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• China’s call for global financial reform is a loud message to West, Global South: analysts
• Chinese smartphone maker Oppo ramps up global push with Europe, Latin America key markets
• Many in China deeply moved by boy whispering ‘I love you’ as his mum lay dying from cancer
• China’s biggest internet forum to focus on AI as Beijing seeks greater role in governance
• China looks to Indonesia for diplomatic resolution after coastguards’ Natuna encounters
• Involution? The biggest threat to China’s quantum computing field is internal risk: expert
• Chinese publisher who gave world The Three-Body Problem under corruption probe
• Tesla is the pure EV king, but Chinese drivers steer to hybrids as they worry about range
• C919 tour gives students a glimpse of China’s ‘road to take-off’
• Indonesia drove Chinese ship out of disputed waters – is Beijing ‘testing’ Jakarta’s resolve?
• China’s President Xi commits to staunch cooperation with Iran amid Mideast conflict
• French Nobel-winning laser scientist Gérard Mourou joins China’s top university
• Superstar Jay Chou lookalike draws big crowds to China eatery for tasty treats and selfies
• No let-up likely in EU trade battle with China as commission nominees take tough stand
• What caused an unexpected, record-setting tidal event on China’s east coast?
• China’s stimulus salvo enters second month: our overview, and what comes next
• Tesla, HSBC among first foreign firms in China to apply for telecoms service trials
• Defend euro against China-Russia push for alternative currency: Europe’s bank chief
• Brazil’s Lula plans state visit for China’s Xi and talks in Amazon with US’ Biden
• US tariffs a necessary response to China’s trade practices, says Jake Sullivan
• Could US-China military ties endure the turbulence of another Trump presidency?

China’s call for global financial reform is a loud message to West, Global South: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3283697/chinas-call-global-financial-reform-loud-message-west-global-south-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

With arms wide open to Global South nations, Beijing is growing increasingly louder in calling for a bigger role in multilateral financial architecture, analysts say as they point to China’s slow progress in securing a bigger voice in the Western-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Their assessments were underpinned by President Xi Jinping’s strongly worded speech on Wednesday at a Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, where he spoke out against stalled reform of the global governance system while trying to rally the efforts of key emerging markets to “push forward the international financial system to better reflect changes in the global economic landscape”.

The speech also sent a strong message to the World Bank and IMF, which are holding annual meetings this week that have brought hundreds of officials from across the globe to Washington to discuss the state of the global economy, public debt and financial risks. The gatherings also serve to reflect on institutional reform as the Bretton Woods system turns 80.

China, which accounts for around 17 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product and annually contributes to around 30 per cent of global growth, is often regarded as under-represented in the two key institutions – its voting power in the IMF, for instance, is now 6.08 per cent, compared with 6.14 per cent for Japan and 16.49 per cent for the US.

“It’s likely [for China’s voting power] to be raised. But we should not take it too seriously,” said Chen Fengying, a senior researcher with China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, explaining that there are some institutions in which China simply would not be given a leading role.

Beijing’s policy circle and researchers typically point to tensions with the United States fanning a wide range of worries, from dollar weaponisation to threats of financial sanctions.

Traditionally, presidents of the World Bank are from the United States, while IMF managing directors are from Europe. Some Chinese now hold high positions such as deputy president or deputy managing director.

“The global environment has undergone tremendous changes,” Chen said, referring to decoupling attempts by Washington and also geopolitical tensions. “So, why not embrace Global South countries for future development?”

She specifically pointed to countries in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia.

At an event hosted by Renmin University last weekend, Chinese academics continued to push for de-dollarisation, and also for cross-border settlement among Brics countries, an association comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and some other emerging economies.

Yu Yongding, a former central bank adviser, said at the event that one of the reforms should be geared toward reducing the need for many countries to build up US dollar reserves.

China’s top leadership has long vowed to participate in the reform of international financial governance.

“We will safeguard the WTO-centred multilateral trading system, actively participate in the reform of global economic governance, and provide more global public goods,” said the third plenum document released in July.

In Wednesday’s speech, Xi mentioned that a slew of cooperation networks will be set up within the Brics framework, and he emphasised the importance of empowering the Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB), in which China holds an 18.98 per cent stake – the same as Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa.

China is also the largest individual shareholder of the Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with a voting power of 26.6 per cent.

The nine-year-old AIIB has expanded its membership to 110, becoming the world’s second-largest multilateral development bank after the World Bank Group, in terms of membership.

“The AIIB has been important to demonstrate China can lead an international organisation with international standards,” Bert Hofman, the World Bank’s former country director for China and now an adjunct professor at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore.

“Thus, concern about a larger shareholding by China in traditional IFIs [international financial institutions] is misplaced.”

Wang Huiyao, founding president of the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China and Globalisation, has warned that global governance currently lags behind global practice, and he called to make it more representative, inclusive and equitable.

“China is not looking to build a new world order from scratch,” he wrote in an article in Enhancing Global Governance in a Fragmented World, an open-access book published this summer.

Instead, it “emphasises reforms to dispute-settlement mechanisms under existing rules, especially within the framework of the UN and the WTO”.

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo ramps up global push with Europe, Latin America key markets

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3283714/chinese-smartphone-maker-oppo-ramps-global-push-europe-latin-america-key-markets?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is ramping up its overseas push with a sharpened focus on Europe and South America, backed by its expanding manufacturing capacity overseas, a company executive said.

Oppo, the world’s fourth largest smartphone vendor in the third quarter, is “steadfast” about investing in Europe and aiming to gain more ground in the premium market, Billy Zhang, president of overseas marketing, sales and services at Oppo, said in an interview last week.

“We are consistently investing in our products, manpower, marketing, and customer relationships in Europe, and this reflects our unwavering commitment and approach to this market,” Zhang said.

Last month, the company extended its sponsorship of the Union of European Football Associations to 2027.

Oppo’s Find X8 series, the latest flagship smartphone launched for the China market on Thursday, will be available in Europe later, according to Zhang.

Zhang was reiterating Oppo’s commitment to Europe despite its absence in Germany, where the company had to halt smartphone sales there and delisted most products from its local website after losing a patent infringement lawsuit to Finnish electronics giant Nokia in the country in 2022.

Oppo announced a full comeback in the European market in February, expecting to make its products widely available across the region again, a month after settling its legal dispute with Nokia. It also reached a 5G patent cross-licensing deal with Sweden’s Ericsson in July.

However, Oppo has yet to resume sales in Germany as of October, while the company is still engaged in a legal battle with US tech firm InterDigital over telecommunications patents.

Zhang said the reason behind the current hiatus in certain markets is compliance, without commenting on ongoing lawsuits, or saying when sales will resume fully. “We have never exited the European market, only paused the sales in certain markets to comply with local laws and regulations,” Zhang said.

“The European market is characterised by high price and prestigious branding, so it is a high-value market that we cannot avoid,” Zhang said.

The high-end market in Europe has been keenly sought after by Chinese smartphone makers who have intensifying efforts to promote premium products in the region.

The European smartphone market is currently dominated by global players Samsung Electronics and Apple, which captured 32 per cent and 24 per cent of sales in the second quarter, respectively, according to data by Counterpoint Research.

They were followed by China’s Xiaomi with 18 per cent, after it saw rapid growth in western Europe in the June quarter, Counterpoint data showed. Chinese brands Realme and Tecno occupy the fourth and fifth positions with a 4 per cent share each.

The competitive landscape in Europe is relatively stable, but consumer demand for artificial intelligence (AI) features on smartphones can bring changes to the market, Zhang said.

Apart from Europe, Oppo will also make a concerted push in the South American market, eyeing the huge populations in countries such as Brazil and Mexico, according to Zhang.

Oppo’s global ambitions are backed by its expanding manufacturing capabilities outside China, for better control of product quality and the ability to meet local demand. “Building factories overseas can allow us to quickly respond to local demand, by manufacturing locally and distributing directly to our consumers,” Zhang said.

Apart from China, Oppo has factories in India, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and Egypt. The company is planning to roll out the automation and AI technology from its Chinese factories to the overseas operations, according to Zhang.

Oppo, which ranked second in the mainland China market in the second quarter, has seen overseas sales become a new growth engine in recent years. Around 60 per cent of Oppo’s shipments go to international markets, according to Zhang.

The company’s overseas push is banking on the recovery of the global economy and rapid growth in the premium smartphone segment, Zhang added.

Many in China deeply moved by boy whispering ‘I love you’ as his mum lay dying from cancer

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3283188/many-china-deeply-moved-boy-whispering-i-love-you-his-mum-lay-dying-cancer?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese social media was left heartbroken by the poignant story of a four-year-old boy in China who kept calling out for his mother by her bedside until cancer claimed her last breath.

Five million Douyin users watched touching video clips of Yang Yucheng, 4, tenderly calling out “mum” and whispering “I love you” as he sat by her bed in their home in southwestern China’s Yunnan province.

