• Central Beijing blocked off for China’s WWII anniversary parade rehearsal
• 80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Rana Mitter
• Will China’s new chromosome editing tool unlock new wave of genetic advances?
• China mum, 90, self-learns law to defend accused son in US$16 million extortion case
• Hong Kong exhibition explores cultural exchange between China and Mughal courts
• China calls for tough penalties over attack on student in Australia
• Hit Chinese film about Japanese war crimes highlights ‘forgotten history’
• India, Australia unite to challenge China’s rare earth reign
• ‘Pure’ China student goes viral for striking resemblance to late actress Barbie Hsu
• Xinjiang history documentary aims to counter Western narratives, bolster Chinese identity
• ‘Do what you think is beautiful’: China hurdler squashes hostile rumours, embraces confidence
• Rocketing to riches: China’s cash-hungry aerospace firms aim for IPOs
• Robotics’ ‘ChatGPT moment’ could come within 2 years, founder of China’s Unitree says
• China hotel offers guests dog companions for US$70 a night, with canine bite compensation
• Alibaba’s world-leading AI lab becomes a target for talent poaching by Chinese rivals
• China-Japan ties are improving. Could a Taiwanese official test that trend?

Central Beijing blocked off for China’s WWII anniversary parade rehearsal

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3321374/central-beijing-blocked-chinas-wwii-anniversary-parade-rehearsal?utm_source=rss_feed

Around 22,000 people poured into central Beijing on the weekend to take part in security preparations and rehearsals for a massive military parade next month to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The rehearsal took place from Saturday evening to early Sunday morning near Tiananmen Square in the heart of the Chinese capital, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.

The parade is scheduled for September 3 and will be part of events for the 80th anniversary of the day that China marks its triumph over the Japanese invasion and the global victory against fascism.

It will take place along Changan Avenue and travel through Tiananmen Square, where President Xi Jinping is.

According to Xinhua, the rehearsal featured the “commemorative assembly” and “comprehensively tested organisational support and command operations”.

The People’s Liberation Army is expected to use the event to highlight its modernisation efforts, showcasing its latest weapons and equipment.

In recent months, social media users have shared images of PLA aircraft, including helicopters and J-35 and J-15T fighter jets, flying in formation.

Some of the aircraft formed ceremonial patterns, including a heart and the numbers “8” and “0”, and flew in groups of three, each carrying red flags representing the Communist Party, the nation, and the PLA.

In June, Wu Zeke, the deputy head of the warfare bureau at the PLA’s Joint Staff Department, said the parade would emphasise the historical importance of the Sino-Japanese war, as well as China’s determination to “resolutely defend” the post-second world war order.

Various overseas leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, are expected to be in Beijing for the parade.

Signs of the parade preparations emerged on Wednesday when Beijing police announced that traffic restrictions would be in place around Tiananmen Square and its surrounding areas from Saturday evening until an unspecified “event” had finished. Some roads were closed to traffic and a number of subway stations were shut.

On Friday, some shopping malls, tourist attractions and parks near Tiananmen Square announced that they would be closing early on Saturday.

On the social media platform Weibo, one user said that she was taking Saturday afternoon off work because her hospital was located in the rehearsal area. Other users complained that food deliveries to their homes would be prohibited starting Saturday afternoon.

However, discussions about the military parade and the rehearsal were heavily restricted on social media, with only verified users able to post content containing keywords such as “Tiananmen”, “Changan Avenue” and “parade” on Weibo.

Various events have been held around the world to mark the end of World War II.

Xi was among a dozen or so overseas leaders who attended Russia’s Victory Day parade in Red Square in May.

And the rehearsal for the Beijing parade got under way on the same day that Japan commemorated the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attended the annual memorial ceremony in Nagasaki on Saturday morning.

Eighty years ago, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, accelerating Japan’s unconditional surrender. However, by the end of that year, the two atomic bombs had killed more than 200,000 people.

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80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Rana Mitter

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321056/80-years-wwii-chinas-interests-lie-peaceful-asia-pacific-rana-mitter?utm_source=rss_feed

Rana Mitter is a leading historian whose research focuses on the impact of Japan’s invasion of China during the second world war on the development of Chinese politics, society and culture. He is S.T. Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School and previously taught at Oxford University on the politics of modern China. He was also director of Oxford’s China Centre.

This interview first appeared in . For other interviews in the click .

World War II is one of the most important factors in the shaping of modern China, but it’s often underestimated, both in China and the West.

This was the greatest political and economic trauma of the 20th century. The invasion of China by Japan led to many millions of deaths. Many Chinese became refugees within their own country.

The infrastructure and the communications built in the 1920s and 1930s were largely smashed into pieces, so that was a huge influence in terms of having to start again after the war.

The war made it more likely that China would have a revolution rather than just reform after it ended, because economic and social conditions became so devastatingly bad that it opened up space for the Chinese Communist Party to really develop the revolution in the countryside.

Beyond that, many aspects of modern China that we think of as part of the revolution actually emerged during the war – such as the system of work units for example, that existed for a long time in socialist China under Mao Zedong and even beyond.

The role of women became more prominent in Chinese life during the war years. Many younger women also became involved in national defence, health and nutrition, trying to make society after the war better for families and more stable.

During the 1920s and 1930s, China was heavily split between rival military leaders. At the end of the war, China was much closer to becoming unified as a country, as many of those warlords were eliminated during the wartime period.

Although it would finally be the 1949 revolution under Mao that provided a solid unification of the country, the process began in the wartime years.

World War II continues to be very important in terms of remembering a time when different factions and parties, nationalists, communists and others came together against an outside enemy and were able to find a sense of national purpose.

The problem is that China still isn’t very good at seizing diplomatic opportunities because it tends to fall back on language that is mainly about China’s complaints, rather than about opportunities that could really open up.

The opportunities tend to be expressed in very broad, positive but vague terms, and the complaints tend to be very specific. And the problem is, it’s quite hard to get people on your side if you don’t actually engage in a dialogue that seems as if both sides are genuinely talking to each other.

An example is cutting down the EU-China summit from two days to one. Beijing also insisted that the Europeans should come to Beijing, when actually it was China’s turn to come to Europe.

So Europeans have done these things – they’re diplomatic people. They say OK, but it’s not the easiest start in terms of suggesting that China is opening up a new conversation, where China is willing to actually be expansive and creative in its thinking.

So maybe a sort of reset of Chinese diplomacy is an opportunity to do that. So far, there aren’t many signs of that. China has, in the past couple of years, withdrawn from the famous Wolf Warrior diplomacy, but it hasn’t yet worked out what sits in its place.

Very smart Chinese diplomats are aware that China has a PR problem. Just because people now find the US much less predictable doesn’t mean that they think China is a safe bet.

So, finding ways to essentially define China – not just in words, but in actions and in patterns of behaviour – as a reliable partner, that’s the really key challenge for Chinese diplomacy in the next few years.

The language is sometimes there – not always, but sometimes – but the actions involve a lot of quite difficult and long-term effort. And so far, if that’s happening, it’s only at a very early stage of that process.

A lot of Chinese diplomats, publicly and privately, have said they thought the previous Wolf Warrior effort was a mistake, asking what comes next and how China actually takes advantage of the changing world order.

That will involve more than just hoping that people will feel alienated from America and automatically seek out China. They won’t. Well, that will not be enough on its own.

Nuclear non-proliferation is definitely much weaker than it has been. Many of the Cold War-era treaties between the Soviet Union and the US seem to be essentially falling away. Britain and France are primarily concerned with their own major security vulnerability as the future American position on Russia remains uncertain.

A lot of different actors are looking at new threats in the world and trying to work out whether their current nuclear stance is sustainable. Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons in 1994, which made it vulnerable to the Russian invasion. Many countries will be looking at Ukraine’s experience and trying to avoid that.

Right now, the person who is probably having to think most carefully about changing the US position is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For much of the first part of the year, the Donald Trump administration tried to find ways to bring Moscow back into the negotiations about Ukraine.

