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• Pope makes new overture to China, calls Beijing ‘a promise and hope’ for Catholic Church
• China touts regional security cooperation at Xiangshan defence forum as US tensions loom
• Hong Kong tour guide struck off for threatening mainland Chinese reluctant to shop
• Biden is taking on cheap products from China. It could mean higher prices
• DHL riding China’s export wave with millions in new investments
• Italy busts ring trafficking retro video games from China
• Biden targets China’s Temu, Shein with low-value import duty exemption changes
• Starlink radiation makes stealth target glow on Chinese radar
• China’s ‘conscientious economist’ goes viral by speaking the truth
• Philippines sovereign wealth fund seeks Beijing collaboration despite South China Sea disputes
• US, China must pitch in to help vital Track 2 dialogue succeed
• China’s Xi Jinping to visit Russia next month for the BRICS summit
• China is raising its retirement age, now among the youngest in the world’s major economies
• Singapore defence chief’s Beijing forum trip part of US-China balancing act: analysts
• China-Russia expressway may get EV-charging treatment by major Moscow-based fuel retailer
• Kanye West’s upcoming China concert draws sarcastic rebukes on social media
• Another alarming near-miss for Hong Kong singer Andy Lau at China concert raises concerns
• South China Sea: Philippines urged to explore gas reserves, or risk losing them to Beijing
• US is stirring Asian tensions to suppress us, Russian minister tells China security forum
• [Sport] China raises retirement age for first time since 1950s
• China raises retirement age by up to 5 years amid growing pressure from ageing population
• Cambodia mulls visa-free entry for mainland China, Hong Kong visitors amid close ties
• Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post passes 4 million subscriber mark on YouTube
• China KOL confronts Japan tourists at Beijing historic site, says they do not deserve to be there
• South China Sea: Manila urged to form smaller defence pacts as Asean negotiations stall
• China’s foreign joint venture universities feel chill as political controls tighten
• Chinese graduates’ job pressures, Harris and Trump’s tough talk on China: 7 highlights
• Congress targets Chinese influence in health tech. It could come with tradeoffs
• What China’s Belt and Road Initiative has in store for coming decade as priorities evolve
• President Xi Jinping tones down focus on China’s growth targets as headwinds mount
• China’s defence chief Dong Jun speaks at Xiangshan Forum
• Delicate China woman asks neighbour not to use toilet at night, when ignored, blasts loud music
• [Sport] Farmers and students star in China's viral new football league
• China’s new Vietnam envoy calls for ‘patience’ in dealing with differences
• Malaysia a strong investment hub thanks to its ‘open policy’ amid US-China rivalry: trade chief
• Chinese ambassador Xie Feng lays down ‘red lines’ in US-China relationship
• Senior US official praises China’s cooperation on export controls for technology transfers
• US House approves legislation to restrict tax credits for EVs using Chinese battery technology
• China-Russia relations might have a few limits after all
• China sets some global standards for 6G tech as it looks towards next-gen communications

Pope makes new overture to China, calls Beijing ‘a promise and hope’ for Catholic Church

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3278497/pope-makes-new-overture-china-calls-beijing-promise-and-hope-catholic-church?utm_source=rss_feed

Pope Francis declared on Friday that China was “a promise and a hope” for the Catholic Church, offering extensive praise for Beijing at the end of a four-nation tour through Asia and again expressed hope to one day visit.

Francis’ comments, during an in-flight press conference en route home from Singapore, came as the Vatican enters into the final weeks of negotiations to renew a 2018 agreement over the contentious issue of bishop nominations.

Francis declared himself “happy” with the process, saying both sides were engaging in negotiations in a spirit of good will. “I’m happy with the dialogue with China,” he said. “The result is good.”

“China for me is an illusion, in the sense that I want to visit China,” he said. “A great country. I admire China. I respect China. It’s a country with a millennial culture, with a capacity for dialogue and understanding that goes beyond other systems of democracy.”

The Vatican has been working for years to try to improve relations with China that were officially severed over seven decades ago when the Communists came to power.

The aim is to unite the country’s estimated 12 million Catholics, who were divided into an official, state-recognised church and an underground church that stayed loyal to Rome.

Relations had long been stymied over China’s insistence on its exclusive right to name bishops as a matter of national sovereignty, while the Vatican insisted on the pope’s exclusive right to name the successors of the original Apostles.

The 2018 deal sought to find a middle ground, although the Vatican has flagged repeated violations and Rome has acknowledged it was a bad deal but the only one it could get.

It was signed at a time when China was tightening controls on all religions, especially Christianity and Islam, which are viewed as foreign imports and potential challengers to Communist authority.

The Holy See under Francis has gone out of its way to extend overtures to China. But its position has drawn criticism especially from American conservatives, who have accused the Vatican of selling out the faithful who have been forced underground.

Francis nevertheless was upbeat and seemed grateful for the opportunity to speak about China on his return from Asia, a region where Beijing wields so much influence.

“I think China is a promise and a hope for the church,” he added.

China touts regional security cooperation at Xiangshan defence forum as US tensions loom

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3278477/china-touts-regional-security-cooperation-xiangshan-defence-forum-us-tensions-loom?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing has focused on neighbouring Southeast Asian nations at its annual security conference, pushing for cooperation as it tries to portray itself in a “contrasting light” amid tensions over the South China Sea, analysts say.

In his speech at the Xiangshan Forum on Friday, Defence Minister Dong Jun said every country had “the right” to safeguard its security as well as a responsibility for global security.

But he said when “other parties” get involved in regional affairs, they should cooperate with countries in the region to “provide positive energy” – a veiled reference to the United States and its Asian allies’ recent maritime confrontations with Beijing.

“At this new crossroads, we cherish the enlightenment of historical experience even more, and we have more confidence and wisdom to answer the theme of peaceful coexistence,” Dong said.

He said the security of countries in the region “remains in their own hands”.

Dong’s remarks come as managing tensions in the South China Sea has become a critical issue in the Asia-Pacific and among southeast Asian nations, as Beijing and Manila have clashed in frequent coastguard incidents over the past year.

Senior defence ministry officials from key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are among those attending the three-day Xiangshan Forum.

On Thursday, Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, the country’s top command body, held separate bilateral talks with Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Tea Seiha, the Cambodian defence chief.

Zhang said the meetings focused on ways to deepen military cooperation and the “need to promote dialogue to maintain peace and security in the region”.

Other Asean participants include defence ministers and representatives from Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

The Philippines – which has clashed numerous times with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea – did not send a delegation. But a day before the forum, China’s foreign affairs vice-minister Chen Xiaodong hosted a meeting with Maria Theresa Lazaro, the Philippine undersecretary for foreign affairs, during which they agreed to continue conversations on maritime issues.

The Asean defence officials delivered speeches following Dong on Friday morning, in which they addressed the ongoing South China Sea disputes.

Singaporean Defence Minister Ng said China had “sought to play a constructive role” in contributing to global peace and stressed that the South China Sea tensions should be dealt with through dialogue.

Phan Van Giang, the defence chief for Vietnam, which has also found itself embroiled in South China Sea tensions with China, said the disputes should be resolved through peaceful means and that force should not be used in international relations. He also expressed his appreciation for China’s security initiatives in the hope of maintaining stability in the region.

Adly bin Zahari, the deputy defence minister for Malaysia, another South China Sea claimant, said stability would come when countries “cooperate and form credible partnership among states through bilateral or multilateral platforms”. He did not mention the disputed waterway in his address.

“I encourage more countries to settle any dispute through negotiation and dialogue,” he said. “It will increase trust and confidence between countries.”

China’s charm offensive at the Xiangshan Forum included an evening banquet on Thursday that was attended by senior Chinese military officials, including Dong and Zhang, as well as Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army’s Joint Staff Department.

While Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, other countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims.

China recently conducted a series of joint exercises with Asean countries, including a joint naval exercise with Singapore last week and a joint military exercise involving special forces with Thailand last month.

In April, Indonesia’s defence minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto visited Beijing and met with Dong and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the two sides pledging to strengthen joint military exercises.

In November last year, China hosted a rare joint anti-terrorism military exercise with five Asean nations – Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

On the sidelines of the forum, Wu Shicun, founder of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said relations between China and Asean were significant because the region is Beijing’s “close neighbour”.

“It is very important for China and Asean to discuss how to promote peace in the region, enhance mutual trust and avoid crises, especially in the South China Sea,” Wu said.

Thomas Daniel, a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, said it was “natural” for China, a country with strong economic ties in the region, to want to improve relations.

“China is a country that has a range of border disputes with a number of its neighbours, and having better defence ties is a way – a pretty mature way – to ensure the worst aspects of these disputes could be mitigated,” he said.

China faces challenges in building defence relations in the broader Asia-Pacific with countries like Japan and South Korea, in part because they are key US allies with a degree of distrust between the political leaderships of all three countries, Daniel said.

“Southeast Asia is a different story. Southeast Asian countries are deeply dependent on China for trade and I think the area of defence cooperation is one that has not really been explored with all Southeast Asian countries,” he said

But China could face challenges in its quest to deepen defence ties with the region as countries – especially those with territorial disputes with Beijing – feel pressured by China’s military strength.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the Xiangshan Forum tends to “avoid the more sensitive issues such as the South China Sea” and focuses instead on non-traditional security to use as a “platform to champion for cooperation”.

“[It’s an attempt] to contrast with what Beijing’s narrative would describe as hegemonic politics by certain external players, which would refer to the US and allies,” Koh said.

He said Beijing’s push for cooperation with Asean was meant to “portray Beijing in such a contrasting light, whereas the US and allies are pushing for confrontation”.

Benjamin Barton, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham’s Malaysia campus, said China had consistently used a “push and pull strategy” in its public diplomacy to appease the concerns of the claimant Asean member states in the South China Sea.

“It uses various hard and soft mechanisms to assuage the concerns of these claimant states at the same time that it makes moves that are to their strategic detriment – such as building military outposts,” Barton said.

“My sense is that Dong’s remarks fall into this continued strategy of assuaging claimant states, which basically provides the smokescreen needed to allow China to continue with its geostrategic pursuits in and over the South China Sea.”

Additional reporting by Dewey Sim

Hong Kong tour guide struck off for threatening mainland Chinese reluctant to shop

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3278488/hong-kong-tour-guide-struck-threatening-mainland-chinese-reluctant-shop?utm_source=rss_feed

A Hong Kong tour guide who was found to have threatened visitors to make them shop has been struck off for damaging the sector’s reputation.

The Travel Industry Authority said on Friday it had revoked Lam Chun-fai’s tourist guide licence after investigating complaints by some members of a mainland Chinese tour group in February that he strong-armed them into shopping.

Lam also berated those who were reluctant to spend and threatened the group that the trip could be affected if they did not buy goods at designated shops during a February 13 tour, the authority said.

The authority did not release further details about the incidents, but said: “Lam admitted his behaviour had harmed the reputation of the Hong Kong tourism industry.”

It said it had decided to take action under Section 111 of the Travel Industry Ordinance after considering the results of the inquiry and being satisfied Lam “was not suitable to continue to hold a tourist guide licence”.

Under the ordinance, the authority can revoke a licence on the recommendation of the disciplinary committee chairman if the act or conduct of the guide “brings, or poses an imminent risk of bringing, the travel industry of Hong Kong into disrepute”.

The authority said the move was intended to convey the “clear message” to the public and the industry that Lam’s conduct and the adverse impact on the city’s image and reputation were “absolutely unacceptable”.

Tour guides in Hong Kong must obtain a licence to operate. Offenders can be liable to a fine of HK$50,000 and one year in jail.

More than 5,300 licensed tourist guides and about 11,600 workers who accompany groups, and who also require licences, were operating in Hong Kong as of early this year.

The city welcomed about 34 million tourists last year, roughly 80 per cent of whom were from the mainland.

The city recorded about 25.1 million visitor arrivals in the first seven months of this year, up 52.2 per cent over the same period in 2023.

Despite the revival of inbound tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic, the make-up of mainland tourists has changed and many are spending less than before.

Such visitors are mostly younger and many like to explore at their own pace.

Some less-affluent mainland travellers also sign up to low-cost group tours, but sometimes find themselves being pressured to spend during shopping excursions.

Past complaints included tourists being berated or warned they would have no place to sleep unless they spent enough at designated stores.

Biden is taking on cheap products from China. It could mean higher prices

https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-temu-sheinde-minimis-8dc53cf600ce03e54dcdb0877fded11eFILE - Parcels slide down a ramp after being scanned at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection overseas mail inspection facility at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Feb. 23, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

2024-09-13T13:33:51Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is cracking down on cheap products sold out of China, expanding a push to reduce U.S. dependence on Beijing and bolster homegrown industry, but that could trigger higher prices for U.S. consumers who flock to popular shopping sites like Temu and Shein.

President Joe Biden’s proposed rule says foreign companies can’t avoid tariffs simply by shipping goods that they claim to be worth $800 or less. Sellers mainly from China have used the so-called de minimis exemption to flood the U.S. market, shipping dresses, shoes, toys and bags directly to American shoppers in small packages.

The number of these shipments has jumped from 140 million annually to over 1 billion last year, according to a White House statement. The U.S. government says the exemption also makes it harder to block banned imports like fentanyl and synthetic drug content, raising fears that unsafe and unlawful products are slipping through.

The White House move comes at a delicate moment for the world’s two largest economies. The United States has tried to lessen its reliance on Chinese products, protect emerging industries such as electric vehicles from Chinese competition and restrict China’s access to advanced computer chips.

For its part, China has seen manufacturing and exports as essential for driving economic growth as it has struggled with deflation following pandemic-related lockdowns.

Biden’s proposal comes the same week that the U.S. House targeted China in a largely bipartisan series of bills, showing the breadth of Washington’s efforts to compete with Beijing in a global race for dominance and the effects that can have on everyday Americans in areas from health care to shopping.

The House was not able to bring a bill to meaningfully narrow the de minimis exemption to the floor this week, prompting 126 House Democrats to call on Biden to use his executive authority to close a loophole that they say poses growing dangers to American workers, manufacturers and retailers and “threatens our health and safety.”

Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Rosa DeLauro said Friday they welcomed Biden’s announcement but called it just a first step that “does not negate the need for Congress to act on a comprehensive solution.” The White House called for legislative action.

China is the biggest source of retail packages entering the U.S., accounting for the bulk of parcels worth $800 and less, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has acknowledged that it is impossible to screen the 4 million packages that enter the U.S. every day under the tariff exception, which he said is “built on a false premise that low value means low risk.”

At a talk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in July, Mayorkas said customs workers have seized narcotics, ghost guns and other contraband from these small packages. He signaled that legislative changes could give Homeland Security greater authority to address the issue.

Leah DeVere, a Georgia mother, has been campaigning against the exception since her son Cory was shipped a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl two years ago. He died after taking the drug, she said.

“By tracing the package in which the pill was delivered, my family learned that the shipment originated abroad and breezed past U.S. Customs enforcement without so much as a second glance,” she wrote in an opinion column in May for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “My son’s life was worth more than $800.”

Such concerns led several U.S. groups — from law enforcement to manufacturing — to form a coalition to lobby lawmakers and the administration to act.

But the National Foreign Trade Council — whose members include international shippers FedEx, UPS and DHL as well as retailers Amazon and Walmart — has defended the exception, arguing it is “an essential component of America’s economic health and supply chain efficiency.”

Without the exemption, costs would go up for American consumers and small businesses, it says.

The U.S. government stressed that Chinese e-commerce sites have abused the exemption to sell cheap clothing and textiles to Americans, possibly harming domestic workers and companies.

Ending it could be a blow to Chinese-founded companies such as Temu and Shein that compete by keeping their prices low and might now have to face additional scrutiny. The government said its tariffs cover about 40% of U.S. imports, including 70% of textile and apparel imports from China.

