Mistral点评

• ‘Attack on Chinese nationals’ near Karachi airport leaves 1 dead, 10 injured
• China, North Korea mark 75 years of ties with pledge for ‘new era’ in exchanges
• Philadelphia’s Chinatown rallies against development of new 76ers arena
• Wall Street Journal: Chinese hackers breach US court wiretap system
• China’s travel industry faces reality check of ‘worst ever’ season
• 61,000 residents apply for Hong Kong document needed for 5-year mainland China travel permit
• Mainland China not the motherland, says Taiwan’s president, because our republic is older
• What does China’s first Arctic coastguard patrol with Russia reveal about its ambitions?
• Blogger with 6 million fans brings tribal trio to China for lucrative live streams
• Hong Kong records 35% rise in mainland Chinese visitors for first 5 days of ‘golden week’
• North Korea and China mark their 75th anniversary of ties as outsiders question their relationship
• Golden week: China’s property market sales get boost from Beijing’s stimulus measures
• China has built up an enviable gas supply. Now it faces a dilemma
• Will China’s ailing property market get ‘golden week’ sales boost?
• As Japan’s ‘Asian Nato’ push to counter China hits a brick wall, will a rebrand revive it?
• Broke ex-China millionaire’s last possession auctioned off – a bottle of Sprite
• As Chinese firms expand overseas, legal spotlight turns on cross-border disputes
• ‘Like losing a child’: what is the cost of China’s sudden ban on international adoptions?
• Joe Biden ‘sent Xi Jinping congratulatory message’ to mark China’s 75th National Day
• China eye doctor stabbed by patient thought career was over resumes surgeries, inspiring many
• China supports Russia at UN Nord Stream debate in united stand against US-led West
• China’s public transport serves 90% of urban residents, leaving US cities in the dust
• Young Chinese pessimistic about prospects as new graduates flood grim job market
• Why policymakers in China should beware the cult of the equity
• China mother, once jumping rope with son, masters freestyle stunts for health, happiness
• Australia eyes lands of opportunity amid trade diversification despite warming China ties
• Win in China EV tariffs vote leaves EU relieved yet wary over Beijing’s likely retaliation
• What is China’s next move as the Middle East violence escalates?
• Hard truths about growing up Chinese and female in Malaysia
• False claims of Chinese crime wave in Japan ignite outrage after boy’s stabbing
• Frustrated with Washington, Argentina’s Milei seeks rapprochement with China
• Are China’s lauded anti-poverty triumphs at risk of vanishing?

‘Attack on Chinese nationals’ near Karachi airport leaves 1 dead, 10 injured

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3281300/attack-chinese-nationals-near-karachi-airport-leaves-1-dead-10-injured?utm_source=rss_feed

At least one person was killed and 10 injured in an explosion near the international airport of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Sunday night, local broadcaster Geo News reported. A Home Ministry official said it was an attack on Chinese nationals

In a statement, Pakistani separatist group BLA claimed responsibility for the attack, Reuters reported.

The Home Ministry official told Associated Press that one of the Chinese nationals was injured. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

The nature of the blast was not immediately clear, but Geo News cited a provincial official saying said at least one foreigner had been injured.

In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was an attack carried out by them using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting Chinese nationals, including engineers.

Karachi police did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The BLA seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering on Afghanistan and Iran. In August, it launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.

BLA specifically targets Chinese interests – in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit the province. It has killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked

Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative that connects south and central Asia with the Chinese capital.

Videos showed flames engulfing cars and a thick column of smoke rising from the scene. There was a heavy military deployment at the site, which was cordoned off.

Police surgeon Dr Sumayya Tariq said one of the casualties was in critical condition and that four of them were security guards.

Rahat Hussain, who works in the civil aviation department, said the blast was so big that it shook the airport’s buildings.

Reporting by Reuters, Associated Press

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China, North Korea mark 75 years of ties with pledge for ‘new era’ in exchanges

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281273/china-north-korea-mark-75-years-ties-pledge-new-era-exchanges?utm_source=rss_feed

The leaders of China and North Korea marked 75 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries with a pledge on Sunday to develop a “new era” of relations.

In an exchange of messages, Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un that the two countries had “marched hand in hand” over the decades to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and promote socialism, according to state news agency Xinhua.

They had also “collaborated closely” on advancing regional peace and stability and safeguarding international fairness and justice, Xi noted.

“Under the new era and new situation, China is willing to work with the DPRK to … strengthen strategic communication and coordination, deepen friendly exchanges and cooperation, and continue to write a new chapter of the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK,” Xi said, referring to North Korea by its official title, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

He added that China wished to jointly promote the steady and long-term development of the two countries’ socialist cause and to better benefit their peoples.

North Korea was among the first group of countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, formalising ties just five days after the PRC’s founding in October 1949.

The two countries signed a defence treaty in 1961, the only one that China has with any nation.

According to the Xinhua report, Kim said that developing friendship between the two countries “just as in the past” was in the fundamental interests of Beijing and Pyongyang.

“The North Korean party and government will continue to make efforts to consolidate and develop friendly cooperative relations between North Korea and China in accordance with the requirements of the new era,” Kim was quoted as saying.

It echoed a congratulatory message the North Korean leader sent on Tuesday, when China celebrated its 75th National Day.

“I believe that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries will grow stronger in conformity with the requirements of the new era,” Kim said in his message on Tuesday.

The messages of goodwill come amid speculation of strains in the relationship caused by differences over North Korea’s nuclear programme.

In May, North Korea condemned a joint commitment from China, Japan and South Korea to the Korean peninsula.

Observers have also described Beijing as being guarded about deepening links between Pyongyang and Moscow.

In a rare visit to North Korea in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defence pact with Kim. Kim also met Russian security chief in Pyongyang last month.

Xi’s last official visit to Pyongyang was in June 2019.

In his message on Sunday, Xi said the friendship between two countries had “withstood the test of changing times and vicissitudes in the international situation”, adding that they had “supported each other in the struggle to consolidate people’s power and safeguard national sovereignty”.

Xi also sent a to Kim on the 76th anniversary of North Korea’s founding last month, saying bilateral ties had “become stronger over time”. The two leaders also communicated in January, when they exchanged New Year’s greetings.

China’s third-ranking official, Zhao Leji, visited Pyongyang in April. It was the highest-level meeting between the two countries in nearly five years and part of a series of engagements marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Philadelphia’s Chinatown rallies against development of new 76ers arena

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3281293/philadelphias-chinatown-rallies-against-development-new-76ers-arena?utm_source=rss_feed

Vivian Chang works on a narrow Philadelphia street that would have been consumed by a Phillies stadium had Chinatown activists not rallied to defeat the plan in the early 2000s. Instead of 40,000 cheering fans, the squeals of young children now fill the playground at Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, which opened in 2007.

“We’re standing right where the baseball stadium would have been,” Chang said in late September. “And now it’s 480 students – a lot of immigrants, a lot of students of colour from across the city.”

Chang, 33, leads Asian-American United, which flexed its political muscle during the stadium fight and is now experiencing déjà vu as it tries to stop a planned US$1.3 billion basketball arena for the Philadelphia 76ers at the other edge of Chinatown.

Mayor Cherelle Parker hopes a glitzy, 18,500-seat arena can be the catalyst to revive a distressed retail corridor called Market East, which runs for eight blocks, from City Hall to the Liberty Bell. The plan now moves to city council for debate this fall. Team owners say they need the council’s approval for 76 Place by year’s end so they can move into their new home by 2031.

“I wholeheartedly believe this is the right deal for the people of Philadelphia,” Parker said in announcing her support in September, while pledging to protect what she called “the best Chinatown in the United States.”

Few would deny that Market East needs a saviour. But some are less sure it should be the Sixers. Critics fear gridlock on game days and a dark arena at other times, along with gentrification, homogenisation, and rising rents. Chinatown sits just above Market East and the LGBTQ friendly “Gayborhood” a few blocks below it.

“The arena is a uniquely bad use for that land,” said local activist Jackson Morgan, who fears the Gayborhood could lose its identity. “It would make Center City virtually unliveable for hours at a time.”

Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross who studies stadium issues, said arenas can bring an economic bounce to downtown business districts, but only a limited one.

“They don’t have much of an effect once you get beyond a couple of blocks,” he said.

Market East, a once-bustling stretch of historic Market Street, has withered over the last half-century amid a series of cultural shifts: the growth of suburban shopping malls in the 1960s and ‘70s, the financial crises that crippled US cities in the 1980s, and, more recently, the twin blows of online shopping and the pandemic.

And while much of Philadelphia is thriving as more young people settle downtown, Market East has resisted renewal efforts. All but one of its fabled department stores are long gone.

Enter the 76ers, owned by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, who want to shed their Wells Fargo Center lease with Comcast Spectacor and move from the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex to their own facility.

The partners, who also own the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and have a controlling interest in the NFL’s Washington Commanders, say the project will be privately financed and bring thousands of jobs and more than US$2 billion in economic growth to downtown. They also hope to build an adjacent US$250 million block of flats.

“I think the arena is a good thing,” said Dante Sisofo, 28, who lives nearby. “I could see a lot of families gathering and getting a nice bowl of Vietnamese pho – my favourite dish – and then heading to the game.”

Parker shares his optimism, and has tried to address concerns by noting the US$50 million in local benefits the team has promised, a sum that includes a US$3 million loan fund for Chinatown businesses.

But others wonder if sports fans would really patronise mom and pop stores. Arenas, they say, are designed to keep fans inside, spending their money on increasingly upscale dining and entertainment.

“The Sixers’ owners, they don’t make money by people going to the quaint little sports bar across the street. They make money by having people buy those $14 beers inside the stadium,” Matheson said.

The owners have pledged not to ask the city for any construction funding, although they are free to seek state and federal funds. Instead of property taxes, they would pay about US$6 million in annual Payments in Lieu of Taxes. Over the 30-year agreement, the potential savings to the team – and loss to the city and its cash-strapped schools – could be tens of millions of dollars or more, by some economists’ measure.

“Historically, city officials have been extremely poor poker players when it comes to staring down and bluffing billionaire sports owners,” Matheson said.

“And of course, that’s the exact reason why you have them playing footsie with Camden,” he said, referring to a last-minute flirtation from New Jersey to have the Sixers move across the Delaware River, where the team already has a practice facility, for US$400 million in tax breaks.

Still, Parker called the deal the best the city has ever struck with a city sports team, given that the three venues in South Philadelphia – the Wells Fargo Center, Citizens Bank Park, and Lincoln Financial Field – were all built with huge public subsidies.

Back in Center City, rising rents already are a reality for Debbie Law’s family.

They ran a variety store in the heart of Chinatown for 35 years until the landlord tripled the rent in 2022, when the arena plan surfaced. The family reluctantly moved around the block to a smaller, less visible location that faces the hulking back side of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, another economic development project that hems in Chinatown.

“I grew up in that shop. It was a community centre of sorts,” said Law, 42, as her aunt tended the register at the new store. Local residents, she said, rely on them for Chinese-language magazines, newspapers, and cultural items they would struggle to find if the store is displaced again.

The Chinatown community, which dates to 1871, has worked to fend off sometimes dubious development since at least the 1960s: casinos, a prison, the stadium, and a highway. They have won some fights and lost others. The six-lane, sunken Vine Street Expressway opened in 1991, cutting off the top of Chinatown, where the charter school sits. Only now are pedestrian overpasses being built to try to stitch the neighbourhood back together.

“Every single time that Chinatown has been targeted for a project like this, people say Chinatown will survive,” Chang said. “But is that really how we should be treated as a community?”

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Wall Street Journal: Chinese hackers breach US court wiretap system

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3281275/wall-street-journal-chinese-hackers-breach-us-court-wiretap-system?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese hackers accessed the networks of US broadband providers and obtained information from systems that the federal government uses for court-authorised wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The hackers might have held access for months to network infrastructure used by the companies to cooperate with court-authorised US requests for communications data, the Journal said. It said the hackers had also accessed other tranches of internet traffic.

China’s foreign ministry responded on Sunday that it was not aware of the attack described in the report but said the United States had “concocted a false narrative” to “frame” China in the past.

“At a time when cybersecurity has become a common challenge for all countries around the world, this erroneous approach will only hinder the efforts of the international community to jointly address the challenge through dialogue and cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement.

Beijing has previously denied claims by the US government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.

Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Journal said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacking group with the aim of collecting intelligence. US investigators have dubbed it “Salt Typhoon.”

Earlier this year, US law enforcement disrupted a major Chinese hacking group nicknamed “Flax Typhoon,” months after confronting Beijing about sweeping cyber espionage under a campaign named “Volt Typhoon.”

In its statement, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing’s cybersecurity agencies had found and published evidence to show Volt Typhoon was staged by “an international ransomware organisation.”

China’s travel industry faces reality check of ‘worst ever’ season

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3281095/chinas-travel-industry-faces-reality-check-worst-ever-season?utm_source=rss_feed

Over the summer and Mid-Autumn Festival peak travel seasons, China’s major cities buzzed with tourists, with travel data painting a picture of a vibrant recovery.

However, the reality for many in the tourism industry tells a different story, with operators lamenting the peak seasons as the “worst ever”, and some struggling businesses faring worse than during the darkest days of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I have never seen [business during] a ‘golden week’ so dismal, it’s worse than the quietest of the off season,” said Guan Wenlu, COO of Dear Voyage, a Chinese travel agency focused on high-end travel.

Travel agents from across China share the same disappointed sentiment, dumbfounded Guan added, with businesses during China’s ongoing seven-day “golden week” National Day holiday – which this year started on Tuesday – traditionally filled bustling with crowds, vibrant peaks of activity and overflowing coffers.

The stark contrast highlights a profound crisis lurking beneath the surface of apparent prosperity, marked by China’s weak consumer spending, as many travellers remain reluctant to open their wallets amid broader economic anxieties.

“Most hotels didn’t raise prices [for the golden week holiday], and compared to the same period last year, current bookings might only reach 60 to 65 per cent, and half of what was seen in 2019,” said Shen Qianyu, a travel agent from Sanya, a traditional tourist hotspot in China’s southern island province of Hainan.

On paper, though, China’s travel data paints a far more optimistic picture.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 107 million domestic trips were made during the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in mid-September, up by 6.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

Total tourist spending also stood at 51 billion yuan (US$7.26 billion), representing an 8 per cent increase compared to 2019.

And expenditure per person was around 477 yuan (US$67.86), compared to 450 yuan in 2019.

According to the China State Railway Group, a record 887 million passengers were transported nationwide by rail during the 62-day summer travel in July and August, a year-on-year increase of 6.7 per cent.

Major domestic airlines also reported elevated numbers of flights and passengers during the summer.

“Tourism industry professionals never look at the statistics, because we wouldn’t be able to understand them,” Guan added.

“The more you look at it, the more foolish you feel about yourself.”

During the summer, the southern province of Guizhou, the western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the northwest provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Qinghai, as well as the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, all experienced good visitor numbers.

Interest in the southwestern province of Yunnan has also been high, but low consumer spending has dampened overall sentiment among operators, according to Zhang Haoxi, founder of Travel Zone, a travel industry publication.

“The ups and downs felt by the market on the front line starkly contrast with the so-called grand narratives of macroeconomics,” Zhang said.

