Mistral点评

• EU officials assail denial of access to trial of two Chinese human rights advocates
• India and China continue to walk a fine line over Russia’s war in Ukraine
• [Sport] Why South Africans are flocking to a Chinese hospital ship
• Retirement delay vs immigration: US academic stirs debate on China’s population crisis
• China says Mekong dam did not discharge water downstream amid heavy flooding in Thailand
• China and US pave way for Xi-Biden summit in Wang Yi-Jake Sullivan talks
• China’s soft power is making its mark as US doubles down on military might
• China seeks to tap duty-free shopping potential, adds 21 urban shops amid tourism surge
• Singer moved to tears by fans’ marriage proposals during ‘Marry Me’ song at China concert
• Pakistan vows to stand with ally China, defeat terrorism’s aim to ‘drive a wedge’
• Thailand battles influx of cheap Chinese imports with new task force and regulations
• The nuclear option: China study urges more weapons R&D to save Earth from asteroid strike
• China’s Nvidia wannabe, Tencent-backed AI chip start-up EnFlame, flags IPO intention
• Textbooks to teach young Chinese more about national security, Xi Jinping Thought
• ‘Mum won’t see you’: China cancer woman dies without finding abducted son after 9-year search
• China’s embattled restaurants, embroiled in price war, struggle to stay afloat
• Beijing diplomat urges China and Japan to take long view on tense ties to manage friction
• US military open to escorting Philippine ships in the South China Sea, senior admiral says
• China’s hit game Black Myth faces backlash after telling players not to discuss ‘feminist propaganda’
• [Sport] Sabina Shoal: The new flashpoint between China and the Philippines
• Earth slowed down dramatically during worst ever mass extinction, Chinese-led study finds
• China Resources Land posts record decline in its interim profit amid housing market torpor
• South China Sea: when should Philippines invoke its US Mutual Defence Treaty?
• Obesity-related cancers rocketing among young people in China
• Australia pushes Pacific police force to check China’s regional ambitions
• China’s Black Myth frenzy: Wukong game sparks tourism surge at featured sites
• China’s medical-device makers look overseas for exports to cure to ailments at home
• Asia ‘rapidly sliding towards war’ and US is to blame, Chinese professor says
• China’s ‘problematic laws’ remain in Xinjiang two years after damning report: UN
• Chinese hackers exploited bug to compromise internet companies, cybersecurity firm says
• As Western-led order crumbles, can China and India fulfil their destinies?
• Chinese gang jailed for operating £55m money-laundering ring
• ‘Denial’ of China a stumbling block as Pacific leaders push back at Australian police training plan
• Hong Kong urged to change approach to scheme allowing mainland China vehicles into city

EU officials assail denial of access to trial of two Chinese human rights advocates

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276318/eu-officials-assail-denial-access-trial-two-chinese-human-rights-advocates?utm_source=rss_feed

European Union diplomats were denied entry to a Suzhou courtroom on Wednesday, as they tried to monitor the start of the trial of two Chinese human rights advocates who were detained last year on their way to meet EU officials in Beijing.

“It is highly regrettable that EU representatives of diplomatic missions accredited to China were denied access to the courtroom. This denial undermines trust in due process requirements in China,” said Nabila Massrali, the bloc’s foreign affairs spokeswoman.

Yu Wensheng, a prominent human rights lawyer, and his wife Xu Yan were detained on April 13, 2023. The trial is being held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, a city 110km (68 miles) west of Shanghai.

“The EU reiterates its earlier concerns about the well-being of Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan and we call for their immediate release,” Massrali said.

The EU, she added, sought “immediate clarifications from the authorities on the sudden and unexplained detention by the police of two lawyers, Wang Yu and Yang Hui, who also tried to attend the trial”.

Yu has already spent years in prison. He was detained in 2018, hours after writing an open letter calling for constitutional reforms in China, including multi-candidate elections. Xu said at the time that her husband was subsequently investigated for and charged with inciting subversion of state power. He was given a four-year sentence in 2020, but was released from prison in 2022.

In April 2023, the couple had been scheduled to meet with senior EU diplomats who had travelled from Brussels. Josep Borrell, the EU’s de facto foreign minister, was originally supposed to be part of that delegation but had to postpone his trip after testing positive for Covid-19.

According to a letter sent later by a group of United Nations special rapporteurs to Chinese authorities, the pair were detained by plain-clothes police officers after trying to board the subway en route to the EU’s office in Beijing.

Yu and Xu were formally arrested on April 15. According to a video posted to Xu’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, they were detained for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a criminal charge widely criticised for its potential to be used to muzzle dissent.

Known as a catch-all offence or a “pocket crime”, the charge has been used by Chinese authorities against human rights activists and dissidents for a wide range of behaviours.

According to the UN rapporteurs’ account, Yu’s brother was shown an arrest warrant on May 21, 2023, detailing the charges but was not permitted to copy or photograph it.

The pair was repeatedly denied access to their lawyers through most of 2023, according to the letter. Xu Yan was finally permitted to meet lawyers that December, and she told them she had begun a hunger strike in October, because of the repeated lack of access to counsel.

The UN representatives said they were “dismayed” by the “alleged arbitrary detention” of the couple and voiced “deep concern” about the “condition of their detention”.

At the time of those detentions, Brussels said that three other human rights lawyers connected to the EU meeting – Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu and Bao Longjun – had been placed under house arrest.

China’s Foreign Ministry has previously said that “Chinese authorities handle cases according to the law”.

India and China continue to walk a fine line over Russia’s war in Ukraine

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3276059/india-and-china-continue-walk-fine-line-over-russias-war-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed

After Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 23 in Kyiv, the media played up photographs of Modi giving Zelensky his traditional bear hug. Zelensky said on X (formerly Twitter) that with Modi’s first visit to Ukraine as prime minister “history was made”, and that India supports “Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

While this might suggest Modi’s visit to Kyiv was a case of India supporting Ukraine in the festering war that is now in its 30th month, Modi himself was less direct on India’s position on Russia’s aggression. He said: “We have stayed away from the war with great conviction. This does not mean that we were indifferent. We were not neutral from day one, we have taken a side, and we stand firmly for peace.”

Modi’s visit is an extension of India’s deft and delicate diplomatic balancing act since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, an act Moscow described at the time as a “special military operation”.

India has steadfastly refrained from criticising Russia for its actions but has also upheld international law and the United Nations Charter, urging both sides to engage in dialogue and diplomacy to end the conflict. This was the gist of Modi’s message; the subtext was the need to assuage US concerns that New Delhi has been uncritically pro-Russia.

The Kyiv trip followed Modi’s July visit to Moscow, where his embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin elicited considerable criticism. At the time, Zelensky caustically wrote: “It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day”, referring to a Russian attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv the day Modi arrived in Russia.

When Modi was in Kyiv, two other high-level political visits added to the kinetic geopolitical framework in which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is playing out. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was in Washington at the same time, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang was concluding his visit to Moscow and Belarus. India and the United States signed important defence agreements during Singh’s visit, adding tangible content to an already robust military supplies relationship and this would be of relevance to Beijing.

For Delhi, Li’s reiteration in Moscow that the China-Russia friendship was “solid, strong and unshakeable” and had “withstood international turbulence” would have salience in the context of the complex India-China-Russia triangle. Joining these dots provides an instructive perspective on the multidimensional chess game being played at the Asian and global levels since the fighting in Ukraine began.

Both China and India have a special relationship with Russia that goes back to the Cold War decades, when the overarching US-Soviet Union bipolarity defined the global strategic framework. In the latter phase of the Cold War, China moved into the US camp and India leant more towards the Soviet cluster.

After the Cold War ended, both Asian giants rewired their bilateral relationship with a geographically shrunken and economically weaker Russia. Today, US-China adversity defines the major power relationship.

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 led to a dilution of US primacy on the global stage. The wars that followed – Ukraine in 2022 and Gaza in 2023 – have resulted in a wobbly global strategic framework where the major powers and the UN Security Council have been rendered largely ineffective in ensuring global peace and stability.

India and China have sought to walk a fine line in relation to the war in Ukraine by upholding international law in a couched manner but have not joined the list of countries publicly denouncing Russia’s actions. This might have created the appearance of Delhi and Beijing flying with the doves, but in fact they are maintaining a solitary, owl-like perch to protect their long-term interests.

While India’s orientation is described as a case of exuding strategic autonomy – an extension of its policy of non-alignment – the carefully calibrated Chinese position has been referred to as the “Beijing straddle”.

Both countries have nurtured their Russian linkage in the form of oil imports and a bilateral trade and military relationship, but they have been careful not to put themselves at risk of US sanctions. Concurrently, both have sought to project themselves as the voice of the Global South, the disparate collective of developing nations which have been most adversely affected by the war in Ukraine because of the disruptions in the global food and fertiliser supply chains.

Modi’s visit to Kyiv was largely symbolic. The substantive element is in the multilayered signalling at the global level, in the Eurasian context and to a domestic audience. Neither India nor China can enable an effective peace process in the Ukraine war without earnest US involvement, and this will be determined by the outcome of the November US presidential election. Victory for former president Donald Trump could lead to unpredictable policies.

In the interim, both India and China are preparing for the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, in October. How the participants – including the grouping’s founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China – frame the Ukraine war will provide some clues about the run-up to the third anniversary of a conflict that has jolted the post Cold War certitude about no wars in Europe. Abiding peace remains elusive against the harsh reality of a bloody war.

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[Sport] Why South Africans are flocking to a Chinese hospital ship

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx6462wl07o

AFP

AFP

AFP

Getty Images/BBC

Retirement delay vs immigration: US academic stirs debate on China’s population crisis

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3276259/retirement-delay-vs-immigration-us-academic-stirs-debate-chinas-population-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed

An American demographer has stirred a debate with an article arguing that China’s plans to delay its retirement age are futile, and that only a massive influx of foreign immigrants could address the nation’s demographic woes.

The move could help China mitigate the trend of an ageing and declining population, Dudley L. Poston Jnr, a professor of sociology at Texas A&M University, said in an article published earlier this month on The Conversation

However, Chinese demographers cautioned that there is no quick fix to the complex and deep-seated challenges facing China’s massive and ageing population, and that more comprehensive strategies are needed to navigate the looming crisis.

“Raising the retirement age will not help China slow the population decline, and it will have only a marginal effect on the ratio between working adults and post-working age adults,” said Poston Jnr on the platform, which is a publisher of research-based news and analysis via a collaboration between academics and journalists.

“If an active immigration policy is not implemented, by the beginning of the next century, China will be half as large as it is today and will be one of the oldest countries – if not the oldest country – in the world.”

Last month, China’s ruling elite said it wanted to raise the retirement age in a “voluntary and flexible” manner.

China’s retirement ages, which were first set about 70 years ago, stand at 60 for men, 55 for female office workers and 50 for female blue-collar workers.

However, as life expectancy has risen to 77 compared to 35 in 1949, when the People’s Republic was founded, China has been mulling over delaying retirement, to not only fully tap into its human capital, but to also alleviate pressure on the pension system.

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

Only 9.02 million births were also reported in China last year, representing the lowest since records began in 1949.

Despite a spate of government policies to encourage births, young adults in China remain reluctant to engage in family planning.

The proposal to delay the retirement age, which was included in a document that revealed the decisions taken during the third plenum, was not mainly designed to increase the labour force, said Yuan Xin, vice-president of the China Population Association and a professor of demography at Nankai University in Tianjin.

Yuan added that it was rather to promote the value and expertise of workers as people in China are remaining in education longer, resulting in a shorter working life under the current retirement framework.

“From another perspective, as our society enters an era of technological, digital and intelligent advancement, the replacement of labour by technology is evident,” Yuan said.

“So while labour may be scarce, it is not necessarily in short supply – China does not lack people or a workforce. Even with the population decline, China’s vast population size remains a defining feature of our modernisation.

“Imagine how China could possibly rely on immigration to solve its demographic issues when its 1.41 billion people make up 17 to 18 per cent of the world’s population?”

Yuan added that an enormous number of migrants would be required to correct China’s population size and structure, and immigration is feasible but it must be talent that contributes to China’s modernisation efforts.

“Without the influx of a young immigrant workforce, the problems China faces will be far worse,” added Poston Jnr.

He also pointed out that many other major economies with low fertility rates rely on migrates for young workers, and China that has a significantly lower rate of foreign-born residents at 0.1 per cent, compared to almost 18 per cent in Germany, 14 per cent in the United States, and even 2 per cent in Japan and 3.7 per cent in South Korea.

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China says Mekong dam did not discharge water downstream amid heavy flooding in Thailand

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276291/china-says-mekong-dam-did-not-discharge-water-downstream-amid-heavy-flooding-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed

China said on Tuesday a major dam on the Mekong River did not discharge floodwaters last week amid heavy flooding in Thailand.

Monsoon rains across large areas in Thailand have caused extensive flooding that has killed at least nine people and affected more than 51,700 households, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. They have also caused landslides that have killed 13 people on the island of Phuket.

But the flooding along the banks of the Mekong has heightened concerns about hydropower dams along China’s stretch of the river, which is known as the Lancang.

