Mistral点评

• Yuan’s overseas status rising, but nowhere near China’s economic ‘heft’: ex-official
• Security and finance headline China’s pledges to Africa at FOCAC Summit
• China detains five AstraZeneca staff in investigation over ‘data privacy and import breaches’
• Tech war: China buys US$12 billion worth of chip-making equipment in second quarter
• China vows to work with Africa on nuclear tech, satellites and space
• ‘Arctic ambition’: 3 Chinese icebreakers forge polar presence and unity with Russia
• China offers more military aid and training to Africa as it seeks to boost security ties
• No winners from US’ ‘small yard, high fence’ approach to China: economist
• Malaysia to continue South China Sea oil exploration despite Beijing’s infringement claims
• Ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to sail to China
• Japan, Australia to take military ties to ‘new height’ to tackle China clout
• A new flashpoint has emerged at Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea – and a new danger
• Chinese migrants flock to Mexico in search of jobs, a future and, for some, a taste of freedom
• As economy falters, more Chinese migrants take a perilous journey to the US border to seek asylum
• Who are the China-linked scientists under US investigation? A growing list
• For many investors and intellectuals leaving China, it’s Japan — not the US — that’s the bigger draw
• Belarus detains Japanese agent spying on military sites, Chinese projects
• China’s C919 turns in stellar report card, but profitability remains elusive
• Seeking an alternative to China’s pressure-cooker schools, families move to Thailand
• China-Africa summit: Xi Jinping’s speech to shed light on expanding ties amid US rivalry
• China’s robotics future is fast approaching
• Mother in China claims son suffers skin pigmentation loss after being slapped by teacher
• US arms advantage over Russia and China threatens stability, experts warn
• Chinese offshore gambling workers to lose Philippine visas as industry folds
• Eyeing China, US to deploy satellites with advanced sensors for tracking targets by 2030s
• 3 ways Hong Kong can get the most out of Chinese medicine
• What is Beijing’s 9-dash line in the South China Sea and what does it mean?

Yuan’s overseas status rising, but nowhere near China’s economic ‘heft’: ex-official

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3277359/yuans-overseas-status-rising-nowhere-near-chinas-economic-heft-ex-official?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing’s push for the internationalisation of the Chinese yuan is not a plot to dethrone the US dollar’s dominance in worldwide trade and government reserves, or to establish financial hegemony, a prominent former senior official said on Thursday.

It is instead aimed at supporting global supply chain stability, Huang Qifan, the former mayor of the western megacity of Chongqing, told the Bund Summit in Shanghai on Thursday.

Calling increased use of the yuan as something inevitable as the Chinese economy further opens up, Huang noted that conditions would be ripe for the opening up of China’s capital account when the yuan’s global share matches that of the world’s second-largest economy.

Huang, known for his often outspoken insights on the economy and financial markets, expected the yuan’s share in international payments and settlements to edge up by 1 percentage point per year over the next decade to eventually reach parity with the euro.

“The yuan’s status abroad is rising, but it’s still nowhere near the global predominance befitting China’s economic and trade heft,” said the politician, who previously oversaw economic and financial development in Shanghai.

In June, the yuan retained its fourth-place in the ranking of payment currencies, with its share of global transactions rising to a record high 4.74 per cent from 4.61 per cent in June, according to data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), the world’s largest interbank messaging service.

Huang’s remarks came at a time when China is seeking to build the world’s second-largest economy into a “financial power”, with a strong currency a key part of the goal championed by President Xi Jinping.

But despite the ambition to boost the yuan’s role in international finance, Huang noted that Beijing had no unrealistic ambitions for it to replace the US dollar.

“China’s promotion of yuan internationalisation is not to replace the dollar’s position in the world, but to maintain the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain,” he said.

Huang acknowledged the notable progress of the yuan in global markets after accounting for 4.14 per cent of international payments in 2023.

However, the share remains modest when compared to China’s economic stature as one of the world’s largest trading nations, he noted.

The Chinese currency’s internationalisation index of 3.26 pales in comparison to 57.68 for the US dollar, he said, stressing that the yuan should at least achieve a status equivalent to that of the euro and British pound, whose indices are 22.27 and 7.66, respectively.

To that end, China should expand the yuan’s use in cross-border trade, said Huang, predicting it could account for 17 per cent of global payments by 2035, up from 4 per cent.

He also stressed the importance of developing offshore yuan markets in financial hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Addressing the delicate balance between financial liberalisation and security, he said capital account convertibility was an important goal for China, but progress relied on the yuan’s international standing.

“It is not that the yuan will be an international currency once free convertibility under the capital account is achieved,” he said.

“On the contrary, only when the internationalisation of the yuan reaches a certain level will free convertibility be possible.”

Chinese authorities continue to maintain a tight control of fund flows under its capital account, and currency stability remains a top priority.

Security and finance headline China’s pledges to Africa at FOCAC Summit

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277375/security-and-finance-headline-chinas-pledges-africa-focac-summit?utm_source=rss_feed

China pledged wider market access, billions in new financing and a more active role in Africa’s security on Thursday in its drive to deepen ties with the continent and push back at containment by the West.

Addressing more than 50 African leaders at the FOCAC Summit in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to unilaterally exempt 33 of Africa’s less-developed countries from import tariffs, and committed 360 billion yuan (US$50.6 billion) in new financing over the next three years to “help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity”.

Besides bankrolling the building of green energy, “small but beautiful” livelihood-improving and big connectivity projects, Xi also pledged to deepen military and economic cooperation by training thousands of military personnel, providing food relief and sharing its governance experience with Africa.

The pledges dovetailed with Beijing’s efforts to position itself as the leader of the world’s developing countries – also known as the Global South – by appealing to a common pursuit of modernisation and opposition to a West-led order

“Modernisation is an inalienable right of all countries, but the Western approach to it has inflicted immense sufferings on developing countries … We should jointly advance modernisation that is just and equitable,” Xi told the attendees at the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit.

“We always empathise with and support each other, setting a stellar example of a new type of international relations.”

To that end, he proposed elevating bilateral ties with each of its diplomatic partners in Africa to “all-weather, strategic” relations, and implementing a 10-point plan to drive the “new wave” of modernisation.

Elements of the plan include Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, expanding Chinese market access for African agricultural products, providing 1 billion yuan in emergency food assistance, and sending 500 agricultural experts to Africa. In the process, Chinese companies will help create at least one million jobs for Africa, according to the plan.

Observers said China’s aim was to diversify its imports and mitigate potential trade risks or disputes associated with geopolitical tensions with the West.

According to Lauren Johnston, a China-Africa specialist and an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre, it was too early to get a clear picture of the countries or products that would benefit from the tariff offering.

“There might be one or two products in each [less-developed country] that materially and imminently get more access,” she said.

China has signed trade import deals with a number of African countries, including with Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa for crops such as avocados and soybean, as part of Xi’s plan to support the continent’s agricultural modernisation.

Of the 360 billion yuan in financing earmarked for Africa over the next three years, more than half or 210 billion yuan will be in the form of a credit line, 80 billion yuan will be in assistance or aid, and 70 billion yuan in investment by Chinese companies.

The financial pledge is an increase from the US$40 billion that China committed the last time the summit convened in 2021, but is slightly lower than the US$60 billion that Beijing promised African countries separately during previous meetings in 2018 and 2015.

Zha Daojiong, a professor at the school of international studies at Peking University, said the changes in China’s financial pledges easily drew attention but the real issue was how the projects would work on the ground.

“At the operational level, it is the match in industrial capacities, among other factors, that will be decisive,” Zha said.

Hannah Ryder, chief executive of Beijing-based consultancy Development Reimagined, said it was clear China was still interested in financing big infrastructure projects in African countries, including green energy, and that foreign direct investment and “small and beautiful” aid projects would scale up alongside that.

“African leaders will be pleased,” Ryder said of Xi’s promise to build 30 infrastructure connectivity projects on the continent and promote high-quality belt and road cooperation.

Beyond trade and the economy, Xi made it clear of Beijing’s intent to play a more active role in Africa’s peace and security arena, especially in resolving civil wars and conflicts on the continent.

He pledged a billion yuan in grants for military assistance, training for 6,000 military personnel and 1,000 law enforcement officers from Africa, and to invite 500 young African military officers to visit China.

“China is ready to help Africa improve its capacity in safeguarding peace and stability independently, to prioritise Africa in implementing the Global Security Initiative … and to work with Africa to uphold world peace and stability,” Xi said, referring to a Chinese initiative launched in 2022 as part of Beijing’s ambitions to be a leader in global governance and security.

According to Shen Xiaolei, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, security cooperation was a shared vision and had been expected to receive more emphasis than before. Nevertheless, it would not be the whole or even the most important aspect of China-Africa cooperation.

“The most important thing in China-Africa cooperation is still sustainable socio-economic development and improving people’s livelihoods,” he said. “When it comes to security [cooperation], it’s more about creating a more stable development environment for the African people.”

He also expected greater joint efforts by China and Africa to promote a “more just and reasonable global order”, which he described as a common aspiration and a natural result of increasingly closer relations between the two sides.

sub-Saharan geoeconomic analyst Aly-Khan Satchu said Xi made a “significant commitment” in helping modernisation, industrialisation and job creation on the continent, but the security side was evidently a high priority for China, which would gain more traction in the future, particularly on Africa’s Atlantic seaboard.

“The China-Africa relationship is the most consequential one for the continent and the speech underlines why. No one else comes close,” Satchu added.

Addressing the summit, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the outgoing co-chairman of FOCAC, thanked China for its effective partnership with Africa despite a global environment still characterised by “violence and extremism” and complex economic and social factors.

Faye commended the belt and road, saying the initiative was an important contribution to Africa’s infrastructure, especially highways and railways.

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, the president of Mauritania and chairman of the African Union, said the forum was an effective framework for promoting and developing the China-Africa partnership, which today was “a leading model for South-South cooperation”.

Ghazouani said that given the internal and external issues the continent faced, it was “in dire need of China’s assistance in establishing security and stability, promoting growth and strengthening its voice in international forums”.

Additional reporting by Orange Wang

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China detains five AstraZeneca staff in investigation over ‘data privacy and import breaches’

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/05/china-detains-five-astrazeneca-staff-in-investigation-over-data-privacy-and-import-breaches

Chinese police have reportedly detained five current and former AstraZeneca employees as part of an investigation into possible breaches related to data privacy and importing unlicensed medications.

The detentions took place earlier this summer, and targeted Chinese citizens who marketed cancer drugs for the oncology division of the British pharmaceutical company, according to Bloomberg.

Police are investigating whether AstraZeneca employees were involved in importing a drug meant to treat liver cancer, but which had not been approved for distribution across mainland China.

The investigation, which is being led by police in the Shenzhen region, is also examining the way the company collected patient data, and whether that may have broken China’s privacy laws.

AstraZeneca said in a statement: “We are aware a small number of our employees in China are under investigation and we have no further information to share at this point.”

It comes amid a wider anti-corruption drive by Beijing over the past year, with authorities trying to cracking down on kickbacks and the misuse of public funds in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector.

AstraZeneca has about 16,000 staff in China, which makes up 13% of the company’s revenues, or about $6bn of a total $44bn (£33bn). That scale makes AstraZeneca, best known in Britain for its Covid-19 vaccine that was developed in conjunction with Oxford University during the pandemic, China’s largest overseas drugmaker in terms of sales.

The British firm, which has about 90,000 employees around the world, previously targeted Chinese biotech firms for acquisitions and discussed strategies for growth in the country. On purchasing the rare disease specialist Alexion for $39bn in 2020, AstraZeneca identified China as an important market to grow the company.

But last year the company reportedly considered spinning off its business in China and listing its shares in Hong Kong or Shanghai to shield it from rising tensions between China and the US and its allies.

It was hoped the move would protect the company – which is run by the FTSE 100’s best-paid chief executive, Pascal Soriot – from any potential crackdown on overseas businesses by Chinese authorities.

There is now growing speculation that geopolitical tensions could reach new levels if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November. Comments by Trump’s running mate and prospective vice-president, JD Vance, have been particularly pointed. He told CBS in May “I don’t like China,” as he bluntly blamed the country for problems in the US jobs market.

Tech war: China buys US$12 billion worth of chip-making equipment in second quarter

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3277354/tech-war-china-buys-us12-billion-worth-chip-making-equipment-second-quarter?utm_source=rss_feed

China remained the world’s largest and fastest-growing market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the second quarter, according to global chip industry association SEMI, as the country pushes to be technologically self-sufficient amid sanctions by the US.

