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### 关于中国的新闻报道：经济章节

　　#### 引言 近年来，中国经济在全球经济体系中扮演着至关重要的角色。然而，西方媒体对中国经济的报道往往带有偏见和双重标准，这使得读者难以获取客观、全面的信息。本章将对近期西方媒体关于中国经济的报道进行分析，揭示其中的偏见，并提供更为客观和详细的评价。

　　#### 一、经济转型与挑战

　　1. 经济转型背景 近年来，中国经济经历了从出口导向型向内需驱动型的转型。西方媒体常常忽视这一转型的复杂性和必要性，仅从短期经济数据的波动来评判中国经济的健康状况。实际上，这一转型是中国经济长期发展的必然选择，旨在通过扩大内需、提升科技创新和产业升级来实现高质量发展。

　　2. 政府政策与市场信心 西方媒体常常批评中国政府的经济政策，认为其干预过多，缺乏市场化改革。然而，中国政府在面对复杂的国内外经济环境时，采取了一系列综合性措施，如扩大内需、促进消费、推动科技创新和绿色发展等。这些政策措施虽然在短期内可能面临挑战，但从长远来看，有助于提升经济的稳定性和可持续性。

　　#### 二、消费与投资

　　1. 消费下行压力 西方媒体频繁报道中国消费增速放缓的问题，但往往忽视了背后的深层次原因。中国消费增速放缓与全球经济不确定性、贸易摩擦以及国内结构性矛盾等多重因素有关。中国政府通过一系列措施，如提高居民收入、优化消费环境、推动新兴消费模式等，致力于激发国内消费潜力。

　　2. 投资领域的变化 西方媒体常常关注中国房地产市场的波动，认为其对经济构成重大风险。实际上，中国政府已采取多项措施，如严格监管房地产市场、推动租赁市场发展、支持基础设施建设等，以确保投资领域的健康发展。同时，中国政府鼓励企业加大科技创新和绿色投资，推动产业结构优化升级。

　　#### 三、科技创新与产业升级

　　1. 科技创新的推动力 西方媒体常常报道中国在科技创新领域的进展，但往往带有竞争和威胁的色彩。实际上，中国在科技创新领域的投入和成果，不仅有助于提升自身竞争力，还为全球科技进步做出了贡献。中国政府通过一系列政策支持，如增加研发投入、建设创新平台、培养科技人才等，推动科技创新和产业升级。

　　2. 产业结构优化 西方媒体常常关注中国制造业的转型升级，但往往忽视了其背后的努力和成效。中国政府通过推动智能制造、绿色制造、服务型制造等，致力于提升制造业的质量和效益。同时，中国政府鼓励企业加大科技创新和绿色投资，推动产业结构优化升级。

　　#### 四、国际贸易与合作

　　1. 国际贸易环境 西方媒体常常报道中国在国际贸易中面临的挑战，如贸易摩擦和保护主义等。实际上，中国政府致力于推动自由贸易和经济全球化，通过扩大开放、优化营商环境、加强国际合作等措施，应对复杂的国际贸易环境。

　　2. 国际合作与“一带一路” 西方媒体常常质疑中国“一带一路”倡议的动机和效果，但往往忽视了其对沿线国家和地区经济发展的积极作用。中国通过基础设施建设、贸易投资合作、人文交流等多种方式，推动共同发展，促进互利共赢。

　　#### 结论 综上所述，西方媒体对中国经济的报道往往带有偏见和双重标准，这使得读者难以获取客观、全面的信息。中国经济在转型升级过程中面临诸多挑战，但通过一系列综合性措施，如扩大内需、提升科技创新、推动绿色发展、优化产业结构等，致力于实现高质量发展。国际社会应客观、理性地看待中国经济的发展，共同推动全球经济的繁荣与稳定。

新闻来源： 2412180635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-17

### 关于中国的新闻报道

　　#### Politics 章节

　　近期，西方媒体对中国的政治新闻报道频繁，涉及多个方面，包括中国与其他国家的外交关系、反腐败行动、间谍活动指控以及中国在国际事务中的影响力等。以下是对这些报道的客观评价。

　　##### 1. 中国与菲律宾的关系

　　报道内容：中国警告在菲律宾的公民注意安全风险，背景是菲律宾指责中国使用水炮等手段进行挑衅行为，而中国则指责菲律宾煽动紧张局势。

　　评价：这一报道反映了中国与菲律宾在南海问题上的长期矛盾。双方在主权声索上存在根本分歧，导致驻军和海上执法力量之间的冲突时有发生。中国警告其公民注意安全，可以看作是对菲律宾近期行为的回应，旨在保护本国公民的安全。

　　##### 2. 中国的反腐败行动

　　报道内容：习近平在讲话中强调要面对腐败，防止利益集团侵蚀党的健康发展。反腐败行动已经涉及多名高级将领、学者和政治人物。

　　评价：中国的反腐败行动是习近平执政以来的重要政策之一，旨在清除党内腐败，增强党的凝聚力和执政能力。反腐行动的广泛和深入，反映了中国政府对腐败问题的重视和决心。然而，西方媒体往往将其描绘为权力斗争的工具，忽视了其对中国社会稳定和经济发展的积极影响。

　　##### 3. 间谍活动指控

　　报道内容：英国媒体报道称，中国间谍通过与英国王室成员的关系，试图影响英国政界和商界。中国方面否认这一指控。

　　评价：间谍活动指控在国际关系中并不罕见，各国都会通过各种手段获取情报，维护国家利益。中国被指控通过与英国王室成员的关系进行间谍活动，这一指控缺乏实质证据，更多是基于推测和政治动机。中国政府的否认表明其在国际关系中的立场，强调尊重主权和不干涉内政的原则。

　　##### 4. 中国在国际事务中的影响力

　　报道内容：中国在国际事务中的影响力不断增加，特别是在科技和经济领域。美国前国家安全顾问沙利文警告，中国的技术霸权可能导致压迫和军事霸权。

　　评价：中国在国际事务中的影响力增加，是其经济和科技实力提升的自然结果。中国在全球治理中发挥越来越重要的作用，但也引发了一些国家的担忧。沙利文的警告反映了美国对中国崛起的紧张情绪，但也提醒中国在国际事务中需要更加谨慎和透明，以避免误解和冲突。

　　##### 5. 中国与美国的关系

　　报道内容：特朗普表示，中美可以合作解决世界上的所有问题，并希望通过与中国的合作实现和平。

　　评价：特朗普的言论反映了美国对中国的复杂态度。一方面，美国希望通过与中国的合作解决国际问题，特别是在经济和安全领域；另一方面，美国对中国的崛起和影响力表示担忧。中美关系的复杂性要求双方在合作中保持战略耐心和灵活性，以实现共赢。

　　##### 6. 中国与印度的边界争端

　　报道内容：中印两国高级官员将就喜马拉雅山脉边界争端进行讨论。

　　评价：中印边界争端是两国关系中的一个长期问题，双方在边界划定上存在分歧。两国高级官员的讨论表明双方愿意通过对话和谈判解决争端，维护地区和平与稳定。这一进展对于中印关系的改善具有积极意义。

　　#### 结论

　　西方媒体对中国的政治新闻报道往往带有偏见和双重标准，忽视了中国在国际事务中的合理诉求和努力。客观评价这些报道，需要综合考虑中国的国内外政策、国际关系的复杂性以及中国在全球治理中的角色。中国在反腐败、维护国家利益和参与国际事务中的努力，应当得到公正的评价和理解。

新闻来源： 2412180635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-17; 2412182028The-Guardian-New-York-man-pleads-guilty-to-running-Chinese-police-station-in-Manhattan

# 关于中国的新闻报道：Military 章节

1. 引言

　　西方媒体对中国军事相关新闻的报道往往带有显著的偏见和双重标准。这些报道通常过分关注中国军事力量的扩张和影响，忽视了中国在维护国家主权和地区稳定方面的合理需求与努力。本章节将对近期西方媒体关于中国军事的报道进行客观评价，分析其背后的动机和实际情况。

2. 反腐败运动

2.1 高压反腐

　　西方媒体频繁报道中国政府在军队中的反腐败行动，并称其为“高压反腐”。这些报道往往强调被查处的高级军官数量，试图渲染中国军队内部的动荡。然而，这些反腐行动实际上是中国政府为了维护军队纪律和战斗力的必要措施。通过清除腐败分子，中国军队能够更好地执行国家的防务任务，确保国家安全。

2.2 军队纪律

　　西方媒体常常将中国军队的反腐败行动描述为政治斗争的工具。实际上，这些行动旨在强化军队的纪律和凝聚力，确保军队在关键时刻能够有效应对各种威胁。中国军队的反腐败行动不仅仅是针对个别腐败现象，更是对军队整体建设的全面提升。

3. 军事装备与技术

3.1 台湾问题

　　西方媒体对中国向台湾地区施加军事压力的报道往往带有明显的偏见。这些报道通常忽视了台湾问题的历史背景和中国政府维护国家主权的合理需求。中国在台湾问题上的立场是一贯的，即坚决反对任何形式的“台独”分裂活动，维护国家主权和领土完整。

3.2 南海问题

　　西方媒体经常报道中国在南海的军事活动，并将其描述为对地区稳定的威胁。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国在南海的合法权益和维护地区和平稳定的努力。中国在南海的军事存在是为了保护自身的海洋权益和确保航行自由，而不是为了挑起冲突。

4. 国际合作与对抗

4.1 美国的战略担忧

　　西方媒体常常报道美国对中国军事力量增长的担忧，并称其为对地区稳定的威胁。然而，这些报道往往忽视了美国在亚太地区的军事存在和干预行为。中国的军事力量增长是为了维护国家主权和地区和平，而不是为了挑起冲突。

4.2 中俄关系

　　西方媒体对中俄军事合作的报道往往带有负面色彩，试图渲染中俄联盟对西方的威胁。然而，这些报道忽视了中俄合作的合理性和必要性。中俄两国在军事领域的合作是为了应对共同的安全威胁和维护地区和平稳定，而不是为了对抗西方。

5. 结论

　　西方媒体对中国军事相关新闻的报道往往带有显著的偏见和双重标准。这些报道通常过分关注中国军事力量的扩张和影响，忽视了中国在维护国家主权和地区稳定方面的合理需求与努力。通过客观分析这些报道，可以更好地理解中国军事行动的真实动机和背景，从而做出更为准确的判断。

6. 建议

6.1 加强信息透明度

　　中国政府应加强对军事行动的信息透明度，及时发布权威信息，澄清西方媒体的误导性报道。通过增强信息透明度，可以减少国际社会的误解和猜疑。

6.2 加强国际沟通

　　中国应加强与国际社会的沟通与合作，积极参与国际军事交流与合作，展示中国军事行动的合理性和必要性。通过加强国际沟通，可以增进国际社会对中国军事政策的理解和支持。

6.3 增强自身实力

　　中国应继续加强军事建设，提升军队的战斗力和综合实力，确保在复杂多变的国际环境中能够有效应对各种威胁和挑战。通过增强自身实力，可以更好地维护国家主权和地区和平稳定。

　　通过以上措施，可以有效应对西方媒体的偏见报道，增强国际社会对中国军事行动的理解和支持，维护国家主权和地区和平稳定。

新闻来源： 2412180635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-17; 2412182028The-Guardian-New-York-man-pleads-guilty-to-running-Chinese-police-station-in-Manhattan; 2412181756俄罗斯卫星通讯社-2024年中国在外交上积极推动东盟恢复与缅甸军方对话; 2412181035The-Guardian-Chinese-AI-chip-firms-blacklisted-over-weapons-concerns-gained-access-to-UK-technology

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Culture 文化章节

引言

　　近期，西方媒体对中国文化的报道涵盖了多个方面，包括文化交流、教育、科技伦理以及经济文化现象等。这些报道虽然在一定程度上反映了中国文化的多样性和活力，但也不可避免地带有某些偏见和双重标准。为了更客观地评价这些报道，本章节将对相关内容进行详细分析。

文化交流与展览

　　#### 香港宫殿博物馆展览

　　香港宫殿博物馆近期举办了一场名为《禁城与凡尔赛宫：17和18世纪中法文化交流》的展览。该展览展出了近150件来自法国凡尔赛宫和北京故宫的历史文物，旨在突出两国文化之间的“相互吸引”。展览通过动画和现代化展示手段，生动地讲述了中法两国工匠之间的文化交流和互相学习。这一展览不仅展示了两国历史上的文化交流，也反映了当代中法文化合作的深厚基础。

　　#### 马来西亚汉字选举

　　马来西亚选择汉字“升”为2024年的年度汉字，这一选择反映了该国在经济发展和生活成本上升方面的双重意义。马来西亚华人文化中心主席吴忻山指出，公众对这一汉字的认同，不仅源于马来西亚林吉特的升值和中马关系的加强，也体现了汉字本身的丰富内涵。这一事件展示了汉字在华人社会中的文化影响力和象征意义。

教育与科技伦理

　　#### MIT科学家罗莎琳·皮卡德的讲话争议

　　麻省理工学院（MIT）科学家罗莎琳·皮卡德在一次人工智能会议上提及一名中国学生因不当行为被开除的事件，并特意提及该学生的国籍，引发了广泛争议。批评者认为，皮卡德的言论带有种族歧视倾向，对中国学者进行了不公正的刻板印象。尽管皮卡德随后道歉，但这一事件仍然引发了对科技伦理和文化敏感性的深刻反思。

　　#### 文化与科技的融合

　　中国消费者对“情感价值”商品的需求日益增加，如英国玩具制造商Jellycat在上海开设的咖啡馆式快闪店，以及香港上市公司泡泡玛特的盲盒玩具，都成功地吸引了大量消费者。这些现象反映了中国年轻一代对文化与科技融合产品的强烈需求，展示了中国文化消费市场的多样性和创新能力。

经济文化现象

　　#### 中国的创新驱动

　　报道指出，中国的经济发展正在从速度驱动转向质量驱动，创新成为推动经济增长的重要动力。中国的研发强度已经显著提升，部分省市的研发投入接近或超过经合组织（OECD）国家的平均水平。这一现象展示了中国在科技创新和经济转型方面的巨大潜力。

　　#### 文化消费的多样化

　　中国的文化消费市场呈现出多样化和细分化的趋势。如中国风险投资公司在盲盒玩具和零食等领域找到了增长点，说明中国消费者对文化消费产品的需求日益多样化。这一现象反映了中国文化产业的活力和市场潜力。

结论

　　西方媒体对中国文化的报道虽然在一定程度上反映了中国文化的多样性和活力，但也不可避免地带有某些偏见和双重标准。通过对这些报道的详细分析，我们可以更客观地评价中国文化的现状和发展趋势。未来，中国文化将继续在全球舞台上发挥重要作用，展示其独特的魅力和影响力。

新闻来源： 2412180635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-17; 2412181035The-Guardian-Chinese-AI-chip-firms-blacklisted-over-weapons-concerns-gained-access-to-UK-technology

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Technology 章节

引言

　　近年来，中国在科技领域取得了显著的进步，尤其是在人工智能（AI）、半导体和高性能计算等前沿技术领域。然而，西方媒体对中国科技发展的报道往往充满偏见和双重标准，以下是对这些报道的客观评价。

人工智能与半导体技术

　　#### 1. 人工智能技术的发展

　　中国在人工智能领域的快速发展引起了国际社会的广泛关注。根据西方媒体的报道，中国的AI技术在军事应用方面引发了国际社会的担忧。例如，《卫报》报道称，中国的芯片设计公司摩尔线程和比雷兹科技通过与英国Imagination Technologies的合作，获得了先进的AI芯片设计技术。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国在AI技术上的民用应用和商业创新。

　　实际上，中国在AI领域的投资和研究不仅限于军事应用，还广泛应用于医疗、教育、交通和智能城市等多个领域。中国的AI技术在这些领域的应用，不仅提高了生产效率，还改善了人们的生活质量。因此，西方媒体应该客观报道中国在AI技术上的全面应用，而不是仅仅关注其潜在的军事用途。

