• China urged to boost space solar power technology efforts
• Will Trump-Putin thaw in Alaska leave China facing a 3-way dilemma?
• China’s top diplomat Wang Yi to visit India for first time in 3 years for border talks
• China arms Burkina Faso as Sahel turns away from Western security promises
• 3 Hongkongers, 2 mainland Chinese arrested over ride-hailing fraud syndicate ties
• Family drama erupts as China mum sues daughter for US$680,000 over elder care dispute
• China’s top medical bosses taken to task after doctor abandons surgery to defend mistress
• How Chinese investors quietly transformed Athens – one visa at a time
• Chinese researchers lodge concerns over US debt as Beijing limits exposure
• Groundhog steals tourist’s car keys in China, villagers rally to retrieve them
• China’s lunar rocket test marks milestone in bringing astronauts to moon
• Taiwan’s residency rule changes amount to ‘attack’ on mainland Chinese spouses
• Nvidia’s efforts to please both US and China get harder as H20 becomes bargaining chip
• China toddler wows social media with gymnastics skills, swinging on bars while in nappies
• Chinese start-up joins NetDragon-owned Cherrypicks to push AI solutions overseas

China urged to boost space solar power technology efforts

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3322058/china-urged-boost-space-solar-power-technology-efforts?utm_source=rss_feed

China has been urged to speed up the development of solar power in space to gain a stronger footing in the new energy sector and the space race.

Ge Changchun, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, called in an article for a top-down strategy to speed up efforts to develop the technology and narrow the gap with the United States in sectors such as materials and precision control.

Space solar power facilities are designed to be built and operated in orbit, where they convert solar energy directly into electricity before transmitting the power to Earth via microwaves or lasers.

Unlike ground-based solar plants, space stations are not affected by the weather or nightfall. Solar radiation in space is also far more intense than on Earth, making the technology a more efficient way of continuously generating power.

China’s research in this field relies primarily on efforts by universities and research institutions, but Ge wrote in an article for China Science Daily that they “lack the capacity to support such a vast, complex systems project”.

Compared with the United States, which conducted solar energy transmission experiments as early as the 1970s, China was relatively late in developing space solar power.

The sector was first added to the national preliminary research programme in 2008, and in 2021 the country started building its first space solar power research facility in Chongqing.

The project involves a 2.6 billion yuan (US$362.2 million) investment and is expected to have completed a small stratospheric pilot facility by the end of this year.

China is aiming to finish the experimental verification process before 2030 and to develop the technology for commercial use by 2050, according to Ge.

But he warned that the country still faced a “notable gap” compared with other developed nations, particularly with regard to project costs, material lifespan and maintenance technology.

“For example, China’s [rocket] launch costs stand at approximately US$2,000 per pound, nearly 40 per cent higher than SpaceX in the US. This constrains the feasibility of large-scale orbital deployments,” he said.

“China’s on-orbit servicing technology remains at the ground testing phase, while the US has conducted robotic autonomous repair trials.

“Moreover, critical materials used by China lag over 50 per cent behind US and Japanese equivalents in lifespan, directly impacting power stations’ long-term operational efficiency and economic viability.”

Ge wrote that building extra-large space structures demanded materials with exceptional strength, weight efficiency and thermal protection, which required advances in critical materials technology and core components.

He added that high-power wireless transmission efficiency must be increased from the current level of 50 per cent to at least 60 per cent.

The article also argued that the country needed to develop its systems integration and operational experience for large-scale space solar power projects, suggesting it should “build small space power stations first, then gradually assemble them into larger systems [for] greater flexibility and simpler verification and implementation”.

He also said there was a need for better monitoring and protection to prevent space debris from damaging solar installations.

Other countries working on space solar power include the US and Japan.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory plans to conduct a wireless power transmission experiment this year, using a satellite’s solar panels to generate electricity and transmit it to low-Earth orbit as microwave radiation, simulating space-based solar power generation.

Last December, Japan successfully tested a high-altitude vehicle that sent microwaves to a ground receiver from a height of 7,000 metres (about 23,000 feet).

Will Trump-Putin thaw in Alaska leave China facing a 3-way dilemma?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322104/will-trump-putin-thaw-alaska-leave-china-facing-3-way-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed

The highly anticipated US-Russia presidential summit in Alaska had raised hopes for progress on ending the Ukraine war, but instead left more questions than answers.

Still, observers viewed Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic return to US soil – his first in a decade – as a symbolic win for Moscow.

The nearly three-hour talks, which both Putin and Donald Trump described as “productive”, signalled a potential thaw in the fraught US-Russia relationship despite concluding without a ceasefire agreement, they said.

Meanwhile, as China offered a cautious endorsement of the summit, Chinese and Russian analysts warned that Beijing could face a strategic dilemma, wary of how the limited détente might reshape the US-China-Russia power triangle.

With Ukraine and Europe notably absent from the discussions, Trump’s post-summit remarks about territorial swaps and US security guarantees sparked confusion over whether he had tacitly accepted Russia’s retention of occupied territories amid the prolonged war.

There was a joint press appearance after the meeting, but neither Trump nor Putin announced concrete outcomes or details on what they had agreed on. They also did not take any questions from reporters.

Putin, who was the first to speak, described the US and Russia as “close neighbours”. He said he hoped “the agreement that we’ve reached together” would be seen “constructively” by Kyiv and European capitals and “they won’t throw a wrench in the works”.

Trump said the two leaders agreed on “many points” during “a very productive meeting”. There were also “just a very few” that were unresolved, he said, but fell short of specifying the potential sticking points, saying only: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”

The US leader declined again to elaborate in an interview with Fox News immediately after the summit.

When asked about territorial concessions allowing Russia to retain land it did not previously control and about potential US security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a broader peace effort, Trump said: “I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on.”

Ukraine “has to agree to it”, he stressed. Asked what his advice was for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was excluded from the meeting, Trump said: “Gotta make a deal.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov were alongside Putin during the talks, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff were by Trump’s side.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said China “welcomes contacts between Russia and the United States aimed at resuming interstate goals and a political settlement of the conflict in Ukraine”, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Yun Sun, director of the China programme and co-director of the East Asia programme at the Stimson Centre in Washington, said the Trump-Putin meeting signalled a leader-level rapport in the deeply strained US-Russia relations.

“But Trump also understands that the US can’t take the lead on Ukraine – it can assist, but not dictate,” she noted. “So he emphasised [in the subsequent interview] that the next round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations should be conducted between the two parties, with Trump present.”

Analysts agreed that the summit was a clear win for Putin, especially considering the absence of substantive concessions from Moscow, the confusion over Trump’s remarks and his decision to host Putin on US soil – a move much-criticised by domestic audiences, as well as Ukraine and others in Europe.

Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based professor of international affairs, also called the meeting a victory for Putin, who last visited the US in September 2015 to attend the UN General Assembly. However, he was doubtful about any concrete achievements from future US-Russia talks.

In the run-up to the summit, Trump and his top aides reportedly held a series of consultations with European leaders and Zelensky, during which they agreed that Ukraine must be directly involved in any future negotiations with Russia, particularly on territorial matters.

“The West is unlikely to compromise on that consensus going forward,” Shen said. “Therefore, any future US-Russia talks are unlikely to yield meaningful results.”

Zelensky wrote on social media that he would visit Washington on Monday for critical talks with Trump to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, after “a long and substantive” call with the US president. Other European leaders joined the call later, including French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

All were strongly opposed to Trump’s suggestion of a territorial “swap” between Ukraine and Russia.

Shen voiced surprise at Trump’s remarks on land swaps during the Fox interview.

