• Huawei’s HarmonyOS to beat Apple’s iOS as the No. 2 smartphone operating system in China in 2024: TechInsights report
• China gives first official look at Fujian aircraft carrier’s advanced catapult launch system
• China food security: offshore fish farming turns idle waters into ‘marine breadbasket’
• Chinese TV host suspended after ‘inappropriate’ Japan earthquake comments go viral
• China’s population: Beijing urged to build digitally inclusive society, as it seeks insights into technical skills of its elderly
• China’s Sinopec says world-leading green hydrogen project will take longer than expected to ramp up
• ‘Too conservative’: reputation of China eye doctor who got sympathy of nation after knife attack takes hit over controversial parenting style
• ‘The price of love’: forgiving man in China seeks clemency for swindling, married ‘girlfriend’ who milked US$280,000 from him over 5 years
• How will Beijing respond to Manila’s plans to build on South China Sea reef?
• Chinese scientists say cheap SQUID submarine detector is world’s most sensitive
• Hong Kong transport chief vows to speed up talks with mainland Chinese authorities on extending operating hours at border checkpoints to prevent post-event chaos
• China jobs: further cracks appear in iron rice bowl as bus operator ponders asking staff to become entrepreneurs
• China’s capital rolls out no-no list for officials dealing with Beijing’s entrepreneurs, but more needed to tackle ‘sore points’
• Gold blush: China kindergarten boy gives classmate US$15,500 worth of gold bars to ‘future wife’, shocks parents, amuses social media
• Hong Kong beat China at football for first time in 29 years
• Philippines stockpiling bilateral deals to counter Beijing in South China Sea won’t work
• ‘No one is safe’: China purges record number of senior officials in 2023, with more ‘tigers’ likely to fall
• Missing Chinese student was victim of ‘cyber kidnapping’ scam, Utah police say

Huawei’s HarmonyOS to beat Apple’s iOS as the No. 2 smartphone operating system in China in 2024: TechInsights report

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3247172/huaweis-harmonyos-beat-apples-ios-no-2-smartphone-operating-system-china-2024-techinsights-report?utm_source=rss_feed

Huawei Technologies’ mobile platform HarmonyOS is projected to surpass Apple’s iOS as the second-biggest operating system in China this year driven by the US-sanctioned firm’s comeback with the Mate 60 series, according to a report by TechInsights.

While Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS will continue to dominate the global smartphone operating system sector, Huawei’s self-developed HarmonyOS will take some ground from both US giants in China, Canadian research firm TechInsights said in a report released on Wednesday.

Increased HarmonyOS adoption will be driven by Huawei’s return to the 5G smartphone segment, which started with the surprise launch in late August of its Mate 60 Pro, a handset equipped with an advanced, home-grown 5G chip despite US tech sanctions intended to block access to such technology.

TechInsights also expects Huawei to make a solid recovery in 2024, according to the report.

Huawei’s smartphones are all powered by HarmonyOS, its self-developed Android alternative launched in August 2019, three months after the US government added the firm to its Entity List. Under this trade blacklist, Huawei is barred from buying software, chips and other US-origin technologies from suppliers without Washington’s approval.

On its release, the Mate 60 Pro inspired a wave of patriotic fervour among Chinese consumers, and the Shenzhen-based firm faced supply issues as it scrambled to crank up production to meet demand.

Huawei sees 9 per cent sales growth in 2023, boosted by Mate 60 Pro 5G comeback

TechInsights expects Huawei’s supply challenge, driven by shortages of Kirin 9000s chipsets, to ease in the next few months. Huawei’s product portfolio further expanded last week when it launched new smartphone models under its mid-range Nova series.

HarmonyOS is also projected to reach a milestone in 2024 with the launch of HarmonyOS Next, which will not support Android-based apps.

Huawei is expected to launch a developer preview version of HarmonyOS Next in the first quarter of 2024, and is already working with China’s major companies to develop native apps based on the system.

Last month, Chinese financial technology giant Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding, said it is building a new version of mobile payment app Alipay based on HarmonyOS, after Alibaba started development on a new version of DingTalk, its workplace collaboration app, for the platform.

Other major Chinese internet companies – including e-commerce firm JD.com, video gaming giant NetEase and food delivery market leader Meituan – in November already started to recruit developers to build native apps for HarmonyOS.

McDonald’s China – with a network of more than 5,500 restaurants and over 200,000 employees serving more than 1 billion customers each year – became one of the first multinational food companies on the mainland to adopt HarmonyOS Next.

It remains to be seen whether these efforts will have a halo effect on other smartphone makers and make HarmonyOS a default operating system for not just smartphones but also laptops and cars in China, TechInsights said.

More than 700 million devices currently run on HarmonyOS, with more than 2.2 million third-party developers creating apps for the platform, according to Richard Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, speaking at the company’s annual developer conference in August.

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China gives first official look at Fujian aircraft carrier’s advanced catapult launch system

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3247178/china-gives-first-official-look-fujian-aircraft-carriers-advanced-catapult-launch-system?utm_source=rss_feed

China has offered its first official look at the advanced plane catapults on its latest aircraft carrier, featuring the vessel in the state broadcaster’s flagship nightly news programme on Tuesday.

The CCTV evening newscast showed the Fujian, China’s first carrier to be fitted with electromagnetic catapults, pulled by three tugboats and with what appeared to be a J-15 fighter jet on its flight deck.

It is the first time the Fujian has been shown in state media news since April, and was part of a segment on the military’s response to President Xi Jinping’s New Year’s call for “national rejuvenation” – a term that includes unifying mainland China and Taiwan.

Featuring the aircraft carrier in such a high-profile programme could signal the state’s confidence in the vessel’s development.

The Liaoning and the Shandong, China’s first two aircraft carriers, launch planes using ski-jump take-off ramps. The Fujian’s catapults are powered by electromagnets that will allow planes to be launched more frequently and with more fuel and munitions.

The United States is the only other country with aircraft carriers equipped with the technology.

The footage also showed the Fujian away from its usual berthing position at Shanghai’s Jiangnan shipyard but it was not clear where.

According to satellite images, the carrier had returned in the past 10 days to the dry dock at the shipyard where it was built after being moved to a basin in June 2022.

Yin Hongxin, a Chinese navy officer, said in the report that the ship had undergone mooring tests “according to plan”.

The Fujian has yet to undergo sea trials to test its systems and components. In November, video clips were uploaded online apparently showing a dead-load test involving a wheeled vehicle being catapulted from the flight deck.

China’s Fujian carrier moves positions, stepping closer to sea trial: analysts

Song Zhongping, a former People’s Liberation Army instructor, said the Fujian was likely to be in dry dock for improvements after its mooring tests. It could also be moved so the hull could be cleaned and degaussed.

Degaussing neutralises the ship’s magnetic field, which if left unchecked makes it easier for magnetic-sensitive weapons and sensors to detect the vessel.

“The sea trial mission is important, so the Fujian will not be in dock for long,” Song said.

He would not speculate on how long the Fujian would stay at the shipyard, but said that would depend on the amount of work to be done on the carrier.

The CCTV report also showed scaffolding on the Fujian’s command centre “island” structure. The flight deck is also yet to be painted.

The Fujian, a Type 003 carrier, was launched in 2022. Its completion would bring China closer to its goal of building a blue-water navy that can operate in the open ocean, and its target of at least six aircraft carrier battle groups by 2035.

