• Why China-South Korea trade drop-off may persist as US influence weighs on chips and tech
• Xi Jinping urges loyalty from China’s courts and law enforcers to ‘defuse’ social and financial risks
• US-China ties should not be ‘held hostage’ by Taiwan issue: Chinese political scientist and adviser to Beijing
• China’s top court pledges more transparency after sharp drop in judgments shared online
• Why a Chinese court’s landmark decision recognising the copyright for an AI-generated image benefits creators in this nascent field
• Sri Lanka ban on Chinese ships a ‘victory’ for India, but shows limits of small states in big-power rivalry
• Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledges closer Swiss ties as he opens European trip
• China’s European brandy import probe could dampen enthusiasm for once-coveted liquor, ‘far-reaching impact’ on alcohol market
• Woman in China rushed to hospital after 2 years of regular ‘healthy’ TCM bloodletting treatments spark severe anaemia
• Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China
• Israel-Gaza war: China FM Wang Yi opens Africa tour with jab at US-led strikes on Houthi in Yemen
• Furious China plane passenger buys 2 first-class tickets, demands seats for 3, delays flight by hours
• South China Sea: Philippines to develop occupied islands in disputed waters amid China tensions
• Taiwan loses another diplomatic ally as Nauru recognizes China
• Hong Kong should allow mainland Chinese travellers from more cities to visit on individual trips, industry figures say
• China fans of Wong Kar-wai’s Blossoms Shanghai TV series spark demand for bespoke suits, food dishes that appear in hit show
• ‘Strangers started telling me to go home’: why foreigners who endured China’s Covid lockdowns now say they’ve had enough
• China Likely to Become World’s Top Auto Exporter

Why China-South Korea trade drop-off may persist as US influence weighs on chips and tech

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3248511/why-china-south-korea-trade-drop-may-persist-us-influence-weighs-chips-and-tech?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing’s easing up on restrictions of graphite exports to Seoul’s major battery producers could signal a potential upturn in bilateral trade from last year’s low levels, but analysts warn that their exchanges may continue to be haunted by China’s strained relations with the US.

The approved shipment of two graphite materials since late December, as reported by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, came as the country saw its first trade deficit with China in three decades.

Graphite materials are widely used in batteries, fuel cells, metallurgy, and as a crucial component in the manufacturing of electronic devices. About 93.7 per cent of the synthetic and natural graphite that South Korea imported in 2022 came from China. China also remains South Korea’s biggest trading partner by a large margin.

However, Beijing has stepped up its efforts to reduce external dependencies amid prolonged trade tensions with Washington. It tightened up exports of the key battery material in late October, affecting downstream buyers in Japan, the United States, India and South Korea.

China raises ‘serious concerns’ over US chip-making curbs, supply chain probe

But the tension that spilled over to South Korea has shown signs of easing since leaders from China and the US met in November.

China’s Ministry of Commerce had said at a press conference in mid-December that it approved some graphite export license applications, but no details were provided.

“This easing of restrictions doesn’t mean trade relations between China and South Korea are heating up – it’s just a return to normal,” said Lu Xiang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of China’s most influential think tanks.

South Korea, caught between the two superpowers, reported a trade deficit of US$18 billion with China in 2023 – its first such deficit since they established diplomatic relations in 1992, according to data from the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

Its figures show South Korea’s exports to China fell 20 per cent from a year earlier and that imports from China decreased 8 per cent from a year prior.

South Korea’s annual trade surplus with China hit a record high of US$68.22 billion in 2013. The US-China trade war began in July 2018, when the surplus was US$55.64 billion, and it eroded further during the pandemic years.

South Korea was China’s fifth-largest trading partner last year, following Asean, the European Union, the United States and Japan, according to China customs.

South Korea’s major shipments to China are integrated circuits and chemicals for the textile industry, while its imports include lithium-electronic batteries and chemicals used in battery catalysts.

Bilateral competition is heating up, as the two countries have many overlaps in their industrial and export structures, including electronics, batteries, automobiles and seafaring ships.

Lu said that South Korea’s exports of vessels and automobiles are losing ground to China, and that cutbacks in chip exports to China amid pressure from Washington are affecting the economic and trade patterns between these neighbouring countries.

“We will see South Korea’s trade deficit with China continue this year, as [Seoul] actively cuts off chip exports – its most potent export,” he added.

South Korea has already begun seeing a shift in exports. In December, its monthly exports to the US surpassed those to China for the first time in 20 years, according to MOTIE.

Meanwhile, China’s exports to the US last year saw their biggest slump in almost three decades, as exports fell by 13.1 per cent compared with a year earlier.

Xi Jinping urges loyalty from China’s courts and law enforcers to ‘defuse’ social and financial risks

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3248527/xi-jinping-urges-loyalty-chinas-courts-and-law-enforcers-defuse-social-and-financial-risks?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country’s judicial and law enforcement authorities to safeguard national security, calling on the courts, prosecutors and public security authorities to “defuse” social and economic risks, and for their continued loyalty to the Communist Party.

Xi’s instructions were delivered during a two-day national conference over the weekend for the country’s zhengfa departments – the political and legal authorities responsible for domestic security.

The instructions were delivered at the virtual meeting by Chen Wenqing, the head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, a party body that oversees all security-related matters, according to state news agency Xinhua. Xi did not address the meeting in person.

In his instructions, Xi said judicial and law enforcement departments should “uphold the absolute leadership” of the party, and use their development to support and serve China’s modernisation.

He said they should provide strong security guarantees for “the comprehensive advancement of the construction of a strong nation and the great cause of national rejuvenation”.

Beijing has been placing growing significance on national security, especially over the past year. Xi has also repeated the significance of security issues at high-level meetings.

Xi urged the departments to “resolutely safeguard national security” and “prevent and resolve major security risks”.

Chinese and Russian police chiefs meet as Beijing’s law enforcement net spreads

He also called for efforts to “resolutely maintain social stability” and “correctly handle internal conflicts among the people”, noting that the “Fengqiao experience in the new era” should be upheld and developed.

The “Fengqiao experience” refers to a mechanism for mobilising the masses to settle social conflicts at the grass-roots level without needing to involve higher legal bodies. The concept dates back to the times of Mao Zedong and has been promoted by Xi as an integral part of improving social governance.

Xi also stressed the need to maintain order in the socialist market economy, and improve the business environment based on the rule of law.

He called for strengthening the party’s political construction of the judicial and law enforcement departments to “forge a loyal, clean and responsible iron army”.

Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong presided over the meeting, which was also attended by Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People’s Court, and Ying Yong, procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

31,000 Chinese telecoms fraud suspects handed over to Beijing from Myanmar

The meeting also focused on emerging economic crimes, and punishment for offenders who disrupt the country’s socialist market economy, such as by violating financial management rules, financial fraud, and infringing on intellectual property rights, according to state media reports.

Participants also discussed the need to step up a crackdown on telecoms fraud and cross-border gambling.

US-China ties should not be ‘held hostage’ by Taiwan issue: Chinese political scientist and adviser to Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3248535/us-china-ties-should-not-be-held-hostage-taiwan-issue-chinese-political-scientist-and-adviser?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing should not let US relations be “held hostage” by the Taiwan issue, a noted political scientist and adviser to Chinese policymakers has urged.

Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen campus, said while Taiwan remained a “core” issue in US-China ties, it was “not the whole story”.

Rather, Beijing should construct a “new Taiwan narrative” for the world, Zheng said, in comments published on social media the day after the island chose an independence-leaning candidate to be its next president.

