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• [Sport] How China swerved worst of global tech meltdown
• Chinese envoy calls out US ‘political correctness’ of taking tough line on China
• Africa’s trade deficit shrinks as exports to China surge – but experts say it won’t last
• Chinese artefacts in repatriation row were ‘given willingly’ to British Museum
• Quirky China – swimming ‘calligraphy’, coinage angers court, woman works while poisoned
• China’s top diplomat Wang Yi urges Canada to ‘seriously reflect’ on strained ties
• Life imitating art: did a 1991 war novel predict how Philippine-China tensions would play out?
• China factory owner gets US$1 million demolition payout, distributes it among 406 workers
• Beijing seeks to drive up China’s much-needed consumption by upping NEV number plate quota
• 12 dead, dozens missing after bridge collapses amid floods in China’s Shaanxi province
• [Sport] China bridge collapse kills at least 11 after floods
• Several killed in Chinese bridge collapse during torrential rain
• 11 dead and dozens missing after a highway bridge in China crumbles in flooding and heavy storms
• Chinese AI entrepreneur moves to Singapore for growth amid Beijing’s crypto curbs
• Japan expands continental shelf in search of rare metals amid China’s opposition
• For China, EU ties looking rocky after re-election of hawkish Ursula von der Leyen
• Growing number of Hong Kong’s domestic helpers embracing holidaying in mainland China
• China views America’s presidential nightmare with mirth—and disquiet | China
• Without better food safety, being health-conscious in China is a lost cause
• Chinese scientists propose information superhighway between Earth and the moon
• Hong Kong retailers report rise in cooking oil sales after mainland Chinese tanker scandal
• China could attack Starlink-like satellites with submarine laser weapon: naval study
• Open for business: Chinese firms are Singapore-bound but will they stay?
• Trump and Vance’s ‘America first’: hawkish on China, more flexible on Russia
• 3 steps China can take to fix ties with European countries
• Top US officials slam China over its ‘wrong direction’ helping Russia fight Ukraine

[Sport] How China swerved worst of global tech meltdown

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Chinese envoy calls out US ‘political correctness’ of taking tough line on China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3271233/chinese-envoy-calls-out-us-political-correctness-taking-tough-line-china?utm_source=rss_feed

“Grave challenges” confront Sino-US ties, Beijing’s envoy to Washington said on Friday as he called out the “political correctness” in the United States of being tough on China.

Addressing a conference in Tacoma, Washington state via video link, Xie Feng called for deeper subnational exchanges, saying it would offer a more solid foundation for ties and “greater room” to move relations forward.

But there are fresh challenges in the way of these more local exchanges. “In recent years, the so-called political correctness of being tough on China has been spreading in the United States, casting a chilling effect on sister-city cooperation and subnational interactions,” Xie said.

However, setbacks in US-China ties would not change the “fundamental wish of our peoples for friendship and cooperation”, he added.

“The China-US relationship is still facing grave challenges. We need to pool strength from all to get the relationship better,” he said in a transcript of the speech posted on the embassy’s website.

Xie made the comments at the sixth US-China Sister Cities Summit co-sponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, an agency under China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote exchanges with other countries.

According to Xie, the event was the first on China-US subnational exchanges held in the US in five years.

Tacoma, a port city that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited in 2015, became sister cities with the southeastern Chinese city of Fuzhou in 1994.

In his address, the Chinese envoy said sister-city relationships between China and the US had flourished, with 286 pairs already established.

“Serving as bridges for mutual understanding and trust, they have nurtured goodwill between the two peoples, and injected vigour into China-US relations,” he said.

Xie noted that since the start of last year, more than 30 delegations from Chinese provinces and cities had visited the US, and these exchanges had helped to “stabilise” US-China ties.

He expected greater exchanges and visits “so that, drop by drop, we can thaw the ice of misunderstanding, and ultimately form a vast ocean of friendship between our two peoples”.

China and the US have sought to ease their strained ties, including with the closely watched meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden in November.

There has been more engagement since then, including on climate change and artificial intelligence.

But in June, US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said Beijing had made people-to-people exchanges “impossible”, including by preventing Chinese nationals from taking part in American government programmes.

Xie, in his speech on Friday, also said that subnational cooperation between Chinese and American cities had brought benefits to both sides, noting that China was the top export market for three US states and in the top three markets for 32.

He urged American firms to seize opportunities brought by China’s “openness and development”, and called for an expansion in cooperation between sister cities.

“A brighter future for the 1.7 billion people of our two countries cannot be achieved without a healthy and stable China-US relationship,” he said.

“It is our sincere hope that our sister-city relationships will continue to be a fountain of strength, giving strong and sustained impetus to the broader bilateral relationship, so as to keep it surging forward.”

Tacoma mayor Victoria Woodards said in her speech that sister-city ties between the US and China had allowed the two countries to “build bridges of friendship and cooperation that transcends borders”.

“I truly believe that if we can work together to address all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, we can and we will create a future that is bright and prosperous for every one of our communities,” she said.

Africa’s trade deficit shrinks as exports to China surge – but experts say it won’t last

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3271075/africas-trade-deficit-shrinks-exports-china-surge-experts-say-it-wont-last?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s imports from Africa rose by 14 per cent year on year to reach US$60.15 billion in the first half of 2024, according to the latest Chinese customs data.

During the same period, however, Chinese exports to the continent fell marginally by 2.3 per cent to US$84.85 billion, figures from the General Administration of Customs showed. Over the six months, total China-Africa trade grew by 3.9 per cent year on year to US$145 billion.

Observers attributed the boost in imports from Africa to the increased production of minerals, rising commodity prices and the depreciation of key African currencies. But, they said, while a shrinking trade deficit was good news for Africa, it was not likely to last.

Resource-rich African countries have seen heavy investment from Chinese companies as they ramp up mineral production amid the global push for green energy. One such country is Zimbabwe, a major source of lithium, which has had an influx of billions of dollars worth of investments and acquisitions from China in the Asian giant’s push to dominate the lithium-ion battery market.

Similarly, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is the world’s largest producer of cobalt and a major source of copper, remains a major source of materials for China’s electric vehicle battery industry. China also imports minerals such as bauxite from Guinea and oil from Nigeria, Angola, Gabon and Ghana.

China’s largest trading partner in Africa is South Africa. In the first half of the year, the value of that trade hit US$27.5 billion, according to Chinese customs data.

During that period, imports from South Africa rose 10.7 per cent to US$17.29 billion year on year, but Chinese exports to the African nation fell 18.6 per cent to US$10.2 billion.

South Africa’s exports to China are mainly minerals and metals, but more recently China has started buying products such as soybeans, wine, rooibos tea, aloe vera gel and citrus fruits.

Later this year, avocados will join that list after the two countries signed a deal at the Brics summit in Johannesburg last year.

“China stands ready to speed up the process so that avocados from South Africa will be enjoyed by the Chinese people as soon as possible,” Chinese ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng wrote on X on Wednesday.

The deal comes amid Beijing’s plan to diversity its food and agricultural trade and reduce its dependencies on countries like the US and Australia. China is importing more food products from Africa as a result – avocados from Kenya and Tanzania, fruit from South Africa and Zimbabwe, coffee from Ethiopia and chillies from Rwanda. It has signed trade deals with dozens of African countries, waiving tariffs on 98 per cent of the taxable items originating from those nations.

China’s trade with Africa appeared to buck the general trend, with China recording an overall increase in exports. In June, exports grew at their fastest in over a year, rising 8.6 per cent that month, while imports shrank 2.3 per cent to hit a four-month low in June, amid a weak domestic demand caused by the property crisis and slowing economy.

Regarding the African exports to China, Mark Bohlund, a senior credit research analyst at REDD Intelligence, said higher copper prices are one factor in the increased figures.

“Higher production volumes are also playing a part,” he said.

“The depreciation of the Nigerian naira, and to a lesser extent, the South African rand and Kenyan shilling, have likely played in to reduce Chinese exports given that these are the largest markets in sub-Saharan Africa.”

But, he said, African exports to China would probably weaken somewhat in the second half of the year, mainly due to lower copper exports.

While copper prices slumped as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the slowdown in the Chinese economy, the price recently rallied to reach an all-time high in May of about US$10,900 per tonne, breaking its previous record of US$10,845 per tonne in March 2022. The price has dipped a little since May’s record high but remains strong at more than US$9,500 per tonne.

“I expect growth in Chinese exports to Africa to remain relatively weak as growth in Nigeria and South Africa is likely to remain weak in the near term,” Bohlund added.

Charlie Robertson, head of macro strategy at asset management firm FIM Partners, said Chinese exports to Africa may have dropped because of the big currency devaluations in Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana, foreign currency restrictions in Ethiopia, and austerity measures in Kenya and other countries.

For Africa to service its debt to China, he said it needed a trade surplus, not a trade deficit.

“How else can Africa earn the dollars it needs to repay China?” Robertson said. “A shrinking trade deficit is heading in the right direction, but really we want to see the opposite of the export and import totals in China and Africa’s trade.”

Unfortunately, he said, China prioritised its own profit from Africa at every level of engagement – in its exports to Africa, lending to Africa, and by making a requirement of those loans the use of Chinese companies to build infrastructure and supply goods.

“As China’s big priority right now is exporting its way out of its domestic property slump, I would expect it to try to boost exports to Africa over the coming year,” Robertson said.

Chinese artefacts in repatriation row were ‘given willingly’ to British Museum

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jul/20/chinese-artefacts-in-repatriation-row-were-given-willingly-to-british-museum

The British Museum boasts one of the biggest collections of Chinese antiquities in the west, but it has faced repeated calls to return them to China. Now historical documents reveal that many of the antiquities were acquired with the full cooperation of Chinese officials in the last century.

US historian Justin Jacobs has unearthed evidence that shows the Chinese government “willingly and enthusiastically helped them remove these treasures from their lands” because they wanted closer ties with the west and appreciated new scholarship.

He said: “These things did not have priceless valuations that we project on to them today… I have found new evidence that hasn’t been looked at before that will change our view of objects in the British Museum and other institutions.” There have been calls in recent years for the British Museum to return artefacts including the Parthenon marbles – also known as the Elgin marbles – the Rosetta Stone and the Benin bronzes.

Last year’s revelations of thefts of 1,500 museum items sparked renewed international repatriation requests, among them, by China’s state-run English-language newspaper Global Times.

In an editorial, the paper said: “Most Chinese collections were certainly looted or stolen by Britain … As long as Britain cannot prove which collection was acquired legally and honestly, then the mother country of these collections has the right to seek their repatriation.”

Jacobs, a professor of history at the American University in Washington, said he had unearthed evidence showing that, far from seeing the acquisition of antiquities by outsiders as morally dubious, the Chinese authorities believed that professional and social relationships with well-regarded foreigners were more valuable than what they were removing.

He said: “[I have seen] letters and recollections of Chinese officials, Chinese dealers, Chinese scholars talking about what they think of western archaeologists, who came into the country and removed tens of thousands of objects. It’s usually social and diplomatic capital – ‘If we help him out, then this will sweeten diplomatic negotiations with Great Britain the next time we have some sort of diplomatic issue to work out.’

“Or they see having a friendship and connections with a foreign scholar to be more valuable. The Chinese material should be categorised as a form of diplomatic gift.”

He added: “I conclude that most of today’s moral outrage over western museums and their collections is the result of projecting today’s values backward in time to an era in which our values today were not shared, either by westerners or nonwesterners.”

Jacobs’s research will feature in his book, Plunder? How Museums Got Their Treasures, which will be published next week.

The book, which covers objects ranging from ancient Egyptian antiquities to the Parthenon marbles, challenges the widely accepted assumption that many western museum treasures were acquired by imperialist plunder and theft, arguing for a nuanced understanding of how they reached western shores.

Jacobs believes that other objects such as the Benin bronzes – looted during the British military expedition to Benin City in 1897, – were military plunder and “have a case for restitution”.

But he said: “We should not jump from that to say that everything in a museum was acquired in the exact same immoral way that military loot was acquired. Military plunder actually represents a fairly small amount of the materials that you see in a museum.”

The British-Hungarian archaeologist Aurel Stein acquired thousands of Chinese antiquities that ended up in the British Museum and other collections.

Among artefacts that the Chinese officials knew he was removing at the time – “as they recorded their thoughts in Chinese about that removal”, Jacobs said – is a painted panel, believed by some experts to date from between the 7th and 8th century, depicting the legend of how silk-making technology left China. It is now in the British Museum.

Jacobs found unpublished material among Stein’s vast archive in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It includes a 1914 letter from a Chinese magistrate who said to Stein: “You practise archaeology with a stunning perseverance and thoroughness that is unheard of.”