The PLA also uses aircraft carriers in operations targeting Taiwan, which Beijing says must be unified with mainland China, by force if necessary.

Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. The US is obligated under its law to help Taiwan defend itself.

The Shandong carrier was positioned east of Taiwan in a major exercise in April, which analysts said was intended to deny entry to any foreign forces coming to Taiwan’s aid.

China food security: offshore fish farming turns idle waters into ‘marine breadbasket’

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247166/china-food-security-offshore-fish-farming-turns-idle-waters-marine-breadbasket?utm_source=rss_feed

China has revealed plans to develop massive offshore aquaculture facilities and widen its fishing territories to build a “marine breadbasket”, with food security remaining at the top of the government’s agenda as the new year gets under way.

In a set of guidelines issued on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Resources pledged to strictly zone marine farming areas in a similar manner as previously adopted for arable land.

“Turning to the ocean for calories and protein is an important way to secure the food supply,” the ministries said in a separate document.

The announcement came as Beijing has made food security an issue of paramount importance to counter uncertainties such as global climate change, geopolitics and trade tensions with the West. The push for food self-sufficiency lines up with adjacent efforts in other sectors like minerals, energy and industrial products.

President Xi Jinping said in April that China should “ask not only the land but also the ocean for food”. He again emphasised the importance of developing the ocean economy and ensuring national food security at December’s central economic work conference.

As the world’s largest exporter of aquatic animal products, China now has around 2.1 million hectares dedicated to mariculture. Its marine gross domestic product (GDP) is 9.46 trillion yuan (US$1.3 trillion), accounting for about 8 per cent of national GDP.

China vows to boost crop yields, Xi calls for investment in ‘lifeblood’ land

The two ministries also vowed to speed up the construction and application of mobile farm floats and nets in support of deep-sea farming and ranching, in which juvenile fish are released into the ocean for harvesting as adults – the same way livestock is raised on land.

Conson 1, a home-made offshore aquaculture facility, was deployed in May 2022. It is capable of producing 3,700 tonnes of fish each year, an output nearly equivalent to that of Lake Chagan, one of China’s largest freshwater lakes. Two bigger farming facilities were put into service last year, and their operator has plans for an even larger vessel in the future.

On Monday, the Communist Party theoretical journal Qiushi said China should strictly manage the use of uninhabited islands and enhance the protection of coastlines, with a phased withdrawal of buildings along the coast.

The government needs to take a fine-tuned approach to ocean management, it said, including more scientific zoning of marine resources and a gradual exit from traditional, inefficient methods of fishing.

Although China has levied tough regulations on traditional mariculture since 2017 to minimise environmental damage, the recent guideline stipulated certain areas be set aside for traditional fishermen to preserve their livelihoods.

“We need to progress the farming zoning gradually, without adopting a sweeping ‘campaign style’ approach,” the guideline read. “If zoning threatens social stability, we need to conduct risk assessment.”

Chinese TV host suspended after ‘inappropriate’ Japan earthquake comments go viral

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3247174/chinese-tv-host-suspended-after-inappropriate-japan-earthquake-comments-go-viral?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese TV host in the southern island province of Hainan has been suspended after his comments about a deadly earthquake in central Japan on New Year’s Day.

On Monday, the day the earthquake struck, Xiao Chenghao, an anchor with the regional Hainan Broadcasting Group, posted a video titled “A comeuppance arrived? A 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Japan”.

“It is surprising that on the first day of 2024, such a powerful earthquake occurred in Japan,” he said in a video that went viral on Chinese social media, but has since been deleted from his personal account.

“With such a large-scale natural disaster happening on the first day of the year, I’m afraid Japan will be shrouded by gloomy clouds for all of 2024.

“Perhaps [Japan should] do some deeds less, and should not have discharged nuclear water into the sea.”

Xiao’s “inappropriate comments” prompted the company to suspend him and investigate the incident, the broadcaster said in a statement on Tuesday, without elaborating.

The presenter, who has commented regularly about current affairs on social media platform Weibo, has more than 230,000 followers.

Xiao has not apologised since he was suspended.

The employer’s decision prompted debate on Chinese social media, with some saying his video was inappropriate and unprofessional, while others agreed with his comments and questioned the employer’s move.

When the news about the powerful quake in Ishikawa prefecture broke on Monday, Chinese netizens appeared to be split in their reactions. While many were sympathetic to the victims and their families, some gloated about the disaster.

Hate speech that has been allowed on China’s tightly controlled social media has caused growing concerns about extremist views.

Cyberbullying cases, like the attempted suicide of a Chinese freelance journalist and influencer who appeared to be sympathetic while reporting on the death of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, have caused China’s legal bodies to reconsider penalties against people found to be promoting hate speech or violence.

Hate speech on Chinese social media has also surfaced over other international events such as the Israel-Gaza war, which has prompted a surge of antisemitic views online.

Ties between China and Japan have been strained for many years over a range of issues, including the Japanese occupation of China during World War II, disputed territorial claims in the East China Sea, and – more recently – US-Japan security cooperation.

Influencer under fire for saying China deadly quake had ‘nothing to do with her’

Recent tensions, such the controversy over Japan’s release of wastewater from nuclear plants in August, have added to long-held grievances among the Chinese public, especially among those with more nationalistic views.

Beijing has taken a strong stand over Tokyo’s decision to discharge the wastewater and since banned all seafood imports from Japan. The move by Japan has sparked fierce criticism and posts about boycotting Japanese goods on Chinese social media.

On Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed condolences on behalf of the Chinese government to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “China is willing to provide necessary assistance to Japan’s earthquake relief efforts,” he said in a phone call to Kishida.

The prefectural government said on Wednesday that the disaster had killed dozens of people and injured more than 300. The highest magnitude among the series of earthquakes and aftershocks measured by the Japan Meteorological Agency was 7.6.

No injuries or deaths of Chinese nationals had been reported, according to China’s foreign ministry.

Tens and thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed in the disaster, while water, power and mobile phone services were still down in some areas on Wednesday afternoon, according to Japanese media.

China’s population: Beijing urged to build digitally inclusive society, as it seeks insights into technical skills of its elderly

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3247144/chinas-population-beijing-urged-build-digitally-inclusive-society-it-seeks-insights-technical-skills?utm_source=rss_feed

China is seeking to gain more insights into the digital literacy of its elderly population as it attempts to find ways to better accommodate its rapidly ageing demographic in an increasingly intelligent society.

New questions on smartphone usage for people aged 60 and above were added to a survey on population changes and the labour force conducted at the end of 2022, and published recently by the National Bureau of Statistics in the 2023 China Population and Employment Statistical Yearbook.

They included their ability to use a smartphone, and whether they could perform certain tasks, including chatting, making payments, shopping and reading the news.

“[Finding out the answers to] how the smart society in the future should include and embrace the elderly, and how the elderly should adapt to a technologically advanced lifestyle, necessitate first-hand investigation data and an accurate understanding of the reality,” said Yuan Xin, vice-president of the China Population Association.

“This is essential for decision-making, and is also a prerequisite for businesses to design intelligent products.”

In addition to falling new births, China is also one of the world’s fastest ageing countries.

It had 280 million people aged over 60 at the end of 2022, accounting for 19.8 per cent of the population, according to government data.

Last year, 209.78 million people were also aged over 65, accounting for 14.9 per cent of the total population.

