Mistral点评

• Chinese scientists modify tomatoes to make them ‘significantly sweeter’
• Xi Jinping arrives in Peru for Apec, poised to sign 30 bilateral agreements for China
• Chinese city still officially in summer as 30-year heat record broken
• China-Russia trade set to hit new highs, but Trump factor, payments cloud outlook
• Chinese start-ups take the plunge to clean up in America’s backyards
• Trump’s back, but China must not go back to tit-for-tat tariffs, noted observer warns
• China’s job market braces for record number of fresh graduates next year
• China hawk Rubio likely to take hard line on Hong Kong but Beijing well prepared: experts
• Beijing reminds Canada of ‘one China’ commitment ahead of visit by Tsai
• China’s EV sector reaches 10 million production milestone, overcapacity fears deepen
• At China’s Zhuhai air show, Russia signs deals to export Su-57 fighter jet
• Pentagon in the firing line for using image of Chinese fighter jet to mark US Veterans Day
• China’s president will unveil a megaport in Peru, but locals say they’re being left out
• Hollywood star Rosamund Pike and family speak Mandarin, wants media to use her Chinese name
• Swarming drones and counter-drone systems dazzle at China’s Zhuhai air show
• Why the J-35 Gyrfalcon is crucial to China’s power projection on the high seas
• China’s coastguard circles Scarborough Shoal after Philippines stakes its legislative claim
• China’s luxury market loses shine as Bain study shows spending decline
• Trump’s mainstream picks for top foreign policy posts could reassure allies — and worry China
• Indonesia’s Prabowo on managing South China Sea row: ‘partnerships better than conflicts’
• Can Hongkongers make it big in Peru? The country’s Chinese community, experts weigh in
• Germany’s BioNTech buys China’s Biotheus in US$800 million push into cancer drugs
• What does Trump’s pick for Pentagon chief mean for US-China military ties?
• Palau says China ICBM test a ‘direct threat’, seeks US Patriot missile system
• British Museum to receive donation of Chinese ceramics worth US$1.27 billion
• Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort, FBI says
• Could ‘Peace Beans’ trade enrich US, China agricultural supply-chain diplomacy?
• China’s J-35 stealth fighter to be suited up for aircraft carrier service
• Palau’s pro-US president wins second term, defeating pro-China brother-in-law
• US accuses China of vast cyber-espionage against telecoms
• China to court G20 nations to bypass US-led sanctions in potential Taiwan conflict: report
• Trump picks China critic Marco Rubio as his secretary of state
• Trump could send EU hurtling toward tariff war with both US and China, Macron warns
• Award-winning mathematician Ma Xiaonan leaves Europe for China

Chinese scientists modify tomatoes to make them ‘significantly sweeter’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286504/chinese-scientists-modify-tomatoes-make-them-significantly-sweeter?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have successfully modified tomatoes to make them sweeter by removing two genes that regulate sugar content, according to a new study.

The researchers said the modified tomatoes had glucose and fructose levels that were up to 30 per cent higher than the variety they were based on, but the weight and yield was maintained.

“Our finding of the sugar brake genes … provides a possible solution for improving sugar content without reduction in fruit yield for modern commercial varieties, which are preferred by both consumers and producers,” the team said.

“[The] CRISPR-edited ‘sweetness-promoting’ tomatoes may be available to consumers in the near future,” they wrote in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on Thursday, referring to a genome editing technology.

The team led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing includes researchers from other institutes in China and Cornell University in the United States.

Most consumers prefer sweeter fresh tomatoes, and higher sugar levels can also increase the economic value of tomatoes when they are processed into other products.

When producing tomato sauce with a 28 per cent sugar concentration, for example, raising the soluble solids content including sugar from 4 to 5 per cent can reduce the amount of fresh tomatoes needed by up to a quarter, according to the study.

But the genetic links of tomatoes make it a challenge to achieve both sweetness and size.

During crop domestication, breeders focused on increasing the fruit size and cultivated tomatoes that are now 10 to 100 times larger than their wild ancestors. But while the tomatoes are bigger, they are not as sweet.

In the study, the researchers overcame that negative correlation between sugar content and yield with genome editing, which they called “an opportunity to engineer sweeter tomatoes in large-fruited cultivars without sacrificing size or yield”.

They also invited 100 volunteers to taste and compare the edited tomatoes with their original version in Shenzhen and Beijing. The modified tomatoes were found to be “significantly sweeter”.

Lead author Zhang Jinzhe, a researcher with the State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said the team had filed a patent on the use of the two genes to improve fruit sugar content.

“We hope to apply the gene-editing technique to different tomato varieties, especially those that are already commercialised and mass-produced, to see how it works on them,” he said, noting that tomatoes on the market were more resistant to disease, more durable in transport and had a longer shelf life than the lab-grown variety.

Xi Jinping arrives in Peru for Apec, poised to sign 30 bilateral agreements for China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286631/xi-jinping-arrives-peru-apec-poised-sign-30-bilateral-agreements-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Peru on Thursday morning accompanied by some 400 businesspeople and entrepreneurs to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that lasts through Saturday.

A focal point of the visit is Thursday’s virtual inauguration of Peru’s new US$3.5 billion Chancay Port funded and operated by China. Beijing and Lima also plan to sign some 30 bilateral agreements during Xi’s visit, including an updated free-trade agreement.

“We must build on our traditional friendship to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, and make it more responsive to the requirements of the new era,” Xi said in an article under his name in Peruvian media outlet El Peruano, timed to coincide with his arrival.

“The world is undergoing faster transformation unseen in a century. Humanity has again come to a crossroads in history.”

From Lima, Xi is scheduled to travel to Brazil for an annual meeting of the G20 and attend a state visit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on November 20.

Lame-duck US President Joe Biden also arrived on Thursday. The leaders of the world’s two largest economies are slated to talk on Saturday, the second and final day of the summit. It is likely to be Biden’s last time as president to meet Xi.

Biden and Xi will “take stock of efforts to responsibly manage competition”, a senior US official said ahead of their meeting. Their countries together account for some 43 per cent of global GDP.

It will mark Biden and Xi’s first known interaction since an April phone call and their first in-person meeting since they conferred on the sidelines of last year’s Apec meeting in California.

The pair are expected to discuss issues that have normally come up in Sino-American talks in recent years: Taiwan, alleged human-rights violations and Beijing’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all as Biden prepares to leave office in two months.

Apec and the various bilateral meetings on its sidelines will be overshadowed by policy questions tied to the US election this month of former president Donald Trump, who has already named several China hawks to top posts in his coming administration.

The president-elect campaigned on an “America-first” agenda of anti-immigration and protectionist tariffs, including a threatened 60 per cent tax on all Chinese imports.

Beijing will try over the course of this week and next to position itself as a “responsible global citizen” as the US turns increasingly inward.

China is the second-largest trading partner for South America after the US. It is also the largest trading partner for many countries on a bilateral basis and has free-trade agreements with five countries.

Beijing has another 22 projects under way in South America through its Belt and Road Initiative, the mainland government’s scheme to improve trade and economic integration around the world.

Xi in Thursday’s article added that China was ready to work with Peru to “practise true multilateralism, promoting an egalitarian and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation”.

Apec meets this year under the theme “Empower. Include. Grow.”. Created in 1989, when Asian economies were booming, the intergovernmental organisation aims to expand regional trade and reduce trade barriers.

But Apec’s own research suggests impediments are increasing in line with global trends and that its economic growth is likely to lag the rest of the world.

The group’s 21 member economies combined represent about 60 per cent of global GDP and more than 40 per cent of global commerce.

“It’s ironic that Trump will be talking about tariffs across the board while at Apec it’s been announced that Xi Jinping is going to sign a new updated free-trade agreement with the host country, Peru,” said Victor Cha of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

“There’s no real point for a US-China bilateral meeting to advance any new agenda, other than to ensure some sort of stability in the interim before the transition [from the Biden administration],” Cha added.

Chinese city still officially in summer as 30-year heat record broken

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/chinese-city-still-officially-in-summer-as-30-year-heat-record-broken

One of China’s biggest cities is still officially in summer, despite it being mid-November, as temperatures have failed to drop below the threshold considered necessary to mark the change in season.

This week, Guangzhou, a hot and humid city of nearly 19 million people in southern China’s Guangdong province, broke a three-decade heat record, according to the local meteorological service. As of Wednesday the city had experienced 235 summer days, beating 1994’s 234-day season.

Guangdong’s meteorological service pegs the change of seasons to the temperature, not the calendar date. Autumn is considered to start when the five-day average temperature is lower than 22C. The season generally begins around 9 November, but temperatures are forecast to stay at summer levels until at least 18 November, according to a statement published on the provincial government’s WeChat account. This year, summer began on 23 March.

Ai Hui, a senior engineer at the Guangzhou Climate and Agricultural Meteorological Centre, was quoted in Chinese state media as saying the reason for the long summer was that pressure from the Siberian high, a massive collection of cold dry air that affects weather patterns in the northern hemisphere, was unusually weak this year. That meant less cold wind had been blowing through Guangzhou. The city’s average temperature is currently 24.9C, 1.2C higher than historical averages.

In April, Guangzhou was hit by a tornado that killed at least five people and injured dozens. The province has also experienced severe flooding.

Extreme weather events have become more common across China in recent years, with droughts, floods and heatwaves putting strain on the infrastructure, especially electricity grids.

Analysis has found that human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters, from heatwaves to floods to wildfires. At least a dozen of the most serious events of the last decade would have been all but impossible without human-caused global heating.

In 2022, a long-running heatwave pushed electricity use to record levels in cities across China, including Guangzhou, as people and businesses used their air conditioning units at maximum levels in an effort to stay cool. This triggered major power outages.

China’s leaders have since become extremely concerned about energy security, which analysts worry is slowing down the country’s process of weaning itself off coal. China’s record-breaking installation of renewable energy has been regarded as one of the more optimistic developments in relation to global action on climate change.

China-Russia trade set to hit new highs, but Trump factor, payments cloud outlook

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3286562/china-russia-trade-set-hit-new-highs-trump-factor-payments-cloud-outlook?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s trade with Russia is set to hit new highs this year as payment barriers have been partly addressed in recent months, but analysts warned that US president-elect Donald Trump’s return could be accompanied with more hits to bilateral trade.

And prolonged financial sanctions are also complicating Russia’s efforts to sell products to China due to delayed payments, they warned.

China saw the quickest boost to its exports to Russia in almost a year in October, with shipments rising by 26.7 per cent year on year.

In the first 10 months of 2024, trade between the two countries amounted to US$202.2 billion, representing a 2.8 per cent increase from the previous year, according to Chinese customs data.

The rapid growth has been fuelled by the United States and European Union sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, with China becoming an important source of cars and electronics.

Russia’s growing appetite for goods from its southern neighbour has elevated it to China’s sixth-largest trading partner in the first 10 months of the year, and fourth-largest on a single-country basis, behind the US, Japan and South Korea.

“If president-elect Trump succeeds in forcing an end to the war in Ukraine, by whatever means, there will be less risk for Chinese companies who want to do business with Russia,” said Mary Lovely, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).

“At the same time, there will be few members of the existing sanctions regime who will want to do business with Russia, for a variety of reasons. Thus, trade between Russia and China will continue on its upwards trend.”

As Western car brands and suppliers pulled out of Russia, consumers turned towards China to fill the void, and last year, Russian imports of Chinese car parts and machinery surged to nearly US$25 billion.

Cars of various types and components dominated Russia’s imports from China, making up seven of the top 10 items, and nearly a quarter of all Russian imports from its southern neighbour from January to September.

Russia’s main exports to China remained raw materials, namely crude oil, timber and various fossil fuels.

Traders, though, are struggling with payments as Russia has been kicked out of the Swift financial messaging service since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, with further sanctions added in June.

And the barriers have already taken a toll as China’s imports from Russia dropped by 4.3 per cent year on year last month, slightly easing from a sharper 9.2 per cent decline in September.

“We were lucky enough to open a bank account with VTB in Russia before the war in Ukraine, one of the only few banks not heavily influenced in China under US’ sanctions,” said Eily Chen, who works for a foreign trade company engaged in Russia and Central Asia.

“But now, we’re helping our friends with their settlement issues. Many Chinese exporters are even lining up at VTB’s Shanghai branch to open accounts, hoping to navigate the payment hurdles.”

The 21-year-old accountant said customers have to wait at least three months to open an account due to the increased demand, and even if it is successful, there is a 4 per cent fee to speed up the process.

Exporters on Chinese social media platforms, including Xiaohongshu and Douyin, are also sharing tips and strategies on how to open accounts in third-party countries, like Kyrgyzstan, to bypass payment issues and keep trade between China and Russia flowing.

“Financial sanctions on Russia have strong support among a number of countries, not only US president-elect Trump will face opposition if he tries to undo these sanctions, but it remains to be seen how far he goes in restoring normal relations with Russia,” added PIIE’s Lovely.

The US has temporarily lifted sanctions on 11 Russian banks and their subsidiaries, allowing them to conduct energy-related transactions until the end of April.

The announcement was made by the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the Department of the Treasury six days before Trump’s election victory.

Chinese start-ups take the plunge to clean up in America’s backyards

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3286559/chinese-start-ups-take-plunge-clean-americas-backyards?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese manufacturers of robotic pool vacuums are cleaning up overseas as they join a wave of smart-product tech start-ups attempting to replicate the success of the country’s electric vehicle industry while keeping one eye on the turning tariff tide.

