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• Former aide to New York’s governor is charged with being an agent of the Chinese government
• Chinese investment in Brazil’s EV and electricity sector soars, says report
• [Sport] New York governor's ex-aide charged as agent of China
• Linda Sun, ex-aide to New York Governor Hochul, charged with acting as Chinese agent
• China’s military prods southern Japan with eye on first island chain route: analysts
• Erdogan’s Turkey requests Brics membership alongside China, Russia, and India
• Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo updates rules to kick out sellers of shoddy products
• German firms buck R&D trend in China, seek ecosystem partners to gain edge
• Amid flurry of China-US talks, climate meetings to seek areas of ‘practical cooperation’
• On eve of FOCAC summit, China urges closer Africa ties to counter ‘surging hegemonism’
• Jake Sullivan’s China visit lays stress on need for ‘intense diplomacy’ as US election looms
• How US-China science pact’s fate could shake global R&D landscape
• Police officer killed, 2 others wounded in rare shoot-out in northeast China
• China-linked ‘Spamouflage’ network mimics Americans online to sway US political debate
• Will Chinese tourists be eager to explore North Korea as travel resumes in December?
• China investigates Canadian rapeseed imports following EV tariffs
• Artist known for work critiquing Cultural Revolution arrested in China
• How China’s middle class is creating a ‘green gold’ rush in Africa
• Despite new nuclear submarine, India still lags China in naval strength, analysts say
• China’s Xinjiang vows to increase support for firms under US ‘forced labour’ sanctions
• China researchers build neuron-enlarging brain device using genetic engineering
• Chinese Olympians’ Hong Kong visit showcased bond between local, national identities: experts
• Japan swelters through hottest summer while parts of China log warmest August on record
• 5 children, 6 parents dead in eastern China after bus hits crowd outside school
• Bus crashes into students in eastern China, killing or injuring at least 10, state media say
• FOCAC: African leaders look to China for project funds and trade deals at Beijing summit
• [Sport] China's mission to win African hearts with satellite TV
• Chinese man who agreed to gift home to colleague changes mind after remarrying at 93
• China’s railway operator brings in gravy train, posting profits and lowering debt ratios
• How China and Europe can best settle their EV tariff disputes
• Shanghai bets on live-streaming economy to boost China’s anaemic consumption
• South China Sea: why Beijing takes a low-key approach to Vietnam but not the Philippines

Former aide to New York’s governor is charged with being an agent of the Chinese government

https://apnews.com/article/former-hochul-aide-arrested-new-york-c588a95e87b853ca3d23b36aae4c87cdFILE - The New York state Capitol is seen from the steps of the State Education Building in Albany, N.Y., June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

2024-09-03T14:51:13Z

A former New York state government official who worked for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors revealed in a sprawling indictment.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government before rising to the rank of deputy chief of staff for Hochul, was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.5 million home on Long Island.

Sun and Hu are expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn said.

Prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level officials in New York state, shaped New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese government and attempted to facilitate a trip to China for a high-level politician in New York, the indictment said. Hu is charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.

In return, she and her husband received benefits including help for Hu’s China-based business activities and undisclosed tickets to performances by visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet groups, the indictment says. A Chinese government official’s personal chef prepared “Nanjing-style salted ducks” that were delivered to Sun’s parents’ home, it adds.

The couple then laundered the financial proceeds, using them to buy their property in Manhasset, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9 million, and luxury cars including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment says.

“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said. “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”

A lawyer for Sun, Seth DuCharme, did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The FBI searched the couple’s $3.5 million home in Manhasset in late July but declined to release details at the time.

Sun worked in state government for about 15 years, holding posts in Cuomo’s administration and eventually becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to her LinkedIn profile. In November 2022, Sun took a job at the New York Department of Labor, as deputy commissioner for strategic business development, but she left that job months later in March 2023, the profile said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hochul’s office said the administration fired Sun after “discovering evidence of misconduct.”

“This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” the statement reads.

A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.

Sun and Hu live in a gated community on Long Island called Stone Hill. The couple purchased the house in 2021 but placed it in a trust earlier this year, records show.

Chinese investment in Brazil’s EV and electricity sector soars, says report

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3277090/chinese-investment-brazils-ev-and-electricity-sector-soars-says-report?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese investment in Brazil grew by 33 per cent in 2023, reaching US$1.73 billion, according to a study by the Brazil-China Business Council (CBBC) released on Tuesday.

Although the number of confirmed Chinese projects in the country fell from 32 in 2022 to 29 in 2023, it was still the third largest total since 2007. Most of the financing went to the electricity sector, which accounted for 39 per cent of the total investment amount, equivalent to US$668 million. These investments focused on renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower.

The highlight was electric vehicles. According to CBBC, Chinese investment in the automotive sector increased by 56 per cent compared with 2022, reaching US$568 million.

Since 2021, all Chinese projects in the Brazilian automotive sector have been aimed at manufacturing electrified vehicles. Companies such as Great Wall Motors (GWM) and BYD have expanded their operations in Brazil, focusing on the production of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Tulio Cariello, research director at CBBC, said the entry of EV companies into the Brazilian market was not new – BYD, for example, has been manufacturing electric buses in the state of São Paulo – but the establishment of factories to produce vehicles for the end consumer represented an increase in the overall investment share.

“Both BYD, which took over the former Ford factory, and GWM, which acquired a Mercedes factory, have a clear desire to invest for the long term. And these are very significant amounts of capital,” Cariello said.

The CBBC study also said most of the Chinese investments were greenfield, which involves the creation of new businesses or the expansion of existing projects. The share of greenfield investments reached 83 per cent of projects and 90 per cent of the total investment volume in 2023.

Cariello said that previously, “Chinese investors favoured entering Brazilian sectors through acquisitions or mergers with already well-established local companies”.

Despite this increase, the amount remains at historically low levels; it is the second-lowest figure since 2009 and only exceeded the US$1.3 billion recorded in 2022.

According to the researcher, the growth in investment in 2023 took place against the backdrop of a sharp devaluation of Brazil’s currency, the real. In 2010, when investment peaked at US$13 billion, the dollar was trading at an average of 1.76 reals. Between 2020 and 2023, that average rose to 5.18 reals, which affected the conversion of Chinese investment volume.

In addition, CBBC noted that China continued to exhibit some “strategic caution” in the face of an uncertain global geopolitical situation. This phenomenon was identified last year when the CBBC and the Inter-American Dialogue reported a significant decline in large Chinese investments in favour of “new structures,” more technological projects with lower risk and guaranteed returns.

Despite the drop in values, the study identified opportunities for the future, such as renewable energy, electromobility and high-end manufacturing.

CBBC also measured trends in other global regions and reported that although investment in the United States, Australia and the European Union fell significantly (36 per cent, 57 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively), China invested 37 per cent more in Belt and Road Initiative member countries.

For Brazil, which is negotiating with Beijing to become part of China’s infrastructure and trade project, this figure could mean a tangible gain. In July, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he was looking into what benefits the country could get by joining the belt and road.

“Chinese capital is finding it difficult to invest in these regions due to geopolitical tensions and protectionism in strategic sectors. In this context, it is only natural that the Global South, especially those countries allied with the BRI, offer more security to investors,” Cariello said.

Jorge Arbache, vice-president for the private sector at the Development Bank of Latin America, said the CBBC’s results showed “a new stage” for Chinese capital in Brazil.

He said investment would now be channelled into “more sophisticated sectors”.

“I think we are entering an era where the Chinese presence is no longer concentrated in geographically and economically isolated companies, but on projects with a much broader impact on the value chain,” Arbache said.

“These are projects that are anchored in urban areas and that generate more jobs and taxes. And if we think about the future, it is very likely that the Chinese presence will continue to grow in a solid and sustainable way.”

[Sport] New York governor's ex-aide charged as agent of China

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6281zgjjneo

US Department of Justice

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Linda Sun, ex-aide to New York Governor Hochul, charged with acting as Chinese agent

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3277086/linda-sun-ex-aide-new-york-governor-hochul-charged-acting-chinese-agent?utm_source=rss_feed

A former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul has been charged with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said.

Prosecutors said Linda Sun, 41, was arrested on Tuesday and is expected to be presented in court later in the day. Sun’s husband Chris Hu also faces criminal charges.

While working in state government, Sun allegedly blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from meeting officials, and allegedly sought to arrange for a high-level New York state official to visit China.

In exchange, prosecutors said Chinese government representatives facilitated millions of dollars in transactions for Hu, who had business activities in China.

Other gifts included Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef and delivered to the home of Sun’s parents, prosecutors said.

Hochul was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Seth DuCharme, a lawyer for Sun, and Ken Abell, a lawyer for Hu, did not immediately return voicemails and emails seeking comment on the charges.

Avi Small, a representative for Hochul, said Sun was hired more than a decade ago and later fired.

“We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Small said in a statement.

Brooklyn US Attorney Breon Peace alleges in the 63-page indictment that Sun “repeatedly violated internal rules and protocols” of the governor’s office to “provide improper benefits” to China and the Communist Party.

That includes providing unauthorised invitations from the governor’s office that were used by Chinese officials in the US to have meetings with the state.

The couple’s home, on Long Island’s north shore, was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in July, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for Peace.

Reuters and Bloomberg

China’s military prods southern Japan with eye on first island chain route: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3277033/chinas-military-prods-southern-japan-eye-first-island-chain-route-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

China is trying to test the defences of the US and its allies with more military activity near Japan as it looks for a way through the “first island chain”, according to analysts.

Tokyo has reported an increase in Chinese military manoeuvring near Japan in the past few months, most recently on Saturday when the Japanese foreign ministry said a Chinese naval survey vessel entered the Tokara Strait off southern Japan that morning.

Japan said the vessel entered its territorial waters while China said the strait was for international navigation.

The previous Monday, a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane flew over the Danjo Islands west of Japan’s southern island of Kyushu for around two minutes.

Japan’s southern archipelago is part of the first island chain, a series of islands off East Asia controlled by US allies and used to project military influence – influence that China is seeking to resist.

Chinese military vessels, including the aircraft carrier Shandong and a Type 075 amphibious assault ship, were reported sailing near another part of the chain near the Japanese island of Okinawa last month.

China Coast Guard vessels also patrolled further south near the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known in Japan as the Senkakus, in the East China Sea for a record 215 consecutive days this year up to July, when a typhoon forced a stop to the activity.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that over the past decade China had been seeking to “demonstrate its own take on freedom of navigation and overflight” and that the Chinese military’s forays around Japan’s home islands were “designed clearly with future war planning in mind”.

“These missions are aimed at collecting vital information and intelligence about US, Japan and other allied military activities in the area,” Koh said.

“They’re meant to reconnoitre various routes that could be used by the PLA – especially naval forces – to break out of the first island chain, and to anticipate likely approaches by American and allied forces across this same chain into China’s near seas regions.”

Koh added that these military activities from China served “both offensive and defensive aspects of China’s war contingency planning”.

The incidents last week highlighted the troubled history between the East Asian giants, with the operations coinciding with the 79th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan during World War Two.

The Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s top spy agency, hailed the victory 79 years ago as it warned of geopolitical tensions now.

“Humanity is once again at the crossroads of history, facing the great choice between peace or war, prosperity or decline, unity or confrontation,” the ministry added.

They also come as Japanese forces have been conducting a series of joint exercises with other players in the region.

Japan hosted a joint exercise in June with air forces from Germany, France and Spain, drills that the Japanese defence ministry said was aimed at deepening cooperation with the European countries toward the “realisation of a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’.”

The following month, Beijing lodged a protest with Tokyo after the Japan Coast Guard took part in a joint rescue exercise with its Taiwanese counterpart for the first time in more than 50 years.

Tokyo also signed a defence pact with Manila in July, which allows the deployment of troops on each other’s territories amid shared concerns over China’s military activities in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Military commentator Song Zhongping said the United States and Japan, among others, were constantly conducting “close surveillance” near China’s territorial waters.

“Why can’t we do the same? It is very legitimate to conduct close surveillance around Japan without entering its territorial waters,” Song added.

Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s International Christian University, said that with increased US activities in the South China Sea, cooperation Tokyo and Manila, and growing diplomatic coordination on Taiwan, Beijing was “conveying to both Washington and Tokyo that China can and will increase their activities in parts of the region that are sensitive to the US and Japan”.

“That does not mean they want conflict but it means that they are studying to be sure they prevail,” he said.

“We are likely to see China continue to expand its military provocations in the [East China Sea], around Taiwan and in the [South China Sea] to test the US and the Japan-US alliance’s responsive capabilities and capacities.”

Erdogan’s Turkey requests Brics membership alongside China, Russia, and India

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3277083/erdogans-turkey-requests-brics-membership-alongside-china-russia-and-india?utm_source=rss_feed

Turkey has submitted a request to join the Brics group of major emerging market nations, the spokesman of ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

“Our president has many times stated that we want to become a Brics member … The process is now under way,” said Omar Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

After starting in the early 2000s as investor shorthand for the emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the four nations created the BRIC international forum in 2009.

South Africa joined a year later, making it Brics, and Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined at the beginning of this year.

The group sees itself as a counterweight to the US and Western-led global order.

“Our president has clearly stated that Turkey wants to take part in all important platforms, including Brics,” Celik told a news conference.

Erdogan said in June that he doesn’t view Brics membership as an alternative to membership in other groups, and the country officially remains a candidate to join the European Union.

Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo updates rules to kick out sellers of shoddy products

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3277044/chinese-e-commerce-giant-pinduoduo-updates-rules-kick-out-sellers-shoddy-products?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo will start removing sellers of counterfeit products from its multibillion yuan subsidy programme, as its operator – Temu owner PDD Holdings – and major rivals make operational changes in response to Beijing’s “anti-involution” call.

Pinduoduo on Monday updated its rules for merchants taking part in its subsidy programme, stating that the platform would take punitive measures, including permanent bans, on those selling “fake products” or other goods that fail to meet quality standards, according to a report by Chinese media Beijing Business Today.

The new rule is expected to take effect next Tuesday.

Pinduoduo did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Pinduoduo rolled out its multibillion-yuan subsidy programme in mid-2019, a move that has helped the latecomer solidify its position in China’s small towns, where consumers tend to be more price-sensitive.

The latest change appears to target so-called white-label products – extremely cheap products of poor quality – which the platform has been relying on to quickly gain market share amid a trend of consumption downgrading over the past few years.

On-demand food delivery giant Meituan, another major Chinese e-commerce player, is also working to screen out merchants that pretend to have an offline presence or those that forge business certificates.

In another move, the company has been removing white-label suppliers from its community group-buying service since May, according to technology news site 36Kr.

Top e-commerce players in China are moving to prevent a race to the bottom in price and quality, partly to ease the financial burden of merchants that have been forced to participate in low-price strategies adopted by online platforms to defend market shares.

Against a backdrop of anaemic consumer spending, ByteDance’s Douyin made “price competitiveness” the priority of its e-commerce arm earlier this year. JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post, once again made pricing the focus of its most recent Singles’ Day and midyear sales promotions.

While these measures may benefit consumers, merchants have been feeling the strain. Such tensions have sparked complaints, culminating in a wave of protests in July when merchants on PDD’s international shopping app Temu gathered at its office in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, decrying what they saw as unreasonable fines and stringent policies.

That same month, a statement released at the summer Politburo meeting denounced unhealthy competition and “anti-involution”. The word describes .

Since then, e-commerce operators have increasingly highlighted their commitment to sustainable growth over low prices.

PDD’s executive director and co-CEO Zhao Jiazhen said in a recent post-earnings call that the company is willing to sacrifice short-term profits for long-term health. Following the announcement, PDD’s Nasdaq-listed shares suffered their largest single-day decline, plummeting 28.5 per cent last Monday.

German firms buck R&D trend in China, seek ecosystem partners to gain edge

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3277020/german-firms-buck-rd-trend-china-seek-ecosystem-partners-gain-edge?utm_source=rss_feed

China is increasingly becoming an attractive hub for German companies to carry out research and development (R&D) to remain competitive in both local and global markets, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce in China showed.

The findings were in contrast to recent moves by some American firms to withdraw R&D from China amid an overall trend of decoupling and diversifying away from the world’s second-largest economy.

According to the survey of 324 German companies in February and March, 63 per cent said they were conducting research in China, representing an increase of 6 percentage points compared to 2022.

And with 69 per cent carrying out development in China, the findings indicated a trend towards localising R&D and enhancing product competitiveness in a push to expand customer bases, the report said.

Over half of the respondents aimed to enhance product competitiveness, increase access to existing or new markets and boost brand recognition.

“German companies are investing in local innovation and strategic partnerships with customers and suppliers to stay competitive in an intense and dynamic market environment,” said Martin Klose, executive director and board member of the German Chamber of Commerce for the south and southwest regions.

And according to the survey, 29 per cent of respondents are conducting R&D in China for global markets, marking a 4 percentage point increase from two years ago.

In contrast, last week American tech giant IBM announced that it would close one R&D centre in China and move another overseas.

Beijing’s investigations into US due diligence firm Mintz Group and American consultancy giant Bain & Company last year, as well the ban on US chip maker Micron, had earlier raised questions about China’s post-Covid era business climate.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai also said last year that China’s restriction on transferring data overseas had become a hindrance for many American firms.

Meanwhile in February, the Biden administration unveiled restrictions on data flows to China for the first time.

“To gain a competitive edge in the Chinese market, German companies can benefit from working with ecosystem partners,” said Tunde Laleye, partner and China general manager at management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint.

“This will shorten research cycles and accelerate time to market.”

While over one-third of respondents said they understood the needs of their customers better than Chinese companies, more than half believed that their products took too long to get products to the market compared to their Chinese competitors.

German original equipment manufacturers for electric vehicles, for example, take between 36 months to 48 months to supply products, however, it takes Chinese manufacturers only 18 months, said the chamber.

“As a result, German and Chinese automotive suppliers face increasing pressure to speed up their product innovation and development cycles in China,” it added.

“Shortening the product development and manufacturing time frame by more than half introduces complex new challenges for the whole mobility industry and its supply chain.”

Additionally, over 80 per cent of the German companies surveyed indicated that their primary motivation for innovating in China was to cater to price-sensitive consumers and to keep pace with the growing innovation capabilities of local competitors.

Amid the risks of an ageing population, an exodus of foreign direct investment, which fell by 29.6 per cent in the first seven months of 2024, year on year, and geopolitics, Beijing is leveraging technological innovation to drive new growth for its cooling economy.

And the nationwide tech campaign is accelerating the pace of R&D in sectors, including electric vehicles, batteries and artificial intelligence.

In the first seven months of the year, China’s main exports to Germany were lithium batteries, computers and electric vehicles, comprising 9.7 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent of its total exports to the country, respectively.

Since the second quarter of last year, China has been grappling with a deflationary crisis, prompting residents to tighten their belts due to declining income expectations.

The economic pressure has triggered price wars in industries, including electric cars, e-commerce and food and beverage.

Amid flurry of China-US talks, climate meetings to seek areas of ‘practical cooperation’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277057/amid-flurry-china-us-talks-climate-meetings-seek-areas-practical-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed

US climate envoy John Podesta will start a three-day visit to China on Wednesday as the world’s top two greenhouse gas emitters look to bridge gaps on key issues ahead of a United Nations summit in November.

Podesta will co-chair meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin, in their latest round of talks on climate change.

The two sides would “conduct in-depth exchanges of views on practical cooperation”, their domestic climate actions, and the multilateral process on climate change, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Tuesday.

It is expected the two sides will discuss issues such as reducing global emissions and increasing funding for impoverished countries, according to China Environment News, the ministry’s news website.

Podesta’s visit comes amid a string of recent US-China diplomatic events and follows US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s meeting with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi last week.

Sullivan and Wang “underscored the importance of concrete steps to tackle the climate crisis and welcomed further discussions” during Podesta’s “upcoming travel to China”, according to White House comments on the meeting.

Despite tensions between China and the US escalating across various issues – including trade, technology, human rights and geopolitics – climate issues have consistently been considered important for tempering bilateral ties.

The meetings that start on Wednesday are expected to build on earlier discussions between the two countries, marking the second round of formal climate talks under a working group that was launched earlier this year.

Podesta and Liu met for the first time in their roles in Washington in May for initial discussions aimed at accelerating concrete climate action this decade.

They promised to work together to cut methane, the second-most abundant greenhouse gas. They also discussed cooperation to promote a successful UN Climate Change Conference, the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan in November.

The talks are likely to be the last meeting between the climate envoys before the US election in November, which is poised to determine not only the next president but also the country’s stance on addressing climate-warming pollution.

Under President Joe Biden the US has sought to find common ground with China on climate change, a course that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is widely expected to continue if elected.

However, Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has threatened to escalate tariffs on goods from China and withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the cornerstone of global climate diplomacy.

Podesta replaced former special climate envoy John Kerry – the first dignitary to visit China in 2021 after Joe Biden took office – at the start of the year.

The two countries are developing new pledges that are due next year that outline emission cuts by 2035 under the Paris Agreement.

On eve of FOCAC summit, China urges closer Africa ties to counter ‘surging hegemonism’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277003/eve-focac-summit-china-urges-closer-africa-ties-counter-surging-hegemonism?utm_source=rss_feed

China and Africa should work together to defend the interests of developing economies to counter “surging hegemonism”, China’s special representative for African affairs said on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Liu Yuxi said that when confronted with “great transformation in our world”, China and Africa would work together to promote peace, contribute to global development, and defend the international order.

“In the face of surging hegemonism and cold war mentality, China and Africa will work more closely together in great solidarity to deepen our cooperation,” he said.

“We will give each other stronger support on issues concerning our core interests and major concerns, and work side by side to safeguard the shared interests of all developing countries.”

Liu’s comments came amid a broader campaign by Beijing to position itself as a leader of developing nations, a move viewed by some observers as seeking to challenge the Western-led order.

On the same day, China and South Africa urged greater representation of developing countries in the UN Security Council, citing the “legitimate aspirations of emerging and developing countries to play a greater role in international affairs”.

FOCAC, which begins Wednesday, is touted as the biggest “major diplomatic event” to be hosted by China in years. At least 50 African heads of state and government will visit Beijing for the three-day forum, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has been holding talks with leaders from the continent this week, is expected to attend the opening ceremony and deliver a keynote address at the forum on Thursday.

Liu said ties between the two developing economies had developed rapidly because they shared similar philosophies and visions, and being part of the Global South had “naturally tied us closely together”.

China’s cooperation with Africa was open and a “fine example of practising multilateralism”, Liu said, adding that it supported Africa’s development and created better conditions for global cooperation with the region.

“Our history will not go back to the old days of colonialism and cold war confrontation. Africa should not become a wrestling ground for major countries,” he said, adding that both sides had maintained a high degree of political trust and close people-to-people exchanges.

China has also been the region’s biggest trading partner for the past 15 years, which Liu said represented the “resilience and vitality” of cooperation even as the world grappled with economic challenges.

China and Africa had also stepped up coordination on global affairs, and “injected strong impetus into the collective rights of developing countries in upholding the legitimate rights and interests of the Global South”, he added.

Liu said he expected both sides to reach greater consensus and explore areas of cooperation, adding that new ways to improve ties would be introduced.

He said China hoped to “further [develop] the close bond and friendship between the Chinese and African people so that the deep fraternity between Chinese and African brothers will be passed down through generations and continue to thrive”.

“In the face of complex global dynamics, China-Africa cooperation is also faced with more external challenges but China’s confidence in its cooperation with Africa will be unwavering,” Liu added.

“Our direction will remain unchanged and our action unabated.”

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Jake Sullivan’s China visit lays stress on need for ‘intense diplomacy’ as US election looms

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277063/jake-sullivans-china-visit-lays-stress-need-intense-diplomacy-us-election-looms?utm_source=rss_feed

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, one of the main architects of Washington’s China policy over the past four years, finally visited Beijing last week.