One high end guest house owner in Qinghai reported just 30 per cent occupancy during the golden week holiday, according to Zhang’s survey of travel agents.

The ongoing trend of spending cutbacks in China has intensified despite a raft of policies and pledges, as consumers become more frugal amid an economic downturn and weak income growth expectations.

“Many people are telling me they can’t make it until the Spring Festival,” added Dear Voyage’s Guan, referring to the Lunar New Year holiday, which traditionally takes place in January and February each year and includes the annual 40-day chun yun travel period.

“People think Xinjiang is crowded with people, but countless guest houses in Xinjiang are lining up to be sold? Not to mention in Lijiang and Dali [in Yunnan province].

“I don’t think it can get any harder than this.

“Right now, it’s tough – extremely tough. During the pandemic, people could accept it because that phase was considered a force majeure. Everyone knew it was beyond our control, and businesses were mostly operating at minimal cost.

“But now, we’re running at full cost, so for many in the industry, it’s not any better than it was during the pandemic.”

Cun Xiaoqin, a travel agent in Yunnan province offering customised trips and a high end hotel, said her business during the summer had fallen by half compared to a year earlier, with the occupancy rate at the hotel down by two thirds.

Yunnan province boasts breathtaking and diverse natural beauty, along with a rich historical heritage, and is often regarded as a bellwether for domestic tourism.

“Overall, the booking rates for high-end hotels have dropped significantly compared to last year, while mid- to low-end hotels have seen a noticeable increase,” Cun said.

Cun added that mid- to high-end hotels had seen minimal price increases during the summer, while the mid- to low-end segment had seen substantial increases.

She also pointed out that bookings during the National Day holiday were limited, but that there is a spike after golden week.

“Overall, the volume during the period after the holiday is much better than the same time last year – roughly double,” she added.

The figures reflect a shift in behaviour among Chinese tourists, as they increasingly prefer to avoid travelling during crowded holidays and opt for off-peak trips instead, analysts said.

“More tourists doesn’t necessarily make it easier for travel agencies to make money,” Cun said.

“There were still plenty of tourists, but for us travel agencies, it means adjusting our products and strategies to adapt to market changes.”

61,000 residents apply for Hong Kong document needed for 5-year mainland China travel permit

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3281282/61000-residents-apply-hong-kong-document-needed-5-year-mainland-china-travel-permit?utm_source=rss_feed

Another 29,000 Hong Kong permanent residents with foreign passports have applied in the past two months for an Immigration Department document needed to get a new five-year travel permit to enter mainland China.

The department said on Sunday that it had received more than 61,000 applications from permanent residents who wanted a five-year multi-entry travel permit to the mainland as of September 30.

The figure was nearly double the 32,000 applications the department had received in July, the month applications opened.

“Since the launch on July 10, the permit has been very popular among non-Chinese residents in the city,” Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung told a radio programme.

Several documents are needed to obtain the permit through China Travel Service (Hong Kong) including a “Notice of Application for Access to Information” from the department.

The department earlier said it had deployed additional staff to work overtime to help ensure it could issue residents with the notice within 10 days.

Kwok said staff initially often worked overtime and during weekends because of the “large volume” of applications.

The new permit allows non-Chinese nationals with permanent residency in Hong Kong and Macau to enter the mainland multiple times for purposes such as visiting relatives, tourism, business, seminars and exchanges, for up to 90 days each stay.

They can also enjoy self-service clearance at control checkpoints once they have their fingerprints taken at ports of entry.

Before the permit’s introduction, most of the city’s 270,000 adult permanent residents with foreign passports had to apply for separate visas to visit the mainland.

Singapore Chamber of Commerce vice-chairman Basil Hwang was among the first permit holders to cross into the mainland in August. He said he had since used the permit a handful of times for day trips into Shenzhen.

The first time he crossed into the mainland with the permit he had to undergo a 15-minute registration process, but subsequent trips had been “very smooth”, he said.

“Once you get to the gate, it’s pretty much the same as going in and out of the Hong Kong automated immigration gates,” he said.

But Hwang said that while most of the people he knew were interested in obtaining the permit, some felt the time for it to be issued was quite long.

CTS Hong Kong chairman Perry Yiu Pak-leung had previously said the permit would be issued within 20 working days after the application was accepted, but Hwang told the Post he knew some people who had waited “much longer” than that.

He also said an official “frequently asked questions” page on the permit would be helpful, including what to do on first-time use.

There had also been interest among international business chambers to lobby the government to allow non-permanent residents to qualify for the permit, Hwang added.

“This would be an attractive benefit to persons considering moving to Hong Kong for work and could help attract international talent to Hong Kong,” Hwang said.

Kwok, meanwhile, told the radio show that by the end of September, the city’s Top Talent Pass Scheme had received 100,000 applications, with 81,000 approved.

A total of 240,000 applications had been approved under various talent schemes, allowing more than 300,000 applicants and their families to come to Hong Kong, he added.

Mainland China not the motherland, says Taiwan’s president, because our republic is older

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/06/mainland-china-not-the-motherland-says-taiwans-president-because-our-republic-is-older

It is “impossible” for the People’s Republic of China to become Taiwan’s motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, the island’s president has said.

Lai Ching-te, who took office in May, is condemned by Beijing as a separatist. He rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying the island is a country called the Republic of China that traces its origins back to the 1911 revolution overthrowing the last imperial dynasty.

The Chinese nationalist government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. Mao set up the People’s Republic of China, which continues to claim self-governed Taiwan as its territory.

Speaking at a concert ahead of Taiwan’s national day celebrations on 10 October, Lai noted that the People’s Republic had celebrated its 75th anniversary on 1 October and in a few days it would be the Republic of China’s 113th birthday.

“Therefore, in terms of age, it is absolutely impossible for the People’s Republic of China to become the motherland of the Republic of China’s people. On the contrary, the Republic of China may be the motherland of the people of the People’s Republic of China who are over 75 years old,” Lai added, to applause.

“One of the most important meanings of these celebrations is that we must remember that we are a sovereign and independent country.”

China’s Taiwan affairs office did not answer calls seeking comment outside office hours, the Reuters news agency said.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in a speech on the eve of his country’s national day, reiterated his government’s view that Taiwan is its territory.

Lai, who will give his own keynote national day address on 10 October, has needled Beijing before with historical references. In September, he said that if China’s claims on Taiwan were about territorial integrity then it should also take back land from Russia signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century.

With Reuters

What does China’s first Arctic coastguard patrol with Russia reveal about its ambitions?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3281228/what-does-chinas-first-arctic-coastguard-patrol-russia-reveal-about-its-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed

The China Coast Guard’s first entry into the Arctic Sea during joint operations with its Russian counterpart showed an ability to operate far from its coast and a heightened level of cooperation with Moscow, analysts said.

The vessels’ entry into the sea on Tuesday coincided with the National Day holiday marking the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday released photos and footage of the exercise.

Four ships – including the Chinese vessels Meishan and Xiushan – had travelled to the Arctic from the north Pacific, CCTV said, in what was the first joint coastguard exercise between the two countries.

According to the Chinese coastguard, the operation “significantly expanded the range of offshore operations, thoroughly tested vessels’ ability to carry out missions in unfamiliar waters and provided strong support for actively participating in international and regional maritime governance”.

The United States Coast Guard said it spotted four vessels from the Russian and Chinese coastguards carrying out a joint patrol on Saturday in the Bering Sea, which separates Alaska from Russia. It said the ships were transiting around 8km (5 miles) within the Russian exclusive economic zone, heading northeast.

This marked the northernmost location where Chinese coastguard vessels had been observed, according to the US Coast Guard, which sent its aircraft to monitor the ships near St Lawrence Island between Russia and Alaska.

The China Coast Guard (CCG) has recently increased its activities at major flashpoints in nearby waters, and been involved in a string of confrontations with its Philippine counterparts near disputed South China Sea atolls.

Its activities in the Arctic Sea suggest that the maritime law enforcement agency’s scope of operation may not only be limited to nearby shores, but may also extend to other international waterways where China tries to register its presence.

Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the Chinese coastguard was “operating in line with the central leadership’s clear ambition to establish China as an Arctic power”.

He said while it was not likely that China’s coastguard would sustain a regular deployment in the Arctic in the near-term, this was likely to be the first of a series of periodic joint operations with Russian forces.

“The inclusion of CCG patrols is of a piece. There is almost certainly no genuine law enforcement mission here, but perhaps the beginnings of China securing long-sought Russian permissions to operate more extensively in the Arctic and eventually gain greater access to its emerging shipping corridor and vast resources,” Kardon said.

The Chinese coastguard has emerged as one of the world’s largest maritime law enforcement agencies in the world since it was transferred in 2018 from the civilian State Oceanic Administration to the People’s Armed Police – which reports to the Central Military Commission – and was given a number of modified decommissioned warships from the Chinese navy.

While the exact strength of China’s coastguard is not known, a Pentagon report published last year said the it had more than 150 regional and oceangoing patrol vessels weighing more than 1,000 tonnes, including more than 20 corvettes transferred from the navy, some equipped with helicopter facilities, high-capacity water cannons, multiple interceptor boats and guns.

The newer vessels transferred to the coastguard are designed to operate further offshore and remain on station longer than the older models, according to the Pentagon.

Timothy Heath, a senior international defence researcher at the US-based think tank Rand Corporation, said China chose to send its coastguard instead of its navy because law enforcement ships were “less provocative than military vessels” when operating in politically sensitive areas.

“In this case, both Russia and the US are sensitive to China’s presence in the Arctic. But the CCG operated under the mission of fisheries enforcement in the ‘North Pacific’ which provides the reason for CCG involvement,” Heath said.

“The choice of a CCG ship also signals China’s interest in shaping international governance practices and institutions.”

Liselotte Odgaard, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said through the coastguard’s activities in the Arctic, China was signalling it supported “Russia’s patrolling rights” and also demonstrating “their ability to operate across the Arctic”.

“It is a way of showing that China is a near-Arctic state and that China intends to pursue what it sees as its legitimate rights to operate in the Arctic region, including the part far from the Chinese mainland,” Odgaard said.

“All this activity contributes to an enhanced Chinese presence in the Arctic, which is a dual-use presence and hence adds concerns for the Arctic Nato member states about strengthened Russian-Chinese cooperation in the region.”

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

Since China issued a white paper on the Arctic in 2018, the country has described itself as a “near-Arctic state”. It has also increased its activities in the far north as it seeks an alternative shipping route to Europe to cut dependence on the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia, which has a considerable US Navy presence carrying out anti-piracy operations.

In July, the US Coast Guard spotted three Chinese military vessels about 200km north of the Amchitka Pass at the southwestern reaches of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and a fourth ship about 135km north of the Amukta Pass in the same islands.

Last month, Chinese and Russian militaries conducted joint drills in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk – two of the major shipping routes on the way from the Chinese coast to the Arctic. The two navies also patrolled in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Marc Lanteigne, an associate professor of political science at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso, said there were “strategic implications” to the joint patrol between Chinese and Russian coastguards.

“[This included] underscoring the interests of both powers to cooperate more closely in Arctic maritime affairs,” he said.

Lanteigne said the coastguard activities were part of efforts to establish and develop its interests in expanding presence and economic activities in the Arctic.

“Beijing has repeatedly stressed that non-Arctic states have the right to engage in civilian operations in the Arctic, including maritime transits, and has referred to the central Arctic as a ‘common heritage’ of humanity.”

In response to increasing Chinese presence in the Arctic, the Pentagon updated its strategy for the region in July to strengthen its Arctic technological capabilities against China, which it described as a “pacing challenge” that “seeks increasing access and influence in the Arctic”.

Beijing includes the Arctic in “its long-term planning and seeks to increase its influence and activities in the region,” according to Washington’s renewed Arctic strategy report.

Odgaard said China’s activities in the Arctic were likely to strengthen cooperation between the coastguards and other capabilities of Arctic Nato members such as the US, Canada, Norway and Denmark.

According to Kardon at Carnegie, “One more permanent mission that might evolve over time could be to monitor the Chinese distant water fishing fleet if it begins to operate at scale in the Arctic, as well as tasks associated with keeping shipping routes open and secure if and when the Northern Sea Route becomes a major commercial thoroughfare for Chinese trade with Russia and Europe.”

Blogger with 6 million fans brings tribal trio to China for lucrative live streams

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3280253/blogger-6-million-fans-brings-tribal-trio-china-lucrative-live-streams?utm_source=rss_feed

An adventure blogger has brought three indigenous people from their home on a Pacific island to China to take part in live-streaming events, attracting audiences of millions.

The trio, a man, his mother and his uncle, do not speak Chinese, but occasionally sang their own folk songs and danced during the four live-streaming sessions on September 22, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

The events were hosted by the blogger Li Yi, who has 6.5 million followers on Douyin and sells a domestic-branded training shoes.

About four million internet users watched the sales, mainly out of curiosity, and revenue from the live streams reached 2.5 million yuan (US$360,000), the report said.

Li, from Heilongjiang province in northeastern China, has spent the past six years living with the indigenous people and their extended family on an island in Papua, the easternmost province of Indonesia.

Besides sharing videos about his experiences on social media, the blogger said he is also preparing a documentary on the ocean environment.

The primary reason for taking the trio to China is to help the youngest person seek medical treatment for an arm problem.

The 36-year-old man, nicknamed Xiaolu by Li, fell from a tree four years ago, injuring his left arm.

He has not received proper treatment since then due to the poor conditions in his hometown and has developed a muscular atrophy.

“He said he did not want to be a useless man,” Li was quoted as saying, adding that Xiaolu served as his assistant in helping him shoot videos.

“I promised to him that I would try my best to find doctors to cure his arm,” said Li.

The trip to China was long and full of transfers.

They left the island to a small city then went to Surabaya in Indonesia. This was followed by flights to Bali, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Shanghai and finally they arrived in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, on September 8.

Li took Xiaolu to visit hospitals in the city, but most doctors said they were not confident they could cure Xiaolu’s condition as it was “too complicated”.

In the end, a team of doctors at a major health centre agreed to do a surgery on Xiaolu. The operation is scheduled to be carried out in the next few weeks.

Li, who is bearing the medical costs for Xiaolu, hit back at people who questioned his motives.

“I am not taxing them. I am not utilising them for my own profit,” he said.

“It’s true that I lived with them for the past few years. We ate and slept under the same roof, like a family.”

The story has sparked a discussion on mainland social media.

“It’s astonishing! They directly leapt over from the primitive society to the e-commerce era,” said one internet user.

“They will be stunned by the civilised society. I wonder if they would like to return to live their previous life,” said another.

Hong Kong records 35% rise in mainland Chinese visitors for first 5 days of ‘golden week’

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3281259/hong-kong-records-35-rise-mainland-chinese-visitors-first-5-days-golden-week?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong welcomed nearly 1 million mainland Chinese visitors in the first five days of the National Day “golden week” break, a 35 per cent increase from the same period last year, according to local immigration authorities.

Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung also estimated on Sunday that the city would record 300 million arrival and departure trips by the end of 2024, a return to pre-pandemic levels.

The mainland’s annual golden week holiday runs from October 1 to 7.

Kwok said that 980,000 mainland visitors had entered Hong Kong between Tuesday and Saturday, up 35 per cent from last year.