His mother, Cun Caituan, was diagnosed with terminal gallbladder cancer in August last year.

About 70 per cent of gallbladder cancer patients receive an advanced diagnosis at the time of detection, with only a dismal five-year survival rate of five per cent, as revealed in a 2020 hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery summit organised by the Jiangsu Anti-Cancer Association.

On October 17, her husband, Yang Fan, announced her passing at the age of 30 on his Douyin account, which has 200,000 followers.

A video taken by the father five days before her death shows the little boy lying beside her, innocently asking why she was not talking to him.

Cun, who had lost 20kg in just one month and was visibly frail, lifted her hand to gently touch her boy’s face and told him “to go to sleep”.

The father remarked that his son gradually matured as he watched his mother’s life slip away.

“He seemed to understand everything and nothing all at once,” he reflected.

He noted that his son used to cry for his mother’s hugs constantly but learned to care for her by feeding her water and giving her massages once her health declined.

The husband shared that he met Cun on a blind date in 2017 and married her two years later. Their son was born in 2020.

Her parents initially opposed the marriage because Yang came from a modest rural background.

However, Yang never wavered in his commitment to Cun. As the owner of a small mobile phone repair shop, he borrowed money and took her to medical specialists in larger cities. He also opened a Douyin account to seek donations and generate income through live-streaming sales.

His parents were equally devoted to her care, selling whatever they could to raise funds.

He told Guangzhou Daily that he had spent 700,000 yuan (US$99,000) on her treatment.

“She must have been heartbroken to leave her child behind at such a young age,” one commenter reflected on Douyin.

“She faced misfortune in her illness but was fortunate to have such a loving family. Rest in peace,” another remarked.

China’s biggest internet forum to focus on AI as Beijing seeks greater role in governance

https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3283684/chinas-biggest-internet-forum-focus-ai-beijing-seeks-greater-role-governance?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s World Internet Conference (WIC), an annual event that promotes the Chinese model and concept of internet governance, will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) this year, as Beijing seeks a greater role in the global governance of AI.

The event, also known as the Wuzhen Summit, will run from November 19-22 under the theme of “intelligence for good”. Conference topics will focus on AI and its impact on humanity, the economy and society, the forum’s secretary general Ren Xianliang said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

“Global AI technology development … is shaping up to become a force driving a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation,” Ren said, adding that the rapid advancement in AI brings both opportunities and risks.

Specific sessions will discuss AI innovation and governance, AI-based “new quality productive forces”, and responsible AI development and applications, to facilitate discourse around leveraging the technology for economic and societal growth.

“New productive forces” is China’s latest catchphrase to describe its development, referring to the combination of human labour, technology and infrastructure.

The annual event, held since 2014 in the city of Wuzhen, a tourist resort in the eastern province of Zhejiang, was losing its significance for Western tech companies as China’s internet sphere became increasingly closed. However, in 2022 China repositioned the forum as an international event to promote Beijing’s agenda and initiatives.

The forum will be attended by delegates from domestic Chinese tech firms, such as Alibaba Group Holding and its fintech affiliate Ant Group, but China-based executives for US businesses such as Cisco and IBM are also expected to attend, Ren said. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post

Ministry-level officials from different countries will also attend to discuss challenges and opportunities arising from the AI era.

WIC will also set up an AI committee at next month’s summit, serving as a platform for global AI firms to communicate, according to Ren. Amid moves by the US to increase its chokehold on China’s AI ambitions by widening export controls for advanced chips and restricting US investments into China’s AI start-ups, Ren said the world should be open and collaborative when it comes to AI.

China looks to Indonesia for diplomatic resolution after coastguards’ Natuna encounters

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3283728/china-looks-indonesia-diplomatic-resolution-after-coastguards-natuna-encounters?utm_source=rss_feed

China wants to resolve its maritime differences with Indonesia through diplomacy, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday in the wake of two encounters in the North Natuna Sea this week.

Indonesia’s maritime authority, Bakamla, said a Chinese coastguard vessel was twice escorted out of the waters, first on Monday and then again on Thursday.

It said the vessel “disrupted seismic survey and data processing activities being carried out by [state-owned oil firm] PT Pertamina East Natuna using the MV Geo Coral vessel”.

“Bakamla will keep patrolling and intensively monitoring the waters of North Natuna to ensure seismic data gathering can go without disruption to Indonesia’s sovereignty,” the agency said.

But in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the Chinese coastguard was on patrol in waters under China’s jurisdiction.

“The China Coast Guard vessel carried out routine patrols in waters under the jurisdiction of China in accordance with international law and China’s domestic laws,” Lin said.

“China stands ready to improve communication and consultation with Indonesia through diplomatic channels and properly handle maritime issues between the two countries.”

The incidents occurred around 1,500km (930 miles) from the southern Chinese island of Hainan and within the South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea via a “nine-dash line”, which cuts into Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone.

In a video released by Bakamla on Monday, an Indonesian crew member tries to communicate with the Chinese vessel via radio. The Chinese vessel responds by claiming that the area is under “China’s jurisdiction and sovereign rights”.

The vessel was shadowed and intercepted by Indonesian forces, Bakamla said.

On Thursday, Bakamla spokesman Captain Yuhanes Antara described a similar incident a day earlier in which the same Chinese vessel had disrupted Indonesian survey activities and did not respond.

“The expulsion carried out by Bakamla of the CCG ship on the North Natuna Sea Continental Shelf is a real form of commitment to always maintain security at sea,” he said.

Beijing’s response to the expulsion by Indonesian maritime authorities was considerably milder than its reactions to similar incidents with the Philippines in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has drawn closer to its treaty ally and China’s rival, the United States, while Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo Subianto, has pledged to not take sides in the competition between Beijing and Washington.

Indonesia and China also “hope to create new opportunities in bilateral relations that are not only limited to defence cooperation, but also to increasing the stability and prosperity of the region”, according to the Indonesian Ministry of Defence.

The ministry issued the statement on Thursday after talks between Indonesia’s new defence minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and Chinese ambassador to Jakarta Wang Lutong.

The two countries have often had friction over similar incidents.

In 2021, Beijing demanded that Indonesia stop drilling for oil and natural gas in maritime territory that both countries regard as their own.

And in January 2020, there was a dramatic stand-off between coastguards from both sides, just a few months after former Indonesian leader Joko Widodo began his second presidential term.

Involution? The biggest threat to China’s quantum computing field is internal risk: expert

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3283730/involution-biggest-threat-chinas-quantum-computing-field-internal-risk-expert?utm_source=rss_feed

China urgently needs to develop elite talent in the field of quantum computing, according to a leading academic, who has warned that the hi-tech sector must avoid internal trends that strangle innovation.

Yu Dapeng, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said a lack of ingenuity was hindering China’s quantum computing development, despite the significant public funding poured into the strategically important sector.

The lack of innovation had two main causes: not enough emphasis on developing talent; and sporadic frenzies in research fields leading to , or involution, Yu was quoted as saying in a report by the Shanghai-based The Paper last week.

The term describes an internal entanglement that ultimately leads to a lack of progress or degeneration as resources are drained.

“The appraisal system for China’s researchers used to focus on papers they published. The actual engineering and technological talent themselves were considered relatively unimportant,” said Yu, who is also dean of the Shenzhen Institute of Quantum Science and Engineering.

Domestic disarray has stalled Chinese research before.

In 1964, China issued a stamp to mark the contributions of Chinese scientists to the birth of advanced transmission electron microscopy (TME) earlier that year.

But the research was disrupted by the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, which halted any further progress for many years, as researchers were purged or transferred to other industries during the havoc, or left the country.

TME is an analytical technique used to visualise the smallest structures in matter. The world’s first TME was demonstrated by German scientists Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska in 1931.

“We lost our talent. We lost the technologies. In later years [after 1964], four Nobel Prizes were awarded to foreign scientists for their contributions to the electron microscopy area, while China had none,” he said.

China understands that quantum computing is “superior” to classic electronic computing in terms of capabilities, including big data processing, extreme weather applications, potential artificial intelligence combinations, and assessing internet security threats for high-speed railways or nuclear bases, according to Yu.

Beijing has identified quantum computing as a key emerging technology to develop.

While presenting China’s annual top sci-tech award on June 24, President Xi Jinping urged scientists to target the “strategic high ground of future technological and industrial development” and speed up innovation in next-generation information technology, AI, quantum technology, biotechnology, new energy and new materials.

China aims to be a global leader in technology and innovation by 2035, as Beijing moves to improve economic strength and national defences amid growing competition with the United States and its allies.

“We are improving the precision of quantum computers, while expanding their applications such as in encryption techniques and precious measurement,” Yu said.

He added that it was “challenging” for China’s industrial system to find top-tier suppliers in each link of the long supply chain required by the quantum computing sector. Collaboration in design, procurement and processing by various parties was also crucial.