The three-day trip included a meeting with President Xi Jinping and marathon 14-hour talks to China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in the pair’s fourth “strategic communication” since May last year.

He also had a rare sit-down with Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, something, as Sullivan pointed out, “that has not happened for a US official in eight years”.

“I think the meeting with vice-chairman Zhang was very important. There is no substitute for actually being able to sit across the table,” he said.

Both sides agreed to arrange a call between Xi and Joe Biden in the coming weeks and, addressing a particular concern of Washington’s, set up a video call between military commanders “in the near future”.

Sullivan described the planned call between Samuel Paparo, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, and his Chinese counterpart at the Southern Theatre Command Wu Yanan as “a very positive outcome”.

“We are going to look for a deepening of the military-to-military communication so that we can pass that on to President Biden’s successor,” he said.

This theatre-level call will be a highly symbolic step in the gradual resumption of military communications that were cut off after former House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan two years ago.

Observers on both sides of the Pacific have been calling for years for effective crisis management mechanisms, such as this type of direct communication between commanders and channels along the lines of the US-Russian one to calm nuclear tensions.

For example, former Chinese foreign vice-minister Fu Ying warned in 2020 that in the absence of a crisis management mechanism and clearly articulated red lines both militaries faced a growing “risk of incidents and uncontrollable outcomes”.

China and the US had their first talks on nuclear arms control in five years in November, just days before Xi went to San Francisco to meet Biden, but Beijing halted this dialogue in July, citing the US arms sales to Taiwan.

Speculation has been rife that Beijing prefers dealing with Sullivan to Secretary of Antony Blinken.

While both US officials are known to be tough on China, Beijing sees Blinken as more hostile.

It blames him for incidents such as the angry clashes when the two sides met in Alaska in March 2021 – with Beijing’s then diplomatic chief Yang Jiechi telling Blinken “the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength” – and the lingering bitterness after he cancelled a visit to China after an alleged spy balloon was shot down last year.

The Chinese foreign ministry spoke positively of Sullivan’s visit, saying his four meetings with Wang over the past 16 months had yielded “positive outcomes”, while Yang Tao, head of the ministry’s department of North American and Oceanian affairs, said the talks were becoming “more-and-more in-depth”.

Sullivan said the talks were about “overall responsible management of this relationship so the competition doesn’t veer into confrontation or conflict”.

With Biden’s foreign policy legacy in mind, he said his trip aimed to “take stock of where we have made progress and what work there still remains to be done, and also how we can responsibly manage the difficult issues and the differences that we have in this relationship.”

Sullivan said his visit also showed “intense diplomacy matters” in an increasingly competitive relationship with China, especially in the “sensitive period” of the US elections.

Sullivan, whom Biden called a “once-in-a-generation intellect”, plays a central role in driving the administration’s foreign policy on Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.

He is probably better known in China for promoting “a small yard and high fence” approach, which uses targeted restrictions to protect what he calls the “foundational technologies” that are central to US national security.

Economic security and hi-tech restrictions were high on Sullivan’s agenda in China, prompting complaints from the foreign ministry’s Yang Tao that “the so-called ‘small yard with high fences’ … has kept expanding and become limitless”.

“So-called ‘national security’ has become a basket in which anything can be put,” Yang said. “The United States should know that it is impossible for China to permanently stay at the medium and low end of the industrial chain. China has the capability, the need and the right to climb up toward the medium and high end.”

According to Yang, the Chinese side also made clear Beijing’s four red lines – “Taiwan, democracy and human rights, path and system, and the right to development” – and warned: “Touching these red lines would take away the floor for China-US relations, and render the guardrails useless.”

How US-China science pact’s fate could shake global R&D landscape

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3276949/how-us-china-science-pacts-fate-could-shake-global-rd-landscape?utm_source=rss_feed

The expiration of the US-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) on August 27 marks a critical juncture in the scientific collaboration between the two global giants. It was one of the formative bilateral agreements signed between US president Jimmy Carter and China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping on January 31, 1979.

The agreement was designed to foster mutual advancement in science and technology by promoting joint research efforts, information sharing and enhancing bilateral ties. After renewals every five years until 2018, and six-month extensions last August and in February this year, its expiration increases uncertainty over the future of US-China scientific relations.

Initially, it was a landmark bilateral accord aimed at strengthening cooperation in scientific and technological domains. It was built on the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit, emphasising collaborative research and the exchange of experts.

The renewal of similar agreements between the US and other countries – such as Thailand, whose STA with the US was extended for another decade on August 5 – highlights the ongoing importance of such bilateral collaborations and underscores their value for fostering long-term scientific progress and international cooperation.

The contrast between the US’ extension with Thailand and the expiration of the STA with China underscores the complexities and shifting dynamics of US-China relations. Discussions between the two nations on the agreement’s future are ongoing, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. The outcome will weigh heavily on the trajectory of US-China scientific collaboration.

China’s attitude to the STA reflects a broader competitive approach to advancing its scientific and technological capabilities. Investment in research and development (R&D) has surged since the turn of the century. Despite the impressive growth, China’s overall R&D spending in 2021, at US$668 billion, still lagged behind the US’ US$806 billion.

The STA was designed to guide US-China interactions, offering American researchers essential access and protections in China, including in fields that were previously restricted.

The Chinese government has shaped its economic and research landscape to align with national priorities, using the science and tech agreement to fill research gaps and bolster intellectual property in targeted sectors. China’s research output in terms of scientific papers and patent registration applications has reached new heights in the past decade.

Indeed, the nation has now established itself as a global player in science and technology. Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at Oxford University, has said “Tsinghua is now the number one science and technology university in the world.” There are 13 Chinese universities or institutions in this year’s global top 15 Leiden Ranking of volume of scientific research output and six in the top 10 of the latest Nature Index.

The exchange of students and scholars between the two countries has also played a significant role. Many Chinese students are studying in the US and contributing to China’s scientific advancements.

China’s rise in global scientific standing from where it was in 1979 to becoming a leading R&D investor in 2024 shows a significant shift in the global science and technology landscape. Its ascent as a leading patent holder and its growing presence in hi-tech industries have positioned it as a formidable player on the international stage.

Failing to renew the US-China STA risks heightening tensions and prompting both nations to focus on domestic R&D in place of joint projects. The US might also seek new partnerships with European or Asian allies while China could turn to partners such as Russia or other emerging economies.

This could increase competition and duplication in research efforts, potentially slowing technological advancement. In contrast, renewing the STA could foster stability and cooperation, enabling continued joint research and data sharing, which advances fields such as energy and healthcare. It would also help mitigate tensions and reinforce the value of international scientific agreements.

As US-China scientific collaboration evolves, benefits and risks are shifting. Proponents argue that continued collaboration offers significant opportunities for US researchers. At the same time, sceptics express concerns that the STA disproportionately benefits China and supports its ambitions to lead in advanced technology and military capabilities.

The future of US-China scientific partnerships depends on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations and the broader geopolitical context shaping their science and technology relationship.

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Police officer killed, 2 others wounded in rare shoot-out in northeast China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3277068/police-officer-killed-2-others-wounded-rare-shoot-out-northeast-china?utm_source=rss_feed

A police officer was killed and two others were wounded in a rare gun crime in northeastern China on Monday afternoon.

Police authorities in Changchun, Jilin province, said the killer, a 45-year-old man identified only by his surname Li, was also shot dead in violence that erupted at a property management office.

Police were called to the scene after Li entered the office armed with a knife and began threatening others.

As the officers tried to subdue the man, Li stabbed one of the officers and took his gun.

He then stabbed another officer before opening fire and wounding another policeman as reinforcements arrived, according to the police report.

Li was then shot dead.

The first officer with stab wounds died later in hospital, while the other two had non-life-threatening injuries. No civilian casualties were reported, the statement said.

The Changchun police force did not offer a motive for the suspect or further details about him. There were also no more details about the slain policeman.

The report said the investigation was ongoing.

Witness photos and videos circulated online showed armed riot police and vehicles in the neighbourhood where the event took place. Some sources showed at least three police snipers in position.

The attack comes just weeks after a woman judge from the central province of Henan was stabbed to death by a man who was unhappy with her ruling.

However, gun incidents are rare. The last widely reported event was in May last year in eastern Jiangsu province, where two suspects were found shot dead a few days after being put on a police wanted notice.

China-linked ‘Spamouflage’ network mimics Americans online to sway US political debate

https://apnews.com/article/china-disinformation-network-foreign-influence-us-election-a2b396518bafd8e36635a3796c8271d7FILE - A woman walks with her ballot to a vacant voting booth at City Hall in San Francisco, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

2024-09-03T10:14:40Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — When he first emerged on social media, the user known as Harlan claimed to be a New Yorker and an Army veteran who supported Donald Trump for president. Harlan said he was 29, and his profile picture showed a smiling, handsome young man.

A few months later, Harlan underwent a transformation. Now, he claimed to be 31 and from Florida.

New research into Chinese disinformation networks targeting American voters shows Harlan’s claims were as fictitious as his profile picture, which analysts think was created using artificial intelligence.

As voters prepare to cast their ballots this fall, China has been making its own plans, cultivating networks of fake social media users designed to mimic Americans. Whoever or wherever he really is, Harlan is a small part of a larger effort by U.S. adversaries to use social media to influence and upend America’s political debate.

The account was traced back to Spamouflage, a Chinese disinformation group, by analysts at Graphika, a New York-based firm that tracks online networks. Known to online researchers for several years, Spamouflage earned its moniker through its habit of spreading large amounts of seemingly unrelated content alongside disinformation.

“One of the world’s largest covert online influence operations — an operation run by Chinese state actors — has become more aggressive in its efforts to infiltrate and to sway U.S. political conversations ahead of the election,” Jack Stubbs, Graphika’s chief intelligence officer, told The Associated Press.

Intelligence and national security officials have said that Russia, China and Iran have all mounted online influence operations targeting U.S. voters ahead of the November election. Russia remains the top threat, intelligence officials say, even as Iran has become more aggressive in recent months, covertly supporting U.S. protests against the war in Gaza and attempting to hack into the email systems of the two presidential candidates.

China, however, has taken a more cautious, nuanced approach. Beijing sees little advantage in supporting one presidential candidate over the other, intelligence analysts say. Instead, China’s disinformation efforts focus on campaign issues particularly important to Beijing — such as American policy toward Taiwan — while seeking to undermine confidence in elections, voting and the U.S. in general.

Officials have said it’s a longer-term effort that will continue well past Election Day as China and other authoritarian nations try to use the internet to erode support for democracy.

A message left with the Chinese Embassy in Washington was not immediately returned.

Compared with armed conflict or economic sanctions, online influence operations can be a low-cost, low-risk means of flexing geopolitical power. Given the increasing reliance on digital communications, the use of online disinformation and fake information networks is only likely to increase, said Max Lesser, senior analyst for emerging threats at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a national security think tank in Washington.

“We’re going to see a widening of the playing field when it comes to influence operations, where it’s not just Russia, China and Iran but you also see smaller actors getting involved,” Lesser said.

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That list could include not only nations but also criminal organizations, domestic extremist groups and terrorist organizations, Lesser said.

When analysts first noticed Spamouflage five years ago, the network tended to post generically pro-China, anti-American content. In recent years, the tone sharpened as Spamouflage expanded and began focusing on divisive political topics like gun control, crime, race relations and support for Israel during its war in Gaza. The network also began creating large numbers of fake accounts designed to mimic American users.

Spamouflage accounts don’t post much original content, instead using platforms like X or TikTok to recycle and repost content from far-right and far-left users. Some of the accounts seemed designed to appeal to Republicans, while others cater to Democrats.

While Harlan’s accounts succeeded in getting traction — one video mocking President Joe Biden was seen 1.5 million times — many of the accounts created by the Spamouflage campaign did not. It’s a reminder that online influence operations are often a numbers game: the more accounts, the more content, the better the chance that one specific post goes viral.

Many of the accounts newly linked to Spamouflage took pains to pose as Americans, sometimes in obvious ways. “I am an American,” one of the accounts proclaimed. Some of the accounts gave themselves away by using stilted English or strange word choices. Some were clumsier than others: “Broken English, brilliant brain, I love Trump,” read the biographical section of one account.