National Day on October 1 saw more than 220,000 such travellers come to the city – a 30 per cent rise year on year, he added.

“In the past five days, whether at the border checkpoints, tourism hotspots and popular restaurants, it has been very hustle and bustle, with long queues reported in many places,” he told a radio programme.

“So we can see that the [National Day] celebratory events held by the government and other sectors are very attractive. And Hong Kong remains a welcoming place for mainland tourists.”

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said on Saturday that most hotels had recorded 90 per cent occupancy rates for the first four days of the holiday.

Kwok on Sunday also estimated the city would record another spike in arrivals during the Christmas holiday.

He also forecast that the total number of arrivals and departures for the year would match levels last recorded in 2019.

“We estimate that by the end of this year, [the total number of arrivals and departures] will reach 300 million,” he said.

Kwok noted that August 25 saw the highest daily number of arrivals and departures for this year at 1.21 million, only slightly less than the 1.28 million logged on April 21 of 2019.

Border crossing had operated smoothly despite the large volume of visitors, he said adding that 19 new self-service clearance channels had been installed at the West Kowloon rail checkpoint.

The director also said 23,503 people had been denied entry over the past nine months, accounting for 0.07 per cent of all inbound travellers and similar to figure from previous years.

About 85 per cent of the cases over the period had denied due to suspicious entry purposes, he added.

North Korea and China mark their 75th anniversary of ties as outsiders question their relationship

https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-china-xi-f2b1aebf0016cc32fb40600802540a21FILE - In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave from an open top limousine as they travel along a street in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 20, 2019. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP, File)

2024-10-06T03:54:06Z

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The leaders of North Korea and China marked the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations on Sunday by exchanging messages that expressed hopes for stronger ties, as outsiders raised questions about their relationship.

The message exchange came as North Korea and Russia have been sharply expanding their cooperation while China apparently keeps its distance. Experts say that the level of exchanges and commemorative programs between North Korea and China in the coming months will provide a clue to the exact status of their ties.

In a message sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his government will “steadily strive to consolidate and develop the friendly and cooperative relations” between the two countries, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Xi, in his message to Kim, said that China is ready to jointly promote “the stable and further advance of the socialist cause in the two countries,” KCNA said.

Since North Korea and China established diplomatic ties on Oct. 6, 1949, their relationship has often been described as being “as close as lips and teeth.” China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner and main aid provider, has been suspected of avoiding fully implementing U.N. sanctions on North Korea and sending clandestine aid shipments to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat and continue to serve as a bulwark against U.S. influence on the Korean Peninsula.

But many observers say China is reluctant to form a three-way, anti-West alliance with North Korea and Russia as it prefers a stable regional security environment to tackle numerous economic challenges and maintain relationships with Europe and its Asian neighbors.

North Korea and Russia have moved significantly closer to each other amid widespread outside suspicions that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.

North Korea is locked in confrontations with the U.S., South Korea and their partners over its advancing nuclear program. Kim has said he was forced to expand both nuclear and conventional capabilities to cope with U.S.-led security threats.

On Sunday, KCNA reported that Kim oversaw a live artillery firing drill by cadets of a military academy. After watching the drill, Kim said training programs at the military academy must focus on “the guerrilla war tactics to wipe out the enemies through rapid mobile and surprise operations,” according to KCNA.

Golden week: China’s property market sales get boost from Beijing’s stimulus measures

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3281207/golden-week-chinas-property-market-sales-get-boost-beijings-stimulus-measures?utm_source=rss_feed

It was already 7.15pm on Thursday and yet the sales centre of local developer Golden Real Estate in Shenzhen was still packed with prospective homebuyers – mostly couples and groups of families – as property agents and sales representatives moved quickly around to show sample rooms or help calculate the price of flats.

Suddenly, cheers rang out after a lady smashed a “golden egg” – the typical way buyers celebrate their purchase of a new home – and then unboxed gifts from the developer. She was among some 30 homebuyers who snapped up flats on the third day of China’s “golden week” National Day holiday, when the developer pulled in about 300 million yuan (US$42.5 million) in total sales, according to Feng Yuanjin, a sales manager for the property on offer in the city’s Nanshan district.

“We had to extend our operating hours to 11pm at the latest, from the previous deadline of 7pm, to entertain as many customers these days,” Feng said, adding that their team welcomed 350 visitors on Thursday. The property mainly targeted families looking for a home upgrade, as the flats on offer cost an average of 70,000 yuan per square metre after discounts.

That hectic day for homebuyers reflects the strong boost injected into the domestic property market by Beijing’s announcement of wide-ranging stimulus measures on September 24.

Those homebuyers also benefited from the latest easing policies implemented by local governments. Last week, the municipal government of Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, removed all curbs for local and non-local residents to buy homes. Following that move, the municipal governments of Shanghai and Shenzhen relaxed previous restrictions for non-local residents.

The two cities also exempted owners of lived-in homes from paying a 5.5 per cent capital-gains tax if they sell their property after two years, compared with the previous five-year holding rule.

The municipal government of Beijing, the nation’s capital, on Monday followed suit and relaxed its restrictions for non-local residents to buy properties.

China’s most significant stimulus package since the pandemic represented the first time the country’s central bank had offered a combination of rate cuts, reserve requirement rate cuts and structural monetary policies at the same time, as officials seek to stimulate consumption, investment and property sales to achieve the nation’s economic target.

The People’s Bank of China had asked lenders to cut mortgage rates by half a point and reduce the down payment for second homes to 15 per cent from 25 per cent.

Following that announcement, the Hang Seng Index rose 9.1 per cent last week, following a 13 per cent surge the previous week. That marked the biggest weekly rally in 26 years.

Since the policy package was announced, there has been a 23 per cent cumulative gain that restored US$3 trillion in market value to Chinese stocks in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and New York.

In Shenzhen, that turnaround not only lifted the confidence for regular homebuyers, but also that of the city’s richest people.

On Thursday afternoon, the Arcadia Bay luxury project developed by China Overseas Land & Investment welcomed at least 10 batches of prospective buyers within an hour and a half when sales were launched. The flats on offer, which are expected to be completed in 2026, cost from 20.5 million yuan to 42 million yuan, or more than 140,000 yuan per square meter.

The easing measures, along with a strong rebound in the stock market, have lifted the sentiment of Shenzhen’s ultra-rich buyers, most of whom already own various luxury properties in the most expensive neighbourhoods of the city, according to Wang Li, a general sales manager for Arcadia Bay.

Some 50 batches of buyers – up to a fivefold increase, compared with typical weekend sales – came to visit the Arcadia Bay showrooms each day during golden week, Wang said. These buyers are required to show proof of holding assets worth more than 10 million yuan. Some buyers, who were travelling overseas, had their agents subscribe for a flat past midnight as soon as the new stimulus measures were out, according to Wang.

The mainland’s other tier-one cities also saw strong sales performance during golden week, which prompted some developers to cancel discounts or dissuade buyers from queuing at their showrooms, local media outlets reported.

“The central government’s resolute stance to rescue the property market, along with the gains made by investors from the strong stock market rally, should improve market sentiment and lead to better sales ahead,” said Raymond Cheng, a managing director at CGS International Securities in Hong Kong.

He pointed out that the country’s “top-tiered cities will be the first batch to benefit from the strong sales recovery”.

Still, some remain cautious about China’s latest stimulus measures, as they look for a broader and more stable economic recovery. Fresh investments in the country’s property market had been frozen since the middle of 2020, when Beijing introduced a loan limit for real estate companies – known as the “three red lines” policy.

“We believe those new policy measures alone are still not enough to rescue the property sector and the authorities need to do more than making pledges,” economists led by Lu Ting at Japanese investment bank Nomura warned in a report published on Thursday.

They asserted that the more crucial issue – numerous pre-sold, but uncompleted homes – have yet to be tackled by policymakers. “It is still unclear whether Beijing will set up a central fund to address this issue in the near term”, the report said.

In September, home sales generated by China’s top-100 developers declined 37.7 per cent from a year earlier, which was worse than the 26.8 per cent decrease in August, according to the China Real Estate Information Corp.

China has built up an enviable gas supply. Now it faces a dilemma

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3280764/china-has-built-enviable-gas-supply-now-it-faces-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed

China has reached an enviable place in energy markets. It is awash in natural gas supply and has enough suppliers to be able to dictate its own negotiating terms. China uses gas mostly for its power sector and as a way to help pivot away from coal to rein in carbon dioxide emissions.

That gas supply is now even larger. Over the past few weeks, there have been three developments to underscore Beijing’s natural gas ambitions. One is the start of commercial operations of Guangdong Energy Group’s new US$1 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Huizhou, Guangdong province.

Meanwhile, French-based multinational Total Energies announced a five-year extension of its sales and purchase agreement with the state-run China National Offshore Oil Corporation for the delivery of 1.25 million tonnes of LNG per year until 2034.

And, last month, Chinese media announced that the second phase of the country’s first independently developed ultra-deep-water gas field, Shenhai Yihao, or Deep Sea No 1, had become operational in waters southeast of Hainan, China’s southernmost province.

China’s ample gas supply is no mean feat and did not happen overnight. It took years of concerted effort, planning and investment. The country is the world’s largest importer of LNG, lining up supply deals with top producers such as Australia, Qatar, Malaysia and others.

In lockstep, China has also become the world’s second-largest LNG reseller, cutting deals with countries where prices are higher than usual to plug supply gaps in their inventory levels. Chinese energy companies have also taken advantage of low LNG spot prices this year to boost supplies that would otherwise have been bought by other countries.

China also imports gas using long-distance pipelines from three main locations: Turkmenistan, Russia and Myanmar. Russian gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline are expected to reach its initial capacity of 38 billion cubic metres (1.3 trillion cubic feet) per year as soon as 2025.

In 2023, China’s natural gas imports averaged 16 billion cubic feet per day and accounted for 42 per cent of the nation’s total natural gas supply, compared with 15 per cent of its supply in 2010. The balance of its supply is from both onshore and offshore gas production, including in the hydrocarbon rich South China Sea.

Chinese negotiators now push for much lower buying prices and more advantageous contractual terms or simply walk away from the bargaining table, leaving suppliers frustrated. Russia experienced this first hand this summer, regarding the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which is still under construction. If finished, the pipeline is expected to bring gas from Siberia to China.

China not only pressed for prices so low that Russia couldn’t agree to them, it also made it clear it would only be able to buy a small fraction of the pipeline’s planned 50 billion cubic metres annual capacity. Russian analysts have complained, often bitterly, that Moscow now finds itself at the mercy of a single buyer, but there is very little it can actually do. It is not clear when or if the two sides will come back to the negotiating table but, even if they do, China is likely to drive as hard a bargain as before.

Going forward, however, China has a decision to make. Will it keep cutting more gas deals and building out more gas infrastructure or will it pull back in favour of more renewable energy and coal development? A clue to answering that question comes from looking at how quickly Beijing is increasing its renewables sector.

China leads the world with 339 gigawatts of solar and wind power under construction, nearly double the rest of the world. Solar and wind now account for 37 per cent of the country’s total power capacity, and that is set to surpass coal this year. In 2023, China added nearly twice the solar and wind power capacity as any previous year.

On the other side of the equation, China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–25) set a domestic natural gas production target of 22.3 billion cubic feet per day by 2025, with most of that being met already.

A S&P Global report from September 24 helps answer our question. It found that China’s gas sector is falling into what it refers to as an awkward middle ground. “It’s more expensive than coal, and it’s not as green as renewables,” it said. The report sees gas volume growth in the country as moderating over the coming five to six years as the government starts to slowly deprioritise its use amid the rise of renewables and upgrades to coal power.

However, therein lies the problem. Though gas still emits around half the carbon dioxide that coal does when used in power generation, it is still a much cleaner-burning fuel, without the sulphur dioxide and particulates that contribute to smog, acid rain, haze, respiratory illness and lung disease.

Pulling back on gas in favour of coal would be a cataclysmic mistake that could jeopardise all the hard work so far in building out one of the world’s leading gas sectors, as well as the largest solar and wind power sectors.

A better way forward would be to avoid incentivising new coal-fired power projects and instead prioritise natural-gas projects as a transition fuel and a cleaner burning power-sector fuel in its own right. After all, the economies of scale are already in place giving Beijing energy planners a head start.

Will China’s ailing property market get ‘golden week’ sales boost?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3281217/will-chinas-ailing-property-market-get-golden-week-sales-boost?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s property developers have ramped up efforts to boost sales during the National Day “golden week” holiday after Beijing launched a slew of stimulus policies to save the ailing real estate market.

More than 20 Chinese provinces and over 130 cities organised activities, including exhibitions and live-streams, to “promote sales and explain the latest housing policies”, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural development, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday.

“Sellers in multiple places are doing business as usual during the golden week and have been giving out special holiday discounts and subsidies,” the ministry said. These include transport subsidies and discounts for those who buy homes in their hometowns, it added.

The renewed efforts to boost sales come after Beijing announced a stimulus package on September 24, a week before the start of the week-long public holiday.

The holiday is seen as an important time for gauging China’s domestic demand, including retail and box office sales, tourism and catering.

The People’s Bank of China announced it would cut mortgage rates by half a point and lower the down payment required for second homes to 15 per cent, from 25 per cent. The policy is expected to help 150 million homeowners save 150 billion yuan (US$21.2 billion) annually, PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng said.

These and other measures were introduced to spur consumption and stimulate property sales as the slowing Chinese economy has been under pressure from a struggling property market, low consumer demand and heavy local government debts.

Local governments in major cities have started to loosen property sales restrictions since the national policy change.

On September 29, Guangzhou removed all restrictions for local and non-local residents to buy homes, while Shanghai and Shenzhen relaxed restrictions for non-local residents.

A day later, capital city Beijing followed suit. It cut the down payment ratio for first-time homebuyers from 20 per cent to 15 per cent, with buyers of second homes expected to make a minimum down payment of 20 per cent.

According to the housing ministry, there were 92.5 per cent more house viewings for new homes in Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday than in the same period last year, while the number of offers had doubled year on year.

The ministry added that from Tuesday to Friday, the number of people nationwide taking part in property sales-related activities was 50 per cent higher than last year.

In Shenzhen, new home sales between Tuesday and Thursday soared 569 per cent compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, sales of existing properties soared 233 per cent year over year, according to data from the Shenzhen branch of property agency Centaline.

The National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release nationwide property price data for September and the third quarter later this month.

In August, prices of new homes across 70 major Chinese cities fell by 5.7 per cent, while second-hand home prices dropped 8.6 per cent, according to the statistics bureau.

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As Japan’s ‘Asian Nato’ push to counter China hits a brick wall, will a rebrand revive it?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3281126/japans-asian-nato-push-counter-china-hits-brick-wall-will-rebrand-revive-it?utm_source=rss_feed

Japan’s newly appointed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is making waves with his support for a Nato-like alliance in Asia, to be anchored by the United States. While Washington has dismissed the idea, analysts suggest it could spark fresh debate on regional security.

As a self-described “military geek”, the new Japanese leader is expected to bolster Japan’s defence capabilities and introduce innovative security strategies.

“Ishiba will invest more in minilateral partnerships to provide focused security and other forms of cooperation,” said Stephen Nagy, an international-relations professor at Tokyo’s International Christian University.