“If that’s the case, Trump has already violated the West’s consensus,” he said. “The EU won’t agree. Ukraine won’t agree. And some in China will be quietly pleased. Trump’s image will suffer significantly. There’s plenty of drama ahead.”

Cui Hongjian, head of European Union studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the summit had helped to break the deadlock in US-Russia relations since the Ukraine war, with Moscow achieving some diplomatic gains.

According to Cui, the meeting reflected a shared urgency to “manage their bilateral relationship” and “prevent further deterioration”, especially following public spats over how to end the war amid rising nuclear tensions.

Russia aimed to ease US pressure through the summit, he noted, warning: “If Moscow fails to fully capitalise on the ‘Trump factor’, Western nations may regroup and present a united front against Russia.

“Moreover, if Washington imposes secondary sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, the impact on its economy and fiscal stability would be inevitable over time.”

While Putin reaffirmed his intention to resolve the conflict through US mediation, Cui said the lack of major concessions or a ceasefire deal underscored the persistent divisions among Ukraine, the EU and Russia.

According to Cui, Kyiv and Brussels regard a ceasefire as a prerequisite for further negotiations, while firmly rejecting any attempt to link it with other issues. Moscow, by contrast, views the ceasefire as a strategic bargaining chip.

“Russia aims to translate its battlefield gains into leverage at the negotiation table, attempting to maximise its advantage,“ he said. “It’s hard to imagine that Washington has managed to crack this tough nut.”

Cui emphasised that a key measure of the summit’s value would be how European stakeholders interpret its outcomes – and how Trump engages with them in the future.

“One thing is evident from the summit: Washington seems to be adjusting its approach to resolving the conflict. It will set the tone and direction, while leaving the tougher questions for Russia, Ukraine and Europe to resolve on their own,” Cui said.

Noting that Beijing has closely followed the summit and the evolving trajectory of US-Russia relations, he said another round of communication between Beijing and Moscow was expected soon.

Shen also cautioned that China was increasingly grappling with a strategic dilemma in managing its ties with both Russia and the US.

“China prefers that the US and Russia remain locked in conflict or prolonged tension, without reaching any significant breakthroughs,” he said. “For some Chinese individuals, the prolonged war in Ukraine is seen as beneficial, as it simultaneously erodes the strength of both the US and Russia. They view this through the lens of international strategy and perceived national interests.”

But Artyom Lukin, a professor at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, argued that the summit was also a win for Washington, despite the lack of any breakthroughs on Ukraine.

“The US does not have a vital interest in ending the Ukraine war. Europe does. America’s major interest is to secure the pivotal and advantageous position in the strategic triangle composed of itself, China and Russia,” he said.

“By having Putin in Alaska, Trump has demonstrated to China that the US can engage Russia. Beijing will be guessing whether Trump and Putin have discussed China and whether such discussions were at China’s expense.”

He noted Trump pointed out in the Fox interview that the US must prevent a Sino-Russian entente.

“The Alaska meeting might become the first major step towards recalibrating the US-China-Russia triangle in the direction where Moscow shifts away from Beijing and moves closer to Washington,” Lukin said.

“It doesn’t mean that Russia and China would become enemies while Russia and the US become allies. However, it could lead to Moscow taking a more equidistant position between Beijing and Washington.”

Sun at the Stimson Centre also said the summit could be viewed as a victory for both Moscow and the Trump White House.

“For Putin, it was a gain with minimal cost,” she said. “Some US sanctions were temporarily paused. Russia gave up nothing, and the US didn’t lose much either. It was a win-win.”

She argued that the debate over the merits of Trump’s summit diplomacy missed the broader point.

“Trump isn’t concerned with criticism. What matters to him is the outcome,” she said. “It’s an effort. No one expects a single meeting to end the war. And Trump did not sell out Ukraine [at least not publicly].”

Sun also referenced the Chinese embassy’s statement, noting Beijing’s perceived unease over Trump’s push for détente with Russia, which could reduce Moscow’s reliance on China or allow Washington to shift its strategic focus back to Asia.

“China should not feel marginalised by the potential détente. In today’s global politics, Putin is unlikely to choose the US over China,” she said. “Besides, Putin is heading to China soon anyway [for a regional summit and World War II commemorations] and China-Russia relations remain friendly.”

According to Sun, the Alaska summit demonstrated Russia’s genuine interest in improving ties with Washington.

“US sanctions are Russia’s primary concern. China is a byproduct of those sanctions – not the key to resolving Russia’s predicament,” she explained. “China can help to ease Russia’s quagmire, but it cannot solve it. The real solution – lifting sanctions – lies in Washington’s hands.”

As for the impact on Ukraine and Europe, Sun said it remained uncertain.

“It depends on how things unfold. If Russia and Ukraine enter negotiations and Trump offers security guarantees, tensions could ease – that would be a positive outcome,” she said.

“At most, this meeting was an opportunity for all sides to explore possibilities.”

Additional reporting by Victoria Bela

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China’s top diplomat Wang Yi to visit India for first time in 3 years for border talks

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322094/chinas-top-diplomat-wang-yi-visit-india-first-time-3-years-border-talks?utm_source=rss_feed

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India for the first time in three years to discuss the latest round of border talks, the Chinese foreign ministry has confirmed.

During the trip from August 18 to 20, top diplomat Wang will serve as the “special representative of the China-India boundary question” in the 24th round of border talks “at the invitation of the Indian side”, according to a Saturday statement from the ministry.

This series of negotiations aims to address long-standing border disputes, which have seen a temporary de-escalation following years of tension. Wang is expected to meet top Indian officials including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

The two last met in Beijing in December to review disengagement in eastern Ladakh along the disputed border, known as the Line of Actual Control, where an estimated 50,000–60,000 troops remain deployed on each side.

“We stand ready to work with India to act on the important common understandings reached between leaders of our two countries, maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, cement political mutual trust, enhance practical cooperation, properly handle differences, and promote the sustained, sound and steady development of China-India ties,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday in response to speculation about a trip by Wang.

“China and India are both major developing countries and important members of the Global South,” he said. “A cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant as partners helping each other succeed is the right choice for both sides.”

Wang’s trip comes ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit from August 31 to September 1.

The easing of tensions between China and India has gathered pace, while New Delhi’s relationship with Washington has been strained by growing trade disputes.

China and India had already been working to improve relations following the deadly clash between their troops in the disputed Galwan Valley in June 2020.

Wang’s last visit to India was a brief working trip on March 25, 2022, just weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Backchannel talks since late 2024 have yielded more incremental progress. Both armies completed disengagement at multiple friction points along the Line of Actual Control, and New Delhi reopened visa slots for Chinese nationals earlier this year, while Beijing resumed access to Tibet for Indian pilgrims.

Both countries have also announced plans to resume direct flights between them.

On Thursday, Lin said the combined 2.8 billion-person market made the resumption of flights a logical step. He added that China had been in close communication with India to promote the early resumption of direct flights between the two countries.

On the same day, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said that border trade had been part of India-China discussions in several meetings.

“We have remained engaged with the Chinese side to facilitate the resumption of border trade through all the designated trade points, namely Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand, Shipki La Pass in Himachal Pradesh, and Nathula Pass in Sikkim,” he said.

Wang’s trip will also be the first high-level visit by a Chinese official since the India-Pakistan hostilities over Kashmir in May.

Previously, India claimed that China had supplied weapons and drones to Pakistan and assisted with real-time intelligence during the military clash. The latest interactions between Beijing and Delhi have been seen as part of broader efforts to ease tensions and restore dialogue between the two Asian giants.

