• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans another China trip for 2024
• Genetic test tracks origins of illegal pangolin products in China, adding to conservation toolkit
• China-led peace talks produce temporary ceasefire in Myanmar between military junta, rebel groups
• China-Vietnam deal points to common regime security worries about Western forces: analyst
• More Hongkongers want to move overseas or to mainland China, survey finds
• ‘Don’t be crispy instant noodles’: China teacher drives home anti-bullying message with rock moral story to class
• SpaceX rival: pioneering Chinese firm unveils big rocket with design elements ‘resembling Starship and Falcon 9’
• Xi Jinping urges ‘to the letter’ compliance as China’s economic recovery remains top concern
• South China Sea: Philippines ‘expects more coercive actions’ from China and is ‘brainstorming’ as stand-offs intensify
• China’s money supply had a dismal November, as private-sector struggles and housing woes suppressed investment
• Philippines deports 180 Chinese nationals ‘engaging in online scams’ after they were detained in anti-trafficking raid
• Oppo asks Nokia to end patent-fee row after local court sides with the Chinese smartphone maker’s request for lower fees
• India anxious for status quo in Bangladesh elections as China holds ‘advantageous position’ regardless of outcome
• Fed interest rate stance could help ‘pummelled’ yuan, China could feel ripple effects of 2024 cuts
• China police detain man suspected of leaking medical records of Hong Kong actress Kathy Chow a day after her death
• South Korea scrambles fighters after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter air defence identification zone
• South Korea scrambles jets after Chinese, Russian warplanes enter its air defence zone
• China’s envoy to US describes Xi-Biden meeting as ‘milestone’ in ties, stresses ‘wisdom’ of ping pong diplomacy
• China rules Ladakh court judgment ‘irrelevant’ to its border dispute with India
• ‘Too clingy’: wife in China files for divorce over needy mother-in-law’s ‘abnormal’ relationship with husband
• The gruelling exams in imperial China that hold valuable lessons today | Podcasts
• Chinese banker jailed for life in US$483 million corruption case, largest ever in country’s history
• ‘Dirty and ugly’: China yoga influencer struts stuff at ancient site, triggers debate over ‘slut-shaming’ and being ‘inappropriate’ in public place
• China’s military uses Microsoft mixed-reality HoloLens 2 headsets to maintain equipment, video shows
• Foxconn ramps up investment in giant Apple plant in India amid US-China tensions
• China’s ‘involuted’ new-energy industry is awash with overcapacity that could stall new economic driver
• Singapore-born panda Le Le bids farewell to city state before trip to China
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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans another China trip for 2024

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3245117/us-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-plans-another-trip-china-2024?utm_source=rss_feed

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will make another trip to China next year where she will keep pressing Beijing for clarity on its “non-market practices”.

Yellen is to outline her 2024 US-China economic agenda at the 50th anniversary gala of the US-China Business Council on Thursday evening, in the latest effort in the US push to “responsibly manage” the relationship.

At the top of her agenda is facilitating exchanges between US and Chinese financial regulators, according to a preview of her speech shared by the Treasury.

“It is often well-understood that military leaders need to have quick and reliable means of communication to keep a crisis from spiralling out of control,” a transcript of the speech says.

“For economic policymakers responding to financial stress, it is also critical to know the counterpart on the other end of the line and be able to make a quick call.”

Efforts, Yellen is to note, are already underway to exchange information about modeling “climate stress” scenarios and about responding to the failure of a global systemically important bank in the US or China.

The financial and economic working groups that the two sides launched after her first trip to Beijing as treasury secretary in July will continue to meet regularly, according to the transcript.

A main focus of her speech will be the importance of greater transparency from China – which, Yellen will stress, is key to global financial stability.

After years of emulating West, China starts to turn on ‘predatory’ finance

“Understanding China’s plans, especially how China intends to respond to challenges with local government debt and the real estate market or how it might react if unexpected weaknesses in its economy should arise, is crucial,” the transcript says.

Yellen will signal that she won’t hold back raising concerns on issues the two sides disagree on, noting that discussing “difficult areas” is to be a “significant” part of her trip to China.

These areas include Beijing’s “national security actions” and other behaviours that can disadvantage the private sector.

“We will reinforce – alongside our partners and allies – that for a healthy economic relationship to be sustainable, it is essential that there is a level playing field for our firms and workers,” the transcript says.

She will also reiterate the US commitment to “clear communication” concerning actions it takes that will affect China, including its outbound investment and sanctions regimes.

Earlier this year, US President Joe Biden issued executive orders that further restrict China’s access to advanced technology.

In front of the gathering of top business leaders, Yellen also plans to outline opportunities of cooperation on anti-money-laundering, countering terrorist financing, and other global challenges like developing principles to achieve net-zero emissions.

She will highlight the counter-narcotics commitments Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Northern California last month.

“Continuing to stabilise our relationship to prevent escalation won’t make news. But our economies, our people … will be safer and more secure,” the transcript says.

Genetic test tracks origins of illegal pangolin products in China, adding to conservation toolkit

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3245103/genetic-test-tracks-origins-illegal-pangolin-products-china-adding-conservation-toolkit?utm_source=rss_feed

An international team of scientists say they have developed a new method to identify the origin of pangolin scales, adding to the toolkit for cracking down on the poaching and trafficking of the endangered animal, which is prized in China.

The researchers found that poaching activity shifted from West to Central Africa from 2012 to 2018 as the Asian pangolin population shrank, with Cameroon’s southern border emerging as a poaching hotspot.

The team said the shift could be a response to increased enforcement, declining pangolin populations in West Africa or convenient new trade routes.

They also identified Nigeria as the highest-volume transit hub in Africa, where traffickers gather pangolin scales and then ship them overseas, according to maps of African pangolin seizures.

China is the largest market for pangolin scales, which are in high demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine despite no evidence of their efficacy, according to a paper by the researchers published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday.

The team came up with a genetic test that can identify the precise geographic origins of confiscated pangolin scales – an innovation they say could reduce the lag time between intercepting wildlife products, tracing the supply chain and enforcement.

“This approach can dynamically guide preventive efforts by revealing poaching hotspots, representing an important step forward in conserving this highly trafficked species,” they said.

The research team comprises 39 scientists in Belgium, Britain, Cameroon, mainland China, the Czech Republic, Gabon, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa and the United States.

Beijing banned the hunting of pangolins in 2007 and outlawed imports of the animals and their by-products 11 years later.

In 2020, the Chinese government upgraded its legal protections for pangolins to the highest possible level. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration said the move was necessary to “crack down on the illegal hunting and trading of wild animals and related products”.

That same year, references to pangolins and their body parts were removed from an official Chinese compendium of medications.

Without specifying the number of the animals, the forestry administration said in September that pangolins had been spotted in the wild in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

China ranks as top rhino horn market, but smuggling networks weakened: report

In the new study, the researchers said smugglers had turned to importing African pangolins to meet demand as populations of Asian pangolins declined. The white-bellied pangolin, which lives in West and Central Africa in an area stretching from Guinea to Zambia, has consequently become the most trafficked mammal in the world.

The scientists analysed more than 650 white-bellied pangolin scales that had been seized by Hong Kong authorities. The samples were selected from a total of 38 tonnes (42 tons) of scales – harvested from at least 105,000 dead pangolins – that arrived between 2012 and 2018.

Genetic analyses and data from seized pangolin products showed that the samples were harvested in southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and collected in Nigeria. They were then transported to destinations in Southeast Asia, often by sea, and ultimately sold in southeastern Chinese provinces, particularly Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

China hits back at US claims it is putting pangolins at risk

Lead author Timothy Bonebrake, a professor at the school of biological sciences at the University of Hong Kong, said while scientists had previously been able to identify a pangolin species from its scales based on genetics, the new method allowed them to pinpoint the geographic origin of the animals. This could give crucial insights into the impacts on the animals and guide resource allocation for conservation efforts.

“When they are hunted, typically local communities or maybe [people from] nearby cities will consume the meat for food. They will take off the scales and accumulate them,” he said.

“Once there are enough scales, they are often shipped to a central location and then often they are shipped to Asia in large shipments.”

Bonebrake said the new tool could provide information on a sample’s origins within a week of testing.

“It is like a crime show. If you find DNA evidence at a crime scene, and if the criminal is not in a database, the DNA profile will not match anyone,” he said.

“Thanks to our African collaborators, we now have the database. When we have a scale in Hong Kong, we can run the DNA sequence, use the database to get the match and know where it came from.”

He said that with greater legal protection put in place in 2020 and speculation about links between the coronavirus and pangolins, more studies would be needed to understand how the market in China had been affected.

China-led peace talks produce temporary ceasefire in Myanmar between military junta, rebel groups

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3245111/china-led-peace-talks-produce-temporary-ceasefire-myanmar-between-military-junta-rebel-groups?utm_source=rss_feed

China has mediated peace talks between Myanmar’s ruling military and rebel groups, and the parties agreed on a temporary ceasefire and to maintain dialogue, Beijing said on Thursday.

“China hopes that concerned parties will exercise maximum restraint and together realise the soft landing of the situation in Myanmar,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The fighting, largely in northern Shan state, has caused worry in neighbouring China. Around 300,000 people have been displaced since a rebel offensive began on October 27, according to the UN, which says more than 2 million people have been made homeless since Myanmar’s military coup in February 2021.

The talks were held in China in recent days, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, without giving more details.

China hopes that the parties concerned in Myanmar will implement the agreements and the consensus reached, exercise maximum restraint and take the initiative to ease the situation on the ground, it said.

“China has been working tirelessly to stop the war and promote talks among the relevant parties in Myanmar, and has pushed for the de-escalation and cooling-down of the situation,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

Myanmar scam networks evade Chinese crackdown as battle along border continues

Mao said there had been a marked decline in the number of clashes and exchanges of fire in northern Myanmar, “which not only serves the interests of the relevant parties in Myanmar, but also contributes to the maintenance of tranquillity along the China-Myanmar border”.

Myanmar’s military had said on Monday it met with the rebels and other parties in the conflict, and another round of talks was due by the end of the month, without elaborating.

On Wednesday, however, the ethnic minority insurgent alliance reaffirmed its commitment to defeat what it called Myanmar’s “dictatorship”, and made no mention of peace talks or a ceasefire.

The rebel alliance comprises three groups – the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Arakan Army (AA).

The alliance has taken over 200 military positions, including several towns in Shan and western Rakhine State, since the start of the offensive, dubbed “Operation 1027,” after its launch date, October 27.

Myanmar has over 130 ethnic minority groups spread across seven major ethnic states.

Additional reporting by Kyodo

China-Vietnam deal points to common regime security worries about Western forces: analyst

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3245105/china-vietnam-deal-points-common-regime-security-worries-about-western-forces-analyst?utm_source=rss_feed

A newly signed security deal between China and Vietnam underscores their common concerns about “hostile” external forces and the need to safeguard internal stability, according to a Chinese analyst.