In the June quarter, China saw sales of chip-making equipment – including tools for wafer processing, assembly, packaging and testing – jump 62 per cent year on year to more than US$12 billion.

The soaring demand in China helped lift worldwide income from semiconductor gear by 4 per cent to US$26.8 billion, despite sales contraction in major markets, including South Korea, Taiwan and North America. Japan, ranked fifth by market size, recorded a revenue rise of 6 per cent to US$1.6 billion.

“The semiconductor equipment market has returned to growth, driven by strategic investments to support continued strong demand for advanced technologies and regions seeking to bolster their chip-making ecosystems,” said SEMI CEO and president Ajit Manocha.

The momentum is set to carry on the rest of this year and next, with SEMI projecting a 3.4 per cent rise in global sales for the full year 2024 to a historical high of US$109 billion, followed by a robust expansion of around 17 per cent in 2025.

SEMI expected China to maintain the top position through 2025, although the country may register a sales drop “following significant investments over the past three years”, according to a report published by the group in July.

China’s escalating demand for chip-making equipment, driven by Beijing’s drive to cut reliance on foreign supplies, comes amid growing tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which could further hinder Chinese technological advancement.

Washington started to block shipments from Dutch chip-lithography giant ASML to China as early as 2018, and in January this year, the Netherlands revoked an export licence that had allowed ASML to ship to China its NXT: 2000i machine and other higher-end tools, which support production at the advanced 7-nanometre and 5-nm processes.

Under US pressure, the Dutch government has been mulling further restrictions on ASML’s ability to repair and maintain its advanced wafer fab equipment already installed in China, according to a Bloomberg news report last month.

Mainland China continues to be ASML’s biggest market. The country accounted for nearly half of the company’s net system sales of €4.8 billion (US$5.3 billion) in the second quarter.

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China vows to work with Africa on nuclear tech, satellites and space

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3277371/china-vows-work-africa-nuclear-tech-satellites-and-space?utm_source=rss_feed

President Xi Jinping said China and Africa would work together on nuclear technology and space exploration, telling a summit in Beijing on Thursday that no nation should be left behind on the road to modernisation.

“We will create a China-Africa forum on the peaceful use of nuclear technology, establish together 30 joint laboratories, and collaborate on satellite remote-sensing and lunar and deep-space exploration,” Xi said in his opening speech at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation gathering.

“On the path to modernisation, no one, and no country, should be left behind,” he said.

Space exploration might not be a priority for African nations grappling with issues such as poverty, famine, disease and access to clean water and electricity. But Xi argued that it would take more than aid and new infrastructure to create a modern and prosperous Africa. He said a stable environment for development would also require more science and technology education, more skilled workers and research.

Xi told the dozens of African leaders at the summit that China would help to achieve this by building an engineering technology academy, establishing research collaborations on nuclear technology, satellite navigation and other areas, and by creating an alliance for innovation in agriculture.

“China is ready to launch 30 clean energy projects in Africa, put in place meteorological early warning systems, and carry out cooperation in disaster prevention, mitigation and relief as well as biodiversity conservation,” Xi said.

In addition, he said China would help African nations expand their agricultural industries and improve their public health systems – including by investing in pharmaceutical production and building medical centres.

“All this is designed to help with green development in Africa,” Xi said.

The African Union’s development plan – set out in a 50-year blueprint known as Agenda 2063 – includes goals to alleviate poverty, increase agricultural and renewable energy production, and build the economy.

Xi said China and Africa’s modernisation was important for the entire world.

“China and Africa account for one-third of the world population. Without our modernisation, there will be no global modernisation,” he said.

Africa makes up 18 per cent of the world’s population but its research and innovation output accounts for just 1 to 2 per cent of the global total, while China has the top spot with over 20 per cent.

This year, Egypt was the only African nation to appear on the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Global Innovation Index of science and technology clusters, with Cairo making it into the top 100 at 95th place.

The World Economic Forum has pointed to the lack of training opportunities for young researchers in Africa, where research facilities, networks, mentors and international collaboration are lacking.

Researchers at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria have said the gap in research capacity and infrastructure has a direct impact on African nations when it comes to their ability to deal with development issues.

China and Africa have already begun expanding cooperation in areas listed by Xi at Thursday’s summit.

Space institutes from Ethiopia and Kenya in April joined a growing list from the continent – including the national space agencies of Egypt and South Africa – to sign up for China’s project to build a permanent lunar research base by the mid-2030s.

And in 2021, China and South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding to build centres for the BeiDou satellite navigation system – operated by China’s National Space Administration – in South Africa, which would include jointly conducting satellite navigation research.

‘Arctic ambition’: 3 Chinese icebreakers forge polar presence and unity with Russia

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3277358/arctic-ambition-3-chinese-icebreakers-forge-polar-presence-and-unity-russia?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s decision to send three icebreakers to the Arctic is a “clear signal” of the growing importance it is putting on cooperation with Russia against Nato presence in the polar region, a US analyst said.

In July, China sent its three icebreakers to the Arctic Sea for the first time, according to Newsweek, which cited open-source ship tracking data based on the automatic identification system (AIS) vessel tracker.

One of the ships, the Xue Long 2, left Qingdao in the eastern province of Shandong on July 5, where it transited the Bering Sea to enter the Arctic Ocean between July 13 and 17 before arriving in Murmansk, a port city in northern Russia.

The ship left Murmansk on August 30 and is now in the Barents Sea, according to MarineTraffic, an open-source tracking website.

Another Chinese icebreaker, the Ji Di, left Qingdao on August 6 and is sailing through Arctic waters near the border between Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula and the northwest coast of Alaska. The ship, reportedly China’s next-generation icebreaker, was delivered in June.

The third vessel, the Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di, left Guangzhou in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on July 27 and is also sailing in the Chukchi Sea.

By sailing its icebreakers’ through the Arctic, Beijing was sending “a clear signal” that it was seriously pursuing its great power ambitions commercially, scientifically, diplomatically and militarily in the polar regions, Aidan Powers-Riggs, a research associate for China analysis at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said.

Powers-Riggs told the US Naval Institute’s online USNI News site there were “major shifts under way in the region’s physical and geopolitical landscape” that China sought to capitalise on.

China had been gradually “building a physical presence through commercial and scientific activities” which were “key to maintaining an influence and defending their interests there”, including mineral and energy exploration and development, Powers-Riggs said.

The Arctic region has gained attention for its strategic importance, not only as a flashpoint between the US and Russia but also as a marine link between the Asia-Pacific region and Europe as climate change melts Arctic ice.

As a result, Alaska and the Bering Sea in the north Pacific Ocean have become significant gateways to the Arctic Sea.

Since China’s 2018 white paper on the Arctic, the country has described itself as a “near-Arctic state” and plans to play a growing role in the far north where it has increased its activities in recent years.

That activity was apparent in July when the United States Coast Guard spotted three Chinese military vessels about 200km (124 miles) north of the Amchitka Pass at the southwestern reaches of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and a fourth ship about 135km north of the Amukta Pass in the same islands.

The US Coast Guard said all four of the Chinese ships were transiting in international waters “in accordance with international rules and norms”, and its ship and aircrews were monitoring them to ensure there were “no disruptions to US interests in the maritime environment around Alaska”.

China is expected to start construction on a fourth icebreaker by early next year, aiming to “operate year-round in polar environments for in-depth scientific research missions and obtain the capabilities of full-area and all-time entry”, according to Chinese newspaper the Global Times.

Along with its increasing emphasis on the Arctic, China has boosted its cooperation with Russia in the region. In July 2023, Washington deployed destroyers near Alaska after the Chinese and Russian navies conducted joint patrols near the Aleutian Islands.

Powers-Riggs said Russia and China were working to “reduce political and bureaucratic obstacles to coordinating more closely” on Arctic roles and possibilities, citing Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin last month.

During the meeting in Moscow, Li and Mishustin signed a joint communique agreeing to develop shipping routes in the Arctic and polar ship technology and construction.

The agreement follows the pledge made between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at their summit in May, when the pair agreed to further cooperation in areas such as oil, natural gas, energy transport and scientific research.

China has been the largest importer of oil and natural gas from Russia. The Arctic Sea route cuts the transport time, taking only 33 to 35 days compared to 45 days via the Suez Canal or 55 around Africa.

Liselotte Odgaard, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said China was showing it was “a close strategic partner” of Russia on the Arctic that could “add muscle” to the relationship.

“China has developed the equipment to operate independently in the Arctic and has regional interests of its own that it intends to pursue,” Odgaard said.

Powers-Riggs said Beijing was wary of attempts by the seven Nato Arctic nations to exclude China from the region. During a Nato summit in July, the US, Canada and Finland announced an initiative to collaborate on the production of polar icebreakers, which was deemed a containment measure against China’s increasingly dominant shipbuilding abilities.

Washington has updated its strategy for the region to strengthen its Arctic technological capabilities against China, which it described as a “pacing challenge” that “seeks increasing access and influence in the Arctic”.

Beijing’s collaboration with Russia in the Arctic had “implications for the security of the United States and our allies and partners”, the US Defence Department said in July when releasing the strategy.

Marc Lanteigne, an associate professor of political science at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso, said icebreakers were “key to the development of scientific research in the Arctic” because they allowed effective access to parts of the region that would otherwise be difficult to reach.

“China has been seeking wider acceptance as an Arctic stakeholder, based on its growing scientific and economic interests in the region, and the building of new icebreakers underscores Beijing’s stated policy of fostering scientific competence,” Lanteigne said.

“Beijing has recognised the Arctic as being strategically important, especially as both Russia and Nato expand their interests in the far north, and so China is also seeking to avoid being shut out of the region.”

Lanteigne said China found itself “far more dependent on Russia for regional access,” while Moscow was trying to draw China and other Brics states into an alternative Arctic group.

“It remains an open question however to what degree China and Russia trust each other regarding their Arctic interests.”

China offers more military aid and training to Africa as it seeks to boost security ties

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277360/china-offers-more-military-aid-and-training-africa-it-seeks-boost-security-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

China has offered to provide more military aid and training to African countries as it seeks to strengthen its security contacts in the face of multiple challenges across the continent.

President Xi Jinping made the offer – which includes 1 billion yuan (US$140.5 million) in military aid and training for 6,000 military personnel and 1,000 police officers – in a speech to mark the opening of the China-Africa Cooperation Summit on Thursday.

Beijing will also invite 500 young military officers to China and take part in exercises and patrols with African counterparts, as well as helping to clear landmines – a major concern for some countries.

Details of the package and which countries will benefit have yet to be announced, but it contained more detail than the pledge made during a previous summit in 2021, which included an offer to take part in security projects and joint anti-terrorism and peacekeeping training exercises.

However, unlike 2021, Xi did not mention efforts to control the spread of small arms.

China has stepped up its military engagement with African countries in recent years as it competes for influence with the United States.

Last year its military diplomacy put Africa in second place, behind only Southeast Asia, for the number of “senior-level” meetings, according to the think tank Asia Society Policy Institute.

In recent months the People’s Liberation Army has taken part in a series of exercises with African countries, including a counterterrorism drill with Tanzania and Mozambique last month.

China also took part in a naval exercise with Russia and South Africa earlier in the year, something that attracted particular scrutiny because of South Africa’s role as a US strategic partner.

China has long been a major training destination for African militaries, including hundreds of senior commanders who have been trained in PLA institutions.

It was also the largest arms supplier for sub-Saharan Africa between 2019 and 2023, providing 19 per cent share of total arms imports and narrowly overtaking Russia, which had long taken the top spot and accounted for 17 per cent of imports over that period, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

As well as small arms, it is a major supplier of equipment such as drones, tanks and armoured vehicles.

Liselotte Odgaard, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said China’s long-term focus on Africa means it does not just see it as “a source of strategic resources” but is also trying “to build political relations and listen to the views and interests of African elites which were not a high priority for most Western countries”.

“The Chinese influence also has a security dimension, which Chinese military aid reflects,” said Odgaard.

“Only now is the West trying to seriously counter China’s influence by listening to the voices of Africa … The question is if such efforts are too little too late.”

China has provided some form of military aid to nearly every country on the continent as it seeks to strengthen ties and protect its economic interests.

Late last month, PLA donated another round of equipment – mostly howitzers and their accessories – to Benin, which has seen an increased number of militant attacks as part of the wider Islamist insurgency across West Africa.