Thailand’s Office of the National Water Resources has sent an emergency notice to the Mekong River Commission, a regional intergovernmental agency, urging Laos and China to work together to slow water discharges from dams, according to the Bangkok Post.

China’s dams have faced frequent accusations that they have caused unseasonal flooding and droughts along the river’s lower reaches, putting at risk the livelihoods of tens of millions of people who rely on the waterway for farming and fishing.

A particular focus of these complaints has been the Jinghong dam in Yunnan province, which began operating in 2008 and is the closest to the Thai border.

Xishuangbanna, the prefecture in Yunnan where the Jinghong dam is located, had been suffering its worst drought since 1961 until this year’s monsoon rains arrived.

The area then saw its heaviest August rains in a decade at the start of the month and rainfall has continued throughout the month.

On Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in Thailand said that the average daily outflow last week between Sunday, August 18 and Sunday, August 25 from the Jinhong hydropower station was down 60 per cent on previous Augusts and no floodwaters had been discharged in that period.

The embassy added that it was “highly concerned” about flooding in north and northeast Thailand, but a preliminary investigation had confirmed that water levels in the Lancang River remained stable and its reservoirs do not currently need to discharge water.

“The six countries of the Lancang-Mekong River basin are a community with a shared future … China fully respects and considers the interests and concerns of the countries in the basin,” the embassy said.

“China is willing to further enhance information sharing and cooperation on water resources, improve comprehensive river basin governance, and jointly address challenges such as climate change and flood disasters.”

The Mekong is the longest river in Southeast Asia, originating in the Tibetan plateau in western China before passing through five other countries – Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – before draining into the South China Sea.

Since 2020 China has provided annual hydrological information about the Lancang River to the five Mekong countries and the Mekong River Commission Secretariat.

Earlier this month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the annual Lancang-Mekong foreign ministers’ meeting, where he said: “China actively supports strengthening cooperation on climate change response and disaster prevention and mitigation.”

He said that within the next three years China would finish developing ways of sharing further information about the weather and emergency response efforts.

China and US pave way for Xi-Biden summit in Wang Yi-Jake Sullivan talks

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276302/china-and-us-pave-way-xi-biden-summit-wang-yi-jake-sullivan-talks?utm_source=rss_feed

Senior Chinese and US officials started paving the way for another Xi-Biden summit with talks on Wednesday that also included an agreement for discussions between military commanders to try to prevent conflict in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The White House said the presidents of the two countries were expected to talk on the phone “in coming weeks”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan covered a wide range of topics in two days of “candid, substantive, and constructive” talks in Beijing, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Sullivan will wrap up his trip to China on Thursday, completing the first visit by a White House national security adviser in eight years.

His visit is widely seen as laying the groundwork for another summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden, who will step down in January.

With Biden devoting much of his remaining term to foreign policy, there has been speculation that he could seek to add to his legacy with a trip to China.

Biden has been to the country before but he is the only US president since Jimmy Carter not to visit while in office. Xi and Biden could also meet at the G20 summit Brazil in after the US election.

During their talks this week, Wang and Sullivan also agreed that military commanders at the theatre level would hold video calls at “an appropriate time”.

The commitment has been on the agenda since top-level military-to-military communication resumed in November as part of a Xi-Biden consensus reached at the presidents’ last summit in San Francisco.

Sullivan has reportedly been pushing for theatre command talks to better deal with potential conflicts in the Indo-Pacific.

The need for communication has become sharper in the past week with repeated clashes over disputed territory in the South China Sea between Chinese and Philippines vessels.

On Tuesday, a day after the China Coast Guard said two Philippine ships “intruded” into its waters off Sabina Shoal, US Indo-Pacific commander Samuel Paparo said the US was open to the possibility of escorting Philippine vessels.

The US and the Philippines have a mutual defence treaty that requires Washington to protect its ally if it is attacked in the South China Sea. Sullivan reaffirmed this commitment in his meeting with Wang on Wednesday, while also raising concern about China’s “destabilising actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea”, the White House said.

But Wang told Sullivan that the US should “not to use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China’s sovereignty”.

“China firmly safeguards its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests over the South China Sea islands, and upholds the seriousness and effectiveness of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” Wang said, referring to a maritime code of conduct.

“The United States must not … support or condone the Philippines’ infringements.”

On Taiwan, Wang urged the US stop arming the island and abide by the “one-China principle”.

“Taiwan belongs to China, which must be reunified. ‘Taiwan independence’ is the biggest risk to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The United States should implement its commitment not to support ‘Taiwan independence’,” he said.

“The key for China and the United States to avoid conflict and confrontation is to abide by the three joint communiques.”

The joint communiques were signed between 1972 and 1982 and spell out US recognition of the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a part of China to be reunited by force if necessary, and has repeatedly warned that it is the most important “red line” not to be crossed in US-China relations.

Most countries, including the US, do not recognise self-governed Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is against any move to take it by force and is legally bound to arm the island to defend itself.

Wang also called on the US to “respect the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people” and “stop suppressing China” in the economy and technology.

The US has imposed various measures, from semiconductor bans to duties on Chinese electric vehicles, to curb China’s military development and rein in what it sees as manufacturing “overcapacity” that threatens US national interests.

But Wang said that one country’s security could not be based on the insecurity of others.

“National security requires clear boundaries, especially in the economic field, which must be scientifically defined … Using ‘overcapacity’ as an excuse to engage in protectionism will only harm global green development and affect world economic growth,” Wang said.

“The United States should not use its own path to speculate on China, nor should it use the template that a strong country will seek hegemony to mirror China.”

The White House said Sullivan told Wang that “the United States will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced US technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade or investment.”

The US has also sanctioned Chinese entities over alleged transfer of dual-use goods to Russia to “bolster” Moscow’s defence industry – and its military action in Ukraine, a concern raised by Sullivan in the meeting.

Wang said China remained committed to promoting peace talks in the conflict and urged the US not to “impose illegal unilateral sanctions indiscriminately”.

Wang and Sullivan also agreed to continue cooperation on law-enforcement and combating narcotics and climate change, as well as hold a new round of China-US intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence.

China’s soft power is making its mark as US doubles down on military might

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3276119/chinas-soft-power-making-its-mark-us-doubles-down-military-might?utm_source=rss_feed

As its soft power is increasingly challenged, the United States appears to be relying more on its hard power to uphold its vision of a rules-based international order. In contrast, China is establishing the socioeconomic and civilisational foundations of an equitable world order through its vision of a “community with a shared future”.

On Sunday, amid rising concern that a broader regional conflict is in the offing, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in their most intense cross-border strikes since the Gaza war began. Earlier, the US deployed warships and aircraft carriers to the Middle East to deter potential hostility with Iran.

Simultaneously, in the western Pacific, the US is working to contain what it sees as the threat from China through defence alliances and groupings. As the world’s sole superpower, it continues to maintain an extensive global military presence.

However, the US presidential election in November could disrupt this strategy. Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump seems keen to reduce American military commitments worldwide, leaving allies and partners such as Ukraine, Taiwan and the Philippines uncertain about their future security. Inconsistent global leadership from a deeply divided US could raise doubts about its reliability in defending the rules-based international order.

Despite internal divisions, the US maintains a unified stance on certain key issues, particularly the threat China poses to its global dominance. While Trump might avoid direct military confrontation, he is likely to pursue other strategies to contain China.

Another area of consensus is the conflict in Gaza; the outcome of November’s election is unlikely to alter the broad bipartisan support for Israel’s actions against Hamas. However, unflinching US support for Israel is gravely damaging its reputation.

Washington’s inability to broker a ceasefire in Gaza has undermined US global leadership in the eyes of some in the Global South. On Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a politically divided US leaves it with an inconsistent stance, leading to greater unpredictability. Meanwhile, even a united US undermines its leadership by unwaveringly supporting Israel.

While US allies await the results of the November election to determine the future of their security strategies, the Global South is advancing its own initiatives. China has emerged as a key partner for these developing countries as they seek closer economic ties with Beijing. Additionally, a growing list of nations is seeking to join the China-backed Brics.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s farsighted vision of a “community with a shared future for mankind” is shaping an emerging alternative world order. Central to this vision is the Global Development Initiative (GDI), with the Belt and Road Initiative as its cornerstone. Since its inception a decade ago, China’s belt and road strategy has invigorated economic growth in the Global South.

The West’s response to the Belt and Road Initiative includes efforts such as the US-led Build Back Better World announced at the G7 summit in 2021 and the European Union’s Global Gateway. However, these efforts have yet to make a comparable impact.

Their limited effectiveness is partly because of their apparent geoeconomic objective of containing China. In contrast, efforts such as the Belt and Road Initiative and Brics are viewed as tools for levelling the playing field. The GDI, in particular, is driving a shift in the global economic centre from the Global North to the Global South.

Another pillar of Xi’s vision is the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which underscores the critical role of global security in making the vision of a community of shared future for humankind a reality. As part of this vision, Beijing aims to transform the People’s Liberation Army into a world-class military force by 2049. This push for military modernisation could be viewed as a threat, especially in contested regions such as the western Pacific.

However, China does not seek to challenge or replace US-led global security architectures. The US remains the sole superpower with a global military strategy. Nonetheless, its worldwide military presence is increasingly difficult to sustain, which could be why Trump has advocated scaling it back.

The final pillar in Xi’s tripartite programme is the Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI), which underscores that trust between civilisations is essential for realising a community with a shared future for humankind.

The GCI is a direct challenge to two prominent Western world views.

The initiative offers a refutation of American political scientist Samuel Huntington’s argument of an inevitable “clash of civilisations”, instead asserting the possibility of coexistence where world religions and cultures collaborate for the common good. Contrary to another American political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history” thesis, the GCI argues that liberal democracy is not the pinnacle of human political progress but merely one of many pathways to achieving good governance.

At the end of the Cold War, Fukuyama’s thesis generated widespread enthusiasm and the world was captivated by the US’ message of liberty and democracy. However, the country has not consistently upheld these values and ideals. As its economic influence wanes, the US is relying on its military strength to maintain its global presence.

Meanwhile, in the Global South, China is laying the groundwork for a community with a shared future for humankind. The GSI plays a crucial role in facilitating a smooth transition to a new world order. However, it is the GDI and the GCI that have the greatest potential to create a more equitable and pluralistic global system.

True peace cannot be secured through military might alone. It requires the softer power of economic growth and mutual trust between civilisations to foster genuine security and stability.

China seeks to tap duty-free shopping potential, adds 21 urban shops amid tourism surge

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3276272/china-seeks-tap-duty-free-shopping-potential-adds-21-urban-shops-amid-tourism-surge?utm_source=rss_feed

China will make duty-free purchases more accessible in most major cities by adding 21 downtown shops, including in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, to boost spending amid an inbound tourism surge.

Eight new shops would be built, while 13 special foreign exchange goods duty-free shops – which only serve returning Chinese travellers – would be upgraded, the Ministry of Finance said in a joint statement with four other departments on Tuesday.

The adjustment came as Beijing steps up efforts to stimulate consumption, including extensive relaxations of visa policies, amid a shaky post-pandemic recovery within the world’s second-largest economy.

The changes will bring the total number of urban duty- free shops to 27 after adding to six existing locations in Beijing and coastal cities.

According to the guidelines, urban duty-free stores would primarily serve travellers who are set to depart China within the next 60 days, including Chinese nationals.

Shoppers must collect their purchases at designated pickup points located within the outbound customs areas at airports or ports before leaving the country.

And while there are no purchase limits for duty-free goods, shoppers must adhere to customs regulations, which stipulate that items must be for personal use and in “reasonable quantities”.

The guidelines, which will take effect from October, also encourage shops to sell trendy domestic products and those that “help spread China’s excellent traditional culture”.

According to Huaxi Securities analysts led by Xu Guanghui, China’s urban duty-free market represents a crucial area of growth that has vast potential due to policy limitations and a previously weak inbound travel market.

In 2019, sales from urban duty-free stores accounted for less than 1 per cent of China’s duty-free sales, indicating a gap in its duty-free system, according to the report released earlier this month.

“In the current context of relatively weak global consumption, the price advantage of duty-free channels is significant,” Xu said.

“The potential for overseas consumption to return to China remains strong, and with the rapid development of inbound tourism, the new policies for urban duty-free stores are likely to be implemented soon.”

China received 14.64 million foreign visitors in the first half of the year, up by 152.7 per cent year on year, according to the National Immigration Administration.

The new policy, though, is not attractive to domestic consumers as it mainly focuses on travellers who are about to leave China.

“I don’t think I will buy from such stores, because according to the new policy, travellers are not allowed to deposit the goods at the port and pick them up upon entry, which makes it inconvenient for Chinese nationals making outbound travels to bring the goods home,” said frequent traveller Jenny Ye, a Shanghai-based white collar worker who often shops at duty-free stores at airports.

Previously, domestic consumers could shop at the 13 foreign exchange goods duty-free shops by presenting an entry-exit record from within the past 180 days.

Many consumers took advantage of the policy by purchasing duty-free goods after returning from abroad.

China’s state-owned duty-free distributing giant, China Duty Free Group, reported a slump in net profits and revenue in the first half of the year.

According to its half-year financial report released last month, its revenues saw a year-on-year decline of 12.81 per cent, while net profit fell by 14.94 per cent.