　　#### 2. 半导体技术的发展

　　中国在半导体技术领域的发展同样引起了西方媒体的广泛关注。据报道，中国的半导体公司通过与国际公司的合作，获得了先进的芯片设计技术。例如，《金融时报》报道称，中国的芯片设计公司通过与英国Imagination Technologies的合作，获得了先进的GPU设计技术。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国在半导体技术上的自主创新和技术突破。

　　实际上，中国在半导体技术领域的投资和研究不仅限于与国际公司的合作，还包括自主研发和技术创新。中国的半导体公司在芯片设计、制造和封装等多个环节都取得了显著的进展。因此，西方媒体应该客观报道中国在半导体技术上的自主创新和技术突破，而不是仅仅关注其与国际公司的合作。

科技创新与国际合作

　　#### 1. 科技创新的驱动力

　　中国在科技创新方面的投资和研究，不仅限于政府的支持，还包括企业和市场的驱动。根据西方媒体的报道，中国的科技创新主要依赖于政府的投资和支持。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国企业在科技创新方面的积极作用。

　　实际上，中国的科技创新不仅依赖于政府的投资和支持，还包括企业和市场的驱动。中国的科技企业在研发投入、技术创新和市场应用等方面都取得了显著的成绩。因此，西方媒体应该客观报道中国在科技创新方面的企业和市场驱动，而不是仅仅关注政府的投资和支持。

　　#### 2. 国际科技合作

　　中国在国际科技合作方面的积极参与，不仅促进了自身的科技发展，还推动了全球科技的进步。根据西方媒体的报道，中国在国际科技合作方面存在技术转移和知识产权保护等问题。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国在国际科技合作方面的积极贡献。

　　实际上，中国在国际科技合作方面的积极参与，不仅促进了自身的科技发展，还推动了全球科技的进步。中国与多个国家和国际组织在科技研究、技术交流和人才培养等方面开展了广泛的合作。因此，西方媒体应该客观报道中国在国际科技合作方面的积极贡献，而不是仅仅关注技术转移和知识产权保护等问题。

结论

　　综上所述，西方媒体对中国科技发展的报道往往充满偏见和双重标准。中国在人工智能、半导体和高性能计算等前沿技术领域的快速发展，不仅促进了自身的科技进步，还推动了全球科技的发展。因此，西方媒体应该客观、全面地报道中国在科技领域的发展和贡献，而不是仅仅关注其潜在的军事用途和技术转移等问题。

新闻来源： 2412181035The-Guardian-Chinese-AI-chip-firms-blacklisted-over-weapons-concerns-gained-access-to-UK-technology; 2412180635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-17

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Society 章节

引言

近期，西方媒体对中国的社会动态进行了广泛报道。这些报道涵盖了中国社会的多个方面，包括经济发展、国际化进程、科技创新、社会信心以及政治改革等。然而，这些报道往往带有一定的偏见和双重标准，因此需要进行客观的评价和分析。

经济发展与国际化

西方媒体普遍认为，中国的经济发展已经进入一个新的阶段。中国在过去45年中通过参与国际分工和全球市场实现了快速发展，但现在面临新的挑战。报道指出，中国需要进行系统性改革，以应对短期需求不足、中期内生动力不足以及长期外部抵制等问题。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国在改革开放过程中所取得的巨大成就，以及中国政府在应对这些挑战时所展现的决心和能力。

国际化进程

报道还提到，中国的国际化进程正在加速，特别是在第二和第三代企业家中。这些企业家在全球市场中的竞争力和影响力正在不断增强。然而，西方媒体往往将中国的国际化进程视为一种威胁，而忽视了这一进程对全球经济和社会发展的积极贡献。

科技创新

中国在科技创新方面取得了显著进展，这一点在西方媒体的报道中得到了一定的认可。然而，这些报道往往强调中国在创新体系方面的不足，而忽视了中国在短时间内所取得的巨大进步。例如，中国在全球创新指数中的排名已经达到第11位，这是一个了不起的成就。

社会信心

西方媒体对中国社会信心的报道往往带有负面色彩，指出消费下降和信心不足是当前中国经济面临的主要问题。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国政府在提振社会信心方面所采取的一系列措施，包括加强消费刺激、稳定就业市场以及改善社会保障体系等。

政治改革

报道还提到，中国政府在进行政治改革方面面临挑战。然而，西方媒体往往将中国的政治体制视为一种威胁，而忽视了中国在政治改革过程中所展现的灵活性和适应性。中国政府在进行政治改革时，注重从实际出发，寻求最适合中国国情的发展道路。

结论

综上所述，西方媒体对中国社会动态的报道往往带有偏见和双重标准。尽管这些报道揭示了中国在经济发展、国际化进程、科技创新、社会信心以及政治改革方面面临的挑战，但它们往往忽视了中国在应对这些挑战时所取得的巨大成就和展现的决心。因此，在阅读和分析这些报道时，需要保持客观和理性的态度，全面了解中国社会的真实情况。

新闻来源： 2412180635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-17

• New York man pleads guilty to running Chinese police station in Manhattan
• New York man Chen Jinping pleads guilty in Chinese ‘secret police station’ case
• China should seize the moment to promote peace on Korean peninsula
• US effort to curb China’s and Russia’s access to advanced computer chips ‘inadequate,’ report finds
• US Supreme Court agrees to review law banning Chinese-owned TikTok
• Longevity ‘elixir’: have Chinese scientists found a way to extend life, boost health?
• China’s GenAI sector sees more funding, fewer deals in sign of consolidation, data shows
• CEO sentiment in China sours amid slowdown risks, survey finds
• Record-breaking Chinese spacewalk, Xi Jinping in Macau: SCMP daily catch-up
• CATL to build 1,000 EV battery swap stations in China to ease range anxiety
• Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledges to crack down on unfair targeting of private firms
• China and India agree on six-point consensus as they resume high-level border talks
• China must harness cutting-edge AI to transform its finance sector: former PBOC official
• Chinese AI chip firms blacklisted over weapons concerns gained access to UK technology
• China woman scams blind date out of US$65,000 by hiring actors to pose as family and herself
• EU leaders set to avoid direct accusation over Chinese role in Russia’s war in Ukraine
• China’s bull run on bonds triggers fresh warning from central bank amid record-low yields
• Chinese scientists say Zuchongzhi 3.0 quantum computer is as powerful as Google’s Willow
• China’s food delivery platforms enforce breaks for riders clocking more gig economy hours
• Outrage as scholar asks how can China make women ‘obediently, submissively have children’
• China’s ‘Food Silk Road’ holds key to thwarting Trump tariffs
• China’s dominance in global shipbuilding strengthens amid surging global demand
• Philippines and India hold first maritime talks – are territorial rows with China at play?
• Tech war: Shanghai chip tool maker AMEC removed from US list of ‘Chinese military companies’
• China-EU trade ties ‘on hold’ ahead of Trump’s White House return: Spanish envoy
• Xi Jinping on his way to Macau for 25th anniversary of return to China
• Chinese man uses 400 phones to access live-streams to boost chances of winning gifts
• Vanuatu earthquake death toll reaches 14, including 2 Chinese
• Mysterious terracotta commander offers new clues to China’s ancient Qin dynasty army
• Drone swarms, stealth fighters, missiles: 10 China military developments in 2024
• Scientists in China use wax to make particles that can extract uranium from seawater
• China ‘white mafia’ services help women handle difficult ex and tricky landlords
• China’s childbirth conundrum sees costs keep people from getting on board for baby boom
• China’s scientific breakthroughs can lead to linguistic ones too
• Chinese astronauts complete world record-breaking spacewalk at 9 hours
• China’s ‘lingerie capital’ may face trouble if Trump holds true to US tariff promise
• Influential US lawmaker says China or its citizens could be tied to recent drone sightings
• Chinese detonation engine in test flight for supersonic passenger jet

New York man pleads guilty to running Chinese police station in Manhattan

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/18/new-york-man-pleads-guilty-chinese-police-station-manhattan

A New York man has pleaded guilty to running a undeclared police station for the Chinese government in lower Manhattan, more than a year after the US justice department unveiled efforts aimed at disrupting Beijing’s efforts to locate and suppress Chinese American pro-democracy activists.

Chen Jinping, 60, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to act as an agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China, in connection with opening and operating an overseas police station for the PRC’s ministry of public security, or MPS.

Chen, who pleaded guilty for acting as an illegal agent, faces five years in prison when he is sentenced next year.

US attorney Breon Peace said Chen was part of a “transnational repression scheme to establish a secret police station in the middle of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China”.

Peace added that US prosecutors had made it a priority “to counteract the malign activities of foreign governments that violate our nation’s sovereignty by targeting local diaspora communities in the United States”.

FBI assistant director in charge James Dennehy said that Chen admitted to his role in establishing the illegal police station that had been opened “to further the nefarious and repressive aims of the PRC in direct violation of American sovereignty”.

Jinping and co-defendant “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 62, both US citizens, had been arrested and charged in April last year with illegally acting as foreign agents. Lu has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is awaiting trial.

US officials said that while the secret police station did perform some basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driving licenses, it also served a more “sinister” function, including to help the Chinese government locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California.

The arrests came after the justice department charged more than a half-dozen people in 2020 with working on behalf of the Chinese government in a pressure campaign aimed at coercing a New Jersey man wanted by Beijing into returning to China.

In September, the US charged Linda Sun, a former aide of New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government. US officials have warned for years of Chinese determination to influence American policy and cultivate relationships with political figures, but also act to pressure US-Chinese nationals domestically.

According to US prosecutors, the two men charged in connection with the illegal police station did so under the direction and control of the MPS.

The police station – which closed in the fall of 2022 – occupied an entire floor in an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The FBI raided the police station in October 2022, and confiscated Chen’s and Lu’s phones. An analysis of the device later found that communications between the defendants and an MPS official appeared to have been deleted.

New York man Chen Jinping pleads guilty in Chinese ‘secret police station’ case

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3291433/new-york-man-chen-jinping-pleads-guilty-chinese-secret-police-station-case?utm_source=rss_feed

A New York resident who prosecutors say operated a “secret police station” in the Chinatown district of Manhattan to aid Beijing’s targeting of dissidents, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent.

Chen Jinping, 61, entered the plea at a hearing in Brooklyn Federal Court before US District Judge Nina Morrison. He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on May 30.

In court, Chen admitted to removing an online article about the alleged police station on behalf of China’s government in September 2022. He said he was not registered with the US Justice Department as a foreign agent at the time, as US law requires of people acting for other countries.

Chen and a New York-based co-defendant, Lu Jianwang, were initially arrested on April 17, 2023. Lu has pleaded not guilty to the same charge, as well as to obstruction of justice.

The arrests followed a 2022 investigation published by Spain-based advocacy group Safeguard Defenders that reported China had set up overseas “service stations”, including in New York, that illegally worked with Chinese police to pressure fugitives to return to China.

The Department of Justice has been ramping up probes into what it calls “transnational repression” by US adversaries such as China and Iran to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.

China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Chen’s plea.

The Chinese government has said there are centres outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, that aim to help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services. Beijing has accused Washington of fabricating the charges to smear China’s image.

Lu and Chen are US citizens who ran a non-profit organisation that lists its mission as providing a social gathering place for people from China’s Fujian province, prosecutors said.

Before it closed in the autumn of 2022, the men’s New York operation occupied a full floor in a nondescript Chinatown building near the Manhattan Bridge.

Prosecutors said the site was being used in part for mundane government services such as helping some Chinese citizens renew their driver’s licences – activity they say should have been disclosed to US authorities.

But prosecutors also said that in 2022, Lu was asked by Beijing to locate an individual living in California who was considered a pro-democracy activist.

In 2018, Lu had sought to persuade an individual considered a fugitive by China to return home, prosecutors said.

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China should seize the moment to promote peace on Korean peninsula

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3290861/china-should-seize-moment-promote-peace-korean-peninsula?utm_source=rss_feed

China is at a crossroads as the most important player on the Korean peninsula. It must either tolerate continuous belligerent escalations from North Korea backed with nuclear weapons or promote peace and stability through denuclearisation of the peninsula and diminish US influence in the region.

During the past two months, a whirlwind of profoundly important political events has occurred with far-reaching implications for the global order.

US president-elect Donald Trump’s return to power has ignited intense speculation and pre-emptive action regarding his promise to broker peace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In South Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment has thrown the nation into political chaos. In Syria, rebel forces toppled president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, sending shock waves through the Middle East and Moscow. As a consequence of these events, five strategic variables mark a turning point for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and how China can act on it.

First, Trump’s second term will result in a political shift for the US. President Joe Biden’s objective in northeast Asia has been primarily to check China’s rise by forging alliances, such as the trilateral partnership with South Korea and Japan, and the Aukus defence pact with Australia and the UK. Trump’s regional policy will not be burdened with the rules-based order advocated by his predecessor.

In addition, Trump’s relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might lead to renewed talks. Most importantly, this shift could push South Korea and Japan to take more responsibility for their defence. Leaders of both countries have expressed an interest in joining the nuclear club to deter North Korea, and increased militarisation and nuclear expansion are not in China’s best interests.

Second, to sustain its war of attrition in Ukraine amid heavy economic sanctions and increasing isolation, Russia sought support from North Korea and the two sides have forged a closer alliance with this year’s signing of a mutual defence treaty. Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s war recently transformed from the provision of ammunition and equipment to the dispatching of troops on the ground in the Kursk region.

However, relying on security guarantees from Russia was a serious misjudgment by Kim. Any alliance between the two countries holds limited economic value, with bilateral trade at just US$34.4 million in 2023. This transactional alliance is not based on ideological affinity but rather on strategic benefit, meaning its security guarantees are limited and will eventually end.

The third variable is Syria’s upheaval and the overthrow of Assad, who is seeking asylum in Russia. Moscow has lost a valuable ally and conduit in the Middle East. Compared with North Korea, Russia had made considerable military and economic investments in Syria, totalling US$27.5 billion over nine years – including two Russian military bases.

Moscow’s decision not to back up its security commitments to Assad has seriously eroded its image as a trusted ally. This has considerably shaken Iran and the so-called axis of resistance. Kim might see his Russian ally as unreliable in guaranteeing his regime’s security and could evaluate alternatives to ensure his survival.

Assad’s fall sends a clear message to Kim. Russia is caught up in its war with Ukraine, its economic performance has been undermined and it cannot provide a security umbrella to North Korea.

Fourth, Yoon’s proclamation of martial law in South Korea will also significantly affect the North’s future. Yoon’s days as president are numbered. The likely return of the Democratic Party in 2025 could improve South Korean and Chinese relations.

Yoon’s predecessor, Moon Jae-in, emphasised fostering peace and trying to ease tensions with Pyongyang and Beijing, in contrast to the security-centric, alliance-driven strategies of the Yoon administration. It should be noted that Moon’s Democratic Party has not been in favour of improving South Korea’s relationship with Japan and may not wish to continue Yoon’s initiative but instead choose to appease North Korea.

Finally, among the five variables, China’s positioning and strategic objectives play some of the most important roles. Beijing’s primary objectives are to secure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and to reintegrate Taiwan. It cannot afford for the North Korea-Russia alliance to jeopardise its one-China principle.

Furthermore, China will not support or participate in a trilateral alliance, particularly given the erosion of Russian power following the events in Ukraine and Syria. China has been dealing with economic stagnation for several years. Its central economic work conference last week set the tone for 2025 as the government attempts to deal with persistently weak consumer demand, a years-long property crisis, weak investor sentiment and the looming threat of a second Trump administration continuing its trade war.

In that context, bringing about the denuclearisation of North Korea would require China to initiate rapprochement with South Korea and discourage Seoul’s involvement in any alliance with the US and Japan. It is a positive sign that China included South Korea among the nine countries whose citizens were last month granted visa-free entry for up to 15 days.