But in the past few weeks, it’s become clear that President Trump thinks Putin has no intention of coming to a peace agreement. It’s possible that he may take a much more confrontational attitude with Russia.

The world was very surprised when Trump actually made the decision to bomb Iran. His general doctrine is that getting into wars is a bad idea, but when he considers it necessary he is prepared to use force – and that’s something Putin might now have to think about.

Maybe several months ago, there were some people in Washington who thought that it might be possible to detach Russia from China in a “reverse Nixon”, or “reverse Kissinger” play, but that is not a very widely held idea any more, for two reasons.

First, people realise that there is a very close relationship between Russia and China. This was made clear by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when meeting his European Union counterparts. For the first time, it was much more explicit that China would not wish to see Russia lose.

The other factor is the American idea that they could detach Russia from China and bring it close to the US has fallen away. People have seen that Putin has not changed his policy towards Ukraine at all and is bombing it more fiercely than before.

We’re likely to see a scenario in which the US tries to neutralise Russia as much as possible while still looking for a negotiation on Ukraine, but essentially there probably will be more concentration on pushing back against China alone.

We don’t know what conditions it will take to come to an end, but we do know that, at least in the past few weeks, President Trump has reauthorised the supply of weaponry to Ukraine to fight back against Russia, which at one point he was holding back on.

Now it’s clear that weaponry is going to Ukraine and the war may last longer than would have seemed the case just a few weeks ago, when it seemed Ukraine might run out of ammunition.

The question becomes whether Russia can maintain its all-out war-based economy and conscription of soldiers, while keeping inflation – which is very, very high – under control.

The longer the Ukraine war continues, the less likely it is that Russia can do that, and the more weapons that are supplied by the Americans, along with the Europeans, the longer the Ukrainians can keep fighting.

Europeans are looking to negotiate on their own issues with the US, such as tariffs. The question of China has been put a bit on the back shelf but essentially, the issue is that China provides useful supply chains.

There is also a problem, in particular for Europe, of whether it can draw on China’s markets but not be overwhelmed by Chinese exports, particularly in areas like autos and electric batteries. Those problems are not really changed by the relationship with the US.

The EU has a whole variety of fundamental issues it needs to solve – about how it creates a new industrial model, where it cooperates with China and where it needs to restrict its market.

And in some ways, it’s learning from China, because China has heavily restricted its own market in some areas, such as online service provision. So the Europeans will also pick and choose where they feel vulnerable, opening up in certain areas and closing in others.

The Trump administration is still figuring out its policy on China. There are different strands of thinking that you can see from the outside, but how important they are in relation to each other, and how they will balance out in the end, is still unclear.

For instance, there are some traditional hawks, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others, who take a view on China that in some ways would not have been that different from Republicans seven or 10 years ago.

But you also have the whole technology world – Silicon Valley and beyond. A lot of them are still very interested in making sure that the relationship with China is smooth.

Apple is one of the most profitable and innovative companies in the United States, but huge amounts of its production and connection still take place in China. Of course, some production has moved to India, but China is still really important to a company like Apple.

There has been a growing interest in moving more production and intellectual property back to the US but there’s no sense yet that this is a complete disconnection from China, and that points in a different direction from the hawks.

Then there is the question of what Trump himself thinks. It’s interesting to look at the tariff policy, because tariffs have been put on China but also on other countries, including traditional US allies.

Also, when Trump says “I like to talk to my good friend Xi Jinping. We can talk about things” – what does he want to talk about? Not clear.

Compared with other presidents, Trump seems to really like personal diplomacy. In other words, he believes that his personal relationships with leaders are the important thing.

I think a meeting between the two leaders is quite likely. Trump is announcing that the deal has been done with China. He would only want to go to China if the deal is kind of there, so he can mark it in a big ceremony and have a prominent meeting with Xi.

I don’t think he would want to go to China to negotiate. We’re moving into a phase where the US wants to get most of its tariff deals done within the next couple of months.

During his first term, Trump had a very grand welcoming ceremony provided by Xi in Beijing. I think he would like to do that again – a big, grand meeting that Trump will think of as a historic event, that showcases he’s able to do negotiations and deals with China in a way that other presidents haven’t been able to do. I think he would want to push quite hard in that direction. That’s my guess.

I think that’s perfectly possible. You might remember that when Trump invited Xi to Mar-a-Lago, he said that he gave Xi a big piece of chocolate cake. He never talked about giving chocolate cake to German chancellor Angela Merkel.

That’s a sign that he feels there’s some sort of ability to speak leader to leader in that sense. Xi has said less about Trump, but he hasn’t said any very publicly hostile things personally about him.

Will it stop competition? No. Will it stop conflict? Maybe. In some areas – I would single out technology – I think the US and China are going to be increasingly in competition and there will be less sharing of intellectual property or scientific development.

That would mean other countries could benefit from both, or they may have to choose a side. This will not change because of a meeting.

But can the two leaders talk about lowering the temperature and avoiding misunderstandings that could lead to military confrontation? That might be more possible.

My guess is that China will be assessing how solid and secure American security guarantees are in Asia. There’s some evidence that the United States might want to maintain and maybe deepen its relationship with standing allies Japan, Australia and South Korea.

We know that Trump is interested in the Korean peninsula. In his first term, he wanted to do personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. But even when South Korea is going through political change and a lot of turmoil, there’s no sense that I’ve seen that the United States is stepping back from its relationship.

I would say that if you are looking from Beijing, the conclusion to draw at the moment is that things will change much less in Asia than in Europe.

Supposing American security guarantees, naval presence and alliances were withdrawn from Asia – the first thing that would be likely to happen is that Japan and South Korea would think hard about getting their own nuclear weapons. They have the capacity, science and the technology. They could do it, but they won’t do it at the moment.

in a strange way, Beijing’s best bet for keeping the region relatively nuclear-free is to encourage the Americans to stay. And most of its neighbours would share that analysis.

They want the Chinese market, but they also want American security. They don’t want either one to disappear. I think that’s what makes the calculation different in Asia and that will affect the way that China and the US deal with other countries in the region.

The South China Sea is probably one of the most potentially dangerous flashpoints, along with Taiwan.

The South China Sea has more of a chance of running out of control because it’s not just between two or three entities – seven or eight are involved. The US is not so directly involved in that.

But I would say that China is missing a big soft power opportunity, which it could take up at a time of uncertainty about American security intentions, of being able to provide reassurance to regional neighbours like the Philippines.

If China is not looking to increase its maritime and territorial claims, it could create a much better basis of trust in the region. But right now there’s much more military activity from China, not just near the Philippines but also off the coast of Australia, and that’s heightening tensions in the region.

One of the most interesting things is that after repeatedly trying to take the island, Mao Zedong basically said to then-US president Richard Nixon, when they met in Beijing in 1972, that the Taiwan problem could be left to the side for 100 years.

That’s a reminder that actually the Taiwan question has not been a constant one at the forefront of China’s relationship with the world.

Right now, there are a whole variety of reasons that China needs to think about its changing place in the world. It has an opportunity to influence the world order at a time when the United States is changing its role.

It also has significant economic problems at home, in terms of creating new forms of employment, dealing with the way technology has changed labour markets, and stimulating domestic consumption, which the party has repeatedly said is a really important domestic priority.

In that context, you could say that with all those important problems, Taiwan doesn’t appear as a major solution or issue that will help to resolve any of them.

If you look at Chinese policy priorities, it’s very clear that the single most important task for the government is the economy.

China needs the Asia-Pacific region to be economically productive to get its economy going again. That means the attention has to be on the domestic economy and how it relates to a peaceful, calm Asia that does not have any sort of confrontation.

In five to 10 years, if current trends continue, the Asia-Pacific region could be even more of a driver of the global economy than it is now. It can become the most economically dynamic region in the world, with lots of foreign direct investment and expansion.

However, for that vision of Asia to emerge, the region needs to stay peaceful and stable and absolutely avoid wars. Any regional confrontations could put that economic future in danger and that would be very bad for China and its neighbours.