Though an Asian Nato might seem unrealistic and unwelcome in the region, Nagy said he believes that merely “floating the idea may result in creative thinking about what kind of security infrastructure is needed”.

Ishiba ascended to the premiership on Tuesday, succeeding Fumio Kishida as Japan’s prime minister after being elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) the week before.

He suggested revamping Japan’s alliance with the US by establishing an “Asian Nato” in a paper submitted to the Hudson Institute last month – even proposing stationing Japanese troops on American soil to deter Chinese military aggression.

“The absence of a collective self-defence system like Nato in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defence,” he argued in the paper published by the US think tank.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Kritenbrink has dismissed Ishiba’s proposal, saying on September 17 that it was “too early to talk about collective security in that context”.

Founded in 1949, Nato is designed to protect the security of its members – 30 European countries and two from North America – by employing both political and military strategies to counter threats.

With regional stability being increasingly threatened by the growing assertiveness of China, Russia, North Korea and others, further discussions on security infrastructure are to be expected, Nagy said.

He forecasts that Ishiba’s administration would maintain “continuity at the core” while also introducing “subtle differences at the periphery” of Japan’s approach to promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific and rules-based international order.

As a former defence secretary, Ishiba is likely to place more emphasis than his predecessor on safeguarding Japan against external threats, according to Ra Mason, an Indo-Pacific relations specialist and associate professor at the University of East Anglia.

“He may be forced to reframe or repackage the idea of an Asian Nato, but it’s not unlikely that we’ll see new regional security architecture during his term,” Mason said.

During the LDP election campaign, Ishiba expressed a desire to rebalance Tokyo’s alliance with Washington, advocating for greater oversight of US military bases in Japan. His Hudson Institute proposal included the possibility of stationing Japanese troops in Guam, a US territory.

Mason noted that US bases in Japan, particularly in Okinawa, were already preparing for joint operations, a trend he said “is likely to gain momentum” under Ishiba’s leadership.

Japan has also maintained a military presence in Djibouti since 2011, where its Maritime Self-Defence Force assists in anti-piracy efforts.

If troop deployments remain small and focused on technical roles, Mason suggested that permanently stationing Japanese personnel on US territory was “unlikely to be that controversial” and could enhance interoperability between the two nations.

Ishiba faces challenges beyond military strategy, however.

His election as LDP leader stemmed from his public popularity, not necessarily his policy proposals, said Raymond Yamamoto, an associate global-studies professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Given the party’s recent scandals, restoring public trust will be Ishiba’s top priority, Yamamoto says.

“Pushing [for an] Asian Nato would not contribute to that task, as it neither enjoys public nor political support,” he warned, further suggesting that Ishiba might reconsider his stance on the issue if it starts to threaten his administration.

Japanese leaders have long feared abandonment by the US, Yamamoto told This Week in Asia, a concern amplified during the presidency of Donald Trump.

This fear has driven the country’s political leaders to enhance Japan’s military capacity and deepen military ties with the US. “There is no doubt that Ishiba is taking that factor very seriously when thinking about security policies,” he added.

Ishiba’s concept of an “Asian Nato” arises from the pressing need to maintain a military balance against China through regional cooperation, according to Satoru Nagao, a security researcher and non-resident fellow at the Hudson Institute.

This necessity has already spurred the formation of the Quad – comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the US – and the unveiling in recent years of various Indo-Pacific strategies aimed at countering China’s influence.

For now, an “Asian Nato” remains a distant prospect, Nagao said, though the central idea is “a real strategic concept Japan can seek”.

A strong performance by the LDP in the coming lower house elections on October 27 could bolster Ishiba’s leverage in pursuing such a security framework, he added.

Broke ex-China millionaire’s last possession auctioned off – a bottle of Sprite

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3280241/broke-ex-china-millionaire-auctions-last-possession-bottle-sprite?utm_source=rss_feed

The actions of a court in China which auctioned off a bottle of soft drink as the last remaining piece of property owned by a bankrupt millionaire have sparked an online debate about wasting judicial resources.

The auction was conducted by the Dafeng District People’s Court in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, southeastern China.

A bottle of Sprite, which typically costs 6 yuan (9 US cents) in shops, was auctioned with a starting bid of 4.2 yuan, increasing in increments of 0.08 yuan.

The court ordered that the buyer must pick up the item in person as shipping was not available.

Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, hosted the auction on its Alibaba Judicial Auction Platform.

According to the Yangtse Evening Post, the owner of the Sprite bottle was associated with two companies, a biotechnology firm and a marine food company, which had registered capital of five million yuan (US$713,000) and US$1.725 million, respectively.

Both companies have declared bankruptcy, leaving no significant assets.

Legal documents from China Judgements Online also revealed that the companies had multiple disputes and administrative penalties, including sanctions from local environmental authorities for lacking necessary environmental protection facilities in their seaweed farming and processing operations.

The debtor, surnamed Chen, said that the company could not repay its debts but expressed hope for changing the situation in the future.

At the time of writing, the auction was withdrawn after the involved parties reached a settlement.

Despite this, the auction had already attracted significant attention, with 366 people registering to bid and 652 setting reminders. The listing received more than 13,000 views.

It is not the first time the Dafeng District People’s Court auctioned off small items.

Previously, it had successfully auctioned items such as two vegetable washing basins for 7.1 yuan, a cup for 5.6 yuan, and a set of screwdrivers, also for 5.6 yuan.

One of the most surprising auctions involved two bottles of expired windscreen washer fluid, which fetched a price of 4.08 yuan (6 US cents).

The case led many netizens to question the misuse of judicial resources.

One person said: “This auction is just wasting resources.”

“This is so ridiculous. I bet Sprite itself never imagined it would be auctioned one day,” said another.

A third person made a calculation.

“This will fail to sell. Even when you add the bus tickets, which are 4 yuan round trip, to the auction price of 4.2 yuan, the total comes to 8.2 yuan.

“However, you can buy it at the market for just 6 yuan. Unless someone from the court decides to buy it themselves.”

As Chinese firms expand overseas, legal spotlight turns on cross-border disputes

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281224/chinese-firms-expand-overseas-legal-spotlight-turns-cross-border-disputes?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese enterprises setting up overseas are navigating a minefield of legal challenges, making effective dispute resolution through arbitration more crucial than ever, according to legal experts.

The emerging frontier of international arbitration to mediate contract risk for Chinese companies – fuelled in part by Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative – not only tests Chinese firms’ legal capacity but also requires Beijing to proactively safeguard China’s economic adventurers, they said.

International arbitration is a preferred method for resolving cross-border commercial disputes outside traditional court systems and involves parties from different jurisdictions submitting their conflicts to a neutral arbitration centre.

Its binding decisions are globally enforceable under treaties such as the New York Convention.

The convention – which has more than 170 contracting states, including China – ensures that an arbitration award made in one signatory country can be recognised and enforced in all others.

International arbitration is essential in resolving contract disputes in international business and protecting the interests of enterprises as they enter global markets, according to Zheng Zhihua, an associate professor specialising in maritime law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

“Properly leveraged, arbitration can effectively safeguard one’s rights, which is critical to protecting companies’ or a country’s overseas interests,” Zheng said, adding that the method allowed parties to choose arbitrators with expertise relevant to their dispute.

Relying solely on court proceedings would not only introduce a high degree of uncertainty in countries with underdeveloped legal systems, but local protectionism could also hamper the path to a fair judgment, he added.

The flexibility, confidentiality and global enforceability of international arbitration make it an attractive option for businesses looking to avoid protracted and expensive litigation while securing outcomes that are internationally enforceable, according to Zheng.

Experts cautioned that Chinese companies face significant hurdles in international arbitration because of limited understanding, language barriers, the selection of arbitration venues and differences in legal systems – obstacles that require additional support and guidance from the Chinese government.

Fan Kun, an associate professor of law at the University of New South Wales, said arbitration clauses were commonly incorporated into contracts for Chinese enterprises engaging in cross-border transactions, but were often overlooked.

“These clauses are often not a priority for these enterprises during the negotiations as the focus tends to be on finalising the deals,” said Fan, who is also an arbitrator at the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission and other arbitration institutions.

“This is not unique to Chinese enterprises but reflects a broader trend: dispute resolution clauses are often referred to as ‘midnight clauses’ because they are finalised at the last minute during contract negotiations,” she said.

Fan noted that awareness of arbitration as a key dispute resolution mechanism among Chinese firms was increasing as they expand.

Chinese firms might find themselves at a disadvantage because of differences between the civil law system they are accustomed to in China and the common law systems prevalent in many Western countries, particularly regarding the handling of document requests and evidence procedures, Fan said.

“Chinese enterprises, more familiar with the less extensive discovery typical in civil law systems, may find the more exhaustive and adversarial document production processes in common law jurisdictions challenging,” she said. “This can lead to a mismatch in expectations and potential inefficiencies in arbitration proceedings.”

A 2022 report from the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission highlighted the challenges Chinese companies face in choosing domestic or familiar institutions for international arbitration.

These include the limited global competitiveness and credibility of arbitration institutions, coupled with a general lack of enterprise awareness about the significance of arbitration clauses, which constrains their options, according to the report.

“Arbitration institutions in China have built a reputation over time with foreign enterprises increasingly willing to utilise Chinese arbitration services. However, compared to arbitration institutions in London, Paris or New York, Chinese institutions still face competitive disadvantages,” said Zheng from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

For example, most shipbuilding companies in China opted for arbitration in London because the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) and British law were more widely recognised in the industry for resolving international shipbuilding disputes, he said.

Despite these hurdles, the Chinese government is being urged to provide greater support to companies and to increase the country’s attractiveness as a location for international arbitration.

Zheng said this was a “systemic project” that went beyond merely enacting new laws. As Chinese companies expand globally, the government must step up with support to address the varied legal demands they face, he said.

The government and legal sector could streamline the dispute resolution process for Chinese companies by developing standardised arbitration clauses. These ready-to-use clauses could easily be included in contracts, simplifying the process and establishing a clear framework for resolving disputes, Zheng said.

Well-prepared model clauses for arbitration could include the applicable law of arbitration, the seat of arbitration, the number of arbitrations and the language used in proceedings, and how the fees and expenses of the arbitral tribunal are determined.

Zheng highlighted the need to mitigate the shortage of legal experts, saying: “Whether in the fields of construction engineering, investment trade or intellectual property, each area has its complexities and requires arbitration experts specialised in those particular fields.”

Experts said improving the diversity of arbitrators is another crucial element in boosting the competitiveness of China’s arbitration institutions.

“To establish a top-tier arbitration institution with international influence, it is crucial to develop an arbitration panel that also possesses international clout, especially by having arbitrators with bilingual capabilities,” said Gu Weixia, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong and an academic council member of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.

“Domestic arbitration bodies aiming to enhance their international impact undoubtedly need an internationally influential team of arbitrators, and cultivating such a team will take time.”

Zheng concurred, saying there was a critical need for domestic arbitration bodies to attract top international experts across various fields, which would render their arbitration pools more diverse and inclusive, enhancing both the attractiveness and reputation of the institution.

He stressed the role of global collaboration in advancing China’s arbitration capabilities, particularly through partnerships with organisations such as the LMAA – and even inviting them to engage in Chinese arbitration cases.

“These partnerships could elevate the expertise of Chinese counterparts while simultaneously broadening the international reach of all institutions involved,” Zheng added.

In the realm of international arbitration, Hong Kong was increasingly proving to be an indispensable bridge between Chinese legal practices and global standards, leveraging its unique position under the “one country, two systems” principle, Gu said.

Hong Kong’s legal system presented multiple strengths in international arbitration, such as the robustness of its common law, a deep-seated legal culture, abundant bilingual legal talent and the judicial reasoning embedded in its case law system, according to Gu.

“The city – the only place in China practising common law – brings a wealth of case law and a distinctive legal thinking that provides significant learning opportunities for arbitration institutions in mainland China,” she said.

Gu said more mainland Chinese companies were turning to Hong Kong as a seat of arbitration, with a growing trend of conducting proceedings in Chinese and applying Chinese law, which was not traditionally favoured in international arbitration.

“These developments highlight Hong Kong’s rising significance as a powerhouse for international arbitration in China,” she added.

“Situated at the crossroads of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area strategy, with abundant bilingual talent, Hong Kong serves not only as a superconnector in international arbitration for Chinese firms when they go overseas, but also as a strategic hub for evolving China’s legal landscape.”

‘Like losing a child’: what is the cost of China’s sudden ban on international adoptions?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281204/losing-child-what-cost-chinas-sudden-ban-international-adoptions?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s abrupt decision to ban international adoptions last month appears to have crushed the dreams of hundreds of foreign families and possibly ended the last chance many Chinese children would have had of a family life.

“You’re losing a kid even though you didn’t give birth to them and you haven’t even met them,” said Kathy Rice, one of the affected would-be parents. “But they’ve been part of our family all this time and all of a sudden we’re losing them.”

Rice had been waiting for five years to adopt Ruby, a teenager with Down’s syndrome, and bring her home to Michigan.

By 2019, when Ruby was 13, Rice had finished most of the paperwork and had the adoption approved provisionally. Had the process stayed on track, she would have met Ruby in Qingdao on the east coast of China and taken her back to America in time for her 14th birthday – but then the pandemic struck.

As is common in such cases, Rice never met the child in person nor did she make direct contact with her or even with the staff in the care institution.

All contacts were through an agency, which would sometimes send pictures and videos of the girl and pass on gifts Rice sent to her.

Beijing has offered no clear explanation for its decision to overturn the three-decade-old foreign adoption programme, which was deeply entwined with the strict enforcement of the one-child policy that ran between 1979 and 2015.

But observers suggest that factors such as strained US-China relations, demographic shifts and growing public hostility may also be at play.

They also warn that children with disabilities and illnesses may have lost their last chance of a family life because their chances of being adopted domestically are extremely low.

The first foreign adoptions began in the 1980s as China began opening up to the outside world. More than 160,000 Chinese children have been adopted across the world since the process was formalised in 1992, according to China’s Children International, an organisation for adoptees founded in the US.

This century alone, more than 82,000 children were adopted by American families – according to the US State Department – more than any other country.

China suspended all foreign adoptions in 2020 after Covid hit. Though it later resumed processing applications for children who had already been authorised to travel abroad, just 16 were adopted by American families in the 12 months to September 2023, according to US statistics.

“Every year we waited patiently because that’s what China’s message had always been: ‘be patient, give us time, be patient’,” said Rice, 61.

“We always have that little ray of hope at the end of the tunnel: I wait a couple more months; they’ll change their minds … Pretty soon, we’ll get to go.”

During the pandemic, Rice had to keep updating the paperwork and keep paying “a lot of extra fees”, and “so we waited and waited and the kids are getting older”, she said.

“I’m also getting older … They never gave us any inclination that the adoptions were going to close.”

In early September, the Chinese foreign ministry said that in future only blood relatives living abroad would be allowed to adopt Chinese children. That same day, Ruby turned 18, rendering her ineligible for adoption.

Beijing has told US diplomats in China it “will not continue to process cases at any stage” other than cases covered by an exception clause, according to a report by the Associated Press.

“It’s hard to understand why that decision would be made and unfortunately, no real rationale has been given,” said Ryan Hanlon, president of the National Council For Adoption, a US non-profit organisation.