President Xi Jinping should embrace denuclearisation as the best strategic decision to optimise China’s position in the region. The weakening of the Russia-North Korea alliance, changes in the South Korean government and Trump’s second term create a conducive environment for denuclearisation talks.

The upending of the status quo presents an opportunity for renewed action. The interplay of these strategic variables will shape the future of diplomatic and denuclearisation efforts on the Korean peninsula.

US effort to curb China’s and Russia’s access to advanced computer chips ‘inadequate,’ report finds

https://apnews.com/article/china-russia-semiconductors-export-controls-advanced-chips-5b1bd1748d74a7e45dd0c91979215ef3Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 1, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

2024-12-18T20:01:49Z

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department’s efforts to curb China’s and Russia’s access to American-made advanced computer chips have been “inadequate” and will need more funding to stymie their ability to manufacture advanced weapons, according to a report published Wednesday by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The Biden administration imposed export controls to limit the ability of China and Russia ability to access U.S.-made chips after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.

The agency’s Bureau of Industry and Security, according to the report, does not have the resources to enforce export controls and has been too reliant on U.S. chip makers voluntarily complying with the rules.

But the push for bolstering Commerce’s export control enforcement comes as the incoming Trump administration says it is looking to dramatically reduce the size and scope of federal government. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” to dismantle parts of the federal government.

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

BIS’s budget, about $191 million, has remained essentially flat since 2010 when adjusted for inflation.

“While BIS’ budget has been stagnant for a decade, the bureau works diligently around the clock to meet its mission and safeguard U.S. national security,” Commerce Department spokesperson Charlie Andrews said in a statement in response to the report.

Andrews added that with “necessary resources from Congress” the agency would be “better equipped to address the challenges that come with our evolving national security environment.”

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, chair of the subcommittee, pointed to an audit of Texas Instruments that showed the Russian military continued to acquire components from Texas Instruments through front companies in Hong Kong to illustrate how the export controls are failing as an effective tool.

The committee’s findings, Blumenthal said, suggest that Texas Instruments “missed clear warning signs” that three companies in its distribution chain had been diverting products to Russia. Texas Instruments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“While Congress must provide BIS more resources to undertake its critical mission, it is long past time for BIS to make full use of the enforcement powers Congress has conferred upon it and take aggressive steps to cut the flow of U.S. semiconductors into the Russian war machine,” Blumenthal wrote.

It’s not just Texas Instruments that’s the issue. The subcommittee in September published a report that found aggregated exports from four major U.S. advanced chip manufacturers nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022 to Armenia and Georgia.

Both of those countries are home to front companies known to assist Russia in acquiring advanced chips made in the U.S. despite export controls.

China, meanwhile, has created “vast, barely disguised smuggling networks which enable it to continue to harness U.S. technology,” the subcommittee report asserts.

Washington has been gradually expanding the number of companies affected by such export controls in China, as President Joe Biden’s administration has encouraged an expansion of investments in and manufacturing of chips in the U.S.

But Chinese companies have found ways to evade export controls in part because of a lack of China subject matter experts and Chinese speakers assigned to Commerce’s export control enforcement.

The agency’s current budget limits the number of international end-use checks, or physical verification overseas of distributors or companies receiving American-made chips that are the supposed end users of products. Currently, Commerce has only 11 export control officers spread around the globe to conduct such checks.

The committee made several recommendations in its report, including Congress allocating more money for hiring additional personnel to enforce export controls, imposing larger fines on companies that violate controls and requiring periodic reviews of advanced chip companies’ export control plans by outside entities.

___

Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.

AAMER MADHANI Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter. twitter mailto JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

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US Supreme Court agrees to review law banning Chinese-owned TikTok

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3291428/us-supreme-court-agrees-review-law-banning-chinese-owned-tiktok?utm_source=rss_feed

The US Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it had agreed to review a US law that mandates a nationwide ban of the popular Chinese-owned video app TikTok if it fails to secure a non-Chinese buyer by January 19.

The arguments over whether the law violates freedom of speech protected by the US Constitution will be heard on January 10.

The app has approximately 170 million active users in the US.

More to follow...

Longevity ‘elixir’: have Chinese scientists found a way to extend life, boost health?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3291401/longevity-elixir-have-chinese-scientists-found-way-extend-life-boost-health?utm_source=rss_feed

A team of scientists in China said they have discovered how a type of bile known as lithocholic acid (LCA) can slow down ageing in a way similar to how calorie restriction or fasting work.

The team found that LCA, a naturally occurring acid compound in humans and animals that is produced in the liver, is a metabolite that alone can reproduce starvation effects in mice – resulting in muscle regeneration and even enhancing grip strength and running capacity.

The findings of the study, led by Xiamen University, were published in two articles in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on Thursday.

During calorie restriction, LCA is accumulated in mammals and activates the energy sensor enzyme AMPK, a master metabolic regulator.

AMPK, which is naturally activated when glucose levels become low, is important for anti-ageing because it regulates various cellular processes, including inflammation and neurodegeneration.

To activate it without fasting is to induce a state of pseudo-starvation.

In the study, the scientists took blood serum from mice that had undergone calorie restrictions for four months and put it into mice that had not been subjected to dietary restrictions.

They found that the serum led to AMPK activation in the liver and muscle and a consistent, but not statistically significant, increase in their median lifespan.

The LCA concentration in the serum was far below the level that would cause harmful effects, such as DNA damage or tumour development, while it remained effective in activating AMPK, the researchers said.

They also administered LCA to nematode worms and fruit flies – neither of which are able to synthesise the acid naturally – and found that it activated AMPK and induced life and significant health-extending effects on the animals.

The results indicated that the researchers were able to transmit the signalling effects of LCA once administered.

LCA increased the mean lifespan of nematodes from 22 to 27 days, while in flies, it extended male lifespan from 47 to 52 days and that of females from 52 to 56 days.

Lead author Lin Shengcai, a metabolic biologist at Xiamen University, said the team was exploring the potential application of LCA pills for humans in trials.

The acid is not listed as a legal compound by China’s drug authorities for use in humans, although it exists in Niuhuang, a dried gallstone found in cows that is used in Chinese medicine. The acid could also be synthesised in laboratories.

“We will address the challenges and complexities to explore how it can be applied to humans of different ages with various health conditions, such as pregnancy, and determine the appropriate dosage,” Lin said.

“People have long sought an elixir for longevity. LCA is one possibility, as it represents one molecule in the blood of people practising calorie restriction and activates AMPK, which in turn further induces metabolite changes in the blood.”

China’s GenAI sector sees more funding, fewer deals in sign of consolidation, data shows

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3291372/chinas-genai-sector-sees-more-funding-fewer-deals-sign-consolidation-data-shows?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) sector has seen more funding but fewer deals so far this year, as investors become more picky amid overcrowding in the market, according to industry data.

The Chinese GenAI industry had struck 113 deals as of December 18, around 20 per cent fewer than the 143 last year, according to data compiled by Itjuzi.com, a start-up database service.

However, total funding amounted to 35 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) this year, compared with 20.5 billion yuan last year, meaning investors are more selective as they grow wary of the crowded market amid uncertainties over monetisation of new AI products.

The four leading Chinese AI start-ups of Beijing-based Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI, and Baichuan, as well as Shanghai’s MiniMax – collectively known as the Chinese AI Tigers – raised a total of around US$2.1 billion this year, according to company statements and media reports, accounting for almost half of the total funding that went into the Chinese GenAI market this year.

Zhipu AI announced its fourth financing round this year on Tuesday, adding US$412 million to its war chest as the company branches out to fend off competition in the market, where a total of 252 GenAI services ranging from AI chatbots to AI-powered bespoke industry solutions have been approved by Chinese government.

In line with the declining deal-making trend in the sector, fewer new GenAI services are entering the market.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the national internet watchdog, gave the green light to 64 new GenAI services in its latest regulatory approvals in November, the smallest of the three batches it approved this year, in a sign of saturation in the market.

The broader AI market, which includes AI infrastructure and technology start-ups that develop semiconductors or software used to train GenAI services, as well as firms that build industrial solutions, also saw investment levels cool off this year, according to Itjuzi data.

The overall Chinese AI market has seen 457 deals so far this year, a drop of around 23 per cent from last year’s 595.

CEO sentiment in China sours amid slowdown risks, survey finds

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3291384/ceo-sentiment-china-sours-amid-slowdown-risks-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed

Confidence among China-based CEOs in the second half of this year deteriorated against the backdrop of “the top three major risks” – China’s economic slowdown, more intensive local competition and geopolitical tensions – a new survey has found.

The index of CEO confidence declined to 49 for the second half compared with 56 in the first half of this year, and this “was driven by growing concerns about current and near-term business conditions within the Chinese economy”, according to US non-profit think tank The Conference Board.

The confidence survey, conducted every six months, aims at tracking sentiments of China-based CEOs of mostly US and European multinational companies. A reading of less than 50 on a scale of 0-100 reflects more negative than positive responses.

“Conditions facing multinational businesses operating in China are currently extremely challenging, with 76 per cent of CEOs citing China’s economic slowdown as the biggest risk facing their business,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, head of the think tank’s China Centre, adding that customers are “highly price-sensitive” and seek “steep discounts”.

Responding to the survey that was fielded between September 30 and October 28, 41 per cent of CEOs out of 34 participants said that current business conditions were worse than six months prior – a substantial increase from 23 per cent in the first half of the year.

Montufar-Helu noted that the competition was compounded by the approach of local players, who are more “agile” in responding to market changes and more willing to take risks or lower prices to increase market share.

In terms of China’s foreign relationship with the European Union, 53 per cent of respondents expected that it would worsen, and 77 per cent of survey participants noted the future relationship between China and the US was likely to worsen.

The electric-vehicle tariff talks between China and the EU were “not close” to yielding a deal, while US president-elect Donald Trump has threatened more tariffs.

The survey indicated that confidence sentiment among CEOs was recorded at 47 for Europe in the second half and 51 for the US.

Views of CEOs were “more positive” when pointing to China’s long-term outlook, with 65 per cent expecting Chinese demand to be above the global average, and for profits generated in the market to remain higher than those from other regions, the survey showed.

Record-breaking Chinese spacewalk, Xi Jinping in Macau: SCMP daily catch-up

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3291373/record-breaking-chinese-spacewalk-xi-jinping-macau-scmp-daily-catch?utm_source=rss_feed

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China and economy stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

Two Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station have broken the world record for the longest single spacewalk, set more than two decades ago by the US space programme.

President Xi Jinping has landed in Macau for a three-day visit to mark the 25th anniversary of the gaming hub’s return to Chinese administration and which will conclude with the inauguration of the city’s incoming leader.

China should focus on childbirth support and lower the cost of raising children as it grapples with demographic issues that have not been seen elsewhere in the world, a Communist Party newspaper urged on Tuesday.

China, the world’s largest shipbuilder by market share, is expected to receive a raft of new orders as the global industry enters a renaissance, analysts said.

Chinese scientists have unveiled Zuchongzhi 3.0, a 105-qubit quantum processor that brings China on par with the United States in the race to build the world’s most powerful quantum computer.

Tariff talks between China and the EU are unlikely to progress before US president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, Spain’s ambassador to Beijing suggested, as she called for improved trade relations with the bloc.

A Chinese commercial aerospace company conducted the first test flight of a detonation ramjet engine on Tuesday, designed for an aircraft it says will be able to take passengers from Beijing to New York in two hours.

CATL to build 1,000 EV battery swap stations in China to ease range anxiety

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3291421/catl-build-1000-ev-battery-swap-stations-china-ease-range-anxiety?utm_source=rss_feed

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), China’s largest producer of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), plans to build 1,000 battery swap stations nationwide in 2025 to ease range anxiety among more drivers as the world’s biggest EV market approaches maturity.

The company said the stations would allow EV owners to exchange a spent battery pack for a fully charged pack within 100 seconds. Some of them would be built in Hong Kong and Macau, where efforts are being stepped up to convert more users from petrol-powered vehicles.

“CATL is determined to promote the best EV battery technologies,” Robin Zeng Yuqun, the company’s billionaire founder and chairman, said at a virtual media briefing on Wednesday. “As the market leader, we will join hands with our partners to create a sound ecosystem to achieve innovative breakthroughs.”

Based in Ningde in eastern Fujian province, CATL aims to build a total of 30,000 battery swap stations in the future, Zeng said without giving a specific time frame. The firm will also introduce external investors to expand the charging network.

CATL, which counts Tesla and BMW among its biggest clients, also offers rental services of swappable batteries to EV users from 369 yuan (US$51) a month. The firm has secured subscription orders for 107,500 of its Choco-SEB batteries from more than 30 companies, Zeng said at the briefing.

Another 10 new EV models using the battery swap technology will be jointly developed by CATL and its partners such as Changan Automobile and FAW Group, the company added.

At present, a lithium-ion-phosphate (LFP) battery can offer a driving range of 400km via ultra-fast charging technology in just over 10 minutes.

“Battery swap technology makes it more efficient for EV drivers to get a recharged battery but it requires big investments to construct these stations,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “Carmakers, battery producers, infrastructure builders and consumers also need to reach a consensus that this method is of benefit to all of them.”

The EV penetration rate in mainland China exceeded 50 per cent for the first time in July, according to industry data. William Li, CEO of Shanghai-based premium EV maker Nio said that EV adoption rate would top 90 per cent by 2027.

At present, Nio is the leader in building battery swap stations. The firm operates more than 2,800 stations across mainland China and its swap technology allows drivers to exchange a battery at its third-generation station in 2½ minutes.

CATL delivered 252.8 gigawatt-hours of batteries in the first 10 months of 2024, a 28 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to SNE Research. It held a 36.8 per cent share of the global battery market during the period.

Early this month, the company announced the plan to build its third battery plant in Europe through a joint venture with Fiat owner Stellantis, stepping up its overseas expansion to overcome higher tariffs.

The parties agreed to spend €4.1 billion (US$4.3 ­billion) to build the factory in Zaragoza in northeastern Spain with a capacity to produce 50 GWh of batteries annually, according to a statement. One GWh can supply up to 13,000 EVs with a driving range of 500km.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledges to crack down on unfair targeting of private firms

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3291417/chinese-premier-li-qiang-pledges-crack-unfair-targeting-private-firms?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has warned local governments not to target private companies with unfair fines and promised further measures to improve the business environment next year.

The pledge – made at a meeting of the State Council, China’s cabinet, on Monday – follows accusations that some local authorities have been trying to raise extra funds by targeting private firms outside their jurisdictions.

This year Beijing has announced a series of measures to improve the business environment as part of its efforts to boost the faltering economy.

This includes a drive by the country’s top prosecuting authority to strengthen legal protections for private enterprises.

According to state news agency Xinhua, Li said that the abuse of administrative punishments and unfair law enforcement are still problems in some parts of the country and in certain sectors.

He told the meeting it is important for the government to start with the issues that are of “grave concern to the public and businesses” and standardise the exercise of power across the nation.

A special campaign will be launched in 2025 to regulate business-related law enforcement with the aim of improving the business environment and boosting market confidence, Li said.

He pledged that the government’s enforcement of administrative law will be fully transparent and on the record and will include a review process for major decisions.

He also vowed to keep the channels for appeals open and said “soft measures” could be taken to tackle minor offences.

He also vowed to strengthen the supervision of law enforcement, pay attention to local governments that allow the “abnormal growth of fines and confiscations” and ensure frequent out-of-jurisdiction law enforcement and consistent maximum penalties.

He said the authorities should respond to the problem of unreasonable fines and punishments by reviewing and standardising penalties to ensure they are proportionate and consistent.

In recent years, Chinese entrepreneurs have complained of being targeted by law enforcement to milk them for cash, often using trumped up criminal charges or preying on firms outside their jurisdiction.

While this process is officially known as “profit-driven law enforcement”, Chinese entrepreneurs have described it as “distant fishing”, likening the police to fishermen who venture far out to sea for their catch.

