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• Alice Guo to run for mayor in Philippines again despite Chinese spy allegations: lawyer
• Alipay sees surge in overseas travel transactions during China’s ‘golden week’ holiday
• Mentor or rival? China takes notes from Brazilian giant Embraer as C919 soars ahead
• Malaysian police arrest 6 Chinese nationals, local man in burglary raids
• Why civil engineering students are disappearing from China’s top universities
• China clinic helps math-struggling students with holistic intervention including medication
• New air force chief calls for India to ‘catch up’ with China on defence tech
• Chinese national, 33, arrested in Japan over sex case after flying in from Hong Kong
• US election, jobs data to pressure China’s yuan as stimulus shores it up: analysts
• UK steel industry calls for protectionist measures over glut driven by China
• ‘Slave factory’: China comic artists expose ‘farm-like’ working conditions at famed studio
• China, Philippines continue to clash in South China Sea, with new flashpoint emerging
• South Korea, Philippines share ‘common understanding’ on South China Sea
• China’s EV subsidy boosts golden week sales amid rush before incentives’ expiry
• South Korea signals counter-China ambitions with Philippines visit by Yoon
• China calls on Pakistan to ‘severely punish’ attackers after 2 Chinese die in Karachi
• An explosion outside the Karachi, Pakistan, airport kills 2 workers from China and injures others
• China throws the book: more corruption suspects hit with claims of illicit reading
• China actress goes viral with ‘my uterus is not your business’ reply when urged to have kids
• Tech war: China advocates use of local AI chips over those from US powerhouse Nvidia
• China’s ‘port visas’ prove popular as inbound tourists employ entry alternative
• China’s chip breakthrough, origins of Hong Kong-style milk tea: 5 weekend reads you missed
• [Sport] Deadly blast hits convoy of Chinese engineers in Pakistan
• In Philadelphia, Chinatown activists rally again to stop development. This time, it’s a 76ers arena
• China’s stimulus will fall short without private-sector confidence
• China’s ‘wiser’ long-term strategy paves way to No 1 world power: Kishore Mahbubani

Alice Guo to run for mayor in Philippines again despite Chinese spy allegations: lawyer

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3281442/alice-guo-run-mayor-philippines-again-despite-chinese-spy-allegations-lawyer?utm_source=rss_feed

Embattled former Philippine mayor Alice Guo, who has been charged with crimes linked to illegal offshore gambling operations and accused of being a Chinese spy, is planning to run for office again, raising alarms over the potential threat to national security and loopholes in the country’s election laws.

Guo’s legal counsel, Stephen David, told reporters that she would file her candidacy on Tuesday, the last day of the week-long candidate filing period for next year’s midterm elections.

David noted that the courts had not yet ruled on Guo’s cases and said she intended to run for the mayorship of Tarlac province’s Bamban town again in order to “show her love for the people” and called efforts to disqualify her “just technicalities”.

“If the people there really want her, they should be the ones to judge. The people should decide whether she is worthy to hold office in their area … she’s not being allowed to run, she’s being disqualified. But that’s not final yet,” he told reporters on Friday.

Guo was dismissed from public office after an anti-corruption court in August found her guilty of “grave misconduct” for her alleged ties to an offshore gaming operator (Pogos) in Bamban that authorities said was carrying out scam operations and human trafficking activities after the facility was raided in March.

She fled the country in July after a warrant for her arrest was issued due to her failure to attend a series of Senate hearings investigating criminal activity linked to Pogos. She was extradited to the Philippines after being arrested by Indonesian authorities in Tangerang City in August and is currently being detained at the Pasig City Jail while facing charges of qualified human trafficking.

David told reporters that they had filed a motion for reconsideration of Guo’s dismissal from office and said they were prepared to appeal her case “all the way to the Supreme Court.”

Questions over qualification

Aside from her alleged Pogo links, Guo faces serious questions about her citizenship, which would determine her eligibility to hold public office. The Department of Foreign Affairs cancelled her passport on the basis of fraud and the Office of the Solicitor General filed a petition to cancel her birth certificate in July.

Despite authorities saying her fingerprints match those of a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping, who entered the Philippines in 2003, Guo has insisted that she is a Filipino who was born in the Philippines.

Guo has also faced serious accusations of acting as a spy for Beijing. A Chinese national named She Zhijiang, who is currently detained in Thailand on charges of facilitating illegal gambling, claimed in a recent Al Jazeera documentary that he began espionage activities in the Philippines in 2016 and collaborated with Guo on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security – a charge she has vehemently denied.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra conceded that Guo was still technically allowed to file her candidacy before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as “none of her cases have reached finality yet”.

“The Comelec is duty-bound to accept Guo’s certificate of candidacy, unless it later disqualifies Guo for some valid reason. Ultimately though, it is the electorate who will decide if Alice Guo deserves to hold public office,” Guevarra told reporters on Friday.

Comelec said it had “no choice but to accept” Guo’s candidacy should she file it, although this did not mean that her name would appear on the ballot during the polls.

However, lawmakers have expressed vehement opposition to Guo’s eligibility and argued that she would be committing perjury if she insisted on filing her candidacy.

Opposition senator Risa Hontiveros, who has been leading the Senate’s probe into criminal activities linked to Pogos, said Guo would be committing “an act of material misrepresentation” should she fill out her certificate of candidacy and falsely declare herself a Filipino citizen.

“The COC is an important document executed under oath. If Guo Hua Ping insists on her lies, a case of perjury may be added to the string of crimes she’s involved in,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian echoed Hontiveros’ views and called Guo’s plan to seek re-election “another brazen attempt to undermine the country’s laws”.

“I strongly urge the Comelec to immediately enforce the necessary legal measures to disqualify her from seeking public office,” he said in a statement.

Gatchalian argued that the commission has the power to prohibit non-Filipinos from running for public office.

“The Comelec itself approved the recommendation of its Law Department to take action against Guo for violating the Omnibus Election Code through blatant misrepresentation. One of the key findings is the matching fingerprints between Alice Guo and Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping,” his statement read.

Guo’s cases has highlighted potential loopholes in the country’s electoral system and must be studied further, analysts said.

Chester Cabalza, president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, told This Week in Asia that Guo’s possible return to power “may be seen as ludicrous and [reflects the] incompetence of the country’s electoral system, despite her multiple administrative and criminal legal cases.”

Meanwhile, Maria Ela Atienza, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ political science department, told This Week in Asia that the Philippines’ current election rules do not prohibit candidates with pending legal cases from seeking higher office, based on the principle of “not disqualified until proven guilty”.

“However, it is time to rethink what will be done if a winning candidate is found guilty later during his or her term,” Atienza said.

‘Manchurian candidates’?

Observers say Guo’s possible re-election had other, more serious implications on the Philippines’ electoral system and its role in potentially compromising national security.

In the aftermath of her case, Atienza urged the Comelec to employ stricter measures to investigate the background of all candidates, including their citizenship, through the documents they provide.

“Given that the issue is her citizenship, the Comelec can give more consideration to her case – and there should be a case filed in the Supreme Court that questions her eligibility to run. If she indeed is a Chinese citizen and not Filipino, then it is a national security risk if she still runs and could even win,” Atienza said.

Atienza added that Guo may exploit her enduring popularity in the town of Bamban by leveraging her solid base of supporters and arguing that her constituents should not be deprived of their right to vote for the candidate of their choice.

“However, the cases she is facing are serious ones and affect national security. They go beyond the usual corruption and corruption cases,” she said.

Cabalza said that Guo represents local politicians who serve as “Manchurian candidates” that serve China’s “charm offensive” in the Philippines.

He described Guo as reflecting “the sophisticated notion of espionage of the ‘woke generation,’” suggesting that her alleged actions represent a more subtle, modern form of spying.

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Alipay sees surge in overseas travel transactions during China’s ‘golden week’ holiday

https://www.scmp.com/news/article/3281408/alipay-sees-surge-overseas-travel-transactions-during-chinas-golden-week-holiday?utm_source=rss_feed

Alipay, China’s leading mobile payment service operated by Ant Group, reported a surge in outbound and inbound tourism transactions during the mainland’s “golden week” National Day holiday, as consumer confidence appears to rebound following Beijing’s large-scale stimulus measures introduced ahead of that annual break.

During the first four days of the holiday, which began last Tuesday, the number of transactions made via Alipay in overseas markets surged 60 per cent year on year. Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore recorded the fastest growth in transaction numbers.

Alipay’s collaborations with local businesses to offer discount packages helped drive increased spending across sectors such as services, transport, entertainment, food and beverage, and retail. Ant Group, which operates Alipay, is the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.

Alipay, which supports international bank cards, reported a 120 per cent year-on-year rise in spending by foreign travellers in mainland China during the first four days of the holiday, bolstered by Beijing visa-free policies that have driven inbound tourism. According to China’s largest travel platform, Trip.com, daily bookings from countries including Italy, Malaysia, Russia, and the US have increased more than threefold year on year.

In addition, consumer spending through Tap!, Alipay’s contactless tap-and-pay feature launched in July, rose by 130 per cent compared to last month, according to Ant Group. Meanwhile, Alipay’s newly introduced AI-powered chatbot, Zhixiaobao, assisted travellers with 20 million interactions during the holiday period.

Alipay’s Golden Week data reflects signs of recovering consumer confidence in China. Amid weak domestic demand and ongoing deflationary pressures this year, the Chinese government introduced a slate of stimulus measures before the national holiday in an effort to spur spending and investment.

Last year, Chinese travellers made more than 5.9 million outbound trips and 826 million domestic trips during the combined Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, generating over 753 billion yuan (US$106.5 billion) in domestic tourism revenue, a 1.5 per cent increase from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Official figures for this year’s golden week are yet to be released.

According to Chinese travel booking platform Fliggy’s National Day Holiday Travel Briefing issued on Monday, average prices for domestic and international flights and hotels during golden week fell year on year, with increasing interest in long-haul and niche destinations. Outbound travel bookings also saw substantial growth from last year.

Mentor or rival? China takes notes from Brazilian giant Embraer as C919 soars ahead

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3281416/mentor-or-rival-china-takes-notes-brazilian-giant-embraer-c919-soars-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed

When China set off on its long-haul endeavour to build and fly a modern commercial airliner, it aimed high, with the long-term aspiration of taking on Western competitors Boeing and Airbus.

Now, with its home-grown C919 being used commercially by three domestic airlines and hopes that it will be used overseas, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) will need to take a detour to learn from another foreign manufacturer to achieve its lofty goal, with Brazilian giant Embraer on its radar.

“Comac needs to compare notes with Embraer, whose rise from scratch to becoming a global aviation powerhouse is a source of inspiration,” said Paulo Filho, a former colonel and strategic studies expert with the Brazilian army.

Embraer’s technology and sales prowess are much sought after, analysts said, with Comac aiming to increase the pace it can produce the C919, as well as future models, while also cramming normally decades worth of certification and overseas marketing into about 10 years.

“Beijing and Comac may court Embraer [to learn from] and [avoid] direct competition, when geopolitics makes Boeing and Airbus less willing to share their know-how,” said Jason Zheng, an analyst with Shanghai-based aviation information provider Airwefly.

For Embraer, it also hopes closer ties may help land new orders, with the manufacturer having sold 156 jets to nine operators in China over the years, with 85 still in operation.

Its cooperation with China dates back to 2003, when Embraer began production of its bestselling ERJ145 in Harbin in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province.

The investment, which was the first of its kind in China by a foreign planemaker, was hailed by Beijing as a model for Global South tech cooperation.

And in March, China rolled out the red carpet as Embraer flew its most advanced E195-E2 to Tianjin on a worldwide demonstration tour, with Comac representatives – including aeronautical engineers who were behind the C919 – among the guests.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) had already certified the E195-E2 in August 2023.