“[Beijing] must make it clear to the world that the Taiwan issue is not an issue of democracy and freedom, but an issue of sovereignty that cannot be discussed”.

Beijing dials up Taiwan message after Blinken, US allies applaud William Lai

Zheng also said the US was mainly using Taiwan as a “bargaining chip … to contain China” but suggested that Washington and Beijing could find new shared interests.

“We must desensitise and cool down the Taiwan issue, reduce its weightage in Sino-US relations, and not let the issue hold the overall state of Sino-US relations hostage”, especially at a time when the rival powers were seeking to reset ties, he said.

“On a global level, China and the US have too many things and fields that require cooperation,” Zheng said. “Both sides currently have the will to stabilise bilateral relations and do not want to see the relationship be entangled by the Taiwan issue.”

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. The US, like most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to arming it.

Zheng suggested Beijing explore a “salami slicing” approach to push for a peaceful reunification with Taiwan, while doing more to win over the island’s younger generations.

A salami slicing tactic involves the slow accumulation of small, subtle actions that over time add up to a major strategic change. Observers have pointed to Beijing employing this tactic against rival claimants in the South China Sea.

Zheng said while the US says it wants to maintain the cross-strait status quo, it “often supports and even pushes Taiwan to move in the direction of independence”.

So Beijing’s most effective countermeasure would be to use a salami slicing approach to promote gradual integration and reunification.

“Once Taiwan is pushed toward ‘independence’, we must also use this opportunity to take advantage of the situation and promote the cause of anti-independence and promotion of reunification,” he said.

The “new Taiwan narrative” he proposed would include promoting reunification through socioeconomic integration, emphasising that forcible reunification would be sought only if the island leaned towards independence.

Zheng’s views were published on the Chinese social media platform WeChat on Sunday. They had been compiled by a research team at the Institute for International Affairs, a Shenzhen think tank where he is president.

On Saturday, Taiwanese Vice-President William Lai Ching-te, a candidate branded as a “troublemaker” by Beijing over his stance on independence, won a decisive victory in the presidential election. He also secured an unprecedented third straight presidential term for the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP), which has stepped up US exchanges under incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen.

Responding to the result within hours, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the election would “not change the basic landscape and development trend of cross-strait relations.”

“It will not impede the inevitable trend of China’s reunification,” a spokesman for the official Chinese agency for cross-strait issues said. “Our stance on resolving the Taiwan question and realising national reunification remains consistent, and our determination is as firm as a rock.”

Taiwan election: Lai’s victory risks further tensions with Beijing

The Chinese foreign ministry on Sunday also lodged a protest with the US after Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Lai, saying Washington was sending a “gravely wrong signal” to “Taiwan independence separatist forces”.

Beijing’s ties with Washington hit rock bottom last year, and Taiwan’s interactions with top US officials were among the triggers. However, there have been growing efforts to revive US-China communication and cooperation.

Military-to-military dialogue has been restored following a landmark summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden in November.

Zheng called for “major negotiations” to reposition the Taiwan issue in Sino-US relations so that it did not dominate exchanges, while arguing that Lai’s presidency could bring increased risks of cross-strait conflict.

He also warned of further alienation between people on either side if exchanges were not restored. Official cross-strait exchanges were shelved shortly after Tsai began her first term in 2016.

Zheng also urged Beijing to actively win over Taiwanese youth, describing them as a “key force in determining Taiwan’s future political direction”.

Younger Taiwanese may have a “weak sense of Chinese identity”, but they recognise that China is a world power and “do not necessarily insist on independence”, he said.

He said new media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin could be opened up to “change the identity” of Taiwanese youth, while promoting a “unilateral opening up” to attract them to study and work on the mainland.

“If more Taiwanese young people live in the mainland, they will naturally have a favourable impression of the mainland, which will give us the opportunity to create new heights in the cause of anti-independence and promotion of reunification.”

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China’s top court pledges more transparency after sharp drop in judgments shared online

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3248484/chinas-top-court-pledges-more-transparency-after-sharp-drop-judgments-shared-online?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top court has promised to publish more legal decisions online after a controversial move to roll back access to court rulings raised alarm last month.

In Beijing on Sunday, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) pledged to provide services to the public, experts and scholars for research and legal purposes, according to state news agency Xinhua

An SPC spokesperson told presidents of that it would require that all rulings that could serve as a warning or that could educate the public be published, and that more decisions from the SPC and higher courts would be published online to ensure transparency across a wider variety of cases.

Why China’s new court record system signals ‘judicial openness can regress’

It comes a month after the SPC admitted publicly that courts had in recent years reduced the number of uploaded verdicts on China Judgments Online, a website run by the SPC, from 19.2 million in 2020 to 10.4 million in 2022, and just 5.1 million 2023.

The court also announced in December that it would establish two new archives for court rulings that would offer only limited public access, prompting alarm and anger among scholars, lawyers and the public, with many slamming the move as incompatible with the “sunshine judiciary” principle Beijing has promoted.

In its announcement on Sunday, the SPC said the new services were intended to solve problems with the website, including security risks and failures to protect individual rights.

It also said the rights and privacy of individuals would be guarded so that personal information about litigants or companies involved in cases was protected.

Zhu Xiaoding, a Beijing-based criminal lawyer, said the Sunday meeting was an attempt by the top court to correct its own errors after a public outcry.

However, he remained pessimistic about the extent to which judgment documents would be made available online, as barriers such as “state secrets, individual privacy and commercial secrets” remained in place.

“I think selective access to legal documents is still going to be common in the future,” he said.

In addition to a promise to increase the number of legal documents published online, the SPC also said it would stop categorising economic disputes as criminal cases, in a show of support for the private sector.

More legal protections for copyright would also be provided, the court said, which added that all public petitions should be responded to.

It also pledged to promote the “Fengqiao experience” to ease burdens on higher legal bodies. Last year, courts around the country mediated 12 million disputes, or about 40 per cent of all civil and administrative cases, the SPC said.

The concept of the “Fengqiao experience in the new era” is based on a Mao-era model for resolving social conflicts at the grass-roots level that Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly praised, calling it an integral part of improving “social governance”.

China’s rural women struggle for land rights, despite legal protections

Xi has said that China’s special circumstances meant that it could not become “a country of litigation”.

“We have 1.4 billion people, if everything, big or small, has to be decided by a lawsuit, our system wouldn’t be able to bear the burden,” he said in 2021, calling for more legal power to guide and mediate conflicts.

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Why a Chinese court’s landmark decision recognising the copyright for an AI-generated image benefits creators in this nascent field

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3248510/why-chinese-courts-landmark-decision-recognising-copyright-ai-generated-image-benefits-creators?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese court’s decision recognising the copyright of an image generated via artificial intelligence (AI) aims to encourage such creations and provide a boost to this nascent industry, according to the judge who made the landmark ruling.

In the first judgment of its kind in mainland China, the Beijing Internet Court last November ruled that a picture, generated via the text-to-image software Stable Diffusion, should be considered an artwork under the protection of copyright laws, because of the “originality” and intellectual input of its human creator.

Assigning generative AI content a legal status under certain conditions in this case is aimed at encouraging people to create with new tools, presiding judge Zhu Ge said last week at a lecture that was first reported on Monday by Chinese online news outlet The Paper.

“If no content created with AI models can be considered artwork, this would deal a blow to the industry,” Zhu was quoted as saying in the report.

Although the ruling has added fuel to heated arguments on whether AI-generated content should be protected by copyright laws, the Beijing Internet Court has asserted that future disputes about an author’s personal expression in images created with AI’s help should be judged on a case-by-case basis.