Temu said it was reviewing the proposal. The company has managed to sell its products at affordable prices “through an efficient business model that cuts out unnecessary middlemen, allowing us to pass savings directly to our customers,” a Temu statement said. “Temu’s growth does not depend on the de minimis policy.”

Shein said it complies with all import requirements, including for de minimis parcels. The company also said it supports “responsible reform” of the exemption rule to create “a level, transparent playing field,” where the same rules are applied, “regardless of where a company is based or ships from.”

The proposed regulatory changes also would include new standards for smaller shipments, such as a 10-digit tariffs classification number and details on the person claiming the exemption.

Biden’s forthcoming proposed rule will undergo a public comment period before being finalized, a process that the Biden administration would likely need to complete before its term ends.

JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy. twitter mailto

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DHL riding China’s export wave with millions in new investments

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3278467/dhl-riding-chinas-export-wave-millions-new-investments?utm_source=rss_feed

Cargo forwarder DHL said it anticipates a surge in exports from China to drive a preponderance of transport and cargo processing over the final months of 2024, citing the country’s figures as it announced millions in planned investments to finish out the year.

The German-owned firm said it expects a “high-volume increase on the China outbound lane to the rest of the world during the coming peak” in a company statement released on Thursday.

DHL said it plans to spend €100 million (US$110.3 million) worldwide over the fourth quarter in anticipation of a glut of deliveries.

According to official data from August, China’s exports are holding strong, and analysts said pre-holiday shipments of merchandise to Europe and the US should bolster those figures.

“The fourth quarter is the traditional peak period, as it coincides with the West’s holiday season,” said Jayant Menon, senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Drops in interest rates could also catalyse spending. “Consumer confidence may have bottomed,” he said, “and could start improving with expected reductions in US and global interest rates.”

Chinese customs data shows the country’s goods exports increased by 6.9 per cent in the first eight months of the year, owing to growth in shipments to Southeast Asia, the European Union and the US. In August, exports rose 8.7 per cent from the year before to US$308.65 billion, up from a 7 per cent increase in July.

DHL said it had deployed eight new Boeing-777 freighters – planes known for their fuel efficiency – for intercontinental routes spanning Asia, Europe and North America.

Air cargo volume could increase as fuel prices moderate and more fuel-efficient aircraft are deployed, Menon said.

DHL has likely “sized up” the strong export figures out of China, said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at French investment bank Natixis.

The firm, which reported €81.8 billion in sales for the 2023 financial year, said it also expects a gradual recovery in business-to-business shipments and an 8.8 per cent growth in e-commerce this year.

It will be easier for DHL to ramp up investment, Garcia said, compared to a company with more infrastructure.

“DHL’s investment can be undone quite quickly because the level of capital expenditure is smaller, so it’s not the same as a port or shipping,” she said.

Capital expenditures are funds spent on acquiring and upgrading physical assets that will be useful beyond the coming tax year.

Chinese exports could falter in early 2025 if the US and European economies falter after their holiday seasons, Garcia-Herrero warned, so other cargo shippers might not follow suit by raising investments.

That outcome would be a “bummer” for China’s growth prospects in the first quarter, she said.

Italy busts ring trafficking retro video games from China

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3278478/italy-busts-ring-trafficking-retro-video-games-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Italy’s financial police said on Friday they have dismantled a ring trafficking counterfeit vintage video game consoles from China containing some of the most popular titles of the 1980s and 90s.

“Around 12,000 consoles on which more than 47 million pirated video games were illegally stored were seized, for an estimated value of more than €47.5 million (US$52.5 million),” Alessandro Langella, head of the economic crime unit for Turin’s financial police, told AFP.

The figure includes the value of the consoles and hundreds of licenses for the pirated programmes.

The games included Mario Bros, Street Fighter and Star Wars, and the consoles imitated Nintendo, Sega and Atari franchises in particular.

Games from the 1980s and 1990s are enjoying a resurgence as part of the so-called “retrogaming” trend, “which is experiencing a phase of strong popularity and commercial expansion”, Langella said.

The consoles, which did not meet European technical and safety standards, were imported from China to be sold in specialised stores or online, on sites such as Amazon, which helped the police with their investigation.

Police arrested nine Italians who are being charged with trading in counterfeited goods and risk up to eight years in prison.

Biden targets China’s Temu, Shein with low-value import duty exemption changes

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3278362/biden-targets-chinas-temu-shein-low-value-import-duty-exemption-changes?utm_source=rss_feed

The White House has announced new measures – largely aimed at Chinese e-commerce platforms like Temu and Shein – to reduce the range of low-value imports eligible for duty and tax exemptions.

US deputy national security adviser for international economics Daleep Singh said the measures will address the increasingly contentious de minimis rule, which exempts shipments valued under US$800 from import duties, taxes, and rigorous screening.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Singh said the Biden administration’s actions “seek to remove de minimis eligibility for products subject to trade enforcement actions under Section 301, section 201, and section 232, bringing consistency across our US trade laws”.

“Since approximately 70 per cent of Chinese textile and apparel imports are subject to section 301 tariffs, this step will drastically reduce the number of shipments entering through the de minimis exemption,” he said, noting the intent was to “curtail de minimis overuse and abuse”.

In 2018, then president Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 7 to 25 per cent on US$300 billion of Chinese imports under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, citing “unfair” trade practices.

His successor Joe Biden retained most of these tariffs and expanded them to include Chinese solar panels, electric vehicles and batteries – with tariffs on electric vehicles reaching up to 100 per cent.

The new tariffs were built on existing measures under Section 201 of the Trade Act and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which address industry, national security and human rights concerns.

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticised the de minimis exemption as a “loophole” that allows Chinese e-commerce companies and fentanyl traffickers to evade tariffs and threaten public safety.

A report by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in June last year estimated that Temu and Shein alone are likely to be responsible “for more than 30 per cent of all packages shipped to the United States daily under the de minimis provision”.

According to the committee’s report, it was also probable that “nearly half of all de minimis shipments to the US originate from China”.

A fact sheet released by the Biden administration showed the number of annual shipments coming into the US under the de minimis rule has skyrocketed, from roughly 140 million a decade ago to more than 1 billion as of last year.

“That is just too high a volume for our officials to be able to target and block the shipments that are unsafe, illegal, or violate our laws in any other way, or are unfairly traded,” said a senior official in the Biden administration.

The official also pointed out that a significant portion of the shipments can be attributed to major e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu.

“We are very concerned about large foreign companies exploiting the de minimis loophole in unprecedented ways, creating a scale and volume that we believe constitutes abuse,” the official said.

To ensure greater visibility into de minimis shipments, the US government also proposed new information collection requirements and stricter safety standards. Products that do not meet these standards will be blocked from entering the market.

Singh emphasised that the Biden administration will “always act” to protect Americans and enforce laws to “level the playing field for American workers, retailers and manufacturers”.

“We’re making sure foreign companies respect our laws and don’t endanger American families,” he said.

Singh also acknowledged the need to do more, and called on Congress to pass legislation this year to “comprehensively reform” the de minimis exemption.

The Biden administration believes that removal of de minimis eligibility from import sensitive products will help prevent the circumvention tactics, such as routing products through warehouses in third countries.

In August, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill seeking to block textiles and clothing from being imported under the de minimis provision.

“We’ll be specific about textiles and apparel, because they make up a huge percentage of the de minimis shipments that we’re seeing now,” the senior official said.

“There may be others, and this is an area where we’d really like to work with Congress to figure out, how do we make sure that any changes we’re taking or making to de minimis now take into account how trade volumes might shift in the future.”

The government will seek public comments on the proposed measures before the final rules are published in January next year, before the end of Biden’s term.

Starlink radiation makes stealth target glow on Chinese radar

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3278209/starlink-radiation-makes-stealth-target-glow-chinese-radar?utm_source=rss_feed

An unprecedented radar experiment conducted by Chinese scientists in the South China Sea could change the game of future warfare.

Taking a DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone – about the size of a bird and with a radar cross-section comparable to that of a stealth fighter – the team launched it off the coast of Guangdong.

The ground-based radar did not sent out any radio waves to produce an echo, but the target appeared on screen. This was because the drone was illuminated by electromagnetic radiations emitted by a Starlink satellite flying over the Philippines, according to the scientists.

No other country has demonstrated this capability before.

Stealth aircraft, such as America’s F-22, reduce electromagnetic wave reflection through geometric shapes and absorbing coatings to cheat radars.

However, if a radar station can make use of the Starlink satellite signals – which are strong and almost everywhere – its detection capabilities could be “unaffected by the target’s three-dimensional shape and surface material”, wrote the research team led by Professor Yi Jianxin, with the school of electronic information at Wuhan University, in a paper published on August 26 in the Journal of Signal Processing.

This will “provide significant advantages in detecting small and stealth targets”, they said.

Also, ordinary military radars reveal their positions when operating, making them potential targets for enemies.

“By using third-party radiation sources, radar systems can have enhanced concealment and anti-jamming capabilities,” Yi and his colleagues wrote.

The experiment was supervised by the Chinese government’s State Radio Monitoring Centre, and the results were peer-reviewed before publication.

When an aircraft passes through the airspace between communication satellites and ground antennas, it can scatter some of the electromagnetic waves emitted by the satellites.

These waves, also known as forward scatter, can disturb normal communication signals.

Scientists can analyse these small disturbances to identify and track a target of interest.

The idea of using forward scatter to detect drones was first proposed by Russian scientists at an international academic conference in 2015. But Starlink did not exist at that time.

Today, this giant constellation built by SpaceX has more than 6,000 satellites, constantly emitting high-frequency radio signals to support internet connections up to 220Mbps.

This complex electromagnetic environment was not considered in the design of current stealth fighters several decades ago.

SpaceX’s Starlink cooperates closely with the US military and has played a significant role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Researchers in the Chinese military are developing technologies to destroy Starlink if necessary.

But some teams are instead looking at how Starlink can be turned against the US military.

“Low-orbit satellite signals have the advantages of [being] all-weather, cross-regional and low-cost, which can be perfectly combined with covert forward scatter radars,” Yi’s team wrote.

The Starlink signals are encrypted, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk does not provide services for Chinese users.

However, Yi’s team claims that they can build a Starlink receiver using inexpensive components easily available in the electronics market.

The antenna is fixed on a rotatable base, allowing it to track the satellite moving across the sky.

Before this study, scientists had used FM radio, digital television and even hostile military radar signals to detect large targets such as civil airliners and cargo ships.

However, detecting small or stealth targets is much more challenging.

Yi and his colleagues revised the model of forward scatter radar detection based on a deeper look at the fundamental physical mechanisms, and they developed a new algorithm.

They also used an undisclosed high-performance chip to process the received signals.

Currently, their radar antenna is only the size of a frying pan, and the drones in the experiment flew at relatively low altitudes. Therefore, the technology disclosed in the paper cannot be directly applied to military use.

But Yi’s team claims they successfully detected signals corresponding to detailed features such as drone rotor movement, confirming the “feasibility and effectiveness” of the method and system design in anti-drone and stealth fighter applications.

China uses various methods to detect stealth aircraft to enhance its regional denial capabilities.

These methods include using large-scale Earth observation satellite constellations to automatically identify and track flying US stealth fighters, and deploying over-the-horizon radars along the coast which emit long-wave detection signals that cannot be absorbed by stealth coatings.

To prevent US military intervention in the South China Sea and Taiwan, the Chinese military has also installed advanced anti-stealth radars on many warships to form an electronic warfare killing network, according to state media reports.

China’s ‘conscientious economist’ goes viral by speaking the truth

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3278446/chinas-conscientious-economist-goes-viral-speaking-truth?utm_source=rss_feed

An outspoken economist has gone viral on Chinese social media as his down-to-earth comments about China’s slowing economy struck a chord with the general public.

Fu Peng, chief economist at brokerage firm Northeast Securities, addressed a slew of issues, including the stock market slump and the real estate crisis, at the 2024 Phoenix Financial Forum for the Greater Bay Area at the start of September.

His straightforward and critical remarks, with Fu having previously only attracted attention within financial circles, quickly circulated across online communities.

Widely shared comments include his vivid illustration of the concept of a middle-class consumption downgrade, by linking consumers’ choice of coffee to the shrinking property market.

“Once property values drop, consumer spending falls rapidly, with middle-class buyers shifting from 40 yuan coffees to 8 yuan ‘buy one, get one free’ deals,” he said at the event, organised by ifeng, a news portal under Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV.

The remarks prompted heated discussion at a time when downward pressure on the world’s second-largest economy is increasingly being felt at the micro level, as companies downsize, households cut spending and investors remain cautious.

Fu did not respond to an interview request from the Post, but at the event, he noted that the decade since 2009 marked a period of consumption upgrades in China, driven either by increases in wages or real estate gains.

However, he warned that relying on the property market was dangerous, as once values drop, consumer spending falls rapidly.

“The ‘wealth effect’ brought by real estate has faded, exerting a direct impact on consumption,” he wrote in a follow-up post on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, where he has nearly 3.9 million followers.

Looking back at the experience of the Japanese economy between 1990 and 2002, Fu said it saw households reluctant to spend, abnormally high deposit levels and a wave of investment overseas instead of locally.

“The situation in Japan back then is basically the same as what we are experiencing now,” he noted in the speech, which had attracted over 162,000 views by Friday afternoon on Bilibili, a popular video-sharing app known for its anime content.

During the 22-minute speech, Fu also analysed other issues, including population ageing, weak demand, low confidence reflected in a stagnant stock market and declining investment returns.

Overseas expansion of businesses offers limited relief, while cost-cutting measures like lay-offs further weaken domestic demand, complicating efforts to stimulate the economy, he said.

In another video shared on Weibo by ifeng on Wednesday, Fu’s comment about how real estate had become no longer investible and instead something to consume that required an annual maintenance cost equal to 2 per cent of the total price had received 2 million views.

Many online users praised Fu as a “conscientious economist”, saying his thorough analysis helped the public gain a more accurate understanding.

“It is rare to see someone like Fu who dares to speak out and is truthful in his views,” one said user on Weibo.

And with China’s economic growth having slowed to 4.7 per cent year on year in the second quarter, another user said that “Fu is so right”.

“With half of my stock investment lost and housing prices down by 30 per cent, and still having to repay loans, how can ordinary people like us dare to consume?” the user said.

Analysts had said that China’s economic growth in the second quarter was “well below expectations”, having hit 5.3 per cent in the first quarter.

Beijing set an economic growth goal of “around 5 per cent” for the year, but on Thursday, President Xi Jinping seemingly subtly toned down China’s focus on achieving its annual economic growth goals for 2024.

Xi said that China “should strive to fulfil the economic and social development goals and tasks for the whole year”, with Beijing’s top leadership having previously said in the communique following July’s third plenum that China “must remain firmly committed” to accomplishing this year’s goals.

Simon Zhao, associate dean at the faculty of humanities and social sciences at the Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, said the heated discussion on Fu’s views reflected how ordinary people have personally felt the huge impact of the economic downturn.

“Other economies have also experienced huge economic bubbles, but they have a more solid foundation, such as more adequate social relief and public housing, which China is currently lacking,” he said.

The strong resonance with Fu’s comments in China has occurred as “many economists have long failed to speak out about the real economic situation and the drawbacks of industrial policies,” Zhao added.

Bearish assessments of the Chinese economy and the government’s policies have become sensitive content in China in the past year.

At an annual economic work conference in December, officials were instructed to play up a bright view of the Chinese economy and step up public relations campaigns to lift confidence.

In a post on its official WeChat account the same month, the Ministry of State Security urged people not to be swayed by those who sought to “denigrate China’s economy” through “false narratives”.