Analysts pointed to a slump in sales on the southern island province of Hainan, which accounts for 60 per cent of its total revenue, amid weak consumer spending.

China is eager to develop Hainan into the world’s largest free-trade port by offering tax incentives and relaxing visa requirements for tourists and business travellers.

The Hainan market had bolstered China Duty Free Group’s performance during the coronavirus pandemic, but data from Haikou Customs showed that offshore duty-free sales in the first seven months of the year fell by 30.4 per cent year on year to 20.1 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion).

In response to Tuesday’s policy adjustment, stocks related to the duty-free sector, including Wangfujing department store in Beijing, saw a strong opening on Wednesday, with Zhongbai Group and Friendship & Apollo shares hitting the 10 per cent daily upper limit.

Singer moved to tears by fans’ marriage proposals during ‘Marry Me’ song at China concert

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3276174/singer-moved-tears-fans-marriage-proposals-during-marry-me-song-china-concert?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwan singer Jam Hsiao was overcome with emotion and his fans were delighted when two marriage proposals took place during one of his recent mainland concerts in southern China.

On August 17, while Hsiao was singing his signature song Marry Me, in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong, two men in the audience knelt in front of their girlfriends, reported Dazhong Daily.

A video clip that went viral, shows one woman wearing a white wedding veil while accepting her boyfriend’s proposal.

A surprised Hsiao burst into tears on stage and became so overwhelmed that he covered his face with his hand and stopped singing for a while because he was sobbing.

As he continued to sing, he frequently wiped away his tears with a tissue.

The singer’s fans found his crying amusing because he is known for being an emotional person. He has shed tears many times in public, especially when he sees others cry.

As he gathered his composure, Hsiao told his Guangzhou audience: “Thank you for sharing your joy with me at my concert. This song is very important to me. I know many people are waiting to hear it.

“Last year, I proposed to my wife so I understand this moment and I cherish this joy. Thank you for witnessing my growth and my happiness,” he said.

The video of Hsiao has trended on mainland social media, receiving 430,000 comments on Douyin alone.

“Some people would think his own girlfriend was proposed to, ha ha,” one person said.

“He is such a cute boy,” said another.

The 37-year-old pop idol enjoys huge popularity on the mainland, with 18 million followers on Weibo.

He is dubbed the “God of Rain” by internet users who noticed it often rains heavily during his concerts. Hsiao finds the title amusing.

He and his agent, Summer Lin, 51, married in October last year.

Hsiao won praise on mainland social media for deciding not to have a baby, saying he could not bear the thought of his beloved wife suffering the pain of childbirth.

Pakistan vows to stand with ally China, defeat terrorism’s aim to ‘drive a wedge’

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3276217/pakistan-vows-stand-ally-china-defeat-terrorisms-aim-drive-wedge?utm_source=rss_feed

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to stamp out terrorism in western Balochistan province following a deadly campaign of rebel attacks that he said was aimed at sabotaging Belt and Road Initiative projects there.

The insurgents’ “nefarious and impure goals are to stop the journey of progress” in Pakistan, Sharif said at a cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.

By staging the provincewide attacks, the terrorists wanted to “drive a wedge” between close allies Pakistan and China, he added.

At least 50 civilians and security personnel were killed in about a dozen insurgent attacks in ethnic Baloch majority areas of the province over the weekend. The attacks were timed to coincide with the 17th anniversary of the 2006 assassination of the province’s former chief minister Nawab Akbar Bugti by the army after he rebelled against military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

During the attacks, rebels cut off vast, rugged and thinly populated Balochistan – home to the Chinese-operated Arabian Sea port of Gwadar – from the rest of the country by blockading major highways and blowing up railway bridges.

Paramilitary forces’ bases were assaulted by suicide squads while several posts and police stations were overrun.

In an incident that horrified Pakistanis and others, the rebels executed 23 bus passengers after identifying them as residents of the populous, politically dominant province of Punjab.

No Chinese projects or personnel were targeted during the weekend campaign.

Nonetheless, Sharif saw the wave of attacks in Balochistan as an attempt to scare off investors from the strategically located mineral-rich province, particularly Beijing.

Balochistan is the southernmost node in the envisioned US$65 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which was launched in 2016 with the core aim of connecting Xinjiang overland to the western Indian Ocean via Gwadar port.

Following several lethal attacks in recent years against Chinese nationals working in Pakistan by Baloch and Taliban insurgents, most recently in April, Beijing has repeatedly stressed that its future investments in the country depend on Islamabad’s ability to provide a safe and politically stable business environment.

The multipronged attacks in Balochistan coincided with the visit to Islamabad of General Li Qiaoling, commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s ground forces, for talks on enhancing defence cooperation and the regional security situation.

Statements issued by Islamabad after Li’s meetings with Sharif and other top Pakistani officials on Monday made no specific mention of the terrorist attacks in Balochistan.

Reacting to the carnage, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China was “ready to further strengthen counterterrorism security cooperation with the Pakistani side in order to jointly maintain regional peace and security”.

Addressing his cabinet, Sharif rejected calls from some influential sections of the Pakistani media to prioritise finding a political solution to the insurgency in Balochistan.

In an editorial published on Tuesday, Pakistan’s top English newspaper Dawn said that while “kinetic action” against Baloch rebels was necessary, “the civil and security leadership must look deeper” at the human rights violations, poor socioeconomic conditions and the denial of political rights that have “intensified the tension between the Baloch and the state”.

“These factors provide a fertile recruiting ground for terrorist groups on the lookout for angry, frustrated elements to join their ranks,” Dawn said.

However, the Pakistani prime minister said “neither talks can be held nor any soft approach can be employed” with rebels unless they surrendered and accepted the country’s federal constitution.

“Terrorists have no place. No matter what happens, they will be completely eradicated from this country,” said Sharif, who promised to divert budgetary funding if necessary to finance ramped-up security operations against Baloch and Taliban insurgents.

Security analyst Abdul Basit described the “near-simultaneous, multiple coordinated attacks” carried out by the Baloch rebels as a “bid to generate an impression of a slipping state writ” through the improved capabilities of insurgents to occupy areas and highways in Balochistan for extended periods.

“In-depth strategic planning went into these attacks, matched by operational capabilities on the battle and media fronts, catching the state off guard,” Basit said.

The insurgents’ ability to infiltrate security camps and posts was “alarming and requires a complete overhaul of existing security measures”, he added.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday said Baloch rebels and their sympathisers would from now on be considered solely as terrorists instead of discontented citizens.

However, Basit pointed out that such “bravado” backfired in 2006, when then-president Musharraf ordered the killing of Bugti, sparking the 18-year-long insurgency.

“It’ll boomerang in 2024 as well,” said Basit, a senior associate fellow of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

In the 18 years since Bugti’s killing, the situation in Balochistan had gone “from bad to worse”, said Basit, who described the insurgency there as “a political problem which has no security solution”.

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Thailand battles influx of cheap Chinese imports with new task force and regulations

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3276266/thailand-battles-influx-cheap-chinese-imports-new-task-force-and-regulations?utm_source=rss_feed

Thailand will set up a task force to strictly enforce existing regulations aimed at stemming the tide of cheap Chinese imports that is threatening the manufacturing sector and an already weak economy, a minister said on Wednesday.

The move comes amid warnings that many Thai businesses may not survive what the main manufacturing association has called a tsunami of cheap Chinese goods, which has already contributed to nearly 2,000 factory closures in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy in the last year.

The Thai economy is expected to grow 2.6 per cent this year on tourism and exports, but will be dragged down by manufacturing. Factory output for the first half of 2024 period fell 2.01 per cent from a year earlier.

Thailand will set up a task force comprising 28 government agencies that will meet every two weeks to review and revise regulations to prevent the distribution of illegal goods, Caretaker Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters.

“We will use existing measures more extensively,” Phumtham said, adding that these regulations comply with global trade rules.

Other measures include increasing the number of controlled goods under industrial and drug laws and ramping up the frequency of random container inspections, he said.

Thailand in June introduced a 7 per cent value-added tax on imported goods priced at less than 1,500 baht (US$44).

But the launch of Chinese e-commerce firm TEMU in Thailand in July has stoked fresh fears among small businesses that cheaper imported goods would decimate their businesses.

The Thai government said it was in discussions with the Chinese embassy about concerns over the online platform’s compliance with local tax law, according to Phumtham.

The Chinese embassy in Bangkok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We are not discriminating against any country, but ready to make adjustments if current rules cannot address these problems and society’s concerns,” Phumtham said.

Thailand’s influential former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last week called for “small steps of protectionism” to combat the flood of cheap Chinese goods, in a speech just days after his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was appointed prime minister.

The nuclear option: China study urges more weapons R&D to save Earth from asteroid strike

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3275996/nuclear-option-china-study-urges-more-weapons-rd-save-earth-asteroid-strike?utm_source=rss_feed

The best option to minimise the chance that an asteroid someday smashes into the Earth – possibly wiping out life – is through the use of nuclear weapons, according to scientists at China’s deep space exploration programme.

The researchers said their analysis had found that in some situations, only nuclear weapons could prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth, adding that they were fully aware of international laws against the use or deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and that nuclear fallout could also cause interstellar pollution.

But they have urged decision makers to think long term and support research and development into a nuclear-based defence to prevent a doomsday threat to humanity.

“The potential risk of asteroid impacts is much higher than the assessment based on currently discovered asteroid data,” the team wrote in a peer-reviewed paper published this month in the Chinese academic journal Scientia Sinica Technologica.

According to the researchers, the technologies most urgently required include: rapid response ability to launch nuclear warheads from Earth to target asteroids within an ultra-narrow time window from seven days to one month; precise strike ability with a margin of error of less than 100 metres (328 feet) after long-distance flight; and long-term orbital deployment ability that allows nuclear warheads to be safely stored in space for more than 10 years.

As near-Earth object detection technology has improved, the number of asteroids catalogued by astronomers has risen rapidly to more than 30,000. However, this may only be the tip of the iceberg, according to experts.

In 2013, an asteroid impact damaged more than 5,000 buildings and injured at least 1,500 people in Russia. Scientists were not aware of the asteroid before it hit, passing through deep space early warning radar undetected as it approached Earth.

“There may be a significant gap between the number of near-Earth asteroids that have been discovered and the actual number that exist,” said the research team, which was led by Zhang He, from the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering.

In fact, there could be many undetected asteroids that are threats to Earth, including “giant” asteroids more than 1km (0.6 miles) in diameter, they warned.

Zhang is the head of the spacecraft design team for China’s deep space programme, leading the the construction of the Chang’e-4 probe that made the first soft landing on the far side of the moon in 2019.

China’s deep space exploration programme has been upgraded to a planetary defence plan, and it is working on new infrastructure, including a large-scale radar detection network.

The biggest challenge facing scientists and engineers is to determine the practical method to alter an asteroid’s course.

“A nuclear explosion has amazing performance for self-defence,” Zhang’s team wrote in their paper.

Zhang and her colleagues analysed the effectiveness of various methods of applying external force to different types of asteroids, including kinetic impact, installing rockets or plasma engines or even projectile devices similar to catapults on asteroids, as well as focused sunlight or high-powered laser weapons to change an asteroid’s orbit.

Their findings suggest that if there is just one week until impact, nuclear warheads would be the only hope for humanity. A nuclear warhead with a yield of 1 million tonnes could resist a carbonaceous asteroid 50 metres in diameter; if the target was larger or its main component was silicon, the yield of the nuclear warhead would need to larger, or multiple missiles would need to be launched, the scientists said in their paper.

The largest nuclear warhead ever tested had a yield of 50 million tonnes of TNT. If the warning time to impact was extended to 15 years, a smaller nuclear explosion could eliminate the threat, regardless of the asteroid’s size or composition.

Other methods were only applicable to specific situations. For example, the kinetic impact method, which has was tested by Nasa’s DART mission in 2022, could only divert asteroids under 140 metres in diameter. Even if the warning time was extended to 50 years, it would only be effective against threats up to 350 metres in diameter.

However, no country has the ability to launch nuclear warheads into deep space. Because the large carrier rockets in service today require substantial time for assembly and fuelling, China would have to develop new launch vehicles with rapid-launch abilities, Zhang’s team wrote.

Another technically feasible solution is to pre-deploy nuclear weapons in space – for example at the Lagrange point where the gravitational pull between the Earth and the sun are equal – for long-term standby to shorten response time.

However, China is a signatory to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibit any country from deploying nuclear weapons in space, Zhang’s team wrote.

Nuclear explosions can also cause radioactive pollution. “The implementation of defence measures must avoid secondary harm to Earth and, as much as possible, avoid pollution and threats to the moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies,” the researchers said.

Zhang’s team predicted that it would be difficult for China to send nuclear warheads into space on short notice. Therefore, in addition to nuclear capabilities, it is necessary to simultaneously explore other technological paths, such as kinetic impact and high-power laser weapons, they added.

In July, the Communist Party launched a massive reform plan, with its programmatic document mentioning the need to “accelerate the development of strategic deterrent capabilities”.

The move was generally interpreted as a signal that China was about to expand its nuclear arsenal.