The intellectual property infringement lawsuit was initiated in May last year by the plaintiff surnamed Li, who used the US start-up StabilityAI’s Stable Diffusion program to create an image of a young Asian woman and posted it on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.

Li sued a blogger surnamed Liu for allegedly using that image without permission in a post on Baijiahao, a Chinese content-sharing platform owned by Baidu.

The court subsequently ruled in favour of Li. It said Li’s AI-generated image was an artwork, based on how he had continuously added prompts and repeatedly adjusted the parameters to come up with a picture that reflected his “aesthetic choice and personalised judgment”.

Beijing court rules AI-generated content covered by copyright, eschews US stand

The court ordered the defendant Liu to issue a public apology as well as pay the plaintiff 500 yuan (US$70.43) in damages and 50 yuan for court fees.

Zhu, the presiding judge, said in her lecture that the ruling was made with the potential implications for “emerging industries” in mind, according to The Paper’s report. It said Zhu hoped her decision in the case could serve as a reference for future disputes.

The court’s ruling has come as China’s aspirations for generative AI continue to evolve amid wider use of the technology around the world. Advances in the use of AI are also expected to transform industries and improve people’s daily lives.

China’s generative AI industry is forecast to contribute 30 trillion yuan worth of economic value by 2035, accounting for a third of the industry’s global value of 90 trillion yuan, according to a report by the CCID Group, a research unit affiliated with Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Many Chinese tech firms have also ramped up their efforts to grow their businesses using generative AI. Chinese delivery services giant Meituan, for example, recently launched Wow, a chatbot that purports to respond to user questions with a personal touch.

Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post, featured an online shop for digital products based on Baidu’s virtual assistant Duxiaoxiao during the e-commerce giant’s Singles’ Day campaign last year.

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Sri Lanka ban on Chinese ships a ‘victory’ for India, but shows limits of small states in big-power rivalry

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3248447/sri-lanka-ban-chinese-ships-victory-india-shows-limits-small-states-big-power-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed

The ban on Chinese ships in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is seen as a “victory” for India in the Indian Ocean but also highlights the limits of small states “in manoeuvring between major powers”, analysts said.

The one-year moratorium also points to China’s inability to leverage its investment in developing countries to serve its growing military ambition, experts added.

On December 31, Sri Lanka said it had informed India that it would not allow any Chinese research vessels to dock at its ports or operate within its EEZ for a year, the Hindustan Times reported.

The move came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe during their meeting in July to respect New Delhi’s strategic and security concerns.

This meant that Chinese scientific research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3, which was scheduled to conduct deepwater exploration in the south Indian Ocean beginning this week, would not be given the clearance to do so.

India had earlier raised objections to Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6, which had conducted a joint maritime survey in October to November with the Sri Lankan maritime agency.

Swaran Singh, international relations professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, said India – and also the United States – had often expressed displeasure to Sri Lanka on the increasing presence of Chinese combat and research vessels in the Indian Ocean, that occasionally anchor on Sri Lankan ports.

This one-year moratorium could be seen “as a noticeable victory for India”, Singh said, but noted that the short duration meant China’s growing maritime presence in the Indian Ocean would “continue to be a matter of concern” for Delhi.

Singh, who is also a member of the governing board at the Delhi-based Society of Indian Ocean Studies, said that given Sri Lanka’s coming presidential election in April, “Colombo did not wish to trigger any tensions with its immediate neighbour”.

Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow with the Australia-based Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia programme, said the development was significant as it reflected the limits of small countries “in manoeuvring between major powers”, forcing them to consider major powers’ interests in their foreign policies.

“This is a lesson too for Southeast Asian states,” he said, referring to how Southeast Asia countries find themselves caught up in the US-China rivalry in recent years.

Rahman said the development also showed the limits of China’s ability in “leveraging its investment in developing states to serve a broader military objective”.

For years, India and China have vied for influence in Sri Lanka and across the wider Indian Ocean, with Delhi viewing the sea lanes as vital to defending its southernmost regions.

Amid strained ties with India over a border clash in 2020, China’s expanding interests in the Indian Ocean include growing diplomatic and trade ties.

US invests US$553 million in Adani’s Sri Lanka port to curb China’s influence

In 2008 and 2014, Beijing had deployed its navy and submarines respectively in the Gulf of Aden in support of its anti-piracy operations. In 2017, China established its first ever overseas military facility in the Indian Ocean, in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

Last November, Sri Lanka gave the green light to China’s energy giant, Sinopec, to establish a new petroleum refinery plant in Hambantota, the town that also houses the deep water port that was leased to China in 2017 after Colombo defaulted on debt payments.

Sankalp Gurjar, assistant professor of geopolitics and international relations at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, said the ban was also due to the growing frequency of Chinese research ships visiting Sri Lanka.

Each ship visit “is taken note of in Delhi and fears of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean resurface”, he said.

In addition, given Colombo’s ability to tide over its most severe economic crisis from 2022 to last year, it had “acquired some wiggle room to be able to make such decisions”, he added.

Gurjar said when Sri Lanka ceded control of Hambantota port to China, Colombo assuaged concerns then by arguing that the port would be used only for commercial operations.

Neil Devotta, professor of international affairs at Wake Forest University,, said India, and the US among others, was concerned that Chinese-owned ports might be converted to bases in the future, leading to China’s further “power projection”.

“The countries concerned would like to delay or prevent this development in the Indo-Pacific, hence the pressure on small states like Sri Lanka,” he said, adding that while Colombo owed China money and relied on it for support in international forums, it mainly depended on Western markets for exports.

“Geography dictates that it is not in the island’s interest to undermine Indian security considerations,” he said. “As India’s relative economic and military capabilities increase, Sri Lanka will have little choice but to give in more to its neighbour’s preferences.”

In 2022, Sri Lanka plunged into its worst economic crisis, suffering severe shortages and drawing protests that led to the ouster of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In April 2022, Colombo declared bankruptcy with over US$83 billion in debt, more than half of it to foreign creditors.

Last month, the IMF approved the release of US$337 million, the second tranche of a US$2.9 billion bailout package after Colombo was said to have made progress towards reducing inflation and safeguarding financial stability.

Apart from extending help to Sri Lanka during its crisis, India is also Colombo’s largest trade partner and source of foreign direct investment. Earlier this month, Colombo started upgrading the 67km railway tracks from Maho to Anuradhapura with Delhi’s help.

Devotta added that Colombo might “come under pressure” to extend the one-year moratorium, which would then be considered a “strategic victory for both India and the US”.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledges closer Swiss ties as he opens European trip

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3248503/chinese-premier-li-qiang-pledges-closer-swiss-ties-he-opens-european-trip?utm_source=rss_feed

Premier Li Qiang has pledged to boost cooperation with Switzerland in China’s continued pursuit of modernisation, while opening his 2024 diplomatic calendar with an official visit to the Alpine nation.

Travelling with Swiss President Viola Amherd on a special train from Zurich to the capital Bern on Sunday, Li also highlighted the long history of mutually beneficial exchanges as the countries prepare to mark 75 years of diplomatic ties next year.

“As one of the first Western countries to recognise the People’s Republic of China, the two countries enjoy a long history of friendly cooperation,” he said.

“At present, China is advancing ‘Chinese modernisation’ … [and] is ready to enhance mutual exchanges and learning with Switzerland,” Li was quoted by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The premier, who also oversees the Chinese economy, highlighted Switzerland’s innovative capacity and high-quality products as he urged more Swiss enterprises to invest in China, while pledging that his country would “only open its doors wider and wider” to the world.

Li arrived in Zurich earlier on Sunday and was received at the airport by Amherd, who is also defence minister apart from holding this year’s rotating Swiss presidency.

