankers should be used for transporting cooking oil and fuel, which is derived from coal and is potentially poisonous.

The Beijing News report revealed that inspections were often absent or cursory. In one case, on a tanker waiting to collect a load of edible oil, a piece of white paper was taped over the writing that indicated it should be used for fuel.

It is not clear where the cooking oil in the fuel-contaminated tankers ultimately ended up. Follow-up reports tracking the truckers identified in the Beijing News article suggested that the tankers delivered oil to packaging facilities run by household brand names in China, intensifying concerns that people could be consuming toxic oil. The article also quoted an industry insider as saying that some of the oil may ultimately be packaged into small bottles for foreign sales.

The news has caused widespread outrage in China, where there are deeply rooted fears about food safety after a series of scandals and perceived lack of accountability for rule-breakers.

In 2008, six babies died and 300,000 were sickened by contaminated baby formula. In 2013, more than 16,000 dead pigs were found in the Huangpu River, which supplies Shanghai with drinking water. Last year, images of a school canteen in Jiangxi went viral after a student found a rat’s head in his meal, which the school initially claimed was duck meat.

The hashtag #edibleoil had more than 16m views on Weibo on Thursday. Many commenters praised the role of journalists in exposing the scandal. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen investigative journalism like this, kudos to the media,” one commenter wrote on Weibo.

Some analysts questioned why Beijing News, a Chinese Communist party-backed outlet, had been allowed to publish such a damning report shortly before CCP leaders meet for the third plenum, one of China’s most important political gatherings, next week.

Investigations into consumer and public health issues used to be relatively common in China’s media, but in the past decade the space for independent reporting has been dramatically squeezed and the CCP maintains a tight grip on what kind of information can be published.

Other hashtags relating to the incident, particularly those that named specific companies, appear to have been censored on Weibo.

One sensitive topic appears to be posts relating to Jinlongyu, a household brand of cooking oil that has been implicated in the scandal. Shares in Jinlongyu’s parent company fell by more than 8% on Wednesday amid concerns that its oil could be tainted. The company said its trucks met national requirements.

Additional research by Chi Hui Lin

In Philippines, Chinese national’s arrest over fake papers deepens concern over Pogo links

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3270110/philippines-chinese-nationals-arrest-over-fake-papers-deepens-concern-over-pogo-links?utm_source=rss_feed

The latest arrest of a 21-year-old Chinese national over false documents used in a Philippine passport application in Davao has deepened controversy in the country over an unusual influx of Chinese workers in the illegal offshore gaming sector.

Philippine authorities earlier this week confirmed the arrest of the suspect, identified as Hengson Jabilles Limosnero, with National Bureau of Investigation regional director Arcelito Albao saying the case was just one of 200 Chinese nationals discovered recently to have faked birth certificates registered in Santa Cruz town.

Limosnero also managed to secure a driving licence and national ID card from the Philippine Statistics Authority on top of his birth certificate that he used to enrol into an accountancy course at Ateneo de Davao University, according to Albao, who said “we are sure there are more”.

Ramon Beleno III, head of the political science and history department at Ateneo De Davao University in Davao City, told This Week in Asia the latest arrest underscored suspicions about China’s sponsored programmes for nationals to penetrate local communities.

Beleno was referring to the revelation last week of military chief Romeo Brawner Jr that China was infiltrating various sectors in the Philippines, including the media and local governments.

“Like what the Armed Forces of the Philippines is saying, they are trying to control all aspects of government, business and politics. Possibly, he was sent as an agent and they will activate him once needed. That’s if we are going to look at extreme theory,” Beleno warned.

“If we look into other possible theories, he tried to apply for a Philippine passport and wanted to go to the US for a better life as using a Philippine passport will have a lesser immigration suspicion,” he added, blaming lax control by authorities.

“If there’s a businessman applicant, they will no longer scrutinise the documents. We will have a serious problem with that in the future.”

Many foreigners were studying medical courses in the country, and not only in Davao City, but Beleno noted the Limosnero case was different as he was assuming a Filipino identity.

“This is a major concern. I think the government should look into this. Not only for the Chinese, but all foreign nationals. There’s something wrong with our government system.”

One of the prominent figures in the Philippines who was found to have falsified her birth certificate was suspended mayor Alice Guo, who is currently under investigation over her alleged links to an illegal online gaming firm in Bamban town in Tarlac province.

The investigation into Guo began after police raided a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) compound in Bamban. Guo has repeatedly denied being a Chinese citizen, citing she is a Filipino born of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother.

In May, the Department of Foreign Affairs imposed new stricter visa controls for Chinese nationals following discovery of fraudulent immigration applications that had led to illegal entry and overstaying of foreigners.

The decision comes with both countries locked in an escalating war of words over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and national security fears in Cagayan province in the northern tip of Luzon island facing Taiwan – where some 4600 Chinese nationals are enrolled in private universities.

Northern Luzon houses three new sites under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, a pact with the United States that allows it to access military bases in the Philippines.

The Pogo sector – which takes advantage of the Philippines’ liberal gaming laws to target patrons in China, where gambling is illegal – has been linked to a string of crimes, including trafficking, kidnapping and prostitution.

The sector emerged in the Philippines in 2016 and grew exponentially, as operators capitalised on the country’s liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned. At their peak, Pogos hired more than 300,000 Chinese workers.

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

During Wednesday’s senate hearing, Alejandro Tengco, head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), said as per its new policy, Pogo hubs would not be allowed across the country.

Tengco disclosed the new measure when Senator Sherwin Gatchalian sought an assurance that crimes from Pogos would not happen again.

“We’re coming out with certain guidelines. We’re already banning hubs. In the meantime, there is no order for closure, this early I can inform everybody that we will not allow any hub existing or going to be applied for. We will not approve it any more.”

Tengco said Pagcor would do its best to strictly monitor the remaining 43 licensed Pogo firms to prevent them from being used for human trafficking and other criminal activities such as torture.

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

Several lawmakers have pushed for a ban on the industry, which generates 20 billion pesos (US$342 million) in yearly revenues.

Japan-Philippines deal could spell trouble in South China Sea, maritime expert warns

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3270121/japan-philippines-deal-could-spell-trouble-south-china-sea-maritime-expert-warns?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan may “cause troubles” in the South China Sea as a result of its new defence pact with the Philippines, a leading Chinese maritime expert warned ahead of the eighth anniversary of a historic ruling that rejected China’s claims in the South China Sea.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Wu Shicun, the founder of the think tank National Institute for South China Sea Studies, also voiced caution over a quasi-alliance among the US, Japan and the Philippines, which he said could further intensify tensions in the South China Sea.

“The Philippines is a littoral state in the South China Sea, and both the Philippines and Japan are allies of the US. The US-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit in April could be seen as a sign of the establish of a new quasi-alliance among the three,” Wu told foreign diplomats, Chinese academics and reporters in Beijing.

Under the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), signed on Monday by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Japanese forces could be deployed to the Philippines for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills in the Southeast Asian archipelago nation.

“The signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement would bolster defence ties between Japan and the Philippines, making up for the weakness of the trilateral alliance,” Wu said.

Amid its rivalry with China, the US has strengthened military cooperation with the Philippines, including last year’s upgrade of the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, which granted the US armed forces access to four more bases in the country. Three of the bases are near Taiwan and the fourth is close to the hotly contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, known as the Nansha Islands in Chinese.

Wu said the RAA would give Japanese forces easier access to the South China Sea and to military bases in the Philippines.

“It lowers the threshold for Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to enter the South China Sea, to access Philippine military bases, to allow Japan to provide the Philippines with weapons, equipment and personnel training for the Philippines,” he said.

China has accused the US of provoking the Philippines to confront Beijing over lingering disputes in the South China Sea.

On Thursday, Wu warned that Japan’s potential involvement in South China Sea disputes could pose a challenge to China’s interests in the region.

“We can’t simply see the RAA as security cooperation, and I think Japan may create more troubles in the South China Sea, so we have to keep a clear mind on that,” Wu said.

“There’s no doubt that a new trilateral or multilateral military group in the South China Sea will create more troubles. But how to counteract, I think we still need to further observe.”

During World War II, Japan occupied the Philippines – at the time under US rule – and controlled the South China Sea as part of its strategy for expansion in the Pacific.

Settlements following Japan’s defeat required Tokyo to relinquish its territorial holdings in the South China Sea, but made no mention of the islands of the South China Sea, triggering competition between China, the Philippines, and the French colonial government in Vietnam for ownership of South China Sea features.

Japan, which has been grappling with China in a territorial dispute in the East China Sea, considers the South China Sea to be of major strategic importance, as 90 per cent of its energy and trade flow through the sea route.

Tokyo has joined Washington in urging Beijing to follow a ruling by an international tribunal eight years ago that rejected Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Like other US allies, Japan also condemned China for a series of confrontations with the Philippines in the disputed waterway. The clashes have raised fears of an armed conflict that could draw in Washington, a treaty ally to both Manila and Tokyo.

These included an incident on June 17 at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where the Chinese coastguard intercepted a Philippine naval mission to resupply troops stationed on the disputed reef. Eight Filipino sailors were injured in the subsequent clashes, including one who lost a thumb.

On Thursday, Wu also urged Beijing to take a harder line against Manila over the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Renai Reef in Chinese and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines. The submerged reef in the Spratly Islands has emerged as a major flashpoint in the South China Sea.

Earlier, Beijing and Manila were locked in a war of words over whether they had an unwritten agreement allowing the Philippines to resupply a World War II-era ship that it deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999. The ship serves as an outpost for a handful of Philippine troops.

In May, Beijing said it would allow the Philippines to send supplies to the shoal “out of humanitarian considerations” under what Chinese officials called “a new model for management”. However, this would require advance notice and acceptance of on-site supervision by China, and construction materials would not be allowed. The Philippines has denied agreeing to this arrangement.

Wu said recent confrontations near the Second Thomas Shoal raised questions about whether this “new model” would last.

“The cost is too high as the Chinese coastguard has to be sent out regularly for patrol missions and officers have to spend more than one month at the sea, and it’s very physically and energetically costly.”

He said that leaving the old warship on the Second Thomas Shoal would set a bad precedent, as the Philippines might use similar tactics on the Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll in the Spratly Islands. The Chinese coastguard has deployed one of its biggest ships to monitor the Philippine coastguard vessel Teresa Magbanua, which is anchored at Sabina Shoal.

“I would say that a once-and-for-all measure should be taken into consideration, but how to do it depends on the government,” Wu said.

3 factors that will shape Britain’s China policy under Labour

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3269881/3-factors-will-shape-britains-china-policy-under-labour?utm_source=rss_feed

The ushering in of a new Labour Party government in the UK after 14 years of Conservative rule leads to the big question of whether Britain’s foreign policy towards China will change and, if so, how.

The UK’s China policy has seen various phases over the past half a century or so. The UK and China were once on opposite sides of the cold war and for the UK, dealing with China in the same period was related to China’s policies towards Hong Kong.

For the UK, relations with China over the same period were largely focused on Hong Kong’s status. However, with China’s growing economic clout and its entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, the UK began to look at China as a potential vehicle of investment and economic growth.

Between the Conservative Party taking power in 2010 and its heavy defeat in the general election this month, British foreign policy went through several twists and turns. The early part of the 2010s were deemed a “golden era” in Sino-British relations, with Britain welcoming a growing number of Chinese students to its universities and rising levels of bilateral trade and investment.

Subsequent years saw relations experience a downturn, however. Part of the reason for this was the UK’s “special relationship” with the US and their shared values. This period included pressure on the Conservative government to roll back its engagement with China, particularly on issues of British carriers using Chinese 5G technology (seen as a means of espionage).

Further adding to concerns about Chinese influence in the UK were reports of Chinese espionage and British universities being too reliant on fees from Chinese students and Chinese funding for grants and joint projects, the latter raising fears about self-censorship and an erosion of academic freedom.