In February, CAAC administrator Song Zhiyong also met with Tiago Sousa Pereira, the director of Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency, in Beijing to sign a memorandum of understanding to promote collaboration

In August in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia, aviation officials also renewed an agreement for mutual validation and certification recognition, covering design approval, production and technical support for exports.

And aviation exchanges are expected to feature predominantly in deals and partnerships expected to be signed as President Xi Jinping visits Brazil next month.

In July, officials connected to Brazil’s Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin told the Post that Brazil could announce the sale of Embraer planes to China during the visit, but noted negotiations were ongoing.

By internationalising its designs and supply chains and with distinctive cost-effectiveness, Embraer has secured international orders, including many from US and Europe, while its partnership with American aviation firms also aided the Western certification process.

One particular inspiration for Comac, Zheng said, was Embraer’s sweeping privatisation in the 1990s and initial public offerings in Brazil and New York in 2000.

“These moves helped its international business take flight and shed its image as a state entity run by the Brazilian government,” he said.

“When Comac seeks to gain overseas recognition and try to steer clear of geopolitical turbulence, perhaps it can bring in private or foreign stakeholders and seek listings.”

Li Hanming, a US-based aviation analyst, said Embraer’s success is underscored by its international network.

“Embraer runs a complete team around the world, supporting deliveries to North America, Europe and China,” he said.

“But, assuming that Comac can sell the C919 overseas, it is yet to have a full corresponding engineering team to perform aftermarket services.

“Comac has a lot to learn from how Embraer knitted together a big network over the years.”

Differentiations in product segmentation are also tailored for different customer needs, Filho added.

“Embraer’s E2 series, particularly E195-E2 dubbed ‘Profit Hunter’, is recognised for fuel efficiency and modern avionics. It is for regional, short-haul routes, with its smaller size than the C919 enabling greater operational flexibility,” he said.

“The C919 is larger and targets the category seen as the preserve of the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 Max narrowbodies.”

In a statement to the Post at the end of September, Embraer expressed confidence in China, saying demand was holding up well as regional jets are essential to serving remote regions and that big Chinese airlines preferred the E2 to operate feeder lines and funnel passengers to their main hubs.

“It’s necessary for Chinese carriers to operate aircraft of various sizes to handle fluctuating passenger traffic on different routes, as demand varies throughout China … the E2’s performance characteristics and adaptability mean it is a good choice for China,” Embraer said.

“Our current fleet in China goes deep into the capillaries of regional markets and serves numerous small and medium-sized airports. Embraer’s jets can complement Chinese aircraft in size and capacity.”

Beijing’s self-sufficiency mandate for aircraft manufacturing, though, would increasingly put Comac up against foreign makers, Embraer included, amid competition for orders, analysts said.

Embraer has not sold a jet in China since 2016 after it closed its plant in Harbin, and as domestic orders flow to Comac.

And according to a report in September, Brazilian carrier Total Linhas Aereas – a small cargo and charter airline – may be poised to become the first C919 buyer outside Asia.

An executive was quoted by Reuters as saying that Total Linhas Aereas had to look beyond Boeing and Airbus because of their inability to take new orders amid supply chain crunches.

“The C919 entering mass production in the near future and pursuit of overseas clients may challenge Embraer, particularly in a third country where price sensitivity and government-to-government ties are important,” Filho added.

Zheng also said Chinese manufacturers are proficient at emulating, and then eclipsing foreign competitors, as their “strategy is to learn and then to surpass”.

“Embraer is no stranger to the cut and thrust of the race in the air. Beijing’s drive to promote Comac and the C919 means patriotic cachet for Chinese carriers to buy domestic products and attractive price discounts and financing options for foreign clients,” Filho said.

“But Embraer is like both a mentor and a competitor [for Comac] and is still less affected than Boeing and Airbus [by Beijing’s push for the C919].”

Malaysian police arrest 6 Chinese nationals, local man in burglary raids

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3281439/malaysian-police-arrest-6-chinese-nationals-local-man-burglary-raids?utm_source=rss_feed

Malaysian police have arrested several members of a burglary gang, including six male Chinese nationals and a local man, in a series of raids in Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya.

Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said the suspects were arrested in an operation conducted on Saturday and Sunday.

“We believe they have been active since January.

“A police team raided a hotel in Kuala Lumpur and a condominium in Subang Jaya and arrested the seven suspects,” he told a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters on Monday.

The suspects, aged in their 30s and 40s, targeted two-storey houses when the occupants were not home and stole valuables, including items stored in safes, he said.

“The stolen loot was used by suspects to stay in three-star hotels.

“We believe they are responsible for eight cases in Sabak Bernam, three cases in Negeri Sembilan and a case each in Perak and Pahang,” he said.

The suspects would drive rented cars to targeted houses before breaking in, he said.

“The local suspect is responsible for targeting houses and selling the stolen items.

“The six Chinese citizens detained did not have any valid travel documents. We are conducting further investigation to discover how long they have been in the country,” he said.

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Why civil engineering students are disappearing from China’s top universities

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3280932/why-civil-engineering-students-are-disappearing-chinas-top-universities?utm_source=rss_feed

Tongji University in Shanghai used to be the promised land for Chinese students looking to become civil engineers.

Its civil engineering programme was ranked number one in the world from 2017 to 2021 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Its reputation grew over the decades, as rapid, infrastructure-fuelled economic growth in China caused a huge demand for people in the construction industry. Civil engineering became a desirable career and universities scrambled to meet the demand for courses.

But now, that rapid growth has begun to wane, and China’s housing and infrastructure sector has slowed, shrinking hiring demand and earnings, and dimming interest among students for related degrees.

At Tongji, the college of civil engineering has cut its undergraduate numbers for the past four or five years, according to a faculty member who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said that, while previously the Tongji programme was at the top of the list for high-achieving students applying to change majors, in recent years the opposite had become the case, with more applications to transfer out than in.

It is a similar story at Hunan University, in central China. Of the 440 students there who applied to change majors in 2022, nearly 100 came from the college of civil engineering – the highest number of any college – and none applied to move into the department.

Meanwhile on the , China’s National Higher Education Entrance Examination, the required score to get a place for a civil engineering course has fallen sharply for many universities.

Back in the early 1990s, Li Aiqun was a doctoral student in structural engineering at Southeast University in Nanjing. At the time, students at the university with the highest gaokao scores tended to study architecture and civil engineering, and its civil engineering department ranked high among domestic universities.

Li is now a professor and former vice-president at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering & Architecture (BUCEA). He said the massive scale of housing and infrastructure construction over the past four decades had created a huge demand for talent in the field.

Since the reform and opening up, China experienced rapid urbanisation, at a rate reaching more than 65 per cent by 2022, from less than 20 per cent in the 1980s.

Then in 2008, a government stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan (US$572 billion) was largely directed at infrastructure projects, including the construction of affordable housing, railways, highways and airports.

Soon, China’s engineering prowess was stunning the world, with skyscrapers and complex bridges, tunnels and highways breaking records despite sometimes unfavourable geographical conditions.

Major universities opened programmes to meet the demand for talent in the industry. Before 2008, civil engineering was offered at 392 colleges; by 2022 that had risen to 572, according to an official 2022 report by China Science Daily.

Those numbers are now headed in the opposite direction.

In August this year, Shandong University, a prestigious public university in eastern China, announced it was cancelling seven majors, including civil engineering, and water conservancy and hydropower engineering.

In a speech at Hunan University’s college of civil engineering in mid-2023, Zhou Fulin, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: “We have all experienced China’s biggest and fastest civil engineering construction in the past 40 years, and no other country has ever seen such an exciting development.

“We all felt a sense of achievement in our undertaking, but it’s not the norm – just like back in the days when every college had to set up a civil engineering programme, which was also not normal,” said Zhou, an expert in engineering structures and seismic disaster reduction.

It is a turn of events that mirrors China’s property slump. Once a pillar for economic stability and growth, the housing industry in recent years has instead been dragging down the world’s second-largest economy.

The latest data shows that property investment fell of 10.2 per cent year on year in the first seven months of 2024, following a 10.1 per cent drop from January to June.

An article published by the International Monetary Fund in February said with the property downturn now in its third year, housing starts in China had fallen by more than 60 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, a historically rapid pace.

It also predicted that the need for new housing would diminish in the coming years as China’s population declined and urbanisation slowed.

The prolonged property “winter” is being felt by both companies and professionals.

A civil engineer who has been working at a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) since graduating from a top university in 2016, said earnings, especially any incentives, had decreased compared to five years ago.

CSCEC is the largest construction company in the world by revenue and the eighth-largest general contractor in terms of overseas sales.

The engineer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is a regional project manager, who works in southeastern Anhui province. He said his position used to draw around 100,000 yuan (US$14,211) in year-end bonuses, but now he only gets 50,000 or 60,000 yuan at most.

But he had no complaints. “I’m lucky enough to keep my job, at least,” he said.

When he graduated, China’s property sector was in its heyday. But since 2022, he said, there had been a marked decline in commercial construction, so there were fewer projects for the company to take on. Now the company is working on more government projects, such as hospitals and exhibition halls.

David Zhang has noticed a similar trend. After years working overseas, Zhang decided to return to China in 2019. He worked for three years at a multinational architecture and engineering consulting firm in Beijing, designing buildings and infrastructure for clients.

From mid-2022, he said, many architectural design institutes, including his former company, started to cancel year-end bonuses and cut salaries. His company also asked employees to re-sign contracts and halved their basic salaries.

“It is mainly due to the decline in demand in the construction industry and the reduction in government investment,” he said.

It has led to Zhang and many of his colleagues leaving the industry.

Some have moved to more promising sectors such as sustainable energy or big data centres, where there is still some demand for construction; others have decided to prepare for the civil service examinations to secure an “iron bowl” job in the government – a Chinese term used to describe a stable job. Zhang, himself, moved into the technology industry two years ago.

But not everyone in the field is pessimistic about its future. Some professors say the large number of construction-related university programmes and students in recent decades have led to an unsustainable oversupply of labour and an overconcentration of resources.

They argue that as the market slows, the bubble bursts and the excess workforce and resources are “squeezed out”, what remains will be more conducive to the healthy development of the field.

Meanwhile, the Tongji University professor said that although the property market had borne the brunt of the economic downturn, it did not mean that China no longer needed to build.

In fact, he said, to reignite economic growth, the government could invest in more construction projects.

To revitalise and transform the economy, infrastructure still appears to be a main focus of investment across the country.

For example, earlier this year, Guangdong, China’s largest provincial economy, set a 2024 budget of 598.6 billion yuan (US$83.3 billion) for major infrastructure projects, significantly more than the 150 billion yuan earmarked for projects in “new strategic industries”, including information technology, biotechnology, hi-tech manufacturing and new materials.

The Tongji professor said that Beijing was actually focusing on construction in China’s western region as well as overseas projects, such as high-speed railways linking belt and road countries.

In some inland provinces, administrations have floated proposals to build canals.

But as graduates are more inclined to take jobs in first-tier cities and coastal provinces in eastern China, they feel opportunities are dwindling and competition is intensifying, he said.

Hopes for the civil engineering discipline are therefore being pinned on technological innovation and pivoting as market needs evolve.

Researchers have emphasised the need to breathe life into the university major by incorporating cutting-edge knowledge, such as artificial intelligence and software engineering.

In an interview with China Science Daily in 2022, Hui Yi, a researcher at Chongqing University, said civil engineering needed to gear more towards a “new infrastructure” concept, involving the construction of facilities such as data centres and new-energy vehicle charging stations.

That way, Hui said, civil engineering expertise could cover more areas, such as how to ensure floating wind turbines remain stable under strong offshore conditions.

In 2017, Tongji University opened the first major in intelligent construction in China and now there are 64 universities offering this major to incoming students.