Harlan’s profile picture, which Graphika researchers believe was created using AI, was identical to one used in an earlier account linked to Spamouflage. Messages sent to the person operating Harlan’s accounts were not returned.

Several of the accounts linked to Spamouflage remain active on TikTok and X.

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Will Chinese tourists be eager to explore North Korea as travel resumes in December?

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3277009/will-chinese-tourists-be-eager-explore-north-korea-travel-resumes-december?utm_source=rss_feed

For Zhang Yue, a 29-year-old marketing specialist from Fuzhou in southeastern China, news reports about North Korea have painted a picture of a country vastly different from other travel destinations.

“I think many people have stereotypes about travelling there with worries about whether it’s dangerous, or view it as a somewhat ‘special’ or ‘niche’ destination for something like an adventurous experience,” she said. “I hope to have the opportunity to see it with my own eyes.”

Like Zhang, many Chinese people who haven’t visited find North Korea an intriguing destination, which seems to be driving their interest in travelling there.

In August, North Korea announced it would resume foreign tourism in December, starting with the northern area of Samjiyon near Mount Paektu. The news quickly prompted China-based travel agencies Koryo Tours and KTG Tours to begin offering excursions.

On Chinese social media, many people who visited North Korea shared photos from previous trips and recounted their experiences, while others expressed curiosity in visiting.

Others, though, were not at all interested, citing concerns about safety and restrictions during tours.

“You won’t see the real North Korea. The areas allowed for tourism are all isolated zones, pretty much like a film set. Going there or not is meaningless,” one wrote on Weibo.

Before the pandemic, North Korea was a popular destination for Chinese tourists, attracting about 200,000 visitors in 2018, accounting for 90 per cent of all foreign tourists to the country, according to a report from Chinese state media Global Times. In 2019, a record 350,000 Chinese tourists were estimated to have visited North Korea, according to North Korean media reports.

Previous typical itineraries included departures from the border city of Dandong in northeastern China’s Liaoning province by train or bus to North Korea, or a flight from Beijing to Pyongyang. Popular tourist attractions include Kim Il-sung Square and the Mansudae Grand Monument in Pyongyang, the inter-Korean border truce village of Panmunjom and Mount Myohyang.

A travel agency’s ongoing advertisement on the Chinese online travel platform Fliggy promotes a presale for tours departing from Shanghai starting December 1. The itineraries feature a six-day trip that includes visits to Pyongyang’s Juche Tower, Arch of Triumph, and Chollima Statue, as well as the capital’s subway stations and schools, along with the city of Kaesong and the Military Demarcation Line.

In July, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Samjiyon and highlighted plans to promote international tourism.

Beijing had expressed hopes for more exchanges.

In April, Chinese envoy to North Korea Wang Yajun visited Kaesong and expressed hopes that promoting the country’s historical and cultural sites could attract more Chinese tourists, aiming to “deepen tourism cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and North Korea, and enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples.”

Connie Xu, a 34-year-old resident of the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, visited the Rajin-Sonbong economic zone that borders China in 2014, and has expressed a desire to return.

For her 2014 trip, Xu travelled from the Chinese border city of Huichun and remembers her itinerary included having soup dishes for breakfast and visiting local markets where she bought seafood. She enjoyed the local cuisine and felt a sense of nostalgia as she observed the country’s similarities with China’s past.

“The local buildings and fashion made me feel like I was travelling back to the 1990s,” she said. “And I was impressed by the food. Simple dishes like fried eggs and soybean paste soup were really delicious when I had them in North Korea. Even after all these years, I still remember the taste, it’s just like the flavours from my childhood.”

Xu, an ethnic Korean in China, said her familiarity and understanding of Korean history also keeps her interested in knowing more about the country.

Zhang said most of her understanding of North Korea comes from the news, where nuclear weapons, defectors, and the country’s “extreme isolation” are often reported.

“There’s even a description of the country as like China during the Mao era,” she said, referring to the time of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

“As a younger generation whose limited understanding of that time only comes from textbooks, North Korea feels like a mirror reflecting China’s past, and I want to see for myself whether it is as the news describes or if there are differences.”

Amy Zhang, a 22-year-old in Guangzhou, shares similar sentiments, saying that she wants to visit the country that appears to be “very mysterious,” while local people seem “quite simple and sincere” from photos. But she added that while she doesn’t have concerns about safety, she is still somewhat worried about potential issues with internet access.

The mysteriousness might not appeal to everyone, however.

Sherry Wang, a 28-year-old who works in Beijing, said she has never considered visiting North Korea, particularly in light of recent news about the country’s launches of rubbish balloons.

“The situation seems quite chaotic,” she said.

“I also don’t have much of a specific impression of the country’s tourism. I might consider visiting if I’m touring several countries altogether in East Asia but will not hope to go for a trip only to North Korea.”

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China investigates Canadian rapeseed imports following EV tariffs

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3277024/china-investigates-canadian-rapeseed-imports-following-ev-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Tuesday that it will initiate an anti-dumping investigation into rapeseed imports from Canada, days after the United States’ northern neighbour agreed to levy 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in accordance with similar taxes imposed by the US and European Union.

The world’s second-largest economy will also consider auditing imports of Canadian chemicals, according to a statement published online.

“China firmly opposes Canada’s unilateral and discriminatory measures,” the ministry said. “The country will take all necessary measures to protect the rights of Chinese companies.”

Citing complaints from the domestic industry, the ministry said Canadian rapeseed imports have reached a total trade value of US$3.5 billion in 2023 – a 170 per cent surge from the year before – as well as a continuous downward trend in price.

Canada is the world’s top exporter of rapeseed – used in food preparation and as a biofuel – and China its largest purchaser, importing 63.5 per cent of its rapeseed in 2023 per figures from the General Administration of Customs. This represented an increase of 29.9 percentage points over the figure from 2022.

Claiming a “suspicion of dumping,” the ministry said Canada’s “unfair practices” have led to “continuous losses” for domestic firms in or related to the industry.

Customs figures from China show Canadian rapeseed imports reached a volume of 5 million tonnes in 2023, a surge of 170.4 per cent from the year before and a 92 per cent share of the country’s total imports of the seed.

The ministry’s disclosure came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on August 26 that his government would impose 100 per cent import taxes on electric vehicles effective October 1, and 25 per cent levies on aluminium and steel effective October 15.

“I think we all know that China is not playing by the same rules,” Trudeau said. “What is important about this is we’re doing it in alignment and in parallel with other economies around the world.”

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai applauded the decision in an official statement, praising Canada’s “strong action” against “state-directed, unfair, and anticompetitive non-market policies and practices, which threaten the existence of our market-oriented industries.”

The US’s own 100 per cent tariffs, initially set to take effect on August 1, have been delayed to allow time for the review of 1,100 public comments on the change. A final determination was scheduled for the end of August, but that was also postponed.

As it did against the EU, the Chinese ministry has elected to bring the case before the World Trade Organization and its dispute settlement mechanism.

“Canada’s new tariffs on Chinese exports won’t have much of an impact on China’s economy, but they are symptomatic of a broader wave of protectionist measures that have been ramping up in recent years,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.

Artist known for work critiquing Cultural Revolution arrested in China

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/gao-zhen-artist-known-for-work-critiquing-cultural-revolution-arrested-in-china

The Chinese artist Gao Zhen, known for works critiquing the Cultural Revolution, has been detained by Chinese authorities, his brother and artistic collaborator, Gao Qiang, has said.

Gao Qiang said police in Sanhe, east of Beijing, raided the brothers’ art studio on 26 August, confiscated several art works and arrested Gao Zhen after he refused to hand over his mobile phone. He told the Guardian that authorities said there had been a complaint, but did not give details. He said the Sanhe public security bureau told Gao Zhen’s wife the next day that her husband was suspected of slandering China’s heroes and martyrs, a crime that can bring jail sentences of up to three years.

The Gao brothers are well known for works depicting the former Communist party leader Mao Zedong, who launched the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. All of the confiscated works were more than 10 years old, and reflected the Cultural Revolution, Gao Qiang said. The works predate the law against insulting heroes and martyrs, which was introduced in 2018 without jail sentences attached, and then updated with more punitive measures in 2021.

“I believe that applying retroactive punishment for actions that took place before the new law came into effect contradicts the ‘principle of non-retroactivity’, which is a widely accepted standard in modern rule of law. There is a clear boundary between artistic creation and criminal behaviour,” he told the Guardian.

Gao Qiang told Artsnet that the brothers – whose father was jailed during the Cultural Revolution as a “class enemy” and allegedly killed himself in jail – had not made any works about the subject since.

“We are completely exhausted from dealing with the ghosts of the Cultural Revolution and have stopped creating such work,” he told Artsnet.

“They are detaining an artist who is nearly 70 years old under regulations that have been implemented only in the past two years. This situation is exactly what those works were meant to critique.”

Gao Zhen has lived in the US since 2022 but was in China visiting family, his brother said. He said Gao Zhen left China so his son could attend school in the US and because of the deteriorating political environment. Their work was often the focus of authorities, and was among galleries raided in 2006. In a statement posted to social media, Gao Qiang said Gao Zhen had planned to return to the US with his wife and children on Tuesday.

Under the growing authoritarianism of the Communist party leader, Xi Jinping, social and cultural groups and figures have been increasingly targeted. Authorities are routinely using laws including the crime of slandering heroes and the vague crime of picking quarrels to target lawyers, artists, dissidents and journalists.

Also this week, supporters said citizen journalist Zhang Zhan had been redetained by authorities just months after her release from jail. Zhang was released in May after serving several years for reporting from Wuhan during the Covid epidemic. Her conviction was widely criticised by human rights organisations.

On Monday supporters said Zhang was re-arrested in her home town in Shaanxi, after meeting with the mother of a recently detained activist. The supporters said Zhang was being held in Shanghai’s Pudong detention centre but it wasn’t clear if she was under criminal detention or administrative detention, which allows police to hold someone for up to 15 days without charge.

Reporters Without Borders expressed alarm about the apparent detention and urged “immediate mobilisation of the international diplomatic community to ensure her safety”.

“After barely surviving four years in prison and living under strict surveillance ever since, it is clear that the Chinese authorities remain intent on continuing to punish Zhang Zhan for her independent journalism,” said Rebecca Vincent, RSF’s director of campaigns.

The Pudong detention centre declined to comment.

Additional research by Chi-hui Lin

How China’s middle class is creating a ‘green gold’ rush in Africa

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3276872/how-chinas-middle-class-creating-green-gold-rush-africa?utm_source=rss_feed

This week’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit signals Beijing’s push to seek inclusive growth through partnerships with the Global South, introducing a fresh approach in a world increasingly marred by conflict.

Interestingly, a modest fruit has emerged as a source of inspiration. During the summit’s press conference, China’s assistant commerce minister brought attention to the striking increase in avocado exports from Africa, positioning it as a signature product in bilateral trade.

The soaring demand for avocados in China, where the fruit is synonymous with a health-conscious, middle-class lifestyle, has driven economic growth and empowerment in African countries.

By exploring other fruitful opportunities in the Global South, China and countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) can reshape their common interests. In this process, cities within the Greater Bay Area development zone can serve as a powerhouse for sharing development knowledge.

Amid this backdrop of burgeoning economic cooperation, the growth of China’s middle class has become a significant catalyst for change. Their increasing spending power and evolving tastes are creating fresh opportunities for the import market.

At the turn of the century, China’s middle-income group numbered less than 10 million, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. By 2019, it had exceeded 400 million, according to government estimates. Growing alongside it are middle-class lifestyles and a penchant for foreign goods. Avocados have especially become a prized commodity.

Within just two decades, China’s avocado imports have gone from nonexistent – a mere 2 tonnes in 2010 – to a staggering 25,000 tonnes by 2023, bolstering China’s economic ties with trading partners, mainly developing countries in Latin America and Africa.