At the end of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam this week, Beijing and Hanoi said in a statement that they had agreed to step up defence and security cooperation, especially on “regime security and institutional security”.

It was the first time the two countries had referred to regime security in such a joint statement and it came just three months after a visit to Vietnam by US President Joe Biden, a trip that raised US-Vietnam ties to the highest level and stoked unease in Beijing.

Under the agreement announced on Wednesday, the two countries will engage in more high-level exchanges between their law-enforcement agencies and share intelligence to protect regime security.

“[Both countries should] boost intelligence cooperation and share experience in the issues of anti-interference, anti-secession, prevention and fighting of ‘peaceful evolution’ and ‘colour revolution’ of hostile and reactionary forces,” Hanoi and Beijing said in the joint statement.

The commitments were part of a broader assessment of relations in which they described each other as sharing “similar political regimes, a compatible ideology and belief, a similar development path, a shared vision and future”.

Song Zhongping, a military commentator and former instructor with the People’s Liberation Army, said regime and government security were grave concerns, and both China and Vietnam considered it critical to avoid any “infiltration to their political system”.

“Both China and Vietnam share the worries that hostile Western forces will want to subvert their socialist system, giving rise to the need to step up the exchange of intelligence information in this regard,” Song said.

Dylan Loh, an assistant professor of foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the fact that the countries had a similar view on regime security was no surprise.

“[Beijing and Hanoi] as single party dominant, communist regimes, political legitimacy and longevity will never be far from their thinking,” Loh said.

The broad security cooperation reached during Xi’s visit will also cover fighting terrorism, telecoms fraud, border control and human trafficking, and the hunt for fugitives.

Song said this also reflected regime security concerns.

“Illegal migrants may pose a threat to national security, and may also become an important channel for the infiltration of foreign elements into the two countries,” he said.

Loh said cooperation on illegal immigration was a “natural offshoot” of Beijing’s domestic priorities to address transnational crimes and bring criminal fugitives home.

He also said Hanoi had effectively reassured Beijing that its ties with Washington would not come at China’s expense.

In addition, Xi’s trip helped to ease tension in one major area where China and Vietnam were at odds, he said.

“The visit and warm words will help bring down the temperature in their disputes in the South China Sea and both would want to boost their digital and economic ties to keep their economy churning,” Loh said.

Song agreed that the security focus of the joint statement reflected Beijing and Hanoi’s desire to maintain a stable external security environment, including the South China Sea.

Such a broad perspective about security could set guardrails for tensions between China and Vietnam stoked by nations outside the region, he said.

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More Hongkongers want to move overseas or to mainland China, survey finds

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3245110/more-hongkongers-want-move-overseas-or-mainland-china-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed

More Hongkongers are likely to emigrate overseas or move to mainland China compared with a year ago, according to a poll that analysts said showed residents were put off by the high cost of living or losing hope in the city’s future.

Nearly 38 per cent of residents polled by the Chinese University of Hong Kong said they would leave the city if given the opportunity, compared with nearly 29 per cent who expressed the same sentiment when the previous survey carried out in September last year.

The top reasons residents cited for wanting to move abroad included “collapsing liberty, human rights or freedom of expression” (17.7 per cent), followed by “excessive political disputes or unstable politics” (15.1 per cent), an “undemocratic political system” (14.2 per cent), as well as “poor living environment or congested living space” (11.2 per cent).

UK’s plan to curb ‘far too high’ arrivals ‘may hurt Hong Kong BN(O) migrants’

But the latest figure was still lower than the 42 per cent recorded in 2021 and the 44 per cent the following year, years which saw more residents leaving the city.

The university’s Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies polled 708 residents between September 28 and November 9.

The most popular destinations among respondents were the United Kingdom – with 14.2 per cent – followed by Canada, Australia and Taiwan.

About a fifth of respondents said they would move to the mainland if circumstances allowed, an increase of 9 percentage points over last year and a change the institution called “statistically significant”.

The two main reasons for going to the mainland were high local living costs and cramped homes.

Residents were also asked to rank Hong Kong’s livability on a scale of zero to 100, with the top end being better. The average score was 56.5, the same as last year.

Hong Kong has seen a wave of emigration in recent years, which helped to push the population down to 7,474,200 in 2020 and further lower to 7,413,070 the year after.

But the population has recently bounced back, rising by 2.1 per cent from the middle of last year to this past June.

Centrist lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen said he expected the trend of middle-class individuals and young people emigrating to continue, despite some reports suggesting that life for Hongkongers in Britain was proving challenging.

“The government’s serious approach to national security, despite clarifying that it targets only a small minority, has made many people feel uncomfortable staying here,” he said. “It’s as if their freedom is slowly diminishing.

“The emphasis on patriotic education may also be contributing to this sentiment. These changes take time to process, and some feel that Hong Kong’s distinctiveness has been lost due to the government’s assertive style.”

Half of BN(O) migrants jobless, but 99% do not plan to return to Hong Kong: poll

Those who wanted to move to the mainland were driven by lower living expenses and more affordable options for housing and elderly services over the border, Tik said.

“Some young people in Hong Kong choose to move to mainland China, such as to Shanghai and other first-tier cities due to job opportunities,” he said. “This is beneficial for the integration between the two places, and I consider it a healthy phenomenon.”

Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, a demographics expert at the University of Hong Kong, agreed the trend of Hongkongers moving over the border would continue due to the increased affordability of living on the mainland.

“Mainland China is enticing Hong Kong residents to visit and even settle in order to boost the economy through increased consumption,” Yip said. “High living costs may prompt people to think about how to spend their money more wisely, including relocating to the mainland.”

‘Potential waste’: just 30% of Hong Kong BN(O) migrants in UK working full-time

Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, a senior economist at the Asia-Pacific at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank, said the survey showed the general weak confidence of residents in the city’s future.

“There is no improvement in livability and residents are exploring alternatives and may turn cautious about domestic spending as they are not confident about future economic growth and the potential for better livability,” Ng said.

“Under such a scenario, residents will become cautious and seek to save more and invest overseas for future opportunities.”

‘Don’t be crispy instant noodles’: China teacher drives home anti-bullying message with rock moral story to class

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3244197/dont-be-crispy-instant-noodles-china-teacher-drives-home-anti-bullying-message-rock-moral-story?utm_source=rss_feed

A primary school teacher in China has won online praise for a vivid and imaginative anti-bullying lecture she gave to her class.

The teacher, Jian Dan, from northeastern China’s Liaoning province, gave a morning lecture to a group of Primary Two pupils on November 29, and posted a video of it that has attracted 600,000 likes so far on Douyin.

Jian said the mother of one of her students had told her that her son was bullied by his classmate, who kept stepping on her son and borrowing his rubbers without giving them back.

She said the boy was so scared that he once held onto his rubber for a whole day at school.

In a bid to resolve the situation Jian invited a pupil in the class to play a game in which she asked him to squeeze a pack of crispy instant noodles, hit an apple and squeeze and hit a rock.

While the student crumbled the noodles easily, he could not hurt the rock no matter how hard he hit it.

“Don’t be crispy instant noodles. Be a rock,” Jian told the class, making the point that anyone who is being bullied should be strong and fight back to make it stop, instead of tolerating the behaviour.

Her parable received positive feedback from her pupils and the online community.

“A teacher is responsible for not only imparting knowledge, but also for cultivating people. You are a great teacher,” said one person on Douyin.

“The kids are lucky to have a teacher like you,” said another.

According to a 2019 Unesco global report on school violence, almost one in three students had been bullied by their peers at school in the month prior to the survey.

No studies have been done into bullying at schools in China, according to a report published by the Shanghai International Studies University’s Journalism and Communication College.

Jian reasoned with her pupils that all their classmates are the apples of their parents’ eyes, and they should never bully those with lower grades or those weaker than them because it would hurt them and break the hearts of their parents.

She encouraged her students to stand up against school violence and ask her for help if they are treated unfairly.

Many schools in China have invited police officers to lecture on the subject in recent years amid rising anti-bullying awareness in recent years.

Jian said she talked privately to the bullied student and his desk mate following her lecture, and was happy to learn that the bully had realised his mistake.

SpaceX rival: pioneering Chinese firm unveils big rocket with design elements ‘resembling Starship and Falcon 9’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3245027/spacex-rival-pioneering-chinese-firm-unveils-big-rocket-design-elements-resembling-starship-and?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing-based LandSpace, which earlier this year became the first company to put a methane-fuelled rocket into orbit, aims to launch a reusable rocket in 2025 to help China roll out its 13,000-satellite broadband megaconstellation.

At 76.6 metres (251 feet) tall and 4.5 metres wide, Zhuque 3 would feature a stainless steel structure, Chinese-made Tianque engines powered by methane and liquid oxygen (methalox), and a first stage which may be used up to 20 times, the company said on its website on Saturday.

The new rocket will serve as LandSpace’s workhorse to win contracts from the Chinese government and launch batches of Guowang satellites to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.

It will also help usher the country’s commercial launch sector “into an era of qualitative transformation with high transport capacity, reusability and low costs”, the company said.

“Zhuque 3 appeared to be a combination of SpaceX’s Starship and Falcon 9 given its stainless steel propellant tank and nine-engine first-stage design,” a Beijing-based rocket engineer said on Monday.

He said that with a larger diameter and lift-off mass, it would be more powerful than the kerosene-powered Falcon 9, which has delivered more than 5,000 Starlink satellites into orbit since 2019.

However, the timeline sounded “extremely challenging”, said the engineer, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“It took SpaceX three years to develop Falcon 9 from hop tests to full rocket launches. My guess is it might take Chinese companies slightly longer,” he said.

LandSpace is targeting a hop test later this month, during which a stainless steel prototype of Zhuque 3’s first stage would lift off to a height of about 100 metres and land back on Earth in a controlled manner, according to company CEO Zhang Changwu.

“Then next year, we’ll focus on the manufacture and flight verifications of Zhuque 3’s major components and get ready for a full rocket assembly and flight in 2025,” Zhang told China News Service on Saturday.

He said Zhuque 3 would be equipped with Tianque engines that “have been proven to work” during the two successful launches of Zhuque 2, LandSpace’s smaller methalox rocket, in July and this month.

According to the company website, Zhuque 3’s first stage will use nine Tianque-12B engines, and its second stage will have one Tianque-15B vacuum engine. The first stage also contains grid fins and deployable landing legs.

From outer space to seven seas, China’s 6 big economic priorities for 2024

It will be able to lift payloads up to 21.3 tonnes to low-Earth orbit when expendable, or 18.3 tonnes when the first stage is recovered down range, or 12.5 tonnes when the first stage returns to the launch site, according to the company.

It said Zhuque 3 would also be China’s first stainless steel rocket, to take advantage of the material’s high strength, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and low cost.

Methane is cheaper and more efficient than kerosene when it comes to reusable rockets.

Methane has a heat of combustion 13 per cent higher than that of kerosene, according to a Nasa study from the early 1970s. Methane also burns clean, while kerosene leaves substances that can remain in the engine and nozzle to create problems for reuse.