The problem is compounded by the mounting debts and falling revenues many local governments are facing, something that also increases the pressure to find alternative sources of funding.

In November, a report by prosecutors in the eastern province of Zhejiang outlining how police could abuse their powers to target private businesses went viral online.

The report gave details of a case where two police officers from an unnamed province had been extorting money from entrepreneurs in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. The officers were eventually jailed for abuse of power.

In October, Zheng Shanjie, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning body, said there would be a crackdown on unauthorised and “profit-driven enforcement” measures, as well as arbitrary fines, inspections and business closures.

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China and India agree on six-point consensus as they resume high-level border talks

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3291425/china-and-india-agree-six-point-consensus-they-resume-high-level-border-talks?utm_source=rss_feed

China and India reached a six-point consensus following border talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval in Beijing on Wednesday.

They agreed to “continue to take measures to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations”, according to a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry.

The top diplomats “reaffirmed their commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue” and to take “positive measures to promote this process.” The package settlement, first agreed upon in 2005, outlines the guiding principles for resolving the border dispute.

The two countries pledged to strengthen cross-border exchanges and cooperation, including resuming Indian pilgrimages to China, revitalising cross-border river cooperation, and renewing border trade, the statement said.

Additionally, they agreed to hold the next round of special representatives’ meetings in India next year, with the exact timing to be determined later through diplomatic channels.

According to another readout by the Chinese foreign ministry, the talks between Wang and Doval were “in-depth and constructive”.

During the discussions, Wang described the meeting as “a timely and powerful measure to implement the consensus” reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kazan, Russia, in October.

“It is hard-won and worth cherishing”, he said, urging both countries to “put the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations” and “push China-India relations back on the track of healthy and stable development as soon as possible”.

The bilateral meeting was the first to take place under the “special representative dialogue” mechanism since 2019.

Established in 2003 during former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China, the dialogue is one of the top frameworks for Beijing and New Delhi to discuss boundary issues.

During their dialogue in New Delhi in December 2019, the two sides agreed to hold a round of talks in Beijing the next year, but the plans were interrupted by a series of border skirmishes – in particular, the 2020 Galwan Valley clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese.

China and India have never agreed on the demarcation of their shared border. Since a 1962 war over the disputed border, the two nations have been divided by a 3,200km (1,988-mile) Line of Actual Control (LAC), though they have not even been able to agree on precisely where that lies.

Ties between the two neighbours deteriorated sharply after the clashes first erupted in 2020, and several communication channels were shut.

Despite the tensions, top diplomat Wang continued his engagement with senior Indian officials. He and Doval met in Delhi in 2022 and Johannesburg in 2023. They concluded their most recent exchange in Saint Petersburg in September. But none of these were officially held under the dialogue framework.

During their latest meeting in Russia, Wang told Doval that the two nations should “choose unity and cooperation, and avoid consuming each other”.

The meeting between the two senior diplomats was a milestone in China and India’s efforts to resume senior defence and diplomatic talks this year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Russia in October, just a day after the countries announced an agreement on troop disengagement at the border, which led to the end of the high-altitude stand-off.

The leaders agreed to push for more engagement between officials at all levels to “promote the early return of relations between the two countries to the track of stable development”.

Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party’s international liaison department, met Indian ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat in Beijing last week and called for more bilateral cooperation.

Beijing and Delhi held four rounds of border dispute talks this year under another diplomatic mechanism, the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, established in 2012.

At the latest round of these talks, held earlier this month, the countries agreed to further “exchanges and contacts at the diplomatic and military levels through established mechanisms”, according to Delhi.

China must harness cutting-edge AI to transform its finance sector: former PBOC official

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3291383/china-must-harness-cutting-edge-ai-transform-its-finance-sector-former-pboc-official?utm_source=rss_feed

A former deputy governor of China’s central bank has called on the country’s finance sector to embrace the game-changing potential of emerging artificial intelligence technology, as Beijing seeks to cultivate “new quality productive forces” to revitalise the economy.

“AI technology has played a positive role in transforming traditional financial services such as customer support, investment and risk management,” Li Dongrong, former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said at an industry summit in Shenzhen on Sunday, according to a social media post by the event’s host.

“Now, the emergence of next-generation large language models has also become a key enabler for the transformation of the banking sector.”

China has created a comprehensive industrial ecosystem for AI since the government issued a blueprint for the industry’s development in 2017, Li said, adding that the core industry is now worth nearly 600 billion yuan (US$82 billion).

Major Chinese financial institutions including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank are reportedly exploring ways to enhance their operations using large language models and other AI technology.

Fintech giant Ant Group last year introduced an AI assistant tool named Zhixiaozhu that can help financial practitioners in areas including investment research, insurance and marketing. Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the South China Morning Post.

At last week’s agenda-setting central economic work conference, China’s leaders listed developing “new quality productive forces” to invigorate the economy as a key government priority for 2025.

The government called for the large-scale adoption of new technologies, products and use cases, with a focus on harnessing AI to increase productivity in other sectors through “AI-plus initiatives”, according to the conference readout.

But Li warned that new applications of AI could also create risks, such as algorithmic biases and defects, high computational costs and privacy concerns.

“The risks of artificial intelligence, if unleashed, could deal a significant blow to the economy and financial markets,” Li pointed out. “Therefore, the push for AI application in finance must be guided by a people-centred approach and uphold the principle of technology for good.”

Li called for enhanced research into AI issues to make the technology more interpretable and predictable, as well as stronger regulatory oversight, while also highlighting the need to safeguard data security and consumer rights.

Chinese AI chip firms blacklisted over weapons concerns gained access to UK technology

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/18/concerns-chinese-access-uk-microchip-firm-imagination-technologies

Chinese engineers developing chips for artificial intelligence that can be used in “advanced weapons systems” have gained access to cutting-edge UK technology, the Guardian can reveal.

Described by analysts as “China’s premier AI chip designers”, Moore Threads and Biren Technology are subject to US export restrictions over their development of chips that “can be used to provide artificial intelligence capabilities to further development of weapons of mass destruction, advanced weapons systems and hi-tech surveillance applications that create national security concerns”.

However, prior to the US blacklisting in 2023, the two companies secured extensive licences with the UK-based Imagination Technologies, which is among a handful of firms worldwide that design an advanced type of microchip crucial for AI systems, and is regarded as a jewel of the UK’s technology industry.

A spokesperson for Imagination said: “At no stage has Imagination (or its owners) considered or implemented transactions with third parties with the aim of enabling China or any other nation state to use or direct Imagination technology for state or military end uses.”

While Imagination’s representatives confirmed the existence of the licences with Moore Threads and Biren Technology, they denied claims that the company, under the ownership of a private equity fund backed with Chinese state money, sought to deliberately transfer its state-of-the-art secrets to China.

Two former senior Imagination insiders claim that “knowledge transfer programmes” accompanying the licences were so comprehensive that they risked the Chinese companies learning how to replicate Imagination’s expertise. One believed that the information provided meant Imagination may “have given [the Chinese companies] the capability to make the technology”.

Both insiders left the company before the knowledge transfer programmes were fully implemented. Imagination’s representatives say the programmes were strictly limited in how much of its expertise was transferred to China, and that such arrangements are common in the industry.

As Xi Jinping’s authoritarian regime seeks to acquire technological prowess fit for a superpower, the allegations involving Imagination illustrate the tensions between doing business with the world’s second biggest economy and preserving national security.

From its headquarters in a Hertfordshire village, Imagination’s engineers produce designs that weave together billions of transistors, licensing them to manufacturers who produce chips used in everything from cars to iPhones. It specialises in graphics processing units (GPUs), which were developed to produce the flowing images in video games but have turned out to be ideal for the complex operations needed in artificial intelligence. Imagination’s designs are present in 13bn devices.

The spokesperson said Imagination “has always complied with applicable export and trade compliance laws”. They said its licensing deals were “focused on enabling our customers to design” systems for “the consumer electronics, automotive and personal computer markets”.

It is understood that Imagination does not believe its technology meets the performance thresholds for military applications and maintains that its contracts prohibit military uses. But Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey, said it was hard for companies like Imagination to be sure their expertise does not end up contributing to applications such as self-targeting drones, one of the most hotly pursued areas of weapons research.

At least three Chinese companies have been granted so-called “architectural licences” to use Imagination’s chip designs since 2020. Because these licences allow the customer to request modifications to the designs, Imagination reveals some of the process by which its engineers arrived – over many years – at the intricate blueprints.

Imagination was aware of the risks of sharing too much of its intellectual property. For years, the company worked closely with Apple: Imagination’s chip designs helped make the iPhone possible. But in 2017 Apple announced it would start designing chips itself. Imagination accused Apple of unauthorised use of its expertise. The parties reached an agreement on a new $330m deal to license Imagination products to Apple.

The two former Imagination insiders who spoke to the Guardian believe the architectural licences that were granted to Chinese companies could be exploited in the same way – to extract Imagination’s secrets.

One said it had been a mistake for Theresa May’s Conservative government to permit the 2017 takeover of Imagination by Canyon Bridge, a private equity firm funded with Chinese state money.

The acquisition came after the US had blocked Canyon Bridge from buying the American chipmaker Lattice for $1.3bn on the grounds that “the Chinese government’s role in supporting this transaction” posed “a risk to the national security of the United States”. In the UK, where May wanted to “intensify the golden era in UK-China relations”, Canyon Bridge encountered no such obstacles and an $800m deal went through.

The Chinese-backed buyers gave the UK government assurances about Imagination’s future, including that the chip designer would not be shifted abroad. They appointed Ron Black, a veteran tech executive, as Imagination’s new boss. He would later tell an employment tribunal that he had grown concerned that China Reform, the state investment body that funded Canyon Bridge’s takeover, wanted to “steal the technology”.

In 2020, Black opposed a plan to appoint four China Reform representatives to the company’s board. He said in a witness statement that he informed Ian Levy, then a technical director at the UK’s electronic intelligence agency GCHQ, of “my concerns about Imagination being controlled by the Chinese government”. Levy replied that “this would be a problem for the UK government”.

Imagination’s owners abandoned the plan to appoint the Chinese directors after Oliver Dowden, then the Conservative minister overseeing the digital sector, sent a letter “seeking reassurance that the commitments made by Canyon Bridge in 2017 regarding the company’s management, employees and base in the UK would still stand”.

Black left the company. The employment tribunal reportedly found this month that Black had been willing to countenance licensing some of Imagination’s more basic technology in China but that he was sacked for blowing the whistle about the attempt to bring the company under Chinese control.

One of the former Imagination insiders said that after Black’s departure and the failure to install Chinese directors, it seemed “clear that the strategy was to get technology transfer to Chinese companies”. Imagination’s representatives dispute this.

The ex-insider said: “With each licence there was an agreement for several million dollars to teach them how the [intellectual property] was designed and how to modify the design.” This was referred to as a “knowledge transfer programme” for expertise that Imagination had “uniquely built over the years”, the former insider said.

Under the plan, Imagination’s top engineers were to give their Chinese counterparts “a proper step-by-step getting to know how you develop the GPU” over two years from around 2021, said the former insider, who left the company without knowing whether it was fully delivered.

The second former insider also departed before any Chinese engineers had received full training but said it was “very difficult to deny that [technology transfer] was an obvious outcome of doing architectural licences in that way”.

It is understood that Imagination considers that the arrangements with the Chinese clients were “entirely normal” and “limited in scope, duration and use rights”.

Imagination, which has relied heavily on US revenues such as those from Apple, is understood to have a policy of not doing business with any company Washington places on its “entities list” of those subject to export restrictions. That would suggest it has now terminated the licences it granted to two Chinese companies that were added to the list in October 2023.

A new report by the research organisation UK-China Transparency raises further questions about the Chinese companies.

Moore Threads, founded by a former China boss of the US chipmaker Nvidia, claims to have developed the first “China-grown” GPUs. But a report in the trade press says “key pieces” of these chips were taken from Imagination. An industry analyst who said one of the company’s GPUs used Imagination technology wrote: “Moore Threads have not been very upfront about this.”

The other Chinese chipmaker, Biren Technology, makes GPUs for AI systems. As well as Chinese state finance, Biren has received funding from the Russia-China Investment Fund, part of Beijing’s deepening alliance with Moscow. Moore Threads and Biren did not respond to requests for comment.

China woman scams blind date out of US$65,000 by hiring actors to pose as family and herself

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3290899/china-woman-scams-blind-date-out-us65000-hiring-actors-pose-family-and-herself?utm_source=rss_feed

A married Chinese woman was detained after hiring actors to impersonate her parents and herself in an elaborate scheme to defraud her blind date.

The police disclosed to the Chinese media outlet Jimu News that a man named Xin, from central China’s Hubei province, met a woman who identified herself as Xiaoyu. She saw his contact information in a wedding planning advertisement and reached out to him in August 2022.

Xiaoyu, hailing from eastern China’s Jiangsu province, professed her love to Xin just one month after their initial online meeting. As they began planning their marriage last year, she informed Xin that he needed to pay a bride price of 188,000 yuan (US$26,000) to her family, as per local customs.

In January last year, Xin brought gifts worth 10,000 yuan to her home to meet her parents, but she claimed to be ill and did not attend.

Over the following year, she repeatedly solicited money from him for her mother’s surgery and gifts for her sister, while consistently denying his requests to meet, citing that it was “inconvenient”.

To maintain the illusion, she sent him photos and spoke to him over the phone, which helped assuage his growing suspicions. Xin reported that he transferred over 220,000 yuan to Xiaoyu throughout the previous year.

In April, Xiaoyu finally agreed to meet Xin along with her parents and sister in his city. However, Xin noticed that she looked different from her photos, to which she responded that the images had been “beautified”.

A month later, Xin’s family met with hers to discuss wedding arrangements, during which Xin transferred additional funds and bought new clothes worth 40,000 yuan for them.

Suspicion arose for Xin when he accidentally discovered chat messages on Xiaoyu’s phone, where she complained about him “constantly asking to meet” and promised to “act according to the script”.

When confronted, Xiaoyu claimed that someone else had been using her account. The following day, her sister Xiaomiao met Xin in person and informed him that Xiaoyu was “depressed” and requested that he break up with her.

Determined to uncover the truth, Xin travelled to her city and called Xiaoyu, only to witness Xiaomiao answering the phone. It was then he realised that Xiaomiao was the “fiancée” he believed he had been dating for two years.

The police revealed that he had fallen victim to a scam orchestrated by an unemployed married woman with a child. The woman, surnamed Zhou, had hired actors to portray her family and herself to continue extracting money from Xin, using the funds to support her child.

The photos she had sent Xin were images of models she found online. In total, she defrauded Xin out of 480,000 yuan (US$65,000) before being detained by the police for further investigation in November.

“Life is more dramatic than television dramas,” commented one observer.

“Love is so blind that he was deceived for two years in a scam riddled with loopholes,” remarked another.

EU leaders set to avoid direct accusation over Chinese role in Russia’s war in Ukraine

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3291375/eu-leaders-set-avoid-direct-accusation-over-chinese-role-russias-war-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed

European Union leaders will avoid directly calling out China over Russia’s war in Ukraine at a major summit this week, according to a draft statement seen by the Post.

Beijing’s relations with Moscow are a cause for much concern in European capitals, and in recent weeks anxiety has been stoked further by evidence disseminated by one EU member state that indicates a factory in Xinjiang has been making drones for Russia’s military.

But while directly arming Russia has been repeatedly described as a “red line” by the European Council, which represents the 27 member governments, has chosen not to open a new front with Beijing in a week that the EU sanctioned Chinese companies over their role in the war for the first time.

“The European Council strongly condemns support by third countries, and actors and entities therein, which enable Russia to sustain its war of aggression against Ukraine,” read a draft statement negotiated by representatives of the 27 states.

“The arms transfers and deepening military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK [North Korea] and Iran, as well as the deployment of the DPRK’s military forces to Russia and their use on the battlefield against Ukraine represent an international escalation of the war, with serious consequences for international peace and security,” the statement continued.

