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• China calls on Asean to resist US, Nato moves in ‘zone of peace, freedom, neutrality’
• Japan to deploy ‘ship killer’ missiles a year early, cites China among security threats
• US and Japan to revamp joint military operations to counter China and North Korea
• Ancient human sacrifice in China likely served to reinforce social hierarchies
• US special agents raid Chinese firm Fuyao Glass over ‘financial crimes and labour abuse’
• Severe landslide kills 12 in central China province hit hard by heavy rain and floods
• Key to Hong Kong’s success is to stay as China’s international city
• Groping professor shows why China’s universities need a sexual complaints system
• Groundhog Day: China soldier saves same person twice from same pond, 25 years apart
• Some high-speed rail services between Hong Kong and mainland China axed due to poor weather
• Wind and solar to surpass 40% of China’s power capacity by year-end
• Chinese scientists’ quantum computing pipeline could change the way drugs are designed
• 11 killed by mudslide in China as heavy rains from tropical storm Gaemi drench region
• Professor sacked over abuse claims in rare win for China’s #MeToo movement
• Trump says US must dominate cryptocurrency sector, cites China competition
• China’s population facing ‘largest absolute population loss’, UN says
• US-Japan security talks focus on bolstering military cooperation amid rising China threat
• ‘Message to China’: Europe steps up air drills in Japan’s backyard amid regional threats
• Ukraine war briefing: China denies helping Russia’s war effort in Ukraine at regional summit
• China sees growth in strictly no sex ‘street girlfriends’ who sell their wares from stalls
• China’s Xiaohongshu carves out a niche in an increasingly crowded e-commerce market
• Taiwan is beefing up its military exercises to counter China | Asia

China calls on Asean to resist US, Nato moves in ‘zone of peace, freedom, neutrality’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3272218/china-calls-asean-resist-us-nato-moves-zone-peace-freedom-neutrality?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing has urged Southeast Asian countries to resist alleged US and Nato-led “external interference” in the South China Sea and other regional hotspots, stepping up pressure on its neighbours amid an escalating war of words with Washington.

Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi hammered home the message on the sidelines of an Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Laos last week, saying that the United States had “no right” to intervene in the South China Sea.

Wang’s comments come at a time of heightened maritime tensions between China and the Philippines, a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and one of the oldest US treaty allies in Asia.

Caught up in the deepening US-China rivalry for regional dominance, the 10 Asean member states expressed their “concerns” in a joint statement at the end of the three-day gathering on Saturday.

Observers said the statement underlined deep divisions within the grouping.

Maria Thaemar Tana, a non-resident fellow at the Stratbase ADR Institute in Manila, said China’s assertive behaviour has strained relations with Southeast Asian neighbours, which remained deeply divided over how to cope with an increasingly confident Beijing.

“Some countries are cautious about directly opposing China but are also wary of becoming too dependent on it. This situation forces these countries to carefully balance economic ties with China while preventing its dominance,” she said.

Wang on Saturday singled out Washington and the US-led Nato as top threats to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, urging the Asean to remain “alert to and oppose [Nato] intervention in the region”, according to a readout from state news agency Xinhua.

“The US-led ‘Indo-Pacific strategy’ exacerbates security dilemmas and runs counter to the vision of long-term peace and prosperity in the region,” Wang told an Asean Regional Forum meeting attended by 27 foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Nato intervention in the region was bound to “trigger confrontation and escalate tensions,” Wang was quoted as saying.

Blinken in turn hit out at China’s “escalating and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea.

Wang and Blinken also held bilateral talks on Saturday, discussing issues of mutual concern including South China Sea and Taiwan.

Foreign ministers gathered in Laotian capital Vientiane for three days of Asean and related meetings included those from Russia, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, the European Union and North Korea.

“Asean’s status as a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality should be respected” in a world of “turbulence and chaos”, Wang told the regional forum. “An Asean-centred, open and inclusive regional architecture [should] be supported,” he added.

Beijing insisted on “managing differences [over the South China Sea] properly through dialogue and consultation with parties involved”, he said, while urging regional countries to reject “external interference, confrontation and pressure”.

Wang also denounced Manila’s much-rumoured attempt to file a second international arbitration case against Beijing’s expansive claims to the disputed waters, following its landmark victory in the first such case eight years ago.

China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea under what is calls its historic “nine-dash line”. Neighbours including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei contest those claims.

A 2016 international tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines but Beijing refused to participate in the case and rejected the ruling.

Wang said the 2016 arbitral case “had substantial flaws in law and fact, and was politically motivated”.

“China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea will not be affected by this illegal ruling under any circumstances,” he emphasised.

Wang also lashed out at the deepening US-Philippine security alignment under President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, including deploying the Typhon US missile system.

“Certain external countries stirred up trouble and created disruptions, and even attempted to deploy an intermediate-range missile system in the region, provoked confrontation, that is the biggest disruptive factor to peace in the South China Sea,” he was quoted as telling the East Asia Summit, also held on Saturday.

During a string of bilateral meetings with his regional counterparts, including South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Wang also stressed the importance of avoiding interference from external factors, in a thinly-veiled reference to the US.

But Cho shot back, saying that both the rules-based order and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait were crucial for South Korea’s national security.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also warned of “a troubling trend of ‘great powers dominating the smaller ones’, reflecting a hegemonic tendency that should belong to the past”, though she did not name China or the US.

“We are witnessing rising rivalries, increasing distrust, and the potential for dangerous miscalculations,” she told the East Asia summit, according to a readout from her ministry.

Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales in Australia, also warned the global order was becoming increasingly polarised into two opposing blocs, with the close Russia-China partnership pitted against the US and its allies.

“In other words, tensions in the South China Sea will be viewed as systemic rather than regional. This will lead to increased cooperation among the United States and its allies Japan, Australia and South Korea and an increase in European naval presence in the South China Sea than heretofore,” he said.

“Asean’s much vaunted centrality in regional affairs will be undermined due to internal divisions.”

The Philippines had tried to include a June 17 collision – the worst clash with China in months near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal – in the joint Asean communique, but this was blocked by Cambodia and Laos, according to the Associated Press.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who also met Wang, expressed concerns about the rising tensions between Beijing and Manila and the deepening US-China feud, saying “the fundamental problem is a lack of trust between two superpowers”.

He admitted in a group interview on Saturday that Asean’s unity was facing major challenges. Unlike Europe and the Middle East, Southeast Asia should be “an oasis of peace”, without “a line to divide us”, or being “forced to choose sides”, he said.

Japan to deploy ‘ship killer’ missiles a year early, cites China among security threats

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3272201/japan-deploy-ship-killer-missiles-year-early-cites-china-among-security-threats?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan will commission its latest “ship killer” missiles one year earlier than originally planned, its defence ministry said, citing the need to counter regional threats including China’s growing military might.

Details of the upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missile were revealed in the Japanese defence ministry’s annual white paper published earlier this month.

According to the white paper, the upgraded missile had “stood various trials on the ground” and would be ready for deployment next year – 12 months ahead of schedule.

Japan’s hypersonic weapons will also be ready for delivery in 2026, three years after mass production began, the ministry revealed, as the country aims for stronger stand-off and hypersonic missile capabilities.

Japan faced a “severe and complex security environment”, Minister of Defence Minoru Kihara said in the white paper, listing China’s rapid military build up and intensifying naval activities as a primary challenge.

He also vowed to give priority to developing Japan’s stand-off missile capabilities.

“Japan is going to acquire various types of stand-off missiles earlier than originally planned, including Tomahawk missiles and the ground-launched version of upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles,” Kihara said.

The white paper included a photo of a prototype of the upgraded missile, which has a low-observable nose and foldable swept-back wings.

While it resembles the US-made AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), the Japanese weapon has retained the X-shaped tail-fins and air intake on the underside of the fuselage of its original version.

Its extended wings and high-altitude jet engines indicate the upgraded Type-12 would feature a significant increase in range.

The white paper did not reveal its new range, but Japanese media reports earlier said that it would be able to hit targets as far as 900km (about 560 miles) away, and the goal was to extend this reach to 1,200km to 1,500km.

If the 900km range is confirmed, this would mean that an upgraded Type-12 missile fired from the southern end of Japan’s Kyushu island would be able to reach waters near the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. The islands are claimed by both China and Japan, which controls them as the Senkakus.

If the range is extended to 1,500km, the missile could even strike targets near northern Taiwan.

A Type-12 unit equipped with the original version missiles has been deployed to Ishigaki, one of the southern Japanese islands closest to Taiwan, according to the ministry.

The Japanese military has already placed a US$2.35 billion purchase order for up to 400 US-made 1,600km-ranged Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.

Delivery of the Tomahawks has also been brought forward by one year to 2025. This means Japan’s stand-off capabilities will receive a significant boost next year when both the Type-12 and the US-made Tomahawk missiles are added to its arsenal.