Jacobs said: “This is awkward. After all, Stein has become something of a nationalist pinata among Chinese critics of western imperialism today.”

The evidence contradicts that image, he said, as it shows Chinese officials knew what Stein and other archaeologists were taking abroad. Those officials looked forward to hearing about new scholarly discoveries that would result from transporting these antiquities to a site for their preservation and study.

Jacobs said: “Just one century ago, the most highly educated and prosperous Chinese in the entire country saw in Stein’s expedition not a sinister imposition of foreign imperialism, but rather an altruistic and admirable display of the scientific keys to catching up with the leading western powers of the day.”

Quirky China – swimming ‘calligraphy’, coinage angers court, woman works while poisoned

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3271080/quirky-china-swimming-calligraphy-coinage-angers-court-woman-works-while-poisoned?utm_source=rss_feed

We all need a dose of the unusual from time to time.

So here, the Post takes a look at some of the stranger news items to have come out of China in recent days.

We find a man who got bored with swimming in a straight line, a defendant who angered a court with his cash antics, and a woman who spooked her work colleagues with her behaviour.

Residents in eastern China’s Zhejiang province were stunned to see a man writing calligraphy under water using his smartwatch.

The device records his swimming routes, or trails, which form the shape of Chinese characters, and it can take an hour to complete a complicated character, the media outlet City Express reported.

The man, surnamed Sheng, who has been creating the unique art in Guazhu Lake for three years, said he noticed other people’s swimming trails were “boring” straight lines, and wanted his lines to be more vivid.

He began swimming to outline simple patterns like circles and five-point stars before challenging himself to write Chinese characters with his routes.

He draws each character on paper then calculates the distance he needs to swim and how many arm strokes he needs to do for each stroke of the character.

Sheng tries use objects on the riverbank as reference points to show him the direction in which he needs to swim to ‘draw’ the characters.

Locals and tourists have flocked to watch him.

“He is so amazing,” one internet user on Weibo said.

A court in China has been slapped a man with a penalty for paying a chunk of a 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) fine with coins and low denomination banknotes.

The man, surnamed Wan, brought three bags of cash to a court in southwestern Sichuan province in March as part of compensation for a crime, according to the news outlet The Cover.

It took a court official and 10 bank staff three hours to count the money, which fell short by 1,400 yuan (US$190) because some cash was too stained to be accepted.

The court fined Wan 2,000 yuan (US$275) for wasting judicial resources as he could not provide a reasonable explanation for using such a large number of coins.

The incident received a mixed response on mainland social media.

“So coins are not the legal currency in our country?” a person asked on Douyin.

“I don’t understand why he was fined. He created a nuisance for the court, but did not violate the law,” said another.

A woman in northern China’s Hebei province who went to work the day after eating poisonous mushrooms, was sent to hospital by her shocked colleagues.

Shangyou News reported that the woman was unaware she had been poisoned.

“I thought I was walking fast and steadily, but the office surveillance recording showed I was staggering like a drunk person,” she said.

Her colleagues said they were scared when the woman began hallucinating.

The toxin in the mushrooms was not life-threatening, doctors said.

“Going to work has become her muscle memory. She wouldn’t forget to work even is she has been poisoned,” one internet user said, adding: “Her boss should give her a pay rise for having such a good attitude.”

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi urges Canada to ‘seriously reflect’ on strained ties

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3271242/chinas-top-diplomat-wang-yi-urges-canada-seriously-reflect-strained-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Canada to “seriously reflect” on their strained relationship, calling for an improvement as he cited “no fundamental conflict of interest” between the two countries.

In a meeting with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly in Beijing on Friday, Wang held up Canada ties as being “at the forefront” of China’s relations with Western economies.

But he also pointed to “difficulties and twists” in recent years.

“[That] is not what China wants to see and requires Canada to seriously reflect on it,” he said, according to a readout published by the Chinese foreign ministry.

“There is no fundamental conflict of interest between China and Canada, and the two peoples have a long history of friendly exchanges.”

China and Canada, as major countries with important influence in Asia-Pacific, have “extensive common interests” and maintaining and developing relations is in the interests of both sides, Wang was quoted as saying.

China-Canada ties have soured in recent years, partly due to the tit-for-tat arrests in 2018, when a top Huawei Technologies executive was held in Vancouver on fraud charges at the request of the US, followed by China detaining two Canadians living in the country on charges of espionage.

Canada had accused China of engaging in “hostage diplomacy” before a deal was eventually reached with US prosecutors in 2021 that saw all three people released.

Relations were further strained over accusations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections and an attempted intimidation of lawmakers that resulted in the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat last year.

China has repeatedly denied claims of interference.

According to Wang, China and Canada needed to treat each other with mutual respect, handle differences in the spirit of seeking common ground, and deepen cooperation based on mutual benefit.

The two sides should “promote the improvement of bilateral relations and move forward along a healthy and stable track,” he said.

With next year marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Canada strategic partnership, the two countries should “return to their original intentions”, and “inject momentum into the normalisation of bilateral relations”, Wang said.

He called on both countries to explore dialogue and cooperation in various fields, and urged Canada to take “practical actions” to facilitate personnel exchanges.

Wang also said issues relating to Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong were part of China’s domestic politics and that Canada should not interfere in them.

According to a Canadian readout, the two ministers held an “extended” meeting, where they discussed bilateral issues as well as global ones such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Joly told Wang that Canada would “continue to defend our democracy and the values it has always stood for, including human rights, the rule of law, and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter”.

The two leaders also discussed ways to strengthen engagements in areas including trade and environmental protection, and agreed to advance “concrete measures” to promote people-to-people ties, such as for tourists and students.

“The ministers agreed on the importance of maintaining open lines of communication and committed to holding regular discussions at the ministerial level, including on peace and security, and trade,” the Canadian readout said.

Joly is the first Canadian foreign minister to hold face-to-face talks with their Chinese counterpart in Beijing in nearly seven years. Her three-day visit to China ends today.

The Canadian statement said the visit reaffirmed Joly’s commitment to “pragmatic engagement” with China and the development of “sound and stable” relations.

Chinese and Canadian leaders last met in Indonesia in November 2022, when President Xi Jinping criticised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over alleged leaks of discussions at a closed-door meeting.

In a phone call with Joly earlier this year, Wang said Beijing was open to maintaining dialogue with Canada and did not want to see a continuation of the “difficult situation”.

He said then that the “serious deviation of Canada’s perception of China” had led to ties reaching “a low point”.

Life imitating art: did a 1991 war novel predict how Philippine-China tensions would play out?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3271177/life-imitating-art-did-1991-war-novel-predict-how-philippine-china-tensions-would-play-out?utm_source=rss_feed

When Philippine and Chinese ships clash in the Spratly Islands, a Chinese admiral panics and launches a tactical nuclear missile at his opponents, obliterating them. Injured, he is brought ashore to Palawan where he is stunned to be met by Filipino communist insurgents who invite his force to help them take over the archipelago.

As the rebels stage a coup, Chinese soldiers shoot the Philippine president dead. Chinese planes and ships soon pour into Philippine cities and ports, forcing the government remnants to flee to Mindanao. Alarmed, the United States mobilises air and naval forces to prevent the entire region from going under.

Did a badly written tech thriller published in 1991 lay out how China might conquer the Philippines?

Sky Masters by US Air Force cheerleader Dale Brown is old and full of basic political mistakes, but sketches a scenario worth considering given current tensions. It would not be the first time fiction has anticipated history – several famous “faction” books predicted how World War II would play out in the Pacific.

In 1921, Japanese general Kojiro Sato wrote If Japan and America Fight, predicting that on a balance of both countries’ strengths and weaknesses, Japan’s fighting spirit would allow it to prevail in any clash with the US.

Ricardo Jose, a history professor at the University of the Philippines specialising in World War II, noted how two American authors wrote predictive fictional books.

“In the 1920s there was The Great Pacific War by Hector Bywater which discussed a war between Japan and the US … earlier Homer Lea wrote Valor of Ignorance … both had Japan starting the war by surprise attacks, invading the Philippines and so forth. Both were translated into Japanese … They may have influenced Japanese naval strategy.”

He told This Week in Asia that the Lea and Bywater books were both accurate for their time. Lea’s book, published in 1909, was reprinted in 1942 to dramatise supposedly how long Japan had been preparing for war.

Brown’s novel is a military fantasy along the lines of Tom Clancy’s Hunt for Red October. A quick summary of the plot: the nefarious Chinese go “heh heh”, the Filipinos cry “help us!”, the American president says “we’ve got to do something!” and the heroes speak up “this is a job for us, the US Air Force and our super gizmos!”

It is supposedly set in 1994, but was clearly written in 1989 at the latest. In its pages, the Soviet Union still exists, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines has not erupted, and there is no trace at all of the First Gulf War.

Brown’s critics would say he clearly did not spend a dime on basic research. For instance, the Philippines does not have two vice-presidents, has no National Guard to summon and does not worship soccer. Assuming a president can be elected through a coalition of the Communist National Democratic Front and the Moro National Liberation Front is equivalent to saying a US president can win by uniting the Mormons and the Amish. In the Philippines, power resides in the hands of the oligarchy.

“Mikaso”, “Teguina” and “Tamalko” are not Filipino names. And Filipinos would laugh at the idea of their country being renamed the Democratic Republic of Aguinaldo, after a figure popularly held in contempt.

The Philippine armed forces in his novel would have been shocked and delighted with the weapons Brown arms them with: F4 Phantoms, Harpoon missiles and sophisticated radar. The truth was in 1991 the military had no modern weaponry.

Sky Masters is a page-turner for readers enamoured with high-technology aerospace hardware, with thousands of words devoted to detailed military air force procedures and equipment.

Flaws aside, the work, written more than three decades ago, was built on very topical foundations: tensions in the South China Sea, the power vacuum left by the closure of US bases in the Philippines, the threat posed by China, and the political instability of the Philippines.

Brown stages a reasonably acceptable scenario where a Chinese naval task force encounters a Philippine detachment surveying for oil in the Spratlys. The Chinese admiral goes rogue and fires a nuclear weapon. China somehow finds the ships and aircraft to invade the Philippines, Beijing buys off Vietnam by offering it the entire South China Sea, and the invaders mysteriously take over the Philippines in a week with the aid of communist guerillas and military rebels.

Apparently Japan, South Korea and Taiwan all just sit around and do nothing.

As the US president’s chief adviser exclaims: “I see the Chinese as a serious military threat to our national interests in the region, if they take the Philippines, they can militarily and economically threaten every other Pacific Rim nation. We’ll have no choice but to build up our own military forces in the region to counterbalance them. We must act.”

For his part, the Chinese admiral ruminates: “It was even better if the Chinese were invited to occupy the islands! It would forever end the domination of the United States in the Pacific.”

The book ends with a battle off Davao where the US Air Battle Force, staging waves of sophisticated bombers, savages the Chinese navy and landing force with a host of missiles and fuel air explosives. The crazed Chinese admiral is stopped from launching another nuclear missile, the remnants of the Chinese forces are rounded up or abandon the islands as they gnash their teeth in preparation for the sequel.

Ronald Llamas, a former presidential political adviser, finds most of the premise implausible. He told This Week in Asia that factions such as the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing New People’s Army were now “at their weakest and very anti-China” after their heyday in the 1980s.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines was unlikely to support such factions, Llamas said, adding that it was “improbable for China to invade or nuke the Philippines because it will start a nuclear war which will destroy the whole world”.

Filipinos might also recognise the novel’s traitorous “first vice-president”, described as “active in strengthening economic and cultural ties with China” and “working not only to strengthen economic ties but military and political ties as well”, as a caricature of Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ former president.

But Llamas told This Week in Asia a rebellion as depicted in Sky Masters was unlikely, as it “will only be viable with the support of the military, and the military is very anti-China while the Dutertes are [seen as the] main allies of China in the Philippines”.

While fantastical scenarios such as a nuclear war or amphibious invasion were not uncommon in novels, strategists in real life were more conscious of geopolitical concerns and tensions, said Jose from the University of the Philippines.

“It’s [the Philippines] moving into alliance building. I don’t think China will risk going to war at this point,” he said of the scenarios posed in Sky Masters.

Over the past few years, US strategists have been enacting variations of a war breaking out over Taiwan, with the US typically losing. In the aftermath of one war game, Politico reported one general as saying the Chinese “just ran rings around us … they knew exactly what we were going to do before we did it”.

In a 2022 research report “The Return of Great Power War”, the US think tank Rand Corporation warned that a conflict between the two countries “is also likely to extend to cyberspace and possibly outer space”.