According to some estimates, the Chinese military possesses about 500 nuclear warheads, about one-tenth the size of the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia.

China’s Nvidia wannabe, Tencent-backed AI chip start-up EnFlame, flags IPO intention

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3276213/chinas-nvidia-wannabe-tencent-backed-ai-chip-start-enflame-flags-ipo-intention?utm_source=rss_feed

Tencent Holdings-backed Chinese artificial intelligence chip start-up Enflame has kicked off the “tutoring” process with an investment bank ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO).

The Shanghai-based unicorn – which was valued at US$1.65 billion last September, according to venture deal tracker Pitchbook – has hired China International Capital Corporation, one of the country’s biggest investment banks, to coach company executives on IPO-related issues, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced in a statement on Monday.

All IPO applicants in China are required to go through tutoring before filing a listing plan to regulators, a process that takes between three to 12 months. Enflame did not disclose where it plans to go public or how much it aims to raise.

Founded by two former employees at US semiconductor giant Advanced Micro Devices in March 2018, Enflame is among a group of Chinese graphics processing unit (GPU) developers hoping to take advantage of Nvidia’s absence in the country. Under US export controls, California-based Nvidia is barred from shipping its best GPUs to mainland customers.

A darling of China’s state-backed chip investment fund as well as Big Tech companies, Enflame had taken in more than US$742 million from eight fundraising rounds as of last September, Pitchbook data showed.

Tencent, its largest shareholder, put in 21.4 million yuan (US$3 million) for a 21 per cent stake, while the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund, owns a 5 per cent stake with an investment of 5.44 million yuan, according to business registry record provider Qichacha.

Co-founders Zhao Lidong and Zhang Yalin, who control the company and have signed an agreement to act in concert, hold 32.5 per cent voting rights, according to the CSRC statement.

Chinese chip designers are under mounting pressure from investors to offer an exit path, as channels for cashing out have significantly narrowed in recent years and venture capital has dried up in the country amid geopolitical tensions and economic headwinds.

Enflame – along with rivals Iluvatar Corex, Moore Threads, Biren Technology, Huawei Technologies’ Ascend – targets mainland companies looking for domestic alternatives to foreign chips.

“China’s computing clusters are changing from being foreign-GPU-dominated to a combination of Chinese GPUs and foreign ones,” Enflame’s chief ecosystem officer Li Xingyu told an audience at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July. But he added that much of the computational power in China still sits idle amid a lack of demand.

Enflame, which relies on external manufacturers to produce its designs, is currently not on the US trade blacklist, which means it can access the services of leading global foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

However, the start-up still had to revise down its chip designs to secure production at the Taiwanese giant, according to a Reuters report in June, citing unnamed sources.

Textbooks to teach young Chinese more about national security, Xi Jinping Thought

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3276139/textbooks-teach-young-chinese-more-about-national-security-xi-jinping-thought?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese students will learn more about national security and traditional culture as Beijing rolls out new textbooks in its latest move to step up ideological propaganda and control.

Primary and junior high school students starting the autumn semester next week will be handed the new textbooks on Chinese language, history, as well as morality and law, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.

Morality and law was known until 2016 as ideology and politics, It is a mandatory subject that promotes the ideology of the ruling Communist Party.

Topics highlighted in the new textbooks include President Xi Jinping’s political thoughts, and there will also be an emphasis on traditional Chinese culture and national security, CCTV reported, citing an education ministry official.

All Chinese nationals receive nine years of compulsory education, six in primary school and the rest in junior high. The new textbooks will initially be used in the first and seventh grades, and will be extended to all nine grades within three years, according to CCTV.

The new morality and law textbook will introduce the “main content and historical status” of Xi’s political thoughts, the report said.

Officially known as “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, Xi’s political philosophy was enshrined in China’s constitution in 2018.

However, it has expanded in recent years to include seven aspects, covering his instructions on economic, diplomatic, military and environmental matters, as well as the law, propaganda and party discipline.

Earlier this year, the study of these ideas was made a top priority for all party organisations across the country, with orders to hold regular meetings to study Xi’s speeches and directives.

The new history textbooks will include the brief but bloody border war in 1962 between China and India, which ended with India’s defeat after four weeks.

China and India are still at odds over their ill-defined Himalayan border, involving more than 120,000sq km of disputed territory. Both countries maintain a significant military presence in the border areas, and were involved in another deadly conflict in June 2020.

The 1979 China-Vietnam conflict will also feature in the new history books. Some 300,000 Chinese troops entered Vietnam to prevent Hanoi from overthrowing the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

The conflict caused tens of thousands of casualties on both sides in what Beijing called a “self-defence war against Vietnam”.

However it has long been silent on the issue, including not organising public commemorations of its 40th anniversary in 2019 and trying to prevent veterans from paying tribute.

Vietnam seeks Chinese investment and technical support, but the 1979 war and territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea are potential hurdles to bilateral ties.

The education ministry official quoted in the CCTV report said the new content would “allow students to deeply understand that national security is a top priority and that everyone has a responsibility to safeguard it”.

Students will also have to learn what it means to “forge a sense of community for the Chinese nation” – a concept Xi put forward in 2014 to promote ethnic integration.

While more than 90 per cent of Chinese nationals are of Han ethnicity, the country is also home to 55 ethnic minority groups.

Meanwhile, the Chinese language textbooks will include more ancient Chinese literature and stories about the revolutionary years before the party won the civil war in 1949, establishing the People’s Republic.

China’s technological development will also be highlighted in the books, with articles on the late Nan Rendong, the chief scientist of southern China’s Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) – the world’s largest radio telescope.

The textbooks will also feature an introduction to China’s advanced deep-sea research submersible Jiaolong and letters to students from Chinese astronauts.

The new textbooks took two years to compile and were used by more than 100,000 students in over 550 schools before being launched nationwide, CCTV said.

‘Mum won’t see you’: China cancer woman dies without finding abducted son after 9-year search

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3276172/mum-wont-see-you-china-cancer-woman-dies-without-finding-abducted-son-after-9-year-search?utm_source=rss_feed

A 41-year-old Chinese woman who died without finding her abducted son has generated an outpouring of sympathy on mainland social media.

Li Xuemei, from southern China’s Guangdong province, died of lung cancer on August 19 without fulfilling her last wish to see her boy again.

A month before she died, Li posted a video on the Douyin account she had set up to search for him called “Looking for Liu Jiazhu”.

She announced then that the cancer had advanced, and spread to her bones.

“Jiazhu, mum won’t see you again. I’m sorry,” she wrote.

The boy was abducted at the age of five with his friend while playing in a field near his countryside home, one day before the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2015.

Li was working in another Guangdong city to financially support her family and pay for treatment for her younger daughter who was diagnosed with autism in 2016.

She called her husband to check if the boy had eaten mooncake, a traditional snack to celebrate the festival of reunion, and learned the heartbreaking news that their son was missing.

From that day, Li and her husband Liu Dongping did not stop looking for him.

Liu said they had handed out hundreds of thousands of missing person posters in a search that stretched as far as northeastern China.

They also registered their DNA data with the police in a bid to increase the chances of finding their son.

China’s police set up an anti-abduction DNA system in 2009.

In 2021, they launched a Reunion Campaign, putting more resources into looking for lost children.

The database is also a place where people who have doubts about their identity can submit their DNA information and a nationwide search can be undertaken for a potential match.

The system has helped many long-lost Chinese children to find their biological parents.

People like Sun Zhuo, who was abducted in 2007 and reunited with his parents Sun Haiyang and Peng Siying in 2021, and Guo Zhen, who was abducted in 1997 and reunited with his father Guo Gangtang in 2021.

Liu said their hopes were raised every time other parents were reunited with their children.

Then it became a race against time for Li after she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022.

Li divorced Liu after the diagnosis fearing she would be an additional burden for him as he was already caring for his paralysed father and his mother who had hearing problems.

However, Liu continued to care for Li and to finance their daughter’s special school that cost 2,500 yuan (US$350) a month, which he paid for out of his 4,000 yuan a month wages from his supermarket job.

After Li died, Liu said he would carry on searching for their son to fulfil her last wish.

China’s embattled restaurants, embroiled in price war, struggle to stay afloat

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3276206/chinas-embattled-restaurants-embroiled-price-war-struggle-stay-afloat?utm_source=rss_feed

Facing a sustained decline in profits, 32-year-old Liao was forced to close four of her five Sichuan-style restaurants in Shenzhen earlier this year.

“I am also cutting food prices of the remaining outlet I have, as the entire catering industry is currently embroiled in a forced price war,” said Liao, who had run her restaurants for more than three years.

And restaurant owners and operators in China’s other major cities are facing much bigger challenges to stay afloat, experiencing slumping profits or financial losses as competition has intensified amid weak economic prospects.

In Beijing, profits of the catering companies with annual revenues exceeding 2 million yuan (US$280,750) fell to 180 million yuan (US$25 million) in the first half of the year, marking an 88.8 per cent year on year decrease.

Profit margins, a gauge for the company’s profitability, have also dropped to as low as 0.37 per cent, according to data from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics released in mid-August.

The situation for Shanghai’s catering operators is even worse, as companies with annual revenues exceeding 2 million yuan saw a loss of 770 million yuan in the first six months of the year, compared to profits of 1.7 billion yuan during the same period last year.

Caterers are proactively lowering prices to tempt consumers, but analysts have urged the government and industry organisations to intervene to prevent a damaging price war that could further harm small businesses.

“The price war reflects the broader trend of consumer downgrading, as residents face lower incomes and uncertain prospects, leading to more constrained spending on food,” said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform think tank.

“The price war in the catering sector will persist as long as domestic demand remains low and residents cannot anticipate stable economic conditions.”

Retail sales in China have seen thin growth since March, while consumer inflation has hovered around zero for 15 consecutive months, raising concerns about potential deflation.

On Meituan, China’s leading food service platform, some caterers in Beijing are offering a burger set for 19.9 yuan (US$2.8), a whole grilled chicken for 15.9 yuan and an all-you-can-eat beef barbecue buffet for 79 yuan.

Starbucks, the world’s leading coffee brand, has also introduced a 19.9 yuan drink set, which is nearly half the price of its regular offerings.

“A lot of the restaurants that can endure price cuts are usually under big food chains because they have more established franchising, warehousing, and supply systems, but such competition is harming the market for the self-employed business,” said a 33-year-old restaurateur owner Eric, who opened a small Xinjiang cuisine restaurant in Chongqing in April.

“But I will never lower the prices of my food, they are already set at a reasonable range, and further reductions would only result in greater losses.

“This is an unfair industrial competition, but I won’t compromise.”

Peng from the Guangdong Society of Reform also urged local governments and industry associations to establish regulations to halt the ongoing price war.

“The best remedy is still the recovery of the domestic economy,” Peng added.

Amid the domestic economic downturn, many prominent food and beverage companies have already reported bleak results.

On Monday, well-known Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung announced that it would close 14 of its restaurants, including in Beijing and Tianjin, by the end of October.

In the first half of the year, at least 74 food and beverage brands in China announced the closure of over 400 shops, according to Linkshop, a retail business information platform based in Zhejiang.

Beijing diplomat urges China and Japan to take long view on tense ties to manage friction

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276228/beijing-diplomat-urges-china-and-japan-take-long-view-tense-ties-manage-friction?utm_source=rss_feed

Veteran Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao has called for both sides to take “a long-term perspective” on Sino-Japanese relations and constructive management of their differences during his talks with a cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday.

The delegation of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians’ Union, led by Toshihiro Nikai – a House of Representatives member and a heavyweight in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – is on a three-day visit to China until Thursday.

The group met the head of China’s top legislative body, Zhao Leji, on Wednesday morning, when Nikai expressed regret over an airspace intrusion by Chinese military aircraft earlier this week, according to Jiji Press news agency.

Liu, head of the International Department for China’s ruling Communist Party, said the current bilateral ties were “sitting at a critical juncture”, according to a statement from the department published on Wednesday.

“It is hoped that both sides will approach Sino-Japan relations from a broader and long-term perspective, enhance strategic communications and cooperation in various fields, and manage differences constructively,” Liu was quoted as saying.

He also expressed a desire for increased dialogue and exchange visits from all Japanese political factions to China to improve strategic communication and mutual understanding.

The visit came as ties between the two Asian powerhouses had become frayed over an array of issues, including Tokyo’s tilt towards US-led regional security architecture aimed at countering China and the release of treated radioactive waste water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The neighbours are also at odds over the Diaoyu Islands, the uninhabited islets controlled by Tokyo that the Japanese call the Senkaku.

According to the Chinese statement, Nikai said the visit was intended to help improve communication between the two countries.

“We aim to foster deeper dialogue with China, promote stronger communication between related departments of both countries, and create favourable conditions for resolving differences and enhancing cooperation in politics, economy, culture, and tourism,” said Nikai, who is also the former secretary general of LDP.

The Chinese statement did not reveal what topics were discussed during the meeting, but the visiting Japanese lawmakers reportedly sought a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and were likely to touch on various topics.