Besides the ground-launched upgraded version likely to be introduced next year, Japan will also continue to develop the ship-launched and air-launched variants of the Type-12, and plans to deploy at least 11 units of these missiles, according to the white paper.

Japan has also been working on hyper velocity gliding projectiles (HVGP) and hypersonic missiles since 2018, as part of efforts to strengthen its “capabilities to disrupt and defeat invading forces over long distances, thereby deterring invasion of Japan itself”.

A pre-launch HVGP test was carried out in California on March 23, according to a video published earlier this month by the defence ministry’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency.

The video showed that the projectile was launched by a booster from a truck-mounted launcher, “to verify the measurement systems for future launch tests”.

The HVGP, which is still under development, began mass production last year with the aim of starting delivery in 2026.

The current version of the HVGP is for road-mobile launchers but an anti-ship variant – similar to the Tomahawk and JASSMs – is also expected to be on the drawing board.

A separate hypersonic missile project was started last year, “with the aim of starting early mass production”. According to the white paper, the hypersonic missile will have a speed of over Mach 5, and be compatible with all launch platforms – including land, ship and submarine – enabling it to hit both land and sea targets.

Japan’s post-World War II pacifist constitution restricts its possession of offensive capabilities. But the Japan Self-Defence Force has rapidly expanded its attacking arsenal in recent years, citing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

“Japan will fundamentally reinforce its stand-off defence capabilities to respond from outside the threat zone, including anti-aircraft missiles, against naval vessels and landing forces that invade Japan, including its remote islands,” the white paper said.

US and Japan to revamp joint military operations to counter China and North Korea

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3272219/us-and-japan-revamp-joint-military-operations-counter-china-and-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States and Japan said they will revamp the US military command structure in Japan to improve joint military operations and expand co-production of air defence missiles, to counter China’s increasing assertiveness and the North Korean nuclear threat.

The revamp is one of the main results of the “2+2” security talks attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Minoru Kihara.

In a joint statement issued after the talks on Sunday, the two countries said the US “intends to reconstitute US Forces Japan (USFJ) as a joint force headquarters reporting to the Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command”, to facilitate interoperability and cooperation on joint operations “in peacetime and during contingencies”.

The reconstituted USFJ is intended to serve as an important counterpart to the Japanese Self-Defence Forces’ joint operation headquarters, which will be launched by March to unify the command of Japan’s ground, maritime and air services, it said.

But the new joint command will be headed by a three-star general, not a four-star general as Japan had requested, according to a Reuters report quoting US official sources.

Japan hosts more than 50,000 US troops who follow the command of the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. The plan to upgrade USFJ’s command and control capability is intended to smooth joint exercises and operations, officials say.

The ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating Japan’s acquisition of Tomahawk missiles and improving cooperation on stand-off missile procurements, including Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles with Extended Range (JASSM-ER). These are regarded as critical to Japan’s deterrence capabilities.

The statement clearly took aim at China, as the two countries said Beijing “seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others” and expressed “serious concern” over its behaviour.

The statement also accused China of using political, economic, and military coercion against other countries. It added that China’s behaviour “represents the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond”.

In addition, it said Taiwan’s political transition “should not be used as a pretext for provocative actions” – a veiled reference to People’s Liberation Army drills surrounding the self-ruled island that took place after Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te was inaugurated in May.

The statement came just three days after PLA spokesman Zhang Xiaogang warned Beijing would take action on Taiwan if its “red line” is crossed.

On Thursday, Zhang said that the PLA would have to “take resolute measures” if the “separatist forces of Taiwan independence continue to provoke or even cross the red line”.

Zhang also voiced Beijing’s “strong opposition” to Japan’s recent joint maritime drill with Taiwan. He urged Japan to “correct its mistakes immediately” and not condone or support “Taiwan separatist forces”.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China, to be reunited by force if necessary. Like most countries, the United States does not recognise Taiwan as independent but opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

For the first time, the US-Japan ministerial talks also covered “extended deterrence”, a term used to describe Washington’s commitment to use nuclear forces to deter attacks on allies. This is a sensitive subject in Japan, the only country to have been attacked with atomic bombs, and Tokyo has pushed for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Ahead of the 2+2 talks, Kihara met Austin and South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik for their first trilateral defence talks hosted by Tokyo, where the three sides signed a memorandum.

During the meeting, the defence chiefs shared their assessments of recent maritime and air military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea, according to a Pentagon statement.

The statement said the defence ministers “reaffirmed that they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, and they shared concerns about actions that are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)”.

The US, Japan and South Korea military chiefs also expressed “grave concern” over the increasing military and economic cooperation between Russia and North Korea.

They condemned North Korea’s recent diversification of nuclear delivery systems, tests and launches of multiple ballistic missiles, and urged Pyongyang to “immediately cease such actions”.

They also formalised a trilateral agreement that would “institutionalise” trilateral security cooperation among their countries’ defence authorities.

After leaving Tokyo, Blinken and Austin will hold security talks with another Asian ally, the Philippines, as the Biden administration seeks to counter an increasingly assertive China in the South China Sea.

Blinken met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Laos on Saturday. According to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang criticised Washington’s attempts to contain China, saying it had shown no signs of abating despite increased bilateral exchanges in diplomacy, finance, military, law enforcement and climate change over the past three months.

Blinken reiterated that Washington and its partners wanted to maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific”, according to a US statement.

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Ancient human sacrifice in China likely served to reinforce social hierarchies

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3272202/ancient-human-sacrifice-china-likely-served-reinforce-social-hierarchies?utm_source=rss_feed

Human sacrifice has played a gruesome but important role in ancient history, and thousands of years ago, in ancient China, it probably was used as a tool to solidify social hierarchies.

A team of scientists recently analysed a bronze-age tomb from the Qijia culture (2200BC-1600BC) located in Gansu province in northwest China, and theorised that human sacrifice had become a “culturally sanctioned mechanism” to establish group identity.

In their study published in late June in the book The Poetics of Violence in Afroeurasian Bioarchaeology, the team theorised that the person may have been sacrificed to honour the tomb’s inhabitants, suggesting the occupants were considered of higher social value than the victim.

Jenna Dittmar, a study author and assistant professor of Anatomical Sciences at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in the US, told the Post that this research helps scientists learn more about the social conditions under which sacrifice was performed and how it evolved over time.

“An important point that is highlighted in this research is that, even though the practice of human sacrifice was quite widespread throughout the prehistoric world, the reasons why people were sacrificed were highly variable,” she said.

While the scientists cannot be completely sure why the person was sacrificed, his body was treated poorly, with his limbs being purposely separated. He also was not buried with items, like pots, for the afterlife, suggesting “he was of a lower status in a symbolic hierarchy than the people buried properly inside the tomb”.

Another study author, Elizabeth Berger, from the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside, told the Post that the victim could have been an enemy or “some other outsider”.

“Or, if he was from the same society as the other tomb occupants, maybe he was a criminal or had lost his social standing for some other reason,” she said.

Berger said that scientists from Fudan University in China are testing the skeleton’s DNA to determine whether people buried in similar ways were outsiders to this excavation site, named Mogou.

The scientists said the executioners killed the man by stabbing him twice in the back, below the shoulder blades and at the base of the neck, likely penetrating the spine twice.

The injuries also indicated that the man did not move after being stabbed the first time, indicating he was either lying down or kneeling while being supported by something.

The sacrifice and burial differed from other examples from China, where societies placed skulls in the foundation of temples or important buildings as a blessing to the new construction. Instead, the intimate nature of the Mogou killing pushed the team towards the idea that the execution was meant to subordinate the victim to the other people inside the tomb.

“Maybe the people who received the sacrifices were important in the community for some reason, maybe they had distinguished themselves in battle, or maybe they were leaders of some kind, but there is no direct evidence for it,” said Berger.

“Again, that’s why we lean more towards an explanation that it was outsiders and enemies who were sacrificed, not members of the same group.”

Study author Ivy Hui-yuan Yeh, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said human sacrifice emerged in China during prehistoric times. She said it peaked during the Shang dynasty (1600-1046BC) due to the creation of a slave society.

This period of human sacrifice in China was brutal, as excavated oracle bones suggest that at least 14,197 people were sacrificed in various Shang-era state rituals. Those recordings classified prisoners of war as being akin to livestock, a form of dehumanisation exemplified by human remains being co-buried alongside animals.

“Over time, as productivity increased and social structures evolved, human sacrifice began to decline during the Warring States period (475-221BC) and eventually largely disappeared after the Han dynasty (206BC-220), influenced by Confucian practices,” she told the Post.

She added that human sacrifice did re-emerge in China during the Jin (265-420) and Liao (907-1125) dynasties, persisting until the end of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). It was finally abolished during the Republic of China era (1912-1949) through legal reforms and social progress.

US special agents raid Chinese firm Fuyao Glass over ‘financial crimes and labour abuse’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3272208/us-special-agents-raid-chinese-firm-fuyao-glass-over-financial-crimes-and-labour-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed

A high-profile US investigation into Fuyao Glass America – a Chinese firm featured in the acclaimed US documentary – and its contractors has raised fresh concerns in China amid bilateral tensions.