Li of BUCEA said that in the future, people would expect their homes, buildings and other spaces to be “better able to cope with disasters, greener and lower-carbon, and more human-centred”. He said this meant the civil engineering profession would continue to evolve.

“More efforts should be made to cultivate people with an innovative spirit and interdisciplinary thinking, while also focusing on developing their practical skills to become well-rounded, high-quality [professionals],” he said.

China clinic helps math-struggling students with holistic intervention including medication

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3281171/china-clinic-helps-math-struggling-students-holistic-intervention-including-medication?utm_source=rss_feed

A hospital in Shanghai is set to launch a new clinic aimed at assisting children who struggle with mathematics through a holistic intervention strategy that includes medication, igniting a lively discussion on social media.

The Shanghai Children’s Medical Centre, a publicly funded major institution, will open the Spatial and Mathematical Learning Difficulties Clinic on October 8, as reported by the city’s television station.

This specialised clinic will be managed by the hospital’s mental health team in collaboration with the Institute of Psychology and Behavioural Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

According to the clinic’s introductory materials, spatial cognitive ability plays a crucial role in a student’s capacity to tackle mathematics problems, particularly in geometry.

Neuroimaging studies have revealed that for students who find geometry challenging, the parietal area of the brain - associated with spatial reasoning - shows decreased activity.

The clinic also noted that deficits in spatial perception and imagination can adversely affect students’ performance in subjects like algebra, physics, and chemistry.

The clinic’s mission is to provide support for students struggling with understanding geometry and spatial problems in mathematics, as well as complex concepts such as magnetic and electric fields in physics and molecular structures and chemical reactions in chemistry.

Their approach centres on uncovering the root causes of children’s learning difficulties through thorough examinations and assessments. By diagnosing conditions that hinder learning, the clinic offers a comprehensive intervention strategy that encompasses diagnostic evaluations, intervention guidance, parent education, and medication management.

With a fee of 316 yuan (US$45) per patient, the clinic has indicated that there is no age restriction, as adults may also experience similar challenges.

The clinic operates every Tuesday morning, and appointments for October have already been fully booked, as noted by the Post.

Zhang Zeng, a senior math teacher from Shanghai’s Jiading District, expressed support for the medical intervention designed to aid students in their mathematical studies.

“If we can accurately identify the reasons behind students’ weak spatial reasoning through precise medical analysis and make necessary adjustments, it will benefit their studies in mathematics,” Zhang stated.

However, another math teacher, who chose to remain anonymous, voiced concerns regarding the clinic’s approach.

“There is a fundamental distinction between a math learning difficulty and an illness. Various factors contribute to poor performance in math, including ineffective methods, lack of interest, and low-quality teaching, but there are no physiological factors involved,” the teacher explained.

It is not uncommon for mainland Chinese hospitals to offer services aimed at helping students manage their academic challenges. Earlier this year, Beijing Children’s Hospital gained attention on mainland social media when it opened a “school refusal clinic” to address mental health issues in children.

New air force chief calls for India to ‘catch up’ with China on defence tech

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3281413/new-air-force-chief-calls-india-catch-china-defence-tech?utm_source=rss_feed

The new Indian Air Force chief has warned that the country has fallen behind China on defence technology and equipment and says it needs to “catch up”.

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh made the remarks at a press briefing in New Delhi on Friday, days after taking up the role and ahead of the 92nd anniversary of the air force on Tuesday.

Singh pointed to a delayed order of supersonic fighter jets being built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, saying none of the 83 Tejas Mark-1A combat aircraft that were promised this year had been delivered, according to The Hindu.

“I am very confident that as far as the human angle is concerned – as far as our people behind the machines are concerned – we are way ahead of [China],” Singh was quoted as saying.

“We were ahead of [China] in technology some time back, but we have lagged and need to catch up,” he said.

“As far as production rates are concerned, we are way behind. We need to catch up with that. And that will happen over time. It cannot happen overnight.”

India and China have a long-running dispute over their undemarcated 3,488km (2,167-mile) border, known as the Line of Actual Control. Tensions worsened after a clash in the Himalayan border area in 2020 in which at least 20 Indian and four Chinese troops were killed – the first deadly skirmish between the two sides in at least 45 years.

Meanwhile, China has been rapidly modernising its air force fleet. That includes the J-20 fifth-generation fighter jet with stealth and supersonic cruise capabilities.

According to Air and Space Forces Magazine, China currently produces more than 100 J-20s every year, solely for domestic use.

China’s air force is said to have more than 300 J-20s in service, with recent reports that some of the fighter jets have been deployed near the border with India, in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Testifying before Congress in March, the former head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, said China could soon have the world’s largest air force due to its modernisation efforts.

India has also been trying to modernise its air force but despite efforts to become more self-reliant it remains heavily dependent on imported weapons and equipment.

It currently has a fleet of 31 fighter jet squadrons but the target is 42 – a number that could be revised up given the military’s shift in focus from Pakistan to China, Indian news magazine The Week reported on Friday, citing an anonymous senior air force official.

Singh’s remarks follow a number of air force incidents in recent months. In September, a Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet crashed in Rajasthan during a routine night training mission. Three months earlier, a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jet went down in Maharashtra. In both incidents the pilots managed to eject safely. In April, a remotely piloted aircraft crashed during a training sortie in Rajasthan in April, and the previous month a Tejas light combat aircraft crashed in a student hostel compound in the same state – the pilot also ejected safely.

Chinese national, 33, arrested in Japan over sex case after flying in from Hong Kong

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3281418/chinese-national-33-arrested-japan-over-sex-case-after-flying-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese national has been arrested in Japan for allegedly molesting a woman in June under the pretence of brushing off an insect crawling on her body.

The man allegedly groped the breasts of a woman in her 20s on a shopping street in the Asakusa area of Tokyo late at night on June 9, Japanese media outlets reported on Saturday.

The man reportedly told the victim there was an insect on her back and pretended to sweep it off, before proceeding to touch the front of her body.

The suspect, 33, shared the same Chinese name, age and tactics as Cheung Wai-hung, a Hong Kong man who was jailed for 32 months in 2021 for groping seven women, but it has not been confirmed if they are the same person.

Japanese police said he returned to China the day after the incident in June. But they recently learned the man would be on a flight from Hong Kong to Fukuoka on Friday and arrested him at the airport upon his arrival.

The man denied the accusations, saying he “did not remember” any such incident, according to local authorities.

Japanese police added that similar crimes were reported in the western part of Asakusa – Nishi Asakusa – in June, and investigators were looking into whether the cases were related.

In April 2021, a Hong Kong court sentenced Cheung Wai-hung, then 30 and working as a construction labourer, to 32 months in jail for molesting seven women under the pretext of helping to brush an insect off their clothing between September 2019 and February 2020.

Cheung admitted using the same tactic to assault more than 70 victims but the majority did not contact police or failed to identify him.

Apart from the sex crimes, he also stole victims’ bank cards and wallets by taking advantage of their confusion, and breached probation orders. He was ordered to undergo psychological counselling.

In sentencing, the judge had called him a persistent sexual predator and a heavy consumer of pornography with a “very high risk of reoffending”.

The Post has reached out to Hong Kong’s immigration authorities for comment.

US election, jobs data to pressure China’s yuan as stimulus shores it up: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3281398/us-election-jobs-data-pressure-chinas-yuan-stimulus-shores-it-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s yuan is set to face volatility due to an expected boost from Beijing’s economic stimulus package while simultaneously being pitted against pressure from the United States ahead of its presidential election on November 5, analysts said on Monday.

The yuan would appreciate against the US dollar if “significant fiscal-policy easing materialises” as part of Beijing’s stimulus, Goldman Sachs analysts led by Xinquan Chen said in a research note while noting that this may offset depreciation pressure by any potential US trade-tariff increases.

Meanwhile, other analysts said robust US jobs data could offer more support for the dollar, as could the election’s outcome.

“Rapid yuan appreciation may encourage more foreign-exchange settlement by exporters, boosting [the yuan] against trading-partner currencies and potentially hurting China’s export growth, which we think the [People’s Bank of China] would want to avoid,” the Goldman Sachs analysts said.

China’s central bank said in September that it would “guard against the risk of exchange-rate overshooting”.

Many Chinese exporters had been hoarding US-dollar-denominated assets to reap higher returns, but in recent months they have appeared increasingly inclined to convert them into yuan assets in light of the yuan’s appreciation.

However, that appreciation can hurt exporters’ profits, as their goods could become more costly and less competitive in comparison with those from other countries.

China announced a raft of monetary stimulus policies late last month to boost the economy, and analysts are expecting sizeable fiscal policies to sustain the momentum.

The yuan weakened slightly from the end of last month to 7.066 per US dollar in offshore markets as of Monday afternoon.

The US dollar has already strengthened against the offshore yuan because of the “broader US dollar rebound”, said Mitul Kotecha, head of Asia foreign exchange and emerging market macro strategy with Barclays.

Strong US jobs data released last week – nonfarm-payroll employment rose by 254,000 in September with little change to the unemployment rate – stands to further lift the US dollar, some analysts said.

The jobs data suggested that the US Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in November, down from half a point last month, Kotecha said.

“This, alongside reduced market expectations for Fed policy easing, has given the US dollar a broad lift, weighing on most emerging-market currencies, including the yuan,” he said.

If former president Donald Trump is re-elected next month, the yuan may be pressured, according to ING Greater China economist Lynn Song.

Such an outcome, he said, could “drag the Chinese yuan due to fears over tariffs and sanctions”.

Tariff cuts initiated during Trump’s 2017-21 term punctuated a now six-year-old US trade war with China.

Separately, foreign-exchange reserves in China stood at US$3.3164 trillion by the end of September, rising by US$28.2 billion from August, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Monday.

UK steel industry calls for protectionist measures over glut driven by China

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/07/uk-steel-industry-calls-for-protectionist-measures-over-glut-driven-by-china

The UK steel industry has called for the government to consider further protectionist trade measures as it braces for a flood of imported steel amid a global glut driven by China.

UK Steel, a lobby group, said the global industry has 543m tonnes of excess steel, 70 times more than the UK uses each year, in analysis published on Monday. It said the UK faces a “cliff edge” in 2026 when current protections run out.

China’s steel industry is going through a brutal recession amid a years-long crisis in the country’s property industry that has dragged down domestic steel demand. In August, the chief executive of the world’s biggest steelmaker, China Baowu Steel, said the industry was going through a “harsh winter” that could be worse than the 2008 financial crisis or the 2015 crash in demand, when thousands of British steel jobs were cut. The Chinese glut has resulted in falling prices around the world.

Gareth Stace, UK Steel’s director general, said the UK needed to “balance international obligations with the national interest” and act to protect the industry, or else face the prospect of recent British investments in the steel industry being “all for naught”.

The UK currently has so-called steel safeguards in place that limit the diversion of cheap steel to Britain. They were brought in in 2018 to prevent the diversion of Chinese steel after Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports to the US. However, the safeguards expire in 2026, and may not be extended under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. However, the industry wants the UK to consider protecting its steel industry regardless.

Russell Codling, the director of marketing and business development in the UK for Tata Steel, said: “The scale of excess supply to the global market from China is just swamping every corner. The trade protection mechanisms that are in place aren’t sufficient to deal with these circumstances.”

Lower prices benefit steel users, including construction projects and major infrastructure. However, steel industries tend to be politically influential and the ability to produce steel domestically is also prized as an indicator of industrial strength and geopolitical power.

The UK government under the Conservatives and now Labour has committed £500m towards the switch from blast furnaces to cleaner electric arc furnaces at Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot, south Wales. Indian-owned Tata shut down its last blast furnace last week, with the loss of 1,900 jobs, but the government argues that its investment will help sustain a British steel industry. Chinese-owned British Steel is also trying to negotiate state support to switch to electric arc furnaces.