He will be joining world leaders at the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos this week. An official visit to Ireland next will round out his four-day European trip.

According to the Xinhua readout, Amherd said Swiss companies were willing to deepen their presence in China, as she echoed a call by Li to promote mutual understanding, friendship and people-to-people exchanges.

China was Switzerland’s fourth largest individual trading partner in 2021, after Germany, the United States and Italy, though the European Union as a whole accounted for nearly 58 per cent of Swiss trade.

Switzerland also remains one of the most welcoming Western countries for hi-tech companies from China, while the US leads a drive to hobble Chinese access to cutting-edge technology on alleged security concerns.

Major Chinese investors in Switzerland include tech firms Huawei and Neusoft, while Swiss investors in China include technology company ABB, food giant Nestle, and healthcare company Roche.

Switzerland, which has a policy of military neutrality, has also tried to keep its distance from the EU in terms of China policy amid growing tensions between Brussels and Beijing.

China-Swiss chip deal poke in the eye for US

In 2022, Bern chose not to follow Brussels in sanctioning Chinese Community Party officials and organisations over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, after Chinese ambassador Wang Shiting warned that such a move could hurt relations with Switzerland.

In its first China foreign policy strategy issued in 2021, the Swiss government said its aim was to create “greater coherence” in its relations with Beijing, even if there were “clear differences in values between the two”.

Highlighting Switzerland’s “independent policy on China”, the document said China was a “priority country for its foreign policy”, adding that Bern “advocates the inclusion of China in the liberal international order and in efforts to overcome global challenges”.

It also said “human rights must be broached consistently in all bilateral and multilateral settings”. Human rights dialogue and trade interests were the two key issues for bilateral relations, media reports quoted Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis as saying.

The 2021 strategy expires this year, with a new one due at a time when the rift between China and the West is growing wider.

The Swiss parliament has been discussing reducing dependency on Beijing, such as excluding Huawei from the 5G network, and increasing channels with Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.

Switzerland, like most Western countries including the US, does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state.

China’s European brandy import probe could dampen enthusiasm for once-coveted liquor, ‘far-reaching impact’ on alcohol market

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3248490/chinas-european-brandy-import-probe-could-dampen-enthusiasm-once-coveted-liquor-far-reaching-impact?utm_source=rss_feed

For the past few decades, French cognac symbolised wealth, power and refinement for China’s business elite.

But the liquor’s prospects as the go-to luxury item for China’s growing middle class have taken a turn following China’s anti-dumping investigation into brandy imports from the European Union (EU), as well as changing consumer preferences.

On January 5, China’s Ministry of Commerce launched an anti-dumping investigation following a request from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, who said the prices of the imported products had been reduced by an estimated 15.88 per cent.

The move will mainly affect French cognac, which makes up most of China’s brandy imports, casting a shadow over the already tense trade relations between Beijing and Brussels.

“When China announces an investigation, it is the start of the ban on French cognac, an effective ban. It signals to society in China that cognac is no longer in favour,” said Ian Ford, the Shanghai-based founder and chief executive of Nimbility, a brand and sales management company for alcohol sold in Asia.

“Therefore, if you’re at a big banquet, entertaining a government official, it’s taboo now to be drinking or gifting cognac.”

Frank Lin, a Guangdong-based dealer specialising in spirits, said there are few brandy producers in China that could substitute the cognac produced by the likes of Hennessy, Martell and Remy Martin.

“Although European brandy has a relatively small market share in Chinese alcohol consumption, the recent anti-dumping investigation is expected to have a far-reaching impact on the market,” Lin said.

“Industry insiders are concerned that this investigation could escalate to other European red wine brands, thus triggering a full-scale confrontation between China and Europe in the alcoholic beverage sector.”

Ministry of Commerce spokeswoman Shu Jueting said that the anti-dumping investigation was “in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and relevant Chinese laws and regulations”, during a press conference on Thursday.

“It is alleged that the quantity of related brandy products imported from the EU has increased rapidly and the price has been on a downward trend, causing difficulties in the operation of the domestic industry,” Shu added.

In October, the EU launched an anti-subsidy investigation into the imports of battery-powered cars from China.

Beijing said there was “a lack of sufficient evidence to support” the claims, and that the inquiry was “inconsistent with relevant WTO rules”.

As China-EU ‘de-risking’ voices crescendo, why the focus on electric cars?

China’s imports of brandy rose significantly between 2017 and 2021. The total value of brandy imports declined by 16.5 per cent from 2021 to US$1.42 billion in 2022, according to data from the liquor importers and exporters branch of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products.

The latest data, from January to September last year, showed the total imported value of brandy rose by 36.38 per cent over the same period in 2022 to US$1.12 billion.

While Chinese consumers have traditionally favoured baijiu, a strong liquor distilled from fermented sorghum, China has been a major export market for French cognac, a barrel-aged grape brandy produced in France under strict legal conditions.

However, the trend for French cognac consumption in China has changed over the years, according to Mike Mai, a director of the government relations and marketing department at a Guangdong-based new energy technology company.

“Although from a cost perspective, [businesspeople] preferred cognac, for example, a three-litre bottle of XO sells for about 2,000 yuan (US$281), equivalent to a one-litre bottle of premium domestic liquor,” said Mai.

“However, the trend has changed in recent years, with officials and state firm executives favouring domestic baijiu liquor since seven or eight years ago.”

Mai said brandy has almost disappeared at banquets, with baijiu becoming the top choice for the business community.

In the 1980s, as Hong Kong businessmen brought capital and export orders to China’s southern Guangdong province, they also introduced French cognac to the region, according to Zhu Rui, a veteran exporter in his 60s.

Is the EU sharpening its ‘trade weapons’ toward China with carbon import tax?

“Overseas Chinese often brought brandy as gifts when they returned to China to visit their relatives, and French brandy became a symbol of luxury gifts,” Zhu said.

“However, today’s younger Chinese generation prefers red wine and whisky from other countries, and are no longer as enthusiastic about European-branded brandy as they once were.”

In September, Moët Hennessy, the wines and spirits division of French luxury group LVMH, opened its flagship shop on Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book, which is one of the most popular social media and e-commerce platforms among young people in China.

The shop offers wine, champagne, as well as cognac, at a range of prices, with the most expensive a Hennessy XO, launched last year in collaboration with fashion designer Kim Jones, and priced at over 2,500 yuan.

Amid China’s anti-dumping inquiry, the three French cognac makers are offering discounts of between 30 and 50 per cent on several products on Chinese online shopping platform Taobao.

The Lunar New Year, which begins on February 10, is traditionally a peak season for gifting in China.

The “year of dragon” edition cognac celebrating the upcoming holiday by Remy Martin has been reduced from 1,019 yuan to 710 yuan, although it is listed as sold out.

Mariana Lam, the Hong Kong-based founder of import and retail firm WineWorld, believes the trend for Chinese consumers to buy domestic brands is set to continue.

“The foreign companies have been making an effort to localise their products to increase their appeal to Chinese consumers,” said Lam.

“But the consumption trend is also changing, with customers taking into account the cost as well, whether it’s gifting or it’s for themselves.”

Nimbility’s Ford said premium baijiu and high-end Burgundy and Bordeaux wines may replace some of the cognac sales in China, while Chinese made brandy by Shandong-based Changyu could also capture some of the market share.

“[Changyu] has a very solid brandy business,” Ford said. “In the early days I wouldn’t go near it, but I think it’s come a long way.”