A former US Air Force navigator, Brown shot to fame in the 1980s with his first novel, Flight of the Old Dog, about a souped up B-52 “Megafortress” that raids the Soviet Union to knock out a super laser. Sky Masters is his third book, and brings back characters from the first one.

Brown, who is still writing, has more than a dozen thriller books to his name by now, with most centring on the exploits of a character named Patrick McLanahan, a tough, quiet hero who is coincidentally a US Air Force navigator. Among the scenarios explored are a mainland Chinese invasion of Taiwan, US aerial strikes in Turkmenistan to fight off the Taliban and a Russian invasion, and China’s anti-ship ballistic missile superweapon.

The main takeaway in Sky Masters, written during the period US bases closed and American forces pulled out of the Philippines, is that Manila will need US assistance to stand up to China’s encroachment. It is something the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is clearly building on.

With the tension and militarisation in the South China Sea growing, we can probably expect more what-if novels – only this time China will be bristling with hi-tech gizmos as well.

Alan Robles is a freelance foreign correspondent specialising in politics, development, foreign affairs, science, environment and IT. His work has appeared in international and Philippine publications. He lectured for 12 years on digital media at the Internationales Institut fuer Journalismus in Berlin.

China factory owner gets US$1 million demolition payout, distributes it among 406 workers

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3271086/china-factory-owner-gets-us1-million-demolition-payout-distributes-it-among-406-workers?utm_source=rss_feed

A company boss in China has shared a payout of nearly 8 million yuan (US$1 million) to more than 400 former employees even though his factory had been closed for 20 years.

He even paid those who had resigned and the families of others who had died.

Guo Chongzhi, 70, from Chongqing in central China, is the former director of the Chongqing General Valve Factory, which was established in 1971 with a workforce exceeding 400 at its peak.

However, the economic situation forced the factory to close in 2000 and the building was demolished in 2018 as part of the city’s municipal land acquisition plan.

In March last year, Guo received 7.7 million yuan in compensation for the demolished factory building. A sum of money that presented significant challenges regarding its distribution.

Guo believed that every former employee, whether retired, resigned or dead, deserved a share.

After extensive meetings, a decision was made to divide the compensation into two parts, 35 per cent for previous employees and 65 per cent for those still working immediately before the factory shutdown.

The amounts were then further divided based on each person’s time at the factory.

“That period was extremely stressful,” Guo reflected. “I almost had insomnia every night, waking up after just an hour of sleep. I lost about three kg in a fortnight.” Guo told Chongqing Daily News Group.

Locating employees who had resigned, retired and died was a daunting task, given the factory had been shut down so long ago.

Guo employed various strategies to track down the people, including posting “missing persons” notices in the community and asking the police for contact information.

He also reached out to multiple media outlets, which successfully helped him find about 20 people.

One employee who had resigned, Wen Zhihong, was terminally ill and received the money just before she died.

“My mother had cancer and could no longer speak. My father brought the cash to her hospital bed to ease her mind. She passed away a few days after seeing the compensation. Our family is really grateful to Director Guo,” her son said.

Guo has compiled a distribution list of the 406 employees, with 371 having successfully received their compensation.

For the remaining 35 individuals who have yet to be located, Guo is turning to the media for help.

“Everything is in place for these employees – we’re just waiting for them to come forward, sign, and receive their money,” he said.

Guo’s gestures were widely praised by the online community in China.

“Others would find ways to avoid distributing the money, but he sought help from the media to locate the employees and distribute it to them. He is truly respectable,” one person wrote.

Beijing seeks to drive up China’s much-needed consumption by upping NEV number plate quota

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3271148/beijing-seeks-drive-chinas-much-needed-consumption-upping-nev-number-plate-quota?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s capital city has increased the quota for new energy vehicle number plates to encourage consumption, a move that arrived the day after top leaders placed a focus on boosting domestic demand and “unwaveringly” accomplishing this year’s economic targets.

The Beijing municipal government is set to issue 20,000 new energy passenger cars with number plates to be used by families from Sunday, the Beijing Daily newspaper said on Friday.

Many Chinese metropolises – including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Tianjin – had imposed car purchase restrictions to ease traffic congestion and reduce pollution.

They had implemented a lottery-style system to distribute purchase quotas or number plates.

“The need to stimulate consumption is outweighing considerations of traffic congestion, and the Beijing government is easing original car-buying restrictions, akin to the recent relaxation of real estate regulations,” said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform think tank in Guangzhou.

“So far, governments have launched support in promoting the consumption of cars, housing, furniture and home appliances, but the key still depends on the residents’ income and job security, which involves their confidence in the prospects.”

Beijing’s new quota represents a 34 per cent increase from the original target, with the city’s government having planned to distribute 58,400 number plates annually for families.

It had previously announced a quota of 77,000 new energy vehicle number plates for families, individuals and companies, with the number of applications hitting 844,020.

Cars are a pillar industry in China, contributing around 10 per cent of retail sales of consumer goods, tax revenues and urban employment, the State Council said on Wednesday.

Production and sales of cars in China stood at 13.9 million units and 14 million units in the first half of the year, respectively, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

This represented year-on-year increases of 4.9 per cent and 6.1 per cent, respectively.

Domestic demand in China is experiencing a prolonged downturn due to the declining stock and real estate markets, coupled with the rising tide of unemployment, leading to the nation’s consumer price index hovering around zero for more than a year.

China’s cabinet rolled out a trade-in scheme for consumer goods and equipment upgrades on a large scale in March, which is expected to boost consumer spending and create market demand worth over 1 trillion yuan (US$137 billion).

The Ministry of Commerce said in April that the government would provide subsidies of 10,000 yuan (US$1,377) for eligible new energy vehicles and 7,000 yuan for fuel vehicles.

And on Thursday, in the communique released after the conclusion of the third plenum, party members were asked to “faithfully follow the party leadership’s economic decisions, taking active steps to stimulate domestic consumption, and build new momentum to drive exports and imports”.

12 dead, dozens missing after bridge collapses amid floods in China’s Shaanxi province

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3271250/12-dead-dozens-missing-after-bridge-collapses-amid-floods-chinas-shaanxi-province?utm_source=rss_feed

At least 12 people are reported to have died and dozens of others are missing after a bridge collapsed amid heavy rain in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province on Saturday.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, “a sudden heavy rainstorm and flash floods” caused the bridge on Danning highway in southern Shaanxi to partially collapse into the river below around 9pm on Friday.

Twelve people had been confirmed dead as of Saturday afternoon, CCTV said. About 31 others and some 18 vehicles were still unaccounted for.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out rescue efforts, state news agency Xinhua reported.

“The top priority is to fully engage in emergency rescue efforts, make every possible effort to search for the missing persons, minimise casualties to the greatest extent possible, and properly manage the aftermath, including comforting the families of those affected,” Xi was quoted as saying.

He also urged emergency workers to “meticulously inspect surrounding safety hazards, and rigorously prevent secondary disasters”.

Emphasising that China had entered its critical flood season of late July to early August, Xi called on all relevant departments to fulfil their responsibilities in disaster monitoring and prevention.

According to Xinhua, the finance and emergency management ministries have “urgently” allocated 260 million yuan (US$35.8 million) to support emergency rescue and disaster relief efforts for regions including Shaanxi and neighbouring Sichuan province.

The collapsed bridge lies in Shaanxi’s Shangluo city, on the southern slopes of the Qinling mountains.

The Shangluo weather office has forecast widespread thunderstorms over the next 24 hours, with heavy showers of up to 30mm (about 1.2 inches) per hour in some areas including Zhashui county, where the incident happened.

Local residents said the Jinqian River below the bridge had begun to rise on Friday afternoon. After the bridge collapsed, a man seen shouting for help was pulled up by residents with the help of a rope, state-backed website China News reported.

An eye witness told Hongxing News, a digital arm of the Chengdu Economic Daily, that he had seen a small car floating in the river. His own vehicle was stopped by locals waving flashlights, asking him to turn around as the bridge ahead had collapsed and several cars fallen into the swollen river.

Seven vehicles had been recovered as of Saturday afternoon.

The incident comes as wide swathes of northern and southwestern China grapple with torrential rain and flooding, in a continued onslaught of extreme weather nationwide.

As of 2am on Saturday, more than 30 people had been reported missing and more than 40 houses damaged due to flash floods caused by heavy rains in Hanyuan county, in mountainous southwestern Sichuan, another CCTV report said.

The Shaanxi incident is China’s second deadly infrastructure collapse caused by rainfall and flooding in recent months.

In early May, nearly 50 people died after a section of a mountainside highway collapsed in southern Guangdong province following days of heavy rain.

[Sport] China bridge collapse kills at least 11 after floods

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gve6wz2vvo

CCTV

Several killed in Chinese bridge collapse during torrential rain

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/20/several-killed-in-chinese-bridge-collapse-during-torrential-rain

Torrential rain has caused a bridge to collapse in northern China, killing 11 people and leaving more than 30 missing, state media has said.

The bridge over a river in Shangluo, Shaanxi province, buckled at about 8.40pm on Friday “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods”, the Xinhua agency said, citing the provincial public relations department.

The state broadcaster CCTV said nearly 20 vehicles and more than 30 people remained missing.

The 11 confirmed victims were found inside five vehicles that had been recovered from the water, CCTV said.

Images on state TV showed a partially submerged section of the bridge with the river rushing over it.

One witness told local media he had approached the bridge but other drivers started “yelling at me to brake and stop the car”.

“A truck in front of me didn’t stop” and fell into the water, said the witness whose surname was Meng.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has called for “all-out efforts” to find those still missing, CCTV said.

Large portions of northern and central China have been battered since Tuesday by rains that have caused flooding and significant damage.

On Friday, state media reported at least five people dead and eight missing after rain sparked flooding and mudslides in Shaanxi’s Baoji city.

State television broadcast images of neighbourhoods flooded by muddy water, with excavators and residents attempting to clear the damage.

The semi-desert province of Gansu, which neighbours Shaanxi, and Henan in central China were also hit by heavy rain this week.

In Henan’s Nanyang city the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain fell at the start of the week, according to CCTV.

In south-western Sichuan province, two people were reported killed and seven missing on Friday after heavy rain triggered landslides, Xinhua said.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with the east and south experiencing heavy rain while much of the north has sweltered in successive heatwaves.

The climate crisis is making these types of extreme weather more frequent and more intense.

In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, leaving 48 dead.

Earlier this month, a tornado passed through a town in eastern China killing one, injuring 79 and causing significant damage.u

11 dead and dozens missing after a highway bridge in China crumbles in flooding and heavy storms

https://apnews.com/article/china-bridge-collapse-deaths-9b8d2c799ae4da8a2655e8e9142c3e3cIn this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a collapsed bridge is seen in Zhashui County in Shangluo City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Saturday, July 20, 2024. Chinese authorities say several people have died in the partial collapse of a highway bridge in the northwest following heavy storms and flooding. (Xinhua via AP)

2024-07-20T05:42:16Z

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese authorities say at least 11 people have died in the partial collapse of a highway bridge in the northwest following heavy storms and flooding.

The official Xinhua News Agency said five vehicles that fell off the bridge have been recovered after the structure in Shaanxi province crumbled at around 8:40 p.m. Friday. A photo released by Xinhua showed a section of the bridge snapped and folded down at almost a 90-degree angle into the rushing brown water below.

It said rescue operations were still underway Saturday in the province’s Zhashui county, with some 20 cars and 30 people still missing.

As its economy boomed over recent decades, China built a huge network of highways, high-speed railways and airports, most of which have helped fuel further growth.

However, a dramatic decline in that economic expansion, the poor-quality infrastructure, poor safety supervision and a desire to cut corners by industries looking to save money have led to a steady stream of deadly industrial accidents.

China’s western and southwester provinces are particularly prone to flooding and landslides due to their mountainous landscapes and the powerful rivers that run through them. Mining, tourism and rising urbanization have also disturbed a precarious balance with the natural environment that had been sustained over thousands of years.

Shaanxi is best known as one of the fulcrums of Chinese civilization, from which emerged the first emperor, Qinshi Huangdi, who left the famed terracotta army as his legacy outside the capital Xi’an as part of a vast tomb complex that attracts massive numbers of visitors each year.

Chinese AI entrepreneur moves to Singapore for growth amid Beijing’s crypto curbs

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3271157/chinese-ai-entrepreneur-moves-singapore-growth-amid-beijings-crypto-curbs?utm_source=rss_feed

David Li, chief executive of GreaterHeat, a Singapore-based tech company specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) and Web3 infrastructure solutions, turned on a small kettle at his office desk overlooking Marina Bay and prepared a porcelain tea set for his guests in a room.