Deciding whether to impose protectionist measures could prove tricky for the Labour government. Other countries – notably the US – have essentially ignored the WTO, while pressure is building within the EU to push the boundaries of what the rules allow.

UK Steel argued that Britain will face greater trade diversion if it does not act. It suggested that the UK should consider imposing tariffs on steel imports above a certain level. Carbon border adjustments, which put a price on carbon emissions from dirty blast furnaces, could also help the UK industry, it said.

“Rising global excess capacity driven and sustained by non-market forces is one of the biggest challenges of our time for the global steel industry,” said Stace. “It has the potential to redraw the map of global steelmaking, as there is no longer fair competition.”

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‘Slave factory’: China comic artists expose ‘farm-like’ working conditions at famed studio

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3281168/slave-factory-china-comic-artists-expose-farm-working-conditions-famed-studio?utm_source=rss_feed

Some comic artists have exposed the harsh working conditions at a prominent manga studio in China, where employees have lived together in a “farm-like” flat for years, facing overwork and sleep deprivation.

A-soul, one of China’s most renowned comic studios, was established in 2008 and is situated in a rural area of southeastern Beijing. The studio currently employs more than 70 staff members.

Its notable works include Crazy Neighbours and Tales of Romance, which are among the most popular serialised titles in the country’s first original manga weekly, Comicguests.

On September 22, a former A-soul employee, known online as Zhenliubao, posted on Weibo, accusing the studio of “shattering his dream”.

Zhenliubao claimed that since 2008, dozens of comic artists have lived in dormitories converted from a livestock factory, sharing communal spaces and using unisex bathrooms.

“We were never allowed to open the curtains, forcing us to work in a dark environment for years,” he wrote.

He added that the boss insisted on being called “brother” and prohibited them from reading books or seeking medical treatment when they were unwell.

Zhenliubao alleged that employees were mentally controlled through verbal abuse and indoctrination, keeping them in a state of constant overwork. At year-end, salaries were split equally, and no social security benefits were provided.

Online sources indicated that the studio head is Liu Zhi, but there was no response from A-soul at the time of writing.

Zhenliubao mentioned he is seeking legal assistance.

Another former A-soul employee, known as Laogui, reported being overworked and sleep-deprived, often forced to draw 12 to 14 pages a day instead of the usual four to six pages.

“I have gone grey in my twenties and face immense mental pressure daily,” he wrote on Weibo.

On September 24, current A-soul employee Liu Ke, better known by his pen name Jileniao, released a statement supporting the studio.

Ranked ninth on the 2013 China Comic Artists’ Rich List, Liu earned 2.15 million yuan (US$305,000) in royalties that year.

Liu responded to the allegations, stating that the poor working conditions were a result of the studio being “extremely poor” at that time.

He explained that, before the studio was formally registered, he and other employees “voluntarily” pooled their salaries to keep the team afloat.

He also denied the accusations of forced labour.

“A-soul is a family of ambitious comic artists built from scratch. Creating a utopia requires the spirit of sacrifice,” Liu asserted.

The controversy surrounding A-soul studio quickly went viral on mainland social media, with related topics garnering 92 million views on Weibo.

“A-soul’s actions violate human rights! This is a slave factory, not a place where artists can pursue their dreams,” one online user commented.

“If what Zhenliubao has stated is true, the studio has violated labour laws. Gather the evidence and take them to court. Justice will prevail,” another added.

Someone else offered a more balanced perspective: “Current and former employees have conflicting accounts. Let’s wait for the authorities to investigate before jumping to conclusions.”

In China, forcing employees to work by restricting their freedom and violating their will can result in up to three years in prison while failing to pay social insurance may lead to warnings and fines.

China, Philippines continue to clash in South China Sea, with new flashpoint emerging

https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3281309/china-philippines-continue-clash-south-china-sea-new-flashpoint-emerging?utm_source=rss_feed

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Frictions in the South China Sea have shown no sign of easing, raising concerns that tensions will continue to bedevil one of the world’s busiest maritime waterways.

This week, just as China celebrated its 75th National Day, the People’s Liberation Army conducted a naval drill in the South China Sea to demonstrate Beijing’s resolve “in safeguarding peace and stability,” according to its Southern Theatre Command.

A week earlier, China carried out joint naval and air exercises around the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal as forces from the United States and the Philippine took part in five-way military manoeuvres within Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

On Wednesday, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Chinese law enforcers beat fishermen and took away equipment from a boat operating near Hoang Sa, Vietnam’s name for the Paracel Islands.

To bolster its diplomatic leverage in addressing maritime tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippines is campaigning for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo stating the rule of law “must prevail amid the current global challenges”.

Days earlier, a new flashpoint appeared to be emerging in the disputed waterway as reports surfaced of Chinese missile boats pursuing Philippine vessels and directing lasers at a patrolling aircraft near the contested Half Moon Shoal.

And while China’s annual four-month fishing ban in the South China Sea may have ended, fishermen from the Philippines’ Zambales province report the persistent presence of Chinese vessels around Scarborough Shoal, just 120 nautical miles (222km) away.

As tensions escalate, Japan held talks with the Philippines to condemn China’s actions in the South China Sea, with one senior Japanese politician likening the current threat level to that “during World War II” and urging regional cooperation to deter further provocations.

Manila also made it clear that it plans to take its territorial dispute with China to the United Nations General Assembly, a strategy analysts say could provoke Beijing to respond with economic sanctions.

The Philippines said that between August 27 and September 2, it logged a record 203 Chinese maritime militia vessels and warships operating within waters it claims as its own, said to be an unprecedented surge around the Sabina Shoal.

Earlier on, Manila sent a replacement for the BRP Teresa Magbanua, one of its biggest coastguard cutters, after it headed home upon completing a five-month deployment at the shoal, known in the Philippines as Escoda Shoal and in China as Xianbin Jiao.

China also demanded the Philippines “immediately withdraw” its coastguard ship from the shoal after a helicopter airdropped supplies for the ship’s crew in late August.

In August, Chinese and Filipino vessels collided on three occasions, with China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu claiming that the Philippine ship in the second encounter “refused to accept control” by a Chinese coastguard vessel and “deliberately collided” with it.

Lashing out against Chinese activities in the South China Sea, the US said it pledged to “stand with” regional allies, with Rear Admiral Andrew Sugimoto, deputy commander of the US Coast Guard Pacific Area, claiming that a growing number of countries were willing to work with the US Coast Guard.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong made its presence felt in the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, just as a US aircraft carrier group sailed in the area en route to the Middle East.

Though few and far between, there have also been moments of restraint and dialogue.

Late last month, China confirmed that it did not block the resupply mission of a Philippine vessel at the controversial Second Thomas Shoal, almost a month after naval ships of the two countries nearly collided in a stand-off in nearby waters.

And in mid-September, the PLA sent its commander responsible for the South China Sea to the United States for the first time since Beijing shut down military ties more than two years ago.

General Wu Yanan, who heads the PLA Southern Theatre Command, held a meeting with US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral Samuel Paparo.

During a visit to China, the first by a Malaysian monarch in a decade, King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar also told President Xi Jinping that Kuala Lumpur would work with Beijing to keep peace in the South China Sea.

60-Second Catch-up

Chinese missile boat chase at Half Moon Shoal sparks new South China Sea flashpoint fears.

Philippines may face China-sized hurdle as it makes its case for UN security seat.

Malaysian king tells Xi Jinping nation will work with China to keep South China Sea peace.

PLA sends South China Sea commander to US for first time in over 2 years.

Video: Beijing, Manila trade ‘ramming’ claims in latest South China Sea coastguard incident.

PLA encounters in South China Sea mostly ‘safe’, interceptions triggered by ‘4 breaches’.

New submarine detector shows ‘tremendous potential’ in South China Sea tests.

Opinion: The Philippines must think fast to handle South China Sea disputes.

Skies over South China Sea seen as new flashpoint as Manila begins ‘aerial provocations’.

Manila says it has a plan if Beijing seizes Sabina Shoal. What is it?.

US military theatre commander urges China rethink ‘tactics in South China Sea and beyond’.

Video: Philippines and China trade blame over confrontation in South China Sea.

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

Deep Dives

Beijing’s playing down of a recent confrontation in the South China Sea in which Vietnam claimed its fishermen were violently beaten by personnel from Chinese ships reflects a consistent strategy to convince the Chinese people of the superpower’s reasonable behaviour in the disputed waterway.

Observers also say the latest incident could be the “tip of the iceberg”, and Hanoi could pivot from its low-key diplomatic approach to its maritime dispute with Beijing if similar incidents were to recur.

Read more.

Wu Shicun founded the state-funded National Institute for South China Sea Studies. He has spent years researching the South China Sea – its history and geography as well as the regional disputes over this strategic waterway. This interview first appeared in SCMP . For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click .

Read more.

Sitting 100km (62 miles) off the coast of Malaysia’s Sarawak state, the Luconia Shoals have become yet another source of tension in the South China Sea between Beijing and its neighbours.

The shoals are off the northwestern coast of Borneo and fall well within Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), giving Kuala Lumpur exclusive sovereign rights over the natural resources. But China objects to Malaysia’s exploration activities based on its “nine-dash line” claim of sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, which include the Luconia Shoals.

Read more.

Australia will strengthen its presence in the South China Sea through joint maritime defence activities with the Philippines, a move analysts have said reflects Canberra’s strategic interest in securing vital trade routes even at the risk of inviting economic backlash from Beijing.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu recently told reporters that her country would be increasing its maritime cooperative activities (MCA) with Manila.

Read more.

Southeast Asia is playing an ever-growing part in China’s investment and diplomatic decisions, particularly as Beijing’s rivalry with Washington heats up. In the final instalment of a four-part series on China’s ties with Asean, Hayley Wong looks at Beijing’s efforts to expand defence cooperation in the region.

China is looking to forge closer defence ties with its Southeast Asian neighbours as it engages in a “competition for partnerships” with the United States in the region.

Read more.

A string of recent stand-offs at Sabina Shoal have sparked calls for the Philippines to urgently rethink its South China Sea strategy – though opinions are divided over its best course of action.

Should Manila lean on its long-time ally, the United States, risking further conflict? Or might it find a more effective path by mirroring Vietnam’s diplomatic balancing act?

Read more.

Southeast Asia is playing an ever-growing part in China’s investment and diplomatic decisions, particularly as Beijing’s rivalry with Washington heats up. In the first of a four-part series on China’s ties with Asean, Shi Jiangtao looks at the wider implications of the increasingly adversarial relationship between Beijing and Manila.

Escalating hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea has brought the region closer to an undesired conflict, putting Southeast Asia’s growing China conundrum on the spot.

Read more.

Chinese analysts have said the risk of conflict in the South China Sea is low despite the warning by the Philippine defence minister that it would be an “act of war” if Beijing removed a ship moored at a disputed atoll.

Gilberto Teodoro Jnr told CBS that “if China were to take the Sierra Madre, that is a clear act of war on the Philippine vessel”, adding that in such an event, the United States would be expected to step in to help its ally.

Read more.

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

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

Read more.

Tensions are mounting in the South China Sea – a hotly contested and globally significant waterway that’s become a flashpoint for conflict. In the final instalment of we look at the role of a rising auxiliary force in the region.

China’s fleets of civilian vessels and fishing boats known as the maritime militia have become more visible as confrontations have grown between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea.

Read more.

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world.

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South Korea, Philippines share ‘common understanding’ on South China Sea

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3281356/south-korea-philippines-share-common-understanding-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr agreed on Monday to boost defence cooperation as their countries elevated ties to a strategic partnership amid growing security challenges in the region.

“President Marcos and I opened a new chapter of our partnership by elevating our relationship to a strategic partnership,” said South Korea’s Yoon, who is on a state visit to Manila, the first by a South Korean leader in more than a decade.