David Lammy, the new foreign secretary, has outlined his plans and promised a “full audit” of Britain’s relations with China. He has also vowed that Britain will take a more consistent approach to Sino-British relations, even if it means having hard conversations with an important trade partner.

This appears to indicate that Britain’s foreign policy might not change all that much and the start of Lammy’s tenure will set the tone for the rest of the government’s term. But this is subject to many outside factors.

While charting his case for “progressive realism”, Lammy has noted that Britain’s relationship with China will require competition in some areas but also cooperation on certain important issues, such as healthcare, artificial intelligence and climate change. For example, almost immediately after assuming his new role, Lammy cautioned China against becoming embroiled in Russia’s attack on Ukraine, making one of the new Labour government’s first acts on China one of engagement and confrontation.

There are also expectations that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government will press China on better treatment of citizens who moved from Hong Kong to the UK under the British National (Overseas) scheme. Those who relocated to the UK have been unable to access their Mandatory Provident Fund pensions after mainland and Hong Kong authorities invalidated the BN(O) passport as a proof of identity.

Regardless, there are several factors that the new Labour-led government will have to contend with when trying to shape its approach to foreign policy. The British economy is in a precarious situation amid crises in a wide range of sectors including healthcare, housing, education, cost of living, energy and more.

The incoming Labour government has pledged to bring back growth without further burdening its citizens, but that must be accompanied by economic investment – an area where China’s deep pockets are an important factor for Britain’s aspirations.

However, the UK must balance its desire for growth and economic recovery with the need to avoid compromising its own internal security and its ideals. Several British citizens have been charged with spying for China in recent years, with reports suggesting an estimated 20,000 British citizens have been approached by Chinese agencies on LinkedIn to spy for Beijing.

Meanwhile, the UK uses a significant amount of Chinese technology such as surveillance cameras and police body cameras, which China could use to extract data about British security issues. Some British carriers have been slow to move away from using affordable technology from Chinese companies such as Huawei despite a government mandate to do so.

Finally, the US plays a significant role in shaping British foreign policy towards China. If the US chooses to ramp up its competition with China, Britain will have to balance its ties with the two superpowers while also ensuring its own interests are protected. Under Lammy’s progressive realist approach, this could mean more criticism of China’s human rights practices while also working to create further investment opportunities with China to ensure growth for Britain.

The results of Lammy’s audit of British policy towards China will tell us the steps the government intend to take in its approach. Regardless of what it finds, the state of the British economy, US influence on British policy and tension between the desire for growth and upholding British values will continue to play key roles in its policy.

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China’s costly metro security is straining resources to get economic engine back on track

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3270109/chinas-costly-metro-security-straining-resources-get-economic-engine-back-track?utm_source=rss_feed

At the forefront of subway security, Beijing’s measures taken for the 2008 Olympics have since been implemented throughout China. But that added security has not come cheap, and times are tight enough in the current economic climate that people are increasingly questioning whether the system is worth it.

And in the wake of a high-profile knife attack at a Shanghai metro station last month, some are asking what can be done to improve the system.

Like at most airports, bags must be X-rayed as travellers pass through a metal scanner. And a beep results in face time with a wand-wielding guard who could very well be casting an “arresto momentum” charm with the device as it delays hurried commuters battling rush hour in cities with populations the size of some small countries.

And with major subway systems handling upwards of 10 million passengers a day, those security checks – including staff salaries and technological expenses – have raised questions about balancing public safety and cost-effectiveness.

Liang Pinghan, a professor of politics and public affairs at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said there was an “imminent need” to review that balance amid China’s worrisome economic outlook.

“According to the 2022 financial statement of Beijing’s subway system, 11 per cent of operating expenses went to security staff, which didn’t include investments in related equipment,” he told the Post. “It’s an expense equal to the subway’s utilities cost.”

Liang said it is time to analyse which measures are “necessary”, which can be reduced, and whether some work can be “adjusted” after careful assessments, including of revenue and expenditures.

Despite being somewhat offset by government subsidies, high costs have resulted in several metro systems in major Chinese cities recording net losses, Liang noted, adding that security checks particularly pile the financial burden on local-level governments that are already struggling.

“Some cities have reduced operations of their subways,” he explained, pointing to authorities in a southern Chinese city who reduced perks to increase revenue.

Meanwhile, just across the border in Hong Kong, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system has no security checks at any of its exits nor within its stations. And a Post review of publicly listed MTR Corp’s annual report for 2023 found no mention of “security” nor “public safety” among any fiscal expenditures.

Weighing up national security concerns and economic burdens, some analysts say that thorough evaluations of public security systems could help lay a track for China’s economic recovery.

“There are always pros and cons,” said Dong Jinyue, principal economist at BBVA Research, noting how security equipment is a costly local-government expenditure. “But on the other hand, security checks create jobs and a more safe and secure environment for economic development.”

Last month, Professor Liang, in warning of that “imminent need” to review security checks at subway stations across China, laid out his point of view on the financial commentary platform of Peking University.

His take was further distributed by The East is Read newsletter, which is put out by the Centre for China & Globalisation, a non-governmental think tank in Beijing.

“I reckoned that China can absolutely reduce costs while continuing regular security checks at subways,” Liang told the Post this week. He also pointed to Israel, which has ramped up security at transport hubs and universities amid the Israel-Gaza war.

“We may have to ask ourselves: are we in a similar situation as Israel?” Liang said. “Better management, such as in the categorisation of manpower and intensity, can be applied at subways in different cities.”

On Zhihu, a Quora-type Q&A site, The East is Read summarised the mixed perspectives among subway users asked about the security measures. Some pointed to overstaffing and others saw a need to prevent terrorism, especially in the wake of not only the Shanghai attack, but also stabbings at a Jilin park and a Suzhou bus station last month.

When asked, Liang had estimated that there were three staff members at each of a subway station’s checkpoints. Afterward, in Beijing, the Post observed up to five people working at some station checkpoints, including during the late rush hour at the station near the Zhongguan Village tech hub on July 3.

Instead of this layout, which can result in up to dozens of checkpoint staff at major stations throughout China, and a few at even small stations, Liang suggested deploying some security personnel throughout the stations while more effectively using the nation’s vast network of public surveillance cameras.

The Post observed that it took about 15 seconds for those with backpacks to pass through Beijing station checkpoints. People often quickly walked through metal detectors and some were stopped for a pat-down while others shuffled through.

Some people with handbags could walk through the metal detector and open their bags for a quick eye check without need of an X-ray scan, but others were asked to put small bags through the machine.

Because of these types of security measures, explained Dong at BBVA, threats to national security “have already been significantly reduced in mainland China”.

“And people around the world also believe that China is quite safe,” he added.

Both that sense of security and the accompanying inconvenience were reflected on by Li Yu, a years-long Beijing resident until moving to Canada last year. He recalled how it could take between five and 10 minutes for daily commuters to queue for security in Xidan Station – one of the busiest stations in Beijing – during rush hour.

“In Canada, subway stations don’t have security checks,” he added. “While I feel less bothered, I still have safety concerns … It’s impossible to know if someone in the subway is carrying a weapon or would potentially harm others.”

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Big things come in small packages: can Samsung’s new smart ring help its China comeback?

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3270119/big-things-come-small-packages-can-samsungs-new-smart-ring-help-its-china-comeback?utm_source=rss_feed

Samsung Electronics, once the dominant smartphone player in China, is drawing fresh interest from consumers on the mainland after the South Korean tech giant unveiled on Wednesday its new smart wearable device, the US$400 titanium Galaxy Ring.

The lightweight, water-resistant smart ring – available in black, silver and gold in nine size options, and weighing from 2.3 grams to 3 grams – supports everyday wellness monitoring through its on-device artificial intelligence, which generates a user’s detailed health report that includes sleep, activity, and heart and respiratory rate, according to Samsung’s announcement at its Galaxy Unpacked event held in Paris.

The Galaxy Ring marks Samsung’s latest bid to challenge Apple’s lead in the global wearables market with an updated ecosystem of its own, including new Galaxy smartwatches launched at the same event.

Cupertino, California-based Apple remained No 1 in that market in the first quarter, despite a decline in sales of the Apple Watch and AirPods during the period, according to research firm IDC’s wearables shipment report published last month. IDC said Xiaomi, Huawei Technologies and Samsung ranked behind Apple in global wearable device shipments.

Shanghai resident and long-time iPhone user Jiang Jiayi, 30, said he is among those mainland consumers considering to buy the Galaxy Ring. “It’s a lighter-weight option for health tracking, and I’m quite curious to know up to what degree it can replace smartwatches [for that purpose],” he said.

Samsung set the price of its smart ring on the mainland at 3,099 yuan (US$425), according to Chinese media. The company, however, labelled the gadget as “out of stock” on its China website as of Thursday afternoon.

Some mainland consumers have already complained about the Galaxy Ring’s price. “It looks pretty cool,” wrote Weibo user “qzc” in a post on the Chinese microblogging platform on Thursday. “But I’ll only consider [buying such a product] if any domestic company follows up [with a smart ring of its own].”

Before the Galaxy Ring’s launch, Chinese consumers have shown interest in smart rings from some smaller vendors such as Oura, Ultrahuman and RingConn.

A sustained local demand for the Galaxy Ring would count as a success for Samsung on the mainland, where it once was the biggest smartphone vendor with a 20 per cent market share in 2013. The Korean firm ranked dead last among the market’s major handset vendors by 2018, with just a 1 per cent share, and has since remained around that level.

In spite of its shrunken presence in China, Samsung has continued to launch new smartphone models on the mainland, as it remains keen to stage a comeback. Samsung has been working with some Chinese Big Tech companies, including Baidu and Tencent Holdings, to help step up localisation of its smartphones’ content ecosystem.

Samsung’s latest product launch is expected to help “foster consumer habits” in the nascent smart ring market, with the potential to widen market penetration, according to a research note by TF Securities on Wednesday.

Still, it remains to be seen whether the Galaxy Ring can establish a leading position in its category or be surpassed by the competition.

Apple has accelerated the development of its own smart ring and registered patents related to this device, according to a report by Korean media ETNews in February. Apple has yet to make an announcement on this new wearables segment.

Chinese smartphone vendor Honor, a Huawei spin-off, also revealed in February that it was developing a smart ring after Samsung announced initial details about the Galaxy Ring during the MWC Barcelona trade show that same month.

Nato summit live: China accuses alliance of seeking security at expense of others after Ukraine row

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jul/11/nato-summit-live-china-accuses-alliance-of-seeking-security-at-expense-of-others-after-ukraine-row

China’s consumers up travel interest despite worries, eye ‘rigorous yet relaxed’ lifestyle

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3270067/chinas-consumers-travel-interest-despite-worries-eye-rigorous-yet-relaxed-lifestyle?utm_source=rss_feed

While remaining cautious about spending amid a sluggish recovery of their financial conditions, Chinese consumers are showing more interest in travelling, said a report on consumer trends in China.

Nearly a half of consumers aged between 18 and 59 said they were increasing spending on travel and holidays, surpassing food and clothing as necessities, according to a survey of 3,000 online users by consulting firm Mintel released on Wednesday.

Travelling also topped an 11-item to-do list for disposable income, followed by investment and wealth management.

A “rigorous yet relaxed” lifestyle is being increasingly sought after at a time when consumers continue to be cautious about consumption but have not lowered their demand for quality of life, the report said.

Travel, food and clothing were the only three items consumers said they would spend more money on in the coming 12 months, while they do not plan to spend money on a longer list of categories including entertainment, home appliances and tech products.

This comes along with a general financial situation that has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

By April, 85 per cent of those surveyed said they were able to save some money every month, the same as when they were last polled in August, but still well below the peak of 92 per cent in May 2019, the report said.

Despite a strong rebound in the tourism market since China’s reopening in the end of 2022, travellers are becoming more thrifty due to poor income expectations.