The shift may have been driven by Beijing’s “over-securitisation”, according to Huang Yanzhong, a professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

“The increasing lack of mutual trust between China and Western countries has transformed some previously harmless matters into national security issues,” he said. “China may fear that [foreign adoptions] could be seen as a vulnerability.”

A children’s welfare specialist speaking on condition of anonymity said that many in China, including some officials and child welfare staff, opposed international adoptions in the belief that sending children – particularly disabled or sick ones abroad – could harm the country’s image and reputation.

“I believe this concern is more about national dignity rather than the dignity of the children,” they said.

China is currently struggling with the impact of a rapidly ageing society and declining working age population, but Huang said banning foreign adoptions would do little to solve these problems because the numbers involved were negligible compared with the overall size of the population.

The Chinese public has also become increasingly hostile to the process because many believe the Americans have “ulterior motives” for adopting children, according to Luo Xin, who runs a programme that has helped over a hundred American families who adopted Chinese children with special needs.

“This viewpoint was less pronounced when I started [the programme] four years ago, but it now has many supporters,” said Luo, who moved to New Jersey as an adult.

“They accused the Americans of collecting Chinese genes, using children as labour, sex slavery, or training them as spies.”

Cosette Eisenhauer-Epp, who was born in Guangdong and adopted by a family in Texas in 2002, said she was worried that the change would make it harder for Chinese adoptees to go back to China.

“Is it going to be harder for Chinese adoptees to go back to China? Will we no longer talk about the children from the one-child policy? … It just feels like we’re forgotten.”

But Eisenhauer-Epp, the co-founder of the advocacy network Navigating Adoption, also said many adoptees struggled with feelings of abandonment and missing a piece of their identity and she felt glad children would grow up in their birth culture without “feeling forced to assimilate”.

In one of the few official comments about the adoptions, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the decision was “in line with the spirit of relevant international conventions”.

Huang said she was referring to the Hague Convention, which established the fundamental principle of prioritising domestic adoption to prevent child trafficking and exploitation.

There have been some notorious cases of the system being abused. The child welfare specialist said one motive for the ban was the controversy of the practice of childcare institutions seeking “donations” – typically of around US$3,000 to US$5,000 per child adopted.

Brian Stuy, an adoptive father who founded Research-China, an adoptee assistance organisation, has previously said the surge in demand for adoptions in the early 2000s had seen orphanages using both legal and illegal means to increase the number of children available for adoption.

His group, which aims to uncover the true story of all Chinese adoptees, has published evidence dating back to the early 2000s on its website of children being trafficked into the system with false documents, as well as being kidnapped or their families coerced into giving them up.

In recent years, the number of children being given up for adoption has also fallen, according to various official measures, although no precise statistics are available.

Tong Xiaojun, an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences specialising in child protection, attributed the shift to years of economic growth, changing attitudes towards gender and the end of the one-child policy in 2015.

The strict enforcement of the policy, coupled with families’ traditional preference for boys, had meant that many of the children being abandoned in the 1980s and 90s were girls.

But Huang said these trends did not fully explain the ending of international adoptions – which complemented China’s own domestic adoptions system.

Over the past decade or so, increasing numbers of those adopted had disabilities or long-term medical conditions, accounting for around 95 per cent of international adoptions between 2014 and 2018, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Many involved in the process have warned that ending international adoptions means such children will now lose the opportunity of being cared for within a family.

Luo said she had worked with an organisation supporting blind and visually impaired children that had placed 157 of them with foreign families in the past two decades – while only one had been adopted domestically and 117 were still on the waiting list.

She said that family care could sometimes be “life-saving” while children in Chinese welfare institutions often only received basic levels of care.

“I know that some children [matched with foreign parents], who had conditions such as heart disease and leukaemia, were waiting for treatment after being taken home, but during those five years, they passed away,” she said.

All 300 or so US families affected by the ban had been waiting to adopt older children or those with special needs, according to Hanlon from the National Council For Adoption, who said “there were no families interested in adopting them” in China.

Huang said allowing foreign families to adopt children with special needs would better serve their needs while also protecting China’s national interests and projecting a more open and humane image internationally.

Tong, from the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, made a similar point, saying: “It shuts the door, particularly for children unlikely to be adopted domestically, including those with disabilities, illnesses, or stigmatised diseases like hepatitis B, HIV, or syphilis, preventing them from entering a family and [denying them] the opportunity for dignified, healthy growth.”

She also argued that foreign families typically adopted to support children’s development, while those in China were often looking for someone to care for them in the future or continue the family line.

Those like Ruby who miss out on adoption typically spent their lives in welfare institutions and missed their chance at a family life, she added.

According to Tong, many Chinese people lack understanding about adoption, believing that children in domestic welfare institutions are better cared for by the state and do not recognise that “every child deserves a family”.

Joe Biden ‘sent Xi Jinping congratulatory message’ to mark China’s 75th National Day

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3281236/joe-biden-sent-xi-jinping-congratulatory-message-mark-chinas-75th-national-day?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping received a congratulatory message from US President Joe Biden to mark the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China this week, marking the latest top-level exchange as tensions persist in China-US relations.

The news was made public by the Chinese foreign ministry in a statement published on its website on Saturday evening.

The ministry reported the message in a question-and-answer format, noting that it was a response to media questions.

“President Joe Biden recently sent a message of congratulations to President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China,” the official English-language statement said.

“In the message, President Biden noted that ‘on behalf of the people of the United States, I send our congratulations to you and the people of the People’s Republic of China as you celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding. The American people and I convey our best wishes to the people of the People’s Republic of China’.”

The statement did not specify when the message was sent and in what format.

China celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, which usually marks the start of a week-long national holiday.

The diplomatic move comes at a delicate time in bilateral ties, with the two countries engaged in a wide-ranging rivalry, from trade and tech to influence in the Asia-Pacific.

China carried out military drills in the contested South China Sea on October 1, following a joint exercise in the region by the navies of the US, Philippines, Japan, Australia and New Zealand at the weekend.

The last exchange between the two presidents was in April, when they held a phone call on topics including cybersecurity and climate change. Their last in-person meeting was nearly a year ago, held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in California last November.

The presidential message also came as the US Department of State appeared to deviate from its past diplomatic practice of sending a formal congratulatory message ahead of China’s National Day.

The department published a congratulatory message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on its website at 8am Beijing time, on Thursday, October 3. It has traditionally congratulated China before its National Day, as it does with all countries with which it has diplomatic ties.

It did so on September 29 last year and on September 30 in 2022.

The White House had not released any official statement on Biden’s message as of Saturday evening.

On October 1, the official Chinese government website also posted an article published each year by state news agency media Xinhua on congratulatory messages received by China on its National Day.

The article did not note any messages received from the US.

The first few paragraphs mentioned messages from Russia and North Korea, the same as last year.

In 2019, when China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, the article noted Russia’s message first, followed by the United States and then North Korea.

China eye doctor stabbed by patient thought career was over resumes surgeries, inspiring many

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3280532/china-eye-doctor-stabbed-patient-thought-career-was-over-resumes-surgeries-inspiring-many?utm_source=rss_feed

An eye doctor in China has made a remarkable recovery and resumed surgeries four years after suffering severe hand injuries during an attack by a patient.

Before the incident, ophthalmologist Tao Yong was a prominent talent at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, one of the top medical facilities in China.

In January 2020, a 36-year-old patient named Cui Zhengou stabbed Tao multiple times with a vegetable knife, inflicting traumatic injuries to the doctor’s skull, back, left hand, and right arm.

The attack shattered the muscles and bones in his left hand, making it impossible for him to perform his job, especially since eye surgeries require an extraordinary level of delicate hand movements.

“It was the darkest time of my life,” Tao recalled.

In September, Tao appeared on China’s state broadcaster CCTV, picking up his scalpel once again after a long recovery journey to perform eye surgery on a young girl.

Tao became a household name during his rehabilitation, as many people sympathised with him and praised his courageous and positive attitude that helped him overcome adversity.

While unable to operate, he continued to serve patients through research and mass media. He used one hand to document his clinical experiences and formed a small team to promote new technology for intraocular fluid detection to over 700 hospitals across China.

The team also delved into artificial intelligence (AI), and in 2022, Tao became the first Chinese medical expert to have an AI avatar created by the Chinese company Dao Ying. The computer-generated Tao provided people with eye protection knowledge in multiple languages and dialects.

Tao remarked that his experiences over the past four years allowed him to explore cutting-edge possibilities in medicine.

“We can also save people’s lives outside the operating room,” he stated.

His return as a surgeon has been warmly embraced on mainland social media.

“Seeing Doctor Tao operating again gives me hope for the world,” remarked one user on Weibo.

Another added: “Doctor Tao must have worked incredibly hard during his rehabilitation. A good doctor’s return is a blessing for patients.”

However, Tao, now an influencer with 2.4 million followers on Weibo, encountered some backlash.

Last year, he stated on the platform that he encouraged his daughter to serve food to relatives and wash dishes on her twelfth birthday to become a “fair lady”, a comment that drew criticism for being “conservative” and “patriarchal.”

Tao later issued an apology, expressing his intent to improve his parenting methods.

China supports Russia at UN Nord Stream debate in united stand against US-led West

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281221/china-supports-russia-un-nord-stream-debate-united-stand-against-us-led-west?utm_source=rss_feed

China sided with Russia in a row with the US-led West on Friday as the United Nations Security Council debated accountability for the 2022 explosions on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines.

It came as both Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is expected to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin this month, and top diplomat Wang Yi vowed this week to deepen ties with Moscow to counter Western pressure.

Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, voiced Beijing’s disappointment over the lack of progress in the investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea two years ago.

The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 undersea pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany were severely damaged on September 26, 2022, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Echoing Russia’s UN envoy who had requested the council session, Geng called on member nations to “actively communicate and cooperate” with Moscow and avoid double standards or politicising the investigation.

“Regrettably, we have not yet reached a definitive conclusion,” he said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

“Was there a hidden agenda to the initial opposition to an international investigation? Has evidence been covered up and destroyed over the past two years or so? When will the trust and time we have given be rewarded with the truth about what happened?” Geng was quoted as saying.

Initially, US and European officials faulted Russia for the blast, while Putin alleged that the United States, Britain and Ukraine were behind the explosions, but did not provide evidence.

The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the pipelines were blown up by a small Ukrainian sabotage team in an operation that was initially approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky and then called off, but which went ahead anyway. Kyiv denied the claims.

Russia called for an independent inquiry into the incident last year but its proposal, supported by China and Brazil, was blocked at the UN body.

Representatives from Russia, the US and France clashed at the council meeting on Friday, according to a UN press release, with Moscow alleging “an apparent cover-up” by Western countries.

The US and its Nato allies have in recent months stepped up their pressure campaign against China over Russia’s war in Ukraine, slapping sanctions and accusing Beijing of acting as a “decisive enabler” with its “very substantial” support for Putin’s war effort.

But China has only accelerated its efforts to strengthen its self-proclaimed “no limits” partnership with Moscow, with both sides now preparing for the third Xi-Putin meeting since May.

Xi is expected to hold talks with Putin when he attends the October 22-24 summit of the Brics emerging economies in western Russia’s Kazan.

On Wednesday, Xi exchanged congratulatory messages with Putin to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. China was “ready to join Putin to constantly expand all-round pragmatic cooperation between [our] two countries”, Xi said, according to Xinhua.

In his message to Xi, Putin said bilateral ties had reached their highest level ever and the “close and mutually beneficial relations between Russia and China have stood the test of time”, Xinhua said.

He was also quoted as saying that both sides had “coordinated efficiently in international and regional affairs, and worked together to build a just multipolar world order”.

In recent weeks, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Vice-President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi have also visited Russia and had meetings with Putin.

The two sides held large-scale naval drills last month, with Xinhua saying the exercise aimed to deepen “the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats”, as Chinese vessels and warplanes were sent to train with Russian forces.

In an article for the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Thursday, Wang – who is also Xi’s top foreign policy aide – hailed bilateral ties as having “weathered storms and bumps, and … become more mature, stable and resilient”.

He described Beijing’s cooperation with Moscow at the UN and other international platforms as “defending the international system” and “opposing hegemonism and power politics, opposing illegal unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’”.

“No matter how the international situation changes, the core of China-Russia relations will not change, and the basic colour of mutual respect, equality, and win-win cooperation will not change,” Wang said.

His remarks came just days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a nuclear warning at the UN General Assembly in New York.

According to Tass, Lavrov warned that the US and Britain’s goal of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia via support for Ukraine was setting Europe up for a “suicide venture”, as he emphasised the “pointlessness and danger of the very idea to fight to victory with a nuclear power like Russia”.

China’s public transport serves 90% of urban residents, leaving US cities in the dust

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3281149/chinas-public-transport-serves-90-urban-residents-leaving-us-cities-dust?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s sprawling public transport networks now serve 90 per cent of the country’s urban population, far more than those in major cities in the United States, Australia and Africa.

Major coastal and central Chinese cities offer “convenient” public transport access to nearly two times more of their populations than other global hubs, including New York, according to a new report.

The findings were published on September 25 in a report by the International Research Centre of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS). It examines progress by China and the rest of the world towards the sustainable development goals adopted by UN members in 2015.

One of these goals calls for creating sustainable cities and communities, with a target of providing affordable, safe and accessible transport systems. Only one in two urban residents globally has convenient access to public transport, according to UN statistics.

The team behind the report used remote sensing, population data, socioeconomic data and geospatial analysis to examine 337 Chinese cities, along with global cities with populations over 1 million, to determine the share of urban residents with easy access to public transport as of 2022.

“The proportion of urban population with convenient access to public transportation is relatively high in Asia and Europe, with China reaching 90 per cent,” the report states.

Meanwhile, for most US cities with populations over 1 million, the share of urban residents with easy public transport access was between 20 and 40 per cent, including less than 38 per cent in New York, according to the research team.

An earlier CBAS report showed that in 2020, the share of the urban population with convenient transport access across North American cities was 50 per cent.

The most recent CBAS report showed a “relatively high” share of the urban population in East Asia and Europe had convenient transport access, reaching nearly 64 per cent across 84 East Asian cities and over 71 per cent across 49 in Europe.

“The number of cities with a proportion greater than 20 per cent was relatively low in Africa and Oceania, where there were 35 such cities,” the report states. They include Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in Australia, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and the Moroccan cities of Rabat and Marrakech.

According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal NPJ Urban Sustainability in 2021, Chinese and European cities have higher transit accessibility than most US cities, which tend to lag behind in transit access for their population size.

“Chinese and European cities are compact, and well supported by road networks, resulting in the highest accessibility in all modes of transport,” the 2021 paper states.

Within China, the most recent CBAS report found that 132 cities had convenient transport available to more than 90 per cent of residents, with Fuzhou in the southeastern province of Fujian reaching 98.83 per cent.

Overall, transport systems in eastern coastal cities, including Shanghai, and central regions reached a higher proportion of the population.

The share of Chinese urban residents with easy transport access has grown significantly over the past decade, increasing from 80.56 per cent in 2018 and 64.28 per cent in 2015, according to previous editions of the report.

According to this year’s report, China has also made significant progress in several other sustainable development goal targets.

“China has achieved, ahead of schedule, 55.5 per cent of the UN 2030 Agenda targets”, up from 37.9 per cent in 2015, the report states.