There are an estimated 30 million private swimming pools around the world – 90 per cent of them in the United States and Europe – and the market is growing by about 5 per cent a year, according to the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, a leading trade association in the US.

And SellerSprite, an online market research tool, said that more than half of the 100 bestselling robotic pool cleaners sold on Amazon in the US in recent years were made in China.

Several Chinese pool robot start-ups have raised several rounds of funding in the past couple years.

One of them, Beatbot Tech, which was founded two years ago and has raised close to 500 million yuan (US$69.14 million), has captured 85 per cent of the high-end market for pool robots priced over US$1,400, according to 36Kr, a Chinese news and data website that tracks start-ups.

That has encouraged other start-ups to dive into the market.

“Our strategy is to apply many smart technologies from other industries to robotic pool vacuums, making our products far superior to the Western brands that originally dominated this market,” said Mark Li, co-founder of Hippobot Technology, which is launching its first pool robot this month, adding that it is following the formula for success forged by China’s electric vehicle industry.

It initial product, which will sell for US$400, has many features not found in Western brands’ pool vacuums, including long battery life, environmental sensing and mapping and navigation, Li said, while it will cost just 600 yuan (US$83) to produce, thanks to China’s well-established new energy and automation supply chains.

He said that once mass production starts next year, procurement costs are likely to fall further.

Hippobot has already completed research and development work for its next-generation model, with Li contrasting that pace of development to the efforts of Western rivals, who might only release a new model every two or three years.

In addition to robotic pool cleaners, Chinese private tech start-ups are accelerating the application of smart technology in areas such as lawnmowers, unmanned aerial vehicles and agricultural machinery, and capturing market share through rapid iteration.

“If Chinese companies continue to expand their global market share in pool robots, this will also drive the research and development of upstream supply chains, such as ultrasonic sensors, and may provide funding for other sectors of Chinese smart manufacturing,” Li said.

“It’s similar to the way some successful sweeping robot companies ventured into the electric vehicle sector after their rise.”

However, the ambitious start-ups are facing the same risks as Chinese electric vehicle makers, with overseas markets threatening to erect higher tariff barriers.

Although currently exempt from tariffs, Li remains vigilant. He said that if they are imposed, he will have to raise prices, and, in the long run, shift some production to Southeast Asia countries, while admitting that neither of those options is easy for a start-up.

The difficulties Chinese start-ups face in securing funding in Western markets is another problem.

“If an excellent Chinese company can bring tenfold or hundredfold returns, why not invest?” Li asked.

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Trump’s back, but China must not go back to tit-for-tat tariffs, noted observer warns

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286597/trumps-back-china-must-not-go-back-tit-tat-tariffs-noted-observer-warns?utm_source=rss_feed

China must be careful not to engage in another round of tit-for-tat tariffs when Donald Trump returns to the White House, a highly regarded Beijing-based analyst has urged.

“We need to be very careful not to fall into the tit-for-tat trap, that vicious cycle, again,” Da Wei, director of the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, told a digital seminar on Thursday.

“It is difficult to avoid that trap, but I think we have to – we have no other choice,” Da said at the event hosted by the Centre for Globalisation Hong Kong, a think tank.

Since his re-election as US president last week, Trump has picked a string of loyalist China hawks for top jobs in his new cabinet, indicating a hardline stance beyond trade and tariffs.

During his campaign, Trump pledged to add up to 20 per cent tariffs on all imports and an additional 60 per cent on goods from China as part of his “America first” approach.

Trump’s first term saw the launch of the US-China trade war, with multiple rounds of tariff rises from both sides as the new president listed China as a primary threat to the United States. These included Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs on US industries that are important to Trump’s political base, like agriculture and manufacturing.

Da said there was a “strong sense of retaliation and revenge” in Trump’s camp as he seemed to “really believe it was because of China that he lost the last [presidential] campaign [in 2020]”.

The hardline approach to China is reflected in the composition of the Trump 2.0 White House. In recent days, Trump has nominated former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to head the CIA, FOX News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defence, and Florida congressman Michael Waltz as national security adviser. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik will be the new UN ambassador and Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be the next secretary of state.

All are known China critics to various degrees, while Rubio was sanctioned twice by Beijing in 2020 amid a slew of tit-for-tat moves.

“Those [appointments] will add more fuel to the [fire of the] difficulties we will face at least for the next two years,” Da said, adding that he was “quite pessimistic” about US-China relations in the near term due the looming uncertainties.

Trump’s second term would be “very different”, Da told Thursday’s virtual seminar, titled “Trump’s Back: The US, China and the World in the Post-2024 US Election”. Despite being known as “a transactional president”, it was unclear whether he was hoping to strike any deals with China, said Da, who is also a professor in Tsinghua University’s international relations department.

Neil Thomas, a fellow of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Centre for China Analysis, said big tariff hikes were likely to be “the most certain thing” about Trump’s second term as he looked for a “grand bargain”.

The tariffs and focus on China were “part of a bigger American strategy” and “part of a deal-making process that is going on in Trump’s mind”, Thomas told the same seminar.

“So they are there for their own sake, basically to advance the America first agenda, or they are going to be treated as leverage over China to extract some kind of broader, either economic or strategic, grand bargain.”

Jia Qingguo, an international relations expert from Peking University, also said US-China relations were set for another “rocky period”, but expected American companies with a stake in China to help to fend off the worst.

He said he did not think that US firms, who might also be hugely affected by any potential tariffs or trade war, “would allow anybody to take away their China market”.

China’s job market braces for record number of fresh graduates next year

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3286557/chinas-job-market-braces-record-number-fresh-graduates-next-year?utm_source=rss_feed

There will be more fresh university graduates in China next year than ever before, according to government estimates, with the increase likely to put more pressure on the job market as the economy struggles to get back up to full steam.

Estimates released by the Ministry of Education on Thursday show that the number of university graduates would increase by 430,000 next year, reaching a record high of 12.22 million.

This year, as an estimated 11.79 million graduates flooded the job market, the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds, excluding students, rose in July and August, when it reached 18.8 per cent, the highest level since the data was revised last year.

In September, the youth unemployment rate dipped slightly to 17.6 per cent, still the second-highest level of the year.

The authorities release guidelines each year to help university students find jobs, and according to a guideline published by the Ministry of Education on Thursday, companies are prohibited from specifying in job descriptions that they will only recruit graduates from top-tier universities.

But securing employment remains a challenge for fresh graduates.

According to a report published by Zhilian Zhaopin, one of China’s biggest job-hunting platforms, only 55.5 per cent of the class of 2024 had a confirmed job offer by April, compared with 57.6 per cent for the class of 2023 at the same time last year.

Sara Lin, a postgraduate foreign language student at a university in Beijing, will graduate next year.

In September, she took part in a job fair as part of a talent acquisition programme organised by the city government in Chengdu, her hometown.

After submitting 20 applications, she received just one offer – from a government research institute in a suburban district.

Lin said her family was dissatisfied with the offer, as they felt she should have been able to secure a position in one of Chengdu’s main districts, given she was studying at a reputable university.

But Lin said only graduates from top-tier universities like Tsinghua and Peking University were selected for interviews by public institutions in Chengdu’s most developed districts this year.

“My family urged me to prepare for the national civil service exam and aim for a better offer, but I feel really tired now,” Lin said.

“Only those who’ve been through this process truly understand how lucky it is to secure a job in this fierce competition.”

After the unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24, including students, surged to 21.3 per cent in June last year, Beijing suspended the release of the data.

It began publishing it again in December, with the new figures excluding students.

China hawk Rubio likely to take hard line on Hong Kong but Beijing well prepared: experts

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3286592/china-hawk-rubio-likely-take-hard-line-hong-kong-beijing-well-prepared-experts?utm_source=rss_feed

Marco Rubio, picked by US President-elect Donald Trump to be the country’s top diplomat, is expected to amplify Washington’s hawkish policies toward Hong Kong even as Beijing is better prepared to mitigate the potential impacts, analysts and officials in the city have said.

The 53-year-old Florida senator, named by Trump on Wednesday as his choice for secretary of state, was previously sanctioned by Beijing and is banned from entering the country. He is one of China’s harshest critics in the US and was behind bills to sanction Hong Kong officials and close the city’s trade offices on American soil.

With another China hawk joining the incoming administration, political observers and officials said they expected that Trump’s top picks would lead Washington to step up confrontations with Beijing in a variety of areas.

Rubio, also an outspoken politician on Hong Kong affairs, is likely to adopt a tough stance in potential talks with the Chinese government regarding jailed former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

“Rubio will be a key executor of foreign policies of Trump, who sees China as a major rival in semiconductors and other technologies,” said Wilson Chan Wai-shun, co-founder and director of policy research at the Pagoda Institute think tank.

“He is likely to amplify certain policies, for example sanctions and restrictions, to cover Hong Kong and maximise the impacts [to contain China].”

Rubio paying attention to Hong Kong issues was widely known since 2014, when he supported protesters in the Occupy movement calling for greater democracy. The movement paralysed parts of the city for 79 days.

The Republican senator had called on the Obama administration to “make clear to China that it must abide by its international commitments regarding Hong Kong’s status”.

At the height of the 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong, Rubio wrote an op-ed published in The Washington Post, saying the US should not “watch from the sidelines” and had “more than just a ‘nuclear option’ of ending Hong Kong’s special status under US law”.

Rubio also played a key role in steering the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act through Congress in 2019, passed via a fast-tracked process with bipartisan support. The bill reviewed the city’s special trade relationship with the United States and allowed for the sanctioning of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials deemed to have undermined human rights.

The senator was in turn sanctioned twice by China in 2020. The first instance was in retaliation for US measures against senior mainland officials over the treatment of the Uygur ethnic minority group. The second was after mainland and Hong Kong officials were sanctioned following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong.

Chan, an international relations expert, said China’s sanctions against Rubio would prompt him to adopt a tougher stance during possible negotiations with Beijing regarding the high-profile cases of Lai and the 47 activists accused of violating the national security law.

Forty-five of the 47 opposition figures have been found guilty of taking part in a conspiracy to commit subversion in relation to their roles in an unofficial primary election four years ago, and will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Lai is expected to take the witness box the next day to defend himself against foreign collusion and sedition charges in a separate case.

“As a top China hawk familiar with Hong Kong’s advocacy in the Senate, Rubio must be a key person to be involved in any potential high-level talks. Already sanctioned by Beijing, he will have no reservations in pushing his agenda,” Chan said.

Before he was elected, Trump had vowed that he would “100 per cent” get Lai, the imprisoned founder of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, out of the country.

Chan said he also expected that Rubio would help Trump in plugging the trade “loophole” of Hong Kong, seen as a key port to bypass US sanctions against authoritarian regimes.

He added that Rubio would put more Hong Kong companies on the US’ trade restriction list, known as the Entity List, for violations against regulations that prevent dual-use technologies from reaching Russia.

Lawmaker Rock Chen Chung-nin predicted that Hong Kong would experience some “spillover effects” from the new US administration’s policies targeting China.

“Possible attacks from the US on Hong Kong might include undermining the city’s status as an international financial centre and placing more restrictions on Hong Kong businesses to invest in their market,” he said.

But Chen said the outlook for Hong Kong was not all gloom and doom as the country was well-prepared for possible anti-China tactics from Trump’s return to office.

Apart from restrictions on trade, Rubio was also behind several other bipartisan bills relating to Hong Kong, including one that facilitated Hongkongers securing refugee status in the US in response to the national security law, and another that could lead to the closure of Hong Kong’s three economic and trade offices in the country.

The bipartisan Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act, which passed the House in September, must now clear the full Senate, Congress’ upper chamber, before it can be sent to Trump to be signed into law.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of the government’s key decision-making Executive Council, said Rubio’s views were based on “fundamental misunderstandings” about Hong Kong and its high degree of autonomy as enshrined in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

She urged Rubio to visit Hong Kong after he was appointed to lead the US State Department, to see the true situation in the city rather than relying on the views of a small minority of Hongkongers who had a “twisted” view of the “one country, two systems” governing principle.

Ip, also a lawmaker and chairwoman of the New People’s Party, earlier said she was planning a visit to Washington next year and hoped to meet local officials and US Congress members.

Beijing reminds Canada of ‘one China’ commitment ahead of visit by Tsai

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286604/beijing-reminds-canada-one-china-commitment-ahead-visit-tsai?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing has urged Ottawa to abide by its “one China” commitment and safeguard bilateral relations, days ahead of an expected visit to Canada by former Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen.

“China strongly opposes any visits by Taiwan separatists to countries that maintain diplomatic relations with China under any title,” Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday.

“We urge relevant countries to uphold the one-China principle and safeguard the political foundation of bilateral relations through concrete actions,” he said in response to a question from Reuters, which cited sources in its reporting on the visit.

Tsai, who completed her second and final term as leader of Taiwan in May, will deliver a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum starting on November 22 in Nova Scotia, eastern Canada, according to Reuters.

The website for this year’s conference shows that the event is “by invitation only”, but information on the agenda and speakers is not yet available.