This is one of the most interesting and important elements of what’s going on in thought and ideology in China today.

First of all, there is a real interest in what some people call traditional thought, or pre-modern thought, which includes the Confucian tradition but also lots of other areas, such as Taoism.

The Chinese government has been sponsoring publication of China’s canon of official writings, with the parts that suit contemporary politics tending to be stressed.

For instance, Confucian thinking does have an interest in proper hierarchy and this is something that is obviously very attractive to the Communist Party, because it wants people, essentially, to be stable and ordered.

But there are other ideas – such as individual self-development or self-cultivation, which could lead more to the idea that people should have individual rights – that are less popular with the party.

China’s political culture since 1949 has been heavily shaped by the Marxism and Leninism that underpins the Chinese Communist Party.

Many of the ideas are still there and you can hear them in the language of Xi and other top leaders. Even while they are praising traditional Chinese culture and wisdom, they are also pointing out that Marxism and Leninism still have significance.

How are these two things compatible? Actually, it’s not easy.

There was a TV show broadcast in Hunan province that got a lot of criticism on Chinese social media. It was called When Marx Met Confucius and was a way of trying to talk about the difficulties in combining these ideas.

There is actually quite an interesting and difficult tension in the way that these two thought systems operate in China today, but I think that they are both very much part of the debate.

In some ways, China’s intellectual sphere has narrowed, at least in public, but in other important ways, it has expanded.

The narrowing is real, and probably the biggest obstacle that China places in its own path to developing new ideas at home and being able to exert influence abroad. It’s difficult to persuade the wider world that you’re a force for new thinking if new thinking at home is heavily restricted.

In terms of subjects, including history, most people would say that the room for publication and discussion is much more limited than it was 10, 15 or 20 years ago. Many aspects of modern history are harder to research and write about in China today than in the past.

The most productive recent time intellectually in China was the late 1990s and early 2000s, when there was the most capacity to be able to speak more freely. That time will need to come again as China comes to grips with its new role in the world. It’s not possible to have a very narrowed intellectual sphere and a very wide influence.

But there are some areas where I think things are broader, and I’m particularly thinking about social media and the way it has expanded and grown so significantly in China in the past decade.

Lots of ideas actually are discussed at a popular level, even when there’s censorship a lot of ideas still get out there – not about top-level politics as that’s too sensitive to permit – but if you think about things like concerns about economic change, people’s concerns about their own financial situation, ideas about the position of women, society, feminism, those are quite visible in Chinese social media.

That is not the same thing as two or three scholars sitting in a think tank writing some big paper, but in terms of understanding social trends and how they are shaping China today, social media has been very valuable to reflect those changes.

You have put your finger on one of the most problematic issues – the number of students studying Chinese languages and doing higher-level research in the West on China is going down significantly. It was never very high, but it was going up, and now the numbers are shrinking.

One reason is the sense that doing serious research in China – particularly for social scientists but also for researchers who need to use archives and libraries – is much more difficult than it used to be.

What real China researchers need is to be able to travel and set up their own agendas, to be able to do interviews at the local level that enable them to understand how local government works, or to collect large amounts of data that enables them to see how effective or ineffective particular policies are.

This is the work of real social science, and it involves transparency and openness on data and a willingness to welcome the gathering of data, rather than assuming that it has to be banned for security reasons.

So, although more scholars are coming back to China, opening up more capacity to be able to do real research in China is the next barrier that needs to be overcome.

There are a lot of brilliant Chinese students in many countries in the West who are doing significant social science and humanities research. But their Western equivalents who study China can’t do that kind of work in China, so it becomes very unbalanced.

When it comes to postgraduate students doing PhDs, a significant number are Chinese. We do still have some Westerners, but the problem is that they have to be enthusiastic about China, willing to learn its language and culture, and then be able to find a meaningful project to research.

It’s harder now to assure students that they can find a pathway to doing really good social science research inside China, so a lot of students just leave China out. If people say China is a very difficult place to do research and South Korea is easy, maybe people just decide they want to learn Korean instead.

The sense among Western researchers that it’s hard to do serious research in China has transmitted to students finding it difficult to find a career path if they do study China. I think that’s a great shame.

Will China’s new chromosome editing tool unlock new wave of genetic advances?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3321274/will-chinas-new-chromosome-editing-tool-unlock-new-wave-genetic-advances?utm_source=rss_feed

A group of Chinese scientists has overcome a challenge that stumped biologists for decades by developing a new gene-editing tool that can precisely manipulate millions of base pairs – the building blocks of DNA.

The innovation has been hailed as “very significant progress” by Professor Yin Hao, a gene editing specialist at Wuhan University’s medical research institute, who was not involved in the study. He added that it would help lay the foundation for future advances in genetic engineering in biomedicine and agriculture.

A single human cell contains around 3 billion base pairs. Well-known technologies such as Crispr are widely used for the precise editing of specific genes and nucleic acid bases. However, biologists have struggled to scale up the process to precisely manipulate thousands or even millions of bases.

Now, a team led by Gao Caixia – a principal investigator at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing – has solved the riddle by making the decade-old gene editing tool much easier to use and more efficient. The study was published by the peer-reviewed journal Cell on Monday.

The new genome editing technologies, collectively known as programmable chromosome engineering (PCE) systems, can edit large DNA fragments with precision by “handling bases ranging from the thousands to the millions in higher organisms, especially plants”, according to the institute.

The toolset holds promise for transforming the way scientists conduct research in emerging fields such as agricultural seed cultivation and synthetic biology.

According to a CAS branch institute in Beijing, by manipulating genomic structural variation, the technology will “open up new avenues for crop trait improvement and genetic disease treatment”.

The advance could also accelerate the development of artificial chromosomes, which have promising applications in emerging fields such as synthetic biology.

Yin said the story began with Cre-Lox – a crucial and fundamental enzyme in biomedicine that is used for inserting, inverting and replacing large segments of DNA, as well as other edits.

But since its discovery in the 1980s, the enzyme’s many drawbacks have deterred scientists from using it. One of the problems has been its poor efficiency, which decreases as the size of the fragment being edited increases. Cre-Lox also leaves “scars” behind.

Yin added that because the edited DNA sequences were reversible, the changes were likely only temporary, even after scientists had gone to great lengths to achieve a desired manipulation.

This is where Gao – whose lab has focused on developing and applying genome editing technologies, particularly in agriculture – and her team are making a contribution.

By redesigning and optimising editing strategies, the research team addressed each of the challenges and developed new methods to advance the technology.

The PCE technique enables precise manipulation of DNA fragments that is 3½ times more efficient than the original enzyme editor with no scarring, while minimising the possibility of reversal.

“This is very significant progress,” Yin said. In the past, it might have been necessary to edit 1,000 seeds to select one that met the requirements, he said, adding that with the new tool, that number could be reduced to 100, which “greatly reduces the workload of researchers”.

“Over the past four decades, this may be a very rare, even unprecedented, case of successfully modifying this enzyme to enhance its capabilities as a commonly used gene editing tool,” Yin said.

He said he expected that PCE systems would eventually replace existing Cre-Lox systems in laboratories around the world, bringing new efficiencies to medical research and agricultural engineering.

China mum, 90, self-learns law to defend accused son in US$16 million extortion case

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3320844/china-mum-90-self-learns-law-defend-accused-son-us16-million-extortion-case?utm_source=rss_feed

The 90-year-old mother of a defendant in a 117 million yuan (US$16 million) extortion case in China was so devoted to her son that she self-learned the law and appeared in court to defend him.

The case was heard at Zhoushan Municipal Intermediate Court in Zhejiang province, eastern China, on July 30, the Huashang News reported.

The defendant, a 57-year-old man known as Lin, was arrested in April 2023 for blackmailing a local entrepreneur surnamed Huang out of 117 million yuan, according to prosecutors.

Huang was among the top 100 richest people in China in 2009, with a net worth of eight billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) at that time.

Lin and Huang cooperated in the gas production business, but Huang often failed to pay on time, leading to the suspension of production at Lin’s factory and severe losses.