LandSpace has had three flight attempts with its methane-fuelled Zhuque 2 rocket, with the first ending in failure in December last year. The second, which took place in July, was successful but did not carry a payload.

The third Zhuque 2 attempt lifted off from the Gobi Desert on Saturday and put a trio of satellites into orbit. According to the company’s vice-president Huang He, it showed technological reliability and would help LandSpace lure investment for developing future models, including Zhuque 3.

Taiwan warned PLA is watching after Beijing sends up more satellites

“At the end of the day, we are a commercial launch company and we need to make profits,” Huang told China News Service.

“It will take a long time to complete this technical and financial ‘loop’, but only when we are truly profitable can we establish our business model.”

In November, SpaceX declared its Starlink satellite-based internet service had reached 2 million active users and achieved profitability.

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Xi Jinping urges ‘to the letter’ compliance as China’s economic recovery remains top concern

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3245078/chinas-xi-jinping-urges-letter-compliance-economic-recovery-remains-top-concern?utm_source=rss_feed

As China’s economic recovery looks to remain the country’s top political priority in 2024, President Xi Jinping called for rigid discipline in enacting policies, insisting on a “to the letter” approach during a speech to the country’s top economic and financial officials.

Cadres at all levels should fully understand the Communist Party’s decisions and arrangements, Xi said per the official Xinhua news agency, carrying them out “completely, accurately and comprehensively”.

The president issued the appeal for compliance during the annual central economic work conference, which concluded on Tuesday.

Xi’s comments, seen in a report released in the wake of the two-day conference, offer essential guidance for policymakers – and for observers, clear signs the country’s top leader sees movement has been lacking.

“To put it more bluntly, it shows that [the top leadership] is not satisfied with some of the specific measures and the progress of policy implementation so far,” said Wang Zichen, research fellow at Centre for China and Globalisation.

Officials were also instructed to act “vigorously, resolutely and pragmatically” when implementing the central government’s policies, and to “have the courage” to take on difficult tasks.

“You must have the awareness to act immediately,” he was quoted as saying.

Ultimately the prerequisite for any action, Xi said, is to clearly understand “without distortion” the intentions of the party’s Central Committee and hew to them closely.

“Underdoing is a distortion, but overdoing is also a deviation,” the president said.

The Chinese leader also took on “formalism” and “bureaucratism” among government officials, calling them “stubborn and chronic diseases, like psoriasis”.

The warning came as the post-pandemic recovery of the world’s second-largest economy has appeared to lose steam after a brief uptick in the first quarter of the year, thanks to fading domestic demand and weak exports.

The real estate sector has remained the biggest drag on China’s economy, with sales subdued and confidence low despite several rounds of stimulus and support.

China’s Xi Jinping appeals to decades-old mantra of reform, eyeing economic jolt

Along with local government debt and solvency issues with small banks, this problem was mentioned at the conference as a major risk facing the country.

“You cannot procrastinate, dragging on small things until they become big ones, and delaying big things until they explode,” Xi said.

Beijing has told the country’s mostly state-owned financial institutions to meet all “reasonable” funding needs from property firms, and quickened the pace of development in three major projects – emergency facilities, urban renewal and affordable housing – to offset the decline in commodity housing construction.

Policymakers also emphasised policy coordination during the two-day meeting, according to the official report. Particularly, they vowed to incorporate non-economic measures into the overall macroeconomic outlook.

In the past, some regulations have had negative impacts on market sentiment and near-term economic growth.

For example, to meet carbon reduction targets, some local governments would withhold power for manufacturing factories.

A to-do list is expected following the lengthy statement, when participating cadres return home and relay Xi’s message across the country – but more detailed growth targets will only be disclosed at the National People’s Congress in March.

South China Sea: Philippines ‘expects more coercive actions’ from China and is ‘brainstorming’ as stand-offs intensify

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3245096/south-china-sea-philippines-expects-more-coercive-actions-china-and-brainstorming-stand-offs?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines is contingency planning for an escalation of hostilities in the South China Sea, according to a senior military official, including a scenario where crew repel Chinese forces attempting to board Philippine vessels.

Ties between the two countries have deteriorated this year after several collisions and repeated stand-offs near disputed features of the South China Sea, with the Philippines accusing China of aggressive, deliberate and dangerous manoeuvres.

The Philippines has taken a tougher line with China this year, coinciding with its boosting of military ties with defence treaty ally the United States and increased security engagement with other Western powers.

“Expect more coercive actions from China, short of armed attack,” Alberto Carlos, chief of the Philippines’ Western Command told CNN Philippines late on Wednesday.

“Next after the water cannon is probably ramming and also they will attempt to board our vessel, which is something that we will not allow them to do.”

That scenario, Carlos said, was part of Philippines war games exercises and academic discussions on what other actions China might take. The Philippines on Tuesday summoned China’s ambassador to protest “back-to-back harassments” at the weekend in different locations, including collisions and use of water cannon.

Beijing has repeatedly accused Philippine vessels operating in Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of trespassing in Chinese waters.

The Philippines has grown increasingly wary of China’s coastguard and the presence of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats that it considers to be militia forces.

“We’re brainstorming this, we are war gaming this and we are prepared for any contingency that will happen,” said Carlos, whose remit includes defence of the Philippines’ EEZ.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce. Those claims, which an arbitral tribunal has declared baseless, extend to the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

China’s money supply had a dismal November, as private-sector struggles and housing woes suppressed investment

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3245088/chinas-money-supply-had-dismal-november-private-sector-struggles-and-housing-woes-suppressed?utm_source=rss_feed

One of China’s key gauges of investment sentiment and economic vigour – the nation’s basic money supply – has increased by the slowest monthly rate in nearly two years, surprising the market and showing how Beijing’s attempts to stabilise the economy still face strong headwinds going into 2024.

The so-called M1 money supply, comprising currency in circulation plus some banking deposits, grew by only 1.3 per cent in November, the People’s Bank of China said on Wednesday. The last time the M1 results were so weak was in January 2022, amid zero-Covid policies and disruptions, when there was a 1.9 per cent decrease in the basic money supply.

Meanwhile, the broader money supply – M2 – grew by 10 per cent and created the second-biggest gap between M1 and M2 growth since early 2017. The only time it was bigger was in January 2020 when the coronavirus started to take hold.

“Both figures are lower than market expectations, reflecting a weaker willingness among the private sector to invest, and a similarly depressed housing market,” said Ding Shuang, chief Greater China economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

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The monthly gap between M1 and M2 growth is often used to assess investment vitality. Since the M1 supply comprises only the most liquid of assets – meaning funds available for immediate investing – when the M1 growth rate lags farther behind M2, it shows that people are less interested in investing.

They might instead be putting money into long-term timed deposits with fixed interest yields – and this raises the M2 growth rate.

Decisions like these, on a nationwide scale, can further take a toll on China’s economic growth, which has underperformed this year in the face of sluggish consumption, a property crisis and large levels of local-government debt.

Private investment dropped by 0.5 per cent in the first 10 months of 2023, year on year, despite Beijing’s efforts to make the private sector “bigger, better and stronger” with additional lending support and broader market access – as highlighted in a 31-point plan released in July.

Chen Jianheng, a fixed-income analyst with China International Capital, attributed the low M1 growth to weak property sales and said it reflects a lack of vigour in the real economy.

“We believe that it is necessary to reverse the current situation of relatively high real interest rates,” he wrote in an online note posted on Wednesday night, calling for monetary authorities to lower rates to stimulate economic activities.

Chinese banks extended 1.09 trillion yuan (US$153 billion) worth of new yuan-denominated loans last month, down 9.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Another liquidity-measurement tool, total social financing, or “aggregate financing to the real economy”, rose by 23.5 per cent in November from a year earlier, to 2.45 trillion yuan.

China’s ‘involuted’ new-energy industry awash with self-defeating overcapacity

Apart from continuing its expansionary monetary policy, Beijing needs to increase its lending support to prop up the property sector and reverse dismal business expectations, said Ding at Standard Chartered Bank.

“The loan volume to the real economy is not small. However, these funds may flow more to key areas, including technology and high-end manufacturing, in the future, rather than to the real estate sector, where the demand for loans is significantly higher,” he said.

If banks can sate the voracious appetite for property loans, this would promote more home sales, boost consumption and instil new confidence in investors, Ding said.

Medium- and long-term loans to households, alternatives to a mortgage, rose to 233.1 billion yuan in November from 70.7 billion yuan in October, as Beijing has moved to stabilise the real estate sector.

Borrowing growth in corporate long- and medium-term loans stood at 446 billion yuan in November, down 39.5 per cent from a year prior, central bank data showed.

Philippines deports 180 Chinese nationals ‘engaging in online scams’ after they were detained in anti-trafficking raid

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3245102/philippines-deports-180-chinese-nationals-engaging-online-scams-after-they-were-detained-anti?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese and Philippine law enforcement agencies cooperated to repatriate 180 Chinese nationals engaged in offshore gambling in the Southeast Asian country, China’s embassy in Manila said on Thursday.

The embassy also helped verify the identities of the Chinese citizens and assisted them in leaving the country.

The 180 Chinese nationals were detained in a raid on a suspected sex-trafficking and online scam operation in the capital Manila, officials said.

English-speaking Filipinos tricked into Chinese scam jobs: whistle-blowers

Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino nationals were among the nearly 600 people found inside a compound during the operation in October.

Sex toys, a massage parlour, karaoke rooms and a restaurant were found in the building operated by a business that authorities said was licenced as an internet gaming company.

Several women were “rescued” during the raid, police said.

The Chinese nationals deported did not have work permits and had been “engaging in online scams”, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Undersecretary Gilberto Cruz said.

Cruz said more foreigners detained in the raid would be deported in the coming weeks.

International concern has been growing over internet scams in the Asia-Pacific region, often staffed by trafficking victims tricked or coerced into promoting bogus cryptocurrency investments.

Southeast Asian activists turn to Asean to rescue scam trafficking victims

Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros previously warned that “scam call centres” were operating in the Philippines and employing foreigners trafficked into the country.

In its 2023 human trafficking report, the US State Department said the Philippines “did not vigorously investigate or prosecute labour trafficking crimes that occurred within” the country.

“Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns,” it said.

Oppo asks Nokia to end patent-fee row after local court sides with the Chinese smartphone maker’s request for lower fees

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3244944/oppo-asks-nokia-end-patent-fee-row-after-local-court-sides-chinese-smartphone-makers-request-lower?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese smartphone brand Oppo has urged Finnish electronics giant Nokia to follow the global 5G royalty rates set by a local court and put an end to their patent-fee feud, as Beijing flexes its legal muscles in cross-border disputes.

The Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court supported Oppo’s petition to set lower royalty rates for Nokia’s standard essential patents (SEPs) for 2G to 5G technologies, according to the ruling made public on Thursday.

SEPs are essential for products to comply with industry standards.

Oppo said in a statement that it welcomed the court’s decision and called on Nokia to comply, “so that both parties can promptly return to constructive negotiations”.