“We need talent from a wide variety of areas. They should be patient and try to establish expertise in their own areas, instead of rushing to sectors that are already heated.”

Yu said a lack of innovation had played out in China’s renewable energy sector as manufacturers of solar cells and lithium ion batteries “involuted” in a relentless competition to undercut each other, eventually resulting in increasingly discounted products.

Quantum computing – considered a disruptive technology – uses elementary particles called qubits, short for quantum bits, as its basic unit of information, the equivalent of digital bits used in traditional computing.

China and the US are among major world powers racing to lead the field, which has the potential to transform many sectors, including health, finance and data security.

China was the third country to build a complete quantum computing system in 2021, after Canada and the US. The system was developed by start-up Origin Quantum, founded in 2017 by Guo Guoping and Guo Guangcan, quantum physicists at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei in Anhui province.

Chinese publisher who gave world The Three-Body Problem under corruption probe

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3283678/chinese-publisher-who-gave-world-3-body-problem-under-corruption-probe?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese publisher best known for discovering The Three-Body Problem, the award-winning sci-fi novel recently adapted into a hit Netflix series, is under investigation for corruption.

Yao Haijun, deputy editor-in-chief of the influential magazine Science Fiction World, is accused of “severe violations of party discipline and the law”, authorities in Sichuan province said, using the usual official euphemism for corruption.

The announcement was published on Wednesday on the website of the Sichuan anti-corruption watchdog, which cited a disciplinary review by its science and technology department. The department had assigned the city discipline inspection body of Luzhou to carry out the review, the notice said.

No further details were given.

Yao, 58, began his career in science fiction publishing more than three decades ago.

According to public records, his first job was in 1988 at a forest farm in northeastern Heilongjiang province.

While working on the farm, Yao raised money to start a magazine called Nebula, which focused on science fiction updates and reviews. The magazine gained some attention, according to Chinese media reports.

He later moved to Shanxi province to join Science Fiction King magazine, before relocating again to Sichuan’s capital Chengdu to work for Science Fiction World.

He became deputy editor-in-chief in 2005 and was made a company director in 2018.

Yao is known for spotting the commercial value of Chinese author Liu Cixin’s sci-fi trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past, which opens with The Three-Body Problem.

The work made its debut as a series in Science Fiction World before being published as a book in 2008. Yao became its editor and promoter, laying the ground for its later grand success.

The trilogy, whose other parts are titled The Dark Forest and Death’s End, is about humans combating alien civilisations across centuries, starting with China’s Cultural Revolution. Kicked off by late leader Mao Zedong in 1966, the movement sparked a decade of political and social turmoil.

The trilogy was translated into English by Chinese-American author Ken Liu. In 2015, The Three-Body Problem became the first work by an Asian author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel, which recognises the world’s best science and fantasy fiction.

The novel was turned into an eight-episode Netflix series earlier this year.

Yao described his introduction to Liu Cixin’s fantasy trilogy as “the explosion of a hundred billion suns”. This was what led to his decision in 2006 to serialise the first part in his magazine, which already had a large readership. The novels later gained wider fame and have been published in more than 19 languages globally, according to Chinese media.

Yao’s downfall comes with Chinese President Xi Jinping signalling there would be no let-up in his signature anti-corruption campaign, which is well into its second decade.

Last week, the Communist Party’s leading ideological magazine Qiushi reprinted a call from Xi on fighting corruption in literature and arts.

“Literature and art should not become slaves to the market, and they should not be tainted by the stench of money,” Xi had told a symposium on literature and art in 2014, a year after launching his clean-up drive.

Yao is among several top Chinese media publishers placed under investigation in recent years.

They include Cheng Feng, a senior executive at Shanghai’s leading media group and chairman of prominent news outlet The Paper, who was similarly accused last year.

In March, Chinese state-affiliated media published a scathing piece on the 3 Body Problem Netflix series, alleging the adaptation promoted “American cultural hegemony” under the guise of diversity.

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Tesla is the pure EV king, but Chinese drivers steer to hybrids as they worry about range

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3283679/tesla-pure-ev-king-chinese-drivers-prefer-hybrids-they-worry-about-range?utm_source=rss_feed

Tesla retained its top position as the world’s largest seller of pure electric vehicles (EVs) in the third quarter, though its China outlook is complicated by consumer preferences for hybrid cars and competition from challengers like BYD and Xiaomi.

On Thursday, the Austin, Texas-based company said its global deliveries for the third quarter rose 5 per cent from the previous period to 462,890 vehicles. Deliveries rose 6.3 per cent from a year earlier.

Tesla bested China’s BYD in pure EV sales for the third consecutive quarter. In the fourth quarter of last year, the Shenzhen-based company overtook Tesla in pure EV sales. BYD sold 443,426 pure EVs in the third quarter, up 2.7 per cent from a year earlier and 4.1 per cent higher than the second quarter.

But in China, the world’s largest car market, consumers appear to be favouring hybrids over pure EVs as they worry about driving range. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, pure EV sales in September rose 29.2 per cent from a year earlier. That lagged behind the sales improvements for plug-in hybrids and extended-range vehicles, which grew by 96.7 per cent and 89.1 per cent, respectively, during the same period.

BYD, the world’s largest maker of new-energy vehicles, leaned on its hybrids to drive up total sales in the third quarter. It sold 685,830 plug-in hybrids globally, up 75.6 per cent from a year earlier and 23.2 per cent from the second quarter. That drove its total sales to 1.13 million units in the third quarter, up 37.4 per cent from a year earlier and 41.9 per cent from the second quarter, the company said.

With domestic companies focusing more on the hybrid market, Tesla – which only produces pure EVs – is likely to account for a majority of sales in China’s pure EV market, according to Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based electric-car data provider CnEVPost.

“In China’s pure EV sector, the gap between Tesla and BYD will continue to widen,” Zhang said.

Tesla said its third-quarter net profit rose 17 per cent from a year earlier to US$2.17 billion, while its revenue grew 8 per cent to US$25.2 billion. CEO Elon Musk said he expects vehicle sales to increase 20 per cent to 30 per cent next year, as the company works on increasing the profitability of its EV business.

Earlier this month, Tesla said it would cut prices for its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV in the US market. In April, it slashed the starting prices for four of its models in mainland China by 14,000 yuan (US$1,968).

Tesla is likely to face additional headwinds in China because its local competitors are introducing more EV models with smart features at more attractive prices, according to Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai consulting firm Automotive Foresight.

“Tesla currently faces several issues in China,” Automotive Foresight’s Zhang said. “It hasn’t introduced any new models for a long time, while other Chinese EV companies continue to release new models with better design, smart cockpits and even better smart driving features at a price range of just 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.”

Consumers of Chinese EVs have a plethora of choices as companies like Xiaomi, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto have added features including refrigerators and in-car karaoke to their cars at much lower price points.

Meanwhile, Chinese EV makers are accelerating their overseas expansions, which could further narrow their gap with Tesla in the global market, according to Zhang Xiang, who heads a research centre at the Jiangxi New Energy Technology Institute.

C919 tour gives students a glimpse of China’s ‘road to take-off’

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3283680/c919-tour-gives-students-glimpse-chinas-road-take?utm_source=rss_feed

In a large workshop near the Pudong International Airport in the eastern suburbs of Shanghai, six C919 planes were being assembled under four red banners with slogans reading “Long-term dedication, long-term hardship, long-term research, long-term endeavour.”

Opposite the banners were over 30 schoolchildren and parents enjoying a bird’s-eye view on a high-rise corridor as a tour guide explained the progress for building each aircraft.

They were one of the student groups that the Shanghai-based and state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) had welcomed since a study tour programme was launched in mid-September in a bid to inspire national pride among the new generation.

Offering a rare glimpse at the final assembly of China’s home-grown passenger jet, the one-day tour across Comac’s major manufacturing base in Pudong is designed to allow students to experience China’s “road to take-off” and have a dream of flying, according to the official introduction.

“C919 starts with a C, that is short for China, and at the same time, coincidently in alphabetic order, follows B as in Boeing and A as in Airbus, the world’s two plane making giants,” tour guide Chen Shuliang from China Travel Service (CTS), the sole partner of Comac’s tour service, told the children.

Promoted as a potential challenger in global aviation, the C919 is China’s version of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families of aircraft, which are two of the bestselling models worldwide.

The twin-engined C919, which made its first commercial flight with China Eastern Airlines in May 2023 after 14 years of development, has secured over 1,300 orders so far, according to Comac.

It has also often been touted in domestic media as a potential game-changer in the global market.

“I’m proud we have our own large passenger plane. But there’s still a long way for it to become totally Chinese and be in wide use as those made by Boeing and Airbus,” said a student surnamed Zhao, who is an aviation enthusiast.