As the 34-year-old Chinese national opened a packet of Fujian red tea leaves and carried out an elaborate tea-pouring ritual, he mused about the origin of the drink: “I always prefer Chinese tea, after all, tea-drinking started in China.”

But he was less glowing about his company’s prospects had he remained in his country.

“Our ambition wasn’t to be a small business which would make just enough money to feed ourselves in China. Our vision was to be an internationally successful enterprise, so we had to move abroad. Big whales have to swim in the sea,” Li told This Week in Asia.

Originally based in Hangzhou, GreaterHeat’s previous incarnation, Digicode, saw its business grow multifold for several years up to 2020.

However, with the Chinese government taking a tough stance on cryptocurrency from 2021, Li sought his fortunes elsewhere as crypto-mining was one of GreaterHeat’s core services.

“For Chinese people, major business and living hubs include mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. We had already decided we wanted to leave mainland China. Taiwan and Hong Kong have their issues and uncertainties, so we chose Singapore,” Li said in Mandarin.

Hong Kong never crossed his mind because it was too geographically close to China, he added. GreaterHeat moved to Singapore in 2021.

GreaterHeat is among the wave of Chinese AI companies moving to Singapore following American restrictions targeting the mainland’s access to top-range chips and other hi-tech equipment.

Singapore was home to more than 1,100 AI start-ups at the end of last year, according to media reports. The city state does not break down the data by country.

The exodus comes as AI and Web3 are hailed as the tech engines that will decentralise the internet through distributed databases and transform businesses by creating new products and services.

Under Singapore’s AI strategy, the government has pledged to increase its incentives for the sector, including backing expansion programmes for AI start-ups and encouraging companies to set up AI “centres of excellence”.

In 2022, GreaterHeat posted US$27 million in revenue. Its revenue rose to more than US$37 million in 2023, according to Li. The company now has about 100 employees worldwide, with offices in South Korea, Malaysia and Texas.

Li said the main reasons Singapore appealed to AI companies were its legal system, strong intellectual property protection, and its multilingual and multicultural society.

AI companies choose Singapore not solely to target the American market, according to Li. “If entering the US market was the goal, one could simply set up headquarters in San Francisco or Silicon Valley. The primary reason for AI companies being headquartered in Singapore is its high level of internationalisation, which allows businesses to easily conduct global operations,” Li said.

The overwhelming majority of his 15-strong staff in the Singapore office are local, with Li saying these Singaporean workers are “very adept to the global business environment”.

In his initial assessment of the business situation in China, Li found that opportunities were likely to shrink for his start-up over the long term, particularly because of fierce competition involving many companies. A slowdown in foreign direct investment was also another reason why he decided to relocate his company.

“In China now there’s overcompetition among lower-level companies. It’s like students who all want to achieve good grades and so sometimes they spend double or triple the effort to get good grades but often it’s time and effort wasted.”

The company had achieved its goal of deriving at least 80 per cent of its revenue outside China as of this year, with South Korea, Malaysia and Japan being its key markets, Li said.

Li intends to stay in Singapore for the long haul. His wife gave birth to their first child, a son, in Singapore last year and their application for permanent residency is pending. He has even become fond of black pepper crabs, a popular local dish.

Recent heightened checks on foreign wealth by the local authorities in light of the S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money-laundering bust have not deterred Li from expanding his business in Singapore.

“We welcome the regulations and policies in Singapore. I’m a businessman, I’m not afraid of policies and regulations. I’m more afraid of uncertainty,” Li said.

“In Singapore, adherence to the regulations ensures that you can conduct your business without interference. Additionally, policy changes are typically introduced with a grace period, allowing ample time for adaptation rather than immediate enforcement.”

Expressing confidence in the AI industry’s long-term outlook in Singapore, Li said he wanted to work with the government because he believed its goals and that of GreaterHeat were in alignment.

Outside work, Li said his family had found living in Singapore to be very comfortable, given its safe and clean environment. The family rent a condominium unit, located just five minutes by foot from Li’s office. Li and his wife have also made new friends from Henan, where they are originally from, who stay near their condominium.

“When my son starts school here we will have to move further away from the office. We want to make sure we’re close to his school to prioritise his needs, so I’ll naturally take a back seat as the second priority in our family.”

Japan expands continental shelf in search of rare metals amid China’s opposition

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3271226/japan-expands-continental-shelf-search-rare-metals-amid-chinas-opposition?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan on Saturday extended its designation of its continental shelf to the eastern part of islands some 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo, enabling the resource-poor country to start research on extracting maritime natural resources such as rare metals from the region.

A revised Cabinet order took effect designating a significant portion of the Ogasawara Plateau sea area as part of its continental shelf, an area of around 120,000 square kilometres. Its move to enlarge the shelf has triggered opposition from China.

“The expanded continental shelf represents around half of the area of Japan’s Honshu main island,” said Yoshifumi Matsumura, minister for ocean policy, on June 25 when the Cabinet approved the expansion.

“We will be able to exercise our sovereign rights to explore the continental shelf and develop natural resources,” he said.

The government said it has confirmed the existence of a cobalt-rich crust, including rare metals, in the region. Cobalt is a metal that is used for electric vehicle batteries.

The enlargement of the continental shelf, a part of a continent submerged in a relatively shallow part of the sea, was first proposed in an ocean policy the Japanese government adopted in 2014.

To have its continental shelf recognised beyond its exclusive economic zone, Japan needed the approval of an institution established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the continuity of the seabed topography and agreement from relevant countries, which in this case was solely the United States.

Following consultations with Washington, Japan set the area for expansion in December 2023.

China has criticised Japan’s move. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on June 27 that the expansion “contravenes the stipulations of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and universal practice.”

Rare earth minerals are crucial for hi-tech products such as batteries and semiconductors. China, a major producer of them, has apparently been seeking to dominate industries where it already holds a large market share and to boost its economic clout in growing sectors that rely on such materials, experts said.

Due to economic security concerns, Japan has been strengthening efforts to secure supplies of the resources.

Under the UN law, a coastal state can claim control of the seabed beyond the traditional 200-nautical-mile limit for its exclusive economic use if it can prove the ocean floor is connected to its continental shelf.

For China, EU ties looking rocky after re-election of hawkish Ursula von der Leyen

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3271017/china-eu-ties-looking-rocky-after-re-election-hawkish-ursula-von-der-leyen?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s relations with Europe face another rocky five years after hawkish German politician Ursula von der Leyen secured another term at the helm of the European Commission, vowing to persevere with her tough policies towards Beijing.

A wider-than-expected majority of lawmakers backed von der Leyen in a vote at the European Parliament on Thursday, granting her another half-decade leading the body that proposes and often enforces legislation for the 27-member bloc.

While many policies are set in national capitals, the commission has decision-making powers for trade and competition – two of the most contentious components of the EU-China relationship.

During her first term, von der Leyen pursued a strategy of de-risking from Beijing and oversaw a blitz of investigations, cracking down on what she called “market-distorting” subsidies in China’s hi-tech and clean-tech spaces.

A manifesto released shortly before the vote suggested that the German was not for changing: for Beijing, von der Leyen 2.0 looks a lot like von der Leyen 1.0.

“The more aggressive posture and unfair economic competition from China, its ‘no-limits’ friendship with Russia – and the dynamics of its relationship with Europe – reflect a shift from cooperation to competition,” the manifesto read.

It promoted the ideas of geoeconomics and economic security, pledging to continue “de-risking rather than decoupling” with China.

“We must be more assertive in protecting our economy from key technology leakage and security concerns,” it continued. “This issue is particularly acute when dealing with those who are also strategic competitors and systemic rivals.”

The document pledged to bolster ties with Indo-Pacific allies, including Australia and India.

“This includes our collective efforts to deploy the full range of our combined statecraft to deter China from unilaterally changing the status quo by military means, particularly over Taiwan,” it said.

Von der Leyen will oversee a different Europe to the one she inherited in 2019. Her policy platform five years ago made no mention of China, nor even of Russia.

On Thursday, her pledges were dominated by references to security, defence and self-sufficiency.

Business figures noted that during a speech that ran to over 45 minutes, she did not once mention the word “trade”.

It was a reflection of how drastically ties with China have changed too.

In 2020, barely a year into her first term, a smiling von der Leyen signed an EU-China investment deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders in an online ceremony that now seems like a snapshot of a parallel universe.

The coronavirus pandemic helped sour the mood in Europe towards Beijing, while a tit-for-tat barrage of sanctions in March 2021 effectively killed the investment pact.

China’s coercive response to Lithuania’s hosting of a controversially named Taiwanese government office further poisoned the well.

But it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, halfway through von der Leyen’s term, that led to a tectonic shift.

While China has professed neutrality in the armed conflict, most in Europe view Beijing as having backed Moscow rhetorically, diplomatically, and through the intensifying supply of dual-use goods that EU officials say are helping to “kill Ukrainians”.

The China-Russia nexus emboldened von der Leyen to push a sterner trade policy, arguing that Europe must not remain dependent on authoritarian states and that Beijing’s state subsidies were bankrupting European competitors.

The debate over overcapacity in China’s manufacturing economy reached fever pitch this year, with Brussels unleashing a deluge of probes against Chinese firms in sectors ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines.

The trend is set to continue, with the third plenum of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, which ended on Thursday.

The body has signalled continued support for the country’s hi-tech sectors and opted not to telegraph major consumption-boosting measures that could absorb the capacity.

Bilateral adamance is pushing both sides closer to a trade war each passing month. Indeed, on Thursday the centre-right EU leader vowed to “use all of our trade defence instruments where and when needed”.

“Von der Leyen wants a new kind of economic foreign policy,” said Tobias Gehrke of the European Council on Foreign Relations, who described it as an “extension of what already took place in her current mandate”.

“Rather than banking everything on free-trade agreements, she wants the union to build economic security, trade and investment,” Gehrke added.

While the German’s intentions are obvious, various obstacles could stop her pursuing her China strategy to the extent she desires.

The American presidential election in November is the biggest unknown. A return of Donald Trump to the White House could jeopardise the close transatlantic ties that have seen the US and EU collaborate on some areas of China policy.

While US President Joe Biden has gently cajoled Brussels to follow a tougher line on Beijing, Trump is widely expected to wield stick over carrot. That could mean a more transactional alliance marked by tactical cooperation and strategic dissonance.

Furthermore, many EU member states remain unconvinced by von der Leyen’s proposed economic security strategy, the cornerstone of de-risking.

The strategy includes the screening of outbound investments for some hi-tech sectors into China as well as a European-wide export controls regime.

The commission was supposed to publish guidelines this summer on how the outbound policy would work, but unease in many capitals has kicked it to November. The Post understands that only one of the EU’s 27 member states – Lithuania – has backed the commission’s proposal.

Some members, von der Leyen’s Germany included, do not even have the legal right to monitor transactions by private businesses. Still others are loathe to hand the commission more powers.

“While there is much repetition of the EU’s economic security agenda, there are few suggestions on how to overcome the institutional deadlocks that have prevented greater advancements in areas where member states hold exclusive competences,” said Arthur Leichthammer of the Jacques Delors Centre in Berlin.

Personnel issues could also play a role.

In Brussels, von der Leyen has dominated the China space. In contrast, Charles Michel and Josep Borrell, the outgoing leaders of the European Council and External Action Service – its de facto foreign office – have been viewed as weak and deeply unpopular.

It remained to be seen whether incoming European Council boss Antonio Costa, the former Portuguese prime minister, would become a stronger rival than Michel or even a closer collaborator with the commission boss on the China file.

Costa’s appointment to chair the council – made up of the EU’s member states – has been a glimmer of hope for Beijing: during his nine years at the helm in Lisbon, he invited billions of euros in Chinese investment into the Portuguese economy.

Costa is also thought to personally know Cai Run, the incoming Chinese ambassador to the EU. Cai was Beijing’s envoy in Lisbon for five years of Costa’s tenure.

As for the expected next top diplomat, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, she is unlikely to disagree with von der Leyen’s assessment of Beijing, particularly if China continues to enjoy close ties with Moscow.

One senior source said the German must learn to build bridges with both institutions, otherwise her de-risking plans will go nowhere. “Without the support of member states, there is only so much she can do,” they said.

The EU’s most powerful members, meanwhile, face a moment of political vulnerability, leading one diplomat to suggest that the commission could “move to further fill the power void”.

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent electoral gambit left his party politically hobbled. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is struggling to corral a noisy and disjointed coalition towards next year’s federal election.

In the now right-leaning parliament, von der Leyen will face resistance against excessive red tape but widespread support for a tougher stance on China.

Sources said Engin Eroglu, a centrist German lawmaker who has championed Uygur rights in the chamber, is expected to lead its next China delegation.