Based on figures released by tourism authorities, Chinese tourists’ average spending during public holidays in the first half of 2024 was lower than before the coronavirus pandemic, although there was an increase from the overall level last year, said Mintel analyst Cheng Tianhua.

“Consumers are highly price sensitive and pursue reverse travel, so it is difficult for hotels to achieve revenue growth by raising prices, which to a certain extent has also led to a slow recovery in per capita tourism spending,” she said.

“Reverse travel” refers to the trend of Chinese travellers, especially younger ones, choosing cheap and less known places over famous tourist destinations.

Domestic consumption is expected to play a major role in future growth of the world’s second-largest economy as foreign trade tumbles amid geopolitical tensions and investment in the property sector and infrastructure drops.

China’s retail sales - a major indicator of consumption sentiment - in the first five months of the year rose by 4.1 per cent year on year to 19.5 trillion yuan.

Figures for June, along with second-quarter economic growth data, are set to be released on Monday.

Mintel’s study showed that consumer confidence had been recovering slowly with fluctuations over the past year.

“On the one hand, the macro trends such as the reversal of globalisation, the intensification of geopolitical risks and the uncertainty of the global economy continues to have a profound impact on consumers,” the report said.

“On the other hand, the changes in China’s overall economy, employment situation and social security policies have further affected consumers’ mentality.”

Consumers, the report added, maintained a strong willingness to invest and save, with investment the second top option for disposable income, with depositing it in banks ranked fifth.

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East China’s Suzhou latest to join ‘tighten belts’ call as Beijing leads austerity drive

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3270075/east-chinas-suzhou-latest-join-tighten-belts-call-beijing-leads-austerity-drive?utm_source=rss_feed

The hi-tech manufacturing hub of Suzhou in eastern China has called on civil servants to “get used to living a tight life”, rolling out spending cuts in response to Beijing’s nationwide austerity call to cope with a sluggish economy.

The cutbacks include not replacing official cars until they are 10 years old or have done 100,000km (over 62,000 miles), and no government or rental cars for business trips to destinations along the high-speed rail system.

The set of rules, published on the city’s official website last week, also call for government assets to be used in flexible ways, including renting out or auctioning idle land and housing, and sharing the assets between agencies and regions.

All conference rooms and public services facilities should be shared between offices by the year-end, and some car parks and outdoor bathrooms should even be open to the public, according to the directives.

Suggested energy-saving measures include choosing electric vehicles where possible for new or replacement official cars, launching a photovoltaic project, and cutting waste – including in cafeterias.

Local governments and Communist Party agencies across the country have implemented similar measures, after Premier Li Qiang in his annual work report in March called to “tighten belts” with China’s post-Covid recovery yet to stabilise.

However, similar calls have been repeated many times by the central leadership in recent years, including by President Xi Jinping and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top anti-corruption agency.

“Living within tight financial constraints is not a temporary measure or expedient, but a principle and guideline that needs to be adhered to in the long term,” the CCDI said on its website in January.

Officials should lead by example, Xi told the national legislature in 2019. “The party and government take the lead in living a tight life, with the purpose of enabling the people to live a good life,” he said.

The city of Beijing said in February that government assets must be used in flexible ways. It also called for careful budget reviews and energy-saving measures, though it did not offer details.

Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub in southern China, has called to reduce the size and duration of conferences, with preference given to online meetings. It has also urged spending cuts, however small, including those related to document printing, and issuing pens and notebooks to staff.

Hunan in central China is among the provinces to have reined in expenses in recent months. It has pledged to cut office renovation fees by 40 per cent this year, along with 10 per cent cuts for expense accounts.

In southeastern Fujian, the education bureau in Changting county aims to “resolutely eliminate” the “personal use of public resources” – such as using office supplies to print test papers and workbooks for the children of employees.

“[We should] resolutely wipe out the prolonged practice of sitting around and brewing tea in the office,” the bureau added in a notice to all faculty and staff in April.

Fujian is one of the country’s major tea-producing regions and has a strong “tea culture”.

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Doctors back creative China boy penalised for using medical diagnosis in maths test

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3269863/doctors-back-creative-china-boy-penalised-using-medical-diagnosis-maths-test?utm_source=rss_feed

Doctors in China have united behind a primary schoolboy who was penalised for answering a mathematics question with a medical diagnosis.

The boy’s mother, who uses the name @Xiaojun on Douyin, posted his test paper on the social media platform.

The question referred to a graphic showing a person’s temperature dropping from 39.5 to 36.7 degrees Celsius over a three-day period.

“What information can you get from the graphic?” it asked.

The boy, whose name was not revealed, answered: “The patient is about to recover.”

The teacher judged the answer to be wrong and deducted four points from his paper.

After his mother posted the paper online, doctors nationwide flocked to comment and asked the teacher to “return the four points to him”.

A range of medical professionals who supported the boy posted photos of themselves wearing white coats or holding their medical credentials to prove their authority.

“It might be the case that the patient’s temperature was controlled due to the use of antibiotic medicine, but it mostly shows that the disease is under control, and the patient is recovering. Please give the points back to the kid,” one paediatrician wrote.

Some judged the boy’s answer as a sign of his potential, and encouraged the mother to support her son to become a doctor.

The mother’s post went viral and has been viewed 110 million times on Weibo.

The boy’s mother later revealed the standard answer, which is “the patient’s temperature remains stable in a certain period of time.”

“How can such a question expect a ‘standard answer’?” one online observer asked.

“The ‘standard answer’ is killing children’s creativity,” another person said.

A number of netizens criticised the type of rote learning in education that gives teachers unparalleled authority and does not encourage students to think creatively, or allow for an alternative answer.

In China, being a good student can often mean memorising standard answers, an approach that was introduced from the Soviet Union in the 1950s.

From the 1990s, China began the transition to a “well-rounded education” that includes intellectual, physical and moral qualities.

In 2021, China issued a new Double Reduction Policy, which aimed to reduce homework and after-school tutoring for primary and secondary school students to ease the pressure which results from an exam-oriented education.

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Mainland China customs seize more than 100 snakes from man at Hong Kong-Shenzhen border

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3270099/mainland-china-customs-seize-more-100-snakes-man-hong-kong-shenzhen-border?utm_source=rss_feed

Mainland Chinese customs officers have seized more than 100 live snakes concealed in a man’s trousers as he tried to cross the border from Hong Kong into Shenzhen.

The unidentified man was intercepted at the Futian port in Shenzhen on Tuesday while attempting to enter the mainland through the green “Nothing to Declare Channel”.

“Upon inspection, customs officers found that the pockets of the trousers ... contained six canvas drawstring bags that were sealed with tape,” the General Administration of Customs said on social media platform Weibo.

“Each bag contained multiple live snakes of various colours and shapes.”

The spokesman added that a total of 104 serpents were seized, comprising five species – milk snake, western hognose snake, corn snake, pilot black snake and bull snake.

All five species are not native to China and the western hognose snake is considered mildly venomous.

An accompanying video released by the administration also showed customs officers inspecting six transparent plastic bags filled with red, pink and white squiggling snakes, often sought out as exotic pets.

China is the world’s largest destination for illegal wildlife trafficking despite efforts to crack down on the trade, according to the Global Organized Crime Index.

The index also identified Hong Kong as a major transit hub for re-exporters in the illegal wildlife trade, citing the city’s “weak traceability systems”.

The administration said introducing any alien animal or plant species without approval was prohibited, and customs would hold anyone breaching the regulations criminally liable under the law.

Offenders may be punished with a maximum of a three-year jail term or a fine ranging from 50,000 yuan (US$6,870) to 250,000 yuan, with the animal or plant confiscated.

In April, officers at the same border-crossing point stopped a man for trying to smuggle nine live ornamental fish into Shenzhen.

On September 3 last year, a woman was caught hiding 16 live lizards underneath her bra while attempting to enter Shenzhen.

Days later, another female traveller was stopped after officers discovered she was trying to bring in 20 animals, including 15 snakes and four centipedes, by tying them to her waist and chest.

Another woman was caught in July last year trying to smuggle five pet snakes hidden under her bra.

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Outrage in China after reports of fuel tankers transporting cooking oil

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/11/china-oil-food-safety/2024-07-11T04:40:47.510Z

Investigations are underway in China following revelations that cooking oil has been transported in industrial fuel tankers that had previously carried fuel — without being cleaned in between.

The disclosures have ignited widespread anger among Chinese families concerned about the health risks of contaminated oil in a country that is far too familiar with food safety scandals.

They come just days before Chinese leader Xi Jinping convenes a high-level meeting of the Communist Party, where his “common prosperity” agenda will be the top priority and senior officials are expected to lay out a reform package to restore confidence in a sluggish economy.

Authorities have scrambled to control fallout from the revelations, with China’s cabinet this week ordering multiple departments to investigate, and local probes launching in Hebei province and Tianjin city, as similar reports continued to emerge across the country.

The outrage began when state-run Beijing News last week reported the country’s largest state-run grain company, Sinograin, was transporting cooking oil in trucks also used for coal-derived fuel without washing the vehicles between shipments.

The detailed investigation, based on weeks of tracking tankers and interviewing drivers, found that the mixed use of trucks was an “open secret” in the industry and a way for cargo companies to cut costs.

Although third-party transportation providers were the main culprits, big cooking-oil manufacturers tended to look the other way, the article said, in part because there are no legally binding regulations banning the practice.

Panic ensued among shoppers looking for assurances that the oil they were using to stir-fry every day at home — most commonly soybean oil — wasn’t contaminated with carcinogens, heavy metals or other toxic substances.

The incident has left consumers helpless because it is hard to avoid using oil or to robustly test its quality, Zeng Qiuwen, head of the Guangzhou Food Industry Association, said in an interview.

Chinese consumers have no option but to buy oil — unless they return to old ways of making it themselves from fatty meat, he said.

Food safety and counterfeit-drug scandals have plagued China since the early 2000s, when the pursuit of unbridled economic growth and business opportunities often came with corner cutting and lax regulatory oversight.

In 2008, a major infant-formula manufacturer was exposed for adding melamine, a chemical that causes kidney stones, to milk powder to artificially increase the protein content. An investigation found that six children died and 300,000 got sick from drinking the tainted formula.

Cooking oil has been a particular concern since the early 2010s, when dozens of restaurants and street vendors were found to be trying to save money by scooping the dregs of used oil out of the garbage or gutter, processing it and then cooking with it again.

As the Chinese economy lost steam over the past decade, Xi has shifted from encouraging growth at all costs. Equally important, he has said, is providing people with a sense of security, be that from foreign threats or domestic malfeasance.

In an apparent effort to prevent the scandal from spiraling, China’s cabinet, the State Council, on Tuesday launched an interdepartmental investigation into transportation of edible oils, promising “severe punishments” for malpractice.

Official propaganda spoke of being on the public’s side, publishing strident critiques of the alleged misconduct and urging companies to do better. If confirmed by official probes, state broadcaster CCTV said, the practice would be “tantamount to poisoning.”

Official condemnation failed to stem the outcry. Online, people asked why there weren’t rules requiring industrial goods and consumer goods be transported in separate containers. Some announced plans to buy imported oil or make their own oil from scratch.

A flood of reports came in from across the country as other outlets and internet sleuths started investigating the tanker industry.

Using subscription cargo-tracking services, journalists tracked trucks moving between industrial clients and cooking-oil manufacturers, and they reported suspicious patterns to local authorities.

The State Council investigation will be thorough, but the high-level of pressure on the industry needs to become common or else the practice “will resurface sooner or later,” said Zeng, the head of the Guangzhou Food Industry Association.

Similar incidents of contaminated tankers have been reported in China before, including in 2005 when reporters found evidence of molasses being transported in tanks used to haul diesel — the tanks had not been cleaned.

But “people don’t seem to learn the lessons of these past incidents,” Zhu Yi, an academic at China Agricultural University, wrote on Phoenix Media, a Hong Kong-based website.