These include China’s ban on Japanese seafood imports after the treated radioactive waste water was discharged into the Pacific Ocean, the reinstatement of pre-pandemic visa-free entry for short-term visits by Japanese, and the detention in China of Japanese nationals on spying charges.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s chief government spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday he hoped the latest visit led by Nikai could further strengthen multilayered exchanges and communication between Beijing and Tokyo.

The latest visit marks the union’s first visit in five years, following a recent resurgence in party-level dialogue between the two nations.

Diplomatic experts have worried that the frequency and level of exchanges between Beijing and Tokyo have not been on par with Japanese exchanges with Western countries amid the coming LDP leadership race and the looming US presidential election in November. Next month, the LDP will hold an election for a new party president who will become the country’s next prime minister.

In May, Liu led a delegation to Japan and agreed to restart regular discussions between the ruling parties for the first time in six years. In July, Hiroshi Moriyama, chairman of the LDP’s decision-making general council, visited China and met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who advocated for enhanced communication and cooperation.

Furthermore, Japan’s health and labour minister Keizo Takemi visited China last month, leading to an agreement between the health chiefs of both countries to cooperate on managing future infectious diseases.

Also in July, Chinese foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu re-initiated the China-Japan strategic dialogue with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo after a four-year hiatus and met Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, when the two held a “candid and in-depth” dialogue.

US military open to escorting Philippine ships in the South China Sea, senior admiral says

https://apnews.com/article/south-china-sea-philippines-sabina-shoal-21a1e8b39932d0e5921d605df2a56f25Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. gestures during his speech at an international military conference organized by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

2024-08-27T01:41:17Z

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The U.S. military is open to consultations about escorting Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday amid a spike in hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the disputed waters.

Adm. Samuel Paparo’s remarks, which he made in response to a question during a news conference in Manila with Philippine Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., provided a glimpse of the mindset of one of the highest American military commanders outside the U.S. mainland on a prospective operation that would risk putting U.S. Navy ships in direct collisions with those of China.

Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships regularly clash with Philippine vessels during attempts to resupply Filipino sailors stationed in parts of the South China Sea claimed by both countries. As these clashes grow increasingly hostile, resulting in injuries to Filipino sailors and damage to their ships, the Philippine government has faced questions about invoking a treaty alliance with Washington.

Paparo and Brawner spoke to reporters after an international military conference in Manila organized by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at which China’s increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea were spotlighted. Military and defense officials and diplomats from the U.S. and allied countries attended but there were no Chinese representatives.

Asked if the U.S. military would consider escorting Philippine ships delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces in the South China Sea, Paparo replied, “Certainly, within the context of consultations.”

“Every option between the two sovereign nations in terms of our mutual defense, escort of one vessel to the other, is an entirely reasonable option within our Mutual Defense Treaty, among this close alliance between the two of us,” Paparo said without elaborating.

Brawner responded cautiously to the suggestion, which could run afoul of Philippine laws including a constitutional ban on foreign forces directly joining local combat operations.

“The attitude of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as dictated by the Philippine laws, is for us to first rely on ourselves,” Brawner said. “We are going to try all options, all avenues that are available to us in order for us to achieve the mission…in this case, the resupply and rotation of our troops.”

“We will then seek for other options when we are already constrained from doing it ourselves,” Brawner said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said there has been no situation so far that would warrant activating the treaty, which requires the allies to come to each other’s aid if they come under external attack.

President Joe Biden and his administration have repeatedly renewed their “ironclad” commitment to help defend the Philippines under the 1951 treaty if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr said at the conference that China is “the biggest disruptor” of peace in Southeast Asia and called for stronger international censure over its aggression in the South China Sea, a day after China blocked Philippine vessels from delivering food to a coast guard ship at the disputed Sabina Shoal in the contested waters.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that “the label of undermining peace can never be pinned on China,” blaming unspecified other actors for “making infringements and provocations in the South China Sea and introducing external forces to undermine the large picture of regional peace and stability.”

Teodoro later told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that international statements of concern against China’s increasingly assertive actions in the disputed waters and elsewhere were “not enough.”

“The antidote is a stronger collective multilateral action against China,” Teodoro said, adding that a U.N. Security Council resolution would be a strong step, but unlikely given China’s security council veto.

He also called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to do more. The 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc includes the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, which have South China Sea claims that overlap with each other, as well as China’s and Taiwan’s.

“ASEAN, to remain relevant and credible, cannot continue to ignore what China is doing in the South China Sea,” Teodoro said.

In the latest incident in the South China Sea, Philippine officials said China deployed “an excessive force” of 40 ships that blocked two Philippine vessels from delivering food and other supplies to Manila’s largest coast guard ship in Sabina Shoal on Monday.

China and the Philippines blamed each other for the confrontation in Sabina, an uninhabited atoll claimed by both countries that has become the latest flashpoint in the Spratlys, the most hotly disputed region of the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines have separately deployed coast guard ships to Sabina in recent months on suspicion the other may act to take control of and build structures in the fishing atoll.

The Philippine coast guard said Chinese coast guard and navy ships, along with 31 suspected militia vessels, obstructed the delivery, which included an ice cream treat for the personnel aboard the BRP Teresa Magbanua as the Philippines marked National Heroes’ Day on Monday.

In Beijing, China’s coast guard said that it took control measures against two Philippine coast guard ships that “intruded” into waters near the Sabina Shoal. It said in a statement that the Philippine ships escalated the situation by repeatedly approaching a Chinese coast guard ship.

China has rapidly expanded its military and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. The tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though the longtime territorial disputes also involve other claimants, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Japan’s government separately protested to Beijing on Tuesday, saying that a Chinese reconnaissance plane violated its airspace and forced it to scramble fighter jets.

___

Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

JIM GOMEZ Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines. twitter mailto

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China’s hit game Black Myth faces backlash after telling players not to discuss ‘feminist propaganda’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/28/black-myth-wukong-game-controversy-china-streamers

A hit new Chinese game has sparked controversy after gaming influencers who were given early access were told not to mention news and politics, Covid-19, or “feminist propaganda” while publicly discussing the game.

Black Myth: Wukong, which was released last week, is China’s first “triple A” rated game, an industry term meaning a high budget blockbuster game, and is based on the famous 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Within three days it had sold more than 10m copies worldwide according to the game’s developers, Game Science.

But amid its success there has been debate over a list of topics to avoid that was sent to influencers and content creators along with access to a pre-release version of the game. The document, which was quickly shared on social media, listed issues to avoid while live-streaming the game.

Do NOT insult other influencers or players.
Do NOT use any offensive language/humor.
Do NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse.
Do NOT use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation’ or ‘Covid-19’.
Do NOT discuss content related to China’s game industry policies, opinions, news, etc.

It wasn’t clear what the instructions meant by “feminist propaganda”, but reporting on the directive noted Game Science employees had faced allegations of sexist and inappropriate behaviour, most notably in reports from game website IGN in November.

Game Science and Hero Games, a co-publisher which reportedly issued the directives, have been contacted for comment.

Among fans online there was heated discussion about the directive to gaming influencers, with many players linking it to the IGN reports.

On popular gaming YouTube channels, some also celebrated the directive as a pushback on what they saw as “wokeness” in gaming, noting some reviews which had criticised the game for a lack of diversity.

Rolling Stone reported that the directives – which were not sent to traditional publications and reviewers – were not accompanied by non-disclosure agreements and were not legally enforceable. In a highly viewed livestream, one user appeared to poke fun at the directives, titling his broadcast “Covid-19 Isolation Taiwan (Is A Real Country) Feminism Propaganda”, while commenters filled the chatbox with politically sensitive terms including references to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent the list was issued to appease China’s strict censorship rules. People can face harsh punishment for publicly speaking about sensitive topics or criticising the ruling Communist party. Some streamers told gaming outlet Aftermath that such directives from companies were not unusual, including requests to not mention Covid.

“The normal language of ‘No politics, please don’t talk about current events (covid), etc’ have always been part of contracts,” Twitch streamer Ben Cassel told Aftermath. However he added: “I do many sponsored streams, and I’ve never seen anything about ‘feminist’ anything in any of them. That is new. And definitely very strange.”

The game has been a global hit, peaking at more than 3 million concurrent players across all platforms, including 2 million concurrent players on PC gaming platform Steam, in its first week – the second highest rate ever. On its first day it was the most viewed game on Chinese platforms, and in Singapore some workers were given time off to play it, according to the Straits Times.

Chinese authorities and media have praised the game’s success, with headlines saying it “builds pride, subdues prejudice” and “sparks interest in Chinese culture”.

In recent days Chinese state media has also hit back at reports on the controversy, accusing western media of using the game to attack China.

“Their strategy of attacking the game is just the same old Western tactic - politicising every Chinese achievement, even in the realm of gaming,” wrote nationalistic tabloid the Global Times.

The article said Black Myth’s success had triggered the “radar of some anti-China forces” and accused the BBC – which reported on the directives – of “wrongly accus[ing] China of censorship to dampen international perceptions of China”, but did not detail or refute the accusations.

[Sport] Sabina Shoal: The new flashpoint between China and the Philippines

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3d4rz922do

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Earth slowed down dramatically during worst ever mass extinction, Chinese-led study finds

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3276049/earth-slowed-down-dramatically-during-worst-ever-mass-extinction-chinese-led-study-finds?utm_source=rss_feed

The speed at which the world spins round slowed dramatically twice hundreds of millions of years ago, with one time coinciding with the biggest mass extinction event, according to new research.

The other incident happened during a rapid expansion of life on Earth known as the Cambrian explosion, the Chinese-led team concluded.

Although the world seems to rotate at a constant pace, the exact timing can vary and is not precisely 24 hours.

Changes in gravity caused by variations in the distance between the moon and the Earth are known to cause ocean tides, but the friction between the tides and the Earth’s surface also causes a slight deceleration in its rotation. At the same time, Earth transfers momentum to the moon, causing it to gradually move outward.

According to the study, the Earth’s rotation has been decelerating due to this phenomenon throughout its history but this rate has varied over time.

After two years of analysis the team, led by Ma Chao from the Institute of Sedimentary Geology at Chengdu University of Technology, concluded that between 700 million and 200 million years ago, the distance between Earth and the moon increased by around 20,000km (12,000 miles), causing the length of the day to increase by about 2.2 hours.

The team, which also included astronomers from France and geologists from Germany and Ireland, found that Earth’s rotational deceleration is not a smooth process but includes periods of rapid deceleration followed by intervals of stability.

“Specifically, there are two intervals with pronounced Earth rotation deceleration: between 650 and 500 million years ago (Mya), and between 350 and 280 Mya, separated by a period of stalled deceleration from 500 to 350 Mya,” the team wrote in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this month.

The first shift coincided with the Cambrian explosion, when complex life forms rapidly diversified, including the ancestors of many modern species.

Recent research has linked this event to changes in the composition of seawater, mainly the removal of harmful ions, which made oceans more habitable.

The second shift, around 250 million years ago, coincides with the “Great Dying”, an event also known as the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which wiped out 90 per cent of life on Earth.

Research suggests that volcanic activity – along with changes in the climate, sea levels and salt levels – were the main causes.

Ma linked the changes in sea conditions to the sudden shift in the Earth’s rotation, telling Science and Technology Daily: “The two major ‘fast-slow’ deceleration periods may have provided the necessary conditions for the early evolution of marine ecosystems.”

Scientists already believe that specific geological processes may be related to changes in the Earth’s rotation and are looking for possible links.

“For example, changes in the length of the day may influence the distribution of solar energy and temperature gradients, potentially impacting weather systems and atmospheric dynamics,” the team wrote in the paper.

“This study holds significant theoretical importance for reconstructing the evolutionary history of the Earth-moon system and exploring climatic, environmental and biological evolution related to Earth’s rotational deceleration,” Ma concluded.

China Resources Land posts record decline in its interim profit amid housing market torpor

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3276190/china-resources-land-posts-record-decline-its-interim-profit-amid-housing-market-torpor?utm_source=rss_feed

China Resources Land (CR Land) has reported its worst interim profit drop on record, as the torpor in the nation’s housing market translated to shaved bottom lines for the largest property developers.

Net profit fell 25 per cent in the first six months to a six-year low of 10.25 billion yuan (US$1.44 billion), missing the analysts’ consensus forecast compiled by Bloomberg. The decline was the biggest percentage drop since the Shenzhen-based developer went public in 1996.

Sales rose 8.3 per cent to 59.13 billion yuan, the developer said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday. Interim gross profit fell to 17.63 billion yuan, while the gross profit margin was trimmed by 3.4 percentage points to 22.3 per cent, the filing showed.

China’s fifth-largest developer sold fewer homes in the first half, finding buyers for 124.7 billion yuan of property, 26.7 per cent lower than the same period last year.

“The real estate market showed signs of moderate recovery, but overall it was still in an adjustment cycle, with reduced demand,” CR Land’s chairman Li Xin said in the statement. “Faced with the current market environment, the group actively responded to risks and challenges, balancing development and security, and steadily promoted various quality enhancement and efficiency improvement management initiatives, thereby leading to a steady overall performance in the first half of the year.”

The developer declared an interim dividend of 0.2 yuan per share.

CR Land was hardly alone in China’s property slump. Longfor Group, which was founded in Chongqing three decades ago, reported a 28-per cent decline in its first-half core profit last week, as its earnings were weighed down by plunging sales and crimped margins.