Now, a college of commissioners must be appointed, with capitals set to scrap over juicy China-facing portfolios like trade and competition.

Hearings in the autumn could see nominees hauled over the coals by lawmakers for their stances towards Beijing, while a bellwether for the next five years will come in November, by which point the new commission should be in place.

This is when capitals must vote on whether to adopt provisional duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles on a permanent basis.

An indicative vote this week saw just four members vote against tariffs, but vocal opponents such as Germany and Sweden abstained in the hope that the commission could reach a negotiated settlement with Beijing.

“Von der Leyen will continue to drive the China agenda,” said Noah Barkin, an EU-China expert at Rhodium Group.

“Member states can push back on certain areas, but this fundamental shift in the relationship, triggered by the worsening trade relationship and by China’s support for Russia, I don’t see that changing.”

Growing number of Hong Kong’s domestic helpers embracing holidaying in mainland China

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3271229/growing-number-hong-kongs-domestic-helpers-embracing-holidaying-mainland-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Picturesque natural scenery, cheaper bargains as well as a whole new experience have prompted Filipino domestic helper Afolin Candaza to head to mainland China again and again.

The 41-year-old, who has worked in Hong Kong for 10 years, has joined three day-trip group tours taking helpers to neighbouring Guangdong province since August of last year.

Candaza said she was eager to explore the mainland during her weekly day off on Sunday as she had already travelled Hong Kong extensively. She added that an increasing number of her friends, who also worked as helpers in the city, had been venturing across the border.

Like their Hong Kong employers, a growing number of foreign domestic helpers in the city have been crossing the border to spend – a trend that picked up after the border reopening last year following years-long coronavirus pandemic.

The last trip Candaza joined in February took her and a group of more than 30 helpers, mostly from the Philippines, to the Yinxian resort in Dongguan, her second time there.

They gathered at 7.30am at the Lo Wu checkpoint and took a two-hour bus ride to the destination, a resort offering natural scenery and amusement rides.

She had a thrilling time walking on a glass bridge, experienced the chill of artificial snow, and had a blast riding a roller coaster and a bumper car. The group returned to Hong Kong at around 8.30pm.

The tour package included a group visa, lunch meal, tour guide, bus ride, insurance and entrance fees, and cost HK$350 (US$45) per person. Candaza said she spent about HK$300 more on street food, snacks and souvenirs.

“The trips were nice and they opened a whole new experience to me. I’m eager to explore mainland China more,” she said.

She added that she planned to take her daughter, a 20-year-old university student who would visit her in Hong Kong later this month, on one of the mainland trips.

There are more than 338,000 foreign domestic helpers in the city, most from the Philippines and Indonesia.

If they want to go over the border on their own, they must be accompanied by their employers. But joining group tours offers another option. Helpers said travel agencies helped them apply for a group visa which took about three days to process and without the need of a guarantor.

Leynie Lascano, 35 and a domestic helper from the Philippines, joined a group of more than 40 helpers on a day trip to the Window of the World, a theme park in Shenzhen in September last year.

She said she was encouraged to join the trip by her friends, who spread stories of their pleasant traveling experience among helper groups.

Lascano said she enjoyed touring the attraction which featured replicas of more than 100 world landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower.

She took photos and videos of her and friends at many of the reproductions of the landmarks, and posted them on her social media account, which drew comments from other helpers who expressed interest in visiting.

“I want to explore traveling to different places where we can go sightseeing, visiting beautiful sites and experiencing a different culture,” she said.

Lascano, also a mother of two sons, said she was eager to visit more mainland cities. She was saving money and planning to join a tour to Beijing and visit the Great Wall of China later.

The growing interest in exploring the mainland among helpers has boosted the business of travel agencies offering low-fare day trips across the border.

Filipino Rizza Mae Zorilla Zubiaga, 30, and a former helper, now works part-time for a travel agency organising the city’s helpers to join mainland tours, after she went on such trips herself while working in Hong Kong last year.

She said she had seen more helpers signing up for the tours since the border reopening. She brought about 10 to 20 helpers to join the day trips every Sunday or every other Sunday, and there were more on public holidays.

Like her, many were impressed by the tourist attractions, food, cheap bargains as well as hospitality of local people across the border, she added.

“I can see how [mainland] China looks like, although I just traveled a part [of it],” she said.

Given the growing demand, local agency C&C Express Travel launched a new mainland HK$450 day-tour to Qingyuan city in northern Guangdong in May targeting helpers.

The agency also offers another three mainland day trips for helpers, with two in Shenzhen and one in Dongguan, charging between HK$350 and HK$450.

Darian Corpuz, owner and managing director of the travel agency established in 2009 and targeting mainly Filipinos, said the strong momentum had stayed, with about 50 helpers joining the trips each Sunday.

She added that more than 400 helpers joined the tours with each group including 100 members over this year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

“After the pandemic, a lot of them are so interested to travel even for one day to unwind,” she said, adding that her agency ramped up advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

“They found it was so cheap there and they also wanted to experience it because their employers also went to mainland China.”

China views America’s presidential nightmare with mirth—and disquiet | China

https://www.economist.com/china/2024/07/11/china-views-americas-presidential-nightmare-with-mirth-and-disquiet

Chinese officials scorn President Joe Biden’s view that the world is engaged in a “battle between democracy and autocracy”. In their view this is dangerous cold-war talk. But they are tough fighters themselves, ever keen to sow misgivings at home and abroad about Western democracy’s failings. The weaknesses revealed by America’s presidential contest and, in particular, the debate between Mr Biden and Donald Trump on June 27th may help their case. The Communist Party’s Schadenfreude, though, is mixed with apprehension.

Unlike Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who was said to be asleep during the encounter (it began at 4am in Moscow), China’s leader, Xi Jinping, was about to deliver a speech on Chinese diplomacy in Beijing (it was 9am there) as the debate began. He was in full flow—reading confidently from a script—as the befuddled American president struggled against his waffling, truth-dodging rival. Mr Xi did not mention America, let alone the debate, but took a swipe at American anxiety about China’s rise. “Every increase of China’s strength is an increase of the prospects of world peace,” he said.

Chinese netizens were quick to heap scorn on the Biden-Trump encounter. Clips showing Mr Biden’s confused and fumbling remarks circulated widely on China’s social media. “One is a ‘mentally deranged felon’ and the other is an ‘elderly narcoleptic’,” said one commenter on Weibo, an X-like platform. “Two people who are about to enter their coffins are fighting back and forth,” said another. “Western politics is truly ruptured. There’s no one left.” Posts on Weibo with tags relating to the debate gained well over 100m views and attracted thousands of comments.

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Without better food safety, being health-conscious in China is a lost cause

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3270687/without-better-food-safety-being-health-conscious-china-lost-cause?utm_source=rss_feed

For years, my friend Viola and I have been regularly swapping healthy recipes. Whenever one of us discovers new literature focused on health, such as the recent book Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity by Dr Peter Attia, or new science about longevity or some healthy ingredients in the supermarket, we immediately tell each other.

We have learned that replacing food high in saturated fats, such as bacon, with salmon, or replacing saturated fats like lard with olive oil, lowers the chances of a heart attack and premature death. I find that one’s meat intake should be under 200g a day, while vegetables can be 500g, but we should also eat fish at least twice a week. Sweets and refined flour should be taken in moderation, in controlled, tiny portions. Sometimes when I cook, I use measured amounts of oil and salt to limit my intake.

We also scour the internet in case of food scandals at any of the restaurants we love. When a dead rat was found in a Xiabu Xiabu hotpot restaurant in 2018, we didn’t go there for months.

But when the latest cooking oil scandal came out, we were speechless.

Earlier this month, a state-owned newspaper in Beijing reported that Chinese companies had been using the same trucks to transport fuel and cooking oil. The report immediately sparked widespread public concern and calls for greater oversight of the food transport industry. Days later, China’s cabinet, the State Council, set up a team to investigate the allegations.

The scandal has been devastating. Suddenly, we felt that our healthy living habits had been a joke. No matter how carefully we planned our food, how closely we watched our calories, how much we tried to eliminate the risks, what can we do if there’s fuel mixed in with our cooking oil without our knowledge?

China has a poor food safety record. It has had a string of scandals that shocked the nation. In 2008, some 300,000 children were poisoned after some Chinese suppliers added melamine, a chemical used to make plastic, to their powdered milk to artificially boost the protein levels. The government launched an investigation and sentenced to death those at the centre of the contamination and its concealment.

In 2011, public outcry erupted over a mainland media report that at least 10 per cent of the rice samples from various provinces contained excessive amounts of cadmium, a heavy metal that can cause bone problems if too much is consumed.

All serious nationwide food scandals seem to have received adequate attention from the authorities. Observers say the latest cooking oil scandal could be brought up at the third plenum this week, and could prompt China to tighten its food safety policy.

But dealing with food scandals after the media exposes them is too late, and the public cannot always afford the wait. The government needs to step up its food safety regulations and monitoring to prevent such scandals in the first place.

Under China’s food hygiene law, an offender can be fined up to 50,000 yuan (US$6,890), or have their health licence revoked. That’s not a heavy enough punishment. Food producers and salesmen can face criminal charges, but this is usually only after consumers have suffered gravely, as in the case of the 2008 melamine baby poisoning.

Many children who drank the melamine-laced baby milk formula ended up with kidney failure and bladder stones, suffering lifelong effects on their health. It is too grave a price to pay, and sentencing those responsible to death will not make those children well again.

There needs to be more monitoring of food production and more careful checks before products enter the market – and the government’s supervising bureaus need to be punished when scandals break out.

In the baby milk formula scandal, several officials who were punished for their oversight reportedly rose back to power only a few years later. This is disheartening for the public and suggests that some authorities are still not taking food safety seriously enough. Punishing officials embroiled in food safety scandals in the same way as those involved in corruption might boost consumer confidence.

It is just too difficult for ordinary people to watch out for health risks – one cannot monitor the many links in the food chain from production to sales, believe me, I have tried. There needs to be more action from the government and large companies if they want to earn back the trust of consumers.

Chinese scientists propose information superhighway between Earth and the moon

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3270910/chinese-scientists-propose-information-superhighway-between-earth-and-moon?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have unveiled a road map to build infrastructure between Earth and the moon to meet national strategic needs and make space travel easier and safer for all.

Once complete, the network of 30 satellites and three lunar ground stations would provide real-time communication, navigation and monitoring services to global users, according to researchers from the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering.

The goal is to enable 20 or more travellers to simultaneously communicate with Earth via images, audio or video. It would also provide relatively accurate positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) during Earth-moon flights and lunar surface operations.

In addition, it would be able to monitor and track moving targets as small as one metre (3.28 feet) in the region between the Earth and the moon, known as cislunar space, the researchers wrote in the journal Chinese Space Science and Technology in June.

“Cislunar space has become a new frontier for human activities,” wrote the team led by Yang Mengfei, chief designer of China’s Chang’e-5 mission.

“Space activities in this region are set to expand rapidly over the next decade, driving a new round of global competition.

“The competition for resources such as orbital slots and radio frequencies is already on, and will only get more intense in the future. There’s an urgent need for China to establish a top-level road map to develop cislunar space infrastructure and gain a competitive edge in the emerging cislunar economy.”

Cislunar space refers to the region of space that lies between – and is influenced by – Earth and the moon. It comprises the orbits of satellites around Earth, the space occupied by the moon’s orbit and the space in between.

The concept of cislunar space has become increasingly relevant in recent years, especially for the military sector.

For instance, the United States Air Force is developing a satellite known as the Cislunar Highway Patrol System to demonstrate its ability to detect, track and identify artificial objects at lunar distances (437,000km or 272,000 miles), which is more than a tenfold increase from the traditional geostationary detection range (35,785km or 22,236 miles).

Civil space agencies in the US, Europe and Japan have also proposed similar infrastructure to support scientific exploration and commercial operations at the moon.

As China becomes a major player in lunar and deep space exploration, strategic planning is critical to “avoid repetitive construction and optimise resource allocation” for future missions, the researchers wrote. This includes crewed lunar landings, the construction of an international lunar research station and exploration missions to the outer solar system.

“While plans exist in the US, Europe and Japan, none have been implemented yet. China has a unique opportunity to secure a substantial share in the emerging cislunar space industry,” they wrote.

According to Yang and his colleagues, China’s construction of its cislunar infrastructure would unfold in three stages.

The first stage would focus on supporting the country’s robotic and crewed moon missions. By placing a pair of satellites in elliptical lunar orbits and a control station on the lunar surface, it would facilitate communication with the moon’s south pole region for at least 10 users simultaneously.

The second stage would then expand the system to include 10 satellites orbiting the moon, Earth and specific locations known as Earth-moon Lagrange points. A second lunar ground station would improve data transmission rates to 5 gigabytes per second and improve navigation accuracy to 100 metres for the lunar south pole region.