China arms Burkina Faso as Sahel turns away from Western security promises

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321831/china-arms-burkina-faso-sahel-turns-away-western-security-promises?utm_source=rss_feed

China is equipping Burkina Faso’s military and positioning itself for greater influence in the Sahel, filling a vacuum left by the collapse of security partnerships with Western nations, especially the United States and France.

The move is part of a broader modernisation plan that the Burkinabe government, headed by junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, announced in late 2023 amid growing insecurity waged by jihadist militants, mostly affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

After a complex diplomatic history that saw relations first established in 1973 and then severed in 1994, China officially re-established diplomatic ties with Burkina Faso in 2018.

While Ouagadougou had historically sourced some arms from China, the restoration of relations set the stage for large-scale military cooperation, which began in 2024 with the signing of a multiphase deal with the Chinese state-owned defence contractor, China North Industries Group Corporation or Norinco.

The country has received at least four major consignments from China since early 2024.

The latest delivery, filmed at a port facility earlier this month, included VN22B fire support vehicles, PLL-05 120mm self-propelled gun-mortar systems and SR5 rocket launch systems, according to Military Africa, a news platform on African defence, security and military affairs.

This follows earlier deliveries of large numbers of CS/VP14 mine-resistant vehicles and other armoured equipment, all manufactured by Norinco, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Like other countries in the Sahel or West Africa, where China has vast economic interests, Burkina Faso has been hit by a series of military coups, which ousted president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in early 2022, and then military leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in September that year.

Since Traoré took over in the second coup, Burkina Faso has expelled French troops as part of the broader collapse of Operation Barkhane, the French-led counterterrorism mission in the Sahel. While US forces have not been formally expelled, Burkina Faso has been moving away from its security cooperation with the United States – a shift that has outraged Washington.

Traoré has also strengthened military ties with Russia, making two visits since becoming president in 2022 – first in July 2023 for the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, where Burkina Faso secured a deal for free grain supplies and military cooperation, and in May this year for the Victory Day parade in Moscow, where he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for deeper military ties.

He has yet to visit China, but then Burkinabe prime minister Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambela attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing last year.

Beyond Burkina Faso, China has stepped up its engagement with other countries in the Sahel, including Mali and Niger, amid waning Western influence.

For example, Mali signed a defence deal with Norinco last September for military equipment, training and technology transfer. The deal was signed during a visit by Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goïta, to Norinco’s headquarters in Beijing.

The first batch of 36 CS/VP14 armoured personnel carriers, part of a larger order for 160, was delivered late last month, arriving at the port of Conakry in Guinea before being transported overland to Mali.

While Niger also strengthened its security partnership with China in January, it has faced tensions, with the military junta expelling Chinese oil executives over contractual disputes.

As demand for Norinco’s military equipment increases in Africa, the company, which already has established sales offices in Angola, Nigeria and South Africa, also opened a new one in Dakar, Senegal, in 2023.

China’s push into the region is driven by its vast economic interests and strategic potential, including abundant resources and strategic access to the Red Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Beijing also offers engagement with no political strings attached, whereas the West has historically made demands for democratisation and human rights improvements that elites often saw as a burden, according to Liselotte Odgaard, a professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies in Oslo and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington.

“China would like to have good access to the Atlantic Ocean as strategic competition with the US heats up,” she said.

Odgaard said China, already a major arms exporter to Nigeria, was well positioned to expand arms exports to other West African nations.

It made sense for Norinco to open an office in both Senegal and Nigeria, she said, adding that both were of strategic interest to China, so establishing closer security and defence relations was an attractive proposition.

She said China had also focused on Burkina Faso with development aid and granted it zero tariffs on exports to China, boosting its trade opportunities.

“So China uses a carrot approach, trying to accommodate the needs of these countries, rather than a stick approach of punishing them for undesired behaviour, and that helps create close links,” Odgaard said.

David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Burkina Faso and a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said Burkina Faso and Mali had traditionally obtained military equipment from the West, as well as South Africa, Russia and China.

But they had recently received more consignments of military equipment from Norinco to combat the growing insurgency in both countries.

Norinco, which has a reputation for offering competitive pricing and flexible financing, has sold military equipment to many African countries for the past two decades. However, because of Russian military commitments in Ukraine, “Norinco may take more sales from Russian companies than South African or Western companies,” Shinn said.

“As Norinco increases sales in Africa, it is unsurprising that it is adding new offices.”

Lina Benab­dal­lah, an associate professor in the politics and international affairs department at Wake Forest Uni­versity in the US, pointed to the “rise of anti-French sentiment among populations and leaderships alike”.

“This has opened the opportunity for alternative providers to come in and take a bigger share of the market. Chinese and Turkish drones, for example, are now popular among several African countries also because of their cost or value relation.”

3 Hongkongers, 2 mainland Chinese arrested over ride-hailing fraud syndicate ties

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3322092/3-hongkongers-2-mainland-chinese-arrested-over-ride-hailing-fraud-syndicate-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong police have arrested two visitors from mainland China and three residents on suspicion of being part of a syndicate that recruits drivers to provide illegal ride-hailing services in the city by using tourist visas and fake identity cards.

The force said on Saturday that it arrested three residents in the past two days in Tuen Mun and Lok Ma Chau for allegedly conspiring to defraud, laundering money and aiding and abetting others to breach their conditions of stay.

Police said the case was the second to involve a ride-hailing syndicate in a crackdown in the past week.

The trio comprised two men and one woman aged between 41 and 65.

Two men from the mainland working as drivers were also arrested in Tai Po and West Kowloon and charged with alleged illegal carriage of passengers for reward, driving without third-party insurance and violating their conditions of stay.

Superintendent Basil Tang Yick-kay from the crime division of the northern New Territories said officers had been investigating syndicates that recruited mainland drivers to work in Hong Kong since the middle of the year.

Drivers typically arrived in the city as visitors.

“The syndicate will apply for drivers’ licences for these mainland drivers in advance and they will arrive in Hong Kong as tourists,” he said.

“They will also provide these mainland drivers with cars and verified accounts on ride-hailing platforms while paying the drivers in cash … the syndicate operated in a systematic manner with a clear division of labour.”

Although platforms require drivers to submit copies of their Hong Kong identity cards and local driving licences, as well as show proof of car insurance and photos of their vehicle, the syndicate was able to exploit loopholes during the registration process.

Some members were in charge of registering accounts on ride-hailing platforms using their Faster Payment System details, bank accounts and mobile numbers, he said.

“Some accounts were found to have been registered with fake Hong Kong identity cards,” Tang said.

He revealed that one of the leads in the police investigation was discovering that 18 hybrid cars of the same model were registered using a single address in Kowloon, much like a “vehicle fleet”.

Tang said that preliminary investigations found that these mainland drivers would receive up to 50 per cent commission per trip.

The force is investigating whether other syndicate members were involved in the purchase and registration of the vehicles.

“The syndicate hired mainland drivers and used fraudulent means to deceive the ride-hailing platform and passengers for profit, endangering road safety,” the superintendent said.

“In the case of a traffic accident, it would be extremely difficult to pursue liability and compensation.”

He said police were investigating the syndicate members based in Hong Kong but believed they had a partner on the mainland in charge of recruiting drivers.

The government has said it is working with platforms to plug loopholes during driver registration, as they do not use facial recognition technology.

Police said conspiracy to defraud and money laundering were very serious criminal offences that could see offenders face a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to HK$5 million.

On Thursday, police arrested a 53-year-old man for allegedly providing his information to a separate fraud syndicate to create a rented ride-hailing account. The force is searching for three other suspects in connection with the case.

