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# 关于中国的新闻报道

Economy

概述

　　近期，西方媒体对中国经济的报道主要集中在政府政策调整、小微企业面临的挑战、消费市场的复苏情况以及对外投资环境的改善等方面。以下是对这些报道的客观评价。

政府政策调整

　　西方媒体报道，中国政府在2025年将实施更为积极的财政政策，包括提高财政赤字率、增加支出强度并加快支出速度，以促进投资和消费。此外，政府还计划发行创纪录的3万亿元人民币特别国债，以支持经济复苏。这些政策调整反映了中国政府应对经济下行压力的决心，旨在通过财政手段稳定经济增长。

小微企业面临的挑战

　　报道指出，中国的小微企业（MSEs）在当前经济环境中面临诸多挑战，包括需求不足、税负较高以及劳动力和运营成本上升等问题。调查数据显示，MSEs的平均收入和利润率均有所下降，许多企业不得不通过裁员、缩减业务和迁址等方式降低成本。尽管政府已推出一系列政策措施减轻企业负担，但效果尚不明显。小微企业的困境不仅影响了企业自身的生存，还可能对就业和消费市场产生负面影响。

消费市场的复苏

　　西方媒体关注到中国消费市场的复苏情况，认为尽管政府推出了多项刺激消费的措施，如发放消费券和实施大宗商品以旧换新计划，但效果有限。消费市场的复苏受到多重因素影响，包括居民收入增长放缓、失业率较高以及消费信心不足等。特别是年轻人和低收入群体的消费能力和意愿下降，导致小微企业的销售额下滑。

对外投资环境的改善

　　报道提到，中国政府已采取多项措施改善对外投资环境，包括恢复国际航班、简化支付服务等，以吸引外资回流。这些措施取得了一定效果，外资企业对中国市场的信心有所恢复。此外，政府还鼓励私人资本投资交通基础设施建设，推动市场开放和公平竞争，以提升物流效率和降低成本。

总结

　　综合来看，西方媒体对中国经济的报道既有客观的数据分析，也有一定的主观色彩。政府政策调整和对外投资环境的改善，展示了中国在应对经济挑战方面的积极努力和成效。然而，小微企业面临的困境和消费市场复苏的缓慢，也反映了经济结构调整和内需激发的艰巨任务。总体而言，中国经济在经历短期波动的同时，仍具备较强的韧性和长期发展潜力。

新闻来源： 2412260635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-25; 2412261614半岛电视台-地缘政治动荡推动金价上涨中国刺激措施支撑油价

### 关于中国的新闻报道

　　#### Politics

　　近期，西方媒体对中国的政治报道主要集中在中国与欧盟、美国及俄罗斯的关系，以及中国内部的社会问题和人事变动等方面。以下是对这些报道的客观评价：

　　##### 中国与欧盟的关系

　　1. 右翼政治势力对华态度： 西方媒体报道称，欧洲右翼领导人对中国的态度存在分歧。意大利总理乔治娅·梅洛尼和匈牙利总理维克多·欧尔班被认为是欧洲右翼中的两个重要人物，他们在对华政策上存在显著差异。梅洛尼被认为更倾向于与美国和欧盟的传统联盟，而欧尔班则被视为更友好中国。

　　 评价： 这种报道反映了欧洲内部在对华政策上的分歧，但忽略了欧盟内部的整体战略考量。欧盟内部的不同声音并不代表其整体政策的转变，欧盟仍在努力平衡与中国的经济合作与政治安全之间的关系。

　　2. 法国和德国的政治变动： 报道提到法国和德国的右翼政党在选举中的崛起，以及这些政党与中国可能的联系。德国的极右翼政党“德国选择党”（AfD）被指与中国有联系，且在选举中表现强劲。

　　 评价： 这些报道更多是基于政治猜测，缺乏实际证据支持。欧洲右翼政党的崛起确实可能影响欧盟的对华政策，但具体影响还需观察。

　　##### 中国与美国的关系

　　1. 特朗普的对华政策： 媒体预测特朗普在其第二任期内可能会采取更强硬的对华政策，并可能影响欧盟的对华立场。特朗普与欧洲右翼领导人的关系被视为未来美欧对华政策的重要因素。

　　 评价： 特朗普的对华政策确实可能对全球政治格局产生影响，但具体政策的实施还需考虑多方面的因素，包括国际贸易、安全合作等。欧盟在对华政策上也会综合考虑自身利益和国际环境。

　　##### 中国内部的社会问题

　　1. 社会问题与“运政治”： 报道提到中国近期出现的“复仇社会”攻击事件和“内卷”现象，反映了社会压力和不满情绪的积累。

　　 评价： 这些社会问题确实反映了中国在快速发展过程中面临的挑战，但报道往往夸大负面效应，忽视了政府在应对这些问题上的努力和成效。

　　2. 人事变动与反腐败： 媒体报道了中国军队高层的人事变动和反腐败行动，提到多名高级将领因腐败问题被调查。

　　 评价： 这些报道反映了中国政府在反腐败方面的坚决态度和行动力度，但也需注意到这些行动在提升政府公信力和稳定社会秩序方面的积极作用。

　　##### 中国与俄罗斯的关系

　　1. 中俄关系加强： 报道提到中国与俄罗斯在政治、经济和军事上的合作加强，美国和欧盟对此表示担忧。

　　 评价： 中俄关系的加强是基于双方共同利益和国际环境的需要，但这并不意味着中国会完全支持俄罗斯在国际事务中的所有立场。中国在处理国际关系时仍会考虑多方面的因素，保持独立自主的外交政策。

　　#### 总结

　　西方媒体对中国政治报道往往带有偏见和双重标准，忽视了中国在应对内部挑战和处理国际关系时的复杂性和多样性。尽管这些报道反映了一些现实问题，但更多是基于政治猜测和片面观点。中国在政治、经济和社会发展中面临的挑战和机遇需要全面、客观的分析和理解。

新闻来源： 2412260635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-25

# 关于中国的新闻报道

军事章节

一、人事调整与反腐行动

　　近期，西方媒体对中国人民解放军（PLA）的人事调整和反腐行动进行了广泛报道。根据报道，中国提拔了长期服役于空军的陈辉为陆军政治委员，并对多名高级军官进行了调查和处理。这些人事调整反映了中国军队内部的反腐行动和人事变动的频繁。

　　1. 陈辉的提拔：陈辉被提拔为陆军政治委员，这是自苗华下台后的首次提拔仪式。陈辉曾在中国空军服役超过两个十年，最近担任战略支援部队空间系统部的政治委员。陈辉的提拔表明中国军队对政治思想工作的重视。

　　2. 反腐行动：报道指出，多名高级军官因腐败问题被调查和处理。例如，邓治平被剥夺全国人大代表资格，李尚福和魏凤和因涉嫌腐败被调查。这些反腐行动展示了中国军队内部对腐败问题的零容忍态度。

二、武器装备与军事演习

　　西方媒体还报道了中国军队在武器装备和军事演习方面的动态。

　　1. 泰坦导弹系统：菲律宾军方表示有意购买美国的泰坦导弹系统，以增强其国防能力。中国对此表示强烈反对，认为这将破坏地区的和平稳定。

　　2. 军事演习：中国军队近期进行了多次军事演习，展示了其在海上和空中的作战能力。这些演习不仅是对军队战斗力的检验，也是对外展示中国军事实力的重要手段。

三、中国与俄罗斯的军事合作

　　西方媒体对中国与俄罗斯之间的军事合作给予了关注，认为这可能对国际局势产生影响。

　　1. 军事合作：中国和俄罗斯之间的军事合作不断加强，高层互访频繁，军事技术交流和联合演习成为常态。西方媒体认为，这种合作可能对国际军事格局产生深远影响。

　　2. 制裁压力：美国和欧盟对中国企业实施制裁，认为这些企业向俄罗斯提供了军事用途的物资。中国对此予以否认，强调其企业的行为符合国际法。

四、中国军队的国际影响

　　中国军队的国际影响力不断增强，西方媒体对此给予了高度关注。

　　1. 国际影响力：中国军队在联合国维和行动中发挥了重要作用，赢得了国际社会的广泛赞誉。中国军队还积极参与国际军事交流与合作，提升了其在国际军事舞台上的地位。

　　2. 技术创新：中国军队在军事技术创新方面取得了显著成就，尤其是在航空航天、海军和网络战等领域。这些技术创新不仅提升了中国军队的战斗力，也增强了其在国际军事竞争中的竞争力。

结论

　　综上所述，西方媒体对中国军队的报道虽然存在一定的偏见和双重标准，但也反映了中国军队在人事调整、反腐行动、武器装备、军事演习、国际合作和技术创新等方面的动态和成就。中国军队在不断提升自身战斗力和国际影响力的同时，也面临着来自国际社会的各种挑战和压力。未来，中国军队将继续在复杂的国际环境中寻求发展，维护国家安全和世界和平。

新闻来源： 2412260635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-25

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Culture 章节

一、概述

　　近年来，西方媒体对中国文化的报道呈现出多样化和复杂化的趋势。这些报道不仅涉及中国社会的各个层面，还反映了中国在全球化背景下的文化变迁和社会心态。然而，这些报道往往带有一定的偏见和双重标准，需要我们从客观的角度进行分析和评价。

二、热点词汇及其背后的社会现象

　　#### 1. 躺平（Tangping）

　　“躺平”一词描述了中国年轻一代在高压经济环境下选择放弃奋斗、追求轻松生活的现象。这一现象反映了当代年轻人对传统成功观念的反思和对个人幸福的重新定义。然而，西方媒体往往将其视为中国社会的消极面，忽视了背后的深层次原因，如教育体制的压力、就业市场的竞争以及社会保障的不足。

　　#### 2. 内卷（Neijuan）

　　“内卷”是一个源自社会学的概念，用来描述社会或个人在努力进步时却陷入无法突破的困境。在中国，这一词汇常被用来形容年轻人在职场中的无奈和疲惫。西方媒体常将其视为中国经济增长放缓的象征，但忽视了中国在高科技领域的快速发展和创新能力。