In response to the Post’s inquiry, Nokia said it would appeal the ruling, which “is limited to the Chinese jurisdiction only and as such represents only one view.”

“Courts outside of China have confirmed that Oppo is in breach of its commitments as a user of Nokia’s technology in open standards ... We remain confident of our position in the overall dispute and are hoping to resolve the matter soon,” it added.

The two companies have been engaged in multiple patent lawsuits in 12 countries since 2021, as they failed to agree on the price for using Nokia’s 5G patent portfolios on Oppo smartphones. Oppo filed a case in the southwest municipality of Chongqing in 2021.

The new ruling is China’s latest attempt to exert judicial authority over the royalty rates charged by foreign patent holders.

In a similar dispute between Oppo and Sharp in 2020, a court in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen decided that it had jurisdiction to set global Frand rates – a term describing the obligation for patent holders to license intellectual properties in a “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” manner.

Sharp, which had been acquired by Taiwan’s Foxconn, appealed the case. After China’s Supreme Court upheld the ruling, Oppo and Sharp reached a cross-licensing deal to end all of their ongoing litigation globally.

In the latest case, the Chongqing court ruled that Nokia should charge licensing fees of US$1.151 per 5G multi-mode handset in developed markets, including Europe, and US$0.707 per device in other countries, including China.

Nokia charges a maximum licensing rate of 3 euros (US$3.24) per 5G smartphone, according to a notice on its website.

In addition, the Chongqing court decided that the total royalty burden for 5G standards in the mobile phone industry should range from 4.341 per cent to 5.273 per cent, the first ruling of its kind in the sector.

The court also ruled that the licensing rate for 4G smartphones should be US$0.777 per device in developed regions and US$0.477 per unit in markets including China.

China’s evolution to an assertive player in intellectual property rights

Chinese companies are trying to have a bigger say in price setting, as they become more prominent patent holders of cellular network-related technologies than during the 4G era, according to Julia Zhu, head of IP licensing and litigation of Oppo.

“We expect the ruling by the Chongqing court to set a benchmark for the industry, and the prices set by the court would be a strong reference in other litigations,” Zhu said.

Oppo, which saw its smartphone shipments fall 6.5 per cent in the third quarter but remained the world’s fourth-largest brand, according to research firm IDC, is keen to put an end to the dispute.

Last year, the company lost a patent infringement lawsuit to Nokia in Germany. As a result, some of its handsets are barred from being sold there. The firm has since delisted most products from its German website.

Oppo loses legal fight against Nokia, possibly affecting sales in Germany

Earlier this year, a court in India ordered Oppo to pay Nokia a licensing fee equivalent to 23 per cent of the Chinese firm’s local sales.

On the other hand, a court in Indonesia dismissed patent infringement complaints made by Nokia against Oppo.

Because of the importance of the Chinese market, smartphone makers in the country had long been able to broker rates lower than their foreign competitors. However, these companies have found it increasingly difficult to negotiate preferential fees.

Vivo, a sister company of Oppo, encountered similar lawsuits raised by Nokia and has stopped selling its products in Germany since May. That came after Vivo cancelled plans to bring its products to the Netherlands, where Nokia filed a similar lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Oppo and Xiaomi are fighting lawsuits filed by Japanese electronics giant Panasonic in China and Europe over 4G technologies.

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India anxious for status quo in Bangladesh elections as China holds ‘advantageous position’ regardless of outcome

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3244965/india-anxious-status-quo-bangladesh-elections-china-holds-advantageous-position-regardless-outcome?utm_source=rss_feed

As Bangladesh gears up for crucial national elections in January, India is closely monitoring its neighbour’s political developments amid sharply rising anti-Indian sentiments in the Muslim-majority nation.

New Delhi desperately wants Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to win her fourth consecutive term, while China is steadily increasing its influence in Dhaka through trade links.

In the neighbourhood, Bangladesh remains the only nation in South Asia that could be called a reliable strategic partner for New Delhi, as all other countries have gradually slipped out of India’s sphere of influence over the years.

The ruling Awami League, led by Hasina, has been in power since 2009 and fending off increasing accusations of alleged rigged elections and the country backsliding into authoritarian rule.

‘Do or die’: strikes, clashes roil Bangladesh as opposition vows poll boycott

General elections for the 300-member assembly in the country of 170 million people will take place on January 7. The main challenger, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has announced it is boycotting the polls.

BNP demands that the elections should be held under a caretaker government and not while the Hasina administration is in power. BNP boycotted the elections in 2014 but contested in 2018.

“The elections are crucial for Bangladesh because the country is experiencing a period of acute political polarisation and stress. Years of tensions between the ruling party and the opposition are coming to a head, and the outcome of the election will shape Bangladesh’s political trajectory for years to come,” said Michael Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-headquartered Wilson Center.

Critics have accused the Awami League of stage-managing the elections through clampdowns such as arrests of political activists and opposition leaders, placing friendly candidates as independent contenders, and rejecting the nominations of opponents.

To mark International Human Rights Day on December 10, hundreds of BNP members held nationwide protests, sparking violence in some parts. On the same day, BNP officials and relatives said five party members had died in prison in the past two weeks.

Shortly after the riots and arrests, the army said the Election Commission wanted its soldiers to be deployed ahead of the polls. Beginning on December 29, the armed forces will be deployed for 13 days across the country.

A detailed questionnaire sent by This Week In Asia to the Awami League remains unanswered.

Soon after Bangladesh was carved out from Pakistan and became independent in 1971, India, which fought a war against Pakistan that led to the breakup, was the first country to recognise Bangladesh’s statehood. Except for a tiny portion in its south, Bangladesh’s vast borders are landlocked on all sides by multiple Indian states, and the two countries share a 4,000km-long international border.

India and Bangladesh have developed deep political, economic and cultural ties over the past five decades. As such, any major shift in Bangladesh’s political dynamics would have an immediate impact on India.

Bangladesh garment worker protests make clear price of fast fashion

“There’s a lot at stake for New Delhi because it views the main opposition actors – essentially the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami – as dangerous Islamist forces that could be destabilising if they take power, with problematic implications for India’s interests. In effect, India would much rather see the Awami League stay in power,” said Kugelman.

India also relies on Bangladesh to an extent to help bolster security at its border regions. Insurgents from Indian northeastern states often take shelter in Bangladesh via porous border routes amid rising volatility in these regions in recent years.

“If the Hasina government does not retain power, the liberal voices will be shattered,” said Imankalyan Lahiri, head of the Department of International Relations at the Kolkata-based Jadavpur University. “Thanks to the Hasina administration, Bangladesh is the only Islamic state in the neighbourhood where the liberal voices are still sustaining,” he said.

“If the Hasina administration falls, it will be a serious problem for India. It will be problematic for democratic values and secularism in Bangladesh, and the integrity of South Asia,” Lahiri added.

China, which has been seeking to expand beyond its toehold in Bangladesh in recent years, is another major political player throwing its weight behind the Hasina administration.

Bangladesh, which embraced China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2016, has been fast-tracking over a dozen infrastructure projects – roads, river tunnels, railway lines, and power plants – with the help of Chinese investment.

“China is arguably in a more advantageous position than India when it comes to election scenarios in Bangladesh. No matter who wins the election, it will have partners willing to work with it,” said Kugelman.

“The Awami League may welcome Chinese investment and partnership, but there’s no reason why the BNP would oppose friendship with China either. Beijing, unlike New Delhi, has no reason to believe that its interests would be undercut if the BNP returns to power,” he added.

Is India-China rivalry over Maldives set to deepen or ‘more fiction than fact’?

Others agree that while China’s role in South Asia via Bangladesh would continue to grow, it may not result in a weakening of India’s sway.

“Unless there is a significant increase in communal tensions and anti-Muslim/Bengali sentiment in India and/or a change of government in Bangladesh, Dhaka will maintain cordial relations with New Delhi,” said Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior research fellow at British think tank Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific Programme.

“Unlike other countries in South Asia that are either firmly in the China camp (Pakistan), India camp (Bhutan), or prone to swinging between China and India (Maldives, Sri Lanka), Bangladesh has shown itself adept at maintaining cordial relations with both countries,” Bajpaee said.

“As long as the Awami League remains in power, relations with India will remain strong. At the same time, China will remain a key trade, investment and an increasingly important security partner for Bangladesh.”

Fed interest rate stance could help ‘pummelled’ yuan, China could feel ripple effects of 2024 cuts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3245073/fed-interest-rate-stance-could-help-pummelled-yuan-china-could-feel-ripple-effects-2024-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed

The US Federal Reserve’s dovish monetary stance and its hint of three interest rate cuts in 2024 may bring some relief to Chinese businesses and the yuan, said analysts and academics, who urged for Beijing to focus on stronger domestic policy to sustain an economic recovery.

With inflation easing, the US Federal Reserve unanimously voted on Wednesday to keep its benchmark overnight borrowing rate steady at between 5.25 and 5.5 per cent, although chair Jerome Powell said incremental cuts could begin to “come into view.”

Li Daxiao, chief economist at the Shenzhen-based Yingda Securities, said the monetary policies of China and the US may become more aligned in 2024.

“Without the overhanging concern of a strengthening US dollar, it will help the Chinese economy and we will have a better external environment,” said Li.

“The outflow of capital could be slowed, or even reversed, and the interest spread between the two countries can be dramatically narrowed. The yuan, once pummelled, will regain much of the lost ground.”

But Zhu Tian, a professor of economics at the China Europe International Business School, said the benefits for the Chinese economy could be overblown.

“There are some ripple effects and some relief, but what determines the Chinese economy is of course our domestic policy choices,” he said.

The trajectory of the Chinese economy is usually “out of sync” with external policy changes, Zhu added.

In its statement released after the central economic work conference earlier this week, China’s top leaders vowed to stick to expansionary policies and ramp up pro-growth coordination among ministries, while admitting external complexities and uncertainties could be on the rise next year.

From outer space to seven seas, China’s 6 big economic priorities for 2024

Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said the pause by the US Federal Reserve, and possible cuts, could be positive for China’s exports but not its financial markets.

“The news means more US stock market and bond market upsides in the coming years, possibly luring more capital out from China,” said Chen, adding the US economy could continue to cool further but is unlikely to slip into a serious recession.

The Institute of International Finance had warned on Wednesday that Chinese stocks and bonds could see an outflow of US$65 billion in 2024, due to de-risking, deteriorating relations with the West and technology embargoes.

“Despite the US Federal Reserve’s halted rate hikes, the wide US dollar-yuan yield spread will likely persist due to the People’s Bank of China’s dovish stance,” the US-based association for the global financial services industry said in its report.

Alex Ma, an associate professor of public administration at Peking University, said any potential rate cuts would mean the US economy was cooling along with consumption.

“Americans may import even less from China, but we all know the big US market is the lifeline for many Chinese exporters,” said Ma.

US-bound shipments stood at 15 per cent of China’s total exports in the first 11 months of the year, despite the sales value falling by 13.8 per cent from a year earlier, customs data revealed.