Africa is among the biggest beneficiaries of this trend, as highlighted by Chinese trade officials in their briefings. Take Kenya, for example, which opened up its fresh avocado exports to China in mid-2022. In 2023, Kenya surpassed traditional export giant Mexico to become China’s third-largest avocado supplier.

The key to such growth has been expedited inspections and tariff exemptions like the “green channel” for African farm produce. Moreover, the growth of the avocado industry has reportedly provided jobs and higher incomes for over 3,200 local growers, especially women and young people in impoverished areas.

Third-party market cooperation has played a substantial role in making that happen. Launched in 2015 on the sidelines of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to London, the Partnership for Investment and Growth in Africa (PIGA) is a multilateral programme that includes the International Trade Centre and the UK’s Department for International Development, as well as China’s largest equity investment fund for African nations and trade promotion council.

PIGA aims to boost growth and create jobs in several African countries. The programme set out goals to intensively engage with Chinese and various African customs and commerce departments to help products meet trade requirements.

Digital collaboration is further fuelling interconnected growth between China and African countries. Institutions like the International Trade Centre have joined leading Chinese e-commerce platforms to offer training programmes aimed at helping micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. This not only empowers African talent but also provides a potential pathway for deeper cooperation between China and OECD countries.

As stated in 2020 by then-UN undersecretary general Vera Songwe, trade “is the only way that we can build a prosperous world and a prosperous Africa, together with China”. Songwe made the remark during a live-streamed promotional event in which Chinese consumers bought 3,000 bags of Rwandan coffee beans in just one second.

For Chinese consumers, the avocado is no longer a novelty. As the middle class is set to double in the next decade, along with increasing upward mobility, consumption rates and spending will correspondingly skyrocket.

By increasing domestic demand and imports, China’s vast market and core consumer group will become a major force driving inclusive China-Africa trade relations. African products, such as purple tea and shea butter, could join the ranks of “green gold”.

However, it is important to acknowledge that on the flip side of industrial triumph, avocados and many other cash crops can exacerbate ecological damage and climate change. This presents an opportunity for China, the Global South and developed countries to work together on establishing international standards, promoting responsible consumption and developing sustainable supply chains.

Such collaboration can foster mutually beneficial growth that not only improves the livelihoods of African growers and satisfies the growing demands of China’s middle class, but also champions long-term environmental protection.

Southern China has a unique ability to capitalise on its historical, geographical and policy assets to foster South-South development cooperation.

Hunan province is emerging as the hub of China-Africa trade and agricultural collaboration, Guangzhou has one of the largest African communities in Asia and Shenzhen stands out as a national tech hub. Macau functions as an exchange centre with Portuguese-speaking nations, such as Mozambique, and Hong Kong serves as an international hub for high-calibre talent. Working together, these cities can form a comprehensive China-Africa cooperation corridor.

Specifically, Hong Kong should deepen its understanding of the Global South. The city should also leverage its strengths in business, governance, law and education while utilising the extensive connections of the Chinese diaspora to take part in higher-level China-Africa cooperation. Avocados might well be a gateway fruit to other dynamic opportunities for both sides.

Despite new nuclear submarine, India still lags China in naval strength, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3276920/despite-new-nuclear-submarine-india-still-lags-china-naval-strength?utm_source=rss_feed

India’s recent launch of its second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine may have boosted its deterrence capabilities, but analysts say the country has a long way to go in closing the gap on China’s naval power.

Unveiled last week in the port city of Visakhapatnam, the domestically developed INS Arighaat is armed with K-15 missiles that boast a striking range of 750km (466 miles). At the launch, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that this new submarine would fortify India’s nuclear deterrence and play a decisive role in national security.

He said the INS Arighaat would join its predecessor, the INS Arihant, in bolstering India’s “nuclear triad” – the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, sea and air.

The submarine’s introduction was timely, according to former chief of India’s naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash, amid challenges posed by the country’s two nuclear-armed neighbours: Pakistan and China.

Prakash highlighted the stark contrasts in nuclear policies among these nations.

“India’s 2003 doctrine states that it will not be the first to use a nuclear weapon ever whereas Pakistan has made no such commitment and it keeps threatening it would use nuclear weapons when required,” he told This Week in Asia. “China also adopts the ‘no first use’ policy but its intentions are not clear.”

The strategic landscape is further complicated by the INS Aridhaman, expected to be commissioned early next year. Currently undergoing trials, according to the Times of India, the submarine is larger than both its predecessors and designed to carry longer-range nuclear missiles.

While these advancements signal progress in India’s defence sector, Prakash insists that the country must prioritise indigenous technology.

“Importing technology from abroad is a good step but it is not the ultimate [solution]. Technology takes many years to develop and we should be looking at India-developed technology.”

Powered by 83 megawatt pressurised light-water reactors, both the INS Arihant and INS Arighaat can remain submerged longer than conventional diesel-electric submarines.

India aims to build a fleet of five Arihant-class submarines and six nuclear-attack submarines as part of a comprehensive three-phase development strategy.

These long-term plans come against a backdrop of escalating competition between India and China for influence in the Indian Ocean region and wider Indo-Pacific. Tensions spiked in 2020 when both countries clashed at their shared border in the Galwan Valley.

Former Indian naval officer Commodore C Uday Bhaskar said the commissioning of the Arighaat was a significant development within the country’s strategic Indo-Pacific framework, especially considering China’s “creeping assertiveness” along its border with India.

Only five other countries – the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China – have nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) in their arsenal, Bhaskar pointed out.

“Neighbouring nations will be cognisant of the progress being made by India since it doesn’t have a strong and vibrant domestic [defence] manufacturing and hi-tech design capabilities,” he said, adding that Pakistan would be closely monitoring India’s growing naval power.

Despite these advancements, the Chinese navy remains far superior, particularly in submarine capabilities, Bhaskar said. He stressed that India should work to acquire longer-range submarine-launched missiles to keep pace.

“China’s nuclear arsenal is much greater in quantity, more potent in quality and is growing … Against this backdrop, the INS Arighaat and the INS Arihant will serve to enhance India’s second-strike capability but in a very modest manner,” Bhaskar said, referring to the ability of a country to counter a first-strike nuclear threat.

China has recently integrated Shang-class nuclear-powered attack submarines and Jin-class ballistic missile submarines into its fleet, alongside developing the newer Tang-class, noted Atul Kumar, a fellow of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank’s strategic studies programme.

Media reports indicate that China operates six Jin-class submarines armed with JL-3 missiles capable of striking targets up to 10,000km away.

“The Shang-class submarines have been conducting familiarisation missions in the Indian Ocean,” Kumar said. “China’s nuclear missile submarines, armed with JL-2 and JL-3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, can target New Delhi from the South China Sea.”

India acquiring SSBNs was crucial for it to maintain a balance of naval power against China, said Dongkeun Lee, a PhD candidate at Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre.

“SSBNs are valuable because they provide advantages in escalating dominance during potential contingencies by offering second-strike capabilities at sea, which are harder to detect compared with land-based systems,” he said.

India’s push to develop these submarines is a direct response to China’s expanding influence, according to Lee – particularly in the Indian Ocean, where Beijing is actively engaging with countries like Pakistan, the Maldives, and Myanmar through its Belt and Road Initiative to grow global trade.

“Considering the geographic context, if China fully integrates these countries, it could potentially encircle and isolate India maritime-wise,” he said. “Alongside the existing SSBN, INS Arighaat can help deter such actions by providing second-strike capability advantages and ensuring a more favourable maritime security environment in the Indian Ocean.”

A strategic advantage for India, Lee said, is that China lacks regional allies with SSBNs, while Delhi has been strengthening its defence ties with Washington.

“The balance of sea-based nuclear capabilities favours India due to its coordination with the US and the INS Arighaat can further strengthen this advantage,” he said.

However, Kumar cautions that the INS Arihant and INS Arighaat are still in the early stages of establishing India’s second-strike capability and are limited by their relatively small reactors and missile ranges.

“While these submarines may provide deterrence against Pakistan, they are inadequate to counter the strategic threat posed by China,” he said.

To address these challenges, the Indian Navy must undertake a comprehensive expansion that includes not only SSBNs but also aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), Kumar said.

“Neighbouring countries are rapidly expanding their submarine capabilities,” he said.

“India’s aircraft carriers and SSBNs need effective screening and protection, and SSNs are a priority that demands immediate attention. India’s deterrence requirements demand larger submarines with bigger reactors and longer-range missiles.”

China’s Xinjiang vows to increase support for firms under US ‘forced labour’ sanctions

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3276908/chinas-xinjiang-vows-increase-support-firms-under-us-forced-labour-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed

Legislators in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang say they will increase support for US-sanctioned enterprises, including via the legal system and overseas promotions.

In a resolution released and taking effect on Monday, the regional legislature denounced US sanctions against Xinjiang enterprises over the alleged use of forced labour, calling for the creation of “a positive social environment” for the growth of those businesses.

“The entire region must immediately take action to support the development of sanctioned enterprises and related industries,” the legislature said in the resolution, which was adopted on August 23.

“It is both a just stance and an unshirkable responsibility for all levels of national agencies, people’s organisations, enterprises and institutions, and all ethnic groups in the region to firmly oppose the US’ baseless sanctions against Xinjiang enterprises under the pretext of ‘forced labour’.”

The US Congress passed the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act in 2021 targeting imports from Xinjiang, to prevent the entry of goods made under such conditions.

The act took effect the following June, and has since seen sanctions imposed on dozens of Xinjiang companies and officials accused of being complicit in labour and human rights abuses there.

About two-thirds of Xinjiang’s nearly 26 million people are members of ethnic minorities, including the mostly Muslim Uygur and Kazakh groups.

Accusations of human rights abuses, mass detention and forced labour in Xinjiang, mainly targeting the Uygur population, have been steadfastly denied by Beijing.

More than 80 Chinese companies now appear on the US Homeland Security Department’s “entity list” of sanctioned firms, over accusations of being involved in what Washington says are forced labour programmes.

The pace of additions to the entity list has sped up, according to Robert Silvers, an undersecretary at the department who chairs a committee overseeing the list.

More than 30 Chinese companies have been hit with US sanctions so far this year.

The list includes companies from Xinjiang’s key industries such as cotton and textile clothing, new energy, photovoltaic silicon, and tomato processing. It also includes Chinese companies outside the region.

According to the resolution, judicial authorities in Xinjiang should provide legal support to sanctioned enterprises so they can seek compensation from the US for losses caused, in line with international law and rules.

Legislative bodies should speed up enacting relevant laws to support sanctioned businesses and strengthen oversight to ensure effective implementation of policies and create a fair market environment, it added.

Local governments have been urged to establish a leadership system to particularly address US sanctions related to Xinjiang and address new issues faced by the businesses concerned.

Officials should also encourage and support sanctioned enterprises in pursuing technological innovation, and actively help them to expand in domestic and international markets, the resolution said, while urging deputies at the legislature to actively promote sanctioned companies as “voluntary advocates” and “product spokespeople”.

The resolution also repeated Xinjiang’s “firm opposition” to the US accusations and sanctions, describing them as “political manipulation and economic bullying under the guise of human rights”.

Apart from repeatedly denying accusations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Beijing has imposed its own sanctions on foreign researchers and diplomats it deems to be vocal on the issues.

In 2021, a Xinjiang company filed a civil lawsuit against Adrian Zenz, a German researcher whose works were central to the human rights accusations about the Uygur autonomous region. The company claimed it had suffered heavy economic losses due to Zenz’s “distorted” studies. There has been no subsequent official news on the case.

China researchers build neuron-enlarging brain device using genetic engineering

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3276897/china-researchers-build-neuron-enlarging-brain-device-using-genetic-engineering?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have proposed that genetic engineering could one day be used to alter the brain’s neurons as a way of improving the quality of signal transmission in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.

The researchers, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ National Centre for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), implanted sensors into a mouse’s brain that carried a genetic instruction to make the neurons larger and easier to “read”.

According to the study published in peer-reviewed journal Advanced Materials, the experiments showed the implant – which suppresses the expression of genes that restrict neuron growth – improved brain cell health as well as BCI connections.