Djibouti in the Horn of Africa is also home to China’s first overseas naval base and PLA warships have regularly taken part in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.

Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said military support to Africa could be part of Beijing’s use of the Belt and Road Initiative to “gain greater control and presence in geo-strategically important regions”.

He said: “China’s use of the Belt and Road Initiative is designed to enable and facilitate Chinese access to critical strategic resources and also key port facilities around the world to support the flow of those resources to sustain China’s economic growth.

“The military support in question could be part of this process – to get African states dependent on China for their security, and they would have little choice in the matter given their dependency on Beijing through [belt and road].”

Ilaria Carrozza, a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said Beijing sees military aid as a “cost-efficient way to protect their economic interests and strengthen cooperation with recipient countries”.

But Carrozza said: “It is important to put the figure in context, as 1 billion yuan is still below average US figures for military aid to the continent … It is unlikely that these donations will make a substantial difference in building the capacity of African armies and police.

“But they do send a signal that Africa continues to be strategically important for China in the context of international security and cooperation.”

No winners from US’ ‘small yard, high fence’ approach to China: economist

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3277319/no-winners-us-small-yard-high-fence-approach-china-economist?utm_source=rss_feed

A prominent Chinese economist on Thursday bombarded Washington’s “small yard, high fence” investment restrictions, saying the strategy would only lead to a lose-lose situation as it makes China suffer, but does not benefit the United States.

Yu Yongding, a former adviser to China’s central bank, echoed Beijing’s official stance concerning the strategy adopted by the US to restrict Chinese access to key technology, especially ones with military potential.

The strategy, which involves giving stringent protection to certain decisive sectors as economic relations are maintained, has also contributed to the destruction of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that advocates international cooperation and helps settle disputes, he added.

It also indicated rising concerns from Chinese academics and policymakers over Washington’s China policy, particularly ahead of November’s presidential election.

“The US can sue China under WTO rules if it feels China’s policies or practices are unfair, but the US has destroyed the WTO,” Yu, now a senior economist at the governmental Chinese Academy of Social Sciences think tank, told the Bund Summit in Shanghai.

“China tries to comply with the WTO rules and its track record of compliance is good, and it also implements rulings even if it loses some WTO dispute cases,” added 76-year-old Yu, who is well-known for his calls for domestic economic stimulus and also the dumping of US Treasury bills.

Since the end of 2019, the appeals panel within the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism has been unable to function as the US has blocked the appointment of new judges.

Yu’s comments came at a time of escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington, with the Biden administration stepping up tech curbs by putting hundreds of Chinese firms on its trade blacklist, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Commerce officials from both sides are set to meet in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Saturday, but tensions remain around China’s industrial overcapacity, including electric vehicles (EVs) and potential new tariffs on made-in-China products.

Last month, Canada joined the US in imposing a 100 per cent import duties on Chinese-made EVs.

“China’s EV output issues can only be resolved by market, not by Beijing deciding which manufacturer should stop production or export,” he said, adding that countries should separate trade and industrial policies.

Speaking at the same event on Thursday, former US Treasury secretary Robert Rubin said there are “legitimate concerns and reasons for some tariffs” from the US, but “politicians usually go beyond reasonable boundaries”.

The US is planning a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made EVs, which was initially set to take effect on August 1, but has been delayed to allow time for the review of 1,100 public comments.

Canada announced last week that it would also impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made EVs effective October 1, as well as 25 per cent levies on aluminium and steel from October 15.

But despite the friction, Rubin said China and the US should work together on such areas including the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).

“If AI can lift US productivity and economy, China and the world can benefit,” he said.

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Malaysia to continue South China Sea oil exploration despite Beijing’s infringement claims

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3277332/malaysia-continue-south-china-sea-oil-exploration-despite-beijings-infringement-claims?utm_source=rss_feed

Malaysia will continue its oil exploration in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said, as his government launches a probe into the source of a leaked protest note sent to the country’s embassy in Beijing by China’s foreign ministry.

Last week, Philippine news outlet The Inquirer published pictures of a two-page note, as part of a story on Beijing’s assertion that Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration activities in the contested waters had infringed on China’s territory.

Anwar said on Thursday Malaysia had no intention of being “provocative (or) unnecessarily hostile” to China, but maintained that it had operated well within its territory.

“We never dismissed the possibility for discussions, but it does not mean we have to stop activities in our territory,” he told a press conference with Malaysian journalists during a visit to Russia.

Anwar was on his maiden trip to Russia to get Moscow’s support for Malaysia’s membership application to Brics, a grouping of developing nations.

Malaysia’s foreign ministry in a statement on Wednesday said it would file a police report and conduct an internal investigation into the breach of classified information cited in The Inquirer’s report.

The ministry did not verify the authenticity of the leaked note.

“Malaysia’s stance on the South China Sea remains unchanged. Malaysia will continue to defend its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and interests in its maritime areas,” the ministry said.

Anwar said China was well aware of the discovery of “one or two large oil wells” within Malaysia’s waters, and that Malaysia would continue to pursue dialogue at all levels to discuss their overlapping claims to the resource-rich waterway.

“China is a good friend, but we will have to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil in our territory,” he said.

China claims ownership over nearly the entire South China Sea, through which at least US$3 trillion in global trade passes annually.

China’s 10-dash line, which Beijing has marked out on its maps based on historical claims, cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, sparking tensions as its Southeast Asian neighbours seek to exploit abundant oil and gas reserves and marine resources off their own coasts.

Since taking high office in 2022, Anwar has actively worked towards strengthening ties with China. Last year, he made at least two official trips to China, and in June this year hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 15 straight years as of 2023. Total trade grew 9.5 per cent annually over the first seven months of this year, valued at 275.8 billion ringgit (US$58.2 billion).

The two nations, however, have had differences over the South China Sea, with Malaysia having sent out diplomatic protests as recently as 2021 over the presence of Chinese vessels in its waters. In 2016, China’s foreign ministry said it was “fishing season” in response to a media blitz by Malaysia after a fleet of 100 Chinese fishing trawlers was discovered in its exclusive economic zone.

Addressing the East Economic Forum later in the day, Anwar said Malaysia viewed Brics as an important platform to leverage on the growing importance of the Global South, which currently accounts for 40 per cent of global economic output and home to 85 per cent of the world’s population.

Brics comprises founder members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

During a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin extended Russia’s invitation as this year’s Brics chair to Malaysia to attend the bloc’s annual summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October.

Ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to sail to China

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3277280/ship-crashed-baltimores-francis-scott-key-bridge-sail-china?utm_source=rss_feed

The Dali was bound for Sri Lanka on March 26, the day it instead struck and knocked over the Francis Scott Key Bridge and, nearly six months later, it will embark on another Asian voyage.

The 984-foot (300-metre) container ship, which is currently receiving repairs in Norfolk, Virginia, will sail directly to China “on or about September 17, 2024” according to a letter filed by the Department of Justice Wednesday.

The letter states that the ship’s owner and manager have informed “claimants” of their intent to sail and that from Thursday through September 14, the claimants will be able to “perform inspections and testing”.

That does not necessarily mean the ship will actually depart by mid-September. Both times the Dali was moved since the disaster – from the middle of the Patapsco River to the Port of Baltimore and then from Baltimore to Norfolk – it departed later than initially expected.

The Dali lost power in the early morning of March 26, toppling the Key Bridge, killing six construction workers and temporarily closing the shipping channel into Baltimore.

After explosives were used to cut up a huge piece of bridge sitting atop the vessel, the ship was refloated and towed back to the Port of Baltimore in May. In June, the ship, escorted by four tugboats, made the 23-hour trip to Norfolk, where the ship received extra repairs.

By late August, the ship was nearly unrecognisable as all of its thousands of containers had been removed, according to footage from Norfolk TV station WTKR.

The Dali’s Singaporean owner and manager – Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, respectively – have sought to limit their liability in the bridge calamity, but claimants, including the City of Baltimore and, more recently, a small propane distributing company, have filed suit against them.

Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine spokesperson Darrell Wilson did not immediately provide comment regarding when the ship would depart Norfolk and why the ship is heading to China. However, shipping experts have long predicted that the damaged ship would ultimately receive its most extensive repairs overseas.

Japan, Australia to take military ties to ‘new height’ to tackle China clout

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3277291/japan-australia-take-military-ties-new-height-tackle-china-clout?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan vowed to bolster military ties with Australia during a high-ranking visit on Thursday, with Tokyo’s top diplomat saying the “like-minded” partners must stick together to combat shared regional threats.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Minoru Kihara met their Australian counterparts at an old army fort outside Melbourne, striking deals on greater air force cooperation and expanded military exercises.

They also agreed to jointly help the Philippine coastguard, which is locked in an escalating tussle with Chinese ships in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

“Amidst the increasingly difficult security environment in the Indo-Pacific, we need to constantly raise Japan-Australia security cooperation to a new height,” Kamikawa said after the meeting, touting a “like-minded partnership”.

China’s growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region – and its assertiveness in territorial disputes – has rattled the United States and allies such as Japan and Australia.

Tokyo has in recent weeks accused China of deliberately sailing a naval ship through its waters and flying a surveillance plane into its air space.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the meeting raised “serious concerns” about recent “incursions” into Japanese territory.

The meeting produced broad agreements for Japan and Australia to boost air force cooperation, and to join each other in military exercises alongside the US.

Japan’s elite Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade could soon take part in US Marines rotations based in Australia’s key northern base near Darwin.

Defence Minister Kihara said Japan was considering whether its fleet of F-35 stealth fighters could be deployed to Australian air fields, but said an agreement on this was yet to be struck.

“As for the rotation of the Air Self-Defence Force aircraft, we would like to continue to have consultations between Australia and Japan,” cautioned Kihara.

The two countries promised joint support for the Philippine coastguard, although it was unclear what this help would look like.

Japan and northern Australia offer strategically important military gateways to potential flashpoints in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea and South China Sea.

Both are part of the Quad alliance alongside the US and India, a grouping seen as a bulwark against Beijing.

Tokyo has recently shown an interest in parts of the landmark Aukus security accord between Washington, London and Canberra – particularly helping with the development of advanced military technologies.

Staunchly pacifist for decades, Japan has been ramping up defence spending with US encouragement.

Australia has, meanwhile, embarked on its own military overhaul, ploughing money into long-range strike capabilities and the development of nuclear-powered submarines.

A new flashpoint has emerged at Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea – and a new danger

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/05/south-china-sea-sabina-shoal-latest-updates-philippines

Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived. Just weeks after the Philippines and China struck a deal to try to stop dangerous confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal, a new flashpoint has emerged.

Over recent weeks, Manila has accused Chinese personnel of ramming its boats, blasting them with water canon and firing flares at its aircraft, with incidents often centred on a new location, an atoll called Sabina Shoal. It comes as tensions in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway that links the Indian and Pacific Oceans, were already at their highest in a decade.

A series of escalating incidents has provoked warnings that an error of judgment at sea could inadvertently spiral into armed conflict. This would risk drawing the US, a Philippine ally, into confrontation with China.

Analysts warn the political stakes for both Manila and Beijing around Sabina Shoal could lead to an even more drawn-out struggle.

“Both countries have a lot to lose if they give up, in part because they both made such strong statements,” said Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project at Stanford University.

Tensions at Sabina have been growing since April, when the Philippines sent its coast guard ship the BRP Teresa Magbuana to monitor the area, in response to concerns China may be attempting to reclaim land at the shoal. In turn, China has steadily increased its presence at the shoal, with anywhere between two dozen to 40 vessels present at a time, said Powell.

Chinese state media reported suggestions the Philippines was trying to use the Teresa Magbuana to forge a “quasi-military-grounding” at the shoal – drawing parallels with the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting second world war-era ship that was deliberately grounded at Second Thomas Shoal by the Philippines in 1999.

The Philippines points out that both Sabina and Second Thomas shoals lie within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), giving it special rights to build and construct in the area.

However, China rejects this, and claims much of the South China Sea as its own, despite an international tribunal Hague judgment rejecting its arguments.

“A de facto occupation of Sabina by another grounded ship would cross multiple lines that Beijing has tried to draw with Manila and present a real challenge in terms of how to respond without risking drawing in the United States,” said Harrison Prétat, deputy director and fellow with the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Sabina Shoal is important to the Philippines because it is close to Reed Bank, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, and because it is the main staging ground for resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal. Were China to take control of it, it could cut off resupplies from reaching Second Thomas, and potentially stop vessels reaching Thitu Island, a Philippine island in the South China Sea that is inhabited by about 400 civilians, said Collin Koh, senior fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Perhaps even more importantly for both sides, the shoal has huge symbolic importance.