China’s overall exports rose by 0.5 per cent, year on year, to US$291.9 billion in November, marking the first positive reading since April.

China police detain man suspected of leaking medical records of Hong Kong actress Kathy Chow a day after her death

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3245058/china-police-detain-man-suspected-leaking-medical-records-hong-kong-actress-kathy-chow-day-after-her?utm_source=rss_feed

Police in Beijing have detained a 36-year-old man accused of sharing the medical records of Hong Kong actress Kathy Chow Hoi-mei on WeChat, which were then leaked on the mainland internet the day after her passing on Monday night at the age of 57.

The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said the man, surnamed Fu, used his position as an employee at Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to photograph Chow’s medical records and brag to his friends on WeChat, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Additionally, police interviewed a friend of his in connection with the case.

Chow’s studio publicly announced her death from “ineffective treatment of illness” on Tuesday, the morning after her death. By that evening, Chow’s medical records from Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shunyi district were being shared across mainland social media platforms, including WeChat and Twitter-like Weibo.

The hospital confirmed that the medical records were authentic, and the Beijing Health Commission said they were investigating the leak.

A staff member from the hospital told mainland outlet Jimu News: “When she was brought in, we did not know her identity, but there were people taking photos at the scene.”

The leak of Chow’s medical records caused outrage from large swathes of the mainland internet, who were furious about the leak, saying it “disrespected the privacy of the deceased”.

According to a document from the Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chow was found lying unresponsive on the floor at around 10am on Monday.

Chow was born and raised in Hong Kong and launched her acting career as a trainee with local broadcaster TVB. She rose to stardom by portraying Zhou Zhiruo in the famous adaptation of the martial arts novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber by Louis Cha Leung-yung.

Her portrayal of Fang Xuening in the 1986 television series The Feud of Two Brothers was an important role in a drama that landed in the top 10 of the Top 100 20th-century Chinese-language television series as voted by Singaporean television media.

In 2003, she relocated to Beijing, and her role alongside Fan Bingbin in The Empress of China transformed her into a household name in mainland China.

In her death announcement, Chow’s studio wrote: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Sister Hoi-mei due to illness on December 11, 2023. May there be no sickness in heaven, and may we meet again in the next life!”

Chow’s death has also elicited heartfelt condolences from the people who had known her during her life.

Taiwanese actor Steve Ma, who co-starred with Chow in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, said: “I never thought we would meet again in such a situation...Hoi-mei, we will always love you.”

Chow’s ex-husband Hong Kong actor Ray Lui said: “So sudden! Hoi-mei, rest in peace. Thank you for bringing so much beauty to the world. May you continue to laugh in another world.”

On her 57th birthday on December 6, Chow posted a video and expressed gratitude for the years of support from her fans. Her sudden death five days later left followers in disbelief.

One fan reminisced: “I have been watching your dramas from the ages of 8 to 30. May you be happier in another world.”

Another said: “Farewell, Sister Hoi-mei. May you find a heaven free of pain and suffering.”

South Korea scrambles fighters after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter air defence identification zone

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3245084/south-korea-scrambles-fighters-after-chinese-and-russian-warplanes-enter-air-defence-identification?utm_source=rss_feed

South Korea said it had scrambled its fighter jets in response to an incursion into its air defence identification zone on Thursday.

The South Korean joint chiefs of staff said two Chinese and four Russian aircraft had entered the air defence zone in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, without notice.

The joint chiefs’s statement said that while the planes had not violated South Korean airspace, the aircraft stayed within the air defence zone for 17 minutes, entering from the north and flying southeast before leaving.

“Our military identified Chinese and Russian military aircraft before they entered the [air defence zone], and deployed air force fighter jets to take tactical measures to prepare for contingency situations,” the statement added.

The Chinese foreign ministry said China’s air activity was in line with international law.

US forces in South Korea on agile combat mission with drill in Singapore

“As I understand it, I believe it is a routine and normal flight activity conducted by Chinese military aircraft in international waters,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.

“It is not something to criticise, and it is also in line with international law.”

The South Koreans said that once the aircraft had left, they contacted Beijing through a direct military communications channel to protest about the planes entering without giving notice.

However, they added that Seoul could not contact Russia because the two countries have not established a military communications channel.

An air defence identification zone is not territorial airspace, but countries can set them up to call on foreign planes entering the area to identify themselves to prevent accidental clashes.

It is the first time in six months that Chinese and Russian military planes have entered the South Korean zone.

In June, four Chinese and four Russian military aircraft passed through the southern and eastern parts of the zone during a joint air force patrol operation, which prompted the South Korean and Japanese militaries to scramble their fighter jets.

China and Russia have been sending warplanes towards the east of the air defence zone once or twice a year for joint drills since 2019.

Warplanes from the two countries previously passed through the zone in May and November last year.

Beijing has never sent prior notification to Seoul about the movements of its military aircraft.

China, Japan, South Korea’s top diplomats agree to revive leadership summit

The relationship between China and Russia has become increasingly close in recent years, including between the two countries’ militaries.

In July, they conducted a joint drill in the Sea of Japan, focusing on “maintaining the security of strategic maritime corridors”.

The two countries’ leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin most recently met in October during the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, where they agreed to work together to enhance ties “based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples”.

South Korea scrambles jets after Chinese, Russian warplanes enter its air defence zone

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3245063/south-korea-scrambles-jets-after-chinese-russian-warplanes-enter-its-air-defence-zone?utm_source=rss_feed

South Korea’s military said on Thursday it scrambled fighter jets as two Chinese and four Russian military planes entered its air defence zone, an area wider than the country’s airspace.

The Chinese and Russian planes entered and exited the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, from 11:53am to 12:10pm local time, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

But “there was no invasion of airspace”, it added, and the South Korean military identified the planes “before they entered KADIZ, and deployed air force fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for contingencies”.

An air defence identification zone is a broader area than a country’s airspace in which it tries to control aircraft for security reasons, but the concept is not defined in any international treaty.

Aircraft are supposed to identify themselves as they draw near the air zone.

The planes flew above waters between South Korea and Japan, the JCS reportedly said, and were in the general vicinity of an island claimed by Seoul and Tokyo.

‘New Cold War’? South Korea, US boost military ties to counter China, the North

The flights come as the two Koreas have backed away from a 2018 deal to reduce tensions along their border. After North Korea fired a rocket into space last month that deployed a spy satellite, South Korea restarted surveillance flights it had halted and North Korea threatened action against the aircraft from its neighbour.

Russia has been looking to enlist North Korea in joint military exercises that include China. During a rare trip to Pyongyang in July, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed to leader Kim Jong-un that they hold joint naval drills that included China, Yonhap reported, citing South Korea’s spy agency.

There is no indication that North Korea accepted the offer. Kim’s state media on Thursday slammed the US, Japan and South Korea for their plan to launch a system this month to share real-time data on missile launches from North Korea, saying the move is pushing the region toward conflict.

China and Russia are North Korea’s traditional allies, and Washington warned last month that military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow were “growing and dangerous”.

Military jets from Moscow and Beijing also entered and exited Seoul’s KADIZ in November last year, prompting the South to scramble its fighter jets.

Similar to the incident on Thursday, none violated South Korea’s airspace at that time.

China’s envoy to US describes Xi-Biden meeting as ‘milestone’ in ties, stresses ‘wisdom’ of ping pong diplomacy

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3245053/chinas-envoy-us-describes-xi-biden-meeting-milestone-ties-stresses-wisdom-ping-pong-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed

History will show that the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco last month was not merely a “highlight” in China-US ties this year but a “milestone” in the decades-old relationship with far-reaching influence on peace and development, Beijing’s envoy to Washington said on Wednesday.

The San Francisco meeting was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders in a year. During the talks, the two sides reached agreements on fentanyl trafficking, military communications and artificial intelligence. The visit was also Xi’s first to the US since 2017, when he was hosted by then president Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

“The summit has consolidated the momentum towards stabilising China-US relations and injected much-needed certainty and stability into this turbulent and fluid world,” said Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the US, at an event marking 52 years of “ping pong diplomacy”.

In 1971, nine American table tennis players became the first US delegation to visit China after the Communist Party came to power, paving the way for the establishment of official diplomatic ties in 1979 following a period of isolation and distrust. Those initial informal exchanges are referred to as ping pong diplomacy.

Xie noted that in San Francisco, Xi said China and the US must “jointly manage disagreements effectively, jointly advance mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly shoulder responsibilities as major countries and jointly promote people-to-people exchanges”.

In recent years, China-US tensions have risen sharply, starting with Trump’s imposition of unilateral tariffs on Chinese imports followed by Washington’s de-risking efforts and restrictions on tech exports under the Biden administration.

Xie called for good sportsmanship in bilateral relations, noting that athletic competition was about “respecting and learning from each other to make progress together” as well as abiding by rules and ensuring fair play.

He said one should not “tie the hands” of competitors or “deny others the opportunity to be part of the game”, but should focus on self-improvement and playing by “the rules of the game” rather than “bringing down others” or “ganging up”.

“There’s no reason why competitors cannot also be friends,” Xie said, stressing that it was necessary to “draw wisdom” from ping pong diplomacy.

Oops. US President Joe Biden mixes up his Chinese leaders

Also attending the event were Connie Sweeris and her husband Dell Sweeris – two of the nine table tennis players who took part in the historic trip to China.

Recalling how the visit broke down “a lot of barriers and promoted communication and understanding between our two peoples”, Connie Sweeris said that despite differences, “we can be friends”.

Jan Berris, who served as assistant cultural affairs officer at the US consulate in Hong Kong in 1971, described the exchange as an important “turning point” for the two countries.

Berris, who is now vice-president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, a New York-based non-profit organisation, said she hoped the “positive effects” of the Xi-Biden meeting would offer another opportunity for the US and China to work together and “forge a strong, a stable and a mutually respectful relationship”.

China rules Ladakh court judgment ‘irrelevant’ to its border dispute with India

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3245043/china-rules-ladakh-court-judgment-irrelevant-its-border-dispute-india?utm_source=rss_feed

China has dismissed the Indian Supreme Court’s ruling on the legal status of Ladakh – focal point of a deadly border dispute between the two countries – as “irrelevant” to its territorial claims in the remote Himalayan region.

The ruling was part of the court’s judgment supporting the Indian government’s 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state and bring it under federal administration. Ladakh was carved out of the state at the same time.

“China has never recognised the so-called union territory of Ladakh set up unilaterally and illegally by India,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday.

“India’s domestic judicial verdict does not change the fact that the western section of the China-India border has always belonged to China.”

The remarks followed Monday’s ruling upholding the Indian government’s repeal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir – focus of a long-standing territorial dispute with Pakistan – that split the state into separately administered territories.

The court also found that the reorganisation of Ladakh as a separate union territory was valid, on the understanding that statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir “as soon as possible”.

In delivering Beijing’s response to the Indian court’s main decision on Jammu and Kashmir, Mao said on Tuesday that China’s position on the issue remains “consistent and clear-cut”.