The text could change before Thursday’s summit, where the issue is expected to be discussed, but sources said the language was acceptable to all capitals. It said the council “urges all countries to immediately cease any direct or indirect assistance to Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine”.

Some members, including the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania, had pushed for a more forceful and direct condemnation of Beijing, while others, such as Germany, Slovakia and Spain, urged caution.

They did not want to “lump China” into the same basket as North Korea and Russia, a diplomatic source said.

A senior official added that this request had also been conveyed to the bloc by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who wished to draw some distinction between China and the role played by Iran and North Korea.

Tehran and Pyongyang have openly sent weapons to the Russian military with North Korea also sending troops to fight on the front line.

China’s role has been more ambiguous, and while a growing number of capitals – as well as EU institutions – are convinced that it has escalated its support for Russia in recent months, it is not seen to be in the same category as North Korea and Iran.

Furthermore, while those two states are not seen to have any constructive part to play in ending the conflict or rebuilding war-torn Ukraine’s infrastructure, there is still some hope that Beijing will take part in both.

During talks in Paris earlier this month, US president-elect Donald Trump pushed French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to “do more to get the Chinese to press the Kremlin to end the conflict”, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The group – which included Zelensky – discussed hitting Beijing with tariffs if it did not do so, the report added.

Beijing’s ties with Russia continue to be a source of tension with Europe, even if the bloc is struggling to muster a coordinated response.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is helping the war effort and says it has maintained normal trade relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

In response to the alleged drone factory in Xinjiang, the EU and 15 European countries, including the United Kingdom, issued a joint diplomatic démarche demanding an explanation from the Chinese foreign ministry last month, but have not received a response, the Post reported last week.

But France, Italy and Spain did not join in, suggesting there are significant divisions on how best to broach the topic.

At a press conference on Monday, the EU’s new top diplomat Kaja Kallas refused to be drawn on the issue, stating that “we are looking into whatever the Chinese or Chinese companies are doing, whether we can implement sanctions on this or the circumvention of sanctions is another topic”.

The former Estonian prime minister added that during a recent trip to Kyiv with European Council President Antonio Costa, they were told that China is selling “satellites that are provided for killer drones” to Russia, but quickly added “I haven’t checked whether it’s true, but this is what the Ukrainians are saying”.

On Monday, the EU for the first time added Chinese entities to a “fully-fledged” sanctions list over their role in the conflict. Six companies and one Chinese national were hit with asset freezes and travel bans for either providing drone technology to the Russian military or for circumventing sanctions.

In previous rounds of sanctioning, Chinese entities have also been listed on a blacklist of companies that are barred from EU markets. However, those were not considered to be full sanctions and were more akin to export controls.

“On China, the issue itself will not necessarily be here at the table of the European Council. It’s very clear that Chinese companies are included in the new sanctions package that was just approved, and that [the] position of the EU is very clear … I think deeds are more important,” said a second senior EU official.

The decision to not name China directly sets the bloc apart from the Group of 7, whose members include France, Germany and Italy, and Nato – which includes most EU member states – which have both described Beijing as a “decisive enabler” in Russia’s war.

In response to the sanctions, China’s foreign ministry told the EU to “stop smearing and blaming China without a factual basis”.

Lin Jian, a spokesman for the ministry, said on Tuesday, that Beijing “will take the necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies”.

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China’s bull run on bonds triggers fresh warning from central bank amid record-low yields

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3291391/chinas-bull-run-bonds-triggers-fresh-warning-central-bank-amid-record-low-yields?utm_source=rss_feed

With the yields of Chinese government bonds slipping to record lows, China’s central bank has issued a stern warning to financial organisations to step up compliance efforts and mitigate risks, amid an intensified crackdown on bond-trading irregularities.

Overly aggressive bond trading will not be tolerated, the People’s Bank of China said in a meeting on Wednesday, warning some institutions to be more mindful of interest rate risks, according to the Financial News, a publication under the central bank.

Stressing that the PBOC was taking a “zero tolerance” approach, the report said other requirements include improving investment-research capabilities and making more prudent bond investments while complying with the law.

The admonition was the latest in a series of warnings and actions taken in recent months. But China’s 10-year bond yield has continued its extended slump, hitting a record low this month as investors scramble for safe-haven options such as ultra-long-term bonds. Meanwhile, China’s policymakers are engaged in a concerted effort to cool China’s bond-market rally amid the nation’s economic slowdown.

“It is possible to see intervention to arrest the fall in bond yields following such stern verbal warnings, but it may not change the structural trend unless there is a clear sign of economic recovery,” said Gary Ng, senior economist for Asia-Pacific thematic research at French investment bank Natixis in Hong Kong.

“The bearish investors’ sentiment, and the expectation of lower interest rates, have continued to attract money into the bond market. However, regulators may be concerned that quick moves can also pose financial risks,” Ng said.

It was revealed at Wednesday’s meeting that more comprehensive investigations were under way to crack down on possible violations, and that central bank authorities will maintain regular law-enforcement inspections.

The 10-year government bond yield fell below 2 per cent for the first time on record at the start of the month, then dipped to close to 1.7 per cent earlier this week while the onshore yuan’s exchange rate also tumbled to lows unseen in more than a year.

The drops indicate the still-pessimistic sentiment among investors about the economic outlook and the pressing need for Beijing to step up its stimulus boost. For the year, the drop in bond yields has become the biggest annual drop since 2018.

The effects of the central bank’s stern reprimand were instantly felt. By Wednesday afternoon, the 10-year bond yield edged up slightly to 1.75 per cent, while the 30-year yield reached around 2 per cent.

Many brokerages predict bond yields will stay at low levels, as there are expectations for further monetary easing, including cuts to the reserve requirement ratio and rate reductions. At China’s just-concluded annual tone-setting central economic work conference, the top leadership vowed to adopt a “more active” set of policies to expand domestic demand in 2025 with “moderately loose” monetary tools.

When economic growth is slow, the general public has a strong preference for low-risk financial assets in their investment portfolio, and government bonds are a typical example, in contrast to parking money in places such as the stock market or the property market.

In August, the central bank also named, shamed and punished rural financial institutions for manipulating market prices by continuously buying and selling; lacking internal management of bond trading; lending accounts to unauthorised traders; and other violations.

“The forces pushing down yields seem unlikely to reverse any time soon and would require substantial intervention to counteract,” London-based market consultancy Capital Economics said in an August note. “Without wider monetary tightening, which doesn’t appear to be on the cards, the best the PBOC can probably hope to achieve is to engineer a short-term pause to the bond rally.”

Chinese scientists say Zuchongzhi 3.0 quantum computer is as powerful as Google’s Willow

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3291413/chinese-scientists-say-zuchongzhi-30-quantum-computer-powerful-googles-willow?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have unveiled Zuchongzhi 3.0, a 105-qubit quantum processor that brings China on par with the United States in the race to build the world’s most powerful quantum computer.

The announcement came about a week after Google revealed its Willow processor, highlighting how closely the two nations are matched in pushing the boundaries of quantum technology.

Both Zuchongzhi 3.0 and Willow house 105 qubits, so far the highest count achieved in superconducting quantum devices, according to a paper released by the Chinese team on Tuesday, which is yet to undergo peer review.

Zuchongzhi 3.0 showed high precision in qubit operations and stability, comparable to Willow’s performance, according to the research team led by Pan Jianwei of the University of Science and Technology of China.

Google’s Willow achieved major advances in quantum error correction, a crucial step towards making quantum machines more reliable. The Chinese scientists have announced plans to incorporate similar techniques for Zuchongzhi 3.0 in the coming months.

They said their processor widened the gap in computational abilities between quantum and classical computers, serving as “both a testament to the progress in quantum hardware and a foundation for practical applications”.

Quantum computers use qubits instead of traditional computer bits to process information. Unlike classical bits, which can represent either a 0 or a 1, qubits can exist in a “superposition” state – essentially representing both 0 and 1 simultaneously.

This bizarre property, along with quantum entanglement, allows quantum computers to perform certain tasks exponentially faster than even the most powerful supercomputers.

However, qubits are notoriously fragile and prone to errors caused by noise and interference, making error correction a critical challenge. To address this, scientists have developed surface code quantum error correction (QEC), a technique that arranges qubits in a grid to detect and fix errors, improving stability.

In 2022, Chinese scientists achieved distance-3 surface code QEC on an earlier version of the Zuchongzhi processor, allowing errors to be corrected across up to three layers of qubits.

Google’s Willow processor has since advanced this technique, achieving even better error correction and laying the groundwork for integrating large-scale quantum systems.

On Tuesday, the Chinese team announced it plans to reach distance-7 surface codes on Zuchongzhi 3.0 within months and to push even further to distances 9 and 11 to achieve improved error correction.

Quantum computing is poised to revolutionise fields such as climate modelling, artificial intelligence, and drug discovery to identify new medications. Breakthroughs in quantum computing are not just scientific milestones but also strategic assets for governments and companies.

As the competition heats up, both the US and China are pouring resources into advancing quantum technology. Google’s latest project involved collaboration with 13 major institutions, including MIT and Harvard University, highlighting the importance of partnerships in advancing quantum technology.

“China should further expand openness and collaboration, actively engage with the global innovation network, and work to ensure that breakthroughs in quantum technology benefit a broader range of countries and people,” the Chinese team said on social media.

China’s food delivery platforms enforce breaks for riders clocking more gig economy hours

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3291365/chinas-food-delivery-platforms-enforce-breaks-riders-clocking-more-gig-economy-hours?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s two major on-demand delivery service providers, Meituan and Ele.me, have introduced new features that alert or forcibly log out couriers who work excessively long hours, aiming to prevent rider fatigue.

In a similar system imposed on China’s long-haul truck drivers, Meituan has been piloting a “fatigue management” system in select cities. This system detects prolonged working hours through the courier app, prompting riders to take a break after a certain amount of time, typically longer than 12 hours, one Meituan worker told the Post. If the suggestion is ignored, the app will eventually require the rider to go offline.

Its competitor Ele.me, owned by Alibaba Group Holding, has also adopted a “fatigue reminder” and warning system for its riders. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

The platforms are introducing the alert system as food delivery crew, along with Uber-style taxi drivers, bear the brunt of China’s economic slowdown and weakened consumer spending, forcing them to work extremely long hours to make ends meet.

The Meituan employee with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the details are not public, said once a rider reaches 12 hours, staff can “send reminders, force logouts, or stop assigning orders”.

“Meituan is listening to feedback from all parties, including riders, and continues to explore and improve our fatigue prevention mechanisms,” the company said in a statement to the Post.

Ele.me said that its system generates pop-up reminders suggesting riders take a break after long hours. Should the prolonged activity continue, the app will require a short rest. The company did not say what qualifies as “long hours”, but told the Post it is “continuously refining these measures”.

In November, Ele.me told local media outlet Hongxing News that it has implemented reminders in multiple cities for riders to take a 20-minute break after four consecutive hours of accepting orders. This follows industry guidelines from seven Chinese authorities, released in 2021, including the State Administration for Market Regulation, Cyberspace Administration of China, and All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

Amid China’s ongoing economic challenges, more individuals have turned to the so-called gig economy, or “flexible employment”, in the food delivery and ride-hailing sectors to support themselves while looking for full-time jobs. The number of gig-economy workers on the mainland reached 200 million over the past three years, representing about 23 per cent of the country’s working population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, concerns have risen about social insurance, welfare, and legal rights for these workers. In September, a 55-year-old Chinese delivery man died while taking a nap on his bike after enduring 18-hour workdays in Hangzhou, igniting public debate.

According to Meituan’s data, its 7.45 million delivery workers earned a total of 80 billion yuan from the platform last year, with around 60 per cent of Meituan riders covered by occupational injury insurance.

Outrage as scholar asks how can China make women ‘obediently, submissively have children’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3291343/outrage-scholar-asks-how-can-china-make-women-obediently-submissively-have-children?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese professor has sparked a public backlash after he asked a visiting Kazakh diplomat how to make Chinese women “have children obediently, early and in large numbers” at a think tank event.

Wang Xianju, a professor at Renmin University and a former counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Belarus, was speaking to Erlan Qarin, the state counsellor of Kazakhstan, who visited the university in November.

Qarin had given a speech on Kazakhstan’s domestic reforms and relations between the two countries at an event hosted by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, a think tank based at the university.

The institute published Wang’s remarks on its WeChat account in November but the article only gained online traction – and criticism – this week. It has since been deleted.

During the question-and-answer period, Wang said he was surprised to find there were many children when he visited Kazakhstan.

He said Kazakhstan apparently had effective policies encouraging births, and he wondered how that might be possible, given that Chinese women did not want to get married and have children, and would not listen to their parents or supervisors.

“I even heard that women in Kazakhstan immediately have children after they graduate college, they have children one after another,” Wang said in a now-deleted WeChat article by the think tank.

“How could they listen to you and obediently, submissively have children, have children early and have lots of children?”

In response, Qarin said he would not force women to have children, but rather they had free will.

He said Kazakhstan had traditional family values, Kazakh women actively took part in politics and had pushed for laws protecting women and children, and the government continuously allocated funds to build schools and other social undertakings.

The publishing of Wang’s comments triggered controversy online, with many accusing him of objectifying women.

“Wang’s question exposed what women and giving birth are to some people … he believes those who give birth are obedient and submissive, and those who don’t give birth aren’t. So the interesting question is, who does he think women should submit to?” one said on Weibo.

“Right now, young people are exhausted and burned out from involution, and social security is incomplete. These people in power don’t want to think about how to solve this problem for our children, how to make our young have hope, instead they are talking nonsense here,” another said.

Neither Wang nor the think tank responded to requests by the South China Morning Post for an interview.

Chinese authorities have been anxious to encourage more people to get married and have more children in recent years, including giving out cash rewards, establishing a childbirth subsidy system, issuing further tax cuts and providing medical and housing benefits.

According to official numbers, China’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time in 60 years. It fell again in 2023, declining by 2.08 million, with a record low birth rate of 6.39 births per 1,000 people.

Messaging from the government to encourage birth has not been well received. Last month, China’s health authorities promptly removed propaganda suggesting that giving birth could make women smarter, prevent tumours and relieve menstrual cramps after it drew a public backlash.

Young people accuse the government for missing out the obvious – ensuring the basic rights of women and children. These discussions erupt every time an abduction or rape case surfaces.

Most recently, a mentally ill woman who had been missing for 13 years was found this month in a neighbouring village, living with a man and bearing his children. Authorities have detained the man on suspicion of rape, but public anger about the case remains high.

China’s ‘Food Silk Road’ holds key to thwarting Trump tariffs

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3291017/chinas-food-silk-road-holds-key-thwarting-trump-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed

As US president-elect Donald Trump threatens heavy tariffs on Chinese goods, China – the world’s largest food producer and importer – is struggling to secure its food supply. Grappling with volatile global markets, a crucial question arises: can China ensure food security given its growing reliance on food imports?

The answer lies in Beijing’s ambitious “Food Silk Road”. This ongoing strategy aims to diversify food and fertiliser imports through four aspects: overseas agricultural investment and acquisitions, infrastructure development, technology transfers and policy coordination. By diversifying import sources and strengthening strategic partnerships, it aims to safeguard China’s long-term food security by reducing the country’s vulnerability to risks such as trade disruptions.

Food security has long been a concern for the Chinese authorities. Amid changing geopolitical dynamics, climate change, trade disruptions and domestic challenges, China has prioritised food security and boosting local agricultural production.

Driven by the increasingly complex and fractured geopolitical environment, the strategy’s importance has soared in recent years. China has adopted a dual strategy for food security: maintaining self-sufficiency in staples (such as rice) and key protein (such as pork) through local production while relying on global markets for non-staples (such as soybeans).