As China becomes an increasingly digitised and modern society, older people are often left behind due to their unfamiliarity with smartphones.

Yuan, who is also professor of demography at Nankai University in Tianjin, added that it is unrealistic and impossible to make an entire society use smart devices and services, and that society should leave room for some to opt out.

“This is their right, that’s why we must build a digitally inclusive society, it is necessary to carve out pathways for them to lead a life where they can enjoy the convenience of digital living, but also pay with cash in the mall, or pay manually on highways,” he added.

“The digital divide will always exist and cannot be completely eradicated.

“Although, with the generational turnover among the elderly, the digital gap for the new elderly generation may narrow, the continual evolution of intelligent devices will give rise to new digital barriers.”

Last week, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology rolled out a plan to promote age-friendly digital technologies, pledging a more comprehensive regulatory framework, a larger and more integrated digital technology penetration and better services by the end of 2025.

“Seniors will experience a steady increase in their sense of achievement, happiness and security amid the ongoing development of informatisation,” the work plan said.

One of the tasks includes expanding and diversifying products, with firms set to be guided and supported to develop and launch more than 100 smart products with age-friendly features.

These would include smartphones, televisions, smart speakers, fitness trackers for health management smart products, as well as smart products for elderly care.

The plan also vowed to further reduce accessibility barriers for the elderly to use the internet conveniently by simplifying the activation methods for features, including voice assistants and elder modes.

It also encourages enterprises, universities, research institutions and social organisations to establish innovative collaborative mechanisms to build more age-friendly technologies.

“All basic telecommunications enterprises should maintain offline service channels through physical storefronts, establish dedicated service positions for assisting the elderly, and provide necessary auxiliary devices, on-site guidance, manual processing and other services,” the plan said.

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China’s Sinopec says world-leading green hydrogen project will take longer than expected to ramp up

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3247148/chinas-sinopec-says-world-leading-green-hydrogen-project-will-take-longer-expected-ramp?utm_source=rss_feed

The world’s largest green hydrogen project will take nearly two years longer to reach full capacity as its Chinese operator struggles with the technology seen as important to cutting emissions from heavy industry.

China Petroleum & Chemical said last week that its Kuqa project in Xinjiang province would only reach its full annual capacity of 20,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2025, after previously saying it expected to hit that rate upon completion. At full capacity, the facility’s hydrogen output would eliminate fossil fuel burning equal to 485,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions per year.

The state-owned refiner, better known as Sinopec, announced a full commissioning of the project at the end of August, with 260 megawatts of electrolysers powered by renewable energy producing the carbon-free gas that would be sent to the nearby Tahe oil refinery.

Problems at the project would be a blow to global green hydrogen production, which is expected to rise almost exponentially from just 0.1 million tonnes in 2023 to 51.2 million tonnes by 2030, according to BloombergNEF. The gas, which is made using renewable energy such as solar and wind and only produces water and oxygen when burned, is seen as vital in reducing emissions from energy-intensive sectors including oil refining and steel making.

Sinopec said in a December 25 statement that production started on June 30, and that around 22 million cubic metres of green hydrogen had been produced by December 21. That is roughly 2,000 tons for an annual utilisation rate of about 20 per cent last year. The company did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

BloombergNEF first highlighted problems at the project in late November, when analyst Xiaoting Wang said it was operating at less than one-third of installed capacity because of a wide range of technical problems.

In its December 25 statement, Sinopec said green hydrogen production would be gradually ramped up as the Tahe refinery completes an expansion project. It also said it had faced problems with electrolysers not being able to handle the fluctuations in power coming from intermittent renewable sources, but had come up with solutions and greatly improved its operational range.

Longi Green Energy Technology, the solar giant that produced some of the electrolysers for the Kuqa project, defended the low operation rates at the project at a December 22 forum in Beijing, according to a report from business publication Jiemian. Longi President Li Zhenguo said that when power generation is lower than expected – on a cloudy day, for example – it is best for safety and stability to shut down some electrolysers to ensure others can run at full load.

Sinopec in September announced plans to become China’s biggest hydrogen producer, putting the country on course to achieve its energy transition and climate goals. The company said it aims to install a capacity to produce 120,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year by the end of 2025.

Saudi Aramco and Chinese partner ready pilot hydrogen-conversion plant

“The company is targeting to become the largest, technologically leading and best-managed hydrogen company,” in-house website Sinopecnews.com.cn reported. “It will focus on hydrogen refuelling and green hydrogen production to help the transportation sector reduce carbon emissions.”

Growing production and use of green hydrogen is a crucial plank in China’s strategy to wean off fossil fuels and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. China is already the world’s largest hydrogen producer with an annual output of 33 million tonnes.

In March, Beijing introduced the nation’s first hydrogen strategy to develop the industry between 2021 and 2035. Under the plan, China will have at least 50,000 hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles on the road and produce 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2025.

‘Too conservative’: reputation of China eye doctor who got sympathy of nation after knife attack takes hit over controversial parenting style

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3246274/too-conservative-reputation-china-eye-doctor-who-got-sympathy-nation-after-knife-attack-takes-hit?utm_source=rss_feed

The reputation of an eye doctor in China – who received the sympathy of the nation after he was attacked by a knife-wielding former patient – has taken a hit due to his controversial style of parenting.

Tao Yong, from Beijing, has come under fire for forcing his daughter to serve food to relatives and wash dishes on her birthday.

The doctor became a household name in China in 2020 when he was brutally attacked by a former patient who was angry about the medical treatment he received from Tao.

The attack left him with severe nerve damage, making it unlikely he would be able to perform precise eye surgery again.

Despite this, Tao continued to contribute to medicine by focusing on academic and technological advancements, work which earned him widespread praise.

However, the mood changed on December 23 when he shared a lengthy post on Weibo detailing his daily interactions with his 12-year-old daughter and his general parenting philosophy.

In the post, he explained how he taught his daughter to serve food to relatives on her birthday and, despite her reluctance, persuaded her to wash dishes as part of becoming a “fair lady”.

“During the meal, I asked my daughter to serve food to the elderly, prepare roast duck rolls for her uncle and aunt and prepare vegetables for her mother,” said Tao.

“She obediently carried out all these tasks. When it came to washing dishes, however, I faced resistance from the whole family. Eventually, I convinced her through various persuasive methods and reasoning techniques,” he added.

He concluded his post with: “At the crossroads where a child could become a ‘witch’ or a ‘fair lady,’ I dare not slack off as a father.”

The post ignited a wave of online criticism, with many accusing Tao of imposing archaic, patriarchal values on his daughter.

One online critic said: “Why should anyone serve and wash dishes on their birthday? There are 365 days a year available for educating a child. Why only choose her birthday for such lessons?

“If someone made me wash dishes on my birthday, I would smash the cake over their head. He may be a good doctor but he is too conservative as a father.”

Some even went as far as accusing him of “training a personal female slave for some unknown man”.

The controversy escalated after a key opinion leader (KOL) leapt to his defence on Weibo.

Ophthalmology “Superman” Lao Liang, who has more than 3.3 million followers on the platform, claimed she was a junior schoolmate of Tao.

She lauded Tao’s encouragement of female doctoral students, suggesting he is not a strict patriarch but respects and treats women equally.

“As an atheist, he even prayed for our marital prospects at temples and constantly introduced potential partners to us. When our research hit dead ends, and we cried in his office, he would say, ‘Why not just get married instead? Why trouble yourself with a PhD?’” Lao said.