With midterm elections next year in the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr does not want to risk losing the shoal. He has vowed not to cede “one square inch of territory”. China’s leadership also does not want to be humbled by what it considers “a much smaller and weaker adversary”, said Koh. “For the ruling Communist party, for Xi Jinping, that is clearly going to be unworkable because it carries with it huge political costs,” he added.

The Philippines fears that, if it removes BRP Teresa Magbuana, Chinese vessels will take control of the site. “The ghost of the Scarborough Shoal incident back in 2012 continues to hold a very vivid memory,” said Koh. The Philippines withdrew from Scarborough Shoal more than a decade ago, as part of a deal reached after a two-month standoff with China. China, however, did not pull back and has in effect controlled the feature ever since.

‘You have to be prepared for the possibility someone will get killed’

The Philippines has some advantages at Sabina Shoal. Its ship, BRP Teresa Magbuana, has a helipad, allowing airlift supplies. It’s also harder for Chinese vessels to block access because the shoal is far more open than other features, said Powell. “That means that China has to keep more vessels deployed at all times in order to watch all approaches,” he added. Sabina is also further away from Mischief Reef, one of the main islands Beijing has occupied and militarised.

But, ultimately, Philippines has no permanent presence at Sabina Shoal, giving China far less reason to agree to a compromise.

As confrontations become more normalised, the likelihood of errors of judgment increases.

Marcos Jr said earlier this year that if any Filipino serviceman or citizen were killed by a wilful act in the South China Sea, this would be “very, very close to what we define as an act of war, and therefore, we would respond accordingly”.

Chinese migrants flock to Mexico in search of jobs, a future and, for some, a taste of freedom

https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-mexico-jobs-freedom-a69db5fc43fb380a4472b03b469fdceaOwner Duan Fan poses in his Chinese restaurant “Nueve y media,” in the Roma Sur neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

2024-09-05T00:30:43Z

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Despite her well-paying tech job, Li Daijing didn’t hesitate when her cousin asked for help running a restaurant in Mexico City. She packed up and left China for the Mexican capital last year, with dreams of a new adventure.

The 30-year-old woman from Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, hopes one day to start an online business importing furniture from her home country.

“I want more,” Li said. “I want to be a strong woman. I want independence.”

Li is among a new wave of Chinese migrants who are leaving their country in search of opportunities, more freedom or better financial prospects at a time when China’s economy has slowed, youth unemployment rates remain high and its relations with the U.S. and its allies have soured.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of the China’s New Migrants package, a look by The Associated Press at the lives of the latest wave of Chinese emigrants to settle overseas.

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While the U.S. border patrol arrested tens of thousands of Chinese at the U.S-Mexico border over the past year, thousands are making the Latin American country their final destination. Many have hopes to start businesses of their own, taking advantage of Mexico’s proximity to the U.S.

Last year, Mexico’s government issued 5,070 temporary residency visas to Chinese immigrants, twice as many as the previous year — making China third, behind the United States and Colombia, as the source of migrants granted the permits.

A deep-rooted diaspora that has fostered strong family and business networks over decades makes Mexico appealing for new Chinese arrivals; so does a growing presence of Chinese multinationals in Mexico, which have set up shop to be close to markets in the Americas.

“A lot of Chinese started coming here two years ago — and these people need to eat,” said Duan Fan, owner of “Nueve y media,” a restaurant in Mexico City’s stylish Roma Sur neighborhood that serves the spicy food of Sichuan, his home province.

“I opened a Chinese restaurant so that people can come here and eat like they do at home,” he said.

Duan, 27, arrived in Mexico in 2017 to work with an uncle who owns a wholesale business in Tepito, near the capital’s historic center, and was later joined by his parents.

Unlike earlier generations of Chinese who came to northern Mexico from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the new arrivals are more likely to come from all over China.

Data from the latest 2020 census by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography show that Chinese immigrants are mainly concentrated in Mexico City. A decade ago, the census recorded the largest concentration of Chinese in the northernmost state of Baja California, on the U.S.-Mexico border across from California.

The arrival of Chinese multinationals is leading an influx of “people from eastern China, more educated and with a broader global background,” said Andrei Guerrero, academic coordinator of the Center for China-Baja California Studies.

In a middle-class Mexico City neighborhood, Viaducto-Piedad, near the city’s historic Chinatown, a new Chinese community has been growing since the late 1990s. Chinese immigrants have not only opened businesses, but have created community spaces for religious events and children’s recreation.

Viaducto-Piedad is recognized by the Chinese themselves as Mexico City’s true “Chinatown,” said Monica Cinco, a specialist in Chinese migration and general director of the EDUCA Mexico Foundation.

“When I asked them why, they would tell me because we live here. We have stores for Chinese consumption, beauty shops and restaurants just for Chinese,” she said. “They live there, there is a community and several public schools in the area have a significant Chinese population.”

In downtown Mexico City, Chinese entrepreneurs have not only opened new wholesale stores but have also taken over dozens of buildings. At times, they have become a source of tension with local businesses and residents, who say the expansion of Chinese-owned enterprises is displacing them.

At a mini-market in a bustling downtown neighborhood selling Chinese products such as dried wood ear mushrooms and vacuum-packed spicy duck wings, 33-year-old Dong Shengli said he moved to Mexico City from Beijing a few months ago to help manage the shop for some friends.

Dong — who has since found a job with a wholesaler importing knockoff designer sneakers and clothing — said he had worked at China’s National Energy Commission, but was persuaded by his friends to come here.

He plans to explore business possibilities in Mexico, but China still has a pull for him. “My wife and my parents are in China. My mother is elderly, she needs me,” he said.

Others are leaving China in search of greater freedoms. That’s the case for 50-year-old Tan, who gave only his surname out of concern for the safety of his family, who remain in China. He arrived in Mexico this year from the southern province of Guangdong and got a job for a few months at a Sam’s Club. Back home, he got by doing various jobs, including at a chemical plant and writing magazine articles during the pandemic.

But he chafed under what he described as a repressive atmosphere in China.

“It’s not just the oppression in the workplace, it’s the mentality,” he said. “I can feel the political regression, the retreat of freedom and democracy. The implications of that truly make people feel twisted and sick. So, life is very painful.”

What caught his attention in Mexico City were the protests that often pack the city’s main avenues — proof, he said, that the freedom of expression he longs for exists in this country.

At the restaurant where she still helps out in the trendy Juárez neighborhood, Li said Mexico stands out as a land of opportunity for her and other Chinese who don’t have relatives in the U.S. to help them settle there. She said she left China partly because of the competitive workplace culture and high home prices.

“In China, everyone saves money to buy a house, but it’s really expensive to get one,” she said.

Self-confident with a contagious smile, Li said she’s hopeful her skills working as a sales promoter for Chinese tech giant Tencent Games will help her get ahead in Mexico.

She says she has not met many Chinese women like herself in Mexico City: newcomers, young and single.

Most are married and are moving to Mexico to reunite with their husbands.

“To come here is to face something unknown,” she said.

Li doesn’t know when she’ll be able to carry out her ambitious business plans, but she has ideas: For example, she imagines that in Henan province she could get chairs, tables and other furniture at a good price. Meanwhile, she is selling furniture imported to Mexico by a Chinese friend on the e-commerce platform Mercado Libre.

“I’m not married, I don’t have a boyfriend, it’s just myself,” she said, “so I’ll work hard and struggle.”

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

As economy falters, more Chinese migrants take a perilous journey to the US border to seek asylum

https://apnews.com/article/chinese-emigration-us-mexico-border-darien-381c215ff30f0f2349c2ea118aa280c6Deng Guangsen winces as he talks about his journey from his homeland China to crossing the United States border with Mexico, as he sits in a transit center after being dropped off by Border Patrol agents Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in San Diego. A major influx of Chinese migration to the United States on a relatively new and perilous route through Panama's Darién Gap jungle has become increasingly popular thanks to social media. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

2023-10-30T04:24:52Z

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The young Chinese man looked lost and exhausted when Border Patrol agents left him at a transit station. Deng Guangsen, 28, had spent the last two months traveling to San Diego from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, through seven countries on plane, bus and foot, including traversing Panama’s dangerous Darién Gap jungle.

“I feel nothing,” Deng said in the San Diego parking lot, insisting on using the broken English he learned from “Harry Potter” movies. “I have no brother, no sister. I have nobody.”

Deng is part of a major influx of Chinese migration to the United States on a relatively new and perilous route that has become increasingly popular with the help of social media. Chinese people were the fourth-highest nationality, after Venezuelans, Ecuadorians and Haitians, crossing the Darién Gap during the first nine months of this year, according to Panamanian immigration authorities.

Chinese asylum-seekers who spoke to The Associated Press, as well as observers, say they are seeking to escape an increasingly repressive political climate and bleak economic prospects.

They also reflect a broader presence of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border — Asians, South Americans and Africans — who made September the second-highest month of illegal crossings and the U.S. government’s 2023 budget year the second-highest on record.

The pandemic and China’s COVID-19 policies, which included tight border controls, temporarily stemmed the exodus that rose dramatically in 2018 when President Xi Jinping amended the constitution to scrap the presidential term limit. Now emigration has resumed, with China’s economy struggling to rebound and youth unemployment high. The United Nations has projected China will lose 310,000 people through emigration this year, compared with 120,000 in 2012.

It has become known as “runxue,” or the study of running away. The term started as a way to get around censorship, using a Chinese character whose pronunciation spells like the English word “run” but means “moistening.” Now it’s an internet meme.

“This wave of emigration reflects despair toward China,” Cai Xia, editor-in-chief of the online commentary site of Yibao and a former professor at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.

“They’ve lost hope for the future of the country,” said Cai, who now lives in the U.S. “You see among them the educated and the uneducated, white-collar workers, as well as small business owners, and those from well-off families.”

Those who can’t get a visa are finding other ways to flee the world’s most populous nation. Many are showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum. The Border Patrol made 22,187 arrests of Chinese for crossing the border illegally from Mexico from January through September, nearly 13 times the same period in 2022.

Arrests of Chinese people peaked at 4,010 in September, up 70% from August to become the ninth-highest nationality at the U.S. border and the highest outside of Mexico, Central and South America. The vast majority were single adults.

The popular route to the U.S. is through Ecuador, which has no visa requirements for Chinese nationals. Migrants from China join Latin Americans there to trek north through the once-impenetrable Darién and across several Central American countries before reaching the U.S. border. The journey is well-known enough it has its own name in Chinese: walk the line, or “zouxian.”

The monthly number of Chinese migrants crossing the Darién has been rising gradually, from 913 in January to 2,588 in September. For the first nine months of this year, Panamanian immigration authorities registered 15,567 Chinese citizens crossing the Darién. By comparison, 2,005 Chinese people trekked through the rainforest in 2022, and just 376 in total from 2010 to 2021.

Short video platforms and messaging apps provide not only on-the-ground video clips but also step-by-step guides from China to the U.S., including tips on what to pack, where to find guides, how to survive the jungle, which hotels to stay at, how much to bribe police in different countries and what to do when encountering U.S. immigration officers.

Translation apps allow migrants to navigate through Central America on their own, even if they don’t speak Spanish or English. The journey can cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, paid for with family savings or even online loans.

It’s markedly different from the days when Chinese nationals paid smugglers, known as snakeheads, and traveled in groups.

With more financial resources, Xi Yan, 46, and her daughter Song Siming, 24, didn’t trek the Ecuador-Mexico route, but instead flew into Mexico via Europe. With help from a local guide, the two women crossed the border at Mexicali into the U.S. in April.

“The unemployment rate is very high. People cannot find work,” said Xi Yan, a Chinese writer. “For small business owners, they cannot sustain their businesses.”

Xi Yan said she decided to leave China in March, when she traveled to the southern city of Foshan to see her mother but had to leave the next day when state security agents and police officers harassed her brother and told him that his sister was not allowed in the city. She realized she was still on the state blacklist, six years after being detained for gathering at a seaside spot to remember Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel peace laureate who died in a Chinese prison. In 2015, she was locked up for 25 days over an online post remembering the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre.

Her daughter, Song, agreed to leave with her. A college graduate, the daughter struggled to find work in China and became depressed, the mother said.

Despite the challenges to survive in the U.S., Xi Yan said it was worth it.