Police launched an investigation after Terry Leung, a 38-year-old sales representative, filmed his ride-hailing experience during his ride from Tsuen Wan and shared it on social media.

The videos show a Mandarin-speaking driver, whom Leung said he had booked on the Amap platform on Monday for a trip to Tsuen Wan, admitting that he did not hold a local ID card. The trip was arranged by a service provider, Universe Call, which on Wednesday said that it had permanently suspended the driver’s account.

Amap is operated by Alibaba Group Holding, the owner of the South China Morning Post.

Family drama erupts as China mum sues daughter for US$680,000 over elder care dispute

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3321654/family-drama-erupts-china-mum-sues-daughter-us680000-over-elder-care-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed

A family drama has sparked intense debate on Chinese social media after a mother – who had given her daughter 4.9 million yuan (US$680,000) as compensation for quitting her job to care for her – sued her to reclaim the money following a heated dispute over unpaid rent.

The case originated when the mother, surnamed Jin, whose age remains undisclosed, required help due to health issues. In 2021, she reached an agreement with her daughter, surnamed Lu, asking her to resign from her job in Guangzhou and return to Beijing.

Details regarding Lu’s job and salary in Guangzhou have not been disclosed.

To compensate her daughter for her lost income, Jin agreed to transfer the entire 4.9 million yuan from the sale of her two-bedroom flat in Beijing’s Xisanqi area to Lu.

The agreement was formally documented on December 21, 2023, in a written contract stating that Lu would cover all elder care expenses – including hospitalisation, medical bills, rent, and other reasonable living costs – until her mother’s passing, as well as funeral expenses.

Lu acknowledged receiving the funds, which she later used to purchase her own property.

However, after Lu returned home from Guangzhou and cared for her elderly mother for nearly four years, issues arose when Jin – who had been living in a nursing home for five months, with Lu paying 200,000 yuan in fees – sought to move into a rented property in Beijing’s Shangzhuang area.

Lu allegedly failed to pay rent for the second and third quarters of the Shangzhuang property, claiming this was due to her mother’s refusal to refund the nursing home fees for use as rent.

In response, Jin initiated legal proceedings, asking the court to void the agreement and order her daughter to return 4.9 million yuan.

She accused Lu of failing to fulfil her elder care obligations, particularly by not paying the full rent, and submitted WeChat chat records of their daily conversations as evidence that Lu had not provided adequate support.

In her defence, Lu argued that she had diligently fulfilled her responsibilities by providing her mother with food and clothing, paying rent for a previous flat in Shijingshan from July 2021 to July 2023, covering medical and hospital expenses, and even hiring carers.

During the first trial, the court ruled to annul the agreement and ordered Lu to return 4.9 million yuan to her mother, citing her failure to pay rent for the second and third quarters of the Shangzhuang property.

In the second trial, Jin clarified that the actual amount transferred was 4.8 million yuan.

Recently, the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court upheld the decision, ordering Lu to return 4.8 million yuan to her mother.

The case has ignited vigorous discussion on Chinese social media, with public opinion sharply divided.

One commenter stated: “A daughter should have a duty to care for her mother. If this is the outcome, the mother might as well have hired a nanny.”

Another countered: “Shouldn’t the financial loss from resigning also be taken into account?”

A third wrote: “According to the court’s findings, the mother was also described as a difficult person to get along with, having had little contact with her family.”

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China’s top medical bosses taken to task after doctor abandons surgery to defend mistress

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3322089/chinas-top-medical-bosses-taken-task-after-doctor-abandons-surgery-defend-mistress?utm_source=rss_feed

Several top university and hospital administrators in China have been held accountable after a noted thoracic surgeon left an anaesthetised patient for over half an hour to confront a nurse in defence of his mistress, a junior doctor.

The punishments respond to widespread public anger over the scandal, which broke in April, as well as questions about hospital management, professional ethics, and accountability within China’s medical institutions.

A total of 19 officials from five prestigious institutions had been disciplined, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement on Friday. The measures included severe warnings from the ruling Communist Party, disciplinary penalties, demotions and dismissals, it said.

Party mouthpiece People’s Daily welcomed the move, with a commentary published on Saturday calling the NHC’s handling of the matter “authoritative and serious”.

The investigation and disciplinary measures helped to restore public confidence in the healthcare sector and medical practitioners, it added.

Institutions censured include the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Peking Union Medical College Hospital and the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), which have been ordered to rectify their practices.

The scandal came to light after Xiao Fei, the deputy chief of thoracic surgery at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, was accused by his wife of having a string of affairs within the medical fraternity, including a nurse and a junior doctor, as well as other staff at the Beijing hospital.

In a nine-page open letter on social media, she also said that Xiao had left an anaesthetised patient on the operating table for 40 minutes in July last year while he argued with a senior nurse who had criticised Dong Xiying, a junior doctor who was assisting the surgery and was his lover.

Hospital authorities confirmed the incident after an internal investigation, and said they had decided to fire Xiao and revoke his party membership.

Xiao, 39, told Chinese media at the time that while he had problems in his personal life, his medical ethics remained “flawless”.

Amid the public outcry, scrutiny quickly turned to Dong, as doubts emerged about the legitimacy of her medical credentials.

Dong, who is in her 20s, graduated in economics before transferring to the medical field through PUMC’s pilot “4+4” programme. This enables non-medical graduates to complete a Doctor of Medicine degree and a shortened residency within just four years, in a drive aimed at overcoming barriers to medical education and attracting multidisciplinary talent.

Traditional Chinese medical training typically requires at least 10 years of study and training for a doctor, including three years of residency.

In May, authorities revoked the medical licences of Xiao and Dong. However, public scepticism lingers regarding the trustworthiness of China’s leading hospitals and the fairness and credibility of its medical and educational systems.

The scandal sparked heated debates online, with comments from millions of web users and viral cartoons and memes.

One cartoon that went viral showed a patient on a hospital bed confessing that he had been admitted through nepotism, with the surgeon responding: “Me too”, and several nurses standing by saying the same.

Finally, the virus asks, “Am I the only one who made it here on my own merit?”

Though Dong’s doctoral dissertation dealt with radiology, she could frequently participate in major thoracic surgeries during her residency, and even served as the lead author of several academic reports.

NHC investigators later found that her transcript from USTB was forged, implicating administrators from multiple prestigious universities and hospitals, and exposing systemic loopholes and power-seeking practices.

Friday’s statement said the NHC had ordered PUMC to conduct a comprehensive overhaul of its “4+4” programme, including strengthening the screening of applicants and clinical internship management.

Yet questions continue to hang in the public mind.

“To be honest, such punishments fall far short of a deterrent effect,” wrote one social media user. “If there is such serious academic corruption and nepotism in top-tier institutions and hospitals, how much worse might it be in ordinary ones across the country?”

Shao Xiu, a retired doctor in the southern city of Guangzhou, called the situation “terrifying”.

“So many administrators from premium universities and hospitals could recklessly help an outsider become a thoracic surgeon. Such handling cannot restore public trust,” Shao said.

How Chinese investors quietly transformed Athens – one visa at a time

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3321996/how-chinese-investors-quietly-transformed-athens-one-visa-time?utm_source=rss_feed

China has changed the Greek capital in both visible and less obvious ways.

On the one hand, authentic Chinese restaurants – from spicy hotpot to Cantonese cha chaan teng – have sprung up in central Athens, where many patrons speak the northeastern Chinese dialect and work for China Ocean Shipping Company, an industry giant managing Europe’s fifth-largest port.