Her defence only fuelled the furore.

One person asked: “Are you defending him or making it worse? An atheist praying for marital luck at temples? Is this written by a medical doctor? Hilarious.”

“‘Why not just get married instead?’ In Hong Kong TV dramas, this is called insulting, but you think it’s comforting,” added another.

Later, Tao deleted his initial Weibo post and on December 26 issued a response.

He said he was still in the process of finding a parenting approach that works best for him and was deeply grateful for the advice he had received from people online.

Tao added that he would continue to make adjustments and “strive to improve.”

‘The price of love’: forgiving man in China seeks clemency for swindling, married ‘girlfriend’ who milked US$280,000 from him over 5 years

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3246259/price-love-forgiving-man-china-seeks-clemency-swindling-married-girlfriend-who-milked-us280000-him?utm_source=rss_feed

A man in China who insisted on forgiving a married woman who pretended to be his girlfriend to con him out of two million yuan (US$280,000) has shocked mainland social media.

The Shanghai resident, who uses the alias Wang Yuan, slipped into debt by giving financial support to his girlfriend, nicknamed Zhang Li, and her family for five years.

Wang only realised and accepted that he was trapped in a love scam when the police investigated his situation, according to a report in The Paper.

Details of the racket began to emerge in August when Wang’s boss, surnamed Li, discovered that Wang had gone into debt to the tune of US$280,000 because of his girlfriend.

Despite the fact that Wang did not think he was being deceived, Li was concerned and went to the authorities.

Li told the police that he could not believe the amount Wang had spent because he was normally relatively frugal. Not only that, the company covered the cost of meals and accommodation for staff.

Also, Li was startled to find that Wang had borrowed money from his colleagues and others after he met Zhang on the internet five years ago.

At one point, he asked Wang: “Why do you need to borrow money?”

Wang’s response was unclear, but it further raised Li’s suspicions, especially when the former said he had stumped up more than 200,000 yuan to pay for the studies of Zhang’s younger brother.

Then things got even worse. Li discovered that Zhang was married with a son.

Blinded by bogus love, Wang chose not to believe Li and continued to support Zhang, even convincing his sick mother to apply for a mortgage loan on her behalf.

The police quickly arrested Zhang who confessed and said that both she and her husband had been unemployed for a long time, so had kept asking Wang for money.

When asked if he knew about his wife’s “affair”, Zhang’s husband said she told him Wang was simply a generous platonic friend.

“I did not know about the real nature of their relationship or the money,” he told The Paper.

While Wang eventually accepted that he had been scammed, he said he hoped the police would drop the case against Zhang.

Later, when he was informed that Zhang would be prosecuted, Wang provided a letter of understanding to prove that he had forgiven her.

“I neither hate nor blame her. I hope she will just receive a mild sentence,” Wang said.

The story has sparked a heated discussion on mainland social media.

One online observer said: “The price of love really is too high.”

“Oh my god, is this man a robot? He needs to wake up,” said another.

Stories about romance scams regularly make headlines in China.

In November, a woman in Shanghai defrauded her friend out of more than 1.79 million yuan (US$250,000) by posing as the son of a wealthy business executive and sustaining a fabricated romance.

In another case, also in November, a 51-year-old mother and son in eastern China were detained for conning a wealthy friend out of 800,000 yuan after the son introduced his mother as his 27-year-old “childhood friend” who was keen to begin a relationship.

How will Beijing respond to Manila’s plans to build on South China Sea reef?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3247117/how-will-beijing-respond-manilas-plans-build-south-china-sea-reef?utm_source=rss_feed

Manila’s approval of funding to build a “permanent structure” on a disputed reef is unlikely to lead to a “full-scale escalation” in the South China Sea, but Beijing has “many plans” to respond if the Philippines goes along with US provocations in the region, analysts said.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila over the Second Thomas Shoal were renewed last month after the Philippine congress allocated an undisclosed amount of money to build a permanent facility on the disputed reef, prompting strong condemnation from Beijing.

The Philippine military said the facility would probably serve as a shelter for fishermen.

Beijing considers the Second Thomas Shoal – known as Renai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines – its territory and has vowed to “respond resolutely” to protect its sovereignty.

China to ‘respond resolutely’ if Philippines builds structure on disputed reef

Zhu Feng, a South China Sea specialist at Nanjing University, said Manila’s latest move “adds fuel” to the tensions between China and the Philippines. But he questioned whether the Philippine facility would even be built, noting that the success of the project would depend on communication between the two sides.

“It will be difficult for China to make concessions over its sovereignty,” he said, adding Manila would not easily back down because of the domestic political interests of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.

Since coming to power in 2022, Marcos has taken a tough stand against China on the South China Sea, vowing not to give up “a single square inch” of the country’s territory to foreign powers and walking back the policy of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who sought closer relations with China.

“The tension [between the two sides] is likely to continue, but this does not mean it will become a full-scale escalation. Whether the budget can be implemented will also depend on the future interaction between the two parties on the issue,” Zhu said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo held a phone call last month, days after the two countries accused each other of ramming their vessels near the contested shoal. While China urged the Philippines not to “collude with foreign forces” and “act with caution”, both sides agreed to maintain dialogues to manage tensions.

Zhu said there was space for both sides to communicate as the Philippines had adopted both “tough and soft” approaches towards the South China Sea – “hyping up” its budget plan while using gentler rhetoric when talking about conflicts with China.

Last month, Marcos called for a “paradigm shift” in diplomacy with China over South China Sea disputes, acknowledging diplomatic efforts with Beijing were headed in a “poor direction”.

He also denied Washington was involved in the shoal dispute, rejecting reports that the US had advised the Philippines on repairing the BRP Sierra Madre – a World War II-era vessel that was deliberately run aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to reinforce Manila’s claim over the reef.

China has long accused the US of backing the Philippines in the South China Sea. It blamed Washington for escalating tensions in the region after the US upgraded its defence commitment to Manila last year with the aim of jointly countering Beijing in the contested waters.

James Char, a research fellow specialising in China’s defence at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Beijing would remain adamant about American influence in its dispute with Manila in the South China Sea.

“Marcos Jnr is mindful of framing this dispute as a bilateral issue to be resolved between China and the Philippines for domestic political and foreign policy reasons – to demonstrate his own role in defending Philippine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as not to fuel Chinese official rhetoric that Manila has been acting on US directives,” he said.

Philippines ‘continued to provoke, stir trouble at sea,’ China’s Wang Yi says

Military expert Song Zhongping said China had plans to respond if the Philippines were to follow “US policy to further provoke” Beijing on the South China Sea.

“China hopes that [the two countries] will put aside disputes on the South China Sea issue and jointly develop [the waters], but the sovereignty must belong to China,” he said.

He added that China had “many plans” to address the dispute.

“We are just exercising restraint and want to safeguard the overall interests of China-Philippines relations. But if the Philippines still insists on going its own way and following US policies to provoke, then China will inevitably take appropriate measures to safeguard our national security.”

Beijing and Manila have been locked in confrontations in the disputed waters over the past year, including two ship collisions. The Philippines has accused China of blocking its supply missions to the Sierra Madre and firing water cannons at its ships on multiple occasions.

Beijing has also increased navy patrols in the region and been accused of installing a “floating barrier” at the contested Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in China, to stop Philippine fishing boats from entering the area.

