Mistral点评

• China vows ‘strong measures’ against Philippines over encroaching ships in South China Sea
• Chinese woman loses final appeal in her fight to freeze her eggs
• China husband kills himself after texts reveal nurse wife having sex with doctor
• Bridgewater steps back from China as biggest hedge fund slashes stock bets for 7th quarter
• Tech war poll shows ‘China against the world’ while US in ‘commanding position’
• 4 mainland China scientists to be honoured at Future Science Prize ceremony in Hong Kong
• How China’s panda loans work and diplomatic role of the bears
• Meituan launches 30-minute delivery services for home appliances in China in Midea deal
• Mainland Chinese urged to boycott Taiwanese hotel chain that refused to fly flag in Paris
• Chinese-led team delves into black hole mystery at heart of galaxies
• South China Sea: PLA aircraft carrier Shandong shows its presence and combat readiness
• Chinese commercial bank chairman killed, stabbed in office, ex-subordinate held: report
• China generating enough clean energy to match UK’s entire electricity output
• Chinese firm says US$900,000 of gold stolen in armed attack on mine in Ghana
• Johor-Singapore SEZ to spur investments from mainland China, Taiwan, UOB says
• De-risking from Chinese copper would cost world US$85 billion, ‘mess up’ supply chains
• 3 mainland Chinese photographers arrested for allegedly working illegally in Hong Kong
• China’s Shaanxi launches international legal affairs office for belt and road
• South China Sea: scepticism over expanding Manila-Beijing resupply deal
• China needs deterrent force to protect its expanding overseas interests: expert
• Liu Xiaoqing, 68, ‘ageless goddess’ of China cinema stirs controversy with choice of young roles
• Chinese ship destroyed Baltic pipeline, Eileen Gu’s link to French athlete: 7 highlights
• China’s military AI detects secret radar links between South China Sea, Alaska and Guam
• Olympic gaffes over Chinese names, South Korea show more effort needed in diversity push
• Major earthquake off Taiwan is felt in mainland China, Japan, Philippines
• China’s oil demand dips, ticks down as economic ebb eases fuel imports
• China Olympic hero closes supporters club over toxic fan culture, 250 million react online
• China to screen arrivals showing mpox symptoms as cases spread outside Africa
• Why China is becoming a top choice mediator for global conflicts
• [Sport] China's rhetoric turns dangerously real for Taiwanese
• Jia Bei Zhu, owner of secret Chinese-run California lab, faces new US charges
• Donald Trump’s fans love his bobbleheads, but most are made in tariff-targeted China
• Chinese remote-sensor maker Hesai awaits Pentagon notification on blacklist decision
• Philippine coastguard ship ‘heading for disputed South China Sea reef’

China vows ‘strong measures’ against Philippines over encroaching ships in South China Sea

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274839/china-vows-strong-measures-against-philippines-over-encroaching-ships-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed

China will take “resolute and strong measures” against encroaching Philippine coastguard ships at disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

Asked about the ongoing stand-off, ministry spokesman Lin Jian accused the Philippine coastguard vessel stationed at the lagoon by Sabina Shoal of “seriously infringing China’s sovereignty, seriously violating the declaration on the DOC and seriously threatening peace and stability in the South China Sea”.

The DOC refers to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, a non-binding principle and guideline that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed in 2002.

It calls on all parties to peacefully handle South China Sea disputes “with restraint” through dialogue and consultation as well as avoid taking unilateral moves.

“China has made solemn representations to the Philippines through diplomatic channels, demanding that the Philippine side immediately cease its infringing behaviour and withdraw the vessels concerned,” said Lin of the flashpoint.

The BRP Teresa Magbanua, flagship of the Philippine Coast Guard, has been deployed to Sabina Shoal since April. It has been reported that its sister ship, the BRP Melchora Aquino, is en route and due to take over the flagship’s responsibilities.

Since July, China has dispatched its own ships, including the 12,000-tonne CCG-5901 – the world’s largest coastguard vessel – to keep watch over the Philippine seacraft.

“China is closely monitoring the developments and will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” Lin said.

Also on Friday, the Chinese defence ministry accused the Philippines of “inviting wolves into the house and willingly acting as their pawns” by involving the United States and its allies in the South China Sea disputes.

China had “indisputable sovereignty” over the islands and reefs in the region and adjacent waters, it added.

“We will take legitimate countermeasures against deliberate infringements and provocations to protect our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said.

Sabina Shoal – called Xianbin Reef by China and Escoda Shoal by the Philippines – forms part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

It is located within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone set forth by Manila but also claimed by Beijing.

The uninhabited reef has emerged as the latest area of contention between China and the Philippines over the past few months, in addition to the long-contested Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal.

Beijing is worried that what transpired at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 could happen again. In that instance, the Philippines intentionally grounded a retired warship on the reef, leaving it to serve as an outpost.

Manila has maintained control of the shoal until now, and over the past year, the issue of resupplying personnel stationed on the rusty shipwreck has become a source of tension and run-ins between the two sides.

---

Chinese woman loses final appeal in her fight to freeze her eggs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/16/chinese-woman-loses-final-appeal-fight-freeze-eggs

A Chinese woman who filed a groundbreaking lawsuit to win the right to freeze her eggs has lost her final appeal, exhausting the legal avenues in her fight to widen access to fertility treatment in China.

Beijing No 3 intermediate people’s court ruled that Xu Zaozao’s rights had not been violated when Beijing obstetrics and gynaecology hospital refused to freeze her eggs in 2018. Chinese regulations stipulate that assisted reproductive technology is only for married couples with fertility issues. Xu, now 36, said the doctor gave her some friendly advice instead: hurry up, get married and have children now.

Instead, she sued the hospital. She argued that the denial of treatment violated her basic rights. On 6 August, nearly five years after she first filed her lawsuit, she lost her final appeal.

“Regardless of the outcome, I am proud of what we have been doing together,” Xu said in a video posted on social media last week.

Xu’s case has attracted widespread attention. Her lawsuit was the first of its kind in China, and she is seen by many as a feminist pioneer in a country that in recent years has closed down the avenues for legal advocacy.

The lawsuit has rumbled on at a time when China’s birthrate has been plummeting, with the government offering various incentives to women and families to have more babies. Several provinces have started subsidising IVF treatment for couples through basic medical insurance and the government has promised to increase the number of IVF facilities across the country.

But the incentives are so far limited to heterosexual, married couples. And some argue that the rules around gamete freezing are sexist: there are no restrictions on men freezing their sperm. Many single women in China spend tens of thousands of dollars travelling overseas to freeze their eggs.

“Although the authorities aim to encourage women to have more children, they also promote the concept of a nuclear family – married couples with children – as the foundation of society, believing it supports social stability,” said Lijia Zhang, a writer who focuses on women in China.

Last week’s court ruling left the door open for a different outcome in future. “With further adjustment of China’s birth policy, the relevant medical and health laws and regulations may also undergo corresponding changes and, when the conditions are ready, Xu and the relevant medical institutions may separately resolve the corresponding disputes,” the judgment said.

In her video, Xu said she had not given up her fight. “Losing in the second trial is not the end of the story. I will continue to keep an eye on the issue of single women’s right to freeze their eggs and will seek advice from a wide range of professionals, including academics and lawyers, in order to proactively formulate a strategy for the next step.”

Additional research by Chi Hui Lin

China husband kills himself after texts reveal nurse wife having sex with doctor

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3274406/china-husband-kills-himself-after-texts-reveal-nurse-wife-having-sex-doctor?utm_source=rss_feed

A wave of pity has hit mainland social media after a husband in China killed himself on discovering that his nurse wife was having an affair with a doctor she worked with.

The sad plight of the 26-year-old man, surnamed Wang, was revealed by his mother in an online post.

His wife’s employer, the Litongde Hospital in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, said it had suspended both the nurse and her lover.

Wang’s mother said on Weibo that her son committed suicide in a hotel room on August 2.

He discovered the love affair of his wife, surnamed Mao, and a thoracic surgeon, surnamed Liu, whom she worked with, three days before his death.

He stumbled upon messages between Mao and Liu while transferring data from her old phone to a new one he had just bought her. The messages revealed the pair were having sex.

Wang and Mao began dating as freshmen at the same university in 2019, and were married in January this year. Wang’s mother said Mao’s affair started in May.

At first Wang thought the relationship might not be consensual and that his wife might have been raped.

But when the police told him that his wife was not a victim, he had a mental breakdown.

Mao asked for Wang’s forgiveness, and they went to a tourist resort, where they used to date in an attempt to sort things out.

Wang left a suicide note for Mao on the night of August 2, thanking her for “spending my best years with me” and telling her, “I will love you even after I die”.

He said he could not “get past her betrayal”.

Mao saw his message in the morning and went to his room, where Wang tried to strangle her but gave up not wanting to hurt her.

He then kicked her out of his room and took his own life.

Mao tried to contact him by phone message, saying in one text: “I only want you to live, even if you don’t want to see me anymore.”

She then discovered it was too late.

Wang’s mother said her son grew up in a single-parent family and married his first love despite his family’s objections.

Online observers pitied the man and said he should have cherished his own life more.

“He shouldn’t have punished himself for the faults of others,” one person said on Douyin.

“Break up if your partner betrays you, and everything will be fine over time,” said another.

---

Bridgewater steps back from China as biggest hedge fund slashes stock bets for 7th quarter

https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3274775/bridgewater-cuts-china-stock-bets-7th-straight-quarter-market-trails-us-japan?utm_source=rss_feed

sold more US-listed Chinese stocks from its global portfolio last quarter as returns sagged, bringing its retreat from some of the mainland’s underperforming companies to about 80 per cent over the past two years.

The US investor cut all its stakes in social-media platform operators and Joyy, as well as solar-panel maker Daqo New Energy, during the three months to June 30, according to its latest 13F filing in New York on Thursday.

The world’s biggest hedge fund, founded by also slashed its holdings in car maker , KFC and PizzaHut restaurant chain operator , as well as online travel agency , by as much as 45 per cent, the filing showed.

The retreat shows how far Chinese stocks have gone out of favour as peers in the US and other emerging markets rallied. MSCI China, the broadest gauge of Chinese stocks, rose 1.7 per cent over the past seven quarters, while benchmark indices in the US, Japan and India surged by 34 to 52 per cent, according to Bloomberg data.

China’s gross domestic product grew at an annual pace of 4.7 per cent last quarter, easing from 5.3 per cent in the preceding three months. A slump and have dogged the economy in the post-Covid years, adding to in the region and with the US.

In total, the number of companies in Bridgewater’s global stock portfolio jumped to 877 from 677, valued at US$19.2 billion, according to the 13F filing. They included 14 Chinese companies, whose market value shrank by 14.5 per cent last quarter to US$266 million.

The hedge fund, which had US$172 billion of assets on March 31, has now reduced its holding in US-listed Chinese stocks by 80 per cent since the third quarter of 2022, when it left its .

In other portfolio adjustments, Bridgewater also reduced its stakes in China-focused exchange-traded funds last quarter. The hedge fund cut its holding in iShare China Large-Cap ETF by 11 per cent and iShares MSCI China ETF by 10 per cent.

Bridgewater might have taken advantage of to sell. The MSCI China Index, which tracks 655 Chinese companies listed at home and abroad, surged almost 20 per cent from April to May, after Beijing stepped up policy support and investors moved funds away from overpriced markets.

Despite the retreat, portfolio diversification into the world’s second largest economy is still “desirable” as Chinese assets are “attractively priced”, Dalio said at the Greenwich Economic Forum in Hong Kong in June. China and the US are in risky positions amid their elevated debt burden and diversification is “more important than ever,” he said in a separate email to the Post.

Dalio relinquished control of Bridgewater in October 2022, after stepping down as CEO in 2017 and chairman in 2021. His current role involves mentoring the committee that has oversight over the firm’s investment strategies.