Hundreds of special agents from multiple US law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation served search warrants at the Fuyao plant in Moraine, Ohio and 27 other locations in the Dayton metropolitan area on Friday.

“Special agents are on scene investigating allegations of financial crimes and labour exploitation,” a statement from Homeland Security said.

An observer in China warned that the raids could become a “talking point” in the US presidential election.

The investigation comes at a time when US politicians continue to plan containment measures targeting China ahead of November’s presidential election. They also coincided with Beijing’s announcement of a Chinese business delegation’s visit to the United States from Saturday “to consolidate economic and trade cooperation”.

Homeland Security officials said activities tied to the investigation were going on in Dayton, Liberty Township, Miamisburg, Moraine and West Carrollton.

Local newspaper Dayton Daily News quoted a Homeland Security special agent as saying that the investigation was focused on money laundering, potential human smuggling, labour exploitation and financial crimes.

“Law enforcement is working diligently to identify victims to provide them with services and to gather evidence relevant to the investigation,” the agent said.

Fuyao Group on Sunday confirmed that Fuyao Glass America - its wholly-owned subsidiary in Ohio – was searched by US federal government agencies and supporting local law enforcement personnel at around 10am local time on Friday. The US government agents completed their on-site investigation and left at around 5pm, it added.

Fuyao Glass America “is not the target of the investigation”, the group said, citing US government agencies, and was mainly cooperating with the ongoing investigation into a third-party labour service company.

Fuyao Glass America’s vice-president Amy Lei said federal government agents and supporting local law enforcement officers visited the company as part of an investigation “which we believe involves certain [Fuyao] contractors”.

“The company intends to cooperate fully with the investigation. As a result, part of our first shift and the second shift operations were suspended. [Fuyao] has resumed production in the third shift and we believe our production and delivery will not be impacted,” Lei said in a statement released to local media.

In a recording taken inside the Fuyao plant and posted to Facebook, a Homeland Security agent was seen telling workers that the company was not the target of the investigation at this time, and that there was no intention to arrest anyone at the plant on Friday.

According to local media, several residents reported sightings of suspected illegal workers living in the neighbourhood. The Dayton Daily News said it received a tip earlier this month raising questions about a staffing company potentially improperly providing workers to Fuyao.

An international relations professor at Tsinghua University said it was too early to comment on the impact of the Fuyao raids as there was “no official conclusion from the US law enforcement yet”.

“From what’s in the media, it seems to be mainly related to the issue of illegal workers. As an auto-glass manufacturer, Fuyao is far less sensitive than other industries like chip manufacturing. But the timing of the raid is sensitive as it might become a talking point in the run-up to the US presidential election,” he said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Ohio State Senator Niraj Antani posted a statement on X, saying he was “deeply concerned” by Friday’s law enforcement action at Fuyao.

“Before I was elected, the State of Ohio, through JobsOhio, provided millions of dollars in incentives to Fuyao, understanding that American jobs would be created. I look forward to learning more about today,” he said.

Fuyao became a much-watched symbol of Chinese investment in the US against the backdrop of the Sino-US trade war in 2019, after the Netflix documentary American Factory revealed the life of US workers at Fuyao’s plant in Ohio and generated strong interest in both countries.

The film, backed by the production company of former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, documents how the Chinese auto-glass company brought not only new jobs to Ohio, but also the high expectations and harsh management style customary in factories across China.

On Saturday, Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the US, said China’s development and Sino-US cooperation had provided “sustained growth momentum for the US economy”, along with a huge market for US companies and high-quality and low-cost goods for the American people.

Addressing a seminar in San Francisco to mark 45 years of bilateral ties, Xie said more than 70,000 US companies had benefited from China’s growth and exports to China alone had created 930,000 jobs in the US.

“The two sides should complement rather than hurt each other, [try to] lengthen the cooperation list, shorten the ‘negative list’, and use the successful story of dialogue and cooperation to negate the narrative of zero-sum game,” he said.

Severe landslide kills 12 in central China province hit hard by heavy rain and floods

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3272211/severe-landslide-kills-12-central-china-province-hit-hard-heavy-rain-and-floods?utm_source=rss_feed

A severe landslide in central China’s Hunan province on Sunday has killed 12 and injured 6, state media reported, citing the provincial emergency management department.

The landslide occurred around 8am in Yuelin village of Hengyang city as a result of heavy rainfall in recent days, according to a report from the official Xinhua news agency.

A one-storey house, described on social media as a homestay that had been operating for more than a decade, was smashed into debris, and local rescuers were seen cleaning fallen trees and other obstacles, according to video clips circulating online.

The village is located near the Mount Heng resort – one of the most famous mountains in China. The scenic spot draws many visitors during the summer thanks to its cool weather.

Six people who were injured have been sent to hospital for treatment, Xinhua said.

No additional deaths were reported as of noon on Sunday. It remains unclear how many are missing.

Around 20 people were trapped in the landslide, but three escaped by themselves, Beijing News reported, citing state broadcaster CCTV.

Many of those who were trapped were elderly people who were buried while having breakfast at a canteen, the newspaper said.

Hunan is one of the regions in China hit hardest by recent extreme weather. A flood earlier this month breached an embankment on the shore of Dongting Lake in the northeastern part of the province, forcing more than 6,000 residents to evacuate.

On Sunday, the local meteorological station issued a red alert warning of heavy rain across the province. In some cities, rainfall has reached 100mm (3.9 inches) in one day.

Heavy rain and floods have hit several other parts of China, forcing leaders to issue warnings for early preparation and emergency management work.

The Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, chaired by President Xi Jinping, said in a Thursday meeting that Chinese cadres must “always be on high alert and take initiative” in flood control efforts, state media reported.

“[We must] do everything we can to prevent the breaching of embankments of major rivers and the collapse of dams at large and key reservoirs,” said a statement from the meeting released by Xinhua.

“[We must] check all hidden risks and dangers of all essential infrastructure … as well as key points such as urban underground spaces, bridges and tunnels, and implement emergency measures to ensure safe operation,” it said.

The Central Meteorological Station on Sunday issued warnings about heavy rainfall in more than 10 provinces, including the central provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Henan, the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, the southern province of Guangdong, as well as three northeastern provinces.

China's finance and emergency management ministries jointly appropriated 475 million yuan (US$65.6 million) of central government funding for natural disaster relief.

Key to Hong Kong’s success is to stay as China’s international city

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3271870/key-hong-kongs-success-stay-chinas-international-city?utm_source=rss_feed

Three of Hong Kong’s highest-scoring students in the recent Diploma of Secondary Education examinations attended the RTHK studio last Monday to discuss their results and aspirations. The young men, all from Diocesan Boys’ School, impressed with their demeanour. They were articulate about their next steps for study and employment.

Two were going into medicine, would attend university in Hong Kong then practise here after graduation. They were keen to pay back to the community that had nurtured them. The third, who wants to study urban planning, was deciding between a local and UK university.

It was encouraging that all three saw their future in Hong Kong; we want our best and brightest to stay. At the same time, we want them to have the broader international perspective that can only come from a long-term stay overseas, whether for study or work early in their career.

But the more successful we are in persuading our young people to get that international exposure, the greater the risk that other economies will attract them away. We must walk a fine line.

Hong Kong has a plethora of programmes to attract talent and capital from anywhere in the world. The main ones are the Top Talent Pass Scheme, Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates, Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals. There is also the new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES).

Only one of these explicitly targets mainlanders. But all the signs are that qualified mainlanders are also applying successfully under the other schemes, coming direct from the mainland or other economies. For the Top Talent Pass Scheme, they accounted for more than 90 per cent of the admissions.

For the CIES, Hong Kong’s cash-for-residency scheme, more than 75 per cent of applicants were from Guinea-Bissau and Vanuatu. I mean no disrespect to the two countries when I say this seems unlikely to be the whole story.

Let me say right away that I see absolutely nothing wrong with this pattern. It is natural in every country for the most talented to congregate in the major cities for business, education, professional services, the arts and so on. In Britain, it is London and to a lesser extent, Birmingham and Manchester; in France, it is Paris plus Lyon and Marseilles; in Italy, Rome and Milan.

The United States and Germany both spread their activities among several different cities and because of its size, so does China. We are right up there with Beijing and Shanghai, and it is normal for us to attract our share of the best and brightest.

Moreover, since many of the arriving mainlanders already have the overseas exposure we need to maintain our cosmopolitan flavour, they fit right in.

So this is good, but it is not good enough. Hong Kong’s role is to be China’s international city. Last year’s tourism figures lay bare just how far we are falling short in this respect.

Of the almost 34 million visitors we attracted last year, nearly 80 per cent were from the mainland and less than six per cent were from Western countries. This imbalance is beginning to correct itself this year, but far too slowly.

