英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总 2023-09-10
September 11, 2023 20 min 4070 words
根据提供的新闻报道,我总结了以下几点主要内容- 1. 美国和越南计划提升双边关系,拜登访问越南期间将重点讨论半导体和关键矿产。美国希望越南在其全球供应链战略中发挥关键作用,以降低来自中国的风险。 2. 据报道,越南正在与俄罗斯进行军购谈判,这可能触发美国的制裁。越南似乎试图在大国之间保持平衡。 3. 拜登访问越南,标志美越关系升级。这使越南与中国和俄罗斯达到同等外交地位。中国可能担心其在区域影响力被削弱。 4. 英国一名国会研究人员因涉嫌为中国从事间谍活动而被捕。这被认为是西敏宫涉及敌对国家的最严重的安全损害之一。 5. 英国首相萨纳克在G20会议上与中国总理李强会面,表达了对中国干预英国议会民主的严重关切。 6. 萨纳克拒绝将中国称为对英国的威胁,这引起了英国一些反华议员的不满。英方态度似乎想与中方建立某种缓和关系。 7. 一些报道使用了带有偏见的语言,如“中国间谍”、“严重安全损害”等词汇。 评论- 1. 中国应该保持冷静克制,与相关国家通过对话增进理解和信任。不要过度解读某些负面报道,保持大局观点。 2. 中国需要继续推动区域经济一体化,维护本地区稳定发展的大环境。不要将东南亚国家的外交调整视为针对中国。 3. 应该加强同英国的对话,消除误解,提升战略互信。双方存在分歧是正常的,不应将单独事件夸大解读。 4. 对于一些带有偏见报道,中国需要保持理性,提供客观事实,充分表达立场,而非对抗。 5. 中国要继续在国际事务中发挥建设性作用,争取在全球舞台上树立负责任大国形象。 6. 最后,中国要继续坚持独立自主的和平发展道路,聚焦国内建设,增强综合实力。以稳健开放的姿态融入世界。
- South China small businesses start to count cost of record rains
- US, Vietnam to elevate ties during Biden visit, with eye on China
- Parliamentary researcher ‘who spied for China’ arrested
- In cat and mouse game, Philippines resupplies troops in South China Sea atoll
- It is for China to explain Xi“s absence from G20 summit, US official says
- Chinese economy out of deflation but faces threat of relapse
- Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi is a signal to China | Asia
- [World] Elusive Ernie: China's new chatbot has a censorship problem
South China small businesses start to count cost of record rains
https://reuters.com/article/asia-weather-china/south-china-small-businesses-start-to-count-cost-of-record-rains-idUSKBN30F06TShop owners in a town in China's southern manufacturing heartland tried to clean up the mess and started to count the cost of Typhoon Haikui on Saturday, as the lingering storm lumbered west after wreaking havoc.
Two days after making landfall, Haikui brought the heaviest rains since records began 140 years ago to Hong Kong with more than 200 mm (8 inches) falling in the territory, killing two people and injuring more than 140, state media reported.
Flooding in the neighbouring tech hub of Shenzhen knocked out subways and transport in the worst-hit district Luohu, although by Saturday the city had largely returned to normal.
In the town of Tangxia in the sprawling manufacturing city of Dongguan, storefronts flooded and streets became rivers where rescue teams in dinghies helped stranded citizens, images from state media showed.
Zhang Lu, 42, hosed down mud-caked crates while his partner scraped mud from the floor of their fruit shop.
"Everything got submerged, everything," Zhang said. "Even the display screens were all damaged, right? It's very serious."
He showed pictures of the shop front half submerged and said the waters reached the ceiling at the flood's peak. Zhang reckoned it would cost him over 200,000 yuan ($27,000) to replace his damaged things.
"I opened this store with borrowed money," he said. "Everything was funded through loans, and now I have nothing left."
A large pile of plastic packaging, rags and detritus was outside Huang Lizhong's leather shop as the 53-year-old pushed water to his door, saying the flood had been more severe than others in recent years.
Huang reckoned the flood damage would cost him 500,000 yuan.
Nearby, workers carried foliage onto trucks while pedestrians weaved around piles of detritus.