Most parts used for the C919 are imported from foreign manufacturers, including the engine, avionics, control systems, communications and landing gear, although Comac has been working to replace some of the foreign parts.

The tour also included an opportunity to get aboard a retired Y-10, China’s first self-made passenger jet that was in use between 1980 and 1985, with the students given a lesson into how China started its plane-making ambitions from scratch.

Visitors were encouraged to take photos at a sculpture themed “Never give up” near the plane, though taking photos was prohibited in any other parts of the 270-hectare (667 acre) factory.

At least five groups took turns to take photos and get aboard the Y-10 as tour guides told stories about three other retired jets on display nearby, including a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, a Boeing 737 and an ARJ21, which is also manufactured by Comac.

The tour also offered a visit to the test flight command hall, where one of the company’s engineers gave a lecture on how humans make their flying dreams come true, in the hope of inspiring the students’ “yearning for the sky”.

Li Weina, an engineer responsible for the airframe structure of C929, a larger widebody jet also being developed by Comac, said the airframe was still in development and that “it’s still too early” to talk about a test flight.

Notably, the C929 could use a CJ-2000 engine that China has been working on independently, according to its corporate brochure.

The study tour had been available every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in the past month, but it has been suspended since the weekend.

But Comac’s Pudong operation is still open for customised tours for companies and schools, according to CTS’ travel app.

Indonesia drove Chinese ship out of disputed waters – is Beijing ‘testing’ Jakarta’s resolve?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283688/indonesia-drove-chinese-ship-out-disputed-waters-beijing-testing-jakartas-resolve?utm_source=rss_feed

Indonesia’s coastguard has escorted out a Chinese counterpart vessel that “disrupted” oil and gas exploration activity in the North Natuna Sea, an incident that observers warn is Beijing’s way of testing the resolve of the new Jakarta government.

The Maritime Security Agency, or Bakamla, said on Monday it had escorted out China Coast Guard 5402 ship (CCG 5402) that had “disrupted seismic survey and data processing activities being carried out by [state-owned oil firm] PT Pertamina East Natuna using the MV Geo Coral vessel”.

According to SeaLight, a research firm that monitors illegal incursions by Chinese ships into other countries’ waters, the CCG 5402 arrived in the North Natuna Sea on October 19 to “relieve” another Chinese vessel CCG5302.

SeaLight director Ray Powell in a statement on Tuesday said data showed the “harassment of Indonesia’s survey activity began on October 17 with the arrival of CCG 5302 into the area, prompting the deployment of the [Bakamla’s patrol vessel] Tanjung Datu 301 from the port of Batu Ambar the next morning”.

In a video released by Bakamla, an Indonesian crew member can be seen trying to communicate with CCG 5402 via radio. In response, the Chinese vessel claimed that the area was part of “China’s jurisdiction and sovereign rights”.

A patrol ship from Bakamla and another from the Indonesian navy, as well as an air patrol aircraft, were later deployed to “shadow and drive CCG 5402 vessel out of Indonesia’s jurisdiction in the North Natuna Sea”, Bakamla said.

However, the Chinese ship returned a day later and was shadowed and intercepted by Indonesian forces.

Bakamla spokesman Captain Yuhanes Antara said in a statement on Thursday that the crew of the Chinese vessel did not respond and had disrupted survey activities. “The expulsion carried out by Bakamla of the CCG ship on the North Natuna Sea Continental Shelf is a real form of commitment to always maintain security at sea.”

Analysts say Beijing is likely to be assessing the boldness of Indonesia’s new government, as the run-in took place only a day after the inauguration of Prabowo Subianto.

“While the two events may be unrelated, it’s worth noting that China often tests new leaders as a means of pushing the boundaries of their grey-zone aggressions,” Powell said.

Ple Priatna, a former Indonesian diplomat who has served in several posts including Beijing, suggested “there could be a hidden message” in the latest incursion in the North Natuna Sea.

“China wants to declare that [the water] falls under its nine-dash line. Whoever the leader is in power in Indonesia, China will [exercise] that claim. That’s why it dares to enter [the Natuna water] even though it is not [in] its jurisdiction,” Ple said.

Indonesia is not a claimant state in the highly disputed South China Sea, but the North Natuna Sea, part of the country’s exclusive economic zone in the north of Riau Islands, falls within Beijing’s so-called nine-dash line, within which it claims most of the South China Sea.

China’s incursions into the waters have become a friction point in an otherwise steady relationship between Jakarta and Beijing. The last dramatic stand-off between coastguards of both sides happened in January 2020, just a few months after former leader Joko Widodo started his second presidential term.

At that time, Jakarta sent fighter jets to the Natunas and summoned China’s envoy.

On its part, Jakarta has been trying not to let the issue get in the way of its relations with Beijing. On Thursday, Indonesia’s new defence minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin met China’s ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong in Jakarta, during which the two sides said they “hope to create new opportunities in bilateral relations that are not only limited to defence cooperation, but also to increasing the stability and prosperity of the region”, according to a readout from the Ministry of Defence.

Sjafrie has also expressed hope to resume joint exercises between Indonesia and China, which were suspended in 2015 due to the North Natuna Sea disputes.

Andreas Aditya Salim, director of maritime security strengthening and access to justice at think tank Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, said the latest incident was “a good reminder” for Prabowo “that the South China Sea conflict will not be resolved in the near future”.

“Prabowo may have a military background and always ignites the spirit of nationalism, but he cannot immediately change the constellation of our relations, especially with China. Our connections with China are already too complex as we build a lot of cooperation in many sectors,” Andreas said.

He urged the government to come up with a “grand strategy” to strengthen maritime security, and “not only in Natuna”.

Ple said while he appreciated Bakamla’s “proportional” measure in escorting the Chinese coastguard vessel out of the North Natuna Sea, he suggested that Prabowo discuss the matter with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a visit to Beijing next month.

“We have to send a message to China that our concern regarding this issue is quite serious. We do not want China to use the nine-dash line to claim such a wide jurisdiction. That is unacceptable,” Ple said.

China’s President Xi commits to staunch cooperation with Iran amid Mideast conflict

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3283628/chinas-president-xi-commits-staunch-cooperation-iran-amid-mideast-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged during his first meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to “unwaveringly develop cooperation with Iran” amid growing fear of an all-out war in the Middle East.

“Regardless of changes in the international and regional situation, China will unwaveringly develop cooperation with Iran,” Xi told Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a Brics summit in Russia’s southwestern Kazan, according to a statement by China’s foreign ministry.

“China supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and dignity, steadily advancing its economic and social development, and improving and deepening its good-neighbourly relations with neighbouring countries,” he added.

Pezeshkian said Tehran was willing to promote deeper cooperation with China in crucial economic sectors, such as infrastructure and clean energy, according to China’s foreign ministry.

The Islamic Republic president also vowed to “stand firmly with China” in support of each other on core interests “to oppose global hegemony and bullying” – a clear reference to the United States.

The founding members of Brics – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – invited Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join the bloc during the summit in Johannesburg last year. Saudi Arabia has not officially joined the group.

The Iranian president’s visit to Russia and an in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart are his first since being sworn into office in July.

Their meeting came amid growing fears of an all-out war in the Middle East after Israel intensified its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and the Hezbollah militia, both of which are backed by Iran.

Though the shadow wars between Iran and Israel have been ongoing for decades, the recent direct air strikes have pushed regional tensions to a new high.

On Wednesday, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said the planned air strikes on Iran, in retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on October 1, would make the world understand Israel’s military might.

Speaking to Xi, Pezeshkian said his country believed that “war does not benefit anyone, and therefore, it is not seeking conflict”.

However, he added, if anyone conducts an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic, “they will receive a tough and decisive response,” according to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.

The Iranian president also condemned Israel’s incursion towards Gaza and Lebanon, and “the unwavering support of the United States and certain Western states” for the Jewish nation.

Xi said China was deeply concerned about the current situation in the Middle East, adding that a Gaza ceasefire should be realised “at the earliest possible date”.

Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi he was deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region, and said that Israel should “proceed cautiously”.

During a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Wang stressed that an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages were top priorities to avoid “falling into a vicious circle”.

China has voiced support for Tehran amid the escalating tensions with Israel as a result of the conflict in Gaza; however, China has urged both sides to de-escalate tensions to avoid further expansion of the conflict.

Meanwhile, both China and Iran have been subject to US-led scrutiny due to national security concerns. But the expanded Brics bloc, which aims to unite developing economies, could offer both China and Iran a financial and political foundation to counter the impact of ongoing sanctions.

Tehran, like some other Global South governments, such as Moscow, is actively building its yuan-trade infrastructure, as a way to hedge the risk of a US dollar-based international trading system.

Technology is also a crucial battleground. On Monday, the US proposed new rules in a bid to protect the personal data of American citizens as well as federal government data from getting into the hands of foreign adversaries, including Iran, China, and Russia.