We all know the reasons for the sluggish recovery. We were the last major tourism destination to drop our Covid-19 controls. It was only in March last year that the requirement to mask up in public was cancelled. Memories of our stringent regime during the pandemic will take some time to fade.

Many Westerners who left Hong Kong during the three years of pandemic restrictions either went home or relocated elsewhere in Asia. For geopolitical reasons, Western countries are down on China at the moment and that, of course, affects us too. Incredibly, some even maintain travel warnings about Hong Kong, advising visitors to be cautious.

We must waste no time in getting the true story out there. In addition to the traditional business advantages of our city, which we are all familiar with and have plugged relentlessly, Hong Kong is a very safe place to live in, work in and visit. It has an extraordinary and beautiful landscape.

And importantly, from the perspective of the international business community, it is English-speaking. It is possible to survive here perfectly well for half a century with only a smattering of the local lingo – as I have.

But there are also areas where we could do better. We are still building far too many small homes. Nobody is going to settle here with a family in a flat of just 200-300 sq ft, when houses 10 times that size are available in their own countries, and cheaper too.

Education here is very expensive. We used to subsidise school fees at the English Schools Foundation by an amount which equated to the cost of educating a local child in a local school. Some years ago, for reasons still a mystery to me, the arrangement was scrapped. What can taxpaying foreign companies and senior executives expect for their money now?

Above all, we must focus our promotion efforts on North America, Europe and Australasia. We must restore the international balance to fulfil our national duty. This is a task for the whole community, we cannot just leave it to the Tourism Board, Trade Development Council and InvestHK. We have to all get out there, using all the tools at our collective disposal.

Groping professor shows why China’s universities need a sexual complaints system

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3271981/groping-professor-shows-why-chinas-universities-need-sexual-complaints-system?utm_source=rss_feed

Legal experts and feminist activists are calling on Chinese universities to set up a system to prevent sexual harassment on campus, following the swift sacking of a top university professor after he was exposed online as a predator.

Wang Guiyuan, 65, a literature professor at the prestigious Renmin University of China, was dismissed on Monday, less than 24 hours after one of his PhD students posted a video to social media platform Weibo on Sunday night detailing his behaviour.

The student’s video included audio recordings to back her allegations and was widely circulated online in China. The student alleged Wang had sexually and verbally abused her, and also threatened to prevent her from graduating.

Wang, a former deputy dean and party secretary of the university’s school of liberal arts, was also expelled from the Communist Party. Local police have said they are investigating the case.

Renmin University’s quick action was welcomed, but did not dispel doubts among those who believe that Chinese universities lack the mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment.

“I hope this incident will be a turning point that will change the atmosphere of sexual harassment in universities and society, and promote the establishment of a normal mechanism against sexual harassment,” said Lao Dongyan, a law professor at Tsinghua University.

Writing on her Weibo account on Tuesday night, Lao said that “in many cases, students can’t get the support they need from their university. Some universities even put pressure on students not to go public … for fear of damaging their reputations”.

Master’s and doctoral students in China often depend on their supervisors to decide whether they can publish papers, graduate or even find a job in academia, which can put them in a vulnerable position.

In her Weibo post, Lao said that the imbalance of power between teachers and students meant that victims have to remain silent in most cases.

“I hope that the next time such an incident occurs, the victim will be able to seek help through normal channels on campus, instead of risking further harm by exposing themselves to public opinion,” she said.

In a statement on Monday, Renmin University said Wang had “seriously violated party discipline, university rules and teachers’ professional ethics”. There was no mention of sexual harassment or any detail about what Wang’s behaviour had involved.

Women’s rights advocate Zhou Xiaoxuan criticised the vagueness of the wording in a post to her Weibo account on Monday, which was reposted thousands of times before it was deleted.

“The regulations on teachers’ ethics and conduct only mention the prohibition of sexual harassment, but do not specify what constitutes sexual harassment, how schools should prohibit it, or how students can seek help,” she said.

Zhou became a feminist icon in China after she went public in 2018 with accusations of sexual harassment against a television personality. Her complaints were subsequently dismissed.

The lack of complaint mechanisms on campus meant that “only a very small number of students who could not bear [the harassment] took the risk of slut-shaming and online violence by turning to the public for help”, Zhou said.

“If students can only turn to social media for help in dealing with sexual harassment in campus, it is a shame and a failure of the universities and society.”

Days after Wang’s dismissal, two more universities – one in the western province of Shaanxi and the other in Shandong province, eastern China – announced the sackings of teachers who had been publicly accused of sexual harassment.

Both used similar wording to Renmin University’s statement, with no specific mention of sexual abuse.

Unlike some universities in the United States and Hong Kong, none in mainland China have specific policies to prevent sexual harassment on campus.

Qianqian Law Firm in Beijing, which is dedicated to promoting women’s rights, published an article on its official WeChat account on Wednesday advocating the establishment of a mechanism to prevent sexual harassment in universities.

“In 2018 and 2019, 60 cases of sexual assault in universities were exposed online,” the law firm said, adding that “there are countless ‘silent majorities’ behind the cases that are reported publicly”.

“The concentration of academic power, the lack of regulation of the relationship between teachers and students, and the culture of gender discrimination that pervades academic institutions are the root causes of sexual harassment being ignored, tolerated, and exempt from serious punishment.”

Groundhog Day: China soldier saves same person twice from same pond, 25 years apart

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3272039/groundhog-day-china-soldier-saves-same-person-twice-same-pond-25-years-apart?utm_source=rss_feed

The story of a woman in China who fell into the same pond twice over a 25-year period and was rescued both times by the same man has caused amazement on mainland social media.

The coincidence began to emerge on July 17, when Xu Can from Yiyang, Hunan province in central China, was driving home alone.

When she approached a pond, Xu abruptly slammed on the brakes of her car, causing it to skid and plunge into the water.

As the car began to fill with water, Xu struggled to open the door and found that the automatic windows were malfunctioning.

With the water continuing to rise, Xu managed to stick her head out through a small gap in the window and shout for help.

Retired soldier Tang Keming, 71, who was cooking dinner nearby at the time, heard her screams and rushed outside to investigate.

“I saw a maroon car in the pond, with only the roof visible above the water. The driver’s neck was stuck in the window, and she was screaming for help,” Tang told Hunan Daily Press Group.

“Usually, my door is closed while I cook, so I wouldn’t have heard anything. But that day, by chance, the door was open,” he added.

Quick thinking Tang remained calm, grabbed a gardening hoe from his home before jumping into the pond.

“There was no one else around, and I didn’t have time to think. I just knew I had to save her,” he said.

Tang used the hoe to smash the window of the car so that Xu could struggle out. She was uninjured.

“I hit the glass four or five times in the centre without it breaking. Finally, I struck the edge with all my strength, and it shattered,” Tang said, adding that he swam to the shore while supporting Xu under his armpits.

The local village committee honoured Tang with the title of “Brave and Good Villager” on July 19 when Xu also visited him to express her gratitude personally.

During their conversation, Xu made a spooky discovery.

A quarter of a century ago, when she was in the first year of primary school, Xu fell into the same pond and it was Tang who came to her rescue.

“I was a mischievous child back then and after school I fell into the pond. I am so grateful to Tang for saving me twice,” said Xu.

Modest Tang said: “I didn’t think much about it. Saving lives is what’s important.”

The heartwarming coincidence has amazed many people online.

“Wow, what an example of fate! This is like something out of a novel. He saved her twice! May good people always be safe!” one person said.

“Sometimes you just have to accept fate’s arrangements. The probability of this happening is almost zero, but it did. Life is full of mysteries,” said another.

“Grandpa Tang is truly her guardian angel! Kudos to the brave grandpa. I hope he stays healthy and lives a long life,” said a third.

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Some high-speed rail services between Hong Kong and mainland China axed due to poor weather

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3272200/some-high-speed-rail-services-between-hong-kong-and-mainland-china-axed-due-poor-weather?utm_source=rss_feed

Some high-speed rail services between Hong Kong and mainland China have been cancelled on Sunday and Monday as rain lashes the city and parts of Guangdong province.

Flooding was also reported in the city over the weekend, with the Hong Kong Observatory issuing an amber rainstorm warning on two consecutive mornings.

“A broad trough of low pressure is bringing heavy showers and squally thunderstorms to the coast of Guangdong,” the forecaster said.

Authorities cancelled 12 rail services from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chaoshan, Xiamen and Fuzhou on Sunday.

Another 13 from those destinations to the city were also axed, including one from Shantou.

The D908 high-speed sleeper train from Hong Kong to Shanghai on Monday was cancelled, with the D907 service in the other direction also cut.

Authorities made the decision to axe the services due to the adverse conditions.

The Observatory issued an amber rainstorm signal at 5:50am on Sunday, removing it nearly five hours later at 10.40am.

The Transport Department said it recorded four flooding cases in the morning, and burst water mains had caused some lanes to be closed to traffic on Cornwall Street in Shek Kip Mei and Sau Mau Ping Road.

A red flag warning was also issued at several beaches due to large waves.