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Philippines sovereign wealth fund seeks Beijing collaboration despite South China Sea disputes

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3278470/philippines-sovereign-wealth-fund-seeks-beijing-collaboration-despite-south-china-sea-disputes?utm_source=rss_feed

Maharlika, the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund, is open to “collaboration” with China in development projects despite ongoing maritime disputes, its chief said.

“I personally think that there is not enough collaboration going on in respect of Maharlika and [mainland] China and Hong Kong … intuitively, this is perhaps because of the reluctance arising from geopolitics,” Rafael Consing Jnr, president and CEO of the fund said.

Consing made the comments on the sidelines of the Hong Kong-Asean Summit 2024 organised by the South China Morning Post in partnership with the Hong Kong-Asean Foundation and the Our Hong Kong Foundation.

Tensions between Manila and Beijing have escalated due to overlapping claims in the disputed South China Sea, leading to recent clashes in the contested waters.

China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Consing emphasised that the relationship between the Philippines and China should be viewed as multifaceted and not solely based on individual conflicts.

“I really believe that there is a wider breadth of opportunities for us to be able to collaborate, and hopefully by doing so, mitigate the geopolitics of it,” said

Launched in July last year, the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) is the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund, aimed at financing major infrastructure projects, boosting development, and addressing endemic poverty in the Southeast Asian nation.

After initially facing delays, Consing announced in July this year that the fund has signed several memorandums of agreements to support energy security projects and is prioritising energy initiatives, exploring opportunities in broadband, healthcare, and green mining. He also expressed an openness to collaborating with China and learning from its expertise.

“We’re very open to doing business with [China],” he said. “And in fact, we look forward to whatever it is that they can contribute, because I’ve no doubt got so much to learn from them.”

Speaking on the Philippines’ stance on the tense relations between China and the US, Consing stated that Manila is “pursuing an independent foreign policy”.

“We’re a country of about 117 million people, and we should be able to make decisions which we feel serve the interests of the country,” he said.

“Whether that value comes from the United States, China, or any other country, we will take advantage of it,” he added.

Consing, a former investment banker, was appointed president and CEO of the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) in November. The MIC – which has an authorised capital of US$8.9 billion – manages the Maharlika fund.

Critics of the fund, including former Philippine central bank chief Felipe Medalla, have warned that if it is not governed properly, it could become like Malaysia’s scandal-tainted state investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

1MDB was set up to finance development projects in Malaysia but was accused of misappropriating at least US$4.5 billion dollars in public funds, ensnaring the country’s former prime minister Najib Razak as well as financial institutions like Goldman Sachs.

The Philippines’ own history of corruption has led to significant delays in launching the Maharlika fund due to sharp criticisms from civil society groups, particularly under President Ferdinand Marcos, Jnr’s administration given his family has long-been accused of kleptocracy. Notably, his father, Ferdinand Marcos, Snr, was a dictator ousted in 1986 amid allegations he plundered roughly US$10 billion from the country’s coffers.

However, Consing remains optimistic that, drawing from his experience in the private sector, he has implemented the necessary measures to avoid the same pitfalls of 1MDB.

“I’ve read about [1MDB] and researched it to make sure this does not happen to us,” he said.

“We want to ensure that we are putting structures in place to address these concerns,” Consing said, highlighting an investment policy and risk management framework established in July, along with the appointment of watchdogs to oversee its financial, corporate, investment, and HR committees.

But challenges persist. Consing said MIF is “100 per cent debt funded”, drawing on funds from state-owned banks and government entities.

“These contributions could have been used to reduce our debt, but instead it was used to seed us,” Consing said, noting that this informed discussions with his board and with investors on how the MIF will be used.

“We looked at the GDP, we looked at where the gaps are in the economy, and we have decided in the board that during its nascent stage, we will steer this as a National Development Fund.”

US, China must pitch in to help vital Track 2 dialogue succeed

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3278081/us-china-must-pitch-help-vital-track-2-dialogue-succeed?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States finds itself at a critical juncture in its policy approach towards China. In a recent Foreign Policy article, former US congressman Mike Gallagher and former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger urge the US to win against China. However, they fail to articulate a clear goal, offering only a nebulous assertion that the US must prevail in a new cold war.

With trade between the two nations amounting to US$758.4 billion in 2022, labelling the current tensions as a new cold war is a profound misjudgment. Unlike the original Cold War, the US and China should compete where necessary and cooperate where possible, presenting a more viable path forward for the world. This approach offers a coherent vision for all parties involved.

In an era where the only certainty is uncertainty, Anglo-American economies face a pressing need to redistribute wealth towards the middle class. Meanwhile, the ominous spectre of war casts a long shadow. Far-right political parties are gaining traction in Europe, offering neither substantive programmes nor rigorous historical analysis and instead appealing to the basest of emotions.

In his latest book On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century, former British prime minister Tony Blair astutely observes that “the bureaucracy’s natural inclination is to be bureaucratic”. As the US and China endeavour to cooperate on myriad issues while maintaining their respective stances in numerous disputes, it becomes evident that bureaucracy as a Track 1 dialogue is inherently limited in achieving desirable outcomes.

Former US president Donald Trump, in his characteristic simplicity, holds the quaint notion that if he can strike deals with powerful leaders in other major countries, the bureaucrats will handle the rest. This is patently misguided. Leaders of major nations must transcend such simplistic paradigms and look beyond parochial national interests to guide the world towards a brighter future.

The imperative for US-China collaboration is clear, but how should they do so? Current engagement between the two largest economies is faltering. Track 2 dialogues between retired government officials and other experts are indispensable in arresting the further deterioration of this relationship. They provide a platform for leaders to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s conditions.

As Leo Tolstoy famously wrote in Anna Karenina, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Paramount leaders in the East must come to terms with the reality that they cannot always trust their underlings, who are incentivised to be sycophants. Conversely, Western leaders are often ensnared by the whims of public opinion polls which stymie their ability to take necessary political actions.

Consider the regulation of artificial intelligence. It is a painful example of how joint US-China initiatives are floundering. Following the meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco last year, a cadre of experts from both nations convened in Suzhou for a Track 2 dialogue on AI. This face-to-face interaction allowed them to candidly share their respective concerns.

Despite such efforts, however, Microsoft earlier this year asked its China-based AI workers to move overseas while forging an alliance with the Emirati AI giant G42, to the detriment of Chinese interests. This sequence of events has engendered significant distrust.

Rather than engaging in recriminations, it would be more pragmatic to accept the other side’s existence as a given and strive to comprehend how each system operates. US officials and Track 2 experts must engage more directly with the true decision-makers. They need to convey that, despite the election-driven political rhetoric, regime change in China is not their objective.

Rush Doshi, another US foreign policy expert, argues in his book The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order that China’s strategy is not about immediate confrontation but positioning itself as a global leader over the long term. This perspective is crucial for grasping the drivers behind China’s actions and intentions. Understanding these nuances is essential for navigating the complex US-China relationship.

If the term “new cold war” reflects the personal memories of its proponents, they should be reminded that the Chinese nation has a slightly longer past on which to reflect. The Chinese leadership has long believed the West maintains a uniform policy against its existence. This historical context is vital for comprehending the depth of mistrust that colours Beijing’s world view.

In conclusion, the path forward for US-China relations lies not in a simplistic win-lose paradigm but in a nuanced approach that balances competition with cooperation. While vigilance is necessary, it is equally important to seek common ground and build a relationship based on mutual respect and shared interests.

China’s Xi Jinping to visit Russia next month for the BRICS summit

https://apnews.com/article/russia-china-ukraine-brics-xi-jinping-visit-3f6e07b705ec634c458a2b89e37614c8FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin look toward each other as they shake hands prior to their talks in Beijing, China, May 16, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

2024-09-12T12:00:38Z

MOSCOW (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence.

Xi’s visit to Russia will be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for weapons production.

Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg Thursday and the two hailed ties between the two countries. The Chinese foreign minister said that Xi “happily accepted” Putin’s invite to attend the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October.

Putin, in turn, announced that the two will also sit down for a bilateral meeting in Kazan and discuss various aspects of the Russia-China relations, which “are developing quite successfully” and “in all directions.”

Xi last visited Russia in March 2023 and Putin reciprocated with his own trip to China in Oct. that year. The two leaders have since also met in Beijing in May, where Putin took the first foreign trip of his fifth presidential term, and in Kazakhstan in July.

After launching what the Kremlin insists on calling a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China as Western sanctions cut its access to much of the international trading system. China’s increased trade with Russia, totaling $240 billion last year, has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blows from the sanctions.

Moscow has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and relied on Chinese companies to import high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.

The two countries have also deepened their military ties in the last two years.

The BRICS alliance was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. It has recently undergone an expansion and now includes Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has said it’s considering joining, and Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied.

BRICS has a stated aim to amplify the voice of major emerging economies to counterbalance the Western-led global order. Its founding members have called for a fairer world order and the reform of international institutions like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

China is raising its retirement age, now among the youngest in the world’s major economies

https://apnews.com/article/china-retirement-age-642a34c97b1935fbaea8add81eda88b0People on their bicycles and electric bikes wait at a traffic lights junction during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

2024-09-13T06:52:25Z

BEIJING (AP) — Starting next year, China will raise its retirement age for workers, which is now among the youngest in the world’s major economies, in an effort to address its shrinking population and aging work force.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature, passed the new policy Friday after a sudden announcement earlier in the week that it was reviewing the measure, state broadcaster CCTV announced.

The policy change will be carried out over 15 years, with the retirement age for men raised to 63 years, and for women to 55 or 58 years depending on their jobs. The current retirement age is 60 for men and 50 for women in blue-collar jobs and 55 for women doing white-collar work.

“We have more people coming into the retirement age, and so the pension fund is (facing) high pressure. That’s why I think it’s now time to act seriously,” said Xiujian Peng, a senior research fellow at Victoria University in Australia who studies China’s population and its ties to the economy.

The previous retirement ages were set in the 1950’s, when life expectancy was only around 40 years, Peng said.

The policy will be implemented starting in January, according to the announcement from China’s legislature. The change will take effect progressively based on people’s birthdates.

For example, a man born in January 1971 could retire at the age of 61 years and 7 months in August 2032, according to a chart released along with the policy. A man born in May 1971 could retire at the age of 61 years and 8 months in January 2033.

Demographic pressures made the move long overdue, experts say. By the end of 2023, China counted nearly 300 million people over the age of 60. By 2035, that figure is projected to be 400 million, larger than the population of the U.S. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences had previously projected that the public pension fund will run out of money by that year.

Pressure on social benefits such as pensions and social security is hardly a China-specific problem. The U.S. also faces the issue as analysis shows that currently, the Social Security fund won’t be able to pay out full benefits to people by 2033.

“This is happening everywhere,” said Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. “But in China with its large elderly population, the challenge is much larger.”

That is on top of fewer births, as younger people opt out of having children, citing high costs. In 2022, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that for the first time the country had 850,000 fewer people at the end of the year than the previous year , a turning point from population growth to decline. In 2023, the population shrank further, by 2 million people.

What that means is that the burden of funding elderly people’s pensions will be divided among a smaller group of younger workers, as pension payments are largely funded by deductions from people who are currently working.

Researchers measure that pressure by looking at a number called the dependency ratio, which counts the number of people over the age of 65 compared to the number of workers under 65. That number was 21.8% in 2022, according to government statistics, meaning that roughly five workers would support one retiree. The percentage is expected to rise, meaning fewer workers will be shouldering the burden of one retiree.

The necessary course correction will cause short-term pain, experts say, coming at a time of already high youth unemployment and a soft economy.

Some of the comments on social media when the policy review was announced earlier in the week reflected this anxiety.

But of the 13,000 comments on the Xinhua news post announcing the news, only a few dozen were visible, suggesting that many others had been censored.

Singapore defence chief’s Beijing forum trip part of US-China balancing act: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3278416/singapore-defence-chiefs-beijing-forum-trip-part-us-china-balancing-act-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

The Singapore defence chief’s visit to China to attend a premier annual security conference could be a demonstration of the city state’s aims to build defence ties with both Washington and Beijing, observers said.

They said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen was likely to share Singapore’s concerns over regional issues including Taiwan and tensions in the South China Sea as he met Beijing’s key security officials on the sidelines of the Xiangshan Forum.

Ng raised the South China Sea issue in his speech at the forum in Beijing on Friday, stressing China’s role in the territorial disputes and calling for greater dialogue.

“Just as China has shown resolve and commitment to help deal with security issues in other places, it also plays a key role in our own backyard, particularly in the South China Sea,” he said.

Tensions in the resource-rich waterway – most of it claimed by China – remain high amid a series of clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels, despite efforts by both rival claimants to de-escalate the situation.

Beijing and Manila reached a provisional agreement in July after repeated clashes near the Second Thomas Shoal, and held talks this week over Sabina Shoal, another disputed reef that has emerged as a fresh hotspot. Both features are part of the contested Spratly Islands, claimed by China as the Nansha Islands.

Ng told the forum that while tensions over the Second Thomas Shoal had “moderated”, “incidents in other disputed areas have now cropped up”.

“We hope that dialogue would continue. Sustained channels of communication such as hotlines are also necessary, especially in moments of crisis,” he said.

Ng’s proposals included finding an “expeditious conclusion” to the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea between China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – a long-delayed rule book that would guide actions in the vast, busy waterway. Progress on this has been slow despite commitments from all sides to reach an agreement by 2026.

Apart from the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia are among several Asean countries with overlapping maritime claims in the region.

Ng arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for what would be his sixth appearance at the Xiangshan Forum – and his 10th official visit to China since becoming defence minister in 2011.

On Thursday, Ng met Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, the country’s top military command body. The pair reaffirmed “long-standing, warm and friendly” defence relations, according to a statement from the Singaporean defence ministry.

They discussed ways to deepen cooperation and traded views on global and regional security developments “and the need to promote dialogue to maintain peace and stability in the region”, the statement said.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Zhang as saying that he hoped the Chinese and Singaporean militaries would maintain high-level exchanges and strengthen pragmatic cooperation.

Singapore maintains warm security ties with China, while the United States remains its key defence partner.

The Singaporean and Chinese navies held a five-day bilateral maritime exercise earlier this month, involving helicopter cross-deck landing, gunnery firing, and search and rescue drills.

Chong Ja Ian, a professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said Ng appeared to wish to build on the existing dialogue with the Chinese defence establishment.

“There are obviously rising tensions from the Korean peninsula through the East China Sea, over Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Should these get out of hand, they will affect Singapore’s trade and connectivity with northeast Asia,” he said.

“In this sense, Singapore has an incentive to encourage more communication and negotiations rather than the use of force and coercion,” he added, but was doubtful that the talks would have an effect on Chinese actions in the disputes.

Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman, a research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Ng’s attendance at the Beijing security forum was “geopolitically important” for the city state to ensure balanced relations with major powers in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Given that Singapore hosts the annual Shangri-La Dialogue which is quite Western-centric, participation in the Xiangshan Forum enables Singapore to engage China more substantively and get perspectives from the non-Western end of the geopolitical spectrum,” he said.

Ng’s meetings with Chinese defence officials were a “strategic complement” to this month’s joint naval exercises but they could also be aimed at demonstrating to both Beijing and Washington Singapore’s agency and independence in foreign policy and defence relations, he added.

Also on Friday, Singapore time, defence officials attending the 14th Singapore-US Strategic Security Policy Dialogue at the Pentagon in Washington hailed the “excellent and mutually beneficial partnership” between the two countries.

Chan Heng Kee, the Singaporean defence ministry’s permanent secretary, and US acting under secretary of defence for policy Amanda Dory reaffirmed the importance of Washington’s continued engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, according to an official readout from Singapore.

Muhammad Faizal said it was clear that China as a major power was a key player in regional tensions affecting Southeast Asia, and that Singapore might try to convey its concerns about the escalation in the South China Sea.