Foreign institutional investment into China A-shares has plummeted since its 2021 peak of US$67.2 billion, with inflows dwindling to US$13.3 billion in 2022 and US$8.1 billion in 2023. The trend has continued into this year, with a net outflow of US$200 million through last week, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs.

Bridgewater is not alone in pulling more money out of Chinese stocks.

, a Singapore-based hedge fund co-founded by Alibaba Group Holding’s chief technology officer, also threw in the towel. His fund exited from TAL Education, Alibaba Group and Yum China last quarter in one of its most aggressive cuts, according to its 13F filings.

Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.

Tech war poll shows ‘China against the world’ while US in ‘commanding position’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274798/tech-war-poll-shows-china-against-world-while-us-commanding-position?utm_source=rss_feed

The US and its allies are likely to secure a “commanding position” over China in the future global chip sector, where two separate supply chains are expected to take shape, according to a recent industry survey.

“Respondents view US-China technology competition, which is driving the emergence of distinct US-centric and Chinese-centric supply chains, as the most significant threat to the semiconductor industry,” said a report based on the poll of more than 130 semiconductor business leaders from the United States, Europe, mainland China, Taiwan and other regions.

Over 70 per cent anticipated that both Washington and Beijing would continue to erect barriers to technology collaboration, according to the survey conducted jointly by Integrated Insights, an advisory firm for technology companies, and Global Semiconductor Alliance, an industry organisation.

The survey found that nearly 80 per cent of the business leaders expected the global technology industry to split into “two separate supply chains to serve the respective US and mainland Chinese markets”.

Nearly 40 per cent of the surveyed executives said they planned to concentrate their resources on the US-aligned supply chain, while 15 per cent of respondents said they would prioritise the China-aligned one.

Even respondents in mainland China were more optimistic about the prospects for the American technology ecosystem in the regions that make up the Global South, including India, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, with 84 per cent of them choosing the US as the most attractive location for talent.

Christopher Thomas, chairman and founder of Integrated Insights, said the report “tells a difficult story for China” – one that pits “China against the world” while the US and its allies have “a commanding position”.

“No one knows the future of these industries as execution is critical,” Thomas said. “But it’s clear that ‘in China for China’, the self-sufficiency story, is among the most difficult of strategies to deliver.”

Cutting-edge technologies, particularly semiconductors, have emerged as a critical battlefield in the strategic competition between the US and China – the world’s two biggest economies and defence spenders.

The survey comes as a top Chinese chip gear maker announced on Friday that it had sued the Pentagon in a US federal court for adding it to a military blacklist.

The US Chips and Science Act, now entering its third year, earmarked US$53 billion in subsidies for chip makers in the US. It prohibits funding recipients from significantly expanding semiconductor manufacturing capacity in “foreign countries of concern” – including China – for 10 years.

The Biden administration is expected to unveil a new policy as soon as this month to further limit Beijing’s access to machines and software that contain American inputs and are used to make the most advanced chips.

Still, many US allies – including Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea – are expected to be exempted from rules blocking equipment shipments to certain semiconductor factories in China.

Beijing has increased its state support for the country’s chip-making capabilities, adding about US$48 billion in a third instalment to a national semiconductor fund three months ago.

The country’s ruling elites reiterated the importance of self-reliance in technology during the agenda-setting third plenum of the Communist Party last month.

Despite the intensifying tech rivalry, the survey found that “geopolitical concerns are not omnipresent in corporate decision-making”, and two-thirds of respondents viewed their local governments’ policies as positive for the semiconductor industry.

The poll found that 28 per cent of companies in the chip sector planned to split their business into separate supply chains to serve the US and mainland Chinese markets, while 20 per cent of firms were not taking any measures to “de-risk” their supply chains.

Over half of the respondents said they would take specific “de-risking” moves without a full supply chain split, with mainland Chinese company executives reporting they would be most likely to change manufacturing locations and to add more Chinese suppliers.

Respondents overwhelmingly expected that it would take at least five years for the two “mostly separate” US and China supply chains to stabilise.

The report also showed that four out of five semiconductor companies in the survey viewed their current playbooks as insufficient for the artificial intelligence era, while more than 70 per cent of firms had not yet started executing their new global strategies.

---

4 mainland China scientists to be honoured at Future Science Prize ceremony in Hong Kong

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3274787/4-mainland-china-scientists-be-honoured-future-science-prize-ceremony-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed

Four mainland Chinese scientists have been named as winners of this year’s Future Science Prize, China’s first privately-funded science award, with a prize-giving ceremony to be held in Hong Kong for the second time in a row.

The prize presentation ceremony will also wrap up the “Future Science Prize Week” series of events between October 30 and November 3, which will feature a youth dialogue with this year’s laureates.

Professor Shu Chi-wang, chairman of the event’s science committee, highlighted how one awardee received 17 peer review letters this year from international colleagues hailing from multiple renowned universities across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

“I hope that the awardees of the Future Science Prize will multiply like stars … their contributions will be as wide as the galaxy and illuminate every corner of the halls of science,” he said.

The award is split into three specific categories, namely life science, physical science, as well as mathematics and computer science. Each prize has a reward of US$1 million.

Inaugurated as China’s first privately funded science award in 2016, the Future Science Prize recognises scientists who have made groundbreaking scientific and technological achievements in the Greater China region, regardless of nationality.

The Life Science Prize went to Deng Hongkui from Peking University, who was awarded for his “pioneering work” on using small molecules to change cell fate and state, especially in reprogramming somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells.

“Deng’s seminal and transformative work has opened a new route for cellular reprogramming, with broad and long-term impact on stem cell research and regenerative medicine,” the Future Science Prize committee said.

For the Physical Science Prize, it was shared between Tsinghua University’s Li Yadong and Zhang Tao from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.

They were awarded for their seminal contributions to the development and application of a process known as single-atom catalysis.

Zhang was awarded for the work that he and his team had done in developing single-atom catalysis, while Li was awarded for his and his colleagues’ efforts in refining the methods for the process.

The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize was awarded to Zhejiang University’s Sun Binyong for his work in representation theory of Lie groups, a mathematical concept.

The award ceremony will also be held in Hong Kong for the second time in a row since 2016. The previous editions before 2023 all took place in Beijing.

The ceremony will mark the conclusion of the “Future Science Prize Week”, also in its second edition, which will feature a series of events that include forums, conferences and a youth dialogue with laureates of the prize.

Organisers expected the event to match the viewership to the previous year, noting that their science symposium attracted 7.46 million viewers online and the Future Science Prize Week events garnered more than 11 million worldwide.

They also said they face no difficulty inviting overseas scientists to attend the award ceremony, despite geopolitical tensions.

Nobel laureate in Chemistry Benjamin List, Fields Medal awardee Efim Zelmanov and Wolf Prize recipient Peter Zoller will be among the line-up of special guests organisers said would attend the Future Science Prize award ceremony in November.

“Unless they have prior commitments, otherwise, they would love to come,” said Vivian Yam Wing-wah, co-chairman of the 2024 Future Science Prize Week Programme Committee.

How China’s panda loans work and diplomatic role of the bears

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274805/how-chinas-panda-loans-work-and-diplomatic-role-bears?utm_source=rss_feed

For China, giant pandas play a dual role as symbols of soft power as well as icons of global conservation.

In a similar way, China’s panda diplomacy signals Beijing’s favour with other countries at the same time as it upholds a commitment to save the species from extinction. The Post takes a look at how panda diplomacy has evolved through different eras of Chinese leadership, and the hard cash that goes into the practice.

Meituan launches 30-minute delivery services for home appliances in China in Midea deal

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3274765/meituan-launches-30-minute-delivery-services-home-appliances-china-midea-deal?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan has partnered with Midea, one of the world’s largest home appliances makers, to enable app users to order products ranging from refrigerators to dishwashers and receive them in as little as 30 minutes.

The collaboration will connect 25,000 Midea retail stores to the Meituan platform by the end of this year, giving the manufacturer access to hundreds of millions of users registered with China’s largest food delivery service, according to a statement published on Meituan’s website on Thursday.

Users of Meituan’s apps, including the crowdsourced review platform Dianping, can browse product listings in nearby Midea shops and have purchases delivered to their doorstep in as quickly as half an hour. To promote the new service, Meituan’s food delivery service and Dianping are handing out vouchers to consumers.

“Currently, on-demand shopping has become a … lifestyle, and we are seeing more consumers accustomed to buying electronics with the same ease as placing a food delivery order,” Wang Chao, a Meituan executive, said in the statement.

The deal with Midea is the latest in a series of tie-ups struck by Meituan in recent years, as the Beijing-based firm searches for growth in new areas.

Meituan has formed similar partnerships with international and domestic brands, such as toymaker Lego, authorised Apple resellers, confectionery and food giant Mars, sporting goods retailer Decathlon and electronics retail chain Suning, to bring those brands onto Meituan platforms.

Meituan said in its 2023 annual report that order volume for its on-demand e-commerce business grew by more than 40 per cent from a year earlier.

In the first quarter of this year, average daily orders reached more than 8.4 million, as partnership deals with various brands enticed more of Meituan’s 500 million-plus food delivery users to order a wider variety of items, the company said.

China’s on-demand e-commerce sector, which delivers goods to online shoppers within hours rather than days, is expected to double in value in the next two years, 2.5 trillion yuan (US$344 billion) by 2026, according to a report by consultancy iResearch in March.

Other Chinese e-commerce players have also taken note.

Taobao, the online shopping app of Alibaba Group Holding, recently strengthened efforts to promote its one-hour delivery service, while JD.com rebranded its own competing service in May. Douyin, the Chinese sibling of ByteDance’s TikTok, introduced a one-hour delivery service in 2022.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Meituan is set to report its second-quarter financial results on August 28.

Mainland Chinese urged to boycott Taiwanese hotel chain that refused to fly flag in Paris

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3274809/mainland-chinese-urged-boycott-taiwanese-hotel-chain-refused-fly-flag-paris?utm_source=rss_feed

Mainland Chinese media outlets and social media users have called for a boycott of a Taiwanese chain after one of its hotels in Paris refused to fly the national flag during the Olympics.

Changanjie Zhishi, a social media account run by the official newspaper Beijing Daily, published an editorial on Friday saying that the Paris hotel, owned by Evergreen Laurel, had “hurt the feelings of our compatriots, forgotten our ancestors and betrayed us. We can’t tolerate it!”

The editorial said the company had “provoked trouble on issues concerning China’s national interests and national dignity” and would face “resolute resistance and even a permanent ban”.

Earlier this week, two videos shot in Paris published by a blogger surnamed Zhang went viral on social media.

One of the videos, published under the account name Instructor Zhang’s Interesting Life, showed that the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris had hung many flags in the lobby, but the Chinese mainland flag was apparently nowhere to be seen.

It also showed Zhang speaking to a mainland chef working at the hotel, who said that a manager from Taiwan had requested that the Chinese flag be taken down.

In another video, the hotel appeared to refuse Zhang’s request to put the Chinese flag back up, saying that all the other flags would also be taken down.

As of Friday, the two videos had more than 3 million views on microblogging site Weibo, and the same clips on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, had earned nearly 2 million and 1 million likes respectively.

Many internet users joined the calls for a boycott of the hotel chain and even its parent company the Evergreen group.

One popular comment said: “A hotel that is not even willing to fly the Chinese flag, do you have to let it make money off us?”

The Evergreen group is a Taipei-based shipping company whose subsidiaries include EVA Air, one of Taiwan’s two major airlines. It also owns the Evergreen Laurel Hotel, which has 10 hotels worldwide including one in Shanghai.

As of Friday, users were no longer able to book Evergreen Laurel hotels through a number of mainland travel service websites.

There has been no official comment from Beijing on the incident.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China that must be reunited with the mainland – by force if necessary. Most countries, including France, do not recognise the island as an independent state.

Liang Wen-chieh, a spokesman for Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council, told a news conference on Thursday: “Using nationalism to disrupt business and gain traffic will not make China great. It will only make the international community increasingly resentful.”

Relations between the mainland and Taiwan have worsened in recent years, especially after the election of William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has repeatedly called a “stubborn separatist”.