On the more discreet side, Chinese buyers have snapped up thousands of flats in a rush to apply for the Greek investor residency scheme, commonly known as the “golden visa”.

In June 2025, nearly 8,000 Chinese citizens – 7,795 to be precise – were first-time members of the scheme, meaning they had not yet reached the five-year mark to renew their permits. That represents 47.8 per cent of all first-time permit holders, making them by far the largest group, according to data from the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

Among the 5,679 people who had renewed their golden visa, 61 per cent were also Chinese citizens, the ministry reported.

When the programme was launched in 2013, it mostly attracted applicants from nearby countries such as Turkey and Russia. But interest from Chinese investors exploded after the pandemic, as many wealthy and middle-class individuals – shaken by Beijing’s stringent lockdown measures towards the end of its zero-Covid policy – sought an escape plan.

Compared to similar programmes in the EU, Greece stood out for its affordability. Before August 2023, residency could be acquired by purchasing a property for as little as €250,000 (US$290,346) in Athens.

In contrast, Portugal’s real estate residency programme cost €500,000 (US$583,709) before it was scrapped in 2023. Greece also offers higher living standards and a stronger local economy than countries like Malta.

At the height of the wave, the way Chinese investors bought properties astonished many locals, with many paying for flats with very little information about the area.

“I don’t know if they understood what they were buying. I think they just bought, you know, they just made the investment and they got the visa,” said Katerina Pitsou, co-owner of Athens’ OPSIS Real Estate.

During property tours with her clients, she observed groups of Chinese investors arriving in minivans with a local agent and sometimes a Chinese translator, often making quick decisions with barely any information about the building or neighbourhood.

“If a French person went into a grocery store, he would look more into what he was buying than a Chinese person buying a flat in Athens back then,” she said.

The trend has had a positive impact on the local economy, stimulating renovations, construction and other sectors, according to Eleni Lazoura, founder of Bnbkeys, an Airbnb agency in the Greek capital.

“I don’t believe locals would have the possibility to contribute that much to the local economy,” she said.

“I even have cases of people who not only renovated their flats, but also the facade or the entrance of the building, which had been a huge issue for us since the economic crisis in Greece because it was very difficult to get people in a building to coordinate to pay for the expenses.”

Lazoura manages about 30 flats owned by Chinese investors and believes the local community benefits, as none of the clients live in the buildings. Instead, the properties are used to host visitors and local renters.

This view is echoed by Pitsou, who considers all foreign investments as beneficial to the Greek economy, whether from China or a European country.

However, the gains have been tempered by fears that locals could be priced out of their own cities. In late 2024, the Greek government took action by raising the minimum investment threshold for golden visa applicants to €800,000 (US$929,000) for Athens and popular islands such as Santorini, Naxos and Paros, and to €400,000 (US$464,000) for the rest of the country, Pitsou said.

Investors mostly chose to buy in Athens before the new regulations took effect. In June 2025, among the 14,931 pending golden visa applications – most of which were filed before the September rule change – more than 80 per cent were registered in the Attica capital region, according to the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

Athens’ flat price index jumped by 16.1 per cent between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2025, climbing from 95 to 110.3, according to the Bank of Greece – though it remains unclear how much of that increase was driven by the influx of Chinese golden visa applicants.

Chinese researchers lodge concerns over US debt as Beijing limits exposure

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3322072/chinese-researchers-lodge-concerns-over-us-debt-beijing-limits-exposure?utm_source=rss_feed

Calls for China to gradually reduce its exposure to US dollar assets are growing louder as Washington’s national debt continues to set records, reigniting persistent worries over the long-term sustainability of an investment formerly considered rock solid.

“Although US Treasuries have not yet reached the default threshold, their expansion is unsustainable,” researchers from the Bank of China wrote in the latest issue of China Money, a publication supervised by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.

With this concern in mind, China has been trimming its US Treasury holdings for three consecutive months, while keeping them roughly unchanged at the US$756 billion level in June, according to data released on Friday by the US Treasury Department. This remains the lowest level since March 2009.

The researchers noted that US economic growth would be unlikely to offset rising debt from persistent budget and trade imbalances, warning that US President Donald Trump’s efforts to narrow the trade deficit could curb global demand for the US dollar and undermine the currency’s international role.

This, they said, would put the country in a “tug-of-war”, oscillating between its economic and monetary priorities.

“Uncertainty over tariff, tax and fiscal reforms, coupled with a potential US dollar credibility crisis and speculation over the Mar-a-Lago Accord, could heighten volatility in the US Treasury market,” they said.

“[We need to] gradually adjust US Treasury holdings and appropriately increase reserves of gold, key resources and strategic materials.”

Concerns over the long-term viability of US debt have grown after the passage of Trump’s signature “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which raised the federal debt ceiling while adding an estimated US$3.4 trillion to the deficit through 2034. The nomination of Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors has also stoked fears over the central bank’s continued independence.

Despite these sources of uncertainty, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg earlier this week that he is thinking about the legacy he wants to leave upon departing the office, of which reasserting the US dollar’s supremacy would be part.

In their article, the Chinese analysts also warned that the share of US Treasuries held by non-bank financial institutions and the private sector is increasing, making them more sensitive to changes in liquidity and risk expectations.

“Any sudden negative shock could trigger chain reactions across markets, asset classes and even countries, exacerbating financial market instability,” they said.

They suggested setting up a cross-market early warning system to curb potential market spillovers and encouraged financial institutions to use derivatives, including yuan options, to hedge currency and interest rate risks.

“[We should] improve the dynamic monitoring of cross-border capital inflows and outflows to prevent ‘hot money’ movements from triggering systemic risks,” the analysts said.

Japan, the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries, added its holdings from US$1,135 billion to US$1,147.6 billion in June, while the holdings of the UK, the second-largest holder, rose from US$809.4 billion to US$858.1 billion.

Groundhog steals tourist’s car keys in China, villagers rally to retrieve them

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3321535/groundhog-steals-tourists-car-keys-china-villagers-rally-retrieve-them?utm_source=rss_feed

A scenic road trip in southwestern China unexpectedly turned into a quirky “treasure hunt” when a tourist’s car keys were snatched by a playful groundhog, prompting an entire village to join in a frantic digging mission to recover them.

The unusual incident took place on August 3 in Genie Town, Litang County, Sichuan province, when a netizen known as “Dog Brother” shared his experience online. He recounted how a groundhog grabbed his keys in its mouth and swiftly darted back into its burrow while he and his friends were exploring the area.

Fang, a female member of the group, explained that they had ventured to a spot near a groundhog burrow, where several of the animals were emerging in search of food. Her child, thrilled by the sight, immediately grabbed some fruit and snacks from the car to feed them.

With plenty of treats to share, they placed the snacks – along with a mobile phone and the car keys – into a single bag nearby while the children entertained themselves feeding the animals.

“To my surprise, while my attention was diverted, a groundhog not only ‘stole’ snacks from the bag but, right before my family’s eyes, dragged the car keys into its burrow,” Fang recalled.

Despite their efforts to retrieve the keys with a stick, they could not reach them, prompting them to seek help from the local villagers.

An online trending video showed how swiftly villagers and local tourism volunteers arrived at the scene, uniting in a “digging holes” and “carpet search” effort to recover the car keys.

“They worked tirelessly to devise methods for retrieving the keys, even calling local herders for help. They experimented with strong magnets, steel wires, and various tools. Eventually, the village head and Party secretary joined the effort,” Fang told China Jiangxi Radio and TV Station.

From 3pm to 7pm, the search persisted without pause until they successfully retrieved the keys from the burrow using a powerful magnet.