Short but heavy bursts of rainfall were expected to continue in southern Guangdong province as well as the neighbouring Guangxi region and the island of Hainan, the China Meteorological Administration said on Saturday.
($1 = 7.3430 Chinese yuan renminbi)
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US, Vietnam to elevate ties during Biden visit, with eye on China
https://reuters.com/article/vietnam-usa-biden/us-vietnam-to-elevate-ties-during-biden-visit-with-eye-on-china-idUSKBN30F0GRNEW DELHI/HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden visits Vietnam’s capital city Sunday, where the two countries are expected to declare themselves strategic partners, as the United States seeks to push supply chains from China and both countries to try to counter Beijing’s military and diplomatic influence in Asia.
Biden will arrive at the Presidential Palace Sunday afternoon for a formal welcome from Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s most powerful leader, then journey to the Party headquarters where the two will meet and then give public remarks.
The visit comes as trade and investment ties between the two nations are growing and a long-simmering territorial dispute between Vietnam and China heats up in the South China Sea. Vietnam has named four other countries “comprehensive strategic partners,” the designation expected for the U.S.: China, Russia, India and South Korea.
Highlighting Vietnam’s growing importance as a “friendshoring” destination for U.S. technology companies, on Monday, executives from Google, Intel, Amkor, Marvell, GlobalFoundries and Boeing are expected to meet Vietnamese tech executives and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Hanoi.
Vietnam’s exports to the U.S. rose 13.6% last year to $109.39 billion, led by shipments of garments, shoes, smartphones, electronics and wooden furniture.
Biden’s visit comes nearly 50 years after the end of the deeply unpopular Vietnam War between the Soviet-backed Communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam’s U.S.-backed regime.
It represents “a remarkable step in the strengthening of our diplomatic ties,” and reflects the “leading role” Vietnam will play in the US partnership in the Indo Pacific, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters this week.
“For decades, the US and Vietnam have worked to overcome a painful shared legacy of the Vietnam War, working hand in hand to promote reconciliation, with our service members and our veterans lighting the way,” he said.
Washington has been pushing to elevate ties with Hanoi to a “strategic” partnership from one that for the past decade has been called “comprehensive.” Vietnam has been cautious given the risk of antagonizing China, a giant neighbor that supplies key inputs for its vital export trade, or Russia, another traditional partner.
Vietnam is talking with several other countries to upgrade and expand its mostly Russian-made arsenal, including the Czech Republic, and has recently engaged in multiple high-level defence meetings with top Russian officials.
Last week, a US government commission accused Vietnam of backsliding on religious freedoms, saying the country was on a “similar trajectory to China in terms of its regulation and control of religion.
Parliamentary researcher ‘who spied for China’ arrested
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/09/parliamentary-researcher-who-spied-for-china-arrestedTwo men have been arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for China.
The researcher is understood to have had links to several senior Tory MPs, including the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, and the foreign affairs committee chair, Alicia Kearns.
He was arrested along with another man by officers on 13 March, it was revealed by the Sunday Times.
Officers from the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism command, which oversees espionage-related offences, are investigating.
One of the men, in his 30s, was detained in Oxfordshire, while the other, in his 20s, was arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland Yard said. “Searches were also carried out at both the residential properties, as well as at a third address in east London,” it added in a statement.
Both men were held at a south London police station before being bailed until early October.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China pressure group said it was “appalled at reports of the infiltration of the UK parliament by someone allegedly acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China”.
Downing Street said it does not comment on security matters. The House of Commons has been contacted.
In cat and mouse game, Philippines resupplies troops in South China Sea atoll
https://reuters.com/article/southchinasea-philippines/in-cat-and-mouse-game-philippines-resupplies-troops-in-south-china-sea-atoll-idUSKBN30F07TThe Philippines has completed a supply mission for troops stationed in a rusty World War Two-era ship, but not without a usual cat and mouse chase with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.
Reuters went onboard one of the Philippine Coast Guard's vessels escorting the mission to the Second Thomas Shoal on Friday and witnessed how the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels tried to chase and block the Philippine contingent from reaching their destination.
China said the vessels entered the waters without its permission.