The tensions have also been fuelled by angry social media users.

A Taiwanese businessman who works in the semiconductor industry on the mainland and asked to remain anonymous said the hostility had“seriously affected” his willingness to work on the mainland.

“I hope the incident will be resolved as soon as possible and that it will not become as widespread as the anti-Japanese sentiments. There should be a way out for [the Taiwanese people],” he added.

He did not want to be forced to “choose sides between the mainland and Taiwan,” he said.

Some Chinese media also accused the Evergreen Laurel hotel’s website of not explicitly listing Taiwan as a province of China. The website was updated on Friday to list its hotels by city rather than country.

Chinese social media have repeatedly called for consumer boycotts of companies that have offended nationalist feeling, including luxury goods firms, airlines and clothing firms.

Last year, the Bulgari group faced similar calls for not listing Taiwan as a province of China on its website. The company later apologised and changed its website.

Shanghai’s Evergreen Laurel Hotel issued a statement on Thursday saying it was “deeply sorry”.

“We do not want this incident to affect the feelings of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and hope that cross-strait relations will develop peacefully and move in the direction that people on both sides look forward to,” the statement said.

When asked for comment, Evergreen Laurel’s headquarters in Taipei referred to the Shanghai hotel’s statement. The hotel in Paris has also been contacted for comment.

---

Chinese-led team delves into black hole mystery at heart of galaxies

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3274744/chinese-led-team-delves-black-hole-mystery-heart-galaxies?utm_source=rss_feed

For the first time, a Chinese-led study has shown direct evidence of the immense influence a supermassive black hole exerts over the life and death of its home galaxy.

By examining 69 nearby galaxies, researchers from China and France found that the black hole at the centre of a galaxy could warm up surrounding cold gas and prevent it from condensing and forming new stars.

“Cold gas is the essential raw material for star formation. Our research shows that the larger the black hole, the less cold gas there is in the galaxy,” said lead researcher Wang Tao from Nanjing University.

The study may explain why some galaxies continued to grow for a long time while others went passive and dormant, the researchers reported in this week’s Nature magazine.

David Elbaz, a co-author from the Université Paris-Saclay, compared this phenomenon to placing an upside-down glass over a candle.

“After a few seconds, the candle goes out for a lack of air. Likewise, the black hole prevents the galaxy from continuing to light up new stars,” Elbaz said.

Galaxies are the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Each galaxy typically contains millions to trillions of stars, along with interstellar gas, dust and a supermassive black hole dwelling at its centre.

Scientists have long known that the mass of the supermassive black hole is closely related to the mass of the stars in a given galaxy, Elbaz told the South China Morning Post.

“The black hole is about one-thousandth the mass of all the stars in the galactic bulge – a region where star formation has long since ceased,” he said.

Astronomers proposed that the black hole might somehow prevent the formation of new stars but until now there had been no direct evidence to support this theory.

The new study focused on a specific type of gas called atomic hydrogen, which is the main component of the interstellar medium and a key ingredient in star formation.

By analysing 69 galaxies in our nearby universe, the researchers found the amount of atomic hydrogen in a galaxy was strongly correlated with the mass of the black hole at the galactic centre, rather than with other factors, such as the total number of stars or the size of the galactic bulge.

“Once the influence of black hole mass was excluded, the correlation between the cold gas content and other parameters turned out to be very weak. This further indicates that black hole mass is the most important physical parameter determining the amount of cold gas in a galaxy,” Wang told China Science Daily.

There were two possible interpretations for such a finding, according to Elbaz. First, the black hole may eject gas out of the galaxy – but this scenario faces a problem. “We see many galaxies going through star formation despite having an active black hole in them,” he said.

The second interpretation is that the jets from an active black hole can heat up the surrounding intergalactic gas and prevent it from feeding the galaxy. This phenomenon is called galaxy starvation.

Elbaz preferred the latter – a solution that has been increasingly favoured by numerical simulations in cosmology research.

The new study eventually provided a direct observation to validate this hypothesis, Elbaz said. Although the finding came as a surprise to him after past studies all failed to find direct evidence, it does “provide a logical explanation for the behaviour of galaxies that we observe in the universe”, he said.

Next up, the team plans to use data from China’s FAST radio telescope as well as the coming Square Kilometre Array in South Africa and Australia to test their findings with more distant and smaller galaxies.

“This will help us refine our conclusion and confirm its general applicability,” Wang said.

South China Sea: PLA aircraft carrier Shandong shows its presence and combat readiness

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3274808/south-china-sea-pla-aircraft-carrier-shandong-shows-its-presence-and-combat-readiness?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong’s presence in the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea this week is a show of presence and increased combat readiness as a US aircraft carrier group sailed in the area en route to the Middle East, experts say.

The Shandong was spotted on Monday sailing with three other vessels – China’s Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Yanan, Type 051 destroyer Zhanjiang and Type 054A guided-missile frigate Yuncheng – Japan’s Joint Staff Office said in a press release on Wednesday.

The four ships were seen around 530km south of Yonaguni Island in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture in the Philippine Sea.

“Additionally, approximately 20 take-offs and landings by carrier-based fighter jets and carrier-based helicopters from the Chinese navy’s Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier Shandong were confirmed,” Japan’s Joint Staff Office said.

The statement said the four People’s Liberation Army naval vessels sailed back towards the South China Sea after its activities in the Philippine Sea on Monday where the Japanese destroyer Akizuki conducted surveillance and gathered intelligence regarding the Chinese carrier strike group.

The Shandong, the mainland’s first domestically built and the PLA’s second aircraft carrier, had previously deployed in the Philippine Sea from July 9 to 18 when it carried out an exercise off the southeastern coast of Taiwan near the Bashi Channel.

The carrier was also seen conducting ship-borne aircraft operations in the Philippine Sea south of Japan’s Miyako Island and east of the Philippines’ Luzon Island for about a week in October.

The Shandong’s passage from the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea comes as the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group is transiting the South China Sea on its way to the Middle East.

According to the US Naval Institute’s online news portal USNI News, the Abraham Lincoln was in the Sulu Sea between the Philippines’ Palawan and Mindanao islands on Monday and was expected to then travel through the South China Sea. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin had reportedly issued the order to “accelerate” the carrier striker group’s voyage towards the Middle East amid increasing tensions between Israel and Iran.

While the US and Chinese aircraft carriers were distant from each other, Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the Shandong’s route was a classic case of “showing the flag” as the US and allied navies carried out naval exercises in the South China Sea.

“China has responded to the deployment of the Lincoln with a deployment of its own carrier task force centred around the Shandong,” Davis said.

“It is not unreasonable for the [PLA Navy] to make this deployment, and this is traditional naval activity for most navies – seeking to ‘fly the flag’ and demonstrate presence.”

Timothy Heath, a senior international defence researcher at the Rand Corporation think tank, said the main significance of the Shandong’s activities was that the PLA Navy showed it could conduct two deployments with a short break, displaying its increased combat readiness.

“Operations outside the first island chain also show that the PLA is improving its ability to operate in distant locations far from China’s shores,” he said.

“There is possibly a political message as well to Taiwan and to the Chinese people, which is that the PLA has the ability to cut off Taiwan from all directions and is thus in a militarily strong position.”

Stephen Nagy, director of policy research at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies, said Washington had an “intact, operational and war-experienced navy for more than 80 or 90 years,” while the Chinese were at the beginning stage of their naval experience.

“This gap will be difficult to overcome, but that is the long-term objective of the Chinese.

“It’s important to demonstrate that the Shandong cannot only transit from the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea, but again, it’s … coordinating and creating interoperability opportunities between China and its partners, such as Russia Pacific Fleet. Whether this will translate into reality or not, that’s a different story.”

The importance of the South China Sea as an international waterway connecting Europe and the Indo-Pacific region was also underscored in the passage last week of the Russian Pacific Fleet cruiser Varyag and frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov through the Malacca Strait near the South China Sea after deployment in the Mediterranean Sea.

Last month, the Chinese and Russian navies conducted a joint live-fire naval exercise in the South China Sea involving air defence and anti-submarine drills, around the time the US and Philippine coastguards conducted joint training in the same waters.

On Tuesday, the Philippine navy criticised Chinese aircraft manoeuvres over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, in which flares were reportedly dropped in the path of Philippine military aircraft while conducting a routine patrol near the atoll.

Davis said that in a hypothetical conflict in the South China Sea, the Chinese would pursue a “counter intervention strategy” based around anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) to deny access and prevent operational manoeuvres within key maritime areas.

“The South China Sea is hugely important, not just in terms of as a means to access the Indian Ocean, and on to the Middle East, but in terms of being the centre of Indo-Pacific economic growth and prosperity,” he said.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the South China Sea would have an increasing international maritime force policing the area under a mandate, considering it was an “important conduit for seaborne trade”.

“We might also expect it to be more than just an operation involving the international or foreign naval powers,” Koh said, adding that he expected that other regional countries in Southeast Asia such as Japan would want active involvement.

“It is going to be much more messy and more complicated in the South China Sea compared to the one that we see right now in the western Indian Ocean,” Koh said.

Chinese commercial bank chairman killed, stabbed in office, ex-subordinate held: report

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3274778/chinese-commercial-bank-chairman-killed-stabbed-office-ex-subordinate-held-report?utm_source=rss_feed

The chairman of a state-controlled commercial bank in northern China’s Hebei province died in hospital on Thursday having been allegedly killed by his former subordinate, in a rare case that has shocked the financial community amid Beijing’s push to strengthen regulation of the key sector.

Zheng Zhiying, the 61-year-old chairman of the Bank of Handan, a regional lender with 231 billion yuan (US$32.3 billion) worth of assets, was stabbed in his downtown office on Thursday morning, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing information from a local government official.

In a statement, local police named only Zheng as a victim and said 54-year-old man surnamed Song had been detained, pending further investigation.

Chinese media outlets reported that Song had been sacked from his role as a branch head. No reason for the lay-off was provided.

Local police, several bank branches and subdistrict offices did not answer requests for comment by phone.

The killing comes at a time when Chinese financial institutions are facing unprecedented pressure in terms of business operations and Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign.

Many banks, which were instructed to align their business with Beijing’s grand plan of serving the real economy and tightening regulation, have been reducing staff or cutting bonuses and salaries this year.

Zheng had been appointed bank president in 2005 before being promoted to chairman in 2014.

But complaints about Zheng occupying the job for longer than allowed had been circulating online since earlier this year, after a 2019 directive from the then-top banking regulator dictated that key personnel in important positions could serve a maximum of seven years.

The Bank of Handan’s revenue totalled 3.4 billion yuan (US$475 billion) last year, up by 10.62 per cent from a year earlier, according to its 2023 annual report released in April.

Last year, its profits plunged by 45.81 per cent, year on year, to 621 million yuan, while its non-performing loan ratio climbed from 1.9 per cent in 2022 to 2.24 per cent.

Some of its bond holdings have reported defaults in recent years, forcing the bank to increase its provision to cover asset-impairment loss.

According to a report issued by credit rating agency Dagong earlier this year, the bank’s non-performing loan ratio was higher than its peers, with Bank of Handan facing pressure of worsening asset quality.

The bank hired a new president in April.

As part of its de-risking efforts, Beijing has been pushing for mergers and acquisitions of small and medium-sized banks.

In the first half of the year, more than 80 banks were merged and reorganised, according to a report by local news portal Dahe.

Additional reporting by Luna Sun

China generating enough clean energy to match UK’s entire electricity output

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/16/china-generating-enough-clean-energy-match-uk-entire-electricity-output

China produced as much clean electricity in the first half of this year as the UK generated from all sources in the same period last year, data shows, as wind and solar power generation continued to surge in the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Electricity generation from coal and gas dropped by 5% in China in July, year on year, according to an update from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) thinktank, basing its analysis on data released by the Chinese government on Thursday.