Chinese state media said at least 11 people were found dead in the mainland’s central Hunan province after a landslide triggered by the remnants of Typhoon Gaemi washed away parts of Yuelin Village in the city of Hengyang.

The Ministry of Emergency Management had raised the emergency response level for the province from Level-IV to Level-III on Saturday in anticipation of the heavy rains.

There were 130 warnings issued across the country shortly before 3pm on Sunday, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Some parts of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces had recorded torrential rainfall of between 250mm and 354mm over the past two days, the body said.

In Hong Kong, the Observatory warned heavy showers and squally thunderstorms were set to continue in the coming days, but expected to weaken later in the week.

“With an anticyclone aloft strengthening gradually, the weather will improve and it will be very hot during the day over southeastern China in the latter part of this week to early next week,” the weather forecaster said.

Monday is expected to be cloudy with showers and a few squally thunderstorms, with a high of 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 Fahrenheit).

Wind and solar to surpass 40% of China’s power capacity by year-end

https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3272181/wind-and-solar-surpass-40-chinas-power-capacity-year-end?utm_source=rss_feed

Wind and solar are expected to account for more than 40 per cent of China’s total installed power generation capacity by the end of the year, after exceeding coal-fired capacity for the first time in the first half, according to the country’s power trade association.

China is expected to add about 300 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power capacity to the grid this year, a touch higher than the 293GW a year earlier, the China Electricity Council (CEC) said in a report.

This could boost the cumulative grid-connected wind and solar power generation capacity in China to 1,350GW by the year-end, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the 3,300GW total installed capacity from all energy sources, according to CEC.

The continuing momentum in solar and wind power installation could also drive the overall installed capacity of non-fossil fuel energy sources, which include nuclear and hydropower, to 1,900GW by the end of 2024, or 57.5 per cent of the overall energy mix, versus 53.9 per cent in 2023, the report said.

China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and power consumer, is working towards having 80 per cent of its total energy mix from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060, when it aims to become carbon neutral.

The country had a combined 1,180GW of wind and solar capacity at the end of the first half of the year, accounting for 38.4 per cent of the 3,070GW overall capacity, according to CEC.

Meanwhile, coal-fired capacity fell to 1,170GW, or 38.1 per cent of total power capacity by the end of June.

China, the world’s largest consumer, producer and importer of coal, will see the share of the dirtiest fossil fuel in the energy mix fall below 37 per cent by the year-end, according to CEC.

President Xi Jinping said in 2021 that the country would “strictly control coal consumption” up to 2025 and “phase down coal consumption” from 2026.

Despite the growth in renewable energy capacity, CEC warned that low utilisation of clean power capacity will remain a major challenge during the rest of this year.

“Some regions will face mounting pressure in absorbing renewable energy and the utilisation rate is expected to drop significantly,” the report noted.

Compared with the rapid growth in renewable energy supply, China’s grid infrastructure still requires further upgrades to improve its flexibility in transmission and storage to cope with intermittent wind and solar power supplies.

The utilisation of solar and wind power capacity in terms of number of hours was less than half of that of coal in the first six months of the year, meaning the actual power generation volume of solar and wind was much lower than coal, according to CEC.

Coal accounted for nearly two-thirds of China’s electricity supply in 2023, it said.

Chinese scientists’ quantum computing pipeline could change the way drugs are designed

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3271863/chinese-scientists-quantum-computing-pipeline-could-change-way-drugs-are-designed?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese researchers have developed a quantum computing pipeline for drug discovery that could take the technology from concept to real-world drug design.

Using a mixture of simulations and calculations, the pipeline can be adapted to address different challenges in drug design, such as the interaction and bonding of drugs with a target, and the energy needed to break bonds within a drug.

Details of the pipeline were presented by researchers from the Tencent Quantum Lab, China Pharmaceutical University and research company AceMapAI Biotechnology in a paper published in peer-reviewed Nature Portfolio journal Scientific Reports last week.

Able to solve complex problems, quantum computing can be useful in the design of drugs as it can simulate interactions between molecules and predict the success and safety of a drug.

“Quantum computing, with its superior computational capabilities compared to classical approaches, holds the potential to revolutionise numerous scientific domains, including pharmaceuticals,” the team wrote.

Existing classical methods in computational chemistry are not exact – and their cost goes up as the scale of computing grows, the researchers said.

Quantum computing – which uses quantum mechanics to perform computing tasks beyond the reach of classical computers – could be used to overcome current challenges in drug discovery.

“However, in the current landscape, the involvement of quantum computing in drug discovery is primarily restricted to conceptual validation, with minimal integration into real-world drug design,” the team said.

In answer to that, the team has developed a hybrid quantum computing pipeline targeted for real-world drug discovery, which they were able to validate using two case studies that addressed real problems in drug design.

“Our results demonstrate the potential of a quantum computing pipeline for integration into real world drug design workflows,” the researchers said.

The team sought to carry out two critical tasks in drug discovery: determine the energy needed to cleave or break bonds in a prodrug – a drug that turns from inactive to active inside the body – and the simulation of covalent bonds, a chemical bond where atoms share electrons.

Prodrugs are an important part of modern drug research, as they “only activate at certain places in the body, which lowers the risk of side effects and leads to safer and more effective treatments”, the researchers said.

One strategy to activate these drugs is the breaking of carbon-carbon bonds. According to the team, the calculation of an energy barrier for cleavage of these bonds is “crucial”, as it determines whether it can happen spontaneously within the body.

To determine whether their quantum computing pipeline could be used to study this, the researchers investigated the anticancer prodrug, beta-lapachone.

They compared their computing results with a paper from 2022 that used classical computing methods to determine the energy barrier alongside laboratory experimentation.

Analysis using the quantum computer agreed with the previous study, with both analyses determining the drug could undergo a spontaneous reaction within biological organisms.

“Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of quantum computing … as well as the versatility and plug-and-play advantages of our pipeline,” the researchers wrote.

In their second case study, the team sought to determine the activity of another anticancer drug, sotorasib, known as a KRAS (Kirsten Rat Sarcoma) inhibitor, which inhibits a specific KRAS gene mutation, G12C.

Finding medication for mutations of this oncogene has been a challenge, as it needs to form a covalent bond with the target in order to inhibit it.

Quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulations – vital simulations in post-design drug validation – were used to examine the drug target interaction. The team used a hybrid computing method, meaning they started with a quantum emulator before moving to a quantum computer.

After performing hybrid quantum computing validation on sotorasib and the target mutation, the team observed that a strong covalent bond formed between them – which could offer insight into the drug’s efficacy.

“This understanding is pivotal for the rational design of future inhibitors targeting similar mutations,” the researchers said, adding that it would underpin future advancement of the speed and accuracy of drug discovery using quantum computing.

“In this study, we have established a model pipeline that enables quantum computers to tackle real-world drug discovery problems,” they said.

“The universality of our pipeline highlights its potential as a foundational tool, empowering researchers with a ready-to-use computational resource.”

They said even drug design experts without a background in quantum computing would be able to use it.

“By democratising access to this advanced pipeline, we lay the groundwork for expanded collaborative endeavours within the scientific community, thereby accelerating the translation of quantum computing power into tangible therapeutic outcomes,” the researchers said.

They also said more work was needed to improve the accuracy of quantum computing methods for drug discovery. One challenge is the current limitations of quantum computers, such as longer computational time and errors.

11 killed by mudslide in China as heavy rains from tropical storm Gaemi drench region

https://apnews.com/article/china-typhoon-tropical-storm-gaemi-taiwan-philippines-3fdd5c362596193f3c7b1cabad3bce56Simone Biles, of the United States, attends a gymnastics training session at Bercy Arena at the Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

2024-07-28T04:19:01Z

BEIJING (AP) — Eleven people were killed after a mudslide hit a house in southeastern China on Sunday as heavy rains from a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said.

Elsewhere in China, a delivery person on a scooter was killed Saturday after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai, apparently because of strong winds related to the storm, according to The Paper, a digital news outlet.

The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. Before reaching China, the typhoon intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, leaving at least 34 dead, and swept across the island of Taiwan, where the death toll has risen to 10, authorities said late Saturday.

The mudslide struck the house about 8 a.m. in Yuelin village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hengyang city in Hunan province, state broadcaster CCTV said in a series of online reports.

An earlier report said that 18 people were trapped by the mudslide, and that six injured people had been rescued. It wasn’t clear in the latest report if one other person remained missing. The reports didn’t say who was staying in the house, which was was rented for temporary stays.

There was no information on whether the injuries were serious.

The reports said the mudslide was triggered by water rushing down the mountains from heavy rains. They didn’t mention Gaemi but the China Meteorological Administration said that rain tied to the tropical storm hit southeastern parts of Hunan province on Saturday.

In Shanghai, a photo posted by The Paper showed a delivery scooter on its side mostly covered by leafy branches near the still-standing barren trunk of a tree. It said storm-related winds were the suspected cause, and that the investigation was continuing.