Sino-Ocean Group, Redsun Properties, and Zhenro Properties Group also flagged first-half losses earlier this month. China Vanke, once the mainland’s second-largest home builder, last month warned investors to expect an interim loss of between 7 billion yuan and 9 billion yuan.

China’s property sector has been beset by woes since 2020, when Beijing introduced the “three red lines” policy to restrict developers’ borrowing binge.

Despite Beijing’s announcement in May of a historic 300-billion-yuan fund for buying housing inventories and reviving the sector, the slow progress in the implementation of the scheme has failed to lift home sales.

Transacted sales generated by the top 100 Chinese developers shrank 39.5 per cent to 1.85 trillion yuan for the first six months of this year, according to China Real Estate Information Corporation (CRIC). In July, sales fell 36.4 per cent from June to 279 billion yuan, CRIC data showed.

South China Sea: when should Philippines invoke its US Mutual Defence Treaty?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3276112/south-china-sea-when-should-philippines-invoke-its-us-mutual-defence-treaty?utm_source=rss_feed

Despite a series of increasingly tense clashes with Beijing in the South China Sea, analysts say the Philippines should resist the urge to invoke its Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) with the United States and instead focus on diplomatic and strategic collaborations.

The latest flashpoint occurred on Monday when Chinese and Philippine coastguard vessels collided near Sabina Shoal, causing damage to two of Manila’s ships, as both sides traded blame for the incident.

In the aftermath, the US State Department issued a statement reminding Beijing “that Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its coastguard – anywhere in the South China Sea”.

It was the latest reiteration by the US that it would honour its obligations under the MDT, which requires that an attack on either country be considered an attack on both. A number of senior US officials, including President Joe Biden, have said in recent months that their commitment to the MDT remains “ironclad”.

Adding to the tension, Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, suggested on Tuesday that US ships could escort Philippine vessels on resupply missions in the South China Sea, calling it an “entirely reasonable option” that would still require consultation between the allies.

The US has previously said it “will do what is necessary” to support Philippines resupply missions.

Yet, Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner remains resolute in pursuing an independent path. “While we can do it by ourselves, we will do it,” he said.

Monday’s collision and other recent clashes – such as the alleged disabling of a Philippine fisheries vessel by the Chinese coastguard on Sunday – were “serious and concerning”, said geopolitical analyst Matteo Piasentini.

Yet he argues that they did not warrant activating the MDT and were still below the escalation level seen in June, when a skirmish at Second Thomas Shoal led to a Filipino serviceman losing his thumb.

“The Philippines referred to the incident as ‘dangerous manoeuvring’, which doesn’t necessarily meet the definition of an ‘attack’ under the … treaty,” Piasentini, a lecturer at the University of the Philippines’ political science department, told This Week in Asia.

Joshua Espeña, vice-president of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, said the latest incidents were “more than enough signals” for the Philippines to enhance consultations and coordination with the US, as well as with partners like Japan and Australia.

“The Philippines must be allowed to be trained in combined fires, interdiction, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance” and missile detection capabilities to ensure it “can use these for conventional deterrence … [or in] a fight against Chinese missile strikes,” Espeña said.

The Philippines’ national maritime council has urged China to “return to the path of constructive dialogue” and said Manila would continue pursuing diplomatic resolutions to disputes in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro condemned China’s actions as “patently illegal”, emphasising that the country needed to “expect this kind of behaviour from China because this is a struggle”.

When asked if Sunday’s incident would trigger the activation of the treaty, Teodoro cautioned against premature action, stating that deterring an armed attack is the priority for the Philippines.

Espeña said observers urging Manila to invoke the MDT must allow the country “enough legroom to creatively adjust to the darker shade of Chinese grey zone operations while working with its allies and partners on the necessary logistical systems to array its forces in the maritime Game of Thrones”.

Grey zone tactics refer to those used by countries to assert or reinforce their claims without crossing a threshold that would lead to open warfare.

Don McLain Gill, geopolitical analyst and lecturer at De La Salle University’s international studies department, said the MDT “is not like a light switch that you turn on and off”.

“If you look into the wording of the treaty, it highlights a particular provision for enhanced consultation at a time of an armed attack,” he told This Week in Asia. “It’s about ensuring that consultations are in place to decide what could be done between the Philippine-US alliance.”

As tensions continue to rise between Beijing and Manila, particularly with the recent flashpoint at Sabina Shoal, observers note that China’s grey zone tactics – such as launching flares at Philippine aircraft – serve as alternative methods to test Manila’s resolve and ability to defend its maritime rights.

“These methods of coercion are not entirely new,” Piasentini said.

Gill described China’s strategy against the Philippines as “cabbage tactics” – or militarily overwhelming an adversary – and predicted that Sabina Shoal would become “Scarborough 2.0”, in reference to another disputed shoal.

However, he commended the Philippine coastguard for proactively positioning the BRP Teresa Magbanua to counteract Chinese pressure, and ensuring it has enough vessels to monitor the area.

Espeña added that China’s intensified focus on Sabina Shoal aligns with its area denial strategy.

“Sabina Shoal is near the Second Thomas Shoal, where the BRP Sierra Madre is nearby to assert Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea,” he said, referring to Manila’s term for its exclusive economic zone.

“Open sources also indicate that the Chinese have damaged the reefs in Sabina, which goes to show their intent to create a dual-use infrastructure to sustain their base of operations at sea coupled with anti-ship coastal guns.”

Gill expressed hope for a “more robust response, particularly in the maritime domain”, stressing that the Philippines needs to plan effectively with close partners, especially Japan, to ensure that China feels the consequences of its actions.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Obesity-related cancers rocketing among young people in China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3276140/obesity-related-cancers-rocketing-among-young-people-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Obesity-related cancers are rising at an “alarming” rate in China, especially among young people, a new study has warned.

An analysis of more than 650,000 cancer cases between 2007 and 2021, found that people born between 1997 and 2001 were 25 times more likely to be diagnosed with these types of cancers than those born between 1962 and 1966.

“Obesity-related cancer rates in China were rising at an alarming 3.6 per cent every year between 2007 and 2021 while non-obesity-related cancers remained stable,” the researchers said.

But among people aged 25 to 29, that rate stood at 15.3 per cent year-on-year.

The study, co-authored by Yang Jinkui, an endocrinologist at the Capital Medical University in Beijing, and his collaborators, was published last Friday in the peer-reviewed Med Journal of Cell Press.

The paper said the increased cancer rates among young adults “reflects recent changes in exposure to environmental and dietary factors”.

There are 12 types of obesity-related cancers, of which colorectal, breast, thyroid, kidney and uterine cancers grew the fastest among young people.

“The trend is consistent with the growing numbers of overweight and obese young people in China,” Yang said in a press release about the study.

The team warned that without aggressive public health measures obesity-related cancer rates in China could double in the next decade.

They said the government should prioritise policies to promote healthier diets, reduce the amount of ultra-processed foods people eat and encourage physical activity.

One of the most significant increases in the 25 to 29 age bracket was colorectal cancers, which rose from 17.37 cases per 100,000 people to 23.89 per 100,000 in the time period studied.

Compared with other cancers of the digestive system, the increased number of colorectal cancer cases is closely linked to the country’s economic development and improved living standards.

The authors said lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity, tobacco use and the consumption of red meat and alcohol were one of the main causes for the rising number of cases, as well as a lack of screening that meant people missed out on the best opportunity to get early treatment.

According to an article published in 2022 on the Chinese science website Zhishi Fenzi, or The Intellectual, wealthy coastal areas such as Shanghai as well as Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, had seen a higher growth in colorectal cancers over the previous decade than Western countries.

The Beijing research team warned that adopting a “westernised lifestyle” had fuelled the rise in obesity in China.

Despite years of public health efforts, Yang warned the number of overweight or obese children and adolescents in China was approaching US levels.

In the 1980s the problem was uncommon but by 2019 34 per cent of Chinese adults were classed overweight and 16 per cent as obese.

Obesity-related cancer is now a global public health problem.

Between 1975 and 2016, the prevalence of excess body weight in adults increased from nearly 21 per cent in men and 24 per cent in women to about 40 per cent in both sexes, according to a 2019 study by the American Cancer Society.

Many factors could account for the trend, it said, including national wealth, the increasing availability of unhealthy food and the increasingly sedentary nature of many jobs and leisure-time activities.

Australia pushes Pacific police force to check China’s regional ambitions

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3276173/australia-pushes-pacific-police-force-check-chinas-regional-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed

Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday it supported the creation of a multinational Pacific police force, a landmark proposal pushed by Australia that could significantly blunt China’s regional ambitions.

Under the so-called Pacific Policing Initiative, a multinational force would be drawn from across the Pacific islands and based in northern Australia.

The creation of such a force could seriously hamstring China’s own efforts to sign policing and security agreements with Pacific states.

“We support the initiative,” Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said as the region’s leaders met in Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum.

Some Pacific nations – particularly those considered closer to China – have voiced unease over the plan, which Australia hopes to sew up before the forum ends this week.

It would reportedly create a force of some 200 officers that would be dispatched to regional hotspots and disaster zones as needed.

Tkatchenko said regional heavyweight Papua New Guinea would “work together with Australia” to implement the proposal.

Australia has historically been the region’s go-to security partner, leading peacekeeping missions in Solomon Islands and training in Nauru, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

But policing has increasingly become a cornerstone of Beijing’s efforts to build Pacific influence.

China has been plying under-resourced Pacific police forces with martial arts training and fleets of Chinese-made vehicles.

It already maintains a small but conspicuous police presence in Solomon Islands, sending a revolving cadre of officers to train locals in shooting and riot tactics.

Gleaming new police vehicles roam the capital Honiara emblazoned with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force badge and stark red “China Aid” stickers.

Earlier this year, Beijing also started sending teams of police advisers to Kiribati.

Solomon Islands is one of the nations that has voiced concern over Australia’s plan, seemingly suspicious it could inflame unfolding regional rivalries.

But a second senior Pacific security source said on Wednesday they were confident these anxieties would be calmed and the initiative would go ahead.

Australia and long-time ally the United States were caught napping in 2022 when China signed a murky security pact with Solomon Islands.

There are fears China may one day parlay this agreement into a permanent military foothold in the region.

China’s efforts have typically centred on police as most Pacific island nations do not have a military, according to analyst Peter Connolly.

This allowed China to plug the gap – and curry diplomatic favour – when Pacific nations were beset by “civil unrest and climate-related crisis”, Connolly wrote for the National Bureau of Asian Research earlier this year.

“In a state with no military, police advisers are often the only means for delivering security statecraft.”

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China’s Black Myth frenzy: Wukong game sparks tourism surge at featured sites

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3276060/chinas-black-myth-frenzy-wukong-game-sparks-tourism-surge-featured-sites?utm_source=rss_feed

A province in northern China that has never been a tourist hotspot is suddenly attracting crowds thanks to the popular new online game Black Myth: Wukong that includes scenes from the area.

The blockbuster game, released on August 20, has been a hit both at home and overseas, selling 8.4 million copies in the first three days.

Of the 36 major sites where scenes have been shot, 27 are based in areas located in Shanxi province in northern China, about 500km from Beijing.

In the past week, Shanxi has seen its tourism sector boom as many people travel to the places that appear in the game.

One of those spots is Xiaoxitian Tour Zone in Xi county, a Buddhist temple dating back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Ticket sales for the venue have tripled recently, the 21st Business News reported.

Its manager told the media that they will put more tickets with online sales platforms and will add content from Black Myth: Wukong to the temple’s website.

According to Meituan.com, searches for visitor attractions in Shanxi on the same day the game was launched rose by 156 per cent compared with that day last year.

The top three most-searched destinations were Yungang Grottoes, Fogong Temple Wooden Pagoda in Ying county, and Stork Tower.

Statistics from Tuniu, a travel platform, showed that visitors to Shanxi surged by 50 per cent in August from July, while hotel bookings more than doubled.

“I am from Inner Mongolia. I’d like to see what these places in the game look like in reality,” a tourist who visited the Wooden Pagoda told state media CCTV.

Sun Jiajun, director of tourism development for Ying county, said most visitors in the past week had learned of the Wooden Pagoda through the online game.

The majority had travelled from Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang province in eastern China, CCTV reported.

Black Myth: Wukong is adapted from the novel Journey to the West which is regarded as one of the greatest ancient Chinese classics.

The novel is an account of the pilgrimage of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who travelled to India in the 7th century to seek out and collect Buddhist scriptures.

On his journey, Xuanzang was protected by his three disciples, of whom Sun Wukong, famously known as the Monkey King, was the eldest and most capable.

The side of Shanxi that appears in the game is that which has rich resources, ancient grottoes and classical architecture.

The area had previously failed to become a top tourist destination largely because of a lack of transport between its main attractions and insufficient promotion by the local authority, experts said.

Recently, its profile has changed dramatically with the release of about 20 video clips on Bilibili.com that capture its scenic spots, including a series of videos named Travel to Shanxi with Wukong.

Shanxi is not the only place in China to leverage the spotlight brought by the game to boost its tourism.