Tsai visited the Czech Republic, France and Belgium last month, in her first overseas trip since stepping down. She spoke at a democracy conference in the Czech capital Prague, met European politicians and Taiwanese expatriates, and visited the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in Beijing, which oversees cross-strait ties, said at the time that authorities in Taiwan were carrying out “Taiwan independence” separatist activities under various pretexts and deceiving the international community, according to state news agency Xinhua.

“We urge relevant countries to strictly abide by the one-China principle, handle the Taiwan issue prudently, not send wrong signals to the separatist forces and not provide any platform for them to spread their fallacies,” TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said on October 9, days ahead of Tsai’s three-nation trip.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary and regards Tsai and her successor William Lai Ching-te, both of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, as separatists who promote independence for the island.

Most countries, including the United States and Canada, do not recognise self-governed Taiwan as an independent state. However, Washington opposes any attempt to bring the island under Beijing’s control by force and is legally committed to arming it for defence.

Relations between Canada and China have been strained in recent years. This is partly due to the tit-for-tat arrests in 2018, when a top Huawei Technologies executive was held in Vancouver on fraud charges at the request of the US, and two Canadian residents were detained in China on charges of espionage.

The bilateral relationship is also marked by tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, aluminium and steel, accusations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections and an attempted intimidation of lawmakers that resulted in the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat last year. China has repeatedly denied claims of interference.

Canada is China’s second-largest trading partner after the United States.

While meeting his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly in Beijing in July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Canada to “seriously reflect” on their strained relationship.

Wang called for an improvement as he cited “no fundamental conflict of interest” between the two countries, while holding up Canada ties as being “at the forefront” of China’s relations with Western economies.

China’s EV sector reaches 10 million production milestone, overcapacity fears deepen

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3286606/chinas-ev-sector-reaches-10-million-production-milestone-overcapacity-fears-deepen?utm_source=rss_feed

For more breaking news, in-depth analysis and expert insights about six of the most important sectors transforming China’s technological dominance, please visit and follow

China’s electric vehicle (EV) sector reached yet another milestone as annual production volume surpassed the 10-million-unit threshold amid mounting worries about overcapacity.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), an industry consortium backed by the government, announced that the 10 millionth EV rolled off the production line on Thursday, an increase of 4.3 per cent from the same period last year, and beating the 2023 production seven weeks before the year’s end. CAAM did not name the carmaker.

While the rising production reflects China’s prowess in the EV industry and domestic consumers’ increasing interest in green and smart vehicles, it has also raised fears of excess capacity in the mainland’s automotive sector where petrol-powered vehicles are shunned by buyers.

“As EVs outsell conventional petrol cars, more existing production facilities and workers will become redundant,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based EV data provider CnEVPost. “Demand for petrol cars will weaken in the coming years.”

The mainland has an overall manufacturing capacity of 40 million vehicles a year and sales of around 22 million units, according to Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility.

No reporting mechanism on EVs is available in China, but calculations by China Business News showed 15 EV start-ups which had either collapsed or been driven to the verge of insolvency had a combined annual production capacity of 10 million units.

In the first 10 months of 2024, 17.3 million petrol and electric cars were sold on the mainland, a marginal decline of 0.1 per cent year on year, according to CAAM.

A total 9.75 million EVs were handed to mainland customers between January and October, up 34 per cent from a year ago. The output of 10 million units so far this year has already beat the total production volume of 9.59 million units for the full-year in 2023 by 4.3 per cent.

Since July, monthly sales of battery-powered cars – which comprise pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles – have exceeded 50 per cent of the industry total.

Analysts have predicted that annual production and delivery of electric cars would top 12 million units this year.

“The rapid growth of EVs will come at the expense of the petrol car,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “Overcapacity woes are widespread because some car component producers also face a supply glut.”

Battery manufacturers, which number close to 50, will be able to produce 4,800 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries in 2025, four times the projected demand of the country’s EV makers, according to a forecast by mainland online investment publication Gelonghui.

China is the world’s runaway leader in the EV industry, with sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars accounting for 65 per cent of the global total in the first half of 2024, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

But the country’s EV makers are facing trade barriers in the US and European Union (EU).

Last month, the EU voted to impose an additional tariff of 17 to 35.3 per cent on Chinese-made pure EVs following an anti-subsidy investigation.

The US has also raised tariffs on Chinese-made EVs to 100 per cent from 25 per cent from September for the same reason.

China’s EV sector took off in 2015 bolstered by heavy subsidies granted by Beijing to encourage electric car ownership.

The central and local governments have also offered other inducements such as free driving permits, lower parking fees and consumption tax exemptions to spur the EV industry.

At China’s Zhuhai air show, Russia signs deals to export Su-57 fighter jet

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3286605/chinas-zhuhai-air-show-russia-signs-deals-export-su-57-fighter-jet?utm_source=rss_feed

Russia has agreed to sell its Su-57 fighter jet to foreign customers, marking a first for the fifth-generation fighter jet, as Moscow’s top security official stopped by the Zhuhai air show in southern China this week, Russian media reported.

Russian news agency Tass said on Wednesday that state arms seller Rosoboronexport signed its first contracts to deliver the export version of the Su-57 fighter jet to foreign customers at the Zhuhai air show in Guangdong province this week, citing the company’s CEO Alexander Mikheyev.

The report did not specify which countries bought the stealth warplane.

“The system of military-technical cooperation should bring new armaments and military hardware to the market. We have already signed the first contracts for the Su-57,” Mikheyev said.

He added that “partners from friendly countries” want to buy “reliable and proven” weapons from Russia and support the country’s industry so it can develop and “create new products for the next 10 – 20 years”.

The Su-57 is a twin-engined multirole fighter jet developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi. First flown in 2010, the aircraft is known to be capable of aerial combat and both land and maritime strikes.

It combines stealth, supermanoeuvrability and supersonic cruise technology with integrated avionics and large payload capacity.

This is the first year Moscow has shown the export version of the Su-57 at China’s biggest air show in the southern city of Zhuhai. The Russian fighter jet performed aerobatics during the event.

Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Russian state-owned defence manufacturer Rostec, said earlier that the Su-57 export version’s debut at the Zhuhai air show would be “worthily assessed by foreign colleagues”.

Russia’s top security official Sergei Shoigu attended the air show on Thursday and viewed Chinese and Russian aircraft and other military equipment on display.

Shoigu, a former defence minister who now leads Russia’s Security Council, visited Beijing before heading to Zhuhai.

During a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Tuesday, Shoigu stressed the need for Beijing and Moscow to “counter the ‘dual containment’ policy directed against Russia and China by the United States and its satellites”.

Shoigu’s visit to China comes as China and Russia work to boost bilateral ties. During Tuesday’s meeting, Wang told the Russian official that the “two sides must stand firm in solidarity” and cooperate in defence against external challenges.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains at a stalemate, though the reported deployment of North Korean troops in the conflict suggests Moscow is trying to break the deadlock by adding to its numerical advantage.

While China has remained a bystander in the war, the US and its allies have accused Beijing of helping Moscow by exporting dual-use technologies and importing Russian oil and gas.

Pentagon in the firing line for using image of Chinese fighter jet to mark US Veterans Day

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3286571/pentagon-firing-line-using-image-chinese-fighter-jet-mark-us-veterans-day?utm_source=rss_feed

The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Programme Office has sparked criticism after mistakenly featuring a Chinese fighter jet prominently on its poster for Veterans Day to honour America’s former servicemen and women.

In the now-deleted Instagram and X posts, the image showed a twin-engined fighter that resembled China’s J-35 beneath a banner featuring the American flag.

The post, meant to celebrate Veterans Day on November 11, read: “Today, and every day, we thank all Veterans and those currently serving for their service and sacrifice”.

“Looks an awful lot like China’s version of it,” commented one internet user about the blunder while referring to China’s second stealth fighter that had just been unveiled at the Zhuhai air show in China this week.

It has been touted as the Chinese equivalent of Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation fighter jet, the F-35.

The F-35 Lightning II is a single-engine aircraft using a Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan that enables supersonic speeds crucial for fifth-generation stealth operations.

The engine manufacturer described it as “the most powerful and most advanced fighter engine ever produced … it’s also the most dependable”.

Initially, the F-35 office chose to keep the image online but disabled comments amid growing outrage before deleting it. The organisation has yet to issue a corrected post marking Veterans Day, which was once known as Armistice Day.

The office describes itself via social media as “the DoD’s focal point for defining next gen strike aircraft weapons systems”.

Social media erupted in criticism, with some users calling for people in charge of the account to “be fired” over this “embarrassment”. Others, including prominent Republicans, mocked the incident and criticised the Pentagon’s oversight.

US website military.com said that “given the F-35 Joint Programme Office’s singular responsibility of ensuring the US military’s F-35 fleet is ready to fight tonight, the service members working for that office would be intimately familiar with at least a handful of the passing details of the aircraft, no matter how far from an engineering bay their job may take them. Sadly, that is not the case.”

The post published on November 11 went on: “But between missed readiness goals and rising costs, it makes sense that the F-35 JPO has other stuff to focus on other than accurately representing its primary aircraft on social media”.

It is not the Pentagon’s first misstep on social media under the Biden administration.

In April, the US Navy posted a photo of the commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS John McCain firing a rifle with a backwards scope mounted from the deck of his vessel. That officer was widely mocked on social media and was relieved of his duties in September.

On July 4 last year, the US Pacific Fleet posted an image showing silhouettes of a Russian destroyer and five fighter jets against the backdrop of an American flag with the command’s Independence Day message.

In 2021, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service used a similar image featuring a Russian warship to celebrate the US Navy’s birthday, repeating a mistake made in 2019.

China’s president will unveil a megaport in Peru, but locals say they’re being left out

https://apnews.com/article/china-peru-port-poverty-latin-america-1e06904f76cca1d7aaf19bca8bd24d93FILE - China's President Xi Jinping applauds during a signing ceremony with Peru's President Dina Boluarte at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, June 28, 2024. (Jade Gao/Pool Photo via AP, File)

2024-11-14T05:02:29Z

CHANCAY, Peru (AP) — On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert, a remote fishing town where a third of all residents have no running water is being transformed into a huge deep-water port to cash in on the inexorable rise of Chinese interest in resource-rich South America.

The megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. China’s President Xi Jinping inaugurates the port Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru.

The development — expected to encompass 15 quays and a large industrial park drawing more than $3.5 billion in investment over a decade — has met a skeptical response from impoverished villagers, who say it is depriving them of fishing waters and bringing no economic benefit to locals.

“Our fishing spots no longer exist here. They destroyed them,” said 78-year-old fisherman Julius Caesar — “like the emperor of Rome” — gesturing toward the dockside cranes. “I don’t blame the Chinese for trying to mine this place for all it’s worth. I blame our government for not protecting us.”

The Peruvian government hopes the port 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Lima will become a strategic transshipment hub for the region, opening a new line connecting South America to Asia and speeding trade across the Pacific for Peru’s blueberries, Brazil’s soybeans and Chile’s copper, among other exports. Officials cite the port’s potential to generate millions of dollars in revenues and turn coastal cities into so-called special economic zones with tax breaks to lure investment.

“We Peruvians are focused primarily on the well-being of Peruvians,” Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told The Associated Press.

But many of Chancay’s 60,000 residents are unconvinced. Fishermen returning to port with smaller catches complain that they have already lost out.

The dredging of the port — which sucked sediment from the seabed to create a shipping channel 17 meters (56 feet) deep — has ruined fish breeding grounds, locals said.

“I’ve been out in the water all day and I’m always needing to venture farther,” said Rafael Ávila, a 28-year-old fisherman with sand in his hair, returning to shore empty-handed and exhausted.

“This used to be enough,” he said, pointing at his painted dinghy. “Now I need a larger, more expensive boat to reach the fish.”

To make extra cash, Ávila started offering occasional joyrides to selfie-taking visitors wanting to get a glimpse at the hulking Chinese ships.

With some of the world’s largest container ships to berth at Chancay Port in January 2025, residents also fear the arrival of pollution and oil spills. In 2022, a botched tanker delivery at La Pampilla refinery nearby sent thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Peru’s famously biodiverse waters, killing countless fish and putting legions of fishermen out of work.

Today a glance at the moribund town center, featuring mostly empty seafood restaurants, tells the story of diminished fishing stocks and decimated tourism even without the port being operational.

The port’s breakwater changed the currents and destroyed good surfing conditions, locals said, affecting everyone from ice vendors to truckers to restaurant owners. “No to the megaport” is spray-painted on a wall overlooking the waterfront.

“This port is a monster that’s come here to screw us,” said 40-year-old Rosa Collantes, cleaning and gutting slimy drum fish on the shore. “People come to the port and they say ‘Wow, tremendous!’ but they don’t see the reality.”

Port authorities say they’re aware of the stark contrast between the sleek modern port and the surrounding village of Chancay, where many live on unpaved roads lined with ragged shacks and littered with trash.

“You cannot build a state-of-the-art port and have a city next to it that has no drinking water, no sewage, a collapsing hospital and no educational centers,” said Mario de las Casas, a manager for Cosco in Chancay, adding that the company had already launched studies to determine how the port could help reduce inequality and spur local growth.

“The port should not be a blemish,” De las Casas said.