Professor sacked over abuse claims in rare win for China’s #MeToo movement

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/28/professor-sacked-over-abuse-claims-in-rare-win-for-chinas-metoo-movement

Public allegations of sexual harassment are rare in China. Swift responses to punish the accused are rarer still. So a recent case at one of China’s top universities, in which a student posted a video online accusing her supervisor of sexually harassing her, leading to his sacking, has created shockwaves.

On 21 July, a woman who identified herself as Wang Di posted an hour-long video on Weibo, in which she accused her PhD supervisor at Renmin University in Beijing, Wang Guiyuan, of physically and verbally abusing her for more than two years. The professor, a former Chinese Communist party representative at the university, threatened to block her graduation prospects, Wang Di said.

Her video included an audio recording of one encounter in which a man is asking to kiss a woman, who repeatedly refuses. “I am reporting my professor, Wang Guiyuan … for sexually harassing and forcibly molesting me, and requesting to have a sexual relationship with me,” Wang Di said. The audio could not be independently verified.

By the following evening, the student’s video had received more than 2m likes and prompted an outpouring of supportive comments. A related hashtag soon surpassed 110m views. Within a day, the university said that after an investigation, the allegations were proven to be true, although the university’s statement referred to “moral misconduct”, not sexual harassment. Wang Guiyuan was fired from the university and expelled from the CCP. Local police said they were investigating the claims. Wang Guiyuan did not respond to a request for comment.

But the speed at which the Renmin case was dealt with masks the facts that allegations of sexual harassment and abuse are often dismissed or downplayed if made privately, and that women face enormous risks in speaking out, Chinese feminists and legal experts say.

The Renmin case demonstrates the consequences of a university lacking a proper internal procedure for handling complaints, said Feng Yuan, who founded a helpline for victims of domestic violence. “It is assumed that the victim must reveal his or her identity and speak out in this way.”

On Weibo, Zhou Xiaoxuan, a screenwriter who goes by the pen name Xianzi, wrote: “Universities systematically cover up teachers’ behaviour and systematically ignore the situation of students. Only a very small number of students who can’t stand it, risking slut-shaming and cyberbullying, seek help from public opinion.”

In 2018, Zhou discovered her own uneasy fame after she publicly accused a famous television presenter, Zhu Jun, of forcibly kissing and groping her during an internship. Her lawsuit against him ultimately failed because of insufficient evidence. Sexual harassment cases in China often require “smoking gun” evidence such as audio or video recordings of the alleged abuse.

Other women have come forward on social media with their own accounts of campus harassment. “Thank you sister for speaking out. I too was sexually assaulted by my post-doctoral professor 3 years ago and still have no outcome after calling the police and reporting it,” one user wrote on Weibo.

On 24 July, Shaanxi normal university said that it had suspended a professor accused of “violating teacher ethics” in 2017, adding that it had “zero tolerance” for misconduct.

The statement didn’t provide details about the nature of the allegation: sending explicit photographs to female students.

Feminists have pointed out that Chinese institutions – schools, courts, the police – tend to avoid naming sexual abuse directly, preferring instead to treat the matter as a misunderstanding or moral failing between two people. Such a strategy is a way of dealing with gender-based violence “in a way that does not touch the essence of the problem”, Feng said.

Organised feminist activity has largely been squashed in China, with activists facing severe punishments. In June, Sophia Huang Xueqin, a journalist who reported on China’s nascent #MeToo movement, was jailed for five years for inciting state subversion.

Feminism in China has been forced to become “very decentralised and individualised”, said Li Maizi, a veteran activist who is now based in the US. That means that women who speak out against abuse by people in positions of authority shoulder all the risks themselves.

One of those risks is being sued – by the alleged harasser. In May, a court in Beijing heard a defamation case filed by Li Songwei, a celebrity counsellor, against a woman who accused him on social media of engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship with her when she was his client.

And Xianzi, the screenwriter, was sued by Zhu for defamation after she made her MeToo accusation against him (he dropped his lawsuit due to poor health last year).

Research by Darius Longarino, Wei Changhao and Yixin Ren of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School suggests that only 8% of civil lawsuits relating to sexual harassment are cases in which an alleged victim is suing an alleged perpetrator. The majority of lawsuits are lodged by the accused, often for defamation.

But despite the risks, some women will continue to speak out publicly, Li predicts, “because where there’s repression there’s resistance”.

Additional research by Chi Hui Lin

Trump says US must dominate cryptocurrency sector, cites China competition

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3272174/trump-says-us-must-dominate-cryptocurrency-sector-cites-china-competition?utm_source=rss_feed

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a bitcoin conference that the US must dominate the sector or China would, his latest move to court advocates of cryptocurrency, which Beijing has restricted and which he once dismissed as a “scam.”

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville on Saturday, Trump positioned himself as the pro-cryptocurrency candidate ahead of the November 5 presidential election, saying he would make the US the world’s cryptocurrency leader and embrace friendlier regulations than likely Democratic nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The Republican Party has promised lighter regulation for cryptocurrency, and Trump has slammed Democrats’ attempts to regulate the sector.

“If we don’t embrace crypto and bitcoin technology, China will, other countries will. They’ll dominate, and we cannot let China dominate. They are making too much progress as it is,” Trump said.

China has cracked down on cryptocurrency and there are strict controls on capital movement across its border. But people there are still able to trade tokens such as bitcoin on crypto exchanges, and Chinese investors can also open overseas bank accounts to buy crypto assets.

Trump said he would establish a cryptocurrency presidential advisory council and create a national “stockpile” of bitcoin using cryptocurrency the US government currently holds that was largely seized in law enforcement actions.

“Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump said. “If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, the United States of America, to keep 100 per cent of all the bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future,” he said.

Trump added that he would like to see expanded bitcoin mining by US firms, even though he called cryptocurrency a “scam” in 2021.

The price of bitcoin initially eased after Trump’s speech, but then rebounded and was last quoted up 0.94 per cent at US$68,182.

Trump also reiterated that he would commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for creating and operating the website Silk Road, which allowed users to secretly buy and sell drugs and other illegal products.

Ulbricht’s time served was “enough,” Trump said to applause and chants of “Free Ross” from the crowd.

Countries around the world, including the US, have shown concern that privately operated, highly volatile digital currencies could undermine government control of the financial and monetary systems, increase systemic risk, promote financial crime and hurt investors.

Digital asset proponents say that cryptocurrency users are becoming a growing political force this election cycle, although it is unclear just how many users would prioritise cryptocurrency over other issues at the ballot box.

Some cryptocurrency advocates are backing Trump, and any move by the US to create a national bitcoin reserve likely would be seen by them as a major move to legitimise cryptocurrency.

Jack Mallers, CEO of global bitcoin app Strike, said Trump’s proposal to create a strategic bitcoin reserve was an “unbelievable vote of confidence”.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency executives are upset with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement actions under US President Joe Biden.

The agency has alleged that several cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and Binance, facilitate the trading of digital assets on their platform that should have been registered as securities, which the firms deny.

A group of nearly 30 Democratic lawmakers and Congressional candidates sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee and Harris on Saturday, urging them to take a “forward-looking” approach to digital assets.

“From an electoral standpoint, crypto and blockchain technologies have an outsized impact in ensuring victories up and down the ballot,” they wrote.

China’s population facing ‘largest absolute population loss’, UN says

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3272021/chinas-population-facing-largest-absolute-population-loss-un-says?utm_source=rss_feed

China could experience the largest population decline any country has ever experienced, according to the United Nations, with a 50 per cent chance it could lose more than half of its current population by the end of the century.

The ongoing population decline in China is due to it having fewer women of childbearing age, delays in people getting married, as well as the growing popularity of not having children altogether.

By 2100, China’s population could return to a size comparable to the late 1950s as it faces losing 786 million people, according to the summary of results from the United Nations’ 2024 World Population Prospects published earlier this month.

China “will likely experience the largest absolute population loss [of 204 million] between 2024 and 2054,” the report said, followed by Japan and Russia, whose potential losses stand at 21 million and 10 million, respectively.

Longer-range population projections, though, are more uncertain, the report added.

According to the United Nations, India replaced China as the world’s most populous country in April last year, although official statistics are not available as India was not able to complete its planned once-a-decade census in 2021 due to the coronavirus.

Last year, China’s population dropped for the second year in a row, falling to 1.4097 billion after its overall population fell by 2.08 million.

Only 9.02 million births were reported in China in 2023, representing the lowest level since records began in 1949.

But even with demographers expecting a brief rebound in newborns over the next couple of years as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic eases, a raft of pronatalist policies being implemented, and it being the auspicious Year of the Dragon in China’s zodiac, the longer-term outlook expects births to continue to decline.

The global fertility rate stands at 2.25 live births per woman, while a replacement level of 2.1 live is required to maintain a stable population size.

China, along with nearly one fifth of all countries and areas, is experiencing what is referred to as “ultra-low” fertility, with fewer than 1.4 live births per woman over a lifetime, said the UN.