Chinese scientists say cheap SQUID submarine detector is world’s most sensitive

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3247126/chinese-scientists-say-cheap-squid-submarine-detector-worlds-most-sensitive?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists claim to have developed an ultra-sensitive version of the world’s most sophisticated submarine detection technology, at a cost that means it could be used by packs of drones to find and attack hidden vessels in the open sea.

The exorbitant costs of Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) have kept them out of the hands of all but a select few military powers, while their use has also been confined to specialised anti-submarine aircraft.

The simplified design detailed in a peer-reviewed paper, published by the Chinese-language journal Cryogenics & Superconductivity, could alter the strategic landscape, shifting China to a position of strength against advanced US submarines.

Some think tanks in Washington have advocated for the use of submarines to launch missiles against China’s coastal areas in the event of a conflict between the two nations.

However, Chinese military experts believe that if the PLA can detect and potentially neutralise American submarines in open waters, it would greatly diminish the likelihood of US military intervention in China’s peripheral affairs.

US military presence risks conflict in South China Sea, Boao Forum hears

The researchers, led by magnetic physicist Zhang Yingzi from North University of China, said their design slashes costs while increasing performance by an order of magnitude, making it possible for the detectors to be widely fitted to UAVs.

The probes use superconducting coils which are capable of detecting the faintest disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic fields caused by submarines as they navigate deep waters.

The technology was developed by US scientists and first used on military aircraft in 1964 but was ineffective at detecting submarines in motion. It took years of work by researchers in Germany to achieve its first practical use.

China has invested heavily in submarine detection technology. Several years ago, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences reportedly made significant breakthroughs, achieving higher sensitivity than German products.

But the technology’s cost remained exorbitant – each device contains at least six ultra-sensitive superconducting magnetic gradiometers, each equipped with a pair of superconducting coils.

Traditional wisdom holds that multiple sensors are necessary to accurately detect submarines hundreds of metres below the surface and estimate their location, speed, and other physical characteristics.

Chinese scientists work on new ‘sub killer’ to target US far into South China Sea

But the research team challenged this paradigm and set out to solve the costs and other problems associated with the devices from the bottom up.

The team noted that magnetic gradiometers are not only expensive, they are also prone to mutual interference when packed tightly together, compromising overall system performance.

A single failed gradiometer can also render the entire system inoperable, posing significant challenges for military maintenance crews, the scientists said.

The team started with a deep dive into the principles of physics, using mathematical formulas to show that multiple gradiometers are not essential for submarine detection, and went on to redesign the internal structure of the device.

Chinese scientists uncover ‘new solution’ to potentially track US submarines

According to the paper, the researchers have designed a probe that uses a single superconducting magnetic gradiometer to achieve a “remarkable” increase in precision, compared to those in use by anti-submarine forces across the globe.

Zhang’s team increased the number of coils to four, arranging them so that they perform the work of six gradiometers (or 12 superconducting coils).

The reduction in components significantly minimises the device’s internal noise, resulting in a cost-effective model that surpasses the sensitivity of its high-priced predecessors, the researchers said.

The simplified design will not only drastically reduce costs, it will also minimise maintenance requirements and the risk of malfunctions during operational use, they said.

According to the paper, field tests have shown that the instrument remains stable in open and complex environments, and detect extremely weak magnetic anomaly signals.

While Zhang’s team has not disclosed any specific applications for the research, her university is closely linked to the military, with most of its graduates going to the defence industry.

Zhang’s key collaborators in the study are from Beijing Milestone Technology, a joint venture between the government and private capital, which has already integrated some magnetic detectors into UAVs and underwater vehicles, according to its website.

Hong Kong transport chief vows to speed up talks with mainland Chinese authorities on extending operating hours at border checkpoints to prevent post-event chaos

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3247111/hong-kong-transport-chief-vows-speed-talks-mainland-chinese-authorities-extending-operating-hours?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong’s transport minister has pledged to speed up talks with mainland Chinese authorities about a proposal to extend the operating hours at cross-border land checkpoints connected by railway services after major events to prevent a repeat of the transit chaos on New Year’s Day.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said the greater capacity of the city’s railway system could be leveraged to help disperse visitors in a more efficient way.

“While a bus only offers 50 seats, a nine-car train can handle up to a thousand passengers,” he told a radio programme on Wednesday.

“Other land border checkpoints can help disperse the passengers … we will explore these proposals as well but it is also important to focus on those checkpoints at railway stations.”

Thousands of northbound mainland visitors were left stranded in the city on Monday after the New Year countdown celebrations. Many queued for cross-border buses and some spent the night at railway stations awaiting the first train to either Lo Wu or the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line border checkpoint stations.

The government subsequently pledged to come up with measures to avoid a repeat of transport chaos, which included holding a high-level cross-departmental meeting ahead of all major events, working with mainland authorities to extend operating hours at checkpoints connected by railway services and increasing the number of 24-hour border crossings.

Asked if the new measures would be rolled out by the Lunar New Year holiday next month, Lam on Wednesday said cross-border arrangements were not up to Hong Kong to decide alone but the administration would speed up discussions with its mainland counterparts.

Hong Kong officials ‘learn lesson’ after new year transport chaos at border

Lam added the city’s sole 24-hour checkpoint to Shenzhen faced immense pressure in the early hours of New Year’s Day as 26,000 tourists crossed the border from midnight to 6am.

A higher-than-expected 1,400 private cars used the checkpoint over a six-hour period, causing traffic congestion nearby, he said.

Lam said the government would explore designating lanes for cross-border buses to improve arrangements, as well as adding temporary bus stops close to the venues of large-scale events in the future.

Hong Kong security chief to review packed border crossings after festive fireworks

Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, told the same radio show that extending operating hours at cross-border land checkpoints on Lunar New Year’s Eve and the following two days could benefit both travellers and locals.

Chui added that Hong Kong had built closer ties with nearby mainland cities, prompting more travellers and locals to opt for a one-day cross-border trip. He urged the government to adapt to this new style of travelling.

Starry Lee Wai-king, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the nation’s top legislative body, earlier expressed confidence that the city would be able to extend the opening hours of more control points for the Lunar New Year holiday.

China jobs: further cracks appear in iron rice bowl as bus operator ponders asking staff to become entrepreneurs

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3247020/china-jobs-further-cracks-appear-iron-rice-bowl-bus-operator-ponders-asking-staff-become?utm_source=rss_feed

As millions of young people in China vie for civil service jobs amid rising uncertainty in the private sector, a state-backed bus company in the central province of Henan has sent an unsettling message that the security once seen as guaranteed by the iron rice bowl could also be compromised.

Screenshots of the notice from the Zhengzhou Public Transport Group circulated online last week, highlighting its intention to seek internal opinion on its plan to encourage employees to start their own businesses.

The purpose, the document said, was “to further ease the group’s operating and financial pressure”.

For staff who have been working in the company for 10 years or more, they can apply for unpaid leave for up to two years to form their new business, according to the document.

China’s civil service in high demand as record 2.83 million apply for exam

Staff confirmed the existence of the document, but said the decision was not official as the company was still soliciting suggestions from employees, according to Chinese media reports.

The move was widely perceived on Chinese social media as disguising lay-offs – as the state sector usually faces stricter restrictions on direct job cuts – triggering further concerns over China’s job market, government finances and economic prospects.