During this stage, anticipated technological breakthroughs would help in identifying non-cooperative targets over long distances, including moving objects with a diameter of 10 metres (32 feet) in near-moon space, according to the paper.

The third and final stage would integrate a comprehensive network of 30 satellites, three lunar ground stations, as well as existing Earth-based communication and navigation facilities. It would aim to achieve data transmission rates of 10 gigabytes per second and enhance navigation accuracies to 10 metres (32 feet) for lunar surface activities and 50 metres (164 feet) for journeys between Earth and the moon.

The proposed network would also deploy a Very Long Baseline Interferometry system to track spacecraft across distances up to 900 million kilometres (559 million miles) with sub-kilometre accuracy, supporting deep space missions to Jupiter and beyond.

“The development of cislunar infrastructure must follow principles of phased development and dynamic expansion,” the researchers stressed.

“It should also consider the needs for international compatibility and cooperation to support China’s aspirations as a space power and nurture new aerospace industries in the country,” they wrote.

Hong Kong retailers report rise in cooking oil sales after mainland Chinese tanker scandal

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3271197/hong-kong-retailers-report-rise-cooking-oil-sales-after-mainland-chinese-tanker-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed

Cooking oil sales have risen at Hong Kong supermarkets and some stores in northern border districts amid food safety concerns prompted by a recent scandal in mainland China.

In Sheung Shui and Yuen Long, more mainland visitors were seen shopping for cooking oil, while online retailer HKTVmall saw sales rise 14 per cent over a week.

The commodity became a talking point on the mainland in early July when trucks were suspected of using the same tankers to carry fuel and cooking oil without cleaning them between journeys, triggering an investigation by authorities.

Staff at a pharmacy in Sheung Shui and a grocery store in Yuen Long said they had noticed an increase in mainland visitors buying cooking oil since the scandal erupted.

The Environment and Ecology Bureau on Thursday said there was a stable supply of edible oil on the local market. It added that it would closely monitor the situation and liaise with suppliers and retailers to quickly respond to any potential issues.

The Beijing News, a state-backed outlet, published an investigative report on July 2 that claimed some trucks in Hebei were using the same tankers to transport cooking oil and fuel without cleaning them in between to cut costs, with the matter considered an “open secret” among the industry.

The report named two companies – a subsidiary of state stockpiler Sinograin and private conglomerate the Hopefull Grain and Oil Group.

State broadcaster CCTV said a week later that the State Council had set up an investigative team involving several government bodies to tackle the matter.

The scandal left many in a state of shock, with some on social media saying they assumed cooking oil would have dedicated transport trucks and others expressing anger towards regulatory authorities overseeing such matters.

“I have no idea I had consumed such oil for years,” a user on Weibo, the mainland’s answer to X, said.

“Even if I buy imported [cooking] oil, how about the chips and other fried foods?” the user said, implying those foods were made with problematic oil.

Some consumers advocated buying cooking oil in Hong Kong on Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, with one user posting a photo of a bottle of peanut oil made in the city and describing it as “liquid gold nowadays”.

Another said they had bought six bottles of Hong Kong brand oil for HK$141 (US$18), adding: “They are a bit expensive, but food safety matters”.

Supermarket chain ParknShop and online retailer HKTVmall said they had noticed a recent increase in cooking oil sales, with the latter recording a 14 per cent rise in the second week of July compared with the week before.

Both companies, along with another supermarket, Wellcome, said they had sufficient cooking oil inventories and stable supplies.

“Customers can purchase [cooking oil] with ease,” a Wellcome spokesman said.

Kitson Yang Wing-kit, chairman of the Legislative Council’s food safety and environmental hygiene panel, also brushed aside any supply concerns and said the city had a sufficient stock of cooking oil.

China could attack Starlink-like satellites with submarine laser weapon: naval study

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3270890/china-could-attack-starlink-satellites-submarine-laser-weapon-naval-study?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese submarines armed with lasers could take out SpaceX’s Starlink satellites if China’s security was at risk, according to a study by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) scientists.

In the study, a submarine with a megawatt-class, solid-state, laser weapon installed in its midsection could stay submerged while it raised a retractable, “optoelectronic mast” to fire at satellites, before diving back down to depth.

This type of laser attack submarine could be mass-produced in the future and deployed in various oceans to counter military threats to China, said the project team led by Wang Dan, a professor with the Naval Submarine Academy, in a peer-reviewed paper published last month in the Chinese-language journal, Command Control & Simulation.

For anti-satellite missions, the biggest challenge was not hitting the satellite, but hiding the attack, the scientists said.

“Currently, the primary means of anti-satellite operations relies on ground-to-air missiles, but this approach has certain issues, mainly in terms of concealment,” Wang and her colleagues wrote.

Missile launches are often accompanied by long trails of smoke. Conducting the attack from a surface location can easily expose one’s own position, leading to destruction by enemy firepower. This is “too risky”, the team wrote.

Satellites are also getting smaller.

“Taking the satellites launched by the Starlink programme as an example, they are numerous, densely packed and small in size, making the satellite network extremely resilient. Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are redundancies to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is highly inefficient,” Wang’s team said.

“Submarine-based laser weapons can solve these issues.”

The paper detailed a step-by-step guide to attacking Starlink-like satellites at sea.

“First, one or several submarines equipped with laser weapons are deployed to the sea area where the operation is to be conducted. They enter the target sea area according to the command instructions and wait for the satellites to come within their attack range. The time to raise the laser weapon is determined based on the previously acquired satellite overhead time,” they wrote.

“When the satellite enters the attackable range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine’s detection equipment, other forces are required to provide satellite position guidance for the submarine to attack the satellite. After the attack is completed, the submarine can submerge and wait for the next mission or return to the home port.”

Although China works with Tesla boss Elon Musk on electric vehicles, it sees his SpaceX company as a threat.

According to official data released this month, China has more than 900 satellites in orbit. The US has seven times that number, most of them part of Starlink.

In 2021, two Starlink satellites approached the Chinese space station in a dangerous manner, prompting astronauts to initiate emergency evacuation procedures. The incident convinced Beijing that the US could use these cheap satellites to hit China’s expensive space assets.

The Starlink satellites are mainly used for communication, but the success of SpaceX’s Starship rocket test flight last month suggested to some Chinese military experts that future Starlink satellites could carry extra payloads for military activities, such as reconnaissance and electronic interference.

The Starshield programme, jointly launched by the Pentagon and SpaceX to monitor China’s hypersonic weapons, has deepened this concern.

The development of laser weapons presents many technological challenges, from energy storage, to heat and optics. But China has sped up its research – and made a number of advances – since Starlink has been used in the war in Ukraine.

These advances include power supply systems that can support high-power, dense launches, powerful yet compact solid-state lasers, an optical fibre straw that can transmit over 10,000 watts of power with high quality, and technology to synthesise a laser beam using hundreds of such optical fibres.

Lasers can also create air bubbles on the surface of a submarine to reduce drag or generate silent shock waves to propel submarines forward, according to some recent studies by Chinese scientists.

Wang’s team said that besides anti-satellite operations, submarines equipped with laser weapons could perform many other tasks, including attacking anti-submarine aircraft, escorting merchant ships or strategic missile submarines, deploying in enemy countries’ offshore areas to perform anti-missile tasks, or striking land-based targets such as radars and oil storage facilities.

According to their estimate, a modest 150-kilowatt laser weapon on a submarine can damage the photoelectric detection equipment on an anti-submarine aircraft in one-fifth of a second, with an effective range of more than 20km. Continuous firing could also penetrate the aircraft’s fuselage.

China’s strategic missile submarines remain on standby in the oceans, whether in peacetime or wartime, ready to carry out second-strike nuclear missions. But they are vulnerable to aerial threats, making it necessary to escort them with submarines equipped with laser weapons, according to Wang’s team.

“When executing a nuclear counter-attack mission, the escorting submarine can first use the laser weapon to interfere with or destroy overhead satellites in the sea area, making it difficult for the enemy’s space-based surveillance system to function, thereby achieving the concealment of missile launches,” they wrote.

China’s sea transport is increasingly busy.

“If our country’s sea lines of communication are cut off, it will lead to difficulties in obtaining a large amount of war-essential supplies, most importantly, the supply of oil,” Wang’s team said.

Traditionally, the job of escorting merchant ships mainly goes to surface warships, but these warships have low self-sufficiency, and are easily detected and attacked.

Submarines, on the other hand, have stealth and high self-sufficiency, and are capable of continuous underwater navigation for a long period.

Plus, if the submarines are equipped with laser weapons, they can shoot down aerial targets attacking merchant ships and also use their anti-ship missiles and torpedoes to attack enemy surface warships and submarines, the researchers said.

“Merchant ship routes are relatively stable, so submarines can formulate corresponding navigation plans before escorting and do not need to communicate with the escorted ships,” they said.

China can also deploy these submarines to enemy ports.

“Through intelligence obtained by other forces earlier or through their own detection equipment, they can locate enemy oil storage facilities and then use submarine-based laser weapons to attack the targets, causing damage to related facilities or even triggering fires. This weakens the enemy’s ability to obtain oil from the sea and can shorten the duration of the war to some extent,” Wang’s team said.

“If the opponent is an island, most of its civilian supplies come from sea transportation. By attacking and blockading ports near their shores with our submarines, we can prevent the replenishment of related civilian supplies, affecting their domestic economy, production and daily life.

“This will reduce public support for the war, causing internal conflicts,” they added.

Open for business: Chinese firms are Singapore-bound but will they stay?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3271163/open-business-chinese-firms-are-singapore-bound-will-they-stay?utm_source=rss_feed

It can be hard to stay hidden when you are a man worth US$10.5 billion and living in an island state of 734 sq km, but the founder of fast fashion company Shein has managed to do just that.

So far no one has been able to produce a single fresh photo of Xu Yangtian, who also goes by Chris or Sky Xu, out and about or even in meetings or talking to investors in Singapore. Employees, urban legend has it, have never even seen him.

Such is the iron dome of secrecy he operates under. But he is not the only Chinese entrepreneur to adopt such a studiously low profile. Over the past few years, more of them have relocated to Singapore, using the city state for either their headquarters or research and development divisions, a trend triggered by China’s deteriorating relations with the United States and a regulatory storm against tech firms back home.

Even as their bosses seek the shadows, these Chinese businesses often find themselves in the limelight, thanks to the sudden fame – or notoriety of one of them – or changes in policy directions that have an impact on their fate.

With Hong Kong now rolling out the red carpet for more Chinese firms to domicile in the financial hub, a seemingly more natural fit given how China is like its hinterland, and as Singapore toughens its laws on the inflow of wealth, the companies are once again attracting renewed interest and questions.

Shein is the latest to attract the spotlight with news of its plan to seek a London listing. The likely move is already mired in challenges due to its Chinese origins, as calls have mounted for it to be investigated for allegedly using “slave” labour and a lack of transparency about its operations in China.

The company, which has bested the likes of rivals such as H&M and Zara’s owner Intidex, has reportedly never published photos of Xu nor has he made any public speeches throughout his career.

The 40-year-old, who is among China’s richest men, became a permanent resident in Singapore and the firm went on a mass hiring spree, according to a February 2022 report by Reuters, all in an effort to bypass stricter Chinese rules for offshore IPOs.

His company was just one of the estimated 500 Chinese that have quietly redomiciled or registered in Singapore in 2022, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Data from analytics platform Handshakes also revealed that of the around 63,800 new corporate entities formed in Singapore in 2022, 29 per cent had been foreign-owned. This is up from the 23.7 per cent in 2021 – when 64,912 entities were formed – and 25.1 per cent in 2020 – with 63,249 entities created.

Singapore has emerged as the obvious “initial entry point” for many Chinese entrepreneurs looking to expand in Southeast Asia, which is home to close to 700 million and collectively making up the fifth-largest economy in the world.

In 2021, Singapore attracted a record S$448 billion in new money, a 15.8 per cent jump from the previous year. Assets managed by firms in the city state also rose by 16 per cent to S$5.4 trillion, most of which coming from foreign investors.

However, the amount of new money dipped to S$435 billion the following year, while assets managed by firms dropped by 10 per cent to S$4.9 trillion.

After the pandemic, many multinationals saw the need to diversify their supply chains and businesses, said business professor Lawrence Loh, and the Singapore government saw that gap and rolled out the red carpet with incentives.

“There was a confluence of factors: such as Covid, where many businesses realised that they shouldn’t be putting all their eggs in one basket especially when it came to supply chains and consumer demand disruption,” he said.