“We have freedom,” she said. “I used to get nervous whenever there was a police car. Now, I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Migrants hoping to enter the U.S. at San Diego wait for agents to pick them up in an area between two border walls or in remote mountains east of the city covered with shrubs and large boulders.

Many migrants are released with court dates in cities nearest their final destination in a bottlenecked system that takes years to decide cases. Chinese migrants had an asylum grant rate of 33% in the 2022 budget year, compared with 46% for all nationalities, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

Catholic Charities of San Diego uses hotels to provide shelters for migrants, including 1,223 from China in September. The average shelter stay is a day and a half among all nationalities. For Chinese visitors, it’s less than a day.

“They get dropped off in the morning. By afternoon they are looking to reunite with their families. They’re going to New York, they’re going to Chicago, they’re going to all kinds of places,” said Vino Pajanor, the group’s chief executive. “They don’t want to be in a shelter.”

In September, 98% of U.S. border arrests of Chinese people occurred in the San Diego area. At the transit stop, migrants charge phones, snack, browse piles of free clothing and get travel advice.

Signs at portable bathrooms and information booths and a volunteer’s loudspeaker announcements about free airport shuttles are translated to multiple languages, including Mandarin. Taxi drivers offer rides to Los Angeles.

Many migrants who spoke to the AP did not give their full names out of fear of drawing attention to their cases. Some said they came for economic reasons and paid 300,000 to 400,000 yuan ($41,000 to $56,000 for the trip).

In recent weeks, Chinese migrants have filled makeshift encampments in the California desert as they wait to turn themselves in to U.S. authorities to make asylum claims.

Near the small town of Jacumba, hundreds huddled in the shadow of a section of border wall and under crude tarps. Others tried to sleep on large boulders or under the few trees there. Small campfires keep them warm overnight. Without food or running water, the migrants rely on volunteers who distribute bottled water, hot oatmeal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Chen Yixiao said he endured a hard journey to come to the U.S. He said life had become difficult back home, with some migrants experiencing issues with the government and others failing in business.

“I’m very happy to be in the U.S. now. This is my dream country,” said Chen, who planned to join his relatives in New York and find work there.

At San Diego’s transit station, Deng planned to head to Monterey Park, a Los Angeles suburb that became known as “Little Taipei” in the 1980s. Deng said he worked a job in Guangdong requiring him to ride motorcycles, which he considered unsafe. As he lingered at the transit station, sitting on a curb with his small backpack, several Africans approached to ask questions. He told them he arrived in the U.S. with $880 in his pockets.

When he didn’t provide the Border Patrol with a U.S. address, an agent scheduled an initial immigration court appearance for him in New York in February. Deng tapped his meager savings for a one-way flight to New York. He ended up with thousands of other migrants at a tent shelter on the city’s Randall’s Island, unsure of his next move.

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Tang reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in Mexico City and Eugene Garcia in San Diego contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

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Who are the China-linked scientists under US investigation? A growing list

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3277250/who-are-china-linked-scientists-under-us-investigation-growing-list?utm_source=rss_feed

The South China Morning Post looks at some of the highest-profile researchers that have become targets for investigations by US agencies, and the lasting impact these cases have on the scientific community.

The prominent Illinois University researcher’s death in July, aged 60, drew attention yet again to much-criticised efforts to pursue researchers suspected of having undisclosed ties to Beijing.

Retired Harvard professor Charles Lieber, a leader in the field of nanoscience who was targeted under the China Initiative, confirmed in August that he is exploring opportunities at “several institutions” in the Chinese mainland and elsewhere.

Vindicated University of Kansas academic Franklin Tao spoke publicly for the first time in July of his 2019 arrest amid the China Initiative investigations, “losing almost everything”, and the bittersweet victory of his successful legal appeal.

Peter Daszak, a prominent American disease ecologist who collaborated with a Chinese lab targeted in coronavirus leak allegations, had his federal funding suspended and faces being cut off from working with the US government for years.

In the aftermath of an investigation by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – the main US agency for biomedical and public health research – Guan takes up a position at Westlake University, joining former neuroscientist colleague Fu Xiangdong.

Physicist Xiaoxing Xi, target of an investigation before the start of the China Initiative, says he understands the fear expressed by Chinese scientists over its lasting impact.

Chen Zhoufeng, a leading expert in the study of itch mechanisms, joined an institute in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen after 33 years in the United States.

Xiang-Dong Fu, who left California over suspicions about his foreign links, has joined Westlake University in southern China to continue his work into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Xiao Mingqing was earlier found guilty of tax errors and of failing to disclose a Chinese bank account in China Initiative case.

China-born Illinois mathematics professor Xiao Mingqing was sentenced to a year of probation, with no jail time, in 2022 after he was found guilty of tax return errors in the United States.

The academic, then aged 60, was also convicted of failing to disclose a Chinese bank account in a China Initiative prosecution.

MIT professor Gang Chen, who was cleared in 2022 following a high-profile investigation into his alleged China ties, went on to lead a team that discovered a promising candidate for next-generation electronics.

Hu’s case was the first to go to trial under the China Initiative, but the US government “failed to show sufficient evidence” that the Tennessee professor had intent to defraud Nasa, which provided grants for his research.

In 2020, the UCLA researcher was accused by the FBI of destroying evidence after coming under investigation for alleged links to the Chinese military.

US prosecutors said Meyya Meyyappan took part in the Chinese government’s Thousand Talents scheme to recruit people familiar with foreign technology and intellectual property.

After 23 years as a top neuroscientist at Emory University, Li Xiao-Jiang lost his job, his laboratory was raided and his postdoctoral students were forced out of the US. Then prosecutors dismissed all charges against him, with Li pleading guilty only to a tax return offence.

Lookman, a computational physics expert at the Los Alamos National Laboratory – which is responsible for securing the US nuclear stockpile – was accused of links with China’s Thousand Talents programme.

For many investors and intellectuals leaving China, it’s Japan — not the US — that’s the bigger draw

https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-japan-opportunity-digital-chinatowns-99898105a2204d22669f6c693c58cbd5Chinese journalist Jia Jia talks with a friend at a bookstore in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

2024-09-05T00:35:23Z

TOKYO (AP) — One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on Taiwan and democracy — taboo topics that can’t be discussed publicly back home in China.

“Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took struggle and bloodshed, there’s no question about that,” said Jia Jia, a columnist and guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo who was briefly detained in China eight years ago on suspicion of penning a call for China’s top leader to resign.

He is one of tens of thousands of intellectuals, investors and other Chinese who have relocated to Japan in recent years, part of a larger exodus of people from China.

Their backgrounds vary widely, and they’re leaving for all sorts of reasons. Some are very poor, others are very rich. Some leave for economic reasons, as opportunities dry up with the end of China’s boom. Some flee for personal reasons, as even limited freedoms are eroded.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of the China’s New Migrants package, a look by The Associated Press at the lives of the latest wave of Chinese emigrants to settle overseas.

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Chinese migrants are flowing to all corners of the world, from workers seeking to start businesses of their own in Mexico to burned-out students heading to Thailand. Those choosing Japan tend to be well-off or highly educated, drawn to the country’s ease of living, rich culture and immigration policies that favor highly skilled professionals, with less of the sharp anti-immigrant backlash sometimes seen in Western countries.

Jia initially intended to move to the U.S., not Japan. But after experiencing the coronavirus outbreak in China, he was anxious to leave and his American visa application was stuck in processing. So he chose Japan instead.

“In the United States, illegal immigration is particularly controversial. When I went to Japan, I was a little surprised. I found that their immigration policy is actually more relaxed than I thought,” Jia told The Associated Press. “I found that Japan is better than the U.S.”

It’s tough to enter the U.S. these days. Tens of thousands of Chinese were arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year, and Chinese students have been grilled at customs as trade frictions fan suspicions of possible industrial espionage. Some U.S. states passed legislation that restricts Chinese citizens from owning property.

“The U.S. is shutting out those Chinese that are friendliest to them, that most share its values,” said Li Jinxing, a Christian human rights lawyer who moved to Japan in 2022.

Li sees parallels to about a century ago, when Chinese intellectuals such as Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, moved to Japan to study how the country modernized so quickly.

“On one hand, we hope to find inspiration and direction in history,” Li said of himself and like-minded Chinese in Japan. “On the other hand, we also want to observe what a democratic country with rule of law is like. We’re studying Japan. How does its economy work, its government work?”

Over the past decade, Tokyo has softened its once-rigid stance against immigration, driven by low birthrates and an aging population. Foreigners now make up about 2% of its population of 125 million. That’s expected to jump to 12% by 2070, according to the Tokyo-based National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Chinese are the most numerous newcomers, at 822,000 last year among more than 3 million foreigners living in Japan, according to government data. That’s up from 762,000 a year ago and 649,000 a decade ago.

In 2022, the lockdowns under China’s “zero COVID” policies led many of the country’s youth or most affluent citizens to hit the exits. There’s even a buzzword for that: “runxue,” using the English word “run” to evoke “running away” to places seen as safer and more prosperous.

For intellectuals like Li and Jia, Japan offers greater freedoms than under Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s increasingly repressive rule. But for others, such as wealthy investors and business people, Japan offers something else: property protections.

A report by investment migration firm Henley & Partners says nearly 14,000 millionaires left China last year, the most of any country in the world, with Japan a popular destination. A major driver is worries about the security of their wealth in China or Hong Kong, said Q. Edward Wang, a professor of Asian studies at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

“Protection of private property, which is the cornerstone of a capitalist society, that piece is missing in China,” Wang said.

The weakening yen makes buying property and other local assets in Japan a bargain.

And while the Japanese economy has stagnated, China’s once-sizzling economy is also in a rut, with the property sector in crisis and stock prices stuck at the level they were in the late 2000s.

“If you are just going to Japan to preserve your money,” Wang said, “then definitely you will enjoy your time in Japan.”

Dot.com entrepreneurs are among those leaving China after Communist Party crackdowns on the technology industry, including billionaire Jack Ma, a founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, who took a professorship at Tokyo College, part of the prestigious University of Tokyo.

So many wealthy Chinese have bought apartments in Tokyo’s luxury high-rises that some areas have been dubbed “Chinatowns,” or “Digital Chinatowns” — a nod to the many owners’ work in high-tech industries.

“Life in Japan is good,” said Guo Yu, an engineer who retired early after working at ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.

Guo doesn’t concern himself with politics. He’s keen on Japan’s powdery snow in the winter and is a “superfan” of its beautiful hot springs. He owns homes in Tokyo, as well as near a ski resort and a hot spring. He owns several cars, including a Porsche, a Mercedes, a Tesla and a Toyota.

Guo keeps busy with a new social media startup in Tokyo and a travel agency specializing in “onsen,” Japan’s hot springs. Most of his employees are Chinese, he said.

Like Guo, many Chinese moving to Japan are wealthy and educated. That’s for good reason: Japan remains unwelcoming to refugees and many other types of foreigners. The government has been strategic about who it allows to stay, generally focusing on people to fill labor shortages for factories, construction and elder care.

“It is crucial that Japan becomes an attractive country for foreign talent so they will choose to work here,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this year, announcing efforts to relax Japan’s stringent immigration restrictions.

That kind of opportunity is exactly what Chinese ballet dancer Du Hai said he has found. Leading a class of a dozen Japanese students in a suburban Tokyo studio one recent weekend, Du demonstrated positions and spins to the women dressed in leotards and toe shoes.

Du was drawn to Japan’s huge ballet scene, filled with professional troupes and talented dancers, he said, but worried about warnings he got about unfriendly Japanese.

That turned out to be false, he said with a laugh. Now, Du is considering getting Japanese citizenship.

“Of course, I enjoy living in Japan very much now,” he said.

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Kang reported from Beijing.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

YURI KAGEYAMA Kageyama covers Japan news for The Associated Press. Her topics include social issues, the environment, businesses, entertainment and technology. twitter instagram facebook mailto DAKE KANG Kang covers Chinese politics, technology and society from Beijing for The Associated Press. He’s reported across Central, South, and East Asia, and was a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting in China. twitter mailto

Belarus detains Japanese agent spying on military sites, Chinese projects

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3277253/belarus-detains-japanese-agent-spying-military-sites-chinese-projects?utm_source=rss_feed

Belarusian security forces have detained a Japanese intelligence agent alleged to have observed border areas and military installations of the ex-Soviet state and Russian ally, Belarusian media reported on Wednesday.