Woman in China rushed to hospital after 2 years of regular ‘healthy’ TCM bloodletting treatments spark severe anaemia

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3247638/woman-china-rushed-hospital-after-2-years-regular-healthy-tcm-bloodletting-treatments-spark-severe?utm_source=rss_feed

A woman in China had to undergo emergency hospital treatment for severe anaemia after spending two years having bloodletting and cupping treatments at a wellness centre.

The woman, surnamed Jin, an advocate of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, southeastern China, started having the treatments believing they would optimise her health.

The procedure combines two established therapies, acupuncture and cupping and involves the insertion of very fine needles, followed by placing cups on the skin to create suction.

Used for a range of ailments, including neck, shoulder and back pain, colds and digestive issues, as well as for enhancing general health, the process is thought to boost circulation and improve organ function.

Jin believed the therapies were particularly effective in protecting her against the effects Wenzhou’s hot and humid climate.

Convinced that the bruising she suffered after the bloodletting cupping sessions were signs of “heavy internal humidity” in her body, she opted to have the treatments frequently.

Over the last six months, she increased her therapy to weekly sessions, with the practitioner drawing about 200ml of blood each time – almost a cup full.

However, the frequency of the sessions led to severe health issues.

Jin suffered from damaged skin capillaries, pallor, dizziness, fatigue, palpitations and shortness of breath.

A medical examination at Wenzhou Central Hospital revealed critically low haemoglobin levels in Jin, indicating severe anaemia, and doctors attributed her condition to chronic blood loss caused by the treatments.

After the medical intervention, Jin’s health improved and she was discharged from hospital.

Her story has alarmed and fascinated people on mainland social media.

“Bloodletting every week is like courting death. Even a blood donation of 200cc is recommended only once every six months,” said one person.

“Losing 200cc of blood every week, that is at least 800cc a month. To keep this up for half a year and still manage to survive is really astonishing,” said another.

There were also accusations that TCM clinics exploit people’s health fears for profit.

“According to many rogue TCM clinics, all men have kidney deficiencies, all women have cold wombs and everyone has weak spleens, cold stomachs and heavy dampness,” one commenter said.

In July last year, a woman, surnamed Bai, from Nanjing, the capital of eastern China’s Jiangsu province had a “detoxifying” herb-burning treatment at a beauty salon which left her with second-degree burns.

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Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/15/nauru-to-sever-diplomatic-ties-with-taiwan-in-favour-of-china

Nauru will sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognise China, the government of the small Pacific Islands nation said on Monday, marking Taipei’s first diplomatic ally to switch to Beijing following the weekend’s presidential election.

The Nauru government said that “in the best interests” of the country and its people it was seeking full resumption of diplomatic relations with China.

“This means that the Republic of Nauru will no longer recognise the Republic of China [Taiwan] as a separate country but rather as an inalienable part of China’s territory, and will sever ‘diplomatic relations’ with Taiwan as of this day and no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan,” it said in a statement.

Nauru’s move leaves Taiwan with only 12 formal diplomatic allies, including Guatemala, Paraguay, Eswatini, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taiwan strongly disputes.

Taiwan security officials told the Reuters news agency before Saturday’s election that China was likely to continue to whittle away at the handful of countries that have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Lai Ching-te from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election on Saturday as expected and will take office on 20 May. Before the election China called Lai a dangerous separatist.

Israel-Gaza war: China FM Wang Yi opens Africa tour with jab at US-led strikes on Houthi in Yemen

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3248448/israel-gaza-war-china-fm-wang-yi-opens-africa-tour-jab-us-led-strikes-houthi-yemen?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has taken a swipe at the US-led coalition for “adding fuel to the fire of tensions” in the Red Sea and Middle East, while again calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the formation of a fully sovereign Palestinian state.

Wang, who was in Cairo on the first stop of his four-nation tour of Africa, expressed China’s deep concern about the sharp rise of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are protesting Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

At a joint briefing on Sunday with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Wang also observed that the United Nations Security Council has never authorised any country to use force against Yemen – a thinly veiled attack on the US and its allies.

Wang’s comments came shortly after the strikes launched by the US and its allies, including Britain, against the Houthis. The Iran-backed group has warned it will retaliate.

Wang said the US-led naval coalition helping to safeguard commercial traffic “should avoid adding fuel to the fire of tensions in the Red Sea and raising overall regional security risks”.

Houthis fire missile at US warship in first attack after Yemen strikes

“It must be emphasised that the tense situation in the Red Sea is a prominent manifestation of the spillover of the Gaza conflict,” he said, adding that the situation in the Palestinian territory remains “very serious and critical”.

Wang said the top priority is to quell the war in Gaza – which has led to the killing of more than 20,000 people – as soon as possible to prevent the conflict from further expanding or even getting out of control.

“It is necessary for all parties to jointly safeguard the … waterways in the Red Sea … in accordance with the law, and at the same time effectively respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries along the Red Sea, including Yemen.”

Wang also pointed out that a resolution to the Palestinian issue had been postponed for 76 years, adding that the “historical injustice cannot continue”.

“The international community must act urgently and focus all efforts on promoting a ceasefire … protecting the safety of civilians,” he said. At the same time, Wang reiterated China’s long-standing support for a “two-state solution”.

“Justice must be returned to the Palestinian people at an early date,” Wang said, describing the “two-state solution” – based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as capital – as the only way to achieve a just solution to the Palestinian issue.

“Full sovereignty must be upheld,” he added, and called for a larger and more authoritative international peace conference to be convened to discuss the Israel-Gaza war.

While in Cairo, Wang held talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, where they “agreed on the necessity to address the root causes of the crisis through a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue, based on the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.”

Wang also announced China’s third batch of humanitarian emergency aid to the people of Gaza during his visit. As a member of the Arab League, China believes that Egypt stands at an advantage to spearhead efforts to meditate on the crisis in Gaza.

In a separate meeting, Wang and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the league’s secretary general, urged the UN Security Council to take its responsibilities seriously and come up with binding measures towards maintaining international peace and security.

China’s Wang Yi urges coordination with Iran in call to discuss Israel-Gaza war

“The UN Security Council must listen to the calls of the Arab and Islamic countries and other countries that have expressed their rejection of the ongoing Israeli war against the civilian population in Gaza,” they said, in a joint statement issued after the meeting.

The statement also outlined the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue, based on the establishment of a fully independent, sovereign state of Palestine, based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Wang’s visit to Egypt was part of an African tour, in keeping with a tradition spanning more than 30 years in which Chinese foreign ministers make Africa their first overseas destination. He is also visiting Tunisia, Togo and Ivory Coast.

John Calabrese, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that after showing some initial signs that it might want to play a proactive role in mediating an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict, Beijing’s diplomacy had refocused on the UN Security Council.

Has China ‘clearly estranged Israel’ with its stance on the war in Gaza?

According to Calabrese, China backed off from a mediatory role in favour of the international forum, where its “positions and posturings” can be used to differentiate itself from the US and its Western partners.

By discrediting Washington and its allies, Beijing can also “earn favour with Arab and Muslim states, as well as others across the Global South where the tragedy of the Palestinians resonates”, he said.

Calabrese said Egypt and Qatar are “critical players” in the diplomatic effort to broker exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoner releases, as well as in the push to establish and expand humanitarian access in Gaza.

However, in terms of the war’s expansion, Calabrese said it was difficult to see what role Egypt or China might elect to play.

“To be sure, both countries’ interests stand to be imperilled by the escalation of the conflict and the damage it could inflict on maritime commerce,” but it had fallen to the US to take the lead in trying to “restore deterrence”, he said.