Globally, however, progress towards achieving the goals by 2030 remains “limited”, according to the report.

Widespread big data monitoring will support tracking of progress, but a lack of international attention and data coverage mean this is still a challenge, according to the researchers.

“The achievement of [sustainable development goals] worldwide is neither linear nor isolated,” they wrote, adding that accelerating progress “requires collaborative innovation across science, technology, engineering, and policies to overcome the current stagnation”.

Young Chinese pessimistic about prospects as new graduates flood grim job market

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3281192/young-chinese-pessimistic-about-prospects-new-graduates-flood-grim-job-market?utm_source=rss_feed

Shenzhen-based software developer Peter Li was laid off from a leading internet company last month – his first job since graduating from university – after failing to meet department performance targets.

He joins a growing group of young victims of China’s grim job market. While the 24-year-old expects to find another job eventually, Li said he might have to lower his expectations about pay, growth and work-life balance.

“I think the economy is indeed bad. My classmates who went on to pursue a master’s degree are finding it more difficult to find a job now than when they graduated with a bachelor’s,” said Li, who graduated in the summer of 2022.

“Back then, you could easily land a job at these internet companies. Now it’s difficult and the salary is not as attractive.”

A growing number of young Chinese are feeling similar discontent as rising unemployment pushes them into a tough choice – whether to accept a low-paying job, or to live on parents’ pensions.

Some say even though they can survive, they do not dare hope for a better future. Some have resorted to “lying flat” – slang for giving up on trying to be ambitious or productive – as a way of protesting against their unpleasant reality.

Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics published on September 20 showed that the jobless rate for those between ages 16 and 24 and not in school rose to 18.8 per cent in August – up from 17.1 per cent in July and 13.2 per cent in June as a record 11.79 million university graduates entered the job market.

China’s youth unemployment rate hit an all-time high of 21.3 per cent in June 2023. Soon after, officials suspended the data series. China resumed publishing youth unemployment statistics in January of this year using a new calculation method that did not include the student population – a change meant to “more accurately monitor the situation of young people entering society and in real need of a job”.

History has shown youth unemployment has been an important factor in revolutions, student activism, and crime rates in China, according to a mainland-based political analyst who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“Youth unemployment is an important indicator for social and economic development and for future prospects. If it’s not properly dealt with, it will lead to problems from all aspects of society,” he said.

The analyst said he thought the economic downturn had affected the minds of students and parents, leading to negative feelings and causing them to believe society has no future.

Some students no longer want to study, believing it to be useless, he added.

“But it’s a positive gesture that the government released the youth unemployment data. It means they are ready to face reality,” he said.

Bai Xiong, a 24-year-old video producer based in southwest China’s Yunnan province, was laid off late last month. He did not hide his frustration.

“Of course I feel dissatisfied with the current economic status because there’s not much money to be earned,” he said.

He said his supervisor gave him a sudden choice of a 25 per cent salary cut or being laid off, and he chose the latter. He said he would probably find a job and keep himself fed, but noted that many companies had become more fiscally conservative and were avoiding trying new things to keep costs low.

China’s social media platforms have given rise to a slew of buzzwords to describe the situation facing the country’s youth. In addition to “lying flat”, there is “petting fish” – a phrase that means doing other things during working hours to avoid overwork.

And some young people have become “rotten-tail kids” without jobs who live on their parents’ pensions – a nod to the term “rotten-tail buildings”, which describes the tens of millions of unfinished homes that have weighed on China’s economy since 2021.

Pessimism has been persistent among China’s young people despite Beijing’s efforts to help. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that the government must create more jobs for young people while calling on them to “dare to take responsibility, endure hardship and be willing to work hard”.

The Communist Party has long been nervous about youth unemployment, as its leaders believe idle young people could bring social instability and potentially threaten its rule.

Previously, analysts told the Post that Chinese people have historically believed in an implicit social contract: when the economy, individual wealth and living standards improve, support for the government grows.

Louis Kuijs, Asia-Pacific chief economist at S&P Global Ratings, said it was no surprise that youth unemployment had been hit harder by relatively weak economic growth than overall unemployment.

“Young people tend to be new on the labour market, and therefore the most affected by shifts in labour demand, he said.

He added that sectors such as tech and the internet, “which a few years ago hired many young people, have downscaled their hiring strongly”.

Moreover, youth unemployment tends to rise in the summer, as many new graduates enter the labour market, Kuijs said.

He said it was hard to predict when the upwards pressure on youth unemployment would ease. Two important factors that should help are the eventual bottoming out of the real estate downturn and a recovery in the tech sector, he added.

Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said the high unemployment rate was the reason consumer confidence is so low, as people feel they must save more due to worries about job security down the road.

“The top career choice for students is to become public servants, which indicates how risk averse they are. It also makes people less willing to borrow, which exacerbates the deflation pressure in the economy,” he said.

Why policymakers in China should beware the cult of the equity

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3280891/why-policymakers-china-should-beware-cult-equity?utm_source=rss_feed

Are stock markets in major Asian nations, like those in the West, in danger of becoming masters rather than servants of their economies? The question has come to the fore lately in China and Japan as these markets increasingly dominate policy, with far-reaching potential consequences.

Much of China’s latest economic stimulus package is in the form of measures designed to boost a now rapidly rebounding stock market while in Japan the market has slumped on fears that it may not get enough attention from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s new government.

The temptation for governments, whether in planned, market or semi-market economies, to boost stock prices is growing, it seems, because of the potential this offers for quickly leveraging economic growth. But it is an addictive habit which tends to borrow growth from the future.

For China especially, and to a lesser extent for Japan, this approach could prove to be an excessive concession to the lure of a market economy where booms can be engineered but at the cost of subsequent busts.

It is understandable that China’s central and local governments should wish to use all the tools at their disposal to pull the world’s second largest economy out of the trough created by a property collapse and slumping demand.

But governments all over the world – and certainly not least in the United States – might be well advised to give more thought to the quality of economic growth created by stock market stimulus and its sustainability beyond short-term bubble creation.

There are numerous ways to stimulate growth, and lowering interest rates or banking reserve requirements to boost borrowing and spending may be the most widely practised. Data on global debt indicates that such a borrowing binge is under way now.

Another approach is government cash handouts or “helicopter money”, which Western governments distributed to the tune of multiple trillions of dollars during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But stock market stimulus can be particularly potent in this regard. If some share prices can be induced to rise, the process quickly becomes self-fulfilling as imputed values of other stocks rise in the same way that prices of houses rise when neighbouring properties increase in value.

The process continues and usually accelerates until it ends – often in tears after investors have indulged in a consumption and borrowing boom and a share-buying frenzy on the back of this assumed increase in wealth. Then comes a slump, which is when it becomes obvious that growth has been borrowed from the future by present expediency.

It would be unfortunate if China were to countenance encouraging a stock price bubble as a means of ending a period of overinvestment in residential real estate. Chinese stocks achieved their biggest single-day gains in 16 years on September 30 following the announcement of China’s new economic stimulus package, with domestic A-shares recording their highest ever turnover as investors scrambled to join what Reuters termed an “epic rally”.

The People’s Bank of China is creating new structural monetary policy tools to support the stock market. Institutional investors will be able to borrow liquid assets such as government bonds and central bank bills from the PBOC, using assets like stock exchange-traded funds as collateral, then sell them to get cash to invest more in equity markets.

The Chinese central bank will also provide refinancing loans for banks extending credit to publicly traded companies aiming to buy back their own shares. These complement the policy package already introduced by China’s securities regulator and aimed at reviving investor confidence and shoring up stock values, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Earlier this week, the CSI300 blue-chip index had risen nearly 30 per cent from its February trough, which by some market definitions suggests that it is in a bull market, and it is perhaps understandable that China should reach for instant wealth creation measures at a time when credit demand is low and reducing interest rates or pumping credit can be like “pushing on a string”. But then it also carries the risk of creating bubbles.

China is admittedly nowhere near the US when it comes to equity obsession. The total value of listed US stock on Wall Street is nearly double the country’s gross domestic product of over US$27 trillion. China. By contrast, China had a combined stock market capitalisation well below its GDP in 2023. But the equity culture could take hold or control if officially encouraged.

Japan has an opposite problem at present, in that its benchmark Nikkei stock index dropped by nearly 5 per cent on September 30, the first full trading day after it was announced that Shigeru Ishiba had been elected president of the nation’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, thereby making him Japan’s new prime minister.

Ishiba has not shown quite the same passion for market reforms as his predecessors, Fumio Kishida and Shinzo Abe, and especially for promoting stock market investment and a “new capitalism”, as well as turning Tokyo into a global fund management hub.

It would seem that Japan’s new leader is neither a servant of stock investment orthodoxy nor a slave to the cult of the equity, which not only holds economies like the United States and the United Kingdom in thrall but seems to be looking irresistible to China too. But this is an orthodoxy that needs to be examined more closely, with an eye to its potentially harmful consequences.

China mother, once jumping rope with son, masters freestyle stunts for health, happiness

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3280526/china-mother-once-jumping-rope-son-masters-freestyle-stunts-health-happiness?utm_source=rss_feed

A 45-year-old woman in northern China has captivated the mainland internet with her impressive skip rope performances while elegantly dressed in a cheongsam and high heels.

The mother from the Tianjin municipality, surnamed Yan, has demonstrated remarkable dedication. For the past three years, she has passionately practised her skipping skills, showcasing her perseverance and commitment.

Yan began skipping rope in 2021 to inspire her son to be more physically active, accompanying him as he attempted to master the skill.

Although her son never developed a strong enthusiasm for skipping rope and eventually focused on his homework, Yan became captivated by the sport. She took it upon herself to learn more advanced freestyle techniques by watching videos online.

“For most skipping tricks, I practise for months before mastering them. However, the most difficult moves took me two to three years to perfect,” she shared.

Yan expressed her enjoyment of the sport, noting that there are always new tricks to learn and “conquer”.

“Sometimes I even create new moves, much like dance choreography. It’s incredibly fun,” she added.

One of the most challenging moves she mastered involved throwing one end of the rope into the air and catching it behind her back, all while maintaining her skipping rhythm.

“After three years of practice, I rarely drop the rope now,” she remarked.

Through her hobby, Yan has met many new friends. Practising together not only serves as a motivator to enhance her skills quickly but also fosters joy and camaraderie.

Yan’s journey with skipping rope has significantly boosted her skills and improved her health. She has lost an impressive 10kg over the past three years, exemplifying the fitness benefits of the sport.

“This simple activity has instilled confidence in me and enhanced my happiness. It also helps uplift my spirits during negative moments,” Yan said. “I hope to continue skipping for as long as my body allows.”

Mainland Chinese internet users have admired Yan’s skipping skills.

“This mother is incredible! She started jumping rope with her son and ended up becoming a skipping coach, haha,” commented one online observer.

Another added: “She is so cool!”

Australia eyes lands of opportunity amid trade diversification despite warming China ties

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3281092/australia-eyes-lands-opportunity-amid-trade-diversification-despite-warming-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

Australia would continue to push ahead with its trade diversification despite warming ties between Beijing and Canberra, analysts said, with other options in the region gearing up to become competitive, even though no single market could replace China.

China has been Australia’s largest trading partner since 2009, but the relationship turned sour in 2020, resulting in various trade bans and curbs.

Ties have improved since last year, highlighted by a two-day trip to Beijing by Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the end of September, which was the first by an Australian treasurer to the Chinese capital in seven years.

During a meeting with China’s top economic-planning agency, Chalmers discussed attracting foreign investments, challenges and opportunities for cooperation and further communications on economic policies, with both countries “complementary” to each other, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

But the previously sour relationship, including disruptions to supply chains and the loss of the Chinese market for Australian dairy products, beef, cotton, wine, lobsters and coal, had already led the Australian government to urge its exporters to diversify.

“Unless you are in typically China-strong industries such as resources, agricultural and select consumer discretionary sectors, it is difficult to gauge what’s happening in this vast country [of China],” said Peter Park, an alumni with the Australia-China Youth Dialogue, which fosters bilateral communications.

Citing bias and information asymmetry affecting business decision-making, Park added that the Australian government’s diversification focus was “in full swing” with its “Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040” vision.

The strategy, launched in October last year, outlined a practical pathway to significantly increasing two-way trade and investment between Australia and Southeast Asia.

Last year, the A$219 billion (US$150 billion) of goods and commodities trade with China made up 32.5 per cent of Australia’s exports in terms of value, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

For Southeast Asia, the bloc’s two-way trade with Australia amounted to A$183.4 billion in 2023, which was greater than its two-way trade with Japan, the United States or the European Union.

“Indeed, this region shows signs reminiscent of China’s golden age of growth post-Beijing Olympics,” added Park, who is also the founder and head of sales at Floridge Exports, a consultancy firm that works with high-growth food and beverage businesses in Australia.

“Vietnam has been one of the prominent markets due to its manufacturing-fuelled growth, extensive coastlines, cheap labour and relative lack of regulations. However, significant success is yet to be seen.”

Li Jianjun, director of Australian Studies Centre at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said that the “more friendly relationship” would not hinder Australia’s efforts to open up other Asian markets.

“Australian businesses have been encouraged to open up other Asian markets in the past several years,” he added.

“If other Asian markets are more attractive, Australian businesses are wise enough and won’t miss them.”

But Li noted that it is hard to supplant the Chinese market because it is “big, mature, stable and ideally complementary with” the Australian market, and complete diversification from China would not happen unless Australia carried out the strategy only for geopolitical reasons.

In a report about Australia’s trade and economic relationship with China released in June, the Australia China Business Council said that the bilateral relationship had entered a new phase by balancing geopolitical risks and trade connections.

“China’s growth continues to present opportunities for Australian exporters, with a growing middle class fuelling the demand for many of the goods and services Australia has to offer,” the report said.

Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed Australia’s economic growth softened in 2023 and 2024 at 1.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, compared to 5.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent in China.

John Quiggin, professor of economics at the University of Queensland, also ruled out the fact that China’s slowing economy would pose major problems for Australian exporters, pointing out that other markets in the region would also drive demand.

“Apart from the UK and US, all of our top 15 export markets are in the Asia-Pacific. As long as the region as a whole grows robustly, it will be easy to shift sales from China to other regional markets,” Quiggin said.

Estimates from the Asian Development Bank showed that the growth outlook for developing Asia and the Pacific for 2024 had been raised from the 4.9 per cent predicted in April to 5 per cent, while the 2025 growth projection remained at 4.9 per cent.

Despite seeing some positive results from diversification, the Australia China Business Council pointed out that China accounted for 84.7 per cent of Australia’s exports of iron ore and concentrates in 2022-23, making it the “dominant partner” for Australia’s iron ore shipments.

“China’s steel demand is now starting to slow down faster than previously expected,” said Simon Nicholas, lead analyst for the global steel sector at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

“Any slowdown in demand will have a significant impact on the Australian economy. For example, a US$1 per tonne reduction in the iron ore price reduces BHP’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by US$233 million,” he added, using the example of the Melbourne-based multinational mining and metals firm.

Nicholas noted the mature steel markets of Japan and South Korea were not exhibiting significant demand growth, and although India is the key market for steel demand growth, it is self-sufficient.

“More demand for iron ore may come from Southeast Asia, but it will be hard for this region to replace falling Chinese demand given the size of the Chinese market,” he added.