From 2014 to 2017, Lin and his accountant forced Huang to pay a total of 117 million yuan by threatening to tip the tax authorities off about his irregular practices.

At the beginning of 2023, Huang reported Lin to the police for extortion.

Lin’s mother, surnamed He, decided to defend her son in court in the second half of last year because she was missing him so much, she said.

Her family objected to her decision because of her old age.

“But my grandmother is stubborn and she did not listen to the advice of others,” He’s granddaughter told the media.

“She bought books on Criminal Law and the Law of Criminal Procedure before studying law by herself.”

She also goes to the court every day to study dossiers about related cases, according to He’s granddaughter.

When Lin was taken into the courtroom in handcuffs, He looked at him for a while, trying not to cry, said the granddaughter.

Lin has also hired a lawyer to help his mother defend him.

Hours later, she became emotional and said she did not feel comfortable.

The court asked doctors from an ambulance that had been assigned in advance to do a physical check-up on her.

Doctors suggested He be taken to hospital.

“All of us asked her to go to the hospital, but she did not want to leave the court,” the granddaughter said.

The Zhoushan court hearing is continuing.

Hong Kong exhibition explores cultural exchange between China and Mughal courts

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3321356/hong-kong-exhibition-explores-cultural-exchange-between-china-and-mughal-courts?utm_source=rss_feed

The inclusion of rare jade, porcelain and natural history paintings in the latest exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum reflects that cultural exchanges took place between the Chinese and Mughal courts in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties during the period, according to the curator.

The exhibition, titled ‘Treasures of the Mughal Court from the Victoria and Albert Museum’, opened on Wednesday and features more than 100 works of art, including jewellery, weaponry and architectural fragments.

Mostly currently stored in the United Kingdom, the items are from the 1560s to the 1660s, a period considered the pinnacle of the Mughal dynasty under the reigns of three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

According to Emily Hannam, curator of the South Asia collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Mughals never established any diplomatic relations with China, but well-established sea routes and trade networks connected the two cultures.

“Indian merchants, particularly those from Gujarat and from Bengal, bought Chinese goods via Malaysia, including silks, musk, metals and of course porcelain. In return, China imported Indian goods including textiles, medicinal herbs, indigo, gemstones and pearls,” she said.

The Muslim empire spanned much of modern-day South Asia — northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh — with its emperors being “arguably the wealthiest rulers in the early modern world”, according to Hannam.

“There was of course a very long history of the Islamic courts collecting Chinese porcelain, both by the Mughals’ Timurid ancestors but also in India where porcelain was used in the banquets of the earlier Muslim sultans of Delhi and sultans of Bengal,” she said.

Hannam noted only 16 Ming porcelain pieces with Mughal inscriptions existed, one of which – a yellow-glazed dish produced between 1488 and 1505 reserved for the exclusive use of Chinese emperors – was on show in the exhibition.

Chinese porcelain was not only used for practical purposes but also as interior decoration. It adorned niches in the walls of buildings, which were purpose-built to display items such as porcelain vases, wine bottles and cups, as well as saucers.

“These niches, in Persian, are called Chini Khana, so China houses … [which] became architectural forms in their own right,” she said, citing the example of the tomb of the Emperor Jahangir’s parents-in-law, with the design possibly related to imagery in Persian poetry describing wine and other luxuries of paradise.

Pointing to the paintings of birds in the exhibition, Hannam said: “You may be thinking that these look like Chinese bird and flower paintings, and you’re right, especially in the sense that in neither South Asian art nor earlier Islamic art was there a tradition of natural history paintings.”

She noted that it was “very possible” that Akbar’s father, Humayun, owned Chinese bird and flower paintings, which court painter Mansur may have used as reference. These paintings were easily portable between courts and could serve as impressive gifts.

“Another touchpoint with China was jade, [which] was imported from Khotan in Chinese Central Asia,” she said, referring to a place in Xinjiang that was known for its jade production.

One of the jade cups on display is engraved with Emperor Jahangir’s name and the date of 1607 to 1608, which is the earliest dated Mughal jade. Its production was attributed to Iranian master craftsman Sa’ida-ye Gilani, head of the goldsmiths.

“The first Mughal jades came into the Qianlong emperor’s collection in the Forbidden City in 1756. He was so greatly impressed by these foreign jades, and wrote more than 50 poems in praise of them. Some of these were even engraved onto the vessels themselves,” she said.

Hannam said that Qianlong asked his workshops to imitate Mughal jade for its thinness, which displayed great lustre and clarity. It was so well done that it was difficult to identify the copies from the originals among high-quality Chinese imitations of Mughal jades.

Other exhibits in the show, such as a ceremonial spoon made of gold, rubies, emeralds and diamonds showcased the craftsmanship of artisans at the Mughal court, including the jewellery setting technique unique to the Indian subcontinent called kundan.

China calls for tough penalties over attack on student in Australia

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321361/china-calls-tough-penalties-over-attack-student-australia?utm_source=rss_feed

China has urged authorities in Australia to “severely punish” those responsible for an attack on a Chinese student in the southern state of Tasmania last week.

Tasmanian police said on Friday that two 14-year-old girls had been charged over a serious assault on a 33-year-old man at a Hobart shopping precinct on Tuesday afternoon.

The man was being treated for head injuries in Royal Hobart Hospital and was in a stable condition.

Earlier in the week, four male youths from southern Tasmania – two aged 14 and two aged 15 – were arrested and jointly charged with Criminal Code Assault and bailed with conditions, police said.

Detective Inspector Mark Burke said that all the alleged offenders in relation to the incident had now been charged.

The Chinese consulate general in Melbourne identified the victim of the attack as a student.

“[We] urge the Australian side to severely punish the perpetrators and to take concrete measures to safeguard the personal safety of Chinese citizens,” the consulate said in a social media post on Saturday.

The consulate said Chinese diplomatic staff would make a trip to Tasmania to meet the victim, police and state officials.

It also said that the victim’s family were deeply moved by the many members of the local Chinese community who had expressed support for the student.

In another social media post on Friday, the consulate had warned of a number of unprovoked attacks on Chinese students and tourists by minors, posing a serious threat to Chinese citizens.

It said it had lodged formal diplomatic representations to the Tasmanian authorities and police over the attacks and urged Chinese citizens to take safety precautions.

The consulate also advised Chinese citizens and students to avoid direct confrontation if they encountered verbal or physical attacks from strangers. They should leave the area as soon as possible, and call the police or the consulate for help.

The warning came just two weeks after the consulate issued a similar notice to Chinese citizens after an alleged attack by two teen girls on a visiting Chinese couple in downtown Hobart.

In June, the consulate in the northeastern city of Brisbane also warned of unprovoked attacks on Chinese citizens in the city and the neighbouring Gold Coast by local youths in public areas.

In one instance, two Chinese female students were allegedly assaulted by more than 10 youths while returning from the Gold Coast to Brisbane by bus.

One person who claimed to be one of the victims of the bus attack said many Chinese students either failed to defend themselves or hesitated to report the incident to the police.

“Most chose to stay silent. This is the worst possible response, it only emboldens the perpetrators further,” she wrote in a social media post late last month.

“If you are harassed or attacked by youths, don’t be afraid. When they use violence, you must bravely defend yourself, then report the incident, gather evidence and apply for victim compensation.”

Other attacks have been reported in Sydney.

In May, footage of a Chinese couple being assaulted by multiple youths near their apartment complex spread online, prompting the Chinese community to organise a protest in June.

In response to the attack, the consulate in Sydney said it treated violent acts targeting Chinese-Australians and students in New South Wales very seriously.

“We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all acts of violence. We will do our utmost and take effective measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens within our consular district,” it said.

Hit Chinese film about Japanese war crimes highlights ‘forgotten history’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3321383/hit-chinese-film-about-japanese-war-crimes-highlights-forgotten-history?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s latest blockbuster movie depicting one of Japan’s worst war crimes, the 1937 Nanking massacre, has been described by the director as part of an “invisible battle” as part to bring greater international recognition to the country’s suffering in World War II.