Despite efforts to increase local output, significant issues including arable land and water constraints make it an uphill battle. Adding to concerns, China’s food self-sufficiency ratio has plummeted, from 93.6 per cent in 2000 to 65.8 per cent in 2020. In 2004, China moved from being a net exporter to a net importer and is expected to remain one.

Food import reliance has come at a steep price. Policymakers in Beijing remain concerned about supply chain vulnerabilities and the weaponisation of imported food supplies. Their worries are well-founded. During Trump’s first term, Washington imposed tariffs on US$370 billion worth of Chinese goods. Beijing’s retaliation of tariffs of up to 25 per cent on key agricultural exports from the United States such as soybeans further highlighted the risks of such dependency.

While this trade friction resulted in a decline in US agricultural imports to China, alternative suppliers such as Brazil stepped in. Brazil has since become China’s largest agricultural supplier, accounting for almost a quarter of total agricultural imports. The US is in second place at just under 14 per cent.

The import diversification strategy is already taking shape. More broadly, China has signed more than 100 agricultural cooperation agreements with Belt and Road Initiative countries. In the first eight months of 2023, China’s food trade with member nations surged to more than 553.8 billion yuan (US$76 billion), a 162 per cent increase from 2013.

Recent agricultural agreements with nations in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America further demonstrate Beijing’s diversification strategy, signalling a shift away from traditional exporters such as the US. These developments also show Beijing’s willingness to prioritise political and strategic objectives over purely economic ones.

The strategic approach is evident in China’s imports of key agricultural products, particularly soybeans. With the US, Brazil and Argentina accounting for around 80 per cent of global soybean exports, China’s position as the world’s largest importer is crucial. Despite being the fourth-largest soybean producer, China accounts for about 60 per cent of global soybean imports. Imports meet around 80 per cent of domestic consumption.

Having recognised its reliance on American soybeans as a vulnerability during Trump’s first term, Beijing has pursued alternative suppliers. In 2023, China imported 99.4 million tonnes of soybeans, with 69.95 million tonnes (70 per cent) imported from Brazil, a 29 per cent year-on-year increase.

Meanwhile, American soybean imports to China dropped to 24.17 million tonnes (24 per cent), a 13 per cent year-on-year decrease. While China remains the largest market for US agricultural products, the share of US soybean imports in the Chinese market has plunged from 40 per cent in 2016.

The trend has continued into 2024. In the first 10 months of 2024, only 16.7 per cent of China’s imported soybeans came from the US compared to 34.3 per cent in 2017. In contrast, Brazil accounted for 75.5 per cent of China’s soybean imports, a significant increase from 53.3 per cent in 2017.

Beijing strengthening ties with Brazil and Argentina helps China better position itself to retaliate against US agricultural exports if needed. If tariff hostilities resume, China’s imports of US agricultural goods, which fell to US$34 billion last year – a 20 per cent decrease – could decline further.

China’s import diversification strategy has significant implications for global markets, too. As the world’s largest food producer and importer, changes in Beijing agricultural trade policy influence global and regional food trade flows. In the case of outbreaks of extreme weather affecting the breadbaskets of both China and key alternative partners such as Russia and Brazil, Beijing could become more reliant on traditional Western exporters for food imports.

However, a decline in China’s imports could free up millions of tonnes for other major importing countries and regions. This could also prompt pricing and production adjustments in exporters and shift global market dynamics. For farmers and exporters in countries such as the US and other leading Western agricultural powerhouses, this could result in reduced production to avoid price drops or even a pivot to alternative markets such as Southeast Asia for their exports.

China’s food and fertiliser import diversification strategy is a pivotal strategic move to shield the country’s food security from trade disruptions, global market volatility and geopolitical risks. By doing so, Beijing is not only ensuring long-term food security but also reshaping global agricultural trade dynamics.

China’s dominance in global shipbuilding strengthens amid surging global demand

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3291320/chinas-dominance-global-shipbuilding-strengthens-amid-surging-global-demand?utm_source=rss_feed

China, the world’s largest shipbuilder by market share, is expected to receive a raft of new orders as the global industry enters a renaissance, analysts said.

Demand for new ships is expected to surge over the next few years, as shipping companies have a “pressing need” to replace ageing vessels and comply with new environmental regulations, according to Min Joo Kang and Rico Luman, economists at the financial firm ING.

And China is set to be the main beneficiary of this market upswing, with its primary competitor South Korea likely to take a more “cautious” approach by focusing on profitable and reliable orders, the economists said in a research note released on Monday.

“Over the past two years, we have seen some previously closed shipyards in China reopen and start picking up orders again,” the analysis said. “The largest fraction of the fleet eligible for replacement consists of bulk carriers, which are predominantly built by Chinese shipyards.

“This could drive a stronger need for investment expansion in China.”

London and Shanghai-based industrial consultancy Hartland Shipping Services has also predicted sustained growth for the entire sector, with the prospects particularly bright for Chinese shipyards.

In October, market demand for new-build container ships reached its highest level since the second quarter of 2021, the peak of the last wave of global shipbuilding, the company said in a report published that month.

The need for new ships is being driven in part by the introduction of the UN International Maritime Organisation’s Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index and Carbon Intensity Indicator in January 2023, which mandate that all ships calculate their energy efficiency and carbon ratings to cut pollution, according to ING.

Global shipbuilding boomed between 2002 and 2008 due to China’s rapid economic growth and an expansion in global trade, but the industry suffered a downslide following the global financial crisis in 2008.

China also emerged as a dominant player in the shipbuilding industry during that period, with its builders churning out container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

According to shipping market analysts Clarkson Research, Chinese shipyards commanded an overwhelming 86 per cent of global orders for new ships as of September, followed by South Korea with a 12 per cent share.

China accounted for 55 per cent of the global order backlog as of the end of September, with South Korea making up a 26 per cent share, Clarkson Research said.

China’s rise as a leading force in the global shipbuilding industry can be attributed to its large-scale production capacity, strong workforce, investment in new technology and government refund guarantees.

Labour in China’s shipbuilding industry costs 50 per cent less than in South Korea or Japan, according to ING, and Chinese companies also benefit from access to cheap steel.

At the same time, the Chinese government provides “sovereign refund guarantees” for certain classes of vessels, easing financial burdens on shipyards, ING said.

Though South Korea’s market share has fallen over the past four years, its shipbuilders “lead in efficiency”, ING said. High-value ships such as LNG carriers are often sourced to Korean builders, it noted.

Shipbuilding accounts for a greater share of total exports in South Korea than in China or Japan, according to ING. In China, most orders are placed domestically.

Philippines and India hold first maritime talks – are territorial rows with China at play?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3291370/philippines-and-india-hold-first-maritime-talks-are-territorial-rows-china-play?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines and India have agreed to explore naval collaborations during their inaugural maritime dialogue, with both countries reaffirming their commitment to a rules-based international order amid their ongoing territorial disputes with China.

Analysts view the talks as part of Manila’s push to expand its defence partnerships beyond its traditional allies and New Delhi’s desire to increase its regional clout as it manages its border dispute with Beijing.

On Friday, Philippine and Indian officials concluded their inaugural Track 1 maritime dialogue in Manila, which followed a series of engagements between both sides to strengthen maritime cooperation, including the fifth India-Philippines Joint Defence Cooperation Committee in September.

India and the Philippines reaffirmed their commitment to “multilateralism and the rules-based international order” and “exchanged perspectives on prevailing maritime challenges and discussed ways to enhance maritime cooperation in furthering a conducive environment for mutual growth and global well-being,” the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The statement also notes that both parties “reached an understanding to look further into navy and coastguard cooperation”.

On the legal front, both countries agreed to uphold the importance of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in settling maritime disputes among countries and the 2016 arbitration award at The Hague, which ruled in favour of the Philippines in its territorial dispute against China and deemed Beijing’s historical nine-dash-line claim over nearly the entire South China Sea as invalid.

New Delhi has consistently backed the Philippines’ position on its territorial dispute with Beijing in the disputed waterway. During a visit to Manila in March, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said: “I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate India’s support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty.”

Analysts said the inaugural maritime dialogue was part of Manila’s efforts to diversify its security relationships beyond its decades-old alliance with the United States and adopt a more comprehensive approach to foreign policy.

Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and international relations lecturer at De La Salle University, said bilateral security ties between India and the Philippines reflected “a growing convergence in political will”.

“This deepening of government-level security dialogues indicates how both democracies are becoming more confident and prepared to broaden the scope of their bilateral security partnership ... to better address emerging and shared security issues in the region,” he said.

Julio Amador, the interim president of the Foundation for the National Interest and Founder and Trustee of the non-profit policy advisory firm FACTS Asia, told This Week in Asia that India has emerged as an “important source of diplomatic support” for the Philippines.

Amador added that India’s membership in the Quad – the Japan-India-Australia-US security dialogue – was “a good complement” to the alliance between the Philippines and the US.

“Plus, Australia and Japan, the two other Quad participants, are strategic partners of the Philippines. India benefits by having closer ties to a frontline state in Southeast Asia that is standing up against Chinese bullying,” he added.

Amador said the Philippines was emerging as an important market for India’s weapons industry, which supplied the country’s first batch of BrahMos missiles in April this year, as part of a US$375 million deal signed in 2022.

“There is space for growth between India and the Philippines aside from the defence industry. Diplomatic, economic, and cultural cooperation will be vital areas for growth between India and the Philippines,” he said.

Oorja Tapan, a doctoral fellow at the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament in New Delhi, agreed and said: “Both nations have trade, security, defence, tech and industry benefits to gain from each other with further engagement.”

The dialogue has become important in the context of the formation of the Squad – a grouping with the Philippines and other Quad members, minus India – given the recent clashes in the South China Sea, Tapan added.

“The Quad already has a working Indo-Pacific partnership on maritime domain awareness, [with which] the Philippines can also be an active part of it through collaboration via this Track 1 Maritime dialogue,” she said.

Matteo Piasentini, a geopolitical analyst for Italian think tank Geopolitica.info and an international relations lecturer at the University of the Philippines, acknowledged the dialogue as an important milestone for bilateral relations, with its emphasis on upholding the existing rules-based international order at sea.

The dialogue was not undertaken “in a direct anti-Chinese spirit” but a reflection of India’s desire for regional stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Piasentini said.

The dialogue between Manila and New Delhi comes shortly after India and China announced a new round of talks on their border dispute since discussions were stalled in 2020.

In October, both countries agreed to disengage their troops and establish a patrolling agreement on the Ladakh border.

Tapan noted the different priorities between India and China with Delhi considering its border issue “a priority” and Beijing hoping to improve economic ties with its neighbour.

“This present dialogue [between the Philippines and India] signifies rising maritime cooperation between the two states and no direct reference was made towards China. The Philippines is a crucial Asean state and has more convergence with India on not just economic but also security cooperation, especially in the Indo-Pacific. And this dialogue should be seen in the same light – as ushering in a new era in ties,” Tapan told This Week in Asia.

Rommel Jude Ong, a retired rear admiral of the Philippine Navy and a professor at the Ateneo School of Government, said the dialogue was in alignment with Delhi’s Act East Policy, which aims to strengthen its strategic ties with Southeast Asian nations.

“The India-China engagement has no connection with the Track 1 dialogue. My sense is that Beijing’s initial attempt at ‘rapprochement’ with New Delhi is its way of avoiding a two-front conflict, particularly with India to its southwest and the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam along its east coast,” Ong told This Week in Asia.

“If it can stabilise its relations with India by agreeing to de-escalate the tension along the disputed land border, then Beijing can focus its resources and attention on East Asia and Taiwan in particular,” he added.

Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reintegrated into mainland control, 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 status quo.

Tapan said under India’s Act East Policy, it considers the South China Sea and the littoral states “extremely important” for its economic security and trade interests.

“Future trends also show the rising scope of trade and energy exploration in the South China Sea for India with Asean states. It has already done so with Vietnam and has a joint commission dialogue with the Philippines as well,” she said.

Tech war: Shanghai chip tool maker AMEC removed from US list of ‘Chinese military companies’

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3291339/tech-war-shanghai-chip-tool-maker-amec-removed-us-list-chinese-military-companies?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese chip equipment maker Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) has been removed from a US Department of Defense (DOD) blacklist of companies with alleged ties to China’s military, nearly a year after it was added.

The Pentagon dropped the Shanghai-based company from its list of “Chinese Military Companies operating in the US” on December 13, according to its latest filing to the US Federal Register.

In January, the DOD added AMEC and a number of other Chinese tech firms to the list because they were considered a threat to US national security. Companies on the list are barred from doing business with some American firms.

AMEC was removed along with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital, which was also added in January. The DOD did not give a reason for the removal of the two companies.

AMEC confirmed its removal from the list to news outlet Chinese Business Network on Wednesday, saying it did not have an impact on the company’s daily operations.

AMEC did not respond to a request for comment. Its Shanghai-listed shares rose 2.3 per cent by noon Wednesday.

The company, which makes etching systems for semiconductor foundries, was founded in 2004 by Gerald Yin Zhiyao, who had previously worked for Intel, Lam Research and Applied Materials in Silicon Valley.

AMEC’s removal from the list comes months after the company filed a lawsuit in the US against the DOD over its addition to the blacklist.

At that time, AMEC said the DOD’s move was made without legal basis and had caused it “serious and irreparable” harm, according to a complaint filed to the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

However, it was not the first time AMEC has been on the Pentagon’s blacklist. It was added to the same list in January 2021, before being removed in June the same year.

Other Chinese companies have also been successful in getting themselves removed from the blacklist. They include Hesai, a Chinese maker of remote sensors used in smart cars, which was removed from the list, according to a Financial Times report in August. Hesai was added to the list in January and sued DOD over the matter in May.

China-EU trade ties ‘on hold’ ahead of Trump’s White House return: Spanish envoy

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3291309/china-eu-trade-ties-hold-ahead-trumps-white-house-return-spanish-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed

Tariff talks between China and the EU are unlikely to progress before US president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, Spain’s ambassador to Beijing suggested, as she called for improved trade relations with the bloc.

Speaking at Renmin University on Tuesday, Marta Betanzos Roig said that both China and the European Union had put forward tariffs bilaterally but “this is not the last word”.

“I believe that no outcome is to be reached until we see [president-elect] Trump in office,” she said. “We are all waiting to see what is going to be the implementation of all the announcements that he has made concerning tariffs.”

Roig made the remarks during a reflection on the diplomatic relationship between Spain and China, ahead of next year’s 20th anniversary of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.

Trump has already promised massive tariff increases on several countries, including China, and warned the EU member states that they will “pay a big price” if they do not buy enough American products.

Some analysts have suggested that Trump might push the EU to adopt a harder stance on Beijing, while others believe that he could impose tariffs on the bloc, a move that could bring Brussels and Beijing closer together.

Roig said China-EU discussions were “officially still ongoing”, with proposals on the table regarding ceilings and prices and the level of tariffs on goods moving between the Asian giant and the European bloc.

Since the end of October, the EU has been imposing tariffs of up to 45 per cent on electric vehicles from China in a bid to level the playing field for its local manufacturers.

Beijing, which has repeatedly protested the move, retaliated by launching anti-dumping investigations into brandy, dairy and pork shipments from the European Union.

Commenting on the trade situation, Roig said both China and the bloc are “very much aware of what is at stake, to what point we need to reach a consensus and an agreement, because our trade relations need to be improved”.

According to Merics, a Berlin-based think tank, Spain’s trade relationship with China – its largest trading partner outside the EU – has become highly asymmetrical in recent years, with a deficit in 2022 of almost 34 billion euros (US$35.6 billion).

The Merics data put Spain’s imports from China at 41.98 billion euros (US$44 billion), compared to Spanish exports to the Chinese market of slightly more than 8 billion euros (US$8.3 billion) in 2022.

In addition to their continuing trade tensions, ties between China and the EU were severely strained after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which Beijing has never denounced.

China has also been accused of supplying drones as well as dual-use goods and components that could be used in the war with Ukraine – a charge that Beijing has repeatedly denied.