“Most of the world’s steel is made in China.”

Win in China EV tariffs vote leaves EU relieved yet wary over Beijing’s likely retaliation

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281178/win-china-ev-tariffs-vote-leaves-eu-relieved-yet-wary-over-beijings-likely-retaliation?utm_source=rss_feed

A near-audible sigh of relief emanated from European Commission headquarters on Friday as it gained enough backing from the EU’s 27 members to slap tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

In the end the result was not even close: just five of the 15 capitals required to block the duties of up to 35.3 per cent on the imports cast a vote against, despite frantic lobbying from Beijing and Berlin to oppose them.

A dozen abstentions might not look like glowing support on paper, but in Brussels they were seen as efforts to offer simultaneous, if lukewarm, support for the commission’s findings, while staying out of Beijing’s retaliatory firing line.

A defeat would have left commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s hawkish China agenda dead in the water before her second team of commissioners is put in place.

It would also have damaged the bloc’s credibility ahead of the potential return of Donald Trump after the US presidential election in November.

The EU’s decision to keep countervailing duties on EVs was significant because “it strengthens the new commission and it gives the right signal as to where the EU is in its relations with China – also towards the US prior to its presidential election”, according to Alicia Garcia-Herrero of French investment bank Natixis.

Even as it passed, the vote laid bare the divisions at the very top of Europe’s food chain. France voted for the tariffs and Germany against.

In the run-up, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spent weeks phoning other European leaders to try to convince them to take his side, while he overruled his dissenting coalition partners to force a nein vote from Berlin.

These efforts reaped almost no dividend: in an indicative vote on the same issue in July, there were only four backers. Friday’s vote saw one more country added to that list: Germany itself.

“The stakes are hard to overstate. If Scholz had succeeded in overturning the tariffs at the eleventh hour, it would have vindicated China’s efforts to lean on individual member-states and been the final nail in the coffin of EU efforts to have a foreign economic policy,” said Sander Tordoir of the Centre for European Reform.

“That the EV tariffs will still pass is because other countries, including traditional Berlin ally the Netherlands, are holding the line.”

Nor did Beijing’s combination of carrots and sticks yield much.

While Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke out against the tariffs during a trip to Beijing, his government eventually abstained.

Cyprus, a traditional ally of Beijing’s, flipped from a “no” in July to an abstention. Ireland, despite having its dairy sector investigated by China’s commerce ministry, went from an abstention to a vote in favour.

Yet amid their relief, Brussels officials are now steeling for a longer-term war.

EU sources expect China’s retaliation to come in earnest at the start of November, when the EV tariffs are likely to have been signed into law and taken effect.

This will probably include anti-dumping duties on French cognac at the very least. And officials are eyeing potential restrictions on the supply of some critical minerals.

Until then, and foreseeably afterwards too, Beijing will continue to push for ways to end or reduce the tariffs for its companies.

Technical talks are slated to continue on Monday, the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement, a development that will please the governments and companies that have called for a negotiated settlement.

In Brussels, however, expectations are measured as to what can actually be achieved.

Talks have so far focused on setting minimum prices for EV imports, but these are complex undertakings that must meet World Trade Organization rules.

Rather than a blanket deal, negotiators would have to piece together a complex latticework of side deals with each car company affected by the tariffs.

Sweden’s trade minister, Benjamin Dousa, hinted that one such agreement could be in the works for carmaker Volvo, owned by China’s Geely, which is in line to pay duties of 18.8 per cent on top of the standard 10 per cent import tariff for EVs.

“We have had very positive signals just recently from the Commission that they hopefully could go ahead with individual solutions for the auto industry and for Volvo cars specifically,” Dousa said on Friday.

Officials hope the punitive duties will help create a level playing field for its own producers.

Meanwhile, national governments, including in France and Spain, hope they will lay the groundwork for more Chinese companies to set up factories and bring jobs to European soil.

But both these roads are strewn with potholes.

Europe’s auto industry is mired in a crisis of falling sales and strong Chinese competition that tariffs alone will not fix.

In a letter to the commission this month, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association asked for an extension to the phase-out of combustion engines, pointing to the lack of infrastructure needed to support EV growth.

“We are missing crucial conditions to reach the necessary boost in production and adoption of zero-emission vehicles: charging and hydrogen-refilling infrastructure, as well as a competitive manufacturing environment, affordable green energy, purchase and tax incentives and a secure supply of raw materials, hydrogen and batteries,” the letter read.

On the other hand, some EU officials are reluctant to embrace widespread Chinese investment in the sector owing to a combination of security concerns and the fact that it would not promote Europe’s own industry.

“The localisation of Chinese EV production cannot fully assuage concerns about Europe’s overreliance on Chinese companies for a critical green technology good, at a time when policymakers are focused on cybersecurity and data security risks tied to connected vehicles,” stated a report from research house Rhodium Group this week.

“A permissive policy towards Chinese technology in the car sector could not only leave Europe vulnerable to such risks, but also put it at odds with G7 allies, notably the United States, which is taking a restrictive approach.”

What is China’s next move as the Middle East violence escalates?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281157/what-chinas-next-move-middle-east-violence-escalates?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s stance on the escalating violence in the Middle East may reap some benefits as the United States becomes further distracted, according to analysts, but they warned there are reputational risks if it cannot live up to its self-appointed image as a mediator.

The conflict between Israel and Iran and its proxies has pushed the Middle East closer to a regional war and also threatens to drag in the US. Meanwhile, China may seek to seize the moral high ground by blaming Washington’s pro-Israel stance and continue to promote itself as an alternative peace broker.

During a United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday – the day after Iran’s missile attack on Israel – China’s ambassador Fu Cong called on all parties, “in particular Israel, to exercise restraint and refrain from any action that could lead to further escalation of the situation”.

It was Iran’s biggest ever assault on Israel, largely in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, and of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Describing the situation in Gaza as a “hell on earth,” Fu attacked Israel’s disregard of international calls for an immediate ceasefire and its “stubborn” military operations, which he said had resulted in the “protraction and expansion of the conflict”.

“At present, an all-out war is on the brink of breaking out,” he said according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.

In what appeared to be a call on the US to exert its influence on Israel, Fu said: “We hope major countries with influence will adopt a sincere and responsible attitude and earnestly play a constructive role to avoid further escalation of the situation.”

Emil Avdaliani, an international relations professor at European University in Tbilisi, Georgia, said China saw an opportunity in the chaos in the Middle East, as the US and its allies would be forced to shift their focus away from the Indo-Pacific.

“Another major advantage is that the wars in the Middle East and the unwavering US support for Israel allows Beijing to portray itself as a true supporter of the Arab cause and therefore gain further sympathy across the Arab and non-Arab Islamic worlds,” he said.

For China, it was of critical importance that Iran would not be weakened too much, according to Avdaliani.

“The situation in the Middle East has reached a tipping point,” he said, adding that although Israel was widely expected to attack targets in Iran, a major war was not very likely.

He argued US involvement in the Middle East was likely to be limited and take the form of sending additional troops and increasing its naval presence while stepping up diplomatic efforts to isolate Iran.

“Tehran is a vital actor for Beijing’s still developing strategic thinking on the Middle East. China hopes that the rapprochement which it helped to build between Iran and Saudi Arabia will remain strong to diminish Israel’s and the United States’ influence,” he said.

He said China’s response further underlined the shift in Beijing’s policy from a relatively neutral one between Israel and Palestine to a more anti-Israel stance.

“[China] now clearly sees that the balance can no longer be maintained and that support for the Palestinian cause as well as Lebanon and Iran should take precedence. Overall, China now has to take sides especially as this position makes it more popular across the Islamic world,” said Avdaliani.

Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow at Chatham House and head of the China Studies Unit at the Emirates Policy Centre, a think tank in Abu Dhabi, was more concerned about the risk of a regional war, saying it is “very close”.

“That doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen, but the risk of kicking off regional confrontations between Israel and Iran, or at least between Israel and Iran’s proxies in the region, is very high.”

He said Israel’s escalation ahead of the US elections in November had been largely anticipated.

“Because [Benjamin] Netanyahu knows that the US can’t stand up to Israel right now and can’t constrain the Israeli government in a year of elections,” he said.

“They know that the [Joe] Biden administration is completely exhausted, and they know that this is the last chance to inflict the biggest amount of damage on their enemies before Kamala Harris probably wins and tries to restrain Israel.”

Aboudouh said Beijing appeared to be more focused on discrediting Washington over its pro-Israel stance.

Washington’s focus on Ukraine war and Middle East has given China the “breathing space and time to manoeuvre” in its disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea, allowing it “to advance its interests for as long as possible, before the US is again focused on countering China in this region”.

“We don’t have any direct and deliberate campaign or attacks against China’s interests in the region, whether that is military interests, such as the base in Djibouti, or the [belt and road] investments in Israel, in Haifa, for example, or in the Gulf region,” he said.

But in the long run, Aboudouh said China’s reputation may suffer if it could not live up to the image it had created for itself as a peace broker.

“China is increasingly seen as a passive player who wants to maximise their own national interests at the minimum cost possible, and when push comes to shove, they’re not seen anywhere near the real action.

“So as long as China stays on the sidelines and doesn’t get its feet wet in the fighting now, by playing a calming role, and by adopting an active diplomatic initiative to display it, I think China will start to lose a lot,” he said.

Yun Sun, director of the China programme and co-director of the East Asia programme at the Stimson Centre in Washington, offered a similar analysis, saying that on the one hand China could still “protect its relationship with the Muslim world through advocating for Palestine”.

“But on the other hand, the Gaza crisis also demonstrated how China is unable to exert critical influence over the Israel-Palestine issue despite its newly minted image as a peace mediator,” she said.

“If anything, China’s absence in the peace mediation in the Gaza crisis is more striking. For people who had more expectations out of China from the Saudi-Iran deal [to restore diplomatic relations], the Gaza crisis showed China’s lack of involvement and lack of ability.”

“China’s relationship with Israel has suffered so much damage that Israel is highly unlikely to engage China in the mediation,” Sun said. “And that is conflict mediation 101 for mediators- ‘you have to talk to everybody, and have a relationship of trust and credibility with all parties involved in the conflict’.”

Hard truths about growing up Chinese and female in Malaysia

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3280806/hard-truths-about-growing-chinese-and-female-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed

I may have been nine or 10 years old when I first heard Australian singer Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman. I didn’t know it would become an anthem for the women’s movement, but the words stirred me.

Even decades later, a tingle goes up my spine when the lyrics float through my mind: “I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman...” The boldness of proclaiming the superpowers of my gender had never occurred to me as a girl growing up in Malaysia.

But as if on cue, there came a dose of reality around this time, courtesy of my mother. This was a woman who dispensed advice and guidance sparingly; she wasn’t much of a conversationalist with her children, and her communication was largely around household operations and tasks.

So it was surprising when one day Mum asked me and my two sisters to gather for a chat. She got right to the point. “Girls,” she said. “I want to tell you something – you have two strikes against you. You are female and Chinese. You will have to try harder.”

At first, what she said seemed so obvious – we were born female and Chinese, no kidding. What I had not considered up to that point was that these two qualities could be framed as negatives, as conditions to be overcome.

To this day, I don’t know what triggered this motivational moment. She didn’t take any questions, nor entertain comments. I suspect she didn’t offer any life guidance to my two brothers. Nor do I remember exactly what the three of us girls said or did afterwards. We certainly didn’t discuss Mum’s words, and perhaps each of us took that lesson away to ponder individually.

What did she mean? Without spelling them out, she was articulating a few hard truths: we belonged to the Chinese minority in Malaysia, and were excluded from racial preferences. Although all five of us children would eventually graduate from high-quality local schools, she was expressing a concern about our access to higher education and career opportunities in Malaysia. My sisters and I were also conscious that many Asian families, including Chinese, gave male children more advantages than females.

My mother never had to repeat the “two strikes” admonition. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t the only bit of wisdom she dispensed: another was “nobody owes you a living”, which was a companion to the evergreen “money doesn’t grow on trees”.

Growing up in the Toh family, we were expected to be modest and not “show off”. That was also the norm among most Chinese people I knew in Kuala Lumpur then (and to some extent, even today, the stereotype of the well-behaved, quiet Asian still persists).

Living in a country where Islam is the state religion amid many faiths, we learned to dress modestly and comport ourselves with restraint in public. My mother had a particularly stringent code for the girls: we were to never ever wear shorts outside the house, not even in the sweltering tropical weather.

There was an additional layer to this culture of prudence. Both of my parents had grown up in poverty and scrambled to survive in large families, and were not given to flaunting our status even when we were living quite comfortably. My mother, a devoted Catholic, eschewed any hint of showiness: she hissed in disapproval at a cousin’s off-the-shoulder dresses and adamantly declined to host birthday parties for any of her five children. That was considered prideful – besides, it would put others in the position of having to give us presents, sing to us and make us the centre of attention.

I would say the three of us sisters got the “two strikes” message and each in our own way, we internalised the nudge that it was meant to give us as we plotted out our personal and professional journeys. All five of us headed abroad to university: my older brother and I went to the US, while my sisters graduated with degrees in Australia. The youngest brother left for flight school.

Over the decades, as I built a career in journalism and corporate communications in the United States and across Asia-Pacific, my mother’s reality check lingered at the back of my mind, even though I have been blessed. The world that I navigated as an adult embraced (and sometimes even celebrated) my multiple identities and offered me opportunities that were not held hostage to either the colour of my skin or my XX chromosomes.

So is my mother’s wisdom irrelevant today? I wish it was. There are an estimated 50 million overseas Chinese, with probably as many individual stories, possibly many like mine, but also nothing like mine. The concept of Chinese identity has become complex, with an increase in mixed-race alliances. Some among younger generations are global citizens, instead of being tied to a single racial identity, and they may not speak any Chinese dialects or observe Chinese traditions.

Race and gender are still barriers in various parts of the world and within some societies and institutions. I speak with some girls today who feel trapped by their gender, and sometimes their culture, in choosing their educational and career paths. My memberships in several women’s groups in Hong Kong are driven by my belief that a gender gap still exists in corporate leadership and within industries, including Web3.

But I’m at peace with my “two strikes”, as well as my other identities, as a wife and a Christian. I was brought up in Malaysia, came of age in the US, and have been both a hack and a flack. I’m strong but not invincible. I tried harder. And that’s enough for me.

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False claims of Chinese crime wave in Japan ignite outrage after boy’s stabbing

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3281137/false-claims-chinese-crime-wave-japan-ignite-outrage-after-boys-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed

The social media post was angry, antagonistic and immediately went viral.

Shared on X on September 21 – just days after a Japanese boy of 10 was stabbed to death in Shenzhen, China – the post claimed that 60 per cent of all crimes in Japan are committed by Chinese nationals.

“A Chinese man robbed a woman in Japan and seriously injured her,” read the post by a user named MR. 486. “Chinese already account for three out of every five criminal offences in Japan. Do you think the Chinese should be driven back to China?” The Chinese-language message quickly attracted more than 697,000 views, 4,406 “likes” and was reposted 701 times.

It was, however, completely false.

Media and political analysts who spoke to This Week in Asia called it “deeply worrying” that so many social media users liked or shared the disinformation, reflecting a spiralling lack of trust between the people of China and Japan, compounded by escalating nationalist sentiment on both sides.