The latest figures reinforce a clear trend – China is racing ahead in renewable energy, adding record-breaking amounts of solar and wind generation, eclipsing the rest of the world. It is a transformation that analysts are saying could be the world’s best hope yet of staving off climate catastrophe.

“China is leading against all of its competitors, when it comes to green technology,” said Li Shuo, the director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Policy Institute in Washington DC. “China has a real advantage, and has established a huge green industry.”

Last year, China installed a record 293GW of wind and solar generating capacity. Last month, solar and wind capacity outstripped China’s coal-fired electricity capacity. By 2026, solar power alone will surpass coal as China’s primary energy source, with a capacity of more than 1.38TW, or 150GW more than coal, according to forecasts by Rystad Energy.

Electric vehicles production is surging ahead, with hybrids and fully electric cars making up more than half of all new models sold in July, and the steel industry is also changing, with no permits for coal-fired plants issued in the first half of this year.

This continuing boom in clean technology has led some analysts to suggest China’s greenhouse gas emissions may have already reached a peak, perhaps as early as February this year. This would be momentous. For China, the world’s second biggest economy behind the US, to reverse its decades of almost unbroken rapid growth – nearly tripling from about 3.6bn tonnes of carbon emitted in 2000 to 11.4bn in 2022 – would have seismic implications for the global climate emergency.

China is responsible for about a quarter of global carbon output – roughly as much as all of the world’s developed countries combined. Without China, there can be no effective global climate action.

China committed in 2020 to causing its emissions to peak before 2030, and that is still its official target. But analysts have long argued that the country has the ability to peak by 2025, if the government takes sufficient action. For the world to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, which scientists say is still technically feasible, global emissions must halve by 2030, which is unlikely to be possible unless China’s emissions can be made to peak in the first half of this decade and fall rapidly in the second.

According to CREA, carbon dioxide emissions from energy use and cement production, which account for more than 90% of China’s total carbon emissions, began to decline in March. CO2 output fell by about 1% in the second quarter of this year, according to the thinktank, marking the first quarterly decline since the country’s economy was reopened after the zero-Covid policy lockdowns.

Within this overall reduction, CREA estimates that power sector emissions dropped by about 3% and cement production emissions by about 7%, while oil consumption fell by 3%.

“If renewable energy continues to displace coal power generation, 2024 emissions could continue to decrease, potentially making 2023 the peak year for China’s emissions,” said Qi Qin, an analyst at CREA.

However, calling the peak of China’s emissions can only be a tentative conclusion, as some of the factors behind the shift could reverse. Problems in the Chinese property market have led to a slowdown in China’s construction sector, meaning less concrete poured with its associated high emissions, and the carbon-intensive iron and steel sectors have also faltered.

But these markets could pick up again, under the influence of government stimulus, and drive emissions higher. This has happened before: China’s emissions dropped after 2014, leading to premature hopes of a peak, only to jump again in 2017, and they continued to rise through the Covid-19 crisis.

Qin said: “Faster than expected energy demand in the first half of 2024 adds uncertainty, and emissions may stay flat if these trends persist.”

Lauri Myllyvirta, the lead analyst at CREA, added: “It’s clear that the economy is not in the shape China’s policymakers would want it to be, so the actions they take to boost growth will determine whether this drop in emissions marks the peak. If growth shifts to less energy-intensive sectors, and the current rate of clean energy additions continues, then emissions will begin their long term decline.”

The chief issue is coal. Although renewable energy generation is increasing, coal still provided 60% of China’s power in 2023. It is still building new coal-fired power plants – more than 40GW worth last year, according to the Global Coal Plant Tracker. The rate of new additions is falling, however – about 8GW were added in the first half of this year.

It is important to note that capacity is not the same as generation, when it comes to China – for various economic and political reasons, plants can be built even when there is not a clear need for them to operate at full capacity, so there can be a mismatch between the amount of power that China is capable of producing and the amount that is actually generated. Even so, with so much investment still going into coal, that could spell a later peak.

While coal remains at the core of China’s power sector and economy, the steep plunge in emissions that the world needs will remain elusive.

If Donald Trump wins the US election, he has said he will withdraw the US from the Paris agreement, which would throw global climate action into turmoil. This year’s Cop29 UN climate summit starts a few days after the election and will focus on climate finance. After that, countries will be asked to draw up new national emissions-cutting plans under the Paris agreement, to be submitted early next year.

If Trump loses, China will come under much greater pressure from the US to agree stiffer emissions cuts in its next national plan. As China’s economy is at a crossroads, with a clean energy future battling against entrenched coal and steel interests, the outcome of the US election could be a decisive factor in what happens next with China’s peak.

Chinese firm says US$900,000 of gold stolen in armed attack on mine in Ghana

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274727/chinese-firm-says-us900000-gold-stolen-armed-attack-mine-ghana?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese mining company has revealed that it lost 12kg (26lbs) of gold – worth US$900,000 – in an armed robbery in Ghana earlier this year.

Shenzhen-listed gold mining firm Beijing Xiaocheng Technology Stock Co disclosed in its half-year financial report released on Wednesday that “five to six” suspects had been arrested and detained at a police station in Ghana.

Security agencies in the West African nation were “still searching for the whereabouts of the gold”, according to the company.

Africa has been a major investment destination for Chinese companies seeking minerals and resources overseas, but there are growing concerns over the security risks, and Beijing has vowed to ramp up protection for workers and assets abroad.

Beijing Xiaocheng, which is engaged in gold mining, production, processing and sales, said Ghanaian security agencies had issued a bounty for the arrest of those responsible for the robbery on April 18.

It said 11 people were believed to be involved in the armed attack on the Chinese company’s subsidiary, Akroma Gold Mining Co, in Esaase, in the Kwahu West municipality of Ghana’s eastern region.

The company said Akroma reinforced security measures at the gold mine after the attack.

According to local media reports in April, heavily armed assailants targeted the company’s processing area, stealing gold and assaulting and injuring several workers, including Chinese expatriates.

Beijing Xiaocheng said the attackers, who were wearing masks, broke into the Akroma processing plant from an undeveloped area of the mine.

It said workers at the mine, including Chinese citizens, were injured after security personnel were overpowered but there were no fatalities.

The robbers fled with 12kg of gold that was to be exported that day, causing a direct economic loss of US$900,000, according to the financial report.

Beijing Xiaocheng, which owns three gold mines in Ghana, said the Akroma mine had resumed normal business activities after the attack.

The company also has solar power generation projects including a 20MW photovoltaic power station in Ghana that has been operating for over a decade.

Gold is Ghana’s top export, earning the country US$9.53 billion in 2022, according to Observatory of Economic Complexity data. Nearly half of Ghana’s gold is exported to the United Arab Emirates, while Switzerland, India and Hong Kong are all major buyers.

China is a major buyer of Ghana’s petroleum, manganese ore and aluminium ore.

At a conclave of top officials in July, China’s ruling Communist Party said it would continue to press ahead with overseas investment under the Belt and Road Initiative. It also pledged to strengthen risk control and security for Chinese operations overseas.

Demand for private security firms to provide protection for these operations has increased in recent years.

This month, China warned citizens not to visit the gold-rich, eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Chinese companies and workers have been targeted in recent attacks, kidnappings and killings by armed groups.

Johor-Singapore SEZ to spur investments from mainland China, Taiwan, UOB says

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3274752/johor-singapore-sez-spur-investments-mainland-china-taiwan-uob-says?utm_source=rss_feed

The electrical and electronics industry in the Malaysian state of Johor is expected to see a surge in investments from mainland China and Taiwan once the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) becomes operational later this year, a senior banker said, as semiconductor firms adjust supply chains around the US-China trade and tech war.

There is intense competition across Southeast Asia to attract tech companies looking to establish new manufacturing sites for their chips, as escalating sanctions by Washington on China’s tech industry disrupt supply chains for various goods such as smartphones and electric vehicles.

Johor has already secured potential investments totalling around US$380 million from China earlier this year, with more likely to pour in to take advantage of tax incentives in the JS-SEZ, according to Lim Lay Wah, a managing director at Singapore bank UOB.

“We see the Taiwanese, not just China plus one … also want to tap on that as well,” Lim said, referring to the investment strategy where firms run parallel operations in China and a second country to diversify sources of supply and production.

Last month, Malaysia’s Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that plans are progressing to finalise a deal with Singapore to develop the JS-SEZ by September, one month ahead of the annual retreat of leaders from both nations.

Talks on the JS-SEZ were started last year by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who had initially proposed to turn the US$100 billion Forest City project into a special financial zone to tap investments from Singapore to rescue the troubled project.

However, some critics have expressed concerns about the success of the special economic zone, particularly if Malaysia does not promptly address logistical issues such as border crossings and connectivity within the JS-SEZ to manage the expected increase in traffic to what is already one of the world’s busiest land crossing.

Johor has struggled to revive its local economy post-pandemic. Many businesses were forced to fold when the causeway was closed for nearly two years, cutting them off from their wealthy Singaporean clientele, who would spend enough on weekend jaunts to cover the week.

UOB’s Lim said the governments on both sides have been sending the right signals to investors, especially Malaysia’s recent pledge to pump in 120 billion ringgit (US$25.3 million) in direct domestic investments across the country by local pension funds and institutional investors.

“That’s very powerful because you are telling investors that we want to make sure your investments are safe … but at the same time we also put our anchor capital to support the synergy,” she said on Wednesday.

The special economic zone is also expected to drive more demand from the data centre sector, as industry players look to set up resource-intensive facilities in locations that can provide sufficient land and power.

Johor is well-positioned in this regard, with a large land bank and surplus power, all close to Singapore. Many multinational firms like the Princeton Digital Group (PDG), a leading developer and operator of internet infrastructure, are headquartered there.

“Those factors make Johor already a viable data centre [hub], even before the special economic zone started taking shape. The special economic zone will definitely give further impetus to our business,” said Rangnath Salgame, PDG chairman and chief executive officer.

More than 40 data centres are currently operating in Malaysia, mainly in Selangor and Johor states, with dozens more in the pipeline or under construction.

PDG currently runs a 54MW facility at its campus in Johor, with another 120MW capacity expected to come on line within the next 12 months.

---

De-risking from Chinese copper would cost world US$85 billion, ‘mess up’ supply chains

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3274761/de-risking-chinese-copper-would-cost-world-us85-billion-mess-supply-chains?utm_source=rss_feed

A global supply chain shift away from China’s copper manufacturing industry would take “massive investments” in new plants, including US$85 billion for refining and smelting, analytics firm Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday.

China controls 97 per cent of global smelting and refining capacity, representing almost 3 million tonnes of production, along with US$25 billion in investment, Wood Mackenzie said in a report.

Goods manufacturers typically use copper to make cables and appliances, as well as equipment for decarbonisation.

“As major global economies look to reposition critical minerals supply chains outside China, the resulting inefficiencies could increase the cost of finished goods and delay the energy transition,” said the report.

“[China’s] substantial investments in downstream processing and semi-manufacturing sectors present significant challenges to global copper supply security.”

Over the past five years, the United States and its allies have pushed for de-risking and decoupling from Chinese supply chains across industries due to political concerns, with Chinese leaders voicing opposition to the efforts.

Brazil and the US have their own copper reserves, and their supplies make the Americas “poised to play a key role” in any de-risking of mineral supply chains, the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank said in April.

On the manufacturing side, India is starting up a “custom” smelter, while Indonesia is adding two, said Wood Mackenzie.

But China’s copper production runs at low costs and meets rigorous environmental standards, making its factories “highly competitive”, said Wood Mackenzie copper markets managing consultant Liu Zhifei.

China possesses half of the world’s capacity to make wire rods from copper, and that capacity is still expanding, added the report.

Semi-manufacturing – which involves taking copper goods part of the way to completion – outside China, such as in Europe, faces “lower utilisation” and higher operating costs, said the report, quoting the analytics firm’s global mining research director Nick Pickens.

In the US, Wood Mackenzie said, government incentives may “not ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry”.