The researchers said the results showed the approach could one day improve the quality of signal transmission in existing BCI technologies – such as Elon Musk’s Neuralink – in therapeutic settings and in using the mind to directly control devices.

Rapid advances in the technology have made it possible for users to control mechanical arms and even computer cursors through thought alone. BCI also offers promising therapeutic benefits to paralysis patients by restoring some motor functions.

But while non-invasive BCIs use wearable devices to record and interpret brain signals through the scalp, signal resolution is low and they cannot interact directly with neurons.

To overcome these limitations, researchers in the field have increasingly turned to semi-invasive and invasive BCIs, which involve surgically implanting electrodes and chips into the brain’s cortex to capture high-quality neural signals.

Although this method provides clearer signals, there are safety as well as ethical concerns. Surgery can lead to complications, while conventional neural probes – made from rigid materials like silicon or metals – are a mismatch with soft brain tissues.

Neuralink responded to the latter challenge by developing a BCI chip containing 64 flexible polymer threads. Earlier this year, a patient with quadriplegia received one of the chips, in the first human trial of the technology.

The device’s functionality began to decrease less than a month after surgery when some of the chip’s threads “retracted from the brain”. Neuralink said its engineers were able to refine the implant and restore functionality.

Fang Ying, a co-author of the Chinese study, noted that most research has focused on “developing biocompatible neural electrodes by structural engineering to minimise tissue rejection and enhance the long-term stability of BCI”.

“We propose using genetic engineering technologies to enhance the survival and growth of the neuronal cells/tissue surrounding the electrodes, potentially boosting BCI performance,” she said, in an interview published on the Chinese Academy of Sciences website.

Fang and her team proposed an electrode that resembles a slender comb, only 3 microns thick and made from a flexible and biocompatible polymer, in a similar approach to the one taken by Neuralink.

The comb features eight teeth uniformly distributed with 120 recording and reference electrodes, each functioning like a protruding microphone to collect signals from nearby neurons.

Tian Huihui, one of the study’s corresponding authors and a research assistant at NCNST, said “years of research and testing” had shown that the polyamide electrodes “can stably transmit signals for over a year in vivo”.

The team’s innovation was to coat the electrodes with a layer of a drug carrier containing a small RNA genetic sequence that is released after implantation to influence the surrounding neuronal and other cells.

“We knock down specific genes in the brain precisely. For example, we knocked down PTEN in neuronal cells around the implanted BCI device. The downregulation leads to an enlargement of neuronal cell bodies at the electrode-tissue interface, positively affecting neuronal health and potentially enhancing the interface’s performance,” Tian said.

“The enhanced condition and increased number of neurons near the electrodes significantly improve the quality of the collected signals, which is highly beneficial for subsequent decoding of neural signals.”

The team implanted electrodes in both sides of the same mouse brain to exclude the many individualised factors that can affect performance, such as surgical conditions, differences in immune rejection, and neural signal strength.

“With quantitative analysis, we found that the number of neurons was significantly higher and the neural activity was more frequent on the side of the brain where the gene was knocked down,” Tian said.

“Also, the soma size of neurons 12 weeks after implantation on the knockdown side was 20 per cent higher than the control side.”

Despite ethical concerns preventing its application in larger animals like macaques – let alone genetic modification of the human brain – the researchers are confident that their method expands the use of genetic engineering in enhanced BCIs.

The breakthrough shows the precise transfection of cells at the neural interface, according to the paper. “Our system holds significant promise in clinical applications, especially in the fields of highly precise genetic engineering,” Fang said.

“It paves the way for the next generation of BCI.”

Chinese Olympians’ Hong Kong visit showcased bond between local, national identities: experts

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3276961/chinese-olympians-hong-kong-visit-showcased-bond-between-local-national-identities-experts?utm_source=rss_feed

A whirlwind visit to Hong Kong by mainland Chinese Olympians who were warmly embraced by residents has shown the “comfortable” coexistence of local and national identities in a new political atmosphere, experts have said.

An education sector representative on Monday also said the visit was a “soft but powerful” approach to promoting patriotism among young people.

The 65-member delegation ended their six-day visit to Hong Kong and Macau on Monday, using the trip to showcase their athletic prowess and encourage residents to chase their dreams.

In Hong Kong, thousands of supporters waited outside each venue the delegation visited from Thursday to Saturday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Olympians.

“The interaction between mainland athletes and Hong Kong residents suggests an increasing overlap of local and national Chinese identities, representing a harmonious coexistence of these dual identities [among Hongkongers],” veteran political commentator Sonny Lo Shiu-hing said.

One highlight of the three-day visit was a speech by table tennis player Sun Yingsha, who said at a sharing session that the national flag on her uniform bore more importance than her name printed at the back.

“If one’s name signifies a kind of glory, then the national flag represents a responsibility and a mission, something worth sacrificing everything to defend and fight for,” she told young participants at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University on Saturday.

“A person can only truly feel the resilient and profound strength that dreams bring when they combine their personal aspirations with the honour of their homeland.”

Chu Wai-lam, vice-chairman of the New Territories School Heads Association and a principal in North district, said Sun’s speech could be seen as a “soft but powerful” approach to promote patriotism among youngsters.

“Her stories will allow young people to learn what being patriotic means in a more straightforward and acceptable way. One can be called loving his country by trying best to do what he is asked to,” he said.

Despite the sweltering weather, fans waved banners, took photos and cheered for the national heroes. Female diver Quan Hongchan was greeted with dozens of stuffed turtle toys as the 17-year-old had earlier expressed her fondness for the animal.

Table tennis legend Ma Long was asked by organisers not to leave the hotel where the delegation was staying as fans were camped out into the early morning.

All 5,300 tickets for demonstrations and a gala show sold out within 35 minutes of going on sale on August 22, as tens of thousands of residents scrambled to secure spots for the events on Friday and Saturday.

At a press conference when the delegation arrived last Thursday, athletes were also asked about their impressions of Hong Kong, what they wanted to do and whether they had any encouraging words to the city’s youngsters.

The media reception was in sharp contrast to the press conference attended by mainland Olympic medallists in August 2016 after the Rio Games. Three athletes, including swimmer Sun Yang, were asked for their thoughts on mending rifts between Hongkongers and mainlanders.

Following a riot in Mong Kok earlier that year, belief in localism was rising as some residents supported the ideology highlighting “Hong Kong identity” to distinguish the city from ones on the mainland.

But the political landscape underwent a transformation after Beijing imposed its national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to months of anti-government protests the year before. The opposition camp was largely wiped out.

“In the past, some saw Hong Kong identity as being so unique that it had to be separated from national Chinese identity,” Lo said. “And this gave rise to lots of social confrontations and even political disputes.

“But now I think you can see a kind of more harmonious coexistence of the two identities. It doesn’t mean that the local identity is buried. It means that the local Hong Kong identity can coexist and co-prosper with a national Chinese identity.”

Lobo Louie Hung-tak, associate head of the Education University of Hong Kong’s health and physical education department, said the connection between the mainland and Hong Kong had been strengthened as residents shared pride in the country’s success at the Paris Games.

“So people across the border appreciate each other for their respective efforts to yield fruit,” he said. “This is quite positive and inspiring.”

He also suggested the strong charisma of the mainland athletes would help to inspire more Hong Kong youth to engage in sports.

It is a traditional practice for mainland Olympic medallists to visit Hong Kong and Macau after the Olympic Games after the two former colonies returned to Chinese rule.

“In sports, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what religion you believe in and what political perspective you hold. What matters is the positive energy it brings to people,” Louie said.

Japan swelters through hottest summer while parts of China log warmest August on record

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/03/japan-weather-august-heat-record-heatwaves-china

Japan has recorded its hottest summer on record after a sweltering three months marked by thousands of instances of “extreme heat”, with meteorologists warning that unseasonably high temperatures will continue through the autumn.

The average temperature in June, July and August was 1.76C higher than the average recorded between 1991 and 2020, the Japan meteorological agency said, according to Kyodo news agency.

It was the hottest summer since comparable records were first kept in 1898 and tied the record set in 2023, the agency said. Japan has recorded 8,821 instances of “extreme heat” – a temperature of 35C or higher – so far this year, easily beating the previous record of 6,692 set in 2023, it added.

The brutal heat was not confined to Japan. Swathes of China logged the hottest August on record, the weather service said.

The hot weather prompted delays to the start of the new school year in some Chinese cities. State media reported on Tuesday that some schools and universities in Jiangxi, Chongqing, and Sichuan provinces had pushed the return to school out to 9 September, citing high temperatures.

China Daily said Chongqing authorities had extended school holidays for all kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, and at least a dozen colleges and universities, “to ensure the safety and health of teachers and students amid the extreme heat”.

Chongqing is notoriously hot in summer, but it and other nearby regions including Sichuan have had abnormally high temperatures in recent weeks. A red alert for temperatures exceeding 40 C – the highest of China’s three-tier warning system – was issued for 12 consecutive days from late August until the start of September.

China is the leading emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say are driving global climate change.

Beijing has pledged to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak by 2030 and to net zero by 2060.

Its weather service said in an article published on Sunday that average air temperatures for August in eight provinces, regions and cities “ranked the hottest for the same period” since records began.

They included the megacity of Shanghai, and the provinces of Jiangsu, Hebei, Hainan, Jilin, Liaoning and Shandong as well as the north-west region of Xinjiang, the weather service said.

A further five provinces chalked up their second-hottest August, while seven more endured their third-hottest.

“Looking back at the past month, most parts of China have experienced a hotter summer than in previous years,” the weather service said.

The major population centres of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chongqing also saw more “high temperature days” – typically declared when the mercury breaches 35C – than in any August since records began.

Although the heat is expected to recede across much of the north as autumn begins, “it is still too early to end completely”, the weather service said.

Climate scientists have already predicted that 2024 will be the hottest year on record for the Earth because of a warming planet.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said July was the second warmest on record books going back to 1940, only slightly cooler than July 2023.

Extreme heat has seared much of east Asia this summer.

“Throughout the summer, warm air tended to cover the entire country, and from July to August, a Pacific high pressure system mainly covered western Japan, resulting in clear skies and strong sunlight. As a result, the average temperature during the summer was very high nationwide,” the meteorological agency said, according to the Japan Times.

More than 70,000 people were taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from heatstroke between early July and late August in Japan, while consumer spending surged on items such as air conditioners, sweet food and drinks.

Rising global temperatures make extreme weather more frequent and intense, and China has had a summer of extreme weather, from heatwaves across much of the north and west to devastating floods in central and southern regions.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

5 children, 6 parents dead in eastern China after bus hits crowd outside school

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3276953/5-children-6-parents-dead-eastern-china-after-bus-hits-crowd-outside-school?utm_source=rss_feed

A bus crashed into a crowd in front of a junior high school in eastern China on Tuesday morning, killing 11 people and injuring 24.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, the crash occurred around 7am in front of the Foshan Junior High School in Dongping county, Shandong province, on the second day of the new school year.

The injured had been sent to the hospital, the report said.

Dongping police said in a statement that among the 11 deaths, six were parents and five were students. One person was severely injured while 12 remained in a stable condition. The condition of the remaining injured is not known.

The vehicle was a bus designated to drive and pick up students to and from school, the police said. As it approached a crossroad, it lost control and crashed into the crowd. The driver has been detained by police and the case is being investigated.

As the new school year began, China had called for more emphasis on campus security.

Party mouthpiece People’s Daily said in a report on Sunday that measures implemented to relieve parents’ concerns about children’s safety include the use of school buses, anti-crash road fences and traffic police patrols.

It is not known if the accident is an intentional attack on children but there have been a few such cases this year.

In June, a man launched an attack at a school bus stop in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, killing one person and injuring two others.

In March, a man in Dezhou, Shandong province, drove into a crowd in front of a local junior school, killing two pedestrians and severely injuring six people. The 46-year-old had since been detained by local police.

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Bus crashes into students in eastern China, killing or injuring at least 10, state media say

https://apnews.com/article/china-school-bus-students-injured-8c940fa9441ca65bdc55f8203a3a74b5Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a town hall with former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in La Crosse, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

2024-09-03T03:39:17Z

BEIJING (AP) — A bus crashed into a group of students in eastern China on Tuesday, killing or injuring at least 10, state media reported.