Washington announced that six Chinese companies would be added to the Entity List – a trade-restriction register – for supporting the development of Iran’s weapons of mass destruction, which will cut them off from receiving American technology without a special license.

Xi also expressed his concerns over the Israel-Gaza war during his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday, saying that the “Palestinian issue is the core of the Middle East issues” and “a Gaza ceasefire should be achieved as soon as possible”, the Chinese foreign ministry statement read.

According to the Egyptian presidency, both China and Egypt – which borders the Gaza strip – “view establishing the Palestinian state via a political process … as the optimal solution to ensure sustainable security in the region”.

The Egyptian leader paid a state visit to China in May, just days after Israel’s troops clashed with Egyptian soldiers near the Egypt-Gaza border, during which Xi also called on Cairo to actively engage in a ceasefire.

Egypt, one of the three official Middle East members of the Brics bloc, is seen as a crucial mediator on Israel-Palestinian issues by Beijing and a core cooperator in its Belt and Road Initiative in Africa.

During their meeting, Xi pledged to further cooperate with Egypt on the belt and road programme to “jointly promote the common interests of developing nations”.

Several multibillion-dollar deals from Chinese logistics, transport and energy firms have flowed into Egypt in recent years, especially the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

Between 2017 and 2022, Chinese investment in Egypt increased by 317 per cent, while US investment in Egypt fell by 31 per cent during the same period.

French Nobel-winning laser scientist Gérard Mourou joins China’s top university

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3283624/french-nobel-winning-laser-scientist-gerard-mourou-joins-chinas-top-university?utm_source=rss_feed

French physicist and Nobel laureate Gérard Mourou has joined Peking University’s School of Physics as a chair professor, where he is expected to play a “crucial role” in the establishment of an institute focused on cutting-edge research and international collaborations.

Mourou’s appointment was announced on the school’s website on Monday. The 80-year-old began his new role on October 12 and is spending the first weeks meeting students and leading researchers at the teaching and research facilities, it said.

According to the statement, Mourou’s contributions are expected to be crucial in establishing the new institute. Its research will cover areas such as laser physics, particle and nuclear physics, medical physics, and astrophysics, it said.

Mourou shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work on chirped pulse amplification – a technique that enabled the application of ultra-fast lasers to fields such as eye surgery and precision manufacturing.

His career has included extensive, long-term collaborations with numerous universities and institutions in China and he has spoken highly of the country’s advancements in science.

Mourou played a key role in the development of a laser-driven, multi-beam facility – a joint project between Peking University, the École Polytechnique in Paris, and the global technology company Thales.

At a public event in Beijing, shortly after receiving the Nobel Prize, Mourou expressed his admiration for China’s scientific progress. “The gap is really narrowing. I was amazed to see the progress. I don’t know how you can do better than that,” he said.

He also remarked that the Chinese government was doing a better job prioritising science than the United States, which at the time was led by then-president Donald Trump.

“Science is very, very respected here … but Trump does not take advice from anybody,” he was reported to have said at the time.

According to Peking University’s human resources office, a chair professorship is a full-time, contract-based position created in 2009 to “attract and retain a large number of high-level talent to work at the university”.

Mourou, who was born in Albertville, France in 1944, earned his PhD from Pierre and Marie Curie University in 1973. He later joined the University of Rochester in the US, where he conducted his Nobel Prize-winning work.

The physicist shared the prize with his student, Canadian Donna Strickland who was the first female physics winner in 55 years.

Mourou went on to work at the University of Michigan, where he founded the Centre for Ultrafast Optical Science, and later at the École Polytechnique before relocating to Beijing.

He is also known for initiating the Extreme Light Infrastructure, the world’s largest and most advanced high-powered laser infrastructure which consists of facilities in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.

In recognition of his long-standing ties with Chinese academic and scientific institutions, Mourou was elected as a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2020.

Superstar Jay Chou lookalike draws big crowds to China eatery for tasty treats and selfies

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3283250/superstar-jay-chou-lookalike-draws-big-crowds-china-eatery-tasty-treats-and-selfies?utm_source=rss_feed

A doppelganger of “King of Mandopop”, Jay Chou, in the form of a street food vendor in China has recently opened an eatery, attracting a large number of customers.

This lookalike is being celebrated as the “biggest winner among all Chou doubles”.

42-year-old Bai Xianying, a stuffed pancake vendor from a small town in northern China’s Hebei province, is well-known as “porridge and pancake Jay” or “Zhou Binglun” in Chinese – a playful nod to the Taiwanese star’s pinyin name – since 2020.

Bai skyrocketed to online fame after a customer posted a video of him selling pancakes, accompanied by a song from Chou as background music. His Douyin account now boasts 1.8 million followers.

After the opening of Bai’s stuffed pancake store in Tianjin municipality on October 15, long queues formed outside, as people clamoured to see him in person and take photographs together – all for just 8 yuan (US$1) per stuffed pancake.

His popularity stems from his relatable and humble attitude towards life.

Despite receiving numerous invitations from multichannel network (MCN) companies to become a full-time influencer or e-commerce live-streamer, Bai declined, emphasising that he is “just a man who makes pancakes”.

In contrast, many other Jay Chou lookalikes have sparked controversy by profiting from their resemblance.

One such doppelganger from central China’s Shaanxi province, known as @heilun, embarked on a concert tour across bars in China, charging attendees up to 6,000 yuan (US$840) for a single show – more expensive than tickets for the real Jay Chou’s concerts.

Another lookalike from Henan province, referred to as “Zhoukou Jielun”, faced online backlash for endorsing a counterfeit iced tea brand, leading to his account being removed from Douyin.

Legal experts have warned celebrity doppelgangers that they could face serious legal repercussions if the celebrities choose to sue for violations of portrait and name rights.

Bai has never performed any of Jay Chou’s songs, despite repeated requests, citing his lack of singing ability.

He also refrains from wearing make-up or undergoing cosmetic procedures to look more like Chou, a practice some other lookalikes have adopted.

The only “starlike” endeavour he has taken on since his rise to fame is his national “pancake tour”, during which he sells his stuffed pancakes across China.

Bai attended Jay Chou’s concerts in September last year and May this year to support the artist who helped him achieve fame and success.

He chose to open his first eatery in Tianjin, close to his home province of Hebei, to secure an official hukou residency, thereby benefiting his teenage child’s education.

“The only thing I want to do is sell pancakes well,” he stated.

An online observer remarked: “He has gone viral for four years, yet he remains grounded and has never exploited Jay Chou’s fame. I truly respect him.”

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No let-up likely in EU trade battle with China as commission nominees take tough stand

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3283573/no-let-likely-eu-trade-battle-china-commission-nominees-take-tough-stand?utm_source=rss_feed

The EU will continue on a combative path towards China over the next five years, according to written statements provided by senior officials nominated to help run Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission.

More trade probes, tighter screening for unfair subsidies, renewed efforts to counter the impacts of industrial overcapacity, China’s ties with Russia, and weaponised interdependencies all featured prominently across half a dozen submissions on the portfolios most relevant to Beijing.

The written statements landed on Wednesday, ahead of confirmation hearings at the European Parliament in the coming weeks and with the new commission expected to be in place by the end of November. The submissions suggest that von der Leyen’s confrontational approach to dealing with China is here to stay.

Kaja Kallas, the hawkish German politician’s pick to be the EU’s next top diplomat, said she would “spare no effort in defending the EU’s values … from systemic rivals”, among which she includes China.

“The most pressing challenges here are China’s support for Russia as well as structural imbalances between the EU and China that result from non-market policies and practices, which create unfair competition and an unlevel playing field,” said the ex-Estonian prime minister, who is expected to be much more assertive than outgoing foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

She said that the bloc should use the “new horizontal sanctions regime on hybrid threats” to protect EU citizens from “actors such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and partly China”, who she claimed “aim at weaponising interdependencies and exploiting the openness of our societies against us”.

While Kallas would have some influence over the bloc’s foreign policy priorities, they will largely be dictated by its 27 member states.

The areas over which the commission has full control, however, are trade and competition. On both fronts, von der Leyen has pursued a tough agenda towards Beijing, which looks set to continue.

Competition chief nominee Teresa Ribera, a Spaniard, threw her full support behind the commission’s foreign subsidies regulation (FSR), a new tool that gives it broad powers to investigate companies suspected of receiving undeclared state subsidies enabling them to undercut EU competitors.

It can be used when non-EU firms bid for procurement contracts or attempt mergers or acquisitions. The commission can also launch an investigation of its own volition and has used this predominantly to go after Chinese firms.

“I will rigorously enforce the FSR to protect the single market from distortive subsidies by countries outside the union to ensure a level playing field for all companies,” Ribera wrote.

Stephane Sejourne, the French nominee to oversee the EU’s industrial strategy, confirmed his support for the tool as well, saying it “has already shown its effectiveness and we will make full use of it”.