ISABEL DEBRE DeBre writes about Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for The Associated Press, based in Buenos Aires. Before moving to South America in 2024, she covered the Middle East reporting from Jerusalem, Cairo and Dubai. twitter mailto

Hollywood star Rosamund Pike and family speak Mandarin, wants media to use her Chinese name

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3286383/hollywood-star-rosamund-pike-and-family-speak-mandarin-wants-media-use-her-chinese-name?utm_source=rss_feed

British actress Rosamund Pike’s 12-year-old son won the global championship at a Chinese language competition, gaining the respect of many people online.

On October 28, the Chinese Bridge contest announced You Zijun from Britain as the global champion of its latest Chinese proficiency show for primary school students, held in northern China’s Tianjin municipality.

The contest is held by the Chinese government-run Hanban annually to promote Chinese language among international students. It is the second time that You entered the contest.

It later transpired that You, whose real name is Solo Uniacke, is the elder son of Pike and her partner, businessman Robie Uniacke.

Both Solo and his younger brother, Atom, whose Chinese name is You Ziyuan, are fluent Mandarin speakers who learned from their self-taught father.

Pike, 45, graduated from Oxford University and made her film debut as a Bond girl in the 2002 film Die Another Day.

She won international acclaim for the 2014 psychological thriller Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher, co-starring Ben Affleck.

She won her first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in the Motion Picture Comedy or Musical category in 2021 for the film I Care a Lot, before and after being nominated three times for the award.

While promoting Gone Girl in Shanghai, Pike announced her Chinese name Pei Chunhua, and insisted that the Chinese media use her Chinese name otherwise “it would disrespect Chinese cinephiles”.

The three-character name given by her partner was phonetic to her English name.

While Pei is a common surname in China, Pike explained that Chun means honesty and Hua means China and is homophonic to “flower” in Chinese, which echoes with her first name.

Pike had since made her name on mainland social media for her deep love in the Chinese language and culture.

When she appeared on the Graham Norton show in 2021, she said she had been learning Mandarin from her children, and shared one rather rude idiom she recently learned, tuo ku zi fang pi.

Meaning “gilding the lily”, Pike literally translated it as “taking your trousers off to fart”, drawing laughs from other guests as well as Chinese online observers.

In the same year, during the Lunar New Year in February, Pike published a video of her giving new year wishes in Mandarin.

She appears shy but speaks quite fluently, humorous wishing “all your cows produce calves”.

Pike and her family’s love for Chinese has won them affection in the country.

Some Chinese people called her Sister Pei, the same way as they respectfully refer to women in China.

It is the fourth year Chinese Bridge held a competition for primary schoolchildren, and the 17th year it held competitions for Chinese-learning students from all around the world.

In the promotional video published by the contest organiser, Pike, who was only introduced as “You Zijun and You Ziyuan’s mother”, congratulates all contestants and their parents and teachers, and wishes them good luck.

Solo said he started learning Mandarin at the age of three, and had mastered more than 400 Chinese characters. The number of the frequently used characters in modern Chinese is 3,500.

He said he would continue learning Chinese until people regard him as “the first Chinese with blonde hair”.

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Swarming drones and counter-drone systems dazzle at China’s Zhuhai air show

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3286520/swarming-drones-and-counter-drone-systems-dazzle-chinas-zhuhai-air-show?utm_source=rss_feed

Advanced drone combat swarms and the systems to counter them – deemed crucial in a possible war scenario over Taiwan – are among the new weapons on display at China’s giant air show in Zhuhai.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation debuted its FK-4000 mobile air defence weapons system which uses high-power microwaves (HPM) to intercept the smallest, lightest drones down to micro unmanned aerial aircraft.

The FK-4000 features an antenna array that is about eight metres (26ft) wide and capable of delivering microwave blasts to a distance of up to 3km (nearly two miles) in less than a second.

Microwaves are not only faster than traditional means of counter-attack, they are also basically invisible and can attack a bigger surface area, making them a more effective tool than lasers for large areas.

Also on show was an HPM system developed by Norico Group, which features a microwave emitter array of about the same size as the FK-4000, with a tracking mount and a search and tracking integrated radar on top.

Another defence systems giant, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), has also incorporated the technology’s advantages into its Thunder Low-Altitude Defence System.

CETC is presenting a model of the system at Zhuhai event, but it is clear that it also integrates microwave radar and electro-optical detection along with tracking equipment in a single vehicle.

The military electronics manufacturer also showcased a second edition of a swarm launch vehicle, which has a load capacity of 48 fixed-wing drones that can all be launched within four minutes.

According to CETC, each vehicle can carry two sets of drones, and every device has a maximum payload and take-off weight of 7kg (15.4lb) and 30kg (66lb), respectively and an endurance of 120 minutes.

Military analyst and former PLA instructor Song Zhongping, who was at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, said the HPM counter-drone systems were “the most important highlight of the air show this year”.

“[How to counter] drones that are low-altitude, low-speed and small has been an old and difficult question for a lot of countries, he said.

China and other countries have sped up development of counter-drone systems after observing Russia’s insufficient defences against large numbers of small, cheap unmanned vehicles launched by Ukraine.

The asymmetric capabilities of drone warfare came under the spotlight again recently when a US admiral warned that an “unmanned hellscape” of swarming drones would be unleased in the Taiwan Strait in the event of an attack from the mainland.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the island under mainland control, by force if necessary. Like most countries, the US does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but is opposed to an attack and is also the island’s main arms supplier.

According to mainland military analyst Fu Qianshao, China’s drone swarm technology is “mature and leading the field” as reflected by CETC’s swarm launch vehicle, while the country is also advancing its capabilities of countering swarming drones.

Fu added that the microwave counter-drone weapons systems showcased at this year’s air show represent “an important direction for the future”, given their advantages over laser technology.

“Lasers target one drone at a time, whereas microwave weapons can target an entire area – much like a fly swatter – greatly enhancing air defence capabilities,” he said.

Fu also observed that few other countries have developed this technology, and their progress has been limited. “Our microwave weapons are at the leading level.”

The Zhuhai air show also features a variety of unmanned vehicles, including the Jentank, a new type of Smart-Configuration Support Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SS-UAV), which can act as an air carrier for drone swarms.

The large, jet-powered drone has a maximum take-off weight of 10 tonnes and offers a wide speed range, short take-off and landing capabilities, and high power, according to its developer, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

It is equipped with a quickly replaceable heavy-load mission module and eight hard points, allowing for flexible expansion and continuous upgrades according to user requirements, it said.

Song noted that the Jentank not only achieves unprecedented reconnaissance and strike capabilities compared to other drones, it also extends the reach of smaller drones by launching them in the air.

This year’s show features a newly-established dedicated area to accommodate the expanding variety of unmanned platforms that are on display. A four-hour show is taking place at the venue each day, with performances by unmanned air and surface vehicles.

The 330,000 square metres (81.5 acres) of extra exhibition space is located near Zhuhai’s Lianzhou general airport while the main venue is next to the Zhuhai airport.

Also unveiled at the show was the Orca – a 500-tonne unmanned combat vessel designed for firepower strikes, air defence, anti-missile operations, and anti-submarine warfare, with a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles.

Song noted that the Orca would be capable of operating either solo or in coordinated “wolf pack” attacks, with multiple units working together to overwhelm an enemy.

Why the J-35 Gyrfalcon is crucial to China’s power projection on the high seas

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3286437/why-j-35-gyrfalcon-crucial-chinas-power-projection-high-seas?utm_source=rss_feed

Almost a decade has passed since the People’s Liberation Army pulled the trigger on President Xi Jinping’s plans for a massive overhaul of the world’s biggest military. In the third of on Chinese weapon systems, we look at the critical defence role the country’s next-generation stealth fighter jet will play.

While Beijing has held repeated military drills around Taiwan against a backdrop of persistent tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Taipei has not reported any sightings of the J-20 – the first of mainland China’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jets.

However, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) did release video footage of a J-20 approaching the self-ruled island in May, raising the question of whether Taiwan was capable of detecting stealth fighters in any future contingencies across the Taiwan Strait, especially on the island’s strategically critical east side.

The same question looms after Beijing showcased its next fifth-generation stealth fighter jet at the Zhuhai air show this week.

The J-35, also known as the J-31 or the FC-31 Gyrfalcon – developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) – follows the J-20 as the second of China’s fifth-generation fighter jets and features a single-seat, twin-engine design with stealth capabilities, advanced manoeuvrability and a versatile payload.

It has been more than a decade since development began on the J-35, and it is still in the prototype phase, after likely going through a major redesign in recent years so it could be deployed as China’s second carrier-based fighter jet, following the 4.5-generation fighter J-15.

Smaller than the J-20, the carrier-based J-35 has a length of 17.3 metres (57 feet), a wingspan of 11.5 metres, and a height of 4.8 metres.

The stealth-capable aircraft has forward-swept intake ramps, features supersonic inlet bumps without diverters, and contoured weapons bays that can avoid radar detections.

The maximum take-off weight is 28 tonnes, under which the internal and wing-mounted weapon options include: 12 medium-range air-to-air missiles, eight supersonic air-to-surface missiles, and presumably eight 500kg (1,100 pound) deep-penetration bombs, or 30 wing-mounted bombs, or a combination of the two.

While the prototype J-35s are known to have installed Russian-made RD-93 engines, China is aiming to use domestically made engines for the new fighter jet, such as the WS-13, which has a similar thrust and size of its Russian counterpart.

The SAC has reportedly announced that the aircraft will be equipped with the Guizhou WS-19 turbofan engine, similar to the J-20’s WS-15 engines. The new engine would have a maximum thrust of 10 tonnes-force, compared to the interim WS-13, whose thrust is nine tonnes-force with an afterburner.

The fighter jet is known to have a maximum combat range of around 1,200km (746 miles) and a service ceiling of 16,000 metres while flying at up to Mach 1.8.

Video of the J-35’s fuselage shows advanced avionics systems such as a distributed aperture system (DAS), an optical early-warning system that gives the pilot 360-degree situational awareness, an electro-optical targeting system (EOTS), and an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

The J-35 reportedly made its first test flight in 2012, after several photos and video clips of a new fighter jet circulated on Chinese social media.

A quarter-scale model of the aircraft was first unveiled at the biannual Zhuhai air show in 2012, followed by its first public fly-past at the same event two years later.

On Tuesday, the J-35A made its debut at the Zhuhai air show, taking part in an aerial display that showcased its manoeuvrability.

The J-35A is an air force variant of the J-35, according to Chinese defence industry officials who were at the event.

Once in service, the J-35 is likely to be mixed and matched with the J-15 already deployed on China’s Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers.

The J-35s will also likely be based on the Fujian, the country’s newest aircraft carrier, which is undergoing sea trials and is expected to go into service next year.

The J-15 has played a crucial role in projecting naval power for China’s carrier strike groups since they were commissioned in 2013, however it is a 4.5-generation fighter with limited stealth capabilities and older avionics technology compared to the J-35.

Developers have touted the J-35 as China’s answer to Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation fighter jet – the F-35 Lightning II – while Western observers believe the latest Chinese aircraft is not as capable as the F-35.

While the F-35 has a lower maximum speed of Mach 1.6, it has a longer combat range of 1,240km and comes with more sophisticated stealth capabilities and avionics systems.

During the air show this week, Aviation Industry Corporation of China officials confirmed that the J-35 will be deployed on aircraft carriers, teaming up with J-15s to promote joint operations.

Amid elevated tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, the addition of the J-35 to Beijing’s carrier strike groups will allow China’s navy to conduct more operations in those contested maritime regions.

The J-35 is also poised to complement China’s existing fleet of stealth fighter jets, including the J-20, which went into service in 2017.

The aircraft is expected to play a crucial role in any potential conflict scenario, considering that its predecessor, the J-15, has recently been part of PLA naval drills.

Last month, J-15Bs, an updated variant of the J-15, were spotted in video and photos of high-seas naval exercises at an unknown location.

According to the Chinese navy, the drills were the first time two of the country’s aircraft carriers – the Liaoning and the Shandong – had been involved in a joint exercise, which included at least 32 J-15s.

Once in service, the J-35 is likely to play a role similar to the J-15, as Beijing takes another step to modernise its navy and enhance its ability to project power, in addition to ongoing construction of aircraft carriers; Beijing reportedly aims to have six of the vessels in service by 2035.

Beijing’s desire for military power on the high seas has become more apparent in recent months – military exercises with the Liaoning in October focused on blockading Taiwan on the strategically vulnerable east side of the island, while the Shandong last week sail through the Bashi Channel towards the Philippine Sea.

In October last year, a Pentagon report on China’s military development said its air force was “rapidly catching up to Western air forces”, a trend that was “gradually eroding long-standing and significant US military technical advantages” against China in air-based domains.

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China’s coastguard circles Scarborough Shoal after Philippines stakes its legislative claim

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286536/chinas-coastguard-circles-scarborough-shoal-after-philippines-stakes-its-legislative-claim?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese coastguard patrolled around a contested South China Sea shoal on Thursday, a day after the country’s military mounted a joint sea and air patrol in the area.

“The China Coast Guard conducted law enforcement patrols in the territorial waters of China’s Huangyan Island and the surrounding area,” the China Coast Guard said, referring to Scarborough Shoal, known as Panatag Shoal in the Philippines

“This was a law-enforcement activity carried out by the Chinese maritime police in accordance with the law.”

The patrol comes less than a week after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr signed the Maritime Zones Act and Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, embedding Manila’s claims to the South China Sea in domestic law.