And according to Zhao Xijun, a finance professor at Renmin University in Beijing, it makes little sense for Western leaders to advocate decoupling of the copper supply chain because “China’s advantage is in manufacturing” even though some other countries have more raw materials.

“The US idea of decoupling from a low-cost and high-efficiency industry would mess up the supply chain,” Zhao said.

“Politicians might be able to walk away with votes, but the industry will lose out.”

3 mainland Chinese photographers arrested for allegedly working illegally in Hong Kong

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3274726/3-mainland-chinese-photographers-arrested-allegedly-working-illegally-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed

Three mainland Chinese photographers have been arrested on suspicion of working illegally in Hong Kong and offering paid pre-wedding and street photo shoots to undercover immigration officers.

The Immigration Department said on Friday the man and two women were apprehended after they entered the city as visitors and allegedly provided photography services to the undercover officers on Wednesday and Thursday.

Deputy commander Leung Tsz-chung of the department’s task force also cautioned local residents against hiring these photographers.

“Employing individuals who are not legally authorised to work is a serious offence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a HK$500,000 fine,” he warned.

The undercover operation was carried out after immigration officers noticed that mainland photographers were advertising cheap wedding and street photography services in the city on popular social media platforms to attract local customers.

“A preliminary investigation shows they charged between HK$1,000 (US$128) and HK$1,500 per assignment,” Leung said.

After gathering intelligence and identifying the suspects, he said immigration officers impersonated customers and booked pre-wedding and street photography services through social media platforms with a deposit payment.

Immigration officers seized their mobile phones and equipment during the arrest operation.

The trio, aged 25 to 30, were detained on suspicion of working illegally in the city – an offence punishable by up to two years in jail and a HK$50,000 fine.

Leung said initial investigations suggested the suspects did not know each other, adding that immigration officers were looking into whether they had come to the city and provided such services previously.

He stressed that the department would continue to carry out cyber patrols to monitor such illegal activities and mount similar operations to protect the interests of city workers.

China’s Shaanxi launches international legal affairs office for belt and road

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3274641/chinas-shaanxi-launches-international-legal-affairs-office-belt-and-road?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s northwestern province of Shaanxi has launched the country’s first provincial-level office on international legal affairs, with a focus on issues related to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The office opened last week in the provincial capital Xian – a city that was once the start of the ancient Silk Road and today is a focal point for belt and road trade and investment.

Shaanxi Daily reported on Wednesday that it will oversee the development of a demonstration zone for international business law services catering to the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s global infrastructure strategy that has now entered its second decade.

It will also train legal professionals in overseas-related matters, research legal theory and offer legal services with an international focus, it said.

The report said that “foreign-related rule of law” is crucial to the “broader context of China’s opening up and diplomatic work”.

Foreign-related rule of law refers to an initiative launched in 2020 aimed at connecting Chinese law with foreign and international law as Beijing’s global ambitions grow and competition with the West intensifies.

Shaanxi’s justice department has introduced several recent initiatives to improve the province’s legal system, including a research centre for legal issues involving China and Central Asia and new guidelines for legal services dealing with foreign matters, according to the report.

More than 43 law firms and 211 lawyers in Shaanxi have joined a group that supports legal work for the belt and road plan, the report said, while around 236 of the province’s lawyers have been recognised as top international legal experts.

The launch of the office comes as the belt and road, touted by Communist Party leadership as its flagship project to expand Beijing’s trade and influence globally, faces challenges and scepticism from the West.

Beijing has tried to expand its legal toolkit for international matters – including how to respond to sanctions – as the rivalry with the United States and its allies intensifies in areas including trade and technology.

In a Politburo study session last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said stronger legal backing in areas related to foreign affairs was an “urgent task” for opening to the outside world and “addressing external risks and challenges”, according to state news agency Xinhua.

In a party resolution document released after the third plenum in July, Beijing vowed to improve the “rule of law in foreign-related affairs” and called for building mechanisms to “counter foreign sanctions, interference and long-arm jurisdiction”.

Earlier this month, China’s foreign ministry said in the party’s theoretical journal that legal frameworks were the “new battlegrounds for international competition”.

Beijing has enacted more foreign policy legislation in recent years in response to a more challenging international environment, such as upgrading the status of international law studies in China’s university system due to a shortage of experts in the field.

China enacted its Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law in 2021, giving legal backing for retaliatory measures in response to punitive actions from the West.

A new foreign relations law took effect in July of last year with a focus on national security and countering what Beijing has called the “long-arm jurisdiction” of the US and other nations.

South China Sea: scepticism over expanding Manila-Beijing resupply deal

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3274671/south-china-sea-scepticism-over-expanding-manila-beijing-resupply-deal?utm_source=rss_feed

Manila should not place hopes on expanding a provisional arrangement with Beijing over its resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal to cover the entire West Philippine Sea, observers warn, as such a move could lead to China imposing its dominance in the disputed waters and ambiguous territorial boundaries.

The scepticism comes after the Philippines’ foreign affairs department floated the idea following an August 8 incident where a Chinese aircraft allegedly dropped flares in the path of a Philippine jet over Scarborough Shoal.

Beijing and Manila have tentatively agreed on guidelines for the Philippines to conduct resupply missions to a military outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal, a flashpoint in the South China Sea.

An expansion of the agreement was “certainly an interesting idea” if Beijing and other claimants to the disputed areas of the South China Sea were willing to cooperate, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said.

At a budget hearing in Congress on Tuesday, Manalo referred to the aerial incident in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for the disputed maritime region that lies within its exclusive economic zone.

Manalo accused China of having “overtaken our airspace”, adding that the Philippines was “open to any discussion” with Beijing. The Philippines has launched a diplomatic protest over the matter.

Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Studies at De La Salle University, warned against the Philippines pursuing an expanded agreement beyond the Second Thomas Shoal with China. Gill said Beijing had shown its goal was to maintain dominance when it escalated tensions into Manila’s airspace.

“Based on China’s foreign policy, they will ask for a trade-off because Beijing has to communicate to its domestic audience,” he told This Week in Asia.

“But I believe we still have to wait and watch what will happen in Second Thomas Shoal because one success does not equal the success of the agreement. We need to base it on China’s consistency.”

Chris Gardiner, chief executive officer at the Institute for Regional Security in Canberra, Australia, told This Week in Asia that China and the Philippines were aiming to establish clear lines of their maritime territory.

In the case of Manila, it was working towards persuading other countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia and Asean members to accept its definition of the West Philippines Sea, Gardiner said.

Warning against ambiguities in any agreement reached between Beijing and Manila, he added that what was playing out in the South China Sea was a contest to reshape international norms and rules, comparing this to the ancient game of Go.

“Hybrid tactics, including political, legal, and psychological, are central to how China seeks to win the contest,” Gardiner said, arguing that Beijing sought to “portray its opponents as the ones acting unreasonably, recklessly and illegally”.

Matteo Piasentini, a security analyst from the China and Indo-Pacific desk at Geopolitica, an Italian think tank, said Beijing’s claim in the South China Sea based on its so-called 10-dash line meant it did not recognise the Philippines’ sovereign rights.

Any such expanded agreement should be in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and acknowledge Manila’s maritime claims, but it was unlikely Beijing would be agreeable to such a basis for negotiation and compromise its position, Piasentini said.

On the latest aerial incident, Gill said China was attempting to open multiple fronts in the long-standing territorial row.

“China does not intend to stop at the coastguard level. This is not just a maritime dispute. This is [about] pushing back against its expansionism … whether through air or sea,” Gill said.

Calling for more “pressure” on China, Gill said the Philippines and its allies should not just conduct joint sails in the West Philippine Sea but also joint air operations.

Piasentini, however, argued that airspace was governed by different treaties unlike Unclos and that freedom of overflight was an internationally recognised principle.

“No state can claim sovereignty over airspace in the same way it claims it over [surface] territory,” Piasentini said, adding that details of the bilateral agreement over the Philippines’ resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal were also not available and it was difficult to assess its scope.

“I don’t think the agreement they’ve reached recently is about territory. It does not settle sovereignty claims. Rather, it seems more focused on managing how vessels interact and allowing resupply missions.”

China needs deterrent force to protect its expanding overseas interests: expert

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274692/china-needs-deterrent-force-protect-its-expanding-overseas-interests-expert?utm_source=rss_feed

China needs to establish an effective deterrence and improve its intelligence capabilities to better protect its expanding overseas interests, according to a senior military expert.

Liu Qiang, a retired People’s Liberation Army officer who served twice with UN peacekeeping forces, said it was “necessary” to explore military protection and overseas troop deployments, even though they are “a last resort”.

“It requires careful planning and cautious practice. But nevertheless, this is an important step of our non-war military operations, and it must be perfected, deepened and implemented in terms of law,” he said, in an article published on Wednesday.

Liu, currently deputy director of the Centre for the Protection of China’s Overseas Interests at the Guosheng Strategic Think Tank in Beijing, wrote that China “also needs to conduct regular exercises in training so as to achieve the deterrent effect”.

In the article, published on the think tank’s official social media account, Liu noted that China’s expanding overseas investments mean that it is also confronted with growing risks to the security of its personnel and assets.

The urgency has been heightened by worsening relations with the US and its allies, which have led to a rise in sentiment in the West against a perceived “China threat”, Liu noted.

“There is a potential risk of anti-China incidents, and our overseas institutions may become targets of attacks in the future,” he said.

According to a 2022 report by the Chinese commerce ministry, there are around 47,000 Chinese companies operating in 190 countries or regions, primarily in energy, mining, infrastructure construction and manufacturing. Together they employ 4.1 million people, including 2.5 million non-Chinese overseas.

As of the end of 2023, another commerce ministry report showed that China’s total outbound direct investment had reached US$2.8 trillion, ranking third in the world for six consecutive years.

China first used military force overseas to evacuate its citizens during the Libyan civil war in 2011. Since then, the PLA’s international presence has remained very limited, with just one overseas base established in Djibouti in 2017.

Africa is a key area for Chinese investment, with its contracted projects on the continent accounting for 26.6 per cent of the global total.

Chinese troops stationed in Djibouti demonstrated their military presence by taking part in an Ivory Coast military parade last Thursday.

According to Liu, China should also be developing private security firms and boosting their capabilities, especially intelligence.

“We must have a reliable intelligence channel for security assessments, and this process must be normalised; these detailed tasks require professional security teams to guide and rehearse measures and contingency plans,” he said.

“In some underdeveloped countries, many local security companies are not regulated and may even engage in insider theft.”

Compared to internationally renowned security companies such as the UK’s G4S, the scale and strength of Chinese private security companies remain relatively limited.

Britain’s G4S, for example, had annual revenues of up to US$20 billion. In contrast, total 2022 revenue for China’s largest security company Securitas Services Group was around US$120 million.

“There is still a long way to go in developing overseas security companies, so our institutions or individuals must currently have a sense of self-preservation and be well-prepared,” Liu said.

Chinese personnel working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – a key component of Beijing’s massive Belt and Road Initiative – have been attacked repeatedly by local armed groups in Pakistan.

In March, five Chinese engineers were killed in a terrorist attack in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan.

Liu Xiaoqing, 68, ‘ageless goddess’ of China cinema stirs controversy with choice of young roles

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3274693/liu-xiaoqing-68-ageless-goddess-china-cinema-stirs-controversy-choice-young-roles?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese actress Liu Xiaoqing, who is known as the “ageless goddess” of the country’s film industry, has sparked controversy by playing characters nearly 50 years younger than her actual age.

The 68-year-old from Chongqing in southwestern China first gained fame in 1979 for her role as a stylish and vibrant supporting character in the comedy What a Family.

In 1995, Liu’s portrayal of Wu Zetian, the legendary Chinese Empress, cemented her status as much-admired performer, with the characters she played evolving from a naive girl to a powerful and cunning ruler.

Liu has starred in more than 70 films and television dramas, earning a number of prestigious awards, including the Hundred Flowers Awards and Golden Rooster Awards.

She is also recognised as one of the most powerful women in China.