Dead to Rights is based on the true story of how a young apprentice in a photo studio found and developed evidence of the atrocities in secret, and were later used in a war crimes tribunal.

The mass murder of civilians in the city, now known as Nanjing, that was the capital of China at the time, is widely recognised as one of the worst crimes committed by the Japanese during the occupation of China, which began in 1931.

While the death toll has not been conclusively established, China’s official estimate places the number of the dead at over 300,000.

Dead to Rights has been well received domestically and hailed as a powerful tribute to national suffering and resilience during the war. Released on July 25, the film has become a major box office hit, grossing nearly 2.2 billion yuan (US$305 million) by Sunday, according to Maoyan, a Chinese ticketing and data platform.

In a widely circulated video, the film’s director Shen Ao described the production as part of an “invisible” battle – “a war of public opinion, propaganda, and culture”.

“Even today, this continues online and in the broader media environment. Through this film, these photographs and related materials, we hope to alert audiences to this ongoing struggle – so that they may distinguish friend from foe, recognise right from wrong, and see truth over distortion,” he said.

Some viewers have praised the film for avoiding the trap of portraying the Japanese as cliched villains or trying too hard to portray the victims and perpetrators as equal.

“The film avoids simplistic portrayals of suffering and one-dimensional emotional outbursts, warning against creating detached, hollow narratives,” Cheng Bo, a professor at Shanghai University’s film academy, wrote in an article first published in state-owned newspaper Wen Wei Po.

“More importantly, it does not glamorise the aggressors for the sake of ‘novelty’ or ‘depth’. Even when portraying distinct individuals among the enemy, it refuses to place them on equal footing with the Chinese people who suffered and resisted, avoiding a hypocritical balance,” he wrote.

The film is part of a series depicting China’s 14-year war of resistance against Japan. One of those movies, 731, which will be released next month, will cover the biological war crimes carried out by Unit 731.

Supporters say Dead to Rights should be released in Japan; it is already slated for Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore.

There are growing voices in China in recent years that the country’s pivotal role in the war has been under recognised.

Many believe that the Nanking massacre and other wartime suffering in Asia remain far less known worldwide than the Holocaust or the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The American embassy in China posted on social media on Wednesday – ahead of the Horoshima bombing – that “the US and Japan ended a devastating war in the Pacific region 80 years ago”, sparking a fierce backlash online.

Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the US, said ahead of the film’s release: “The Chinese people, through unyielding will, heroic struggle, and immense sacrifice, secured victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and made a historic contribution to the global victory in the War Against Fascism.

“Any attempt to distort the truth of World War II will not be accepted by the 1.4 billion Chinese people.”

He also said China and the US fought side by side against fascism and had a responsibility to preserve peace.

However, many have also raised concern online about whether the film’s graphic and disturbing scenes are appropriate for children – especially with no movie rating system in China – and whether it risks deepening a culture of hate-based education.

An online commentator called “Ni Ren” wrote: “Remembering history is not about cultivating hatred, nor should it be done under a grand nationalist narrative that overlooks our need to be civilised and progressive.” The article, published on August 4, was later censored and taken down from social media.

India, Australia unite to challenge China’s rare earth reign

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3321267/india-australia-unite-challenge-chinas-rare-earth-reign?utm_source=rss_feed

In the race to secure the building blocks of tomorrow’s technology, India and Australia are edging ever closer to a strategic minerals partnership, positioning themselves as a counterweight to China’s dominance.

Negotiations are ongoing, with both nations exploring avenues to build upon their critical minerals investment partnership – launched in 2022 – to establish joint ventures that could encompass not only sourcing but also collaborative processing of these elements that are essential to the automotive, electronics and defence sectors.

Rare earths– a group of 17 elements used in the manufacture of much modern technology – are, despite their name, relatively plentiful. But they are difficult and expensive to isolate, especially the coveted heavy rare earths such as terbium that command premium prices.

Australia has in recent years positioned itself as a leading alternative supplier of critical minerals, seeking to break China’s stranglehold on the global market. At the same time, India has reportedly been ramping up diplomatic efforts to fortify its own rare earth supply chains.

China accounts for more than 60 per cent of global rare earth mining and about 90 per cent of processing output.

India, meanwhile, possesses the third-largest reserves of rare earth minerals worldwide at an estimated 6.9 million tonnes, found primarily in monazite-rich coastal sands across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala, with recent discoveries in Rajasthan’s Jalore and Barmer districts. But the South Asian nation’s production is negligible, contributing less than 1 per cent of global output.

Since April, China’s Commerce Ministry has imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements – samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium – requiring special export licences.

Seen as a reprisal against US tariffs, Beijing’s restrictions have injected fresh uncertainties into an already tense global trade landscape. “The collaboration between India and Australia for developing rare earth elements holds immense promise due to their complementary strengths and shared strategic goals,” said Neeraj Singh Manhas, special adviser for South Asia at the Parley Policy Initiative in South Korea, which focuses on sharing knowledge and ideas about negotiation, diplomacy and peacemaking.

Manhas said India’s production bottleneck was multifaceted, spanning insufficient processing infrastructure, outdated mining technology and regulatory barriers enshrined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1962, which restricts private sector involvement due to the thorium content found in monazite.

Thorium can be converted into uranium-233, a fissile material used in nuclear reactors.

Australia ranks as the world’s fourth-largest producer of rare earths, home to companies such as Lynas Rare Earths, which espouses sustainable mining and refining. The Mount Weld mine in Western Australia contains one of the largest rare earth deposits in the world.

“Australia’s advanced technologies and established supply chain infrastructure make it a natural partner to help India unlock its rare earth elements potential,” Manhas said.

Analysts say Australian firms may soon take part in India’s forthcoming auctions for rare earth mineral blocks. Meanwhile, Resources Minister Madeleine King told reporters on Tuesday that Canberra was considering establishing a price floor to support its own critical minerals projects.

Initiatives to spur bilateral trade and investment, such as the Australia-India Business Exchange could serve as a key platforms for these partnerships, Manhas said.

But challenges remain, ranging from India’s stringent environmental regulations and high extraction costs – a result of low mineral concentrations – to Australia’s need to balance export ambitions with domestic resource security. To provide greater certainty for investors, Australia earlier this year pledged A$1.2 billion (US$782 million) to build a strategic critical minerals reserve.

Clear bilateral agreements and joint research initiatives could position India and Australia as decisive new players in the global rare earth market, Manhas argued.

Whether Beijing will be willing to relax export restrictions in the meantime remains an unknown.

“China is unlikely to ease rare earth mineral supplies to India in the near future,” said Srinivasan Balakrishnan, director of Indo-Pacific strategic engagements at the Indic Researchers Forum think tank. Given China’s dominance, he said that access to the minerals was ultimately a lever of diplomatic and strategic influence.

India has been actively seeking to mitigate supply risks by entering into critical minerals partnerships and other agreements with its fellow members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue: Australia, the US and Japan.

But New Delhi’s relationship with the United States, in particular, has grown increasingly fraught of late. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent import tariff on Indian goods, and has since slapped an additional 25 per cent tariff on the country citing Indian purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total tariff burden to 50 per cent.

This escalation comes even as India and the US continue to negotiate a long-awaited bilateral trade agreement.

The future of these negotiations is now anyone’s guess, according to Uday Chandra, an assistant professor of government at Georgetown University.

“I would not be surprised if the Chinese made some concessions to India if trade talks with the US continue to go downhill,” he said, adding that “some kind of deal should emerge in the next month or so”, despite the ongoing tensions.

For India, collaboration with Australia on rare earth minerals was not just prudent; it was essential, Chandra added

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‘Pure’ China student goes viral for striking resemblance to late actress Barbie Hsu

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3320792/pure-china-student-goes-viral-striking-resemblance-late-actress-barbie-hsu?utm_source=rss_feed

A student in southwestern China has gone viral thanks to her striking resemblance to the late actress Barbie Hsu.