In a joint press conference with Marcos Jnr, Yoon said his country would actively take part in the latest phase of the Philippines’ multibillion-dollar effort to modernise its military security at a time of rising tensions with China in the South China Sea.

The two leaders agreed to uphold an international rules-based order, including on safety of navigation in the South China Sea, Yoon said, adding they agreed the international community would never condone North Korea’s nuclear programme or what he called “reckless provocations”.

The pair also committed to deepening maritime cooperation and agreed to closer ties between their coastguards. Yoon said they will strengthen “tackling transnational crime, information sharing and conducting search and rescue missions.”

“We shared a common understanding about the importance of peace, stability and safety in the South China Sea,” Yoon told reporters after the bilateral meeting.

“Our two countries will continue to work together in order to establish a rules-based maritime order and for the freedom of navigation and overflight pursuant to the principles of international law in the South China Sea.”

South Korea has repeatedly commented on tensions in the disputed waters.

In March, Seoul expressed its “grave concern” over China’s “repeated use of water cannons against the Philippine vessels” in the area.

China has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the South China Sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.

It has built artificial islands armed with missile systems and runways for fighter jets, and deployed vessels that the Philippines says harass its ships and block fishing.

Cooperation agreements signed in the bilateral meeting on Monday cover areas such as critical raw material supply chains, as well as a feasibility study on reviving the Philippines’ mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

“As the geopolitical environment is only becoming more complex, we must work together to achieve prosperity for our peoples and to promote a rules-based order,” Marcos Jnr said ahead of the meeting.

Yoon will visit Singapore on October 8-9 before heading to Laos the following day, where he will attend the regional summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and several other Asian countries.

South Korea has been trying to ramp up global defence exports, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine opened the door to sign large-scale contracts from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The East Asian nation, which has sold FA-50 fighter jets, corvettes, and frigates to the Philippines, aims to become the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter by 2027.

In the third phase of its modernisation plan, the Philippine military is looking to buy advanced assets such as fighter jets, submarines and missile systems, to strengthen territorial defence and maritime security.

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China’s EV subsidy boosts golden week sales amid rush before incentives’ expiry

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3281363/chinas-ev-subsidy-boosts-golden-week-sales-amid-rush-incentives-expiry?utm_source=rss_feed

Electric vehicle (EV) dealers did brisk sales on the mainland during the golden week holiday, with the soon-to-end government subsidies pushing buyers to hasten their decisions.

However, market observers warned of a slowdown in EV sales if the incentives are scrapped next year, just as they did in January 2023 when the subsidies were phased out.

“Most shoppers visiting our showrooms said that they believed it was the best time to buy their long-coveted EVs because of the central and local authorities’ subsidies to encourage car ownership,” said Tian Maowei, a sales manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai.

The week-long national holiday ends on Monday.

While exact figures for holiday EV sales across the country are not available yet, dealers said transactions and buying interest had largely exceeded their expectations.

Zhao Zhen, a sales director at Shanghai-based dealer Wan Zhuo Auto, said that some salesmen sold more than 10 cars each a day since October 1, compared with one on other days.

Since September, at least 20 local governments including Shanghai and Beijing, the mainland’s most developed metropolises, have offered incentives of up to 20,000 yuan (US$2,850) for buyers who replace their cars with EVs.

This is on top of the central government subsidy of 20,000 yuan for buying EVs announced in July, which was doubled from April.

Chen Qihui, a Shanghai resident, said he decided to buy a BYD Seal electric sedan last week to replace his Volkswagen Passat petrol car. The EV cost him just over 70,000 yuan after cashing in the subsidies.

“Electric cars appear to be super cheap these days,” he said. “Driving an EV also saves me at least 10,000 yuan on petrol a year.”

The EV buying binge during the holiday follows monthly delivery records set in September by BYD, Leapmotor, Li Auto, Xpeng and Zeekr amid mainland motorists’ increasing affinity for environment-friendly vehicles.

China’s sales of EVs – including both battery-driven models and hybrids that run on both petrol and battery engines – jumped 43.2 per cent to 1.03 million units in August, accounting for 53.9 per cent of deliveries nationwide. These vehicles also outsold ­petrol-burning cars in July, by 51.1 per cent to 48.9 per cent.

“September and October are usually the high season for car sales and the heavy subsidies provided a catalyst for the buying spree,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based EV data provider CnEVPost. “Taking a long view, carmakers and dealers need to think about how to sustain strong sales momentum when the subsidies are phased out.”

While the subsidies are valid until the end of this year, it is unclear whether the central and local governments will extend the policies in 2025.

Beijing started subsidies for EV buyers in 2009, which peaked in 2014 at 100,000 yuan per vehicle and helped sales rise fourfold the following year.

In January 2023, when the central government phased out the subsidies, EV deliveries slumped 6.3 per cent year on year and 48.3 per cent month on month.

This April, Beijing reintroduced the subsidies to encourage EV buying in an effort to boost a slowing economy.

South Korea signals counter-China ambitions with Philippines visit by Yoon

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3281327/south-korea-signals-counter-china-ambitions-philippines-visit-yoon?utm_source=rss_feed

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s rare state visit to the Philippines highlights Seoul’s ambition to play a more proactive role as a middle power and counter China’s regional expansionism, observers say.

On Monday, the two nations upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership, Yoon’s Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, announced.

Experts say Yoon’s trip underscores Seoul’s intention to close ranks with “like-minded” nations – such the United States, Japan, and Australia – to ensure a “free, open and rules-based” Western Pacific.

After arriving in Manila on Sunday with First Lady Kim Keon Hee, Yoon paid tribute at the Korean War Memorial Hall and met members of the local Korean community in the Philippine capital. His visit is part of a broader Southeast Asian tour that will also take him to Singapore and Laos for the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

This marks the first state visit by a South Korean president to the Philippines since 2011, a milestone highlighted by Seoul’s ambassador to Manila, Lee Sang-hwa. He described the trip as a “pivotal moment” in the 75-year diplomatic relationship between the two nations, which was “expected to further elevate” their “already robust” ties on various fronts, including regional and international issues.

It reflects South Korea’s growing commitment to putting its Indo-Pacific strategy into practice, according to geopolitical analyst Don McLain Gill, an international-studies lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila.

“This is an important indicator when it comes to the growing relationship of both sides,” he said, noting that South China Sea issues were “of immediate concern” to the Philippines.

“Manila and South Korea recognise the threat posed by China,” Gill said, adding that Seoul had “become more assertive in its position against China’s expansionism” in the South China Sea.

“This is a positive shift illustrating that Seoul recognises it cannot just be a bystander,” he said.

Yoon’s presence is particularly significant given escalating tensions in the South China Sea, said political-science professor Sherwin Ona, also of De La Salle University. He anticipated that the visit would lead to enhanced security cooperation, potentially paving the way for a Visiting Forces Agreement.

“South Korea has been an important security partner for the Philippines. The visit will further expand cooperation in this area,” Ona said. “I think the idea of increasing the activities between the two militaries will be on the table.”

The Philippines already has a Visiting Forces Agreement with the US, which was established in 1999 and provides the legal framework for large-scale joint military exercises and the temporary deployment of US military forces in the country.

Manila has also been strengthening defence ties with Tokyo in recent months. Earlier this year, the two sides signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement that facilitates joint troop training and mutual aid during natural disasters, paving the way for larger military exercises between Filipino and Japanese forces.

South Korean defence companies showcased an array of advanced frigates and submarines in the Philippines at last month’s Asian Defence and Security Exhibition, Ona told This Week in Asia.

In addition to offering hardware for the Philippine military, “these companies have also expressed interest in participating in the Philippine Coast Guard modernisation effort”, he said, adding that “another big-ticket item” was the potential sale of 12 additional FA-50s to the Philippine Air Force.

South Korea has been a key supplier of military equipment to the Philippine armed forces, noted Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow with the Australia-based Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia programme who specialises in security and relations with major powers.

Manila bought 12 FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea for US$420 million in 2014, while the Philippine Navy frigates BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna were both acquired from South Korea.

“We may see the Philippines acquiring more military equipment and systems from South Korea in the future, as they tend to be cheaper than US-made” alternatives, Yaacob told This Week in Asia.

He said this trend aligns with Manila’s eagerness to modernise its armed forces, particularly as South Korean platforms like the FA-50 are both affordable and capable.

However, Yaacob cautioned that Manila must carefully navigate defence procurement given its limited budget.

“Philippine defence planners must be able to differentiate what the country needs and wants,” he said. “If the objective is to maintain a presence in contested waters, less sophisticated warships or patrol vessels will be sufficient”.

Yaacob warned that such vessels must be able to withstand China’s “grey zone tactics”, such as ramming and using water cannons, and sustain operations over long periods of time.

“The naval campaign’s objectives will [ultimately] define the capabilities the Philippine Navy needs to acquire” given its limited resources, he said.

On the diplomatic front, Yaacob highlighted that Seoul has consistently supported Manila in its disputes, previously issuing statements regarding China’s aggressive behaviour in contested waters. “I do expect Seoul to continue providing diplomatic support to Manila in the future,” he said.

Regarding potential collaboration on defence and maritime security, Yaacob said that such partnerships could become a significant trend.

“We have seen several minilateral defence arrangements being established across the region,” he said, citing Aukus and the Quad as examples.

“As long as there is strategic convergence between the Philippines, South Korea and any third party, they could work together on security matters related to the South China Sea.”

China calls on Pakistan to ‘severely punish’ attackers after 2 Chinese die in Karachi

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281341/china-calls-pakistan-severely-punish-attackers-after-2-chinese-die-karachi?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese embassy in Pakistan has called on Islamabad to punish those responsible for a deadly attack on Chinese nationals near the international airport in the southern city of Karachi on Sunday night.

At least two Chinese were killed and one Chinese and several Pakistanis were injured, China’s embassy said in a statement on Monday morning.

The embassy said that around 11pm on Sunday a “terrorist attack” was launched on vehicles of a China-funded electric power company.

The embassy demanded Islamabad “conduct a thorough investigation of the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators”, and also emphasised the need to “take practical and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan”.

“The Chinese embassy and consulates-general in Pakistan strongly condemn this act of terrorism, express deep condolences for the victims from both countries, and extend sincere sympathies to the injured and their families,” it said, adding that the Chinese side had been working with Pakistani authorities in the aftermath.

In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it carried out the attack using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting “a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors”.

The regional government of southern Sindh province said on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, that a tanker had exploded on the airport motorway. Pakistan broadcaster Geo News said at least 10 people were hurt in the blast.

The company employing the attacked workers is involved in the Pakistan Port Qasim Power Project, a flagship project under Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, around 37km (20 miles) southeast of Karachi.

The attack follows similar incidents in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor this year in which Chinese nationals and China-affiliated projects in the South Asian country were targeted.

The economic corridor between the two countries is a flagship section of the belt and road programme and many Chinese engineers have been working on a number of projects in Pakistan.

In March, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing five Chinese. Pakistan’s military claimed the assault was planned in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Before that, a naval airbase and a strategic port in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where China has invested billions in infrastructure projects, were attacked.

The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, the province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. In August, it launched coordinated attacks there, killing more than 70 people.

The group specifically targets Chinese interests, particularly in the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of aiding Islamabad in exploiting the province. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.

According to Lin Minwang, deputy director of Fudan University’s Centre for South Asian Studies, if China maintains a strict non-intervention policy, the issue of violence against Chinese interests is not likely to be resolved as Pakistan lacks the capacity to eradicate the terrorist groups.

“China has been caught in the conflict between Islamabad and the separatist militants, and targeting Chinese interests has become a useful tool for the BLA,” he said.

Lin said the issue had persisted for around two decades, with the number of attacks surging after the economic corridor was established and the China factor “grew increasingly important in Pakistan’s internal politics”.