　　#### 3. 逃离哲学（Runxue）

　　“逃离哲学”指的是大量中国人移民海外的趋势。这一现象反映了部分中国人对国内社会压力和不确定性的担忧。西方媒体往往将其视为中国社会不稳定的证据，但忽视了中国在国际舞台上的影响力和吸引力。

　　#### 4. 报复社会

　　“报复社会”攻击事件是近年来中国社会中出现的一种极端现象，反映了部分人群对社会不公的极端反应。西方媒体往往将其视为中国社会矛盾的集中爆发，但忽视了中国政府在社会治理和心理健康方面的努力。

三、文化交流与开放政策

　　#### 1. 签证政策放宽

　　中国近期放宽了对多个国家的签证政策，旨在吸引更多的国际游客，促进文化交流和经济合作。西方媒体往往将其视为中国外交政策的一种手段，但忽视了这一政策背后的经济和文化动机。

　　#### 2. 跨国品牌的扩张

　　中国本土品牌如瑞幸咖啡进军香港市场，反映了中国企业在国际市场上的竞争力和影响力。西方媒体往往将其视为中国企业的扩张野心，但忽视了这些企业在满足消费者需求和推动创新方面的贡献。

四、社会心态与文化变迁

　　#### 1. 社会心态的变化

　　中国社会的心态在不断变化，年轻一代对传统成功观念的反思和对个人幸福的重新定义，反映了社会的多元化和个性化趋势。西方媒体往往将其视为社会的消极面，但忽视了这一变化背后的深层次原因和积极意义。

　　#### 2. 文化变迁的影响

　　中国在全球化背景下的文化变迁，不仅体现在年轻一代的生活方式上，还反映在社会对外来文化的接受和融合上。西方媒体往往将其视为中国文化的西化趋势，但忽视了中国文化在全球化背景下的独特性和韧性。

五、结论

　　西方媒体对中国文化的报道往往带有一定的偏见和双重标准，需要我们从客观的角度进行分析和评价。中国社会的文化变迁和社会心态的变化，反映了中国在全球化背景下的独特性和韧性。我们应当客观看待这些报道，理解背后的深层次原因和积极意义。

新闻来源： 2412260635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-25

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Technology 章节

1. 福克斯康在中国投资电动汽车电池厂

　　根据南华早报的报道，苹果公司的主要供应商鸿海科技集团（Foxconn）计划在中国中部河南省郑州市投资6亿人民币（约合8200万美元），建设一座新的电动汽车（EV）电池厂。这一举措是鸿海科技集团多元化业务的重要一步，旨在进军电动汽车、半导体和机器人等新兴领域。

　　#### 评价： 福克斯康的投资反映了中国在电动汽车和新能源领域的快速发展。作为全球最大的iPhone制造商，福克斯康在郑州的投资不仅有助于其业务多元化，还能进一步巩固中国在全球电动汽车供应链中的地位。这一举措也显示了中国在新能源汽车领域的技术和市场潜力。

2. 中国科研人员研究低品质卤水中锂的提取

　　据南华早报报道，中国科研人员在《自然》杂志上发表了一篇关于从低品质卤水中提取锂的研究论文。这项研究旨在应对电动汽车行业对锂需求的增加，探索从海水和盐湖等低品质卤水中提取锂的创新方法。

　　#### 评价： 这项研究展示了中国在新能源材料领域的科研实力和创新能力。随着全球对锂需求的增加，中国科研人员在低品质卤水中提取锂的研究具有重要的战略意义。这不仅有助于缓解锂资源的供应压力，还能推动全球新能源产业的可持续发展。

3. 宁德时代推出耐高速撞击的电动汽车底盘

　　南华早报报道，中国电动汽车电池制造商宁德时代（CATL）推出了一款名为“帕舒”的电动汽车底盘，该底盘能够在120公里/小时的正面碰撞中保持不燃烧和不爆炸。

　　#### 评价： 宁德时代的这一创新再次彰显了中国在电动汽车技术领域的领先地位。耐高速撞击的电动汽车底盘不仅提高了电动汽车的安全性，还有助于提升消费者对电动汽车的信任度。这一技术的推出将进一步推动全球电动汽车市场的发展。

4. 菲律宾军方计划购买“泰风”导弹系统

　　根据南华早报的报道，菲律宾军方计划购买美国的“泰风”导弹系统，以提升其防御能力。中国对此表示强烈反对，称此举是“极其不负责任的选择”。

　　#### 评价： 菲律宾军方计划购买“泰风”导弹系统反映了地区军事竞争的加剧。中国的反对态度表明其对地区安全形势的高度关注。随着地区局势的复杂化，各国在军事装备和防御策略上的选择将对地区稳定产生深远影响。

5. “内卷”现象在中国互联网的流行

　　英国《卫报》报道，“内卷”一词在中国互联网上广泛流行，用于描述经济增长放缓、生育率下降、社会保障网薄弱等社会现象。这一词汇最初在学术圈中使用，后因一名清华大学学生骑自行车时用笔记本电脑学习的视频而在网络上走红。

　　#### 评价： “内卷”现象反映了中国年轻一代在就业和生活压力下的焦虑和无助感。尽管中国经济在全球范围内保持较快增长，但年轻人面临的就业压力和生活成本上升等问题依然严峻。政府和社会需要共同努力，通过政策调整和社会支持，缓解年轻一代的压力，促进社会的和谐发展。

总结

　　西方媒体关于中国科技领域的报道反映了中国在电动汽车、新能源材料和军事装备等多个领域的快速发展和创新能力。尽管存在一些偏见和双重标准，但客观来看，中国在科技创新和产业升级方面的成就有目共睹。通过不断加大科研投入和技术创新，中国正在成为全球科技领域的重要参与者和推动者。

新闻来源： 2412260635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-25

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Society 章节

引言

　　近期，西方媒体对中国社会现象的报道频繁，涉及多个方面，包括经济增长放缓、人口出生率下降、社会保障网不足、国际孤立等问题。这些报道通常使用一些流行的网络术语来描述当前中国社会的状况，如“躺平”、“跑路哲学”、“内卷”等。本文将对这些报道进行客观评价，分析其背景及影响。

经济增长放缓及其影响

　　西方媒体频繁报道中国经济增长放缓的现象，特别是年轻一代面临的就业压力和生活成本上升。报道中提到的“躺平”现象，指的是年轻人选择放弃高压工作，追求更为轻松的生活方式。这一现象的背后是中国经济结构调整和就业市场的变化。

　　评价： 经济增长放缓是全球性的现象，中国也不例外。年轻一代面临的就业压力确实存在，但这也促使政府和企业进行结构性改革，推动高质量发展。“躺平”现象反映了部分年轻人对高压工作的反感，但也有不少年轻人积极寻求创业和自我提升的机会。

人口出生率下降

　　报道指出，中国的人口出生率持续下降，这对未来的劳动力市场和社会保障体系带来挑战。一些年轻人选择“跑路哲学”，即移民海外以寻找更好的生活和工作机会。

　　评价： 人口出生率下降是全球范围内的趋势，中国也面临这一挑战。政府已经采取了一系列措施，如放宽生育政策、提高社会保障水平等，以应对这一问题。“跑路哲学”反映了部分人对国内生活压力的不满，但移民并非解决问题的唯一途径，国内的改革和发展同样重要。

社会保障网不足

　　报道提到，中国的社会保障网相对薄弱，导致人们在面对经济压力时缺乏安全感。这一现象被称为“内卷”，即社会和个人在高压环境下无法取得实质性进展。

　　评价： 社会保障网的完善是一个长期的过程，中国政府已经在不断加强社会保障体系建设。“内卷”现象反映了部分人在高压环境下的无奈，但也有不少人通过努力工作和不断学习提升自己，取得了实质性的进步。

国际孤立及其影响

　　报道指出，中国在国际舞台上的孤立加剧，这对国内的经济和社会发展带来负面影响。

　　评价： 国际关系的复杂性导致了中国在某些领域面临孤立的现象，但中国也在积极推动全球合作，特别是在气候变化、贸易等领域。国际孤立并不能完全代表中国的国际地位，中国在全球治理中的作用依然重要。

结论

　　西方媒体对中国社会现象的报道虽然反映了一些现实问题，但也存在一定的偏见和双重标准。中国社会面临的挑战是多方面的，但政府和社会各界也在积极应对，推动社会的进步和发展。通过客观分析这些报道，我们可以更全面地了解中国社会的现状和发展方向。

新闻来源： 2412260635英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总_2024-12-25

• Chinese firm unveils world’s first ride-on robot dog for all-terrain adventures
• China slams Philippines over US-made Typhon missiles, warns of ‘arms race’ in region
• China’s economy gains new growth and deep scars over past 5 years: NBS census
• China’s C919 to fly first cross-border route connecting Hong Kong and Shanghai
• China warns ‘dangerous’ US actions are raising risk of space arms race
• Will South Korea draw closer to China if ties with US worsen under Trump?
• Will delayed launch put China plans to build Starlink rival at long-term risk?
• Singapore warns about meddling over supposed Communist Youth League of China-linked ads
• Chinese lithium firm reaches milestone in Mali mine project despite strict new rules
• Chinese legal experts condemn police for sending blogger to psychiatric hospital
• ‘China’s grandma’ hospital cleaner adopts 38 abandoned babies, in line for top moral award
• 2 more Chinese generals fall after anti-graft campaign delivers big changes to military
• Fake baby bumps, Chinese posing as Dubai royalty, dim sum wrestling: 5 trending stories
• Chinese scientists say new sunblock can cut body temperature by up to 6 degrees Celsius
• More Hongkongers consider RVs as popularity of road camping in mainland China grows
• Trump takes aim at Canada, China and ‘left lunatics’ in Christmas wishes
• Harbin aims to attract more foreign tourists to China’s winter wonderland
• Huawei’s new flagship smartphones use South Korean memory chips, not Chinese ones
• Chinese national gets 8 months in prison for Yasukuni Shrine graffiti case
• As regional actors rise, US-China story no longer defines global affairs
• China approves Tibet mega dam that could generate 3 times more power than Three Gorges

Chinese firm unveils world’s first ride-on robot dog for all-terrain adventures

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3292229/chinese-firm-unveils-worlds-first-ride-robot-dog-all-terrain-adventures?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese company has unveiled the world’s first robot dog to feature the precise motor control required to carry a person safely across the most rugged terrain, making it suitable for a range of military and civilian uses, according to online commenters.