The US expressed its support for the Philippine legislation, saying other countries had passed similar laws.

Two days later, China published a set of geographic coordinates for 16 base points around Scarborough Shoal, the first time it has done so for territory also claimed by the Philippines.

China’s Ministry of Natural Resources also announced standard names for 64 islands and reefs in the South China Sea, providing each with its name in Chinese characters and pinyin and precise coordinates.

On Wednesday, China’s top envoy to Manila warned the Philippines to cease any “unilateral actions” to complicate tensions in the waters, and lodged “stern representations” over the signing of maritime laws to define territory, sea lanes and air routes.

Ambassador Huang Xilian said China’s delimitation of Scarborough Shoal was a “necessary response” to the Philippines’ enactment of two laws meant to reaffirm its maritime claims and a “routine measure” to strengthen maritime management.

“We urge the Philippines to immediately cease any unilateral action that may escalate disputes and complicate the situation, in order to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Huang said.

Earlier China’s foreign ministry summoned the Philippine ambassador to China to protest.

The National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, also expressed firm opposition to and strong condemnation of the Philippines’ introduction of the Philippine maritime act.

“South China Sea disputes have become increasingly complex,” said Wu Shicun, founding president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

The issue has extended beyond the political and diplomatic realms and spilled over into security and legal arenas, he said in a video released by China’s Diplomacy in the New Era, a government platform, on Tuesday.

The involvement of external forces, particularly the United States and Japan, had magnified the issue, intensifying its negative impacts, he said.

“[The involvement of external forces] has increasingly posed challenges to China in areas of maritime rights protection, legal frameworks, rule-making, and even discourse dominance,” Wu said.

He said the United States had stepped in and abandoned its neutral stance, and China “should not underestimate the negative impact of Japan’s involvement”.

“Its challenge to China’s claims in the region could potentially surpass that of the US,” he said.

China’s luxury market loses shine as Bain study shows spending decline

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3286540/chinas-luxury-market-loses-shine-bain-study-shows-spending-decline?utm_source=rss_feed

Luxury spending in China has seen a sharp slowdown this year – a drop in line with a fall in broad consumer sentiment and tourism outflows to Europe and other overseas destinations – with recovery projected for the second half of 2025 at the earliest, according to consultancy firm Bain & Company.

While Beijing has strived to revive the country’s economy since late September with a series of stimulus policies, the firm noted in its Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study on Wednesday that the “government stimulus plan [has] yet to translate into consumption acceleration.”

The study comes as the world’s second-largest economy grapples with low consumer confidence, a prolonged crisis in the property market and lacklustre employment figures since the relaxation of pandemic controls.

According to the study, China’s sales of personal luxury goods are expected to be around €45 billion (US$47.69 billion) this year, down 20 to 22 per cent year over year.

In contrast, Japan’s personal luxury goods market, valued at €33 billion, is forecast to see strong growth of 12 to 13 per cent this year.

Europe is expected to grow 3 to 4 per cent to around €110 billion, while the market in the Americas is expected to hold steady €100 billion with a projected maximum decline of 1 per cent.

A McKinsey study released in late September found that Chinese consumers have not lost their appetite for luxury goods, but are opting to make these purchases abroad.

Chinese spending on luxury goods overseas in the first half of 2024 had already exceeded levels seen in 2019, with a notable 32 per cent rise in May, the management consultancy said.

“The depreciation of the Japanese yen, which drove substantial increases in spending in Japan, provides a partial explanation for this surge,” the firm added.

Under what it termed the most realistic of a set of possible scenarios, the Bain study anticipated China’s luxury market will start its recovery in the second half of 2025, with the first positive signs observed in the second quarter.

However, the local luxury market will still be under pressure as high-end consumers continue to shift their spending abroad.

Retail sales, a gauge of broad consumption, recorded a 3.2 per cent year-on-year increase in September after a 2.1 per cent lift in August, data by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Globally, luxury spending is expected to reach nearly €1.5 trillion (US$1.59 trillion) in 2024, remaining relatively flat compared to 2023, with Bain estimating a 1 per cent range for the rate of change year over year – either positive or negative.

“Luxury consumers, grappling with macroeconomic uncertainty and continued price elevation among brands, are cutting back on discretionary items,” the company said.

As a result, Bain said the global personal luxury goods market could see its first slowdown since the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 – Covid years excluded – with a 2 per cent decline at current exchange rates compared to last year.

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Trump’s mainstream picks for top foreign policy posts could reassure allies — and worry China

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rubio-waltz-china-foreign-policy-6179fa4a34e8c1768c75ad70b55b17ccFILE - Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., arrives before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Doral, Fla., July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

2024-11-14T05:08:05Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is famously unconventional, but he made conventional picks for his two top foreign policy positions. That could be reassuring to American allies, while China and Iran have reasons to be wary.

Trump on Wednesday announced his choice of Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state. Two days earlier, he picked Rep. Mike Waltz for national security adviser.

Both men share Trump’s hard-line stance on China and Iran. They have shown themselves willing to adapt their foreign-policy positions to echo aspects of Trump’s more isolationist “America First” approach — a requirement for anyone serving under a president who demands absolute loyalty.

But both are fairly mainstream conservatives with foreign policy experience who have previously differed with Trump on Russia, NATO and other issues.

They’ve also been open to working with Democrats — a point underscored when Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Rubio would be a “strong voice for American interests” abroad.

Rubio and Waltz stand in contrast to some other national security selections. Trump named Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host untested on the global stage, as defense secretary. He picked a congresswoman with little foreign policy experience, Rep. Elise Stefanik, as ambassador to the United Nations. His choice for ambassador to Israel, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, rejects the two-state solution to the conflict with Palestinians.

And U.S. allies may be relieved that Rubio was selected over Richard Grenell for secretary of state. Grenell is an ardent and combative Trump advocate and former diplomat and intelligence official, with a reputation for favoring autocratic strongmen abroad.

Rubio, a 14-year veteran of the Senate, is a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Foreign Relations Committee. His roots as the son of Cuban immigrants who worked as a bartender and a hotel maid after coming to the United States helped shape his tough positions on the leftist governments of Cuba and Venezuela.

While Trump has alarmed U.S. allies in Europe with his criticism of the NATO military alliance and praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose war on Ukraine has galvanized European fears of Russian expansionism, Rubio was instrumental in the Senate in securing the U.S. position in NATO. He and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine spearheaded legislation to bar any president from pulling the U.S. out of NATO without Senate approval or an act of Congress.

But Rubio, like Waltz in the House, has altered his public statements and legislative votes to more closely align with Trump’s criticism of the Biden administration’s backing of Ukraine as it battles invading Russian forces.

After early votes and supportive statements for Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 attack, Rubio and Waltz more recently voted against additional military aid to Ukraine. Rubio, like Trump, has increasingly stressed the need to end the war.

That’s in contrast to Ukraine supporters in both parties who say the U.S. must support Ukraine’s fight so it gets the best possible terms in any eventual cease-fire.

“I don’t think he (Trump) puts people in positions that are going to disagree with him. He wants people to be loyal, and I don’t think he’s looking for people that are going to challenge his beliefs,” said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based research institute. “So I think this is actually quite revealing, probably, of what the direction of U.S. policy will be, that it will be really hawkish on China in particular. And I think also on Iran.”

In China, analysts consider Rubio and Waltz to be “ultra-hawkish” toward Beijing and have taken to calling them part of the “Florida faction” in foreign policy, since both are from the state. Trump piled tariffs on China in his first term and promises more tariffs in his next one.

Rubio has argued for a more confrontational approach toward China, and he has been a vocal supporter of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as Chinese territory.

Rubio is known in China as the “anti-China vanguard” for his ideologically driven, anti-communism stance. He landed on Beijing’s blacklist in 2020 over his support for the minority Uyghurs in China’s far western region of Xinjiang and for Hong Kong activists. He co-chaired the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on human rights, and introduced and supported numerous bills on China’s rights issues.

The sanctions Beijing imposed on Rubio bar him from visiting the country. It’s unclear if China’s foreign minister will meet with him given the ban, or how the ban will otherwise affect his dealings with Chinese officials.

For his part, Waltz is a former Green Beret with combat tours in Afghanistan and the Middle East, a former defense policy director in the Pentagon, and a senior member of the House committees for armed services, intelligence and oversight.

He’s supported Western backing for Ukraine, saying doing nothing would invite further Russian aggression in Europe and draw in U.S. troops. But Waltz increasingly emphasizes the importance of Ukraine’s neighbors stepping up, saying Europeans should be spending as much on Ukraine’s defense as the United States does.

In a Nov. 2 article he co-wrote for The Economist, Waltz argued that China has benefited from the Biden administration’s failures to deter conflicts in Europe and in the Middle East.

In 2021, Waltz introduced a resolution calling on the U.S. Olympic Committee to withdraw from the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“The world cannot legitimize the CCP’s acts of genocide in Xinjiang, destruction of the democratic rights of Hong Kong, and dangerous suppression of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan that cost lives by sending delegations to Beijing,” Waltz said then, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

At a daily briefing in Beijing, Lin Jian, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said China would not comment on Trump’s appointments.

Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations expert, noted the gap between Trump and his nominees on China. “Trump didn’t say China was an enemy during his first term and the presidential elections, but the hawkish officials he has appointed may believe China is an enemy to some extent,” Shen said.

Robert Manning, a China expert at the Stimson Center, said Trump is not as ideologically driven as Rubio but he raised concerns that Trump’s foreign policy could be more disruptive than President Joe Biden’s.

“I think some in the Trump camp want to get rid of the Communist Party of China, which I think is a fool’s errand, but nonetheless I think they’re more focused on a different endgame than achieving a stable balance of power,” he said.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and AP researchers Yu Bing and Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.

ELLEN KNICKMEYER Foreign policy, national security, foreign policy & climate twitter

Indonesia’s Prabowo on managing South China Sea row: ‘partnerships better than conflicts’

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3286486/indonesias-prabowo-managing-south-china-sea-row-partnerships-better-conflicts?utm_source=rss_feed

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he would “always safeguard our sovereignty” when asked about the issue of the South China Sea, adding partnerships are better than conflicts and that “we respect all powers”.

Prabowo’s comments, made while he was in Washington on Wednesday, came after his foreign ministry stressed that Indonesia does not recognise China’s claims over the South China Sea despite signing a maritime deal with Beijing last weekend.

Beijing has long clashed with Southeast Asian nations over the South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety, based on a “nine-dash line” on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of several countries.

“We respect all powers, but we will always safeguard our sovereignty. But I choose to always find possibilities of a partnership,” said Prabowo, who has repeatedly said he will pursue a non-aligned foreign policy.

“Partnerships are better than conflicts,” he told reporters.

Prabowo, who is on his first trip since taking office last month, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the weekend.

A maritime development deal signed by China and Indonesia said they had reached common understanding “on joint development in areas of overlapping claims”.

That wording sparked concern in Indonesia, with analysts saying it could be interpreted as a change in Jakarta’s long-held stance as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea, and risked compromising Indonesia’s sovereign rights to exploit resources in its EEZ.

Prabowo did not directly refer to the joint statement in his comments to reporters, but said he had discussed the South China Sea with President Joe Biden in a meeting the day before. Prabowo will also travel to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit and Brazil for the G20 summit.

Can Hongkongers make it big in Peru? The country’s Chinese community, experts weigh in

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3286451/can-hongkongers-make-it-big-peru-countrys-chinese-community-experts-weigh?utm_source=rss_feed

In 1979, Law Kit-man decided to join his dad in Lima, Peru, to run a Chinese restaurant at age 21, after finding Hong Kong’s cost of living too high and its labour market too competitive when it began shifting toward a service-based economy.

After more than 40 years in the Peruvian capital, Law now runs two hotels and a casino, and is married to another Chinese migrant, with whom he has two children.

The businessman is the third generation of his family to settle in South America, with his grandfather leaving mainland China in 1940 to look for opportunities and stability on the continent.

Law said he had fully integrated into Peruvian society and adopted the Spanish name Vicente, noting he particularly enjoyed the slower pace of life in South America.

Peru is home to more than 100,000 first-generation Chinese immigrants, including a few dozen Hongkongers, with the country boasting a history of Chinese migration spanning more than a century

On Wednesday local time, Peru also welcomed Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu as he arrived in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where city officials are expected to sign a free-trade agreement with the country.

But Law, president of the Central Society of Chinese Beneficence, a body that has supported Peruvian Chinese since 1886, noted the overwhelming majority of the Chinese immigrants coming to Peru were from Guangdong province, which neighbours Hong Kong.

“As Peru speaks Spanish, Hongkongers, who know English generally, tend to go to English-speaking countries, like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, as it is more convenient,” he explained.

“Chinese-speaking mainlanders will have to learn a new language anyway, so they do not mind coming to Peru.”

Restaurant owner Gustavo Wong Siotian, who was born in Foshan in Guangdong province and came to Peru in 1983 at around age 21, said learning Spanish was easier than English due to the pronunciations being much simpler.

Wong recalled quickly learning Spanish after arriving in South America to work in his uncle’s shoe shop as his relatives would deduct 50 US cents from his monthly salary of US$30 every time he spoke a Chinese word.

He said the friendliness of Peruvians was one of the reasons he decided to stay in the country, attributing it to the local Chinese community’s growing influence.