In the 1990s, Liu reportedly raised five billion yuan (US$700 million) within three years and established more than 26 real estate, beauty, and advertising companies.

Her business success led Forbes to rank her 45th on the China Rich List in 1999.

Despite her many accomplishments, Liu’s life has not been without its setbacks.

In 2002, she spent 422 days in prison for evading taxes on earnings of 14.6 million yuan (US$2 million). The scandal caused significant damage to her reputation.

After her release, she resumed acting, taking on multiple roles in stage plays and films.

In 2011, the mainland media speculated that Liu’s youthful appearance might be due to a facelift.

She denied having cosmetic surgery, attributing her youthful looks to a healthy lifestyle.

Liu said she does not smoke or drink alcohol, plays badminton for at least four hours a week, and prioritises skin hydration.

In recent years, she stirred controversy by playing much younger characters.

At 58, she portrayed a 16-year-old princess in the television series Hero Sui and Tang Dynasties 3.

In 2020, at 64, she played a 28-year-old policewoman in the film Black Panther, insisting on performing all the action scenes without a stunt double.

Last year, at 67, she starred in Ice Sniper 2 as an 18-year-old bandit who evolves from a naive girl into a tough warrior, with an actor 18 years her junior playing her father.

On June 30, Liu told CCTV movie channel that she was willing to take on the role of a “fox spirit” in the future.

In ancient Chinese folklore, the fox spirit is a mythical creature known for its enchanting beauty and youthful appearance.

“I can fully ‘return to youth’ and take on much younger roles. My sense of youth is expressed through the eyes, not something AI technology can replicate. I’ve kept my figure and appearance, and I’m confident I can portray the fox spirit well,” she said.

This charismatic and controversial actress has more than 10 million followers on Douyin, and opinions about her are mixed.

“I really admire Liu’s confidence, and I envy her vitality,” one online observer wrote.

“I don’t understand why Liu refuses to embrace the natural grace of ageing and insists on defying the laws of nature. She should play roles appropriate to her age,” said another.

“Seeing someone I could call ‘grandma’ acting like a young girl in a movie makes me feel very strange,” a third person said.

On July 9, responding to online criticism about her age and acting, Liu said on Weibo.

“People are trying to tear me apart, accusing me of pretending to be young. But I’m not pretending, this is just who I am. Youth is a mindset.”

“My life is not defined by others,” she added.

Chinese ship destroyed Baltic pipeline, Eileen Gu’s link to French athlete: 7 highlights

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3274605/chinese-ship-destroyed-baltic-pipeline-eileen-gus-link-french-athlete-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

Beijing has admitted that a Chinese-owned ship damaged a critical Baltic Sea gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland last October, but says it was an accident.

When China announced last year plans to invest 170 billion ringgit (US$35.9 billion) into Malaysia, property players had already started rolling out the red carpet for potential investors and homebuyers looking to join the expected rush to set up shop in the Southeast Asian nation.

Beijing’s top spy agency says it has uncovered more than 1,000 cases of Taiwanese espionage during a crackdown and vowed to keep up the pressure on the island’s pro-independence forces.

Hong Kong authorities updated its existing amber outbound travel alert for Japan, urging city’s residents to closely monitor the situation after the country was hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Miyazaki prefecture last Thursday.

China has piled resources into producing individuals who excel in sports where there is only moderate Western opposition. The country’s consistent dominance of diving and table tennis, in particular, is written off in some quarters as the result of China hothousing young athletes to inflate its Olympic medal count.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is one of the most eerie celebrations in Chinese culture and falls on the 15th day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, that day is August 18. According to Chinese folklore, the gates of hell are said to open on the first of the month, and ghosts and spirits are free to wander the earth.

China’s Olympic champion skier Eileen Gu is facing criticism online after videos emerged of her dancing intimately with a French swimmer accused of disrespecting a Chinese sports coach.

China’s military AI detects secret radar links between South China Sea, Alaska and Guam

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3274610/chinas-military-ai-detects-secret-radar-links-between-south-china-sea-alaska-and-guam?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese electronic warfare AI has detected mysterious signals that repeatedly show up in the South China Sea, Guam, the Marshall Islands and the Aleutian Islands near Alaska – and they appear to be coordinated.

Scientists involved in the investigation say that the characteristics of these electromagnetic signals suggest the existence of “tactical coordination” among military radars deployed in these areas across the Pacific Ocean.

This is the first time the People’s Liberation Army has publicly showed its ability to gather electronic warfare intelligence around the globe “based on specific targets and actual reconnaissance data”, according to the researchers.

The operational range of China’s naval and air forces in the Pacific has expanded from the South China Sea to Alaska and the US territory of Guam – a key spot on the “second island chain” under Washington’s strategy to contain China.

Meanwhile, the Marshall Islands, in the central Pacific, are home to the US military’s most powerful space surveillance radar.

China and its competitors engaged in electronic confrontation “every day” around the globe, said the research team led by Zhou Changlin of the Strategic Support Forces Information Engineering University. They published their findings in a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Terahertz Science and Electronic Information Technology in May.

These events generate a large amount of signal data, including information on time, frequency, location, and electromagnetic parameters, Zhou and his colleagues wrote.

This data, which can be collected by warships, aircraft and satellites, has grown rapidly in terms of volume and complexity in recent years.

Traditional analysis methods have not been fast or accurate enough to meet the Chinese military’s intelligence data mining needs, according to the researchers.

Zhou’s team has built a data processing platform, based on artificial intelligence algorithms, that enables massive data analysis and intelligence extraction to provide precise and customised services for combat units.

The AI system can analyse historical signals filled with noise and uncertainty to identify patterns of electronic tactical coordination among different types of radars belonging to different countries at various locations.

The paper lists some events that the AI considers to be correlated and provides their geographical coordinates.

This information helps the Chinese military better plan electronic warfare tasks such as electromagnetic suppression, deception, and jamming.

Zhou’s team says that the AI could also identify unknown types of radars, accurately guess their confidential operating parameters and even predict the future deployment of foreign naval fleets.

The electronic warfare AI works with other intelligence platforms, such as imaging satellites, to cross-check its findings.

Human experts have also played an important role in fine-tuning the AI model parameters, according to Zhou’s team.

The PLA’s electronic warfare equipment has made rapid progress in recent years, and its electronic warfare strategy has become proactive, while the United States sometimes finds itself on the defensive.

Last month, Chinese and Russian warships, along with strategic bombers, appeared in the waters near Alaska, while another set of Chinese and Russian vessels reportedly approached Guam, home to the largest US military base in the western Pacific.

The US Navy destroyer USS Rafael Peralta said on its official Facebook page that the ship “protected Guam” during the Chinese and Russian deployment.

However, the US Navy subsequently deleted the statement and described its interaction with Chinese and Russian warships as “safe and professional”, according to a Newsweek report on Monday.

---

Olympic gaffes over Chinese names, South Korea show more effort needed in diversity push

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3274595/olympic-gaffes-over-chinese-names-south-korea-show-more-effort-needed-diversity-push?utm_source=rss_feed

One of the most mispronounced Chinese names during the Paris Olympics must be that of Chinese table tennis player Wang Chuqin.

In various announcements made during the recently concluded Games, Wang’s full name had been pronounced either as “Wang Chu-king”, “Wang Ching-kuang”, or “Wang Chang-kuang”.

The pronunciations that drew the most chuckles among Chinese netizens include “Wang Qin-qin” (which means “dear” or “to kiss” in Chinese) and “Wang Chu-qu” (or “Wang, get out!”).

The mispronunciations occurred even though Wang had earlier recorded the pronunciation of his name – which sounds similar to “Wang Chu-chin” – and which can be found on the Games’ website.

The same happened to his table tennis compatriot Fan Zhendong who was called “Pang Cheng-tong”, which amused many Chinese netizens as it sounded like “fat like a barrel” in Chinese.

Female table tennis player Wang Manyu too had her name mangled – she was referred to as “huang menyu” which sounded like “braised fish” in Chinese.

Other names mispronounced include springboard diver Quan Hongchan, where Quan (pronounced “chuen”) was at least consistently pronounced as “Kuan”.

Chinese names have, for the longest time, been mispronounced by non-Chinese speakers who struggle particularly with names containing the letters “z”, “x” or “q” and when these have morphed to become “zh”,“xu”, “xun”, “qu”, “qiu” or “qun”.

I dread to think how the French announcers would pronounce the name “Zhuge Xuequn”.

In defence of “Quan” being pronounced “Kuan”, a non-Chinese friend asked: isn’t Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen’s family name pronounced “Kwa” or “Kuah”?

“I didn’t make up the rules,” I said, shrugging.

Mainland Chinese names follow the standardised pinyin system, whereas some names elsewhere also follow the Wade-Giles style, another romanisation system for Mandarin Chinese. In my view, the latter is less consistent, even somewhat capricious, than the former.

While Quah’s family name is romanised in non-standard format – otherwise “Ke” in pinyin or “Ko” in Wade-Giles – her personal name is in pinyin.

The mispronounced Chinese names out there – not just at the Olympics – are often sources of amusement, particularly for mainland Chinese, many of whom believe that their language is a difficult one to learn.

But wait a minute.

Many mainland Chinese too were momentarily confused after Hong Kong fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai garnered a gold medal at the Games, as “Kong” – or “Jiang” in Mandarin – sounded like the pinyin version of the family name “孔”.

“So why is she not a ‘Kong’ as in ‘Kong Fuzi’ [Confucius]?” some mainland Chinese users queried on Chinese social media.

And what about Hong Kong sprinter Felix Diu Chun-hei, whose family name in Cantonese is synonymous with a vulgar profanity and hence unprintable in a family newspaper?

None of the mainland Chinese friends I asked knew the meaning of “Diu” (or “Diao” in pinyin) in Cantonese, nor the minor commotion the name has caused in Cantonese-speaking regions around the world.

Another mainland Chinese friend could not understand why the “Zii” in Malaysian badminton player Lee Zii Jia’s name had to be spelled with two “i”s instead of one. “If ‘Jia’ is in pinyin, why isn’t ‘Zii’ also in pinyin?” she asked.

This northern Chinese friend also could not relate when I told her I was teased in school while growing up in Singapore as my last name Siow (“Xiao” in pinyin) sounded like “mad” or “crazy” in the southern Hokkien or Fujian dialect.

As a celebration of diversity, inclusion and respect, the Paris Olympics can certainly do better in making sure that all names – not just Chinese – are correctly pronounced.

It is after all an international platform where athletes perform at unrivalled levels, and not a local high school sports tournament.

Gaffes such as getting names wrong – not just Chinese but also Korean names, and mistaking the South Korean team for North Korea, which occurred during this year’s Games – should not be easily overlooked or even happen in the first place.

It is not rocket science to find out the correct pronunciations and say them right. If need be, athletes’ names can be pre-recorded and played back during ceremonies, where their names do not have to be subjected to the whims of the persons making the announcements.

Why dilute the athletes’ joy and triumphs in winning a medal if they have to pause to recognise if their names – or someone else’s – have been called?

Or worse, to realise their names – when mispronounced – sounded like a common braised Chinese seafood dish?

---

Major earthquake off Taiwan is felt in mainland China, Japan, Philippines

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3274689/major-earthquake-taiwan-felt-mainland-china-japan-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the eastern coast of Taiwan on Friday at 7.35am local time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. There were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake – the second major earthquake to rock the island in the past year – was monitored at a depth of about 16km (10 miles), with its epicentre in the waters east of Hualien county.

Affected countries included Japan and the Philippines.

The earthquake struck just as Japan ended its first ever “megaquake” advisory on Thursday, a week after a magnitude-7.1 quake hit the country’s southwest.

The alert was lowered after no abnormalities were observed, following an increased likelihood of a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake as well as major tsunamis along the Nankai Trough, an unstable area on Japan’s southwest Pacific coast.

In Taiwan, the morning commute was affected in Taipei, authorities said. The Songshan-Xindian subway line was temporarily suspended, while the Wenhu line continued to operate, but at half speed.