B2-W, a four-legged, wheeled robot that features precision posture control and advanced acrobatics, was showcased in a video posted by developer Unitree to its social media account on Monday.

In the video, B2-W performs mid-air flips, rotations and handstands while also demonstrating remarkable stability as it descends a nearly 60-degree gravel slope, navigates streams, climbs waterfalls and speeds across a range of terrains.

The robot is also shown temporarily retracting its hind legs, performing inverted landings, and jumping from a height of 1.9 metres (6.23ft). In standard four-legged mode, it can leap from 3 metres, absorbing the impact with its flexible legs.

In one test featured in the Hangzhou-based company’s video, the B2-W shows off its load-bearing and balancing abilities by carrying an adult rider up and down slopes with ease.

“Unitree’s B2 series robot is currently the world’s first and only robot dog designed for riding. It showcases extraordinary biomimetic performance,” said Xiaolan, a robotics reviewer, after a hands-on testing of the B2-W.

The mobility and control achieved in the latest video reflects a rapid evolution in the robot dog’s abilities since Unitree’s previous footage of the B2-W released in November.

In the earlier video, the B2-W demonstrated basic abilities such as climbing hills and traversing grasslands but was clearly struggling to maintain stability.

The B2-W’s advanced performance drew attention online. One commenter said the design was perfect for solo off-road missions. “With a camera, it becomes a reconnaissance scout. Add weapons, and it’s a commando. It could also be used for battlefield transport and patrols.”

Another commenter suggested testing the robot in the Galwan Valley – the Himalayan border region that China shares with India – to which a Unitree staff member responded: “Feel free to contact us. We’re up for the challenge.”

Despite online speculation about the potential military uses, a Unitree spokeswoman said the B2-W was intended solely for civilian applications.

“This video reflects updates to our internal algorithms for better functionality, but the hardware remains unchanged,” the spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

According to the Unitree website, the B2-W weighs about 45kg (99lb) and has been in mass production for a year.

It is fully electric and capable of operating for five hours on a single charge when unloaded, at a top speed of more than 20km/h (12.4mph). With a 40kg load (88lb), the B2-W can travel up to 50km (31 miles).

The robot is also equipped with advanced sensors, including lidar, depth cameras, optical cameras, and high-powered wheel motors developed in-house, according to the website.

Unitree has earned a reputation in the robotics industry as a price disrupter. Its humanoid robot G1 was priced at less than 100,000 yuan (US$13,700), far below the expected US$20,000 price tag for Tesla’s Optimus robot.

A price for the B2-W has yet to be announced, but it is expected to be significantly lower than Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog, which sells for US$74,500.

Unitree’s previously released, smaller Go2 robot dog models were priced at under 20,000 yuan (US$2,700).

The company’s earlier generation of robot dogs made their military debut in May, during the joint China-Cambodia Golden Dragon-2024 exercises. The 15kg (33lb) Go2 served as a reconnaissance scout, while the 100kg B1 carried a 95-1 assault rifle.

China slams Philippines over US-made Typhon missiles, warns of ‘arms race’ in region

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3292361/china-slams-philippines-over-us-made-typhon-missiles-warns-arms-race-region?utm_source=rss_feed

China has ramped up pressure on the Philippines to withdraw the US Typhon missile system stationed there, warning of “arms race risks” in the region.

Beijing’s foreign ministry on Thursday also slammed Manila’s plans to acquire its own set of the mid-range missiles, two days after the Philippine defence chief asserted his country’s “sovereign prerogative” to boost its security capabilities.

“The Philippines, by cooperating with the United States to introduce the Typhon, is handing over its own security and defence, bringing geopolitical confrontation and arms race risks into the region, which poses a substantial threat to regional peace and security,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

“Whose interests are truly being served by such actions? How can one speak of independent diplomacy in this context? This is a typical case of harming both others and oneself.”

The comments were the third series on the issue this week from Beijing. They followed Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr’s statement on Tuesday justifying the deployment of the US system and the Philippine army’s confirmation on Monday of plans to acquire its own Typhon missiles, despite continued strong opposition from China.

The US Army deployed the medium-range missile system in the northern Philippines after bringing them in for joint military drills over April and May.

The Typhon system can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, and its deployment has worsened tensions between China and the Philippines, which have seen a string of confrontations in the South China Sea over disputed territory.

This is the first time that such a weapon system has been deployed in the Asia-Pacific region since the 1987 intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty between the United States and the erstwhile Soviet Union prohibited the development and possession of land-based missiles with a range of 500km to 5,500km (about 311 miles to 3,100 miles).

Typhon is a land-based, ground-launched system that improves multi-domain capability. The launcher can fire the Raytheon Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and the Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile (TLAM), with respective operational ranges of more than 240km and 2,500km, enabling it to cover both the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

China has slammed the deployment as a threat to the regional situation and repeatedly urged the Philippines to remove it.

Manila said in early July that the system could be withdrawn as early as September, but a top Philippine security official later said there was no immediate timeline for this.

Teodoro said the deployment of such weapons in the Philippines, a US treaty ally, was “completely legitimate, legal, and beyond reproach”. He said any plans of defence capability enhancement were “on the basis of the Philippines’ own national interest and in accordance with our independent foreign policy”.

“The Philippines is a sovereign state, not any country’s ‘doorstep’,” Teodoro said.

“Any deployment and procurement of assets related to the Philippines’ security and defence fall within its own sovereign prerogative and are not subject to any foreign veto.”

The Typhon system was not targeted against specific countries, and instead aimed to target against “security risks, threats, and challenges”, Teodoro added.

This came after China on Monday reiterated its firm opposition to its deployment, with spokeswoman Mao calling the system “strategic and offensive”.

Her comments were a response to the confirmation earlier in the day by the Philippine army’s commanding general, that negotiations were on to acquire the Typhon “because we see its visibility and adaptability”.

“It is an extremely irresponsible choice for the history and people of itself and the whole of Southeast Asia, as well as for the security of the region,” Mao said.

On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in Manila said it “firmly opposed and strongly condemned” the “unjust accusations” made by Teodoro, after he said China was criticising the “modest capability development of the Philippines” while “continuously building up” its own nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile capability.

The embassy also accused the defence chief of impeding military-to-military contact and exchanges between the two countries.

China’s economy gains new growth and deep scars over past 5 years: NBS census

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3292359/chinas-economy-gains-new-growth-and-deep-scars-over-past-5-years-nbs-census?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s economy has been transformed in the shadow of the trade war and the pandemic, with deep scars from a sudden property market collapse and runaway expansion in the financial industry, according to a major survey of industrial and services activity.

But the “census”, conducted once every five years by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), also found many economic bright spots, including a resilient manufacturing sector, and rapid growth in the hi-tech sector and the digital economy, which helped to offset the fall in traditional growth drivers.

“Judging from the census results, the Chinese economy has withstood multiple internal and external risk tests over the past five years and has generally maintained a stable and progressive development trend,” NBS head Kang Yi said in Beijing on Thursday.

Kang also noted many positive changes in terms of the economy’s scale, structure, innovation, security and environmental sustainability.

“The Chinese economy has shown a solid foundation, strong resilience and huge potential,” he said.

The bureau’s survey covered all businesses involved in the country’s secondary and tertiary industries, ranging from manufacturing and electricity generation, to financing and real estate.

The census related to activity in 2023, and was the fifth time it had been carried out.

As with the previous four censuses, the results this time prompted the NBS to revise up gross domestic product (GDP) for the year – this time by 2.7 per cent to 129.4 trillion yuan (US$17.7 trillion).

The country’s manufacturing sector has come under some of the biggest pressure during the trade war, with concerted external efforts to decouple the supply chain between China and the US-led West.

Despite this, the sector has continued to be the economy’s biggest employer, accounting for over 104.8 million workers in 2023, or nearly a quarter of all people involved in the sectors surveyed. The total was roughly on par with the 2018 result of 104.7 million workers.

Manufacturing revenue also rose 25.8 per cent from 2018 to 132.9 trillion yuan in 2023, the first year after China reopened from its coronavirus lockdowns.

Kang said China’s industrial economy was in better shape and its international competitiveness had steadily increased over the period.

But he also warned that there were shortcomings in the adoption of key core technologies, urging broader and deeper integration of technological and industrial innovation.

“Overall, China’s industrial development is still at an important crossroads of growing from big to strong and climbing over hurdles,” he said.

One of the blights on the economic landscape was the property sector, previously a key driver of growth.

As major developers such as Evergrande spiralled into financial turmoil from 2021, their debts mounted, coming to a combined 125.6 trillion yuan by the end of last year, up 41.2 per cent from 2018.

At the same time, the sector’s workforce shrank by 28 per cent to 2.71 million last year. The number of employees of construction firms also fell to 51.17 million from 58.1 million, the government census showed.

To staunch the flow, Chinese leaders promised more funding for the sector at the tone-setting central economic work conference earlier this month.

Debt grew even faster in the catering and hospitality sector, the worst-hit industry during the pandemic, surging by 49.5 per cent to 2.777 trillion yuan compared with 2018. The result was all the more startling because most were operating on an asset-light model, with fewer fixed assets to service.

However, the biggest growth in liabilities – and assets – was in the state-dominated financial sector.

Despite accounting for just 0.3 per cent of the country’s surveyed business entities and 2.9 per cent of the working population, the combined assets of financial firms jumped 57.2 per cent from 2018 to 505.9 trillion yuan last year, amounting to 35.2 per cent of the total of those surveyed.