The 24-year-old said she admired and respected Hsu and never intentionally imitated her, earning praise from netizens for her purity.

Known online as Yigubigu, the student attends Chongqing Medical University.

Recently, Yigubigu shared stunning photos from a trip she made to Qinghai in Western China, which quickly racked up over 150,000 likes.

In the pictures, she is seen running through lush grasslands, smiling for selfies and relaxing by a lake with flowers in her hair.

Many netizens commented on her striking resemblance to the late Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu, also known by her stage name “Big S”.

Hsu shot to fame in 2001 for her role as Shan Cai in the Taiwanese television drama Meteor Garden. Her mix of gentleness and sharp wit in reality shows also left a lasting impact on viewers.

In February, Hsu died aged 48 from pneumonia after contracting the flu while travelling in Japan.

Yigubigu’s photos sparked fond memories and tributes for Hsu, earning her more than 50,000 new followers in just a few days.

One netizen said: “You feel like another Big S from a parallel universe. Your look and elegant aura are strikingly similar.”

“Your photos brought me to tears. They will comfort many fans. You are truly beautiful,” said another.

A third suggested she do live-streams to both comfort fans missing Hsu and make some extra money.

On July 31, Yigubigu thanked her followers and said that she was just an “ordinary student”.

She added that the photos were unedited and it was likely that certain moments or angles made her resemble Hsu.

“I never intended to imitate Big S. I admire and respect her, but I would not exploit her,” she said.

In an interview with the Sanxiang Metropolitan Daily, she admitted feeling uncomfortable with the online attention.

“I have been getting messages from friends I have not heard from in a long time, and it is a bit annoying,” she said.

Many social media users praised Yigubigu for her confidence and purity.

One online observer wrote: “She did not use her internet fame to make money. This is the greatest respect for Big S.”

“Yigubigu has her own unique beauty. She should just be herself and focus on her studies,” another wrote.

By August 5, Yigubigu had removed all photos of herself from her social media, leaving only two landscape posts.

Xinjiang history documentary aims to counter Western narratives, bolster Chinese identity

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3321321/xinjiang-history-documentary-aims-counter-western-narratives-bolster-chinese-identity?utm_source=rss_feed

China aired a documentary last week showing how the Qing dynasty took back Xinjiang from foreign forces in the late 19th century – Beijing’s latest effort to counter Western narratives and strengthen Chinese national identity in ethnic minority border areas.

The six-episode documentary, titled Zuo Zongtang Recovers Xinjiang, was produced and aired by the broadcaster of Hunan province, the birthplace of Zuo Zongtang, one of the most famous generals and reformists in the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

The documentary comes as Beijing has worked to cement its narrative on the history and governance of China’s borderlands, with the aim of “forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation” – a phrase first coined by President Xi Jinping in 2014.

Xinjiang has been a part of Chinese territory since ancient times, when it was known as the “Western Regions”. As early as 60BC, during the Western Han dynasty, the government established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, formally incorporating Xinjiang into Chinese territory.

The Qing dynasty faced multiple internal and external challenges in the 19th century, which severely undermined its reign. Its rule was weakened by the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864), unequal treaties with Western naval powers such as Britain, and growing foreign infiltration in its western regions, including Xinjiang, where the Qing established rule in the 1750s.

The documentary depicts how Yaqub Beg, a general of the Kokand Khanate in Central Asia, invaded and occupied Xinjiang in 1864 and created a separatist state there, which was backed briefly by Britain and Russia. Beg was a jihadist who wanted to establish an Islamic caliphate. He has been revered by modern Islamic fundamentalists, including al-Qaeda, which has praised him as a hero.

The Qing government debated whether to hit back at Yaqub Beg, as officials disagreed about whether to prioritise coastal defence or defence of the inland borders.

Zuo insisted that the Qing government risked losing Xinjiang completely, which could lead to a loss of crucial checkpoints and important towns along China’s northwestern border. This would only increase the burden on border defence, undermine public support and embolden the invaders, according to Zuo.

He eventually gained the support of a majority of the officials. In April 1876, Zuo led the army on a westward expedition to recover the territory. In just one year, he recovered all of Xinjiang except Ili, which was under Russia’s control.

Zuo suggested the government send representatives to negotiate with Russia to peacefully resolve the Ili issue through diplomatic means, and he strongly advocated for the establishment of a province in Xinjiang. When negotiations failed and Russia repeatedly threatened and provoked him, Zuo personally led troops to garrison in Xinjiang to assist the negotiating delegation.

In 1884, Xinjiang was officially established as a province and returned to the rule of the Qing government, successfully averting the establishment of an extreme Islamic caliphate close to China’s heartland.

After the recovery of Xinjiang, Zuo abolished strict population control policies in Xinjiang that had restricted Han Chinese from migrating to the region. He encouraged Han Chinese to migrate, laying the foundation of modern China’s rule in Xinjiang.

In a commentary on Monday, the Bingtuan Daily – official newspaper of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Committee of the Communist Party – said that telling the story of Xinjiang and border governance would help China gain the upper hand in the struggle for international public opinion and break the “cognitive iron curtain” of Western narratives. The article did not mention the documentary.

“The struggle for discourse power over borderland narratives is, in essence, a battle for ideological leadership,” it said.

“For a long time, the international dissemination of Xinjiang’s stories has often fallen into the trap of ‘othering narratives’, with Western attempts deconstructing the legitimacy of China’s borderland governance through labelling and stigmatisation.”

The documentary is not the first time China has highlighted Zuo as a national hero. In 2023, his historical deeds were included in junior high school and university history textbooks

In February of last year, the name of a road in Hami, a city in eastern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was changed from Freedom Road to Zongtan Road – a name it bore 144 years ago – as a tribute to Zuo.

“Restoring the old place of this road is to promote Zuo’s culture and spirit. It is part of the work of forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation”, said Si Fuye, head of a zoning department in Hami City, in an interview with online news portal The Paper at the time.

Hami has also established the Zuo Zongtang Cultural Research Institute and the Zuogong Cultural Garden to display cultural relics related to the general.

‘Do what you think is beautiful’: China hurdler squashes hostile rumours, embraces confidence

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3320395/do-what-you-think-beautiful-china-hurdler-squashes-hostile-rumours-embraces-fidence?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese track and field star Wu Yanni has sparked a social media discussion on cosmetic procedures by confidently declaring: “I look good; that is why they say I had plastic surgery!”

Born in July 1997 in Zigong, Sichuan province in southwestern China, Wu Yanni is a national record holder.

She represents the Chinese National Athletics Team, primarily competing in the women’s 100-metre hurdles.

Her track record includes delivering China’s best Olympic performance in the women’s 100-metre hurdles at the Paris 2024 Olympics, clocking in at 12.97 seconds.

In March, she broke the national record in the women’s 60-metre hurdles at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing with a time of 8.01 seconds.

Alongside her athletic achievements, Wu has faced a barrage of online criticism and speculation over the heavy make-up she wears during competitions and questions about whether she has had plastic surgery.

“I think I am beautiful when I wear make-up. I enjoy trying different make-up looks and styles. When people say that I have had plastic surgery, I actually take it as a form of recognition of my beauty,” she said in an interview with Yitiao.

“Just proves that I am really good looking, right? That is why they are saying I have had plastic surgery. Agree? Nods!” she added.

Wu also said that her sense of self-reliance and inner strength was instilled by her grandfather, who taught her to “be self-loving and to earn what you want through hard work”.

She revealed that her mother experienced severe post-partum bleeding and that it was her grandfather who began caring for her just three days after she was born.

This is not the first time Wu has faced public scrutiny.

She has been criticised for her distinctive pre-race ritual, which features her signature gesture of pointing upwards, mockingly described by some as “a witch pointing to the sky”.

“It is actually a connection between me and my grandpa. I point to the sky hoping he blesses me to perform well in the competition,” she said.

Wu is currently preparing for the Chinese Athletics Championships and has also delivered a powerful message of empowerment, encouraging young girls to embrace their individuality and redefine beauty on their own terms.