“China can play it both ways: rely on the US to take the risks and bear the costs, while criticising and seeking to exploit whatever mishaps occur as a direct or indirect result of American-led military operations.”

Israel-Gaza war: China’s peacemaker role is tested in US-dominated Mideast

According to Calabrese, China’s shift away from seeking an active mediatory role seemed “as much a matter of circumstance as it is a choice”.

“After all, the US is ‘orchestrating’ the diplomacy, with Qatar and Egypt playing critical roles, and Saudi Arabia factored into the equation in terms of possible post-conflict scenarios” he said.

David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said preserving freedom of navigation through the Red Sea – the aim of the international naval task force – is also a benefit to China.

Shinn, who is a former US ambassador to Addis Ababa, said China has a major interest in keeping open the Suez Canal and Red Sea for its exports and imports to and from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

“As a result, China’s position on stopping the Houthi attacks is strange at best and hypocritical at worst. The US has a minimal interest in commercial traffic through the Red Sea but is performing an international public good by trying to end these attacks.”

According to Shinn, Egypt’s revenues from the Suez Canal are already down 40 per cent because so many shipping companies, including the Chinese giant COSCO, are avoiding the waterway.

“Egypt can quietly urge countries having good relations with Iran, such as China, to put pressure on the Houthis to end the attacks. That would also end the need for the international naval task force in the Red Sea,” he said.

Furious China plane passenger buys 2 first-class tickets, demands seats for 3, delays flight by hours

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3247632/furious-china-plane-passenger-buys-2-first-class-tickets-demands-seats-3-delays-flight-hours?utm_source=rss_feed

A plane in China was delayed by three hours and 300 people were forced to rebook their flights after an angry passenger demanded three first-class seats but had only paid for two.

The unidentified man argued with the cabin crew and passengers on the flight from Beijing to Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan on December 30.

He was adamant that, because he had bought two first-class tickets, he should be allowed to upgrade a family member from economy class for free.

In a viral video filmed by a passenger, surnamed Zhao, the man is seen surrounded by a group of people including flight attendants, security guards and passengers, as he rages against them.

“Stop swearing at me. You have no right to do that,” he bellows.

When a male passenger attempts to point out the airline’s policy, the man becomes furious and turns on him. A security guard tries to intervene and calm the situation, but the man will not be subdued.

“What gives you the right to order me about?” he yells.

“You’ve wasted too much of our time and we won’t tolerate it any longer,” a woman passenger shouts back at him.

Zhao said the quarrel began at 11am when the man’s two-year-old son, who was sitting next to him in the first class cabin, started to cry.

The child had originally been sitting in economy class but the man demanded the crew upgrade his child’s seat to first-class.

When his request was denied he became angry. No matter how many times the cabin crew explained the airline’s policy to him, the man was adamant he was in the right and that he was entitled to an upgrade.

Eventually, the police were called and the man was escorted off the plane at 2pm.

Zhao said the 300 other passengers were annoyed that their time had been wasted and that they all had to rebook their flights.

Mainland social media has been abuzz over the dispute, with many people criticising the behaviour of the man and also the cabin crew.

“The man is so selfish,” one person said.

“Keeping the quarrel going for hours? The problem-solving skills of the crew are poor,” said another.

Stories about flight disputes often make headlines in China.

In July last year, an elderly woman triggered a heated public discussion after she yelled at a young man who refused to swap seats with her on a Jiangxi Airlines flight.

A month earlier, a Chinese transgender woman in Shanghai shared a video online in which she claimed unfair treatment by flight attendants who failed to use her proper pronouns.

South China Sea: Philippines to develop occupied islands in disputed waters amid China tensions

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3248459/south-china-sea-philippines-develop-occupied-islands-disputed-waters-amid-china-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

The Philippines will develop islands in the South China Sea that it considers part of its territory to make them more habitable for troops, Manila’s military chief Romeo Brawner told reporters on Monday.

The plans come amid heightened tensions between the Philippines and China, both of whom claim territory in the South China Sea and have traded accusations of aggressive behaviour in the strategic waterway.

Apart from the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, the Philippines occupies eight other features in the South China Sea, and considers them part of its exclusive economic zone.

Philippines says Chinese boats in shoal won’t deter ‘dangerous’ supply missions

“We’d like to improve all the nine, especially the islands we are occupying,” Brawner said after attending a command conference led by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr at the military headquarters.

Marcos told the military to gain international allies’ support as it continues to shift its focus from domestic security to territorial defence, according to Brawner. The armed forces will also form a team against cyber threats, the military chief added.

The features include Thitu island, the biggest and most strategically important in the South China Sea. Known locally as Pag-asa, Thitu lies about 300 miles (480km) west of the Philippine province of Palawan.

The military wants to bring a desalination machine for troops living aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting warship that the Philippines deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claim, he said.

Defying China, the Philippines last year ramped up troop rotation and resupply missions to the vessel in the Spratly Islands.

Besides the Philippines, Brunei, mainland China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea, a conduit for goods in excess of US$3 trillion every year.

Also included in the military’s modernisation plans is the acquisition of more ships, radars and aircraft as the Philippines shifts its focus to territorial from internal defence, Brawner said.

It has also bolstered ties with the US military, holding earlier this month their second joint patrol in the South China Sea in less than two months amid heightened tensions.

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Taiwan loses another diplomatic ally as Nauru recognizes China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/15/nauru-taiwan-china-pacific-recognize/2024-01-15T06:39:47.946Z

The Pacific island nation of Nauru announced on Monday it was severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan and instead recognizing China.

The diplomatic switch shocked analysts and shaved Taiwan’s diplomatic allies down to less than a dozen nations. In a statement posted online, Nauru’s government said the move was “in the best interests” of the country.

“This means that the Republic of Nauru will no longer recognize the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a separate country but rather as an inalienable part of China's territory, and will sever ‘diplomatic relations’ with Taiwan as of this day and no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan,” it said in a statement.

The surprise announcement came just two days after a historic election delivered Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party an unprecedented third term in office.

Beijing, which has never ruled Taiwan, claims the island democracy as part of its territory. Xi Jinping, China’s strongest leader in decades, has insisted Beijing’s rule there is “inevitable.”

The announcement by Nauru marks another win for Beijing in its global pressure campaign to poach the remaining countries that recognize Taiwan.

“China is suppressing us and using money diplomacy in every possible way,” Tien Chung-kwang, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister, said at a news conference on Monday afternoon.

“No matter what the election result is, China is always trying to suffocate Taiwan in any international arena,” said Tien.

Nauru had asked for a “huge amount” of economic assistance from Taiwan in recent years, said Tien.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs received notice of Nauru’s plans to cut ties just before noon on Monday, he said.

Nauru previously dropped Taipei for Beijing from 2002 to 2005. Taiwanese officials said China had offered Nauru millions of dollars in aid that Taipei had not been willing to escalate into a bidding war to match.

Hong Kong should allow mainland Chinese travellers from more cities to visit on individual trips, industry figures say

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3248442/hong-kong-should-allow-mainland-chinese-travellers-more-cities-visit-individual-trips-industry?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong should allow visitors from more mainland Chinese cities to come on individual trips to increase the number of tourists staying overnight and strengthen the sector, industry representatives have said.

Alan Chan Chung-yee, the chief operations officer of Miramar Group, which runs two hotels locally, on Monday said daily flights and train services operated between Hong Kong and 26 mainland cities which were not covered by an official scheme for individual visitors.

“They comprise 17 cities that can be reached via the high-speed rail link and nine other cities that have direct flights to Hong Kong. If we do not expand the coverage of the scheme, we are wasting these services,” he told a radio programme.