“The Kashmir issue, left from the past, needs to be resolved peacefully and appropriately in accordance with the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and relevant bilateral agreements,” she said.

“Parties concerned need to settle the dispute through dialogue and consultation so as to maintain regional peace and stability.”

The judgment came hard on the heels of China and India’s 28th round of diplomatic talks on November 30, aimed at resolving the issues surrounding their border dispute, which turned deadly in 2020 and thrust Ladakh into the international spotlight.

The fatal clash in the Galwan Valley claimed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese lives and marked one of the deadliest border incidents between the neighbouring nations in decades.

Despite ongoing disengagement efforts since September 2022, tensions persist along the 3,000km (1,860 miles) Line of Actual Control (LAC) – that separates Indian and Chinese-controlled territories.

Both countries maintain a substantial military presence along the LAC and deploy advanced weaponry along the notional demarcation line.

The latest talks – led by the China’s director general for boundary and oceanic affairs Hong Liang and Gourangalal Das, Indian joint secretary for East Asia – were “comprehensive, in-depth and constructive”, according to Beijing.

A statement from China’s foreign ministry affirmed the “positive progress” made in negotiations and said both sides had agreed to “maintain the momentum of diplomatic and military negotiations”.

According to the statement, India and China also agreed to “promote the settlement of issues related to the border areas and turn the page on the situation … at an early date”.

‘Too clingy’: wife in China files for divorce over needy mother-in-law’s ‘abnormal’ relationship with husband

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/social-welfare/article/3244189/too-clingy-wife-china-files-divorce-over-needy-mother-laws-abnormal-relationship-husband?utm_source=rss_feed

The story of a woman who wanted to divorce her husband because she could not stand her “clingy” mother-in-law has trended on mainland social media.

Using the assumed name, Wang Fang, the woman from Zhejiang province in eastern China, made the move in a bid to escape an abnormal relationship between her husband, Li Gang, and her over-protective mother-in-law.

Her attempt was stymied after the local civil affairs bureau smoothed things out between her and her husband, Guan Tianxia News reported.

It is not clear when Wang proposed the divorce, but Li agreed to it and it was only last month when the papers were filed that the truth behind the move was revealed.

The problem arose when Li’s mother moved in with the couple to look after their child.

Wang soon discovered that the mother-in-law often turned to her husband for comfort and care, making Wang feel uncomfortable and confused.

Wang thought that the inappropriate intimacy between them would come to an end once the mother-in-law moved away and she was relieved when the old woman moved out to live in another city.

However, her relief was misplaced.

Wang said her mother-in-law could not go a single day without making online video calls with Li, whatever the time and place.

“She is too clingy. Sometimes she calls when we are dining out, or just going to bed,” Wang said.

The intimacy sent Wang into a jealous rage, and when she tried to talk to her husband about the situation, he simply disagreed that there was a problem.

Li said that his father died when he was young and he was brought up by his mother, so he felt a responsibility to look after her.

“She calls us when she misses us, so there is not a serious issue,” Li told his wife.

The arguments escalated and the couple agreed to part.

But following the intervention of the local civil affairs bureau, the couple decided to give things another chance.

At the time of writing, the story had attracted 7.53 million views and 4,986 comments on Weibo, with many people saying that the mother-son relationship was harmful to the marriage.

One person asked: “Why doesn’t the mother-in-law change and set Wang free.”

“It’s really suffocating to live in such a family. The wife is more like a lover,” said another.

Stories about family disputes often make headlines in China.

Two months ago, a mother-in-law in southwestern China who felt her efforts were not being adequately rewarded sued her son-in-law and daughter for payment in return for looking after their child for five years.

The gruelling exams in imperial China that hold valuable lessons today | Podcasts

https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2023/12/12/the-gruelling-exams-in-imperial-china-that-hold-valuable-lessons-today

For over 1300 years, anyone who wanted to become a civil servant in imperial China had to pass the same exam, the keju. The gruelling tests were an egalitarian route to officialdom, but critics say they stifled innovation as they became more about loyalty than about learning. Today the Communist Party is drawing on the keju’s history to boast that China remains a meritocracy.

David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, visits the Imperial Examination Museum of China to look at how the keju is remembered and revered. Together with Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, they ask if President Xi Jinping is forgetting the lessons of the keju system’s decline.

Sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Podcast transcripts are available upon request at [email protected]. We are committed to improving accessibility even further and are exploring new ways to expand our podcast-transcript offering.

Chinese banker jailed for life in US$483 million corruption case, largest ever in country’s history

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3244990/chinese-banker-jailed-life-us483-million-corruption-case-largest-ever-countrys-history?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese banker has been sentenced to life in prison in the country’s biggest-ever corruption case arising from the banking sector.

Xu Guojun, whose case involved more than US$483 million from 1993 to 2001, was convicted on charges of embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds by the Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong province on Wednesday.

Ex-Xinjiang official who led purge now under anti-corruption investigation

Xu, a former head of a Bank of China Kaiping branch in the city of Jiangmen, had been on the run for 20 years until he was extradited from the US in 2021.

The court ruled that Xu, in his role as bank chief, and his accomplices had embezzled more than 900 million yuan (US$125.4 million) in US dollars, Hong Kong dollars and German marks.

Their misdeeds transpired through fraudulent loans, misappropriated loan repayments and the siphoning of bank funds to other accounts, it added.

The group was also found to have misappropriated more than 1.4 billion yuan worth of bank money for other illegal purposes.

“The amount of their embezzlement is particularly large,” the court said. “They have caused particularly significant damage to the interests of the state and the people.”

Along with imprisonment, Xu was deprived of political rights for life. His personal assets were confiscated, and he was ordered to surrender all his illegal gains, according to a court statement.

Xu said he accepted the sentences and would not appeal, the court noted.

His main accomplices, Yu Zhendong and Xu Chaofan, were repatriated to China in 2004 and 2018, respectively. Yu was sentenced to a 12-year jail term in 2006, and Xu received a 13-year sentence in 2021.

The trio fled the country after the Bank of China discovered a substantial deficit in the branch’s account. The men flew to Hong Kong and then Canada before eventually arriving in the US.

Xu Guojun had been on the Interpol’s wanted list since 2002.

Two other suspects in the case included Xu Chaofan’s wife, Kuang Wanfang, and Lai Mingmin, a former head of the Bank of China in Jiangmen.

Kuang was extradited from the US in 2015, while Lai, who was among China’s “100 suspects” on Interpol red notices, travelled voluntarily from Australia in 2018 to surrender and returned his stolen money after 17 years at large.

China indicts 52 per cent more cyber scammers than last year amid crackdown

Lai was responsible for ordering the branch to misappropriate at least US$21 million to cover the shortfall caused by his embezzlement, according to the court notice of his warrant.

The BOC Kaiping branch case is considered the largest to involve corruption and the banking sector since 1949. More than 2 billion yuan of the lost money has been recovered, local media reported.

‘Dirty and ugly’: China yoga influencer struts stuff at ancient site, triggers debate over ‘slut-shaming’ and being ‘inappropriate’ in public place

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3244183/dirty-and-ugly-china-yoga-influencer-struts-stuff-ancient-site-triggers-debate-over-slut-shaming-and?utm_source=rss_feed

An online influencer who did yoga at a sacred historical site has been criticised as “vulgar” and “inappropriate”, triggering a debate about behaviour in public.

A video of the woman on an ancient city wall in Xiangyang in central China’s Hubei province on December 3 was taken by a passer-by.

The Douyin influencer @yaoxianer, who has 1.6 million followers, responded on December 4 questioning why she should not practise her yoga moves at the popular tourist site and pointing out that “it is not banned”.

The location was one of a number of public spaces across Xiangyang city where she did her exercises and posted videos of herself on her account.

According to the Department of Culture and Tourism of Hubei Province, Xiangyang city is a strategic location through which the Han river runs and is where several important battles have taken place since the Han dynasty (206BC-220AD).

The ancient city wall, which is said to have been built during the Han dynasty, plays a significant part in the city’s history.

It was listed as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level in 2001.

On mainland social media, some people said that the woman’s yoga at the site was “inappropriate” and “vulgar”. One person even called the exercise “against public order and good morals”.

“Please respect the ancient city. It is a place for people to experience history and culture, not your personal yoga studio,” said another.

Others said yoga is a spiritual practice that should be done in a quiet space, rather than as a show to attract attention.

Some thought the practice at the location was entirely acceptable and no different from tai chi, which is often practised in public.

Others also thought the woman was actually wearing proper yoga gear, which should not be seen as offensive.

“Why is wearing bodysuits and practising gymnastic exercises considered vulgar? Stop slut-shaming women,” said one person.

“She appears to be confident and positive,” said another, adding: “It is those who criticised her yoga as vulgar that are really dirty and ugly.”

Controversy has previously surrounded other historical sites, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing when it was used as a backdrop for nude photos in 2015.

While some condemned the photographs as a “defamation of culture and civilisation”, the photographer argued that the human body is natural and beautiful and, therefore, not something shameful.

Under China’s Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, which was implemented in 2006, a person who deliberately shows nudity in public can be detained for up to 10 days.

China’s military uses Microsoft mixed-reality HoloLens 2 headsets to maintain equipment, video shows

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3244973/chinas-military-uses-microsoft-mixed-reality-headsets-maintain-equipment-video-shows?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s military is apparently using mixed-reality goggles made by US tech giant Microsoft to maintain its equipment, according to a video clip released by state broadcaster CCTV.

In a post on social media network Weibo on Tuesday, CCTV said a unit of the Eastern Theatre Command Air Force was using a “mixed-reality maintenance system” for its daily operations.

The accompanying video clip shows a member of the PLA Air Force wearing the HoloLens 2 headset developed by Microsoft. A 3D hologram in front of him shows an interface with Microsoft apps.

The state broadcaster did not name the device in its Weibo post. Microsoft did not respond to inquiries from the South China Morning Post.

In recent years, the United States government has further restricted the sale of hi-tech equipment and advanced technology to China that it believes would aid the Chinese military’s advancement.

Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 headset is freely available for consumers to purchase in China.

According to the CCTV post, the mixed-reality maintenance system was used to carry out a “virtual disassembly before examination” of an aircraft engine. The post said it could ensure that such engines are replaced with appropriate speed, accuracy and reliability.

It comes as China is trying to accelerate innovation and the use of advanced technology in its military as part of a push to modernise its armed forces. President Xi Jinping has set the target of having a “world-class military” by the middle of the century.

The People’s Liberation Army has reportedly been using virtual reality technology in its training for years. It has also introduced an augmented-reality system that allows soldiers to control multiple unmanned aircraft or vehicles, according to a documentary released by the PLA in August.

How smart weaponry and tech catch-up alter China’s ‘assassin’s mace’ tactic

The United States – which sees China as a “pacing challenge” – imposed a sweeping set of export controls on advanced artificial intelligence chips in 2022, aimed at restraining China’s military modernisation efforts. New rules were released two months ago to close loopholes in those curbs.