This amusing episode followed a similar incident in Litang County the previous month when a groundhog “stole” a sports camera. While feeding groundhogs, a netizen had inadvertently left a DJI Action 4 camera at the entrance of a burrow, only for one of the animals to drag it inside. Unfortunately, the camera was never recovered.

In the aftermath, local authorities cautioned tourists against feeding groundhogs, highlighting potential health risks and the danger of bites leading to infections.

The incident has delighted countless Chinese netizens.

One observer jokingly remarked: “The groundhog is probably in its burrow recording a video: ‘Hey everyone, I just got myself a new car today!’”

Another quipped: “With a sports camera and now car keys, these groundhogs could start their travel vlogs.”

China’s lunar rocket test marks milestone in bringing astronauts to moon

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3322082/chinas-lunar-rocket-test-marks-milestone-bringing-astronauts-moon?utm_source=rss_feed

China has completed a critical test for its moon rocket, moving a step closer to landing astronauts and building a base on the lunar surface.

A full-size first stage of the Long March-10 was fired for about 30 seconds at around 3pm on Friday at the Wenchang spaceport on Hainan Island, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Bolted to the ground, its seven YF-100K engines roared to life together, generating nearly 900 tonnes of thrust.

“The test confirmed the engines could run in sync under both normal and high-power conditions, and yielded a full set of data,” the agency said.

It also marked “another major milestone” in China’s crewed lunar programme, following recent tests of the Mengzhou spacecraft’s emergency escape system and the Lanyue lander’s landing-and-ascent sequence, according to the agency.

Standing 92 metres (302 feet) tall, the Long March-10 will lift off with a total of 21 YF-100K engines – seven on the first stage and seven on each of two boosters – giving it about three times the thrust of the Long March-5, China’s most powerful rocket today.

The superheavy launcher can deliver 27 tonnes to a trans-lunar orbit. Under current plans, two Long March-10 rockets will launch the crewed Mengzhou spacecraft and the Lanyue lander separately, with the two vehicles rendezvousing in lunar orbit ahead of a landing attempt by 2030.

The rocket will also play a key role in building the China-led International Lunar Research Station, or ILRS – a base for scientific research and resource utilisation near the moon’s south pole that China aims to establish with Russia and other partners by 2035.

The Long March-10’s development officially began in 2017, but it draws on decades of Chinese liquid-rocket engine research. An earlier milestone came in June of last year, when three YF-100K first-stage engines were fired together for several minutes.

Guo Wei, the rocket’s deputy chief commander, said Friday’s trial was China’s first static fire test conducted at a space launch site.

“Existing test stands could not handle the enormous loads generated by the rocket’s thrust, so the team used an actual launch pad to stage the nearly 1,000-tonne-thrust trial,” he told China Daily.

The test fully verified the first-stage propulsion module, focusing on multi-engine operation, fault detection and other key technologies. It also evaluated new heat-resistant coatings and structures in the rocket’s design, according to team member Zhu Pingping.

While the Long March-10 is dedicated to crewed lunar missions and is fully expendable, its 10A variant now in development will feature a reusable first stage. Standing 67 metres tall, the Long March-10A will launch the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo ship for China’s Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit.

Taiwan’s residency rule changes amount to ‘attack’ on mainland Chinese spouses

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3321982/taiwans-residency-rule-changes-amount-attack-mainland-chinese-spouses?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwan is overhauling its residency rules to tighten control on mainland Chinese nationals seeking to settle on the island, in an escalating push to counter what it perceives as Beijing’s growing infiltration and influence operations.

The draft amendment covering family-based residency applications drew swift condemnation from Beijing, which accused the administration of Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te of stoking confrontation and suppressing cross-strait exchanges.

The regulatory revision – led by the interior ministry and tied directly to Lai’s 17-point national security strategy – introduces sweeping restrictions on mainland nationals applying to live or settle in Taiwan.

Lai cited escalating threats to the island from Beijing – including identity ambiguity, economic coercion, and military and societal infiltration through cross-strait exchanges – when he announced the strategy in March.

The policy marks one of the sharpest turns in cross-strait residency governance in decades and underscores Lai’s intent to eliminate dual-status ambiguities that he believes may pose security risks.

The proposed amendment requires mainland nationals applying to live in Taiwan to provide notarised proof that they have relinquished their household registration in mainland China.

Applicants must also provide a certificate saying they have never held, no longer possess, or have officially renounced their Chinese passport. If they still hold one, it must be invalidated by cutting off a corner. A sworn affidavit will be acceptable in the absence of certified proof.

Acknowledging that mainland Chinese authorities rarely issue certificates proving someone has not applied for or has renounced a passport, Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said affidavits must be completed truthfully.

“If it’s later discovered that someone used a Chinese passport after submitting an affidavit, that would affect their residency status,” he said.

According to the Taiwanese authorities, the measures are necessary to “close off legal loopholes” that could be exploited by Beijing’s “united front” operatives, who may use their dual identities to work against Taiwan’s interests.

“The amendment is in line with the 17-point strategies introduced by the president on March 13 to address five major national security and united front threats posed by China,” the interior ministry said in a public notice issued late last month.

The policy aims to prevent situations in which individuals who have deregistered from household rolls in mainland China continue to apply for or hold Chinese passports, leading to “confusion over identity across the Taiwan Strait”, the ministry added.

New rules governing residency for mainland Chinese nationals with relatives in Taiwan would also be implemented soon, it said.

Chen Yu-jen, a legislator from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), said the policy violated the constitution. She also accused the Lai administration of “fixating on Taiwan independence” instead of acting in the island’s best interests.

“The constitution clearly establishes the framework of ‘one China, two areas’. This is a discriminatory move,” she said.

Lin Kuo-cheng, a lawmaker from the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, warned against creating the impression that the policy targets mainland Chinese nationals married to Taiwanese citizens.

“Don’t let personal ideology undermine the most basic human rights. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government must be prudent in handling issues like this,” he said.

DPP legislative caucus whip Wu Szu-yao said the amendment would enhance oversight based on “national security needs” and address long-standing legal ambiguities. “Once the rules are clear, Chinese nationals in Taiwan will know what to expect,” she added.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a cabinet official said the new rules were necessary to safeguard the island’s security and identity. “Taiwan is not just managing immigration – it’s defending its national identity,” the official said.

“This is about drawing a clear line between who can legitimately become part of this democratic society and who might be acting as a back door channel for the Communist Party.”

In Beijing on Wednesday, Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said the rule change was “another malicious act by the DPP targeting cross-strait marriages and seriously harms the well-being of people on both sides”.

Zhu also warned that the requirement to deface passports constituted an offence under Chinese law.

“Chinese passports are protected by law, and no individual or organisation is allowed to forge, alter, damage, or confiscate them. Those who intentionally destroy Chinese passports will be held legally accountable,” Zhu said.

In response, Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council said: “We will act in accordance with our own laws.”

Legal experts and academics in Taiwan have expressed concern that the policy may be relying on flawed or inadequate indicators of loyalty.

Taipei-based lawyer Chou Yu-hsiu questioned the effectiveness of using deregistration certificates as a measure of allegiance. “It doesn’t actually reflect someone’s loyalty to Taiwan,” he said.

“Ironically, the policy affects people who came to Taiwan as babies and grew up here.”

Under the amendment, they also must provide proof that they do not possess household registration or a passport from mainland China.

Liao Yuan-hao, a law professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei, argued that real infiltration threats should be dealt with through criminal investigation, not blanket restrictions on cross-strait marriages.