The students were waiting at the gate of a middle school in Tai’an city in Shandong province shortly after 7 a.m., Xinhua news agency said.

The bus was specially customized for transporting students, it said.

The cause of the accident was being investigated. School safety, including overloaded school buses and poorly designed buildings, has long been a problem in China.

In 2017, a dozen people, including 11 kindergarten pupils, were killed when a school bus crashed and burst into flames in a tunnel in the eastern Chinese city of Weihai, also in Shandong province. The driver, six Chinese children and five South Korean children were killed. It remains unclear whether the crash was deliberate or the result of unsafe driving.

China has cracked down heavily on transportation dangers, adding training and vehicle inspections.

China also has suffered numerous cases in recent years of attacks on school children, often using knives or homemade explosives. The suspects were generally found to be bearing grudges and seeking revenge over personal matters or against society more generally.

FOCAC: African leaders look to China for project funds and trade deals at Beijing summit

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276892/focac-african-leaders-look-china-project-funds-and-trade-deals-beijing-summit?utm_source=rss_feed

Dozens of African leaders are converging on the Chinese capital for a three-day summit that begins on Wednesday, aiming to secure funding for infrastructure projects and trade deals.

Among them, Kenyan President William Ruto is expected to renew a request for financing from Beijing to complete a section of a Chinese-funded railway linking Kenya to other nations in East Africa. Work stalled on that section – to Malaba, on the border with Uganda – five years ago as the two countries struggled to pay back their debts.

Meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who began a state visit to China on Monday, will be looking to sign deals on trade and expanding market access, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to sign new loan agreements with Beijing.

For its part, host Beijing is likely to use the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit to seek African support and strengthen ties amid its growing geopolitical rivalry with the United States and Europe.

David Shinn, a China-Africa specialist and professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said the visiting African leaders would also push China to take more of their exports both to diversify and to address large trade deficits.

He expected the African officials to also seek more technology transfers from China and more investment, especially in the manufacturing sector.

In addition, “African countries that are deeply indebted to China will seek better terms on outstanding loans”, Shinn said.

China’s foreign ministry has said four meetings will be held during the summit – on state governance, industrialisation and agricultural modernisation, peace and security, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

The summit, held every three years, is a key platform for China to engage with Africa and has previously seen Beijing making huge financial pledges to support big-ticket infrastructure projects. Many African leaders attend the event, looking to win deals and discuss issues affecting both sides.

China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for more than a decade. It has also extended loans of more than US$182 billion to African nations between 2000 and 2023 that have gone towards building mega projects such as ports, railways, highways and hydroelectric dams.

Some of those investments have been made in countries hit by coups, such as Niger, Sudan and Guinea, and China has also sought more of a role in trying to resolve civil wars and conflicts on the continent.

Shinn said he expected Beijing to push for African support for its global stance and acceptance of its policies on domestic issues such as human rights, as well as the South China Sea. He said China would also be looking for a realignment of its economic relationship with Africa to one that relies less on large loans and more on Chinese investment in Africa.

“China will also emphasise green energy cooperation, training and capacity-building initiatives, and steps to improve security for Chinese personnel and interests in Africa,” Shinn said.

Frangton Chiyemura, a lecturer on global development at the Open University UK, said there was a shift from focusing on the quantity of Chinese loans to emphasising the quality of projects and their benefits.

“This will likely result in a greater Chinese involvement in Africa’s energy sector, particularly in renewable energy projects such as wind and solar. The expansion of China’s footprint in the renewable energy industry is closely linked to the critical minerals sector,” Chiyemura said.

In addition, he said that in places hit by conflicts, China could “increasingly play a role in mediating or acting as intermediaries in these conflicts, especially in countries where their interests and projects are at risk”.

Tim Zajontz, a research fellow in the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University, said industrialisation and agricultural upgrades remained the top priorities for African countries.

“This year’s summit declaration and the action plan will reiterate China’s commitment to support the diversification of African economies and to address persistent trade imbalances,” said Zajontz, who is also an international relations lecturer at the University of Freiburg.

He also expected Beijing to seek support for its Global Security Initiative, which sets out its principles for managing conflicts and seeking peace, “and to further advance cooperation with African governments and the African Union in the security realm”.

Zajontz noted that Africa’s geopolitical importance had increased since the last FOCAC summit.

“The growing number of high-level summits between Africa and other world regions or specific countries is but one proof of this trend,” he said.

Amid the intensifying competition for political and economic influence on the continent, Beijing would be looking to this week’s talks as “positive reinforcement of China’s special partnership status for Africa”, he added.

That competition includes the Group of Seven’s US$600 billion Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment – a challenge to China’s belt and road strategy.

“Beijing also sees African governments and regional organisations as important allies in its demands for more inclusive, less Western-dominated institutions and modalities of global governance,” Zajontz said.

According to Lina Benabdallah, an associate professor in the politics and international affairs department at Wake Forest University in the US, China will be looking to cement its partnership with African countries – especially given Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House.

“[Trump’s] record with tariffs and containment of Chinese goods and products suggests that Beijing will proactively be looking for other markets to sell a lot of its products that would otherwise be earmarked for the US or European markets,” Benabdallah said.

“African markets are ideal for this and the timing of the summit could not be more on point.”

She said Beijing was likely to try to boost sales of electric vehicles and other products that are not selling in the US or Europe.

Zhou Yuyuan, a professor and deputy director of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies’ Centre for West Asian and African Studies, also expected a shift in focus to green and low-carbon development cooperation.

On the debt burdens faced by African nations, Zhou said “China may clarify its position on debt issues and put forward complementary initiatives”.

He said development financing would move towards “small and beautiful” projects.

At the last FOCAC summit in 2021, Beijing promised US$40 billion in financial support – much lower than the US$60 billion pledged at the 2018 and 2015 meetings.

[Sport] China's mission to win African hearts with satellite TV

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y3qk9p2elo

BBC

Chinese man who agreed to gift home to colleague changes mind after remarrying at 93

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3276830/china-man-agreed-gift-home-colleague-companionship-changes-mind-after-remarriage-93?utm_source=rss_feed

A Shanghai man, who signed an agreement to give his flat to a colleague in return for care and companionship, regretted his decision after he remarried at 93.

The man, surnamed Tan and now aged 99, took his former colleague and caregiver, Gu, to court, but his request to have his property returned was rejected, the Shanghai Morning Post reported on August 28.

In 2005, Tan signed a support agreement with Gu and his family, promising to give his flat to them in exchange for their care and companionship.

His requests included Gu and his family frequently calling him on the phone, visiting him once a week, buying him clothes and groceries, and looking after him when he was unwell.

In return, Tan wrote in his will that he would bequeath his flat and its contents to Gu, instead of his children.

He wrote: “They cared about me more than my family. They helped me get through illness and pain, and made my life rich and happy.”

Tan said he was not on good terms with his children, who he felt had not fulfilled the duty of support.

Tan also signed a purchase contract with Gu in 2005, selling his flat to Gu for 200,000 yuan (US$28,000). The size of the unit was not revealed in the report.

The average housing price in Shanghai in 2005 was 6,700 yuan per square metre, according to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau.

Gu did not pay the money, and Tan did not move out. The contract they signed was just a formality.

In 2018, Tan remarried and regretted his decision.

He reportedly sued his former colleague many times in 2019 and 2021, denying knowledge of the transfer of his property into Gu’s name, and demanding an annulment of their contract.

In response, Gu counter-sued, asking Tan to move out immediately and pay rent from 2006.

Gu also showed the court his family’s messages and photos with Tan to prove they had kept him company and taken him on trips.

He said the old man had blocked the family from communicating with him by mobile phone after 2019.

The court in Shanghai dismissed both sides’ requests, deciding they had fulfilled the agreement and formed a de facto maintenance and support relationship. The verdict means Gu can inherit the flat after Tan dies.

It was also pointed out that Tan did not express his dissatisfaction towards Gu for more than a decade, therefore his accusations were not based on facts.

Mainland social media observers overwhelmingly supported Gu and denounced Tan’s flip-flopping.

“What would have happened to you all these years if your colleague did not support you well?” one said.

“It is morally wrong to break promises, especially after other people have given so much,” another commented.

China’s railway operator brings in gravy train, posting profits and lowering debt ratios

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3276871/chinas-railway-operator-brings-gravy-train-posting-profits-and-lowering-debt-ratios?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s state-owned railway operator – which runs the world’s largest high-speed railway network – has chugged ahead of a slow-growing national economy, posting profits and an increase in passengers over the first half of 2024.

China State Railway Group swung back to a net profit of 1.7 billion yuan (US$239.6 million) from a loss of 11.1 billion yuan for the first half of 2023, although first-half sales revenue dropped to 579.4 billion yuan from 580.7 billion yuan over the same period, according to a financial disclosure filed with Chinabond on Saturday.

January-June freight revenue reached a whopping 484.1 billion yuan, an increase of 4.7 per cent from the first six months of 2023. Most of China’s domestic freight moves by rail.

Despite persistent overseas worries over the size of its debt – which rose 1.8 per cent year on year to 6.2 trillion yuan – the operator’s debt ratio dropped to 64.6 per cent from 66.2 per cent a year earlier, registering a decline for two consecutive years as well as a 10-year low.

“As demand for passenger and freight transport continues to grow and dividends from the railway network emerge, the operating performance of China Railway Group continues to improve,” said the company in its financial statement.

The railway operator completed a record 2.1 billion passenger trips from January to June this year, 18.4 per cent more than the same period last year.

Travel momentum kept up through the summer. The group, which was formed after the dissolution of China’s Ministry of Railways in 2013, logged 887 million trips in July and August, up 6.7 per cent from the year before.

The Beijing-headquartered group, also known as China Railway, operates the vast majority of national passenger and freight lines, including the world’s longest high-speed network with a total track length of 45,000km.

The railway company’s financial performance is running counter to wider trends, as the world’s second-largest economy undershot expectations with a 4.7 per cent year-on-year growth figure in the second quarter. Weak consumption and a crisis in the property market have raised worries among analysts over whether the annual growth target of “around 5 per cent” can be met.

“Households are making up for time lost through the pandemic, choosing to prioritise constrained discretionary spending on travel rather than goods,” said Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Non-tourist movement probably counts for most recent ridership, said Steven Zhao, CEO of the China Highlights online travel agency.

Tourists found it harder to get train tickets in mid-2023 compared to this summer, Zhao said. “Last year was the first summer vacation open for travel post-pandemic, so lots of people came out for ‘revenge travel’,” he said.

China Railway recorded 337.3 billion yuan in fixed asset investments over the first half of 2024, up 10.6 per cent from a year earlier according to the financial statement.

Accordingly, 979.6km of new track was opened during the same period.

How China and Europe can best settle their EV tariff disputes

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3276755/how-china-and-europe-can-best-settle-their-ev-tariff-disputes?utm_source=rss_feed

After applying provisional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in July, the European Commission recently announced plans to impose definitive five-year import duties of up to 36 per cent that could come into force at the end of October.

In response, China has launched its own investigation into European subsidies for certain dairy products, notably cheese, milk and cream meant for human consumption. China’s Ministry of Commerce is also discussing higher tariffs on fuel-powered cars with large engines from the European Union.

Before that, China had already opened anti-subsidy investigations into French brandy and some pork products in January and filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that the EU tariffs violated WTO rules and undermined global cooperation on climate change.

As the trade tensions intensify, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has warned that a trade war with China may be “unavoidable”. However, the window of opportunity is not closed yet.

To avoid a trade war, the EU and China are continuing discussions to find an alternative solution. The EV tariff dispute is a test case for China and the EU, and they should take this opportunity to find alternative solutions.

Discussions appear to be are focused on the technical details as the European Commission has adjusted the tariff rates after consulting Chinese EV producers. Another popular idea is to encourage Chinese EV companies to invest and produce cars in the EU, which would not only help to reduce transport costs and avoid high tariffs but also create jobs and tax revenue for the local economies.