“Chinese encounter racial discrimination in Europe and North America, but we enjoy a high social status in Peru … They call us ‘countrymen’,” Wong said.

Such attitudes mark a shift from the mid-19th century when scores of Chinese labourers coming to Peru were limited to jobs such as working on the railway and in the mines.

Chinese immigrants were only free to pursue other work more than two decades later thanks to a deal signed between the Qing dynasty and the country.

Law said the Chinese community initially focused on setting up businesses such as grocery stores and laundry houses, before expanding to restaurants.

The latter led to the development of Chifa – a Peruvian-Chinese cuisine that is pronounced similar to the Mandarin word for “to have a meal”.

The society president said there were now more than 4,000 Chinese restaurants in Lima alone.

Leo Zheng Jianqiao, who operates eight such restaurants in the country’s capital, said Peruvian-Chinese cuisine was strongly flavoured and had become part of the local food culture thanks to its long history.

“[Peruvians] treat Chinese restaurants as their canteens. Chinese food can be cheap, similar to the cost of preparing their meals,” the 53-year-old said.

Zheng noted that he sold quick meals for 12 Peruvian sol, which is about US$3 or HK$24, while a proper dinner with various dishes costs more than 20 Peruvian sol.

Chinese people in Peru tended to join the catering industry as business owners could quickly make money with limited investment capital, the restaurateur said.

Law, meanwhile, noted that Chinese businesses now spanned various industries, including the real estate, hotel and construction sectors.

He added that 170 mainland state-owned enterprises had also expanded their operations to Peru in recent decades, including infrastructure construction and mining companies, bringing Chinese investment and knowledge to the country.

The country is also one of more than 100 economies involved in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to develop a China-centric trade network.

Wang Zhijian, president of the Association Yuexi Peru-China, a subsidiary of the society dedicated to supporting immigrants from western Guangdong province, said more mainland state enterprises and trading companies had expanded into South America in recent years due to traditional markets in Europe and the United States becoming more saturated.

He observed that fewer people from the province were coming to Peru as the national economy had taken off and development in southern parts of the mainland had flourished since its opening up.

“In the old days, we migrated here to look for a living. Now, they come here for investment,” Wang said.

Thomas Wong Wa-sun, a co-founding partner of CW CPA, a Hong Kong-based international accounting and advisory firm, said that in light of growing ties between China and the continent, the South American market had emerged as a “blue ocean”.

Since 2006, had helped businesses from Latin America set up offices in Hong Kong and on the mainland by offering them accounting, auditing and secretary services, he said.

Wong said the strategy also showed signs of working, with more than 30 per cent of his firm’s business revenue coming from Latin American clients, adding that his company had set up branches in Colombia and Brazil.

The company co-founder said such businesses were interested in exporting agricultural products, meats and wines to the Chinese market and importing electric vehicles and other technologies such as phones and drones.

Wong said his company had served about 360 companies from Latin America, including helping about 66 per cent of them to set up offices in Hong Kong and more than 16 per cent to create a foothold on the mainland.

He said such businesses were drawn to the city due to its low tax system and fewer restrictions on capital flow, adding that the city also had multilingual talent that could support their operations.

He also stressed that it was opportune for Hong Kong to tap into Latin American markets as Beijing had urged businesses to venture overseas at the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s third plenum in July.

“Hong Kong should become a ‘superconnector’ … The government can tell Hong Kong stories about our good tax system and the rule of law,” he said, adding the administration should use promotions in Spanish.

Wingco Lo Kam-wing, president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, said businesses in the city had previously shown little interest in South American markets due to language barriers and often volatile economies.

The continent’s inflation rate stood at around 14.41 per cent in 2023, significantly higher than the global average of 6.78 per cent, according to online data platform Statista.

“We know little about the local market,” Lo said, adding only a handful of his association’s members had business with South American countries, which was mainly buying agricultural products such as coffee and mangoes.

But Lo was positive that Lee’s first official visit to South America would help pave the way for Hong Kong businesses to explore such markets in the future.

“Peru is ideal as our first stop as the country is relatively stable and with more high-income customers compared with the rest of the continent,” he said.

He noted that his association could organise trips to the country next year to learn more about the market there.

Gary Ng, a senior economist at investment bank Natixis, observed that aside from language barriers, understanding the local business and legal environment were the top challenges facing Hong Kong companies.

“Trade in goods may already be easier, as direct investment requires a much more mutual understanding of both markets,” he said.

He also warned Hong Kong’s trade flow might be affected if Donald Trump decided to increase tariffs on goods globally and China reduced its demand for trade due to a decelerating economy.

Ng said businesses could diversify their markets to tackle uncertainties, while the Hong Kong government would also need to handle geopolitics smartly and focus more on boosting the economy.

Germany’s BioNTech buys China’s Biotheus in US$800 million push into cancer drugs

https://www.scmp.com/news/china-future-tech/biomedicine/article/3286492/germanys-biontech-buys-chinas-biotheus-us800-million-push-cancer-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed

BioNTech, the German developer of a widely used mRNA vaccine for the coronavirus, agreed to pay US$800 million (HK$6.24 billion) to buy biotech company Biotheus, a developer of cancer drugs.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mainz-based BioNTech said it signed a definitive agreement to pay mostly cash for 100 per cent of Biotheus, which is based in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

BioNTech said the deal will support its push into the development of cancer drugs using its proven mRNA technology, in addition to other methods including cell and protein-based therapeutics.

In particular, the drug candidate BNT327/PM8002 developed by Biotheus will be a key area of focus after the deal closes. Last year, BioNTech obtained the exclusive global development and commercialisation rights for the drug candidate outside China.

“We are committed to advancing its research and development in combination with our investigational mRNA vaccines, targeted therapies and [immunity-boosting drug treatments] with the aim of enhancing outcomes for patients with solid tumours,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech.

The drug candidate has the potential to be more effective than the current generation of drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors, which restore the capability of patients’ compromised immune systems to recognise and kill cancer cells.

China, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market after the US, was estimated to have had about 4.82 million new cancer cases and 2.57 million cancer deaths in 2022, according to a paper published in March by researchers at the National Clinical Research Center for Cancer.

Cancers of the lung, colon/rectum, thyroid, liver and stomach were the top five cancer types, accounting for 57 per cent of new cancer cases, the paper said.

mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) therapeutics work by introducing a molecule coded for a disease-specific protein, which can “coach” the body’s immune system to produce antibodies and generate immune responses against the disease or fight cancerous cells.

Established in 2018, Biotheus was co-founded by Liu Xiaolin, who previously led a research and development team of over 100 scientists at Hong Kong-listed Innovent Biologics to develop more than 20 novel antibody-based drug candidates. Another co-founder, Joanne Sun, was a former quality team head at Innovent.

More than 700 patients have been treated with BNT327/PM8002 in clinical trials, which showed “encouraging efficacy and tolerability” across various types of tumours, BioNTech said.

Multiple trials are planned this year and next to evaluate treatments that combine this drug candidate with chemotherapy in patients with certain types of lung and breast cancer.

Additional trials will also be conducted to explore combining BNT327/PM8002 with BioNTech’s proprietary targeted cancer therapies.

According to the acquisition agreement, additional performance-based payments of up to US$150 million will be paid to the owners of Biotheus if certain BNT327/PM8002 development milestones are met. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, subject to regulatory approvals.

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What does Trump’s pick for Pentagon chief mean for US-China military ties?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286448/what-does-trumps-pick-pentagon-chief-mean-us-china-military-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

US president-elect Donald Trump’s surprise pick of Pete Hegseth, a television host and army veteran, to be his Pentagon chief is expected to inject more unpredictability into the already fragile US-China military relationship, according to analysts.

Hegseth, 44, is a Fox News political commentator and a military veteran who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is known as a frequent critic of the media and the Democratic Party, with a hawkish stance towards China.

In an interview to promote his recent book, Hegseth said: “China’s building an army specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America.” He added that the US is “always a decade behind and fighting the last war”.

Last year, he said on his television programme that China had a plan to “supplant” the US culturally, financially and technologically “through leveraging their growing network of partners”. US President Joe Biden “obviously wasn’t concerned enough to do something about it”, he added.

Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s school of international studies, said Hegseth’s nomination could spark concerns about a potential negative impact on US-China military ties.

“Although he has long-term military service experience, he lacks experience in holding positions within the US military and defence system,” he said.

Trump’s early choices for top White House jobs have some common traits – for example, they share the president-elect’s values and have gained his trust – which could lead to new uncertainties for the future of US-China relations, Zhu said.

He added that there were concerns that political considerations might undermine professionalism, and Trump’s personal influence could overshadow the technical and professional standards of US government officials.

China and the US have tried to keep relations from derailing since last year. The two sides have restored defence exchanges in recent months to mitigate risks of conflicts over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

But ties remain tense, and Trump’s impending return to the White House has not helped.

Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said military relations were likely to sour further while bilateral ties could deteriorate compared with Trump’s first term as president.

“But the US is expected to place considerable importance on preventing serious conflict between the two forces – and dialogue between the militaries is a crucial way of doing that,” he added.

The US Defence Department has repeatedly described China as “America’s pacing threat” – the only country that can pose a systemic threat to the US.

Beijing has repeatedly accused Washington of undermining regional security.

The US has increased arms sales to Taiwan and boosted defence aid to the Philippines – two other issues plaguing military ties between Washington and Beijing.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China that must be reunited, by force if necessary. Like most countries, the US does not recognise Taiwan as independent but opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying arms to the island.

Meanwhile, Washington has been strengthening defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific through groupings such as Aukus, a security partnership with Australia and Britain. It has also established the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a strategic and security grouping with India, Japan and Australia also known as the Quad.

Shi said US allies in the region were expected to seek closer defence ties with Trump’s new administration by raising defence spending, buying more US weapons and granting US troops more access to their military bases.

He said these actions would be “primarily motivated by countering China and meeting US financial interests – two factors that often go hand in hand”.

Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said the new administration would “want to look at whether military-to-military dialogues had been beneficial for the United States … the dialogues in and of themselves are subordinate to such larger considerations”.

When announcing Hegseth’s nomination on social media on Tuesday, Trump wrote: “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First.”

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”

Trump is moving fast to fill top White House jobs ahead of his January 20 inauguration. His choices have included several other China hardliners, including Florida congressman Mike Waltz, who was nominated to be national security adviser, and John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman and national intelligence chief, who was named as future CIA director.

US media outlets have reported that US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is likely to be Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

Palau says China ICBM test a ‘direct threat’, seeks US Patriot missile system

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3286490/palau-says-china-icbm-test-direct-threat-seeks-us-patriot-missile-system?utm_source=rss_feed

Palau’s re-elected President Surangel Whipps said on Tuesday he may ask the United States for a Patriot missile defence system, citing a recent Chinese missile test as a “direct threat” to the Pacific island nation.

Under the Compact of Free Association, an agreement allowing US funding and military access to Palau, Whipps, 56, said the US is responsible for defending his country of around 18,000 people.

“We have also the power to request additional [defence support] if we feel there’s a threat,” Whipps said, hours before winning an election that gave him another four years in office. In September, China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that Whipps said intruded into Palau’s airspace.

Whipps believes he and US president-elect Donald Trump are “very much in agreement” regarding security. He noted the US will install defence radars in Palau’s Angaur and Ngaraard states, and expand a seaport in Koror.

Along with 11 other allies, Whipps said Palau should maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan “because it’s built on mutual respect, rule of law and really, democracy and freedom … which is something we should all promote”.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. While many nations, including the US, do not officially acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state, they oppose any use of force to alter the existing status quo.

Whipps accused China of “weaponising tourism” when it issued a travel warning for Palau in June that prevented Chinese travellers from visiting his country.

British Museum to receive donation of Chinese ceramics worth US$1.27 billion

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3286481/british-museum-receive-donation-chinese-ceramics-worth-us127-billion?utm_source=rss_feed

The British Museum is to receive the highest-value gift in UK museum history as it acquires £1 billion (US$1.27 billion) worth of Chinese ceramics.

Trustees of the Percival David Foundation are to donate 1,700 pieces to the London museum, based in the city’s Bloomsbury area.

British businessman Percival David, who lived from 1892 to 1964, collected the items in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China, with his passion for the country leading him to become fluent in Chinese.

The collection has been on loan to the museum since 2009 in the specially designed bilingual Room 95, with an online catalogue available to view across the world, as David wanted his private collection to be used to inform and inspire people.

Director of the British Museum Dr Nicholas Cullinan said: “I am humbled by the generosity of the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation in permanently entrusting their incomparable private collection to the British Museum.

“These celebrated objects add a special dimension to our own collection and together offer scholars, researchers and visitors around the world the incredible opportunity to study and enjoy the very best examples of Chinese craftsmanship anywhere in existence.”

The donation will bring the museum’s collection of Chinese ceramics to 10,000 pieces, making it one of the most important collections of the ceramics of any public institution outside the Chinese-speaking world.

The chairman of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art and the Percival David Foundation Academic and Research Fund, Colin Sheaf, said: “In every respect, this gift achieves the three objectives which most preoccupied Sir Percival as he planned for the collection’s future.

“To preserve intact his unique collection, to keep every single piece on public display together in perpetuity in a dedicated gallery, and to ensure the collection would remain not only a visual display of surpassing beauty, but also an inspiration and education for future generations of academics, students and non-specialists alike.”