“Dialogue and practical cooperation are slow-moving diplomatic efforts but essential to prevent tensions from ballooning into conflict. So, it is also important that Singapore persuades China to continue to participate in inclusive regional security platforms,” he said.

With Singapore keen on good defence relations with China, Chong said that Ng was likely to have discussed strengthening security cooperation with Beijing, including joint military exercises.

As for China, Chong said the People’s Liberation Army seemed “quite interested in finding out more about militaries that extensively use US and Nato-specification equipment, which could help them better understand the systems, technologies, and tactics that potential adversaries may deploy.”

Similarly, he suggested that Ng might “carefully” air concerns over the potential instability and costs that might result from Beijing’s “increasingly robust efforts” to press its claims in the East and South China Seas and over Taiwan through the use of military and paramilitary forces.

Beijing has territorial disputes with Tokyo in the East China Sea. It also sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

However, Chong said it remained to be seen how far Beijing would heed Singapore’s concerns.

“While Ng may restate Singapore’s positions and interests, there is no natural reason why a major power like [China] would pay particular heed to what Singapore has to say beyond trying to demonstrate that it is willing to engage with different types of interlocutors,” he said.

“If Beijing had an intention to modify its behaviour, it would have already done so rather than have to wait and listen to an actor that is not part of the various disputes, even if it is an interested party.”

China-Russia expressway may get EV-charging treatment by major Moscow-based fuel retailer

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3278428/china-russia-expressway-may-get-ev-charging-treatment-major-moscow-based-fuel-retailer?utm_source=rss_feed

A major Russian operator of petrol stations is laying plans to help drivers of electric vehicles cross the vast country into China – without running out of power – and in turn stoke imports of Chinese EVs to Russia.

Moscow-based EuroTrans will bid to install its charging stations along an expressway extension that would span more than half of Asia from west to east and link up with China, according to company vice-chairman Sergei Alekseenkov.

The stations, which would be replete with convenience stores and eventually designed to cut EV charging times to as little as 10 minutes from the more common half hour, should let electric cars travel from 400-600km (249-373 miles) before running out of juice, Alekseenkov said on Thursday the sidelines of the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that the existing Moscow-Kazan expressway will eventually be built eastward to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast with a “branch” to China, which has maintained close economic ties with its northern neighbour despite sanctions from the West over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

A EuroTrans spokeswoman said the company expects a “state tender” among Russian firms for the construction of EV charging stations.

To size up the work ahead, EuroTrans intends to take 10 or 20 EVs from Moscow to Beijing and let the drivers evaluate their trips, Alekseenkov said.

“One of our ideas is to [test drive] electric cars … from Moscow to Beijing and see how that would work in reality, and see how a customer feels when he goes such a large distance using a new type of vehicle,” he added.

The future charging stations would be able to accommodate large EVs, which would be ideal for cargo shipments, the vice-chairman said.

Meanwhile, China is “likely” to build EV charging stations on its roads to Russia, because that infrastructure “doesn’t require hefty upfront investments”, said Xu Tianchen, a senior China economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

EuroTrans’ ambitions coincide with a surge of imports of Chinese EVs to Russia and expectations that those EV shipments will keep rising.

As of November, the company was running 54 petrol stations in and around Moscow and now says that 20 per cent of Russia’s charging stations are in use.

China is already Russia’s largest source of cars, selling 438,000 vehicles from January to May, a year-on-year rise of 92.8 per cent, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has said. Chinese exporters shipped 154,000 EV in the first five months, double the count of the same period last year.

Russian consumers might buy more Chinese EVs if not frustrated by today’s long average battery-charging times, Alekseenkov said. Many customers drink two cups of coffee while waiting for a recharge, he said.

EV penetration in Russia was less than 1 per cent in 2023, according to Fitch Solutions. However, the Russian government aims to raise that penetration to 10 per cent by 2030 and commission more than 72,000 EV charging stations.

China is the world’s largest EV producer and market.

Xu cautioned that a boom in roadside charging stations would not substantially increase EV penetration, because the vehicles do not perform well in “extremely cold weather”.

Northern China and Russia usually experience long winters with prolonged freezing temperatures.

Alekseenkov called his concept for a charging station network “step by step” but anticipated an expressway “filled with charging stations”.

Kanye West’s upcoming China concert draws sarcastic rebukes on social media

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3278395/kanye-wests-upcoming-china-concert-draws-sarcastic-rebukes-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed

American rapper Kanye West is set to perform in Haikou city, capital of the Chinese island Hainan province on Sunday, September 15, 2024. More than 30,000 tickets were sold out in seconds on Chinese ticketing platforms.

Some netizens are expressing shock that the controversial artist has been allowed to perform despite China’s tight censorship while others are surprised he chose Haikou as his performance location. But his unusual choice of location might be just what the government wants.

Another alarming near-miss for Hong Kong singer Andy Lau at China concert raises concerns

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3278351/another-alarming-near-miss-hong-kong-singer-andy-lau-china-concert-raises-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Lau Tak-wah narrowly escaped a potential accident during his concert in Shenzhen in southern China on September 9, raising national concerns for his safety.

While the 62-year-old Cantopop legend was performing and fully engaged with the audience, a trapdoor unexpectedly opened on stage.

Footage circulating online captured the moment when Lau, oblivious to the hazard, stepped forward and nearly fell into the open trapdoor, catching himself just in time as he dropped to his hands and knees.

Despite the near-miss, Lau maintained his composure, playfully kicking his legs while lying on the stage, much to the relief of his fans who could be heard gasping in the background.

In response to the incident, staff quickly came to his aid, with one reaching out from below the trapdoor to assist him and another providing a towel.

After getting back on his feet, Lau finished the song, telling fans that he had hurt his finger and needed to leave the stage to get it bandaged.

After returning, he said to the audience: “I promised to stay safe and healthy for you all, but now my finger is hurt. I’m sorry.”

Many fans recorded the incident, and the videos quickly went viral on mainland social media.

One fan expressed concern for the superstar on Weibo: “Lau is so focused during his performance that he forgets about his own safety.”

Another criticised the concert management: “The trapdoor opened when it shouldn’t have. On a dimly lit stage, there’s no way Lau could have seen it.”

This incident marks the third near-accident during the star’s mainland tour.

On July 5 in Shanghai, he attempted a risky stunt by sliding on his knees to the edge of an elevated platform, nearly falling off.

Lau later apologised to fans, saying: “I’ll take better care of myself. There will not be a next time.”

However, during his late July Beijing concert, he almost stepped off a 3-metre-high platform but fortunately glanced down and grabbed the railing in time.

An unnamed concert industry insider told Fengmian News that stage design flaws and poor management were key factors behind the incidents.

Lau made his mainland comeback after a decade, with the Shenzhen concert marking the final stop of his tour.

Since July 5, he has visited eight cities across China, performing 36 concerts.

After the Shenzhen concert, Lau posted a photo on Weibo, saying: “Thank you, everyone. See you at the next stop.”

His next concert is scheduled for October 3 in Macau.

Many fans have expressed concern for his condition, given the intense schedule of multiple high-energy performances in a short period.

However, one Weibo user criticised Lau, stating: “He has made enough money and shouldn’t push himself too hard with concerts. Maybe it’s time for him to retire.”

In response, a fan defended him, saying: “Lau will always be our King of Cantopop. We will sing with him till he is 120 years old.”

Stage safety incidents across China are not uncommon.

In July 2022, a massive video panel fell from the ceiling during the Cantonese boy band Mirror’s concert in Hong Kong, hitting two dancers, one of whom was left paralysed from the neck down.

South China Sea: Philippines urged to explore gas reserves, or risk losing them to Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3278397/south-china-sea-philippines-urged-explore-gas-reserves-or-risk-losing-them-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines is being urged to expand gas exploration within its section of the South China Sea as its main natural gas field nears depletion, with influential retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio warning the government to act swiftly before Beijing does.

“This is actually a battle of who can get the natural resources because the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is about exploitation of natural resources, and we are running out of gas in Malampaya,” Carpio told ABS-CBN News on Wednesday.

Malampaya, the country’s largest natural gas field, is in Palawan, a province facing the South China Sea.

Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr signed a 15-year contract extension to drill a new well in the field. The Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre’s 2023 report warned that Malampaya is expected to be depleted by 2027.

“The only replacement is the Reed Bank, and we have to start developing now,” Carpio said.

According to a 2023 United States Energy Information Administration report, the Reed Bank, located northeast of the Spratly Islands, could hold up to 5.4 billion barrels of oil and 55.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Carpio’s comments come after a China research vessel and six Chinese maritime militia ships were spotted entering Reed Bank on Tuesday, according to the monitoring of Ray Powell, a maritime security analyst at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University.

Given the potential for conflict with China, “We need a joint patrol with the US there when we start the drilling,” Carpio added.

Vincent Kyle Parada, a former defence analyst for the Philippine Navy and a graduate student at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told This Week in Asia that if Carpio’s suggestion is followed, Manila will have to contend with a Chinese presence.

“Reed Bank falls under a stretch of the South China Sea already teeming with Chinese vessels. It may not be part of the disputed Spratly Islands, but Beijing continues to contest our economic rights in the area – a fact which led to the initial moratorium on exploration in the first place,” Parada said.

He added that Manila might need to withdraw from the area or deploy a strong naval force to protect its drilling operation.

“The alternative is having Reed Bank as a potential flashpoint for tensions, with the China Coast Guard harassing Filipino vessels and denying them entry to the area similar to what we’ve seen at Scarborough, Sabina, and Second Thomas Shoals,” he explained.

According to Parada, Marcos Jnr’s predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, tried in 2018 to negotiate a joint exploration deal with Beijing, but talks fell apart when China refused to recognise the Philippines’ legal rights over the area.

In March this year, President Marcos Jnr suggested he was open to cooperating on an energy project with Beijing but emphasised that the Philippines’ sovereign rights and territorial jurisdiction must be considered if the government revived any joint exploration deal.

Asked if Carpio’s joint maritime patrol suggestion with the US and allies will work during Manila’s oil exploration, Parada acknowledged it could lead to a rebuke from Beijing, but it would secure the Philippines’ lifeline to an alternative energy source.

He said the challenge rests on Manila’s decision not to physically involve other countries in operations in the South China Sea for fear of escalation.

“Despite Manila’s efforts at alliance-building, it was still very much convinced of the need to respond to Chinese provocations alone, both to prove that it could independently uphold the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including dispel allegations by Beijing that it was acting on behalf of US interests,” he said.

China has competing claims in the South China Sea, not only with the Philippines but also with Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam.

Chris Gardiner, CEO of the Institute for Regional Security in Canberra, said like Malaysia, the Philippines has the right to exploit natural resources in its exclusive economic zone and should be supported by allies and resist China’s hybrid warfare tactics.

“I agree with Justice Carpio that it is time for the Philippines to seek assistance and assert its rights. Part of China’s approach is to normalise its control of the areas over which it asserts a claim. That normalisation strengthens the longer states prevaricate on securing their rights,” Gardiner said.

According to Gardiner, the Philippines needs support from the US, Japan, Australia, and other partner states to develop resources in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for part of the disputed South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone.

“That should involve joint escort and protection operations for all aspects of establishing and operating drilling projects. These joint operations may need to include in their capabilities and rules of engagement non-lethal means,” he said.

“It may also be necessary for joint strategy to consider how the Philippines would resist actions by China to commence resource projects in the Philippines EEZ – that is, naval operations not just to react to efforts to stop projects by the Philippines but operations to prevent Chinese projects,” he added.

Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and international studies lecturer at De La Salle University in the Philippine capital, argued the current problem is that Manila in the past did not push through the idea of exploration, unlike Vietnam or Malaysia, which they took advantage of timing.

“It would be easier if we have started already, and we will just continue what we have done. Like Malaysia, they already started it, so there will be less challenges compared when you start with nothing. There will be political and security risk problems as well, finding the right investors,” he said.

“We should begin engaging with our partners because we are not yet capable of doing it on our own. We need the help of the private sectors,” he added.

Gill also supported Carpio’s suggestion for Philippines-US joint maritime patrol should Manila begin its exploration, considering the existing Mutual Defense Treaty between the countries.

“The problem is that if our joint maritime patrol is delayed, China will station their coastguard and militia vessels there. So we have to do that now to keep it open and free. The only challenge also is to maintain a consistent presence and more regular joint patrols,” he added.

US is stirring Asian tensions to suppress us, Russian minister tells China security forum

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3278421/us-stirring-asian-tensions-suppress-us-russian-minister-tells-china-security-forum?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States is stirring up military tensions in Asia as part of its plans to “contain and suppress” both China and Russia, a senior Moscow official claimed on Friday.

Speaking at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, Russia’s deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said deepening military ties between the two countries was a “priority” and their partnership was a “peace guarantee”.

The previous day China confirmed that President Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next month for a Brics summit, where he is expected to meet Vladimir Putin for what will be the third time since May.

In his speech at the opening session of the three-day security forum, Fomin spoke highly of the growing alignment between China and Russia as the war in Ukraine continues.

He said the two countries support the creation of “a just, multipolar world order based on equality and mutual respect” while portraying Russia as a security partner in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

He said: “The US and its allies are endeavouring to suppress any political, economic and technological development centre that is not obedient to the US. This is double suppression and containment of China and Russia.”

Fomin also lashed out at Washington’s increased presence in Asia – in particular the creation of a series of security blocs, such as the Aukus partnership with Australia and Britain – and said Western powers were starting an arms race and preparing for war.

He also said Ukraine was being used as a “tool” to weaken Russia in a proxy conflict with the West and claimed the US was trying to provoke tensions and a similar military crisis in Asia.

He said Washington’s possible deployment of mid-range missiles in Japan was clearly targeted at Beijing and Moscow. “The US wants tensions in the Taiwan Strait to remain and wants to militarise Japan,” he said.

According to the RIA news agency, Fomin also said Russia’s war in Ukraine has reinvented modern warfare and it is ready to share its unique experience of Western weapons with partners.

Earlier this week, a joint statement by American and European Union diplomats said China was offering “very substantial” military support to Russia. US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said Beijing was providing direct assistance to “sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine” in return for sensitive technology from Moscow.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan also raised “deep concerns” about Chinese support for Russia during his visit to Beijing last month, but admitted there has been no progress on this front.

Instead, Beijing appears to have accelerated its efforts to strengthen the “no limits” partnership, sending Premier Li Qiang, Vice-President Han Zheng and top diplomat Wang Yi to meet Putin in the past three weeks.

In his meeting with the Russian leader in St Petersburg on Thursday, Wang said the two countries were working together to “oppose unilateral bullying, and resist bloc confrontation”, in a thinly veiled swipe at the US.

Earlier this week China’s defence ministry announced that the two countries would hold joint naval and air drills later this month in the Pacific, while four Chinese warships and 15 planes are currently taking part in the Russian navy’s largest combat drill in 30 years.

The Ocean 2024 exercise stretches from the Baltic and Mediterranean seas and extends to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

When launching the drills on Tuesday, Putin said: “Under the pretext of countering the allegedly existing Russian threat and containing the People’s Republic of China, the United States and its satellites are increasing their military presence near Russia’s western borders, in the Arctic, and in the Asia-Pacific region.”

While insisting the military partnership was not aimed against third countries, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested on Wednesday that Beijing and Moscow could “combine our potential” if faced with a threat from the US.

When asked about the possible deployment of US mid-range missiles to Japan, Reuters reported that she replied: “I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to ‘double containment’ by the United States with ‘double counteraction’.”

[Sport] China raises retirement age for first time since 1950s

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62421le4j6o

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China raises retirement age by up to 5 years amid growing pressure from ageing population

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3278380/china-raises-retirement-age-5-years-amid-growing-pressure-ageing-population?utm_source=rss_feed

China has decided to raise the retirement age by up to five years as the country battles an economic slump and the growing pressure from an ageing population.