China’s official surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5 per cent in November, the lowest level in two years, but with over 11.58 million university students having graduated last year, and a record 11.79 million set to graduates in 2024, job creation has been high on Beijing’s agenda.

The jobless rate for the 16 to 24 age group had climbed to an all-time high of 21.3 per cent in June before the National Bureau of Statistics stopped releasing the data from July, citing the need for labour-force survey statistics to be “further improved and optimised”.

A record 2.83 million applicants applied for China’s national public servants test, the written guokao exam which took place in November, with candidates competing for a record high of more than 39,000 vacancies nationwide.

China’s local governments, many debt-ridden, have been struggling due to subdued tax revenues and dwindling land sales.

And appeals for public sector employees to become entrepreneurs are not without precedent.

In November, government officials in Shaanxi province encouraged technical workers and researchers at universities and public research institutions to leave their jobs to start their own businesses, or at least on a part-time basis.

In October, Jiangsu province issued a notice vowing to promote entrepreneurship and support 200,000 people each year until the end of 2025 to set up new businesses.

Can China’s civil service still put bread on the table as iron rice bowl cracks?

In particular, for professional and technical employees at public institutions, they could apply for unpaid leave for up to three years without affecting their social security benefits and future promotion prospects.

A state-owned construction company in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region also encouraged its employees in September to start their own companies or seek other careers to reduce its labour costs.

The moves are reminiscent of the massive lay-offs seen during Beijing’s state sector reforms in the 1990s, when control over large state-owned enterprises was consolidated and small firms were abandoned.

Tens of millions of workers lost their factory jobs, with many becoming successful entrepreneurs as China’s economy soared, especially following its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2002.

But two decades later, business start-ups are facing much higher risks amid fiercer competition in a slowing economy.

“If I go to work instead of doing business start-ups, at least I can make sure that I do not lose money,” said former restauranter Victor Zhu, who closed his businesses after six years in the northeastern Liaoning province two months ago, and returned to his career as an electrical engineer.

After Beijing lifted its strict coronavirus control measures in the early months of 2023, a large number of new investors – some having been laid off and many expecting a release of pent-up consumer demand – flocked into the food and drink industry, as it is considered a sector with a lower entry threshold, Zhu said.

But the economic recovery quickly lost momentum in the second quarter of last year, resulting in a big wave of closures, he added.

On Chinese social media, the unlucky entrepreneurs were labelled so-called start-up refugees.

From January to November last year, 3.808 million new restaurants were registered across China, increasing by 21.6 per cent year on year, according to data from corporate data provider Qichacha.

During the same period, 1.202 million restaurants were deregistered, or shutdown, representing more than double from a year earlier, the data showed.

“Why did we close our business? That’s just because we could not make ends meet, and there was no point in doing this any more,” Zhu said.

“The economy has not recovered yet, people really don’t have much money to dine out.”

China’s capital rolls out no-no list for officials dealing with Beijing’s entrepreneurs, but more needed to tackle ‘sore points’

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247037/chinas-capital-rolls-out-no-no-list-officials-dealing-beijings-entrepreneurs-more-needed-tackle-sore?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s capital city has released the country’s first so-called negative list to regulate behaviour by government officials when dealing with entrepreneurs, as part of the latest attempts to reinvigorate private sector confidence and kick-start economic growth.

The document by the municipal commission for discipline inspection in Beijing listed 10 categories of wrongdoing, including neglecting businesses’ needs, inaction or inertia in serving businesses, selective law enforcement, unlawful interference and abuse of power.

Acceptance of gifts, junkets, company shares and paid part-time work were also included as being forbidden in the document, which was reported by the official Xinhua News Agency on Monday.

The central government is anxious to jump-start the battered private sector, with the city of Beijing and other regions rolling out new measures, but concerns have been raised that the list is “supplementary at most”.

Policymakers should, according to Zhu Tian, a professor with the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, instead hone their focus squarely on choke points, such as market access, financing and fair competition.

“Beijing municipality’s negative list will put officials in a straitjacket as the top leadership is counting on them to deliver on the pro-business mandate, when they will interact more with private businesses,” added Zhu.

He added that there are ample internal Communist Party discipline guidelines and anti-corruption laws, and the biggest gripes among private firms were not “how officials conducted themselves”.

“Market access, financing and fair competition still need our persistent attention,” Zhu added.

With support measures ‘mere lip service’, China’s private firms cry foul

The private sector contributes more than 60 per cent of China’s gross domestic product (GDP), however, confidence has been severely hurt by the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and sweeping regulatory crackdowns on internet giants, gaming and private tutoring in recent years.

And private investment in the first 11 months of last year fell by 0.5 per cent, year on year, despite government supportive policies, including a 31-point action plan rolled out in July.

“Relationship between government officials and entrepreneurs must be close but corruption-free, with boundaries and rules to improve the business environment,” the state-backed Xinhua News Agency said in its coverage of the list on Monday.

More regional economic powerhouses with a high concentration of private firms, including Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, have launched similar programmes to nurture their relationships with private firms, seeking to minimise interference and ensure good communication and appropriate support.

Some cities, including the manufacturing hub of Yiwu in Zhejiang province, have also incorporated private sector growth into local official appraisal systems.

They have also set specific goals for frontline officials, including the number of visits to private firms and a quota for the number of problems that should be identified and solved.

“Instead of beating around the bush, we need the government to solve for us real ‘sore points’ that officials know too well already, like market access and financial burdens,” said a private entrepreneur based in the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Wenzhou, where the contribution of the private sector to the local GDP is among the highest in China, trialled a similar list as early as 2019, resulting in “some improvements” in the operating environment, the entrepreneur added.

“[However,] our lives haven’t become much easier,” they said.

“We feel that some now seek to reduce interactions with us.

“We see some [officials] choose to do less in order to play it safe, even when they visit or call us, they are just performing a ritual.”

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Gold blush: China kindergarten boy gives classmate US$15,500 worth of gold bars to ‘future wife’, shocks parents, amuses social media

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3246307/gold-blush-china-kindergarten-boy-gives-classmate-us15500-worth-gold-bars-future-wife-shocks-parents?utm_source=rss_feed

A little boy who gave gold bars worth US$15,000 to a girl in his nursery school class as an “engagement” gift, has amused mainland social media.

On December 22, in Guang’an, Sichuan province, southwestern China, the little girl was thrilled to receive the extraordinary gift – two 100-gram gold bars – and excitedly showed them to her shocked parents.

An online video captured the child holding an open red box, which contains the treasure, and when her mother asks what they are, she innocently responds: “I don’t know.”

The deeply concerned parent tells her to return them to her classmate the next day and contact the boy’s family, who apologise.

“The boy’s parents said they had told their son that the gold bars were intended for his future wife, but they didn’t expect him to secretly take them out and give them to our daughter,” the girl’s mother said.

“The whole situation was both amusing and bewildering for them.”

She reminded other parents to be vigilant so that something like that does not happen with their children.

The story has caused much amusement and sharing of similar anecdotes on mainland social media.

“This little boy really has guts, just casually giving away 200 grams of gold like that,” said one online observer.

“Is this like giving a 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) dowry?”Another asked.

“My mother-in-law just gave me a bracelet, and my son asked if he could give it to a classmate because he thought it looked nice. I suppose I should be ‘grateful’ he thought to ask me first,” one mother said.

“In the first year, my daughter’s classmate, a boy, gave her 200 yuan in cash. I promptly returned the money to the boy’s parents that same evening,” said another.