The withdrawal of US troops from neighbouring Afghanistan, where they had conducted counterterrorism measures, also contributed to the increase in attacks, he said.

Lin said any intervention by China would test its military capabilities abroad and depend on Islamabad’s willingness, which appeared to be lacking.

“With no party prepared, this situation is likely to persist” even though economic ties between the two countries appeared likely to stay strong.

Additional reporting by Reuters

An explosion outside the Karachi, Pakistan, airport kills 2 workers from China and injures others

https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-karachi-airport-blast-6b6387efa177af341f1a125bc802102cSecurity officials examine the site of an explosion that caused injures and destroyed vehicles outside Karachi airport, Pakistan, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

2024-10-06T19:30:42Z

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A massive blast outside the Karachi airport in southern Pakistan killed two workers from China on Sunday and injured at least eight others in the latest deadly attack on Chinese in the country.

Police and the provincial government said a tanker exploded near what is Pakistan’s largest airport. Video 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.

A Chinese Embassy statement said that a convoy carrying Chinese staff of the Port Qasim Electric Power Company (Private) Limited had been attacked around 11 p.m., killing two Chinese and injuring one other. It said there were Pakistani casualties as well.

Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is building major infrastructure projects to improve trade routes with the rest of the world.

The airport attack followed a deadly day of attacks in August that killed more than 50 people in nearby Balochistan province and that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said sought to harm Chinese-funded development projects.

Balochistan is home to a separatist insurgency demanding independence and that accuses the federal government of unfairly exploiting the oil- and mineral-rich province at the expense of locals.

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

The provincial home minister, Zia Ul Hassan, told local TV station Geo that the explosion was an attack targeting foreigners.

The Chinese Embassy statement called the explosion a “terrorist attack” and said that China is working with Pakistan to handle the aftermath. It called for a thorough investigation to punish the perpetrators and reminded Chinese citizens in the country to take safety precautions.

“The Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist attack (and) express deep condolences to the innocent victims of both countries,” the statement said.

Deputy Inspector General East Azfar Mahesar told media that it seemed like it was an oil tanker explosion.

“We are determining the nature and reasons for the blast. It takes time.” Police officers were among the injured, he added.

The home minister and inspector general also visited the blast site, but they did not talk to the media.

A suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in March in northwestern Pakistan as they headed to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in the country.

Five Japanese workers en route to a factory in Karachi escaped unharmed in April after a suicide bomber targeted their van. One bystander was killed.

In 2022, three Chinese educators and their Pakistani driver were kille d when an explosion ripped through a van at the University of Karachi.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

China throws the book: more corruption suspects hit with claims of illicit reading

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3280483/china-throws-book-more-corruption-suspects-hit-claims-illicit-reading?utm_source=rss_feed

Reading publications with “serious political problems” has become an increasingly common accusation levelled at disgraced officials by China’s anti-corruption agencies, who cite it as proof of disloyalty.

Among them is Li Bin, a former vice-director of the municipal legislature of Mudanjiang in northeastern Heilongjiang province. He was expelled from the Communist Party on suspicions of corruption late last month.

However, municipal corruption inspectors did not lead with claims of corrupt dealings. Instead, at the top of allegations made public was the accusation that he privately read an “illegal publication” with content that would “jeopardise the unity of the party”.

It was in keeping with a norm in which political disloyalty is always the first charge listed.

A few days earlier, Cheng Zhiyi, 61, former party secretary of Chongqing’s Jiangjin district, was also accused of possessing and reading forbidden books. The southwestern city’s corruption investigators issued an announcement on his wrongdoings, saying he was accused of “reading overseas books and periodicals with serious political problems”.

Cheng and Li are among a growing group of disgraced Chinese officials who are being accused in public by corruption fighters at various levels of reading publications not endorsed by the authorities.

While the investigators did not name the books claimed to have been found in these officials’ possession, the accused are generally understood to have read political books that had been published outside mainland China and quietly carried across the border.

It is generally believed that “forbidden books” include but are not limited to those that examine a sensitive period for the party.

These include insider stories about the struggle of the party and its leaders; the Chinese Civil War; the Anti-Rightist Movement of the 1950s; the Great Leap Forward; the Three Years of Hardship famine; the Cultural Revolution; and the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.

Publications on these subjects and others are forbidden by Chinese authorities and the act of carrying them across the border violates customs regulations.

A 2021 customs document defines articles prohibited and restricted from entering and leaving China. These include printed materials, films, photos, records, audio and video tapes, laser discs and computer storage media harmful to China’s politics, economy, culture and morality.

According to a tally by the South China Morning Post, allegations of reading politically forbidden books have appeared in at least a dozen corruption case readouts so far this year – from around seven last year.

Similar accusations have been made by anti-corruption bodies in at least five other provinces this year.

Deng Yuwen, former deputy editor of Study Times, the newspaper of the cadre-training Central Party School, said reading and circulating some sensitive materials within the party was common. This had long been impossible to ban, even in Mao Zedong’s era, he said.

“It is not a big deal if they are not under disciplinary investigation, but it can be major evidence of disloyalty when [the top watchdog] finds them.”

Zhang Zulin, former vice-governor of southwestern Yunnan province, was accused on September 12 of possessing and reading forbidden books, according to a statement released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top political disciplinary and anti-corruption body.

Zhang, who is 65 and retired, is accused of “losing his political ideals and aspirations, forming political cliques … and possessing and reading books, periodicals and audiovisual products with serious political problems” in private, according to the CCDI.

The CCDI statement also announced that Zhang would be stripped of party membership and handed over to the judiciary for trial.

Three days earlier, the anti-corruption watchdog in Jiangxi province accused Gan Chengjiu – a former general manager at Jiangxi Financial Holding Group Ltd – of bringing “reactionary books into the country” and reading them privately, along with other political disloyalty and corruption charges.

Jiangxi Financial Holding is wholly owned by the eastern provincial government.

While such reading bans in China are believed to date back decades, the recent uptick in naming and shaming appears to coincide with last year’s amendment of the party disciplinary regulations, which greatly expanded the clause related to reading unapproved materials.

Those who privately read, browse or listen to publications and make irresponsible comments on the party Central Committee’s major policies, vilify the image of the party and the country, or slander leaders will be issued warnings, the amended clause stipulates. If the circumstances are serious, such persons could be removed from party positions.

China actress goes viral with ‘my uterus is not your business’ reply when urged to have kids

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3281164/china-actress-goes-viral-my-uterus-not-your-business-reply-when-urged-have-kids?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese actress Qin Lan has become a significant role model for women’s rights on the mainland after her powerful quote, “My uterus is none of your business,” went viral.

At 45, the star spoke out in a 2020 interview in response to comments urging her to marry and have children.

After beginning her studies in accounting at Shenyang University of Technology in her hometown in northeastern China’s Liaoning province in 1999, she discovered she did not enjoy it.

She won a beauty contest six months later, prompting her to launch an acting career that met with instant success.

She became a household name after portraying Zhihua, the concubine of Prince Yongqi, in My Fair Princess 3 (2003).

The story’s writer, Chiung Yao, hand-picked her for the role and remarked on her beauty with the poetic line: “A teardrop of Qin is a star in the sky.”

Many viewers of the television drama assumed she mirrored her character – timid, elegant, and someone willing to please her man.

However, in reality, Qin is an independent, outspoken individual who defies conservative values like the pressure to marry and have children at an appropriate age, choosing to date men for love instead.

From 2004 to 2006, she was in a relationship with Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming, the former husband of mainland actress Angelababy, even agreeing to pay her management agency a 10-million-yuan (US$1.4 million) penalty to be with him.

Actors and entertainers often face penalties from their management companies for being in relationships, based on the belief that dating can negatively impact their marketability and public image.

Qin later dated Chinese director Lu Chuan after collaborating on the film City of Life and Death (2009), though they parted ways in 2014.

Recent reports suggest that Qin is now in a relationship with 35-year-old actor Wei Daxun.

Remaining unmarried, she mentioned in an interview that her ex-boyfriends proposed to her, but she rejected their offers, stating she does not wish to marry.

“Everyone wants to find a perfect match in romantic relationships, but a perfect match only exists in a screw factory,” she stated.

She advocates for living life like stars, “just shining for yourself.”

Qin continues to thrive in show business, taking on leading roles in television dramas such as the 2018 hit Story of Yanxi Palace, the feminist drama The Magical Women (2023), and The Assassin, directed by the renowned Hong Kong director and producer Jonathan Chik Gei-yee, which is slated for release this year.

Many on social media admire Qin’s independence and career-driven focus.

“She is our role model. Only get married if you truly want to, not because others pressure you to,” one user commented on Weibo.

Tech war: China advocates use of local AI chips over those from US powerhouse Nvidia

https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3281254/tech-war-china-advocates-use-local-ai-chips-over-those-us-powerhouse-nvidia?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese authorities have informally advised local companies to use domestic-made artificial intelligence (AI) chips over those from Nvidia, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as alternative suppliers on the mainland look to catch up with the US tech giant.

While there is no official ban on Nvidia’s China-tailored H20 graphics processing unit (GPU), the sources said mainland AI chip users have been informed to prioritise deployment of local alternatives, including those developed by Huawei Technologies.

A third source said H20 orders made by mainland enterprises had not been restricted as of August.

Reports about China’s tacit rules against the American chip design firm first emerged in May, when US tech media The Information reported that regulators had asked local companies to cut back purchases of Nvidia chips and buy more from domestic suppliers like Huawei. A Bloomberg report last week said that China has called on local buyers to stay away from Nvidia.

The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which oversees the domestic semiconductor and AI sectors, has not made any public announcement regarding that matter. The agency did not reply to a request for comment.

Nvidia did not also respond to a request for comment on the reported China restrictions.

The lack of any official confirmation about the matter somehow reflects the highly sensitive nature of the world’s AI chip market, which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chief executive Hsu Ming-chi has projected to grow annually at a much higher rate than the overall semiconductor industry.

When asked about his views on US trade restrictions on China, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang told American media in Washington on September 28 that the US government is “doing a wonderful job” in finding the right balance between controls and exporting American technology to the world.

“It is really terrific that the world is built on American standards,” Huang said, “Nvidia is an American company and our government and administration would love to see us succeed.”

Nvidia’s H20 remains popular among users in China, despite its reduced capacity to comply with US sanctions. Sales of the tailor-made chip have steadily picked up since its release earlier this year, as demand from large Chinese cloud services providers enabled them to access Nvidia’s technical support and maintenance services.

Nvidia is expected to deliver more than 1 million H20 GPUs in China this year, racking up US$12 billion in sales.

Still, adoption of alternative Chinese-made AI chips is growing.

State-owned carrier China Telecom, for example, said in a statement on September 28 that it has developed two large language models – the technology behind generative AI applications like ChatGPT – that were trained entirely on locally produced AI chips. While it did not identify the local supplier, China Telecom has a track record of partnering with Huawei.

A week earlier, Huawei had started offering samples of its Ascend 910C processor to large Chinese server companies for hardware testing and configuration, according to a South China Morning Post report. That put the company a step closer to the commercial roll-out of its upgraded version of the 910B, which is on par with Nvidia’s popular A100 chips.

Nvidia was initially barred from selling its A100 and H100 GPUs – two of the most in-demand chips for training and running AI models – to clients in China in August 2022. It later modified those chips to create the A800 and H800 to get around those restrictions, which Washington barred from being exported to China under tightened curbs announced last October.

Nvidia has since developed the H20, L20 and L2 GPUs to maintain its market share in China. Despite several rounds of US restrictions, Nvidia said China was its third-largest market in its financial year ended January 28.

China’s ‘port visas’ prove popular as inbound tourists employ entry alternative

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3281125/chinas-port-visas-prove-popular-inbound-tourists-employ-entry-alternative?utm_source=rss_feed

The number of “port visas” issued to foreigners bound for China has accelerated this year, with tourists taking advantage of the relatively fast entry process and an overall jump in arrivals recorded from abroad through the National Day holiday period.