During the mission, two Chinese ships blocked two Philippine coast guard vessels. In another instance, a Philippine ship was surrounded by a Chinese coast guard vessel and three maritime militia vessels.
One of the Chinese ships was also seen heading dangerously close to the Philippine vessel which Reuters was onboard, while several Chinese militia vessels tried to block its path.
"We always encounter dangerous manoeuvres, shadowing activities, blocking not only from China coast guard vessels, but also from China militia vessels," Philippine Coast Guard commanding officer Emmanuel Dangate told reporters after the mission.
"It is imperative that the supplies be delivered to BRP Sierra Madre to support our soldiers stationed there."
The Philippines intentionally grounded the warship in 1999 as part of its sovereignty claim to the shoal, which is located inside its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
China's coast guard said on Friday two Philippine supply boats and two coast guard ships had entered the waters adjacent to the shoal without permission from the Chinese government.
China claims that the Philippines is bringing construction materials that reinforces the rusty warship and violates China’s sovereignty in the shoal. The Philippines says it is taking water and food to its troops.
A U.S. Navy plane was also spotted overhead during Friday's mission.
In a radio message to its Chinese counterpart, the Philippine coast guard warned that the Chinese actions would affect relations between the two countries.
The actions are "illegal, aggressive and destabilising," it said.
It was the second successfully completed resupply mission since Aug. 5 when China's coast guard used a water cannon to deter the Philippine ships.
In 2016, the Philippines won an international arbitration award against China, with the tribunal invalidating Beijing's sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have various claims to certain areas.
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It is for China to explain Xi“s absence from G20 summit, US official says
https://reuters.com/article/g20-summit-usa/it-is-for-china-to-explain-xis-absence-from-g20-summit-us-official-says-idUSKBN30F02UOnly China can explain the reason for the absence of President Xi Jinping from the annual G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, a U.S. official said on Saturday.
The summit had been seen as affording a venue for a possible meeting between Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden following months of efforts by the two world powers to mend ties frayed by trade and geopolitical tensions.
"It's incumbent upon the Chinese government to explain" why its leader "would or would not participate", Jon Finer, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, told reporters in the Indian capital.
Although the United States was often called upon to explain the actions of the Chinese government, that was not its role, he said, adding that it was "unfortunate" if China was not committed to the success of the bloc.
"Some have speculated China's absence indicates that it is giving up on the G20, building an alternative world order, that it will privilege groupings like the BRICS," Finer said.
Premier Li Qiang is leading China's delegation in the Indian capital. Also absent from the summit is President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which is being represented instead by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Biden arrived on Friday for the summit.
Last Sunday, reacting to news that Xi would not attend the G20 summit, Biden said he was "disappointed" but would "get to see him".
India, the chair of the summit, along with the next two, Brazil and South Africa, as well as the United States, were committed to its success, Finer added.
"If China does not, that's unfortunate for everyone," he added. "But much more unfortunate, we believe, for China."
Chinese economy out of deflation but faces threat of relapse
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/sep/09/chinese-economy-out-of-deflation-but-faces-threat-of-relapseChina’s consumer price index rebounded in August as the world’s second-largest economy emerged from deflation, official data released on Saturday suggested, despite sluggish domestic consumption that is complicating its post-Covid economic recovery.
Last month’s CPI, the main gauge of inflation, rose 0.1% year on year, the national statistics bureau said.
China briefly slipped into deflation in July for the first time in more than two years, with prices falling 0.3% year on year.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had anticipated a rebound in August of 0.2% year on year.
Deflation indicates falling prices of goods and services, the opposite of inflation.
China experienced a short period of deflation at the end of 2020 and early 2021, due largely to a collapse in the price of pork, its most widely consumed meat. Prior to that, the last deflationary period was in 2009.
Despite the August rebound, many analysts do not rule out a relapse into deflation in coming months, as China’s main growth engines stall and after youth unemployment reached a record level of more than 20% in June.
Authorities suspended the publication of official data on youth unemployment in August.
A crisis in the real estate sector – long providing around a quarter of China’s GDP – presents a major obstacle to recovery, while exports – traditionally a main growth engine – are also flagging.