Confirming the union’s shift away from its free trading past, he said “industrial, trade and economic security policies” were “two sides of the same coin”.

“We need to make sure that we continue to benefit from international open and rules-based trade, while limiting the risks that excessive dependencies will be weaponised. We have powerful tools at our disposal in this respect, which we should use, such as the foreign subsidy instrument,” Sejourne said.

Maros Sefcovic, a trusty von der Leyen loyalist who has been nominated to take the trade brief, pledged to pursue a “more balanced and reciprocal trade relationship” with China.

This would include “addressing significant level playing field concerns linked to the negative externalities of China’s state driven economic model and industrial policy, as well as the overcapacities that are distorting global markets and supply chains”, Sefcovic said.

“Addressing these challenges will require continuous dialogue as well as the strategic use of our updated toolbox of autonomous instruments whenever necessary,” the Slovak diplomat added.

Sefcovic will also be in charge of the EU’s economic security strategy, which does not name China but was written with Beijing in mind.

He vowed to continue working towards a bloc-wide export controls regime, tightening its inbound investment screening mechanism and also exploring whether an outbound investment screening tool would work.

However, these tools have faced significant pushback from EU members, who have railed against a perceived power grab by Brussels.

“With regard to outbound investments, I will seek, in cooperation with the member states and businesses, a deeper and better understanding of the risks we face, by systematically reviewing and assessing transactions taking place in certain selected sectors. On this basis, I will consider further policy responses in dialogue with the European Parliament and the member states,” Sefcovic said, in language that appeared to acknowledge the broad unease with the strategy.

What caused an unexpected, record-setting tidal event on China’s east coast?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3283581/what-caused-unexpected-record-setting-tidal-event-chinas-east-coast?utm_source=rss_feed

Late Monday evening, along the coast of northeastern China’s Bohai Sea, the water began to rise as it normally does when tide comes in.

But the water kept rising.

Under the cover of darkness, the tidal surge swept across several coastal regions in the provinces of Liaoning and Hebei, as well as the city of Tianjin, which is situated just over 100km (62 miles) southeast of the capital Beijing. The waters quickly flooded inland areas, prompting emergency responses and shattering official records.

“In the absence of obvious wind and waves, a sudden increase in water levels over such a large area has never been recorded either domestically or internationally,” said Fu Cifu, the head of the Storm Surge Forecasting Office at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre, in an interview with state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.

The event was strong and sustained, with water levels staying about 1 metre (39 inches) above normal for more than 20 hours, with several tide gauge stations in Liaoning reporting record-breaking levels.

But the impact was also felt in many other parts of the country. Reverse flows of seawater surged down the coast of the Yellow Sea in Jiangsu province, as well as the East China Sea coast in southeastern Fujian province. In the South China Sea, including the regions of Hong Kong and Macau, tides were 30cm (12 inches) higher than usual.

Residents all along the coast shared videos online showing submerged roads, with some joking that their villages suddenly looked like Venice. In the cities of Dalian, Yingkou, Panjin, Jinzhou and Huludao, buildings were flooded, prompting residents to scramble to higher areas.

“This serves as a reminder to us. In the context of global climate anomalies, extreme weather events may arrive quietly without any warning. We need more research on new kinds of natural disasters,” Fu said.

As the waters rose, the Ministry of Natural Resources began a level-4 emergency response for marine disasters. Five teams of experts were dispatched to Liaoning, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong to inspect and survey the high water levels in local areas and assess the damage.

An amateur meteorological enthusiast group, known as “China Weather Fans,” posted a video suggesting that the event was mainly the result of a rare confluence of astronomical, meteorological, oceanographic and topographic factors.

“Firstly, October 20 marked the strongest astronomical tide of the year. Secondly, the recent super moon just ended, raising tide levels by an additional 20cm. Thirdly, the recent weakening of a cold air mass in the north caused a drop in atmospheric pressure at sea level, naturally leading to a rise in sea height. Lastly, a tidal wave generated in the Pacific Ocean coincided with these changes as it reached Bohai Bay,” the group said in the video.

According to an unnamed expert from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the unusual rise in water levels was due mainly to a combination of storm surge oscillations and astronomical tides that began a couple of days earlier.

A warm, moist air flow had moved north along the Yellow River colliding with the southward-moving cold front in the Bohai region, forming a cyclone – similar to a typhoon – which caused a storm surge in advance.

“The oscillation began in Bohai Bay on October 19, propagating southward to Shandong and then rebounding back to Liaoning, where it met the high tide, leading to a seawater backflow phenomenon,” the expert said.

As of Wednesday, the floodwaters in the most severely affected areas like Panjin City had largely receded, traffic had returned to normal, and no casualties had been reported.

China’s stimulus salvo enters second month: our overview, and what comes next

https://www.scmp.com/economy/policy/article/3283561/chinas-stimulus-salvo-enters-second-month-our-overview-and-what-comes-next?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s adoption of numerous stimulus measures in the past 30 days – a rapid-fire period following months of comparatively muted activity – has sent ripples through markets and stoked far-reaching expectations for further action to give the world’s second-largest economy a welcome jolt of activity.

Analysts have taken the turnaround as a sign the leadership has re-evaluated the necessity of a relief package comparable to 2008’s 4 trillion yuan (US$564.7 billion) stimulus, adopted to stave off the effects of the global financial crisis.

As the guessing game continues over the ultimate size of the stimulus, we examine how the country’s response has evolved, its impact so far and the moves which could still be on the table.

The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, kicked off the month of stimulus measures with a number of changes, including a cut of 0.2 percentage points to the seven-day policy rate, a cut of 0.5 percentage points to the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) and a slashing of the mortgage rate. Governor Pan Gongsheng later indicated more cuts to the RRR could be considered.

President Xi Jinping convened an unexpected meeting of the Communist Party’s Politburo to discuss economic work, and exhorted officials to revive real estate, consumption and the capital markets.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, announced it would advance 100 billion yuan from the 2025 fiscal budget and released a list of projects that would receive a cumulative 100 billion yuan in funding.

The Ministry of Finance shared its plan for a one-time debt ceiling increase for local governments to swap out their “hidden debts”, and said it would broaden the use of local special-purpose bonds. It assured the market that the central government still has “room” to raise debt and the fiscal deficit.

The country’s housing ministry said it will cover a million housing units with its urban village reconstruction programme, while financial regulators pledged to double the current credit allocation to qualified property projects by year’s end, for a total of 4 trillion yuan.

The central bank rolled out a swap facility, which enables the exchange of assets with poor liquidity with higher-quality assets, with an initial volume of 50 billion yuan.

On the same day, the PBOC cut its five-year loan prime rate – which commercial banks use as a benchmark for mortgage rates – from 3.85 per cent to 3.6 per cent. It also slashed the one-year loan prime rate, typically used as reference for corporate loans, by 0.25 percentage points to 3.1 per cent.

China’s benchmark Shanghai composite index rose around 20 per cent over the past month, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong has firmed by 13.8 per cent.

The country saw a 4.7 per cent expansion in added value over the third quarter, a change Deutsche Bank’s chief China economist Yi Xiong said could be partly attributed to “the sentiment boost from the recent announcement of stimulus measures”.

Travel spending over the seven-day National Day holiday in early October saw its own upward momentum, with 700.82 billion yuan (US$99 billion) in domestic tourism revenue, a year-on-year rise of 6.3 per cent and up by 7.9 per cent from the same period in 2019.

International financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and UBS have raised their 2024 China economic growth forecasts in view of the stimulus measures, placing their projections near the official target of “around 5 per cent”. Moody’s Analytics raised its forecast from 4.8 per cent to 4.95 per cent.

“To be clear, the latest supports are welcome,” Moody’s Analytics economist Harry Murphy Cruise said.

The International Monetary Fund, while waiting to see the details of China’s total fiscal stimulus, warned of further declines in confidence among households and companies alongside lingering property market issues.

“The measures announced at the end of last month by the PBOC, although they go in the right direction, are not sufficient to lift growth in a substantially material way,” said Pierre‑Olivier Gourinchas, a director of the IMF’s research department, at a media briefing in Washington on Tuesday.

Property investment fell by 10.1 per cent year on year for the period from January to September, a small narrowing from the 10.2 per cent decline observed in the first eight months of 2024. Private investment fell 0.2 per cent year on year during the same nine-month period.

The intensive policy changes are expected to culminate at an coming session of the governing body of the National People’s Congress – the country’s top legislature, and the state organ with the authority to approve increases to the fiscal budget or bond quota – though that may be delayed as China awaits the results of the US presidential election in early November.

The annual central economic work conference, expected to be held in mid-December, has traditionally laid the groundwork for the following year’s GDP growth target, fiscal deficit ratio and bond issuance quota.