British arts minister Chris Bryant said the collection would “educate and enlighten future generations for many years to come”.

Highlights from the collection include the David vases from 1351, which revolutionised the dating for blue and white ceramics with their discovery, and a chicken cup used to serve wine for the Chenghua emperor and Ru wares made for the Northern Song dynasty court around 1086.

After their donation, pieces will be lent to the Shanghai Museum in China and Metropolitan Museum in New York as part of the British Museum’s support of exhibitions worldwide.

The final transfer of ownership to the British Museum will be subject to the Charity Commission’s consent.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort, FBI says

https://apnews.com/article/china-fbi-hacking-flax-typhoon-trump-ed1c4c2cf6fc3b07834c799add215f44FILE - The American and Chinese flags wave at Genting Snow Park, Feb. 2, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

2024-11-13T23:56:30Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into U.S. telecommunications networks has revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics, the FBI said Wednesday.

Hackers affiliated with Beijing have compromised the networks of “multiple” telecommunications companies to obtain customer call records and gain access to the private communications of “a limited number of individuals,” according to a joint statement issued by the FBI and the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The FBI did not identify any of the individuals targeted by the hackers but said most of them “are primarily involved in government or political activity.”

The hackers also sought to copy “certain information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders,” the FBI said, suggesting the hackers may have been trying to compromise programs like those subject to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which grants American spy agencies sweeping powers to surveil the communications of individuals suspected of being agents of a foreign power.”

The warning comes after several high-profile hacking incidents that U.S. authorities have linked to China, part of what they say is an effort to steal technological and government information while also targeting vital infrastructure like the electrical grid.

In September, the FBI announced that it had disrupted a vast Chinese hacking operation known as Flax Typhoon that involved the installation of malicious software on more than 200,000 consumer devices, including cameras, video recorders and home and office routers. The devices were then used to create a massive network of infected computers, or botnet, that could then be used to carry out other cyber crimes.

Last month, officials said hackers linked to China targeted the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

Authorities did not disclose how or if the operations announced Wednesday are connected to the earlier campaigns.

In their statement Wednesday, the FBI and CISA said officials are working with the telecommunication industry and hacking victims to shore up defenses against continuing attempts at cyberespionage.

“We expect our understanding of these compromises to grow as the investigation continues,” the agencies wrote.

China has rejected accusations from U.S. officials that it engages in cyberespionage directed against Americans. A message left with China’s embassy in Washington was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Could ‘Peace Beans’ trade enrich US, China agricultural supply-chain diplomacy?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3286411/could-peace-beans-trade-enrich-us-china-agricultural-supply-chain-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed

At a time when US president-elect Donald Trump is reported to have once again tapped tariff hawk Robert Lighthizer for the US trade representative role, analysts are underscoring the need for “supply diplomacy” to achieve balanced solutions in trade between China and the United States.

A working group, jointly formed by Zhejiang University and the George H.W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, an American think tank, intended to send letters to Trump and President Xi Jinping this week to explain the logic behind the benefits of “bidirectional trade”, with a goal of cultivating lasting cooperation.

Dubbing their project “Peace Beans”, the two entities are exploring ways to improve the agricultural supply chain – such as by growing soybeans in the American state of Arkansas for export to tofu producers in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan, and by growing coffee beans in Yunnan for export to coffee roasters in Arkansas.

In discussing the initiative, John Kent, a senior fellow at the American think tank, pointed to the mutual trade-related benefits – such as reduced inflation and added value – that would come from being “engaged with a cooperative posture”.

“Peace Beans is a bidirectional trade example resulting from supply-diplomacy efforts,” Kent explained. “It’s a balanced East/West solution that is one of the most basic transportation utilisation goals.

“Balancing supply chains – [such as via trade from] Arkansas to Yunnan and back, potentially on the same equipment – saves costs to offset potential tariffs.

“Peace Beans provides an easy-to-understand supply-chain example to demonstrate inflationary math when using a tariff/tax trade-war posture. There are thousands of supply-chain examples and opportunities.”

The working group’s letter was also expected to be sent to Trump’s anticipated secretary of state, Marco Rubio, as well as Elon Musk – whom Trump has tapped to lead a planned “Department of Government Efficiency” – and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi.

In addition to outlining the Peace Bean project, the letter discusses a Global Supply Chain Diplomacy Initiative that “is ready for government implementation”, after consulting more than 50 individuals across industries and academia.

Experts from the US and China shared their ideas, regarding more balanced trade, with the Kunming University of Science and Technology in June and met local government representatives in September, and now farmers in Arkansas and tofu producers in Yunnan are awaiting small test shipments of soybeans.

And in September, the working group, which was formed in 2022, went to Yunnan and saw a coffee bean plantation in Puer and met with processors in Kunming. The business-matching between parties in China, as well as US coffee roasters and extract producers, is now under way.

“We all hope that cooperation between China and the US can be expanded, not only in … trade and commerce, agriculture, culture and education, but also in emerging areas such as climate change and artificial intelligence,” said Ni Hao, an associate professor with the Research Centre for Regional Coordinated Department at Zhejiang University.

Trump campaigned for president on the promise of imposing at least 60 per cent tariffs on all imported Chinese goods, while China’s Customs figures showed that agricultural products trade between China and the US dropped 9.3 per cent, year on year, to US$29.35 billion during the first nine months of this year.

Zhou Weihua, a professor with the School of Management at Zhejiang University, said that there was a “mismatch” between supply and demand, regarding the agricultural market of both countries, that has led to price fluctuations in agricultural products such as soybeans.

“The supply side, or American farmers, struggled to understand the Chinese market’s change of demand patterns in a timely manner,” he added. “And the demand side, or Chinese companies, also struggled to learn the production status of American farmers in a timely manner.”

Meanwhile, while pervasive import tariffs that Trump suggested have cast more uncertainty on the US-China relationship, American participants at the China International Import Expo this month discussed the importance of the farming sector for both countries, with some saying it has been a success story.

“The best solution will include continuous cooperative dialogue, not tit-for-tat short meetings ending with more sanctions, and [setting tariffs] at a specific, not across-the-board, product level,” said Kent with the George H.W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations.

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China’s J-35 stealth fighter to be suited up for aircraft carrier service

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3286429/chinas-j-35-stealth-fighter-be-suited-aircraft-carrier-service?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese sources have confirmed that the country’s most advanced stealth fighter will be deployed on aircraft carriers, teaming up with another shipborne jet to promote joint operations.

Sun Cong, a senior aviation engineer with state-run aerospace giant Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), told Chinese news outlet The Paper that “both the J-15 and J-35 aircraft will be deployed on aircraft carriers”.

The J-35 is China’s latest fifth-generation fighter while the J-15 – of which Sun is the chief designer – is a jet already deployed on the Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong.

Sun made the announcement at the Zhuhai air show, where a model of the J-35 – also known as the J-31 or the FC-31 Gyrfalcon – was on display alongside a J-15 at AVIC’s “maritime missions” booth.

The J-35 was developed by AVIC subsidiary Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and is China’s second fifth-generation fighter jet after the J-20.

While smaller than the J-20s, the J-35 fighter jets reportedly have more advanced stealth technology and avionics, and are equipped with various types of weapons, such as medium-range air-to-air missiles and supersonic air-to-surface missiles.

Although the prototype uses a Russian RD-93 engine, the production planes will be powered by China’s own WS-13 turbofan engines.

Work started on the J-35 more than a decade ago and the air show marks the aircraft’s public debut. On the first day of the air show, the manoeuvrability of the J-35A, one of the variants of the J-35 series, was on aerial display in a series of steep dives and climbs.

This is also the first official confirmation of its future carrier deployment, after years of speculation.

The carrier-based J-35s are expected to be adapted to maritime needs to have, for example, folding wings, tailhooks and stronger landing gear.

According to state-run Reference News, Wang Yongqing, chief expert at AVIC’s Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, said the J-35 model in the exhibition hall was the carrier-based platform, while the J-35A variant would be its air force version.

“The J-35’s ‘one aircraft, three types’ development plan has been steadily moving forward. The J-35 is a medium-sized stealth multipurpose fighter, and the J-35A is its land-based multipurpose fighter,” Wang was quoted as saying.

“The development of ‘one aircraft, multiple types’ is more conducive to joint operations of multiple services.”

The People’s Liberation Army is expected to develop yet another variant of the J-35 that can be launched from a deck using a catapult, a system used on China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is expected to be in service by 2025.

The electromagnetic catapult system on the Fujian is more advanced than the ski ramps used on the Liaoning and Shandong, because catapults allow planes to be launched more frequently and with more fuel and munitions.

A catapult-launch variant of J-35 is likely to play a similar role as J-15T, catapult variant of J-15 series. Both warplanes are expected to be deployed on the Fujian and form a high-low mix to maximise their combat strengths.

At the air show on Tuesday, PLA Air Force spokesman Xie Peng said the flight performances by the D and T variants of the J-15 showed their “anti-zone landing and aerial refuelling abilities” as well as the air assault combat powers.

“According to experts, the anti-zone landing flight courses demonstrated by the J-15T series carrier-based aircraft show that the J-15T carrier-based aircraft has the ability to take off and land on the first domestically produced catapult-type aircraft carrier, the Fujian,” The Paper quoted Xie as saying.

Xie also said the air force’s J-35A and J-20 stealth fighters made a “stunning appearance” in the air show, indicating that the PLA Air Force’s “Three Musketeers” – the J-20, J-16, and J-10C – would soon be expanded to “Four Musketeers”.

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Palau’s pro-US president wins second term, defeating pro-China brother-in-law

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/palau-election-results-2024-surangel-whipps-jr-tommy-remengesau

Palau’s incumbent president Surangel Whipps Jr has been returned for a second term after a national election held last week, according to a final tally by the Palau Election Commission.

The results showed Whipps Jr won 5,626 votes, defeating his brother-in-law Tommy Remengesau who received 4,103 votes.

Palau, which is important to the US military amid tensions with China and is among a dozen diplomatic allies of Taiwan, held a national election for president and its senate on 5 November.

“Looking ahead, I know the challenges we face are significant, but so are the opportunities,” Whipps said in a statement claiming victory on Wednesday.

His government would seek to diversify Palau’s economy while protecting its ocean and forests, he added.

Ahead of the election, voters said they were mostly concerned about the economy and a cost of living crisis. But outside Palau, the election has symbolised a growing geopolitical tussle for influence between Washington and Beijing that is playing out across the Pacific.

In the four years since coming to power, Whipps has overseen the swift expansion of US military interests across the Palauan archipelago.

Palau this year renewed a Compact of Free Association with Washington, in a deal that will see it receive $890m in economic assistance over 20 years in return for allowing continued US military access to its maritime zone, airspace and land.

Palau’s population of 18,000 is spread across an archipelago that sits between the Philippines and the US military base on Guam.

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Whipps Jr in a message on social media platform X on Wednesday.

“We look forward to continuing to work as friends and partners to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific,” Albanese wrote.

Taiwan president Lai Ching-te had earlier congratulated Whipps Jr in a message on social media, saying there would be greater collaboration in tourism and infrastructure.

The Melanesian microstate is one of the few remaining countries in the world that diplomatically recognises Taiwan instead of China.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse

US accuses China of vast cyber-espionage against telecoms

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3286470/us-accuses-china-vast-cyber-espionage-against-telecoms?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese state-sponsored hackers perpetrated a “broad and significant cyber-espionage campaign” in which they breached multiple telecommunications companies, US officials said in a statement on Wednesday, confirming additional details about cyberattacks with major national security implications.

The hackers infiltrated the networks of multiple telecommunications companies to steal customer call records and compromise the communications belonging to a “limited number” of people in government and politics, officials said.

In addition, the attackers copied certain information that was subject to US law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders, the officials said.

“We expect our understanding of these compromises to grow as the investigation continues,” according to the officials. The statement did not identify the affected telecommunications companies.

The FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are providing technical assistance on the matter and working with potential victims, according to the US.

A representative for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

AT&T and Verizon Communications are among those breached, and the hackers potentially accessed systems the federal government uses for court-authorised network wiretapping requests, The Wall Street Journal reported in early October.

US intelligence officials think the Chinese hacking group that Microsoft Corp. dubbed Salt Typhoon may have been inside US telecommunications companies for months and found a route into an access point for legally authorised wiretapping, according to a person familiar with their views.

Through those intrusions, the hackers are believed to have targeted the phones of former US president Donald Trump, running mate J.D. Vance and Trump family members, as well as members of US Vice-President Kamala Harris’ campaign staff and others, The New York Times has reported.

A person familiar with the matter said US investigators are still grappling with the attacks and don’t yet have the full picture. It is going to take time to determine how many people were targeted, the person said, and to be confident that the US has uncovered all the relevant angles.

Those efforts are still in the investigation phase and building out the picture continues, the person said.

US authorities have notified dozens of organisations, including telecommunications companies, that they were targeted in the Salt Typhoon hacks, according to another person familiar with the matter.

Alongside large telecommunications companies, smaller regional internet service providers have also been breached, said a third person familiar with the matter.

It is possible that Salt Typhoon is getting audio through the wiretap system by choosing what numbers to surveil through that system, bypassing safeguards, that person added.