The retirement age for men will rise from 60 to 63 and for female office workers from 55 to 58 as a result of the decision by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislative body.

The biggest increase affects female blue-collar workers, who could previously retire aged 50 but will now have to wait until they reach the age of 55.

The old retirement ages were well below those in most developed economies. In Japan, people can begin receiving pensions at 65, while in South Korea, the pension age is 63.

China has been considering raising the retirement age for years, and now local governments are facing pension budget deficits. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has warned that on current trends the pension system will run out of money by 2035.

Having people work longer would relieve some pressure on the pension system by delaying payouts while older workers will pay into the system for longer.

The move could also help the economy by countering the impact of a shrinking workforce.

The number of working-age people – those aged between 16 and 59 – dropped by 40 million in just over a decade, reaching 879 million in 2020, according to the latest census data.

Low birth rates also mean the overall population is declining. It is expected to drop to 1.3 billion by 2050 and then fall below 800 million in 2100, according to United Nations data.

In July, senior officials at a major economic policy meeting, known officially as the third plenum, proposed that the retirement age be gradually lifted and the “silver economy” developed to create more jobs for older people.

The authorities and official media have already started making the case for delaying the retirement age.

Mo Rong, head of the Chinese Academy of Labour and Social Security, told Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily that the decision was an “inevitable choice” that would help the country “adapt to the new population norm”.

But the public debate this has generated on social media has seen many expressing their opposition. One popular argument alluded to the high youth unemployment rate by saying all generations now have cause to worry: the young cannot find jobs while the old cannot retire.

Cambodia mulls visa-free entry for mainland China, Hong Kong visitors amid close ties

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3278383/cambodia-mulls-visa-free-entry-china-and-hong-kong-visitors-amid-close-trade-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

Cambodia is considering a visa-free travel facility for visitors from China and Hong Kong in a move set to deepen people-to-people relations between the Asean member and the two East Asian economies, This Week in Asia has learned.

Cambodian authorities are still finalising the details of the travel scheme but aim to announce this at the start of 2025, according to a source.

The comments come as Prak Phannara, secretary of state for Cambodia’s tourism ministry, expressed optimism about the relationship between Hong Kong and Cambodia during a 10-minute speech on Friday at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit 2024, organised by the South China Morning Post.

The summit was organised in partnership with the Hong Kong-Asean Foundation and the Our Hong Kong Foundation.

If successfully implemented, Cambodia will join neighbours such as Singapore and Thailand, which rolled out a visa-free arrangement with China to attract more tourists from the mainland earlier this year.

Chinese tourists make up over 10 per cent of total international tourist arrivals to Cambodia, making it the third largest source of visitors after neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam.

Cambodia welcomed 326,000 Chinese visitors from January to May this year, up by 43 per cent from 227,700 in the same period last year, according to official statistics released in July.

“The relationship between Cambodia and Hong Kong is a shining example of the potential for collaboration. From January to July this year, trade revenue between our region exceeded US$346 million, marketing a 51 per cent increase from the previous year,” Phannara said.

Phnom Penh is also looking at increasing the number of direct flights between Hong Kong and Siam Reap, he added during his speech.

His comments come over a month after Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu went on an official visit to Southeast Asia, where he met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The two discussed various areas of cooperation and committed to strengthening ties in professional services and promoting tourism.

“We can work together to promote the tourism industries, as Cambodia has abundant tourism resources, while Hong Kong also offers many attractive destinations,” Lee said, according to local media reports. “By collaborating on tourism promotion, we can facilitate more two-way travel.”

Phannara stressed that tourism was an important area of cooperation for both sides, noting that Hong Kong welcomed 34 million global visitors in 2023, of whom 2.4 million were from Southeast Asia.

“By fostering greater awareness and direct connections, we can significantly increase the flow of tourists between our regions, enriching our cultural exchanges and economic ties,” he said.

“The opportunities for collaboration between Cambodia, Asean and Hong Kong are vast, whether through enhancing trade, fostering innovation or deepening people-to-people connection, the path forward is one of mutual benefits and shared prosperity.”

Hong Kong’s standing as the regional financial hub and trading centre has made it “an invaluable partner in realising tourism potential for Cambodia and Asean”, he added.

By leveraging the city’s status as an aviation and travel hub, connectivity between Cambodia and the rest of the region can be significantly enhanced, Phannara said.

Hong Kong businesses also play a key role in coming up with integrated tourism offerings such as multi-country travel packages and investing in regional tourism infrastructure, he said, adding that the city’s “technological expertise” can give tourism a much-needed boost.

Tourism has long been a linchpin of Cambodia’s economy, allowing it to earn billions of dollars in tourism revenue and generate jobs.

The country’s tourism revenue rose to US$3.04 billion in 2023 from US$1.41 billion a year earlier, according to a February report by the Khmer Times.

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Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post passes 4 million subscriber mark on YouTube

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3278413/hong-kongs-south-china-morning-post-passes-4-million-subscriber-mark-youtube?utm_source=rss_feed

The South China Morning Post marked a major milestone on Friday with the number of subscribers to its YouTube channel surpassing 4 million.

Editor-in-chief Tammy Tam hailed it as a significant achievement for the Post, both in terms of building its brand recognition around the world and developing the audio-visual aspect of its award-winning journalism.

“You can see from these numbers that we’re right up there, competing with the biggest hitters in the media industry, and doing better than many of them because of the unique brand of journalism the Post offers,” she said.

“These are difficult times for the media industry, but we are more dedicated than ever to bringing you the high-quality journalism that sets us apart when it comes to factual, fair and balanced reporting on Hong Kong, Greater China, Asia and the rest of the world.”

Director of video Chieu Luu paid tribute to “the hard work of every team member past and present”.

“In a saturated market, when many question the trustworthiness of traditional news outlets, this achievement shows that people trust the South China Morning Post,” he said.

The Post’s YouTube channel showcases video content ranging from quick news updates to award-winning documentaries, explainers and original series such as the food and travel show, Eat Drink Asia, and the signature interview programme, Talking Post.

The channel was started in 2010, but did not see accelerated growth until the Post’s digital transformation in 2018, which allowed more resources to be put into audio-visual content.

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China KOL confronts Japan tourists at Beijing historic site, says they do not deserve to be there

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3278319/china-kol-confronts-japan-tourists-beijing-historic-site-says-they-do-not-deserve-be-there?utm_source=rss_feed

Two Japanese tourists recently encountered an aggressive confrontation with a Chinese key opinion leader (KOL) while taking photos at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, igniting a nationwide debate about racism.

Also known as Yuanmingyuan Park, the Old Summer Palace was once one of China’s most magnificent royal gardens until it was devastated by a fire set by invading British and French troops in 1860.

A common claim circulating online suggests that the Eight-Nation Alliance, which included Japan, inflicted further damage on the park in 1900, but historical evidence does not support this assertion.

On September 7, the two Japanese tourists and their Chinese interpreter were taking pictures when their view was obstructed by the Chinese influencer known as Asianman.

Asianman has accumulated 326,000 followers on Douyin by sharing insights into his daily life since returning to China after earning a master’s degree in economics in the UK.

In a video filmed by Asianman, the interpreter can be seen asking him to move aside so that the Japanese tourists can take photos.

“As a Chinese, how dare you ask me to give way to Japanese people at the Old Summer Palace?” Asianman angrily asked.

Asianman asserted that Chinese people should not assist Japanese visitors with their photographs. In defence, the interpreter said that all visitors have the right to take photos, regardless of nationality.

Despite this, Asianman continued to confront them with offensive language, labelling the interpreter a “traitor”. As the tourists and their interpreter attempted to leave, Asianman followed them, filming with his phone.

One of the Japanese tourists threatened to call the police, to which Asianman retorted that Japanese people do not deserve to call the police in China. The group then sought assistance from a security guard at the site to resolve the conflict.

The interpreter explained that the tourists were employees of a Japanese company in China. However, the guard claimed Japanese people were “not allowed” into the Old Summer Palace.

The interpreter said there were no such regulations and the Japanese tourists had entered the park after buying tickets.

“My opinion does not represent the management’s opinion. However, I absolutely do not allow Japanese people to enter,” the security guard said.

He also supported Asianman’s stance, stating: “I hate the Japanese. I must give them a hard time.”

A staff member at the site told Hongxing News that there are no restrictions for Japanese visitors.

The incident quickly made headlines on mainland social media.

One supporter defended Asianman, saying: “He did nothing wrong. No one is obliged to step aside for others to take photos at a scenic spot.”

Many others criticised him, with one Weibo user commenting: “He lacks basic historical knowledge. The destruction of the Old Summer Palace has nothing to do with the Japanese. Even if it did, these tourists did nothing wrong.”

Another wrote: “This is using patriotism as an excuse to incite ethnic conflict, which constitutes racial discrimination.”

“What Asianman did was detrimental to China’s international image. Foreign friends, please be assured that his actions do not represent all Chinese,” said a third.

At a press conference on September 9, a reporter from Japan’s Asahi TV asked the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comments on the matter, noting concerns among Japanese people living in China.

Chinese spokeswoman Mao Ning stated that she was not familiar with the incident and would not comment on personal statements.

“China is an open and inclusive country, and we do not engage in discriminatory practices against any specific country,” Mao said.

As of now, Asianman has deleted the video he posted on social media, and his accounts are no longer accessible online.

It remains unclear whether he has received any warnings or penalties for his actions.

South China Sea: Manila urged to form smaller defence pacts as Asean negotiations stall

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3278297/south-china-sea-manila-urged-form-smaller-defence-pacts-asean-negotiations-stall?utm_source=rss_feed

As doubts grow over Asean’s ability to secure an agreement with Beijing to prevent conflict in the South China Sea, analysts urge the Philippines to focus on mini-lateral agreements with neighbours like Vietnam and Malaysia to counter China’s increasing assertiveness.

Dindo Manhit, president of Manila-based think tank Stratbase ADR Institute, told This Week in Asia that mini-lateral partnerships with like-minded countries were Manila’s best course of action to defend its national interests and rein in Beijing’s aggression.

“Additionally, while initially small and targeted, these mini-laterals can eventually converge with other similar partnerships. This broader network of partnerships could then evolve into a larger, more coordinated one, capable of addressing shared regional challenges and strengthening collective security in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

Manhit argued mini-laterals – small, flexible partnerships between select nations – can allow countries like the Philippines to collaborate more effectively on security concerns such as the South China Sea conflict than broader multilateral frameworks like the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Long-standing tensions between the Manila and Beijing over their overlapping claims have escalated in recent months, leading to a series of clashes in the contested waters including a skirmish between Chinese coastguard officials and Philippine navy servicemen in June that led to a Filipino sailor losing a thumb.

In another incident from August, the two countries’ vessels collided near the Sabina Shoal, with the Philippine side sustaining damage. Both countries blamed the other for the incident.

While Manila has long relied on its Mutual Defence Treaty with the United States to deter China from open aggression, in recent months it has also increasingly sought defensive ties with other Asean members, such as its enhanced security cooperation with Hanoi and the signing of a defence agreement with Singapore.

Analyst Matteo Piasentini of the Italian think tank Geopolitica, said that Manila would undoubtedly benefit from more intra-Asean ties.

“While these agreements fall short of formal alliances, they are positive developments in strengthening Manila’s security network,” Piasentini said.

China and the Asean bloc have been working on a South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) an agreement that would establish a set of guidelines to manage disputes and prevent conflicts in the region – for more than two decades, but progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to accelerate the process and finalise an agreement by 2026.

In February, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said the country was firmly committed to negotiating a COC between China and other Asean claimant-states to further deter any hostilities.

Observers noted that other Southeast Asian claimant-states in the South China Sea, such as Malaysia, have become more firm in rebuffing Beijing’s confrontational tactics recently.

Last week, Malaysia sent its own ships to intercept Chinese vessels around Ardasier Bank, an area claimed by Kuala Lumpur as part of its exclusive economic zone.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also stated that his nation would continue its oil exploration efforts in the contested waters in the South China Sea in response to questions raised by a leaked protest note from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur detailing China’s strong disapproval.

Malaysia’s move to assert its country’s sovereignty, rights, and interests in its maritime domain adheres to universally recognised principles of international law such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), according to Manhit.

“This stance predicates Malaysia as a responsible member of the international community that will continue to abide by the rule of law as it asserts its maritime rights,” he added.

The same goes for Vietnam, which recently agreed to boost its defence ties and deepen its collaboration on maritime security with the Philippines. Manhit said these moves “should be seen as part of a broader trend where regional states recognise the importance of maintaining a rules-based international order” in light of China’s aggression causing “instability in the region”.

However, Manhit argued these security tie-ups between individual nations should not be mistaken as a sign of Asean uniting.

He said Asean’s inherent limitations “must be acknowledged” as its core focus remains on economic cooperation and cultural engagement noting the bloc was not primarily established to address political or security issues.

“With the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests of its member states, it struggles to present a unified stance on sensitive political or security issues like China’s aggression in the entire South China Sea,” he said.

Manhit said that the varied interests of Asean member states, which often diverge from their neighbours, have hampered negotiations on the COC with China.

According to Piasentini, Asean and China have struggled to reach a consensus on the COC because of Beijing’s desire for “some form of recognition of its rights in the South China Sea.”

“Such a recognition would be contrary to the interests of countries like the Philippines, as it would undermine their rights and entitlements under Unclos,” he added.

Manhit said that a code of conduct would only be possible if China recognises its obligations under international law, including Unclos, and recognise the legality of the 2016 arbitral ruling at The Hague, which dismissed Beijing’s claims over most of the South China Sea in favour of the Philippines’ claims over its exclusive economic zone.

Meanwhile, Piasentini said that, with the exception of the Philippines, Southeast Asian nations have historically maintained good relations with China primarily as a hedge against the United States potentially disengaging from regional security.

“Despite having some defence ties with the US, these countries are not formal US allies. As a result, the benefits of downplaying disputes with China often outweigh the costs, particularly when engagement with China brings certain economic advantages,” he said, adding that member-states such as Cambodia and Laos benefit from their strong ties with Beijing and are not party to the maritime disputes.

Asean’s decision-making process, which relies on consultation and consensus, makes achieving a unified stance from member states “improbable,” Piasentini said.

Analysts said that Asean claimant-states could consider their own mini-lateral COC, which would send a strong signal about the bloc’s capacity to maintain unity and centrality in the region.

“A code of conduct doesn’t necessarily have to include China, at least not initially,” Piasentini said.

Forging an intra-Asean code of conduct is not a new idea for the Philippines, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr saying last year that Manila had approached Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate agreement. However, it never materialised.

Despite the lack of headway, the Philippines could leverage its position as Asean’s chair in 2026 to push for an agreement with the bloc’s maritime member states, Manhit said.

China’s foreign joint venture universities feel chill as political controls tighten

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3278294/chinas-foreign-joint-venture-universities-feel-chill-political-controls-tighten?utm_source=rss_feed

In the second of a on China’s universities and campus life, Alcott Wei looks into the effects of geopolitical tensions in the country’s joint venture campuses with overseas institutions.

Richard Li, president of a Japanese culture club at a university in China, was pulled aside after a club meeting by a faculty supervisor. He was taken to a shadowy corner and warned that none of his proposals for club activities would be approved. He was flabbergasted.

The reason: his proposals promoted Japanese culture, but Japan had discharged radioactive water into the sea, despite objections from China.

“Our club has never faced such a situation before. I thought this wouldn’t happen at a Sino-foreign joint university,” said the 21-year-old.

The decision was made by the university’s Communist Party Youth League committee, which handles student association affairs. According to Li, a third-year student, the committee has become more restrictive since June of last year.