Their combined liabilities expanded 58.1 per cent to 433.9 trillion yuan in the same period.

That growth has raised concerns in Beijing about excessive financial speculation so since last year, the Chinese authorities have stepped up oversight of the sector by creating a financial affairs commission and guiding capital into the development of the non-financial sector.

One financial business that defied the sector’s wider growth was insurance, where the number of employees dropped to 7.3 million from 13.1 million five years ago.

Filling some of the economic growth gaps was advanced technology.

The number of hi-tech manufacturing enterprises above a designated size grew by 57.4 per cent to 53,000, accounting for 11.5 per cent of all manufacturers above that size.

And the digital and creative industries accounted for 26.5 per cent of all businesses defined as “strategically emerging”.

In the computer and communications industry, the expenditure on research and development accounted for 2.88 per cent of operating income, up from 2.06 per cent in 2018.

Fudan University economics professor Shi Lei said the census came at a crucial moment, with China’s 14th five-year plan ending next year and policymakers looking ahead to the next five years.

“It is important to find out how things really are doing before the government can work out a feasible and reliable new five-year plan, which paves the way for long-term development of the Chinese economy,” Shi said.

China’s C919 to fly first cross-border route connecting Hong Kong and Shanghai

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3292358/chinas-c919-fly-first-cross-border-route-connecting-hong-kong-and-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed

China Eastern Airlines will launch its first commercial C919 cross-border flight between Shanghai and Hong Kong on January 1, 2025, according to state-owned broadcaster China Central Television.

The city’s transport minister on Thursday welcomed the launch of the route while hailing the C919 as “a significant breakthrough in the country’s civil aviation technology”.

The new service will operate as a daily return flight and is part of efforts by China to expand the use of the C919 globally.

By adding Hong Kong as a new destination, China Eastern will expand its C919 network to include nine cities.

China Eastern is the first airline to operate the C919 and currently has nine of such aircraft serving various domestic routes within the mainland.

The Hong Kong-Shanghai flight has a duration of two hours and five minutes, departing at 12.55pm on Wednesday and arriving at 3pm the same day, according to a check by the Post. Economy class seats start at 1,167 yuan (US$160).

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said in a social media post that the new service reflected the significance of Hong Kong as an international aviation hub.

The minister has directed the Airport Authority and the Civil Aviation Department to provide comprehensive support to ensure the best experience for passengers.

She also expressed hope that there would be more commercial flights operating between the mainland and Hong Kong.

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China warns ‘dangerous’ US actions are raising risk of space arms race

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3292360/china-warns-dangerous-us-actions-are-raising-risk-space-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed

China called on the United States to reflect on its “dangerous actions” in space after the US Space Force stationed a unit in Japan for the first time.

Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the defence ministry, accused the US of “continuing to expand its space military capabilities, strengthening space military alliances and provoking a space arms race”, saying its actions have “jeopardised global strategic stability”.

“We urge the US to seriously examine its dangerous actions in the space domain, cease provoking space confrontations and stop spreading false narratives,” he said on Thursday.

Earlier this month a Space Force unit began operating out of Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, the first such unit stationed in Japan.

It follows the deployment of another Space Force unit in South Korea in 2022 and comes as Washington and allies look to counter the increasingly advanced technology being deployed by China, Russia and North Korea.

Zhang said China opposed the militarisation of outer space and was committed to peaceful activities there.

“We call on the US to make due contributions to maintaining lasting peace and security in outer space,” he added.

The space race has become a new area of competition between China and the US, including the race to be the first country to send a crew to the moon since Nasa’s Apollo programme ended in the early 1970s.

China has announced a string of ambitious space projects in recent years, linking it with a drive to achieve the country’s great rejuvenation” by 2049, with President Xi Jinping calling for it to become a “strong spacefaring nation”.

There is a growing concern in Washington that future conflicts will extend into space. On Tuesday Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House armed services committee, repeated such warnings, saying: “No adversary understands that better than China.”

Will South Korea draw closer to China if ties with US worsen under Trump?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3292321/will-south-korea-draw-closer-china-if-ties-us-worsen-under-trump?utm_source=rss_feed

The constitutional crisis gripping South Korea in the wake of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law bid could be the window of opportunity that China has been waiting for to reshape ties with its economically and diplomatically vital neighbour, analysts say.

While some believe a more balanced South Korean foreign policy less tilted towards the United States and Japan might take shape under a new administration, others suggest Seoul’s strategic ties and Beijing’s economic competition with Washington may limit progress in ties between the two East Asian countries.

Jae-Hung Chung, director of the Centre for Chinese Studies at Sejong Institute, a South Korean think tank, said China could view the potential for leadership changes in South Korea as an opportunity to adjust their bilateral relations.

“Under South President Yoon Suk-yeol, Seoul aligned more closely with the US-Japan framework, often seen as countering Beijing’s interests in the region. A new administration could provide an opening for Beijing to advocate for greater neutrality or even collaboration on regional issues,” Chung said.

After Yoon’s martial law decree was quickly reversed earlier this month, the country’s National Assembly voted to impeach him following a massive public outcry.

While the South Korean constitutional court deliberates on Yoon’s fate in the weeks ahead – with the first pretrial hearing to be held on Friday – the president continues to face a ban on foreign travel.

Although Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is currently the acting president, he is also facing political uncertainty as the main opposition party has called for his impeachment for a delay in signing legislation to launch a special counsel investigation into Yoon.

In a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was willing to work with Seoul to deepen their strategic cooperative partnership.

Cho said that South Korea would maintain its position of promoting sustainable ties between Seoul and Beijing.

A post-Yoon administration led by opposition leader Lee Jae-myung could seek a balanced approach to foreign policy, including restoring South Korea’s ties with China and Russia and improving inter-Korean ties. Chung said.

“While the US-[South Korea] alliance would still be valued, it seems less likely for a Lee administration to pursue the one-sided pro-US and pro-Japan policies seen under Yoon’s government”.

The shift could happen because the new US administration’s “America First policy” might bring significant challenges to the ties between Seoul and Washington, Chung added.

During president-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, he said he pledged to impose higher tariffs on Washington’s trade partners, which has alarmed South Korean makers in the semiconductor, car and battery sectors.

These protectionist measures could push South Korea to strengthen its economic ties with China, Chung said. But such a move could be complicated by Seoul’s reliance on exporting semiconductors and other advanced tech products to its partners, including the US, “areas where Washington-Beijing tensions are most pronounced”, he added.

“While economic pragmatism may drive cooperation with China, strategic alignment with the US on technology and security might limit the scope of such cooperation,” as growing US-China trade tensions, particularly in the hi-tech and defence sectors, “leaves little room for Seoul to adopt a purely economic approach”, Chung said.

Alexander Hynd, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney specialising in Korea, said China could be concerned about the current political crisis in Seoul and even surprised that it was accused by Yoon of contributing to the instability.

Earlier this month, Yoon accused some Chinese nationals of “flying drones and filming a US aircraft carrier docked” in the southeastern port city of Busan, as well as “filming the National Intelligence Service with a drone.”

Yoon had justified his decision to declare martial law by claiming opposition politicians were “threatening national security and public safety”.

The comments drew a rebuke from Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who said that Beijing “firmly opposes linking domestic issues to China-related factors, fabricating baseless allegations of so-called Chinese espionage”.

Hynd said that the possibility of a new leadership in Seoul if Yoon’s impeachment were confirmed next year could lead to a “major reset and rebalance” in relations between Seoul and Beijing.

“Beijing could benefit in particular if the incoming Trump administration angers South Korea with a new set of transactional demands,” Hynd said, including the possibility of Seoul paying more for the stationing of US troops in the country.

Washington has also been pressuring its East Asian and European allies in the semiconductor supply chain to stop China from buying essential components for the manufacturing of electronic products, Hynd added.

“If that pressure increases on Korean firms under Trump 2.0, that could prompt significant pushback and new alliance tensions with Seoul,” Hynd said.

Ray Wang, a Washington-based analyst specialising in US-China economic and technological competition, said Beijing would likely welcome the opportunity to work with a different administration in Seoul, potentially led by Lee, who had emphasised the importance of relations with China.

“South Korea, under Lee’s leadership, will be more willing to work with China on various issues, including North Korea,” said Wang, who is also a master’s degree in foreign service candidate at Georgetown University.

However, Wang noted that trade competition between China and South Korea has changed structurally and intensified, with Chinese companies making great strides in key industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, and displays, which have reduced their reliance on South Korean products.

China’s share of South Korea’s total exports fell from 25.9 per cent in 2020 to 19.7 in 2023, while exports to the US rose from 14.5 per cent to 18.3 over the same period, according to the Korea Customs Service.

Seoul’s foreign direct investment in China plunged from US$8.5 billion in 2022 to US$1.9 billion last year.

“Trump’s return may heighten global economic and supply chain uncertainty, potentially prompting South Korea and China to engage in more dialogue on economic cooperation”, Wang said, particularly if Lee were to become president.

“The deeper structural shifts” in the two countries’ economic relationship, however, would unlikely be reversed during Trump’s term, Wang added.

Will delayed launch put China plans to build Starlink rival at long-term risk?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3292311/will-delayed-launch-put-china-plans-build-starlink-rival-long-term-risk?utm_source=rss_feed

China has paused deployment of its Qianfan broadband satellite network amid reports of major propulsion problems, potentially hindering plans to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink.

A fourth batch of 18 satellites was due to leave the Wenchang spaceport on the southern island province of Hainan on December 23 but departure was postponed to next year, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

According to videos shared on Chinese social media, the Long March-8 rocket that was to carry the satellites into low Earth orbit arrived at Wenchang in November and was rolled out to the launch pad 10 days ago, before it was returned to its assembly building.

The delay sparked widespread discussion among China’s space community. Industry experts and enthusiasts have speculated on the possible cause on Chinese social media platforms, with many focused on the possibility of malfunctioning propulsion systems.

China’s plans for the Qianfan Constellation, which saw its first components launched in August, called for the launch of 108 satellites in 2024 – enough to establish initial commercial service capabilities, a goal that now seems out of reach.