“But the elephant in the room is US-China rivalry which forced businesses to consider coming to a non-aligned country, which can neutralise their exposure.”

While there have been suggestions that Singapore’s wealth boom may be hitting its ceiling following a recent S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money-laundering scandal, experts who spoke to This Week in Asia say that Singapore’s status as the preferred hub for regional offices is here to stay.

“Singapore’s strategic location in Southeast Asia, one of the world’s fastest-growing regions, is a significant factor. Many Chinese entrepreneurs are eager to capitalise on the business opportunities in the region, and Singapore often serves as their initial entry point,” said Yanbo Wang, an associate professor of strategy and innovation at the University of Hong Kong.

Beyond its strategic location, Singapore’s open economic policies and business-friendly environment were also some of the big draws for Chinese companies, said Huang Feng, founder of Play for Dream Technology, a Shanghai-based spatial computing company.

Huang set up the company’s regional headquarters in Singapore for a host of reasons. “We see Singapore as a welcoming and leading business hub in Asia to foreign businesses, with its transparent and stringent legal and regulatory system, a mature market environment and a robust financial system, makes it a business-friendly environment for foreign businesses to operate from here,” he said.

While Singapore has long been the preferred destination for these Chinese firms, starting out as early as the 2000s following China’s adoption of a “going out” policy to encourage overseas investment, Zhang Liang, a partner at Forvis Mazars, said the trend had accelerated due to fraying US-China relations and trade sanctions.

Most recently, Chinese artificial intelligence companies are leading the newest wave of Chinese firms moving to Singapore, following American restrictions on the mainland’s access to chips and other hi-tech equipment and the dearth of venture capital.

Meanwhile, others are moving over to the republic in an effort to distance themselves from their Chinese roots, as scrutiny against firms from the mainland mounts. This process has become widely known as “Singapore-washing”.

The example that is most often cited as an example of this phenomenon is social media app TikTok, which announced plans to move its global headquarters to the city state in 2020, and appointed Singaporean Chew Shou Zi as its chief executive officer.

Despite its efforts, TikTok’s campaign to tamp down concerns from American lawmakers that it poses a national security threat because of its Chinese roots appears to have failed.

“TikTok is led by its own global CEO, Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean based in Singapore,” the social media app wrote in a 2022 letter.

Nevertheless, Chew’s nationality became the subject of worldwide attention after he was grilled at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January this year, where he had been questioned about his affiliation with the Chinese government.

“Senator, I’m Singaporean, no,” said a visibly frustrated Chew, in response to a question on whether he was a member of China’s Communist Party.

The TikTok example has shown the limits of “Singapore-washing”, Wang points out, though suggesting that many are continuing to do so out of necessity.

“As tensions between China and the US escalate, many Chinese firms are experiencing difficulties conducting business in Europe and North America simply because they are Chinese. By moving their headquarters to Singapore, these firms are attempting to rebrand themselves as ‘Singaporean’ rather than ‘Chinese’,” he said.

But companies must go beyond trying to conceal their roots, he added, and should subject themselves to “stringent and credible regulations” to gain the trust of the international community.

During a parliamentary sitting this month, opposition politician Jamus Lim, of the Workers’ Party, suggested that Singapore’s business-friendly rules may be mistaken as being lax, and may undermine the reputation the city state has worked hard to build.

“We should also not allow the world to think that an easy business environment also means a permissive one. Some have even suggested that ‘Singapore-washing’ – the process where foreign actors take advantage of our simple registration processes and global reputation for incorruptibility to incorporate fronts for dubious business activities – is some form of a quid pro quo for investing in our city state,” he said.

“Such a mindset will undermine our hard-won brand name, and eventually come back to bite us.”

Beyond the Chinese, many other European and American firms are also using Singapore as a starting point to enter Chinese and Southeast Asian markets, such as FedEx, Microsoft and Rolls-Royce, among others.

Singapore was home to regional headquarters for 4,200 multinational firms in 2023, outsizing the over 1,300 in Hong Kong, which many considers its main rival in the region, according to a report released by Bloomberg Intelligence earlier in February.

“Hong Kong has lost the race to be international business’ preferred choice for Asia headquarters, as more global and even Chinese companies choose Singapore because of its better relations with the West, broader talent pool, diversified economy, and tax incentives,” the report stated.

This is also due to Singapore’s targeted incentives for foreign companies looking to set up regional hubs in the city state, which can cut its 17 per cent tax rate to 13.5 per cent or less for some activities. This is lower than Hong Kong’s standard corporate tax rate of 16.5 per cent.

Despite reports of some Chinese entrepreneurs moving back to mainland China or Hong Kong, it is unlikely that these companies will be uprooting themselves from Singapore in the near future, say experts.

Although business may be picking up in Hong Kong and the days of strict pandemic-related restrictions are long over, it does not mean there will be a rush of such firms to go to the financial hub, says an economist.

“Singapore continues to hold strong advantages [over Hong Kong]. When deciding where to establish the headquarters, firms typically look at the proximity to their target market, the ease of doing business in a jurisdiction, the access to a skilled workforce, a favourable corporate tax regime, and a transparent legal system,” said Bernard Aw, an economist of the Asia-Pacific at Coface, a global trade credit insurance group.

Matthew Chen, chief executive officer of OneConnect Financial Technology, a technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions with regional headquarters in Singapore, cited reasons such as the city state’s business-friendly environment.

“Singapore was chosen as the regional headquarters for a number of reasons: the maturity of financial infrastructure, openness to new fintech technologies, tax incentives to start-ups to name a few,” he said.

There are also few obstacles to these companies going to Singapore, experts say, even as the country tightens scrutiny on the inflow of wealth.

The recent S$3 billion money-laundering scandal which involved 10 people of Chinese origin brought into sharp relief the risks of dealing with unknown foreign players even as the country has been trying to attract family offices and wealthy immigrants.

The case prompted authorities to roll out a slew of measures to enhance its anti-money-laundering regime, such as requiring family offices and hedge funds to provide more information and laying out additional requirements that must be met.

The central bank said it would repeal a licensing regime used by hedge funds with assets up to S$250 million, moving them to a stricter reporting regime instead.

Loh, a professor from National University of Singapore Business School, said: “It will take much more than the recent money-laundering case to really overturn the whole equation to loss … [or make] Singapore less attractive.”

But beyond the heightened scrutiny on family offices and wealthy immigrants, higher operating costs in recent years have prompted some businesses to relocate elsewhere, a 2023 European Chamber of Commerce in Singapore survey found.

The survey of over 260 local and international businesses in Singapore found that about half of expatriates in Singapore were hit by rental increases of over 40 per cent and about 70 per cent of businesses were ready to relocate staff out of the city if operating costs did not drop.

Still, many believe in the “Singapore Inc” story and are willing to invest in it, despite rising operating costs, according to Song Seng Wun, an economic adviser at the financial services firm CGS.

“The Singapore brand is so strong that – despite labels of being the most expensive city to live and work – it will not stop companies from coming in. Singapore is an important hub for the region, which is still the fastest growing and will likely remain to be.”

Hong Kong is fighting back. In February, it announced plans to enhance several measures targeted at foreign funds and family offices.

“We will further enhance the preferential tax regimes for related funds, single family offices and carried interest, including reviewing the scope of the tax concessions regime,” said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, during a budget announcement earlier this year.

The city is slated to ramp up the types of tax transactions that qualify for tax concessions and will enhance the flexibility in handling incidental transactions, with the aim of wooing more funds and family offices to establish a presence in Hong Kong.

This comes after Hong Kong announced a range of incentives for family offices, such as a tax break and a new regime that would make it easy for overseas companies to redomicile in the city.

While the 2019 social unrest and consequent political changes in Hong Kong, as well as strict quarantine measures, had resulted in many fleeing the city, it has done a creditable job trying to lure talent and make itself attractive to foreign capital.

Over the last year, Hong Kong unveiled a slew of different immigration and talent schemes such as its Top Talent Pass Scheme and a five-year multi-entry travel permit to enter the mainland, even setting up an office dedicated to wooing businesses, also known as the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises.

But experts say that the decision to move to Singapore or Hong Kong is not a zero-sum game for companies and depends largely on expansion plans.

“There are many reasons why some businesses choose to come here, most of which are related to the process of diversification and part of its corporate strategy,” said Loh from NUS. “The onus is on businesses to make the decision, but this is led purely by a commercial basis.”

As long as US-China tensions continue to exist, Singapore’s neutrality will also make it an attractive home for these companies – even those beyond the Chinese – looking to skirt the crossfires.

“Singapore’s neutrality and stability offer a favourable environment for international operations. As Chinese companies move through different growth stages, they find Singapore an attractive base, similar to how Japanese and Korean businesses have also moved their regional headquarters to Singapore,” said Forvis Mazars’ Zhang Liang.

However, as property prices start to cool and the days of political instability and tough quarantine rules are over for Hong Kong, it could very much be the case for businesses to use both Hong Kong and Singapore as bases, according to Song from CGS.

“It’s even more important now to have a base in Singapore, unless you believe the trade war is going to disappear overnight. Depending on a firm’s business strategy, it’s still going to be a plan A or B,” he said.

There is a political dimension to Chinese companies settling in Singapore, said political scientist Bilveer Singh, adding that it could become a flashpoint for anti-foreigner sentiments if these wealthy foreigners are viewed as competition over scarce resources.

However most Singaporeans had accepted that these were the necessary trade-offs of an open economy and society, he said, pointing out that many still believed the Singapore model was working well.

For now, beyond tax contributions and job creation, the inflow of Chinese tech firms also enhances the tech ecosystem in Singapore, in turn attracting more foreign investment.

Singapore has earned the title alongside some of the world’s largest start-up ecosystems like those in Silicon Valley and New York in the global top 10 ranking from innovation policy and research firm Startup Genome last year.

It ranked eighth, leaping 10 places from a year before and overtaking regional peers Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo, landing just behind Beijing.

Currently, it is home to about 4,000 tech start-ups, 18 of them unicorns, and more than 400 venture capital companies.

Meanwhile, Singapore received about 65 per cent of Southeast Asia’s total fintech funding from 2015 to 2019, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the Singapore FinTech Association and management consultancy Oliver Wyman.

But the benefits flow both ways, with Chinese companies also bringing opportunities for growth in these areas.

For example, Play For Dream’s Huang Feng said the firm planned to recruit Singaporeans and collaborate with higher education institutions in an effort to show its “commitment to global market expansion and technological innovation”, though he stopped short of revealing his projected staff strength for the Singapore branch.

As more Chinese companies like Huang Feng’s have plans on international expansion, Singapore will continue to play a key role in their plans especially as US-China tensions show no indication of abating, say experts.

“I believe this trend [of Chinese firms moving operations to Singapore] will continue, fuelled by Singapore’s institutional strength, the inevitable escalation of geopolitical tensions between China and the US, and the growing necessity for many Chinese private firms to expand internationally,” said Wang, from the University of Hong Kong.

And even as Hong Kong rolls out new initiatives to court multinationals, Singapore’s status as an independent state may be seen as “more palatable to global markets”, according to Loh.

“Singapore has the edge because it is independent from China, and Hong Kong ultimately is a special administrative region of China. So doing dealings from a national entity may be more palatable to global markets like the US or EU, so coming to Singapore is not a temporary or one-shot thing, it is definitely part of a long-term plan.”

Trump and Vance’s ‘America first’: hawkish on China, more flexible on Russia

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3271219/trump-and-vances-america-first-hawkish-china-more-flexible-russia?utm_source=rss_feed

Tough on China, less so on Russia, and transactional above all else.

That was the “America First” message Donald Trump and his newly minted running mate J.D. Vance cemented during the four-day Republican National Convention that concluded late Thursday night.

The messaging on China, save for Trump’s remark that Taiwan should pay the US for its defence, was consistent with the hardline posture that many within the Republican Party have taken.

But the pair’s stance concerning Russia’s war on Ukraine underscores the growing rift with others in the party who still push for a more active stance to counter Moscow’s aggression.

This drive has garnered greater urgency after an unprecedented Nato declaration earlier this month accusing Beijing of sustaining Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Trump referred to the war a handful of times in his roughly 90-minute acceptance speech Thursday night, but said little beyond claiming that, had he been president in 2022 when Russia first invaded, it would not have occurred.

No fan of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Trump has argued that European members of the alliance must take their defence more into their own hands. And while not coming out in full opposition to Ukraine, he has been a consistent sceptic on increased aid to Kyiv.

In his address, Trump repeatedly referred to the Republican Party platform, which contains a commitment to strengthen alliances – without mentioning either Russia or Ukraine.

Vance, in his debut speech to America as a vice-presidential candidate, all but ignored foreign policy beyond assailing trade deals, choosing instead to focus on a domestic, populist economic strategy.