The tightening of freedom has apparently affected foreign culture clubs like Li’s as well as others such as LGBT and feminism-related groups.

The change, according to 10 faculty, staff and students interviewed for this story, is reflective of campuses across the country, and Sino-foreign joint universities – joint ventures between overseas and mainland Chinese institutions – are no exception. The interviewees all requested anonymity or to be identified by pseudonyms because of the sensitivity of the issue.

China now has 15 Sino-foreign joint universities in partnership with institutions from the US, Britain and Hong Kong.

For example, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University, a partnership between the University of Liverpool and Xian Jiaotong University established in 2006, currently has more than 17,000 undergraduates, about 10 per cent of whom are international students.

These universities, which charge higher tuition fees and have smaller enrolments compared with typical Chinese universities, have more power to recruit and hire administrators and attract international talent.

For Chinese students interested in studying “abroad” but reluctant to leave home, these universities offer internationally recognised degrees along with a more liberal campus environment.

A civic education instructor who has taught for over 15 years at a Sino-foreign joint university recalled what campus life was like when these institutions were first established.

He said campus-wide protests broke out in 2011 when students posted anti-LGBT remarks made by a student affairs office employee on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform. Rainbow flags were displayed all around campus in support of the community.

“The sight of rainbow flags filling the campus was truly spectacular, and the school didn’t do anything to stop it,” the instructor said.

“It would be impossible for protests like this to happen now; times have changed,” he added.

Professor Xia Ming, a political science professor at the City University of New York (CUNY) who studied and taught at Shanghai’s Fudan University in the 1980s, said the recent clampdown was driven by Beijing’s worries about political control on campus.

“This is a shift in the governance approach of Chinese universities, driven by paranoia over ideology of the Chinese government,” said Xia, a long-time observer of Chinese campus politics.

Students at joint universities have also seen requirements for military training grow in recent years.

“I applied to a Sino-foreign joint university mainly because I was told that the military training period would be very short. But now, I feel there’s a big difference [between that] and reality,” said a fourth-year student at one of the institutions.

She said students were only required to undergo three days of military training when she enrolled in 2018. That was increased to seven days in 2019, and then to two weeks in 2020.

“When we were in military training, staff from the university often came to ask the drillmaster to intensify our training,” said a third-year student at a Sino-foreign joint university who asked to be identified by her family name Zhao.

John Chen, a recent graduate of a joint university, said he and his classmates were attracted by their impression that there would be little emphasis on politics on campus.

“When we applied for the university, we were told that there were no political education courses,” Chen said. “But then suddenly one day, we were told that we are required to make up for ideological and political courses.”

Xia, the CUNY professor, said Beijing wanted to achieve greater control over ideology on campus and instil obedience among students by mandating longer military training.

A Taiwanese lecturer who has taught cultural courses at a Sino-foreign university for five years, said his institution now required political education courses, which emphasise national identity and patriotism, to be taught separately instead of as part of the cultural curriculum.

During an interview with the South China Morning Post, the lecturer, who asked to be identified as Wang, frequently glanced at the adjacent office and lowered his voice.

“Previously, we could muddle through [when teaching political courses],” Wang said, describing how he felt about the change. “Why should I be required to undertake a political task now?”

Wang said he could only draw a little comfort from the fact that political education courses were not yet counted in the students’ GPA, which will decide their final grade for the year.

Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, said the change was about bringing Sino-foreign joint universities into line with other higher-education institutions in China.

“The main body of students at Sino-foreign joint universities are Chinese students. The state’s reform of these courses is a way to align Sino-foreign joint universities with regular Chinese universities, and the study of national identity should be the responsibility of all Chinese individuals,” Xie said.

Wang also recalled that he was summoned by the head of faculty one day in the spring of 2022 to warn him about mocking Chinese politics in class. He instantly knew that he had been reported by his students and he left the faculty head’s office trembling.

He said that since then, he has felt a lot of pressure about what he says in class as he had received several warnings from university authorities.

“I have no choice. If I don’t exercise control over what I say, I don’t know if I’ll lose my job next time [it happens],” he said.

He said that in the past, he and his colleagues could talk about values such as freedom and democracy because they are also considered “core socialist values” – though they have different meanings in the Chinese context.

“But now, this is no longer possible, and I deeply feel the chilling effect [of such change] on me and [people] around me,” he said.

Several interviewees also told the Post that most instructors, especially Chinese ones, were cautious about what they said and actively avoided sensitive topics in class, while some foreign faculty still tried to offer students broader perspectives on those issues.

Xia pointed out that Chinese scholars were more connected to Chinese society, making them more sensitive to political changes in the country.

Moreover, Xia said, Chinese instructors who had studied overseas might find it difficult to secure teaching positions abroad once they have returned to China. As a result, they tend to be more cautious in their behaviour, believing they are likely to stay at their current institution for a long time.

By contrast, foreign instructors’ understanding of China’s political environment might be limited, and teaching in mainland China could be a part of diversifying their research experience, the professor said. Expressing different views while teaching in China may help boost their reputation when they return to their home countries.

Xie of Tsinghua University noted that a resolution adopted at the Communist Party Central Committee’s third plenum in July encouraged high-level cooperation in science and engineering between Chinese and foreign universities.

“This shows that the policy is now more focused on exchange in technological studies than in subjects such as humanities and social sciences with foreign universities, and that may cause fewer conflicts.

“I believe that every country has its own [standards about] what is politically correct. In mainland China, teaching should comply with mainland rules. Teachers who are from other countries or regions would need to adapt to these reforms,” Xie added.

Some students said that outside the classroom, they still enjoyed academic freedom as they were free to study and research non-mainstream topics such as LGBT issues.

“Generally speaking, there are no limits to what topics we may choose for our essays, and the teachers would not grade us lower if our theses don’t conform with the mainstream narratives,” said Zhao, the third-year student.

“Sometimes, we skirt the edge of sensitive topics when we have discussions about specific issues in class, and it’s a bit freer outside the classroom,” one of her classmates said.

The Covid-19 pandemic also fuelled changes as some foreign faculty and students at joint universities chose to leave China.

“Some teachers resigned; they told me that they didn’t like China’s pandemic prevention policies, feeling that they were too restrictive. Even after the policies were lifted, they didn’t return,” said the civic education instructor.

Chen said the campus atmosphere was different now with fewer foreign students, whose absence made the campus feel a bit “lifeless”.

“It’s rarer to see foreign students singing on campus now. They used to love organising activities and participating in political discussions. Without them, I feel the campus has become more rigid,” Chen said.

However, Alfred Wu Muluan, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said that many of these universities enjoy a special relationship with local governments, giving them more leeway in how they operate and what they teach.

“These universities actually have good relationships with local governments, and many have set up think tanks that collaborate with local governments. In this context, the local governments may allow them greater autonomy,” Wu said.

But for the Taiwanese lecturer who had the whistle blown against him, life on campus was no longer what it used to be.

“I feel like I’m always being watched. The atmosphere around me is constantly undergoing subtle, tightening changes,” he said.

Chinese graduates’ job pressures, Harris and Trump’s tough talk on China: 7 highlights

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3278338/chinese-graduates-job-pressures-harris-and-trumps-tough-talk-china-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed

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

Young Chinese hoping for a top job after graduation meet increasing competition and pitfalls on the way to building an eye-catching resume.

Kamala Harris was widely seen as having come out on top in her first presidential debate with Donald Trump, where both candidates traded blows on who would take a tougher approach towards China.

Hong Kong authorities have arrested two directors of the 38-year-old Physical gym chain, sources have said, after a watchdog received more than 2,400 complaints involving nearly HK$87 million (US$11.2 million) against the operator for failing to deliver prepaid services.

For the first time, American and Chinese troops are taking part in a joint military exercise led by the Brazilian Armed Forces, Brazil’s navy has announced.

Hongkongers visiting the UK will be required to obtain an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) document next year as part of Britain’s plan to tighten border controls.

’s decision to produce its newly launched 16 series in marks a significant shift in the tech giant’s strategy as it looks to diversify its supply chains amid geopolitical challenges, analysts say.

It is said that twins, or in this case, triplets, possess a special intuition, which may explain how three young women in China were accepted into the same prestigious mainland university.

Congress targets Chinese influence in health tech. It could come with tradeoffs

https://apnews.com/article/china-congress-biotechnology-health-innovation-national-security-c85f71290a3cd26644a0cf88c5aa3a55A lab technician prepares DNA samples for analysis at Complete Genomics in San Jose, Calif., Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

2024-09-13T04:01:05Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — A California biotechnology company that helps doctors detect genetic causes for cancer is among those that could be cut out of the U.S. market over ties to China, underscoring the possible tradeoffs between health innovation and a largely bipartisan push in Congress to counter Beijing’s global influence.

The competition between the world’s superpowers is hitting Complete Genomics, whose employees, some in white lab coats stitched with U.S. flag arm patches, spin samples in test tubes and huddle around computers in San Jose. Its founder and chief scientific officer said he’s frustrated that geopolitics is interfering with science.

“It’s just a loss for the research and for the industry,” Radoje Drmanac said.

The U.S. House this week overwhelmingly passed the BIOSECURE Act, which cites national security in preventing federal money from benefiting Complete Genomics and four other companies linked to China. They work with U.S. drugmakers to develop new medications or help doctors diagnose diseases.

It is part of a sweeping package of bills aimed at countering China’s influence and power, especially in technology, that Congress largely backed this week. The biotech measure, which cleared the House with a 306-81 vote, now heads to the Senate.

Supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect Americans’ health care data, reduce reliance on China in the medical supply chain and ensure the U.S. gains an edge in the biotech field, which both countries call crucial to their economy and security.

Opponents say the bill, which would ban China-linked companies from working with firms that receive U.S. government money, would delay clinical trials and hinder development of new drugs, raise costs for medications and hurt innovation.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican and the bill’s sponsor, said House approval was the first step in protecting Americans’ genetic data and reversing the trend of relying on Beijing for gene testing and basic medical supplies.

“For too long, U.S. policy has failed to recognize the twin economic and national security threats posed by China’s domination of particular markets and supply chains,” he said.

Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said it’s necessary to protect U.S. interests before these companies “become more embedded in the U.S. economy, university systems and federal contracting base.”

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., argued that the legislation, which he opposed, should not name specific companies without due process, saying, “If one of these five companies does not belong on the list, too bad, Congress doesn’t like you, and that’s that.”

Drmanac of Complete Genomics, a subsidiary of China-based company MGI, said the privacy of Americans’ personal information is not a concern because his company’s instruments are only connected to local U.S. servers.

The company also has argued that Congress should broadly apply data protection standards and requirements rather than targeting a small subset of companies.

Some analysts see the issue as more about industry competition than protecting people’s personal information from the Chinese government.

“You want to make sure that American pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies are on an even footing in terms of their ability to compete both inside the U.S. market and then also abroad,” said Andrew Reddie, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies the intersection of technology, politics and security and founded the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab.

Complete Genomics is listed in the legislation along with BGI, MGI, WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologicis. MGI is a spinoff of BGI, a heavyweight genomics company based in China that offers genetic sequencing services for research purposes in the U.S.

BGI Group called the bill “a false flag targeting companies under the premise of national security” and said, “We strictly follow rules and laws, and we have no access to Americans’ personal data in any of our work.”

MGI said the bill would “serve only to stifle competition and foster a monopoly in DNA testing.”

WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics work as contractors providing research, development and manufacturing services for U.S. drugmakers. Such services are considered crucial for American pharmaceutical companies to develop and make new drugs.

WuXi AppTec said it and others in the industry are concerned about the bill’s impact on biotechnology innovation, drug development, patient care and health care costs. It urged the Senate not to move forward without addressing “these serious consequences.”

In filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, dozens of U.S. biotech companies have flagged the BIOSECURE Act as a concern, saying it could have major effects on the pharmaceutical supply chain because of the industry’s extensive partnerships with Chinese companies.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly says its third-party suppliers are “sometimes the sole global source for a component” but it has been working to move some development and manufacturing closer to home, which typically takes several years “due to scientific and regulatory complexity and the need to ensure process and product quality.”

BIO, the largest advocacy group for U.S. biotech companies and research institutions, supports the bill, saying it reinforces the industry’s national security imperative.

The bill, which gives U.S. companies eight years to break ties with Chinese firms, has provided “a reasonable timeframe” for the decoupling, group CEO John Crowley said.

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Daley reported from San Jose.

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What China’s Belt and Road Initiative has in store for coming decade as priorities evolve

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3278274/what-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-has-store-coming-decade-priorities-evolve?utm_source=rss_feed

The Belt and Road Initiative, an ongoing effort to link economies into a China-centred trade network, largely via Chinese-backed megaprojects abroad, has entered a phase that Beijing says involves “small but beautiful” additions.

As the plan to grow global trade approaches its 11th anniversary, the ambitious undertaking is expected to shift away from massive projects that have sometimes been accused of resulting in large debt piles or environmental damage in other countries.

Here are four points of interest and importance for the initiative in the coming decade:

China has present or past agreements with 152 countries to pursue belt and road projects. Belt and road work could eventually cost Beijing US$1 trillion to US$8 trillion over an unspecified period, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank estimated in 2018.

Today, 44 of those countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, more than in any other region.

Over the next decade, China might shift its focus to Central and Southeast Asia, said Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. Central Asian projects help fortify China’s trade links to Europe because of the largely landlocked region’s geography, he explained.

Landlocked countries “can become land-linked”, President Xi Jinping said last year at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Developed nations are likely to stay out, said John Simon, senior adviser for the Project on Prosperity and Development under the Centre for International & Strategic Studies, a US think tank.

Those countries, he said, see little benefit from China’s initiative, and “the few that have received [belt and road financing] have not had great experiences”, he said. In total, 17 European Union countries have previously taken part. Italy withdraw from the initiative in December.

The belt and road plan will “deepen cooperation” abroad in “green infrastructure, green energy and green transport”, Xi said at a forum for the initiative in October. Hydroelectric, wind and solar energy projects particularly fit into the “new era”, he said.

In Bangladesh, for example, a wind-power project invested by China-based Wuling Power and built by PowerChina Chengdu Engineering will cut coal use by 44,600 metric tonnes, the Shenzhen Daily reported last year

Xi further forecast cross-border cooperation in science and technology.

Future projects will run less debt risk than earlier ones and would – if small and non-polluting – reduce criticism from abroad about environmental degradation or population resettlements, Menon said.

For instance, in June, Xinhua said that the Namagumba-Budadiri-Nalugugu Road in Uganda’s mountainous eastern region would be upgraded from gravel to asphalt. Chinese construction firm Shandong Luqiao Group is tasked with improving a 39km (24-mile) stretch of the road. The three-year effort will employ more than 600 locals and reduce travel time from one hour to 20 minutes in a region known for its trade in coffee, bananas, potatoes and milk.

In contrast, Chinese contractors built a 472km railway in Kenya in the previous decade.

“Overall, the [Belt and Road Initiative] will likely become more commercial and aim to position itself distinctly from Western development models,” said Christoph Nedopil Wang, director of the Shanghai-based Green Finance & Development Centre.

China, like Japan and the United States, is shifting to multilateral development banks to find funding for its projects in other countries.

Beijing could go in that direction by tapping the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Menon said. China spearheaded creation of the AIIB in 2016, and the Beijing-based lender now has 109 member countries.

The New Development Bank, established by Brics countries nine years ago, may offer additional help as it seeks resources to build infrastructure in emerging-market economies. The Brics acronym covers Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates were admitted this year.

Development banks are set up so that no single member country accepts responsibility for project outcomes.

Hong Kong as a Chinese international finance centre is expected to provide further funding for belt and road projects. Speaking at a summit on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the city contributes to belt and road environmental goals by developing “green tech” and “leveraging our expertise in financial services”.