Last week, Congressional staff received classified briefings from US intelligence agencies on the Salt Typhoon breach, according to an aide familiar with the matter. The briefings were previously reported by CyberScoop.

“This is as concerning to me as anything I’ve seen since coming here,” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said.

A US State Department official said they have known of the Salt Typhoon attacks for weeks, adding they were informed through the inter-agency process.

The concerning element is that the hacks are occurring on US soil and in a place where US officials thought that they had secured telecommunications against adversaries, according to the US official, adding the hacks look to to be scary because it is such a broad attack that could influence so many different sectors.

China to court G20 nations to bypass US-led sanctions in potential Taiwan conflict: report

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286466/china-court-g20-nations-bypass-us-led-sanctions-potential-taiwan-conflict-report?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing will focus on courting G20 nations to join its financial networks to circumvent Western sanctions in a potential Taiwan conflict, while the US and G7 will pressure these nations to comply with critical supply-chain restrictions against the mainland.

A new report studying G20 responses in a Taiwan crisis found that Beijing would have limited interest in using punitive economic statecraft against these countries, while the US and G7 nations would be likely to ask them to comply with sanctions.

Compiled by the US-based think tanks the Atlantic Council and Rhodium Group, the report was released a week before a high-stakes G20 annual meeting in Brazil that Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden are slated to join.

This year’s G20, opening on Monday, is believed to be the last multilateral event that Xi and Biden will both attend.

It takes place amid considerable uncertainty over the future of Sino-American relations under US President-elect Donald Trump, who launched a trade war with China in 2018 as the American leader.

The joint Xi-Biden appearance would come days after the two meet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, in a face-to-face dialogue that the White House on Wednesday said would take place on Saturday.

The pair are poised to discuss contentious issues ranging from Taiwan to US economic and tech restrictions against mainland China.

Taiwan remains one of the most dangerous flashpoints in their relationship as Beijing has ramped up military actions around the island in recent years, citing Washington’s continued arms sales to the island.

The developments have prompted widespread speculation of a more imminent conflict across the Taiwan Strait and stoked fears in the region and beyond that countries would feel pressured to pick a side between the superpowers.

It is unclear what Trump’s Taiwan policy will be in his new term. During his 2024 presidential campaign, he said Taiwan should pay the US for its defence, eliciting concerns about a possibly reduced American commitment to the island.

That said, the president-elect’s cabinet picks so far include China hawks like Marco Rubio, his nominee for secretary of state, who has urged continued US support for Taiwan.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.

Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

The report stated that G20 nations would likely face requests from both China and the US to comply with their respective economic statecraft in a conflict scenario.

In the event of “moderate escalation”, it said, the US or G7 would make greater requests of their treaty allies like South Korea and Australia to join in acting against China, while Beijing would refrain from deploying punitive statecraft tools.

If there were “high escalation”, the US or G7 would increase pressure on G20 nations to adhere to critical supply-chain restrictions against China, while Beijing would ask these nations openly to join its financial networks to bypass American sanctions.

China would also be likely to try to “split or divide” G7 countries to forestall a collective response, according to the report.

The report concluded that maintaining economic ties with China would be a “lower-cost” option for G20 nations in the “moderate” scenario, while upholding Western sanctions would be a “lower-cost” option for them in the “high” scenario.

It analysed likely responses from three G20 case countries – South Korea, Brazil and Indonesia – and noted that Brazil and Indonesia were unlikely to align strongly with either side because of their economic interdependencies.

However, some quiet compliance could emerge from Brazil and Indonesia owing to economic statecraft carried out by China and the US.

Brasilia would be likely to distance Brics – an association of leading emerging markets of which it is a founding member – from the conflict, but would marginally increase yuan-dominated trade with China.

Indonesia, though likely also to start de-risking its trade ties with China, would be more reluctant to sever supply-chain collaboration with Beijing, the report added.

South Korea is a more complicated case, as it would have greater alignment with the West than other G20 countries but would probably argue for carve-outs in industries with high China demand, such as electronics.

The US has stepped up measures with allies to de-risk economic ties with China, citing national-security threats posed by its rival, including tightening export controls on semiconductors and building its own supply-chain network to exclude Beijing.

China controls more than 60 per cent of the world’s rare earth elements.

US allies in the G20 including Australia, South Korea and Japan have been urged to join Washington’s efforts, while countries like Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of nickel, a key material for battery production, have helped boost Beijing’s supply chain.

Beijing has also ramped up efforts to make its economy more resilient to Western restrictions, accelerating the internationalisation of Chinese currency and expanding its use in bilateral trade, particularly with Global South nations.

During last month’s Brics summit in Russia, Xi called on the group to lead “urgent” financial reforms as part of Beijing’s larger bid to promote alternative financial systems to cut dependence on the US dollar.

Beijing is expected to keep pressing this point at next week’s G20 gathering, which is centred on global financial reforms.

Report co-author Logan Wright said China could develop more financial tools to blunt Western sanctions in the next five years and keep offering “positive inducements” such as augmenting its investment in G20 nations as it seeks to weaken US restrictions.

“There’s probably not much China can do to slow or to stop the process of de-risking or decoupling,” he added, “but there is a lot it can do to monitor that process and slow it down and to try to weaken international alignment.”

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Trump picks China critic Marco Rubio as his secretary of state

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3286463/trump-picks-china-critic-marco-rubio-his-secretary-state?utm_source=rss_feed

US president-elect Donald Trump named Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state on Wednesday, setting up a one-time critic who evolved into one of the president-elect’s fiercest defenders to become the nation’s top diplomat.

The conservative lawmaker is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate this summer.

On Capitol Hill, Rubio is the vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He has pushed for taking a harder line against China and has targeted social media app TikTok because its parent company is Chinese. He and other lawmakers contend that Beijing could demand access to the data of users whenever it wants.

“He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement.

Trump made the announcement while flying back to Florida from Washington after meeting with US President Joe Biden.

Trump has also chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate, to serve as director of national intelligence, continuing to stock his cabinet with loyal personalities complimentary to his own, rather than long-term professionals in their requisite fields.

“As a former candidate for the Democrat presidential nomination, she has broad support in both parties – She is now a proud Republican!” Trump said in a statement.

“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our constitutional rights, and securing peace through strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

The selection of Rubio on Wednesday is the culmination of a long, complicated history between the two men. During their tense competition for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, Rubio was especially blunt in his criticism of Trump, calling him a “con artist” and “the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency”.

He tried to match Trump’s often-crude attacks by joking about the size of Trump’s hands in a reference to his manhood. Trump responded by branding Rubio as “little Marco”, a nickname that stuck with the senator for years.

But like many Republicans who sought to maintain their relevance in the Trump era, Rubio shifted his rhetoric. As speculation intensified that Trump might pick him as his running mate, Rubio sought to play down the tension from 2016, suggesting the heated tone simply reflected the intensity of a campaign.

“That is like asking a boxer why they punched somebody in the face in the third round,” Rubio told CNN when asked about his previous comments. “It’s because they were boxing.”

Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010 as part of the tea party wave of Republicans who swept into Washington. He quickly gained a reputation as someone who could embody a more diverse, welcoming Republican Party. He was a key member of a group that worked on a 2013 immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for millions of people in the country illegally.

But that legislation stalled in the House, where more conservative Republicans were in control, signalling the sharp turn to the right that the party – and Rubio – would soon embrace. Now, Rubio says he supports Trump’s plan to deploy the US military to deport those in the country illegally.

“We are going to have to do something, unfortunately, we’re going to have to do something dramatic,” Rubio said in a May interview with NBC.

He also echoes many of Trump’s attacks on his opponents as well as his false or unproven theories about voter fraud.

After Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in what New York prosecutors charged was a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election, Rubio wrote a column for Newsweek saying Trump had “been held hostage” in court for “a sham political show trial like the ones Communists used against their political opponents in Cuba and the Soviet Union”.

Trump, meanwhile, has backed off his insistence while president that TikTok be banned in the United States, and he recently opened his own account on the platform.

A bill that would require the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States was supported by Rubio even as Trump voiced opposition to the effort.

Rubio’s Democratic counterpart on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia, praised the pick.

“I have worked with Marco Rubio for more than a decade on the Intelligence Committee, particularly closely in the last couple of years in his role as vice-chairman, and while we don’t always agree, he is smart, talented, and will be a strong voice for American interests around the globe,” Warner said in a statement.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump announced that long-time aide Dan Scavino will serve as a deputy without giving a specific portfolio, campaign political director James Blair as deputy for legislative, political and public affairs, and Taylor Budowich as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel. All will have the rank of assistant to the president.

Trump also formally announced Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, will be deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. That had previously been confirmed by Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance on Monday.

Miller is one of Trump’s longest-serving aides, dating back to his first campaign for the White House. He was a senior adviser in Trump’s first term and has been a central figure in many of his policy decisions, particularly on immigration, including Trump’s move to separate thousands of immigrant families as a deterrence programme in 2018.

Trump could send EU hurtling toward tariff war with both US and China, Macron warns

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3286465/trump-could-send-eu-hurtling-toward-tariff-war-both-us-and-china-macron-warns?utm_source=rss_feed

Emmanuel Macron warned that Europe risks getting divided by Donald Trump’s economic policy and being thrown into a simultaneous trade war with Washington and Beijing.

The next US administration “will continue to protect the market very strongly, at the risk of dismantling value chains between Europeans and Americans”, the French president said on Wednesday while speaking on a panel about European competitiveness.

“We’re clearly entering a world of tariff wars.”

Trump has floated the idea of imposing a 10 per cent to 20 per cent tariff on all goods coming from abroad, which could impact Europe’s export-reliant industries and countries, such as cars and chemicals.

The transatlantic list of grievances includes green subsidies offered by the Biden administration, steel and aluminium levies and a long-running dispute between Boeing and Airbus.

This would come on top of trade tensions between Europe and China exacerbated by an anti-subsidy probe the European Union launched with urging from France into Chinese-made electric vehicles. China has responded with tariffs on European brandies, which particularly affects French cognac.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also warned on Wednesday that overcapacity and countries selling goods at below-market prices are a continuing threat for Europe.

“The United States has been bringing industrial production back into its own country with major subsidy programmes,” Scholz said at a lobbying event for the steel industry in Berlin. “At the same time, they are sealing off the domestic market with high import tariffs.”

Speaking alongside the former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, Macron said: “One of the points that Mario raised, which is very important for me, is also to know how we’re going to be caught up in the trade war with China, because one of the things that could happen is that it could be tariffs for everyone.”

He then added that Washington could “force the Europeans to separate themselves from the Chinese more quickly” by putting “very strong tariffs on China” but telling Europeans “if you’re more complacent, we’ll put the tariffs on you”.

Already, the EU’s EV tariffs have split European countries, with Germany and its carmakers strongly critical of the move.

“And that’s when there’ll be a risk of division among Europeans, depending on the sectoral interests and of different countries, some of which are very exposed to the Chinese market,” Macron added, “while others who are more dependent on the American market will give in more quickly to the pressure that the American federal government may put on them.”

Award-winning mathematician Ma Xiaonan leaves Europe for China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286329/award-winning-mathematician-ma-xiaonan-leaves-europe-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Award-winning Chinese mathematician Ma Xiaonan has left his decades-long career in Europe to join Nankai University in Tianjin, according to an announcement on the university’s website.

The 52-year-old expert in differential geometry and topology will serve as a chair professor at the Chern Institute of Mathematics (CIM), founded in 1985 by Chinese-American mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern.

Ma, whose numerous awards include the Sophie Germain Prize from the French Academy of Sciences, said Nankai’s mathematics programme enjoyed a high reputation both at home and overseas.

“The Chern institute’s strong academic foundation and spirit of innovation were key factors that attracted me to Nankai,” Ma said during a meeting with institute director and university vice-president Bai Chengming, according to the website.

“I’m eager to fully commit to teaching and research at Nankai, and help nurture new talent with global perspectives and innovative abilities.”

Ma is a leader in global analysis on manifolds and complex geometry. He mainly studies the properties of complex shapes and spaces, looking for methods to simplify or predict their behaviours.

His work holds applications across fields ranging from theoretical physics to computer graphics, advancing our understanding in areas such as the structure of the universe and quantum mechanics.

In 2006, Ma received the Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize and in 2022 he was awarded the Gay-Lussac-Humboldt Prize in recognition of his work promoting research collaboration between France and Germany.

According to Chinese media reports, Ma was born in 1972 in a small, mountainous village of about 50 households in eastern China’s Zhejiang province.

After graduating from high school with a notable maths score of 117 out of 120, Ma earned his bachelor’s degree at Wuhan University before pursuing a PhD at the University of Paris-Sud, where he graduated in 1998.

Ma conducted postdoctoral research at the Humboldt University of Berlin and served as a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 2001, he joined the Centre of Mathematics Laurent Schwartz at École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France.

By 2007, Ma was a professor at the University Paris VII. He was also a junior member of the French University Institute from 2009 to 2014, subsequently working at several institutions across France and Germany before returning to China.

CIM is an open research institution that aims to attract top mathematicians from both home and abroad, as well as promote the development of pure and applied mathematics in China.

Nobel laureate Yang Chen-ning – who won the physics prize in 1957 and gave up his US nationality at the age of 94 in 2017 to become a Chinese citizen – established a theoretical physics lab at the institute in the 1980s.