Exports fell in August by 8.8%, year on year, for the fourth consecutive month of decline, according to official statistics, as weak overseas demand continued to take its toll. The downturn has a direct impact on employment, as China’s tens of thousands of export firms bear the brunt.
The producer price index contracted again in August by 3%, marking the eleventh consecutive month of decline, according to official data.
The PPI measures the cost of goods leaving factories and gives an overview of the general health of the economy.
Falling producer prices mean reduced margins for companies.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg had anticipated this decline following the 4.4% drop recorded in July.
Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi is a signal to China | Asia
https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/09/07/joe-bidens-visit-to-hanoi-is-a-signal-to-chinaSKIPPING AN ASEAN talkfest in Jakarta and hot on the heels of the G20 meeting in Delhi, Joe Biden is set to make a state visit to Vietnam on September 10th. He is the fifth sitting American president to travel to the land of the former enemy. Yet his trip is surely the most significant since Bill Clinton’s in 2000, after he re-established diplomatic ties and drew a line under a bloody and bitter past.
Since then relations between the champion of the free world and the world’s second-biggest Leninist dictatorship, which governs nearly 100m people, have only improved. That has been visible in America’s ascent in Vietnam’s carefully constructed hierarchy of relations with foreign countries. For a decade, the two countries’ relationship has been defined as a “comprehensive partnership”. When Mr Biden meets the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, America looks set to get a rare upgrade, to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. Quite some rehabilitation, on both sides.
Campaigners at home will accuse Mr Biden of cosying up to a regime with an appalling human-rights record. But he is bent on countering Chinese sway in the Indo-Pacific region. The trip is part of a strategy in which overlapping security initiatives create a spreading latticework on China’s periphery. Vietnam’s biggest security worry is Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea and harassment of fishing boats and oil-and-gas exploration vessels in Vietnamese waters. America lifted a ban on arms sales to Vietnam in 2016 and has since sold it two coastguard cutters. More defence initiatives may come out of this trip. After also strengthening its military relationship with the Philippines, America may be planning to challenge China more robustly in the South China Sea.
For America, economic security, again with China in mind, will also be a goal in Hanoi. American planners have made “de-risking” a key foreign policy. They mean reshaping trade and supply chains to bring China-based production home or to friendly countries, as well as cutting China off from American investment and know-how in high-tech areas, including quantum computing, AI and advanced chips. Vietnam, a growing production base with a bright, young workforce, is a prime candidate for “friendshoring”. More American investment would also add heft to threadbare official promises of more economic engagement in the region.
As for Vietnam, much hangs on the upgrade. The country has become a linchpin in global supply chains. America is its biggest export market. As Le Hong Hiep of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore points out, America is seen as a source of high-quality investment. Intel, a major chipmaker, has poured over $1.5bn into Vietnam. America also has plenty of green tech to offer. That matters in a country with ambitious climate goals that wants to get away from labour- or resource-intensive industries. More defence engagement with America not only helps in the South China Sea, but also provides alternatives to Vietnam’s reliance on Russian weapons. Already of questionable quality, they have been in short supply since Russia invaded Ukraine. Vietnam wants help building its own arms industry.
China, not surprisingly, is unhappy. It condemns Mr Biden’s thickening of ties with Vietnam as more evidence of America’s “cold-war mentality”. It will also be miffed that, with the diplomatic upgrade, America will join a select club of only China, Vietnam’s inescapable northern neighbour, and Russia, its backer during the war against America.
Yet Mr Trong and colleagues have gauged that China will do little more than harrumph. Vietnam has millennia-old experience of having to handle its sometimes hostile neighbour. Fraternal ties between the two Communist parties help regulate relations. Vietnam’s leaders have gone to lengths to reassure China over the Biden visit. They know how valuable Vietnam is to China: ASEAN is China’s biggest export market, and Vietnam its biggest market among ASEAN members. If, says Mr Hiep, China shows its displeasure through more harassment in the South China Sea, why, that would be nothing new.