Testing alone won’t work, Zhu said. Part of the difficulty in detecting contamination is that hydrocarbons left over from fuel are often too small in quantity to show up in tests on edible oil.

Beijing News had found loopholes in the entire process of bulk edible-oil shipping, a collective lack of awareness and lax oversight — meaning there were all sorts of contaminant risks and the solution had to be “prevention not detection,” Zhu wrote.

A separate problem is that the competitive trucking industry is struggling to make money in a downturn. Tank cleaning takes four to five hours and can cost as much as $55, reported Caixin, a financial publication.

As anger mounted this week following the revelations, censors stepped in to tamp down discussions by deleting some articles on the topic and blocking related tags on social media. Online commentators defended the importance of public oversight and investigative journalism in exposing health and safety failures overlooked by officials.

Despite being state-run, Beijing News is known for in-depth reporting on social issues and its journalists regularly push the boundaries of censorship to expose wrongdoing among state-owned enterprises and local government.

While the original article has so far remained online, follow-up reporting by other outlets often disappeared soon after being published.

A tracking service being used by journalists to monitor trucks was taken offline on Wednesday, reported Yicai, a financial news outlet. The article was taken offline hours later.

“It was media that finally paid attention to the mess of tankers transporting cooking oil,” one user wrote on Weibo, the social media platform. “In recent years, as media’s ability to supervise seriously declined, more and more horrendous things have happened.”

China tells NATO not to create chaos in Asia and rejects label of ‘enabler’ of Russia’s Ukraine war

https://apnews.com/article/china-nato-ukraine-war-689834988a7e0543504010649a63e319A Houston police officer carries a case of water to a car outside of Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center during a distribution of water and ice on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, after Hurricane Beryl hit the Houston area on Monday. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)

2024-07-11T08:17:06Z

BEIJING (AP) — China accused NATO on Thursday of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.

The statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson came a day after NATO labeled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“NATO hyping up China’s responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. He maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the Ukraine issue.

China has broken with the United States and its European allies over the war in Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion. Its trade with Russia has grown since the invasion, at least partially offsetting the impact of Western sanctions.

NATO, in a communique issued at a summit in Washington, said China has become a enabler of the war through its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.

Lin said that China’s trade with Russia is legitimate and reasonable and based on World Trade Organization rules.

He said that NATO’s “so-called security” comes at the cost of the security of other countries. China has backed Russia’s contention that NATO expansion posed a threat to Russia.

China has expressed concern about NATO’s budding relationships with countries in the region. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea sent their leaders or deputies to the NATO summit this week.

“China urges NATO to ... stop interfering in China’s internal politics and smearing China’s image and not create chaos in the Asia-Pacific after creating turmoil in Europe,” Lin said.

Chinese troops are in Belarus this week for joint drills near the border with Poland, a NATO member. The exercises are the first-ever with Belarus, an ally of Russia.

Lin described the joint training as normal military exchange and cooperation that is not directed at any particular country.

Why cicadas are popular among daring foodies in China and are consumed as a delicacy

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3269731/why-cicadas-are-popular-among-daring-foodies-china-and-are-consumed-delicacy?utm_source=rss_feed

A special summer treat is bugging out mainland social media – the eating of cicadas.

In Zhejiang province, southeastern China, a vendor has claimed she sells 100 kilograms of the insects a day and earns more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,380) doing so.

Peeled versions can sell more than 800 yuan (US$110) a kilogram. They also come fried, braised and sautéed in garlic.

The Post takes a closer look at this creepy, crawly culinary phenomenon.

Cooking

Eating cicadas is popular in several Chinese regions, including Zhejiang in the east, Hebei in the north, central Henan and Shandong, also in the east.

The most common serving is “fried golden cicadas” which involves frying the insects larvae until crispy. People say this method leave the bugs tasting like meat.

Some regions prefer the adult cicadas, which are cooked after removing the heads and wings.

Online observers appear to love this traditional form of cuisine.

“Since my childhood, eating cicadas means summer has truly arrived,” one person said.

Others expressed curiosity: “Where can I buy some?” asked a curious commenter.

“Can people really eat this? This is the first I’ve heard of it. It is quite shocking,” chimed in a third person.

Risks and benefits

Cicada shells are rich in protein, calcium and other nutrients.

They are also believed to have medicinal properties and some say they are effective in treating coughs.

However, experts caution people with allergies to steer clear.

“The heads, wings, and legs should be removed before frying to eliminate bacteria and microbes. Always make sure they are fresh,” said Fang Haitao, a neurologist at Shaoxing Central Hospital in Zhejiang province.

Catching

In early summer nights, baby cicadas crawl out of the soil to riverbanks and grass near trees to moult making them easier to catch.

People hunting cicadas carry lamps and wield bamboo poles more than two meters long to knock them down from the trees and use a sticky adhesive to catch flying adult cicadas, according to the mainland news outlet Dushikuaibao.

The lifespan of adults is typically only a few weeks.

“A moderate amount of cicada catching can be beneficial for vegetation growth,” explained Chen Xuexin, former director of the Institute of Insect Sciences at Zhejiang University, to Dawan News.

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China deports US suspected child sex abuser in law enforcement push to improve ties

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3270055/china-deports-us-suspected-child-sex-abuser-law-enforcement-push-improve-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

China has handed over a fugitive American citizen to the United States as part of efforts by the two nations to strengthen cooperation on law enforcement.

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday that it deported the American, who was only identified as “Scott” and wanted on suspicion of child sexual abuse.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, the suspect was handed to officers from the US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Bureau at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Wednesday.

Scott has been wanted by the US since 2014 and was the subject of an Interpol “red notice” in 2018. According to Interpol, a red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

The Chinese authorities located the suspect and detained him at the US’ request, the report said, adding that the suspect did not commit any child sex crimes in China.

The deportation follows a US move in June to send two fugitives suspected of “serious criminal offences” back to China.

The US and China do not have an extradition agreement but Washington has handed over a few fugitives wanted by Chinese authorities since President Xi Jinping rolled out his anti-corruption campaign.

One of those deportees was Xu Chaofan, a former banker wanted in China for his involvement in the biggest corruption case in China’s banking sector. He was sent back to China and jailed for 13 years for his role in the embezzlement and misappropriation of more than US$483 million.

China and the US have stepped up law-enforcement cooperation since Xi met his counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco in November and agreed to work together in a number of areas.

In that time, senior officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and the US Department of Homeland Security have had several meetings to discuss law enforcement cooperation, including a number on narcotics that resulted in “important progress”, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The US has long urged China to help tackle the fentanyl crisis in the United States, particularly to target Chinese companies accused of selling fentanyl precursors around the globe. With the Xi-Biden summit, China agreed to curtail shipments of those precursors and took action against the companies involved.

In a video call between Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month, the two agreed to deepen cooperation on drug control, repatriation of illegal immigrants and combating transnational crime.

Last week, a total of 116 Chinese illegal immigrants were also deported from the US in the first large charter flight since 2018.

The US has had a surge in Chinese immigrants trying to enter the US from Mexico. More than 37,000 Chinese nationals were arrested on the southern border in 2023, 10 times more than the previous year, according to Associated Press.

South Korea risks ‘crossfire’ by partnering Nato amid Ukraine war, US-China rivalry

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3270068/south-korea-risks-crossfire-partnering-nato-amid-ukraine-war-us-china-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed

South Korea risks being “caught in a crossfire” by joining a meeting between Nato and four Indo-Pacific countries, a former top government adviser has warned, amid Seoul’s tougher stance against Russia and US-led integrated deterrence efforts in Europe and Asia.

However, other analysts argue that Seoul’s engagement with Nato in Washington this week is crucial as the global security landscape evolves, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its new alliance with North Korea along with the increased threat of nuclear weapons.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last week invited the four countries – South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand – to the three-day Nato summit, which ends on Thursday, to strengthen the security alliance’s partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Iran and North Korea are fuelling Russia’s war with drones and shells. China is propping up Russia’s war economy, and providing microelectronics and other dual-use goods for Russia’s war,” Stoltenberg said. “The closer authoritarian actors align, the more important it is that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific.”

At the summit, Stoltenberg said Nato would enhance cooperation in “flagship projects” on Ukraine and new technologies, and discuss defence industry partnerships with South Korea, the Yonhap news agency said.

Kim Joon-hyung, a security analyst who served as a former South Korean government adviser, warned on Thursday that South Korea could face pressure from Nato members to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine directly and risk turning Russia into an arch-enemy on top of nuclear-armed North Korea.

South Korea has a long-standing policy of not providing lethal weapons directly to any country at war. It reportedly supplied munitions to Ukraine last year via the US in accordance with the policy.

President Yoon Suk-yeol this week threatened to ditch the policy and supply weapons directly to Ukraine, depending on the nature of a new military pact between Moscow and Pyongyang.

“South Korea is ... capable of producing conventional weapons massively and keeping vast stockpiles of munitions,” Kim told This Week in Asia.

“By actively taking part in the Nato-IP4 meeting, President Yoon could expose the country to collective pressures to supply weapons directly to Ukraine,” said Kim, an opposition lawmaker and a former head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

“If this trend continues, South Korea, due to its geographic and strategic positions, would find itself becoming like a frontline soldier caught in a crossfire,” Kim added.

Chang Yong-Seok, a senior researcher at the Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification, said the Nato-IP4 meeting represented “a significant step” in the bloc’s efforts to reach out to the Indo-Pacific region to deter China.

“But this move could only push China, which is still hesitant to join the Russo-North Korean alliance, deeper into their arms,” Chang said.

Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, a former special envoy for the six-party nuclear talks, said the Nato-IP4 meeting would help enhance deterrence by involving more allies. Any aggressor contemplating an attack on another sovereign country would “think twice” knowing that “an alliance of countries would be a more formidable adversary”, DeTrani said.

“Seeing what Russia did in Ukraine and what China is doing in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait are obvious reasons why the Indo-Pacific countries are interested in a dialogue with Nato to enhance deterrence and bolster their defences,” DeTrani told This Week in Asia in an email interview Thursday.

Evens Revere, Senior Fellow at Brookings and former US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, called the Nato-IP4 meeting an “important milestone”.

There was an emerging consensus among Nato and the four Indo-Pacific countries of the “indivisible” peace and security in Europe and Asia. The two sides were wary of the China-Russia “partnership without limits”, the Russia-North Korea comprehensive strategic partnership and Pyongyang’s military support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, Revere said.

These developments have sent a message to the international community about the need for closer cooperation with Seoul being the beneficiary of such partnerships after it received statements of support from Nato and the EU, according to Revere.

“This support is also being seen in the increasing presence of European military assets in the air and waters near the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

Mirna Galic, a senior policy analyst for China and East Asia at the US Institute of Peace, said Indo-Pacific partner countries can deflect Chinese displeasure over their engagement with Nato more effectively as a group compared with participation by individual countries.

“The grouping also helps facilitate increasing internal links between the hubs of the traditional US hub-and-spoke alliance system in the region,” she wrote in April on the Institute’s homepage.

“Additionally, the IP4 can provide a platform for engagement that could be controversial if done bilaterally when tensions between two countries are high, as was previously the case between Japan and South Korea,” she said.

Michael Reiterer, a professor at the Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance, said South Korea was wooed by Nato as some of the bloc members such as Poland were seeking to buy quality weapons at good prices.

“This backfill operation for Nato members supplying Ukraine indirectly was appreciated by the alliance and strengthened the ROK’s [South Korea’s] positioning itself as a pivotal state in world politics,” he said in April.

Park Won-gon, a political science professor at the Ewha Womans University, said the meeting arose as the US wanted its allies to shoulder a greater defence burden.

“For South Korea, the federation of deterrence networks spanning both regions will certainly help deter the North,” he said.

He dismissed suggestions that the move could worsen regional tensions and the US-China rivalry.