“That is why I want to tell every girl, do not pay attention to anyone else. Do what makes you feel beautiful,” she said.

statement has sparked heated debate online and divided public opinion.

One supporter wrote: “I hope my daughter can be as strong as Wu Yanni!”

“This girl has great results, her cosmetic surgery looks good, and she has a vibrant personality. So what if she made a few hand gestures during the competition?” said another person.

However, a third online observer said: “When people say she has had plastic surgery, it is not a compliment. They are pointing out how much her appearance has changed since her debut.”

Rocketing to riches: China’s cash-hungry aerospace firms aim for IPOs

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3321298/rocketing-riches-chinas-cash-hungry-aerospace-firms-aim-ipos?utm_source=rss_feed

A recent surge of Chinese commercial aviation companies, either formulating or reviving listing plans, highlights the sector’s strong appetite for funding, according to analysts, as Beijing steps up support for innovation-driven businesses seeking to raise capital.

LandSpace Technology – which launched in 2023 the world’s first methane-fuelled rocket into orbit, ahead of US competitors SpaceX and Blue Origin – entered a coaching agreement with China International Capital Corporation on July 25, targeting an onshore listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style tech board Star Market.

Just a day before, Jiangsu Yixin Aerospace Technology, a microsatellite communication systems maker, signed with Minsheng Securities, according to filings published on the CSRC website.

The pre-listing coaching process – overseen by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the primary regulatory body for the securities market – is a prerequisite for companies aiming to list on the country’s A-share market.

Conducted by investment banks, the training covers initial public offering (IPO) regulations, legal compliance and business due diligence.

Those moves indicated the companies’ intent to raise capital, but the timing and formal submission of IPO applications would ultimately depend on the regulatory climate, said Shen Meng, a director at Beijing-based investment firm Chanson & Co.

The coaching period typically lasted from six to 12 months, but could extend much longer if regulators remained cautious about approving new IPOs, he added.

The filings did not disclose a listing time frame or potential deal sizes.

Yixin Aerospace – based in Wuxi, a city in eastern Jiangsu province – was founded in 2018 with a registered capital of 360 million yuan (US$50.1 million).

Its legal representative and controlling shareholder Sun Qian holds a direct stake of 48.32 per cent and controls 68.12 per cent of the company’s voting rights through his role as executive partner of Wuxi Yixin Investment Partnership.

Beijing-based LandSpace was established in 2015 with a registered capital of 360 million yuan. Zhang Wuchang serves as the company’s legal representative.

At last month’s Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, regulators pledged to support listings for unprofitable start-ups in Shenzhen’s ChiNext board and the Shanghai Star Market.

As part of Beijing’s efforts to channel more capital into innovation-driven sectors, the Star Market has expanded its eligible sectors to include commercial aerospace, artificial intelligence and the low-altitude economy.

Plans by several aerospace supply chain players to launch or revive fundraising plans in onshore markets this year also reflected positive market sentiment, according to a research report from Avic Securities in July.

In May, Changsha Technology Research Institute, affiliated with Beidou Industry Safety, resumed pre-listing coaching for a Star Market IPO, seven months after halting its previous attempt.

Geovis Insighter, which provides aerospace measurement solutions, debuted on the Beijing Stock Exchange in January, raising 190 million yuan.

That same month, Sichuan-based Adaspace, a developer of commercial aerospace and AI technologies, filed an IPO application with the Hong Kong bourse.

A stock market listing addressed the needs of commercial aerospace firms, which were “highly capital-intensive and have a big appetite for financing”, Shen said.

“Their listing intentions show these companies are ready to take their businesses to the next level”, using “valuable growth capital to strengthen their positions versus global competitors”, said Kelvin Leung, deputy president at CPA Australia specialising in equity capital markets.

Robotics’ ‘ChatGPT moment’ could come within 2 years, founder of China’s Unitree says

https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3321354/robotics-chatgpt-moment-could-come-within-two-years-founder-chinas-unitree-says?utm_source=rss_feed

The “ChatGPT moment” for the robotics industry could arrive in as little as two years if powerful artificial intelligence technology develops to propel robots’ movements, according to the founder of China’s industry leader Unitree Robotics.

Wang Xingxing defined this moment as the first time a robot could perform a task, such as cleaning a room or bringing a bottle of water to a targeted person, in a venue that it had never been to before.

“If things develop fast, it could happen in the next year or two, or maybe two to three years”, he said on Saturday at the World Robot Conference in Beijing.

Although both robot hardware, such as dexterous hands, and training data were good enough to enable the feat, the crucial element of “AI for embodied intelligence is completely inadequate”, he said.

He had “doubts” about whether popular vision language action (VLA) models, which used a rather “dumb” architecture, were up to the task, he said. Although Unitree also used such models, along with reinforcement learning to improve pre-trained VLAs in downstream tasks, the approach required a lot of optimisation, he said.

Another approach, generating a video or interactive model based on text prompts and making robots follow this to perform tasks, could have a “higher probability” of succeeding in robot motion control, Wang said.

He cited Google’s general-purpose Genie 3 “world model”, which was launched on Tuesday and is billed as capable of generating models of dynamic worlds that include information on physical properties, as an example of technology development in this area.

Unitree was also experimenting with the modelling approach, but one problem was that such models required a large number of graphics processing units (GPUs) to ensure image quality that exceeds the needs of robot training, he said.

But Wang was optimistic about the development of robotics. The emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek proved that “AI innovation comes with a lot of randomness” that could result in rapid advancements, he said.

Unitree, founded in 2016, did not start working on humanoid robots until early 2023. Wang said the decision to do so was inspired by the fast growth of AI, especially after ChatGPT’s release, and industry peers like Tesla, which planned to turn out thousands of units of its Optimus bot this year.

Given strong market demand, every robot maker, including component suppliers, enjoyed annual income growth between 50 and 100 per cent in the first half of 2025, Wang estimated.

Unitree recently secured a 46 million-yuan (US$6.4 million) deal to supply robots with computational capability and nimble fingers to state-owned telecoms operator China Mobile over the next two years.

The company’s fast development has drawn the interest of the capital market. Last month, Unitree submitted tutoring documents to China’s securities regulator, a key compliance step before it formally applies for a listing. It plans to prepare the necessary application documents by December, according to the filing.

Wang said on Saturday that the process had been progressing “in a standard manner”.

China hotel offers guests dog companions for US$70 a night, with canine bite compensation

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3320926/china-hotel-offers-guests-dog-companions-us70-night-canine-bite-compensation?utm_source=rss_feed

A hotel in central China has attracted attention on social media by launching a “pet sleep-accompanying” service.

However, the service has come with a warning from a lawyer that the hotel will have to bear full responsibility if the canines bite anyone.

Biguiyuan Phoenix Hotel in Wuhan, Hubei province began offering the service at the beginning of July.

After paying 499 yuan (US$70) for a pet-themed room and signing an agreement with the hotel, customers can choose a dog which will accompany them for a day, Jiupai News reported.

So far, more than 80 people have signed up and so far, there have been no complaints.

A total of 10 dogs, from breeds deemed to have gentle characters such as West Highland White Terriers, Golden Retrievers and Huskies.

Some are raised by the hotel itself, and the rest are provided by professional pet training institutions. The dogs are reportedly paid 100 yuan a day (US$14), the hotel joked.

It said the animals’ health and behaviour were checked before they were “employed”. They also receive training on how to behave with guests and are vaccinated.

A family from eastern Shandong province who chose a West Highland terrier to accompany them said the service made up for not having a pet dog at home.

“They said the dog brought joy to them during their trip,” a hotel manager known as Dong was quoted as saying.

“When their kid walked the dog in our garden, her face beamed with happiness.”

Du Xingyue, a lawyer from the Shanghai Yingdong Law Firm, told the media that the hotel is subject to liability, meaning that it will bear full responsibility if the dogs hurt guests, except in circumstances where guests show gross negligence.

Dong said if they discover the dogs are damaged in any form, guests would be blacklisted by the hotel.