Media outlets said Belarusian state-owned TV channel Belarus 1 reported the arrest and said it would provide more details on Thursday.

Belarusian media said the detained Japanese national was allegedly involved in gathering intelligence on social and economic conditions in Belarus, the implementation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the situation along Belarus’s border with Ukraine.

The reports said he was filming military infrastructure.

Japan’s embassy in Belarus confirmed the detention of a Japanese man in his 50s on July 9 for what the authorities called a breach of local laws, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular Thursday press conference.

The man in custody had no health issues, Hayashi said citing the embassy staff, while declining to comment on the reason for his detention.

US-funded Radio Liberty quoted the Belarusian television report as saying the man was detained in the southeastern city of Gomel and had displayed interest in the “broadest spheres of interest” in the country.

It said the man had previously taught Japanese at a university in the city, his wife’s hometown, and organised an exhibition of Japanese culture and traditions.

Liberty quoted him as acknowledging that his activity could have been detrimental to the Belarusian state.

Belarus, led by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, is one of Russia’s closest allies and allowed Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to use its territory to launch the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The media reports said it was the first instance of a Japanese national being implicated in intelligence activity.

Japan has placed sanctions on Belarusian entities, such as asset freeze and export ban measures, as part of its effort to cut support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A German national was convicted in June of terrorism and mercenary activity in Belarus and sentenced to death, but was freed as part of a mass exchange of prisoners between Russia, Belarus, the United States and other countries.

China’s C919 turns in stellar report card, but profitability remains elusive

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3277267/chinas-c919-turns-stellar-report-card-profitability-remains-elusive?utm_source=rss_feed

After more than 3,700 flights, half a million passengers, impeccable punctuality and higher-than-average passenger load over the last 15 months, China Eastern Airlines this week has handed in a glowing report card for China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet.

And having demonstrated its reliability, the rival to the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 families of aircraft has also shown profitability potential, analysts said, although the C919 is set to face hurdles as it seeks presence in overseas markets.

“Some of the C919’s metrics show it’s nosing closer to Boeing and Airbus jets and it has potential to turn a profit … but we need more and quicker deployment as the current scale is too small to make an impact,” said Beijing-based aviation commentator Zhang Zhonglin.

Since inducting the first narrowbody C919 into service in May 2023, China Eastern has grown its fleet to seven, with seat occupancy averaging 82 per cent.

Average passenger loads per flight edged up to 85 per cent in the busy summer travel season between July and August, according to the Shanghai-based carrier, with its overall seat occupancy 80 per cent in the first half of the year.

Passenger trips have also jumped from 300,000 between May 2023 to June, to 500,000 as of the end of August.

“The speed with which China Eastern has boosted the twinjet’s deployment is impressive. It has proven its reliability and profit prospects, provided that there is good airline management,” said Zhang.

In 2023, the airline had initially only flown the C919 for four hours per day due to teething problems.

China Eastern Airlines now operates 22 C919 flights per day on routes from Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Xian, as well as from Beijing to Xian.

“Initially, there were fewer flights for safety considerations. Now, daily flying time has increased to eight hours, close to the level of Boeing and Airbus,” Zhang Hairong, deputy director of China Eastern Airlines’ maintenance department, told state broadcaster CCTV last month.

“This means each C919 can fly four flights per day.”

The carrier can also share its experiences with new buyers and ensure profitability, added aviation analyst Zhang.

Last week, Air China and China Southern Airlines took delivery of their first C919 aircraft as the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China marked a production milestone by delivering the narrowbody aircraft to three major carriers for the first time in the same month in August.

And while support from Beijing and a recovery of China’s domestic travel industry are set to offer a boost to the C919, problems remain for the airline industry.

At the end of August, China Eastern Airlines reported a first-half loss of 2.8 billion yuan (US$394 million), compared with a loss of 6.2 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Its expanded C919 fleet also means higher operating and maintenance costs compared to its much larger group of Western jets.

“China Eastern is a large airline with multiple fleet types and a wide network. The C919 will not make a notable difference in profitability as it currently makes up just 1 per cent of the entire fleet,” said Dennis Lau, consultancy director at the Hong Kong-based Asian Sky Group.

“Other buyers on the state-planned vanguard of endorsing home-grown jets won’t see any positive impact [from C919] any time soon either.”

During the “two sessions” parliamentary meetings earlier this year, China Eastern Airline general manager Li Yangmin had increased calls for help from Beijing, admitting the C919 was still in its infancy.

“To achieve commercial success, we need to explore a business model and hone C919 competitiveness. More resources and policy support are needed in supply chain, maintenance and operation guarantee,” he said.

Asian Sky Group’s Lau also said, amid China’s lukewarm economic recovery, loss-making carriers need bigger incentives to buy and operate the C919.

“Beijing will need to give more lift even with C919’s good start. The ideal is that, with more C919 flying and more customers, costs would eventually be lowered to levels similar to 737 Max and A320neo so the model can generate profit,” he said.

Seeking an alternative to China’s pressure-cooker schools, families move to Thailand

https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-thailand-schools-chiang-mai-9d1953344e8b35327020408b8f677264Chinese mother Jiang Wenhui, left, records her son Rodney Feng playing the acoustic guitar in Chiang Mai province, Thailand, Tuesday, April 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

2024-09-05T00:32:57Z

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) — The competition started in second grade for DJ Wang’s son.

Eight-year-old William was enrolled at a top elementary school in Wuhan, a provincial capital in central China. While kindergarten and first grade were relatively carefree, the homework assignments started piling up in second grade.

By third grade, his son was regularly finishing his day around midnight.

“You went from traveling lightly to carrying a very heavy burden,” Wang said. “That sudden switch, it was very hard to bear.”

Wang, who traveled often to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand for his job in tourism, decided to make a switch, moving his family to the city that sits at the base of mountains.

The family is among a wave of Chinese flocking to Thailand for its quality international schools and more relaxed lifestyle. While there are no records tracking how many are moving abroad for education, they join other Chinese expats leaving the country, from wealthy entrepreneurs moving to Japan to protect their wealth, to activists unhappy with the political system, to young people who want to opt out of China’s ultra-competitive work culture, at least for a while.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of the China’s New Migrants package, a look by The Associated Press at the lives of the latest wave of Chinese emigrants to settle overseas.

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Jenson Zhang, who runs an education consultancy, Vision Education, for Chinese parents looking to move to Southeast Asia, said many middle-class families choose Thailand because schools are cheaper than private schools in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

“Southeast Asia, it’s within reach, the visa is convenient and the overall environment, as well as people’s attitude towards Chinese people, it allows Chinese parents to feel more secure,” Zhang said.

A 2023 survey by private education company New Oriental found Chinese families also increasingly considering Singapore and Japan for their children’s overseas study. But tuition and the cost of living are much higher than in Thailand.

Within Thailand, the slow-paced city of Chiang Mai often ends up being the top choice. Other options include Pattaya and Phuket, both popular beach resorts, and Bangkok, though the capital is usually more expensive.

The trend has been ongoing for about a decade, but in recent years it’s gathered pace.

Lanna International School, one of Chiang Mai’s more selective schools, saw a peak of interest in the 2022-2023 academic year, with inquiries doubling from a year earlier.

“Parents were really in a rush, they wanted to quickly change to a new school environment” because of pandemic restrictions, said Grace Hu, an admissions officer at Lanna International, whose position helping Chinese parents through the process was created in 2022.

Du Xuan of Vision Education says parents coming to Chiang Mai fall into two types: Those who planned in advance what education they want for their kids, and those who experienced difficulties with the competitive Chinese education system. The majority are from the second group, she said.

In Chinese society, many value education to the point where one parent may give up their job and rent an apartment near their child’s school to cook and clean for them, and ensure their life runs smoothly. Known as “peidu,” or “accompanied studying,” the goal is academic excellence, often at the expense of the parent’s own life.

That concept has become twisted by the sheer pressure it takes to keep up. Chinese society has come up with popular buzzwords to describe this hyper-competitive environment, from “neijuan” — which roughly translated means the rat race that leads to burnout — or “tang ping,” rejecting it all to drop out, or “lie flat.”

The terms reflect what success looks like in modern China, from the hours of cramming required for students to succeed on their exams to the money parents spend hiring tutors to give their kids an extra edge in school.

The driving force behind it all is numbers. In a country of 1.4 billion people, success is viewed as graduation from a good college. With a limited number of seats, class rank and test scores matter, especially on the college entrance exams known as the “gaokao.”

“If you have something, it means someone else can’t have that,” said Vision Education’s Du, whose own daughters attend school in Chiang Mai. “We have a saying about the gaokao: ‘One point will topple 10,000 people.’ The competition is that intense.”

Wang said his son William was praised by his second-grade teacher in Wuhan as gifted, but to stand out in a class of 50 kids and continue to get that level of attention would mean giving money and gifts to the teacher, which other parents were already doing before he was even aware of the need.

Back in Wuhan, parents are expected to know the material covered in extracurricular tutoring classes, as well as what is being taught in school, and ensure their child has mastered it all, Wang said. It’s often a full-time job.

In Chiang Mai, freed from China’s emphasis on rote memorization and hours of homework, students have time to develop hobbies.

Jiang Wenhui moved from Shanghai to Chiang Mai last summer. In China, she said, she had accepted that her son, Rodney, would get average grades because of his mild attention deficit disorder. But she could not help thinking twice about her decision to move given how competitive every other family was.

“In that environment, you’ll still feel anxious,” she said. “Should I give it another go?”

In China, her energy was devoted toward helping Rodney keep up in school, shuttling him to tutoring and keeping him on top of his coursework, pushing him along every step of the way.

In Thailand, Rodney, who’s about to start 8th grade, has taken up acoustic guitar and piano, and carries around a notebook to learn new English vocabulary — all of it his own choice, Jiang said. “He’d ask me to add an hour of English tutoring. I thought his schedule was too full, and he told me, ‘I want to try and see if it’s OK.’”

He has time to pursue hobbies and hasn’t needed to see a doctor for his attention deficit disorder. After bonding with one of his teachers about snakes, he is raising a pet ball python called Banana.

Wang says his son William, who is now 14 and about to enter high school, finishes his homework well before midnight and has developed outside interests. Wang, too, has changed his perspective on education.

“Here, if he gets a bad grade, I don’t think much of it, you just work on it,” he said. “Is it the case that if he gets a bad grade, that he will be unable to become a successful adult?”

“Now, I don’t think so.”

HUIZHONG WU China correspondent based in Taiwan twitter

China-Africa summit: Xi Jinping’s speech to shed light on expanding ties amid US rivalry

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3277231/china-africa-summit-xi-jinpings-speech-shed-light-expanding-ties-amid-us-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed

This live blog has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by . Get faster notifications on the latest updates by .

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech to open the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) on Thursday is expected to shed light on how Beijing plans to expand ties with the continent amid an intensified rivalry with the US-led West.

Billed as Beijing’s biggest diplomatic event in years, leaders and representatives of more than 50 African countries are attending the forum, which is held every three years.

They are expected to discuss topics including infrastructure projects, climate change, the new energy industry, security and peace, and Africa’s loan problems.

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Reporting by Josephine Ma, Jevans Nyabiage, Kawala Xie and Zhao Ziwen

China’s robotics future is fast approaching

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3276979/chinas-robotics-future-fast-approaching?utm_source=rss_feed

Last week, the 2024 World Robot Conference took place in Beijing, featuring over 600 robotic products from around the world, attracting over 1.3 million attendees. There were 27 humanoid robots on display, capable of applications in manufacturing, healthcare, household management and entertainment.

As embodied artificial intelligence (AI) becomes the next technological frontier after large language models, researchers suggest that competition in robotics might become the new global space race in this century. Entrepreneurs in humanoid robotics are optimistic that within the next five to 10 years, robots could achieve mass production, potentially marking a ChatGPT moment for this technology.

In recent years, venture capitalists and businesspeople in Silicon Valley and beyond have spotted humanoid robots as a key industry that could drive tens of billions of dollars in growth in the coming years.

China has a long-term vision for the development of robots and broad applications in daily life. As such, it has designed policies that could stimulate and sustain innovations over the next few years. In addition to state-level guidelines, major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo have established humanoid robots innovation centres.

These centres aim to gather financial resources and research talent to speed up the development of this industry. China is also integrating AI into primary and secondary schools to prepare young people for the future workforce.

China’s commitment to robotics is reflected in its 14th five-year plan, which envisions robots being deeply integrated into daily life by 2035. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued more specific guidelines on developing humanoid robots last October.