In the long run, however, the constellation’s development may remain on track. Building a network of more than 10,000 satellites is, by its nature, a long-term endeavour that will span a decade or more.

Observers also noted that technical challenges are not uncommon in the early stages of constellation deployment, with about 3 per cent of Starlink’s first 800 satellites declared “dead” because of design or manufacturing defects.

Like the Starlink devices, Qianfan satellites rely on electric propulsion to ascend from their deployment altitude to an operational orbit. It is possible that some of the second batch, launched in mid-October, may need some troubleshooting.

According to tracking data from the US Space Force, the affected satellites in the Qianfan 19-35 batch, developed by Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Technology, have made minimal progress in raising their orbits from around 800km (497 miles).

Most of the satellites were activated only briefly and gained no more than 40km (25 miles) in altitude.

Orbit-raising operations appeared to cease at the end of November, leaving all 18 of the second batch of satellites scattered below 850km (528 miles), far short of their target altitude 1,100km (684 miles) above the Earth.

However, Harvard astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell cautioned against drawing conclusions too soon. “It took a month for the first batch to start raising their orbits,” he said.

It was a full 50 days before the first batch of satellites – Qianfan 1 to 18 – began orbit-raising manoeuvres when they were deployed in August, according to US Space Force data.

Most of the satellites from the first launch are now at altitudes of around 1,1,00km (684 miles), with the exception of Qianfan 7, which remains at 800km (497 miles) for unknown reasons, the data shows.

Troubleshooters are likely to be looking at the electric propulsion system used on the second batch, developed by AoTian Technology, a leading player in the Chinese industry.

Founded in 2018, the company specialises in providing orbit maintenance and de-orbiting services for commercial satellites and has an annual production capacity of 1,000 propulsion systems, according to its official website.

Electric propulsion is a highly efficient technology that generates thrust for spacecraft by using electrical energy to ionise and accelerate a propellant – such as xenon or krypton – through an electric or magnetic field.

Singapore warns about meddling over supposed Communist Youth League of China-linked ads

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3292341/singapore-warns-about-meddling-over-supposed-communist-youth-league-china-linked-ads?utm_source=rss_feed

Singapore is investigating a case of job offers on LinkedIn supposedly posted by a branch of the Communist Party of China and its Communist Youth League for purportedly two roles at an educational institution in the city state.

“The Singapore government will not tolerate the importation of the politics of other countries into Singapore. Foreigners visiting, studying, working or living in Singapore should not carry out their political agendas or activities here. We will deal firmly with any individual or group found to be doing so,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in response to queries from This Week in Asia.

According to a report by the government-owned broadsheet The Straits Times, the two job listings were posted on LinkedIn on December 20 by an account on the professional social networking site that named itself the Communist Youth League of China, which comes under the Communist Party of China.

The listings were for a party branch secretary and deputy branch secretary for a supposed Ngee Ann Polytechnic branch of the youth league.

The account and job listings have since been taken down.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs [MHA] is aware of job offers on LinkedIn supposedly related to a branch of the Communist Party of China and its Communist Youth League, in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Police reports have been received and MHA is looking into the case,” the ministry said.

The job descriptions in the listings included promoting the party’s ideology and culture, as well as increasing the overseas outreach and influence of the party, according to the Straits Times report.

Singapore has long maintained a strict policy against external political interference.

In 1988, Singapore expelled First Secretary E. Mason “Hank” Hendrickson of the US embassy in the city state for trying to influence domestic politics.

Such a policy position is enshrined in laws such as the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act. The legislation, enacted in 2021, allows the government to take pre-emptive action against individuals or organisations suspected of working on behalf of foreign powers.

In February, Singaporean businessman Philip Chan became the first individual to be designated as a “politically significant person” under the foreign interference law, though the MHA did not specify the political aim of his activities.

The incident was not Chan’s first brush with the law. He was warned by Singapore’s authorities for facilitating an illegal public gathering in 2019 to discuss Hong Kong’s anti-government protests and had his passport impounded during the course of investigations, according to a report by The Straits Times.

In a video of the event, Chan and about 10 other attendees were seen chanting in Cantonese: “Support Hong Kong police, protect Hong Kong, justice will win,” the report said.

Chinese lithium firm reaches milestone in Mali mine project despite strict new rules

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3292309/chinese-lithium-firm-reaches-milestone-mali-mine-project-despite-strict-new-rules?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese company Ganfeng Lithium has completed a major lithium processing plant in Mali – defying security challenges, a strict new mining code and a lithium supply market glut.

China’s largest lithium producer, Ganfeng announced that the first phase of its Goulamina lithium mine, in the southern region of Bougouni, had gone live in mid-December. It has a planned annual capacity to produce 506,000 tonnes of lithium, which will grow to 1 million tonnes in the second phase.

Considered one of the world’s largest deposits of the critical mineral, it is estimated that the mine could be explored for more than 23 years, producing 15.6 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate over that period.

Lithium is a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and electronics.

At the launch of the plant, Mali’s transitional President Assimi Goita described his country’s cooperation with China as a “strategic and sincere” partnership. Goita said the lithium mine is extremely important for the West African nation and the launch of the processing plant “marks a significant step forward in the exploitation of the country’s natural resources”.

Chinese ambassador to Mali Chen Zhihong, who attended the inauguration ceremony, said the Goulamina mine “is a new example of win-win cooperation”.

Ganfeng bought a 40 per cent stake in the Goulamina lithium mine from Australian firm Leo Lithium in May. The deal came after a new mining code introduced in 2023 stipulated that the Malian government was entitled to a 10 per cent free carry stake and could also acquire an additional 25 per cent.

At the time, Leo Lithium said the risks of operating in Mali were not worth the potential future financial returns, considering the amount from the project that could end up going to the Mali government under the new code.

In line with the mining code, Mali recently announced a plan to acquire a 35 per cent stake in the Goulamina mine – of which 10 per cent would be granted free of charge and an additional 25 per cent would be bought. When completed, Ganfeng Lithium will indirectly hold a 65 per cent stake in the project, with the rest going to the Mali government.

Adam Megginson, a senior analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said the start of production at Goulamina is another indication of the leading role that China is playing in developing capacity in the continent.

Megginson said part of what makes Chinese investment so compelling is that it tends to come with knowledge, workers and equipment from China, which already boasts a highly developed critical minerals processing ecosystem. By contrast, he said, capital from elsewhere lacks the integration with an established downstream supply chain with relevant expertise that China has.

“It is becoming clear that a large proportion of the projects that have managed to come online outside of China are owned or operated by Chinese entities,” Megginson said.

The Malian junta is banking on the mine to boost its economy and has welcomed Chinese investments – even as companies from the West have retreated from the country following the 2020 military coup that overthrew former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

China is currently ahead of its Western rivals in the race for critical minerals as part of the global green energy transition. Chinese companies have been investing in African mines as a result, such as multibillion-dollar investments in lithium mining operations in Zimbabwe.

Chinese companies have been investing in African mines to secure critical minerals for the global green energy transition, such as multibillion-dollar investments in lithium mining operations in Zimbabwe. This has placed Beijing ahead of its Western rivals in the race to these minerals.

Besides the Goulamina lithium mine, another Chinese company Hainan Mining, part of Fosun Group, has a 51 per cent stake in the Bougouni Lithium Project in southern Mali, 180km south of the capital, Bamako.

Chris Berry, president of US-based commodities advisory firm House Mountain Partners, said: “It would seem that only Chinese companies are willing to shoulder the risks associated with doing business in Africa including partial or entire asset expropriation.”

However, Megginson said, that is not to say that the Malian government or its citizens should not share in the country’s mineral wealth. They should, but contracts should be honoured no matter who is in charge in the government.

He said the production in Mali and Zimbabwe will certainly add supply, “but in some ways are complicating matters as the lithium market is currently suffering from an oversupply situation”.

Megginson said Benchmark is forecasting the lithium market to be in a relative equilibrium in 2025.

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Chinese legal experts condemn police for sending blogger to psychiatric hospital

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3292237/chinese-legal-experts-condemn-police-sending-blogger-psychiatric-hospital?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese legal experts have condemned police in the eastern province of Jiangxi, saying they abused their power by once again sending a blogger – who previously accused an auxiliary officer of sexual assault – to hospital for psychiatric treatment.

Police in Jiangxi’s provincial capital Nanchang said on Sunday they had sent Li Yixue – a twenty-something blogger with more than 800,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok – to hospital for treatment after a Beijing hospital diagnosed her with “obsessive-compulsive disorder” and “personality disorder”.

In April 2022, Li accused a Nanchang auxiliary police officer of sexually assaulting her, but local police said their investigation did not support her claims. They then sent Li to a psychiatric hospital for two months of treatment, citing the possibility that Li might take her own life.

In December 2022, Li sued the hospital after tests conducted at other institutions after her release showed she was mentally healthy, drawing widespread attention on Chinese social media. A court heard the case that month but a verdict has not yet been announced.

Earlier this month, Li posted a plea for help on Douyin, saying that police had broken into her home “with a dozen people” and damaged a camera on her front door.

Nanchang police denied the claim in Sunday’s statement, saying local law enforcement officers and experts from a Beijing hospital had examined Li at her home from late December 13 until early on December 14 and had also spoken to her father.

The statement said that a social media user had reported Li to a local police station in March for “insulting and defaming” him and his family while live-streaming.

According to the statement, she continued her behaviour towards the social media user, though she had earlier apologised through the police mediation process

Starting in November, police tried to summon Li by phone, but she refused, the statement said.

Police officers then went to her home, and Li “voluntarily” asked a Beijing psychiatric institution to assess her mental health, it said.

For several days after that, Li refused visits from officials until police took her to hospital, it added.

Under Chinese law, authorities have the right to send those suspected of having a mental illness to hospital if they harm themselves or others.

Hu Chunchun, a lawyer with the Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, said in a WeChat article that Li did not meet the requirements for authorities to invoke this provision since she had not caused any harm.