However, such solutions are not sufficient to address the fundamental issue of subsidies, which is at the heart of the EV dispute as well as other trade disagreements between the EU and China. Subsidies are not an issue exclusive to China. For example, the United States and the EU are also using subsidies for their green industries to enhance their competitive edge.

The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act includes US$369 billion of subsidies and tax credits for clean energy technologies. The EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan contains measures to create a more supportive environment for scaling up the EU’s manufacturing capacity for net-zero technologies and products.

The issue around subsidies appears not to be whether to enact them but, rather, how and to what extent. Rather than accusing each other of providing unfair subsidies and taking unilateral protectionist measures to level the playing field, it is time to think about a long-term multilateral solution.

It is important to take a step back to understand the essence of trade policy. We can think of it as policymakers having two primary tools – subsidies and tariffs – to influence both imports and exports. This yields four potential policy scenarios: taxing imports, taxing exports, subsidising imports and subsidising exports. While export taxes and import subsidies are historically uncommon, the debates surrounding trade policy primarily centre on import duties and export subsidies.

Since the inception of trade multilateralism in 1947 in the form of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and its transformation into the WTO in 1995, negotiations on reducing and eventually eliminating tariffs have been front and centre in the minds of trade negotiators focused on improving market access.

Despite the prevalence of export subsidies, there has been a notable absence of comprehensive multilateral discussions and negotiations on this issue. Although the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) provides guidelines for government subsidies and remedies for subsidised trade, its scope is limited and its implementation has been ineffective.

The SCM agreement has struggled to keep pace with the evolving landscape of international trade in the 21st century. Therefore, it is strongly advisable for China and the EU to avoid a bilateral resolution to their EV disputes. Such one-on-one negotiations can lead to a zero-sum mentality where one side perceives itself as winning at the other’s expense.

Instead, seeking a resolution within the multilateral framework of the WTO is beneficial. A multilateral approach would not only foster a more collaborative and balanced resolution to the EV disputes but also provide an opportunity to update the WTO’s outdated rules and definitions on subsidies.

By leveraging their bilateral trade friction, China and the EU could contribute to the development of new, globally applicable subsidy rules that address the realities of modern international trade. This would help resolve their own dispute and benefit other WTO members who could face similar challenges in the future.

Many countries resolve disputes bilaterally, but China and the EU are no ordinary economic powers. As major stakeholders in the global economy and the multilateral trading system, they should adopt a more responsible approach. By handling issues with multilateral implications within a multilateral framework, they can advance their own interests while contributing to the collective well-being of other countries.

Shifting their EV negotiations from a bilateral to a multilateral setting is an opportunity for the two powers to demonstrate their commitment to upholding the rules-based liberal international economic order as responsible stakeholders. It is time for the EU and China to take this opportunity to kick-start the multilateral process.

Shanghai bets on live-streaming economy to boost China’s anaemic consumption

https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3276915/shanghai-bets-live-streaming-economy-boost-chinas-anaemic-consumption?utm_source=rss_feed

The Shanghai municipal government said it plans to boost the city’s live-streaming sector, targeting nearly US$85 million in online sales by 2026, as the Chinese financial hub looks to raise consumer spending in a lacklustre national economy.

Under the “Three-Year Action Plan for High-Quality Development of Shanghai’s Live-Streaming Economy (2024-2026)” released on Monday, the local sector by 2026 should generate an annual gross merchandise value of 600 billion yuan (US$84.6 million), establish 10 top-tier live-streaming platforms, foster a batch of multichannel networks (MCNs) and brands, and come up with a hundred “distinctive scenarios” for live-streaming.

MCNs are companies that help live-streaming influencers manage their businesses.

The new three-year plan, which builds on the previous 2021-2023 programme, highlighted the role of the live-streaming industry in encouraging consumer spending and promoting Shanghai’s image.

The municipal government aims to “leverage the live-streaming economy’s potential to empower consumption, trade, industry and culture, injecting new momentum into Shanghai’s overall economic and social development”, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce said in its blueprint.

Shanghai joins major cities like Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou that have released similar measures, leveraging the booming live-streaming industry to stimulate flagging consumption.

In the first three months of this year, Shanghai’s e-commerce trade value rose 12.7 per cent year on year to 897.9 billion yuan, with online retail sales rising 17.2 per cent to 361.5 billion yuan, accounting for 11 per cent of the national total.

As part of the latest plan, Shanghai authorities pledged to support eligible e-commerce entities, including providing them with advanced computing power, in line with the city’s push on artificial intelligence.

The government also encouraged financial institutions, including venture capital firms, to deliver “high-quality financial services” tailored to the needs of the live-streaming economy.

Expanding the global reach of its live-streaming sector is also a focus of Shanghai’s vision.

Platforms and MCNs are encouraged to target foreign markets with multi-language capabilities and develop cross-border e-commerce, aligning with China’s Belt and Road Initiative through the concept of “Silk Road e-commerce.”

Last year, the State Council designated Shanghai as a pilot zone for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation. The Silk Road E-commerce International Think-Tank Alliance was launched during a forum in May. On-demand delivery giant Meituan and discount shopping platform operator PDD Holdings were among the founding members.

According to iResearch, China’s live-streaming e-commerce market was valued at 4.9 trillion yuan in 2023, growing 35.2 per cent year on year. Compound annual growth of the market is projected to reach 18 per cent from 2024 to 2026.

South China Sea: why Beijing takes a low-key approach to Vietnam but not the Philippines

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276905/south-china-sea-why-beijing-takes-low-key-approach-vietnam-not-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed

The South China Sea is claimed by almost every country in the region but its ripple effects are felt well beyond the fiercely contested waterway. In the first of a three-part series, Alyssa Chen looks at the differences in China’s response to its maritime disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam.

China’s response to Vietnam’s rapid expansion of its land reclamation in the Spratly Islands has been muted so far – a stark contrast to Beijing’s increasingly assertive response to the Philippines.

While there have been several clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels around disputed South China Sea reefs in recent months, there are no recorded instances of Beijing trying to stop Vietnam’s activities.

Analysts said the different approaches were down to a number of factors, including the political relationship between China and Vietnam, the latter’s low-key approach and the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.

But they did not rule out a tougher approach from Beijing in the future and said the issue could still cause problems.

Satellite images published by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies have shown the unprecedented pace and scale of the land reclamation efforts around the islands and reefs Vietnam controls since 2021.

In May the Beijing-based Grandview Institution published an assessment of the US satellite images, saying that, as of November last year, Vietnam had added “3 sq km (1.2 sq miles) of new land, far exceeding the total construction scale over the previous 40 years”.

In June, the US think tank said Vietnam was “on pace for a record year of island building in 2024”, calculating that its land holdings covered seven times the area they did three years ago.

Beijing is certainly concerned by Hanoi’s actions – which mirror its own decade-long drive to build artificial reefs and facilities in the areas it controls – and it has periodically issued threats to its Vietnamese partners, according to Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

However, their growing closeness on security matters has “downgraded the issue in their bilateral diplomacy”.

“China is pursuing a different type of bilateral relationship with its southern neighbour characterised by increasingly close [Communist] party-to-party ties and mutual commitment to keep their maritime disputes from displacing their wider cooperation,” Kardon added.

Last month, during the visit to China by Vietnam’s new leader To Lam, the two sides agreed to try to solve the dispute through “friendly consultations” and said there was a “high-level” consensus on the need to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Van Pham, founder of the South China Sea Chronicle Initiative, a Vietnam-based think tank, said Beijing wanted to work with Vietnam on infrastructure projects, including railways, and wanted its support for projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative.

“These economic connections serve as a buffer against outright hostility, encouraging China to adopt more restrained tactics,” Pham said.

Ray Powell, a maritime specialist at Stanford University, said Hanoi had taken advantage of China’s focus on the dispute with the Philippines to accelerate its island-building campaign.

“Hanoi has, in choosing this moment, opportunistically stolen a march on Beijing in the South China Sea,” Powell said, adding that China might have paid more attention to Vietnam’s activities if the Philippines had been more “compliant”.

Instead, the Philippines has also been quick to highlight clashes by releasing video footage of collisions and China’s use of water cannons, as well as giving maximum publicity to incidents such as a clash in which Philippine sailors, one of whom lost a thumb, were allegedly attacked by coastguard personnel armed with knives and machetes.

These incidents have led to public condemnation of China’s actions from a variety of foreign governments and forced Beijing to defend its stance and try to avoid reputational damage.

Analysts also said the long-standing US-Philippine alliance and President Ferdinand Macros Jnr’s efforts to strengthen the relationship with Washington were another factor in Beijing’s thinking.

Last year the two allies revived a defensive pact that granted the US access to four additional bases close to strategic hotspots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea.

The Philippines has also stepped up joint exercises, both with the US and countries such as Japan, Canada and Australia.

According to an associate professor in Guangzhou, who specialises in the South China Sea and asked to remain anonymous, Manila’s closeness to the US, the “collective effort to intimidate China” and its willingness to support Washington’s stance on Taiwan was “intolerable” to Beijing.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Most countries, including the US and Philippines, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, 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 academic said Beijing now felt forced to leverage the South China Sea dispute to put pressure on Manila.

“Unlike other nations that engage frequently in joint military exercises with forces outside the region, Vietnam has been notably restrained in colluding with extra-regional powers,” the associate professor added.

Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said Beijing may want to discourage other South China Sea claimants from following the Philippine lead.

“[China] feels that pushing back hard against the Marcos government is useful to teach other countries a lesson about aligning too closely with the US,” he said.

Harrison Prétat, a maritime affairs expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said: “It is likely that some amount of the pressure Beijing has applied to Manila’s maritime activities has been an attempt to test US-Philippine unity and raise doubts in the Philippines about the usefulness of the alliance.”

But he also said that it may be worried that taking a tough approach to the Philippines and Vietnam at the same time could “strain its resources and amount to an untenable level of risk”.

Pham, from the South China Sea Chronicle Initiative, said: “Missteps in exerting pressure on Vietnam will only drive Vietnam closer to the US and other regional powers, complicating China’s strategic calculations in the South China Sea.”

Prétat also said Vietnam “prefers to manage maritime tensions with Beijing quietly and is unlikely to follow in Manila’s footsteps”, adding that the Philippines has tried to “internationalise” the dispute.

In 2016 it took a case to an international tribunal in The Hague, which rejected Beijing’s claims over the waterway, and it is now considering another lawsuit alleging that China has caused environmental damage in the waterway.

China refused to take part in the 2016 hearings and has never accepted the findings.

Ding Duo, from the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Hainan, said Manila tended to “escalate the issue as much as possible” but “high-level officials and leaders in Vietnam rarely talk about the dispute internationally or point their fingers at China”.

But Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s school of international studies, said the “potential threats posed by Vietnam’s island-building have not been completely eliminated”.

Zhu added: “Such activities could become a new flashpoint in the bilateral relationship if there is a substantial change or escalation.”

According to Ding, Beijing’s different approach towards the two countries stemmed from the fact that Vietnam was building “on features it has controlled since the 1970s and 1980s, while Beijing views Manila’s efforts as an attempt to take over previously uninhabited features or those under Chinese control, such as Scarborough Shoal”.

Ding said Beijing may think Manila’s actions were “unacceptable” and not in line with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

This non-binding guideline signed by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2002 says countries should not establish a presence on uninhabited islands or reefs and should exercise self-restraint.

In 2013 China embarked on a major island-building programme of its own in the Spratly Islands, and also built up both civilian and military infrastructure in the South China Sea, including runways, radar stations and accommodation for troops.

All this construction happened on features that Beijing already controlled and state media has defended its actions as “lawful and justified”.

Pham said the key to China’s approach was “divide and rule tactics” because it wanted to forestall any collective resistance among claimant states to maintain its dominance in the South China Sea.

However, Cooper warned, tough measures from Beijing could not be ruled out in the future, “if more substantial military forces start being deployed more regularly to those [Vietnamese] features”.

ng launching another lawsuit that targets the environmental damage by China.

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