Taiwan has been battered by frequent earthquakes in recent months. In early April, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Hualien, killing at least 17 and injuring more than 1,000 people. Weeks later, aftershocks at magnitudes of 6.0 and 6.3 struck the island again, causing two empty buildings to collapse.

China’s oil demand dips, ticks down as economic ebb eases fuel imports

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3274636/chinas-oil-demand-dips-ticks-down-economic-ebb-eases-fuel-imports?utm_source=rss_feed

China has reduced oil imports from Russia in recent months, part of an overall softening of fossil fuel purchases as the country – one of the world’s largest petroleum consumers – grapples with an economic slowdown and increases the share of cleaner fuels in its energy mix, according to recent customs data.

The downward trend has been substantial enough to prompt the world’s major agencies to lower their forecasts for global oil demand.

China has cut its crude oil purchases from Russia by 14.1 per cent in terms of volume in May and June, year on year, greater than the 9.7 per cent decline in its total crude oil imports during the same period.

It also cut crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia, its second-biggest supplier, by 6.5 per cent over the two months.

For July’s overall crude imports, China reported a 3 per cent drop to 42.3 million tonnes, the figure’s lowest level since September 2022. Country-specific trade data for the month has not yet been released.

“[The general drop] stems from weak construction and manufacturing activity during the period, and is also mirrored in similarly weak demand growth for other commodities,” said Matthew Sherwood, lead commodities analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Although the decline in imports from Russia is driven by reduced overall demand, it remains significant that the dip is larger than the overall decrease in China’s total oil consumption, Sherwood said.

However, imports from Malaysia are bucking the trend with a 45.1 per cent month-on-month surge in May.

Sherwood said that Malaysia’s crude oil exports to China, which have surpassed its production capacity, could be “excess production” from Russian stocks being diverted to China.

“There’s no way of confirming that for sure, but it is hard to explain the Malaysian numbers otherwise,” he said. “We can only assume that the sharp drop in Russian oil imports is related to the sharp rise in imports from Malaysia.”

However, Russia will persist in implementing any measures necessary to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, and China will continue to meet some of its oil needs with less expensive Russian crude, Sherwood added.

China’s economic activity has seen signs of deceleration, with Thursday’s data indicating further declines in consumption and investment following 4.7 per cent year-on-year growth reported in the second quarter, lower than expected.

The slowdown has led the International Energy Agency, the industrial watchdog, to cut its forecast for global oil demand in its monthly report.

“Weak growth in China following the post-Covid surge of 2023 now significantly drags on global gains,” the Paris-based agency said on Tuesday, estimating global oil demand would increase by fewer than 1 million barrels per day this year and in 2025.

Besides cooling economic momentum, China’s fast-growing appetite for clean energy was also cited as a reason for the dip in oil demand, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said on Monday.

“Headwinds in the real estate sector and the increasing penetration of liquefied natural gas trucks and electric vehicles are likely to weigh on diesel and petrol demand,” it said.

Opec reduced its forecast for global oil demand growth this year from 2.2 million barrels per day to 2.11 million barrels per day, due to a reduced thirst for oil in China.

But the bloc was still optimistic about the demand prospects of the world’s second-largest economy, saying steady growth and an upswing in travel will increase fuel needs.

---

China Olympic hero closes supporters club over toxic fan culture, 250 million react online

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3274665/china-olympic-hero-closes-supporters-club-over-toxic-fan-culture-250-million-react-online?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Olympic champion and new 100m freestyle world-record holder, Pan Zhanle, has been making headlines recently, but not in the water.

His profile has been raised a notch higher, if that is possible given his already huge popularity, by taking a stand against so-called fandom culture.

He has even gone as far as disbanding his official fan group, a move for which he has gained widespread praise.

Affectionately known as “the new flying fish”, became a national sensation during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he clinched two gold medals and propelled Chinese swimming to new heights.

Not only did he set a new world record in the men’s 100m freestyle, he also contributed to a historic victory in the men’s 4x100m medley relay on his 20th birthday, ending the United States’ 64-year domination of the event.

His his straightforward, vivid and sincere demeanour interviews breaks from the traditional, almost scripted form that most interactions with the media take.

In one interview with state media CCTV, he publicly criticised the food at the Olympic Village, saying: “The meat tastes like wood.”

In another interview, he openly slammed his rival, Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, for poor sportsmanship, saying: “I greeted Chalmers, but he completely ignored me.”

Chinese netizens have taken him to heart

Their support has propelled Pan to a new level, earning him an incredible number of fans in China.

Thre number of followers he has on his personal Douyin account increased by 1 million within just five days of his championship win on August 1.

As the popularity of sports stars has grown however, there are growing concerns about the escalation of so-called fandom culture.

Phenomenon such as xcessive spending on endorsements, irrational forms of support and online confrontations have combined to erode the traditional meaning of sport

During the women’s table tennis finals between two Chinese athletes Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng, some Chinese fans not only cheered for their favourite but also booed the other competitor, despite the fact they were both representing China.

A similar scenario played out with Olympic gold medalists in diving, Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi, who are not only competitors but also teammates and good friends.

However, after Chen won a national competition against Quan last year, Quan’s fans unleashed a barrage of verbal abuse on Chen’s social media, accusing her of “stealing” Quan’s gold medal.

Pan’s stance on the matter has been seen as a direct challenge to this toxic fandom culture.

On August 12, Pan unexpectedly disbanded his only official fan group on Weibo, a move that quickly became a hot topic which had attracted more than 250 million views at the time of writing.

The fan group was reportedly created in 2021 when he was relatively unknown and it was managed by Pan himself. It included members who genuinely loved swimming.

However, Pan’s sudden fame brought a surge of new followers to the group, which made him feel increasingly uncomfortable.

The exact number of fans in the group at the time it was closed down was not disclosed.

In an interview with CCTV, Pan mentioned the fickleness of fans who gather outside his hotel for autographs when he is doing well, but not when the chips are down.

“Achievements come from step-by-step training. When my performance was poor, they didn’t come to find me. But now they do, it feels really strange and awkward. I hope to keep a low profile and enjoy some peace and quiet,” he said.

Many people online have lauded Pan for having a “clear-head.”

“Pan is truly clear-headed. This Olympics has made him mature a lot, and he’s not wasting any energy. He’s really great and has the potential to achieve greater things,” one person said.

“Athletes are praised when they perform well, but as soon as their performance drops, they get criticised, just like what happened to Liu Xiang. One minute they’re fans, the next they’re haters, shooting arrows at the athletes,” said another person.

“Athletes should be focused only on the competition and please ignore everything else. Sports competitions do not need fan culture,” said a third.

---

China to screen arrivals showing mpox symptoms as cases spread outside Africa

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3274679/china-screen-arrivals-showing-mpox-symptoms-cases-spread-outside-africa?utm_source=rss_feed

China has announced that it will start screening arrivals from overseas who show signs of mpox, which has been declared a global health emergency.

Customs authorities said on Friday that all aircraft and vessels – including cargo and container ships – arriving from countries or regions affected by mpox will need to comply with health processing measures.

Global health officials confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden on Thursday, linking it to a growing outbreak in Africa.

The case in Sweden came one day after the World Health Organization declared the disease a global public health emergency.

More to follow …

Why China is becoming a top choice mediator for global conflicts

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3274330/why-china-becoming-top-choice-mediator-global-conflicts?utm_source=rss_feed

As global conflicts simmer, China’s role as a mediator is gaining prominence, with its economic influence and diplomatic connections helping it to foster dialogue. Last month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou. During their talks, Wang reiterated China’s commitment to promoting a political resolution to the Russian war on Ukraine, a stance that received a positive response from Kuleba.

China’s significant influence largely stems from its economic connections with the conflicting parties. During the Guangzhou talks, Wang emphasised China’s role as Ukraine’s largest trading partner. According to Chinese customs, bilateral trade was at US$6.81 billion last year. Wang also pointed out China’s position as the primary importer of Ukrainian agricultural products and underscored Ukraine’s early participation in the Belt and Road Initiative.

On his part, Kuleba acknowledged the importance of the bilateral relationship, calling the two not just strategic partners but also important economic and trade partners. As the conflict in Ukraine grinds on, Kyiv appears to see Beijing’s influence as increasingly vital. China, with its infrastructure expertise, could play a significant role in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

At the same time, China’s position as Russia’s top trading partner, with bilateral trade rising to US$240.1 billion last year, further solidifies its unique role as a potential neutral mediator. This economic interdependence with both nations gives China leverage that few other countries can match.

China’s economic diplomacy scored a notable success a year ago when it brokered the restoration of ties between long-standing rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. As a major trading partner and the largest oil customer of both nations, China wielded significant influence. This economic leverage was bolstered by major bilateral agreements: a 25-year cooperation deal with Iran reached in 2021 and a strengthening of its comprehensive strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia in 2022.

China’s deep economic ties with these Middle Eastern powers provided both the means and the motivation to push for their reconciliation. As Israel’s third-largest trading partner, and with bilateral trade volume reaching US$14.5 billion last year, China can also – I have reason to believe – play a significant role in promoting a peaceful resolution to the Gaza crisis, potentially offering a path to dialogue where traditional diplomacy has faltered.

Furthermore, China’s seat on the UN Security Council has become a cornerstone of its growing diplomatic influence, particularly in its push for multilateral solutions to global conflicts. After the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza broke out, Wang proposed high-level international conferences to address the crises.

This approach bore fruit earlier this year when rival Palestinian factions came together for the Beijing Declaration, a rare moment of unity brokered through Chinese diplomacy. Days later, on July 25, China’s Permanent Representative to the UN Fu Cong reiterated Beijing’s stance on the Ukraine war during a Security Council review, emphasising the need for peace talks and a political resolution.

Over three decades, China has grown to become a major contributor of troops in UN peacekeeping operations, providing more peacekeepers than all the other UN Security Council permanent members combined, and is the second-largest financial backer of these operations. These commitments have helped to reshape China’s international image, portraying it as a nation dedicated to global peace and respect for sovereignty, unlike its once isolationist stance.

More importantly, China’s approach to international diplomacy is deeply rooted in its historical narrative and foreign policy principles. China doesn’t have a colonial past and has not engaged in invasive military campaigns in recent history, which serves as a foundation for its credibility on the global stage. This stance, encapsulated in its “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence”, emphasises dialogue and consultation over force and aggression in resolving international disputes.

China’s policy of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, offering an alternative to interventionist approaches, has gained significant support, particularly among developing nations. As China’s global interests expand alongside its economic and military capabilities, it continues to advocate for peaceful coexistence and non-intervention. Free from Cold War-era alliance constraints, China positions itself as a neutral mediator in global affairs – a role it increasingly embraces in today’s complex geopolitical landscape.

In addition, China’s diplomatic efforts extend to developing nations, as evidenced by the recent China-Brazil consensus on the Ukraine crisis. Their six-point proposal outlines key de-escalation principles, including no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting, and no provocation by any party. Significantly, it proposes an international peace conference, to be held at a time agreeable to both Russia and Ukraine, ensuring equal participation and fair discussion of all peace plans.

This trend was also underscored last year when an African peace delegation visited Ukraine and Russia. As a member of the Brics bloc (original members include Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa), China encourages developing countries to join in the fostering of peaceful development frameworks.

Through sharing information, financial aid, project collaboration and participation in international negotiations, Beijing is strengthening its ties with the Global South, amplifying the collective voice in global peace initiatives.

In conclusion, China’s emerging role in global conflict resolution leverages its economic influence and diplomatic reach to unite diverse stakeholders. By creating dialogue platforms that bridge long-standing divides, Beijing offers a fresh approach to peace negotiations.

China’s commitment to multilateral solutions and engagement with all parties positions it as a potentially transformative force in international peacekeeping. This approach not only advances China’s diplomatic interests but also reflects its vision of a shared future for humanity, potentially reshaping the landscape of global conflict resolution in the years to come.