“If someone is really coming under Beijing’s orders to steal secrets or disrupt order, of course that should be prosecuted. But that has nothing to do with innocent mainland Chinese spouses,” he said.

“Those who apply for household registration here give up their mainland status to become Taiwanese. If a cross-strait conflict breaks out, they’ll suffer the consequences like everyone else in Taiwan.”

The government now defines “place of origin” as encompassing both mainland household registration and passport status – a move aligned with Lai’s broader approach to resist mainland influence and assert Taiwan’s distinct legal framework, analysts said.

According to Ho Chih-yung, a professor at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University, the amendment is in line with Lai’s policy of distancing the island from the mainland, treating it “as a foreign hostile force”.

While Ho agreed that Taiwan should counter Beijing’s infiltration and influence operations, he cautioned against overreach. “We should not demonise everything and treat everyone as a communist spy or collaborator,” he said.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary and has increased military activity near the island since Lai – whom it describes as a separatist and a troublemaker – took office in May last year.

Beijing has found some of Lai’s comments highly provocative, including his description of the mainland as a “foreign hostile force” and a statement that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were “not subordinate to each other”.

Most countries – including Taiwan’s main international backer, the US – do not recognise the island as an independent state. However, Washington opposes any attempt to seize it by force and is legally bound to supply Taipei with defensive weapons.

Nvidia’s efforts to please both US and China get harder as H20 becomes bargaining chip

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3322047/nvidias-efforts-please-both-us-and-china-get-harder-h20-becomes-bargaining-chip?utm_source=rss_feed

On his visit to Beijing in July, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang received a rock-star welcome as he announced to Chinese state media that Washington had assured the company that export licences for its H20 chips would soon be granted.

Warmly greeted by Chinese entrepreneurs and government officials, Huang – who wore a Tang suit and addressed the audience with his rusty Mandarin at the state-backed China International Supply Chain Expo – earned national fame overnight.

Just two weeks after Huang concluded his third visit to China this year, the company saw its fortunes take a dramatic turn.

On July 31, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it had summoned Nvidia executives to question them about the security of its H20 chips. The powerful regulator said the inquiry was partly due to US lawmakers demanding the installation of tracking features into chips for export.

That led to a back-and-forth between Nvidia defending the integrity of its chips and intensified pressure from state media for the company to demonstrate its security credentials.

While Beijing has yet to provide evidence of any “back doors” in Nvidia’s products or issue any official ban, it has become politically sensitive for Chinese companies to procure any of the US firm’s products, according to local media and industry insiders.

Nvidia’s situation in China serves as a cautionary tale for any global technology giant attempting to navigate the increasingly complex mainland tech market amid dwindling trust between Beijing and Washington.

The US chip designer “has a long way to go to rebuild its credibility through compliance and transparency” in China, said Wang Peng, a researcher at state-backed think tank Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

US tech companies, from Apple to Cisco Systems, had also faced scrutiny and accusations of implementing “back doors” in their products, which have eroded user trust in American hardware, he said.

A Shanghai-based semiconductor company executive, who declined to be named, said his firm had already secured several new clients for its artificial intelligence chips after the recent controversy surrounding the H20.

While most clients still retained some Nvidia processors in their data centres, many had begun using more domestic chips, particularly for AI inference tasks, to cut costs and mitigate geopolitical risks, he said.

Before the CAC’s inquiry, China’s procurement ratio for foreign AI chips – mostly from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – was projected to increase about 49 per cent, up from a previous estimate of 42 per cent, according to market research firm TrendForce.

China’s mistrust of Nvidia is part of a broader scrutiny of American technologies and components, as Washington seeks to contain technological advancements in the world’s second-largest economy over concerns that US core tech will help modernise the Chinese military.

The fate of the H20 “depends on a lot more than just Nvidia itself”, said Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. That would hinge on both the technological competitiveness of Chinese chips versus Nvidia’s and the evolving nature of US export controls, he said.

Nvidia also faced challenges in Washington. Although the Trump administration now permits Nvidia and AMD to sell certain AI chips to China, the licences were granted on the condition that each company would contribute 15 per cent of the sales revenue to the US government.

“H20 is becoming a bargaining chip between China and the US on tariffs,” investment bank Jefferies said in a research note this week. The trade truce between the US and China was recently extended for another 90 days, giving both sides more time for negotiations. But it also meant no consensus had been reached on critical issues, suggesting that more tit-for-tat actions were likely, analysts said.

Nvidia has had a presence in China for more than two decades, initially selling through distributors like Hong Kong-based Atlantic Semiconductor and partnering with “add-in card” makers – licensed manufacturers, such as Galax, Asus and Colorful, which develop graphics cards using Nvidia’s chips. That allowed the US chipmaker to secure an early foothold in China’s burgeoning internet industry.

The company opened its Shanghai office in 2004 and established another in Shenzhen in 2005. In the same year, Nvidia set up a representative office in Beijing, with Huang pledging to “play a significant role in the community”, according to a company press release at the time.

For much of its history, Nvidia has focused on selling graphics cards to video gamers, remaining largely apolitical. Huang was born in Taiwan, where he has earned the affectionate nickname “Old Huang”.

Before Washington imposed restrictions on Nvidia’s exports to China, the company’s products were integral to key infrastructure supporting China’s tech giants, making the country one of its most important markets. At its peak, in the financial year ending January 2022, China accounted for 26 per cent of Nvidia’s total revenue.

In 2022, the US imposed sweeping regulations restricting China’s access to advanced semiconductors and manufacturing technology, targeting AI development in particular.

Nvidia quickly developed compliant versions of its chips for the Chinese market – the A800 and H800, which were downgraded versions of its A100 and H100 AI processors. These chips remain highly valuable: Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek, for example, used 2,048 Nvidia H800 GPUs to train its V2 model, released last December.

In 2023, the US tightened AI chip controls, prompting Nvidia to create the H20 in 2024. Based on the company’s Hopper architecture, the H20 is the most advanced AI chip offered by Nvidia to Chinese clients that complied with US export regulations.

Nvidia’s early lead over its competitors and the popularity of its Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) toolkit ensure that H20 chips remain the default choice for many AI model training tasks in China.

“DeepSeek has offered hope for China’s large language model sector,” said Fei Zhichao, a semiconductor analyst at Longbridge Securities. “But semiconductors are the bedrock of AI progress … from a purely market-driven perspective, China’s internet giants still prefer Nvidia’s H20.”

In its financial year ended in January 2025, Nvidia’s revenue from China reached a record US$17.1 billion, despite ongoing export controls. That was driven by orders from major companies like ByteDance, Tencent Holdings and Post owner Alibaba Group Holding. However, China’s share of Nvidia’s total revenue fell to just 13 per cent.

In April, the US Commerce Department abruptly barred H20 sales, citing national and economic security concerns. Nvidia said at the time that this ban would result in US$5.5 billion in charges owing to inventory write-offs and lost sales, although it later said the actual charges were US$1 billion less than expected because it could reuse some materials.

In the quarter ending April 27, Nvidia’s revenue from China was US$5.5 billion, accounting for 12.5 per cent of its total revenue – slightly lower than the previous quarter.

For Nvidia, currently the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalisation of US$4.4 trillion, losing access to China – even temporarily – could allow competitors, particularly US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies, to gain a stronger foothold in the market.

Huawei, meanwhile, is central to China’s efforts to develop a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain and AI hardware ecosystem.

The company’s 80-year-old founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei acknowledged that Huawei’s Ascend chips still lagged behind their US counterparts “by a generation”, but said state-of-the-art performance could still be achieved through techniques like stacking and clustering.