Microsoft launched the HoloLens goggles in 2016. The mixed-reality technology allows the wearer to see digital images laid over the real world, and to interact using hand and voice gestures.

The headset has been used in a broad range of settings – from manufacturing to healthcare and education – and a version of it has also been used by the US and Israeli armies.

In 2021, Microsoft won a contract to supply the US Army with more than 120,000 mixed-reality headsets in a deal worth up to US$21.88 billion over 10 years. It had initially supplied the US Army with prototypes of the device – known as the Integrated Visual Augmented System, or IVAS – in a US$480 million contract in 2018.

The headsets allow US soldiers to use holographic imagery for training, with 3D terrain maps projected into their field of vision at the click of a button. The US military has said the IVAS can provide improved situational awareness, target engagement and informed decision-making.

Chinese tech companies including Xiaomi, Lenovo and Oppo are also developing and manufacturing mixed- and augmented-reality devices.

Foxconn ramps up investment in giant Apple plant in India amid US-China tensions

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3245003/foxconn-ramps-investment-giant-apple-plant-india-amid-us-china-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

Foxconn Technology Group has won approval to invest at least US$1 billion more in a plant it is building in India that will make Apple products, a major ramp-up in its goal of building a hub beyond China.

The world’s biggest assembler of iPhones plans to spend that amount on top of the US$1.6 billion it earlier set aside for the 300-acre (121-hectare) site close to Bangalore’s airport, people familiar with the matter said.

The new capital will bankroll additional capacity for Apple devices, including likely the iPhone, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be named as the information is private.

Including the most recently approved spending, the Taiwanese firm will have set aside roughly US$2.7 billion for the site, set to become the centrepiece of the its manufacturing capabilities in India.

The outlay underscores how Foxconn and its manufacturing peers are shifting capacity away from China, which is mired in an economic downturn and struggling to deal with US tensions.

Foxconn, Apple’s most important manufacturing partner, has ramped up its budget for the plant at least once this year.

It started out in early 2023 with plans to invest just US$700 million in the complex, located in the southern tech hub of Karnataka. Though the bulk of the new investment is for Apple, Foxconn is likely to use a portion of the money and the plant to make devices and components such as electric vehicle parts for other customers.

Karnataka’s government said Tuesday it had approved another 139.11 billion rupees (US$1.7 billion) of overall Foxconn investment in the state, without specifying details. The company could also use the site to produce parts for its nascent EV business, Bloomberg News reported in March.

Foxconn and Apple representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Apple’s partners are accelerating efforts to establish a supply chain in India at a time Chinese firms are edging away from the country amid tensions between New Delhi and Beijing. India’s Tata conglomerate, another Apple partner, is seeking to build one of India’s biggest iPhone assembly plants in southern Tamil Nadu state.

India’s regulatory scrutiny of smartphone makers such as Xiaomi and Vivo has also discouraged some Chinese companies from setting up operations in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

China’s ‘involuted’ new-energy industry is awash with overcapacity that could stall new economic driver

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3244959/chinas-involuted-new-energy-industry-awash-overcapacity-could-stall-new-economic-driver?utm_source=rss_feed

In the year since in-person trade fairs and expos resumed in China following its lifting of pandemic restrictions, exhibition halls across the country have been packed full of chatty sales managers from the new-energy supply chain.

From electric car batteries to solar panels, they peddle their wares to foreign businessmen and bigger industrial peers, handing out business cards and rattling off sales pitches.

However, the deluge of interest in the industry is having a negative knock-on effect of overcapacity. And in the words of industry insiders, it’s become too “involuted”, or in Chinese – an anthropological term originally used to explain a process in which additional input cannot produce more output.

In recent years, the term has become synonymous in China with being locked in an endless cycle of self-defeating competition. And perhaps nowhere is that better embodied than new energy.

From carbon cuts to common prosperity, China’s Politburo course corrects policy

“When the price of lithium rose crazily last year, everyone rushed in. Now it has plummeted, and a large number of firms have failed,” Xie Runqing, the manager of a battery recycler, said in late November at the China International Supply China Expo in Beijing.

Indeed, the market price of lithium carbonate – a critical component in rechargeable batteries – has plunged more than 80 per cent from a peak of roughly 600,000 yuan (US$83,500) per tonne a year ago to about 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) in recent days.

At their annual tone-setting central economic work conference this week, China’s top leaders acknowledged that “overcapacity in some industries” was one of the major economic challenges to tackle in 2024.

And it is not just industry players who are affected. China’s overcapacity problem in the new-energy realm has far-reaching implications for the world’s second-largest economy. With traditional growth engines losing steam, the country is betting big on new energy.

Analysts say the best solution will be to export more new-energy goods, but they note that this would have to happen against the backdrop of rising trade barriers and some backlash in the West against low-priced Chinese products. Meanwhile, expanding new-energy infrastructure is also needed to boost domestic demand.

In the past decade, China has grown into the biggest player in the global new-energy industrial chain thanks to policy support, heavy government subsidies, and the world’s most complete manufacturing infrastructure network.

But in some provinces and cities where the industrial chain for electric vehicles has become a major economic engine in recent years, authorities have become increasingly worried about overcapacity, the industry insiders say.

“The [new-energy] sector has absorbed trillions of yuan worth of investment and employs millions of people, and it also plays an important supporting role in the national economy,” said Zou Ji, CEO and president of Energy Foundation China, a grantmaking group dedicated to China’s sustainable energy development.

But now, “there is insufficient downstream demand”, Zou said at an annual conference hosted by financial magazine Caijing last month.

China currently dominates 80 per cent of the global supply chains of photovoltaic products and automotive batteries, while more than 60 per cent of electric cars running around the world were made in China. As a result, there has been some backlash against China’s perceived monopoly in the sector.

China’s supercharged new-energy sector is propping up exports, but will it last?

The United States has largely kept Chinese EVs at bay thanks to tariffs imposed since the former presidential administration of Donald Trump, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act enacted in 2022 under President Joe Biden that entails comprehensive subsidies for domestic new-energy manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Chinese solar-panel exports to the US have been hit hard by the Uygur Forced Labour Protection Act, which bans goods made in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region over alleged forced labour. The region produces around half of the world’s polysilicon – a material crucial to solar-panel production.

The European Union has announced a subsidy investigation in China’s electric vehicle sector. It has also put forward the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, aiming to prevent “carbon leakage”, where carbon-intensive imports from countries with less-stringent climate policies outcompete domestic production.

And when Chinese and EU leaders met during a summit in Beijing in early December, China’s overcapacity in the green sector was among the bloc’s major concerns.

India has imposed a series of tariffs on Chinese photovoltaic products, while Turkey has imposed a 40 per cent additional tariff on imports of vehicles with only electric motors from China.

“China has a big market, so production capacity can rise very quickly. But the bad thing is everyone can be jumping into the same pool at the same time and get ‘involuted’ quickly,” said Zhou Yuan, a managing director and senior partner of Boston Consulting Group.

Despite trade barriers, going overseas is still the best choice for the Chinese new energy sector, given the huge production capacity that the domestic market can never digest, she said during the same Caijing forum.

“Chinese enterprises must unswervingly go global, including to the Middle East and Europe, where there are still great opportunities. Of course, among so many countries, we must choose some markets with payment capabilities,” she said.

‘Phenomenal demand’ awaits Chinese firms in Saudi Arabia: investment minister

The Chinese government and enterprises should also strive for a bigger say in the formulation of international standards in the sector, she said.

In July, Cheng Yuan, a sales manager at a Tianjin-based lithium-ion battery manufacturer, went to Lanzhou, Gansu province, in a bid to find business opportunities in the Middle East.

At the Saudi Arabia counter of the Lanzhou Investment & Trade Fair, Cheng tried to learn from the exhibitors – from consulting firms to government officials of the country – about its capacity and demand for energy storage.

“We had overseas business in the United States, Europe and Japan, and we hope to expand the export market to Saudi Arabia,” Cheng said.

Zou of Energy Foundation China, meanwhile, reflected on how overcapacity stems from insufficient domestic demand and infrastructure.

For example, a large portion of the power generated by solar panels scattered across residents’ rooftops currently cannot be transmitted to a power grid, Zou added.

In the first three quarters of 2023, China’s newly added distributed photovoltaic capacity – such as from rooftop installations of solar panels – for the first time exceeded that of the centralised power-generation format where power is produced in a large plant, according to figures from the National Energy Administration.

In the long term, China should ramp up relevant infrastructure constructions to clear such hurdles, he said.

“Now the goal of the country has become to open up new markets for the industry and create new investment expectations,” Zou said.

Singapore-born panda Le Le bids farewell to city state before trip to China

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3244981/singapore-born-panda-le-le-bids-farewell-city-state-trip-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Singaporeans bid farewell to a two-year-old panda cub on Wednesday as authorities prepared to send him to China, where he will join the country’s breeding programme.

Le Le, the first panda to be born in the city state, made his final public appearance at the River Wonders wildlife park before a month-long quarantine ahead of his departure.

Dozens of visitors lined up to see Le Le amble around his enclosure, eating bamboo and carrot sticks that keepers had hidden under paper planes and inside cardboard suitcases.

‘Envoys of friendship’: Xi Jinping hints that new pandas are on the way to US

Among them was Lucilla Teoh, a self-described “panda-holic”, who wore a T-shirt and hat decorated with panda motifs and sparkly panda earrings for the special occasion.

The 61-year-old said she considers herself Le Le’s “grand-aunty” as she had watched him grow from a tiny baby into a 73kg (161-pound) cub.

“Obviously it’s bittersweet, I wish he could stay longer,” Teoh said.

“But I also feel he has a part to play in panda conservation, that it is important for him to go back to China, grow up a bit, and then hopefully he gets to be a panda ambassador and come out like his parents.”

Lydia Robangsa, who brought her nine-year-old daughter Dahlia to see Le Le for the last time, said they felt “a bit sad” to say goodbye to the panda.

“I think Singapore is his home,” the 40-year-old marketing executive said.

Le Le was born in 2021 via artificial insemination after his parents, Jia Jia and Kai Kai, failed to mate naturally.

The pair, now aged 15 and 16 respectively, arrived in Singapore in 2012 on loan from China.

Under the arrangement, their offspring were to be sent to China after reaching independence to join the country’s panda breeding programme.

Panda reproduction – in captivity or in the wild – is notoriously difficult, experts say, as few of the animals get in the mood and, even when they do, often do not know how to mate.

Further complicating matters, the window for conception is small since female pandas are in heat only once a year, for about 24 to 48 hours.

‘Sad to see them go’: UK’s only pandas return to China after 12 years

Le Le is scheduled to travel to Chengdu on January 16 in a custom-made crate on board a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400F freighter plane.

China has long deployed “panda diplomacy”, lending the black and white animals to various countries, often to further its foreign-policy aims.

There are an estimated 1,860 giant pandas left in the wild, according to environmental group WWF, and about 600 in captivity in panda centres, zoos and wildlife parks worldwide.