Innocent gestures by children who have taken items from home to give as presents to classmates often make headlines in China.

In May, a kindergarten boy from Shanghai gave a girl a Bulgari ring valued at 19,000 yuan (US$2,700) as a “wedding gift”.

When the recipient’s parents returned the ring, he touchingly offered her another handmade ring as a token of his affection.

Hong Kong beat China at football for first time in 29 years

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/02/hong-kong-beat-china-at-football-for-first-time-in-29-years

Hong Kong have beaten China for the first time in 29 years in a friendly football match in Abu Dhabi.

Hong Kong’s 2-1 victory over China comes as the former British colony prepares to participate in the Asian Cup for the first time since 1968, when the territory was still under British rule.

Hong Kong was passed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997 and is now a “special administrative region” of the People’s Republic of China. But under the terms of the handover agreement, the territory is permitted to compete in international sports competitions separately from China under the name “Hong Kong, China”.

Monday’s match was an official Fifa fixture before the AFC Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatar from 12 January to 10 February.

The game took place behind closed doors, reportedly to limit publicity.

Speaking after the match, Hong Kong’s manager, Jørn Andersen, praised the players’ aggression and said: “I don’t have to motivate the team against China,” according to the South China Morning Post.

In the past decade, Hong Kong’s relationship with Beijing has become increasingly strained, with mass protest movements in 2014 and 2019-2020 bringing millions of Hongkongers to the streets to protest against Beijing’s tightening rule. Sporting fixtures have occasionally become forums for airing political grievances.

In 2015, the Hong Kong Football Association (now known as the Football Association of Hong Kong, China) was fined HKD$40,000 after Hong Kong fans booed the Chinese national anthem at a Hong Kong-China match in Qatar. March of the Volunteers has also been the Hong Kong national anthem since 1997, and in 2020, Hong Kong passed a law banning insults to the song.

In recent years, Hong Kong sports fans have sung Glory to Hong Kong, the unofficial anthem of the 2019-2020 protests, instead of the official Chinese anthem.

In 2022, Glory to Hong Kong was played at a rugby match between Hong Kong and South Korea at the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, with organisers blaming human error for the mix-up. The incident provoked strong criticism from the Hong Kong authorities, who launched a police investigation.

Hong Kong is trying to ban Glory to Hong Kong altogether, although so far the courts have blocked the government’s efforts.

Last year, Hong Kong’s sports associations were ordered to include “China” in their names, or risk losing funding or the right to represent the city internationally. At the time of the directive from the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, in January 2023, fewer than 20 of the 83 clubs on the committee’s website had China in their name, according to AFP. The majority, including the football association, have since complied,

Philippines stockpiling bilateral deals to counter Beijing in South China Sea won’t work

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3246887/philippines-stockpiling-bilateral-deals-counter-beijing-south-china-sea-wont-work?utm_source=rss_feed

Nearly 50 years after the last Japanese second world war soldier – Hiroo Onoda – surrendered to the Philippines in 1974, Japanese military forces are expected to put boots on the ground once again, this time on invitation rather than in aggression.

Not satisfied with relying on the United States to provoke China in the South China Sea, the Philippines announced in early November negotiations with Japan to boost their military alliance, including an agreement granting reciprocal access to their military bases. Their military chiefs stressed the need for prompt finalisation of the agreement during their recent December 22 meeting.

The Philippines has its own reasons for expanding military alliances. The illusion is that the US and Japan would render assistance if a situation arises where the Philippines engages with China over the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

The logic is that the more such bilateral agreements the Philippines has, the more military forces the Philippines can rely on to confront China. However, neither a reciprocal access agreement with Japan nor the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) and Visiting Forces Agreement with the US provide the Philippines with legal tools to provoke China in the South China Sea.

First, since Second Thomas Shoal has never been the Philippines’ territory, the MDT cannot be applied under the territorial jurisdiction principle.

Pursuant to Article I of its 1935 constitution, the Philippines’ territory is defined by a series of international treaties, including the 1898 treaty between the US and Spain (the Treaty of Paris), the 1900 treaty between the US and Spain for the cession of outlying islands of the Philippines (the Treaty of Washington), and the 1930 convention between the UK and the US regarding the boundary between the state of North Borneo and the Philippine archipelago.

The Spratly Islands, including Second Thomas Shoal, is thus completely beyond the limits of Philippine territory. The Philippines’ recent series of actions on Second Thomas Shoal are infringements on China’s sovereignty taking place on Chinese territory. Therefore, from the perspective of territorial jurisdiction, the MDT, a bilateral treaty applying to Philippine territory, is inapplicable to the Second Thomas Shoal and adjacent waters.

In addition, subject-matter jurisdiction also prevents the application of the MDT in this scenario.

South China Sea: what next after China-Philippines ice-breaker phone call?

The MDT applies to “armed attack” against the Philippines. However, currently the Philippines is proactively taking action to provoke China in Chinese territory and China has to take responsive actions against such unlawful behaviour to protect its sovereignty. China’s defensive actions are by no means an armed attack against the Philippines and consequently the MDT could not apply in such a situation in terms of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Nor could the Visiting Forces Agreement between the US and the Philippines and the agreement to be signed between Japan and the Philippines be used as a legal umbrella to shield the Philippines from escaping accountability when it violates Chinese sovereignty in the South China Sea.

The function of agreements is more often than not to regulate conditions for foreign military deployment in the host state as well as to make jurisdiction arrangements in case foreign forces commit crimes or violate civil laws of the host nation. It has nothing to do with assisting the Philippines when it takes aggressive action in the territory of another state.

Another issue is whether the US would proactively apply the MDT to defend the Philippines even if the latter is not under armed attack. It is not unusual for the US to abuse international law and impose consequences on other countries as it did in the 2003 Iraq War.

If it defends the Philippines even if the latter is not under armed attack, the US would blatantly violate the fundamental principle of international law regarding the prohibition of threat or use of force in international relations. This fundamental principle of international law is not only enshrined in the UN Charter and well established in customary international law, but also constitutes a peremptory norm of general international law.

The US obligation under such a norm prevails over its bilateral obligation under the MDT; the US cannot utilise the latter as justification for its violation of the former. This hierarchy of application of international law is globally well recognised.

The defensive action taken by the Chinese coastguard does not constitute the use of force in international relations but the execution of its law enforcement function based on China’s domestic law.

International law distinguishes the use of force in international relations from the use of force in law enforcement action, as adjudicated in the Guyana v Suriname case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Philippines says it’s not provoking conflict, accuses China of ‘dangerous’ moves

If the US really wants to be hijacked by the Philippines and abuse the MDT to militarily intervene in such a scenario, China would naturally exercise its inherent right of self-defence under international law. The Philippines should first assess whether the two nuclear powers would allow such an extreme situation to unfold.

In particularly, in the context of the Russia-Ukraine and Palestine-Israel conflicts, as well as the lessons learned in Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Middle East where the US failed to honour its commitment to allies, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr must remember that the next time Manila makes irresponsible provocations related to the Second Thomas Shoal, the consequences might be unbearable for his country.

‘No one is safe’: China purges record number of senior officials in 2023, with more ‘tigers’ likely to fall

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3247040/no-one-safe-china-purges-record-number-senior-officials-2023-more-tigers-likely-fall?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s battle against corruption set new records last year, with the ruling Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog launching probes into 45 senior officials, according to a tally by the South China Morning Post.