In the meantime, monetary easing will continue to provide liquidity and head off drastic fluctuations in capital markets. The central government will front-load its 2025 bond quota and expenditures while seeking higher bond sales next year.

China could sell trillions of yuan in special treasury bonds to support investment and swap out “hidden debt” for localities, analysts said, with most anticipating the 2025 fiscal deficit ratio to move well above the current 3 per cent.

Property sales could “stabilise” towards the second half of 2025 under certain conditions, an S&P Global Ratings analyst said this month, though another researcher at the agency warned that “structural changes” would reshape the market.

The property and capital markets could both improve on a wave of policies that help raise consumer prices and let the yuan appreciate, said Xiao Geng, director of the Institute of Policy and Practice at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen campus.

Although monetary policies are easier to get through the government’s approval process, Xiao said, fiscal stimulus – including payments for the poor and subsidies for companies – will make a bigger difference by encouraging investment and household spending.

Real estate or the Hong Kong stock market may serve as a “barometer” for this spending, he said.

“Ordinary people have no money, companies have no money, local governments have no money,” he said. “The only way to give this more momentum is fiscal. The government just needs to spend more.”

The Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences concurred in a quarterly report released on Tuesday, where a system of stockpiling for housing units was recommended.

“More expansionary fiscal policies need to be implemented as soon as possible,” it said.

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Tesla, HSBC among first foreign firms in China to apply for telecoms service trials

https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3283542/tesla-hsbc-among-first-foreign-firms-china-apply-telecoms-service-trials?utm_source=rss_feed

China is set to allow foreign companies to independently run data centres and offer various telecommunications services in the country, with US electric car maker Tesla and British bank HSBC among the first set of applicants.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) initiated a pilot programme in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen on Wednesday, allowing foreign companies to wholly own and operate internet data centres, conduct online data and transaction processing, and offer other telecoms services, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The pilot scheme enables foreign companies to “engage deeply in the Chinese market for services including cloud computing and computing power”, according to the Xinhua report on Wednesday.

Tesla is among the first batch of foreign firms to apply for the pilot, state media China Daily reported, citing Zhang Hongtao, an official of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.

The first group also includes Singapore-headquartered commodity firm Trafigura, a fintech subsidiary of HSBC, Siemens’ healthcare unit and US game engine developer Unity.

Regulatory approval by the MIIT will be required before foreign firms can carry out the trials, according to the ministry’s plan released in April.

“This expansion of the opening-up policy aims to actively align with international high-standard economic and trade rules, further enrich market supply, stimulate innovation vitality, and share the dividends of China’s digital economic development with the world,” MIIT said.

China’s MIIT unveiled its plan for the pilot scheme in April, which scraps foreign ownership caps for businesses involved in several types of telecoms services, including data centres, content distribution, internet access, online data and transaction processing as well as information release, delivery and protection.

However, online news publishing, online audiovisual services and internet cultural services are still off-limits to foreign investors seeking full ownership.

China is further opening up its economy to foreign capital to shore up its economic recovery, and achieve goals that include of around 5 per cent in 2024.

Although Tesla is actively seeking more involvement in the China market, its plan to roll out self-driving services in China still faces uncertainties amid mapping and data security issues.

Tesla has Chinese government support for trial runs of some self-driving vehicle features, but the carmaker’s full self-driving system has not been approved for use in the country, state-owned newspaper China Daily reported last week, citing industry sources.

Regulators are still vetting issues around self-driving technologies, data security and compliance, according to the report.

Defend euro against China-Russia push for alternative currency: Europe’s bank chief

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3283591/defend-euro-against-china-russia-push-alternative-currency-europes-bank-chief?utm_source=rss_feed

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde made a case for defending the euro as Russia and China touted de-dollarisation efforts at the annual Brics summit.

At a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington on Wednesday, the former IMF chief urged greater attention be paid to Beijing’s and Moscow’s advocacy of alternative currencies to the US dollar and euro.

“[China and Russia] will clearly attempt to push other currencies,” Lagarde said during the non-partisan think tank’s online event. “The renminbi is neck and neck with the euro on trade finance, so I think we all need to be attentive.”

“We need to listen to our customers and our competitors to see what will serve them best, with the concern of defending the currency, establishing the sovereignty as it should be by legitimate means but clearly defending finance.”

Lagarde’s comments came as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held annual meetings this week and after Chinese President Xi Jinping at an annual Brics meeting in Kazan, Russia, called on the bloc to lead “urgent” financial reforms.

China and Russia have increasingly used Brics – a group of major emerging national economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other countries – to promote its non-Western-led approach to policy.

The West in recent years has targeted China and Russia with more restrictive policies, including sanctions over their roles in the Ukraine war.

In a joint declaration on Wednesday, Brics said it was “deeply concerned” about the disruptive effect of “illegal sanctions” on the global economy. It stressed a need to reform the international financial architecture to make it “more inclusive and just”.

Xi’s call came as his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, pushed for developing a payment system for Brics members, aiming to bypass the dollar-dominated swift system that has excluded Russian banks since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Lagarde described China and Russia as increasing their purchases of gold, a move meant to reduce their reliance on the dollar.

She also highlighted the importance of a digital euro and linkage with a Europe-developed instant payment system able to incorporate countries from around the world, citing the rapid development of such systems in emerging economies.

Europe’s economy has been hit hard by the Ukraine war, leading to inflation and high energy prices.

At the same time, the continent is striving to boost its tech advances and transition to a greener economy amid a labour shortage and low productivity in manufacturing.

In tackling its competitiveness issues and a €300 billion (US$324 billion) trade deficit with China, the European Union since last year has sought to “de-risk” from Beijing.

Accordingly, it has heeded Washington’s plea to address Beijing’s manufacturing “overcapacity”, responding with trade restrictions against leading Chinese energy products, including extra tariffs of up to 35 per cent on the mainland’s electric vehicles.

Speaking about American and EU trade restrictions targeting China, Lagarde warned of their negative impacts on economic growth and inflation. She urged the next US administration to “bear that in mind”.

“When you look at [history], it’s pretty clear that periods of restrictions and barriers have not been periods of prosperity and strong leadership around the world,” said Lagarde.

America’s next president should note that “when the United States has been in strong leadership and when the economy has been prosperous have most often coincided with periods of trade around the world and engagement of the country”, she added.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are vying to succeed Joe Biden in a race that culminates on November 5. Biden opted not to seek re-election.

Trump has pledged to impose 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods and a universal duty on all US imports, triggering uncertainty among America’s allies in Europe.

Brazil’s Lula plans state visit for China’s Xi and talks in Amazon with US’ Biden

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3283593/brazils-lula-plans-state-visit-chinas-xi-and-talks-amazon-us-biden?utm_source=rss_feed

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is planning several engagements with his Chinese and US counterparts, built around their trips to the South American country – including one to the Amazon – for the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next month.

US President Joe Biden will attend the multilateral summit in Rio de Janeiro in person, a senior White House official said on Wednesday, while a Brazilian government official confirmed that Lula will host Chinese President Xi Jinping for an official state visit immediately after G20.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that during the trip, Biden plans to widen discussions on the Partnership for Workers’ Rights.

That initiative was launched with Lula on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last year and is focused on combating forced labour, promoting investment standards that support “decent” jobs, empowering workers and eliminating discrimination in the workplace.

Lula and Biden, Sullivan said, will be “looking to expand that to include other countries”.

The White House official also emphasised that US participation in this year’s G20 summit will be focused on “spearheading an effort that calls for the international financial institutions and the major creditors in the private sector to step up their relief for countries facing high debt burdens”.

The global debt issue emerged as a high priority at India’s G20 summit last year, where Indian diplomats proposed that major lenders, particularly China – the world’s largest sovereign creditor – accept substantial reductions in lending rates.

Beijing rejected these calls, instead insisting that resolving the debt crisis required “joint action” and an “in-depth analysis of the causes of global debt issues and to solve the problem in a comprehensive and effective manner”.

The China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, affiliated with the Ministry of State Security, also accused India of using debt restructuring to discredit Beijing by promoting the “debt trap” theory – which suggests China lends to poor countries to extract strategic military and political concessions.

While Sullivan has confirmed Biden’s coming trip, the White House has not released an official schedule.

However the meetings end up, they underscore the extent to which Washington and Beijing are competing for influence in Brazil and more broadly across Latin America.

Lula revealed earlier this year that his administration was putting together “a proposal to join” the , China’s flagship infrastructure and investment project. Washington is trying to counter the belt and road through funding led by its International Development and International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) and other agencies.

Sources told The Post on Wednesday that the US president will travel first to the Apec Summit in Peru, a six-day event that starts on November 10, followed by a stop to a city in the Amazon rainforest before heading to the G20 summit.

The Amazon visit, planned for Belém – the 2025 COP 30 host city – comes at Brazil’s invitation and could include an announcement of US contributions to a fund designed to finance efforts to protect the forest, whose health is vital as a major “sink” for global carbon emissions.