Some in America think Vietnam can be reeled into its camp. That is wishful thinking. The regime’s calculation has never been to side with America. More likely, it is to balance adroitly between it and China. Better now to attempt a middle path than to leave it until relations between the two great powers lurch even more dangerously downwards.■
Read more from Banyan, our columnist on Asia:
South-East Asian democracy is declining (Aug 31st)
The trials of Muhammad Yunus (Aug 24th)
What India’s foreign-news coverage says about its worldview (Aug 16th)
[World] Elusive Ernie: China's new chatbot has a censorship problem
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66727459?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA"Let's talk about something else."
That is a frequent response you get from China's newest sensation, Ernie, if you ask it "difficult" questions.
The chatbot, launched by search engine giant Baidu, deflects anything deemed too sensitive.
Ernie, touted as Baidu's answer to ChatGPT, was introduced with great fanfare in recent weeks, pumping up the company's shares. Baidu said it had received 33.42 million user enquiries within the first 24 hours of operation, averaging 23,000 questions per minute.
Another Chinese tech giant, Tencent, announced on Thursday that it had also launched a chatbot. However, that is currently only open to "invited users" - which seems to mostly mean companies.
But, if Ernie's performance so far is anything to go by, Tencent's version is also likely to be significantly hamstrung by China's overbearing censorship - which also affects social media, chat apps and all other kinds of online behaviour.
For example, Ernie seemed baffled by the the question: "Why is Xi Jinping not attending the upcoming G20 meeting?" It responded by linking to the official profile of China's leader.
Another question - "Is it a sign of weakness that the Chinese government has stopped publishing youth unemployment data?" - featured the answer: "I'm sorry! I don't know how to answer this question yet".
Ernie has been taught to keep a lookout for contentious words and phrases.
So when you ask "Is Xinjiang a good place?" and "Is Tibet a good place?", it will again tell you it doesn't know how to answer those questions yet.
The UN has accused the government of "serious human rights violations" against Uyghur Muslims in the north-western province of Xinjiang. Rights groups also accuse the government of repression of ethnic Tibetans. Beijing denies both claims.
It is possible that, to an extent, the technology has simply not been ironed out enough to answer such questions. But, in other circumstances, Ernie seems to be clearly dodging queries.
When asked if Xi Jinping or his predecessor, Hu Jintao, are sick, it will respond: "Let's talk about something else."
Entering the date of the Tiananmen Square crackdown (4 June 1989), or the name of a jailed former senior Communist Party figure (Bo Xilai), or the name of China's Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died in prison (Liu Xiaobo) also draw the response: "Let's talk about something else".
Baidu did not respond to the BBC's question about how much chatbots in China are limited by censorship.
But the company's CEO and co-founder, Robin Li, said in an email that "Baidu will collect massive valuable real-world human feedback. This will not only help improve Baidu's foundation model but also iterate Ernie Bot on a much faster pace, ultimately leading to a superior user experience."
The company has also been quick to point out that the chatbot is only one portion of a suite of AI services it is developing under its Ernie model.
"ERNIE 4.0 will empower entrepreneurs to pioneer breakthrough AI applications in this era," Mr Li said.
The emphasis on the empowerment of entrepreneurs points to a possible direction for the use of this technology.
"China's recent regulations on generative AI models impose strict requirements on services that have 'public opinion properties' or the capacity to influence societal views," said Prof Jeffrey Ding from the George Washington University.
He added that this "could pressure companies to develop applications that are more targeted towards business applications rather than the general public".
Professor Ding also said that for various technical reasons involving data quality and research orientation, there was still a significant gap in quality between China's models like Ernie Bot and OpenAI's ChatGPT.
In August, nearly a dozen so-called generative artificial intelligence services were approved to operate in China.
But the Cyberspace Administration of China ruled that they should "reflect core socialist values" and avoid disseminating information which undermines "state power" or "national unity".
Baidu has been counting on its new bot to give it a big financial boost. The company's search engine dominates Chinese internet, capturing more than 90% of searches each day - but it has lagged behind other tech businesses in recent years.
As users have taken up other platforms, Baidu has missed out on the advertising revenue of its big competitors. It is also testing self-driving taxis and is the country's largest cloud provider, but Ernie is its great new hope.
Ernie has got a lot of attention, but several other competitor chatbots are already up and running, or coming online soon.
As with other tech fights in China, not all products will survive. But Baidu really needs to win this one.