China’s total fertility rate dropped to 1.09 in 2022, according to an estimate by the China Population and Development Research Centre, while the total fertility rate in Shanghai, one of China’s wealthiest cities, dipped to 0.6 in 2023, according to the municipality.

Demographers said China’s total fertility rate could have dropped below one in 2023, although China has not provided an official total fertility rate for last year.

The UN report estimated that Hong Kong and South Korea had the lowest levels of fertility in 2024, with an average below 0.75 births per woman.

It is very likely that the world’s population would peak within the century, earlier than expected, presumably in the mid-2080s with a population around 8.2 billion, the UN added.

“The size of the world’s population in 2100 is now expected to be 6 per cent smaller – or about 700 million people fewer – than anticipated a decade ago,” the UN report said.

“The earlier occurrence of a peak in the projected size of the global population is due to several factors including lower than-expected levels of fertility in recent years in some of the world’s largest countries, particularly China.”

The Economist Intelligence Unit said in February that China’s population had reached its peak, with its population expected to plunge by 20 million to 1.39 billion by 2035, further clouding long-term economic prospects and creating implications for delayed retirement and an accelerated automation rate.

US-Japan security talks focus on bolstering military cooperation amid rising China threat

https://apnews.com/article/japan-us-military-command-missile-china-4e97f4cb01cfef7b6db8fb1a5df771e4U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP)

2024-07-28T00:52:00Z

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs and top diplomats will meet in Tokyo on Sunday for talks aimed at further bolstering their military cooperation, including by upgrading the command and control of U.S. forces and strengthening American-licensed missile production in Japan, amid a rising threat from China.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will join their Japanese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, at the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee, known as “2+2” security talks, to reaffirm their alliance following President Joe Biden ‘s withdrawal from the November presidential race.

For the first time, the ministers will hold separate talks to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to “extended deterrence,” which includes atomic weapons — a shift from Japan’s earlier reluctance to openly discuss the sensitive issue in the world’s only country to have suffered nuclear attacks — amid growing nuclear threats from Russia and China.

The ministers are expected to discuss plans to upgrade command and control structures for U.S. forces in Japan by bringing in higher-ranked officers with commanding authority to create a U.S. counterpart for Japan’s unified command currently set for inauguration in March.

Japan is home to more than 50,000 U.S. troops, but a commander for the U.S. Forces Japan headquartered in Yokota in the western suburbs of Tokyo, tasked with managing their bases, has no commanding authority. Instead that comes from the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. The plan to upgrade USFJ’s command and control capability is designed to help smooth joint exercises and operations, officials say.

Ahead of the 2+2 talks, Kihara was to meet with South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik in their first bilateral defense ministerial talks in Japan in 15 years. Austin will later join them for three-way talks.

Japan has been accelerating its military buildup and has increased joint operations with the U.S., as well as with South Korea, while trying to strengthen its largely domestic defense industry.

Japan has significantly eased its arms export restrictions and in December accommodated a U.S. request for shipment of surface-to-air PAC-3 missile interceptors produced in Japan under an American license to replenish U.S. inventories, which have decreased due to its support for Ukraine.

The ministers are also expected to discuss increased Japanese production of PAC-3 interceptors for export to the United States.

Japan and the U.S. have been accelerating arms industry cooperation following an April agreement between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Biden. The two sides have set up working groups for missile co-production and for the maintenance and repair of U.S. Navy ships and Air Force aircraft in the region.

While Japan’s role is largely designed to help U.S. weapons supply and keep its deterrence credible in the Indo-Pacific amid continuing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, Japanese officials say it will help strengthen the Japanese defense industry.

‘Message to China’: Europe steps up air drills in Japan’s backyard amid regional threats

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3271995/message-china-europe-steps-air-drills-japans-backyard-amid-regional-threats?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan’s joint military drills with three European powers were aimed at bringing the country’s air force “up to speed” with its other military branches, analysts say – while also signalling Europe’s commitment to maintaining an “open and free Indo-Pacific”.

The joint exercises with Germany, Spain and France, which ran from July 19 to 24, saw aircraft from the three European nations deployed to Japan for the first time, underscoring Europe’s growing security presence in the strategic Asia-Pacific theatre. German and Spanish fighter jets and transport planes operated out of Chitose Air Base in northern Hokkaido prefecture, while French fighter jets and refuelling tankers took part in drills at the Hyakuri Air Base northeast of Tokyo.

This flurry of multinational cooperation is set to continue, with Japan and Italy announcing plans for their own joint fighter jet exercises scheduled for August 2-10. The coming drill will mark the first time the air forces of the two countries have trained together.

Analysts say the joint air drills represent Europe’s willingness to have some “military skin in the game”, rather than just professing rhetorical support.

The Air Self-Defence Force, as Japan’s air force is known, “is the most domestic unit” of the country’s military, as its role has mostly been limited to defending Japanese airspace, said Yoichiro Sato, a professor of Asia-Pacific studies at Japan’s Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.

“Combat exercises with Nato members are not only politically symbolic, but also instrumental in raising interoperability among them” and improving capabilities, Sato said, noting the joint drills would bring the Japanese air force “up to speed”.

Describing the drills as both “symbolic and substantive”, Daniel Fiott of the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy in Brussels said they underlined Europe’s growing military engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

“There has been a feeling that Europe’s own interest in the Indo-Pacific has been rather rhetorical,” Fiott said. “So close exercises with partners such as Japan deliver on the objectives of enhancing Europe’s military partnerships, improving interoperability and sending a message to China.”

“Europe cannot profess to want to support an open and free Indo-Pacific without military skin in the game,” he added, further citing previous joint naval drills.

European powers have steadily been strengthening their presence in the region in recent years.

In 2021, a German warship sailed through the South China Sea, the first such deployment in nearly two decades. This year, Germany has sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific, while France has scheduled aircraft stopovers at a Philippine airbase as part of its annual Pegase mission. Italy is also set to deploy a carrier strike group to the South China Sea and the Philippines.

Analysts say these moves are a clear response to China’s increasingly “aggressive” actions around the region, which have rattled America’s regional allies and partners. While Europe alone may lack the heft to deter China, Fiott said it was working closely with Japan, South Korea and Australia to build a broader regional security architecture that can push back against Beijing’s assertiveness.

This includes not just joint military exercises, but also nascent security and defence industry partnerships, with the European Union seeking to jointly develop military equipment with Japan and South Korea, according to reports in June citing a senior EU commission official.

Maintaining regular security dialogues with key regional players is also a priority.

Europe’s Asia-Pacific partners have proven this security partnership is “not a one-way street”, Fiott said.

Indeed, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, US allies in Asia have imposed economic and financial sanctions on Moscow while providing direct material and diplomatic aid to Ukraine.

They have not only deterred further Russian aggression, but also offered critical support to bolster European security.

“All partners have understood that diplomatic and military steps are needed to deter Beijing,” Fiott told This Week in Asia.

The joint drills mark a significant shift, according to James Brown, a political-science professor at the Tokyo campus of Temple University. He said the Japanese government has realised the security provided by the US alone is no longer sufficient amid rising regional tensions.

“Tokyo is therefore seeking to supplement the alliance with the US, which remains essential, with closer security ties with other like-minded countries,” Brown said.

This is evidenced by Japan and Britain’s agreement last year to deepen defence cooperation through joint exercises and a next-generation fighter jet project. Starting next year, the UK also plans to hold regular military drills in the Indo-Pacific alongside Japan and the US.

European leaders recognise that their continent’s security is intertwined with that of Asia, Brown said.

A conflict over Taiwan “would be disastrous for Europe too”, he said. “For this reason, deterring Chinese aggression has become a priority.”

While Japan’s military cooperation with Europe is still in its nascent stages compared to its decades-long training with US forces, there is a strategic advantage.

“When cooperating with the US, Japan is always the junior partner due to the vast scale of the US military,” Brown said. “With European countries, Japan is cooperating with equals.”

Ukraine war briefing: China denies helping Russia’s war effort in Ukraine at regional summit

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/28/ukraine-war-briefing-china-denies-helping-russias-war-effort-in-ukraine-at-regional-summit

• China’s foreign minister told his US counterpart that Beijing denies charges that it is helping Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Wang Yi met with Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, on Saturday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Blinken discussed China’s support for Russia’s defence industrial base and warned of further US actions if China does not curtail that, according to a senior US state department official. “There was no commitment by the Chinese to take action,” the official told Reuters.

• Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken control of the settlement of Lozuvatske in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported, as the Russians advanced towards the city of Pokrovsk. Ukraine’s general staff made no mention of the settlement in its reports, but noted that the area around it was gripped by heavy fighting. Unofficial military bloggers have reported the loss of at least two other localities in the sector. Russian forces have been slowly advancing through the Donetsk region in Ukraine’s east.