Huawei appears to be accelerating its efforts to build a complete AI hardware stack with the implicit goal of replacing Nvidia in China.

It has launched its CloudMatrix 384 computer system and open-sourced its Compute Architecture for Neural Networks tool kits – direct competitors to Nvidia’s CUDA. It has also introduced the Unified Cache Manager, an algorithm aimed at reducing reliance on expensive high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips.

Many Chinese companies have responded to Beijing’s call to develop their own graphics processing units (GPUs) or neural processing units for AI computing, driven by both commercial interests and political motivations.

AI chip designer Cambricon Technologies has seen its stock price triple in Shanghai over the past year, closing at 923.70 yuan on Friday. It is part of a coalition of Chinese AI firms advocating for the adoption of locally developed chips, along with StepFun, Infinigence AI, SiliconFlow, Biren Technology, Enflame, Iluvatar Corex, Biren and Moore Threads.

Chinese AI model developers have also started highlighting their exclusive use of domestic chips.

iFlyTek, a voice-recognition company that develops foundation AI models, said in April that its Xinghuo X1 reasoning model was entirely trained using Huawei’s computing solutions. Founder and chairman Liu Qingfeng said that state-owned enterprises and critical industries in China would prefer “self-reliant and controllable” large AI models.

iFlyTek has been under US trade sanctions since 2019.

Zhou Hongyi, co-founder and chairman of cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360, has said his company preferred buying Huawei chips to support the local industry. Qihoo 360 was added to the US Entity List in 2020, effectively barring it from purchasing US technology.

Beijing’s mistrust of Nvidia was likely to benefit domestic chip providers, as clients in sensitive sectors like finance, telecommunications and energy may increase their budgets for acquiring locally produced chips, according to Wang from the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

Meanwhile, US export control policy remains in flux, as Washington strives to balance national security concerns with the commercial interests of domestic chipmakers.

The aim is to target technologies just beyond China’s current capabilities while ensuring American firms maintain a generational lead, according to a US-based tech lawyer, who declined to named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Beijing’s recent scrutiny of Nvidia’s H20 chips stemmed from Beijing’s desire to enhance its bargaining power, the lawyer said. US President Donald Trump hinted earlier this week that Washington may also approve a scaled-down version of Nvidia’s more powerful Blackwell-based GPU for shipments to China.

“There’s a very interesting dynamic emerging,” said Lee from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The future of the H20 in China “depends not only on technological advancements … but also on evolving policy”.

Regardless of Beijing’s ultimate decision on the H20, Chinese AI developers are determined to work together to reduce dependence on Nvidia.

Suanova, a start-up founded in 2023, has set up three full-stack AI computing centres in Shanghai and Hong Kong. It is taking part in the Shanghai Cube project, a high-density computing initiative involving several domestic companies and institutions, including MetaX, Infinigence AI, electronics contract manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry and Fudan University.

“The overall share of domestically produced computing power remains very low, likely even below 10 per cent,” said Suanova CEO Chen Daliang. “The primary reasons are the market’s lack of confidence in new domestic products and the absence of a company in China that can rival Nvidia in offering comprehensive, full-stack solutions.”

“What China needs most now is unity – and that’s what we are good at,” he said.

China toddler wows social media with gymnastics skills, swinging on bars while in nappies

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3321524/china-toddler-wows-social-media-gymnastics-skills-swinging-bars-while-nappies?utm_source=rss_feed

A toddler from southeastern China has become an internet sensation after viral videos showcasing his extraordinary gymnastics skills – effortlessly mastering the horizontal bar, parallel bars, and rings.

The remarkable feats of this three-year-old have earned him the nickname “natural gymnast,” sparking widespread amazement and discussion among mainland netizens.

The boy, whose name has not been disclosed, hails from Taizhou in Zhejiang province and has demonstrated an uncanny ability to support his weight and climb since a very young age.

His mother, surnamed Xu, shared that he has been lively and energetic since birth; even before turning two, he could sway effortlessly while holding onto the armrests of a chair.

Concerned for his safety yet recognising his innate talent, his parents decided to purchase a set of children’s parallel bars online. To their astonishment, he quickly mastered the equipment.

Encouraged by his progress, the family later added rings and a horizontal bar to their home, where the boy now practises daily, showcasing impressive coordination and flexibility.

“Now, he spends time on them every day. It’s a fantastic way to exercise at home,” Xu told Pioneer News.

“And his arms are incredibly strong – it really hurts when he playfully hits me,” she added.

Video footage captures him confidently performing on the horizontal bar, parallel bars, and rings – essential apparatus for developing well-rounded gymnastics skills and highlighting his exceptional strength and coordination.

In one clip, the boy, clad only in a nappy, effortlessly supports himself on the parallel bars while his family assists him in putting on his trousers.

Once dressed, he transitions seamlessly into a suspended “bicycle” movement, pedalling his legs in the air without showing any signs of fatigue.

Another trending clip reveals him gripping the rings firmly with both hands, arching his body backwards, tucking his legs, and swinging them back and forth with remarkable fluidity – leaving viewers in awe.

Even on the simple ring set at home, he can hang and swing with ease or hook his feet onto the rings for added agility.

The videos have attracted significant attention online, with many Chinese netizens expressing disbelief and amusement at the boy’s natural talent.

One viewer praised: “This child is truly gifted; early training is essential.”

Another joked: “I wonder which gymnastics champion he’s reincarnated from!”

A third quipped: “Someone better let the national gymnastics team know about this!”

While a fourth commented: “Confirmed, he possesses a natural gymnast’s body. Incredible! A nappy-wearing gymnastics prodigy – please train him well, and he’ll one day bring glory to the country.”

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Chinese start-up joins NetDragon-owned Cherrypicks to push AI solutions overseas

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3322029/chinese-start-joins-netdragon-owned-cherrypicks-push-ai-solutions-overseas?utm_source=rss_feed

An AI start-up backed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Automation seeks to promote its artificial intelligence offerings outside the mainland under a strategic partnership with Cherrypicks, the firm behind Hong Kong’s Covid-19 tracking app.

Beijing-based Zhongke WengAI, whose services are used by various Chinese ministries and state media outlets, will also jointly develop with Cherrypicks – owned by Hong Kong-listed NetDragon Websoft – enterprise AI solutions for industries such as finance and healthcare, the partners said in a statement on Friday.

This collaboration “exemplifies the convergence of China’s AI ‘go-global’ strategy with Hong Kong’s innovation strengths”, said Simon Leung Lim-kin, vice-chairman at NetDragon.

He also pointed out that the strategic partnership would help “further cement Hong Kong’s position as an international innovation hub”.

Shares of NetDragon closed unchanged at HK$11.61 on Friday.

The partnership reflects efforts by Chinese AI firms to expand the reach of their operations beyond the mainland, while bolstering Hong Kong’s campaign to reposition itself as an international innovation and technology hub.

Zhongke WengAI founder and chairman Waley Wang, said: “China needs to promote its AI technology not only in the domestic market, but also overseas.”

The company has served more than 1,000 mainland enterprise and government clients, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its state media clients include Xinhua News Agency and the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

By comparison, Cherrypicks has been focused on innovative technologies such as e‐wallets and smart location services. Its enterprise clients include MTR Corp and HSBC.

Established in 1999, Cherrypicks specialises in smart city technologies through digital transformation, location intelligence, fintech and enterprise blockchain solutions.

Wang said Zhongke WengAI will not only bring its advanced technology to Hong Kong, but also some capital to support its venture with Cherrypicks. “We can contribute to the future of AI in Hong Kong,” he said.