The guidelines lay out ambitious goals, stating that by 2025, a foundational innovation system for humanoid robots will be established. By 2027, the industry’s supply chains will be enhanced, forming a competitive global ecosystem.

It calls for the cultivation of globally influential companies and industrial clusters that foster new business models. The plan emphasises enhancing innovation by setting up laboratories and fostering collaboration among industry and academia, while also building a global open-source community for humanoid robots.

China faces restrictions on accessing AI chips and large language models from US companies. However, massive investment in chip research, along with widely available open-source models, will help China advance in the AI and robotics sectors. The extensive market and diverse application scenarios will also drive large-scale data collection, which helps train AI systems that teach humanoid robots how to move.

At the conference, Audiences were amazed as these robots played soccer, prepared hamburgers, played musical instruments, wrote calligraphy, and showed their ability to help with surgeries. Other robots on display showed their potential in education and elderly care.

Meanwhile, Shenzhen-based company UBTECH’s Walker S series humanoid robot showed its capability in precise tyre inspections for cars jointly produced by Audi and FAW, highlighting the collaboration between the automobile industry and the humanoid robot sector in China.

The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, Audi-FAW, and UBTECH have joined forces to integrate humanoid robots into automotive production lines, focusing on tasks such as material handling and quality inspection.

One notable aspect of the conference was the presence of children and youth among the visitors. Schools and parents are increasingly open-minded about the application of technologies like AI tutors and robot chess players. Such robots re already available for purchase online, offering families new tools to enhance children’s learning.

The conference featured robotic contests for students, fostering innovation and curiosity in robotics and coding among the nation’s youth. Experts at the conference proposed that training in robotics engineering should be provided in schools, equipping students with the knowledge to thrive in a robot-integrated world.

In February, China’s Ministry of Education announced a policy that focuses on creating 184 AI education bases to pilot the integration of AI. These selected elementary and secondary schools will incorporate AI into subjects like information technology, enhance digital education resources and provide specialised teacher training. The goal is to develop best practices that can be implemented nationwide.

Since AI can solve mathematical problems and write essays, an education that fosters a love for thinking, innovation, collaboration and taking on challenges will be increasingly crucial. Curricula must adapt to developing skills in management, interpersonal communication and technology ethics.

The advancement of robotics brings exciting possibilities but also significant ethical and safety concerns. One striking example is a robot developed by EX Robots, which is a replica of a school-aged boy passionate about STEM. The boy asked the company to create the robot in his likeness after visiting its technology museum.

Such a practice raises serious questions about the potential loss of human individuality, privacy concerns over a person’s likeness and the psychological impact of robot interactions. Additionally, there is the risk of robots being hacked or manipulated and the harmful consequences that could arise.

The broader impact of robotics on society, particularly in the workforce, is another major concern. As China leads the world in deploying industrial robots, its manufacturing sector is increasingly automated, marking a significant shift in the country’s labour market. This automation could result in job losses, exacerbating the gap between those who benefit from automation and those who are left behind.

It is essential for governments and industries to invest in programmes that help displaced workers acquire new skills. Supporting entrepreneurship, enhancing social safety nets and foster collaboration between the government, industry and academia are also imperative steps. These efforts should balance innovation with the need to support workers, ultimately benefiting society in an equitable way.

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Mother in China claims son suffers skin pigmentation loss after being slapped by teacher

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3277077/china-mother-claims-son-suffers-loss-skin-pigmentation-after-being-slapped-teacher?utm_source=rss_feed

A mother in China claimed her son now has vitiligo, a chronic autoimmune condition that results in patches of skin losing pigment, after a teacher slapped the boy in the face for not doing homework.

The mother, surnamed Huang, said she took her son Liu, 11, to the hospital after noticing his face was swelling badly.

Liu, a pupil at Yifu Primary School in southwest China’s Yunnan province, told his mother that a teacher had hit him in front of the class.

The boy said the teacher brought him to the front of the classroom because he had not completed his mathematics homework. Then, the teacher slapped the right side of the boy’s face three times and the left once.

Three months after the incident, he began to lose pigmentation on parts of his skin. While the exact causes of vitiligo remain unclear, researchers suggest that environmental stress factors may contribute to the onset of the condition.

A staff member from the school told the Chinese media outlet Benliu News that the boy has been diagnosed with vitiligo. The school is currently awaiting the results of a police investigation and a forensic injury assessment to determine appropriate actions against the teacher involved.

The report did not identify the gender of the teacher.

The mother said she had been unable to contact the teacher after the hospital had sent the bill for the treatment. She said she is still waiting for the teacher or school to reimburse her.

Vitiligo patients often face discrimination due to misconceptions that the disorder is contagious.

According to the National Institutes of Health, individuals with vitiligo experience anxiety or depression at higher rates than the general population. This increased risk may stem from challenges in social situations, making it difficult for them to feel accepted and blend in with others.

Online observers were outraged by the incident.

“How could a teacher hurt a student so badly without receiving any punishment for three months?” asked one person on Douyin.

Another person said they believed in mild physical punishments, such as a time-out to discipline naughty students, but added: “Slapping a boy in the face is a step too far”.

China’s law on the protection of minors bans corporal punishments from teachers.

The incident in Yunnan was not the first time inappropriate discipline from a teacher in China has sparked controversy.

Last year, a primary school teacher in central China’s Hunan province reportedly hit a nine-year-old girl on her head with a triangular ruler, which cracked her skull bone and required an operation. The police detained the teacher for intentional assault.

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US arms advantage over Russia and China threatens stability, experts warn

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/05/us-arms-advantage-over-russia-and-china-threatens-stability-experts-warn

The US and its allies are capable of threatening and destroying all of Russia and China’s nuclear launch sites with conventional weapons, creating what two experts describe as a potentially unstable geopolitical situation.

Prof Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo, from Soas University of London, describe a “quiet revolution in military affairs” reflecting increased US military power relative to Moscow and Beijing, particularly in missile technology.

They argue that this could create the conditions for a fresh arms race as China and Russia try to respond – and even create a risk of miscalculation in a major crisis as either country could resort to launching nuclear weapons to get ahead of the US.

In a paper published on Thursday, Plesch and Galileo write that the US has “a plausible present day capacity with non-nuclear forces to pre-empt Russian and Chinese nuclear forces” – giving it a military edge over the two countries.

There are, the authors estimate, 150 Russian remote nuclear launch sites and 70 in China, approximately 2,500km (1,550 miles) from the nearest border, all of which could be reached by US air-launched JASSM and Tomahawk cruise missiles in a little more than two hours in an initial attack designed to prevent nuclear weapons being launched.

“The US and its allies can threaten even the most buried and mobile strategic forces of Russia and China,” the authors write, with an estimated 3,500 of the JASSM and 4,000 Tomahawks available to the US and its allies.

New developments also mean that JASSMs (joint air-to-surface standoff missiles) can be launched on pallets, using the Rapid Dragon system, from unmodified standard military transport aircraft, such as the C-17 Globemaster or C-130 Hercules.

“Our analysis predicts that only Russian mobile and Chinese deeply buried strategic systems may be considered at all survivable in the face of conventional missile attacks and are far more vulnerable than usually considered,” they add.

Plesch and Galileo argue there is insufficient public discussion about the strategic capabilities of the US if there were to be a major confrontation, arguing that debates about a conflict involving Russia and China tend to be focused on regional dynamics, such as the war in Ukraine or a possible invasion of Taiwan.

“US global conventional firepower is underestimated, which threatens both the realities and the perceptions of strategic stability,” they write, adding that any hybrid use of nuclear weapons alongside conventional missiles would complicate an already fraught picture.

Though few believe a major confrontation between the US and either Russia or China is possible, the invasion of Ukraine has dramatically increased global uncertainty. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, warned in March that Moscow would be willing to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence was threatened.

The two authors argue that a strategic concern is whether Russia or China fear the US’s military capabilities to the point where they justify a new arms race. “The US 2024 Threat Assessment itself highlighted Chinese fear of a US first strike as motive for Chinese nuclear arms buildup,” they said.

The strength of the US conventional missile capabilities is such that it “pressures Russia and China to put their missiles on hair trigger”, ready to be launched immediately, the authors write. “The US would be on the receiving end for any mistaken launch one of them makes,” they add.

Last year, China began deploying a small number of nuclear weapons – a total of 24 – with their launchers, according to research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – and the US warned it may have to increase the size of its deployed warheads in response.

Plesch and Galileo warn that the changes in military power come at a time when arms control is declining. In 2019, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces arms control treaty, which had prohibited the US and Russia from having ground-launched missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500km, was allowed to lapse – leaving both sides to redeploy them.

They argue the emerging situation justifies a renewed focus on arms control, as suggested by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, in July 2023, when he called for a special session of the UN general assembly to be held on disarmament.

Chinese offshore gambling workers to lose Philippine visas as industry folds

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3277194/chinese-offshore-gambling-workers-lose-philippine-visas-industry-folds?utm_source=rss_feed

Tens of thousands of Chinese citizens in the Philippines to help run offshore gambling services stand to lose their work visas by mid-October, as the Southeast Asian country looks to uproot the industry by year’s end under growing scrutiny from both Beijing and Manila.

Foreign nationals who work for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) were told to cancel their work visas voluntarily by October. Otherwise, Manila is set to do so for any foreigners enmeshed in such operations, according to a Tuesday report by Philippine digital media firm Rappler.

Analysts said many – if not most – visa holders working for Pogos come from China and work alongside Filipinos as well as citizens of third countries.

More than 300,000 Chinese workers were employed by Pogos at the industry’s height, but official estimates put the number of those legally employed in the sector this year closer to half that amount.

Both Chinese and Philippine officials frown on the operations due to the suspected criminal acts they engender, a rare point of agreement between the two as sovereignty disputes rage over the South China Sea.

“I think China is opposed to such online gambling, especially if operating outside China with a penetration among the Chinese population,” said Victor Gao, vice-president of the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China and Globalisation.

Citizens who stand to lose their Philippine visas are probably providing capital, offering technical expertise or tracking people down to collect gambling debts, Gao said. “You’re talking about a huge dark side.”

In Manila, the government’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation said on its website in July that the country would “wind down” offshore gaming firms by the end of 2024.

China has urged the Philippines to nix the operations and said it would cooperate with authorities in Manila to reach that goal.

“The Chinese government is striking hard against Chinese citizens who travel overseas to gamble, including offshore gambling and other online gambling,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said on its website in July.

“The Philippine offshore gaming industry breeds vicious crimes and seriously harms the interests of the two peoples.”

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and current President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr have tolerated Pogos because some operators do legal business in the Philippines, said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.

These “legitimate” operations create jobs, occupy otherwise vacant buildings and pay taxes, he said. Some Chinese operators have combined their gaming services with above-ground hotels and resorts.

The prevalence of Pogos picked up after 2019 when Cambodia banned online gambling, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The American think tank said gambling operations in Cambodia were the recipients of heavy investments by Chinese nationals.

Illegal operations, however, now “create trouble for the government” in the Philippines, Araral said. “They don’t pay taxes, they engage in human smuggling and they have their own police.”

The Philippine Bureau of Immigration said in July it had arrested a Chinese man who was already wanted by authorities in China for trafficking other citizens to work for online gaming establishments in the Philippines.

Chinese who lose their Philippine visas are likely to seek work in casinos, real estate or other businesses in Southeast Asia, as they already “understand” the region, said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong.

Eyeing China, US to deploy satellites with advanced sensors for tracking targets by 2030s

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3277241/eyeing-china-us-deploy-satellites-advanced-sensors-tracking-targets-2030s?utm_source=rss_feed

A senior US Space Force official said the Pentagon has set its sights on the early 2030s to deploy satellites bearing advanced sensors for tracking airborne and ground targets so that America can keep pace with security threats posed by China and Russia.

“I would say you’re looking at probably the early ‘30s for some of that capability to start coming online,” said General Michael Guetlein, vice-chief of space operations, at a Defence News conference in Virginia on Wednesday.

Guetlein shared his estimate when asked about the Space Force’s timeline for deploying new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in space.

As adversaries had become “very good” at “denying oversight of their territory”, the US now needed to operate from increasingly higher altitudes to maintain battlefield visibility, he said.

Guetlein also stressed a need to focus on ground moving target indication (GMTI) and air moving target indication (AMTI), noting that the US had begun to invest in both.