• Ukrainian attack drones damaged a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber at a military airfield in northern Russia, a military intelligence source told Reuters on Saturday. The source said a long-range TU-22M3 supersonic bomber was hit at the Olenya military airfield near Olenegorsk in northern Russia, about 1,800km (1,100 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that in further attacks on Russia, military airfield were hit in the city of Engels in the Saratov region and Dyagilevo in the Ryazan region. A drone also hit an oil refinery in Ryazan. Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.

• Ukrainian officials say Russian shelling killed at least five civilians on Saturday in separate regions of Ukraine. In the Kherson region, in Ukraine’s south, officials said three people were killed, while in the north-eastern Sumy region a 14-year-old boy was killed and 12 other people wounded in a rocket attack on the small town of Hlukhiv, the Ukraine prosecutor’s office said. The attack on the town near the Russian border hit apartment blocks, houses, an educational institution, a shop and vehicles just after noon. Six of the wounded were children. In Kharkiv region, the governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said one person was killed when a private home near the city of Chuhuiv came under fire.

• In southern Russia’s Belgorod region, the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks killed one person, injured two and damaged homes and other buildings. Russia’s defence ministry said air defence units had destroyed two drones over the region late on Saturday. Accounts from either side could not be independently confirmed. Ukraine denies attacking civilian targets inside Russia.

• The Ukrainian maritime corridor transported 60m tonnes of cargo, mainly from the Greater Odesa ports, in the last 11 months, the Ukrainian seaports authority said, despite attacks on port infrastructure. 40.6m tonnes of this total amount were grain exports delivered to 46 countries.

• India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to travel to Kyiv in August, marking his first visit to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion two years ago.

• The air force of the armed forces of Ukraine said Russia has increased the number of “ballistic” strikes over the past few months, forcing Ukrainian forces to think more about “passive defence” tactics such as camouflage and using “false positions”.

• The governor of the Bryansk region in southern Russia, Alexander Bogomaz, reported a “massive” drone attack on the region. No casualties were reported. “22 unmanned aircraft-type aerial vehicles have been intercepted and destroyed,” Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.

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China sees growth in strictly no sex ‘street girlfriends’ who sell their wares from stalls

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3271980/china-sees-growth-strictly-no-sex-street-girlfriends-who-sell-their-wares-stalls?utm_source=rss_feed

The time-consuming pressures of work and family responsibilities has sparked a trend among China’s young adults of buying emotional connections from street vendors.

A section of young women are willing to sell such services, making them easily accessible and cheap to buy.

In April last year, Southern Weekly first reported on the “street girlfriend” phenomenon across the country, but it gained scant online attention, receiving fewer than 1,000 likes on Weibo.

Recently, mainland internet users have seen the service appearing on the bustling streets of Shenzhen, according to NetEase News.

Young women were reportedly observed selling hugs, kisses and their company from street stalls, reigniting widespread social media discourse about the paid companionship economy.

Next to a subway station in Shenzhen, a young woman set up a stall with a sign that read: “One yuan (14 US cents) for a hug, 10 yuan for a kiss, 15 yuan to watch a film together.”

Two other women set up stalls in a pedestrian street square, with signs reading: “20 yuan (US$3) to help with household chores, 40 yuan per hour to drink with you.”

Mainland reports suggest that some of them can earn 100 yuan in a single outing.

Opinions about the street girlfriends are mixed on mainland social media.

“These girls can pass the time at weekends and also get to meet many interesting people. I would love to try and chat with them,” one online observer wrote on Douyin.

“The street girlfriend activity is voluntary for both the customers and the girls. Also, it can be considered a way to relieve stress and socialise,” another internet user wrote.

Someone with an opposing view wrote: “Putting a price on women’s companionship is disrespectful and undermines their dignity.”

“This might be illegal, girls need to protect their safety,” another person said.

He Bo, a lawyer from the Sichuan Hongqi Law Firm, told the Post: “The ‘street girlfriend’ service currently operates outside the clear regulatory framework of existing laws and carries the risk of transforming into prostitution or sexual service transactions.

“All sectors of society can guide young people to seek other healthy ways to engage in normal social interactions to meet their social and emotional needs.”

There have been other reports of similar services being offered at other locations on the mainland.

In January, someone shared a photo on Xiaohongshu, saying they saw a young woman set up a stall offering “one-day lover” services in Dali Ancient City, a tourist spot in southwestern China’s Yunnan province.

The photo showed a sign that read: “One-day lover, 600 yuan a day. I can offer you the warmest care, including meals together, hugs, kisses, but no sex.”

China’s Xiaohongshu carves out a niche in an increasingly crowded e-commerce market

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3272070/chinas-xiaohongshu-carves-out-niche-increasingly-crowded-e-commerce-market?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, the Instagram-style app where young consumers to share lifestyle tips, is seeking to become a new force in the country’s crowded e-commerce market by grabbing attention and revenue from established players such as Alibaba Group Holding and ByteDance’s short-video app Douyin.

Xiaohongshu, the platform also known as Red with 300 million monthly active users, held a two-day summit last Wednesday and Thursday in China’s e-commerce hub Hangzhou, the home city of Alibaba, to woo online vendors, brands and influencers to open shops on its platform. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Bearing the city’s scorching heat, the venue was bustling with merchants showcasing everything from durable goods such as custom-designed sofas, clothing, and home appliances to consumables such as snacks and soft drinks. Influencers also flocked to the event, seeking opportunities for collaboration.

“In the past year, the number of merchants with monthly sales exceeding 5 million yuan on Xiaohongshu has increased by 3.5 times, and the number of purchasing users has grown by 4.3 times,” Yin Shi, head of Xiaohongshu’s e-commerce unit, said at the summit. As part of the effort, Xiaohongshu will relocate its e-commerce unit to Hangzhou, the capital Zhejiang province known as a base for influencers, from its head office in Shanghai.

The popularity of Xiaohongshu among young female Chinese consumers could make it a powerful player in China’s online shopping industry. Founded in 2013 by Stanford University graduate Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang, a former employee of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, Xiaohongshu got its start as a cross-border shopping guide with a single PDF document. It gradually evolved into an online community where users find life hacks, travel tips, fashion inspiration and even job opportunities. Xiaohongshu’s home page is a double-columned tapestry of content for users to scroll through, and anyone who clicks into a live stream or short video can quickly scroll up and down to find new content, similar to Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

As its fortunes have risen, the social media platform has been trying to convert user attention into revenue using its brand of “lifestyle e-commerce”. Since last year, influencers such as Chinese actress Dong Jie, Hong Kong celebrity Teresa Cheung Xiaohui, and Taiwanese singer Annie Yi Nengjing have been leading the charge in live-streaming e-commerce.

“Xiaohongshu has many users who pursue a high-quality life, predominantly women, who are very loyal to the platform,” said Dean Yang, co-founder of Hangzhou-based fragrance brand Emonster. “These users are exactly our target audience.”

Despite having fewer than 40,000 followers on Xiaohongshu, several Emonster products have sold nearly 10,000 units each. A promotion from a top live-streamer can generate hundreds of thousands of yuan in gross merchandise value – although top live-streamers often charge a commission of about 30 per cent.

According to Xiaohongshu, the number of users making purchases via live streams grew 6.3 times over the past year, with the average transaction value staying above 500 yuan (US$69). Eno, who sells artefacts targeting a younger audience, tried Douyin, but quit after realising that users are not being targeted. Xiaohongshu consumers proved more sophisticated and less price sensitive. She said the average price on Xiaohongshu is 4,000 yuan, five times that of other platforms.

Xiaohongshu’s e-commerce business is still in its infancy. The company made a net profit of US$500 million last year on revenue of US$3.7 billion, mainly from advertising, according to a Financial Times report in March. By comparison, e-commerce giant Alibaba reported 927.5 billion yuan in revenue in 2023.

Backed by heavyweight investors such as Alibaba and Tencent Holdings, the platform’s valuation peaked at US$20 billion in 2021. Its private market valuation has since dropped to about US$17 billion amid an overall downturn in China tech stock valuations. The platform’s initial public offering plans remain in the air.

Xiaohongshu is still a relatively small player in the market, but it has carved out a unique spot for itself.

“Different platforms attract different user demographics,” Zhou Qi, a fashion-editor-turned-brand-owner and live-streamer, said in an interview after the summit. “Only the right platform, combined with the right products, hosts, and users, can achieve harmony.”

Taiwan is beefing up its military exercises to counter China | Asia

https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/07/25/taiwan-is-beefing-up-its-military-exercises-to-counter-china

The annual Han Kuang exercises are Taiwan’s biggest military drills, focused on countering Chinese invasion. They have also been criticised as being largely a public-relations exercise. In the past Taiwanese special forces and marines would don red hats that marked them as Chinese invaders, then act out attempted beach landings or airport takeovers. Announcers would narrate how Taiwan’s armed forces had repelled them live on television, as the president watched in approval. It was a good show, but poor practice for war. Last year a woman was filmed sunbathing in a bikini on the same beach where Taiwan’s army and navy were enacting a Chinese amphibious landing.