China issued 846,000 of the special visas in the first seven months of the year, according to the National Immigration Administration. That figure marked an 183 per cent increase over the same period in 2023.

“Granting port visas reduces regulatory obstacles to international travel and makes China more accessible to foreign tourists,” said Chen Yong, an associate professor at the Switzerland-based EHL Hospitality Business School.

Port visas offer an alternative to applications made through offshore Chinese embassies and consulates, where forms are longer and processing may take days.

The policy “provides a great deal of convenience and opportunity” for foreigners who may not have a regular visa or a full-fledged travel plan, Chen added.

In the first seven months of 2024, a total of 17.25 million foreign nationals were reported to have entered the country, a 130 per cent year-on-year increase. The influx is believed to have supported airlines, hotels, retailers and conferences that may have otherwise struggled amid domestic economic strife.

The government-backed China Tourism Academy has given more credence to this notion, with a September 11 report recommending the maximum period for visa-free stays be doubled to 30 days. The academy further suggested that foreigners transiting without visas in China be allowed to enter and exit through different parts of the country instead of the same place.

Travellers may apply for port visas in advance through the public security bureaus in cities where they plan to enter China, if they can show a letter from an inviting party in the country – which could be a travel agency.

Visas on arrival at the borders between Hong Kong or Macau and mainland China can be issued, without a letter, to people from most developed countries.

Port visa services are provided at 99 ports in 73 cities “with a large number of international flights and a high volume of foreign nationals entering China”, the administration says on its website.

Exit and entry rules say port visas apply to “situations of urgent need” related to business, exchanges, investments, family visits, funerals, the care of critically ill patients and the handling of “private affairs” for travellers unable to procure a standard visa in time from embassies or consulates.

Tourists need not prove an emergency, just show an itinerary vetted through a travel agency, said Steven Zhao, CEO of China Highlights. His Guilin-based online travel agency has hosted 10 groups by arranging port visas.

“The main advantages are convenience, cost – with prices at one-third of what embassies charge – and quick issuance, two or three days just fine,” Zhao said.

French national Marc Guyon, a gym operator who lives in Hong Kong, said he snagged a port visa for nearby Shenzhen and again for Zhuhai before China extended visa-free travel privileges to his country last year. Visas to both allow travel only in the city of issuance.

The visa process at the consular office was “too complicated, too long to book an appointment”, he said, adding he was “too lazy to do the paperwork”.

While port visas are more convenient, visitors may not stay as long and spend as much, Chen said, since their plans could be made on impulse and they may not be able to stick around.

Port visas for tourists are limited to groups of at least two people who must arrive and leave China together, Zhao said, though there is some “uncertainty” because visa processing can start only 15 days before a tourist’s intended travel date.

Foreigners are likely entering on port visas during this week’s holiday, with inbound tourism expected to outpace travel in the other direction.

Inbound bookings for the National Day break soared by 60 per cent compared to last year, according to a September report by China’s largest travel platform Trip.com.

International airlines with routes to China were making more frequent trips the week of September 30 compared to the same period in 2023, with industry data platform OAG Aviation observing the most growth among the three largest Chinese carriers.

“In addition to the visa-free policies and visa facilitation measures, the efforts to enhance travel convenience in payments, booking and accommodation, combined with restoring international flight capacity, have greatly contributed to the growth of inbound tourism this year,” said Janice Meng, market research analyst at business consultancy Dragon Trail International.

Tourism campaigns overseas and the growing popularity of videos about travelling in China on global social media platforms have also helped, she added.

Port visas are just one of several policies China has eased or implemented this year to make it easier for foreign travel.

On September 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced citizens of Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Slovenia would have visa requirements for travel waived from October 15 to the end of next year. The move expanded the visa-free list to over 40 countries, nearly half of which were added over the past year.

These measures have “directly fuelled China’s inbound tourism market”, said Liu Haitao, deputy director of the National Immigration Administration, at a press conference in August.

Based on the average consumption level of foreigners travelling to China, their direct spending in the first seven months of the year should exceed 100 billion yuan (US$14.19 billion), Liu added.

While inbound tourism is steadily recovering thanks to favourable visa policies, the industry’s long-term growth depends on strengthening China’s trade relations with other countries, Chen said.

Otherwise, China’s inbound tourism may “contract inward for years to come”, he added, mainly attracting visitors from around Asia instead of the global reach the country saw from 2000 to 2019.

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China’s chip breakthrough, origins of Hong Kong-style milk tea: 5 weekend reads you missed

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3281311/chinas-chip-breakthrough-origins-hong-kong-style-milk-tea-5-weekend-reads-you-missed?utm_source=rss_feed

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

[Sport] Deadly blast hits convoy of Chinese engineers in Pakistan

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r84p0dp1jo

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In Philadelphia, Chinatown activists rally again to stop development. This time, it’s a 76ers arena

https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-arena-chinatown-eb67de1673f5483d4b51762167e63d4fSupporters and Chinatown community leaders gathered during a "No Sixers arena rally" on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, outside Philadelphia City Hall in Philadelphia. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

2024-10-06T04:57:18Z

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — 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 color from across the city.”

Chang, 33, leads Asian Americans United, which flexed its political muscle during the stadium fight and is now experiencing déjà vu as it tries to stop a planned $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 savior. 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, homogenization 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 unlivable 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 U.S. 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 $2 billion in economic growth to downtown. They also hope to build an adjacent $250 million apartment tower.

“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 favorite dish — and then heading to the game.”

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

But others wonder if sports fans would really patronize 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 $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 $400 million in tax breaks.

Still, Parker called the deal the best 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.

It 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 center of sorts,” said Law, 42, as her aunt tended the register at the new store one recent day. 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, 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 neighborhood 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?”

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

MARYCLAIRE DALE Dale covers national legal issues for The Associated Press, often focusing on the federal judiciary, gender law, #MeToo and NFL player concussions. Her work unsealing Bill Cosby’s testimony in a decade-old deposition led to his arrest and sexual assault trials. twitter mailto

China’s stimulus will fall short without private-sector confidence

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3281034/chinas-stimulus-will-fall-short-without-private-sector-confidence?utm_source=rss_feed

“Our money is running out.” That is the constant refrain I have heard from mainlanders since the end of 2022, when China suddenly lifted the zero-Covid restrictions which had hit the economy hard.

More than a million restaurants have reportedly shut down across the country in the first half of this year, close to the total for the whole of last year as consumers scaled back their spending. Retail sales rose only 2.1 per cent year on year in August despite the summer travel peak, down from a rise of 2.7 per cent in July.

Pessimistic sentiment among businesses is widespread. Industrial output grew 4.5 per cent in August, slowing from 5.1 per cent in July, while industrial profits suffered the biggest slump this year, plunging 17.8 per cent.

Local governments, which largely rely on shrinking land sales for revenues, have now resorted to arbitrary fines on businesses. Non-tax revenues nationwide surged by 12 per cent in the first seven months this year.

At first glance, these episodes combine to paint a picture of gloom and doom, but that is just half the story. According to government data, household deposits rose to a record 146.3 trillion yuan (US$20.8 trillion) at the end of June. That was bigger than the market capitalisation of the mainland stock market of 73 trillion yuan and China’s gross domestic product of 126 trillion yuan.

The real issue is not a lack of money but a lack of confidence to spend the money. More importantly, people have been perplexed by the total lack of clarity over the thinking of China’s leadership on how to move forward with the world’s second-largest economy.

Ever since the end of 2022, expectations have been mounting on the country’s leaders to unleash a bold stimulus programme to fire up the economy and prevent a slide into Japanese-style stagflation. In 2008, China’s leaders fired a “big bazooka” during the global financial crisis.

The current leadership had resisted calls for stimulus despite obvious signs of an ailing economy. That was until late last month, when Beijing suddenly made another major policy shift and released a series of bold measures to restore confidence. The size of the stimulus caught many people by surprise and triggered a rally in the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets, as well as China-linked stocks in the United States.

Before we understand the reasons behind the sudden change of heart and its ramifications, it is interesting to explore why the country’s leaders dragged their feet for so long.

One chief reason is that they are still smarting from the aftermath of the 2008 stimulus package, which saw the central government pump 4 trillion yuan into the economy. Adding in the investment by local governments, the stimulus package is estimated to have totalled at least 30 trillion yuan. All that money quickly revived the economy, but at the same time it contributed to enormous industrial overcapacity, wasteful projects and energy-intensive, high-pollution industries, consequences with which the government is still grappling.

Moreover, President Xi Jinping might have consolidated absolute power during the past 10 years, but the fact remains that local provincial party chiefs still wield considerable influence over local economic and investment priorities. A monetary and fiscal loosening similar to the scale of 2008 would lead to another intense round of low-quality, redundant development. Every province or municipality wants their own electrical vehicle assembly or semiconductor plants.

As a result, the government has stuck to relatively mild attempts to stimulate economic growth. In June, Premier Li Qiang publicly compared China’s economy to a patient recovering from a long illness, presumably referring to the battered economy after three years of zero-Covid controls. Citing traditional Chinese medical theory, he warned that strong medicine, presumably referring to bold stimulus, would be detrimental to the patient who instead should be allowed to recover slowly.

This strategy has failed miserably, though. The leadership’s intention to fix long-term structural problems has been overtaken by the short-term crisis of confidence permeating in the economy. The dismal economic data in August has finally convinced the authorities to resort to the bazooka to create a feel-good factor ahead of elaborate efforts to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

What happens next? Stock market investors have whipped up another frenzy reminiscent of the bubble of 2015. The problems which prevented the authorities from undertaking bold stimulus much earlier are still present. That probably explains why the scale of this year’s stimulus package appears tame compared to that in 2008.

Still, there are concerns over whether economic growth will rebound enough to support the spectacular stock market rally. Re-energising the private sector will be the litmus test, not least because private businesses account for more than 80 per cent of new jobs and contribute 60 per cent of China’s GDP.

Confidence among the private sector has remained dismally low since Beijing’s widespread crackdown and enhanced regulatory and political constraints beginning in 2019. Since last year, however, officials have tried to court the private sector by expressing support for entrepreneurs. This support has been more rhetorical than substantive amid frequent reports of entrepreneurs arbitrarily detained or banned from leaving the country.

Taking decisive steps to stabilise the property market and inject massive liquidity into the stock markets is a much-needed shot in the arm, but only for the short term. China needs more concrete actions, including relaxing regulatory and political constraints on private firms and boosting social security benefits for low-income groups to make consumers and entrepreneurs feel confident enough to spend again.

China’s ‘wiser’ long-term strategy paves way to No 1 world power: Kishore Mahbubani

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3281151/chinas-wiser-long-term-strategy-paves-way-no-1-world-power-kishore-mahbubani?utm_source=rss_feed

Seasoned former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani is a distinguished fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute and author of nine books, including Has China Won? This interview first appeared in . For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click .

I would say the best compliment that I can pay to the Biden administration is that they succeeded in the last two years in at least trying to stabilise the relationship between the US and China a bit. The stabilisation was good, but despite that, the contest continues. Do not forget that the Biden administration, in some ways, has been tougher on China than the Trump administration. Trump imposed a few trade tariffs but did not go beyond that. The Biden administration has created this concept of “small yard, high fence” to try and deprive China of sophisticated technologies.

The pressure on China has not subsided in any significant way. And here, the main problem with the Biden administration – or the US government in general – is that it seems to have mounted a campaign against China without any clear, comprehensive long-term strategy in mind. A strategy is intended to achieve certain goals. It is not clear what the goals of the Biden administration are – what would constitute a victory for the United States over China as a result of all these measures? That has never been spelled out. That leaves everyone somewhat confused. The Biden administration is trying to stabilise the relationship, but it is also imposing new restrictive measures. The key question is, what is their end goal?