Lianyungang, a city in eastern Jiangsu province that claims to be the hometown of the Monkey King, announced that players who complete all the missions are eligible for a free visit to the city’s famous Huaguo Mountain.

China’s medical-device makers look overseas for exports to cure to ailments at home

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3276114/chinas-medical-device-makers-look-overseas-exports-cure-ailments-home?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese medical-device makers are expanding into overseas markets with increasingly high-end products, driven by price advantages and a fierce domestic market, although risks from tariffs may cloud their prospects.

Customs data showed that in the growing sector of China’s medical product exports, high-end devices, such as surgical robots and artificial joints, are gradually gaining share from lower-end products, including syringes, needles and gauze.

Exports of devices in class III – the highest-risk and most strictly regulated category – reached US$3.9 billion in the first seven months of the year, representing 32.37 per cent of the total, up from 28.6 per cent in 2018.

Meanwhile, exports within the low-risk class I medical device category, which includes syringes, needles and gauze, made up 25.27 per cent of the total export share from January to July, down from 30.55 per cent in 2018.

Overall, China shipped US$12.1 billion worth of medical devices across 49 items in the first seven months of the year, representing an increase of 2.36 per cent year on year.

Much like China’s new energy firms, medical device manufacturers are increasingly seeking growth abroad due to their affordable prices and intense competition at home.

“We have to expand to overseas markets to remain profitable as the competition in the domestic market is way too fierce,” said an employee surnamed Jiang at an advanced medical device company in Shenzhen, who declined to disclose his full name due to the sensitivity of the information.

Chinese medical companies have struggled to maintain profitability domestically, with the overall operating income of 124 medical device companies having dropped by 26.68 per cent year on year last year, according to Chinese financial data provider Choice.

Companies that continue to see revenue growth, though, have typically expanded their overseas revenues and increased their share of overseas markets, according to a report by Chinese financial media TMTPost in June.

“Our company has seen a significant surge in overseas business since 2023, especially in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Turkey,” Jiang added.

“Many Chinese products match the quality of the EU or US ones, but are 20 to 30 per cent cheaper, which is why over half of our company’s orders last year came from developing markets seeking more affordable options.”

Alexander Brown, an analyst with the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics), said the increasing share of class III device exports highlighted the advancing capabilities of Chinese MedTech firms in producing more advanced products, driven by their desire to generate profit and cheaper pricing.

“Their expansion into low- and middle-income economies, such as in Latin America and Asia, will benefit from governments there prioritising low costs over other factors,” Brown said.

The United States remains the largest destination for China’s overall medical device exports, accounting for 18.47 per cent from January to July, with 21 per cent in the advanced class III device category, according to customs data.

During the same period, 14.24 per cent of China’s medical devices were shipped to the European Union (EU), while 8.2 per cent were shipped to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

China’s expansion in the global medical device industry has gained momentum, and since 2021, it has made up two-thirds of Chinese healthcare investments in Europe.

The healthcare industry has also emerged as the second-largest sector for Chinese investment in Europe, trailing only behind electric vehicle-related foreign direct investment, according to a report by Rhodium Group in June.

China’s global market share of medical technology products rose 3 per cent by value in 2000 to 12.4 per cent in 2021, according to a report by Merics in November.

Meanwhile, the US share fell from 36.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent during the same period, the report added.

China also took 11 per cent of global exports in terms of advanced diagnostic imaging products, according to Merics, indicating significant state subsidies towards the industry.

Geopolitics, though, present a major risk for Chinese medical companies seeking to expand internationally, and firms are likely to see growing pushback in advanced economies such as the US and the EU, Merics’ Brown added.

“The substantial financial support provided to indigenous Chinese firms poses a serious challenge to foreign MedTech firms,” he said.

“This means some foreign governments, eager to safeguard the long-term competitiveness of their domestic MedTech companies, have begun to take countermeasures.”

Chinese medical manufacturers have already begun to encounter more trade barriers, with the EU initiating an investigation into China’s medical device purchases in April, citing concerns over unequal market access.

And in May, the US announced tariffs on over 100 Chinese products, including medical equipment like respirators and masks.

Asia ‘rapidly sliding towards war’ and US is to blame, Chinese professor says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276129/asia-rapidly-sliding-towards-war-and-us-blame-says-chinese-professor?utm_source=rss_feed

Asia risks becoming a “powder keg” that could trigger world war III, according to a prominent Chinese academic who blamed the United States and its allies.

Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen campus, warned that China would be at the “eye of the storm” as the US shifts Nato’s strategic focus, while warning nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula could also trigger a crisis.

“Despite the US claims to achieve peace in Asia under its leadership, the reality is quite the opposite – Asia, under US dominance, is rapidly sliding towards war,” he wrote in an article first published last week on the WeChat public platform.

The commentary was published a few days ahead of US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to China for “strategic dialogues” with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Zheng argued that the Asia-Pacific region was destined to be the battleground for any future world war, as it contained all the key elements: economic interests, US involvement, efforts to set up an Asian equivalent of Nato, military modernisation and nationalism.

Although the US and China have tried to prevent tensions from boiling over, there are still deep divisions on issues ranging from trade and technology to space, while the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait remain major potential flashpoints.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as independent, but Washington opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is legally bound to arm the island to help it defend itself.

The US was “deeply embedded in Asia” like no other country, and was becoming “a major organiser” of conflicts in the region, Zheng said.

Since the US “pivot to Asia” in late 2011, it had formed at least seven “mini-multilateral” alliances all aimed at countering China, he added. He did not explain which pacts he meant.

He also said a major US priority was to trigger a “strategic shift” in Nato’s thinking to make China a major focus, which required leading European countries to perceive it as a threat.

China’s relationship with the European Union has deteriorated in recent years as major divisions have emerged over issues such as subsidies for electric vehicles, human rights and Beijing’s deepening ties with Russia.

Key EU member states, such as France and Germany, have also deepened their engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

Zheng noted that while the US claimed its actions were designed to “contain” conflicts that could arise as a result of China’s actions, it was “actually constructing a global war framework”.

“China is undoubtedly the ‘eye of the storm’ in this geopolitical situation … Naturally, how to respond to such profound geopolitical changes is the most daunting challenge faced by this generation,” he said.

Nato was established after the second world war to deter a possible Soviet invasion of western Europe, but Zheng said it was “longer the peace envoy it claimed to be” and “has become a full-fledged war instigator”.

He also warned the US was now trying to establish an Asian equivalent of Nato.

In recent years the US has moved to deepen its network of alliances with countries such as the Philippines, Japan and South Korea, as well as forming new groupings such as Aukus with Britain and Australia and the Quad with Japan, India and Australia.

Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand have been invited to recent Nato summits in a move US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said was designed to “break down the silos between Europe, Asia and the United States”.

Japan had been playing a central role as America’s “proxy” and was becoming a bridge between Europe and northeast Asia, Zheng added.

He said developments such as the recent mutual defence pact between Russia and North Korea were another factor, and would prompt Japan, South Korea and the US to strengthen their own defensive ties because of concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal.

Many observers linked the defensive pact to Russia’s short-term need for arms to use in Ukraine and North Korea’s wish to acquire military technology, but Zheng said US actions were another reason for this strategic adjustment.

He also warned that regional peace in Asia was fragile due to historical grievances and current disputes, which provided extra leverage for the US.

Zheng said rising nationalism further increased the risk, arguing: “Historically, nationalism has often been a key driver of conflicts and wars between nations. In the social media era, decision makers are more susceptible to nationalist sentiments, which can lead to irrational decisions.”

China’s ‘problematic laws’ remain in Xinjiang two years after damning report: UN

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3276158/chinas-problematic-laws-remain-xinjiang-two-years-after-damning-report-un?utm_source=rss_feed

Two years after a landmark UN report said Chinese government policies in Xinjiang “may constitute crimes against humanity”, the body’s top human rights office says “many problematic laws and policies remain in place” in the region.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that while it has held “detailed exchanges” with Beijing on a “range of critical” human rights issues, it still faced “difficulties posed by limited access to information and the fear of reprisals against individuals who engage with the United Nations”.

“In particular, on Xinjiang, we understand that many problematic laws and policies remain in place, and we have called again on the authorities to undertake a full review, from the human rights perspective, of the legal framework governing national security and counterterrorism and to strengthen the protection of minorities against discrimination,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.

The statement was issued in response to queries about the office’s work with China, on the eve of the second anniversary of an explosive report that urged Beijing to reverse a series of human rights abuses committed in Xinjiang.

The report, issued seconds before Turk’s predecessor Michelle Bachelet left office, said the Chinese government’s persecution of Uygurs and other ethnic Muslims “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity”.

The US and human rights groups have pointed to satellite imagery, leaked government documents and eyewitness accounts as evidence that more than 1 million Uygurs have been subjected to mass detention, political indoctrination and forced labour. Beijing denies the claims.

On Tuesday, Shamdasani said that “allegations of human rights violations, including torture, need to be fully investigated”.

An OHCHR team visited China in June, she added, “and engaged in dialogue with the authorities, specifically on counterterrorism policies and the criminal justice system”.

Official exchanges have focused on issues including “counterterrorism laws and policies, criminal justice, other policies of concern that impact on the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities,” including in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as “national security and human rights concerns in Hong Kong ”.

“We have continued to raise with the government individual cases of particular concern, calling on the authorities to take prompt steps to release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, and to clarify the status and whereabouts of those whose families have been seeking information about them,” Shamdasani added.

The Chinese mission to the UN in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Bachelet report recommended “urgent action” by the Chinese government, the UN and the “international community more broadly” to address the human rights situation in Xinjiang.

The US and European Union have introduced legislation aimed at cracking down on the suspected import of goods made using forced labour in the region – charges that Beijing also denies. The EU’s ban, which does not name Xinjiang but was written with it in mind, will take effect in three years.

Despite this, the bloc’s direct imports from Xinjiang rose by 170.6 per cent in July compared to a year earlier, calculations based on Chinese customs data showed.

The US and EU have also targeted Chinese officials accused of rolling out oppressive policies in Xinjiang with sanctions.

In the case of Europe, the sanctions turned into a tit-for-tat blitz that helped nix a long-negotiated investment pact. Last week, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said the investment deal could not come back while those sanctions on EU lawmakers remain in place.

“There has been a change of composition and some of the MEPs who are sanctioned are no longer MEPs, but the new ones are not going to change their stance,” Borrell said.

“So if there is no lowering of the sanctions, I cannot tell the European Parliament to ratify the agreement. It is sad, we will lose, but these are the political restrictions that exist – and it’s not going to change,” he added.

Uygur activists welcomed the statement from Turk’s office as “heartening”.

“Yet China has not implemented any OHCHR recommendations, and independent investigations are still limited or blocked,” said Uygur human rights lawyer Rayhan Asat, whose brother “endured three years in solitary confinement” in Xinjiang.

Chinese hackers exploited bug to compromise internet companies, cybersecurity firm says

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3276162/chinese-hackers-exploited-bug-compromise-internet-companies-cybersecurity-firm-says?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese hacking group exploited a software bug to compromise several internet companies in the United States and abroad, a cybersecurity firm said on Tuesday.

Researchers at the firm, Lumen Technologies, said in a blog post that the hackers took advantage of a previously unknown vulnerability in Versa Director – a software platform used to manage services for customers of Santa Clara, California-based Versa Networks. It said four US targets and one non-US victim had been identified. Lumen did not name the victims and did not immediately respond to a request seeking further details.

Versa Networks issued an advisory on Monday acknowledging that the vulnerability had been exploited “in at least one known instance” by an advanced group of hackers, and urged customers to upgrade their software to fix the bug.

Lumen’s blog post said that its researchers assessed with “moderate confidence” that the hacking campaign was carried by an alleged Chinese government-backed group nicknamed “Volt Typhoon”. The attacks happened as early as June 12, Lumen said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment, although Beijing routinely denies allegations of its involvement in cyberespionage. US officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment but on Friday the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added the Versa vulnerability to its list of “known exploited vulnerabilities”.

Brandon Wales, the recently departed executive director of CISA, was quoted by The Washington Post newspaper on Tuesday as saying China’s hacking effort had “dramatically stepped up from where it used to be”.

Volt Typhoon has emerged as a group of particular concern to US cybersecurity officials. In April, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray said China was developing the “ability to physically wreak havoc” on US critical infrastructure and that Volt Typhoon had burrowed into numerous US telecommunications, energy, water and other critical services companies.

As Western-led order crumbles, can China and India fulfil their destinies?

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3275874/western-led-order-crumbles-can-china-and-india-fulfil-their-destinies?utm_source=rss_feed

With deepening political polarisation in the United States in the run-up to November’s presidential election and the dangerously escalating war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, the world may be hurtling towards a period of instability and intensifying geopolitical rivalry.

In recent months, China and India have acknowledged the consequences of this volatile environment. As two champions of the Global South, and currently the world’s second- and fifth-largest economies measured by nominal gross domestic product, their rapprochement and close cooperation in world affairs may become an indispensable anchor of stability in the face of a fragmenting Western-led global order.

Beijing and New Delhi expressed renewed impetus for improving bilateral ties on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders’ meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, in July. At the summit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed to make “concerted efforts” to resolve their border dispute with a sense of “purpose and urgency”.