The news has divided opinion online.

“I would like to try this service. I feel afraid when staying alone in a hotel room. It would be perfect to hug a puppy to sleep,” one online observer said.

But another person said: “I suggest the hotel cancel this service. No matter how docile a dog is, it will attack humans in some circumstances. Maybe some people will intentionally attack a canine so it will bite them and they will then get compensation?”

Alibaba’s world-leading AI lab becomes a target for talent poaching by Chinese rivals

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3321270/alibabas-world-leading-ai-lab-becomes-target-talent-poaching-chinese-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed

Top artificial intelligence talent at Alibaba Group Holding’s Tongyi Lab, developer of the widely used open-source Qwen models, has become highly sought after, with a number of leading experts leaving to join rival tech giants amid a heated recruitment race.

Recent departures include Yan Zhijie and Bo Liefeng, two senior figures at Tongyi. Yan, who joined Alibaba in 2015, was an early member of the company’s cutting-edge Damo Academy and later led Tongyi’s speech lab.

He left Alibaba in February and recently joined JD.com’s Explore Academy, a research division founded in 2020 to focus on frontier technology, Chinese media reported.

JD.com did not directly comment on Yan’s recruitment, but said on Monday that “Explore Academy is proceeding as planned, actively recruiting top AI talent from across the industry, including technical experts and members of our Tech Genius Team”.

Following his departure from Alibaba, Yan briefly joined Tencent Holdings, but left soon after an internal restructuring, according to Chinese media reports. Li Xiangang, co-founder of start-up 01.AI, took his place In June.

Separately, Bo, who headed Tongyi’s applied vision division after previous roles at JD.com and Amazon.com, recently transitioned to Tencent’s Hunyuan AI model team, Chinese media reported.

Tencent and Alibaba, owner of the Post, did not respond to requests for comment.

According to Alibaba, its open-source Qwen models have recorded more than 400 million downloads globally, resulting in the development of 140,000 derivative models.

The flow of top talent among Chinese tech giants reflects the AI sector’s strong demand for world-class scientists and engineers.

Last year, ByteDance poached Zhou Chang, a key algorithm engineer in Alibaba’s Qwen development team, with a lucrative offer, prompting Alibaba to initiate legal proceedings against him for violating a non-compete agreement, according to local media outlet Yicai.

The rush to secure AI talent in China mirrors an intense recruitment war in the US, where leaders like Meta Platforms have aggressively pursued top experts from rivals such as Google, OpenAI, Apple, Anthropic and Thinking Machines Lab.

Bo’s hiring by Tencent coincided with the company’s strategic restructuring of its AI Lab in April. The company established dedicated units for large language models (LLMs) and multimodal models, aiming to close the gap with other leading Chinese AI developers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The AI Lab is led by Tencent vice-president Jiang Jie, who succeeded chief scientist Zhang Zhengyou in that role last year. The restructuring was intended to promote deeper integration of AI into Tencent’s existing business operations rather than maintaining a stand-alone research unit, a source said.

On Monday, Tencent issued an internal notice seen by the Post, allowing employees who had completed three months in their current roles to apply for positions related to the chatbot product Yuanbao, the Hunyuan large model and WeChat e-commerce.

Last week, ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent each launched a new round of campus recruitment campaigns, with a large share of positions related to AI.

ByteDance listed 65 openings in its “Top Seed Talent Programme”, aimed at supporting its Seed department, which was established in 2023 to oversee AI research and LLM development.

Last month, Alibaba also introduced a “Star Top Talent Recruitment and Development Programme”, targeting top global researchers for roles in foundational AI models, AI infrastructure, large model applications, industrial AI and computational architecture.

China-Japan ties are improving. Could a Taiwanese official test that trend?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321319/china-japan-ties-are-improving-could-taiwanese-official-test-trend?utm_source=rss_feed

At this year’s commemorations in Japan for the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was a major departure from the past.

Seated among the attendees in both cities was Lee Yi-yang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, the island’s de facto embassy in the country.

At the Nagasaki event on Saturday, Lee sat with representatives from international non-government organisations, “inappropriate seating arrangements” that he attributed to pressure from Beijing, according to Taiwanese media reports.

Nevertheless, a Taiwanese official has never attended these events before and, after the ceremony in Hiroshima on Wednesday, Lee said the island hoped to have a presence there every year.

Lee’s appearance is part of a bigger effort by Taiwan to strengthen its unofficial bonds with Tokyo and raise the island’s international profile. Observers said Beijing would take a dim view of the participation, but both it and Tokyo would be careful to not undermine improving relations.

Lee’s attendance at the Hiroshima and Nagasaki events came two weeks after Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung made a rare visit to Japan.

During that trip, Lin met various pro-Taiwan lawmakers in Tokyo, including Sanae Takaichi, a former economic security minister and contender for prime minister, and former defence minister Minoru Kihara.

Lin’s visit prompted swift condemnation from Beijing.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Like most countries, Japan does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state.

Officially, Tokyo adheres to the one-China principle by maintaining formal diplomatic relations with Beijing and not Taipei. However, unofficial ties between Tokyo and the island are strong.

Zhang Yilun, a research associate at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies, said Taipei was “testing the waters to gain greater international visibility without formally breaching red lines”.

He said Taipei might also “urgently need to reinforce ties with America’s closest ally in Asia to maintain the appearance of strong US backing”.

Late last month, reports emerged that Washington had denied Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te a planned US stopover on his way to South America this month. The Taiwanese Presidential Office later said that Lai had no immediate plans for overseas travel.

The apparent snub was seen as removing a barrier to a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

However, at the Hiroshima event, Lee shook hands with George Glass, the US ambassador to Tokyo.

Lee later said that in his exchange with Glass, he expressed “the utmost gratitude” to the US’ diplomatic and military support to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

The image of the two men shaking hands is one that “must have rattled Beijing”, according to Walter Hatch, a professor of government at Colby College in Maine and an Asian politics expert.

“Beijing has good reason to fear that Japan might be wavering on its commitment to the one-China policy,” he added, citing recent diplomatic exchanges as well as a former Japanese military official serving as an adviser to Taipei.

Wang Guangtao, an associate professor at the Centre for Japanese Studies at Fudan University, said Beijing was likely to view Taipei’s participation in the memorials as unacceptable.

“But under the current environment, Taiwan’s incentives to boost ties with Japan significantly outweigh Japan’s interest in Taiwan.”

Wang said that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office in September, appeared to have a pragmatic approach to foreign policy.

“Ishiba is not an ideology-driven leader or a pro-Taiwan politician; his decisions are ultimately grounded in Japan’s national interests … Ishiba views improving relations with China as beneficial for Japan, particularly given geopolitical volatility,” Wang said.

Still, two nations remain deeply at odds over historical grievances, rising nationalism, and territorial disputes over the Diaoyu Islands, known in Japan as the Senkakus. Japan has also been deeply cautious against China’s rapid acceleration of military activity.

Hatch said Ishiba had tried to distance himself from pro-Taiwan activities.

“But Beijing is watching very carefully.”

Lian Degui, from Shanghai International Studies University, said that for Beijing, Lee’s presence at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a continuation of the “collusion between Taipei and Tokyo”, a long-standing friction that regularly arises in Sino-Japanese relations.

“Within the limits of Beijing’s tolerance, Japan often uses these non-governmental activities to test the boundaries and strengthen its ties with Taiwan,” he said.

But Beijing is unlikely to respond strongly, Lian added.

“Sino-Japanese relations have remained stable this year, with Beijing prioritising better ties and economic cooperation. Escalating tensions with Japan on this issue appears to be counterproductive to China’s national interests,” Lian said.

Zhang said Beijing was likely to express its concern over Taiwan’s growing diplomatic visibility in Japan. Tokyo, meanwhile, might also be careful to avoid escalation in tensions with China.

“The Ishiba administration is already under pressure domestically, and with unresolved trade tensions still lingering between the US and Japan, Tokyo has little strategic incentive to escalate friction with Beijing.”

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