No longer belle of the ball? Hong Kong faces stiff competition for tourism

The Individual Visit Scheme, first introduced in 2003, allows residents from 49 mainland cities to visit Hong Kong in an individual capacity instead of joining tour groups.

Expansions to the scheme have been debated over the years, with past officials citing concerns over sufficient infrastructure and potential disturbances to Hongkongers’ daily lives because of an uptick in visitors.

The scheme has not added any new cities since 2007.

“It has been 16 years since we last expanded the scheme, and the population of the cities that are currently covered only accounts for 30.1 per cent of the country’s overall population. We have not tapped into the individual travel market yet,” Chan said.

The 26 cities serviced by daily flights and trains would add an extra 10.6 per cent of the country’s population to the scheme, he said.

Hong Kong welcomed 34 million visitors last year, with the figure from the Tourism Board for December reaching 65 per cent of the pre-pandemic level.

The city’s largest source of tourists in 2023 was still the mainland, which accounted for more than 26.7 million. The fastest recovering markets were in Southeast Asia.

The number of travellers from the Philippines and Thailand in December were at 116 per cent and 106 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, respectively.

Half of all visitors last year chose to stay overnight, which was higher than before the pandemic.

Chan said the city had enough hotel rooms and border checkpoints to handle a larger number of individual visitors from the mainland.

Hong Kong officials too ‘passive’ in efforts to attract mainland visitors: CY Leung

“Sixteen years ago, there were not enough hotel rooms,” he said. “We have 92,000 hotel rooms now and over 100,000 rooms including guest houses. Last year, there were an average of 17,000 unoccupied hotel rooms per day, which is enough to handle more mainland cities.

“We have also opened many checkpoints in the past sixteen years, such as Shenzhen Bay and Liantang-Heung Yuen Wai.”

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung also said hotels could cope with more tourists staying overnight.

‘Hong Kong in talks over resuming multiple-entry visas for Shenzhen residents’

“During the new year countdown, not all hotels were full, except for those that offered a close view to the fireworks, which were almost full,” he said.

“We hope to attract more overnight visitors so that our hotel and service industries can continue to develop in a more stable manner,” he said, adding that the city should host more events to attract tourists during non-peak seasons, and organise more cultural tours to encourage visitors to stay the night.

Yiu said last year’s visitor figure had exceeded his expectations, which showed that the industry was in recovery.

But the average occupancy rate at hotels stood at about 80 per cent as the industry was still facing a staff shortage.

China fans of Wong Kar-wai’s Blossoms Shanghai TV series spark demand for bespoke suits, food dishes that appear in hit show

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3247395/china-fans-wong-kar-wais-blossoms-shanghai-tv-series-spark-demand-bespoke-suits-food-dishes-appear?utm_source=rss_feed

Businesses in China are making a killing by replicating, in a variety of sellable forms, the lifestyle depicted in the hugely popular new TV series Blossoms Shanghai.

Produced by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, the series is based on the award-winning novel of the same title written by Jin Yucheng and stars top mainland star Hu Ge.

It tells the story of a self-made millionaire in 1990s Shanghai as China’s economy went into overdrive.

Such has been its nationwide popularity, particularly in Shanghai, since it was launched at the end of December, people in the city where it is set are said to greet each other by asking if they have watched it, according to a report by the news outlet, The Paper.

Viewing figures are so high that each episode has as many as 10 advertising breaks.

A key setting in the series is Shanghai’s famous Peace Hotel, where the lead character Boss Bao opens a company and regularly meets friends.

The hotel, on the city’s Bund, has exploited the huge popularity of the show by offering a 1,460 yuan (US$204) Blossoms Shanghai set meal.

The two-person package includes dishes from the TV series such as rib and rice cake, and dry-fried beef Hor Fun.

A hotel employee told the media that they prepare 20 sets per day and have received are large number of bookings.

The hotel has also renamed one of its suites, where Boss Bao’s company is located, the “Blossoms Shanghai Suite”, which, priced at between 15,930 and 16,888 yuan, is 30 per cent more expensive than other suites.

The suite has been fully booked for the first half of January, said the hotel.

A restaurant called Tai Sheng Yuan, where scenes in the series are also shot, has been sold out for the past two weeks and is magnet for tourists who take photos of the outside of the building.

Many diners have ordered the restaurant’s 10-person Blossoms Shanghai-themed nostalgic set meal for 1,680 yuan, although it has been getting mixed reviews.

And it is not just accommodation, food and tourist businesses that have piggy-backed on the success of the series.

Fans of the show have noticed that the suits worn by Boss Bao are made by tailors from Ningbo in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

As a result bespoke tailors in Ningbo have been flooded with enquiries from people keen to have the same type of clothes worn by the main character.

“This TV drama is awesome! Although I was born in 2000 and didn’t know what Shanghai looked like in the 1990s, this series is pretty in line with what my parents described about old days in the city,” one online observer said on Douyin.

“It is worthy of Wong Kar-wai’s production values. Each scene is filled with cinematic quality. I think it is the best TV series of 2023,” said another.

‘Strangers started telling me to go home’: why foreigners who endured China’s Covid lockdowns now say they’ve had enough

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3248369/strangers-started-telling-me-go-home-why-foreigners-who-endured-chinas-covid-lockdowns-now-say?utm_source=rss_feed

Foreigners living in China who stuck it out through three years of strict Covid controls have spoken about why they finally decided to leave the country last year despite efforts to reopen to the outside world.

Some spoke of an increasing wariness, even hostility, towards foreigners while others said they were worried about a repeat of their lockdown experiences.

Their exits come against a backdrop of heightened tensions between China and the West, which some suspect may be influencing everyday attitudes towards them, and a heightened focus on national security that emphasises the threat from malign foreign forces.

For Sophie Redding, a British PE teacher at an international school in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus was first detected, multiple factors played a part in her decision to return to Britain last month.

Her partner, who was also in Wuhan, encountered visa problems, and she started to feel that the city she once regarded as “home” had become “less welcoming”.

“All of a sudden, strangers would start telling me to go home. People would see me in a lift and wait for the next one. When DiDi [a ride-hailing app] drivers I ordered arrived and realised I was a foreigner, they’d refuse to take me,” the 30-year-old said.

Redding said things had eased after the pandemic, but her experience has left her with the feeling of being treated as an outsider.

“I still have a load of fantastic friends in Wuhan and across China. That’s why I stayed so long … but all those small outlier conversations and interactions kind of wear you down, and it’s started to weigh off against all the great things about living in China,” she said.

China had already seen an exodus of foreigners during the three years of the coronavirus pandemic, owing to frustrations about the country’s strict anti-Covid policy that saw severe restrictions placed on domestic and international travel and included a months-long lockdown in Shanghai, the city with the largest international population.

In the decade leading up to November 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the number of foreigners living in Shanghai fell by more than 20 per cent to 164,000, and by 40 per cent in Beijing to 63,000, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Although these are the latest available figures, two more years of strict pandemic controls are expected to have led to more foreign residents leaving.

And while the latest stories from foreigners who have left in the past year are strictly anecdotal, they do suggest that China is going to struggle to attract both individuals and companies from abroad.

Redding is not the only China-based foreigner to sense an increasing chilliness towards outsiders.

James Campion, a British translator and proofreader who left China last July, said he sensed a subtle shift in Chinese people’s attitudes and found it was becoming harder to make new friends.

“It wasn’t as easy to strike up conversations, and there seemed to be a subtle hesitation from some locals, perhaps reflecting a growing awareness of geopolitical tensions,” he said.