Relations soured precipitously following the Galwan Valley clash in 2020, when troops were deployed to both sides of the poorly-delineated Himalayan border known as the Line of Actual Control, resulting in the deaths of troops from both countries.

During Wang’s unannounced visit to India in March 2022, the first by a high-level Chinese official following the Galwan clash, he said the border issue should be placed in its “proper position” in bilateral relations, and not be allowed to “define or even affect” the overall development of ties.

In a somewhat concessionary tone towards New Delhi, Wang also said that Beijing is not pursuing a “unipolar Asia”, is respectful of India’s traditional role in the region, and would like the two sides to explore “China-India Plus” cooperation in South Asia. He added that both sides should take part in multilateral institutions such as the Brics grouping and the Group of 20 with a “cooperative posture”.

More recently, at the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Vientiane, Laos, last month, Jaishankar said that maintaining stable bilateral relations “holds special significance to upholding regional peace and promoting multipolarity”. Wang said putting the China-India relationship back on the right track would meet the shared aspirations of the Global South.

In spite of the border dispute, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have, for the most part, overseen cordial and constructive relations. They have held 16 bilateral meetings since 2014 and have met multiple times on the sidelines of multilateral gatherings.

Xi has expressed to Modi that both countries’ development ambitions are opportunities rather than threats. Perhaps the most eye-catching series of diplomatic events between the two leaders has been their “hometown diplomacy” after they agreed to significantly boost bilateral convergence by holding informal summits at distinctive venues in their respective countries.

The first informal summit, in Wuhan, China, in 2018, enabled both sides to reach a consensus on long-term and strategic issues. These included agreements on reforming global governance mechanisms, upholding multilateral trade institutions, and securing safeguards against global financial and economic instability, as well as each leader’s respective vision for national development.

At their informal summit in 2019, held in Chennai, India, Xi and Modi reaffirmed the Wuhan consensus and concluded accords in working towards a closer partnership in their joint development efforts. Both sides also expressed support for mutual learning and exchanges between the two “ancient civilisations”.

On an institutional level, China and India are members of various multilateral organisations including the Russia-India-China trilateral arrangement, Brics, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the G20.

Both countries are also involved in a number of major regional multilateral lending institutions. For instance, India became one of the first co-founding members of the China-launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2015.

India is also the AIIB’s second-largest shareholder, behind China, having a single member constituency on the board of directors. In 2018, India also hosted the bank’s third annual general meeting in Mumbai. As members of the Brics grouping, China and India were also among the co-founders of the New Development Bank.

As China and India emerge as the new superpowers of the 21st century, they are also aware of the need to share common goals in their respective development paths.

These include multiple interdependent linkages, especially India’s need for Chinese capital to finance the country’s increasing infrastructure deficit as its economy has grown at breakneck speed over the past few years. India could also use Chinese know-how to build manufacturing and technology clusters throughout the country as part of Modi’s “Make in India” campaign.

While their disputes may often dominate international headlines, multiple ongoing, albeit low-key, dialogues continue to push the two nations onto a more cooperative pathway.

Since the Galwan Valley clash, there have been 30 rounds of talks. Bilateral military and diplomatic meetings have resulted in disengagement at several friction points along the Line of Actual Control, although more must be done to achieve a fully comprehensive settlement.

Aside from their border dispute, which both sides admit is a source of great acrimony, China and India recognise that this will be their century as the world gravitates towards Asia, economically, politically and culturally. Ultimately, neither Beijing nor New Delhi want to jeopardise their respective destinies as great civilisations which are long overdue a re-emergence into global leadership.

Chinese gang jailed for operating £55m money-laundering ring

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/27/chinese-gang-jailed-for-operating-55m-money-laundering-ring

Seven people have been jailed for operating an undercover £55m money-laundering ring aimed at international university students seeking to bypass limits on the amount of cash that can be taken out of China.

Four people – three men and one woman – were sentenced at Snaresbrook crown court on Monday for a range of money-laundering offences. In June, three others were sentenced for similar offences. They were handed sentences ranging from 11 months to 12 years.

Chinese citizens cannot transfer more than $50,000 (£38,000) for personal purposes out of the country a year. To regulate this, citizens are required to process all transactions through a foreign exchange account opened with a Chinese bank account.

Some people circumvent the limit by using “underground banking”. A 2019 report from the National Crime Agency (NCA) said its use was probably “widespread among the Chinese diaspora in the UK”.

Officers in Stoke Newington, north London, found that £55m had been laundered among the group via Chinese underground banking between February 2020 and June 2023.

In December 2022, officers conducted two simultaneous warrants. While searching the first address, in London’s Canary Wharf, belonging to Xiaoyu Shu, 29, and Yin Ying Wang, 28, they found more than £104,000 in a carrier bag hidden in a wardrobe.

The second warrant took place at the address of Yunchen Huang, 28, where multiple cash counting machines and money bags were discovered. Officers seized a total of almost £500,000 in assets from the group.

Specialist officers discovered Shu and Huang were using a Chinese messaging app to sell British pounds to university students to bypass the foreign exchange limit. They also identified that Shu and Huang were working for a person who arranged for the pair to collect large amounts of cash, sometimes as large as £250,000 at a time.

The pair were not told the identities of those they collected cash from, and were instructed to take a photo of a £5 banknote, including the unique serial number. This was then passed on to the courier, allowing the interaction to take place without either party knowing the identity of the other, in order to prevent those in the chain giving information to police if they were arrested.

Officers also identified that Peng Liu, 28, and Ang Li, 26, also of Canary Wharf, were assisting the group by operating an unregistered money business. When officers searched their address in Canary Wharf in June 2023, they located counting machines and £14,600.

Officers were then able to identify that Qiji Wang, 29, who was based in Manchester, was the head of the group. When searching his address, they discovered numerous mobile phones, computers, bank cards in others’ names and a cash counting machine.

Ruolan Chen, 28, also based in Manchester, was also found to have assisted the group by operating an unregistered money service business.

DC Zach Rowe, of the Stoke Newington proactive crime team, said: “Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of highly skilled officers in the Met, we have been able to disrupt a sophisticated economic crime operation. The sheer scale of this laundering will generate crimes such as illegal drug supply, prostitution, human trafficking and more.

“This verdict, and the lengthy three-year investigation that led to it, demonstrates that we’ll leave no stone unturned in our pursuit to catch criminals who look to enjoy the proceeds of illicit funds – no matter how complex the case.”

Benn Maguire, lead counsel from the legal firm QEB Hollis Whiteman, said: “This successful prosecution has eviscerated the criminal operation, preventing those involved in crime from profiting from their wrongdoing.”

‘Denial’ of China a stumbling block as Pacific leaders push back at Australian police training plan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/28/denial-of-china-a-stumbling-block-as-pacific-leaders-push-back-at-australian-police-training-plan

An Australian-backed proposal to set up a Pacific police training hub in Brisbane is facing pushback from some countries in the region over concerns that it is part of a geopolitical play by the west to exclude China.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was due to discuss the issue with his counterparts at the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) in Tonga on Wednesday amid increasing contest for influence between the US and China.

The Australian government has emphasised that the Pacific Policing Initiative, which would include a centre in Brisbane to help train officers from across the region, is “firmly Pacific-led”.

The proposal also includes the formation of multinational police units that could be deployed quickly to respond to natural disasters or security challenges.

But the prime minister of Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai, and the regional sub-grouping to which Vanuatu belongs had gone public with its concerns the plan may be intended to serve western strategic interests.

Salwai described the Pacific policing initiative as “important” but indicated the region should ensure the plan was “framed to fit our purposes and not developed to suit the geostrategic interests and geostrategic denial security postures of our big partners”.

This “denial” language is a clear reference to excluding China. Australia has repeatedly registered its concerns about China’s attempts to reach security and policing agreements with Pacific island countries, including the 2022 deal with Solomon Islands.

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Salwai is the chair of the Melanesian spearhead group (MSG), a regional subgrouping that includes Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

He raised the concerns in an opening statement to an MSG caucus meeting in Tonga. His language was then echoed by the MSG director general, Leonard Louma.

Louma said the Pacific policing initiative was “worthy” but cautioned that it “must be genuinely framed to fit our purposes and not conveniently developed as part of the geostrategic denial security doctrine of our big partners”.

While he described conversations held so far as “encouraging”, he added that many aspects were still “cryptic”.

Albanese landed in Tonga on Tuesday evening and will attend two full days of talks, including a leaders’ retreat on Thursday.

“We’re part of the Pacific family and over the next couple of days we’ll be talking about our common interests, how we work together to combat climate change [and] for economic development and for peace and security in our region,” the prime minister said.

The minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, who is also attending the talks, said Australia was “here to listen and act on the priorities of the Pacific”.

Pacific countries had previously expressed a view that any gaps in security in the region should be filled from within the Pacific, he said.

Asked directly whether Australia had “steamrolled” some Pacific states in its push for the policing initiative, Conroy said: “I can say to you that no minister or leader of a Pacific government has said that to me.”

Conroy said he “would reject any accusation, any claim that this is something that Australia is driving”.

“This is something that’s been developed by the Pacific, this is Pacific-led, and that’s incredibly strong.”

Conroy said the proposal was aligned with Fiji’s “oceans of peace” concept and also “builds on the very generous offer from the Papua New Guinea government at the Pif last year to be a regional training hub for Pacific police forces”.

Australia would respect the outcome of the leaders’ talks this week, Conroy said.

Pif is a regional grouping that brings together Australia, New Zealand and 16 other countries and territories in the Pacific.

China and the US are not members but are “dialogue partners” and routinely send high-powered delegations to attend a portion of the summit meetings.

Hong Kong urged to change approach to scheme allowing mainland China vehicles into city

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3276154/hong-kong-urged-change-approach-scheme-allowing-mainland-china-vehicles-city?utm_source=rss_feed

Lawmakers and a former Hong Kong leader have urged the government to take a less restrictive approach to a scheme that will allow hundreds of private cars from mainland China and Macau to enter the city after a senior Beijing official singled out the initiative as being in need of “reform and breakthroughs”.

Their remarks on Tuesday followed a call by commerce minister Wang Wentao a day earlier to overcome restrictions in the roll-out of the “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” scheme as he briefed local officials, lawmakers and businesspeople on the “spirit” of the Chinese Communist Party’s third plenum, held in July.

Wang noted in his speech on Monday that “some measures” would have to be taken to overcome restrictions in facilitating southbound travel by mainland Chinese motorists, and pointed to the new road link between Zhongshan and Shenzhen to underscore the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge’s “enormous potential”.

Under the local government’s current plan, several hundred private cars from Macau and Guangdong province will be able to cross the mega bridge each day when the scheme debuts by the end of this year or in early 2025.

But motorists must park at a facility with more than 1,000 automated spaces near Hong Kong airport before proceeding to take a flight or enter the city via the mega bridge’s checkpoint in the scheme’s initial phase. No details or a timeline for a second stage have been announced.

Meanwhile, more than 64,000 cars have been allowed to make their way into Guangdong under the “Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles” scheme, which marked its first anniversary on July 1.

Former city leader Leung Chun-ying, a vice-chairman of the country’s top political advisory body, renewed his call for local authorities to allow cars from outside Hong Kong to travel on Lantau Island under a quota system.

“This is not just a matter of reciprocity but will be good for the Lantau economy including the airport,” he told the Post on Tuesday.

“This is purely a policy matter. I do not think that there are insurmountable legal or technical obstacles.”

Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun proposed a new approach, urging the government to build a park-and-ride facility near Sunny Bay MTR station to provide easy access to public transport and Disneyland, a big draw for tourists, saying the approach was made feasible by vehicle-tracing technology.

He stressed outside vehicles must be subject to restrictions, such as a ban from all roads except the route to the parking facilities.

“I am definitely against left-hand-drive vehicles driving around in Hong Kong. Driving habits on the mainland are very different from those in Hong Kong as what we find unacceptable can be commonplace on the mainland,” he said.

Recent jams on the mega bridge over long weekends had also shown that the most imminent bottlenecks lay on the other side of the border, legislator Gary Zhang Xinyu said.

He also called for a rethink of the city’s first-stage plan for the southbound travel scheme, noting that authorities should first identify the target audience. The most sought-after top spenders from the mainland, he suggested, might prefer to sit in a limousine to cross the bridge and get into the city centre.

“Cars are very common on the mainland and it is impossible for us to encourage all tourists to come to Hong Kong by car,” he said.

“I don’t think [the government] has a direction at all. Why would they leave the car at the airport? Is it purely for taking a flight, or is it for them to experience driving on the bridge? This doesn’t make sense. This is not logical.”

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semi-official think tank, said the bridge was a stand-out example of wasted potential in delivering the desired benefits, such as integrating the city with the other side of the Greater Bay Area.

But he also maintained that the commerce minister only pointed to the vehicle travel scheme to illustrate the room for reforms and more innovative problem solving, saying local authorities should also apply a reformist mindset in cutting red tape for development.

Wang and Shen Chunyao, chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, on Tuesday hosted a meeting on the third plenum with about 50 representatives of business chambers, universities and the technology sector.

They were set to attend a televised briefing on the topic in Macau on Wednesday.