“This is not to antagonise China, Russia and North Korea as a bloc but it aims to bolster global cooperation in keeping the rule-based international order,” he said.

Kim Dong-yub, a senior researcher at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, however, said South Korea’s closer ties with Nato could lead to the country getting involved in the war in Ukraine or a conflict over Taiwan.

“South Korea must focus on deterring the North rather than being distracted by troubles happening in the rest of the world,” he said.

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China starts building pivotal dam to manage Yellow River, the world’s muddiest waterway

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3270064/china-starts-building-pivotal-dam-manage-yellow-river-worlds-muddiest-waterway?utm_source=rss_feed

After decades of planning, construction has begun on a massive new dam on China’s Yellow River in the latest water management project aimed at controlling increasing sediment in the world’s muddiest river.

The Guxian Water Conservancy Project, which is located midstream on the river between the central provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi, officially began construction on Tuesday, the Ministry of Water Resources said.

Once completed, the project will control 65 per cent of the Yellow River basin area, 73 per cent of its water flow and 60 per cent of its sediment volume, the ministry said.

Originating in China’s northwest Qinghai province, the Yellow River – the country’s second longest waterway – runs through the Loess Plateau, an area about the size of France, that has become an immense source of silt due to desertification.

The sixth-longest river system in the world, the Yellow River has become known as “a hanging river” because the excessive accumulations of sediment have raised parts of the riverbed above the surrounding terrain, changing the course of the water over time and leading to frequent, devastating floods.

“The Guxian project is a strategically important component of the Yellow River’s sediment control system and a key node of the national water network, crucial to the long-lasting security of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River,” Li Guoying, the water resources minister, said at a ceremony on Tuesday.

The project, which is expected to take 10 years to complete, will be the third largest dam on the Yellow River, state media reported. The project was projected to cost 53 billion yuan (US$7.3 billion), according to a 2021 report from the ministry.

The dam is also expected to ease the burden on the Xiaolangdi reservoir, located 450km (280 miles) downstream, which went into service in 2001 to help manage water flows.

“After years of operation and research, it is necessary to build another large water conservancy project upstream from Xiaolangdi to further control the water and reduce sediment of the Yellow River,” Jia Xinping, an inspector with the ministry, told state broadcaster CCTV.

The dam, which is also expected to help boost irrigation along the river banks and provide hydroelectricity, has been listed as a major project in China’s mega infrastructure construction plans, and was included in the 14th five-year development plan which runs from 2021 to 2025.

Engineers began conducting geological surveys on the Yellow River in the 1950s to determine sites for dams and reservoirs. The ministry said planning for the project was especially complex due to the region’s geology, which consists of pockets of mud and fault zones sandwiched between multiple layers of soft and hard rocks.

The Guxian project was confirmed in a management and development plan in 1997 and its feasibility study report received national approval in June.

Chinese researchers see carbon fibre potential for submarine drones despite Titan tragedy

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3269791/chinese-researchers-see-carbon-fibre-potential-submarine-drones-despite-titan-tragedy?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have unveiled an ultra-strong carbon fibre hull for the large-scale production of high-performance underwater drones.

The hull is suitable for shallow seas and can easily withstand immense pressure at a depth of 6,000 metres (19,700 feet), boosting overall performance while significantly cutting manufacturing costs, according to researchers behind the project.

Their technological advance challenges the belief that carbon fibre cannot be used underwater, potentially granting China an advantage in the drone arms race in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

“Currently, the pressure-resistant structures of deep-sea submersibles typically employ alloy steel or titanium alloys, but due to their high material density, the weight of these pressure-resistant structures accounts for a large proportion of the total weight, limiting the load capacity of deep-sea submersibles,” wrote the project team led by Guo Yuqi, a senior engineer with Harbin FRP Research Institute, in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese academic journal Fibre Composites last month.

“In today’s era of rapid national development with a high demand for deep diving and high load capacity, carbon fibre materials have been widely used in the pressure-resistant structures of manned and unmanned submersibles due to their excellent properties, such as low density, high strength, high modulus, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance and design flexibility,” wrote Guo and his collaborators from Harbin Institute of Technology, a university sanctioned by the US.

In the West, carbon fibre has been considered unsuitable for use in the submarine industry.

The world’s first carbon fibre crewed submersible, Titan – operated by the American private company OceanGate – was destroyed by immense water pressure during its journey to the 4,000-metre-deep wreck of the Titanic, resulting in the deaths of all five people on board in June last year.

Many industry insiders attributed this tragedy to the weakness of carbon fibre underwater: under immense pressure, water can penetrate gaps between the fibres, and repeated ascents and descents potentially crack and deform the hull.

“I never believed that the technology of wound carbon fibre filament on the cylindrical hull would work. I thought it was a horrible idea,” said James Cameron, an undersea explorer and director of the film Titanic, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal following the tragedy.

The carbon fibre pressure hull made in China has a wall about 3cm thick – one-quarter the thickness of Titan’s walls. According to Guo’s team, however, during laboratory tests it easily withstood water pressure of 77 megapascals (MPa), more than double the pressure Titan’s hull could withstand in lab tests at the University of Washington.

Guo and his colleagues estimate a cabin made of this carbon fibre material could withstand 90MPa pressure, equivalent to an ocean depth of nearly 9,000 metres. However, to ensure safety, they have set its operational depth at 6,000 metres, corresponding to a pressure of 60 MPa.

The external layer of the carbon fibre pressure hull is a slim 1mm waterproof coating. The researchers said the coating provided a certain degree of protection and did not allow leaks, damage, interfacial debonding, cracking or other issues during normal use.

It could withstand a degree of impact, scraping and other challenges without failure or damage, according to Guo’s team.

“After experiencing high pressure for a long time, the appearance of the pressure test sealing system outside the pressure hull remained intact, with neither leakage nor weight increase in the pressure hull,” Guo’s team wrote.

The front and rear ends of the carbon fibre pressure hull use T4 titanium alloy material. Because it must withstand alternating seawater pressure from zero to 6,000 metres, the designers have considered fatigue issues, such as pressure and temperature variations in the carbon fibre hull and the joints between carbon fibre and titanium alloy.

“It can tolerate alternating cycles more than 2,000 times,” they said in the paper.

Guo’s team has also developed a carbon fibre unmanned submersible hull suitable to operate at less than 200 metres deep. With a thickness of just 3mm but a diameter of 1 metre, it could be used for low-cost underwater drones operating in the shallows.

“Underwater submersibles are an indispensable means to safeguard national marine rights, interests and resource security. Their technological level represents, to some extent, national defence capabilities and technological prowess,” Guo’s team wrote in a separate paper published in the same journal in May.

Both China and the United States plan to deploy a large number of unmanned weapons in key waters, such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. The side that wins in a potential conflict will largely depend on the performance and quantity of their drones.

According to a report released last month by the Washington-based think tank Centre for a New American Security, a drone battle in the Taiwan Strait differs significantly from the situation on the Ukrainian battlefield because underwater drones are more difficult to destroy or interfere with than aerial drones.

Chinese factories produced nearly half the world’s carbon fibre last year. With many new production lines under construction, some industrial experts estimate China’s production capacity may increase significantly in the coming years, further reducing the carbon fibre price.

Carbon fibre produced in China is mainly used in sport and leisure products. In the Chinese market, the price of a carbon fibre bicycle has dropped to just over 3,000 yuan, or about US$410 – one-tenth of the price several years ago.

Why China pet owners are embracing acupuncture to treat their cats and dogs

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3269720/why-china-pet-owners-embracing-acupuncture-treat-their-fur-babies?utm_source=rss_feed

While traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments such as acupuncture have long been applied to humans, their use on pets has only recently gathered momentum.

In specialist pet wellness centres, practitioners are increasingly applying the method to dogs and cats to cure diseases and offer a variety of health benefits.

A typical animal acupuncture session costs about 200 yuan (US$28) and provides benefits such as improving blood circulation, reducing inflammation and pain, and enhancing the immune system.

In June, a golden retriever in Yantai, Shandong province, eastern China, that was suffering from facial paralysis because of over exposure to air conditioning, showed a remarkable improvement three days after having such treatment.

Animal acupuncture has a rich history dating back to China’s Spring and Autumn period (770-481 BC) when vets studied the techniques and applied them to horses.

Today, the practice has evolved to successfully identify nearly 100 effective acupuncture points for cats and dogs, compared to more than 2,000 in the human body.

The therapy always begins with a diagnostic process involving four traditional examinations: observation, smell, questioning, and pulse-taking.

Vets assess the pet’s health by observing its nasal mucus, gums, saliva, and tongue coating, as well as smelling for abnormal odours and inquiring about the pet’s daily routines.

Unlike humans, where pulse is typically taken at the wrist, veterinary surgeons use the inner thighs of cats and dogs, or the tail for larger animals, such as horses and cows.

Once a diagnosis is made, the treatment can begin.

The pet is first gently secured in a special apparatus to keep it still, and acupuncture points are located in their skeletal and muscular structure.

Acupuncture needles are then swiftly inserted, and electrical stimulation is applied via an electronic acupuncture device.

Many pets remain calm during sessions, and some appear so relaxed they almost fall asleep. Overall, dogs tend to be more cooperative than cats.

One practitioner, Wei Jiayu, shared his most successful case, which involved curing a paralysed corgi, on the We-media platform Yitiao.

He said the pet’s owner chose acupuncture over surgery because of the cost.

After six acupuncture sessions, the dog could hop like a rabbit, according to Wei.

The approach has gained traction among pet owners for its affordability and effectiveness.

One TCM enthusiast, surnamed He, told Chengdu Daily she was eager to try acupuncture on her British shorthair cat.

“My cat previously had epilepsy symptoms, and veterinary checks can cost thousands of yuan, with surgery potentially costing tens of thousands. TCM is more economical, with an acupuncture session costing only one or two hundred yuan,” she said.

TCM for pets has sparked curiosity on social media.

“TCM is truly profound. It can even identify acupuncture points on a dog’s face. So surprising,” said one online observer.

“I’m so shocked. Is this a new career focus for us in the future?” a student of TCM for humans asked.

Mainland China’s Shandong carrier trains near Taiwan as US, allies stage Rimpac drill

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3269973/chinas-shandong-carrier-exercises-taiwan-coast-us-and-allies-stage-annual-rimpac-drill?utm_source=rss_feed

The PLA’s Shandong aircraft carrier has been carrying out training exercises off Taiwan’s southeast coast as a major US-led naval drill being held elsewhere in the Pacific entered its second week.

The carrier was spotted along with three escorts in the east of the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Japan’s Ministry of Defence.

Japanese personnel were sent to monitor the ships and photographed warplanes and helicopters practising take-offs and landings from the Shandong’s flight deck.

The carrier was escorted by the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Yanan, the Type 052D destroyer Guilin and the Type 054A guided-missile frigate Yuncheng, the ministry said on Tuesday.

Their presence in those waters, around 520km (320 miles) southeast of Japan’s Miyako Island, coincides with the month-long Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) exercise, the biggest international naval drill, hosted by the US Pacific Fleet.

The biennial exercise involves 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, over 150 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel. It began near Hawaii on June 26 and will run until early next month.

The US has said the purpose of the exercise is to “deter and defeat aggression by major powers across all domains and levels of conflict” and one of the main features will be an effort to sink a 40,000-tonne retired US vessel. Apart from the US, only China possesses warships of this kind in the Indo-Pacific.

Many of the countries taking part in the exercise – including Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and India – have their own maritime or territorial disputes with China, including in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected dozens of sorties near the island from PLA Air Force planes, including fighters, bombers, drones and early warning aircraft.

The planes flew from the Chinese mainland, making 26 sorties on Tuesday and 37 the following day. They went as far as the Bashi Channel in what the ministry believes was “joint air-sea training” with the Shandong strike group.

Taiwan’s military will be carrying out its own training exercise later this month designed to deter a simulated People’s Liberation Army landing.