[Sport] China's rhetoric turns dangerously real for Taiwanese

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8dy437pdno

Getty Images

Getty Images

Getty Images

Getty Images

Jia Bei Zhu, owner of secret Chinese-run California lab, faces new US charges

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3274677/jia-bei-zhu-owner-secret-chinese-run-california-lab-faces-new-us-charges?utm_source=rss_feed

A US federal grand jury handed down new charges on Thursday for the man accused of being behind the California lab that regulators said was illegally distributing misbranded Covid-19 test kits as the owners lied to investors.

Jia Bei Zhu, 62, previously faced three counts of lying to regulators and distributing misbranded medical devices, but the grand jury on Thursday returned a new 12-count superseding indictment.

The new charges filed in the Eastern District of California courtroom in Fresno County included conspiracy and wire fraud related to the lab discovered in late 2022, the US Department of Justice said in a news release.

Zhu is a citizen of China who lived in Clovis at the time of the lab’s discovery, according to prosecutors. His romantic and business partner, 38-year-old Zhaoyan Wang, was also named in the indictment.

Their lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The two were linked to a limited partnership based in Oakland that owns the property in question in downtown Reedley, California, that was secretly used by Universal Meditech Inc. and Prestige Biotech Inc.

The companies stored dozens of refrigerators filled with vials of blood, viruses and other infectious agents; containers of laboratory chemicals; hundreds of laboratory mice; and an array of other stored laboratory equipment.

The defendants were accused by prosecutors of defrauding buyers of Covid-19 test kits between August 2020 and March 2023.

They allegedly imported “hundreds of thousands” of test kits from Ai De Ltd., which was a company in China that they controlled, and falsely represented to the buyers that the test kits were made in the United States, according to a news release.

Prosecutors said the pair told regulators the kits were pregnancy tests to get them into the US.

They represented to buyers they could make as many as 100,000 kits a week in the US approved by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, according to federal prosecutors. They avoided showing the buyers around the lab by claiming it was under construction.

Zhu remained in custody pending his trial, according to the Justice Department. Wang was not in custody.

Zhu faces maximum statutory penalties of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and wire fraud charges, and an additional three years in prison for the distribution of adulterated and misbranded medical device charges, the news release said.

The next hearing was set for September 11.

Donald Trump’s fans love his bobbleheads, but most are made in tariff-targeted China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3274667/donald-trumps-fans-love-his-bobbleheads-most-are-made-tariff-targeted-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Just 10 days after former US president Donald Trump narrowly dodged an attempted assassination, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum released two new Trump bobblehead dolls, citing requests from his fans and collectors.

One shows the Republican presidential candidate with a bloodied ear and a defiant raised fist, capturing the drama of the July 13 attack at a rally in Pennsylvania. The other bobblehead has him sporting a white bandage on his ear, which was nicked by a bullet.

Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the world’s only bobblehead museum, which opened in 2014 in Milwaukee, reported a “flood of requests” for these figures, describing them as “images that are sure to be among the most iconic moments in history”.

Sklar said that since Trump hit the political scene in 2015, he has “consistently outsold” every other politician when it comes to bobbleheads, racking up more of the collectibles “than any other president or presidential candidate by a long shot”.

Given that bobbleheads are mass-produced items, it’s no surprise that they are manufactured in China, and while the “made in China” label is sometimes stigmatised in US political discourse, it usually isn’t enough to drive consumers away.

“At this time, all bobbleheads are manufactured in China,” Sklar said. His museum works with several different factories in Xiamen, China. “The production has always been more economical in China for at least the past 30, 40 years,” he added.

But the popularity of Trump bobbleheads means his fans would stand to lose if his tariff threats of 60 per cent or more on all goods from the country were in place now.

“Yes, it definitely would lead to an increase in the price. It would also significantly limit the number of promotional bobbleheads produced for stadium giveaways,” Sklar said when asked how Trump’s proposed tariffs might affect the business.

His museum has sold over 1,000 Trump bobbleheads in presale at US$30 each, with shipment expected the month after the November 5 election.

In the past six months, the museum has sold a total of about 2,000 Trump bobbleheads compared with about 250 of US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and 100 of President Joe Biden.

A new limited-edition series features Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Warren Royal of the Royal Bobble, which has been in the business since 2008 and sells to presidential libraries and museums across the US, said “we see a big spike as the campaign season gets under way” and Trump has emerged as a bobblehead favourite this season, just like the past two election cycles.

“The last couple of months, Trump was outselling Joe Biden 10 to 1,” he said, but added that since Harris became the presidential nominee, “we have seen a spike in Kamala Harris too.”

After the assassination attempt, Royal Bobble introduced a Trump bobblehead with a fist-up pose, but did not produce a version featuring a bloody and bandaged ear, despite receiving requests.

“We just thought it was too much,” Royal said, adding that “we always try to accentuate the positive.”

All Royal Bobble figurines are also made in Chinese factories.

“The labour costs are much better in China, the pool of artists and technicians that know how to make these types of products is much better in China. We do all our design here in the US, but it’s not cost effective to produce them here,” Royal said.

There are several fan-run sites dedicated solely to Trump bobbleheads, which also sell on e-commerce platforms.

Among them, the “The Trumpinator” available at US$25 by Proud Patriots, a US company, currently ranks as the most popular “sports fan bobblehead” on Amazon.

Inspired by the iconic action film The Terminator and its star Arnold Schwarzenegger, it blends politics with a touch of Hollywood flair. A hands-crossed Harris bobblehead is ranked the 220th most popular among collectible figurines on Amazon.

The collectible dolls are typically about 6 to 8 inches high with an oversized head attached to the body with a spring. According the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, “Chinese nodding-head figures are documented in England and Continental Europe as early as the 1760s.”

In the 1780s, these dolls were imported into Europe, England and America from southern China, and interest in them grew in the early 19th century with King George IV’s fondness for Chinese decoration.

In the US, bobbleheads gained popularity in the 1960s with the release of figures depicting baseball stars Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Willie Mays. Figurines of the four Beatles later became the most popular collectibles. Political bobbleheads appeared around the same time, with a figure of president John F. Kennedy.

The profit margin for the dolls, according to Sklar, is between 40 to 50 per cent. This depends on the production volume, with no import tariffs currently affecting the cost. But if Trump’s proposed tariff on all Chinese imports is implemented, a substantial price increase is expected.

“It could push prices up by 30 to 60 per cent, depending on whether factories can lower their costs to partially offset the tax,” Sklar said.

Royal said: “Whether it’s a price increase caused by inflation or a price increase caused by the pandemic, or price increase caused by tariffs, anything like that is definitely going to affect the consumer”.

While most bobblehead producers clearly state that the items are imported from China, some Trump fan-based websites do not mention where they are manufactured. Proud Patriot brands itself as a “private American company with American workers based out of Orlando, Florida, with warehouses in Michigan and New York”.

Proud Patriot did not reply to an email asking if its bobbleheads are imported from China. Some buyers’ reviews on Amazon, however, said the product was labelled “made in China”.

Saying American manufacturers were being hurt by cheap goods imported from China, Trump in 2018 imposed US$300 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

Biden has largely maintained the tariffs on products including apparel and footwear, leading retailers to pass costs onto consumers and industry groups to condemn them as harmful to both manufacturers and buyers.

The share of US footwear imports from China dropped from 53 per cent in 2018 to 40 per cent in 2022 as companies sought alternatives.

For bobbleheads, Sklar said that China would remain a preferred source and that there was no plan to diversify “unless there are major issues that impact things like huge tariffs or trade bans”.

Chinese remote-sensor maker Hesai awaits Pentagon notification on blacklist decision

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3274675/chinese-remote-sensor-maker-hesai-awaits-pentagon-notification-blacklist-decision?utm_source=rss_feed

Days after it was reported that the US Department of Defence had decided to remove a Chinese maker of remote sensors used in smart cars from its blacklist of military-tied companies, the Shanghai-based firm has yet to receive notification from the Pentagon.

American defence officials concluded that Hesai Group did not meet the “legal criteria for inclusion” in the blacklist, according to the Financial Times story on Tuesday.

However, at present the Pentagon “has not yet communicated this action to Hesai, nor have we seen any official announcement or confirmation from DoD on this matter”, a company representative told the Post in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The representative declined to comment on the FT report, instead referring to its inclusion in the blacklist in January as a “mistake”.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the DoD had likely not yet reached a final decision. The DoD has so far refused to comment, noting the matter is still in court.

A clerk at the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday said no date had yet been scheduled in Hesai’s case.

In May, months after the DoD added Hesai to its blacklist, the company sued the Pentagon.

Court documents dated July 31 showed that Paul L. Friedman, a US district judge hearing the case, denied Hesai’s request for a summary judgment and granted the DoD a chance to present its facts in the case.

Since the development surfaced this week, the administration of President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has drawn fire from Republicans, who have raised national-security concerns over the apparent U-turn.

US congressman John Moolenaar, Republican of Michigan and chair of the House select committee on China, described lidar as a “foundational technology of the future and one we cannot let our adversaries control”.

“If the United States allows CCP-affiliated firms like Hesai to dominate our market, we will cede our vehicles, factories, ports and other critical infrastructure to direct CCP surveillance and manipulation,” Moolenaar told the Post via email on Thursday.

Some defence experts tracking Hesai’s case attributed the Pentagon’s current silence to bureaucratic hurdles and heightened internal scrutiny following the media leak.

“The DoD require labyrinthine approvals and can be subject to all sorts of hold-ups due to ordinary bureaucratic delays,” according to Bill Drexel of the Centre for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank.

“That said, with the blowback from the announcement that Hesai may be removed from the blacklist, it seems likely that the decision is coming under some further scrutiny internally,” said Drexel.

Lidar remained “a very important strategic technology for defence and we can’t afford to get this wrong”, he added.

Philippine coastguard ship ‘heading for disputed South China Sea reef’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274654/philippine-coastguard-ship-heading-disputed-south-china-sea-reef?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines is sending a new coastguard vessel to strengthen its hold over a disputed reef in the South China Sea, according to Chinese monitors who predicted a “forceful response” from Beijing.

The BRP Melchora Aquino is currently en route to the Sabina Shoal and is expected to arrive on Friday, according to the Beijing-based South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI).

The uninhabited reef in the Spratly Islands has been the scene of a stand-off between the two sides since April, when one of the most advanced Philippine coastguard ships, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, arrived at the site.

Manila said the ship had been sent there after receiving reports that China was trying to carry out land reclamation works.

Beijing rejected the accusation and said the Philippines was trying to deliver building materials to establish a permanent outpost there – something that was in turn denied.

The SCSPI said the Melchora Aquino was likely to swap places with the Teresa Magbanua to maintain Philippine control over the reef.

“[The latest deployment] will only deepen China’s suspicion that the Philippines wants to permanently occupy the Sabina Shoal,” said Hu Bo, the SCSPI director. “So China is likely to take resolute action.”

Hu added: “China didn’t know the intention of the ship [Teresa Magbanua] when it entered the area last time... this time they will not easily let go of the BRP Melchora Aquino.”

The two Kunigami-class ships were built in Japan and are among the most advanced and expensive Philippine coastguard vessels.

China has sent its own ships to the reef, including the world’s largest coastguard vessel, the 12,000-tonne CCG-5901, to keep watch over the Philippine ship, which has reportedly carried out flag-raising ceremonies and land and water surveys.

Sabina Shoal, known as Xianbin Reef in China and Escoda Shoal in the Philippines, falls within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone but is also claimed by China.

The Second Thomas Shoal, the main flashpoint between the two sides in recent months, also falls within this area and Beijing is worried the situation there will be repeated at Sabina Shoal.

The Philippines grounded a Second World War landing craft at the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 and has maintained a military presence ever since.

Attempts to resupply the troops stationed there have led to a series of clashes between the two sides in recent months, including collisions between ships

The most serious incident happened in June when the Chinese side intercepted a Philippine naval vessel, resulting in injuries to eight Philippine sailors, including one who lost a thumb.