The Asia Fact Check Lab debunked the falsehood in an article published by Radio Free Asia. According to Japanese police statistics, Chinese nationals were involved in only 1.123 per cent of all prosecutions in Japan last year, accounting for a mere 1.135 per cent of all suspects.

Out of 269,550 criminal prosecutions that year, just 3,028 cases involved Chinese nationals from the mainland – 2,080 in total, excluding individuals from Hong Kong or Taiwan. Chinese nationals represented fewer cases than Vietnamese nationals and slightly more than Koreans, the figures showed. Meanwhile, historical data showed that criminal cases involving Chinese citizens never exceeded 1.4 per cent of the total over the past nine years to 2014.

While tensions between China and Japan are nothing new, the rise of social media has intensified and amplified extreme accusations.

“Social media is at the root of many of modern society’s problems, including how people of different countries see each other,” said Izumi Tsuji, a professor of the sociology of culture at Tokyo’s Chuo University.

“On both sides, there can be a lack of empathy towards people from ‘the other side’. We talk about a ‘cyber cascade’ or ‘filter bubble’ in which people using social media tend to see the same kind of opinions as they have, which makes it far easier to believe that their opinions are correct,” he told This Week in Asia.

“When those attitudes are reinforced, it can often lead to a lack of sympathy for others who do not share those beliefs,” Tsuji said, adding that spreading negativity becomes much easier when platforms allow a person’s identity to be concealed.

Before social media, it was much harder for people to vent their anger on a particular topic, said Yakov Zinberg, an international-relations professor at Tokyo’s Kokushikan University. Letters to the editor were often the only outlet, he said, and even when these were published by a newspaper, they rarely sparked widespread outrage.

“What we are seeing now is awfully damaging,” Zinberg said, noting that the September 18 killing of the Japanese boy in China had fuelled extremist sentiments on both sides.

“We are seeing it in the US elections, we are seeing it in the propaganda surrounding [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the war in Ukraine, and I’ve seen in it in my own research into antisemitism,” he added.

“The hatred of anyone who says anything different is frightening.”

Japanese media reported on plans by domestic firms to repatriate families based in China who felt threatened and arrangements to step up security for children heading to school, following what was the second attack on a Japanese schoolchild in the space of three months.

“I try not to go out as much as possible,” one unnamed mother living in Beijing told The Mainichi newspaper. “It’s frightening because we don’t even know if the attack was aimed at Japanese people or not.”

The woman in her 30s added that when she did leave home, she avoided speaking Japanese and remained constantly on alert for potential threats

The two countries’ deteriorating relationship is also affecting business ties. Japan Airlines announced on Monday that it was cancelling plans for a commemorative event at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to mark 50 years of flights to China, stating that a “celebratory event was not appropriate” after the boy’s death. The ceremony was due to include speeches from airline executives, government ministers and representatives of the Chinese embassy in Tokyo.

Five days after the attack, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa held a much-publicised meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, reportedly demanding that China release full details of the attack, including the assailant’s motives, and ensure nothing similar happens again.

Wang urged Tokyo to take a “calm and rational approach” instead of politicising the incident and told Kamikawa that China would continue to protect all foreign citizens living in the country, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

Japanese media also picked up a story published by Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television that an official from Sichuan province was being investigated for posting hate speech, including messages that reportedly read, “Our rule is to kill the Japanese” and “We simply killed a kid of the guilty Japanese”.

Online commentators in Japan reacted with outrage.

“Why hasn’t any country made a claim for damages against China for creating the coronavirus pandemic and throwing the world into chaos for years?” read one message on the Yahoo Japan news site.

“That was like an act of global terrorism. China produces nothing but misery and sorrow.”

Another suggested closing borders and halting travel, stating, “The deep-rooted anti-Japanese education and aggression will not disappear overnight, and we need to be able to protect ourselves.”

Not all Chinese internet users reacted to the boy’s death with vilification and hatred, however, as some Japanese media were quick to point out. The Asahi newspaper reported on September 23 how people had placed flowers and messages of condolence at the site of the stabbing. “I want to say that ordinary people think incidents like this should not happen,” one mourner told the paper, while another said, “As a Chinese, I condemn this [the attacker’s actions].”

Makoto Watanabe, a professor of communications and media at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Japan, suggested that the Chinese government shared some of the responsibility for the escalating online hostility.

He noted that while it has intervened to take down critical online posts about domestic policy, it had not acted against hate speech targeting Japan.

“There has been a massive amount of hate posts on social media in China since the boy was killed, but the government there has made no attempt to control it,” he said.

Watanabe said that the government in Beijing likely prefers its citizens directing anger outwards rather than complaining about domestic issues, such as rising unemployment among younger generations – who are also the most active social media users. While Japanese social media users have retaliated, he said that there had been no reports of posts condoning the killing of a child.

The Japanese government has not officially commented on reining in aggressive social media posts, but operators in Japan do have codes of conduct and have intervened when discussions become overly heated.

Watanabe proposed that both governments work together to defuse growing tensions by issuing a joint statement emphasising the importance of the rule of law and a commitment to stopping hate speech and violence.

“To be effective, it would need to come from both sides,” he said. “I also believe it would be a win for both sides because all the negative news reports coming out of China mean that foreign companies are pulling their operations out of the country at a time when the Chinese economy needs them.

“We must also remember that these extremist voices that we do hear are not really representative of ordinary people in either China or Japan,” he added. “These are just the loudest voices on social media when the vast majority of people do not share these values or attitudes, and that makes me more optimistic that things can improve.”

Additional reporting by Kyodo

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Frustrated with Washington, Argentina’s Milei seeks rapprochement with China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281180/frustrated-washington-argentinas-milei-seeks-rapprochement-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Argentine President Javier Milei, who harshly criticised China during his election campaign, has announced plans to visit Beijing in January 2025, signalling a potential shift in his approach to the Asian superpower.

In a television interview this week, Milei described China as a “very interesting commercial partner” and said he was “positively surprised by China” – a stark contrast to his earlier rhetoric, in which he referred to China as an “assassin” state while vowing to prioritise relations with Western allies.

Milei expressed gratitude for China’s renewal of currency swap contracts, which he said enabled Argentina to meet its obligations to the International Monetary Fund.

In June, Beijing agreed to renew tranches of currency swaps worth 35 billion yuan (about US$5 billion) with Argentina’s central bank until July 2026. At the time, the government in Buenos Aires stressed that the measure would be “crucial” to managing the country’s balance of payments flows.

“We had a meeting with the ambassador [Wang Wei],” Milei recounted. “The next day, they unblocked the swaps.”

Any warming in Milei’s ties with Beijing would be a significant development in the battle for influence in Latin America between China, which has invested an estimated US$155 billion in infrastructure projects in the region since 2005.

An ambitious multibillion-dollar Chinese investment in a Peruvian megaport that would tie the region’s economy closer to China and its neighbours is one among many examples of the work Beijing has been doing on this front in recent years.

US officials – including General Laura Richardson, commander of the US Southern Command – have been warning Latin American governments to be wary in aligning with Beijing, but have had little apparent success.

Milei’s planned visit to Beijing for the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum comes as a condition for China’s agreement to unblock the currency swaps, as previously reported by the Post.

Patricio Giusto of the Sino-Argentine Observatory in Buenos Aires suggested that Milei’s change in tone might be due to disappointment with the US response to his initial overtures.

“I think Milei never understood the nature and dynamics of US foreign policy,” Giusto suggested. “He thought that expressing total alignment would be enough to get financial support and investments from the US.

“And it does not work like that.”

Giusto added that Milei’s pragmatism in the face of Argentina’s economic challenges might also explain the shift. Despite success in controlling high inflation, the country has seen an increase in extreme poverty.

Official data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census showed in September that 52.9 per cent of Argentines are poor, an increase of 11 percentage points compared to the second half of 2023, when Milei took office.

Wang, China’s ambassador to Buenos Aires, told local media that Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers might consider setting up factories in Argentina’s industrial hub of Cordoba.

“Chinese electric vehicle companies will actively consider setting up factories here in Argentina,” Wang said. “[Our companies] are already present in Brazil with their production and assembly lines, so why can’t they be set up in Cordoba soon, as long as there are preferential policies from the Cordoba authorities to attract the companies involved?”

While immediate investments in the electric vehicle sector may face challenges, Giusto suggested that Milei’s Beijing trip could potentially unlock investment in other critical areas, such as lithium mining.

Argentina holds 21 per cent of the world’s known lithium deposits, a crucial component in electric car batteries.

Are China’s lauded anti-poverty triumphs at risk of vanishing?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3281078/its-really-exhausting-are-chinas-lauded-anti-poverty-triumphs-risk-vanishing?utm_source=rss_feed

In Zhongwei, a city in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region, fighting poverty seems to be a never-ending battle.

While the country as a whole has made tremendous gains in living standards, in July, the city’s Shapotou district announced that 28 more individuals had been added to a poverty relapse watch list.

The officials who update the list maintain dossiers on families that are in dire financial straits and aim to stop them falling below the poverty line, while also ensuring that they do not become too reliant on government handouts.

The district did not say how many people in total are on the list but its updates are part of the administration’s attempts to avoid a return to widespread poverty as the economy struggles to regain momentum.

The goal is a national priority.

According to state news agency Xinhua, China has spent nearly 1.6 trillion yuan (US$306 billion) to alleviate poverty since Chinese President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

In 2021, Xi declared that absolute poverty had been eradicated in the country. The next milestone, he said, was to attain common prosperity and a decent standard of living for all by 2050.

Those ambitions rest on preventing a large-scale re-emergence of poverty.

Analysts say that achieving the goals would be crucial not just for building a more equitable society, but also in maintaining social stability and hence strengthening China’s hand in its economic competition with the United States.

“The anti-poverty movement has been defined as one of Xi’s great achievements, so it will be a big issue if absolute poverty comes back,” said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

“As a developing country, poverty is an inevitable problem for China.” However, China’s model of fighting poverty through massive investment “is not sustainable”, Wu said.

Maintaining peoples’ livelihoods has been an ongoing concern for Chinese leaders. The issue was underscored in the “No 1 Central Document”– the leadership’s first policy directive issued at the beginning of each year since 2021. Alarms were raised in 2022 during the Covid-19 pandemic when large numbers of rural residents who were migrant workers had lost their jobs – and their only source of income – during the lockdowns.

They were raised again in January, when the Central Rural Work Leading Group, the top decision-making body for China’s agricultural and rural affairs, said that preventing a massive return to poverty was “both an economic and political task”.

So much so that when Chinese Premier Li Qiang inspected the southern province of Guizhou in April, he warned cadres that they would be held responsible if people slipped back into poverty.

“We must firmly adhere to the bottom line of not allowing large-scale relapses into poverty by enforcing and consolidating the responsibilities of all parties, maintaining the intensity of support efforts, and ensuring that all policies are well coordinated and implemented,” Li said.

The vigilance against poverty relapses featured prominently in July when the Communist Party’s Central Committee met to map out the country’s economic and national development plans for the next decade. In a communique issued after the meeting, the leadership called for regular surveillance of low-income individuals and nationwide monitoring of rural populations, where the problem of poverty was more prevalent.

It is not clear exactly how many people in rural China are struggling since the government has not released statistics. However, last October, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that the construction of a “low-income population dynamic monitoring platform” had been “basically completed”, covering more than 66 million low-income people, more than 3 million of whom were considered at risk of falling back into poverty.

According to a 2021 national census, nearly 510 million people lived in China’s rural regions, accounting for 36 per cent of the country’s population.

Beijing has previously asserted that preventing large-scale poverty relapses and ensuring food security were “two bottom lines” in its rural and agricultural work.

Those “two bottom lines” had become more urgent since “the spread of Covid-19 and uncertainty facing the world economy and trade”, Min Shi, a professor of rural economics at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, and Wang Xiaobing, a researcher at Peking University’s Institute of Modern Agriculture, jointly wrote in an article published in the official Guangming Daily in March 2022.

Poverty lines in China vary from one province to another. In Ningxia, one of China’s less affluent regions, individuals who earn less than 9,000 yuan a year are considered to be living below the poverty line and are eligible for government help. This compares with 8,050 yuan in southwestern Yunnan province, and 7,800 yuan in the eastern province of Jiangxi.

According to poverty alleviation manuals issued by local governments, individuals are monitored if they have risen above the poverty line but have unstable incomes, or if they hover above the poverty line but have experienced unexpected events such as natural disasters or sudden illness.

Last summer, the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning – one of China’s major grain-producing regions – were hit by floods, which dealt a blow to rice production. In July 2021, in the central province of Henan, almost 15 million people, most of them rural residents, were affected by flooding that destroyed 35,000 houses.

According to the manuals, once a family has been placed under monitoring, local officials must help them through “appropriate means”. In Zhongwei, for example, able individuals should be hired for public work such as street sweeping.

Lower-level cadres are under immense pressure to keep poverty under control. People whose names are added to the dossiers are considered risks to the anti-poverty drive and are therefore subject to monitoring.

A town official from a province in central China, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that documenting all vulnerable individuals had been a priority task for the second half of the year, and he expected the provincial government would soon send inspectors to the town to check on their performance.

Inspections are already under way in some places. Many grass-roots cadres have vented their frustrations and worries on social media platform Xiaohongshu, describing the pressures they have faced to complete headcounts by the end of the month.

“Has your poverty relapse prevention app crashed too?” read one widely shared post, which described the anxiety felt by a cadre who must use the mobile app to collect information about the families surveyed.

“It’s really exhausting, and our superiors don’t even treat us like human beings,” complained another, who said they must go door-to-door to check on the villagers’ incomes.

While China has been praised for lifting tens of millions out of absolute poverty over recent decades, it has also faced criticism that its achievements may have been overstated by some local cadres who exaggerated their results.

Other criticisms have included fabricating the poverty relapse dossiers, and an over-reliance on government subsidies that could leave recipients more vulnerable once the handouts have ended.

Wang Sangui, dean of the China Anti-Poverty Research Institute at Renmin University in Beijing, warned in an interview with China News Service in December 2022 that some of the groups declared by the government to have been lifted out of poverty “relied on wages as their main sources of income” but the Covid-19 pandemic had “seriously affected their employment”.

Wang also highlighted the impacts of natural disasters on the rural population, and the fact that many farmers struggled to make ends meet by selling their crops.

He Xuefeng, who researches China’s rural governance as dean of the school of sociology at Wuhan University, cautioned in an article published on WeChat earlier this year that some of the government’s efforts may be misguided.

He, who conducted field research in seven villages late last year, said some poverty-stricken households had become reliant on government subsidies as family members were unable to work due to illness or disabilities, but the aid had not helped them to make necessary fundamental changes to improve their livelihoods.

Zheng Linyi, a researcher with the China Academy for Rural Development at Zhejiang University, said Beijing should prevent relapses by first “preventing the economy from sliding and providing job opportunities for farmers”.

“In recent years, natural disasters such as droughts, floods and earthquakes have happened frequently. The government should help farmers affected by disasters to resume production and livelihoods,” Zheng said.

“The growth of farmers’ agricultural income is slow, and it is necessary to improve the agricultural subsidy system,” Zheng added, referring to subsidies provided by the government through grain sales and farm machinery purchases.