While several articles questioning the Nanchang authorities have been removed by censors, some legal experts voiced concerns, saying that Li’s experience reminded them of the past practice of forcibly sending petitioners and dissidents to psychiatric hospitals.

Feng Liqiang, a professor at Shanghai’s East China University of Political Science and Law, said in an article on Monday that the legal profession needed to guard against a “resurgence” in similar practices.

Such behaviour “ is essentially an abuse of power over the law, where state organs do not strictly adhere to legally prescribed limits and procedures in enforcing the law”, Feng wrote.

“It will ultimately lead to the trampling of citizens’ basic human rights. In this context, every member of society is at risk of becoming a victim,” Feng added.

Gong Hua, deputy director of the Beijing Jingzhe Law Firm and a former Beijing prosecutor, wrote in an article on Sunday that the Nanchang authorities should thoroughly investigate the matter and “immediately rectify any illegal medical referrals and deal with those responsible according to the law”.

He added that the government should “step up training and supervision of relevant entities, such as grass-roots organisations and medical institutions, to ensure that they carry out their work in accordance with the law and do not abuse their power”.

If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, dial for The Samaritans or for Suicide Prevention Services.

In the US, call or text 988 or chat at for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, .

‘China’s grandma’ hospital cleaner adopts 38 abandoned babies, in line for top moral award

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3291533/chinas-grandma-hospital-cleaner-adopts-38-abandoned-babies-line-top-moral-award?utm_source=rss_feed

A hospital cleaner in China who adopted 38 abandoned infants over a decade has been nominated as a National Moral Model.

Tang Caiying, 88, is a retired cleaner from a hospital in Xinyu, in southeastern China’s Jiangxi province, the mainland media outlet The Paper reported.

Between the 1980s and 1990s, she adopted more than 30 children.

One winter day in 1982, a 46-year-old Tang found a baby girl wrapped in a cotton coat, abandoned beside railway tracks on her way to work.

Unable to leave the baby in the freezing wind, she brought the crying infant home, fed and cleaned her up.

She named the girl Fangfang, which means “fragrance” like blooming flowers.

At the time, Tang was already the mother of five children, the youngest of which was 12 years old.

Her second daughter, Aiping, who had just graduated from secondary school and was unemployed, stayed at home to help care for Fangfang.

A few years later, Tang discovered another abandoned baby girl at her hospital and named her Zhenzhen, which means “precious gift”.

From then on, she continued rescuing abandoned infants, eventually taking in 36 more.

Most of those she took in were newborns, some tossed into trash bins after struggling to breathe at birth, and others left outside the hospital in freezing winters, their fragile bodies barely holding on to life.

Tang arranged for the rescued babies to stay in an unused room at the hospital where she worked. She made time every day to feed them and regularly monitored their health.

At first, her husband could not understand, arguing their modest income was barely enough for their own kids, let alone more.

But Tang persisted in her determination to save every life she came across.

After retiring, she lived on a small pension and scavenged to buy milk and food for the children.

With an age gap of more than 50 years, the adopted children called Tang “Grandma”.

Some of the youngest kids were cared for at home by Tang’s husband and her own children.

Over time, her husband grew to love the adopted children, who knew their “Grandpa” was strict but always kind-hearted.

As Tang aged and her energy waned, she began carefully selecting adoptive families for the children.

The last children Tang adopted were twin boys. She named the older child Zhang Jiagang, while the younger was adopted later by a teacher couple.

Now 27, Zhang works as a firefighter.

In January, he returned home to celebrate Tang’s 88th birthday. Like Tang’s other adopted children, he visits regularly and sends part of his salary to her.

“If it were not for Grandma Tang, I don’t know what my life would have been like,” said Zhang.

On December 16, 88-year-old Tang was nominated as a candidate for the National Moral Model, the highest honor for moral excellence awarded to ordinary people in China.

The announcement date for the final list has not been disclosed.

Her daughter, Aiping, told The Paper: “For my mother, doing a good deed is not about a sense of morality. It is just what she feels she should do. It is an instinctive kindness.”

Tang’s story has moved many on mainland social media.

One online observer said: “This is so touching. The selfless ‘China’s Grandma’ has taught us what true love really means.”

2 more Chinese generals fall after anti-graft campaign delivers big changes to military

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3292317/2-more-chinese-generals-fall-after-anti-graft-campaign-delivers-big-changes-military?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing has stripped two more generals in the People’s Liberation Army of their lawmaker status, as China continues a wider anti-corruption drive into the country’s military.

A notice on Wednesday by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) confirmed that Lieutenant General You Haitao, former deputy commander of China’s army, and Lieutenant General Li Pengcheng, former naval commander of the PLA Southern Theatre Command, were removed from the country’s top legislature.

A separate NPC statement said You and Li were suspected of “serious violation of laws and discipline” – a phrase that usually refers to corruption.

The downfall of the two generals comes amid a slew of personnel changes within the PLA as several senior officers were taken down by corruption charges. Miao Hua, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission and the director of its political work department, was placed under investigation for corruption in November.

You, 66, became the deputy commander of the army in early 2016. Previously he was deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region and was promoted to lieutenant general in 2014.

Li, 61, previously served in roles including the deputy chief of staff of the PLA Navy’s North Sea Fleet, director of the Navy Equipment Research Institute, and chief of staff of the East Sea Fleet.

Li served as the naval commander of the Southern Theatre Command after his predecessor, Ju Xinchun, was dismissed from the NPC in December last year alongside eight other PLA generals, including a number of senior members of the PLA Rocket Force which oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The recent personnel changes also include the promotion of a long-time air force officer Chen Hui to the rank of general, confirming him as the new army political commissar to oversee ideology, political education and unit morale, Xinhua said on Monday.

Chen replaced Qin Shutong, 61, whose appointment as the army political commissar was made public in January 2022. Qin’s whereabouts are not known.

In September, it was announced that Deng Zhiping, a deputy commander of the army, was removed from the NPC for suspected corruption. Deng, 60, was hailed as a war hero during China’s border clashes with Vietnam in the 1970s and 80s.

Beijing also placed two of its former defence ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, under investigation in June.

Wei served in the role from 2018 to 2023. Li was promoted to the job in March 2023 but sacked in October the same year after vanishing from the public eye, making him the country’s shortest serving defence minister.

Both are expected to face indictments in their corruption cases.

Fake baby bumps, Chinese posing as Dubai royalty, dim sum wrestling: 5 trending stories

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3292242/fake-baby-bumps-chinese-posing-dubai-royalty-dim-sum-wrestling-5-trending-stories?utm_source=rss_feed

We have selected five Trending in China stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

A new craze has swept social media in China in which young, single women who are not pregnant wear fake bellies to take maternity photos in advance of giving birth. The so-called pre-set photoshoot trend sees the women hoping to capture and celebrate significant moments while they are still in their prime.

Disgraced Chinese banker Liu Liange, who has been sentenced to death for corruption, has had his romantic life come under public scrutiny. This includes frequently changing partners and sabotaging his son’s relationship before marrying his girlfriend, leading to widespread criticism and reportedly contributing to the young man’s chronic depression.

Chinese internet users were outraged after witnessing national table tennis Olympic champion Wang Chuqin being sidelined during a recent event sponsored by American beverage giant Coca-Cola.

Diners at Cantonese tea restaurant in China can enjoy dim sum while watching live professional wrestling, a unique form of entertainment that has sparked much attention on mainland social media. Unlike the genuine sport, professional wrestling, which is widely known as pro wrestling, is a choreographed stage combat performance. The wrestlers are both athletes and actors.

Influencers in China who posed as “Middle Eastern princesses” to market “royal” lifestyle products have had their accounts banned on mainland social media platforms, igniting widespread attention.

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Chinese scientists say new sunblock can cut body temperature by up to 6 degrees Celsius

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3292243/chinese-scientists-say-new-sunblock-can-cut-body-temperature-6-degrees-celsius?utm_source=rss_feed

Scientists in China say they have developed a cooling sunscreen that lowers skin temperature by up to 6 degrees Celsius.

The sunscreen is ideal for outdoor workers because it is also waterproof and offers protection equivalent to a Factor 51 sunblock after 12 hours of continuous exposure to strong ultraviolet radiation.

The team from Tsinghua University in Beijing said it has “promising commercial potential in the sunscreen market” in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nano Letters last month.

“We prepared a radiative cooling sunscreen that can not only significantly reduce the skin temperature but also protects the skin from being harmed by the UV radiation,” they wrote.

Corresponding author Zhang Rufan, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Tsinghua University, said humans must adapt as climate change leads to more extreme weather, but adjusting to heat is generally more challenging than dealing with cold.

“We can wear thick clothing to stay warm in freezing temperatures. But in extreme heat higher than 50 degrees Celsius [122 Fahrenheit], outdoor workers like transport police, road workers and farmers have to cope with severe conditions that can lead to heat stress, exhaustion or death. They need effective cooling methods and skin protection,” Zhang said.

The team created the new sunscreen formula using radiative cooling technology, which dissipates heat as thermal radiation into outer space. The concept has been used for other cooling products such as paints and ceramics that reflect sunlight.

The scientists mixed titanium dioxide nanoparticles, a whitish mineral widely used in existing sunscreens, to reflect both UV light and solar heat.

Sunscreens can help reduce skin temperature but the study found that the effect was more noticeable using the new invention, which lowered the temperature by up to 6 degrees Celsius more than existing commercial products.

They said the protection offered was equivalent to commercially available SPF 51 sunblock. This means that if unprotected skin would take 10 minutes to burn, it will take 51 times longer – in other words 510 minutes – when using that sunblock.

The colour of the sunscreen can also be adjusted with kaolin pigments to match a wide range of skin colours, according to the team.

They also found that the sunscreen did not cause irritation when applied to mice or human skin.

More Hongkongers consider RVs as popularity of road camping in mainland China grows

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3292264/more-hongkongers-consider-rvs-popularity-road-camping-mainland-grows?utm_source=rss_feed

Hongkonger Garrick Tang is eagerly awaiting the delivery of a camping vehicle he bought in Guangzhou in November, as he is planning a road trip to Tibet in his new mobile home.