Expect Middle Eastern investment and construction firms to act as belt and road “partners” as well, Wang said. China has been strengthening relations in the Middle East over the past two years.

Financing from Chinese institutions, at the same time, “should become more strategic and limited” with some from the private sector, Wang added.

Smaller and more cautiously financed projects would improve China’s image in belt-and-road recipient countries, analysts expect.

Chinese projects built in foreign economic corridors stand to make money by themselves if those zones are “economically vibrant”, Menon said. Brisk income would make it easier to pay back any construction loans.

One example may be the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The region of Pakistan that is heavily invested in by China is expected to enhance agriculture, industry and tourism, according to the host country’s government.

But even smaller projects run the risk of not being paid back as the Chinese economy struggles to get back on solid footing in its post-pandemic recovery, analysts say.

Belt and road projects such as underused airports and railways in Africa are particularly exposed to unpaid debt, said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at investment bank Natixis.

Last month, officials in Nepal asked China to convert a 1.379 billion yuan (US$193 million) Export-Import Bank of China airport loan into a grant because the 20-month-old project had not generated enough income to pay back the debt, according to Nepali news reports.

“Chinese banks are more likely to continue to focus on fine-tuning specifics of loans already made, to enable cash flows through trade,” said Zha Daojiong, an international studies professor at Peking University.

President Xi Jinping tones down focus on China’s growth targets as headwinds mount

https://www.scmp.com/economy/policy/article/3278341/president-xi-jinping-tones-down-focus-chinas-growth-targets-headwinds-mount?utm_source=rss_feed

President Xi Jinping has subtly toned down China’s focus on achieving its annual economic growth goals this year, seemingly indicating the difficulties faced by the world’s second-largest economy in achieving its “around 5 per cent” gross domestic product target.

“We should strive to fulfil the economic and social development goals and tasks for the whole year,” Xi told a symposium in the northwestern city of Lanzhou on Thursday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

In contrast, Beijing’s top leadership said in the communique following July’s third plenum that China “must remain firmly committed” to accomplishing this year’s goals.

Xi made the remarks on Thursday while urging governments and departments in the northwestern Gansu province to fully implement all the economic measures introduced by the central government, and seize the opportunities in the second half of the year.

“I think it’s an obvious change,” Ding Shuang, chief Greater China economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said on Friday.

“Before it was a resolute goal, meaning it was unwavering, and now to say ‘strive to do it’ emphasises the effort and not the outcome.

“We’re in the third quarter, and until now the data is not going to point to a rebound compared with the second quarter, and we’ve only got one quarter left this year.

“[GDP growth] is going to be slightly less than 5 per cent and that should be acceptable or a reality.”

Xi’s language is meant to “prepare the market for an outcome below 5 per cent” and by doing so head off any risk, added Ding.

After meeting its full-year growth target of “around 5 per cent” in 2023 after China’s economy expanded by 5.2 per cent, aided by a lower base in 2022, Beijing became more determined to achieve this year’s target of again “around 5 per cent”, using the term “an auspicious beginning” to describe the 5.3 per cent growth in the first quarter

However, with lower-than-expected growth figures in the second quarter, China’s consumption, investment and property sectors have continued to weaken.

Meanwhile, the export sector, which Beijing previously leveraged, is facing increasing trade friction despite exports rising by 8.7 per cent year on year in August.

Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said China lacked sufficient policy tools to help meet its annual economic growth target.

Lovely said apart from sentiment among consumers, producers and the housing sector, local governments have also been slow to utilise their new ability to engage in bond-financed spending due to limited options for raising revenue.

“Further monetary easing will have little effect on spending if people feel that tomorrow’s economy will be worse than today’s economy,” she said.

“Many Chinese economists urge the government to take further action in the short term.”

The People’s Bank of China cut its seven-day reverse repo rate in July, while the issuance of local government special bonds surged by 67 per cent from the previous month in August, according to Yicai Global.

But the cooling of domestic and external growth engines is presenting greater challenges for Beijing, leading many financial institutions to lower their GDP forecasts.

UBS lowered its forecast for China’s real GDP growth in 2024 from 4.9 per cent to 4.6 per cent, while Nomura Securities has predicted 4.5 per cent growth this year. Bank of America, meanwhile, also cut its estimate from 5 per cent to 4.8 per cent.

China’s defence chief Dong Jun speaks at Xiangshan Forum

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3278331/chinas-defence-chief-dong-jun-speaks-xiangshan-forum?utm_source=rss_feed

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Defence Minister Dong Jun is speaking at the opening ceremony of the Xiangshan Forum, China’s leading security conference.

This is the first time in five years that the Chinese defence minister has attended in person following the Covid-19 pandemic and the abrupt sacking just before last year’s event of Dong’ predecessor, Li Shangfu, as part of a wider military corruption purge.

Up to 20 defence ministers and 700 delegates from around 100 countries are attending the forum, which is seen as China’s equivalent of the Shangri-La forum in Singapore. These include defence chiefs from three of China’s Southeast Asian neighbours – Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore – along with Michael Chase, a US deputy assistant secretary of defence.

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Reporting by Seong Hyeon Choi, Amber Wang and Hayley Wong

Delicate China woman asks neighbour not to use toilet at night, when ignored, blasts loud music

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3278314/delicate-china-woman-asks-neighbour-not-use-toilet-night-when-ignored-blasts-loud-music?utm_source=rss_feed

A court in eastern China ruled that a woman must pay her upstairs neighbour 19,600 yuan (US$2,750) after she took drastic measures to retaliate against what she perceived as his noisy lifestyle.

The man who owns the upstairs flat, surnamed Zhang, filed a lawsuit after the woman attempted to restrict him from performing basic night-time activities, including using the toilet, due to her heightened sensitivity to noise.

The woman, surnamed Wang, lived on the first floor of a residential block in Zhejiang province, and she is accused of making loud noises in revenge for her neighbour’s perceived sound violations.

As reported by Jiupai News, the upstairs neighbour took significant steps to accommodate Wang’s growing concerns about noise, including wearing soft slippers indoors and carpeting the floors after she began to express her dissatisfaction in January 2022 regarding his perceived “loud” activities.

Despite his efforts, Wang’s sensitivity to the sounds coming from his flat only intensified, prompting her to voice complaints over even the most minor noises, such as brushing his teeth, bathing, or accidentally dropping bottle caps. Additionally, she requested that he refrain from using the toilet after 10pm.

In the lawsuit, the man said that when he would violate the noise rules with mundane activities such as daily chores, Wang would knock on the ceiling of her unit with a stick or make other loud noises with a speaker.

The man reported Wang to the police on multiple occasions, and the officers’ mediation efforts proved fruitless. The police issued Wang a warning and confiscated her speaker and stick, but that did not stop her from making her noises.

Fed up with the situation, the man moved out of the flat in July and began renting a different flat in the same block. He tried to lease his property to renters, but both attempts failed because the new residents could not handle Wang’s harassment.

The man took Wang to court earlier this year, claiming that she owed him 33,000 yuan (US$4,600) to cover the expenses he incurred during his move, as well as to compensate for the mental distress he experienced.

The woman said her noise retaliation was caused by the sounds the man had made in the beginning. She said it was his choice to move out and rent another flat, and she was not supposed to pay that fee.

A lower court sided with the man, saying his noises were reasonable while the woman’s revenge was “extreme” and inappropriate. The court ordered the woman to compensate the man 17,600 yuan for the expenses and another 2,000 yuan for mental distress. The woman lost her appeal against the verdict.

The news of the court ruling sparked a strong reaction on mainland social media, with the story being viewed over 50 million times on Weibo and causing a significant backlash against the woman.

The court ruling generated considerable buzz on mainland social media, amassing over 50 million views on Weibo. The story sparked significant backlash against the woman.

“If you are this sensitive to sound, you’d better buy a villa to live in,” said one netizen.

Another person wrote: “When you react to the man with such loud noises, are you not sensitive to the sound you are creating?”

[Sport] Farmers and students star in China's viral new football league

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75n4v392wyo

BBC/Katherina Tse

BBC/Katherina Tse

BBC/Katherina Tse

BBC/Katherina Tse

China’s new Vietnam envoy calls for ‘patience’ in dealing with differences

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3278275/chinas-new-vietnam-envoy-calls-patience-dealing-differences?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s new ambassador to Vietnam called for the two countries to work together to cement solidarity and manage differences with “patience”.

Upon his arrival at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on Wednesday, He Wei, who previously oversaw boundary and ocean affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, praised bilateral ties between the two neighbours as being like “comrades plus brothers”, borrowing a phrase first used by Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

He said he looked forward to working with the Vietnamese people under the guidance of the top leaders of the ruling parties of the two countries to “firm up confidence in the [socialist] system, to resolve to work in solidarity and cooperation, and to maintain patience in controlling differences”.

“[We] should make bilateral relations a model of good neighbourliness and win-win cooperation between countries, and will continue to give new meaning to the traditional friendship of ‘comrades and brothers’ between China and Vietnam in the new era,” he said, speaking to Chinese and Vietnamese diplomats at the airport.

He took over the post from Xiong Bo, who, after nearly six years in the position, left Hanoi at the end of last month in a diplomatic reshuffle, according to China’s foreign ministry.

A career diplomat, He served stints in the foreign ministry’s department of Asian affairs and China’s embassy in Manila before becoming a counsellor at China’s diplomatic missions in Trinidad and Tobago and later in India. He also spent 14 months as consul general in Toronto from 2017 to 2018.

He was named deputy chief of the ministry’s department of boundary and ocean affairs in 2013. At the time, tensions were mounting in the South China Sea after the Philippines brought an international arbitration case to counter Beijing’s “nine-dash line” claims to much of the waterway.

In 2016, the tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines, denying most of China’s claims to the South China Sea. Beijing has rejected the ruling.

Vietnam is also a rival claimant to several areas of the South China Sea and, like the Philippines, it is a vocal critic of Beijing’s extensive claims to the resource-rich waters.

In an effort to consolidate its presence in the South China Sea, Hanoi has quietly but dramatically accelerated land reclamation on several contested reefs.

That includes island construction in the Barque Canada Reef, a narrow atoll that is also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and China.

The atoll has become Vietnam’s largest outpost in the Spratly Islands, known as the Nansha Islands in China, and has potential to host a 3,000-metre (9,843-foot) runway like those China has built on artificial islands at Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi Reefs, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

In a move that drew protests from Beijing, Hanoi filed a submission with the United Nations in July to seek formal validation of the outer boundaries of its legal continental shelf beyond the 200-nautical mile (370km) limit, extending into the contested area.

Still, leaders of the two countries have repeatedly vowed to make bilateral ties a diplomatic priority and pledged to improve mutual trust and cooperation.

In a display of solidarity, days after being named general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, To Lam, the country’s former police chief, made China his first overseas trip as the Southeast Asian nation’s top leader.

In his meeting with Lam in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed his country’s ideological bonds with Vietnam and said the two sides should focus on developing “higher political mutual trust, more solid security cooperation, deeper practical cooperation, a stronger foundation of public opinion … and better management and resolution of differences”.

Malaysia a strong investment hub thanks to its ‘open policy’ amid US-China rivalry: trade chief

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3278308/malaysia-strong-investment-hub-thanks-its-open-policy-amid-us-china-rivalry-trade-chief?utm_source=rss_feed

Malaysia’s stable political landscape and openness to engaging both China and the United States amid the ongoing superpower competition have made it a strong investment destination, its trade minister has said.

Malaysia had a “very open policy” and continued to “engage all countries”, said Tengku Zafrul Aziz on Thursday, noting also that this would foster growth, particularly in its competitive semiconductor industry.

“We have to, as an open country, navigate [this superpower competition] because these are the two strongest economic, trading and investment partners for Malaysia and for the region,” he said, speaking at an event hosted by the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

With the intense rivalry between the US and China escalating, many tech companies have aimed to diversify their supply chains to reduce geopolitical risks. Malaysia – among other Southeast Asian nations – has emerged as a beneficiary, introducing policies to attract investment and cementing its position as the world’s sixth-largest chip exporter.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia was the global semiconductor industry’s best bet for a “neutral and non-aligned location” to do business for chip makers seeking haven from the increasingly tense US-China tech war.

Anwar said Malaysia aimed to secure at least 500 billion ringgit (US$106 billion) in fresh semiconductor investments under a new National Semiconductor Strategy.

At the event on Thursday night in Hong Kong celebrating 50 years of trade relations between Malaysia and China, Zafrul said: “There are views that many [Chinese] companies have expanded to [Southeast Asia] to circumvent the tariffs that the US has imposed on companies based in China.”

He noted that Malaysia had to ensure that these companies were complying with the standards set by the World Trade Organization if they wanted to operate on their shores.

“Malaysia has been quite firm and has engaged with the US in some of the concerns they have about this circumvention.”

Zafrul also stressed that ties with China had remained strong, noting that trade volume between the two exceeded US$200 billion in 2022.

“Chinese companies and Malaysian companies have also been very involved in each other’s market when it comes to investments,” he said.

He added that Malaysia would also be prioritising investments that had the “right spillovers” to the country, including quality jobs and benefits to domestic companies.

“We hope they use Malaysian companies as part of their supply chain … so we will have the incentives to support [these investments].”

Zafrul acknowledged concerns about the possibility of escalating tensions between the US and China, which could have far-reaching consequences.

Ultimately, the fundamental purpose of trade was to foster prosperity, which in turn would promote stability and peace, he said, but added that this notion had been challenged because of the perception that “not everyone is benefiting”.

“I look at what is happening geopolitically as a concern. We need to prepare for the worst,” he said.

“But what we can do is to ensure that we continue to be independent and neutral. I don’t think any country should impose any rules on any sovereign, especially when it comes to foreign policy, investment and trade policies. We have been very firm on this,” he said.

Looking inwards, Zafrul noted he was optimistic that the Malaysian government had stabilised since Anwar became prime minister in November 2022.

“It’s a strong government, meaning we have a strong majority in the parliament. With that strong support in parliament, we have embarked upon various initiatives to strengthen our economy, especially our fiscal position,” he said.

Also speaking at the event was Cui Jianchun, commissioner of the foreign ministry’s office in Hong Kong, who said China and Malaysia had no problems concerning “political trust”.

“[The] two countries are working together and supporting each other,” he said, noting the Hong Kong government would also continue to deepen its relationship with Malaysia through trade and investment.

Chinese ambassador Xie Feng lays down ‘red lines’ in US-China relationship

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3278321/chinese-ambassador-xie-feng-lays-down-red-lines-us-china-relationship?utm_source=rss_feed

Bookended by hopeful words of mutual understanding and improved relations, China’s top diplomat in the US delivered a tough message on Thursday in New York: Do not mess with China and do not seek regime change.

The presentation by Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the United States, celebrated the 45th anniversary of normalised relations, people-to-people ties, explosive bilateral trade growth and past examples of cooperation. But interspersed with the feel-good outreach was his strongly delivered main message.

“Pressure, sanctions, isolation, containment and blockades don’t serve the purpose,” said Xie. “Rather, they bring self-inflicted trouble and require extra work to offset the unwanted results.”

He proceeded to outline in no uncertain terms four “red lines” in US-China relations: Taiwan, democracy, human rights and China’s freedom to develop.

“China will not repeat the historical pattern where powerful nations seek dominance,” he said in a video address to a conference at New York’s Asia Society. “The Taiwan question is the most paramount in China-US relations and must not be crossed. The notion of democracy versus authoritarianism is a fallacy. China’s political system and development path are non-negotiable.

“It is critical to avoid these.”

Xie ticked off several more features of the US approach he believed were misguided. These included politicisation of the relationship, “imposing prescriptions on others for one’s own illness”, overstretching national security and playing the “China card” to score domestic points.

“Conflict and confrontation serve no one’s interest,” he said. “Dialogue and consultation are the better way forward.”