Moving target indicators are radar sensors that can track objects in real time, such as Chinese warships entering the South China Sea or Russian tanks moving through Ukraine.

The advanced sensors can distinguish between moving and stationary objects, offering precise location data and even predicting future trajectories.

At present, the US Air Force manages space-based AMTI missions, but its ageing Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, also known as Awacs, are due for replacement.

Meanwhile, America’s spy satellites are overseen by the National Reconnaissance Office, a Pentagon agency, with the Defence Department’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency distributing space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery and analysis to US government users.

Guetlein saw the American arrangement as offering “a layered set of capabilities to increase survivability, first and foremost”.

He believed the US faced its most challenging global environment since the Cold War, describing the great-power competition “between near peers” as having returned “with a vengeance”.

China and Russia represented “pacing challenges”, he explained, each possessing “incredible” capabilities that threatened “our space, our use of space, as well as our allies’ and partners’ use of space”.

The long-time US Air Force general said China “has nearly 1,000 satellites in orbit, about 500 of which are capable of tracking and targeting our joint and coalition forces”.

And he argued that “our competitors also demonstrated deployment of offensive capabilities that can target and destroy space systems in all orbital regimes”.

“If we fail to counter them, our adversaries will control space, which will enhance their ability to wage war, and the world as we know it will change dramatically,” Guetlein said in advocating that Space Force get a bigger portion of the Pentagon’s budget.

In view of the threats, the Space Force budget needed “more, not fewer, resources to do our job”, he added, saying “resources need to double or triple to adequately fund the Space Force’s mission”.

In the yet-to-pass Pentagon budget for 2025, the Space Force has requested US$29.4 billion – about US$210 million less than in 2024 – owing to budget constraints.

3 ways Hong Kong can get the most out of Chinese medicine

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3277124/3-ways-hong-kong-can-get-most-out-chinese-medicine?utm_source=rss_feed

As Hong Kong anticipates the release of the Chinese medicine development blueprint in 2025, we have an opportunity to rethink how Chinese medicine can reshape our healthcare approach. With an ageing population and rising chronic illnesses, the preventive nature of Chinese medicine can contribute to better health outcomes and alleviate the burdens on our healthcare resources.

To maximise the impact of Chinese medicine, three critical areas deserve our focus. First, we should refine licensing examination standards to elevate the clinical competence of Chinese medicine practitioners, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary skills to meet evolving healthcare challenges.

Second, Hong Kong should establish a more defined role for Chinese medicine within the primary healthcare system, easing collaboration with the other healthcare disciplines. Third, the city should provide specialist training through Chinese medicine hospitals to develop practitioners’ advanced clinical competencies.

The 2022 Primary Healthcare Blueprint recognised the potential of Chinese medicine in primary care, envisioning a collaborative approach with other healthcare professionals to shift the focus of healthcare from not only treating disease but also preventing them. Therefore, enhancing the professional standards and reputation of Chinese medicine practitioners must be a cornerstone of the blueprint.

Heavily focused on theoretical knowledge, the current licensing exam for practitioners fails to adequately assess their clinical competence. Practitioners have noted that while graduates have a strong theoretical understanding, they often face challenges in applying knowledge to areas like prescription and acupuncture techniques.

To address this issue, the newly established Chinese medicine development blueprint subcommittee, which includes representatives from the three Chinese medicine schools in Hong Kong, should consider adapting mainland China’s examination model. In this system, students must pass practical skills assessments, encompassing diagnostics and treatment, before attempting the theoretical knowledge test. This approach ensures basic clinical proficiency.

Additionally, Taiwan’s model of incorporating Chinese medicine into the island’s undergraduate curriculum offers a valuable reference. The method in Taiwan mirrors mainstream medical school assessments, including simulated clinical interactions to enhance assessment skills.

Beyond improving the licensing exam, we should also clarify and enhance the role of Chinese medicine in primary healthcare services. A clearly defined role not only fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, it also encourages the development of targeted training programmes.

The newly established Primary Healthcare Commission can play a pivotal role in promoting Chinese medicine’s integration into the healthcare system. By collaborating with various training institutions, the commission can develop and implement a robust primary healthcare training framework for practitioners. This would enable more institutions to offer comprehensive training in primary care.

Mainland China’s primary care training model, which includes areas such as health education, general medical services and resident health management, serves as a valuable reference.

By adopting similar training approaches, practitioners in Hong Kong can gain real-world experience and acquire the professional knowledge and practical skills essential for effective primary healthcare delivery. This would empower practitioners to take on a greater role in preventive care, aligning with the principle of “treating before illness” and contributing to better health outcomes.

Embedding Chinese medicine more deeply into primary healthcare would encourage greater collaboration between practitioners and other healthcare professionals, fostering a multidisciplinary approach to health management. This could lead to the development of holistic treatment plans that draw from strengths of different healthcare professionals, ultimately benefiting patient care.

To further improve Chinese medicine training, there is a need for specialised training. To enhance overall quality and confidence in Chinese medicine services, the government should consider expanding access to specialised training for practitioners not working at Chinese medicine hospitals. Programmes could include clinical internships, mentorships and discussions about how best to provide care.

Furthermore, collaboration with recognised providers in the continuing medical education programme and local universities to jointly develop curriculum standards can help standardise Chinese medicine education. This would not only modernise Chinese medicine practices but also promote collaboration within the healthcare system, eventually benefiting patient care.

The Chinese medicine development blueprint presents an opportunity to enhance assessment and training systems. By focusing on these key areas, Hong Kong can nurture Chinese medicine professionals capable of meeting the current healthcare system’s demands. This, in turn, can enhance public confidence and promote the seamless integration of Chinese medicine into the healthcare system.

What is Beijing’s 9-dash line in the South China Sea and what does it mean?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3275865/what-beijings-9-dash-line-south-china-sea-and-what-does-it-mean?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 second of a three-part series, Orange Wang investigates the meaning of China’s nine-dash line.

The U-shaped nine-dash line that outlines China’s claims in the South China Sea is a long-standing bone of contention among the other claimants over the vast waterway and has been open to several interpretations.

The conventional wisdom is that Beijing “claims almost the entire South China Sea” but this oversimplifies its position and, while it might not be entirely inaccurate, risks being interpreted as a claim over the whole area within the line as its territorial waters.

In fact, Beijing’s position is more nuanced and starts with its “indisputable” sovereignty over islands, reefs, shoals and cays in the Pratas, Paracel, Spratly and Zhongsha islands, which it says is based on history.

Under Chinese law, only the waters within 12 nautical miles seaward of the baselines of these maritime features are regarded as part of China’s territorial sea and Beijing accordingly claims the contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf.

The baseline, of which the waters on the landward side are typically considered internal waters, is drawn by a state to measure its territorial sea and other maritime zones, according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

The vast expanse that remains of the waters within the nine-dash line is not claimed by Beijing as its territorial waters. In the South China Sea, Beijing has only published baselines for the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin and the Paracel Islands.

Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi has repeatedly rejected the suggestion that Beijing claims everything “within the dotted line” as its territorial waters, characterising it as “a deliberate attempt to confuse different concepts and distort China’s position”.

“The South China Sea is one of the safest and freest maritime areas in the world where freedom of navigation has never been an issue,” Wang said in July.

Nevertheless, China has not published any coordinates for the nine-dash line since its introduction almost 80 years ago, and there have been changes in both the number and locations of its segments over the decades.

Foreign experts have also warned that the line’s segments appear to be defining the scope of Beijing’s enforcement reach in the region, leading to tensions among its neighbours.

China’s dispute with the Philippines is in the spotlight now, but it has been going on for years and reached a peak in 2016 when an international tribunal ruled in Manila’s favour – a ruling that Beijing has steadfastly refused to accept.

Other claimants have also expressed their frustrations at alleged Chinese obstruction of their development activities in the resource-rich waterway.

The lack of any official coordinates for the nine-dash line has been one of the grounds for challenges to its legitimacy, along with its shifting ambiguity across numerous maps produced over the decades.

There were 11 dashes to the line when it first appeared on an official map of the South China Sea islands in 1947 that was drawn up by the Republic of China.

When the Communist Party established the People’s Republic in 1949, it continued the approach but removed two of the line’s dashes in the Gulf of Tonkin. Beijing and Hanoi reached a boundary delimitation agreement over this body of water in 2000.

A Nanjing University study published in 2003 found that the spatial locations of corresponding line sections in the official Chinese maps of 1947 and 1983 did not entirely match.

However, the researchers said that the areas circled by the lines in both maps were largely consistent, with the 1983 version only 4.8 per cent larger than its 1947 counterpart.

Jia Yu, former party chief at the Natural Resources Ministry’s China Institute for Marine Affairs, argued in a 2005 research paper that the line’s segments were based on the halfway points between China’s outermost islets and the shores of neighbouring countries.

While the term “nine-dash line” – jiu duan xian in Chinese – is widely used outside China for the cartographic marker, it is officially referred to in Beijing as “the dotted line” or duan xu xian.

In 2019, two academics at Xiamen University’s South China Sea Institute called on Beijing to adopt the term “U-shaped line” because of its “formal and neutral” tone that could help to avoid misunderstandings.

Translations of “nine-dash line” and “dashed line” – “informal” and “randomly scratched”, respectively – could give the impression of being undignified and hasty, and the translation of “dotted line” potentially carried the same flaw, they said.

The U-shaped line label was broadly used in the international arena until 2009, when Beijing submitted a map of its claimed territory in the South China Sea to the UN. The “nine-dash line” captured world attention and remains in popular use.

Meanwhile, the official newspaper of the People’s Liberation Army has another term for the marker, according to an article in June – chuan tong hai jiang xian, which means “traditional maritime boundary line”.

A new edition of China’s standard vertical national map sparked a wave of diplomatic protests among its neighbours when it was released in August last year because it appeared to show an extra dash in the line.

The apparent “10-dash line” – with an “extra” dash to the east of the island of Taiwan – raised questions from Malaysia and other Asean nations about whether Beijing was expanding its claims in the South China Sea.

It later emerged that the “extra” dash was picked up from horizontal versions of China’s official maps that had been in use since the 1950s.

These placed the South China Sea in a cutaway box at the bottom right corner. While the nine-dash line appeared inside the box, the apparent extra dash was part of the main picture.

The visual effect was carried through to Beijing’s first standard vertical map to present the South China Sea region on the same scale as the Chinese mainland, which appeared in 2013 and was repeated in last year’s map.

Many Chinese scholars have interpreted the line as representing a title to the islands and other features that it encloses. However, that would make it simply a geographic shorthand and erasing it would not necessarily hurt China’s claim, others argue.

Another viewpoint is that the line is intended to indicate a national maritime boundary between China and its neighbours.

But that notion has been challenged within China, because Beijing has confirmed it does not claim everything within the line as its territorial waters, while the line itself has never functioned as a national border.

Beijing has yet to provide a definitive or detailed explanation of the nine-dash line in any of China’s laws and official documents.

On official maps, the line follows the same format as a marker of an undetermined national boundary, rather than the continuous, unbroken depiction of a settled national border, while each segment is drawn using the symbol for a delimited boundary.

In their 2019 paper, the Xiamen University scholars, Kuenchen Fu and Cui Haoran, suggested that the line could be regarded as an “invitation to negotiate” delimitation of maritime boundaries.

According to other Chinese intellectuals, the line marks the geographical extent of China’s historic rights – a concept that remains cardinal to the controversies surrounding the 2016 ruling by The Hague that rejected this argument.

The tribunal concluded that China’s claims to historic rights within the nine-dash line were contrary to Unclos and have no lawful effect beyond the maritime entitlements granted under the convention.

However, Chinese scholars argued that the historic rights claims were compatible with Unclos, noting that there might be cultural and historical factors behind the differing perspectives of the concept between China and the West.

The Chinese government has not clearly defined its historic rights within the nine-dash line, nor has it officially demarcated different types of maritime zones within the line.

Even before the ruling, Chinese scholars called on Beijing to elaborate on its historical rights and secure the nine-dash line’s legal status through domestic legislation. The lack of clarity would put China in an awkward position, they warned.

In 2014, the US State Department also urged Beijing to clarify its “nine-dash line” claim.

Later that year, Fu Ying, the then-chairman of the foreign affairs committee of China’s top legislative body, and Wu Shicun, founding president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, co-authored an article on the issue.

“As the Nansha [Spratly] Islands dispute is still unsettled, any attempt to clarify the dash line or maritime claims would only lead to an escalation of tensions,” they wrote.

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