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China-EU cooperation needed to safeguard globalisation’s future

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3244828/china-eu-cooperation-needed-safeguard-globalisations-future?utm_source=rss_feed

A clear message emerged from the first in-person China-EU summit in four years: building a multipolar world would require a systematic reform of global governance. China and Europe need to heal rifts and cooperate to play a pivotal and constructive role in ensuring a better future for global governance.

The current international system, comprising the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization, and led largely by the United States and Europe, was established after World War II to promote globalisation and has seen great success.

But the global economy, culture and society have marched on – given the decentralisation trend in world politics, this system is no longer able to meet our needs and global governance has fallen behind in practical action. The world order is in urgent need of restructuring.

The world is undergoing seismic changes unseen in a century. Geopolitical turmoil, climate change, a pandemic and the rise of anti-globalisation have ushered in a turbulent era. Globalisation, in particular, is facing unprecedented challenges.

In May this year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the multipolarity of the world at the Global Solutions Summit. But while this multipolar world has arrived, the governance system to go with it has yet to be formed.

China is part of the Global South but some of its regions have reached levels of development comparable to Global North nations. China is in a position to link with the major sectors of a multipolar world and play a leading role in globalisation.

To build a new global governance system, the US, European Union, China and other Global South countries need to agree on a multipolar model of peaceful coexistence. It would behove China, the US and EU to establish a trilateral dialogue for regular exchanges and to promote broader international cooperation.

Also, as the world’s largest economies and major emitters of greenhouse gases, these three powers should discuss sustainable development solutions.

Due to cultural and systemic differences, there is more competition between China and the US than cooperation. If both sides can coexist in a context of competition and cooperation, they may be able to reach a new balance by 2035.

Europe is essential to avoiding a bipolar world and helping the formation of a multipolar one. As Europe is an independent third party, its economic relationship with China has become increasingly important.

There are four domains in which China and Europe can cooperate to forge a more multipolar world.

The first is in new technology. From the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence to clean energy, technological advances are reshaping how we do business – even as a lack of effective international governance hinders coordination.

Cutting-edge issues include global management of the digital economy, carbon taxes and global corporate income tax. China and Europe should discuss the establishment of international institutions to foster coordination in these emerging areas.

The second is in climate action. China is a world leader in renewable energies such as wind and solar power. Its Belt and Road Initiative seeks to promote a transformation to green infrastructure, supported by financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Next year, the AIIB will host the fifth Finance in Common Summit. At this summit, China should propose cooperation in green infrastructure between its Belt and Road Initiative and the EU’s Global Gateway programme. The AIIB and European Investment Bank can also facilitate funding for climate-related work in developing countries.

The third domain in which China and EU can cooperate is in investment and trade. China has joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and applied to be part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.

But while China and the EU share extensive interests and a solid foundation for cooperation, they have reached an impasse on the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). To overcome this impasse, in April last year China ratified the International Labour Organization’s 1930 Forced Labour Convention and 1957 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention.

The sooner the CAI becomes a reality, the sooner we can see an economic boom for Chinese and European companies, especially important in the current stagnant economic climate. Given that China has unilaterally lifted visa requirements for some EU countries, it could also start unilaterally applying some CAI proposals in opening up.

Last but not least, China and Europe can cooperate on smoothing the movement of their citizens. Freeing up the flow of people is part of globalisation, and has an impact on trade, investment and technological exchanges, promoting the exchange of culture and ideas.

It is in this spirit that China is trying out visa-free travel for the citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain on ordinary passports to enter the country for business, tourism or to visit relatives and friends.

Why the EU must not spurn China’s charm offensive

But China should also continue to work on attracting talent, especially from Europe, by further liberalising its visa policy to promote people-to-people connectivity and help build global consensus.

Global governance needs to be more inclusive and geared towards 21st century problems such as climate change and social inequality. This can be done by boosting free trade, overcoming the global infrastructure gap and closing the digital divide. China is a beneficiary of globalisation, and its economy has continued to mature, entering an age of high mass consumption, similar to Europe of the past.

It is clear that China and Europe face obstacles to greater cooperation, with pressures both internal and external. But it is in the interests of both to play a leading role together in shaping the next iteration of a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable model of globalisation.

As support for ‘two-state solution’ grows, what role will China play in Israeli-Palestinian peace process?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244882/support-two-state-solution-grows-what-role-will-china-play-israeli-palestinian-peace-process?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month that a “two-state solution” was the fundamental way out from “the cycle of conflicts” between Israel and Palestinians.

Xi’s remarks, made during an online Brics summit on the Israel-Gaza war last month, reiterated China’s long-held position that Palestine should become an independent state, and its people should enjoy the right of “nationhood, life and return”.

As the war, which has already claimed the lives of more than 14,000 people, entered its second month, more Western leaders voiced support for a “two-state solution” including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“I’ve made it clear to the Israelis … the only ultimate answer here is a two-state solution,” Biden said during a press conference after meeting Xi in San Francisco in November.

Diplomatic observers said the renewed support for a two-state solution showed that attempts to maintain the status quo in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had fallen apart. But they said it was not yet clear whether Beijing – a rising power broker in the Middle East and a long-time proponent of a two-state solution – could play a central role in the peace process.

Only two-state solution can bring real peace to Israel and Palestinians: China

John Calabrese, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute and an associate professor at American University, said that a “two-state solution” appeared to be the “default option” for Israel and Palestine.

Support for a two-state solution was widespread in 1947 when the United Nations came up with a plan to partition the region into two distinct states, with a Jewish-majority Israel and an Arab-majority Palestine, while the city of Jerusalem would become an international zone.

Arab leaders rejected the UN proposal, and decades-long conflicts between Israel and Arab countries ensued, casting a shadow over prospects for a two-state solution.

The idea saw new light in 1993 when Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation officially recognised each other and started the peace process, with Washington and Cairo brokering a deal called the Oslo Accords.

The Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three regions, with around 60 per cent of it Israeli-controlled. The Palestinian Authority – set up as an interim governing body for a future Palestinian state – had sole control of less than 20 per cent of the West Bank and most of the Gaza Strip.

But there has been little progress since then as disagreement grew. In 2007, Hamas, which denied the legitimacy of Israel, took control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority.

Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore and a former adviser with the French defence ministry and Nato, described the past 15 years as “the collapse of the Oslo process”, as the election of Hamas in Gaza and the increase in Israeli settlements in the West Bank had closed the window for diplomatic initiatives.

He added that Western governments had considered the peace process to be in a stalemate and had prioritised the war on terror.

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel’s former health minister and former leader of the left-wing political party Meretz, said the idea of a two-state solution was marginalised before the Israel-Gaza war.

“The current Israeli government even openly opposes it. Israeli public opinion, which in the past mostly supported the two-state formula, has largely turned its back on it,” he said.

Faith in a “two-state solution” sank to a historical low on both sides, with just 34 per cent of Israelis and 33 per cent of Palestinians supporting it in 2022, according to a survey by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research.

Israel-Gaza war: French and Chinese leaders back two-state solution

Washington, a leader of the Oslo process, has also turned lukewarm about the proposal, especially as Israel has taken steps to normalise relations with Arab nations during US President Joe Biden’s administration and that of his predecessor Donald Trump, Calabrese said.

Since 2020, Washington has worked to help Israel establish diplomatic ties with Arab countries. Biden was reported to have achieved a normalisation agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel earlier this year, but the process halted after the Gaza war erupted.

Calabrese said the Trump and Biden administrations prioritised Israeli-Arab normalisation, security cooperation and economic integration while “turning a blind eye” to the Palestinian issue.

“It had the effect of sidelining the Palestinian issue,” he said.

In the meantime, two trends consolidated – the “ascendancy of a hardline right-wing government” in Israel along with an “impotent Palestinian Authority whose fecklessness and corruption” empowered Hamas, Calabrese said.

But the October 7 attack on Israel proved that the status quo was fragile, said Nidal Foqaha, director of the West Bank-based Palestinian Peace Coalition-Geneva Initiative.

“October 7th constituted a wake-up call to the whole world, but most importantly to Israelis who also believed that all parties, including Hamas, are contained and comfortable with the status quo,” he said.

Wu Sike, a former Chinese envoy for Middle East Affairs, said the war had shown that while Israel had “absolute military superiority”, it was difficult to achieve long-term peace and stability through military subjugation.

“The Palestine issue remains at the centre of the Middle East problem … if the issue is not resolved, [conflict] will erupt sooner or later in different forms, regardless of any major changes in the regional and international situation,” Wu said.

Beijing supports a two-state solution based on the “pre-1967 borders”, meaning that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank should be dismantled.

Foqaha said China had “very strong leverage” to play a positive role in bridging gaps and easing the negotiation process, as Beijing has positive relations with both Palestine and Israel.

“Beijing enjoys excellent relations with the two sides of the conflict, with almost all of the relevant regional players and international players,” he said, adding that this positioned China to play a role alongside the US.

Horowitz said Washington would undoubtedly be an essential broker in the peace process, and China’s commitment – including financial and other aid – would help improve the chances of a solution.

The former Israeli minister said if Washington and Beijing could agree on a mutually acceptable two-state solution, it would give the peace process renewed momentum.

China to play peacekeeper in post-war Gaza, but US holds key to truce: analysts

However, observers said a “two-state solution” could not be achieved in the foreseeable future as long as the different parties held different views and Israel continued its attempts to eliminate Hamas.

“In the short term, it is not possible to renew the peace process because now the war is still ongoing, and there is a deep mistrust among the parties,” Horowitz said.

He added that progress towards a comprehensive solution to the conflict would only be conceivable after the situation in the Gaza Strip is stabilised, and progress might require political changes in the Israeli leadership as well as for Palestine.

Samaan agreed that the leadership of both Israel and Palestine needed changes for communication to resume, while external powers – especially the US, but also China – could play decisive roles in the future.

“There is actually no reason why Washington and Beijing would not agree on a ‘two-state solution’ in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he added.

But while Beijing has been outspoken about the need for a ceasefire in recent months, its practical efforts to address the conflict have fallen short compared with those of Washington. So far, no Chinese minister has visited Israel or the Palestinian territories. Aside from a Middle East tour by Zhai Jun, China’s envoy to the region, the country’s diplomatic efforts have largely taken place in Beijing.

Samaan noted that in the latest crisis, Beijing has remained cautious about getting trapped in the dispute. “It did not play any role, for instance, in the hostage crisis,” he said.

China has not condemned Hamas for its October 7 attack, which has led to uncertainty in its diplomatic prospects with Israel and could hinder Beijing’s impact on the peace process.

Fan Hongda, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, said that given Israel’s current attitude towards Beijing, “I pessimistically believe that it will be difficult for China to play a central role in solving the question”.

Samaan said China’s biggest advantage was that it was “not the US”, meaning that it did not carry the same baggage as Washington in the Arab world.

“At the moment, many Arab countries are frustrated with the US policy and its support to Israel,” he said.