Xie mixed the tough medicine with sweeteners, appealing to simpler days when relations were on a more solid footing. These included references to the US and Chinese Flying Tigers pilots who fought the Japanese during World War II, the decades of educational and cultural exchanges, their combined contribution to global economic growth and intertwined ties.

Xie cited two-way investment of US$260 billion involving some 7,000 American companies tied to two-way trade of US$760 billion. “Mutual understanding and accommodation is crucial because neither can bring down the other,” said Xie, beamed in from the embassy in Washington. “China wants a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship.”

Xie – who has held top postings in Indonesia, Hong Kong and the foreign ministry’s North American department – opted not to mention that some of the allegations he levelled against the US, including exaggerated national security concerns and playing up threats to score domestic points, have been levelled at China as well. Nor did the format allow for questions.

The American Chamber of Commerce in China has called on China to dial back its “extreme” focus on national security as foreign companies try and navigate China’s opaque laws, swooning economy and concerns over protectionism.

“As much as China wants to attract more foreign investment, there are forces within the government which lean in the direction of impeding foreign investment because of an extreme emphasis on national security,” said Lester Ross, chairman of the chamber’s policy committee, at the April release of its annual white paper.

David Firestein, chief executive of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, another speaker at Thursday’s “Vision China” conference, which was sponsored by China Daily, outlined several US assumptions that have undermined relations.

These include a common American belief that US-China relations are a zero-sum game, that China seeks to supplant US global leadership and that bilateral trade is not mutually beneficial.

“Because assumptions relate very directly to policy, our policy has shifted,” Firestein said. “American policy for China has veered off course because the assumptions have changed in many ways, radically.”

In a bid to evoke better times, conference organisers invited Kitty and Kelly Van Dries, two Texas residents who handed Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping a cowboy hat at a Texas rodeo in February 1979, an image that helped soften China’s image.

During his remarks, Xie called the May 14, 1979, launch of US-China diplomatic relations the “most important event in international relations” over the past half-century, which has promoted “global peace and prosperity”, before citing other complaints about America’s approach that, he said, have undercut ties.

These include spreading disinformation to produce “chilling effects”, resurrecting McCarthyism – the mid-century period of anti-communist excesses – threatening economic decoupling, trade and tech wars and failing to respect “territorial integrity”.

China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea – and the area’s estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – have antagonised competing regional claimants, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The latest flashpoint has been around the disputed Sabina Shoal, claimed by the Philippines as part of its exclusive economic zone that Beijing does not recognise. The Philippines, a US treaty ally, and China have seen several “intentional” ship collisions in recent weeks that each side blames on the other.

“A conflict between China and US would be unbearable for both, and the world,” Xie said. “We hope the US will work with China to enhance cooperation and address differences.”

Senior US official praises China’s cooperation on export controls for technology transfers

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3278322/senior-us-official-praises-chinas-cooperation-export-controls-technology-transfers?utm_source=rss_feed

A senior American official on Thursday lauded improved cooperation with the Chinese government on export controls meant to prevent the transfer of sensitive technologies to the mainland.

Since the end of coronavirus lockdowns in China, mainland authorities have been more helpful in conducting “end-user checks” on companies that buy products sold by US firms, said Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the US Commerce Department.

These US firms are under greater pressure to ensure the technologies they develop are not used for military purposes, explained Axelrod, in a discussion at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

“I think what got our end-use checks unstuck in China was the threat of their companies going on our Unverified List and then on the Entity List because that makes it harder for them to get US items.”

The Unverified List comprises foreign individuals or entities that the Commerce Department is unable to verify. Its Entity List identifies organisations and individuals believed to be involved or posing a significant risk of becoming involved in activities contrary to America’s national security or foreign-policy interests.

“The Chinese government does not want their companies on our lists,” Axelrod said. “They get very upset when their companies go on … so they want to avoid that when possible and part of that is facilitating our end-user checks.”

Officially “agnostic” as to which countries American firms sell hi-tech products to, the Unverified List has nearly 100 companies and institutions based on the mainland and in Hong Kong. The United Arab Emirates comes in second, with 31 companies and labs.

A company winds up on the list when American export-control officers are unable to complete on-site visits to determine whether they can be trusted to receive US origin technology and other goods.

American exporters must conduct additional due diligence before sending items to listed companies, and they usually need to apply for more licenses.

More than two dozen Chinese companies were removed from the list a year ago, after Covid-19 protocols on the mainland were loosened.

China’s strict lockdown during the pandemic happened “when we were trying to get a lot of these checks done”, Axelrod said. “It wasn’t easy logistically for the folks from there or for our folks who had to go … to try and get these checks done.”

The senior Commerce official gave “credit to our team and their team on that one issue”, adding: “There’s still lots of issues where we disagree, of course, but I think on the end-use checks, we’ve made some progress.”

However, some companies released from the UVL could find themselves back in the US government’s cross hairs, owing to legislation making its way through Congress.

Wuxi Biologics, a Chinese company that was removed from the UVL in late 2022 – immediately after many of those restrictions lifted – was named in a bill passed by the US House of Representatives on Monday.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law by US President Joe Biden, the legislation would restrict the federal government from contracting with Wuxi Biologics and four other Chinese biotech firms involved in America’s medical supply chain.

The Biosecure Act, which passed this week 306-81, also targets Chinese companies BGI Group, Complete Genomics, MGI and . The measure establishes an inter-agency process for identifying additional companies.

The legislation is meant to encourage US firms to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturing and limit the risk of American health data going to Beijing.

A version of the act cleared a Senate committee and has stoked backlash from biotech executives who contend it could contribute to widespread drug shortages in the US.

US House approves legislation to restrict tax credits for EVs using Chinese battery technology

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3278324/us-house-approves-legislation-restrict-tax-credits-evs-using-chinese-battery-technology?utm_source=rss_feed

The US House of Representatives passed a Republican bill restricting electric vehicle tax credits on Thursday that could jeopardise licensing deals between American car makers and Chinese EV battery companies.

The bill, which is opposed by the White House, was passed as the last act of China Week, a House Republican-led effort to advance China-related legislation. About two dozen such bills, including some sharply divisive ones, have cleared the chamber since Monday.

All legislation that passes the House must also clear the full Democrat-led Senate before it can be sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

Sponsored by Representative Carol Miller of West Virginia, the End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act of 2024 would restrict EV tax credits from cars using battery technology licensed from China if the licensing deal is more than US$5 million.

The bill passed 217-192, largely along partisan lines, with only seven Democrats supporting it.

Consumer EVs using batteries made in China are already prohibited from receiving tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), US President Joe Biden’s signature 2022 climate legislation.

But that law permits manufacturers licensing Chinese technology to build batteries in the US to receive the credits. It also allows for joint ventures that meet certain conditions.

Advocates of Chinese involvement argue that it could create jobs, let the US benefit from technology transfers and help produce electric cars more cheaply.

A few top American car makers have already taken the bite. The Ford Motor Company intends to license technology from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) – one of the world’s largest battery makers – to produce lithium-ion batteries at its planned battery facility in Michigan.

The plant was initially valued at US$3.5 billion and set to employ about 2,500 workers, though plans have since been scaled back.

General Motors is in talks with CATL about a licensing deal, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Other companies, including Tesla, have reportedly also been in talks.

Miller’s bill comes as Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about national security risks posed by Chinese involvement in US-based battery plants.

The bill also follows actions by the Biden administration to curb the influence of Chinese EV and battery manufacturers, which currently dominate the global EV supply chain.

In May, the White House announced a quadrupling of so-called section 301 tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles to 100 per cent, along with increased tariffs for lithium-ion batteries and other clean energy products like solar cells produced in China.

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 empowers the government to impose trade sanctions on foreign countries that violate US trade agreements or engage in unfair trade practices.

While the new tariff rates have yet to go into effect, the office of the US Trade Representative is expected to issue a final determination soon.

House Republicans argued Thursday that the restrictions in the Miller bill would prevent Chinese billionaires from benefiting from American taxpayer funds and curb China’s dominance in the electric vehicle sector.

Democrats countered that the bill would effectively help China maintain its dominance because the IRA credits make US electric car production more viable.

A debate emerged among legislators from Michigan, the base of US auto making. Representative John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House select committee on China, argued that “the American people do not want CCP-affiliated companies setting up shop in their towns”, while Representative Debbie Dingell, a Democrat, contended that the bill would “lead to American job losses” and make it “harder for American companies to compete”.

Representative Judy Chu, a California Democrat, raised concerns about a provision in Miller’s bill that expands the list of entities restricted from receiving tax credits to include firms owned by “a citizen, national or resident” of China.

“This bill includes a harmful provision that would target immigrants who came to the United States from an adversary country, but who themselves have nothing to do with their governments of origin,” Chu said.

The White House released a statement opposing Miller’s bill on Wednesday. The legislation, it said, would “raise taxes on American consumers, punish American auto manufacturers, threaten good-paying auto jobs, undermine our administration’s work to protect the American automotive supply chain from unfair Chinese competition, and set back efforts to achieve energy security and combat climate change”.

The United Auto Workers also opposed the bill, calling it an “attack on good union jobs” and a blow to “nearly 2,000 battery manufacturing jobs in Michigan”.

Observers have said it is unlikely that all the bills passed this week will become law before , November 5, or before the end of the congressional session in January.

Elaine Dezenski, senior director of the Centre on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said that the most significant impact of the “China Week” bills might be the message they send to the business world.

“They signal to the marketplace, to investors, to those who are thinking about investment in China and elsewhere, that the government is acknowledging certain kinds of risks,” she said.

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China-Russia relations might have a few limits after all

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3278051/china-russia-relations-might-have-few-limits-after-all?utm_source=rss_feed

As Russia and China kick off the joint Ocean-2024 military drills in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, questions arise about their ability to counter perceived US dominance in the global arena. While military collaboration between Moscow and Beijing signals a united front against the West, doubts remain about whether their “no limits” partnership can lead to significant geopolitical changes, or if it merely serves as a high-profile display.

Over the past two and a half years, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian and Chinese militaries have conducted several joint military exercises. In July, China’s and Russia’s naval forces held a drill at a military port in southern China’s Guangdong province, “jointly addressing maritime security threats”.

That, however, did not help Moscow protect its Black Sea Fleet from frequent Ukrainian attacks. The fleet’s primary base was the city of Sevastopol in Crimea but after Ukraine sank a considerable number of Russian warships, the Kremlin had to move many of the high-value Russian naval assets east to Novorossiysk.

Similarly, the Vostok 2022 exercises – in which a total of 13 countries, including China, took part – failed to help Russia maintain control over significant parts of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region that had been occupied in the early days of the war. As Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff, was preoccupied with supervising the large-scale drill in the Russian Far East, Ukraine took advantage of the situation to reclaim substantial portions of Kharkiv.

The coming weeks will reveal whether Kyiv will implement the same tactics and launch another offensive – potentially aiming to capture parts of Russia’s Belgorod or Bryansk regions – while the Russian military is busy conducting drills alongside Chinese forces in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk.

In the past, Russia held military exercises with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, primarily through the US-dominated alliance’s Partnership for Peace programme. However, following the emergence of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Nato halted all forms of military cooperation with Moscow, while the Kremlin sought to expand military ties with Beijing.

As a result, Russia and China often hold naval exercises. The ongoing drills seem to be part of the wider Brics security architecture. While the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Chinese navy coordinate on “practical actions in defending maritime communications and areas of maritime economic activity” in the region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in St Petersburg attending the 14th Meeting of Brics High-Ranking Officials to discuss security matters.

Interestingly enough, Wang was invited to Russia not by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, but by the secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Sergei Shoigu. Wang’s visit to Russia and the joint military drills reflect the increase in military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, which seems to worry some policymakers and strategic planners in the West.

In April, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused China of “providing invaluable support to Russia’s defence industrial base”, although he also pointed out that “China has not directly supplied Russia with weapons, with missiles, with munitions”. Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency William Burns recently said the organisation had yet to see evidence of China sending weapons to Russia.

From the Western perspective, the current level of Russian-Chinese military cooperation arguably seems to be acceptable since Beijing is not directly supporting Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly assured his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that he would not supply Russia with weapons. The fact that top US officials have not confirmed any arms trade between Moscow and Beijing suggests that the Chinese leader is keeping his promise.

Moscow, on the other hand, tends to portray its “no limits” partnership with China as being in its most favourable period ever. In January, Lavrov said that relations between Russia and China “are more durable, reliable and advanced than any military alliance within the old framework of the Cold War era”. But during the Cold War, Moscow and Beijing were involved in the Sino-Vietnamese border conflict. During the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979, the Soviet Union provided support for Hanoi.

Even nowadays, relations between Moscow and Beijing are far from ideal, especially when it comes to Russian natural gas supplies to China. But the Kremlin, isolated from the West, aims to show to the Russian audience that it can count on China’s support against what Russian President Vladimir Putin described as Washington’s plans to “maintain its global military and political dominance at any cost”.

“Under the pretext of countering the allegedly existing Russian threat and containing the People’s Republic of China, the United States and its satellites are increasing their military presence near Russia’s western borders, in the Arctic and in the Asia-Pacific region,” Putin stressed, announcing the Ocean 2024 military drills.

While China seems to take a rather cautious stance towards Russia, the experience the Russian military is gaining in Ukraine is undoubtedly of great interest to Beijing. Given that joint military drills are an opportunity to share experiences among participating forces, it is no surprise that the People’s Liberation Army takes part in them with the Russian military.

Nevertheless, Beijing is being careful to avoid crossing unofficial Western “red lines” and refraining from supplying weapons to Russia. Such an approach allows China to balance its economic relations with the West while maintaining its military partnership with the Kremlin.

China sets some global standards for 6G tech as it looks towards next-gen communications

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3278257/china-sets-some-global-standards-6g-tech-it-looks-towards-next-gen-communications?utm_source=rss_feed

China has established three pivotal 6G technological standards under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), marking a significant advance in setting the international framework for next-gen telecommunications.

The new standards are tailored to enhance scenarios outlined in the union’s international mobile telecommunications 2030 framework: communications that are immersive, ultra-reliable low-latency and AI integrated.

Cui Kai, an associate research director from consulting company IDC who covers the telecoms industry, highlighted the importance of the standards.

For example, immersive communication “goes beyond just VR or multimedia screens. Any service requiring high bandwidth, low latency and high reliability can benefit from these architectures and modules”, he said.

The developments were endorsed on July 26 during a plenary meeting of the union’s Telecommunication Standardisation Sector study group 13, a work group dedicated to future networks and emerging technologies.

The collaborative effort was supported by Hu Honglin, of the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and China Telecom. Hu has been researching the field of communication technology for 20 years and is a leading player in information-centric networking.

From 4G to 5G and now 6G, each evolution needs standards established as guidelines and references. Industry experts and companies strive to be involved in the development of these standards, aiming to secure a competitive market position as early as possible.

However, there are still divergences in the operational tech pathways for 6G, as discussed by Liu Guangyi, chief technology officer of the Wireless Department at China Mobile Research Institute, in an academic paper published in March.

“Operators in Europe and America, where 5G deployment has been relatively slow, show less enthusiasm for 6G development,” Liu wrote. “In contrast, East Asian operators like China Mobile, Japan’s Docomo, and Korea’s SKT are more proactive.”

The proposed standards are intended to aid different 6G requirements, such as the need to send secure content, keep data up to date and check how well the system is performing. They define functionalities for immersive and AI services.

Cui said the new features added to the system – such as the ability to calculate quickly – could handle information as it came in. They improved the spreading out of tasks and self-evaluation, so the system could make changes as needed, he said.

According to the SARI website, the move would make the research institute even more well known around the world for its work in information-centric networking. It also lays a strong foundation for creating standards that will be used in the future technology of 6G.