The United States has taken various actions against China with no clear description of what the goals of these actions might be. Is it the goal of the US to overthrow the Communist Party? It cannot be done, because if it is done, it will be done by the Chinese people, not by the US. Is it the goal of the US to stop the economic growth of China?

Again, it cannot be done. Whether China grows will depend on the actions of its own people and the ingenuity of its leadership. Is it the goal of the US to try and isolate China like it successfully isolated the Soviet Union? It cannot be done because China has more substantive ties with more countries than the US does, especially in terms of trading relationships. We have a strange situation here. The US has taken several measures against China, but the goals have never been spelled out clearly.

I’m recommending a wiser approach by the US. Even if the US is going to compete with China in some areas, it should also spell out the areas in which it can cooperate with China, not for the benefit of the Chinese people but for the benefit of the American people.

One huge contradiction in the approach of the US towards China is that the Biden administration says fighting climate change should be a priority. I completely agree. But if fighting climate change is a priority, then we should press the pause button on the US-China geopolitical contest and focus on fighting climate change first. That would be an example of clear strategic thinking. The US needs to decide what is really important for its long-term interests, what it wants to accomplish, and then work out ways and means of achieving these goals. Unfortunately, there’s no such clear, comprehensive, long-term strategic thinking on the part of the Biden administration.

In the last 20 years, China narrowed the gap between the size of the Chinese gross national product (GNP) and the size of American GNP in nominal market terms. In recent years, China has slipped back. Because China has slipped back, there’s now a sense of triumphalism in Washington. Washington believes that the US is moving ahead and China is falling behind. This may also explain why the Biden administration has not taken new additional actions against China in recent months.

The big question the US should ask is this: what happens if all its measures to stop China do not work and China’s GNP becomes bigger? What should the US do then? Why not discuss this possibility? Why not talk about it?

My successor as dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Professor Danny Quah, published a piece in Foreign Policy magazine saying that if the Americans wake up one day and realise that their economy is No 2 and China’s economy is No 1, that is not going to change the lives of Americans. They’re going to wake up in the morning and have their cup of coffee and everything will be the same. He is right. So why have this obsession that the goal should be to stop China from becoming No 1?

Why not, instead, ask what kind of world we want to have when and if China becomes No 1? How should the US cooperate and compete with China in that situation? Bill Clinton gave the answer, which I spelled out in my book Has China Won? He said that the US should be strengthening multilateral rules, multilateral norms, multilateral procedures, and multilateral institutions, if it was going to become No 2 in the world. Such advice by Bill Clinton is an example of clear strategic thinking. I don’t understand why the US does not realise that supporting multilateralism would be the best way to constrain, not contain, China.

It’s quite natural for Beijing to get angry when the US imposes measures against China. One undeniable fact is that it is the US that has been taking measures against China. China has retaliated, but China has not initiated measures against the US.

Relatively speaking, the Chinese have been wise to quietly proceed with their strategy of developing closer links with more countries than the US does. That is the best way to protect China from any containment policy by the US. Initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and even the New Development Bank provide ways and means for China to engage the rest of the world constructively.

In the past, it would have been the US that would have formulated a long-term strategy. Certainly, it had one in the Cold War. That is why it succeeded. But now it is China that has developed various long-term strategies. Today, it is the US and Europe that do not have any. At a time when the West should be thinking hard to develop meaningful long-term strategies, it is failing to do so.

There’s no question that China faces some short-term challenges. The property market is in bad shape. Business sentiment is not good. Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have come down. The question is whether these challenges are cyclical or structural. I believe that these are cyclical challenges. You can, over time, get out of this mess in the property market. You can, over time, try to improve business sentiment, and you can also try to increase FDI flows.

These things can be fixed. Do not forget that in the more substantive parts of the economy, especially in terms of China’s exports to the rest of the world, China is still doing well. China’s share of global manufacturing is still going up. These are the long-term structural competitive moves by China. This is where China is showing its structural strengths vis-a-vis the rest of the world. If you look in terms of long-term investments, I think it is China that is making wiser long-term investments for the future. This is why, over the medium-term and long-term, one can still remain bullish about the Chinese economy. However, I have to add here that China optimists like me are an endangered species today.

Southeast Asia can and should be seen as a kind of a bellwether region. Many Americans have forgotten that the fall of Vietnam and the collapse of Indochina were seen as major disasters for American foreign policy. Many Americans believed then that after the collapse of Indochina, the Asean countries would become dominoes. They also believed then that there was little they could do to save Southeast Asia.

Paradoxically, what was supposed to be a defeat for the US in Southeast Asia turned out to be a victory. [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries did not become dominoes. In fact, the Asean countries thrived and grew and did well. Eventually, it was the Indochina countries that joined Asean. At the end of the day, the project to create a modern, globalised Southeast Asia has succeeded.

The success in Southeast Asia also helped the US win the Cold War. The policymakers in Washington understood that and spent a lot of time on Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the people in the Trump and Biden administrations are trying to bypass Southeast Asia. They believe that Southeast Asia is not important at all. The Biden administration has spent more time on Australia than it has on Southeast Asia. But Southeast Asia has close to 700 million people. Australia has 27 million people.

Southeast Asia is going to matter a lot more in global geopolitics. The people in Washington do not understand the relative importance of Asean in the long-term strategic game. Fortunately, the people in Asean are wiser. Even if Washington has become distracted, Asean still continues to maintain good ties with the US. Asean will also continue to maintain good ties with China. It’s time for Washington to step back and ask which region in Asia is truly important. Which part of the world is going to be a swing region of the world? Is Southeast Asia going to be a key swing region of the world?

The US should listen to what former president Barack Obama said: the US has got to be part of the big game in Southeast Asia and East Asia. That is why he proposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). President Obama was very thoughtful. He would say: “Hey, if you really want to combat Chinese influence in the region, you have got to do it in the field of trade.”

Unfortunately, trade has become so toxic in the US. Nobody dares to raise the TPP. Fortunately, there is good news in the field of investment: the US has actually invested more in Southeast Asia than it has in China, Japan, South Korea and India combined. That is an asset that the US has that it should take advantage of. At the end of the day, the real competition is in the economic sphere, and if the US wants to play a bigger role in the region it has got to come forward with concrete projects to try and work with Southeast Asia.

Some Indonesians told me that the Americans came to complain to Indonesia about doing a high-speed rail train with China, between Jakarta and Bandung. The Indonesians said: “OK, no problem. You are welcome to come and build high-speed rail as well.” You cannot just complain about China. You have got to actually produce something concrete to match what China is doing. And it is not enough to give speeches. Take the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, for example. It was very nice that it was set up, but there is no trade in it. It is devoid of substance. It is important for the US to come with substantive proposals if it wants to really compete with China.

I think it would be very, very difficult. The US must first realise that it cannot just rely on its traditional allies, like Europe, Australia and New Zealand. At the end of the day, the West makes up 12 per cent of the world’s population, and the rest make up 88 per cent. And unlike China, the US does not have a long-term strategy for engaging the 88 per cent of the world’s population.

China is systematically and carefully improving its ties with the Global South. Recently, for example, dozens of African leaders went to Beijing to attend the China-African meeting. That is what the US needs to do in its own way. But again, this requires long-term strategic thinking and long-term strategic commitments that will not be in danger of changing every four years.

The main worry of the Southeast Asians is obvious – they do not want to be pushed to take sides between China and the US. They want to be friends with both China and the US, and they want to carry on dealing normally with both. It’s very important for Asean to stay united on this stance. If the 10 Asean countries stick together, they will have more room to manoeuvre than if they try to act individually.

It will become impossible if Asean falls apart. But if Asean sticks together, its combined size will give it some clout. In 2000, Japan was the world’s second largest economy. It was eight times bigger than Asean. Now, Japan is only 1.2 or 1.3 times bigger than Asean. By 2030, Asean will be bigger than Japan. The combined size of the Asean economies makes it a significant player now globally.

It’s very important for the US to realise that it has got to be seen to be working with success stories. Asean is clearly a success story. In fact, Asean was created as a pro-American organisation in 1967; both Moscow and Beijing denounced Asean when it was created. Logically, since Asean has historic stores of goodwill toward the US and is doing well, the US should develop a consistent, comprehensive, long-term strategy for engaging Asean as part of its strategy to manage competition with China.

But there is a very low level of knowledge about Asean in Washington. Even secretaries of state find it difficult to attend Asean meetings regularly. The American leadership has not sent clear signals that they recognise Asean’s importance. But in the long run, it will matter a lot where Asean swings.

Asean has always had inconsistencies. It has never been a rigid bloc like the European Union. Asean is a very loose, flexible organisation. There’s always been a range of views on most issues within Asean. Some Asean states are probably closer to China – such as Laos and Cambodia – and some are probably closer to the US – such as the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.

However, though each country may lean one way or another, all of them still want to be friends with both the US and China and not be forced to choose a side. On that core issue, there’s a lot of consistency within Asean.

I think the long-term goodwill is still there. But if you look at a recent issue of the magazine Foreign Affairs, Lynn Kuok, a fellow Singaporean, has written an article that says the US is losing ground in Southeast Asia. In an annual poll across Southeast Asia, most respondents have always said that if forced to choose between China and the US, they would choose the US. But after the events in Gaza, things have flipped. This year, the majority said that they would choose China over the US. If the US wants to work out a comprehensive strategy against China, it should think about what might persuade other countries to work with the US.

If the US is seen to be fair and balanced in its policies on the Middle East, it will win over many Islamic countries. But America’s standing in the world has gone down dramatically after its failure to find a peaceful settlement in Gaza and its failure to bring about a two-state solution. There’s a lot of public anger in many Southeast Asian countries – especially the Islamic countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei – towards American policies in the Middle East. What the US has to understand is that this is a global chessboard. Failing in Gaza has consequences in Southeast Asia.

But the US no longer has strategic minds like [former US secretary of state] Henry Kissinger who can see the global chessboard and put all the pieces together. As a result, Americans try to make policies in silos. They have a silo for Gaza, a silo for Ukraine, and a silo for Asean, not realising all these parts are interlinked. They must make the effort to ask themselves how all these different pieces fit together.

I say this as a friend of the United States: it needs to step back and ask itself where it wants to be 10 to 20 years from now vis-a-vis China. Then, it needs to figure out what assets it has, what liabilities it has, and how it can enhance its assets and reduce its liabilities. It should then try to work out a consistent, long-term policy which has strong bipartisan support and will not change from administration to administration. But this will require leaders with this big quality of mind, and that is what’s missing in Washington.

Tensions in the South China Sea certainly cause a lot of discomfort in the Asean countries. But what is interesting is that China has had long-standing disputes not with Asean as a whole, but with four [of the] claimant states: Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Fortunately, there haven’t been overt tensions or conflicts in three of the four cases, though the differences remain. It’s only recently, with the Philippines, that there have been rising tensions.

I would, on one hand encourage China, as the bigger and more powerful country, to show patience and understanding in dealing with smaller countries. But at the same time, to the Philippines, I would say if you’re dealing with a great power which is going to be your neighbour for the next 1,000 years, you’ve got to work out a consistent policy towards China that does not change with every president.

For example, under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Philippines had a pro-China tendency, and then under former president Benigno Aquino, it had a pro-American tendency. Under former president Rodrigo Duterte, it had a pro-China tendency, and now under Marcos, it seems to have a pro-American tendency. This kind of inconsistency is not good when dealing with a great power. With a great power, it would be best to first work out a strong bipartisan consensus internally. The Philippines has every right to defend its interests. Indeed there are some parts of the South China Sea that have been claimed or held by the Philippines for a long time. But at the same time, it wouldn’t be wise to do things to change the picture suddenly.