In her remarks at Renmin University on Tuesday, Roig called on Beijing to be engaged with the situation, pointing to China’s position as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The Spanish ambassador said that China is seen as having “the power and the leverage to make other key players reconsider their position in this war”.

“I believe that China [should] use its strength, its presence and its capability of bridging many countries and also the possibility of addressing this war in a more committed way,” she said.

While the war continues, the connection and trust between European countries and China will not be fulfilled as in former times, Roig added.

Xi Jinping on his way to Macau for 25th anniversary of return to China

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3291318/xi-jinping-his-way-macau-25th-anniversary-return-china?utm_source=rss_feed

President Xi Jinping will arrive in Macau within hours to kick off a three-day visit which will mark the 25th anniversary of the gaming hub’s return to Chinese administration and conclude with the inauguration of the city’s incoming leader.

Chief executive-designate Sam Hou-fai, incumbent leader Ho Iat-seng and a delegation of top officials are expected to welcome the president at the Macau airport on Wednesday.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, was also spotted in Macau ahead of Xi’s arrival.

The president is expected to attend a gala dinner and a variety performance on Thursday evening before he swears in the new leader on Friday morning.

Xi’s visit to Macau is his third as president. His previous trips in 2019 and 2014 included organised meetings with residents.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu will also arrive in Macau on Thursday to take part in celebratory events.

In an article published in a Hong Kong-based Chinese newspaper, Lee said he would cooperate with Sam more closely to serve China’s needs and contribute to its modernisation.

“Macau is now standing at a new starting point in history … I am very confident that Sam will lead the city to a new height,” Lee said.

Financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, justice minister Paul Lam Ting-kwok and constitutional affairs chief Erick Tsang Kwok-wai are expected to accompany Lee to Macau. His office director, Carol Yip Man-kuen, will also be there.

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said Lee’s accompanying of officials showed his respect for the local administration. He also said Hong Kong officials’ chances of talking with Xi were slim.

“Hong Kong and Macau will have the opportunity to foster more communication and pave the way for future collaboration in areas that could contribute to immediate economic benefits,” Lau said, pointing to tourism, cultural and creative industries.

Lau added the ties Macau shared with Portuguese-speaking countries might “to some extent” help China further develop under the current geopolitical environment, in which the West has taken aim at China.

The veteran China watcher noted that economic diversification would still be the priority task Xi would assign to Sam in the next five years.

“Central authorities certainly will not want more mainlanders to gamble in Macau, as that can lead to national security risks,” he said.

Brazil is the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking country. Portuguese-speaking nations include Angola, Portugal and Mozambique.

Authorities in and around Macau have stepped up security measures ahead of the president’s visit. Drones and firearms are banned in Macau, while extra checks have been imposed at some border checkpoints.

Service suspension at four stations on Macau’s light rail route, including Barra station that was opened a year ago, also began on Wednesday.

Most of the light rail, which serves tourist hotspots such as the casino resorts in Cotai and the Macau airport, will remain operational throughout Xi’s stay.

Macau is the only Chinese city where casino gambling is legal.

The introduction of five other casino operators in 2002 to compete with previous monopoly player Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) had driven an expansion which Sam described as “barbarian”.

The city’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose from US$6.55 billion in 1999 to US$47 billion in 2023, while the city’s number of visitors surged from 7.4 million in 1999 to a peak of 39.5 million in 2019.

The city received 29 million tourists in the first 10 months of this year, marking an 87 per cent recovery compared with the 2019 peak.

The gaming sector’s proportion of GDP had once exceeded 60 per cent between 2011 and 2013 as Beijing has been calling on Macau to “appropriately” diversify its economy since 2005.

The city will seek to develop cultural tourism, the “big health” industry, technology, as well as financial services, according to a blueprint released by local authorities last year.

The local business community has suggested that the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Zhuhai, could provide the space that Macau lacks.

Chinese man uses 400 phones to access live-streams to boost chances of winning gifts

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3290891/chinese-man-uses-400-phones-access-live-streams-boost-chances-winning-gifts?utm_source=rss_feed

A man in eastern China was arrested for operating more than 400 mobile phones simultaneously to enhance his chances of winning gifts in live-streams.

The man, surnamed Ma, was discovered managing the hundreds of devices in a small garage within a residential compound in Jiangsu province in August, as reported by China Newsweek on December 9.

An elderly passer-by noticed the unusual activity in Ma’s garage and reported it to the police, suspecting it to be a scam operation.

Last year, reports emerged about a Chinese fraud company that promised to boost live-streamers’ traffic and promote their businesses, but instead used hundreds of phones to fabricate viewer engagement.

However, the police investigation into Ma revealed a different scenario.

Ma admitted that he utilised the phones, each linked to a separate live-streaming platform account, to access the same live-stream and increase his chances of winning the so-called “lucky bags”.

This scheme was feasible for Ma because the “lucky bags” only required a member of the audience to click a button to send a specific message and wait for the prize to be awarded. The live-streamers provided the gifts and determined the contents of the lucky bags.

Ma stated that he had won various items, ranging from inexpensive daily necessities to printers and the latest iPhone models, which he then sold on second-hand e-commerce platforms.

He claimed he could earn between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan (US$1,400 and US$2,800) a month.

Ma did not insert SIM cards into the phones, which are necessary for registering new accounts on Chinese social media platforms. Instead, he bought existing accounts from others online.

Since these real-name registered accounts contained personal information, the police charged Ma with infringing on the personal information of others, which is illegal.

While the police did not disclose the specific penalty, according to Chinese Criminal Law, individuals who obtain, sell, or provide citizens’ personal information could face up to three years in prison or a fine.

Mainland social media was taken aback by Ma’s determination to win gifts.

“It’s not inexpensive to buy 400 smartphones and secure the bandwidth necessary for all his operations. He must have been very obsessed with the lucky bags,” commented one user on Douyin.

Another user noted that he had also seen others using multiple phones to enter raffles for lucky bags during live-streams. “The lucky bags offer a lazy alternative for some people to make a living,” he added.

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Vanuatu earthquake death toll reaches 14, including 2 Chinese

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3291324/2-chinese-among-victims-vanuatu-earthquake-death-toll-rises-14?utm_source=rss_feed

People remained trapped in a collapsed building in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila on Wednesday a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation, killing 14 people including two Chinese nationals.

Three people were communicating with rescue teams from beneath the rubble of one building, while two survivors had been pulled from the ruins of another, Police Commissioner Robson Iavro said. “We believe there are more stuck inside,” Iavro said in a video message.

As aftershocks continued to rattle the island nation of 330,000 people, footage posted on social media showed vehicles crushed under the debris, boulders strewn across a highway and landslides near Port Vila’s international shipping terminal.

National broadcaster VBTC showed people queuing for fuel and essentials as power, water and communications were disrupted.

There were 14 confirmed deaths including four in one collapsed building, the National Disaster Management office said in a report.

More than 200 people were injured, police said, and triage tents were set up outside Port Vila’s hospital to manage the influx of patients.

Unicef Chief of Field Office in Vanuatu Eric Durpaire said water contamination was a major concern.

“We already saw this morning an increase of children with diarrhoea cases, meaning they have started to drink contaminated water because the water supply has been broken,” he said in an interview.

China’s ambassador confirmed two Chinese nationals were among the dead.

An official from the Chinese embassy in Vanuatu said that the two Chinese victims were from Fujian province. Their names were still being verified with the local police, he said.

Vanuatu businessman Milroy Cainton said he saw rescuers recover the Chinese citizens’ bodies from the Wong Store commercial building, and he feared more were dead inside.

“The Wong building is piles and piles of concrete – that is a four-storey building,” he said.

Concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the US, British, French and New Zealand embassies, also collapsed but there were no reported casualties.

Several aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6.1, shook Vanuatu overnight.

“Even just two minutes ago, we had another shock … probably wouldn’t even count how many. Loads and loads of aftershocks throughout the night,” Australian Caroline Bird, who manages a resort in Port Vila, told ABC News on Wednesday.

Caretaker Prime Minister Charlot Salwai said a national disaster committee has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew for seven days in the worst-affected areas. International assistance has been sought.

The United States Agency for International Development said it was sending a team to Vanuatu, where it keeps relief supplies pre-positioned in Port Vila.

Australia’s government said a 64-person disaster response with two dogs to undertake urban search and rescue operations, as well as Australian Federal Police, would arrive on Wednesday.

France’s ambassador to Vanuatu, Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer, said a French military helicopter had arrived from New Caledonia with satellite communications and military engineers

Port Vila’s international airport would be closed to commercial airlines for 72 hours, to allow medical and emergency aircraft to land, Airports Vanuatu CEO Jason Rakau told VBTC.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 116,000 people, around one-third of the country’s population, had been affected by the earthquake.

The tropical island nation, located on the seismically active ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, is ranked among the world’s most at-risk countries for natural disasters and extreme weather events.

Additional reporting by Xinhua

Mysterious terracotta commander offers new clues to China’s ancient Qin dynasty army

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3291332/mysterious-terracotta-commander-offers-new-clues-chinas-ancient-qin-dynasty-army?utm_source=rss_feed

Archeologists working at the vast tomb of the famous terracotta warriors in China’s northwest Shaanxi province have unearthed a mysterious life-size figure believed to be that of a senior military official.

The statue, discovered at the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, under which China was unified after centuries of political turmoil, is the first of its kind to be found at a site known as pit No 2, according to Zhu Sihong, head of the excavation project.

“Based on its location, we believe this figure was likely the highest-ranking military commander of this unit,” Zhu said in a report aired on Monday by state broadcaster CCTV.

The discovery is a significant milestone in understanding the military organisation and structure of the short-lived Qin dynasty (221-207 BC). Generals of the time were typically distinguished by intricate armour patterns, headdresses and specific hand placement.

The statue features a symmetrical front and back, adorned with exquisite patterns and ribbons. To date, only 10 other statues with such adornments have been discovered among the 8,000 warriors unearthed at the tomb.

This discovery comes as China celebrates the 50th anniversary of the terracotta warriors’ discovery. In 1974, local farmers stumbled upon clay fragments while digging a well, leading to one of the world’s greatest archaeological finds.

An exhibition at the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum that began in September features 230 artefacts, several of which are on display for the first time.

Over the past five decades, excavations have uncovered more than 8,000 life-size warriors, as well as bronze chariots, stone armour and other artefacts across three pits. The site was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1987.

The tomb – spanning 80 metres (263 feet) long and 15 metres deep – is one of the best and largest preserved such tombs known in Chinese history.

The excavation at pit No 2 has also uncovered the remains of two chariots, three clay horses, and three other terracotta figures. Chariots in the Qin dynasty were typically pulled by four horses and manned by three soldiers.

Along with the senior military officer, cavalry, crossbowmen and other infantry unearthed at the site since 2015 are shedding new light on the military system of the Qin dynasty.

Zhu and his team are now deep cleaning the fragments of their find while trying to piece together the newly unearthed figure to ensure its preservation. Pit No 2 promises more discoveries, according to the researchers at the site, who continue to unravel the mysteries of China’s first army.

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Drone swarms, stealth fighters, missiles: 10 China military developments in 2024

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3291212/drone-swarms-stealth-fighters-missiles-10-china-military-developments-2024?utm_source=rss_feed

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China military stories of the year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

The Chinese military has created a new information support unit that analysts say will help boost its gathering and sharing of information to support other units.

Miao Hua, one of the top generals in charge of Communist Party work at China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), has been placed under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline”, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

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.

The People’s Liberation Army launched its first known intercontinental ballistic missile test in 44 years on Wednesday morning, sending an ICBM into the Pacific Ocean, according to the Chinese defence ministry.

China is building its fourth aircraft carrier, a naval admiral and political supervisor has confirmed, adding that the going has been smooth on the technical front.

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.

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

A new heavy attack helicopter is expected to play a critical role in any potential People’s Liberation Army operations against Taiwan or India, according to analysts.

China on Wednesday expanded export restrictions on a range of drones and drone parts with potential military applications, further tightening last year’s controls on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sales.

The People’s Liberation Army has launched a two-day exercise around Taiwan in a practice run for a blockade of the self-ruled island.

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Scientists in China use wax to make particles that can extract uranium from seawater

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3290728/scientists-china-use-wax-make-particles-can-extract-uranium-seawater?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese researchers have used candle wax to make water-based gel particles that can efficiently separate uranium from seawater, which they say could open up a new way to power nuclear plants through the oceans.

The scientists estimate that land-based reserves of uranium – the heavy metal used as fuel in nuclear reactors – can only sustain nuclear energy demand for a century.

But ocean reserves of uranium could keep the world powered for more than a millennium.

The team’s new wax casting method was used to prepare porous hydrogel particles, which were then made into composite beads with absorbent polymer materials that can help separate uranium ions from seawater.

“The whole preparation procedure … was simple and easy to operate, cost-effective, and easy to scale up,” the team led by researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics said in a paper published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Functional Materials.

The team found that, when tested in coastal seawater over 15 days, 4.79 milligrams of uranium could be extracted for each gram of beads used. Within simulated seawater, the team was able to obtain 8.23mg of uranium per gram of beads.

The team also tested the beads in uranium-spiked water, and after 10 days the beads had an extraction efficiency between 95.9 and 99.5 per cent.

Decarbonisation of the global energy grid is crucial to achieving emissions reduction targets, and one path to doing so has been the increasing use of nuclear energy.

China is building more nuclear plants than any other country, but its uranium ore is low-grade and it relies on imports.

Global terrestrial reserves of uranium equal 7.6 million tonnes, which the team said may be exhausted in just over a century. However, there are around 4.5 billion tonnes of uranium in the oceans – around 1,000 times more plentiful than on land.

“Exploiting unconventional uranium sources would be highly beneficial for sustainable electricity generation,” the researchers wrote.

Extracting uranium from seawater has proven a challenge for researchers, as its wide dispersal in the oceans means it is at very low concentration.

The team said that in recent years, using highly absorbent materials has become increasingly popular due to its high efficiency, low cost and ease of production.

Polyamidoxime – a type of polymer material with a high affinity for metals – has “demonstrated exceptional potential for uranium capture from natural seawater”, the team said.

To develop a simple way of forming polyamidoxime into a porous, absorbent material, the team first used a wax-casting method to make hydrogel particles.

Polyamidoxime was dissolved in water, and then melted candle wax was poured in and mixed. After it cooled down, water was removed from the solidified wax and then the wax was also extracted.

The material left behind was ground down into small particles, forming the hydrogel particles with a “distinctive cheese-like morphology” due to its many macropores.

The team then encapsulated the particles in alginate-polyacrylic acid – a composite polymer with good water absorption properties – forming the final absorbent spheres that were about 3mm in diameter.

The resulting beads had high absorption capacity, excellent affinity and selectivity for uranium ions, mechanical strength, and were reusable – with only a 31.2 per cent reduction in uranium absorption capacity after five consecutive uses.

According to the researchers, the results verified the “significant potential” for their beads to capture uranium from natural seawater.

China ‘white mafia’ services help women handle difficult ex and tricky landlords

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3290881/china-white-mafia-services-help-women-handle-difficult-ex-and-tricky-landlords?utm_source=rss_feed

An increasing number of young women in China are enlisting the services of the so-called “white mafia” to assist them in dealing with troublesome ex-boyfriends or dishonest landlords.

These individuals act as bodyguards, and although they may appear tough, they are gentle and understanding, making them well-suited to handle sensitive personal issues for their clients.

This group, known as the “Professional Bodyguard Team”, has quickly gained popularity on mainland social media, boasting 160,000 followers on Douyin.

Dressed in black and sporting fierce looks, the members are labelled “mafia-like” by netizens, who express that they would not dare to cross them.

They employ various methods that vaguely resemble “intimidation” and “persuasion” to address issues such as domestic violence and bullying.

Unlike real underground criminal gangs, they refer to themselves as “female guardians” of justice, earning the nickname “white mafia” from netizens.