The record number of investigations came five years after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared a “crushing victory” in his war on corruption, a sweeping crackdown that was launched in 2013. The ongoing probe signals that he has little interest in letting up on an effort to clean up China’s officialdom while pushing authorities ever harder to implement his policies.

The number of senior-level investigations launched in 2023 jumped by 40 per cent compared with 2022, when the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) – China’s top anti corruption agency – recorded 32 investigations into high-ranking officials, based on official announcements by the CCDI.

China’s disciplinary enforcers add ‘bad’ books, sex, drugs to serious offences

Most of the subjects who were placed under investigation – sometimes referred to as “tigers” – belonged to a pool of officials known as “centrally managed cadres”, meaning they held ranks at the deputy ministerial level or above. A smaller number of them held slightly lower ranks but occupied key positions in important sectors.

Unlike their subordinates who are managed and supervised by the local branches of the party’s organisation and disciplinary agency, the group of senior officials are under direct management of the Communist Party’s Central Organisation Department, its top personnel body. If any wrongdoing is found, they would face top level investigations from the CCDI.

Twenty-seven of the 45 senior cadres who had faced detention by the disciplinary watchdog were found to have retired from their positions when they faced investigation, according to further research.

Deng Yuwen, a former deputy editor at the Study Times, official newspaper of the Central Party School where cadres are trained, said the fact that most of the CCDI’s investigations focused on retired officials signalled that the probes uncovered more misconduct before Xi took power, and that such retirements would not allow the individuals to avoid further investigation.

“Among the officials arrested in recent years, not many were caught for corruption in their current positions. Most of the problems occurred in the past few years, or even more than 10, 20 years ago. The CCDI is no longer following the previous unspoken rule that retired officials will be spared from investigation,” he said.

“Now, no one is safe. As Xi digs deeper, he just finds more problems that accumulated over the past three decades due to rapid economic development and lax party discipline. And there is no sign of him stopping the digging.”

A total of 294 senior officials have been sacked by the CCDI in the 11 years since the anti-corruption campaign was launched, according to the Post’s count.

However, this number does not include most of the corruption probes in the Chinese military, which conducts its own investigations through the Discipline Inspection Commission. The agency, which operates within China’s top military command – the Central Military Commission (CMC) – led by Xi, operates under extreme secrecy.

Beijing announces such cases very selectively, as it did for the investigations of former CMC deputy chairmen Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong during Xi’s first presidential term. They were the highest ranking officers in the People’s Liberation Army to be targeted since the anti-corruption drive began.

Before 2023, the most senior officials investigated in a single year by the CCDI had been in 2014, when 38 individuals were targeted.

In 2020, 18 officials were placed under investigation. But since then, the annual tally has been rising: 25 high ranking officials were investigated in 2021, and 32 in 2022.

On Saturday, the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislative body, announced the dismissal of nine generals.

Five of the officers were either past or current top commanders in the PLA Rocket Force, a key component of the country’s nuclear arsenal. They included Li Yuchao, who had commanded the rocket force from January last year until he was replaced in July, and his former deputy, Zhang Zhenzhong.

Beijing has not confirmed if any of the nine men were under investigation for alleged corruption, although some were reportedly being probed earlier last year.

A political researcher at Peking University said there were many obvious signs that suggest that China’s “tiger hunt” will expand even further in 2024.

“We have the removal of [former foreign minister] Qin Gang and [former defence minister] Li Shangfu. We also saw the National People’s Congress just officially dismiss nine PLA generals, indicating a sweeping investigation in the military has got preliminary results,” said the researcher, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

China, Vietnam pledge cooperation against corruption for ‘clean Silk Road’

No reasons have been provided for the dismissals of Qin and Li, who were both stripped of their positions last year.

“I suspect only a tiny amount of information regarding these cases will be released to the public, just for minimal formalities.”

The CCDI will begin its third plenum from next Monday to lay out the work priorities in the new year for tens of millions of discipline inspectors across the country.

Missing Chinese student was victim of ‘cyber kidnapping’ scam, Utah police say

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/02/missing-utah-student-kai-zhuang-found-cyber-kidnapping/2024-01-02T09:22:02.707Z

A 17-year-old Chinese student who went missing in Utah last week has been found unharmed, police said, adding that he appeared to be the victim of an elaborate “cyber kidnapping” scheme, a “disturbing criminal trend” in which scammers put people under duress and convince their families that they are being held for ransom.

Kai Zhuang, who was living in Riverdale, was discovered “alive but very cold and scared” inside a tent in remote mountains near Brigham City, Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said in a statement Sunday, noting that the teen was probably instructed by those conducting the scam to isolate himself.

Exchange students, particularly from China, are often targeted in virtual kidnapping cases, Warren said, adding that victims “often comply out of fear that their families will be harmed if they do not comply with the cyber kidnappers.”

According to the FBI, while the crime can take on myriad forms, it is “always an extortion scheme” in which families are tricked to believe a loved one has been abducted and are coerced into paying a fee, though the person claimed to be missing has not actually been taken. Families are often sent voice recordings and photos by the perpetrators in a bid to convince them that the crime is taking place, the Riverdale police statement said. The Washington Post was unable to reach the Chinese Embassy in Washington for a request for comment.

Warren said Kai’s high school contacted police on Thursday and reported him missing, saying his family in China received photographic evidence appearing to show that he was being held captive. Kai’s host family in Riverdale was unaware that he was missing, police said, adding that there was no evidence to suggest the teen had been “forcefully taken.”

Police said that the teen was being “manipulated and controlled” by the perpetrators in the days before he was found and that they believed the victim “was isolating himself at the direction of the cyber kidnappers.”

Kai’s relatives in China said they received “continuous threats” — and as a result transferred approximately $80,000 as a ransom fee to bank accounts in the country, according to the police statement.

Riverdale police said they worked with the FBI, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and Chinese officials to locate the student and were concerned that he would “freeze to death” amid extremely low temperatures, which can be as low as minus-9 degrees Fahrenheit this time of year. Officers used drones to search the woodland and hiked to reach the secluded area where Kai was eventually found camping alone on the weekend, police said.

Kai “had no heat source inside the tent, only a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber kidnapping,” Warren said.

In recent years, FBI officials have issued guidance that they hope will prevent people from falling victim to scams like the one that played out in Utah over the weekend. The crime was once limited to Mexico and Southwestern border states but now impacts residents across the United States, the FBI said.

The tactic “is always an extortion scheme that tricks victims into paying a ransom to free a loved one they believe is being threatened with violence or death,” the FBI said. Victims forced into isolation are usually monitored by perpetrators using Skype or FaceTime calls, Riverdale police said.

How to avoid becoming a victim of a virtual kidnapping scam

Families of those they believe to be kidnapped are usually asked to transfer ransom payments online — though cash drops have been made in some cases, police said.

According to FBI guidance, people should be wary of calls that do not come from the alleged victim’s phone number and should not engage. “Do not send money,” Riverdale police added in their statement.

Kai was “relieved” to be rescued, Warren said. The police department shared footage on Facebook showing officers approaching the tent in the desolate spot, propped up on a ground blanketed by snow. The teen is seen in the video holding his head in his hands as officers at the scene attempt to comfort him.

Kai was checked over by medical professionals and cleared of any concerns, and had just two requests for the investigators who found him: to speak to his family and to eat a warm cheeseburger — “both of which were accomplished,” police said.