But in keeping with his long-standing opposition to Ukraine aid, he questioned its effectiveness in an interview with Fox News on Monday. “What are we trying to accomplish? Is there a risk of escalation to nuclear war?”

In that interview, the Ohio senator also marked China as the biggest threat to the US, alluding to his comments from earlier this year about the need for Washington to pivot from Europe to Asia.

It’s a posture that Trump has yet to publicly adopt, despite jabs he took at China during Thursday’s speech and his debate with President Joe Biden last month.

But according to analysts, Trump’s pick of Vance on the first day of the convention reasserted his rejection of the neoconservative position that the US should engage militarily worldwide, especially in defence of democracies.

In appointing Vance, “Trump is looking to make changes to US foreign policy and to bolster the part of the party that has rejected neoconservatism and takes the ‘America first’, ‘Asia first’ approach,” said Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Wertheim said that it was likely Trump would be influenced by the party’s “Asia First” contingent, which includes Elbridge Colby, his former deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development.

The Trump administration, which ran from 2017 to 2021, was widely credited for defining China as a strategic competitor – a posture adopted by the succeeding administration of US President Joe Biden – and Wertheim said that thrust would continue.

On Europe, Wertheim sees more room to change the current trajectory.

“Unlike in 2016, there is now a set of policy experts who have formulated various ways to reduce the US military commitment to Europe and Trump is clearly interested in those possibilities,” he said.

“The conversation has shifted from burden-sharing to burden-shifting,” he continued, adding that directing resources to deal with China was part of that move.

Though Trump and Vance said relatively little about foreign policy in their addresses, some observers said that the convention’s speaker list was telling. Many invitees – which included Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, economist Peter Navarro and tech chief executive David Sacks – either opposed increased aid to Ukraine or favoured greater oversight of that aid.

Trump and Vance’s scepticism about the need to support Ukraine’s efforts also runs counter to other Republicans like Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s top White House adviser on Asia during his administration, who has lately been sounding alarms about China’s closer integration with Russia.

Washington, he argued, does not have the option to adopt strong measures against one and not the other.

“It’s going to be a lot cheaper for us to deter in multiple theatres simultaneously, than to deter really well in one theatre but accept major military defeats in other areas because it’s the same enemy,” Pottinger said in a discussion this month at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

During the event, Pottinger cited the assessment by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “Beijing is overwhelmingly the No 1 supporter of Russia’s war in Europe”.

He then noted “the US$60 trillion democratic alliance” that includes Nato, Japan, South Korea and Australia, which he said should be capable of subduing the combined economic output of the “axis of chaos” countries led by China and Russia.

Reflecting a similar concern, a group of lawmakers led by Representative John Moolenaar, the Michigan Republican who is the chairman of the House select committee on China, sent a letter this week to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, calling on the White House to clarify whether Moscow is sharing information with Beijing on how to neutralise the US weapon systems used in the Ukraine war.

Despite his inclination to be soft on Russia, analysts say that Trump might still take action against China for its links to Russia’s industrial base.

But if so, Trump may only keep it up until Beijing is brought to the negotiating table, said James Mann, a senior fellow at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

“This was true in his first term too. You could see him taking actions that are tough and bragging that he was taking strong action, and then, much more quietly, looking for deals,” Mann said.

Trump hinted at his willingness to use trade as a weapon on Thursday night, when he cited his “phase one” trade deal with Beijing in 2020.

The two sides reached that agreement after a year and a half of escalating tariffs that Trump slapped on imports from China, a trade war that still defines US-China economic relations.

“He has always seen himself as a negotiator and a deal maker,” Mann said.

Additional reporting by Robert Delaney

3 steps China can take to fix ties with European countries

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3270802/3-steps-china-can-take-fix-ties-european-countries?utm_source=rss_feed

On the day the European Union announced its decision to raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, I arrived in the United Kingdom for the first time in more than five years. Sitting in Oxford’s Saïd Business School with Chinese senior executives, we were all shocked to hear about Europe’s deepening suspicion of China.

Today, Europeans are increasingly disappointed with China’s position on the Russia-Ukraine war and have gradually adopted the view that the continent should not be as open to China as before.

While walking around Oxford, I noticed an influx of young Chinese students to this historical college town, joining their peers from around the world for summer education programmes. The Chinese parents of the younger generation have benefited tremendously from opportunities that the reform and opening up policy has provided them; they understand the importance of global engagement for their own children.

However, the West’s perspective on China seems vastly different from the pre-Covid era. It may not be easy for Europe to decouple from China, but significant doubts about embracing or rebuilding economic relations have rapidly risen in Europe. The emotions surrounding Europe’s relationship with China run deep, as evidenced by lectures given by academics and business executives during my first week in Oxford.

In addition to the EU’s decision to raise tariffs on electric vehicles from China, Berlin has announced it will phase out components made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from its 5G wireless network over the next five years. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has recently cast China as the “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Nato is also considering the reclamation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects in Europe. All of these point to a deteriorating relationship between Europe and China.

Scholars in Oxford are concerned about the growing trend in the West of increased reluctance to engage with China. How can China find common ground with European countries, including the UK, and collaborate to address political and industrial conflicts? China must take urgent steps to establish a more equitable power balance that benefits its interests in the current geopolitical climate.

First, China must address the deep-seated suspicions of the West arising from China’s position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and do a better job of rationalising its response and explaining its position. China needs to clarify that the international order established after World War II should be kept intact and that it does not support Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian land.

At the same time, China should point out that Nato violated the territorial integrity of Serbia by supporting Kosovo’s separatist movement, setting a bad precedent for Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.

Furthermore, Nato’s intention to extend its influence in the Asia-Pacific will only harden China’s position towards Europe. China and India have pursued similar bilateral approaches towards Russia during the Ukraine war. Both have continued to trade with Russia and distance themselves from the West’s sanctions. China should question why Europe has double standards towards India when it comes to its relationship with Russia.

Secondly, China must continue to open its economy and launch a charm offensive. China also needs to address concerns that economic cooperation has only benefited itself, at Europe’s expense.

It is important to note that China has embraced globalisation as a strategic policy. While China needs to showcase its commitment to being open to the West, it is equally important for Europeans to understand that China’s investment in Europe will benefit both sides. They must remain committed to free trade and opposed to protectionism. Dialogue and consultation are crucial in resolving trade issues and safeguarding economic cooperation.

China still hopes to win Europeans over and peel them away from the United States. To this end, China is inviting large numbers of European academics and members of think tanks for dialogue. In December, top EU leaders were hosted in Beijing for their first in-person bilateral summit with China since 2019. This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and visited France to meet his counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

Thirdly, to win back trust from foreign companies, China must adopt a consistent and clear strategy that treats state-owned enterprises, small- and medium-sized businesses and foreign companies equally. As long as China can maintain a profitable and attractive market, Western corporations will continue to invest and pursue a similar approach.

This is evident when it comes to the issue of EU tariffs on China’s electric vehicles. German carmakers have strongly opposed the move, showing the importance of China’s market to foreign companies. By ensuring fair treatment for all companies in its market, China can build trust and foster stronger relationships with foreign partners. This will not only benefit China’s economy but also promote mutual benefits and cooperation on a global scale.

However, China should not underestimate Europe’s strong intention to de-risk from China. Even Germany, which has one of the strongest economic relationships with China within the EU, has adapted its China strategy and urged companies to reduce their reliance on the country. As a result, the US has overtaken China as Germany’s biggest trading partner in the first quarter of 2024.

As pointed out by an Oxford professor, mistrust between the West and China is prevalent. This growing mistrust and suspicion may lead to decoupling, which would have far-reaching implications for trade, diplomacy and global power dynamics between Europe and China.

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Top US officials slam China over its ‘wrong direction’ helping Russia fight Ukraine

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3271221/top-us-officials-slam-china-over-its-wrong-direction-helping-russia-fight-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed

Senior US officials on Friday warned that Beijing was going in the “wrong direction” by supplying material aid to Moscow for its Ukraine war efforts and would likely face more sanctions soon if it did not reconsider its membership on “team Russia”.

“We have been prepared to tighten the screws to apply sanctions against specific entities and individuals, including in China,” said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in the US state of Colorado.

“You can expect to see additional sanctions, measures as we watch this picture continue to evolve in the coming weeks.”

Sullivan did not detail specific steps but said the administration of US President Joe Biden had “nearly unprecedented” power financially to take on its adversaries, including measures against Chinese banks.

“Writ large, the picture is not pretty. China continues to be a major supplier of dual-use items to Russia’s war machine,” he added.

“It’s the instruments that go into the weapons that are killing Ukrainians and oppressing Ukraine. And we think China should stop because we think it is profoundly outside the bounds of decent conduct by nation states.”

At the same event, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said separately that China was providing 70 per cent of the machine tools that Moscow imports for its defence industrial base and 90 per cent of the microelectronics.

The officials were repeating a message that Washington has made recently on its own about China’s support for Russia, and in conjunction with allied groupings including the Group of 7 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

“China can’t have it both ways,” said Blinken. “It can’t all at once be saying that it’s for peace in Ukraine when it is helping to fuel the ongoing pursuit of the war by Russia.”

Even as they touted the strategy adopted by the administration’s allies and partners of countering adversaries, however, the officials sidestepped growing global concern over the consistency of US policy at a time of tumult in American politics.

The run-up to the US presidential election taking place in November has been marked by growing calls for Biden, 81, to give up his bid for re-election after a series of faltering public appearances.

This comes as his principal rival, former president Donald Trump, calls for US tariffs on all imported goods and large-scale deportation of immigrants as he claims that he would be a dictator “on day one” of his second term.

“I feel strongly as long as we continue to confront these [domestic political] challenges directly, openly and transparently, we’ll get through,” said Blinken.

Added Sullivan: “I can’t predict what happens this fall, next year.”

Blinken said China was increasingly aware of the global cost of any disruptive action, including in the Taiwan Strait, in light of stronger transatlantic, transpacific and European-Asian partnerships.

“We’ve now seen … a chorus of countries from far afield, really impressing about China, the imperative of not having a crisis, not stirring the pot, not disturbing the status quo, preserving peace and stability,” Blinken said.

“The more you have that collective weight on China, I think, the more they’re likely to not lead us in that direction.”

European and other geographically distant allies increasingly recognise that any aggressive Chinese moves involving Taiwan or the South China Sea would jeopardise 50 per cent of the world’s commercial cargo and given that 70 per cent of its semiconductors passed through the region, Blinken added.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state.

But Washington opposes any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed by law to supplying it with weapons for its defence.

“War over Taiwan, war across the Taiwan Strait, would be absolutely calamitous for the world, for Taiwan, for China, for the United States, for everyone,” said Sullivan.

“I have worried about it and I believe that it has to be a fundamental objective of American policy to ensure that never happens.”

In addition, Blinken credited the administration with putting a floor under spiralling US-China relations.

He said additional meetings between senior American and Chinese officials last year leading up to the summit in California between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had paid dividends.

The two wary adversaries were in regular diplomatic and military contact and were discussing ways to stem the supply of Chinese chemical ingredients or precursors fuelling America’s fentanyl crisis, America’s top diplomat said.

The dialogue included scheduled talks between Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting in Laos next week.

“We have restored regular, high-level engagements between our countries, and that’s vitally important because if you want to avoid any kind of unintended conflict, you’ve got to start by talking,” Blinken said.

“This relationship cannot be put on a bumper sticker. At least, if it can be, maybe a very long, long bumper sticker because it’s the most consequential, the most complex relationship we have,” he added.

The ties that bind China, Russia, Iran and North Korea together were showing signs of strain, the American officials said, and they pale in comparison with the relationships forged between the US and its allies.

“If they want to mess with the United States and our allies, they’re going to have a very rude awakening about what’s in store for them,” said Sullivan.

He described the US as not trying to create an Asian Nato but rather a flexible latticework of agreements to respond to aggression.

“We can build strength from strength in the years ahead … not to start a war but to prevent a war,” Sullivan added.

While Russia has been able to retool its economy onto a war footing and work around a growing number of financial and economic sanctions, Blinken said, it was paying a price for its aggression and that was not lost on China and others.

These costs included a brain drain as skilled workers exited Russia, longer-term economic costs as critical industries were impaired, the shifting of supply chains that excluded the country and its damaged global reputation, he continued.

Global threats once viewed as regional were increasingly global, according to Harvard professor emeritus Joseph Nye, in remarks during another panel discussion at Aspen.

“You can’t talk about Ukraine without thinking about how it affects Taiwan,” the former senior US defence official said. “You can’t talk about Nato without thinking about Nato not just as a European problem but also how it relates to China.”