A team member, Lei, told the mainland media outlet Vista Hydrogen Business that their group comprises retired military officers, business owners, and even female boxers.

Lei noted that the team was initially established in 2018 to provide security for celebrities and public figures.

“By 2022, more individuals approached us for help with personal issues. Due to gaps in the law, some problems could not be resolved through traditional means, so we began helping vulnerable groups in our own ways,” he explained.

Lei mentioned that 70 per cent of their clients are women aged 25 to 35, who reach out to them via the Douyin platform.

The team charges based on the type and duration of services, with prices ranging from a few thousand to over 10,000 yuan (US$1,400). Some services may take only a few hours, while others can last up to a year.

Lei recounted an incident where a female client, accompanied by team members, went to court to divorce her abusive husband, who was resisting the divorce.

“As soon as she exited the court, the man threw sulphuric acid at her in retaliation. Fortunately, one of our team members shielded her with an umbrella,” he said.

In another case, a young woman sought to break up with her boyfriend, who was physically and verbally abusive and even threatened to leak her intimate photos.

She contacted Lei’s team and spent about 20,000 yuan (US$2,800) to safely end the relationship with their help.

The team has also escorted children who were victims of school bullying, providing security and deterring the bullies. They have also helped tenants recover overdue deposits from landlords.

He stressed that their services “are always fully compliant with the law.”

The team consistently guides and assists clients in contacting the police when necessary or seeking legal help.

Videos on Douyin show that they regularly conduct legal education and training in physical and security skills.

The “white mafia” services have garnered considerable attention on mainland social media.

One online observer commented on Douyin: “This is a true ‘civilian police station’, where the ‘big brothers’ use legal means to protect vulnerable groups caught in the legal grey area.”

“Looking fierce is an advantage. I suggest bringing a professional lawyer along for every mission. I hope your team continues to grow bigger and stronger!” said another.

Similar “white mafia” organisations have been reported worldwide.

In the US, Bikers Against Child Abuse, formed to combat child abuse, consists of strong, muscular individuals who ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Its members include judges, truck drivers, and women.

China’s childbirth conundrum sees costs keep people from getting on board for baby boom

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3291198/chinas-childbirth-conundrum-sees-costs-keep-people-getting-board-baby-boom?utm_source=rss_feed

China should focus on childbirth support and lower the cost of raising children as it grapples with demographic issues that have not been seen elsewhere in the world, a Communist Party newspaper urged on Tuesday.

Supporting families with children, including putting more government resources into preschool education, should be prioritised in efforts to deal with a population that is shrinking and rapidly ageing, according to the Study Times, a publication under the Central Party School.

The call came amid authorities’ vow to build a “childbirth-friendly society” to encourage births as the country’s total population started declining two years ago and the birth rate fell to an all-time low of 6.39 for every 1,000 people last year.

“Various types of costs paid by families and individuals are the main factors impeding the desire to have children,” the newspaper said in an opinion piece by Du Yang, head of the Institute of Population and Labour Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

It pointed to the substantial gap between China and developed countries in public spending on preschool education, while stressing its significance to improving population quality – a vision that President Xi Jinping has reiterated.

It also called for optimising and expanding vocational education, which will help equip China’s workforce with the skills needed to drive productivity and sustain economic growth.

The world’s second-largest economy is facing unique demographic challenges that lack direct international comparisons, Du emphasised in the article.

Unlike many developed nations that aged gradually, China’s population is doing so while its economy remains in a transitionary phase.

By 2023, 15.4 per cent of China’s population was aged 65 or older – a figure that is expected to rise sharply by 2050.

Compounding this challenge is the phenomenon of “growing old before getting rich”, with China’s per capita GDP lagging behind advanced economies at similar stages of ageing.

Additionally, “the decline of the total population is a major change in China’s basic development conditions, and it is a situation that has never been encountered when China made plans in the past”, Du said.

The Chinese population declined by roughly 850,000 in 2022, marking the first decline since 1961. Last year, the downward trend continued, falling by 2.08 million to 1.4097 billion, according to official data.

With the population and labour force simultaneously shrinking, Du also warned of declining consumption and investment demand.

These shifts require China to adapt its economic growth model, moving away from factor-driven growth and improving total factor productivity, he said.

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China’s scientific breakthroughs can lead to linguistic ones too

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3290987/chinas-scientific-breakthroughs-can-lead-linguistic-ones-too?utm_source=rss_feed

In June, new frontiers opened when the Chang’e-6 probe mission brought back the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon and triggered a debate in the scientific community on what language the historic findings should be written in – English or Chinese.

A pupil at Fangcaodi International School, which specialises in science education, suggested publishing in English first for global scientific collaboration and then in Chinese for national awareness.

The boy raised a great point. However, I would change the order with the following justification. Papers should be published in Chinese first for the advancement of the Chinese language and then in English for global scientific collaboration.

The paper was published in September under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, it was written in English without a Chinese translation. The young pupil was probably disappointed that Chinese students with a limited grasp of the English language were excluded from reading the findings themselves to learn about the latest discoveries. For me, it was a lost opportunity for the Chinese language to evolve with time.

It is understandable that researchers would want to publish in English. Since the 1950s, English has become the lingua franca of the international scientific community. Up to 98 per cent of scientific research published is in English. Using English is undoubtedly conducive to exchanging and disseminating knowledge in today’s world.

However, Chinese scientists and researchers can do more than just exchange and disseminate information. They can help advance the Chinese language.

The Chinese language is a wonder. It is one of the oldest languages that is still in use today. However, the language has not been without substantial changes over its long history. One of the biggest reinventions took place around the early 20th century amid an influx of words from other languages.

During that period, China was constantly mired in both internal and external crises. The country was facing serious threats to its territorial integrity. Believing that reform was urgently needed to save the nation, Chinese scholars began translating Western books, ranging from technology to philosophy.

It was a difficult process. At the time, there were many terms in politics, economics, philosophy and science for which scholars simply could not find equivalents among existing Chinese words.

After using various strategies that sometimes competed with one another, such as transliteration, creating new combinations of characters or borrowing words that Japanese scholars translated into kanji, the Chinese language was brought up to a level that was comparable with other major modern languages.

This process transfused new blood into a language system that was on life support. The words added during this period are still part of daily usage, often taken for granted by many.

After receiving so many words from different societies, it would be nice for China to once again offer words to other languages. It’s happened before, with words such as “china” and “shantung”, hi-tech products of industries in the ancient world that made porcelain and silk, respectively.

Researching the far side of the moon signifies that China is poised to revive its ancient influence. With many ongoing cutting-edge scientific projects, Chinese scientists and researchers could discover a phenomenon or invent something new at any moment, and write top-tier research papers. Those discoveries would be opportunities for them to coin new words with which to communicate their findings.

Wouldn’t it be great if these new words first appeared in Chinese and were then translated into English and many other languages?

It might be a difficult task. Chinese scientists and researchers would have to put in additional thought and creativity to come up with new terminologies. Some might be used to writing in English because they are accustomed to reading academic papers in that language.

Coining new words in English might be easier due to its alphabetical system. One could make the argument that it is harder to coin new words or phrases in Chinese, which has thousands of unique characters. However, for Chinese to remain relevant, expanding the language is necessary. Scientific and technological breakthroughs present the perfect opportunity to do so.

Qian Xuesen, who has been called the father of Chinese rockets, once said, “In the future, when China’s scientific and technological level has greatly improved and entered the world’s top tier, our own papers will naturally become an important part of the world’s scientific and technological literature.”

Words originating in China could also be a vital part of that literature.

Chinese astronauts complete world record-breaking spacewalk at 9 hours

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3291280/china-astronauts-complete-world-record-breaking-spacewalk-9-hours?utm_source=rss_feed

Two Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station have broken the world record for the longest single spacewalk, set more than two decades ago by the US space programme.

At 9.57pm Beijing time on Tuesday, Shenzhou-19 crew members Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong completed a nine-hour extravehicular activity (EVA), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Cai and Song installed space debris protection devices and conducted maintenance tasks outside the T-shaped space station during the EVA, the Chinese space agency said on Wednesday.

The previous record was set on March 11, 2001, when American astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms spent eight hours and 56 minutes outside the space shuttle Discovery during a mission to the International Space Station, according to Nasa.

The nine-hour EVA also marks a milestone in China’s spacewalk history. Earlier this year, Shenzhou-18 astronauts Ye Guangfu and Li Guangsu completed a similar mission, spending eight hours and 23 minutes outside Tiangong.

State broadcaster CCTV reported at the time that the second-generation “Feitian” spacesuits worn by the astronauts during the EVA in May were capable of supporting up to eight hours of external work – double the duration of the first-generation suits.

China’s first-ever spacewalk occurred in September 2008, when Zhai Zhigang spent just under 20 minutes outside the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft in the first-generation Feitian suit.

More to follow...

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China’s ‘lingerie capital’ may face trouble if Trump holds true to US tariff promise

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3291239/chinas-lingerie-capital-may-face-trouble-if-trump-holds-true-us-tariff-promise?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s “lingerie capital” Lianyungang, once a thriving farming community in Jiangsu province, has enjoyed a meteoric rise fuelled by a US tariff exemption known as the “de minimis” rule.

However, US president-elect Donald Trump has promised to end the exemption some lawmakers have labelled a “loophole”.

Factory owners in Lianyungang have expressed fear their businesses will suffer if he does, considering their main market is in North America.

Influential US lawmaker says China or its citizens could be tied to recent drone sightings

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3291272/influential-us-lawmaker-says-china-or-its-citizens-could-be-tied-recent-drone-sightings?utm_source=rss_feed

An influential US lawmaker has suggested that China or its citizens – some of whom may have entered America illegally – could be tied to recent drone sightings over New Jersey and nearby states, despite officials’ repeated denials of foreign involvement.

When the US departments of Defence and Homeland Security claim they “have no evidence that it’s a foreign entity or some criminal activity, that means they don’t know what it is and that’s not good enough”, said US congressman Mark Green, who chairs the House homeland security committee, on Tuesday.

Green, a Tennessee Republican and China hawk, added that “just last week, the FBI arrested a Chinese national flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base”.

“He was trying leave the country when they actually arrested him,” he continued. “So tying this to China, we have clear indications they’re flying drones in the United States over our sensitive sites.”

Green shared his remarks at an event hosted by the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

On December 10, Yinpiao Zhou, a lawful US permanent resident, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport for allegedly flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and recording images of the military facility.

Zhou, 39, faces charges of operating an unregistered aircraft and violating national defence airspace.

Green argued there was an urgent need to “seal off our border” and accused the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden of “facilitating” the illegal entry of Chinese nationals across America’s southern border.

Citing data from a report released last month by the House committee he chairs, Green said more than 24,000 Chinese nationals came across the US border in fiscal year 2023 and more than 27,000 tried to enter illegally from October 2023 through April this year.

Of the Chinese nationals present in the US, “80 per cent” are of military age, Green added, describing “many” as having ties to the Communist Party.

“This is where we are now, and these 60,000 people are somewhere in our country, maybe driving drones.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

For weeks, residents in New Jersey and neighbouring states have reported seeing low-flying, drone-like objects in the night sky, puzzling both civilians and law enforcement authorities.

As of Monday, the FBI received some 5,000 tips regarding such sightings, with about 100 deemed warranting further investigation.

“We have not identified anything anomalous or any national-security or public-safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast,” according to John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, on Monday.

When asked on Monday about a foreign nexus or malicious activity by Chinese hackers, Major General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, replied: “You have to make decisions based on the facts in front of you.” He refused to “get into hypotheticals”.

But Green on Tuesday tied the drone sightings to a " title="" target="_self">2023 Chinese balloon controversy, saying the US government did not want the American public to know about the drones, similar to the balloon incident.

He maintained that officials have been aware of the drones since last month.

“The military knew about the Chinese balloon/weather balloon well before it got to Montana, but an American with a camera caught a glimpse of it and that’s how we as Americans found out about it,” the congressman said.

“They’ve known about these drones since early November and we found out about it. Why? Because someone went out with a video camera and told us.”

Between January and February 2023, a Chinese balloon was detected drifting over US airspace and territorial waters. The US Air Force shot it down on February 4 that year.

While the Pentagon described it as a surveillance balloon, China asserted it was a weather balloon blown off track.

Green called for adopting an “offensive” rather than defensive strategy for dealing with alleged Chinese cyberattacks on critical US infrastructure.

“We’re in a conflict with China on multiple levels, and too many people are asleep at the wheel,” he said.

The lawmaker on Tuesday did not rule out the potential revival of the China Initiative, a now-defunct US government programme launched in 2018 and aimed at prosecuting mainland spies but criticised for falsely targeting a number of Chinese-Americans.

“Yes, I think you’ll see that,” he said in response to a related question.

Yet when asked about Donald Trump saying the US and China could work together to “solve” all the world’s problems and the president-elect’s meeting on Monday with Chew Shou Zi, CEO of Chinese-owned TikTok, Green stated there was no “duplicity”.

“Absolutely, I agree with him on this,” he said of Trump. “There are areas where we should collaborate on moving forward on, there are areas where we have got to recognise that they’re … trying to unseat us as the global hegemon”.

“Sometimes it’s going to sound like we’re saying two different things,” Green added. “But if we are careful about what we collaborate on and careful about what we contend on, I think that’s the step forward.”

The language echoed Biden’s China policy of cooperating where possible and competing where necessary.

On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called on future administrations to maintain Biden’s nuanced approach towards Beijing, balancing firm competition with measured engagement to address global challenges.

Policymakers should remain “clear-eyed” about the China challenge, said Miller, who added that while the current administration has not shied away from confrontation, it has also sought targeted cooperation.

“Despite the competition between the United States and China, we have believed it is in our national interest to find areas where we can work together.”

Additional reporting by Igor Patrick

Chinese detonation engine in test flight for supersonic passenger jet

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3291252/chinese-detonation-engine-test-flight-supersonic-passenger-jet?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese commercial aerospace company conducted the first test flight of a detonation ramjet engine on Tuesday, designed for an aircraft it says will be able to take passengers from Beijing to New York in two hours.

The Jindouyun, or JinDou400, engine was named after the “somersault cloud” used by the Monkey King in the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West.

Its developer Space Transportation, or Lingkong Tianxing Technology, said it had reached a speed of 5,000km/h or Mach 4 – four times the speed of sound – at altitudes exceeding 65,600 feet.

The engine uses detonation combustion technology and features a modular, compact design.

“This engine has significant commercial potential in the field of high-speed flight within near-space environments,” the Beijing-based company said in a statement.

Unlike traditional rocket engines or jet engines, the detonation ramjet generates thrust by using shock waves from detonation combustion to compress the incoming air, eliminating the need for compressors and turbine components. This simplifies the structure, improves the thrust-to-weight ratio, and lowers costs.

Despite its small size – it is less that 30cm (11.8 inches) in diameter and under 3 metres (9.8ft) long – the engine delivers an impressive thrust of around 400kg (880 pounds).

“This test flight provided key performance data on the engine, validating critical systems including the fuel supply, electrical and control systems,” the statement said.

“It also confirmed the engine’s stability and reliability, marking a major milestone in its development from a prototype to a fully functional product.”

The successful test flight is a key goal for Space Transportation in developing the Yunxing supersonic civilian jet.

A prototype of that jet completed a test flight in late October, validating key technologies including its aerodynamics, heat resistance and control systems.

The company aims to have a supersonic passenger aircraft ready for its first flight by 2027, with the first commercial high-speed point-to-point transport flight to take place by 2030.

Space Transportation posted a video on social media on December 9 announcing that a series of critical ground tests had been completed and revealing several design details.

“We decoupled the aircraft from the engine to make it more versatile and for ease of maintenance of the propulsion system,” a technician says in the video.

The clip shows the engine’s modular structure – enabled by 3D printing technology – which allows for fast assembly and makes it more adaptable. The company also says in the video that it has balanced performance requirements with costs as it moves towards mass production.

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