The 49-year-old property agency owner is among members of the city’s small but growing shachuhaku circle – enthusiasts who transform their vehicles into compact living spaces, complete with beds, cooking facilities and more.

Shachuhaku, a Japanese term which means “vehicle living”, distinguishes itself from traditional camping. Unlike campers who pitch tents, those who take up shachuhaku take pride in converting their vehicles into fully functional mobile homes.

Tang’s journey began five years ago, when he installed a simple makeshift bed in his seven-seater Toyota Alphard. It was a modest modification compared with those made by hardcore shachuhaku enthusiasts, but it was enough.

His camping vehicle allowed him to go on scenic trips around Hong Kong during his breaks and became a sanctuary that helped him beat his boredom when travel restrictions were imposed in the city during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The lifting of cross-border travel restrictions to mainland China and the launch of the “Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles” scheme in July last year marked a turning point for Tang’s passion.

More than 64,000 cars have been allowed to make their way into Guangdong province under the scheme, which marked its first anniversary on July 1 this year.

“Once you find out there is such a big and fun place [to go to], you don’t want to camp any more in Hong Kong,” Tang explained, citing the city’s fierce competition for space and limited parking options.

His subsequent purchase of an SUV in Zhuhai, where he often works, allowed Tang to enjoy adventures on the mainland with other shachuhaku enthusiasts from the city.

They typically cross the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to reach the second-tier city in Guangdong province on weekends, seeking out mountaintop sunrise views, exploring farming villages with scenic backdrops or staying at parks with designated parking for recreational vehicles (RV).

“In Hong Kong, there are mainly city views, sea views or hill views … but on the mainland there are many spots with mountains and water, and you can play in the lakes,” Tang said.

Inspired by mainland travel vloggers, Tang recently decided to upgrade to a fully equipped RV with a suite of amenities.

At last month’s Guangzhou RV exhibition, he committed to a 170,000 yuan (US$23,300) model, scheduled for delivery after the Lunar New Year.

These locally produced RVs, commonly known as fang che or “house vehicle” in Chinese, are designed to meet licensing requirements on the mainland.

Most models can be driven by Hong Kong motorists holding mainland C1 or C2 licenses, with no additional driving certification needed unless the vehicle exceeds six metres (19.6ft) in length and weighs more than 4,500kg (9,921lbs).

Tang said his cross-border experiences in recent years had dispelled perceptions held by some Hongkongers that public recreational sites on the mainland were unhygienic and motorists’ driving etiquette was poor.

“Basically I won’t feel it’s dangerous there because there are surveillance cameras everywhere, as well as on the roads, and no one carries much cash nowadays as everyone uses WeChat Pay.”

Tang praised the clean and well-managed facilities and convenient highway service areas offering charging stations, fuel and shower facilities.

He was planning to venture further in March, with Sichuan province and Tibet his next destinations.

Shachuhaku enthusiast Po Siu, a 57-year-old retiree from the property management sector, modified his Toyota Townace van for mobile living but was told by friends familiar with regulations that it would likely fail to meet mainland vehicle requirements for driving north.

Po was also drawn to the Guangzhou exhibition and said it was “likely” he would buy a new RV soon so he could go on trips on the mainland.

“Shachuhaku means doing everything inside your car, and I want to do it on the mainland where I can have a bigger vehicle, with more comprehensive facilities to meet my needs,” he said.

“I don’t want to stay at the same place. With [a new vehicle] I can move around and see things.”

Po said his understanding of the mainland situation had changed since the reopening of the border after the pandemic, and he was now more confident about a safe and enjoyable camping experience across the border.

His maiden mainland tour with his new vehicle could be as soon as early next year, he added.

China’s RV market now ranks fourth globally, behind Australia, the European Union and North America, according to reports published earlier this year.

Tan Dingpei, who is based in Guangzhou and works for a major RV maker on the mainland, noted that the sector was considered a “sunrise industry”, with over 100 domestic brands.

Hongkongers bought about 10 vehicles from his company last year, and Tan said he was optimistic that demand would rise in the long run as residents became more familiar with the mainland.

Trump takes aim at Canada, China and ‘left lunatics’ in Christmas wishes

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3292281/trump-takes-aim-canada-china-and-left-lunatics-christmas-wishes?utm_source=rss_feed

US President Joe Biden and his incoming successor Donald Trump issued starkly contrasting Christmas messages on Wednesday, with the latter doubling down on recent comments about seizing the Panama Canal, buying Greenland and annexing Canada.

While Biden posted a short, traditional seasonal message about “kindness and compassion,” Trump fired off a rapid volley of three dozen posts through the day, with his Christmas messages directly addressing “radical left lunatics” and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high.”

“Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections,” the US president-elect said in one message, using his characteristically erratic style of capitalisation.

He spent Christmas Day firing off on his Truth Social website about his own perceived political persecution – a contrast to Biden’s holiday wishes “to all Americans”.

The Republican’s comeback electoral win in November came on the back of heightened political polarisation and division across the country, which Trump leaned into in his posts.

Trump posted a photo showing himself as “patriot of the year,” and another smirking at former president Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Others included articles praising his cabinet picks, his wish to purchase Greenland and his complaints about fees paid by US ships passing through the Panama Canal.

The president-elect again called Trudeau the “governor” of Canada, saying if the country became “our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60 per cent” and “their businesses would immediately double in size”

Trump also doubled down on his threats to demand US control of the Panama Canal, complaining that China had “illegal” influence over the waterway and that Washington “puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.’”

Minutes later, he announced his pick of Florida politician Kevin Marino Cabrera as ambassador to Panama, “a Country that is ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams”.

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Harbin aims to attract more foreign tourists to China’s winter wonderland

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3292145/harbin-aims-attract-more-foreign-tourists-chinas-winter-wonderland?utm_source=rss_feed

Last winter’s tourism boom made Harbin a top destination for domestic visitors. Now, the northeastern Chinese city known for its annual ice festival and bitter cold is enhancing policies to attract more international tourists.

Rachael Lim, a tourist from Malaysia, recently shared her experiences in Harbin on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu – “Little Red Book” in English – describing the city as “beautiful, cold, and dreamy”.

“My country has summer all year round, so snow is something we long for,” she said. “Harbin fulfilled all my winter fantasies.”

The mutual visa-free policy introduced by Malaysia and China last year allowed Lim to stay in China for two weeks, during which time she also visited other cities near Harbin, which is the capital of Heilongjiang province.

Official data shows that Heilongjiang welcomed 471,000 inbound tourists in the first half of this year, up 158.7 per cent year on year, with 383,000 of them being foreign visitors.

According to a report by Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, six of the top 10 source countries for tourists visiting Harbin last year were in Southeast Asia.

To fully capitalise on the seasonal appeal of winter tourism, the Chinese government is promoting the snow and ice economy.

At the central economic work conference that concluded on Thursday, Chinese leaders highlighted plans to launch campaigns to boost consumption next year, with the snow and ice economy singled out as a key area for promoting cultural tourism.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released a plan this month on the development of China’s snow and ice economy that included extending Harbin’s visa-free transit policy from 72 hours to 144 hours, aiming to attract more international visitors and boost local tourism.

Since 2015, Harbin Taiping International Airport has offered 72-hour visa-free transit for citizens of 54 countries with valid travel documents and onwards tickets.

But industry players said the 144-hour visa-free policy may not meet the travel needs of some visitors.

Steven Zhao, CEO of China Highlights, a Chinese travel company, said that travel should be a relaxing experience, not a “race against the time”.

Zhao said highways are often closed due to heavy snow in winter and safety concerns mean people can only travel during the short daylight hours, making tourists feel rushed.

“If we really want to develop tourism, we should let tourists enjoy their journeys instead of constantly checking the time,” Zhao said.

The NDRC plan emphasises that the key to developing the snow and ice economy lies in turning abundant resources into real economic benefits.

Harbin’s city government said total tourism revenue from domestic and international visitors reached 157.57 billion yuan (US$21.68 billion) last year, up 14.5 per cent year on year, but average spending per tourist remained below pre-pandemic levels.

China is targeting the development of a snow and ice economy worth 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, according to guidelines released by the State Council.

However, analysts said that while policy changes offer opportunities for economic growth, there is still room for Harbin to improve its international appeal.

“Relying solely on the snow economy for economic growth may be too optimistic,” said Zhou Mingqi, China strategic adviser for the World Tourism Forum Lucerne. “Harbin needs to attract international businesses and professionals and develop high-quality, differentiated tourism products to enhance its global appeal.”

He suggested Harbin focus on cultural promotion and immersive activities, offering more than skiing and ice sculptures. Zhou said locally themed festivals and interactive experiences could better showcase the region’s unique culture.

The NDRC plan said the development of tourism in Northeast China faces problems such as the duplication of popular ideas, a lack of unique products, and the sameness of routes. To attract talent, technology and investment, various regions must strengthen innovation and collaboration, it said.

The Winter Asian Games, which will involve competitors from at least 34 countries and regions, will be hosted by Harbin in February, and the city government briefed journalists from the Asia-Pacific region early this month on preparations.

Zhang Chengcheng, who attended the briefing and has spent many years promoting China-Latin America relations, said, “The development of the snow and ice economy needs a larger international stage.”

Huawei’s new flagship smartphones use South Korean memory chips, not Chinese ones

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3292261/huaweis-new-flagship-smartphones-use-south-korean-memory-chips-not-chinese-ones?utm_source=rss_feed

Huawei Technologies’ latest series of flagship smartphones contains memory chips made by South Korean semiconductor supplier SK Hynix, according to research firm TechInsights, as Chinese-made options remain limited amid a US-led export ban on advanced chipmaking equipment to the mainland.

In a teardown report published last week, analysts at the Canadian firm said they found SK Hynix’s 12-gigabyte low-power mobile DRAM and 512GB NAND inside a Huawei Mate 70 Pro handset. The higher-end Mate 70 Pro Plus featured the same NAND and a 16GB DRAM from SK Hynix.