Other scars from the zero-Covid era continue to linger. One Russian-born art teacher from the United States who left Shanghai after 13 years said her decision to return to America was largely driven by concerns that the authorities could again impose strict controls on people’s movements and activities.

‘It’s less attractive’: China’s bid to lure talent hit by zero-Covid legacy

“I like Chinese people. I like Chinese food. I like a lot of things. I grew up in Russia, in pretty much the same system. We have a lot of similarities and I understand them,” the woman in her sixties, who asked to be identified only as M, said.

“But I don’t think there’s a guarantee that [this] is not going to happen again. Because you can just be locked [down] in the same way.

“People are afraid to repeat the same experience. Nobody wants to stay away from their family for three years. That’s a long time. Who knows if there’ll be another Covid?”

James Zimmerman, a partner at the international law firm Perkins Coie and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the factors behind individual departures – which he described as “a combination of a weak economy, compliance risks, and geopolitical tensions” – were also driving away businesses.

US warns African-Americans to avoid Guangzhou due to discrimination fears

He said: “While China is potentially a large and attractive consumer market, foreign business is rethinking whether to remain or expand in the market as a result of a host of geopolitical issues.”

The Covid pandemic prompted a number of companies that had relied on Chinese manufacturers to start diversifying their supply chains by seeking alternatives in other countries.

He added: “Separate from geopolitical tensions, foreign business has lost much faith in Beijing’s ability to manage the business environment and economy, ranging from an unworkable reaction to the pandemic by putting into place unreasonable restrictions that adversely affected supply chains, an environment where an emphasis on national security overrides common sense, and an inability to address downward trends in China’s economy such as the real property meltdown that remains in free fall.”

Beijing has been trying to counter such concerns and released a new set of guidelines last August to woo foreign investors. These included pledges to protect intellectual property rights, relax the rules on visas and residency, and offer temporary tax exemptions for foreigners who reinvest their profits in China.

But Zimmerman said he anticipated “an accelerated level of strategic reshoring, nearshoring, or offshoring to more friendly countries”, if these concerns continued.

“Policies directed at retaining the expatriate community should keep in mind the bigger issues as noted above. No tax break or preferential treatment will bring them back if the bigger picture issues are not addressed,” he said.

Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China and Globalisa­tion, said some of these concerns could be addressed by easing visa policies or even residency requirements.

“China may consider relaxing its ‘green card’ policy for outstanding foreign talent, such as those with special contributions or who are innovative entrepreneurs,” he said.

China lashes out at ‘ill-intentioned foreign forces’ over its anti-spying law

“The country could also consider allowing international students to take internships in China and universities could offer more English language programmes to attract overseas students.”

He also suggested recent moves to make tourist and business travel easier – including a year’s visa-free travel for citizens of Malaysia and five European countries – could be expanded to the US, Japan, South Korea and other parts of Europe to create a more general “welcoming atmosphere”.

“Now that many overseas [news] channels are available in some hotels, can we take it a step further and allow foreigners to use the hotel’s internet to access overseas websites smoothly? This will help to further increase their attachment to China,” he said.

“By leveraging the resources of enterprises, universities and NGOs, the country can also invite more foreigners to China and promote people-to-people exchanges with the outside world.”

China issued a basket of new policies to relax entry and visa procedures on Thursday in a bid to draw more overseas visitors and restore people-to-people exchanges.

The new rules, which were released by the National Immigration Administration and took effect immediately, aim to ease eligibility requirements for entry visas, waive border inspections for transit at certain airports, and streamline application procedures for entry visas, extensions of stay and multiple-entry permits.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently said Beijing was ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to join exchange and study programmes over the next five years – but this follows a dramatic fall of more than 98 per cent in the number of American students.

The number plummeted from 11,639 in the 2018-19 academic year to just 221 in 2021-22, according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors database.

How we dodged lockdown and quarantine as Covid hit Shanghai art fairs

Statistics from China’s Ministry of Education showed that after peaking in 2019, the number of foreign students in the country’s higher education institutions fell by over 20 per cent to 255,720 in 2021.

There has been an increasing focus on the number of students from developing countries coming to China. Students from countries that have joined the Belt and Road Initiative now account for more than half the international students in China, according to the state-run Guangming Daily.

But many of these foreign graduates struggle to find a job that will allow them to stay even if they do secure a work visa.

“After graduation, my life became a hassle. The requirements of getting a work permit are not very attainable as a new graduate and as a Nigerian,” said Annie Akinnuoye, 22.

Akinnuoye spent four years studying at a Chinese university and a further year working in the country, but was forced to leave in July because she could not find a suitable job that met her work visa’s requirements.

Akinnuoye said she worked in the trade in human hair for wig makers in her home country after graduation and even tried to start her own business, but none of these endeavours worked out.

“Being a self-funded student for four years had financially drained me, and I had hoped for a stable job to lean on for my stay in China. This was the main reason I left China,” she said.

A Shanghai-based visa counsellor with more than a decade of experience said that for foreigners who wanted to stay in China, the overall environment and review processes had become stricter because of security concerns. But the demand for visas to China remained high and was continuing to rise.

“Our company receives hundreds of inquiries for visa applications to China every day. Most of them are foreigners from African and Central Asian countries,” he said.

“It’s a matter of being inside or outside the circle. Many foreigners in China may find this country bad or uncomfortable and choose to leave. But more foreigners, especially from developing countries, see China as an opportunity and want to come here.”

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China Likely to Become World’s Top Auto Exporter

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/china-likely-to-become-world-s-top-auto-exporter/7433912.html

A Chinese car group says China likely overtook Japan as the world’s biggest auto exporter in 2023.

The Chinese Passenger Car Association (CPCA) says automakers like BYD Auto, Chery and others are seeing increased sales overseas.

The CPCA announced that exports of Chinese cars jumped 62 percent to a record 3.83 million vehicles. Japanese customs data showed car exports at 3.5 million for the first 11 months of the year, not including used vehicles.

China’s total auto exports were estimated to hit 5.26 million units last year. Japan’s full-year exports were predicted at 4.3 million units, the CPCA found.

China’s rise as a top auto exporter is due in part to the strength of its electric vehicle (EV) automakers. BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s top seller of EVs late last year. Most of the sales were within China, however.

Some governments are concerned about Chinese auto exports affecting sales of their own automakers.

In September, the European Commission started an investigation into Chinese-made electric vehicles over subsidies they may have received.

And the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is considering raising taxes on some Chinese goods, including EVs, the Wall Street journal reported last month.

Domestic market

China is the world’s largest auto market. Vehicle sales there rose 5.3 percent last year.

Sales of battery-powered vehicles in China last year increased 20.8 percent. And sales of hybrids grew 82.5 percent last year.

Sales of Chinese-made cars are expected to make up 63 percent of total sales in China this year. Sales of Chinese cars jumped 15.7 percent last year.

Competition is expected to increase. Popular Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi showed its first electric vehicle last month. It has announced it is aiming to become one of the world’s top five automakers.

French auto brands suffered in China in 2023, with sales down 41 percent according to data for the first 11 months of the year. Sales of Japanese cars dropped almost 11 percent last year, while U.S. brands saw sales drop 1.4 percent.

I’m Gregory Stachel.

 

Reuters reported this story. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

unit – n. a single thing, person, or group that is a part of something larger

subsidy – n. money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue to function

battery – n. a device that is placed inside a machine (such as a clock, toy, or car) to supply it with electricity

hybrid – adj. (of a vehicle) using two different types of power, especially petrol or diesel and electricity (of a vehicle) using two different types of power, especially petrol or diesel and electricity

brand – n. a category of products that are all made by a particular company and all have a particular name