The Shandong’s current mission is its fourth in the Western Pacific in about nine months. It had earlier been detected northwest of the main Philippine island of Luzon, prompting the Philippine armed forces to express concern about its presence.

Coastguard ships from the two countries have been involved in a series of clashes around disputed parts of the South China Sea in recent months.

The Chinese foreign ministry declined to comment on the reports.

New top US envoy to Taiwan pledges to help the island with self-defense as threats from China loom

https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-defense-american-institute-82e6d2c99fc579b8037e1fbf9d071bbeIn this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te, right pose for photos with American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) director Raymond F. Greene in Taipei, Taiwan on July 10, 2024. Raymond who newly assumed his office on July 9, met with Taiwan President William Lai in the morning of July 10, when both reiterated on the strong partnership Taiwan and the U.S. nurtured from the past, with ups and downs. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

2024-07-10T05:56:41Z

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The United States’ new top envoy to Taiwan promised Wednesday that Washington will help the self-ruled island defend itself as China ramps up its military threats.

The weight of the message from Raymond Greene, who assumed his new role as director of the American Institute in Taiwan on Monday, was underscored by the strong show of force from China’s People Liberation Army displayed toward Taiwan on the same day.

“First of all, and the most important thing, the U.S. will strongly support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” Greene said as he met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. “We both have common and long-term interests in peace and stability over the Taiwan Strait.”

Lai said Taiwan will strive to maintain the status quo with Beijing, which claims the island democracy of 23 million people as its own territory, to be reclaimed by force if necessary.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry also said Wednesday it detected 36 Chinese military jets, including J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, flying south and southeast of the island and headed into the Western Pacific to carry out drills with China’s Shandong aircraft carrier.

By Thursday morning, that number had ratcheted up to 66 warplanes in total, across a 24-hour period. Taiwan also said it tracked 7 warships around its waters.

The U.S., like most countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a country. But it’s the island’s main partner and is bound by U.S. laws to provide it with the means to defend itself. Less than a month ago, the U.S. State Department approved the sale to Taiwan of missiles and drones for an estimated $360 million.

In April, the House of Representatives approved an $8 billion military aid package for Taiwan.

“Taiwan and the U.S. are solid partners to each other who strive to maintain regional peace and stability,” Lai said Wednesday.

The Chinese government didn’t immediately comment on the meeting.

The American Institute in Taiwan functions as a de facto embassy. Taipei also operates an Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. and similar de facto embassies in other countries.

China has ramped up its military pressure against the island since Lai took office in May. Beijing sees Lai as a separatist and refuses to speak with him.

In late June, Beijing threatened to hunt down and execute “hardcore” Taiwan independence supporters. In response, Taipei urged its citizens to avoid traveling to China and the semi-autonomous Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macao.

China building twice as much wind and solar power as rest of world – report

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/china-building-twice-as-much-wind-and-solar-power-as-rest-of-world-report

The amount of wind and solar power under construction in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined, a report has found.

Research published on Thursday by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an NGO, found that China has 180 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar power under construction and 15GW of wind power. That brings the total of wind and solar power under construction to 339GW, well ahead of the 40GW under construction in the US.

The researchers only looked at solar farms with a capacity of 20MW or more, which feed directly into the grid. That means that the total volume of solar power in China could be much higher, as small scale solar farms account for about 40% of China’s solar capacity.

The findings underscore China’s leading position in global renewable energy production at a time when the US is increasingly worried about Chinese overcapacity and dumping, particularly in the solar industry.

Interactive

China has experienced a boom in renewables in recent years, encouraged by strong government support. Xi Jinping, China’s president, has stressed the need for “new quality productive forces”, a slogan which signifies a desire to pivot China’s economy towards technology and innovation. Xi has said that “new quality productive forces” includes strengthening green manufacturing.

Between March 2023 and March 2024, China installed more solar than it had in the previous three years combined, and more than the rest of the world combined for 2023, the GEM analysts found. China is on track to reach 1,200GW of installed wind and solar capacity by the end of 2024, six years ahead of the government’s target.

“The unabated wave of construction guarantees that China will continue leading in wind and solar installation in the near future, far ahead of the rest of the world,” the report said.

However, analysts have cautioned that still more renewable capacity will be needed if China is to meet its target of reducing the carbon intensity of the economy by 18%, which is an important factor in reducing emissions. Carbon intensity refers to how many grams of CO₂ are released to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity.

Interactive

Earlier analysis suggests that China will need to install between 1,600GW and 1,800GW of wind and solar energy by 2030 to meet its target of producing 25% of all energy from non-fossil sources.

Between 2020 and 2023, only 30% of the growth in energy consumption was met by renewable sources, compared with the target of 50%.

“It is obviously important for China to keep on adding more renewable energy to meet its targets,” said Li Shuo, the director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Policy Institute in Washington DC. “But it’s not as simple as you just keep building and it will be solved … [because] there is no sign that the country is trying to steer away from its coal consumption.”

Previous analysis by GEM and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a thinktank, found that approvals of new coal power plants increased fourfold in 2022-2023, compared with the previous five-year period of 2016-2020, despite a pledge in 2021 to “strictly control” new coal power. Growth in total coal consumption increased from an average of 0.5% a year to 3.8% a year between the two time periods.

Geopolitical tensions such as the war in Ukraine, which focused many countries’ attention on energy supplies, and major power cuts in parts of China in recent years, have increased Chinese officials’ concerns about energy security.

China’s power grid remains reliant on coal, which officials see as necessary to mitigate the intermittency of renewable energy. And officials often see the coal industry as being a safe way to boost local GDP figures, although clean energy sectors are now the biggest driver of China’s economic growth, accounting for 40% of GDP expansion in 2023.

Analysts say that better storage and grid flexibility is necessary to efficiently use the increasing volume of clean energy being generated on China’s wind and solar farms.

The Chinese government is aware of this challenge, naming lithium-ion batteries as one of the “new three” technologies important for creating high-quality growth, along with electric vehicles and solar panels. Last year, $11bn was invested in grid-connected batteries, an increase of 364% on 2022.

The GEM report also highlighted China’s lead in actually building planned renewable energy infrastructure. The 339GW of wind and solar that has reached the construction stage represents one-third of proposed projects, far surpassing the global construction rate of 7%.

“China’s renewable energy pipeline is two times larger than the rest of the world,” Li said. “But the question we should increasingly ask ourselves is, how come the rest of the world is so slow?”

Singapore’s US$288 billion Temasek stays bullish on China – targets US, India for growth

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3269995/singapores-us288-billion-temasek-stays-bullish-china-eye-us-india?utm_source=rss_feed

Singapore’s S$389 billion (US$288 billion) sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings has outlined a resilient, diversified investment strategy for its 50th year of operations, focused on long-term plays in China and key sectors like healthcare and agriculture.

In its annual review, the fund announced a S$7 billion (US$5.18 billion) increase in its net portfolio this week, cementing its status as the world’s 11th largest sovereign wealth fund, according to Global SWF, a platform that tracks such funds.

For the full year to March this year, Temasek weathered volatility to post a 1.6 per cent annual return, rebounding from the previous year’s 5.07 per cent decline.

The fund’s long-term returns held steady at 6 per cent over 10 years and 7 per cent over 20 years, as it maintained a focus on long-term returns with a mix of financial, transport, telecoms, real estate and agriculture investments.

Temasek’s “main focus” was 10- and 20-year returns, said Chia Song Hwee, the fund’s deputy chief executive officer, at the results announcement on Tuesday. “We take a long-term view and invest with that in mind. We’re not a kind of a day trader investor.”

Another key priority for Temasek was to build a “resilient portfolio that could withstand market dislocations”, Chia said.

“During the bull market, we may not be at the top in performance, but hopefully at the low of the market, our portfolio will be able to withstand better. Our portfolio is never static because the environment always changes on us.”

While rising interest rates have affected parts of Temasek’s holdings, Chia said some assets actually gained ground during the rate-tightening cycle.

“We have to accept the annual fluctuations in the numbers,” he said. “What is important is the underlying assets, whether or not the performance can continue.”

Despite China’s economic slowdown, with growth expected around 4-5 per cent this year and sectors like property remaining weak, Chia said Temasek will maintain its investment focus on the country.

The fund’s strategic approach prizes resilience over chasing short-term gains. As Chia put it: “When we had a 35 per cent return three years ago, we didn’t spend a second celebrating because it’s not that important.”

Temasek sees opportunity in China’s structural challenges, with Chia noting the fund will target companies driving domestic consumption and innovation in sectors like biotech, robotics, EVs and import substitution.

“While some of these businesses have export potential, given the geopolitical risks, we are focusing on companies that only solely rely on the domestic market and less reliant on exporting to other countries,” he said.

The fund also views agricultural technology as crucial, with investments like Israeli irrigation firm Rivulis, the world’s second-largest in the space.

Temasek head of financial services, Connie Chan, said the fund was diversifying beyond banking, stocks and assets – a move it started 10 years ago – particularly towards “secular trends” in digitisation, digital payments and financial software.

Despite the slowdown in certain segments of the commercial property sector, Temasek’s head of real estate Alpin Mehta said there were properties that remained lucrative, such as data centres, due to strong demand from large cloud service providers.

Temasek said the United States would continue to be its main target for investments, as it was a deep market with extensive innovation.

The fund also intends to scale up its investments in India, where it sees strong growth potential, driven by factors such as infrastructure-led investments.

Although the Indian stock market has hit new heights recently, there were still value and investment opportunities such as in the country’s banking sector, Temasek’s chief financial officer Png Chin Yee said.

Temasek has investments in India’s hospitals and would continue to explore its healthcare sector, Png said.

China KOL berated for taking cash tips while live-streaming from rescue boat in severe floods

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3269908/china-kol-berated-taking-cash-tips-while-live-streaming-rescue-boat-severe-floods?utm_source=rss_feed

An online influencer in China has been denounced for live-streaming and accepting tips while she sat in a rescue boat during severe flooding in the south of the country.

The incident took place in Liuzhou, Guangxi province, after the area was hit by heavy flooding.

Conditions were so bad that the Nanning branch of Blue Sky Rescue, China’s largest non-governmental humanitarian organisation, had to launch rescue operations on June 19.

It soon emerged that an internet celebrity, surnamed Zhang, also known as “Dabao in Liuzhou” and has more than 230,000 followers on Douyin, was live-streaming from a rescue boat and receiving cash tips online.

Zhang was wearing a life jacket and using beauty filters as she broadcast.

She continuously focused the camera on herself rather than on the rescue efforts and flooding as she live-streamed.

It is unclear how long Zhang live-streamed for or how much she made in tips from viewers.

After complaints from people watching her, the rescue team requested she leave the boat.

However, the controversy continued.

On July 7, the Blue Sky Rescue Team issued a statement explaining that the influencer had been invited by their captain, surnamed Zhao, “to document the rescue process and efforts”.

However, they discovered that the influencer’s social media account was personal and she did not feature the large-scale rescue scenes as they had hoped.

At this point, Zhang “chose” to leave the boat.

“The tips she received during the live-stream have no connection to our organisation,” the rescue team added.

The influencer told Zonglan News that she was friends with members of the rescue team and confirmed that she had been invited to live-stream the operation.

As the controversy raged, Zhang claimed it had been technically difficult to disable the live-stream tipping function while she was on the boat, adding that she had to focus the camera on herself to avoid platform violations.

“I was holding the phone with one hand and gripping the handrail with the other. The speed of the boat made it impossible to turn off the tips function while assuring my personal safety,” she said.

“The live-stream lasted for only half an hour, and I hardly received any tips,” Zhang added.

The influencer, who has not apologised, also said: “People can say whatever they want. If you’re doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.”

Her attitude has triggered anger online.

“The rescue scene turned into a show for the influencer to make money from tips, which is truly despicable!” said one online observer.

While another added: “The issue is that bringing one more person on the rescue boat means rescuing one less person! The rescue team was unprofessional.”