SK Hynix manufactured these mobile DRAM devices using 14-nanometre technology and advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography, according to TechInsights senior analyst Jeongdong Choe. NAND is a type of memory used for flash storage, while DRAM, short for dynamic random-access memories, is commonly used in smartphones and computers.

Huawei declined to comment. SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Christmas Day is a public holiday in South Korea.

An SK Hynix representative said last year that the company no longer did business with Huawei since the introduction of US restrictions against the Chinese firm.

While Huawei surprised the world in 2023 by launching its Mate 60 Pro smartphone powered by a locally made advanced chip, most of the brand’s P and Mate series premium handsets from last year still contained DRAM and NAND chips from SK Hynix, according to TechInsights data.

However, Chinese semiconductor manufacturers have been gaining ground, as Huawei increasingly turns to products from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC). The Huawei Nova 13 Pro smartphone released in October featured a CXMT DRAM and a YMTC NAND.

Researchers were “surprised” to see SK Hynix chips in the Mate 70 series, “as we expected Huawei to use memory devices from CXMT for DRAM and YMTC for NAND,” Choe said.

Unveiled in November, the Mate 70 series – comprising the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro+ and Mate 70 RS – featured Kirin 9010 and 9020 mobile processors designed by Huawei’s in-house HiSilicon team.

Those chips were made by Shanghai’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation using the same 7-nm process that produced the main processors of the Mate 60 series, with no significant design improvements, according to TechInsights.

Analysts predicted that sales of the Mate 70 series would be limited by modest chip upgrades and lack of Android support. The Mate 70 line was Huawei’s first series of devices running on HarmonyOS Next, the latest iteration of the company’s self-developed mobile platform, which no longer supports Android apps.

SK Hynix started mass production of the type of DRAM chips found in the Mate 70 Pro in the second half of 2021, nine months after the US cut off Huawei’s access to chips and other US technologies such as Google services, severely impacting the Chinese giant’s smartphone business.

While SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and US company Micron Technology have been developing DRAM chips using the fifth generation of 10-nm technology, 14-nm remains the mainstream technology in the market due to its proven reliability and higher production yields, according to Choe.

Chinese national gets 8 months in prison for Yasukuni Shrine graffiti case

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3292277/chinese-national-gets-8-months-prison-yasukuni-shrine-graffiti-case?utm_source=rss_feed

A Tokyo court on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese national living in Japan to eight months in prison over his involvement in a May graffiti incident at the capital’s war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.

Jiang Zhuojun, 29, was on trial at the Tokyo District Court on charges of damaging property and disrespecting a place of worship.

According to the ruling, he and two other Chinese men vandalised a stone pillar at the controversial shrine by spray-painting the word “toilet” on it on May 31.

Prosecutors had sought a one-year sentence.

In handing down the ruling, Judge Yasushi Fuke said Jiang had played a crucial role by buying the spray paint and that it is “unforgivable to turn to illegal actions to express one’s views”.

The court deemed imprisonment appropriate, citing a lack of reparations for the damage.

It dismissed Jiang’s claims that his actions were a protest against the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, which began in 2023.

The two other Chinese nationals involved in the case left Japan for China. Japanese police have placed them on a wanted list.

Yasukuni enshrines Japan’s war dead. It has long been a source of diplomatic friction with China and other Asian countries for honouring wartime Japanese leaders, who were convicted as war criminals in a post-World War II international tribunal.

As regional actors rise, US-China story no longer defines global affairs

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3291854/regional-actors-rise-us-china-story-no-longer-defines-global-affairs?utm_source=rss_feed

For years, observers and policymakers in Washington assumed US-China tensions will be the defining factor in global affairs, as American power declines and is replaced by Chinese influence worldwide. In 2024, they were proved wrong.

When US President Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration presented China as a critical strategic and economic competitor. Much of Biden’s foreign policy, especially on Asia, was based on a strategy of isolating Beijing and counterbalancing its influence through a network of alliances.

Biden continued the trade war he inherited from his predecessor, Donald Trump, and also encouraged American businesses to transfer their operations in China to countries more closely aligned with the United States.

These policies had a marked effect on US-China economic relations in recent years. According to official US government data, bilateral trade has fallen steadily, from nearly US$700 billion in 2022 to under US$500 billion for the first 10 months of 2024.

Yet, after tensions in the first half of Biden’s term over Taiwan and a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, US-China relations have largely become a side story in international affairs. While US-China tensions loom large, they have rarely driven or defined major developments in the last couple of years.

In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, Washington expected China to be a major player in shaping Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions, for better or worse.

China extended support to Putin in the form of diplomatic neutrality in the United Nations when it came to resolutions condemning the aggression. Beijing also partnered Moscow in trying to build minilateral economic mechanisms to sidestep Western sanctions on Russia. Brics and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) have been the focus of these efforts.

But despite these overtures, China has not quite been so unilaterally decisive in shaping Russia’s war effort. Instead, other actors have taken centre stage.

India’s trade with Russia, for instance, has ballooned since the invasion, hitting a record US$66 billion in 2024. India is now the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude oil, which makes up more than a third of New Delhi’s crude imports. More recently, North Korea has emerged in reports as a vital supplier of both manpower and weapons to Moscow’s war effort.

Last year, the instability caused by the war in Ukraine was compounded by Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. As conflict spread across the Middle East, China was expected to play a crucial role, given it had previously mediated in a landmark normalisation deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia. But Beijing did not really become a major actor or a key mediator in the Middle East’s wars.

The ripple effects of Israel’s twin wars and Putin’s preoccupation in Ukraine were felt in Syria, where president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown after 24 years in power. The vacuum that followed has seen Israel seize a chunk of southern Syria.

Meanwhile, China and the US have been preoccupied with internal concerns. Last month, Trump won the US presidential election and a transition of power is in progress.

China continues to battle an economic slowdown and sustained problems in its consequential real estate industry. In the quarter that ended in September, China recorded slower gross domestic product growth than in the previous three months, making it harder to meet its growth target of “around 5 per cent” for the year. The value of new homes sold in the country dropped by over 23 per cent through August 2024.

All told, the major story in global affairs today is not the rise of China but the absence of the US. Across all key developments in global geopolitics over the last couple of years, that trend is evident.

While Ukraine has long been dependent on US military support, at a tactical level, Ukrainian forces have increasingly begun to take risks that have made some in Washington anxious. In recent months, Ukraine has been striking strategic targets inside Russia, prompting Putin to warn of retaliation.

This month, Ukraine assassinated a Russian military general in Moscow – a move almost immediately criticised by an incoming Trump official as “not a good idea”.

The heightened risk appetite in Kyiv is perhaps driven, at least in some part, by tempered expectations of the reliability of US support. Over the last year or so, opposition in the US Congress has repeatedly threatened to derail aid to Ukraine. Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy is unlikely to be reassuring.

In the Middle East, Israel has repeatedly sidestepped Biden’s red lines. The US has been unable to restrain Israeli military action, either because of a lack of political will or a lack of strategic leverage. Washington will similarly find itself sidelined in the scramble to define Syria’s future as regional powers such as Israel and Turkey exercise greater influence.

The withdrawal of US power has created a more anarchic world order in the last few years. Global politics is increasingly defined by regional powers jostling for control, building weapons and taking bolder risks because there is no global superpower to either deter or restrain them.

In Washington, policymakers often assumed that if the US vacated its position as the global hegemon, instability would ensue, of which Beijing would be the likeliest source or beneficiary. But in fact, the beneficiaries and shapers of that power vacuum have been a whole host of regional powers.

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China approves Tibet mega dam that could generate 3 times more power than Three Gorges

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3292267/china-approves-tibet-mega-dam-could-generate-3-times-more-power-three-gorges?utm_source=rss_feed

China has approved the construction of a colossal hydropower project on Tibet’s longest river that could generate three times more energy than the Three Gorges Dam, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

The mega hydropower project, set to be built on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet autonomous region, presents unprecedented engineering challenges.

Total investment in the dam could exceed 1 trillion yuan (US$137 billion), which would dwarf any other single infrastructure project on the planet.

The Yarlung Tsangpo flows across the Tibetan Plateau, carving out the deepest canyon on Earth and covering a staggering vertical difference of 7,667 metres (25,154 feet), before reaching India, where it is known as the Brahmaputra River.

The dam will be built in one of the rainiest parts of mainland China.

The project is expected to generate nearly 300 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually. By contrast, the Three Gorges Dam, which now has the world’s largest installed capacity, was designed to produce 88.2 billion kWh.

In 2020, Yan Zhiyong, then chairman of state-owned Power Construction Corporation of China, said the location on the Yarlung Tsangpo was one of the most hydropower-rich areas in the world.

“The lower reaches area features a vertical drop of 2,000 metres over a 50km (31 miles) distance, representing nearly 70 million kilowatts of resources that could be developed – that is more than three Three Gorges Dams with an installed capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts,” he said.

Constructing this massive project will present unprecedented technical and engineering challenges.

To harness the hydropower potential of the river, four to six 20km-long tunnels must be drilled through the Namcha Barwa mountain to divert half of the river’s flow at about 2,000 cubic metres per second.

Additionally, the project site is located along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes may occur, and the geology of the plateau differs significantly from that of the plains.

According to a 2023 report, the hydropower station is expected to generate more than 300 billion kWh of electricity each year – enough to meet the annual needs of over 300 million people.

Xinhua said the hydropower project would prioritise ecological protection.

“Through extensive geological explorations and technical advancements, a solid foundation has been laid for the science-based, secure and high-quality development of the project,” it said.

The dam will also drive the development of nearby solar and wind energy resources, adding to the region’s clean energy base, Xinhua said.

“This represents a major move in China’s green and low-carbon energy transition,” the report said.

“It is also of great importance to advancing the country’s strategy for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and to coping with global climate change.”

The report did not specify when construction would begin, and the project’s exact location has not been disclosed.