According to sources, this stop also serves to fill a diplomatic gap left by Biden, who is unable to stick with tentative plans to hold bilateral talks with Lula in Brasilia after the G20.

Instead, the Brazilian president will receive the Chinese leader Xi there for a series of events headed by several ministers from both countries and a state dinner.

US tariffs a necessary response to China’s trade practices, says Jake Sullivan

https://www.scmp.com/news/us/us-elections/article/3283594/jake-sullivan-defends-us-tariffs-necessary-response-chinas-trade-practices?utm_source=rss_feed

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan defended the Biden administration’s China strategy and broader foreign policy initiatives on Wednesday, as the White House heads into the final weeks before the election of a new president who will take charge in January.

Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Sullivan supported the administration’s continuation of tariffs on China, first imposed by Donald Trump, and its firm stance against Beijing’s diplomatic and economic practices.

As Election Day looms on November 5 – early voting has already begun – Trump, now the Republican nominee seeking a return to the White House, and his Democratic rival, US Vice-President Kamala Harris, have campaigned on their economic approaches.

Trump would focus on cutting income taxes while imposing even higher tariffs on foreign-made goods – including at least 60 per cent on imports from China.

Harris, promoting policies benefiting the middle class and controlling costs, has not discussed at length where she stands on tariffs, though last month she called Trump’s proposal “a sales tax on the American people”.

Sullivan – Harris’ colleague in the White House – argued Wednesday that Biden’s approach on China represented a return to “a tradition” of American foreign policy based on the concept of “self-interest rightly understood”.

The phrase, from the 19th-century French political scientist and diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville, is used to describe how US policy reconciles individual interests with the “common good”.

Renewing this principle, Sullivan said, was essential to confronting “the realities of today’s geopolitical moment in a way that will not only preserve America’s enduring strengths but extend them for generations to come”.

Addressing the tariffs, he said that the US was moving away from “policies that did not contemplate” the challenges imposed by the competition with China.

“The PRC is producing far more than domestic demand, dumping excess onto global markets at artificially low prices, driving manufacturers around the world out of business and creating a choke hold on supply chains,” Sullivan said.

“To prevent a second China shock, we’ve had to act. That’s what drove the decisions about our 301 tariffs earlier this year,” he added, in reference to Biden’s determination in May to maintain duties on an estimated US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Sullivan argued that tariffs and sanctions against China were consistent with traditional American support for free trade while working to create a “level playing field” between the two nations.

China’s ability to compete with US products, he contended, came through “widespread corruption, weak labour and environmental protections … which artificially drop prices to keep competitors out of the marketplace.”

The Biden administration, Sullivan said, had warned allies of the threat of increased dependency “on a country that has demonstrated its willingness to weaponise such dependencies”.

“And we’re seeing partners in both advanced and emerging economies reach similar conclusions regarding overcapacity and take similar steps to ward off damage to their own industries. From the EU to Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, Turkey and beyond.”

At the same time, Sullivan said other steps must be taken to buttress US standing in regions where China’s influence is stronger.

Congress, he said, must authorise increased multilateral financing to the Global South through institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He noted that several development finance institutions, including the International Development Finance Corporation, were also awaiting renewal by Congress, which he said would provide “a once-in-a-decade chance for America to strengthen some of its most important tools of economic statecraft … about how they can work better with the high-leverage multilateral institutions”.

Formed in 2018 as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the International Development Finance Corporation had drawn complaints from developing countries about its restrictions.

Taking additional steps to expand financing, Sullivan said, would respond to the criticism “that China has a chequebook and the US has a checklist”.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from around the world are gathering in Washington this week for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, when discussions are expected on the global economic situation and measures to relieve the debts of low-income countries.

On Wednesday, Sullivan stressed the need to revitalise these institutions, as well as “genuinely reforming” the World Trade Organization (WTO).

As the principal body governing international trade and setting trade rules, the WTO was harshly criticised by Trump while in office, when he claimed it failed to curb unfair business practices by China. The Biden administration shares some of those concerns.

Could US-China military ties endure the turbulence of another Trump presidency?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3283595/could-us-china-military-ties-endure-turbulence-another-trump-presidency?utm_source=rss_feed

The presidential race between and comes at a time of rising geopolitical tensions on multiple fronts. In the 10th report of an , Amber Wang looks at how the candidate’s attitudes to the US military could shape the future of US-China military relations.

A victory for Donald Trump in the coming US presidential election next month could inject greater unpredictability and complexity into US-China military relations, given the former president’s history of friction with military officials, analysts warned.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who recently vowed to continue military communications with Beijing, is more likely to stick to President Joe Biden’s policies countering China, offering greater certainty if she wins the election, they said.

“If he [Trump] becomes president, his relationship with the military will be complex and potentially tense, although, broadly speaking, the military must obey the [orders from the] president,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor at Renmin University’s School of International Studies in Beijing.

The overall US-China relationship will deteriorate further and become more difficult to manage, Shi said, adding that the relationship between the two militaries “will be similarly affected”.

The clashes between Trump and US military officials during his presidency from 2017 to 2021 encompassed a range of issues, including his proposals to use the military against protesters and their differences over external military strategy, such as a rapid withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and military aid to Ukraine.

Mark Esper, who served as Trump’s secretary of defence before being fired by him, wrote in a memoir released in 2022 that the former president had inquired about shooting protesters amid the unrest following George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Trump was eventually persuaded not to consider the move.

Separately, in an op-ed published by The Washington Post in June 2020, 89 former defence officials denounced Trump and accused him of using the US Armed Forces to undermine the constitutional rights of Americans protesting against police brutality.

“The [US] military emphasises discipline, while Trump acted recklessly. His contempt for relevant US law is something that senior military officials cannot accept,” Shi said.

The turnover among senior military officials during Donald Trump’s presidency was noteworthy, including the departure of James Mattis, Esper’s predecessor. It marked the first time in decades that such a significant number of senior military officials had left their roles in a single presidential term.

In a June interview with Fox News, Trump also vowed to fire generals who push “wokeness”.

“During his previous term, he was unfamiliar with foreign policy and had disagreements on certain issues with professionals in the military, which created a lack of coordination between him and the military,” said Diao Daming, also a professor at Renmin’s School of International Studies.

“However, it is difficult to determine whether the same situation will occur in the next four years, and even if it does, it is uncertain how much it will relate to China,” Diao added.

In the last few months of Trump’s presidency, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, made two phone calls – one in October 2020 and another in January 2021 – to his Chinese counterpart to reassure Beijing that the US would not attack the country.

“My task at that time was to de-escalate”, Milley told a congressional hearing in September 2021. Trump publicly blasted Milley as treasonous, claiming he did not authorise the call.

But Diao said that despite the “dramatic” differences between Trump and the military officials “fundamental strategic stability” had been maintained.

“The choices and pragmatic considerations of US military decision-makers reflected a wise approach,” Diao said, adding that those officials would continue to shape Trump’s thoughts on key national security issues if he won again.

“If we were to liken Trump to an octopus, he would be in an electrified tank. You might see him thrashing around in the tank, but in reality, there are boundaries. Many people are trying to persuade him and shape [his thinking],” Diao said.

Relations between China and the US saw significant declines during Trump’s presidency, particularly since the start of the trade conflict in mid-2018, with tensions soaring during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since Biden took office in 2021, he has maintained the Trump tariffs and other tough measures, while ramping up restrictions on China’s access to US technology.

After former US speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei to demonstrate US support for the island in August 2022, Beijing cut off some high-level military communication channels with Washington, which did not resume until more than a year later, after Biden and Xi met in San Francisco in November 2023.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is legally bound to arm the island to help it defend itself.

Harris has signalled she would continue Biden’s effort to maintain or add guardrails to bilateral relations with China. In an interview with CBS News this month, Harris said the US “should not seek conflict”, but protect American business interests.

“We have to make sure we have open queues of communication with China, particularly military-to-military [communication],” said.

“You cannot definitively say that Trump’s relationship with the military would be tense in his next term … It’s also uncertain who he would choose for key positions if he were to serve again,” said Senior Colonel (retired) Zhou Bo, a senior fellow of the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.

“However, it is certain that Trump is more unpredictable. In contrast, the policies of Harris have greater continuity,” Zhou said, adding that what US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said recently while in China – that the US seeks responsible competition – reflected the administration’s thinking, and that it was “certain that Harris would present such a unified front”.

A former Pentagon official said the US military chain of command has a reputation for continuity.

“The US military has a long-standing and good track record adhering to the political authority of civilian leadership. I don’t think that has been broken,” said Chad Sbragia, who served as deputy assistant secretary for defence during Trump’s presidency.

“There is certainly some turbulence, perhaps a little bit more in the Trump administration. But overall, it has a very good track record,” Sbragia, now a research staff member at the Institute for Defence Analyses, said.