“A rescue scene is not a live-stream room. Please show some respect for the rescue operation,” said a third.

China’s military commits to full ‘rectification’ in corruption investigations’ wake

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3270001/chinas-military-commits-full-rectification-corruption-investigations-wake?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s military will double down on political education following the downfall of two former defence ministers accused of “polluting” the armed forces.

The Central Military Commission (CMC), the country’s top military decision-making body, said on Wednesday that the People’s Liberation Army would undergo complete “rectification” as part of its combat-readiness mission.

“Deepening the military’s political education and training is crucial for advancing the military’s development and achieving its strategic goals,” the CMC said.

“It is a serious and significant political task that requires unwavering determination and practical actions.

“We must integrate our efforts into the struggle, preparation for war, and construction of the military ... We must also continuously consolidate the Communist Party’s leadership in the new era and achieve the great goal of building a strong military.”

This process, it said using a rarely used phrase, would include “rectification of the mind, personnel appointments, organisation, working style and discipline”.

It would also involve a thorough review of the military’s policies and practices, as well as the promotion of a sense of discipline and responsibility among its personnel, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The wide-ranging pledge comes two weeks after authorities announced that former defence ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe were under investigation for alleged corruption.

In unusually harsh language about the two former generals, the official reports said, Wei, a senior party and PLA leader, had “a collapse of faith and a loss of loyalty” and “seriously polluted the political ecosystem of the PLA”. Meanwhile, Li had “abandoned the original mission and lost the principles of the party” and seriously contaminated the PLA’s military equipment industry.

Their actions “betrayed the trust of the party’s central leadership and the CMC … and caused great damage to the party’s cause, national defence and the construction of the PLA, as well as to the image of the senior leading cadres”, official reports said.

The investigations uncovered evidence of other possible “serious disciplinary and criminal offences” by the two men, according to the CMC, and both will face criminal prosecution.

China has emphasised the importance of maintaining a clean and efficient military, and has vowed to take decisive action against any officials found to be tainted by corruption. The campaign is seen as a key part of President Xi Jinping’s efforts to strengthen party control over the military and instil a culture of integrity within its ranks.

In June, Xi told the top brass that the PLA must show absolute loyalty to the party and there could be no room for corruption in the military.

“We must make it clear that the barrels of guns must always be in the hands of those who are loyal and dependable to the party … And we must make it clear that there is no place for any corrupt elements in the military,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

He warned that the world was undergoing complex and profound changes, and the military must adapt to these changes by promoting politics in its development and ensuring that the nature and principles of the people’s army remain unchanged.

“[PLA] cadres at all levels, the senior ones in particular, must step forward, dare to lose face and face their own shortcomings and flaws … make earnest rectifications, and resolve problems that are deeply rooted in their thinking,” Xi said.

China has seen a number of high-profile corruption cases involving senior military officers in recent years.

Nine senior generals – including past and serving top commanders of the PLA Rocket Force, a former air force commander and a series of CMC officials with the Equipment Development Department – were removed from their positions in December.

Hong Kong police to replace US-made service revolvers with mainland Chinese pistols

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3270000/hong-kong-police-replace-us-made-service-revolvers-mainland-chinese-pistols?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong police are set to replace their standard-issue US-made revolvers with pistols manufactured in mainland China, the Post has learned.

Sources familiar with the arrangement said on Thursday that the replacement of the service weapons for the city’s 33,000 police officers was expected to take more than a decade to complete, including procurement and training.

“It is expected the first batch of frontline officers equipped with the new firearms will be on street patrol as early as the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” one source said.

The insider said the relevant training would start as early as the end of this month.

He added the change was needed because the Smith & Wesson 38 revolvers currently used by most officers were no longer being made by the American company, and supplies of spare parts to maintain the existing firearms were dwindling.

The source said the force had opted to replace the weapons with a mainland-made 9mm handgun, the QSZ-92, which had a 15-round magazine capacity and boasted a faster reload time compared with the current six-round revolver.

The pistols currently used by criminal investigation officers, produced by Sig Sauer, would also be replaced with the same type of mainland-made handguns but in a smaller size.

“Supervisor-grade officers such as inspectors and sergeants are scheduled to receive training on the use of the new firearms, followed by junior officers,” he said.

Officers who were approaching retirement might be excluded from the replacement programme.

“The 9mm pistol’s design is also better suited for Asian hand sizes, making it easier to aim,” he said, adding that magazines given to officers would not be fully loaded initially.

The transition would take place in stages with new recruits, personnel from the Police Tactical Unit and officers working in criminal investigations being the first to receive the new firearms, the insider said.

The Post has learned that efforts to source firearms to replace the revolvers have been under way for several years and the force began testing the mainland-made handgun, commonly used by law enforcement agencies across the border, around two years ago.

NATO allies call China a ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia’s war in Ukraine

https://apnews.com/article/nato-china-pacific-washington-59876b88cad3ccf15cc5443912fe3d5bPresident Joe Biden speaks during the opening session of the NATO Summit, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

2024-07-10T21:23:12Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — In their most serious rebuke against Beijing, NATO allies on Wednesday called China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and expressed concerns over Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.

The sternly worded final communiqué, approved by the 32 NATO members at their summit in Washington, makes clear that China is becoming a focus of the military alliance. The European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly see shared security concerns coming from Russia and its Asian supporters, especially China.

Beijing insists that it does not provide military aid to Russia but has maintained strong trade ties with its northern neighbor throughout the conflict. It also accuses NATO of overreaching and inciting confrontation in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the communiqué, NATO member countries said China has become a war enabler through its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.

“This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbors and to Euro-Atlantic security. We call on the PRC, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” read the communiqué, which referred to China by the abbreviation of its official name, the People’s Republic of China.

“The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation,” the document says.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said China provides equipment, microelectronics and tools that are “enabling Russia to build the missiles, to build the bombs, to build the aircraft, to build the weapons they use to attack Ukraine.”

He said it was the first time all NATO allies have stated this so clearly in an agreed document.

The Chinese embassy in Washington on Wednesday said China is neither a creator of nor a party to the Ukraine crisis. “China does not provide weapons to the parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles, which is widely applauded by the international community,” said Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesman.

He said China’s normal trade with Russia is “done aboveboard” and “beyond reproach.”

Danny Russel, a former assistant secretary of state for Asia, called the new wording by NATO “an extraordinary step,” particularly because it was coupled with the warning that Beijing continues to pose “systemic challenges” to European interests and security.

“It is a mark of how badly Beijing’s attempt to straddle Russia and Western Europe has failed and how hollow its claim of neutrality rings,” said Russel, who is vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “China’s attempts at divide-and-conquer have instead produced remarkable solidarity between key nations of the Euro-Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific regions.”

Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the statement is “highly significant” because it signals to China that Europe, just like the U.S., also condemns support to Russia.

“The U.S. believes that Europe has influence in Beijing, and that while China will not pay any attention to U.S. condemnation, they will pay attention to European condemnation because just because Europe trades with China, China also trades with Europe,” Bergmann said.

In this year’s final declaration, NATO member countries reiterated their concerns that China poses “systemic challenges” to Euro-Atlantic security. It was first raised in 2021.

The alliance said China has been behind sustained, malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation and expressed concerns over China’s space capabilities and activities. It also raised alarms that China is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems.

Liu, the Chinese embassy spokesman, said China handles such issues “in a responsible manner with transparent policies.”

“Hyping up the so-called ‘China threat’ is completely futile,” Liu said, adding Beijing firmly opposes NATO’s use of regional hotspot issues to smear China and incite a new Cold War.

In Washington, where leaders of NATO nations are convening this week to mark the coalition’s 75th anniversary, President Joe Biden said the alliance must not fall behind Russia, which is ramping up weapon production with the help of China, North Korea and Iran.

Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea have sent their leaders or deputies to the NATO summit in Washington this week. They are partners, not members, of the alliance.

In the final declaration, NATO members affirmed the importance of the Indo-Pacific partners to the alliance and said they were “strengthening dialogue to tackle cross-regional challenges.”

NATO and the Indo-Pacific partners plan to launch four projects to support Ukraine, bolster cooperation on cyber defense, counter disinformation and work on artificial intelligence. The NATO members said these projects would “enhance our ability to work together on shared security interests.”

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China a ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia’s war in Ukraine, says Nato in stern rebuke

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/nato-summit-russia-ukraine-war-china-enabler

Nato leaders have labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and called its deepening ties with Moscow a cause of “deep concern”, in what’s been seen as the most serious rebuke against Beijing from the alliance.

The final communique, approved by the 32 Nato members at the summit in Washington, also highlights concerns about Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.

“I think the message sent from Nato from this summit is very strong and very clear, and we are clearly defining China’s responsibility when it comes to enabling Russia’s war,” Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg said, calling the statement an important message.

Nato leaders have urged China “to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” adding that Beijing has become a large-scale supporter of Russia’s “defence industrial base”.

“This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defence sector,” the declaration said.

Beijing insists that it does not provide direct military aid to Russia, but has maintained strong trade ties with its neighbour throughout the conflict.

China’s foreign ministry expressed displeasure at Nato’s growing interest in Asia and demanded the alliance stay out of the Asia-Pacific region and not incite confrontation. Beijing’s mission to the EU said the summit was “filled with cold war mentality and belligerent rhetoric.”

“The China-related paragraphs are provocative with obvious lies and smears,” the mission said in a statement.

The Nato statement came as leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea were set to attend summit talks on Thursday. It will be the third year in a row that leaders from the four Asia-Pacific partners have met at the summit.

The final communique also accused China of being behind sustained, malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation. It also raised alarms that China is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems.

Danny Russel, the former US assistant secretary of state for Asia, called the new wording by Nato “an extraordinary step”.

“It is a mark of how badly Beijing’s attempt to straddle Russia and western Europe has failed and how hollow its claim of neutrality rings,” said Russel, who is vice-president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “China’s attempts at divide-and-conquer have instead produced remarkable solidarity between key nations of the Euro-Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific regions.”

This week Chinese troops have been conducting joint military drills in Belarus, to which neighbouring Poland says it is paying close attention. China and Belarus are allies of Russia, while Poland is a Nato member and supporter of Kyiv.

“The defence ministry is well aware of the risk of the operations in question being used for disinformation and propaganda purposes,” Poland’s defence ministry told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.

China has previously held joint drills with Belarus, though these are the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The “Falcon Assault” drills started on Monday and are set to run until mid-July, with China’s defence ministry saying it hoped to deepen cooperation with Minsk.

Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press contributed to this report

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Japan investigates captain after warship enters China’s territorial waters despite warnings

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3269997/japan-investigates-captain-after-warship-enters-chinas-territorial-waters-despite-warnings?utm_source=rss_feed

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyer temporarily sailed into Chinese territorial waters off the country’s eastern province of Zhejiang last week, despite repeated warnings by Chinese vessels, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

The Suzutsuki, tasked with monitoring Chinese military drills on the high seas, navigated into Chinese waters on July 4, in a rare move by a Self-Defence Forces vessel.

Beijing has conveyed its serious concern to Tokyo over the incident, leading the Japanese defence ministry to launch an investigation into the ship’s captain, the sources said. The ministry declined to comment on matters concerning SDF operations.

A day before the MSDF destroyer entered Chinese waters, Zhejiang authorities said a no-sail zone would be set up in a nearby area for the Chinese military to conduct a live-fire drill, opening up the risk of a contingency occurring because of the Suzutsuki’s presence.

The Chinese government suspects the incident was an “intentional provocation” by the destroyer, and has been collecting and analysing relevant information, according to Chinese sources.

The Suzutsuki, which was on a mission to monitor the live-fire drill, was urged by the Chinese vessels to leave the area when it approached within 12 nautical miles (22km) off the coast of Zhejiang, but it sped up and navigated into the Chinese waters for some 20 minutes before leaving the territorial waters, the diplomatic sources said.

The MSDF ship has in the past monitored the activities of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, deployed in the East China Sea, but Japanese destroyers tasked with surveilling Chinese vessels usually stay away from territorial waters off Zhejiang, they added.

In unofficial talks between the two sides, a Japanese official pointed to the possibility that the entry was a “procedural error,” they said.

A Chinese security expert, however, has cast doubt on Tokyo’s unofficial view that the MSDF destroyer might have entered the Chinese waters by mistake, citing the Japanese crew’s skill levels.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognises the right to “innocent passage,” allowing for a vessel to pass through the territorial waters of another state unless it compromises the safety of the coastal state.

Tokyo maintains that the Suzutsuki’s entry into Chinese territorial waters was not illegal, citing the right to innocent passage.

But Beijing argues the MSDF ship did not fulfil its requirements under Chinese domestic law that foreign vessels seek its prior permission to enter its waters, the Chinese sources said.

Jun Tsuruta, associate professor of international law at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, said there has been a debate on whether the right to innocent passage can be granted to military vessels as well as commercial ships, and that the issue has not been completely settled based on UNCLOS adopted in 1982.

As Tokyo recognises the right to innocent passage for foreign military ships navigating into Japanese territorial waters, SDF vessels would not likely seek Beijing’s prior approval based on Chinese law before entering the neighbouring country’s waters, Tsuruta pointed out.

China regularly sends its military and coastguard vessels into Japanese territorial waters near the Tokyo-controlled Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

While the intention of the destroyer’s crew has not been clarified, Japan should refrain from escalating tensions in regional seas, the associate professor said.

“I wonder why Japan made such a provocative move amid efforts by both countries to stabilise relations,” a Chinese diplomatic source said.

Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated over a host of issues, including the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant that began in August last year, prompting Beijing to impose a total import ban on Japanese seafood.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed during their November meeting in San Francisco to build “mutually beneficial” bilateral relations based on common strategic interests, with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and the Japanese leader confirming the agreement in Seoul in May.

Despite this, negotiations to improve bilateral ties have been slow.

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China Xiaohongshu users unite to help older strangers akin to caring for own parents

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3269708/china-young-launch-nationwide-scheme-help-strangers-if-they-are-own-parents?utm_source=rss_feed

A group of young people in China have turned themselves into “shared children” on social media so they can offer assistance to older strangers as if they were their parents.

On the mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu, the hashtag #HelpingEachOthersParents has attracted 6 million views.

Many of those involved have been sharing their experiences or intentions in connection with the innovative pastime.

An influencer called Xiaogang with 580,000 followers, set up an informal scheme to help older people in Beijing.

In a video he posted, he carried heavy groceries for a middle-aged man, helped a woman who was collecting her registration ticket from a machine at a hospital and bought bottled water for a group of cleaners resting at the roadside on a hot day.

Whenever he offered his services, Xiaogang called the people he helped “mum” and “dad” and told them to think of him as their own son.

At the end of his video, he revealed that about 100 people had joined his campaign and had promised to do what he does.

Xiaogang lives about 500km from Shanxi province in northern China where his parents are.

Like many others who belong to the shared children campaign, Xiaogang hopes young people living near his parents will join in and help them on his behalf.

“We look after your parents and you have our parents covered” is one of the campaign’s slogans.

In another post that went viral on July 7 and attracted 1.8 million views, a user @Dafengsasa asked online strangers to help her mother, 54, who was travelling alone for the first time to Beijing from central China’s Henan province.

She posted a photo of her mother at the railway station with the caption, “If you see a woman wearing this outfit looking for help, please kindly offer it.”

The post received thousands of likes, with many people in Beijing promising they would help.

Days later @Dafengsasa said her mother received a great deal of help and had returned home safely.

“Honour the elderly in other families as we honour those in our own,” one person, citing an old saying from Confucian philosopher Mencius.

Many migrant workers in China and abroad welcomed the campaign, feeling reassured that their parents would have the help they needed when they were not there to offer it.

China has nearly 300 million migrant workers. The number of employed people nationwide was 740 million at the end of last year.

China’s ‘low-altitude economy’ soars as UAVs rise 48%, regulator eyes healthy development

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3269953/chinas-low-altitude-economy-soars-uavs-rise-48-regulator-eyes-healthy-development?utm_source=rss_feed

Newly-registered unmanned aircraft or drones surged by 48 per cent in China in the first six months of the year amid a push for the “low-altitude economy” to foster high-value jobs, bolster innovation in science and technology and inject momentum into the overall economy.

There were 608,000 new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) registered in China in the first six months of the year, bringing the total to over 1.87 million, according to data provided by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Wednesday.

“To push for the healthy development of the low-altitude economy, we as the regulator will continue to work on coordinating the upgrade of the traditional aviation industry and innovative developments in the unmanned aerial vehicles industry,” CAAC director Song Zhiyong said in Beijing.

Transport minister Li Xiaopeng also previewed plans to upgrade China’s logistics and transport network through policies that would encourage the replacement of old vehicles, such as trucks, ships and locomotives, with new models or methods, including UAVs.

The low-altitude economy has been identified as a new growth point for the world’s second-largest economy.

It refers to the realm of industries developed from civil-manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that operate in the airspace below 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) above ground, such as for agriculture, delivery services and emergency response purposes.

The development of flying cars and drones in China was combined with artificial intelligence, the digital economy, green energy and biomedicine at the annual central economic work conference in December as “strategic new industries”.

But the latest figures for licenced companies operating drones have fallen from the 19,000 reported at the end of 2023 to 14,000 reported on Wednesday.

The number of people registered with an operating licence, meanwhile, stood at 225,000, up from 194,000 at the end of last year.

Building resources and data sharing infrastructure with local governments to develop low-altitude communication, navigation and surveillance capabilities would be among the next steps for the low-altitude economy, according to Song, to eventually realise a “one-stop” service for low-altitude flights.

In terms of regulations, the CAAC would strengthen the certification standards for drones to adapt to new designs, fully utilise the potential of the low-altitude airspace, upgrades on safety regulations and the use of airports, Song added.

While pushing for the sector to develop, China has also repeated the intention for further regulations.

Its first set of national regulations introduced in June 2023 required registration of drones of varying sizes, including those lighter than 250 grams (8.8 ounces) used for photography, filming and racing.

Under the regulations, users are banned from taking pictures or videos of military or defence industrial installations or secretive facilities.

In April, the CAAC approved its first production licence for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Local governments are also investing heavily, with some starting from scratch by offering large subsidies to manufacturers and service providers.

Hangzhou, the capital of China’s eastern Zhejiang province, said on Monday in a low-altitude economy development plan that it would offer eligible new companies up to 10 million yuan (US$1.37 million) if their operating income was at least 20 million yuan in the following year.

Last month, the government of Sichuan also said it would establish a 200 million yuan fund to support the development of the low-altitude economy.

And according to its plan, it would build 20 general airports and more than 100 facilities for vertical take-off and landing aircraft, while also cultivating three to five industry-leading companies in the fields of general aviation equipment manufacturing and low-altitude flight operations by 2027.

Apple video ads use humour to trumpet privacy protection for Chinese iPhone users

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3269936/apple-video-ads-use-humour-trumpet-privacy-protection-chinese-iphone-users?utm_source=rss_feed

Apple is using humour to trumpet the privacy and security functions of its iPhones in its latest advertising campaign targeting Chinese consumers, at a time when personal data leaks on Android phones have become a concern in China.

Apple has published video skits featuring well-known Chinese comedian Yue Yunpeng, in which an Apple employee introduces him to iPhone’s privacy features including a strong password, Face ID and private browsing on Safari.

In one of the videos, Yue, wearing a black Chinese robe, forgets his password during a crosstalk performance. An Apple employee in the audience advises him to use the iPhone’s automatically generated password that is protected by Face ID.

In another video, the Apple staffer introduces Yue to Safari’s private browsing feature, that can stop websites from tracking or identifying the user, as the comedian wears a disguise over fears of being snooped on and tracked.

The videos went viral on Chinese social media, as netizens expressed surprise at the collaboration between the US tech giant and a grass-roots Chinese comedian, praising the creativity of the videos. The collaboration quickly became the top trending topic on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, attracting over 110 million views and 21,000 discussions as of Wednesday.

The new campaign comes as Apple reiterates its commitment to privacy in China, where consumers are increasingly wary of data security issues and regulators are tightening their scrutiny of how businesses are handling user data.

Privacy has also emerged as a key issue as Apple moves to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (AI) in its devices. The company highlighted its focus on privacy in its AI strategy outlined last month, where it promised to handle most of the AI computing on the device, and use its Private Cloud Compute system to handle more complex AI problems.

This is not Apple’s first attempt to appeal to Chinese consumers’ concerns over data privacy. In May last year, the company launched a one-minute video featuring Hong Kong martial arts star Donnie Yen Ji-dan, who delivered kicks and punches when anyone invaded the privacy of iPhone users.

However, Apple has faced doubts about its privacy protection. Some Chinese iPhone users reportedly received smut spam via iMessage, which the public security authority in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, attributed to iCloud account leaks, according to a local report in 2023. In China, Apple has ceded legal ownership of its customer data to Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, a company owned by the provincial government.

Apple, which led smartphone sales in China in the fourth quarter of last year, lost its throne after sales declined 19.1 per cent in the first quarter, in the face of rising competition from Chinese rivals including Huawei Technologies, according to market research firm Counterpoint. It now ranks No 3 in the market after Chinese manufacturers Vivo and Huawei spin-off Honor.

The company has been defending its position by offering steep discounts on iPhones, a move which helped boost its smartphone sales by 2.7 per cent during the 618 online shopping festival, Counterpoint data showed.

Dog Weddings on the Rise in China

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/dog-weddings-on-the-rise-in-china/7686832.html

It was a dream wedding in a lovely place, with beautiful clothing and a tasty wedding cake. This perfect wedding day in front of friends and family is for Bree and Bond -- two golden retrievers.

That's right. The “bride” and “groom” are dogs.

Pet weddings are on the rise in China. This is happening in a fast-aging country where government policies have had little success in getting more humans to marry and have more children.

The popularity of pets and a willingness to spend money on pet weddings are driving the increase. In China, spending on pets in 2023 rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier to $38.41 billion.

Bree’s owner Rye Ling asked, "People have weddings. Why can't dogs have weddings?" Ling asked this after walking his pet down the aisle to exchange vows. The female “bride” promised to always share treats and play with the “groom” Bond.

The research firm Acuity Knowledge Partners said there were more than 116 million cats and dogs living in China’s cities in 2023. That means about one in eight Chinese people own a cat or a dog. And the majority of pet owners are under 40.

Ling and his girlfriend Gigi Chen said they are in no hurry to get married themselves. However, that did not stop them from carefully planning their pets’ marriage ceremony for months. They arranged for photographers, created made-up wedding certificates, and ordered a cake with a topper that looked just like Bree and Bond.

Yang Tao owns the Shanghai shop that made the cake. At first, she said she was surprised that people wanted wedding cakes for their dogs.

"I think there will be more and more dog weddings," Yang said. She added that she has already made cakes for several similar ceremonies since launching her shop in 2022.

"We have already received an order for a few months from now ... and that's for a dog wedding."

Ling said he hoped the ceremony would give Bree and Bond a "sense of ritual." Ling, who only wanted one child someday, said he hoped to welcome several puppies soon.

I’m Anna Matteo.

 

Nicoco Chan reported this story for Reuters. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

wedding – n. a marriage ceremony usually with accompanying festivities

bride – n. a woman just married or about to be married

groom – n. a man just married or about to be married

pet – n. a tame animal kept for pleasure rather than for use

walk down the aisle idiomatic expression to get married

vow – n. a solemn promise or statement

certificate – n. a document that is proof of some fact

ritual – n. the established form for a ceremony

puppy – n. a young domestic dog specifically : one less than a year old

 

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